Fabrication of perovskite films using an electrostatic assisted spray technique: the effect of the electric field on morphology, crystallinity and solar cell performance.

An electric field assisted spray deposition method is employed for improving the perovskite film morphology, crystallinity, and surface coverage, and for further fabricating an efficient solar cell. By applying different voltages ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 kV during spray deposition, we observed a large variation in the film morphology and surface coverage compared to those fabricated without an electric field, which is due to improved atomization from the Coulomb fission process. The optimized applied voltage of 1.5 kV during spraying led to completion of the reaction between CH3NH3I and PbI2 on a hot substrate for pure phase CH3NH3PbI3 thin film formation with improved grain growth and surface coverage. The cells fabricated using perovskite films showed clear applied voltage dependence in the energy conversion process and alleviation in J-V hysteresis; with 1.5 kV applied voltage the average cell efficiency of 8.9% was obtained compared to films fabricated without applying voltage providing only 6.5%. The best efficiencies are 10.9% and 7.37% for applied voltages of 1.5 kV and 0 kV, respectively. The enhancement in efficiency with applied voltage is due to the formation of more uniform and dense films with large perovskite crystals, which resulted in efficient electron transportation (enhanced photocurrent and modified series and shunt resistances) by minimizing the charge carrier recombination at grain boundaries (resulting in enhanced open circuit voltage). With further optimization of the perovskite film thickness by adjusting the CH3NH3I spray volume, the average cell efficiency of ∼11.0% was obtained.

A Five-Year Study of Intrapleural Fibrinolytic Therapy in Loculated Pleural Collections.

BACKGROUND: Pleural fluid loculations due to complicated parapneumonic effusion (CPE), empyema, tubercular effusion and traumatic hemothorax can be managed either by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) or intrapleural ibrinolytic therapy (IPFT). The former is more invasive, not easily available and is also more expensive. On the other hand, IPFT is less invasive, cheaper, easily accessible and if used early, in loculated pleural collections, break loculations and early pleural peel, thereby facilitating pleural space drainage. OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy of IPFT in facilitating pleural space drainage in loculated pleural collections of diverse aetiologies. METHODS: A five-year retrospective, observational study of 200 patients, with loculated pleural collections and failed tube drainage and managed with IPFT was carried out. Responders were defined as those with significant volume of fluid drained and significant radiological resolution. RESULTS: There were 106 (53%) cases of CPE, 59 (29.5%) cases of tubercular effusion, 23 (11.5%) cases of empyema and 12 (6%) cases of hemothorax. Responders were 148 (74%) in number. The distribution of responders as per type of loculated pleural collection was as follows: CPE 88 (83%), tubercular 37 (62.7%), empyema 14 (60.8%) and traumatic hemothorax 11 (91.6%). The adverse effects were mild and included chest pain in six patients and low-grade transient fewer in three cases. CONCLUSIONS: Intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy is a safe and cost-effective option in the management of selected patients with loculated pleural effusions.

A rare case of adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma: clinicopathological correlation with autopsy confirmation.

Adult T cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is a rare T lymphoproliferative disorder which is etiologically linked with human T cell lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1). HTLV-1 is endemic in Japan, Caribbean and Africa. The highest incidence of ATLL is in Japan although sporadic cases have been reported elsewhere in the world. We describe a case of ATLL with an unusual presentation with clinic-pathological correlation and autopsy confirmation. A 56 year old male was referred to Command Hospital (Southern Command) for an incidental finding of lymphocytosis on a routine Hemogram. Clinical examination did not reveal hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, jaundice or skin lesions. Laboratory investigations showed lymphocytosis with predominance of atypical lymphomonocytoid cells. Immunophenotyping of the bone marrow mononuclear cells showed positivity for CD45, CD2, CD3, CD4, CD5 and negative for CD7, CD8, CD13, CD33, CD19, which is characteristic of ATLL phenotype. Clonality was confirmed by PCR for TCR gene rearrangement on post mortem tissue. He succumbed to his illness after 40 days of initial presentation and 16 days of being diagnosed as ATLL. Here, we discuss the pathogenesis and characteristics of ATLL with clinico-pathological correlation and autopsy confirmation.

Serum TNF alpha levels: a prognostic marker for assessment of severity of malaria.

