Spectroscopic investigation of quantum confinement effects in ion implanted silicon-on-sapphire films

Crystalline Silicon-on-Sapphire (SOS) films were implanted with boron (B$^+$) and phosphorous (P$^+$) ions. Different samples, prepared by varying the ion dose in the range $10^{14}$ to 5 x $10^{15}$ and ion energy in the range 150-350 keV, were investigated by the Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and glancing angle x-ray diffraction (GAXRD). The Raman results from dose dependent B$^+$ implanted samples show red-shifted and asymmetrically broadened Raman line-shape for B$^+$ dose greater than $10^{14}$ ions cm$^{-2}$. The asymmetry and red shift in the Raman line-shape is explained in terms of quantum confinement of phonons in silicon nanostructures formed as a result of ion implantation. PL spectra shows size dependent visible luminescence at $\sim$ 1.9 eV at room temperature, which confirms the presence of silicon nanostructures. Raman studies on P$^+$ implanted samples were also done as a function of ion energy. The Raman results show an amorphous top SOS surface for sample implanted with 150 keV P$^+$ ions of dose 5 x $10^{15}$ ions cm$^{-2}$. The nanostructures are formed when the P$^+$ energy is increased to 350 keV by keeping the ion dose fixed. The GAXRD results show consistency with the Raman results.Comment: 9 Pages, 6 Figures and 1 Table, \LaTex format To appear in SILICON(SPRINGER

Sirenomelia: Case Report and Discussion of its Prenatal Diagnosis

Sirenomelia is a rare polymalformative, lethal congenital anomaly, characterized by fusion of both lower limbs, bilateral renal agenesis, absent external genitalia, aberrant fetal vasculature, and severe oligohydramnios. We hereby report a case of Sirenomelia diagnosed postnatally in an unbooked pregnancy presenting at the thirty‑fifth gestational week.Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, dysmorphic lower limb, prenatal diagnosis, sirenomeli

Water Quality Deterioration of Machna River due to Sewage Disposal, Betul,Madhya Pradesh, India

In this study the Physico-chemical characteristics of Sewage waste water joining into Machna River at Betul were studied. The parameters pH, Total dissolved solids, Total suspended solids, Dissolved oxygen, BOD, COD, Nitrate, Chloride were assessed. The values of these parameters were found in excessive amounts as prescribed by World Health Organisation (WHO), which indicate towards the deterioration of water quality of water body after the joining of inlets into the river. The study emphasizes on the detrimental impact caused by the sewage water on Machna River. Key words: Water pollution, pH, Dissolved oxygen, Alkalinity, Hardnes

Working Group Report: Heavy-Ion Physics and Quark-Gluon Plasma

This is the report of Heavy Ion Physics and Quark-Gluon Plasma at WHEPP-09 which was part of Working Group-4. Discussion and work on some aspects of Quark-Gluon Plasma believed to have created in heavy-ion collisions and in early universe are reported.Comment: 20 pages, 6 eps figures, Heavy-ion physics and QGP activity report in "IX Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP-09)" held in Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India, during January 3-14, 2006. To be published in PRAMANA - Journal of Physics (Indian Academy of Science

Role and Status of Biomarkers in Technostress Research: A Systematic Review

Pawan Kumar Mishra, Martina Rašticov&#x00E1Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, CzechiaCorrespondence: Pawan Kumar Mishra, Email [email protected]: The revolution in technology has impacted the work and personal lives of human beings greatly. While it has introduced the mankind to a more comfortable life, it has brought in the stress too in the form of technostress, the situation where a person fails to cope up with the ever-advancing technology and experiences stress symptoms. The increasing intensity of technostress calls for more research on technostress diving deeper into the causes and coping mechanisms. However, technostress research requires successful and reliable assessment of stress. It has been observed in recent years that biomarkers such as cortisol and salivary alpha amylase are reliable indicators of stress. There are several reports where the researchers have used questionnaires and surveys to assess the technostress, but the number of studies using biomarkers for technostress assessment is limited. It has been established that biomarker assessment is an important complement to the surveys to study the technostress. Here, we summarize the important studies done on technostress using the biomarkers along with the rationale of using these biomarkers.Keywords: technostress, biomarkers, cortisol, skin conductance, salivary alpha amylase, heart rate variabilit

Genomic DNA isolation from Artemisia species grown in cold desert high altitude of India

Artemisia which produces a large number of secondary metabolites is naturally found in cold desert high altitude environment of India. Secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, polysaccharides and terpenes represent a significant barrier to the extraction of pure genomic DNA. Thus, in this study, the DNA extraction protocol to extract pure genomic DNA from different Artemisia species was tailored. The protocol was based on the CTAB method with slight modifications. In the study, 1.6 M NaCl, 2% cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), 3% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and 0.5% β-mercaptoethanol was used in the extraction buffer. The incubation period was kept for 1 h at 65°C with one-tenth of the volume of warm (55°C) 10% CTAB solution during the extraction process. This study described a reliable protocol for extracting good quality and optimum amount of DNA from Artemisia species suitable for PCR analysis.Key words: Artemisia, genomic DNA isolation, PCR amplification, secondary metabolites

Synchronous ovarian dysgerminoma and metastatic breast carcinoma: A case report

Introduction: Synchronous dual malignancies are rare findings. A unique case report of first of its kind of synchronous ovarian dysgerminoma and metastatic infiltrating duct carcinoma of the breast is being reported. Presentation of Case: A young female investigated for pain abdomen was found to have right ovarian mass was operated outside which was histopathologically proven to be dysgerminoma presented to our clinics with complaints of a bilateral breast lump, dry cough and pain abdomen. She had a raised beta HCG and LDH. She was investigated and diagnosed as a case of metastatic breast carcinoma with ovarian dysgerminoma. Discussion: Patients with germline BRCA mutations have been shown to present with such aggressive dual malignancy of breast and ovary. She survived only for two to three months after her initial presentation. Conclusion: Such patients need to be screened and detected early so that aggressive treatment could be started and survival could be increased

Effect of voriconazole on Candida tropicalis biofilms: Relation with ERG genes expression

Candida tropicalis has emerged as the third most prevalent fungal pathogens and its ability to form biofilms has been considered one of the most important virulence factors, since biofilms represent high tolerance to antifungal agents. However, the mechanisms of C. tropicalis biofilm resistance to antifungals remain poorly understood. Thus, the main aim of this work was to infer about the effect of voriconazole on the formation and control of C. tropicalis biofilms and disclose its relationship with ERG genes' expression. Planktonic cells tolerance of several C. tropicalis clinical isolates to voriconazole was determined through of antifungal susceptibility test, and the effect of this azole against C. tropicalis biofilm formation and pre-formed biofilms was evaluated by cultivable cells determination and total biomass quantification. ERG genes expression was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. This work showed that C. tropicalis resistance to voriconazole is strain dependent and that voriconazole was able to partially control biofilm formation, but was unable to eradicate C. tropicalis pre-formed biofilms. Moreover, C. tropicalis biofilms resistance to voriconazole seems to be associated with alterations of sterol content in the cell membrane, resulting in ERG genes overexpression. Voriconazole is unable to control C. tropicalis biofilms, and the overexpression of ERG genes is a possible mechanism of biofilm resistance.TheauthorsthanktheFCTfortheStrategic Project of the UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, FCT and European Union funds (FEDER/COMPETE) for the project RECI/BBBEBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462). We also would like to acknowledge Pfizer , S.A. for the kindly donation of voriconazole

Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube

We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur