Search results for: Surya Chandra Tiwari

Authors: Ashvamedh, Chandra Bhushan Singh, Anil Kumar Sarda

Abstract:

Introduction: Ileal perforation is a common cause for peritonitis in developing countries. Surgery is the ideal treatment as it eliminates soilage of peritoneal cavity in an effort to lessen the toxaemia and enhance the recovery of the patient. However, there is no uniformity of standardized operative procedure that is most effective for management. Material and method: The study was conducted on 66 patients of perforation peritonitis from November 2013 to February 2015 in Lok Nayak Hospital. Data of each patient were recorded on a pre-determined proforma. The methods used for repair were Primary repair, Resection anastomosis (RA) and Ileostomy. Result: Male preponderance was noticed among the patients with majority in their third decade. Of all perforations 40.9% were tubercular and 34.8% were typhoid. Amongst operated cases 27.3% underwent primary repair, RA was performed in 45.5%, Ileostomy in 27.3%patients. The average time taken for RA and ileostomy was more than primary repair. The type of repair bear no significance to size or no of perforation but was significant statistically for distance from I/C valve(P=.005) and edema of bowel wall(p=.002) when analysed for post op complications. Wound infection, dehiscence, intra-abdominal collections were complications observed bearing no significance to type of repair. Ileostomy per se has its own complications peristomal skin excoriation seen in 83.3%, electrolyte imbalance in 33.3%, duration for closure averaged 188 days (median 150 days, range 85-400 days). Conclusion: Primary closure is preferable in patients with single, small perforations. RA is advocated in patients with multiple or large perforation, perforation proximal to stricture. Ileostomy should not be considered as primary definitive procedure and reserved only for moribund patients as a lifesaving procedure. It has more morbidity and requires a second surgery for closure increasing the cost of treatment as well.

Keywords: ileal perforation, ileostomy, perforation peritonitis, typhoid perforation management

Procedia PDF Downloads 222

Authors: G. S. Ayyappan, Srinivas Kota, Jaffer R. C. Sheriff, C. Prakash Chandra Joshua

Abstract:

In the present scenario of energy crises, energy conservation in the electrical machines is very important in the industries. In order to conserve energy, one needs to monitor the performance of an induction motor on-site and in-situ. The instruments available for this purpose are very meager and very expensive. This paper deals with the design and development of induction motor performance analyser on-line, on-site, and in-situ. The system measures only few electrical input parameters like input voltage, line current, power factor, frequency, powers, and motor shaft speed. These measured data are coupled to name plate details and compute the operating efficiency of induction motor. This system employs the method of computing motor losses with the help of equivalent circuit parameters. The equivalent circuit parameters of the concerned motor are estimated using the developed algorithm at any load conditions and stored in the system memory. The developed instrument is a reliable, accurate, compact, rugged, and cost-effective one. This portable instrument could be used as a handy tool to study the performance of both slip ring and cage induction motors. During the analysis, the data can be stored in SD Memory card and one can perform various analyses like load vs. efficiency, torque vs. speed characteristics, etc. With the help of the developed instrument, one can operate the motor around its Best Operating Point (BOP). Continuous monitoring of the motor efficiency could lead to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of motors. LCA helps in taking decisions on motor replacement or retaining or refurbishment.

Keywords: energy conservation, equivalent circuit parameters, induction motor efficiency, life cycle assessment, motor performance analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Fatemeh Babaeian, Nemai Chandra Karmakar

Abstract:

Chipless RFID system is a wireless system for tracking and identification which use passive tags for encoding data. The advantage of using chipless RFID tag is having a planar tag which is printable on different low-cost materials like paper and plastic. The printed tag can be attached to different items in the labelling level. Since the price of chipless RFID tag can be as low as a fraction of a cent, this technology has the potential to compete with the conventional optical barcode labels. However, due to the passive structure of the tag, data processing of the reflection signal is a crucial challenge. The captured reflected signal from a tag attached to an item consists of different components which are the reflection from the reader antenna, the reflection from the item, the tag structural mode RCS component and the antenna mode RCS of the tag. All these components are summed up in both time and frequency domains. The effect of reflection from the item and the structural mode RCS component can distort/saturate the frequency domain signal and cause difficulties in extracting the desired component which is the antenna mode RCS. Therefore, it is required to study the reflection of the tag in both time and frequency domains to have a better understanding of the nature of the captured chipless RFID signal. The other benefits of this study can be to find an optimised encoding technique in tag design level and to find the best processing algorithm the chipless RFID signal in decoding level. In this paper, the reflection from a typical backscattered chipless RFID tag with six resonances is analysed, and different components of the signal are separated in both time and frequency domains. Moreover, the time domain signal corresponding to each resonator of the tag is studied. The data for this processing was captured from simulation in CST Microwave Studio 2017. The outcome of this study is understanding different components of a measured signal in a chipless RFID system and a discovering a research gap which is a need to find an optimum detection algorithm for tag ID extraction.

Keywords: antenna mode RCS, chipless RFID tag, resonance, structural mode RCS

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Vaibhav Budhiraja, Chandra Mouli Pandey

Abstract:

The ultrasonic synthesis of nanostructured conducting copolymer is an effective technique to synthesize polymer with desired chemical properties. This tailored nanostructure, shows tremendous improvement in sensitivity and stability to detect a variety of analytes. The present work reports ultrasonically synthesized nanostructured conducting poly(o-phenylenediamine)-co-poly(1-naphthylamine) (POPD-co-PNA). The synthesized material has been characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and cyclic voltammetry. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed random copolymerization, while UV-visible studies reveal the variation in polaronic states upon copolymerization. High crystallinity was achieved via ultrasonic synthesis which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, and the controlled morphology of the nanostructures was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy analysis. Cyclic voltammetry shows that POPD-co-PNA has rather high electrochemical activity. This behavior was explained on the basis of variable orientations adopted by the conducting polymer chains. The synthesized material was electrophoretically deposited at onto indium tin oxide coated glass substrate which is used as cathode and parallel platinum plate as the counter electrode. The fabricated bioelectrode was further used for detection of glucose by crosslinking of glucose oxidase in the PODP-co-PNA film. The bioelectrode shows a surface-controlled electrode reaction with the electron transfer coefficient (α) of 0.72, charge transfer rate constant (ks) of 21.77 s⁻¹ and diffusion coefficient 7.354 × 10⁻¹⁵ cm²s⁻¹.

