Signatures of Nontrivial Pairing in the Quantum Walk of Two-Component Bosons.

Nearest neighbor bosons possessing only on-site interactions do not form on-site bound pairs in their quantum walk due to fermionization. We obtain signatures of nontrivial on-site pairing in the quantum walk of strongly interacting two component bosons in a one dimensional lattice. By considering an initial state with particles from different components located at the nearest-neighbor sites in the central region of the lattice, we show that in the dynamical evolution of the system, competing intra- and intercomponent on-site repulsion leads to the formation of on-site intercomponent bound states. We find that when the total number of particles is three, an intercomponent pair is favored in the limit of equal intra- and intercomponent interaction strengths. However, when two bosons from each species are considered, intercomponent pairs and trimer are favored depending on the ratios of the intra- and intercomponent interactions. In both cases, we find that the quantum walks exhibit a reentrant behavior as a function of intercomponent interaction.

Relativistic Normal Coupled-Cluster Theory for Accurate Determination of Electric Dipole Moments of Atoms: First Application to the

Recent relativistic coupled-cluster (RCC) calculations of electric dipole moments (EDMs) of diamagnetic atoms due to parity and time-reversal violating (P,T-odd) interactions, which are essential ingredients for probing new physics beyond the standard model of particle interactions, differ substantially from the previous theoretical results. It is therefore necessary to perform an independent test of the validity of these results. In view of this, the normal coupled-cluster method has been extended to the relativistic regime [relativistic normal coupled-cluster (RNCC) method] to calculate the EDMs of atoms by simultaneously incorporating the electrostatic and P,T-odd interactions in order to overcome the shortcomings of the ordinary RCC method. This new relativistic method has been applied to ^{199}Hg, which currently has a lower EDM limit than that of any other system. The results of our RNCC and self-consistent RCC calculations of the EDM of this atom are found to be close. The discrepancies between these two results on the one hand and those of previous calculations on the other are elucidated. Furthermore, the electric dipole polarizability of this atom, which has computational similarities with the EDM, is evaluated and it is in very good agreement with its measured value.

Erratum: Mercury Monohalides: Suitability for Electron Electric Dipole Moment Searches [Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 183001 (2015)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.183001.

Mercury monohalides: suitability for electron electric dipole moment searches.

Heavy polar diatomic molecules are the primary tools for searching for the T-violating permanent electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM). Valence electrons in some molecules experience extremely large effective electric fields due to relativistic interactions. These large effective electric fields are crucial to the success of polar-molecule-based eEDM search experiments. Here we report on the results of relativistic ab initio calculations of the effective electric fields in a series of molecules that are highly sensitive to an eEDM, the mercury monohalides (HgF, HgCl, HgBr, and HgI). We study the influence of the halide anions on E_{eff}, and identify HgBr and HgI as attractive candidates for future electric dipole moment search experiments.

Effectiveness of an educational feedback intervention on drug prescribing in dental practice.

BACKGROUND: Irrational use of drugs as well as inappropriate and over drug prescribing leads to unnecessary expenditures and emergence of resistant bacterial strains. Feedback intervention on drug prescribing habits and face to face educational intervention of prescription audit would be effective in rationalizing prescribing practices. OBJECTIVE: To measure the impact of educational feedback intervention on the prescribing behavior of dental surgeons. METHODS: Prospective audit of twelve hundred outpatients prescriptions in dental OPD at BPKIHS of those dental surgeon who attended the educational intervention session was collected randomly by trained persons on customized data collection sheet before and after educational intervention. RESULTS: A total 1200 prescription were collected, 300 before and 300 after intervention period at the internal of one month, three months and six months. Majority of the prescriptions (39.33%) contained four drugs but after intervention, prescriptions contained mostly one drug, 73% in first month, 78.67% in third month and 65.34% in six month. Mean number of drugs per prescription after intervention were decreased. There was increased number of generic names of drugs after intervention. Amoxicillin, Metronidazole, Chlorhexidine, Povidone iodine gargle, Nimesulide, Ibuprofen, Ibuprofen + paracetamol, and Paracetamol were most commonly prescribed by dental prescribers before and after intervention. Selection of antimicrobial was done on empirical basis which was correct because Amoxicillin concentration reaches effectively in gingival crevicular fluid and Metronidazole covered effectively against anaerobic bacteria were found in orodental infection. The uses of topical anti-infective preparation as irrigants of choice that can kill majority of micro-organisms found is root canal and dental tubules and minimize systemic use of antimicrobials. Nimesulide prescribing needs to be rationalized. CONCLUSION: Feedback educational intervention of prescription audit is effective to improve their prescribing behaviors and rationalize drug utilization pattern for the benefit of the patients.

Reappraisal of the electric dipole moment enhancement factor for thallium.

