Network of Recurrent events - A case study of Japan

A recently proposed method of constructing seismic networks from 'record breaking events' from the earthquake catalog of California (Phy. Rev. E, 77 6,066104, 2008) was successfull in establishing causal features to seismicity and arrive at estimates for rupture length and its scaling with magnitude. The results of our implementation of this procedure on the earthquake catalog of Japan establishes the robustness of the procedure. Additionally, we find that the temporal distributions are able to detect heterogeneties in the seismicity of the region.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

Interplanetary Consequences of a Large CME

We analyze a coronal mass ejection (CME) which resulted from an intense flare in active region AR486 on November 4, 2003. The CME propagation and speed are studied with interplanetary scintillation images, near-Earth space mission data, and Ulysses measurements. Together, these diverse diagnostics suggest that the internal magnetic energy of the CME determines its interplanetary consequences.Comment: 5 pages, 9 figures, To appear in "Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and the Atmosphere of the Sun", eds. S.S. Hasan and R.J. Rutten, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin, 200

Woman Entrepreneurship Through SHGs in Tamil Nadu, India

Entrepreneurship development and income generating activities are a feasible solution for empowering women. It generates income and also provides flexible working hours according to the needs of home makers. Economic independence is the need of the hour. Participation in income generating activities helps in the overall empowerment of women. Empowering women through education, ideas, consciousness, mobilization and participatory approach can enable them to take their own decisions, make them selfreliant and self-confident. Although women are taking on important positions in the business sector, they continue to face barriers to their entrepreneurial activities, compared to their male counterparts. Women still have to struggle with their traditional role in order to balance career and household responsibilities. They have to endure negative social value and cultural bias that lead to unfair perceptions about their ability to operate a business and legal constraints also limit the pursuit of economic independence by women

Effect Of Ph On The Physical Properties Of Znin2se4 Thin Films Grown By Chemical Bath Deposition

Recently there has been much interest on the preparation and characterization of ternary semiconducting materials, mainly ZnIn2Se4 (ZIS) due to its potential applications in various fields, particularly as a buffer layer in the fabrication of heterojuction solar cells. In the present work, thin films of ZIS have been synthesized by a simple and economic method, chemical bath deposition at different pH values that vary from 9 to 11. The deposition was carried out for a fixed bath temperature (Tb) of 90 °C and constant reaction time of 60 min. Ammonia and hydrazine hydrate were used as complexing agents. The chemical and physical properties of the deposited ZIS films were analyzed using appropriate techniques. The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the deposited films were polycrystalline and showed (112) peak as the preferred orientation. Scanning electron micrographs revealed that the samples had large number of granule like particles in different sizes. The optical transmittance of these samples was found to be > 75 % in the visible region and the evaluated energy band gap varied from 2.15 eV to 2.64 eV with the change of pH value in the range, 9 - 11. The detailed study of these results were presented and discussed. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/939

Prevalence of genital chlamydia infection in urban women of reproductive age, Nairobi, Kenya

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the major causes of sexually transmitted infections throughout the world. Most infections are asymptomatic and remain undetected. Burden of disease in the Kenyan population is not well characterised. This study was done to define the prevalence of genital Chlamydia infection in a representative female population. Findings: A cross-sectional study design was employed. All women attending out-patient clinics (antenatal, gynaecology, family planning) and accident and emergency departments at two study sites over a five month period were invited to consent to completion of a questionnaire and vaginal swab collection. A rapid point-of-care immunoassay based test was performed on the swabs. Women who tested positive for Chlamydia were offered treatment, together with their partner(s), and advised to come for a follow-up test. A total of 300 women were tested. The prevalence of genital Chlamydia trachomatis was found to be 6% (95% CI 3.31% – 8.69%). The prevalence was higher in women who represented a higher socioeconomic level, but this difference was not significant (p=0.061). Use of vaginal swabs was observed to be a more acceptable form of sample collection. Conclusion: The prevalence of genital Chlamydia is significant in our female population. There is a justifiable need to institute opportunistic screening programs to reduce the burden of this disease. Rapid and low cost point-of-care testing as a potential component of sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening can be utilised

Prevalence of genital chlamydia infection in urban women of reproductive age, Nairobi, Kenya

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the major causes of sexually transmitted infections throughout the world. Most infections are asymptomatic and remain undetected. Burden of disease in the Kenyan population is not well characterised. This study was done to define the prevalence of genital Chlamydia infection in a representative female population. Findings: A cross-sectional study design was employed. All women attending out-patient clinics (antenatal, gynaecology, family planning) and accident and emergency departments at two study sites over a five month period were invited to consent to completion of a questionnaire and vaginal swab collection. A rapid point-of-care immunoassay based test was performed on the swabs. Women who tested positive for Chlamydia were offered treatment, together with their partner(s), and advised to come for a follow-up test. A total of 300 women were tested. The prevalence of genital Chlamydia trachomatis was found to be 6% (95% CI 3.31% - 8.69%). The prevalence was higher in women who represented a higher socioeconomic level, but this difference was not significant (p=0.061). Use of vaginal swabs was observed to be a more acceptable form of sample collection. Conclusion: The prevalence of genital Chlamydia is significant in our female population. There is a justifiable need to institute opportunistic screening programs to reduce the burden of this disease. Rapid and low cost point-of-care testing as a potential component of sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening can be utilised.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Effect of tcdR Mutation on Sporulation in the Epidemic Clostridium difficile Strain R20291