Keywords: conducting, electrophoretic, glucose, poly (o-phenylenediamine), poly (1-naphthylamine), ultrasonic

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Chenxi Liao, Mizuho Akimoto, Mariya Bivolarova, Sekhar Chandra, Xiaojun Fan, Li Lan, Jelle Laverge, Pawel Wargocki

Abstract:

The bedroom environment plays an important role in maintaining good sleep quality, which is vital for humans health and next-day performance. A survey of the sleep-disturbed bedroom environmental factors and the occupants’ bedroom windows (BW) or bedroom door (BD) opening behaviors was launched in the capital region of Denmark in 2020 by an online questionnaire. People were asked if they were disturbed by too warm temperature, too cool temperature, noise, or stuffy air during sleep. Also, they reported their BW or the BD opening behaviors in the morning, afternoon, evening, and during sleep. A total of 512 responses were received. Too warm temperature was reported the most among the four sleep-disturbed factors, following too cool temperature, noise, and stuffy air. Whether or not opening BW or the BD was commonly used to improve or change the bedroom environment. The respondents who were disturbed by too warm temperature during sleep opened BW for a longer time in the morning compared to those who were never disturbed by it (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.01-1.62). Those who were disturbed by too cool temperatures tended to open BW less frequently in the morning (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 0.97-1.57). They preferred keeping BW open in the whole day if they realized stuffy air disturbing their sleep, although only a few of them still opened BW during sleep. Those who were disturbed by too cool temperature (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.63-0.92) and noise (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66-0.96) were more likely to sleep with the BD open in a lesser frequency. Opening BW, increasing ventilation rates, could relieve disturbing by stuffy air during sleep, but induced other sleep-disturbed factors such as too cool in winter and noise. Also, opening BW only when people were not sleep was not sufficient to exempt disturbing by stuffy air during sleep. Using mechanical ventilation in bedrooms is necessary to ensure good air quality and meanwhile to avoid thermal discomfort and noise during sleep. Future studies are required to figure out the required flow rate of fresh air of mechanical ventilation during sleep.

Keywords: bedroom environmental, survey, occupants behaviors, windows, door

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Lakmali Anthony, Bushra Oathman, Anshini Jain, Raaj Chandra

Abstract:

Introduction: Abscesses are traditionally treated by incision and drainage with the packing of the residual abscess cavity until healing. This method requires regular visits from community nurses for continuous wound packing upon discharge from the hospital and causes considerable patient discomfort. Whether abscess cavity packing offers any advantage over non-packing has not yet been adequately studied to the best of our knowledge. This study aims to determine if there are differences in clinical outcomes of time to healing, fistula formation and recurrence of abscess between abscess cavity packing vs. non-packing groups. Methods: This study was a single-center, single-blind, randomized controlled trial where patients were randomized into packing and non-packing arms. All patients over 18 years presenting to Eastern Health with an abscess requiring incision and drainage in the theatre were invited to participate. Those with underlying conditions that cause recurrent abscesses were excluded. Data were collected from December 2018 to April 2020. Results: There were 63 patients who had abscesses treated with incision and drainage that were enrolled in the study, 52 of which were suitable for analysis. Demographic characteristics were similar in both groups. The packing group had a significantly longer time to heal compared to the non-packing group. Rates of fistula formation and recurrence of abscess were low and there were no statistically significant differences between groups. The packing group had more patients with delayed healing (defined as >60 days) and required more follow-up visits compared to the non-packing group. Conclusion: This pilot study indicates that abscesses can not only be managed safely with incision and drainage alone without the need for continuous abscess cavity packing but also that non-packing may offer clinical benefits to patients with earlier healing of abscesses compared to continuous cavity packing.

Keywords: abscess packing, subcutaneous, perianal, pilonidal

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Nitin Rajan, Kashif Shakeel, Shashank Tiwari, Shachan Sagar

Abstract:

Background: - Aegle Marmelos (Bael) leaf extract is taken twice daily to treat ophthalmia, ulcers, and intestinal worms, among other ailments. Poultice made from bael leaf is used in the treatment of eye conditions. The leaf juice has a variety of therapeutic applications, with the most notable being the treatment of diabetes. Fenugreek is used to cure red spots around the eyes, as well as to soften the throat and chest and to give relief from coughing. The use of this plant in the form of infusion, powder, pomade, and decoction has been extremely popular in Iranian traditional medicine. The plant may be used to wash one's vaginal linings. This plant is used as an emollient in the lack of appetite, treatment of pellagra, and gastrointestinal problems, as well as a general tonic. Calendula officinalis leaves are used to treat varicose veins on the outside of the body by infusing them. In Europe, the leaves are diaphoretic and resolvent in nature, while the blooms are employed as an emmenagogue and antispasmodic stimulant in Canada and the United States. The flowers were decocted and served as a posset drink when smallpox and measles were common in England, and the fresh juice was used to treat jaundice. Objective: - This study is done to compare the physicochemical parameter of the alcoholic extract of the leaves of Aegle Marmelos, Calendula Officinalis, and Fenugreek. Materials and Methods: Extraction and Isolation of Aegle Marmelos, Calendula Officinalis, Fenugreek, were done. Preliminary phytochemical study for alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, glycosides, phenols, resins, saponins, steroids, tannins, terpenoids of the extract was done individual by using the standard procedure. Result: - The phytochemical screening of Aegle Marmelos, Calendula Officinalis, and Fenugreek shows the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, total phenolics, total flavonoids, tannins, saponins gum. Conclusion: - In this study, we have found that crude aqueous and organic solvent extracts of Aegle Marmelos, Calendula Officinalis, and Fenugreek leaves contain some important bioactive compounds and it justifies their use in the traditional medicines for the treatment of different diseases.

Keywords: Aegle Marmelos, Calendula Officinalis, Fenugreek, physiochemical parameter

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Bishnu Prasad Dulal, Sushil Chandra Baral, Radheshyam Bhattarai, Meera Tandan

Abstract:

Background: Non-use of contraceptives is a leading cause of unintended pregnancy. This study was done to explore the potential predictors of contraceptive used by young women, and the findings can inform policy makers to design the program to reduce unintended pregnancy for younger women who have a longer time of fecundity. Methodology: A nationally representative cross-sectional household survey was conducted by Health Research and Social Development Forum in 2012. Total 2259 currently married young women (15-24 years) were selected for the analysis out of 8578 women of reproductive age interviewed from the total 10260 households using systematic sampling. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the use of modern contraceptive methods. Findings: The prevalence of modern contraceptive methods among young women was 25.2 %. Use of contraceptives was significantly associated with age at first marriage <15 year of age (OR:1.95) and ever delivered (OR: 1.8). Muslim women were significantly less likely to use contraceptives. Development region, wealth quintile, and awareness of abortion site were also statistically associated factors to use of contraceptives. Conclusion: The prevalence of contraceptives uses among young married women (25.2%) was lower than national prevalence (43%) of contraceptives use among married women of reproductive age. Our analysis focused on examining the association between women’s characteristics-related factors and use and nonuse of modern contraceptives. Awareness of safe abortion site is significantly associated while level of education was not. It is an interesting finding but difficult to interpret which needs further analysis on the basis of education. Maybe due to the underlying socio-religious practice of Muslim people, they had lower use of contraceptives. Programmers and policy makers could better help young women by increasing intervention activities to have a regular use of contraceptive-covering poor, Dalit and Muslim, and low aged women in order to reduce unintended pregnancy.

