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Background: Primary scarring alopecias (PSAs) are a rare group of dermatological disorders with overlapping clinical features. They result in permanent hair loss and significant psychological morbidity. Aims: To analyze the clinico-epidemiology of PSAs of the scalp, along with clinico-pathological correlation. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional, observational study including 53 histopathologically confirmed cases of PSA. Clinico-demographic parameters, hair care practices, and histologic characteristics were noted and statistically analyzed. Results: Among 53 patients (mean age 30.9 ± 8.1 years, M: F 1:1.2, median duration 4 years) with PSA, lichen planopilaris (LPP) was most common (39.6%, 21/53), followed by pseudopelade of Brocq [30.2%, 16/53], discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) [16.9%, 9/53], and non-specific scarring alopecia (SA) (7.5%, 4/53), while central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA), folliculitis decalvans, and acne keloidalis nuchae (AKN) accounted for 1 case each. Forty-seven patients (88.7%) demonstrated predominant lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate, while basal cell degeneration and follicular plugging were the commonest histological changes. Perifollicular erythema and dermal mucin deposition were noted in all patients with DLE (both P < 0.05). Nail involvement (P = 0.004) and mucosal involvement (P = 0.8) were more common in LPP. Single alopecic patches were characteristic of DLE and CCCA. Hair care practices (non-medicated shampoo > oil) had no significant association with the subtype of PSA. (P = 0.4) Conclusion: PSAs are a diagnostic challenge for dermatologists. Thus, histology and clinico-pathological correlation should be performed in all cases for proper diagnosis and treatment.

Gut microbiota is considered to play a role in disease progression, and previous studies have reported an association of microbiome dysbiosis with T2D. In this study, we have attempted to investigate gut microbiota of ND, PreDMs, NewDMs, and KnownDMs. We found that the genera Akkermansia and Blautia decreased significantly ( P < 0.05) in treatment-naive diabetics and were restored in KnownDMs on antidiabetic treatment. To the best of our knowledge, comparative studies on shifts in the microbial community in individuals of different diabetic states are lacking. Understanding the transition of microbiota and its association with serum biomarkers in diabetics with different disease states may pave the way for new therapeutic approaches for T2D. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex metabolic syndrome characterized by insulin dysfunction and abnormalities in glucose and lipid metabolism. The gut microbiome has been recently identified as an important factor for development of T2D. In this study, a total of 102 subjects were recruited, and we have looked at the gut microbiota of prediabetics (PreDMs) ( n  = 17), newly diagnosed diabetics (NewDMs) ( n  = 11), and diabetics on antidiabetic treatment (KnownDMs) ( n  = 39) and compared them with healthy nondiabetics (ND) ( n  = 35). Twenty-five different serum biomarkers were measured to assess the status of diabetes and their association with gut microbiota. Our analysis revealed nine different genera as differentially abundant in four study groups. Among them, Akkermansia, Blautia, and Ruminococcus were found to be significantly ( P < 0.05) decreased, while Lactobacillus was increased in NewDMs compared to ND and recovered in KnownDMs. Akkermansia was inversely correlated with HbA1c and positively correlated with total antioxidants. Compared to ND, there was increased abundance of Megasphaera , Escherichia , and Acidaminococcus and decreased abundance of Sutterella in KnownDMs. Among many taxa known to act as community drivers during disease progression, we observed genus Sutterella as a common driver taxon among all diabetic groups. On the basis of the results of random forest analysis, we found that the genera Akkermansia and Sutterella and that the serum metabolites fasting glucose, HbA1c, methionine, and total antioxidants were highly discriminative factors among studied groups. Taken together, our data revealed that gut microbial diversity of NewDMs but not of PreDMs is significantly different from that of ND. Interestingly, after antidiabetic treatment, the microbial diversity of KnownDMs tends to recover toward that of ND. IMPORTANCE Gut microbiota is considered to play a role in disease progression, and previous studies have reported an association of microbiome dysbiosis with T2D. In this study, we have attempted to investigate gut microbiota of ND, PreDMs, NewDMs, and KnownDMs. We found that the genera Akkermansia and Blautia decreased significantly ( P < 0.05) in treatment-naive diabetics and were restored in KnownDMs on antidiabetic treatment. To the best of our knowledge, comparative studies on shifts in the microbial community in individuals of different diabetic states are lacking. Understanding the transition of microbiota and its association with serum biomarkers in diabetics with different disease states may pave the way for new therapeutic approaches for T2D.

