Multiplicity and transverse momentum evolution of charge-dependent correlations in pp, p-Pb, and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC

We report on two-particle charge-dependent correlations in pp, p-Pb, and Pb-Pb collisions as a function of the pseudorapidity and azimuthal angle difference, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] respectively. These correlations are studied using the balance function that probes the charge creation time and the development of collectivity in the produced system. The dependence of the balance function on the event multiplicity as well as on the trigger and associated particle transverse momentum ([Formula: see text]) in pp, p-Pb, and Pb-Pb collisions at [Formula: see text] 7, 5.02, and 2.76 TeV, respectively, are presented. In the low transverse momentum region, for [Formula: see text] GeV/c, the balance function becomes narrower in both [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] directions in all three systems for events with higher multiplicity. The experimental findings favor models that either incorporate some collective behavior (e.g. AMPT) or different mechanisms that lead to effects that resemble collective behavior (e.g. PYTHIA8 with color reconnection). For higher values of transverse momenta the balance function becomes even narrower but exhibits no multiplicity dependence, indicating that the observed narrowing with increasing multiplicity at low [Formula: see text] is a feature of bulk particle production.

From Dyadic Ties to Information Infrastructures: Care-Coordination between Patients, Providers, Students and Researchers. Contribution of the Health Informatics Education Working Group

OBJECTIVE

To share how an effectual merging of local and online networks in low resource regions can supplement and strengthen the local practice of patient centered care through the use of an online digital infrastructure powered by all stakeholders in healthcare. User Driven Health Care offers the dynamic integration of patient values and evidence based solutions for improved medical communication in medical care.

INTRODUCTION

This paper conceptualizes patient care-coordination through the lens of engaged stakeholders using digital infrastructures tools to integrate information technology. We distinguish this lens from the prevalent conceptualization of dyadic ties between clinician-patient, patient-nurse, clinician-nurse, and offer the holistic integration of all stakeholder inputs, in the clinic and augmented by online communication in a multi-national setting.

METHODS

We analyze an instance of the user-driven health care (UDHC), a network of providers, patients, students and researchers working together to help manage patient care. The network currently focuses on patients from LMICs, but the provider network is global in reach. We describe UDHC and its opportunities and challenges in care-coordination to reduce costs, bring equity, and improve care quality and share evidence.

CONCLUSION

UDHC has resulted in coordinated global based local care, affecting multiple facets of medical practice. Shared information resources between providers with disparate knowledge, results in better understanding by patients, unique and challenging cases for students, innovative community based research and discovery learning for all.

Effective carbon and nutrient treatment solutions for mixed domestic-industrial wastewater in India

The present study evaluates effectiveness of up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor followed by two post-anaerobic treatment options, namely free-surface, up-flow constructed wetland (FUP-CW) and oxygen-limited anaerobic nitrification/denitrification (OLAND) processes in treating sewage from the peri-urban areas in India receiving illegal industrial infiltrations. The UASB studies yielded robust results towards fluctuating strength of sewage and consistently removed 87-98% chemical oxygen demand (COD) at a hydraulic retention time of 1.5-2 d. The FUP-CW removed 68.5±13% COD, 68±3% NH4+-N, 38±5% PO4(3-)-P, 97.6±5% suspended particles and 97±13% fecal coliforms. Nutrient removal was found to be limiting in FUP-CW, especially in winter. Nitrogen removal in the OLAND process were 100 times higher than the FUP-CW process. Results show that UASB followed by FUP-CW can be an excellent, decentralized sewage treatment option, except during winter when nutrient removal is limited in FUP-CW. Hence, the study proposes bio-augmentation of FUP-CW with OLAND biomass for overall improvement in the performance of UASB followed by FUP-CW process.

