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Digital microfluidic biochips (DMFB), a newly developed lab-on-chip device, has evolved in recent years as a significant miniaturized platform for applications in the area of point-of-care investigations, DNA sequencing, and further biomedical detection and analysis. By means of rapid escalation in scalability, complexity, and requirements of more accurate control and accuracy, a novel DMFB-based architecture known as microelectrode dot array (MEDA) has been introduced. Due to its higher complexity and parallel execution of multiple bioassays, conventional testing methods used for DMFBs may not be adequate for fault diagnosis and detection in such devices. In this chapter, the authors proposed new techniques compatible with higher complexity and applicable for structural testing of MEDA-based biochips. The proposed testing methods provide detection of faults or failure (if any) within a given layout using minimal resources with minimal test completion time. The testing simulations are carried out with specified layout dimensions and variable droplet size.

An efficient fixation of CO2 into epoxide is achieved by using a halide free aluminium-based polymeric material as catalysts under atmospheric pressure.

Efficient fixation of CO2 into epoxide to form cyclic carbonate is achieved utilizing para-aminobenzoic acid-capped hematite nanocatalyst.

The vulnerability of groundwater in the coastal regions in terms of As, F

In this work we have achieved epoxide to cyclic carbonate conversion using a metal-free polymeric catalyst under ambient CO2 pressure (1.02 atm) using a balloon setup. The triazine containing polymer (CYA-ANIS) was prepared from cyanuric chloride (CYA-Cl) and o-dianisidine (ANIS) in anhydrous DMF as solvent by refluxing under the N2 gas environment. The presence of triazine and amine functional groups in the polymer results in the adsorption of CO2 up to 7 cc/g at 273 K. This inspired us to utilize the polymer for the conversion of a series of functionalised epoxides into their corresponding cyclic carbonates in the presence of tetrabutyl ammonium iodide (TBAI) as co-catalyst. The product has wide range of applications like solvent in lithium ion battery, precursor for polycarbonate, etc. The catalyst was efficient for the conversion of different mono and di-epoxides into their corresponding cyclic carbonates under atmospheric pressure in the presence of TBAI as co-catalyst. The study indicates that epoxide attached with electron withdrawing groups (like, CH2 Cl, glycidyl ether, etc.) displayed better conversion compared to simple alkane chain attached epoxides. This is mainly due to the stabilization of electron rich intermediates produced during the reaction (e. g. epoxide ring opening or CO2 incorporation into the halo-alkoxide anion). This catalyst mixture was capable to maintain its reactivity up to five cycles without losing its activity. Post catalytic characterization clearly supports the heterogeneous and recyclable nature of the catalyst.

Ionic liquid (IL) grafted chitosan (CS) is fabricated in a feasible three-step process and used as a catalyst for the Knoevenagel condensation reaction. The IL modified CS (IL-CS) shows higher conversion/yield compared to pristine CS and Pyridine modified CS (Py-CS). The better efficiency of IL-CS can be ascribed to the synergistic effect of H-bonding groups (–OH of CS) and quaternary ammonium groups of ionic liquid. The material is very efficient in converting various functionalized aromatic aldehydes into their benzylidenemalononitrile derivatives. In addition, the catalyst exhibits retention of catalytic activity up to five cycles in the reusability study. The characterization of the recycled material clearly indicates the robust nature of IL-CS. Our work provides a feasible approach towards sustainable catalyst construction for industrially important reactions.

The COVID-19 situation is a critical state throughout the world that most countries have been forced to implement partial to total lockdown to control the COVID-19 disease outbreak. And displays the natural power to rejuvenate herself without the interference of human beings. So, the top-level emergency response including full quarantine actions are significant measures against the COVID-19 and resulted in a notable reduction in PM

We have developed an efficient one-pot synthesis strategy for the preparation of hematite (α-Fe2O3) and gold-integrated hematite (Au/α-Fe2O3) nanocatalysts. The nanostructured hematite along with tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) has emerged as a proficient catalyst-combination for the reaction between carbon dioxide (CO2) and epoxide to form cyclic carbonate with 77% conversion under atmospheric CO2 pressure and solvent-free conditions. The catalytic activity of hematite further improved on the incorporation of a miniscule amount of gold (Au) into the hematite system. The as-prepared Au/α-Fe2O3 nanocatalyst with TBAI is found to be very efficient for the CO2 fixation reaction with 91% conversion under the optimized reaction conditions. The excellent catalytic activity of Au/α-Fe2O3 is attributed to the synergistic effect between α-Fe2O3 and Au species for the efficient fixation of CO2. Furthermore, the recyclability and post catalytic analysis imply the robust nature of the heterogeneous Au/α-Fe2O3 nanocatalyst.