Introduction: Trophic ulcer is a dreaded complication of leprosy. Secondary infection compounds the damage to the already neglected ulcer. Aims: To find out the bacterial pathogens in the isolates from trophic ulcers of leprosy and to find the drug sensitivity of the aerobic isolates so as to start a suitable antibiotic therapy. Methodology: An institution-based, cross-sectional study done over a period of 2 years. Swab was taken from the deeper part of the ulcer. It was put on a suitable culture media. Bacteriological profile was determined and antibiogram was done subsequently. Results: Sixty patients with trophic ulcer secondary to leprosy were screened, among which all were screened for aerobic isolates and 38 were screened for anaerobic isolates. Among the aerobic isolates, 88% of patients were culture-positive. The most common organism was Staphylococcus aureus (37.7%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (22.64%), Proteus mirabilis (15.09%), Escherischia coli (13.2%), Klebsiella (9.43%). Maximum overall sensitivity was seen with amikacin (93.1%) and linezolid (89.65%). Maximum overall resistance was noted with cotrimoxazole (58.62%) and coamoxiclav (51.72%). Among the 38 patients cultured for anaerobic isolates, 17 were culture-positive for anaerobic organisms. Isolates showing Peptococcus were 6 (15.7%), purely Peptostreptococcus were 4 (10.5%), purely bacteroides were 3 (7.8%), and mixed growths were 4 (10.5%). Conclusion: Secondary bacterial infection is quite common in leprosy trophic ulcers. The most common organism was Staphylococcus aureus. Isolates were mostly sensitive to amikacin and linezolid and resistant to cotrimoxazole and coamoxiclav. Anaerobic isolates were not uncommon, with Peptococcus being the most common among them.

The perovskite solar cell technologies are the hope of satisfying the huge demand of tomorrow’s energy requirements. The inorganic, organic and mixed perovskite materials are the backbone of modern solar cells. The energy band gap and refractive index of perovskites help in selecting proper materials for solar cell, solid-state lighting and lasing applications. In this paper, various perovskite materials and different energy band gap–refractive index relations have been studied. A simple empirical relationship between energy gap ‘ E g ’ and refractive index ‘ n ’ for perovskites has been developed and proposed. Using this relationship, refractive indices of 33 different perovskites have been calculated and compared with their reported values. Also, the refractive indexes of about 140 new perovskites have been predicted and reported probably for the first time. The researchers interested in refractive index calculation may use the proposed relation and need not to worry for complex experimental setup. Graphic abstract

Conservation of natural resources by increasing the energy efficiency is the primary objective. With increment in the power requirement, there is substantial pressure on innovation and designers are required to take into account the upgrade energy efficient electrical systems. In the current circumstance, the need for energy is substantial, and control of resources is constrained; considering the mining business the foundation of development in any nation requires a great efforts on the sustenance of electric power. The principle objective of this study is the energy conservation in mines by supplanting conventional system with the current innovative systems that would greatly reduce utilization of electricity. In this study, the different electrical equipment that are utilized in the opencast coal mines are recorded with their details and operations. The recommendations are given as per the improvement of PF (Power Factor) of different machines using different customary techniques in the opencast mines where electrical vitality is being squandered. The protection process can be actualized in various mining perspectives and devices like brightening, haulers, transports, penetrating and impacting equipment's, cutting apparatuses and crushers, dragline, dumper, scoop, scrubber and other electrical equipment.

Placement of decorative tattoo on the skin may lead to various immunological, infective, and coincidental complications. Inoculation of human papillomavirus leading to development of verruca is an uncommon complication of tattoos. The present report highlights the development of verruca vulgaris, developing after 2 years of tattooing in a young male.

