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Background: Vaccine hesitancy has been inching up and its root cause lies in the factors that influence the vaccination. The present study was conducted to find out the proportion and factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy for routine childhood vaccinations in the slum population. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 210 children between the age group of 0 and 59 months residing in the urban slums of Ranchi in 2021. Data were collected during the household visit by interviewing the parents using a predesigned pretested interview schedule which was developed based on the validated version of the vaccine hesitancy survey questionnaire originally developed by the World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts’ working group on vaccine hesitancy. Associations between variables were analyzed using logistic regression. Results: A total of 210 children whose parents had given consent were included in our study. The majority of the families, 188 (89.5%), were not hesitant while only 22 (10.5%) were vaccine hesitant. Tribal children and unreserved category children had adjusted odds ratio of 4.41 (95% CI, 1.61–45.46) and 7.75 (95% CI, 1.07–56.08) for the delay as against their reference category. Conclusions: Most of the children were vaccinated in our study area and the families have shown confidence in vaccines. Although there were delays in vaccination and the reasons for the delays must be addressed to prevent these vaccine-hesitant populations from turning into vaccine-refusal population. Uniformity in vaccination days in different health facilities in slum areas, appropriate antenatal information, and counseling regarding childhood vaccinations, widespread awareness, and improving mother’s education can help address the issue of vaccine hesitancy.

Now-a-days, non-conventional energy sources are playing a vital role in the generation of electrical energy. This is due to the disadvantages in the conventional sources like pollution, non-availability of the resources, greenhouse effect. Hence more concentration is made by the researcher’s on these non-conventional sources so called as renewable energy sources. These renewable sources are used with the converters along with filters to give the best output. In this work, we are focusing on the renewable energy called solar energy and hence the converter is inverter in this case. Basically we have conventional inverters as well as multilevel inverters. Multilevel inverters are basically classified into three types and they are cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter, diode clamped multilevel inverter, flying capacitor multilevel inverter. Among these cascaded multilevel inverter as many advantages like reduced number of components. This advantage is being used in this work and is simulated by using MATLAB.

ABSTRACT: Background: Vaccine hesitancy has been inching up and its root cause lies in the factors that influence the vaccination. The present study was conducted to find out the proportion and factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy for routine childhood vaccinations in the slum population. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 210 children between the age group of 0 and 59 months residing in the urban slums of Ranchi in 2021. Data were collected during the household visit by interviewing the parents using a predesigned pretested interview schedule which was developed based on the validated version of the vaccine hesitancy survey questionnaire originally developed by the World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts' working group on vaccine hesitancy. Associations between variables were analyzed using logistic regression. Results: A total of 210 children whose parents had given consent were included in our study. The majority of the families, 188 (89.5%), were not hesitant while only 22 (10.5%) were vaccine hesitant. Tribal children and unreserved category children had adjusted odds ratio of 4.41 (95% CI, 1.61–45.46) and 7.75 (95% CI, 1.07–56.08) for the delay as against their reference category. Conclusions: Most of the children were vaccinated in our study area and the families have shown confidence in vaccines. Although there were delays in vaccination and the reasons for the delays must be addressed to prevent these vaccine-hesitant populations from turning into vaccine-refusal population. Uniformity in vaccination days in different health facilities in slum areas, appropriate antenatal information, and counseling regarding childhood vaccinations, widespread awareness, and improving mother's education can help address the issue of vaccine hesitancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fournier's gangrene is a severe form of necrotizing fasciitis affecting the perineal region. It predominantly affects elderly men but can also occur in children. This condition is often associated with diabetes, chronic alcohol abuse, and immune suppression, although it can also develop in healthy individuals without significant co morbidities. Aims and Objectives: To study the age distribution and risk factors, common organisms associated with Fournier’s gangrene and its outcomes in the management of Fournier’s gangrene. Patients and methods: This was a prospective study done on 50 cases with fourniers gangrene who got admitted in the Department of General Surgery, Government General Hospital, Kurnool, over a period of 1 year from April 2022 to April 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Iron acts as a cofactor in Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) activity, and low iron levels can impact thyroid hormone metabolism. The function of ferritin and iron has been extensively documented in various studies in patients with Overt Hypothyroidism (OH), but their role in Subclinical Hypothyroidism (SH) remains largely unexplored. Aim: To evaluate the serum ferritin and iron levels in patients who have SH. