Structural, surface morphological and dielectric studies of guanidinium salt incorporated poly (ethylene oxide)/poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) solid polymer electrolytes.

The research article investigates the effect of incorporating the guanidinium carbonate (GuC) salt into the poly vinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) polymer matrix. Various weight percentages of GuC enriched PVP/PEO solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have been prepared by the simplest solution casting process. XRD analysis revealed that the incorporation of the GuC salt led to changes in the crystalline structure of the PVP/PEO. FTIR analysis confirms the presence of guanidinium carbonate in the blended polymeric system. FESEM imaging showed the uniform and smooth surface view of the electrolytes. DSC analysis suggests that the addition of the GuC led to a decrease in the melting temperature and an increase in the crystallisation temperature. The temperature-dependent dielectric analysis showed that the presence of the organic salt led to an increase in the dielectric constant of the polymer blend. Among all the prepared electrolytes, 25 wt.% GuC added polymer electrolyte achieved a higher conductivity of 3.00764 × 10-7 S/cm. Overall, the results of the study suggest that the incorporation of the GuC salt into the PVP/PEO can lead to significant changes in the structural, thermal, and dielectric properties of the blend. These findings have potential implications for the use of PVP/PEO blends in solid state battery applications.

Theoretical insight on the optical centred electrical properties of guanidinium isophthalate NLO crystal for electro-optic Q switches.

Guanidinium isophthalate single crystals with dimensions 16 × 4 x 2 mm3 were prepared by the low temperature solvent evaporation method and growth kinetics with interfacial tension was discussed to bring out the growth parameters of guanidinium isophthalate single crystals. The harvested single crystals were utilized for various characterization studies like powder X-ray diffraction, optical transmission, photoluminescence, laser damage study and optical limiting studies. The visualization of varying potential regions on the surfaces to quantify short contacts were generated by Hirshfeld surface analysis. 2D fingerprint plots were analyzed, in which H ….H contact was found to be the most significant with 54.1%. Growth kinetics of the crystalline material was studied to reveal the nucleation process. Crystal samples prepared with reference to the solubility data were found to be free of inclusions and cracks and had maximum transmittance in the complete visible region. The electronic disorder of the crystal sample was reported in the form of Urbach energy. The PL spectra with the emission intensity provide the emission characteristic of the title compound. The major fundamental optical limit for a crystal material is experimentally measured and presented in the picosecond regime. Thus the present work contributes to the understanding of growth, structural, optical and electronic characteristics of the title guanidinium isophthalate single crystals for the fabrication of electro-optic devices in photonic industry.

Knowledge, attitude and perception of sex education among school going adolescents in urban area of Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescence is a significant period of one's life, the students or children at this age should be taught about sex education in order to lead a healthy reproductive life, to prevent sexually transmitted disease and to avoid unwanted pregnancies. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the current knowledge of school going adolescents on reproductive health and its association with their socio demographic profile and determining their behaviour and understanding of school sex education. METHODOLOGY: A cross sectional analysis was carried out in 2 private schools at Chennai among the students of 9th to 12th standard. A sample of 346 was taken and a structured questionnaire was used to evaluate. The data was analysed by SPSS software version 22. Chi square test was used (<0.05 is significant). RESULTS: Out of 346, 44.2% were males and 55.8% were females. 85.9% of students from nuclear family responded True for the statement 'Male hormone is called as Testosterone'. Females had better knowledge on sex education than Males which was significant. XII standard students had better and positive attitude towards sex education than IX standard students. Only 5% responded to have sex-related information from Parents than others who responded friends, doctors and teachers. CONCLUSION: It is seen that among school going adolescents there is lack of knowledge and varied perceptions towards sex education. So, sex education should be implemented more efficiently in the developing countries and so it can lead to a healthy reproductive life and sexual health among the adolescents.

Preparation of Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin Films by Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) Method for Supercapacitor Applications.

The Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films have been prepared at different deposition cycles, deposited on a glass substrate by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method followed by the annealing process at elevated temperature. The investigations on the films have been carried out to understand and confirm its structure, functional group present, crystalline morphology, optical and electrochemical behavior. The powder X-ray diffraction patterns recorded indicate that the deposited films are formed in the tetragonal structure. Other parameters like grain size, dislocation density, and microstrain are also calculated. The uniform surface of the films with spherical shaped morphology has been observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy, and the elemental compositions have been confirmed by EDAX. Electrochemical behavior such as cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and galvanostatic charge-discharge analysis have been carried out by electrochemical workstation. The modified electrode exhibits maximum specific capacitance value as 416 F/g for a pure sample. Optical studies have shown that the band gaps are estimated between 1.40 eV and 1.57 eV.

Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of 2-amino-pyridinium hydrogen phthalate.

Amino-pyridine and phthalic acid are well known synthons for supra-molecular architectures for the synthesis of new materials for optical applications. The 2-amino-pyridinium hydrogen phthalate title salt, C5H7N2 +·C8H5O4 -, crystallizes in the non-centrosymmetric space group P21. The nitro-gen atom of the -NH2 group in the cation deviates from the fitted pyridine plane by 0.035 (7) Å. The plane of the pyridinium ring and phenyl ring of the anion are oriented at an angle of 80.5 (3)° to each other in the asymmetric unit. The anion features a strong intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bond, forming a self-associated S(7) ring motif. The crystal packing is dominated by inter-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds leading to the formation of 21 helices, with a C(11) chain motif. They propagate along the b axis and enclose R 2 2(8) ring motifs. The helices are linked by C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming layers parallel to the ab plane. Hirshfeld surface analysis and two-dimensional fingerprint plots were used to investigate and qu-antify the inter-molecular inter-actions in the crystal.

A rare case of bilateral luxatio erecta with bilateral greater tuberosity fracture following a fall due to seizure.

Luxatio erecta is the least common form of shoulder dislocations. Bilateral luxatio erecta with concomitant greater tuberosity fracture is further rare with only couple of cases reported so far in the literature. We present an uncommon and a rare case of post epileptic seizure related bilateral luxatio erecta with greater tuberosity fracture in a young Indian male which is unique in its etiology, method of management and rarity of its type among so far reported cases.

Investigation of Electrochemical Studies of Magnesium Ion Conducting Poly(vinyl alcohol)-Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) Based Blend Polymers.

Polymer blend electrolytes based on magnesium ion conducting PVA-PVP-MgCl2 polymer were prepared at different compositions by solution casting techniques. The prepared films were characterised by various techniques such as XRD and FTIR. Amorphous nature and structural coordination of polymer electrolyte were confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies. The ionic conductivity of the prepared polymer electrolytes were analysed through ac impedance spectroscopy. The highest conductivity was found to be in the order of ~10-6 Scm-1 at an ambient temperature for the composition of 50PVA:50PVP:5 wt% MgCl2. Conductivity versus temperature plot was found to follow an Arrhenius nature. The dielectric behaviour and ionic transport properties of the polymer electrolytes were also analyzed.

Ion induced dewetting of Au-Si on a SiO2 surface: composite nanodot evolution and wettability transition.

A nanodot array morphology gradually develops on SiO2 surface when a thin bi-layer of Au and Si undergoes ion irradiation. An increasing amount of gold silicide is detected as islands on the insulator surface evolve into nanodots as a function of increasing ion fluence. Different stages of evolution from islands to nanodots are found to be driven by the localized melting of Au along the ion-track and dewetting of the metal film. Dewetting is accompanied by sputter-erosion and mixing of Au and Si at the bi-layer interface due to ion energy deposition. Interestingly, a gradual transition in wettability of the surface from the hydrophilic to the hydrophobic one is observed with the growth of nanodots, which is correlated with the compositional variation. The experimental results indicate a route towards the controlled growth of composite nanodots on an insulator surface having hydrophobic properties using ion irradiation.

Cooperative wireless network control based health and activity monitoring system.

A real-time cooperative communication based wireless network is presented for monitoring health and activity of an end-user in their environment. The cooperative communication offers better energy consumption and also an opportunity to aware the current location of a user non-intrusively. The link between mobile sensor node and relay node is dynamically established by using Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and Link Quality Indicator (LQI) based on adaptive relay selection scheme. The study proposes a Linear Acceleration based Transmission Power Decision Control (LA-TPDC) algorithm to further enhance the energy efficiency of cooperative communication. Further, the occurrences of false alarms are carefully prevented by introducing three stages of sequential warning system. The real-time experiments are carried-out by using the nodes, namely mobile sensor node, relay nodes and a destination node which are indigenously developed by using a CC430 microcontroller integrated with an in-built transceiver at 868 MHz. The wireless node performance characteristics, such as energy consumption, Signal-Noise ratio (SNR), Bit Error Rate (BER), Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) and transmission offset are evaluated for all the participated nodes. The experimental results observed that the proposed linear acceleration based transmission power decision control algorithm almost doubles the battery life time than energy efficient conventional cooperative communication.

Digital radiographic evaluation of mandibular third molar for age estimation in young adults and adolescents of South Indian population using modified Demirjian's method.