In this work, a mathematical model for the straight-grate pellet induration furnace is presented. The induration furnace is an equipment used for the efficient heat and mass transfer between the pellet bed and the flowing gas. The model includes different physicochemical phenomenon like gas-solid heat and mass transfer, drying and condensation of free surface moisture, combustion of carbon, calcination of limestone and kinetics of loss of ignition (LOI) removal from hydrated iron ore. The model is validated with the experimental and numerical data available in the literature. For the first time, an extended validation of the model against the plant scale ThermoCar (T-CAR) test is also presented. The developed model is implemented at AM/NS India pellet plants including the model assisted control to the online furnace operation. The effect of change in different furnace operating parameters on the thermal and chemical state of the pellet bed inside the furnace can be easily evaluated from the model results. The model can be used as an offline tool for optimizing the furnace parameters, increasing plant productivity, improving fired pellet properties, pilot run of new product mix, operator training purpose and as an online visualization tool for the better operational control and stability.

Commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) packages lack the flexibility to integrate additional physics for developing packed-bed simulation tools for complex metallurgical processes such as pellet induration furnaces. These solutions are also unsuitable for online deployment in plant operation control rooms. As a result, many researchers have developed models using in-house codes, but these models often lack computational efficiency, parallel processing capabilities, and robustness. This work leverages the flexibility and parallelization potential of open-source codes by developing a three-dimensional comprehensive tool using OpenFOAM to simulate the straight-grate iron oxide pellet induration furnace. The induration furnace is designed for efficient heat and mass transfer between the moving pellet bed and the flowing gas. The model incorporates various heterogeneous gas-solid reaction kinetics and other relevant physicochemical phenomena. The developed model has been extensively validated against experimental and numerical data reported in the literature, as well as actual plant-scale measurement using a Therm°Car test. This confirms the model accuracy and reliability as a real-time monitoring tool in plant operational control rooms. Furthermore, a case study is presented to demonstrate the model capability by focusing on the effect of a blinded grate bar on the pellet bed thermal profile and gas flow distribution.

The stability of underground parallelepiped coal pillars formed during trunk road development in inclined coal seams is very important for safe access to the mine workings. These protective coal pillars developed around the trunk roads have the longest life span in coal mines. Although these pillars are designed with high safety factors, their failures continue to occur especially in inclined coal mines. The acute corners of parallelepiped coal pillars are highly stressed and prone to failure. These failures may be attributed to the deterministic safety factor which does not consider field geotechnical uncertainties in their design parameters. This research work identified the geotechnical uncertainties in pillar designs and incorporated them in designing stable pillars in inclined coal seams. A probabilistic approach based on limit state function has been proposed for designing stable parallelepiped coal pillars and validated in an inclined coal mine. In this study, the working stresses of the inclined coal pillars are varied for evaluating their influence on pillar reliability using the three cases of the limit state functions namely, empirical, numerical average, and numerical maximum. The pillar reliabilities were estimated by Monte Carlo Simulation. The results indicate that the empirical and numerical average cases yielded stable pillars, whereas the numerical maximum case provided an unstable design. The correlation between safety factor and reliability has been established which can predict the reliability for a given safety factor of pillars with a similar range of design inputs. Further, the threshold values of pillar sizes, acute corner angles, and seam gradients for the reliable pillar design have been determined by sensitivity analysis. These findings can help in designing stable parallelopiped pillars, especially in inclined coal seams to reduce pillar failures and enhance mine safety.HighlightsKey geotechnical uncertainties in coal pillar stability parameters are identifiedA limit state function-based probabilistic design approach is proposed to include geotechnical uncertainties.The reliabilities of parallelepiped pillars in inclined coal seams are estimated using the Monte Carlo Simulation method.The correlation between pillar reliability and the safety factor of parallelepiped coal pillars is established.Threshold values of design parameters are determined for stable parallelepiped pillars using sensitivity analysis.