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Goa, a biodiversity hotspot, is also a major iron ore producing state in India. This study investigated total heavy metal (HM) contamination in 65 georeferenced soil samples through inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrophotometer (ICP-AES) for assessing risk of mining activity on agricultural soils. The mean concentrations of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe) and cobalt (Co) were 125.60, 75.60, 96.40, 51.20, 69.30, 25.77, 2091, 162638 and 21.20 mg kg−1, respectively. Lower pH, higher organic carbon (OC) and fine-textured soil augmented metal accumulation processes. Boxplot of geoaccumulation index (Igeo) values indicated that lead (Pb) metal had more variation in the study area. Mean Igeo values of metals in descending order are Fe (4.24) > Mn (3.08) > Cu (2.84) > Co (2.47) > Pb (1.85) > Cd (0.7) > Zn (0.58) > Ni (0.45) > Cr (0.16). Mean values of modified degree of contamination (mCdeg) (10.4) and pollution load index (PLI) (6.19) revealed high contamination with deteriorating soil quality. Combined approach of correlation, principal component (PC) and cluster analysis indicated the source of origin by describing association of metals with Fe. PC biplot showed that impact of mining was more on lowland agro-ecosystem rather than natural due to slope factor which led to clogging of pores by mining overburden mixed soil deposition from uphill as evidenced from the presence of waterlogged fallow lands. Fuzzy k-mean clustering yielded three contamination zones (CZs) of low (CZ2), moderate (CZ1) and high (CZ3) degree of contamination. The CZs-based site-specific land management plan might lead to a sustainable ecosystem through coexistence of both mining and agricultural activity by arresting contamination and restoring fallow lands.

Millions of people die each year from viral infections across the globe. There is an urgent need to overcome the existing gap and pitfalls of the current antiviral therapy which include increased dose and dosing frequency, bioavailability challenges, non-specificity, incidences of resistance and so on. These stumbling blocks could be effectively managed by the advent of nanomedicine. Current review emphasizes over an enhanced understanding of how different lipid, polymer and elemental based nanoformulations could be potentially and precisely used to bridle the said drawbacks in antiviral therapy. The dawn of nanotechnology meeting vaccine delivery, role of RNAi therapeutics in antiviral treatment regimen, various regulatory concerns towards clinical translation of nanomedicine along with current trends and implications including unexplored research avenues for advancing the current drug delivery have been discussed in detail.

Nowadays, it is of utmost importance to design synthetic methods, which can be utilized for the generation of substances that will minimize toxicity to the health of humans and the environment. The utilization of acid catalysts generates lots of corrosive and harmful wastes, which have to be treated with appropriate alkalis. Hence, it generates lots of sludge and alarms environmental issues of its storage and disposal. Zeolites and Zeotypes, by virtue of their peculiar properties, such as specific morphology, porosity and residing acidity, are gaining enormous attention as they replace harmful acid catalysts efficiently and also reduce chemical waste in the industrial process; hence, emerged as a new plethora in the field of “Green Chemistry”.

The snow cover is greatly diverse in distribution due to landscape, slope, duration, wind, etc. However, the snow build-up and spatial patterns play an important role in the hydrological cycle. These characteristics can be determined through a number of weather station which widely represents the entire glacier and hilly region of Leh-Ladakh to support understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution of snow cover. Remotely sensed data overcome these natural and other anthropogenic limitations that hinder data collection. Snow and ice cover has a distinct spectral reflectance from the land surfaces, therefore, shortwave infrared (SWIR-1) bands were used to discriminate these. Snow was extracted by applying Normalized Difference Snow Index and Normalized Difference Snow Thermal Index. In this study, snow and ice of different classes like fresh snow, dirty snow, and blue ice from the optical images were interpreted and Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel-2 images were used to extract both spatial and temporal aspects. Temporal changes of snow and ice in the year of 2015–2017 shows a decline in snow cover area. The accuracy assessment of supervised classification using maximum likelihood and support vector machine accuracy with the Sentinel-2 optical image was compared and it was 94.40%. The landsat-8 image depicted 80.88% accuracy of snow and ice.