Complicated Plasmodium falciparum infection is associated with a 6.4% mortality rate in India, yet its prognostication is incompletely understood. The conventional prognostic markers of falciparum malaria include clinical, haematological and biochemical parameters. However these factors are non-specific. Hence there is a need of an accurate inexpensive objective marker for prognosticating falciparum malaria infection outcomes. Angiopoietins, angiogenic factors, eotaxins, adhesion molecules and inflammatory cytokines have been studied for prognostication of this common disease. Determination of the first four is technically difficult and requires a high level of expertise and equipment. Intermediary cytokines have the most promising role. This study was conducted with the aim to evaluate the serum level of TNF-α in patients with P. falciparum malaria and carry out statistical analysis of levels of serum TNF-α with parasite index, age, severity of anaemia, hypoglycaemia, hepatic and renal dysfunction. In our study the average TNF alpha level in 91healthy controls was 46.42 pg/ml whereas that in mild falciparum malaria was 100.45 pg/ml, in severe malaria - 278.63 pg/ml and in cerebral malaria it was 532.6 pg/ml. The mean TNF alpha level was significantly different in severe malaria and cerebral malaria compared to that in healthy controls (p < 0.02). The difference in levels of TNF alpha was significantly higher in falciparum malaria patients with anaemia, altered liver functions, hyperparasitemia, leucocytosis, hepatosplenomegaly and hypoglycaemia. The TNF levels did not correlate well with haemolysis markers and patients with altered renal function. Hence a raised TNF alpha can predict the likelihood of oncoming anaemia, hypoglycaemia, altered hepatic function and leucocytosis but not the grades of malaria. The duration of stay in hospital and change in parasite index between the 5(th) day and the 1(st) day of admission was used a clinical outcome marker in this study. The analysis showed that serum TNF alpha was raised significantly (p= 0.001) in patients with longer duration stay in hospital. The cytokine was significantly raised in patients having disorientation /cognitive disorder /coma and ARDS (p= 0.001, 0.0023 respectively). The study concluded that serum TNF alpha if done at time of admission and on day 3 can indicate the severity of disease and its complications.

Effects of dietary yeast extract on turkey stress response and heterophil oxidative burst activity.

1. Effective nutritional approaches to counteract the negative effects of stress may provide food animal producers with useful alternatives to antibiotics. In this study, turkeys were fed on a standard diet, or the same diet supplemented with yeast extract (YE), to determine if YE would improve disease resistance in a stress model. 2. At 16 weeks of age, half of the birds were exposed to a bacterial challenge using a coarse spray of the pen environment. A subset of control and challenged birds was also treated with dexamethasone (Dex) prior to challenge (Dex/challenge). At 18 weeks, another subset was subjected to a 12?h transport stress protocol (Challenge/transport). All birds were bled and necropsied the morning after transport. The numbers and proportions of blood cells and the heterophil oxidative burst activity (OBA) were determined. Serum corticosterone (Cort) levels of male birds were measured using a commercial ELISA kit. Body weight and gain were increased by YE during week 1. 3. YE decreased mortality and bacterial isolation following Dex/challenge only in females. Cort levels in male turkeys were decreased by YE and Dex treatment. OBA was higher in males and in birds given YE and was reduced by challenge and transport. 4. These results suggest there may be gender differences in the turkey stress response and that dietary YE has potential for modulating the impact of stress on innate immunity of turkeys.

Co-infection of market-age turkeys with Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes in two stress models.

We have hypothesized that stress-induced subclinical infection of turkeys with Listeria monocytogenes may be an overlooked source of processing plant contamination, and we have shown that concurrent Escherichia coli challenge can increase L. monocytogenes colonization. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of dexamethasone (Dex) immunosuppressive treatment and transport stress on the isolation of L. monocytogenes in an E. coli-L. monocytogenes challenge model. Thirteen-week-old male turkeys housed in floor pens were either nonchallenged (NCH) or challenged (CH) by environmental exposure to E. coli and L. monocytogenes Scott A, using both a coarse spray and feed inclusion. One group of both NCH and CH birds was not stressed (NCH-Con and CH-Con, respectively), a second group was treated with Dex during challenge (NCH-Dex and CH-Dex, respectively), and a third group was subjected to a 12-hour transport (Trans) stress protocol at 15 wk of age (NCH-Trans and CH-Trans, respectively). All birds were bled and necropsied the morning after transport. Dexamethasone treatment increased mortality and disease incidence. The CH-Con, CH-Trans, and CH-Dex birds, as well as the NCH-Dex birds, had lowered body weights compared to the NCH-Con. The relative liver and heart weights were increased, and the relative bursal weights were decreased by both NCH-Dex and CH-Dex treatments. The heterophil:lymphocyte ratio, a measure of the stress response, was increased by CH-Trans, NCH-Dex, and CH-Dex. Total erythrocyte counts and hematocrit were decreased by NCH-Trans, CH-Trans, NCH-Dex and CH-Dex. The challenge strain of E. coli was isolated from the organs of a significant number of CH-Dex birds using direct plating and occasionally from CH-Trans birds. Listeria monocytogenes was not isolated from significant numbers of birds using direct plating, but was isolated from the knee or hip synovial tissues of a significant percentage of CH-Dex birds using pre-enrichment cultural methods, and from CH-Trans and CH-Dex birds using real-time PCR detection. These data suggest that L. monocytogenes colonization of processing-age turkeys can be increased by stress, and the organism may be harbored within inapparent infections of turkey synovial tissue.

