Optimal Behavior of Spectral Line Analysis Through Fine Identification of Heavy Metal Lines in Crude Oil Using LIPS-Technique

Assessment of the quality of minerals, especially heavy ones, in crude oil by identifying spectral lines is very important to determine the quality and specifications of crude oil and the following treatments in production of the lines. In this study heavy metals lines (HMs) found in crude oil extracted from Iraq south field were identified that are unique spectral lines by using the laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIPS – mechanism), which were analyzed later by spectrometer based on the principle of finger print. The optimum spectrum (analytical lines) of metals emitted from the crude oil plasma in air were selected and determined. By determining the optimization behavior for evaluation procedure, the important condition was laser spot number (scan area). Comparison was performed between the fundamental wavelength and harmonic generation (HG) used in the laser beam to determine the optimum spectrum and optical insulator to cover the selected sample at atmospheric air pressure and room temperature. The results obtained from the actual raw spectrum were determined to represent the emission lines without the influence of foreign light (no noise) using the optical isolator, and unique new analytical lines were identified when increasing the number of lasers points up to 5 points, and a balanced spectrum was determined with good absorption when using a basic wavelength of 1064 nm. Difficulties were presented due to the characteristics of the crude oil as organic liquid case. The optimum results obtained indicated that the LIPS technique is effective and a control technique to well identify the spectrum lines of the heavy metals (HMs) presented in the crude oil.

Effect of altitude on the variation of pre-monsoon thunderstorm frequency during periods of higher sun spot number

The variation of pre-monsoon Thunder Storm Frequency (TSF) depending on the appearance of sun spot (S.S.) have been studied for the period 1955-80 for total 96 stations distributed allover India. For most of the stations we can identify a critical S.S. number in the neighbourhood of mean S.S. 140 above which a clear increasing or decreasing trend of mean TSF is observed with increase of S.S. number. It has also been seen that for almost all the stations having altitude greater than 280m, TSF increases with increase of S.S. number provided it is greater than the critical number.

Lymphocyte Non-Specific Function Detection Facilitating the Stratification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

BackgroundInadequate tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics, especially for discrimination between active TB (ATB) and latent TB infection (LTBI), are major hurdle in the reduction of the disease burden. The present study aims to investigate the role of lymphocyte non-specific function detection for TB diagnosis in clinical practice.MethodsA total of 208 participants including 49 ATB patients, 64 LTBI individuals, and 95 healthy controls were recruited at Tongji hospital from January 2019 to October 2020. All subjects were tested with lymphocyte non-specific function detection and T-SPOT assay.ResultsSignificantly positive correlation existed between lymphocyte non-specific function and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) spot number. CD4+ T cell non-specific function showed the potential for differentiating patients with negative T-SPOT results from those with positive T-SPOT results with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.732 (95% CI, 0.572-0.893). The non-specific function of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and NK cells was found significantly lower in ATB patients than in LTBI individuals. The AUCs presented by CD4+ T cell non-specific function, CD8+ T cell non-specific function, and NK cell non-specific function for discriminating ATB patients from LTBI individuals were 0.845 (95% CI, 0.767-0.925), 0.770 (95% CI, 0.683-0.857), and 0.691 (95% CI, 0.593-0.789), respectively. Application of multivariable logistic regression resulted in the combination of CD4+ T cell non-specific function, NK cell non-specific function, and culture filtrate protein-10 (CFP-10) spot number as the optimally diagnostic model for differentiating ATB from LTBI. The AUC of the model in distinguishing between ATB and LTBI was 0.939 (95% CI, 0.898-0.981). The sensitivity and specificity were 83.67% (95% CI, 70.96%-91.49%) and 90.63% (95% CI, 81.02%-95.63%) with the threshold as 0.57. Our established model showed superior performance to TB-specific antigen (TBAg)/PHA ratio in stratifying TB infection status.ConclusionsLymphocyte non-specific function detection offers an attractive alternative to facilitate TB diagnosis. The three-index diagnostic model was proved to be a potent tool for the identification of different events involved in TB infection, which is helpful for the treatment and management of patients.

Effect of pattern scanning laser on macular thickness in diabetic retinopathy

Purpose: This study investigates the effect of pattern scanning laser (PASCAL) panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) on central macular thickness (CMT) and visual acuity (VA) in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Methods: This retrospective non-randomized comparative case series included 262 eyes (163 with macular edema) of 177 patients with PDR. Treatment was PRP alone (137), PRP + anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (69), PRP + focal laser (28), or all three (89). CMT and central macular volume 3 and 6 mm from fovea were analyzed before and 1, 3, and 6 months after PRP. Spot number was plotted against CMT, and linear regression analysis was performed. Results: For each treatment group and time point, there was a non-significant relationship between spot number and CMT. In eyes receiving all three treatment modalities, a significant negative relationship was found between spot number and 3-mm volume at 6 months ( p = 0.04) and 6-mm volume at 1 month ( p = 0.002) and 6 months ( p = 0.011). There was no significant change in VA in any treatment group at the 6-month time point. Conclusion: PASCAL PRP ± focal laser or anti-VEGF was not associated with increased development of macular edema or change in VA. PASCAL PRP with focal laser and anti-VEGF may result in a decrease in macular edema.