The electric dipole moment (EDM) enhancement factor of atomic Tl is of considerable interest as it has been used in determining the most accurate limit on the electron EDM to date. However, its value varies from -179 to -1041 in different approximations. In view of the large uncertainties associated with many of these calculations, we perform an accurate calculation employing the relativistic coupled-cluster theory and obtain -466, which in combination with the most accurate measurement of Tl EDM [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 071805 (2002)] yields a new limit for the electron EDM: |d(e)| < 2.0 × 10⁻²7e cm.

Relativistic coupled cluster (RCC) computation of the electric dipole moment enhancement factor of francium due to the violation of time reversal symmetry.

A relativistic many-body theory for the electric dipole moment (EDM) of paramagnetic atoms arising from the electric dipole moment of the electron is presented and implemented. The relativistic coupled-cluster method with single and double excitations (RCCSD) using the Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian and a weak parity and time reversal violating interaction to the first-order of perturbation has been employed to obtain the EDM enhancement factor for the ground state of the Fr atom due to the intrinsic EDM of the electron. The trends of different correlation effects and the leading contributions from different physical states are discussed. Our results in combination with that of the Fr EDM experiment that is currently in progress possess the potential to probe the validity of the standard model (SM) of elementary particle physics.

Relationship between plasma leptin and plasma insulin levels in type-2 diabetic patients before and after treatment with glibenclamide and glimepiride.

Type 2 diabetes affects 100 million people throughout the world. Among the various factors implicated in the causation of this disease, the role of leptin, an obesity gene product, is increasingly being investigated. This especially assumes importance in the light of knowledge that obesity confers a minimum of 3-10 fold higher risk of diabetes. This study was planned to investigate the relationship between leptin and insulin levels in type 2 diabetic patients before and after treatment with glibenclamide or glimepiride. 60 type 2 diabetic patients were recruited for the study and were divided into 2 groups-one receiving glimepiride and the other group receiving glibenclamide for duration of 10 weeks. This study demonstrated a highly positive correlation of plasma leptin levels with BMI, plasma insulin and insulin resistance. No gender specific differences were observed in leptin concentrations. The study, however, failed to demonstrate any possible relationship between glycemic control as assessed by blood sugars/ glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc) and plasma leptin. The administration of glibenclamide or glimepiride significantly lowered blood glucose levels coupled with a decrease in (HbAlc). Both the drugs increased insulin concentrations. Glibenclamide increased leptin levels but they remained unaltered with glimepiride. Glibenclamide and glimepiride were found to be equally effective in their glucose lowering action. However, the patients receiving glibenclamide experienced higher episode of hypoglycaemic spells than those receiving glimepiride.

Recent advancement in drug delivery system.

Ease of drug administration, safety, affordability and efficacy are the major concerns in pharmacotherapy leading to exploration of better drug delivery systems. Liposomes are lyotropic liquid crystals composed mainly of amphiphilic bilayers and these are more frequently used as drug carriers. Liposomes help reduce the toxicity and deliver the drug to the target tissue. So far, liposomes have been the most intensively studied lipid-based delivery system. In liposomes, a hydrophilic drug can be trapped in aqueous interior or channels between successive phospholipids bilayers whereas a hydrophobic drug can reside with the bilayer itself. The non-toxic and nonimmunogenic bilayers dissipate allowing the diffusion of the drug into the tissues. Attachment of polyethyl glycol to the surface of liposome (known as stealth liposome) aids in the better targeting of the drug to the tissues. Pegylated proteins and polymers of lactic and glycolic acids have been well studied as drug carriers and found to be resistant to phagocytosis and complement activation. Newer DNA based strategies including DNA vaccination and antisense oligonucleotides and immunomodulation show good results for new therapeutic systems. Though the DNA based therapeutic systems have high selectivity and specificity with few adverse effects, these systems are so far restricted to animal models and clinical trials.

Overt bleeding in complicated P. falciparum malaria: An experience from east coast of India.

Delay in diagnosis of falciparum may result in complicated, life-threatening conditions. Though haematological abnormalities and coagulopathy are common complications that occur in malaria but complications with rare manifestations like overt bleeding do pose challenges for the clinicians worldwide. This study reports the incidence and prognosis of overt bleeding from the east coast of India and makes an attempt to relate it with the pathogenesis of the disease in severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria patients. This study was conducted in Sriram Chandra Bhanj Medical College Hospital, Cuttack, Odisha, India. A total of 120 complicated (multi organ dysfunction) malaria cases were included in this study. Amongst them 54 (45.0%) showed signs of overt bleeding and clinically the bleeding was either from one or multiple sites. Out of the total overt bleeding cases, 79.6% had elongated prothrombin time (PT), activated partial prothrombin time (aPTT) and elevated D-dimer with thrombocytopenia indicating disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC). It was observed that case fatality rate was very high in coagulopathy group than the non coagulopathy group. Our observations highlight that awareness of overt bleeding in P. falcipatum infection is necessary for general practitioners in endemic areas for malaria like in Odisha for effective and timely management of complicated patients.Timely diagnosis and treatment of DIC with appropriate prescribed drugs can prevent and cure the complications of severe falciparum malaria with anti-malarial treatment.