Keywords: unintended pregnancy, contraceptive, young women, Nepal

Procedia PDF Downloads 428

Authors: Vidhi Chandra, Arshpreet Singh Grewal

Abstract:

A five-year-old male child born from non-consanguineous marriage, who presented with complaints of growth retardation and no appreciable increase in the penile size since birth and he was posted for de-gloving of penis with dissection of corpora under anaesthesia. After thorough preoperative evaluation it was revealed that patient had peculiar facial dysmorphism that of Robinow Syndrome, high arched palate, Mallampati grade III, mesomelic limbs, scoliotic spine and short stature. All routine investigation were within normal limit, electrocardiography (ECG) and 2D-Echocardiography (ECHO) were normal. In antero-posterior roentgenogram chest showed butterfly and hemivertebrae at multiple levels. The patient was considered to be ASA II. On the day of surgery after ensuring fasting of 6 hours, patient was taken in operation theatre, all standard ASA monitoring was done with ECG, non-invasive blood pressure, peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) and body temperature. The patient was pre-oxygenated with 100% oxygen with anatomical face mask. General anaesthesia was induced with Sevoflurane 1-8%, and airway was secured with an appropriate size supraglottic airway and anaesthesia was maintained with nitrous oxide and oxygen in 1:1 ratio along with sevoflurane 2%. An ultrasound guided caudal block was given owing to the skeletal deformities making it difficult even under USG guidance. Post operatively patient was given supportive care with proper hydration, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and analgesics. He was discharged the next day and followed up weekly for a month. DISCUSSION Robinow syndrome is genetically inherited as autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive or heterogenous disorder involving tyrosine kinase ROR2 gene located on chromosome 9. It has low incidence with no preponderance for any gender. Though intelligence is normal but developmental delay and mental retardation occurs in 20%cases

Keywords: Robinow Syndrome, dwarfism, paediatric, anaesthesia

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Aschalew Cherie Workneh, K. S. Hari Prasad, Chandra Shekhar Prasad Ojha

Abstract:

Due to the increase in water scarcity, the crop water stress index (CWSI) is receiving significant attention these days, especially in arid and semiarid regions, for quantifying water stress and effective irrigation scheduling. Nowadays, machine learning techniques such as neural networks are being widely used to determine CWSI. In the present study, the performance of two artificial neural networks, namely, Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) and Feed Forward-Back Propagation Artificial Neural Networks (FF-BP-ANN), are compared while determining the CWSI of rice crop. Irrigation field experiments with varying degrees of irrigation were conducted at the irrigation field laboratory of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, during the growing season of the rice crop. The CWSI of rice was computed empirically by measuring key meteorological variables (relative humidity, air temperature, wind speed, and canopy temperature) and crop parameters (crop height and root depth). The empirically computed CWSI was compared with SOM and FF-BP-ANN predicted CWSI. The upper and lower CWSI baselines are computed using multiple regression analysis. The regression analysis showed that the lower CWSI baseline for rice is a function of crop height (h), air vapor pressure deficit (AVPD), and wind speed (u), whereas the upper CWSI baseline is a function of crop height (h) and wind speed (u). The performance of SOM and FF-BP-ANN were compared by computing Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), index of agreement (d), root mean squared error (RMSE), and coefficient of correlation (R²). It is found that FF-BP-ANN performs better than SOM while predicting the CWSI of rice crops.

Keywords: artificial neural networks; crop water stress index; canopy temperature, prediction capability

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Dibyakanta Seth, Hari Niwas Mishra, Sankar Chandra Deka

Abstract:

Microencapsulation is an established method of protecting bacteria from the adverse conditions. An improved extrusion spraying technique was used to encapsulate mixed bacteria culture of S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus using sodium alginate as the coating material. The effect of nozzle air pressure (200, 300, 400 and 500 kPa), sodium alginate concentration (1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5% and 3% w/v), different concentration of calcium chloride (0.1, 0.2, 1 M) and initial cell loads (10⁷, 10⁸, 10⁹ cfu/ml) on the viability of encapsulated bacteria were investigated. With the increase in air pressure the size of microcapsules decreased, however the effect was non-significant. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the viability of encapsulated cells when the concentration of calcium chloride was increased. Increased level of sodium alginate significantly increased the survival ratio of encapsulated bacteria (P < 0.01). Encapsulation with 3% alginate was treated as optimum since a higher concentration of alginate increased the gel strength of the solution and thus was difficult to spray. Under optimal conditions 3% alginate, 10⁹ cfu/ml cell load, 20 min hardening time in 0.1 M CaCl2 and 400 kPa nozzle air pressure, the viability of bacteria cells was maximum compared to the free cells. The microcapsules made at the optimal condition when mixed with yoghurt and subjected to spray drying at 148°C, the survival ratio was 2.48×10⁻¹ for S. thermophilus and 7.26×10⁻¹ for L. bulgaricus. In contrast, the survival ratio of free cells of S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus were 2.36×10⁻³ and 8.27×10⁻³, respectively. This study showed a decline in viable cells count of about 0.5 log over a period of 7 weeks while there was a decline of about 1 log in cultures which were incorporated as free cells in yoghurt. Microencapsulation provided better protection at higher acidity compared to free cells. This study demonstrated that microencapsulation of yoghurt culture in sodium alginate is an effective technique of protection against extreme drying conditions.

Keywords: extrusion, microencapsulation, spray drying, sweetened yoghurt

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Subhro Sarkar, Umesh Mishra

Abstract:

Agartala Municipal Council (AMC) is the municipal body which regulates and governs the Agartala city. MSW management may be proclaimed as a tool which rests on the principles of public health, economy, engineering and other aesthetic or environmental factors by dealing with the controlled generation, collection, transport, processing and disposal of MSW. Around 220-250 MT of solid waste per day is collected by AMC out of which 12-14 MT is plastic and is disposed of in Devendra Chandra Nagar dumping ground (33 acres), nearly 12-15 km from the city. A survey was performed to list down the prevailing operations conducted by the AMC which includes road sweeping, garbage lifting, carcass removal, biomedical waste collection, dumping, and incineration. Different types of vehicles are engaged to carry out these operations. Door to door collection of garbage is done from the houses with the help of 220 tricycles issued by 53 NGOs. The location of the dustbin containers were earmarked which consisted of 4.5 cum, 0.6 cum containers and 0.1 cum containers, placed at various locations within the city. The total household waste was categorized as organic, recyclable and other wastes. It was found that East Pratapgarh ward produced 99.3% organic waste out of the total MSW generated in that ward which is maximum among all the wards. A comparison of the waste generation versus the family size has been made. A questionnaire for the survey of MSW from household and market place was prepared. The average waste generated (in kg) per person per day was found out for each of the wards. It has been noted that East Jogendranagar ward had a maximum per person per day waste generation of 0.493 kg/day.In view of the studies made, it has been found that AMC has failed to implement MSWM in an effective way because of the unavailability of suitable facilities for treatment and disposal of the large amount of MSW. It has also been noted that AMC is not following the standard procedures of handling MSW. Transportation system has also been found less effective leading to waste of time, money and manpower.

