Interplay of 4f-3d Magnetism and Ferroelectricity in DyFeO3

DyFeO3 exhibits a weak ferromagnetism (TNFe ~ 645 K) that disappears below a spin-reorientation (Morin) transition at TSRFe ~ 50 K. It is also known that applied magnetic field induces ferroelectricity at the magnetic ordering temperature of Dy-ions (TNDy ~ 4.5 K). Here, we show that the ferroelectricity exists in the weak ferromagnetic state (TSRFe < T < TN,C) without applying magnetic field, indicating the crucial role of weak ferromagnetism in inducing ferroelectricity. 57Fe M\"ossbauer studies show that hyperfine field (Bhf) deviates from mean field-like behaviour that is observed in the weak ferromagnetic state and decreases below the onset of spin-reorientation transition (80 K), implying that the Bhf above TSR had additional contribution from Dy-ions due to induced magnetization by the weak ferromagnetic moment of Fe-sublattice and below TSR, this contribution decreases due to collinear ordering of Fe-sublattice. These results clearly demonstrate the presence of magnetic interactions between Dy(4f) and Fe(3d) and their correlation with ferroelectricity in the weak ferromagnetic state of DyFeO3.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, published in EP

Field-induced Polar Order at the N\'eel Temperature of Chromium in Rare-earth Orthochromites: Interplay of Rare-earth and Cr Magnetism

We report field-induced switchable polarization (P = 0.2 ~ 0.8 microC/cm2) below the N\'eel temperature of chromium (TN Cr) in weakly ferromagnetic rareearth orthochromites, RCrO3 (R=rareearth) but only when the rareearth ion is magnetic. Intriguingly, the polarization in ErCrO3 (TC ~ 133 K) disappears at a spin reorientation (Morin) transition (TSR ~ 22 K) below which the weak ferromagnetism associated with the Cr sublattice also disappears, demonstrating the crucial role of weak ferromagnetism in inducing the polar order. Further, the polarization (P) is strongly influenced by applied magnetic field, indicating a strong magneto electric effect. We suggest that the polar order occurs in RCrO3, due to the combined effect of poling field that breaks the symmetry and the exchange field on R ion from Cr sublattice stabilizes the polar state. We propose that a similar mechanism could work in the isostructural rareearth orthoferrites, RFeO3 as well.Comment: 31 pages (Manuscript(6 figures)+supplemental information(8 figures)

Sickness certification in primary care - the physician's role.

Sickness certification is a routine task of primary care (PC) physicians which has an impact on patients' health, the health care system and the economy. As sickness certification is poorly studied, we quantified sickness certification and explored qualitatively the sickness certification process by Swiss PC physicians. PC physicians participating in the Swiss Sentinel Surveillance Network (SSSN) recorded the frequency and duration of absence from work of each related consultation and certificate during 2005. Patients' age and gender, reason for sick leave, psychosocial cofactors, problems at the workplace, type of employment, type of occupation, duration of absence (weeks) and type of certificate were registered. Physicians' views on the procedure and their suggestions for change were gathered before and after the study by means of a questionnaire containing four open-ended questions. Of the 223 SSSN physicians 73% participated. A total of 24,676 forms issued by 150 physicians were analysed. An average of four certificates was issued per 100 consultations; somewhat fewer by internists than by general practitioners and less in rural areas than urban areas. Psychosocial or work-related factors were mentioned in 20% of the certificates and were more often associated with longer absences from work. These factors were seen as inseparable from the somatic factors. Recommendations for change included the prolongation of self declaration time, a uniform declaration form, availability of an authority to which complex cases can be referred and the use of case management models. Sickness certificates were issued in 4% of GP consultations. This task has been assessed by physicians as part of their function. The certification process should be improved through better coordination and communication between all parties involved: patients, employers, insurers, physicians and politicians

Spin-phonon coupling in multiferroic RCrO3_3 (R-Y, Lu, Gd, Eu, Sm): A Raman study