Alcohol Consumption by workers in automobile repair shops of a slum of Kolkata: An assessment with AUDIT instrument

Background   National Household Survey of Drug Use in the India in its systematic effort to document the nationwide prevalence of drug use including alcohol consumption reported that almost 21% of the adult male Indian consume alcohol in a year. To find out prevalence, pattern and consequences of drinking and determine the relationship of  alcohol use with demographic and socio-economic factors among auto-mobile repair workers. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among auto-mobile repair workers in the urban field practice area of All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata. Results Prevalence of alcoholism in the community of automobile repair workers was found to be as high as 79%.  More than 50% of the alcoholics belonged to the hazardous and dependent variety according to the WHO developed AUDIT instrument.53.01% of the alcoholics consumed foreign liquor predominantly and 87.95% bought them from licensed liquor shops. Mean age of initiation of drinking was 18.67 years. Taking loan OR (95% CI) 3.51(1.56-7.92), gambling OR (95% CI) 3.38(1.48-7.69) and clinical signs of alcoholism OR (95% CI) 5.52 (2.13 - 14.29) were significantly associated with chronic alcohol abuse. A multivariate logistic regression model was created for socio-economic variables which showed education AOR (95%CI) 4.65(1.34- 16.31) and total number of family members AOR (95%CI) 5.33(1.31-25.02) were significantly associated with drinking status (Nagelkerke R2 for this model is 0.2585). ConclusionThe prevalence of alcoholism is high in the automobile repair workers and therefore all efforts must be made to reduce, if not eliminate, alcohol consumption among the workers of auto-mobile service centres.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nje.v3i3.9188 Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 2013;3(3): 269-274

Effect of continuous light on spermatogenesis and testicular steroidogenesis in rats: possible involvement of alpha 2u-globulin

Male rats exposed to continous light for 70 days showed an increased weights of testis, accessory sex organs, serum levels of FSH, LH, testosterone, testicular 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (1beta-HSD) activity and alpha 2u-globulin, while 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity showed no significant changes. Prolonged light exposure also stimulated sepermatogenesis in rats. These results suggest that alpha 2u-globulin possibly stimutates the male gonad by inducing pituitary gonadotropins in continuous light-exposed rats.

Tissue polypeptide specific antigen as a marker used to determine the liver diseases

BACKGROUND

Tissue polypeptide specific antigen and its specific M3 epitope are increased in malignant as well as in some benign diseases. The level of tissue polypeptide specific antigen in serum is related mostly to proliferation capacity rather than tumor mass and cell necrosis.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of tissue polypeptide specific antigen and other tumor markers in patients with liver cirrhosis, chronic active hepatitis and hepatoma to determine if tissue polypeptide specific antigen is important to other tumor markers in hepatoma patients.

METHODS

Ninety-seven patients and 30 controls were included in the study. The patients were divided into three subgroups as cirrhosis, hepatoma and chronic active hepatitis. The levels of tissue polypeptide specific antigen, carcinoembryonic antigen, CA19.9, alpha-fetoprotein and transaminases were determined in all patients.

RESULTS

Tissue polypeptide specific antigen levels were significantly higher in all patients than in the control group (p less than 0.005) According to Kruskal-Wallis test with regard to subgroups, the differences in mean values of tissue polypeptide specific antigen and alpha-fetoprotein were significant (p less than 0.0001 for both). There was a low correlation between tissue polypeptide specific antigen and alpha-fetoprotein in the cirrhotic and hepatoma groups, but these were significantly correlated in the chronic active hepatitis group. The correlation coefficient between tissue polypeptide specific antigen and transaminases in all patients was low.

CONCLUSIONS

Tissue polypeptide specific antigen is efficient for determining primary hepatoma patients and also that this marker is specific for proliferation of cells.

Effect of gonadotropins and alpha 2u-globulin on testicular steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis in melatonin-treated rats

Administration of melatonin (400?g/100g bd.wt.) for 14 days caused a fall in weights of the testes and accessory sex organs and testicular 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17?-HSD) but rise in 3?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3?-HSD) activity, decreased spermatogenesis, serum level of gonadotropins, testosterone and alpha 2u-globulin, The animals treated with melatonin when received gonadotropins or alpha 2u-globulin for the last seven days reversed the weight of testis and accessory sex organs, 3?-HSD, 17?-HSD activities, serum level of gonadotropins, testosterone and alpha 2u-globulin when compared with melatonin-treated rats. It is concluded that alpha 2u-globulin prevents testicular degeneration in melatonin-treated rats by stimulating the synthesis of gonadotropins. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal,2012,Vol-8,No-1, 7-12 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v8i1.6819

Directional limits on persistent gravitational waves using LIGO S5 science data

The gravitational-wave (GW) sky may include nearby pointlike sources as well as stochastic backgrounds. We perform two directional searches for persistent GWs using data from the LIGO S5 science run: one optimized for pointlike sources and one for arbitrary extended sources. Finding no evidence to support the detection of GWs, we present 90% confidence level (C.L.) upper-limit maps of GW strain power with typical values between 2-20×10(-50)  strain(2) Hz(-1) and 5-35×10(-49)  strain(2) Hz(-1) sr(-1) for pointlike and extended sources, respectively. The latter result is the first of its kind. We also set 90% C.L. limits on the narrow-band root-mean-square GW strain from interesting targets including Sco X-1, SN 1987A and the Galactic center as low as ≈7×10(-25) in the most sensitive frequency range near 160 Hz.