Citation: Girinathan, B. P., Monot, M., Boyle, D., McAllister, K. N., Sorg, J. A., Dupuy, B., & Govind, R. (2017). Effect of tcdR Mutation on Sporulation in the Epidemic Clostridium difficile Strain R20291. Msphere, 2(1), 14. doi:10.1128/mSphere.00383-16Clostridium difficile is an important nosocomial pathogen and the leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea. Antibiotic use is the primary risk factor for the development of C. difficile-associated disease because it disrupts normally protective gut flora and enables C. difficile to colonize the colon. C. difficile damages host tissue by secreting toxins and disseminates by forming spores. The toxin-encoding genes, tcdA and tcdB, are part of a pathogenicity locus, which also includes the tcdR gene that codes for TcdR, an alternate sigma factor that initiates transcription of tcdA and tcdB genes. We created a tcdR mutant in epidemic-type C. difficile strain R20291 in an attempt to identify the global role of tcdR. A site-directed mutation in tcdR affected both toxin production and sporulation in C. difficile R20291. Spores of the tcdR mutant were more heat sensitive than the wild type (WT). Nearly 3-fold more taurocholate was needed to germinate spores from the tcdR mutant than to germinate the spores prepared from the WT strain. Transmission electron microscopic analysis of the spores also revealed a weakly assembled exosporium on the tcdR mutant spores. Accordingly, comparative transcriptome analysis showed many differentially expressed sporulation genes in the tcdR mutant compared to the WT strain. These data suggest that regulatory networks of toxin production and sporulation in C. difficile strain R20291 are linked with each other. IMPORTANCE C. difficile infects thousands of hospitalized patients every year, causing significant morbidity and mortality. C. difficile spores play a pivotal role in the transmission of the pathogen in the hospital environment. During infection, the spores germinate, and the vegetative bacterial cells produce toxins that damage host tissue. Thus, sporulation and toxin production are two important traits of C. difficile. In this study, we showed that a mutation in tcdR, the toxin gene regulator, affects both toxin production and sporulation in epidemic-type C. difficile strain R20291

Influence of textile effluent on the Reaction, Structure and Properties of

The transformation of industrial wastes into useful products attracts more researches to work upon for sustainable of natural resources. In this paper, industrial wastes such as treated textile effluent and fly ash were used in the preparation of plain cement concrete with the intention of reducing the environmental pollution caused by these materials. The partially treated textile effluent was used as mixing water and fly ash was used as 30% partial replacement by weight of cement in concrete. The textile effluents were collected after anaerobic treatment and tertiary treatment from textile industry. Class F Fly ash was collected from Mettur thermal power plant. The physical and chemical properties of treated textile effluent were studied. The control concrete was prepared with potable water available in the laboratory. Experimental test was performed for compressive strength of concrete at 28 days. The powdered concrete samples were examined through infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy to study the microstructure of concrete. The compressive strength test results revealed that anaerobic effluent water (AAE) concrete accomplished higher compressive strength than control concrete. This was also in affirmation with microscopic analysis in which the formations of hydration products were well established when compared to control concrete

Traditional Knowledge on Medicinal Plants Used by the Irula Tribe of Hasanur Hills, Erode District, Tamil Nadu, India

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out among the ethnic groups (Irula) in Hasanur Hills (Southern Western Ghats). The tribal communities of Irulas nurture rich knowledge about medicinal plants and its uses. Therefore, we have done an exhaustive ethnobotanical survey in this area. In this present investigation, it is observed that the tribal’s use 70 wild valuable plant species belonging to 42 families were identified with relevant information and documented in this paper with regard to their botanical name, family, local name, parts used and utilization by the local tribal people for different human ailments. The common diseases treated by the herbal practitioner were asthma, digestive problems, paralyzes, skin diseases and diabetes

Madurai Maruthan Ilanaganar and the Nadukal Culture of the Sangam Age

Ancient poets sang in many songs about the mediators taken for warriors in Sangam literature. Madurai Maruthan Ilanaganar, a contemporary of the Pandya king Nanmaran Valuthi, mentions his rare ideas about planting in six songs. This article explores the structure, developmental status of the mediators, the engraving, the imprinting of the human figure, the character of the engraver and the disintegration of the figure, the heroic deed of the opposing hero, and the implantation of messages about his heroism with the implant culture