Effect of swift heavy ion irradiation on MgFe2O4 (annealed at 450 °C/3 h) sample prepared by a sol–gel auto-combustion procedure has been studied. Single phase samples were irradiated with 120 MeV 28Si9+ with ion fluence: 1 × 1011, 1 × 1012, and 1 × 1013 ions/cm2 to monitor its effect on the structure, cation distribution, and magnetic properties. Electronic energy loss induced modifications of cation distribution, structural, magnetic properties were examined by XRD, VSM, FE-SEM, and EDS. XRD measurements show the formation of single phase nanocrystalline mixed cubic spinel structure (grain size 31–35 nm). Observed slight changes of experimental lattice parameter with increasing irradiation dose is ascribable to the migration of Mg2+ ions (ionic radius: 0.071 nm) from B to A site with simultaneous migration of Fe3+ ions (ionic radius: 0.063 nm) from A to B site. Sample irradiated at a lower fluence (1 × 1011 ions/cm2) has higher specific surface area (S), is more suitable for catalytic activity. Irradiation leads formation of dead layer, thus affects magnetic properties, via spin canting at surface. Therefore, irradiation can be used to control both structural, magnetic properties. SEM images display agglomerated nano-particles, while EDS pattern confirms the presence of Mg, Fe and O elements in the sample. First time the antistructural modeling for magnesium ferrite is reported to get information on active surface centers.

A biocomposite of poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) hydrogel with β-cyclodextrin as a biomaterial was prepared through one-pot synthesis in water as a green solvent. The formation of biocomposite was confirmed by advanced techniques such as FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, DSC, TGA, and FE-SEM. In this report, straight forward and efficient synthetic protocol for biocomposite formation responded without any environmental hazard. Swelling capacity of P(AM-co-AA) and biocomposite was studied by addition of different saline solutions including monovalent, divalent, and trivalent salts. By addition of β-cyclodextrin, the swelling and saline water-absorbing properties of the biocomposite hydrogel were significantly improved. In this regard, the possible formation mechanism of the composite hydrogel is also discussed. It is deduced that the biocomposite formation can be the result of intermolecular interactions between polymer and β-cyclodextrin. The water-soluble polymer seems to have entered into the inner cavity of β-cyclodextrin to form supramolecular biocomposite structure. The results indicate that the order of water uptake decreases with increase in valency of the salts. It is believed that this is an effective method to prepare supramolecular biocomposite hydrogel materials. Its applications can be extended in marine water industries as a basis for antifouling coating, waste water treatment, and even in medical field. Hence, the synthesized materials can be biodegradable, environment-friendly, and biocompatible inspired by the green chemistry concept.

Introduction The aetiology of coccydynia can be multifactorial, with several associated factors such as obesity, female gender and low mood. The long-term results of operative interventions, such as manipulation under anaesthesia and coccygectomy are variable, ranging from 63–90%. Materials and methods Our aim was to identify whether age, trauma and body mass index (BMI) were independent prognostic factors in coccydynia treatment. All patients who presented to the Royal Derby Hospital with a primary diagnosis of coccydynia between January 2011 and January 2015 who had injections, manipulation under anaesthesia or coccygectomy were included. We used patient-reported satisfaction score as the primary outcome measure. We hypothesised that patients with preceding history of trauma and with high BMI (> 25) would be less satisfied. We divided patient BMI into four groups, following World Health Organization guidelines: group A (18.5–24.9), group B (25–29.9), group C (30–39.9) and group D (> 40). Results A total of 748 patients were diagnosed with coccydynia. Of these, 201 patients had 381 injections, 40 had 98 manipulations under anaesthesia and 9 had coccygectomy. Mean age was 46.4 years; 26% of patients had trauma to the coccyx. The mean time to follow-up was 7.3 months. We found a statistically significant difference (P = 0.03) between satisfaction scores in groups B and D. Patients who had trauma improved significantly (P = 0.04). The odds ratio calculation of coccygectomy and BMI revealed a higher risk of coccygectomy in Group A. Discussion This is the first study to establish BMI and trauma as independent prognostic factors for coccydynia treatment. Our hypothesis that patients with higher BMI would have lower satisfaction levels has been proven true.