Pathogenicity of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A after oral and oculonasal challenges of day-old turkey poults.

Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous, environmental pathogen that has contaminated poultry ready-to-eat products resulting in large-scale recalls. Research is needed to determine the source of product and processing plant contamination with L. monocytogenes. The purpose of this study was to compare the oral and oculonasal routes of infection on the pathogenicity of L. monocytogenes in turkey poults under different housing conditions. One-day-old turkey poults were challenged by either route with the Scott A strain of L. monocytogenes and placed either in paper-lined battery-brooder cages for 1 wk or in floor pens on fresh pine-shaving litter. On day 7, birds challenged in battery cages were transferred to floor pens. Challenge by the oculonasal route resulted in higher mortality (P = 0.05) and lower body weights (P < 0.0001) compared with both nonchallenged controls and those challenged by the oral route. Birds contained in battery cages for 1 wk had higher mortality (P = 0.002) and higher body weights (P < 0.0001) compared with floor-pen-reared birds. Using direct plating, the challenge strain was isolated from the gall bladder, brain, and knee joint of only one dead poult challenged by the oculonasal route. These results suggest that day-old turkey poults may be more susceptible to an oculonasal challenge with L. monocytogenes than to an oral challenge and that containment in battery cages for the first week increased contact exposure to the challenge.

The effects of stress on respiratory disease and transient colonization of turkeys with Listeria monocytogenes Scott A.

Listeria monocytogenes contaminates poultry processing plants due to its ubiquitous nature and high resistance to disinfection. The sources of the persistent, biofilm-forming strains that colonize processing plants are unknown. The purpose of this study is to determine if intrinsic colonization of turkeys is a possible source of contamination. Male poults were subjected to cold stress from 4-12 days of age; poults were unchallenged or were exposed to an aerosol and oral challenge of either an avian pathogenic strain of Escherichia coli (Ec), the Scott A strain of L. monocytogenes (Lm), or to a combination (Ec-Lm). At 7 wk, all cold-stressed poults were treated with an immunosuppressive dose of dexamethasone (Dex) and exposed to the same bacterial challenges. Birds were necropsied at 1 wk and 2 wk post-Dex treatment. Percent mortality, body and organ weights, and airsacculitis scores were determined. Liver and knee synovial tissues were sampled, using transport swabs, and cultured by direct plating, pre-enrichment, and Taqman real-time PCR. There were no significant differences in cumulative mortality, and airsacculitis scores were variable but tended to be decreased by cold stress. Relative weights of liver and heart were increased, whereas body weights, and spleen and bursa relative weights, were decreased following all challenges. Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from up to 50% of liver or knee synovial tissues, using pre-enrichment followed by culturing methods, and from up to 67% of knee synovial tissues using pre-enrichment followed by real-time PCR at 1 wk post-challenge. The higher percentages of positive birds, detected by real-time PCR rather than by culture, and the negative results at 2 wk post-challenge suggest that the birds experienced a transient infection that was cleared by the immune system. These results suggest that environmentally acquired L. monocytogenes can transiently colonize the liver and synovial tissues of stressed turkeys and may be a sporadic source of contamination of processing plants.

Achievement of 4.7% conversion efficiency in ZnO dye-sensitized solar cells fabricated by spray deposition using hydrothermally synthesized nanoparticles.

ZnO-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been fabricated using hydrothermally synthesized ZnO nanoparticles by spray deposition. The effect of self-assembled nanostructures in ZnO photoelectrodes, due to the electric field during spray deposition, has been studied. Thickness of the photoelectrode is found to play a role on the cell performance, the cell with nanocrystalline film thickness of ∼4.3 µm yielding an efficiency of ∼2.8% for a cell area of ∼3.2 cm(2). On the other hand, the cell with ZnO nanostructures is found to yield an efficiency of 4.7% (enhancement of ∼60%) which is highest for the cell with area>1 cm(2) having a photoelectrode thickness of ∼4.5 µm. Increased surface area due to the presence of ZnO nanostructures in the photoelectrode film helps in the adsorption of more dye molecules to the ZnO surface, which contributes to the better cell performance. The improved dye-sensitized solar cell performance is also explained with the help of light scattering by the ZnO nanostructures through extending the distance traveled by light so as to increase the light-harvesting efficiency of the photoelectrode film.