The main objective of this work is to degum the silk with natural enzyme in lieu of conventional degumming to make it sustainable. Fibroin and sericin are the main composition of silk. Sericin provides a harsh and stiff effect of silk and decreases the valuable property like luster and whiteness and also leads to uneven dyeing. It is necessary to remove this sericin for the better post processing of silk. The removal process of sericin from silk is called degumming. Usually degumming process is done by using chemicals like soda (Na2CO3), detergent and other chemical staffs. But these chemicals are lethal to the environment. So, if such component found that can be substitute the fatal components and give the same required result or very close then that would be considered as an asset. This work deals with the different enzymes extracted from natural sources such as papaya skin, pineapple skin and guava leaf with variation of enzyme concentrations such as 10 (%), 15 (%) & 20 (%) as well as 35°C 45°C & 55°C temperatures that influence the degumming efficiency. By analyzing the various samples on the basis of degumming efficiency and other tests such as tensile strength, water vapor permeability, pilling and abrasion, crease recovery, whiteness test and spot test are done by standard method, it is found that the enzyme extracted from papaya skin shows the best degumming efficiency 15.9 (%) and other tests also show the good result at 15 (%) concentration and 45°C temperature whereas degumming efficiency 16.6 (%) for conventional process. From this work, it can be concluded that enzyme extracted from papaya skin can be substituted of conventional degumming which is also ecofriendly.

Excellent activity of cobalt oxides/hydroxides towards electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) demands the development of a unified protocol to synthesize different phases of these materials. In this paper, a low-temperature (120 °C) solvothermal method was developed to synthesize pure phase Co3O4, Co2(OH)3Cl, and CoII1–xCoIIIx(OH)2Clx·nH2O [HT(II,III)] and detailed analyses of their formation mechanism, intrinsic as well as geometric activity toward OER electrocatalysis, were carried out. This method employs a variety of amines to facilitate the CoII to CoIII oxidation, which otherwise requires continuous gas (purified air/oxygen) flow or usage of oxidizing agents for reactions carried out below 150 °C. The choice of solvent (water/water–ethanol mixture) was also found to play a pivotal role in the reaction pathway, phase, and morphology of the resulting products due to changes in the pH of the reaction medium. In contrast to the geometric OER activity that follows the order HT(II,III) > Co2(OH)...

The fluctuation-dissipation theorem is a fundamental result in statistical physics that establishes a connection between the response of a system subject to a perturbation and the fluctuations associated with observables in equilibrium. Here we derive its version within a resource-theoretic framework, where one investigates optimal quantum state transitions under thermodynamic constraints. More precisely, we first characterise optimal thermodynamic distillation processes, and then prove a relation between the amount of free energy dissipated in such processes and the free energy fluctuations of the initial state of the system. Our results apply to initial states given by either asymptotically many identical pure systems or arbitrary number of independent energy-incoherent systems, and allow not only for a state transformation, but also for the change of Hamiltonian. The fluctuation-dissipation relations we derive enable us to find the optimal performance of thermodynamic protocols such as work extraction, information erasure and thermodynamically-free communication, up to second-order asymptotics in the number $N$ of processed systems. We thus provide a first rigorous analysis of these thermodynamic protocols for quantum states with coherence between different energy eigenstates in the intermediate regime of large but finite $N$., Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures. Published version

Digital Microfluidic Biochips (DMFB) has been evolved as a new generation of Lab-on-Chip device. This appears as a viable alternative to conventional benchtop laboratory process in the fields of point of care diagnostics, environmental toxicity monitoring and other biomedical applications. With increase in complexity, scalability and requirements of more precise control in microfluidic operations - simultaneous execution of complex bioassays within the same substrates poses a major challenge. Transportation of multiple droplets comprising complex bioassays within a 2D array faces the major issue of cross contamination. Poorly estimated route path and bad pre-scheduling may result in unwarranted cross overs resulting in faulty detection and dire wrong diagnostic consequences. In this work we used a swarm propagation based technique to resolve the cross contamination issues for parallel routing within a single 2D DMFB array. The proposed technique shows encouraging improvements in terms of arrival time as well as optimal contamination for enhanced routing performance.