Multinodular goiter (MNG), one of the disorders of the thyroid gland, is often detected as a mass in the neck, but sometimes produces pressure symptoms. We present successful anesthetic management of a case of an obese woman having MNG with retrosternal extension, in the setting of severe OSA, planned for total thyroidectomy. The complicated presentation of the disorder, with challenging airway management during the peri-operative period and a positive outcome is a reason for sharing this experience.

Primary hyperparathyroidism presenting first time with severe hypercalcemia is rare in pregnancy. We report a case of primary hyperparathyroidism due to a cystic parathyroid adenoma presenting as severe hypercalcemia with acute pancreatitis in second trimester of pregnancy. Acute pancreatitis was managed by conservative treatment. Hypercalcemia failed to respond to medical management and ultimately responded to ultrasound-guided ethanol ablation of parathyroid adenoma. The delivery was uneventful and patient continues to remain normocalcemic during follow up. As such, ethanol ablation of parathyroid adenoma may be considered during pregnancy in case of failure of response to medical management and when surgical removal of parathyroid adenoma is not safe.

(CoFe2O4)x(BaFe12O19)1-x (x= 0.0, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) nano-composites was synthesized via single reaction mixture, utilizing sol-gel auto combustion method, with an intention to have superior structural homogeneity, and eventually to have single magnetic phase with enhanced exchange coupling between CoFe2O4 (soft) − BaFe12O19 (hard) phase. As-synthesized composite was thermally treated at 800 °C/4hrs, needed for the formation of hexagonal phase. X-ray diffraction (XRD) displays presence of both soft and hard phases only. Grain size for BaFe12O19 and CoFe2O4 respectively range between 50.2 − 54.5 nm and 45.5 − 56.5 nm. Obtained value of saturation magnetization (Ms), coercivity (Hc) for the studied samples is respectively: 39.8 Am2/kg − 75.5 Am2/kg and 501.2 Oe − 2587.9 Oe. Observed Ms, Hc values clearly show that single reaction mixture leads to better exchange coupling between soft-hard phases. Ms enhancement was also observed with increasing substitution amount (x). Observed results point out (CoFe2O4)x(BaFe12O19)1-x composite system as a good candidate for their potential applications as hard magnets.

Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 nano-powders were prepared by solution combustion method by using metal nitrates, citric acid, green fuel (plant extracts). The structural, magnetic characteristics of as prepared, annealed Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 samples were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). XRD confirms the formation of single phase nano-crystalline (grain size: 12.7−32.7 nm) cubic spinel structure of annealed samples. Studied mixed ferrite shows relocation of Ni2+, Zn2+, Fe3+ ions between A, B site. Coercivity of annealed samples ranges between 29.7 to 124.9 Oe. Obtained saturation magnetization of annealed samples (34.56−54.96 Am2/kg) is a combined effect of weakening of A-B, A-A, and strengthening of B-B interaction, and surface dead layer (0.80−1.25 nm) on particles, arising due to spin disorder at surface.

Soft−hard (CoFe2O4)x(SrFe12O19)1-x (0.0≤x ≤1.0) nano-composite(s) were prepared by novel one pot reaction sol-gel auto-combustion route and annealed at 800 °C for 4 hours. X-ray diffraction (XRD), and vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) were utilized to monitor the effect of substitution on structural, and magnetic properties. XRD confirms the existence of soft (CoFe2O4), and hard (SrFe12O19) phase with average grain size (D) ranging between 57.7 nm to 59.4 nm for hexagonal and 34.6 to 64.5 nm for cubic phase. The magnetization of nano-composites demonstrates hysteresis loop that is characteristic of the exchange coupled system showing structurally two phases, but magnetically single phase. As a result of exchange coupling, between Co, and Sr ferrite enhanced saturation magnetization (70.65 Am2/kg), and remanence (26.29 Am2/kg) were observed as compared to pure SrFe12O19. Observed enhancement in energy product (BH)max (0.83 − 28.96 kJ/m3) of nano composite also favors good exchange coupling between hard and soft phase.