Isolated fallopian tube torsion in early pregnancy presenting as resolving appendicular lump

Isolated fallopian tube torsion (IFTT) is a rare clinical entity, especially in pregnancy. It is frequently misdiagnosed as acute appendicitis or ovarian torsion. We present an unusual case of IFTT occurring in early pregnancy, which was detected when patient presented for medical termination of pregnancy in family planning clinic. This case report highlights sub acute presentation of IFTT in early pregnancy which clinically presented as resolving appendicular lump.

H Evolution from Nano-Crystalline Silicon- Comparison of Simulation and Experiment

The temperature dependent H evolution from a-Si:H provides unique information on the H-bonding and microstructure. Traditional undiluted a-Si:H films show a high temperature H-evolution peak near 600°C. However device-quality compact nanocrystalline silicon films grown near the phase boundary of amorphous and microcrystalline growth show a new low temperature H- evolution peak near 400°C in addition to a second high temperature peak near 600°C. The origin of this peak cannot be attributed to microvoids or a substantial density of dihydride species typical of porous low-temperature films. We have simulated the H evolution using a molecular dynamics generated model of nanocrystalline silicon, where nano-crystallites reside in a background amorphous matrix. An excess density of H occurs at the crystallite surface. We find a low temperature evolution peak at 250-400°C, where the H-evolution starts from the surface of the nano-crystallite. In addition there is a higher temperature peak at 700-800°C providing good agreement with H-evolution measurements. The mobile H is found to exist in both the bond-centered type of species and H2 molecules – which has implications for H-diffusion models.

Atomistic Mechanisms Underlying Chemical Mechanical Planarization of Copper

With an aim to understanding the fundamental mechanisms underlying chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of copper, we simulate the nanoscale polishing of a copper surface with molecular dynamics utilizing the embedded atom method. Mechanical abrasion produces rough planarized surfaces with a large chip in front of the abrasive particle, and dislocations in the bulk of the crystal. The addition of chemical dissolution leads to very smooth planarized copper surfaces and considerably smaller frictional forces that prevent the formation of bulk dislocations. This is a first step towards understanding the interplay between mechanistic material abrasion and chemical dissolution in chemical mechanical planarization of copper interconnects.

Cloning and sequencing of biofilm-associated protein (bapA) gene and its occurrence in different serotypes of Salmonella

AIMS

Salmonella spp. has the capability to form biofilm on various surfaces. Biofilm-associated protein (bapA), a large surface protein has been shown to play a leading role in the development of biofilm in Salmonella. Objective of this study was to investigate the presence of bapA gene in different serotypes of Salmonella spp. and to characterize DNA fragment encoding bapA protein of Salmonella Enteritidis.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Sixty-seven Salmonella strains belonging to 34 serovars isolated from diverse sources in India were screened for the presence of bapA gene employing a primer designed for the purpose. All the strains yielded a positive amplification indicating that the bapA gene is well conserved in Salmonella spp. The amplified gene fragment of bapA was cloned in Escherichia coli (DH5 α) cells by using pGEM-T easy cloning vector. On partial sequence analysis, the product exhibited 667 base pairs, corresponding to 218 amino acids.

CONCLUSIONS

  BapA gene was found to be highly conserved in Salmonella. Partial sequence analysis of this gene from a strain of Salm. Enteritidis revealed close association with serotypes of poultry origin and also with some other animal/zoonotic serotypes.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

BapA gene can be targeted for the genus-specific detection of this organism from different sources. Antigenic index of bapA protein indicates its protective and diagnostic potentials.

An intervention study on compliance of diabetes mellitus patients

The effect of intervention (counselling) on compliance was observed in 106 diabetes mellitus patients with poor glycaemic control attending a clinic. They were selected at random and the period of study extended over 3 months. Intervention (counselling) improved significantly their compliance with advices on diet, exercise and drug as well as their glycaemic status.