We report the use of ionic liquid based polymers for the conversion of epoxides into cyclic carbonates under ambient pressure (1.02 atm). The polymeric catalysts were prepared via thiol–ene click chemistry using trithiocyanuric acid (TTCA) and divinyl imidazolium-based ionic liquids in the presence of AIBN as a radical initiator under thermal conditions. TTCA acts as a planar C3 symmetric thiol molecule and helps in CO2 absorption due to the presence of a triazine moiety. Additionally, TTCA helps to achieve the optimum separation of catalytically active sites i.e. imidazolium bromide moieties. The resulting poly(ionic liquid) together with KI as a co-catalyst has been found to be very efficient for the conversion of a wide number of epoxide substrates into their corresponding cyclic carbonates under CO2 filled balloon conditions. The catalyst was able to retain its activity up to 6 cycles.

The practice of travelling from one country to another in need of healthcare has existed in the world since the ancient period. The nature, trend, and dimension of healthcare travel have been changing in the 21st century with the influence of dynamic advanced technology and this phenomenon popular as medical tourism. Domestic medical tourism is a part of medical tourism, where the activities of intra-regional medical tourists are bounded within their country. Domestic medical tourism is apparent in a large country like India. North Eastern Region (NER) is an important part of India which is made up of eight small states. Residents of NER flock to different parts of the country as domestic medical tourists due to the scarcity of healthcare infrastructure and services. This study focused on those NER residents who visited three major hospitals in Tamil Nadu. We try to analyze push and pull healthcare motivation factors and simultaneously evaluate the travel experience of north eastern domestic medical tourists. The study was adopted as cross-sectional where 110 respondents were conducted for face-to-face interviews from May 2019 to June 2019.

The optimal allocation of resources is a crucial task for their efficient use in a wide range of practical applications in science and engineering. This paper investigates the optimal allocation of resources in multipartite quantum systems. In particular, we show the relevance of proportional fairness and optimal reliability criteria for the application of quantum resources. Moreover, we present optimal allocation solutions for an arbitrary number of qudits using measurement incompatibility as an exemplary resource theory. Besides, we study the criterion of optimal equitability and demonstrate its relevance to scenarios involving several resource theories such as nonlocality vs local contextuality. Finally, we highlight the potential impact of our results for quantum networks and other multi-party quantum information processing, in particular to the future Quantum Internet.

In this work we have achieved epoxide to cyclic carbonate conversion using a metal-free polymeric catalyst under ambient CO

A g-C3N4 and n-Bu4N+Br− combination was found to be an efficient catalyst for the conversion of epoxides to cyclic carbonates under CO2 filled balloon conditions.

Aims: By virtue of being a specialized field by itself, the science of clinical trials (CTs) may not be well understood by doctors who are not specifically trained in it. A lack of knowledge may translate to a negative perception toward CT. With the idea of getting a situational snapshot, we estimated the knowledge and perception of CTs among doctors from government medical colleges of West Bengal who are not trained on CT in their postgraduate curriculum. Several determinants of knowledge and perception regarding CT were also evaluated. Methods: We have quantified the knowledge and perception of CTs by a structured validated questionnaire. Development and validation of the questionnaire was performed prior to the study. Results: Among 133 participants, 7.5% received focused training on CT and 16.5% participated in CTs as investigators. Majority of the doctors were unfamiliar with the basic terminologies such as, “adverse event” and “good clinical practice.” Encouragingly, 93.3% doctors advised that a detailed discussion of CT methodology should be incorporated in the under graduate medical science curriculum. They had an overall positive attitude toward CTs conducted in India, with a mean score that is 72.6% of the maximum positive score. However, a large number of the doctors were skeptical about the primary motivation and operations of pharmaceutical industry sponsored CTs, with 45% of them believing that patients are exploited in these sponsored CTs. Conclusion: Participant doctors had a basic knowledge of CT methodology. The study has revealed specific areas of deficient knowledge, which might be emphasized while designing focused training on CT methodology.

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an acquired demyelinating disorder affecting the optic nerves and spinal cord either simultaneously or sequentially. Prognosis is guarded particularly for the optic neuritis.We report here a case of first attack of NMO occurring in a 9 year old girl child coming from a rural area of Burdwan.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.7(5) 2016 132-134

The design, development and operational characteristics of a compact corona pre-ionized helium-free TEA CO2 laser is discussed. Remarkably high efficiency of about 19% was obtained in this laser, which is attributed to the optimum concentration of CO2 and N2 gas, reduction in energy dissipation in the pre-ionization loop and the switch, minimizing the diffraction losses and finally optimization of the output coupler reflectivity. The helium-free TEA CO2 laser has also been analysed using a comprehensive theoretical model, developed based on the Boltzmann transport equations and the discharge excitation circuit equations. The voltage and current waveforms of the pulsed discharge were simulated and used as input to the laser rate equations to estimate the laser pulse energies and the pulse shapes. The theoretical estimations of the laser pulse energy agree fairly well with the experimental results. The accuracy of our theoretical model becomes evident from the numerically evaluated laser pulse shapes, which show remarkable resemblance with the experimentally measured pulse shapes. A detailed comparison with the helium-rich case is included to highlight the key aspects of a suitably designed helium-free TEA laser.