Social health insurance: a knowledge-do gap in eastern Nepal.

Health care costs, and those for inpatient care in particular, pose a barrier to seeking health care, and cost be a major cause of indebtedness and impoverishment, particularly among the poor. The Ministry of Health in Nepal intends to initiate alternative financing schemes such as community and social health insurance schemes as a means to supplement the government health sector financing source. Social Health Insurance (SHI) is a mechanism for financing and purchasing / delivering health care to workers in the formal sector regulated by the government. Considering all these facts BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) has introduced SHI scheme in 2000 as an alternative health care financing mechanism to the community people of Sunsari and Morang districts. In the beginning small area was elected as a pilot project to launch the scheme. A major objective of SHI is to reduce poverty caused by paying for health care and to prevent already vulnerable families from falling into deeper poverty when facing health problems. A total of 26 organizations with 19799 populations are at present in SHI scheme. Sixteen rural based organizations with 14,047 populations and 10 urban based organizations with 5752 people are the beneficiaries in this scheme. BPKIHS SHI Scheme is the outcome of the visionary thinking on social solidarity and as an alternative health care financing mechanism to the community. BPKIHS is mobilizing people's organizations and is offering health services through its health insurance scheme at subsidized expenses. This has helped people to avail with health facilities who otherwise would have been left vulnerable because of their penetrating health needs. There is huge gap between premium collection and expenditures. The expenditures are more and this may be due to knowledge - do gap in the program. If conditions are unsuitable, SHI can lead to higher costs of care, inefficient allocation of health care resources, inequitable provision and dissatisfied patients. It can also be more difficult to realize the potential advantages of SHI in future. The future challenges confronting the scheme are to give the continuity and sustainability of the program to its catchments areas. This might entail a shift in its program operation mechanism. People's active involvement is required, which will further provide a sense of ownership in the scheme amongst the people.

Vagus nerve stimulation: a novel approach for prevention and control of refractory seizures.

In order to understand the brain function and to treat various neuropsychiatric illnesses including epilepsy, continued search and discovery of newer antiepileptic drugs has failed to revolutionize the approach in the management of this complex disorder. Moreover, in close to 30% of epilepsy patients, the seizure control is either not satisfactory or it is intractable to pharmacotherapy. Amongst the non-pharmacological treatment options for refractory epilepsy, vagus nerve stimulation occupies a unique position as an adjunctive treatment in prevention and control of partial-onset seizures in adults and adolescents older than 12 years. Though the precise mode of action of VNS is still debatable an honest attempt has been mode here to review all possible literatures available on VNS to establish its role in the management of this complex disorder.

Recent trends and directions in the rationalization of pharmacotherapy of bronchial asthma: probing for alternatives.

Although tremendous progress has been made in the understanding of Bronchial Asthma (BA) over the past decade, asthma remains a frequently encountered challenging condition for the physicians in the health care locale. Inflammation is distinguished as the most important event in the pathogenesis and the knowledge that asthma is an inflammatory disorder has become elementary to our explanation of asthma; this has broadened the perspective for the treatment of BA. However, bronchodilators and corticosteroids are still the mainstay of asthma treatment over the decades. The introduction of superior derivatives of corticosteroids and beta agonists, the choice, safety, duration of action and ease of delivery have enhanced progressively. Surrogated anti-inflammatory agents have been used in severe disease, but have been limited by adverse effects. The introduction of new agents affecting leukotrienes synthesis and action provides an alternative strategy but it needs to be confirmed on a large subset of population of asthmatics. In fact, the past decade has been witnessed by a proliferation of scientific information and a widespread addition of anti-inflammatory therapy to improve asthma outcomes along with the recommended therapies. In this context, there has been much advancement in the available pharmacologic panorama for both chronic and acute therapy and the development and approval of novel medications. Yet, many controversies abound this disorder, and further fundamental developments in novel therapeutics are imminent. This review of asthma for the practicing clinician will summarize these developments and their implications in treatment of BA.

An overview of over the counter drugs in pregnancy and lactation.

Over the counter (OTC) drugs are commonly used by pregnant women. Most OTC drugs are safe in pregnancy but some have unproven safety and may adversely affect the growing foetus. The safety profile of some of the medication may change according to the gestational age of the foetus. Because an estimated 10% or more of the birth defects results from maternal drug exposure, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has assigned a risk category to each drugs. Among the commonly used OTC drugs Acetaminophen, Chlorpheniramine, Kaolin and Pectin preparations and most antacids have a good safety record. The drugs like H2 blockers; Pseudoephedrine and Atropine/Diphenoxylate should be used with caution. The risk and benefit while using OTC drugs in pregnancy has to be assessed.