UNLABELLED: In recent years, it has become increasingly important to determine the age of living people for a variety of reasons, including identifying criminal and legal responsibility and for many other social events such as birth certificate, marriage, beginning a job, joining the army and retirement. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the developmental stages of mandibular third molar for estimation of dental age (DA) in different age groups and to evaluate the possible correlation between DA and chronological age (CA) in South Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Digital orthopantomography of 330 subjects (165 males, 165 females) who fit the study and the criteria were obtained. Assessment of mandibular third molar development was performed using Demirjian et al., modified method and DA was assessed using tooth specific stages. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The present study showed a significant correlation between DA and CA in both males and females. Third molar development commenced around 9 years and root completion takes place around 18.9 years in males and in females 9 years and 18.6 years respectively. Demirjian modified method underestimated the mean age of males by 0.8 years and females by 0.5 years and also showed that females mature earlier than males in selected population. CONCLUSION: Digital radiographic assessment of mandibular third molar development can be used to generate mean DA using Demirjian modified method and also the estimated age range for an individual of unknown CA. Since the Demirjian method is based on French-Canadian population, to enhance the accuracy of forensic age estimates based on third molar development, the use of population-specific standards is recommended.

Rugoscopy: Human identification by computer-assisted photographic superimposition technique.

BACKGROUND: Human identification has been studied since fourteenth century and it has gradually advanced for forensic purposes. Traditional methods such as dental, fingerprint, and DNA comparisons are probably the most common techniques used in this context, allowing fast and secure identification processes. But, in circumstances where identification of an individual by fingerprint or dental record comparison is difficult, palatal rugae may be considered as an alternative source of material. AIM: The present study was done to evaluate the individualistic nature and use of palatal rugae patterns for personal identification and also to test the efficiency of computerized software for forensic identification by photographic superimposition of palatal photographs obtained from casts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two sets of Alginate impressions were made from the upper arches of 100 individuals (50 males and 50 females) with one month interval in between and the casts were poured. All the teeth except the incisors were removed to ensure that only the palate could be used in identification process. In one set of the casts, the palatal rugae were highlighted with a graphite pencil. All the 200 casts were randomly numbered, and then, they were photographed with a 10.1 Mega Pixel Kodak digital camera using standardized method. Using computerized software, the digital photographs of the models without highlighting the palatal rugae were overlapped over the images (transparent) of the palatal rugae with highlighted palatal rugae, in order to identify the pairs by superimposition technique. Incisors were remained and used as landmarks to determine the magnification required to bring the two set of photographs to the same size, in order to make perfect superimposition of images. RESULTS: The result of the overlapping of the digital photographs of highlighted palatal rugae over normal set of models without highlighted palatal rugae resulted in 100% positive identification. CONCLUSION: This study showed that utilization of palatal photographs is highly viable. The photographic superimposition technique using Adobe Photoshop 8.0 software (used in this study for comparison of palatal rugae) was proved effective for human identification and can be used when ante-mortem data regarding palatal rugae is provided. This study also concluded that palatal rugae are highly individualistic and play an important role as a complementary method in personal identification.

Advances in plant molecular farming.

Plant molecular farming (PMF) is a new branch of plant biotechnology, where plants are engineered to produce recombinant pharmaceutical and industrial proteins in large quantities. As an emerging subdivision of the biopharmaceutical industry, PMF is still trying to gain comparable social acceptance as the already established production systems that produce these high valued proteins in microbial, yeast, or mammalian expression systems. This article reviews the various cost-effective technologies and strategies, which are being developed to improve yield and quality of the plant-derived pharmaceuticals, thereby making plant-based production system suitable alternatives to the existing systems. It also attempts to overview the different novel plant-derived pharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceutical protein products that are at various stages of clinical development or commercialization. It then discusses the biosafety and regulatory issues, which are crucial (if strictly adhered to) to eliminating potential health and environmental risks, which in turn is necessary to earning favorable public perception, thus ensuring the success of the industry.

Deworming/family planning project launched on estate.

PIP: A deworming/family planning project funded by JOICFP was successfully initiated in Kerling Estate, Kuala Kubu Bahru, Malaysia. Rapport between estate management, workers, and the National Family Planning Board helped establish the project. A recent Gotong-Royong or community self-help project had encouraged enthusiasm among workers to clean up the estate. Mothers were exhorted to plan their families and devote attention to the health and welfare of the children. The need for parents to understand the causes of infestation and educate their children to wear slippers or shoes and develop good toilet habits was emphasized by Dr. Nor Laily Aziz. Continuing National Family Planning Board and Government support was pledged.^ieng