Hormone Receptors, Her-2/Neu and Chromosomal Aberrations in Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: There is a great deal of disparity in the incidence of breast cancer in rural and urban India on one hand and between India and Western population on the other. METHODS: We analysed steroid receptor status in cases of breast cancer in a small sample of patients in armed forces. Infiltrating duct carcinomas of breast recorded histologically in mastectomy specimens in last two years were accessioned in the present study with reference to patient and tumour characteristics. RESULT: In contrast to the higher rates reported in western literature, only 33 % of the tumours expressed estrogen receptors (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR), of which 24% were ER positive and 30% PR positive. Negative steroid receptor status did not correlate with presence or absence of metastatic nodes, however it was predominant amongst the high grade infiltrating duct carcinomas in this study. Necrosis and lymphovascular invasion demonstrated an inverse relationship with the ER/ PR reactivity. 70% of the node positive cases expressed Her -2/ Neu, reflecting a higher immunoreactivity in this subset of patients. Aneusomy for chromosomes 1, 11 and 17 was common in node positive cases. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of chromosomal aberrations by Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) technique correlates well with traditional histological parameters.

Novel microstructure in spin coated polyaniline thin films.

Polyaniline (Pani) thin films doped with camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) have been deposited on glass substrates using the spin coating technique. Pani is chemically synthesized by an oxidation method at ∼0 °C. Pani-CSA films show a hexagonal structure in scanning electron micrographs, which occurs due to the crystalline growth of CSA. A dense hexagonal structure is visible for film deposited at 800 rpm, but it becomes sparser as the revolutions per minute are increased (1200, 1500 and 2000 rpm). Electronic transition of quinoid units cause an absorption shoulder at ∼900 nm for films deposited at 1200, 1500 and 2000 rpm, which is not observed for film deposited at 800 rpm.

Epidermoid tumour of the lateral ventricle.

Epidermoids occurring within the lateral ventricles are rare. At one time, they were regarded as anatomical curiosities. The lesions are of developmental aetiology, due to migration of epiblast inclusion at the time of formation of the cerebral vesicle. They are slow growing, and presentation is non-specific in the form of deteriorating mental functions. Generally seen in the fifth decade, but they have also been observed in the paediatric age group. MRI is suggestive of a cystic lesion, and is confirmed to be a typical epidermoid within the lateral ventricle at operation, often having a connection to the midline through the choroidal fissure. The cysts should be excised with no additional morbidity. Histopathology reveals typical stratified squamous epithelium.

An unusual endobronchial foreign body.

A 24-year-old male presented with features of pneumonia of right lower lobe. Chest radiograph after treatment showed cystic opacities in the right lower zone along with a radio-opaque foreign body at the right cardiophrenic angle. The foreign body was successfully removed via the fibreoptic bronchoscope. It was a very unusual type of foreign body with an equally unusual mode of aspiration.

Medical arthroscopy--emerging era of rheumatological intervention.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and diagnostic value of arthroscopy performed by a rheumatologist. METHODS: Decisions for performing arthroscopy were taken when detailed clinical history-and relevant rheumatological investigations failed to arrive at a definite diagnosis. Arthroscopies were performed under local anesthesia as a daycare procedure. Synovial biopsies taken during procedures were subjected to histopathological examination (HPE). RESULTS: Of the 50 patients enrolled, 39 were males while 11 were females with mean age of 35.5 years. In lower limb oligoarthritis group of patients, three had macroscopic picture of crystal arthropathy, rest of the 29 patients revealed gross picture indicative of non-specific synovitis. While in polyarticular group of eight patients, three had macroscopic picture suggestive of crystal arthropathy (probably polyarticlar gout) while five were indicative of rheumatoid arthritis. In monoarticular disease pattern (n= 10) macroscopic picture findings were as follows- crystal arthropathy-two, tubercular-three, synovial chondromatosis-one and non-specific synovitis-two. HPE of synovium did not correlate in many cases. CONCLUSION: Arthroscopy using a 4 mm scope under local anesthesia in the hands of rheumatologists is a safe daycare procedure. In few cases arthroscopy helped in arriving at a final diagnosis but many patients remained undiagnosed. Both the rheumatologists and the pathologists require further experience in this field.

Laryngeal melanosis.

We describ a case iaryngcul melanosis in a 62 year old male. the pigmentation was visible on gross examination during laryngoscopy ana histologicatly a single foci showing changes of carcinoma in situ was identified. The biopsy tissue, however did not reveal any frank changes of malignancy.