Keywords: MSW, waste generation, solid waste disposal, management

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: Bhargav Baruah, Ali Shemsedin Reshad, Pankaj Tiwari

Abstract:

This work presents a detailed study on the thermal degradation kinetics of co-pyrolysis of oil shale of Upper Assam, India with rubber seed shell, and lab-scale pyrolysis to investigate the influence of pyrolysis parameters on product yield and composition of products. The physicochemical characteristics of oil shale and rubber seed shell were studied by proximate analysis, elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The physicochemical study showed the mixture to be of low moisture, high ash, siliceous, sour with the presence of aliphatic, aromatic, and phenolic compounds. The thermal decomposition of the oil shale with rubber seed shell was studied using thermogravimetric analysis at heating rates of 5, 10, 20, 30, and 50 °C/min. The kinetic study of the oil shale pyrolysis process was performed on the thermogravimetric (TGA) data using three model-free isoconversional methods viz. Friedman, Flynn Wall Ozawa (FWO), and Kissinger Akahira Sunnose (KAS). The reaction mechanisms were determined using the Criado master plot. The understanding of the composition of Indian oil shale and rubber seed shell and pyrolysis process kinetics can help to establish the experimental parameters for the extraction of valuable products from the mixture. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed usinf central composite design (CCD) model to setup the lab-scale experiment using TGA data, and optimization of process parameters viz. heating rate, temperature, and particle size. The samples were pre-dried at 115°C for 24 hours prior to pyrolysis. The pyrolysis temperatures were set from 450 to 650 °C, at heating rates of 2 to 20°C/min. The retention time was set between 2 to 8 hours. The optimum oil yield was observed at 5°C/min and 550°C with a retention time of 5 hours. The pyrolytic oil and gas obtained at optimum conditions were subjected to characterization using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).

Keywords: Indian oil shale, rubber seed shell, co-pyrolysis, isoconversional methods, gas chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Prakash Chandra Dhara, Rupa Maity, Mousumi Chatterjee

Abstract:

Crowbars are used for the gardening purpose. The same tools are used by both male and female gardeners. The existing crowbars are suitable for the female gardeners. The present study was aimed to design a crowbar, which was required to use by the women for the gardening purpose, from the viewpoints of ergonomics. The study was carried out on 50 women in different villages of Howrah districts in West Bengal state. Different models of existing crowbars which were commonly used by the women were collected and evaluated by examining their shape and size. The problems of using existing crowbar were assessed by direct observation during its operation. The musculoskeletal disorder of the subjects for using the crowbar was evaluated by modified Nordic questionnaire method. The anthropometric dimensions, especially hand dimension, of the subjects were taken in standardized static conditions. Considering the problems of using the existing crowbars some design concepts were developed and accordingly three prototypes models (P1, P2, P3) of crowbar were prepared for designing of a modified crowbar for women. Psychophysical analysis of those prototypes was made by paired comparison tests. In the above test subjective preference for different characteristics of the crowbar, e.g., length, weight, length and breadth of the blade, handle diameter, position of the handle, were determined. From the results of the paired comparison test and percentile values of hand dimensions, a modified design of crowbar was suggested. The prototype model P1 possessed more preferred characteristics of the tool than that of other prototype models. In the final design, the weight of the tool and length of the blade was reduced from that of the existing crowbar. Other dimensions were also changed. Two handles were suggested in the redesigned tool for better gripping and operation. The modified crowbar was evaluated by studying the body joint angles, viz., wrist, shoulder and elbow, for assessing the suitability of the design. It was concluded that the redesigned crowbar was suitable for women’s use.

Keywords: body dimension, crowbar, ergo-design, women, hand anthropometry

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: Shashank Kumar, Mansi Chandra, Ujjawal Singh, Parth Gupta, Rishi Ram, Arnab Sarkar

Abstract:

Milk is one of the basic and primary sources of food and energy as we start consuming milk from birth. Hence, milk quality and purity and checking the concentration of its constituents become necessary steps. Considering the importance of the purity of milk for human health, the following study has been carried out to simultaneously detect and quantify the different adulterants like urea and starch in milk with the help of a paper-based microfluidic device integrated with a smartphone. The detection of the concentration of urea and starch is based on the principle of colorimetry. In contrast, the fluid flow in the device is based on the capillary action of porous media. The microfluidic channel proposed in the study is equipped with a specialized detection zone, and it employs a colorimetric indicator undergoing a visible color change when the milk gets in touch or reacts with a set of reagents which confirms the presence of different adulterants in the milk. In our proposed work, we have used iodine to detect the percentage of starch in the milk, whereas, in the case of urea, we have used the p-DMAB. A direct correlation has been found between the color change intensity and the concentration of adulterants. A calibration curve was constructed to find color intensity and subsequent starch and urea concentration. The device has low-cost production and easy disposability, which make it highly suitable for widespread adoption, especially in resource-constrained settings. Moreover, a smartphone application has been developed to detect, capture, and analyze the change in color intensity due to the presence of adulterants in the milk. The low-cost nature of the smartphone-integrated paper-based sensor, coupled with its integration with smartphones, makes it an attractive solution for widespread use. They are affordable, simple to use, and do not require specialized training, making them ideal tools for regulatory bodies and concerned consumers.