The article made an inventory of typical frost heave features in the cold arid region of the Leh-Ladakh region. The study found variations in morphology and patterns and also identified degraded forms of heaves. Such features were correlated with pasture degradation in the region.

The present study aimed to know the personal value among Constable and PI employees of police department. It also aimed to check personal value with reference to types of police and type of family. The Personal Value Scale (PVS) prepared by Dr. Madhullka Varma and Vindeshwari Waxar Pawar (2013) was used. The sample constituted total 120 employees out of which 60 were from constable police (30 joint family and 30 nuclear family) and 60 from PI police (30 joint family and 30 nuclear family). The data was collected from various police department of Gujarat State. The data was scored, analyzed as per the manual. ‘F’ test was being calculated. The result showed that (1) The constable employees group is having high personal value than PI employees group, (2) The police employees of nuclear family group is having high personal value than police employees of joint family group and (3) There is no significant difference between interactive effect of the mean score of the personal value of type of police and type of family.

Setting Most epidemiological studies on Mycobacterium tuberculosis focus on pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), whereas extra-pulmonary TB (EPTB) remains poorly explored. Objective To study the rate of resistant EPTB cases among individuals with suspected EPTB using a commercial line-probe assay (LPA), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse hybridisation test. We also examined the molecular profile of the EPTB isolates obtained at the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, India. Design EPTB samples were collected from 249 patients with clinical and radiological suspicion of EPTB and subjected to automated liquid culture, PCR and GenoType MDRTBplus according to the manufacturers' instructions. Results A diagnostic yield of 15% was observed among individuals with suspected EPTB using MGIT™ (Mycobacterium Growth Indicator Tubes), which increased to 38% on LPA and PCR. LPA results had 100% concordance with MGIT, with all culture-positive samples also being positive on LPA. However, 70.2% of LPA-positive samples did not grow Mycobacterium tuberculosis in liquid culture. Two (2.1%) of the culture-negative EPTB PCR-positive samples were multidrug-resistant, 20 (21.2%) were rifampicin-monoresistant and 12 (12.7%) isoniazid-monoresistant on LPA. Conclusion Given the paucibacillary nature of EPTB, we demonstrated that PCR and LPA can have a vital role in establishing TB diagnosis in extra-pulmonary tissues.

BACKGROUND Right ventricular (RV) function has prognostic value in terms of survival and symptoms in patients with mitral stenosis (MS). The aim of the study was to assess RV function by strain analysis in the patients of mitral stenosis and the effect of percutaneous transvenous mitral commisurotomy (PTMC) on it. METHODS Eighty patients of severe mitral stenosis without overt right heart failure and normal sinus rhythm undergoing PTMC were included. Conventional echocardiography and RV function by TDI-derived longitudinal strain and strain rate were assessed prior and 24 hours post PTMC and compared with 40 healthy age-matched controls. RESULTS Eighty subjects (mean age 31 + 10 years, 70% females) were included. Patients with MS had significantly lower RV strain of basal and mid-free wall, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), and RV fractional area change (FAC) as compared to controls. There was a significant increase in pre- and post-PTMC in TAPSE (19.5 ± 2.7 mm vs 21.4 ± 3.3 mm; P

