Knowledge and Attitudes on Fetal Anomalies Among Pregnant Women in Teaching Hospital Mahamodara, Galle

Fetal anomalies significantly contribute towards neonatal mortality worldwide. In Sri Lanka major cause for neonatal deaths is fetal anomalies 41%. A Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Antenatal clinic, Teaching Hospital, Mahamodara. An interviewer-administered, pretested questionnaire was used. Hundred and fifty pregnant women participated in this study. Majority; 105 (70%) were found in the age of below 30 years, and 80 (53.3%) educated up to G.C.E. Ordinary Level. 83 (53.3%) were multigravida and 93(62%) were planned pregnancies. Higher proportion of the participants; 92(61%) , 88(56.7%) and 123(82%) had good knowledge on the risk factors, pre conception care and on preventive actions related to birth defects respectively. Significant proportion (26.7%) had poor knowledge regarding birth defects. There are 143 (95.3%) of the participants interested to know more information on birth defects, 72% believed birth defects were due to evil spirits. Even though 52% of women did not want to terminate their pregnancy if they had a fetus with anomalies, 80.7% of them opined that the termination of pregnancy with birth defected should be legalized. The educational level, parity and planning of current pregnancy of the participants were significantly correlated (p < 0.05) with their knowledge on pre conception care, preventive actions, knowledge on risk factors on birth defects

Effect of trigonometric sine, square and triangular wavetype time-periodic gravity-aligned oscillations on Rayleigh– Be´nard convection in Newtonian liquids and Newtonian nanoliquids

Abstract The influence of trigonometric sine, square and triangular wave-types of time-periodic gravity-aligned oscillations on Rayleigh–Be´nard convection in Newtonian liquids and in Newtonian nanoliquids is studied in the paper using the generalized Buongiorno two-phase model. The five-mode Lorenz model is derived under the assumptions of Boussinesq approximation, small-scale convective motion and some slip mechanisms. Using the method of multiscales, the Lorenz model is transformed to a Ginzburg–Landau equation the solution of which helps in quantifying the heat transport through the Nusselt number. Enhancement of heat transport in Newtonian liquids due to the presence of nanoparticles/nanotubes is clearly explained. The study reveals that all the three wave types of gravity modulation delay the onset of convection and thereby to a diminishment of heat transport. It is also found that in the case of trigonometric sine type of gravity modulation heat transport is intermediate to that of the cases of triangular and square types. The paper is the first such work that attempts to theoretically explain the effect of three different wave-types of gravity modulation on onset of convection and heat transport in the presence/absence of nanoparticles/nanotubes. Comparing the heat transport by the single-phase and by the generalized two-phase models, the conclusion is that the single-phase model under-predicts heat transport in nanoliquids irrespective of the type of gravity modulation being effected on the system. The results of the present study reiterate the findings of related experimental and numerical studies

Electronic structure and Fermi surface topology of binary and ternary compounds

To explore the material properties, electronic structure calculations are very much useful and can be obtained from the well known density functional theory(DFT) calculations. In the present thesis, we have focussed on the Fermi surface calculations and try to link the same with other physical properties. In addition, we have also explored the pressure effect on properties of the system. For the present study, we have selected different types of compounds which are Ni-based Heusler compounds, Nb-based A-15 compounds, Sn-based binary compounds and few magnetic compounds(one Zr-based Heusler compound and other Mn-based compounds). Electronic structure, mechanical, vibrational properties of Ni-based Heusler compounds, Ni2XAl (X=Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, and Ta), Ni2NbGa and Ni2NbSn, are presented both at ambient and under compression. Among the mentioned compounds, Ni2NbAl, Ni2NbGa and Ni2NbSn are experimentally reported as superconductors at ambient and our calculated superconducting transition temperature (Tc) and electron-phonon coupling constant (λep) values are in good agreement with the experiments. In addition, we have predicted superconducting nature in Ni2VAl with electron-phonon coupling constant (λep) around 0.68, which leads to superconducting transition temperature (Tc) around ∼4 K (by using coulomb pseudopotential μ∗ = 0.13), which is a relatively high transition temperature for Ni based Heusler alloys and are compared with other Ni2NbY (Y = Al, Ga and Sn) compounds. From the calculated Fermi surfaces, flat Fermi sheets are observed along X

DNA Bar-coding: A Novel Approach for Identifying an Individual Using Extended Levenshtein Distance Algorithm and STR analysis