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted between March 2018 and October 2018 at the Biochemistry Department of Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. For the study, a total of 100 cases of SH were enrolled, and these patients were matched in terms of age and sex with 50 healthy controls. A fasting sample was obtained and analysed for serum ferritin, Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC), TT3, TT4, and Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). MedCalc software was used to perform statistical analysis. Results: In the SH group, there were 32 males (32%) and 68 females (68%); in the control group, there were 21 males (42%) and 29 females (58%). The median values of TT3 (nmol/L), TT4 (µg/dL), and TSH (µIU/mL) were 1.55 (1.4-1.95), 7.8 (5.9-9.75), and 3 (1.9-3.75) for controls, and 1.4 (1.1-1.75), 6.85 (5.5-8.15), and 6.2 (4.8-8.05), respectively, for cases. In comparison to controls, the TSH level was significantly higher (p<0.0001) in cases. The median iron (µg/dL), ferritin (ng/mL), TIBC (µg/dL), and % saturation in cases were 56.5 (41.5-82), 110 (31.5-194.5), 329 (258-390), and 19 (11.25-26.75), respectively, while in controls they were 84 (68.5-96.5), 195 (121.5-338.5), 233 (188.5-294), and 25 (18-37.5). There was a significant decrease in iron level (p<0.00001), % saturation (<0.00001), and ferritin level (p<0.00001), and a significant increase in TIBC (p<0.0001) in cases when compared to controls. Conclusion: In conclusion, the present study showed a significant negative correlation between SH and iron deficiency. Patients with this condition should be evaluated for ferritin and iron levels and treated appropriately to prevent hypothyroidism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is about investigating the effect of adding TiO2-coated silver nanowires into a tri-layered photoanode of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to improve the photovoltaic performance. Face-centred cubic silver nanowires (AgNWs) were synthesized via a rapid, scalable and green pathway method. The average length and diameter of AgNWs were 5 μm and 70 nm, respectively. AgNWs were coated with titanium dioxide (TiO2) using 2-mercaptoethanol as the binder. AgNW@TiO2 core-shell structure was formed by the hydrothermal method and the average diameter of the coated TiO2 was observed to be 14 nm. TiO2 shell showed anatase phase, which was a significant advantage for higher dye absorbance leading to a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE). The PCE for a DSSC with single-layered TiO2 photoanode increased from 6.70 to 8.87% due to AgNW@TiO2 core-shell structured photoanode, reflecting a 32.3% enhancement. The PCE for a DSSC with tri-layered AgNWs@TiO2 core-shell structured photoanode was 10.5% showing an impressive enhancement of 49.6% compared to the DSSC with a pure tri-layered TiO2 photoanode. TiO2 shell appears to act as a protective shell around AgNWs by both resisting redox chemical corrosion of Ag by iodide ions in the electrolyte and increasing the thermal stability of AgNWs against annealing at high temperatures. Further, TiO2-coated AgNWs facilitate increased photoelectron generation by plasmonic effect, reduce the recombination and enhance the electron lifetime while providing a direct pathway for excited electrons leading to a significant improvement in the PCE of DSSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, six different edible coatings were evaluated to assess their microbicidal efficiency on pre-treated disinfected fresh cut guava. Among all coatings viz. alginate, pectin, carboxy methylcellulose, carrageenan, and starch, chitosan showed significant microbial growth inhibition and preservation of physico-chemical characteristics of fresh cut guava. Further, optimisation of coating parameters i.e. concentration (% w/v) and dipping time (min) was performed using Response Surface Methodology. It revealed that the fresh-cut guava dipped in 1% (w/v) chitosan for 3 min had desirability level of 91% and extension of its shelf life up to 9 days, as compared to 5 days shelf life of uncoated fresh-cut guava, maintaining all its physico-chemical parameters and microbial growth under the permissible level. Validation of optimised conditions was conducted at 5.0 kg scale that resulted in firmness of 1.90 (kg), 2.6 g/100 g sugars content, 8.0 °Brix total soluble solids content, 3.4 pH, 4.1 log CFU g−1 total plate count, 3.1 log CFU g−1 yeast and moulds count, and 3.1 log CFU g−1 total coliforms count on fresh-cut guava at 9th day of refrigeration storage. Shelf life analysis revealed that chitosan coated fresh cut guava can stay fresh till 10th day under refrigeration with maintaining all its nutritive, microbiological, and sensory properties in the acceptable range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. In this world of technical advancement, conventional resources are at the stage of destruction. To avoid such problems, we are going to use an alternative energy source namely solar by photovoltaic effect. The demand for multilevel inverters increased as they are used for different dynamic (high) voltage and dynamic (high) power appliances as they are capable of producing the output wave shape with low total harmonic distortion. Novelty. A new multilevel inverter is used in adding a (bidirectional) two way switch in between the capacitor and a traditional H-bridge module. This produces a better sine wave. By series connection of these two H-bridge modules, nine levels output voltage including zero is possible. The purpose of the proposed topology is reduction in the number of switches and it gives the good result with comparatively less power loss when it is compared with the other normal basic traditional inverters of the same output quality. Methods. In this paper, sinusoidal pulse width modulation technique is used for the working of the switches in the multilevel inverter. The results are verified by using simulation and also experimental setup is done. From the results it is observed that the proposed topology with reduced number of switches gives lower electromagnetic interference, lower harmonic distortion. Practical value. The total harmonic distortion value in the simulation is 14.4 % and practically it is 13.8 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we fabricated tungsten trioxide nanoparticles (WO3 NPs) from a tungsten complex [W(C13H10NO)3] of ligand N-salicylideneaniline with tungstic acid as the precursor. Nanoparticles were synthesized using the direct thermal decomposition method. These nanoparticles were evaluated for cytotoxicity influence on human breast cancer MCF7 cell line (adenocarcinoma). The observed results suggested that WO3 can destroy 50 % of viable cells after 24 h of incubation at 37 °C. Based on these results, we concluded that WO3 nanoparticles could be a potential drug carrier candidate against human breast cancer cells based on the amount of the drug. In addition, WO3 nanoparticles exhibited significant antimicrobial and antifungal activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we have inquired the structural, electronic and thermoelectric properties of the couple of chalcopyrite structured solids LiAlX2 (X=S and Se) with the help of density functional theory (DFT), which is tracked by resolution of the Boltzmann transport equation with the constant relaxation time calculations. The LDA (Localized Density Approximation), PBE (Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof), PBEsol (PBE functional revised for solids) and WC (Wu-Cohen) exchange correlation potentials have been used. The calculated lattice constants a = 5.271 Å; c = 10.178 Å and a = 6.226 Å; c = 12.165 Å for LiAlS2 and LiAlSe2 respectively and the band gap of the mentioned compounds are found in range from 1.74 eV to 3.13 eV. The dependency of thermoelectric parameters are calculated with different temperature (300-800K) and carrier concentration 1018 1019 cm-3. From the study of ZT (figure of merit's ZT= S²σT/κ the dimensionless parameter) and it is found that it's value for both the compounds in n-type as well as in p-type region is 'unity'. Since these compounds can be the promising candidate for thermoelectric devices also these compounds are non-toxic, eco-friendly and good alternative for the green and renewable source of electric power generators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ficus auriculata belongs to the family of dicotyledonous plant. The general phytochemical screening for Ethanol, Hexane, Chloroform and Water extracts are done. Since ethanol shows the presence of maximum compounds, it is subjected to the isolation of phenolic compounds by TLC and Column Chromatography. On repeating this process, a white crystalline solid results, whichon the basis of UV-Vis, FT-IR, GC-MS, 1H NMR, confirms that the isolated compound is 2,4 Ditertiary Butyl Phenol (2,4 DTBP). The isolated compound is further studied for its solventeffect and subjected to anti-microbial and Cytotoxicity studies with AGS cancer cell line and HIEC-6 (Human Normal Intestinal Epithelial cell line). Docking studies is carried out using PatchDock server, with 2,4 DTBP as guest and Occludin, which is a Tight Junction Protein (TJP) as host. The resulted structure is further subjected to Lipinski Rule of five. The present studyconcludes that 2,4 DTBP shows intermediate resistance against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria like S. aureus, E. coli, Klebsiela pneumonia, strongly resistant to fungi Candida sps. According to cytotoxic and In silico studies, the isolated compound has excellent anticancer properties and is thus used in the treatment of gastric cancer. From the Lipinski rule, it is confirmed that the drug can be administered orally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gout is a metabolic disorder that leads to elevated serum uric acid levels and deposition of urate crystals in the joints. The disease is usually confined to the joint space and leads to pain and limitation of jaw opening. The case describes a 45-year-old female patient with a chief complaint of ‘occasional pain in the left temporal muscle region’. The case disclosed a gout manifestation in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) after physical and radiographic findings. Gout manifestation in the TMJ is an unusual presentation and a few reports in the English literature address the subject. Gout in the TMJ should be included as a differential diagnosis for joint disorders because of its rarity. A clinician may overlook gout involving the TMJ in the differential diagnosis of facial pain even when the patient has received a diagnosis of gout in other joints.