Objectives: Reduced morbidity and mortality associated with lung-protective mechanical ventilation is not proven in pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome. This study aims to determine if a lung-protective mechanical ventilation protocol in pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome is associated with improved clinical outcomes. Design: This pilot study over April 2016 to September 2019 adopts a before-and-after comparison design of a lung-protective mechanical ventilation protocol. All admissions to the PICU were screened daily for fulfillment of the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury Consensus Conference criteria and included. Setting: Multidisciplinary PICU. Patients: Patients with pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome. Interventions: Lung-protective mechanical ventilation protocol with elements on peak pressures, tidal volumes, end-expiratory pressure to Fio 2 combinations, permissive hypercapnia, and permissive hypoxemia. Measurements and Main Results: Ventilator and blood gas data were collected for the first 7 days of pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome and compared between the protocol (n = 63) and nonprotocol groups (n = 69). After implementation of the protocol, median tidal volume (6.4 mL/kg [5.4–7.8 mL/kg] vs 6.0 mL/kg [4.8–7.3 mL/kg]; p = 0.005), Pao 2 (78.1 mm Hg [67.0–94.6 mm Hg] vs 74.5 mm Hg [59.2–91.1 mm Hg]; p = 0.001), and oxygen saturation (97% [95–99%] vs 96% [94–98%]; p = 0.007) were lower, and end-expiratory pressure (8 cm H2O [7–9 cm H2O] vs 8 cm H2O [8–10 cm H2O]; p = 0.002] and Paco 2 (44.9 mm Hg [38.8–53.1 mm Hg] vs 46.4 mm Hg [39.4–56.7 mm Hg]; p = 0.033) were higher, in keeping with lung protective measures. There was no difference in mortality (10/63 [15.9%] vs 18/69 [26.1%]; p = 0.152), ventilator-free days (16.0 [2.0–23.0] vs 19.0 [0.0–23.0]; p = 0.697), and PICU-free days (13.0 [0.0–21.0] vs 16.0 [0.0–22.0]; p = 0.233) between the protocol and nonprotocol groups. After adjusting for severity of illness, organ dysfunction and oxygenation index, the lung-protective mechanical ventilation protocol was associated with decreased mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.16–0.88). Conclusions: In pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome, a lung-protective mechanical ventilation protocol improved adherence to lung-protective mechanical ventilation strategies and potentially mortality.

One new drimane-type sesquiterpenoid, 3 β-angeloyloxy-7-epifutronolide (1), and one new natural product, polygonumate (2), along with six known drimane-type sesquiterpenes [dendocarbin L (3), (+) winterin (4), (+) fuegin (5), changweikangic acid A (6), futronolide (7), and 7-ketoisodrimenin (8)] were isolated from the whole plant of Polygonum hydropiper Linn. Their structures were determined using spectroscopic techniques. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction study on dendocarbin L (3) and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopic data of (+) winterin (4) are described for the first time. Compound 6 was evaluated for inhibitions of α-chymotrypsin, acetylcholinesterase, and butyrylcholinesterase enzymes.

A study on status and diversity of birds of Ramna Park, Dhaka, Bangladesh was conducted from July 2013 to March 2014. Data were collected through direct field observations where 6 days had been spent in every month in the field. A total of 50 species of birds belonging to 11 orders and 28 families were observed. Of the 50 species, 84% were residents and 16% migrants, 50% were passerines, 50% non-passerines. Passeriformes presented the highest number (25 species) of observed birds. Only Clamator jacobinus was recorded as summer migrant among the migratory birds. We found Psittacula eupatria considered as Near Threatened globally according to IUCN. Corvus splendens was the most common with the highest number of individuals in comparison to other bird species. We observed single individual of Clamator jacobinus followed by Psittacula eupatria and Apus pacificus throughout the study. Regarding the relative abundance, 18% species were very common, 30% common, 16% fairly common and 36% few. Calculating the ShannonWiener and Simpson's indices of diversity and species evenness, we found maximum number of species and individuals in the month of December while minimum in the month of July. Anthropogenic activities such as festivals, random assemblies and gatherings, dumping of plastics, polythene and papers, noise from the vehicles were common inside and around the park, which may be threats to birds.