Keywords: paper based microfluidic device, milk adulteration, urea detection, starch detection, smartphone application

Procedia PDF Downloads 28

Authors: Sarika Gupta, Harshika Khanna, Ajay K Verma, Surya Kant

Abstract:

Background: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a growing health challenge to global TB control efforts. Pediatric DR-TB is one of the neglected infectious diseases. In our previously published report, we have notified an increased prevalence of DR-TB in the pediatric population at a tertiary health care centre in North India which was estimated as 17.4%, 15.1%, 18.4%, and 20.3% in (%) in the year 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Limited evidence exists about a pattern of drug resistance, side effect profile and programmatic outcomes of Paediatric DR-TB treatment. Therefore, this study was done to find out the pattern of resistance, side effect profile and treatment outcome. Methodology: This was a prospective cohort study conducted at the nodal drug-resistant tuberculosis centre of a tertiary care hospital in North India from January 2021 to December 2022. Subjects included children aged between 0-18 years of age with a diagnosis of DR-TB, on the basis of GeneXpert (rifampicin [RIF] resistance detected), line probe assay and drug sensitivity testing (DST) of M. tuberculosis (MTB) grown on a culture of body fluids. Children were classified as monoresistant TB, polyresistant TB (resistance to more than 1 first-line anti-TB drug, other than both INH and RIF), MDR-TB, pre-XDR-TB and XDR-TB, as per the WHO classification. All the patients were prescribed DR TB treatment as per the standard guidelines, either shorter oral DR-TB regimen or a longer all-oral MDR/XDR-TB regimen (age below five years needed modification). All the patients were followed up for side effects of treatment once per month. The patient outcomes were categorized as good outcomes if they had completed treatment and cured or were improving during the course of treatment, while bad outcomes included death or not improving during the course of treatment. Results: Of the 50 pediatric patients included in the study, 34 were females (66.7%) and 16 were male (31.4%). Around 33 patients (64.7%) were suffering from pulmonary TB, while 17 (33.3%) were suffering from extrapulmonary TB. The proportions of monoresistant TB, polyresistant TB, MDR-TB, pre-XDR-TB and XDR-TB were 2.0%, 0%, 50.0%, 30.0% and 18.0%, respectively. Good outcome was reported in 40 patients (80.0%). The 10 bad outcomes were 7 deaths (14%) and 3 (6.0%) children who were not improving. Adverse events (single or multiple) were reported in all the patients, most of which were mild in nature. The most common adverse events were metallic taste 16(31.4%), rash and allergic reaction 15(29.4%), nausea and vomiting 13(26.0%), arthralgia 11 (21.6%) and alopecia 11 (21.6%). Serious adverse event of QTc prolongation was reported in 4 cases (7.8%), but neither arrhythmias nor symptomatic cardiac side effects occurred. Vestibular toxicity was reported in 2(3.9%), and psychotic symptoms in 4(7.8%). Hepatotoxicity, hypothyroidism, peripheral neuropathy, gynaecomastia, and amenorrhea were reported in 2 (4.0%), 4 (7.8%), 2 (3.9%), 1(2.0%), and 2 (3.9%) respectively. None of the drugs needed to be withdrawn due to uncontrolled adverse events. Conclusion: Paediatric DR TB treatment achieved favorable outcomes in a large proportion of children. DR TB treatment regimen drugs were overall well tolerated in this cohort.

Keywords: pediatric, drug-resistant, tuberculosis, adverse events, treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 30

Authors: Waqas Ahmed Khan Afridi, Subhas Chandra Mukhopadhyay, Bandita Mainali

Abstract:

The research paper presents a unique approach to evapotranspiration (ET) prediction using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) learning algorithm. The study leverages real-time sensor node data to develop an accurate and adaptable prediction model, addressing the inherent challenges of traditional ET estimation methods. The integration of the SVM algorithm with real-time sensor node data offers great potential to improve spatial and temporal resolution in ET predictions. In the model development, key input features are measured and computed using mathematical equations such as Penman-Monteith (FAO56) and soil water balance (SWB), which include soil-environmental parameters such as; solar radiation (Rs), air temperature (T), atmospheric pressure (P), relative humidity (RH), wind speed (u2), rain (R), deep percolation (DP), soil temperature (ST), and change in soil moisture (∆SM). The one-year field data are split into combinations of three proportions i.e. train, test, and validation sets. While kernel functions with tuning hyperparameters have been used to train and improve the accuracy of the prediction model with multiple iterations. This paper also outlines the existing methods and the machine learning techniques to determine Evapotranspiration, data collection and preprocessing, model construction, and evaluation metrics, highlighting the significance of SVM in advancing the field of ET prediction. The results demonstrate the robustness and high predictability of the developed model on the basis of performance evaluation metrics (R2, RMSE, MAE). The effectiveness of the proposed model in capturing complex relationships within soil and environmental parameters provide insights into its potential applications for water resource management and hydrological ecosystem.

Keywords: evapotranspiration, FAO56, KNIME, machine learning, RStudio, SVM, sensors

Procedia PDF Downloads 33

Authors: Jitendar Kumar Tiwari, Ajay Mandal, N. Sathish, A. K. Srivastava

Abstract:

Since the last decade, graphene achieved great attention toward the progress of multifunction metal matrix composites, which are highly demanded in industries to develop energy-efficient systems. This study covers the two advanced aspects of the latest scientific endeavor, i.e., graphene as reinforcement in metallic materials and additive manufacturing (AM) as a processing technology. Herein, high-quality graphene and AlSi10Mg powder mechanically mixed by very low energy ball milling with 0.1 wt. % and 0.2 wt. % graphene. Mixed powder directly subjected to the powder bed fusion process, i.e., an AM technique to produce composite samples along with bare counterpart. The effects of graphene on porosity, microstructure, and mechanical properties were examined in this study. The volumetric distribution of pores was observed under X-ray computed tomography (CT). On the basis of relative density measurement by X-ray CT, it was observed that porosity increases after graphene addition, and pore morphology also transformed from spherical pores to enlarged flaky pores due to improper melting of composite powder. Furthermore, the microstructure suggests the grain refinement after graphene addition. The columnar grains were able to cross the melt pool boundaries in case of the bare sample, unlike composite samples. The smaller columnar grains were formed in composites due to heterogeneous nucleation by graphene platelets during solidification. The tensile properties get affected due to induced porosity irrespective of graphene reinforcement. The optimized tensile properties were achieved at 0.1 wt. % graphene. The increment in yield strength and ultimate tensile strength was 22% and 10%, respectively, for 0.1 wt. % graphene reinforced sample in comparison to bare counterpart while elongation decreases 20% for the same sample. The hardness indentations were taken mostly on the solid region in order to avoid the collapse of the pores. The hardness of the composite was increased progressively with graphene content. Around 30% of increment in hardness was achieved after the addition of 0.2 wt. % graphene. Therefore, it can be concluded that powder bed fusion can be adopted as a suitable technique to develop graphene reinforced AlSi10Mg composite. Though, some further process modification required to avoid the induced porosity after the addition of graphene, which can be addressed in future work.