Let-7c-3p Regulates Autophagy under Oxidative Stress by Targeting ATG3 in Lens Epithelial Cells

Background. Oxidative stress is an important factor during age-related cataract formation. Apoptosis and autophagy induced by oxidative stress have been reported as key factors in age-related cataract. In our research, we investigated the role of let-7c-3p in the regulation of autophagy and apoptosis during the formation of age-related cataract. Material and Methods. Real-time PCR and western blot were employed to detect the expression of let-7c-3p in the tissues of age-related cataract. Human lens epithelial cells (LECs) were treated with H2O2 as an age-related cataract model. The extent of apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry and western blot. To detect autophagy, immunofluorescence was used to analyze the spot number of LC3, and western blot was used to detect the expression of LC3-II/I and ATG3. The molecular mechanisms of let-7c-3p regulating autophagy via ATG3 under oxidative stress were performed by a luciferase report gene assay and rescue experiment. Results. Downregulation of let-7c-3p was found in the age-related cataract group aged >65 years relative to the age-related cataract group aged ≤65 years. Consistently, the expression of let-7c-3p was also lower under oxidative stress. The activities of LEC apoptosis and autophagy induced by oxidative stress were inhibited by let-7c-3p. By the bioinformatics database and the luciferase reporter assay, ATG3 was found to be a direct target of let-7c-3p. Let-7c-3p reduced the ATG3-mediated autophagy level, which was induced by oxidative stress in LECs. Conclusion. Let-7c-3p inhibits autophagy by targeting ATG3 in LECs in age-related cataract.

Clinical effect of T-SPOT.TB test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis

Background The goal of this study was to further investigate the clinical effectiveness of the T-SPOT.TB test in diagnosing tuberculosis (TB), including the effects of T-SPOT.TB test on evaluating diverse TB types and locations. Methods We collected 20,332 specimens from patients suspected to have TB. Afterwards, we performed an integrative analysis of T-SPOT.TB results and clinical diagnoses, and evaluated the composition ratio and positive detection rate of the T-SPOT.TB test in various age groups, sample types, and hospital departments. In addition, we compared the spot number and composition rate between latent TB infection (LTBI), active TB infection, and old TB infection groups. The active TB group was then further divided into pulmonary TB (PTB), pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB (PETB), and extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) subgroups, and we evaluated whether there were statistical differences in spot number and composition rate between subgroups. Results Positive results from the T-SPOT.TB test were found across different age groups, specimen types, and hospital departments. Elderly patient groups, pleural effusion samples, and thoracic surgery departments showed the highest rates of positivity. There were no statistically significant differences in spot number of CFP-10 and ESAT-6 wells between disease groups or active TB subgroups. The composition rate, however, was significantly different when ESAT-6 and CFP-10 wells were double-positive. The spot number and composition rate were statistically different between the three disease groups, but showed no significant differences between the three subgroups of active TB. Conclusions The results of T-SPOT. TB test showed differences in LTBI, active TB and old TB. Additionally, a higher spot number level was observed in the active TB group.

Growth in mid-monsoon dry phases over Indian region: Prevailing influence of anthropogenic aerosols

A detailed investigation on the potentially drought prone regions over India has been presented in this study based on the balance between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET) during the South West Asian mid-monsoon season. We methodically introduce a parameter named dry day frequency (DDF) which is found suitable to present the drought index (DI) in mid-monsoon season hence strongly associated with the possibility of drought occurrences. The present study investigates the probable aspects which influence the DDF over these regions revealing that the abundance of anthropogenic aerosols especially over urbanized location have prevailing role on the growth of DDF during last few decades. The prominent increasing trend in DDF over Lucknow (26.84° N, 80.94° E), a densely populated urban location situated in the Indo-Gangetic plain, strongly reflects the dominant association of man-made aerosols with the increasing dry phase occurrences. Increase in DDF (~ 90 %) during the last 60 years is observed over this urban area compared to a broader region in its surroundings. In addition, periodic impacts of synoptic scale phenomena like ENSO (El Niño–Southern Oscillation) or SSN (Sun spot number) become weaker when the study location is downscaled towards an urbanized region. However, there still remains some unclear role of air-mass transport on DDF over the potential drought prone region of north-west India. Finally, when long term projections of DDF are drawn using the high urbanization scenario of RCP 8.5 a huge rise in dry days are seen during mid-July to mid-September (reaching up to 50 dry days by the year 2100 over Lucknow) which will be a very crucial concern for policy makers in future.