Temperature is considered as an important environmental factor, and the increasing water temperature resulting from global warming is a great concern. The present study was conducted to examine the effects of elevated water temperature on growth, hemato‐biochemical parameters in Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus acclimatized to three temperatures (31°C, 34°C and 37°C) for 60 days. Additionally, erythrocytic cellular abnormalities (ECA) and erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities (ENA) tests were assayed using peripheral erythrocytes after exposure to the three temperatures. Fish were sacrificed on days 7, 15, 30 and 60 of exposure. Growth performances viz., weight gain, % weight gain and specific growth rate (SGR) showed decreasing tendency at 34°C but significantly declined at 37°C compared to 31°C. The abundance of haemoglobin (Hb) and red blood cells (RBCs) significantly decreased in response to temperature increases, while white blood cells (WBCs) displayed the opposite response. At days 7 and 15, blood glucose levels significantly increased in response to the temperature increase, while at days 30 and 60 glucose declined. Frequencies of ECA and ENA were significantly enhanced at the highest temperature throughout the experimental period. Dissolved oxygen decreased and free CO2 increased significantly with increasing temperature throughout the study period. The present study revealed that temperatures higher than 34°C may be hazardous to O. niloticus.

A single layer substrate compact dual band rectangular micro-strip patch antenna with transmission line feeding is designed for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) implementation. The desired antenna consists of a rectangular patch having two I-slots and a dielectric material with dielectric constant of 2.4. The use of cavity model with transmission line feed has the favor of low profile, high gain and wide bandwidth of the antenna. The antenna has overall size of 46.9 mm by 38.01 mm and gives bandwidth of about 90 MHz at resonance frequency of 2.45 GHz and that of 115 MHz at 4.1 GHz frequency with Defected Ground Structure (DGS). The antenna with DGS has return losses-21.25 dB at 2.45 GHz and-27.5 dB at 4.1 GHz where the gains are 6.70 dB for 2.45 GHz and 6.80 dB for 4.1 GHz. Finally the designed antenna has been simulated using Computer Simulation Technology (CST) microwave studio 2009 and it is comparable with manual computation results which are found to be suitable for WLAN applications.

The observations on the anomalous behavior of urea and the comparison between urea and thiourea in aqueous solutions have been examined by volumetric and ultrasonic sound velocity techniques at different temperature (298.15, 303.15, 308.15, 313.15, 318.15 and 323.15 K) , atmospheric pressure by using a high accuracy vibrating U-tube digital density and ultrasonic sound velocity analyzer. The apparent molar volume (ϕv) & apparent molar adiabatic compressibility (ϕk) have been calculated from experimental density and ultrasonic sound velocity data respectively and limiting apparent molar volume (ϕv0), limiting apparent molar adiabatic compressibility (ϕk0) have been evaluated from apparent molar volume vs. molality plot as intercept. Apparent molar expansibility (ϕE) was determined from apparent molar volume and hydration number (nH) from adiabatic compressibility. The results show very interesting information about strong solute-solvent & solute-solute interactions, and also elaborate the structure making or breaking behavior in the solution mixtures.

An experiment was conducted to observe the performance of the composted spent mushroom substrate (SMS) along with chemical fertilizers on the yield, fruit quality and nutrient uptake by tomato plant for using the mushroom waste through composting. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with seven replications. Treatments were T 1 : no fertilizer and compost application (control), T 2 : recommended dose of fertilizers (RFD), T 3 : 25% SMC-N+ 75% fertilizer-N, T 4 : RFD + 2.5 t ha -1 SMC, T 5 : 50% SMC-N + 50% fertilizer-N, T 6 : 100% SMC-N and T 7 : 100% SMC-N + 50% fertilizer-N. Application of SMS compost at 2.5 t ha -1 along with recommended fertilizer dose showed the best performance for number of fruits, fruit yield, fruit quality (total protein, vitamin C, total sugar, reducing sugar) and nutrient uptake by tomato. This treatment showed significantly higher fruit yield, quality and nutrient uptake not only over control but also RFD, SMS compost alone and combination of SMS compost & RFD. Though SMS compost alone proved less effective, however combined application of SMS compost at 2.5 tha -1 with chemical fertilizer of recommended dose had shown to be more effective.

Employing the solid-state reaction route, good quality polycrystalline sample NiV 2 O 6 is prepared that has effective application in rechargeable Li-ion batteries. The raw materials NiO and V 2 O 5 (purity >99%) were used for the fabrication of NiV 2 O 6 . The phase formation and thermal stability of this sample were measured by thermogravimetric analyzer. The micro-structural feature of this sample was measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM images ensured that the product NiV 2 O 6 is very uniform and wellseparated and consists of large grain size of about 1-5 μm. The crystal structure and bonding characteristics of NiV 2 O 6 were obtained by XRD diffractometer and FTIR spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction data revealed the triclinic structure of NiV 2 O 6 with space group P-1 and lattice parameters: a = 7.162 Å, b = 8.816 Å, c = 4.789 Å, and axial angles α = 90.13°, β = 93.78°, and γ = 101.72°. The temperature-dependent electrical resistivity of NiV 2 O 6 was measured by two-probe method which ensured the semiconducting nature of this phase. The electronic and optical properties were investigated by impedance analyzer and UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The calculated optical band gap of NiV 2 O 6 is found to be 2.38 eV.