Keywords: graphene, hardness, porosity, powder bed fusion, tensile properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Kim Kennedy, Daren Gibson, Stephanie Flukes, Chandra Diwakarla, Lisa Spalding, Leanne Pilkington, Andrew Redfern

Abstract:

Introduction: It is well known that patients with Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) are at increased risk of subsequent head and neck cancers due to various aetiologies. Aim: We sought to determine the factors contributing to an increased risk of subsequent HNC primaries, and also to evaluate whether Aboriginal patients are at increased risk. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of 320 HNC patients from a single centre in Western Australia, identifying 80 Aboriginal patients and 240 non-Aboriginal patients matched on a 1:3 ratio by site, histology, rurality, and age. We collected patient data including smoking and alcohol consumption, tumour and treatment data, and data on subsequent HNC primaries. Results: A subsequent HNC primary was seen in 37 patients (11.6%) overall. There was no significant difference in the rate of second primary HNCs between Aboriginal patients (12.5%) and nonAboriginal patients (11.2%) (p=0.408). Subsequent HNCs, were strongly associated with smoking and alcohol consumption however, with 95% of patients with a second primary being ever-smokers, and 54% of patients with a second primary having a history of excessive alcohol consumption. In the 37 patients with multiple HNC primaries, there were a total of 57 HNCs, with 29 patients having two primaries, six patients having 3 HNC primaries, one patient with four, and one with six. 54 out of the 57 cancers were in ever smokers (94.7%). There were only two multiple HNC primaries in a never smoker, non-drinker, and these cases were of unknown etiology with HPV/p16 status unknown in both cases. In the whole study population, there were 32 HPV-positive HNCs, and 67 p16-positive HNCs, with only two 2 nd HNCs in a p16-positive case, giving a rate of 3% in the p16+ population, which is actually much lower than the rate of second primaries seen in the overall population (11.6%), and was highest in the p16-negative population (15.7%). This suggests that p16-positivity is not a strong risk factor for subsequent primaries, and in fact p16-negativity appeared to be associated with increased risk, however this data is limited by the large number of patients without documented p16 status (45.3% overall, 12% for oropharyngeal, and 59.6% for oral cavity primaries had unknown p16 status). Summary: Subsequent HNC primaries were strongly associated with smoking and alcohol excess. Second and later HNC primaries did not appear to occur at increased rates in Aboriginal patients compared with non-Aboriginal patients, and p16-positivity did not predict increased risk, however p16-negativity was associated with an increased risk of subsequent HNCs.

Keywords: head and neck cancer, multiple primaries, aboriginal, p16 status, smoking, alcohol

Procedia PDF Downloads 45

Authors: Vishal Pareek, Shubham Gupta, Sushil Chandra Jain

Abstract:

With increasing high-speed computation demand the power consumption, heat dissipation and chip size issues are posing challenges for logic design with conventional technologies. Recovery of bit loss and bit errors is other issues that require reversibility and fault tolerance in the computation. The reversible computing is emerging as an alternative to conventional technologies to overcome the above problems and helpful in a diverse area such as low-power design, nanotechnology, quantum computing. Bit loss issue can be solved through unique input-output mapping which require reversibility and bit error issue require the capability of fault tolerance in design. In order to incorporate reversibility a number of combinational reversible logic based circuits have been developed. However, very few sequential reversible circuits have been reported in the literature. To make the circuit fault tolerant, a number of fault model and test approaches have been proposed for reversible logic. In this paper, we have attempted to incorporate fault tolerance in sequential reversible building blocks such as D flip-flop, T flip-flop, JK flip-flop, R-S flip-flop, Master-Slave D flip-flop, and double edge triggered D flip-flop by making them parity preserving. The importance of this proposed work lies in the fact that it provides the design of reversible sequential circuits completely testable for any stuck-at fault and single bit fault. In our opinion our design of reversible building blocks is superior to existing designs in term of quantum cost, hardware complexity, constant input, garbage output, number of gates and design of online testable D flip-flop have been proposed for the first time. We hope our work can be extended for building complex reversible sequential circuits.

Keywords: parity preserving gate, quantum computing, fault tolerance, flip-flop, sequential reversible logic

Procedia PDF Downloads 519

Authors: Devanshu Gupta, Kailash Chandra, Priyanka Das, Joyjit Ghosh

Abstract:

Beetles, in the insect order Coleoptera are the most species-rich group on this planet today. They represent about 40% of the total insect diversity of the world. With a considerable range of landform types including significant mountain ranges, deserts, fertile irrigational plains, and hilly forested areas, India is one of the mega-diverse countries and includes more than 0.1 million faunal species. Despite having rich biodiversity, the efforts to catalogue the beetle diversity of the extant species/taxa reported from India have been less. Therefore, in this paper, the information on the beetle fauna of India is provided based on the data available with the museum collections of Zoological Survey of India and taxa extracted from zoological records and published literature. The species were listed with their valid names, synonyms, type localities, type depositories, and their distribution in states and biogeographic zones of India. The catalogue also incorporates the bibliography on Indian Coleoptera. The exhaustive species inventory, prepared by us include distributional records from Himalaya, Trans Himalaya, Desert, Semi-Arid, Western Ghats, Deccan Peninsula, Gangetic Plains, Northeast, Islands, and Coastal areas of the country. Our study concludes that many of the species are still known from their type localities only, so there is need to revisit and resurvey those collection localities for the taxonomic evaluation of those species. There are species which exhibit single locality records, and taxa-specific biodiversity assessments are required to be undertaken to understand the distributional range of such species. The primary challenge is taxonomic identifications of the species which were described before independence, and the type materials are present in overseas museums. For such species, taxonomic revisions of the different group of beetles are required to solve the problems of identification and classification.

Keywords: checklist, taxonomy, museum collections, biogeographic zones

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Sarthak Kumar Jena, Chandra Sekhar Mishra, Prabina Rajib

Abstract:

Purpose: This paper aims to derive undervaluation signal from the insiders trading of Indian companies where the ownership is complex and concentrated, investors protection is weak, and the insider rules and regulations are not stringent like developed country. This study examines the relationship between insider trading with short term and long term abnormal return. The study also examines the relationship between insider trading and the actual share repurchase by the firm. Methodology: A sample of 78 companies over the period 2008-2013 are analyzed in the study due to not availability of insider data in Indian context. For preliminary analysis T-test and Wilcoxon rank sum test is used to find the difference between the insider trading before and after the share repurchase announcement. Tobit model is used to find out whether insider trading influence shares repurchase decisions or not. Return on the basis of market model and buy hold are calculated in the previous year and the following year of share repurchase announcement. Findings: The paper finds that insider trading around share repurchase is more than control firms and there is positive and significant difference in insider buying between the previous year of share buyback announcement and the following year of buyback announcement. Insider buying before share repurchase announcement has a positive influence on share repurchase decisions. We find insider buying has a positive and significant relationship with announcement return, whereas insider selling has a negative significant relationship with announcement return. Actual share repurchase and program completion also depend on insider trading before share repurchase. Research limitation: The study is constrained by the small sample size, so the results should be viewed by keeping this limitation in mind. Originality: The paper is to our best knowledge the first study based on Indian context to extend the insider trading literature to share repurchase event and examine insider trading to find out undervaluation signal associated with insider buying.

Keywords: insider trading, buyback, open market share repurchase, signalling

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Aayushi Pandey, Manoj Kumar Pandey, Ashutosh Tiwari, Kireet Kumar

Abstract:

Glaciers play an important role in climate change and are sensitive phenomena of global climate change scenario. Glaciers in Himalayas are unique as they are predominantly valley type and are located in tropical, high altitude regions. These glaciers are often covered with debris which greatly affects ablation rate of glaciers and work as a sensitive indicator of glacier health. The aim of this study is to map high altitude Glacier surface with a focus on glacial lake and debris estimation using different techniques in Nagling glacier of dhauliganga basin in Himalayan region. Different Image Classification techniques i.e. thresholding on different band ratios and supervised classification using maximum likelihood classifier (MLC) have been used on high resolution sentinel 2A level 1c satellite imagery of 14 October 2017.Here Near Infrared (NIR)/Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) ratio image was used to extract the glaciated classes (Snow, Ice, Ice Mixed Debris) from other non-glaciated terrain classes. SWIR/BLUE Ratio Image was used to map valley rock and Debris while Green/NIR ratio image was found most suitable for mapping Glacial Lake. Accuracy assessment was performed using high resolution (3 meters) Planetscope Imagery using 60 stratified random points. The overall accuracy of MLC was 85 % while the accuracy of Band Ratios was 96.66 %. According to Band Ratio technique total areal extent of glaciated classes (Snow, Ice ,IMD) in Nagling glacier was 10.70 km2 nearly 38.07% of study area comprising of 30.87 % Snow covered area, 3.93% Ice and 3.27 % IMD covered area. Non-glaciated classes (vegetation, glacial lake, debris and valley rock) covered 61.93 % of the total area out of which valley rock is dominant with 33.83% coverage followed by debris covering 27.7 % of the area in nagling glacier. Glacial lake and Debris were accurately mapped using Band ratio technique Hence, Band Ratio approach appears to be useful for the mapping of debris covered glacier in Himalayan Region.

Keywords: band ratio, Dhauliganga basin, glacier mapping, Himalayan region, maximum likelihood classifier (MLC), Sentinel-2 satellite image

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Kishor Chandra Kandpal, Amit Kumar

Abstract:

The Indian Himalaya region harbours approximately 1748 plants of medicinal importance, and as per International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the 112 plant species among these are threatened and endangered. To ease the pressure on these plants, the government of India is encouraging its in-situ cultivation. The Saussurea costus, Valeriana jatamansi, and Picrorhiza kurroa have also been prioritized for large scale cultivation owing to their market demand, conservation value and medicinal properties. These species are found from 1000 m to 4000 m elevation ranges in the Indian Himalaya. Identification of these plants in the field requires taxonomic skills, which is one of the major bottleneck in the conservation and management of these plants. In recent years, Hyperspectral remote sensing techniques have been precisely used for the discrimination of plant species with the help of their unique spectral signatures. In this background, a spectral library of the above 03 medicinal plants was prepared by collecting the spectral data using a handheld spectroradiometer (325 to 1075 nm) from farmer’s fields of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states of Indian Himalaya. The Random forest (RF) model was implied on the spectral data for the classification of the medicinal plants. The 80:20 standard split ratio was followed for training and validation of the RF model, which resulted in training accuracy of 84.39 % (kappa coefficient = 0.72) and testing accuracy of 85.29 % (kappa coefficient = 0.77). This RF classifier has identified green (555 to 598 nm), red (605 nm), and near-infrared (725 to 840 nm) wavelength regions suitable for the discrimination of these species. The findings of this study have provided a technique for rapid and onsite identification of the above medicinal plants in the field. This will also be a key input for the classification of hyperspectral remote sensing images for mapping of these species in farmer’s field on a regional scale. This is a pioneer study in the Indian Himalaya region for medicinal plants in which the applicability of hyperspectral remote sensing has been explored.

Keywords: himalaya, hyperspectral remote sensing, machine learning; medicinal plants, random forests

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Subas Chandra Biswas, Kazi Sameen Naser, Farzana Misha

Abstract:

Little is known about the sexual behavior of male youth, particularly unmarried young men in Bangladesh as most of the sexual and reproductive health and rights-related research and intervention are mainly focused on females and married couples. To understand the unmarried youth’s sexual behavior, data from a nationwide survey conducted in all 64 districts of Bangladesh were analyzed. Using multistage systematic random sampling, a survey was conducted among 11,113 male youth aged 15-24 years from May-August, 2019. This article analyzed and presented findings of the sexual behavior of unmarried respondents based on the data collected from 10,026 unmarried male youth. Findings showed that 18% had ever experience of sexual relationship, and the reported mean age of first sexual intercourse was 16.5years. For unmarried male youth, those who had a sexual experience, their first sexual partners were female friends/classmate (57%), female neighbors (16%), and female sex workers (12%), relatives (6%) and girlfriends with whom they had love relationship (4%). However, about 36% reported that they had a love relationship with girlfriends, and among them, 23% reported that they had sexual intercourse with their girlfriend. Those who had sexual relations with their girlfriend, 47% reported that they did not use the condom in their last sex with their girlfriend. Furthermore, 29% reported that they had sexual relationships with others besides their girlfriends. Other reported partners were female sex workers (32%), neighbors (29%), female friends (19%), relatives (12%), and cousins (5%). Also, 46% reported that they did not even use the condom during sex with other partners. About 9% used some sort of sexual stimulant to increase their libido. Among the respondents, 376 reported that they bought sex in the last six months, and the mean expenditure of buying sex for the respondent was 1,140 Taka (13.46 US Dollar). Though premarital sexual relations are not socially accepted, findings showed a large portion of male youth are engaged in these relationships and risky sexual behavior. Lack of awareness of sexual and reproductive health, unprotected sexual intercourse, use of the drug during sexual intercourse also increase the threats to health. Thus these findings are important to understand the sexual behavior of male youth in policy and programmatic implications. Therefore, to ensure a healthy sexual life and wellbeing, an immediate and culturally sensitive sexual health promotion intervention is needed for male youth in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh, male youth, sexual and reproductive health, sexual behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Maneesh Kumar, Roshan Kamal Topno, Manas Ranjan Dikhit, Vahab Ali, Ganesh Chandra Sahoo, Bhawana, Major Madhukar, Rishikesh Kumar, Krishna Pandey, Pradeep Das

Abstract:

