Single-nucleotide and copy-number variance related to severity of hypospadias

The genetic association of hypospadias-risk studies has been conducted in Caucasians, Chinese-Han populations and few in Indian populations. However, no comprehensive approach has been followed to assess genetic involvement in the severity of the disorder.

Catestatin regulates vesicular quanta through modulation of cholinergic and peptidergic (PACAPergic) stimulation in PC12 cells

We have previously shown that the chromogranin A (CgA)-derived peptide catestatin (CST: hCgA 352-372 ) inhibits nicotine-induced secretion of catecholamines from the adrenal medulla and chromaffin cells. In the present study, we seek to determine whether CST regulates dense core (DC) vesicle (DCV) quanta (catecholamine and chromogranin/secretogranin proteins) during acute (0.5-h treatment) or chronic (24-h treatment) cholinergic (nicotine) or peptidergic (PACAP, pituitary adenylyl cyclase activating polypeptide) stimulation of PC12 cells. In acute experiments, we found that both nicotine (60 μM) and PACAP (0.1 μM) decreased intracellular norepinephrine (NE) content and increased 3 H-NE secretion, with both effects markedly inhibited by co-treatment with CST (2 μM). In chronic experiments, we found that nicotine and PACAP both reduced DCV and DC diameters and that this effect was likewise prevented by CST. Nicotine or CST alone increased expression of CgA protein and together elicited an additional increase in CgA protein, implying that nicotine and CST utilize separate signaling pathways to activate CgA expression. In contrast, PACAP increased expression of CgB and SgII proteins, with a further potentiation by CST. CST augmented the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) but did not increase intracellular NE levels, presumably due to its inability to cause post-translational activation of TH through serine phosphorylation. Co-treatment of CST with nicotine or PACAP increased quantal size, plausibly due to increased synthesis of CgA, CgB and SgII by CST. We conclude that CST regulates DCV quanta by acutely inhibiting catecholamine secretion and chronically increasing expression of CgA after nicotinic stimulation and CgB and SgII after PACAPergic stimulation.

Low resolution spectroscopy of selected Algol systems

The analysis of spectroscopic data for 30 Algol-type binaries is presented.All these systems are short period Algols having primaries with spectral typesB and A. Dominant spectral lines were identified for the spectra collected andtheir equivalent widths were calculated. All the spectra were examined tounderstand presence of mass transfer, a disk or circumstellar matter andchromospheric emission. We also present first spectroscopic and period studyfor few Algols and conclude that high resolution spectra within and outside theprimary minimum are needed for better understanding of these Algol type closebinaries.

Enhancing Text Using Emotion Detected from EEG Signals

Often people might not be able to express themselves properly on social media, like not being able to think of appropriate words representative of their emotional state. In this paper, we propose an end to end system which aims to enhance user-input sentence according to his/her current emotional state. It works by a) detecting the emotion of the user and b) enhancing the input sentence by inserting emotive words to make the sentence more representative of the emotional state of the user. The emotional state of the user is recognized by analyzing the Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from the brain. For text enhancement, we modify the words corresponding to the detected emotion using correlation finder scheme. Next, the verification of the sentence correctness has been performed using Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) Networks based Language Modeling framework. An accuracy of 74.95% has been recorded for the classification of five emotional states in a dataset of 25 participants using EEG signals. Similarly, promising results have been obtained for the task text enhancement and overall end-to-end system. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first of its kind to enhance text according to the emotional state detected by EEG brainwaves. The system also releases an individual from thinking and typing words, which might be a complicated procedure sometimes.

High-Q and temperature stable photonic biosensor based on grating waveguides

In this work, analytical modeling and parameter evaluation of a photonic biosensor using cascaded silicon grating waveguides is illustrated. The sensor design consists of two cascaded waveguides with symmetric sidewall gratings to broaden the stop band region of the transmission spectra. In the work, the structure is first analyzed using the transfer matrix method. The parameter values are then optimized to obtain a sharper resonant peak in the center of the stop band. Notably, the resonant band of this structure provides a high Q factor (of 1.544 × 10), which significantly improves the limits of detection. The sensor has been designed to detect the presence of biomaterial material (seen corresponding to a change in refractive index) on its surface by changing the change in device resonant wavelength. In this study, the effect of temperature on the detection of such biomaterials has also been evaluated, as has the temperature sensitivity of the device which is − 0.0075 nm/°C, over a temperature range of 18–34 °C.