DNA bar-coding is a technique that uses the short DNA nucleotide sequences from the standard genome of the species in order to find and group the species to which it belongs to. The species are identified by their DNA nucleotide sequences in the same way the items are recognized and billed in the supermarket using barcode scanner to scan the Universal Product Code of the items. Two items may look same to the untrained eye, but in both cases the barcodes are distinct. It was possible to create DNA-barcodes to characterize species by analysing DNA samples from fish, birds, mammals, plants, and invertebrates using Smith-waterman and Needleman-Wunsch algorithm. In this work we are creating human DNA barcode and implementing Extended Levenshtein distance algorithm along with STR analysis that uses less computation time compared to the previously used algorithms to measure the differential distance between the two DNA nucleotide sequences through which an individual can be identified

Suture granuloma masquerading as primary ovarian malignancy: a case report

Suture granuloma is an uncommon surgical complication comprising of foreign body granulomatous tissue reaction against the suture material. We present a case of ovarian suture granulomas in a 28-year-old female who was clinico-radiologically misdiagnosed as ovarian carcinoma. She presented with intermittent pelvic pain, on and off low-grade fever and menstrual irregularities for 6 months and had undergone laparoscopic tubectomy two years back. Ultrasonographic findings were suspicious of left ovarian malignancy. CA-125 levels were elevated (115 U/mL). Left oophoro-salpingectomy was performed and histopathological examination revealed multiple suture-related granulomas

Thermoelectric properties of zinc based pnictide semiconductors

We report a detailed first principles density functional calculations to understand the electronic structure and transport properties of Zn-based pnictides ZnXPn 2 (X: Si, Ge, and Sn; Pn: P and As) and ZnSiSb 2 . The electronic properties calculated using Tran-Blaha modified Becke-Johnson func- tional reveals the semi-conducting nature, and the resulting band gaps are in good agreement with experimental and other theoretical reports. We find a mixture of heavy and light bands in the band structure which is an advantage for good thermoelectric (TE) properties. The calculated transport properties unveils the favour p-type conduction in ZnXP 2 (X: Si, Ge, and Sn) and n-type conduc- tion in ZnGeP 2 and ZnSiAs 2 . Comparison of transport properties of Zn-based pnictides with the prototype chalcopyrite thermoelectric materials implies that the thermopower values of the investi- gated compounds to be higher when compared with the prototype chalcopyrite thermoelectric materials, together with the comparable values for electrical conductivity scaled by relaxation time. In addition to this, Zn-based pnictides are found to possess higher thermopower than well known traditional TE materials at room temperature and above which motivates further research in these compounds

Ferromagnetically correlated clusters in semi-metallic Ru2NbAl Heusler alloy

In this work, we report the structural, magnetic and electrical and thermal transport properties of the Heusler-type alloy Ru2NbAl. From the detailed analysis of magnetization data, we infer the presence of superparamagnetically interacting clusters with a Pauli paramagnetic background, while short-range ferromagnetic interaction is developed among the clusters below 5 K. The presence of this ferromagnetic interaction is confirmed through heat capacity measurements. The relatively small value of electronic contribution to specific heat, gamma (~2.7 mJ/mol-K2), as well as the linear nature of temperature dependence of Seebeck coefficient indicate a semi-metallic ground state with a pseudo-gap that is also supported by our electronic structure calculations. The activated nature of resistivity is reflected in the observed negative temperature coefficient and has its origin in the charge carrier localization due to antisite defects, inferred from magnetic measurements as well as structural analysis. Although the absolute value of thermoelectric figure of merit is rather low (ZT = 5.2*10-3) in Ru2NbAl, it is the largest among all the reported non-doped full Heusler alloys.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figure

A Study of Rayleigh–Bénard Convection in Hybrid Nanoliquids with Physically Realistic Boundaries

Linear and weakly nonlinear stability analyses of Rayleigh–Bénard convection in water–copper–alumina hybrid nanoliquid bounded by rigid isothermal boundaries is studied analytically. A single-phase description is used for the nanoliquid. Using a minimal Fourier series representation and an appropriate scaling a classical Lorenz model for rigid isothermal boundaries is derived. The Lorenz model is transformed to the Ginzburg–Landau model using the renormalization group method. The solution of the Ginzburg–Landau model is used to arrive at the expression of the Nusselt number. The study shows that the presence of two nanoparticles in water is to increase the coefficient of friction, advance the onset of convection and enhance the heat transfer. Further, it is shown that compared to a single nanoparticle the combined influence of two nanoparticles is more effective on heat transfer. The percentage of heat transfer enhancement in water due to Al2O3-Cu hybrid nanoparticles is almost twice that of Al2O3 nanopartcles. It is found that the hybrid nanoparticles of Al2O3-Cu intensify convection in water more than the mono nanoparticles of Al2O3 and the plots of stream function and isotherm point to this fact. The effect of the physically realistic rigid boundaries is to inhibit the onset of convection when compared with that of free boundaries