Raman study on a select few orthochromites, RCrO$_3$ (R = Y, Lu, Gd, Eu and Sm) shows that the phonon behavior at TN in compounds with magnetic R-ion (Gd and Sm) is remarkably different from that of non-magnetic R-ion (Y, Lu and Eu). While anomalies in most of the observed phonon frequencies in all these compounds may result from the distortion of CrO$_6$ octahedra due to size effect and magnetostriction arising from Cr-ordering, the anomalous behavior of their linewidths observed at TN for the compounds with only magnetic R-ion suggests spin-phonon coupling. The presence of spin-phonon coupling and the anomalies in the low frequency modes related to R-ion motion in orthochromites (R = Gd and Sm) support the suggestion that the coupling between 4f-3d moments play important role in inducing switchable electric polarization.Comment: 6 pages (two column format), 7 figures; The updated version of the manuscript can be found at Euro. Phys. Lett. 101, 17008 (2013

Protective effect of CV247 against cisplatin nephrotoxicity in rats

CV247 (CV), an aqueous mixture of copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn) gluconates, vitamin C and sodium salicylate increased the antitumour effects of cisplatin (CDPP; cis-diamminedichloroplatinum) in vitro. We hypothesized that the antioxidant and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2; prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2) inhibitory components of CV can protect the kidneys from CDPP nephrotoxicity in rats. CDPP (6.5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) slightly elevated serum creatinine (Crea) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) 12 days after treatment. Kidney histology demonstrated extensive tubular epithelial damage and COX-2 immunoreactivity increased 14 days after treatment. A large amount of platinum (Pt) accumulated in the kidney of CDPP-treated rats. Furthermore, CDPP decreased renal iron (Fe), molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn), Cu and Mn concentrations and increased plasma Fe and Cu concentrations. CDPP elevated plasma free radical concentration. Treatment with CV alone for 14 days (twice 3 ml/kg/day orally) did not influence these parameters. Chronic CV administration after CDPP reduced renal histological damage and slightly decreased COX-2 immunoreactivity, while failed to prevent the increase in Crea and BUN levels. Blood free radical concentration was reduced, that is, CV improved redox homeostasis. CV restored plasma Fe and renal Fe, Mo and Zn, while decreased Pt and elevated Cu and Mn concentrations in the kidney. Besides the known synergistic antitumour effects with CDPP, CV partially protected the kidneys from CDPP nephrotoxicity probably through its antioxidant effect

Fate of the esophagogastric anastomosis

ObjectiveThe study objective was to evaluate histopathology of the esophagogastric anastomosis after esophagectomy, determine time trends of histologic changes, and identify factors influencing those findings.MethodsA total of 231 patients underwent 468 upper gastrointestinal endoscopies with anastomotic biopsy a median of 3.5 years after esophagectomy. Mean age was 59 ± 12 years, 74% (171) were male, and 96% (222) were white. Seventy-eight percent (179) had esophagectomy for cancer, 13% (30) had chemoradiotherapy, and 13% (30) had prior esophageal surgery. The anastomosis was 20 ± 2.0 cm from the incisors. Anti-reflux medications were used in 59% of patients (276/468) at esophagoscopy. Histopathology was graded as normal (0), consistent with reflux (1), cardia mucosa (2), intestinal metaplasia (3), and dysplasia (4). Repeated-measures nonlinear time-trend analysis and multivariable analyses were used.ResultsGrades 0 and 1 were constant, 5% and 92% at 10 years, respectively. Anti-reflux medication, induction therapy, and higher anastomosis were predictive of less grade 1 histopathology. Grades 2 and 3 increased with time: 12% and 33% at 5 years and 4% and 16% at 10 years, respectively. No variable was predictive of grade 2 or 3 (P > .15) except passage of time. No patient’s condition progressed to dysplasia or cancer.ConclusionsThe esophagogastric anastomosis is subject to gastroesophageal reflux. To minimize histopathologic changes of reflux, the anastomosis should be constructed as high as possible (closer to incisors) and anti-reflux medications prescribed. Surveillance endoscopy, if performed, will document a time-related progression of reflux-related histopathologic changes. However, during surveillance, intestinal metaplasia is uncommon and progression to cancer rare

The Clinical study on Factors Influencing Outcome of Disease in Gastro Duodenal Perforations