Electro-biocatalytic treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater using microbial fuel cell (MFC) in continuous mode operation.

Refinery wastewater (RW) treatment in microbial fuel cell (MFC) was studied in batch mode operation followed by continuous mode operation with 8h and 16h hydraulic retention time (HRT). The MFC performance was evaluated in terms of power density, organics removal, specific contaminants (oil & grease, phenol and sulfide) removal and energy conversion efficiency with respect to operation mode. Higher power density of 225±1.4mW/m2 was observed during continuous mode operation with 16h HRT along with a substrate degradation of 84.4±0.8% including the 95±0.6 of oil content. The columbic efficiency during this operation was about 2±0.8% and the projected power yield was 340±20kWh/kg CODR/day. Batch mode operation also showed good substrate degradation (81±1.8%) but took longer HRT which resulted in significantly low substrate degradation rate (0.036±0.002kgCODR/m3-day) over continuous mode operation (1.05±0.01kgCODR/m3-day). Overall, current study depicted the possibility of utilizing RW as substrate in MFC for power generation along with its treatment.

Distribution of Plasmodium falciparum genotypes in clinically mild and severe malaria cases in Orissa, India.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a malaria hyperendemic state of India to ascertain the distribution of Plasmodium falciparum genotypes in patients with mild (n=40) and severe (n=35) malaria. PCR and nested PCR were used to determine the glutamate-rich protein (GLURP), merozoite surface proteins 1 and 2 (MSP1 and MSP2) and knob-associated histidine-rich protein (KAHRP) for characterization of the parasite. The results indicate that (i) the 200bp allele of the MAD20 family of MSP1 and the 550bp allele of the 3D7 family of MSP2 show over-representation in severe malaria cases; (ii) the multiplicity of infection with respect to MSP2 alleles is significantly higher (P<0.001) in severe cases than in mild cases; and (iii) comparison with the findings of other studies leads to the conclusion that the distribution of P. falciparum genotypes between different clinical groups differs geographically.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding the management of diarrhea by pharmacists and licensed drug sellers in eastern Nepal.

Diarrhea constitutes a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Inappropriate drug prescribing is common in diarrhea, resulting in an increase in cost and adverse drug reactions. In Nepal, drug sellers often act as the first contact persons for the underprivileged. No information has been available regarding their knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding diarrhea management. Using a structured questionnaire, between the 1st of January and the 31st of December 2003, 109 drug sellers in eastern Nepal were interviewed about their educational status, patient/attendant presentation at the outlet and their advice to patients/attendants. Only 2.7% of drug sellers were qualified in health education. Eighty percent of the patients/attendants sought advice from the drug sellers, only 20% presented to the outlet with prescriptions. The data reveals that about half of them were taking note of the nature of the diarrhea. Although 62 (56.8%) of them were aware of dehydration, only 2 (1.8%) of them knew all three signs of dehydration (dry tongue, non-elastic skin and sunken eyes). Sixty-six (60.5%) of them knew about oral rehydration solution (ORS), its principle and the required period of administration. About 50 to 60% of them were aware of the implications resulting from dehydration from uncontrolled diarrhea and of the importance of ORS in its management. Only 20% of the drug sellers advised ORS alone, otherwise it was dispensed along with drugs, such as antimotility agents (AMA) or metronidazole. As a result of the above findings, it is important to educate the drug sellers by conferring knowledge about the ethical aspects of drugs in the management of diarrhea.

First time detection of Japanese encephalitis virus antigen in dry and unpreserved mosquito Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles, 1901, from Karnal district of Haryana state of India.

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) antigen has been detected by antigen capture enzyme linked immunosorbentassay (ELISA) in dry specimens of the mosquito Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles, 1901, collected from Karnal district of Haryana state in northern India. These mosquitoes were stored in dry condition for 20 months, at room temperature, before processing. The procedure of detecting JEV infection in long time stored, dry vector mosquitoes, has important application in the surveillance of Japanese encephalitis.

Entomological indices of Aedes aegypti at some international airports and seaports of southern India--a report.

Entomological surveys were undertaken at some of the international airports/seaports (Bangalore, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Thiruvanathapuram and Vishakapatnam) to find out the breeding prevalence of dengue vector mosquito in diverse breeding containers from 1998 to 2004. Three vector indices (House index, Container index and Breateu index) were used to assess the breeding potential at each airport/seaport. International Health Regulations urged national governments to keep all the international airports/seaports and peripheral areas up to 400 meters free from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. However, surveys revealed high vector indices at all the airports and seaports. Health authorities of airports/seaports need to take cognizance of these facts and develop action plan for appropriate control measures with emphasis on vector surveillance.