This study was conducted to find a solution to solve the problem of deprivation of light present in the rural society of Bangladesh. More than 50percent of our rural population are deprived of electricity. This in turns results in absence of light in houses. A device was designed using bottles, Light Emitting Diode, solar panel and battery for an alternative lighting system. This device is not so costly and can be reproduced very easily. Different variations of this device was tested using a light meter (Model-LX 1102). A brief overview of this newly proposed lighting system is discussed in the study.

A new route to both enantiomers of N -tosyl-azetidine-2- carboxylic acid has been developed from ( R )-2-cyclohexylideneglyceraldehyde which proceeded with good overall yield and excellent enantiomeric purity.

Intramolecular cycloaddition of the syn- and the anti-nitrone 9 and 13 leads stereoselectively to the azabicyclic compounds 10 and 14 which may provide access to both enantiomers of the quinolizidine alkaloid lasubine II.

Acute dacryocystitis at or shortly after birth is uncommon and its main complication, formation of lacrimal sac abscess, is rare. Uniform and standard treatment protocol for this condition has not been established till date. We report on a 2 month old infant with an abscess of the lacrimal sac. He was treated for similar condition on day 6 of his life by incision and drainage; unfortunately, the condition recurs. This time, he was managed with incision and drainage under systemic antibiotic cover; and an early probing of the nasolacrimal duct (NLD) was done on 7th post-operative day. The patient was followed up for a period of one year without any further recurrence and complication. Pathophysiology of the condition and possible treatment options in children have been discussed.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v6i2.10458Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.6(2) 2015 121-123

A convenient protocol for the synthesis of chiral pyran and piperidine ring-fused anthraquinone derivatives has been developed from ( R )-2,3- O -cyclohexylidene-glyceraldehyde using sequential applications of enyne metathesis, Diels–Alder reaction and aromatization as key steps.

Complementary new routes to both enantiomers of N-protected pipecolic acid and the corresponding 4,5-dihydroxylated derivatives are developed, which involve stereo-divergent allylation of a chiral N-allylimine and ring-closing metathesis as key steps.

Cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome or CFC syndrome is a rare genetic disorder first described in 1986. It is one of the RASopathies involving multiple organs particularly the heart, skin and face affecting males and females equally. The phenotypic features overlap with 2 other conditions, the Noonan and Costello syndrome. We report on a 22-month-old boy with CFC syndrome presenting with typical craniofacial appearance, heart defects, ectodermal abnormalities, growth failure and developmental delay. Estimated population of affected individuals worldwide is a few hundreds.

Recently, the basic concept of quantum coherence (or superposition) has gained a lot of renewed attention, after Baumgratz et al. [PRL 113:140401 (2014)], following \AA{}berg [arXiv:quant-ph/0612146], have proposed a resource theoretic approach to quantify it. This has resulted in a large number of papers and preprints exploring various coherence monotones, and debating possible forms for the resource theory. Here we take the view that the operational foundation of coherence in a state, be it quantum or otherwise wave mechanical, lies in the observation of interference effects. Our approach here is to consider an idealised multi-path interferometer, with a suitable detector, in such a way that the visibility of the interference pattern provides a quantitative expression of the amount of coherence in a given probe state. We present a general framework of deriving coherence measures from visibility, and demonstrate it by analysing several concrete visibility parameters, recovering some known coherence measures and obtaining some new ones., Comment: 2+3+4 pages, 3-1 figures. v2 has more references and extended discussion. v3 in journal submission format with revisions and corrections; 20 pages, 2 figures

Tooth eruption normally starts from 6 months of age. Teeth that appear at birth are called natal teeth, whereas, teeth that erupt during the first month of life are called neonatal teeth. Both are uncommon, with the ratio of natal to neonatal is 3:1. Presence of neonatal teeth may lead to complication in mother like painful bitten or bleeding nipples or it may cause complications in babies like difficulty in feeding, pain/distress due to erupting tooth, swallowing of the tooth, repeated trauma to the tip or undersurface of the tongue resulting in Riga-Fede ulceration and rarely aspiration. We are presenting a 15-day-old male baby who admitted at our hospital primarily with excessive crying and poor feeding and on a thorough physical examination revealed an erupting neonatal tooth. Other causes of excessive crying have been excluded.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v6i4.11241 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.6(4) 2015 87-88