Co 1-x Zn x Fe 2 O 4 (0.08 ≤ x ≤ 0.56) powders prepared by a sol-gel auto-combustion method have been investigated through the combined use of structural and dc/ac-magnetization measurements under a wide range of applied magnetic field values. EDS spectra are performed to evaluate the samples chemical composition, whereas the X-ray diffraction measurements indicate the formation of the typical nanocrystalline mixed cubic spinel structure and allow to determine the cationic distribution as well as the lattice parameter and the oxygen position as function of Zn content. Magnetic characterization improves the knowledge about the correlation between the structural properties and magnetic behavior. The magnetization curves show a hysteretic behavior at room temperature and they are analyzed as function of Zn content taking in account the Yafet-Kittel’s model. The replacement of non-zero magnetic moment Co 2+ ions with zero magnetic moment Zn 2+ ions induces a gradual reduction of magnetocrystalline anisotropy and a lowering of the magnetic coercivity. The energy lost in a static and alternating magnetic field (frequency of 69 kHz) at selected vertex field values for the studied samples has been calculated in order to evaluate their prospective usage to operate in different field conditions.

Azomethine is the key linkage in all Schiff base reactions. The present context has efficiently emphasized on the utilization of Schiff base strategy effectively in the synthesis of polyazomethine polymer gel materials. The synthesized polymer gel is characterized by different physical techniques for testing its proper existence such as FESEM analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimeter analysis, FTIR analysis and electron dispersive X-ray scattering analysis. The morphological study has revealed that the material is having 3D lamellar-layered architecture, i.e., layer-by-layer array of polymer chains. The synthesis governs several advantages, such as executing without using any catalyst and water as a green solvent. The present study also checked its complexion ability with nitro aromatic acceptors. The intercalation of nitro aromatic molecule between the two straight chains of the polymer gel is the beautiful peculiarity of these red-coloured complexes.

X-ray diffraction (XRD) was utilized to study the effect of 80 MeV 16O 6+ ion irradiation of the as-burnt ZnFe2O4 samples, prepared by sol-gel auto-combustion technique. The samples were irradiated at fluence: 1 × 1011, 1 × 1012, 1 × 1013, 1 × 1014 ions/cm2 to observe the effect of irradiation on structural properties and cationic distribution. XRD confirms the formation of single phase nanocrystalline cubic spinel ferrites with Scherrer’s particle diameter (D) ranging between 15.7 – 17.4 nm. Results very distinctly show the electronic energy loss induced changes in: - experimental and theoretical lattice parameter (aexp., ath.), tetrahedral and octahedral bond length (RA, RB), and shared tetrahedral and octahedral edge (dAE, dBE). The paper reports the generation of magnetic moment of Zn ferrite by swift heavy ion irradiation induced distortion at tetrahedral site.

Effect of Zn addition on cationic distribution, structural properties, magnetic properties, antistructural modeling of nanocrystalline Co1-xZnxFe2O4 (0.08 ≤ x ≤ 0.56) ferrite is reported. XRD confirms the formation of single phase cubic spinel nano ferrites with average grain diameter ranging between 41.2 − 54.9 nm. Coercivity (Hc), anisotropy constant (K1) decreases with Zn addition, but experimental, theoretical saturation magnetization (Ms, Ms(t)) increases upto x = 0.32, then decreases, attributed to the breaking of collinear ferrimagnetic phase. Variation of magnetic properties is correlated with cationic distribution. A new antistructural modeling for describing active surface centers is discussed to explain change in concentration of donor’s active centers Zn′B, Co′B, acceptor’s active centers Fe*A are explained.Effect of Zn addition on cationic distribution, structural properties, magnetic properties, antistructural modeling of nanocrystalline Co1-xZnxFe2O4 (0.08 ≤ x ≤ 0.56) ferrite is reported. XRD confirms the formation of single phase cubic spinel nano ferrites with average grain diameter ranging between 41.2 − 54.9 nm. Coercivity (Hc), anisotropy constant (K1) decreases with Zn addition, but experimental, theoretical saturation magnetization (Ms, Ms(t)) increases upto x = 0.32, then decreases, attributed to the breaking of collinear ferrimagnetic phase. Variation of magnetic properties is correlated with cationic distribution. A new antistructural modeling for describing active surface centers is discussed to explain change in concentration of donor’s active centers Zn′B, Co′B, acceptor’s active centers Fe*A are explained.