Retardation of Small Creep–Fatigue Crack in Gr. 91 Steel Through the Combined Effects of Stress Relaxation, Microstructural Evolution, and Oxidation

Phenoxazinone synthase and antimicrobial activity by a bis(1,3-diamino-2-propanolate) cobalt(III) complex

In this work, we have synthesised and structurally characterized a mononuclear cobalt(III) complex, \([\hbox {Co(2-O-pn)}_{2}]\hbox {Cl}^{.} \hbox {2H}_{2} \hbox {O}\) (1), (2-O-pn = 1,3-diamino-2-propanolate). From the X-ray structure of the cobalt complex, it is revealed that Co(III) ion in 1 adopts an octahedral geometry and crystallizes in the monoclinic system with C2 / c space group. The lattice aqua molecule in combination with chloride ion in 1 forms a water-chloride cluster, \((\hbox {H}_{2} \hbox {O})_{2}{}^{\cdots } \, \hbox {(Cl)}_{2}\) through strong H-bonding interaction mediated via cobalt(III) complex in a unique binding motif. This cobalt(III) complex has been tested as an effective catalytic system towards the oxidative coupling of 2-aminophenol (2-AP) in the MeCN medium. In situ mass spectral analysis confirms that 2-AP forms an adduct with cobalt ion and the course of catalysis proceeds through catalyst-substrate binding followed by oxidative coupling of 2-AP with iminobenzoquinone. This cobalt(III) catalyst affords exclusively aminophenoxazinone species with a significant turnover number, \(k_{\mathrm{cat}}: \, 6.37 \times 10^{2} \, \hbox {h}^{-1}\) in the MeCN medium. This cobalt(III) complex is able to screen out the growth of some bacteria and fungi species. Quantum chemical calculations employing density functional theory is used to model structural parameters and spectroscopic behaviour. The theoretical findings corroborate well with the experimental results.

Harnessing desktop computers for ab initio calculation of vibrational IR/Raman spectra of large molecules

The requirement of huge computational resources makes quantum chemical investigations on large molecules prohibitively difficult. In particular, calculating the vibrational IR/Raman spectra of large molecules employing correlated ab initio theory is a herculean task. The present article brings out the utility of our molecular tailoring approach (MTA)-based software for accurate yet economic spectral calculations employing one or more desktop computers. Hartree-Fock and density functional theory-based benchmark calculations on test cases containing over 175 atoms and over 2300 basis functions show excellent agreement with their full calculations (FC) counterparts with large savings in the computer time and memory/hard disk requirements. These savings are even more impressive at MP2 level of theory. Our MTA-based software thus represents an art-of-the-possible for computing vibrational IR/Raman spectra using a handful of desktop machines.

Effect of uncertainty in $$V_{\mathrm{S}}{-}N$$ V S - N correlations on seismic site response analysis

This paper studies the reliability of the calculated shear-wave velocity (\(V_{\mathrm{S}}\)) from different available \(V_{\mathrm{S}}\) and SPT-N correlations in terms of seismic site response analysis. In the present study, various \(V_{\mathrm{S}}\)–N correlations developed for different regions around the globe have been used to calculate the bound of \(V_{\mathrm{S}}\) variations with depth at three different sites in Kolkata city. This bound has later been used to generate the random \(V_{\mathrm{S}}\) profiles using the Monte Carlo simulation. Equivalent linear site response analysis has been performed to study the response of those generated profiles under different input motion excitations. Strong-to-weak ground motion records have been used for this purpose. The amplification spectra of the generated \(V_{\mathrm{S}}\) profiles using all soil types and specific soil-type \(V_{\mathrm{S}}\)–N correlations show significant variations. The study also shows that the \(V_{\mathrm{S}}\)–N correlation may result in quite different \(V_{\mathrm{S},30}\) values and subsequently it may lead to the different site classes according to the NEHRP 2003 classification. So, the random choice of the \(V_{\mathrm{S}}\)–N correlation, where the direct measurement of \(V_{\mathrm{S}}\) is not available, may affect the outcome of seismic hazard analysis significantly. The study points out the need for accurate estimation of the \(V_{\mathrm{S}}\) profile either from in-situ determination or using site-specific correlation.

Unavoidable front contact model of Si solar cell through a generalized effective medium approximation approach

Fill factor of the solar cell mainly depends on series resistance and contact resistance, which are the most effective parameters to collect carriers (electrons and holes) from both electrodes of C-Si solar cells. We have used both mathematical and experimental approaches to reduce these resistances for enhancement of power conversion efficiency (PCE) by increasing fill factor. After processing by light-induced plating (LIP) for metal contact, the PCE of solar cell is obtained as 14.43%, which is 8.8% more than that before LIP processing.