Superior Visible Photoelectric Response with Au/Cu2NiSnS4 Core-Shell Nanocrystals.

The incorporation of plasmonic metal nanostructures into semiconducting chalcogenides in the form of core-shell structures provides a promising approach to enhancing the performance of photodetectors. In this study, we combined Au nanoparticles with newly developed copper-based chalcogenides Cu2NiSnS4 (Au/CNTS) to achieve an ultrahigh optoelectronic response in the visible regime. The high-quality Au/CNTS core-shell nanocrystals (NCs) were synthesized by developing a unique colloidal hot-injection method, which allowed for excellent control over sizes, shapes, and elemental compositions. The as-synthesized Au/CNTS hybrid core-shell NCs exhibited enhanced optical absorption, carrier extraction efficiency, and improved photosensing performance owing to the plasmonic-induced resonance energy transfer effect of the Au core. This effect led to a significant increase in the carrier density of the Au/CNTS NCs, resulting in a measured responsivity of 1.2 × 103 AW-1, a specific detectivity of 6.2 × 1011 Jones, and an external quantum efficiency of 3.8 × 105 % at an incident power density of 318.5 µW cm-2. These results enlighten a new era in the development of plasmonic core-shell nanostructure-based visible photodetectors.

Temperature-Dependent Nonlinear Damping in Palladium Nanomechanical Resonators.

Advances in nanofabrication techniques have made it feasible to observe damping phenomena beyond the linear regime in nanomechanical systems. In this work, we report cubic nonlinear damping in palladium nanomechanical resonators. Nanoscale palladium beams exposed to a H2 atmosphere become softer and display enhanced Duffing nonlinearity as well as nonlinear damping at ultralow temperatures. The damping is highest at the lowest temperatures of ∼110 mK and decreases when warmed up to ∼1 K. We experimentally demonstrate for the first time temperature-dependent nonlinear damping in a nanomechanical system below 1 K. This is consistent with a predicted two-phonon-mediated nonlinear Akhiezer scenario with a ballistic phonon mean free path comparable to the beam thickness. This opens up new possibilities to engineer nonlinear phenomena at low temperatures.

Plants Used as Antihypertensive.

Hypertension is a critical health problem and worse other cardiovascular diseases. It is mainly of two types: Primary or essential hypertension and Secondary hypertension. Hypertension is the primary possibility feature for coronary heart disease, stroke and renal vascular disease. Herbal medicines have been used for millions of years for the management and treatment of hypertension with minimum side effects. Over aim to write this review is to collect information on the anti-hypertensive effects of natural herbs in animal studies and human involvement as well as to recapitulate the underlying mechanisms, from the bottom of cell culture and ex-vivo tissue data. According to WHO, natural herbs/shrubs are widely used in increasing order to treat almost all the ailments of the human body. Plants are the regular industrial units for the invention of chemical constituents, they used as immunity booster to enhance the natural capacity of the body to fight against different health problems as well as herbal medicines and food products also. Eighty percent population of the world (around 5.6 billion people) consume medicines from natural plants for major health concerns. This review provides a bird's eye analysis primarily on the traditional utilization, phytochemical constituents and pharmacological values of medicinal herbs used to normalize hypertension i.e. Hibiscus sabdariffa, Allium sativum, Andrographis paniculata, Apium graveolens, Bidenspilosa, Camellia sinensis, Coptis chinensis, Coriandrum sativum, Crataegus spp., Crocus sativus, Cymbopogon citrates, Nigella sativa, Panax ginseng,Salviaemiltiorrhizae, Zingiber officinale, Tribulus terrestris, Rauwolfiaserpentina, Terminalia arjuna etc.

Do Participatory Learning and Action Women's Groups Alone or Combined with Cash or Food Transfers Expand Women's Agency in Rural Nepal?

Participatory learning and action women's groups (PLA) have proven effective in reducing neonatal mortality in rural, high-mortality settings, but their impacts on women's agency in the household remain unknown. Cash transfer programmes have also long targeted female beneficiaries in the belief that this empowers women. Drawing on data from 1309 pregnant women in a four-arm cluster-randomised controlled trial in Nepal, we found little evidence for an impact of PLA alone or combined with unconditional food or cash transfers on women's agency in the household. Caution is advised before assuming PLA women's groups alone or with resource transfers necessarily empower women.

Human papillomavirus genotype distribution in cervical cancer biopsies from Nepalese women.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer (CC) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality from cancer in Nepalese women. Nearly all cases of CC are caused by infection with certain genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV). Data on HPV genotype distribution in Nepalese CC patients is sparse. We aimed to determine the distribution of HPV genotypes in biopsies of CC tissue from Nepalese women. METHODS: This study examined 248 archived paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from CC cases from patients of B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal. DNA was extracted from the biopsies and HPV detection performed by PCR. HPV genotyping was then carried out by a reverse line hybridization technique capable of identifying 36 distinct HPV genotypes. RESULTS: Most of the samples were from tumors that had been designated by hospital pathologists as squamous cell carcinoma (77.6%). 165 of the 248 samples contained DNA of sufficient quality for rigorous PCR testing. All the analyzable specimens were positive for HPV. The most common HPV genotypes, in decreasing order of frequency were 16, 18, 45, 33, 52, 56 and 31; most were found as single infections (94.5%). Together, HPV types 16, 18, and 45 were found in 92% of the tumor samples. CONCLUSION: This study strengthens the knowledge-base of HPV genotype distribution in CC cases in Nepal. Hopefully, this information will be useful to the medical community and public health policy-makers in generating improved HPV-surveillance, -prevention and -treatment strategies in Nepal.

Stereoselective Synthesis of (R)-3-Methylthalidomide by Piperidin-2-one Ring Assembly Approach.

A simple and stereoselective synthesis of 3-methylthalidomide, a configurationally stable thalidomide analog, is presented. Herein we describe the synthesis of (R)-3-methylthalidomide starting from (S)-alanine by piperidin-2-one ring assembly approach in high yield and enantiomeric purity without using a chiral auxiliary or reagent. Starting from (R)-alanine, the corresponding (S)-3-methylthalidomide can be prepared using the same methodology.