Gastro duodenal perforations following peptic ulcer disease (PUD) is one of the most common surgical emergency encountered in surgical practice. Aim of the Study to find the factors influencing outcome of disease, prognosis of the disease and surgery and followed up for six months for complications. By this study able to improve the outcome of disease by reducing the morbidity and mortality. In our study we included 50 patients who operated for Gastro duodenal perforations and studied the risk factors which influence of outcome of disease in view of morbidity and mortality. The factors included in the study where Age, Sex, Age of perforations (24 hrs.), Site of perforations (gastric/Duodenal), Size of perforations (2 cms), Presence or absence of shock(systolic BP<100 mm hg), Medical comorbidities- Respiratory infection, DM, SHT and IHD, Patient taking NSAID, Smoker and Consumer of alcohol, and analysed with outcome of patients. Statistical and analysis was done using Fisher Exact Test (Two Tailed) to find the significance of proportion of incidence of complication in association with risk factors. And we found Mean age of PPU is 45.34, the gastro-duodenal perforations is the disease of the male preponderance, but the incidence in female is increasing, Gastric perforations has the poor outcome, but in our study not showed significance. In our study we found the following factors were significantly increases the morbidity and mortality- Age >60 yrs, Size of perforations >2 cms, Delayed presentation >24 hrs, Patient presented with shock (BP<100 mm of Hg), Concominant medical illness, Smoking. Most important set back of this study is the study of H. Pylori is not included. The following factors were not significantly affect the outcome of disease in view of mortality and morbidity, in our study - Sex of the patient, Site of perforation, H/o alcohol consumption, H/o NSAID ingestion

Knowledge, attitude and perception on the adoption of evidence-based practice among practitioners of general dentistry

Evidence based dentistry (EBD) is the “conscientious, explicit and judicious use of the best evidence in making decisions about care of individual patients”, as defined by the American Dental Association. Bridging clinical expertise and patient values, it involves the systematic assessment of scientific evidence, linking it to a patient’s medical condition and with a scientifically backed framework, the dentist begins to treat the patient. Its basis lies in choosing the right type of evidence which could be highly patient subjective. The present study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and perception prevalent among currently practicing dentists regarding EBD and their willingness to incorporate it into their practice. The study was a survey conducted using an online questionnaire on Google forms, with specifically framed, about 16 questions, that would elicit the current status of EBD among Dental UG students, interns and practising dentists. The responses obtained were statistically analysed using SPSS v26 (IBM.inc.,USA). From the responses, it can be observed that there is only a vague awareness on EBD and a satisfactory level of willingness to incorporate it into one’s practice, given that constraints in doing so are addressed. The study was handy in inferring the current status of EBD among today’s practitioners and would be useful in devising ways of overcoming any limitations in incorporating the same into routine clinical practice

Pneumonia Diagnosis through pixels -- A Deep Learning Model for detection and classification

Manual identification and classification of pneumonia and COVID-19 infection is a cumbersome process that, if delayed can cause irreversible damage to the patient. We have compiled CT scan images from various sources, namely, from the China Consortium of Chest CT Image Investigation (CC-CCII), the Negin Radiology located at Sari in Iran, an open access COVID-19 repository from Havard dataverse, and Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, India. The images were preprocessed using various methods such as normalization, sharpening, median filter application, binarizing, and cropping to ensure uniformity while training the models. We present an ensemble classification approach using deep learning and machine learning methods to classify patients with the said diseases. Our ensemble model uses pre-trained networks such as ResNet-18 and ResNet-50 for classification and MobileNetV2 for feature extraction. The features from MobileNetV2 are used by the gradient-boosting classifier for the classification of patients. Using ResNet-18, ResNet-50, and the MobileNetV2 aided gradient boosting classifier, we propose an ensemble model with an accuracy of 98 percent on unseen data.Comment: 11 pages,9 figure

4-(4-Bromo­phen­yl)-6-(1H-indol-3-yl)-2,2′-bipyridine-5-carbonitrile

In the title compound, C25H15BrN4, the two pyridine rings lie in a common plane [r.m.s. deviation = 0.023 (2) Å], whereas the bromo­phenyl and indole rings are twisted away from this plane by 52.82 (12) and 28.02 (10)°, respectively. The crystal structure is stabilized by inter­molecular N—H⋯N inter­actions