Chandipura vesiculovirus is an emerging (-) ssRNA viral entity belonging to the genus Vesiculovirus of the family Rhabdoviridae, associated with fatal encephalitis in tropical regions. The multi-functionally active viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (vRdRp) that has been incorporated with conserved amino acid residues in the pathogens, assigned to synthesize distinct viral polypeptides. The lack of proofreading ability of the vRdRp produces many mutated variants. Here, we have performed the evolutionary analysis of 20 viral protein sequences of vRdRp of different strains of Chandipura vesiculovirus along with other viral species from genus Vesiculovirus inferred in MEGA6.06, employing the Neighbour-Joining method. The p-distance algorithmic method has been used to calculate the optimum tree which showed the sum of branch length of about 1.436. The percentage of replicate trees in which the associated taxa are clustered together in the bootstrap test (1000 replicates), is shown next to the branches. No mutation was observed in the Indian strains of Chandipura vesiculovirus. In vRdRp, 1230(His) and 1231(Arg) are actively participated in catalysis and, are found conserved in different strains of Chandipura vesiculovirus. Both amino acid residues were also conserved in the other viral species from genus Vesiculovirus. Many isolates exhibited maximum number of mutations in catalytic regions in strains of Chandipura vesiculovirus at position 26(Ser→Ala), 47 (Ser→Ala), 90(Ser→Tyr), 172(Gly→Ile, Val), 172(Ser→Tyr), 387(Asn→Ser), 1301(Thr→Ala), 1330(Ala→Glu), 2015(Phe→Ser) and 2065(Thr→Val) which make them variants under different tropical conditions from where they evolved. The result clarifies the actual concept of RNA evolution using vRdRp to develop as an evolutionary marker. Although, a limited number of vRdRp protein sequence similarities for Chandipura vesiculovirus and other species. This might endow with possibilities to identify the virulence level during viral multiplication in a host.

Keywords: Chandipura, (-) ssRNA, viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, neighbour-joining method, p-distance algorithmic, evolutionary marker

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Kim Kennedy, Daren Gibson, Stephanie Flukes, Chandra Diwakarla, Lisa Spalding, Leanne Pilkington, Andrew Redfern

Abstract:

Introduction: The mortality gap in Aboriginal Head and Neck Cancer is well known, but the reasons for poorer survival are not well established. Aim: We aimed to evaluate the locoregional and metastatic involvement, and stage at diagnosis, in Aboriginal compared with non-Aboriginal patients. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of 320 HNC patients from a single centre in Western Australia, identifying 80 Aboriginal patients and 240 non-Aboriginal patients matched on a 1:3 ratio by sites, histology, rurality, and age. We collected data on the patient characteristics, tumour features, regions involved, stage at diagnosis, treatment history, and survival and relapse patterns, including sites of metastatic and locoregional involvement. Results: Aboriginal patients had a significantly higher incidence of lung metastases (26.3% versus 13.7%, p=0.009). Aboriginal patients also had a numerically but non-statistically significant higher incidence of thoracic nodal involvement (10% vs 5.8%) and malignant pleural effusions (3.8% vs 2.5%). Aboriginal patients also had a numerically but not statistically significantly higher incidence of adrenal and bony involvement. Interestingly, non-Aboriginal patients had an increased rate of cutaneous (2.1% vs 0%) and liver metastases (4.6% vs 2.5%) compared with Aboriginal patients. In terms of locoregional involvement, Aboriginal patients were more than twice as likely to have contralateral neck involvement (58.8% vs 24.2%, p<0.00001), and 30% more likely to have ipsilateral neck lymph node involvement (78.8% vs 60%, p=0.002) than non-Aboriginal patients. Aboriginal patients had significantly more advanced disease at diagnosis (p=0.008). Aboriginal compared with non-Aboriginal patients were less likely to present with stage I (7.5% vs 22.5%), stage II (11.3% vs 13.8%), or stage III disease (13.8% vs 17.1%), and more likely to present with more advanced stage IVA (42.5% vs 34.6%), stage IVB (15% vs 7.1%), or stage IVC (10% vs 5%) disease (p=0.008). Number of regions of disease involvement was higher in Aboriginal patients (median 3, mean 3.64, range 1-10) compared with non-Aboriginal patients (median 2, mean 2.80, range 1-12). Conclusion: Aboriginal patients had a significantly higher incidence of lung metastases, and significantly more frequent involvement of ipsilateral and contralateral neck lymph nodes. Aboriginal patients also had significantly more advanced disease at presentation with a higher stage at diagnosis. We are performing further analyses to investigate explanations for these findings.

Keywords: head and neck cancer, Aboriginal, metastases, locoregional, pattern of relapse, sites of disease

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: Jung-Soo Lee, Ujjal Kumar Nath, IllSup Nou, Dulal Chandra

Abstract:

Leaf lettuce is one of the most important leafy vegetables that is used as raw for salad and part of everyday dishes in many parts of the world including Asian countries. Since it is used as fresh, its quality maintenance is crucial which depends on several pre- and postharvest factors. In order to investigate the effects of pre-fix factors on the postharvest quality, the interaction of pre-fix factors such as growing conditions and fixed factor like cultivars were evaluated. Four Korean leaf lettuce cultivars ‘Cheongchima’, ‘Cheongchuckmyeon’, ‘Geockchima’ and ‘Geockchuckmyeon’ were grown under natural condition (as control) and altered growing condition (green house) with excess soil water and 50% shading to monitor their postharvest qualities. Several growth parameters like plant height, number of leaves, leaf thickness, fresh biomass yield as well as postharvest qualities like fresh weight loss, respiration rate, changes in color and shelf-life were measured in lettuce during storage up to 36 days at 5°C. Plant height and the number of leaves were affected by both pre-fix growing conditions as well as the cultivars. However, fresh biomass yield was affected by only growing condition, whereas leaf thickness was affected by cultivars. Additionally, the degrees of fresh weight loss and respiration rate of leaf lettuce at postharvest stages were influenced by pre-fix growing conditions and cultivars. However, changes in color of leaves during storage were less remarkable in samples harvested from of ‘Cheongchima’ and ‘Cheongchuckmyeon’ cultivars grown in excess watering with 50% shade than that grown in control condition. Consequently, these two cultivars also showed longer shelf-life when they were grown in excess watering with 50% shade than other cultivars or samples were grown in control condition. Based on the measured parameters, it can be concluded that postharvest quality of leaf lettuce might be accelerated by growing lettuce under excess soil water with 50% shading.

Keywords: cultivar, growing condition, leaf lettuce, postharvest quality, shelf-life

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: Chanchal Biswas, Anrin Bhattacharyya, Gopes Chandra Das, Mahua Ghosh Chaudhuri, Rajib Dey

Abstract:

Boiler coals with low fixed carbon and higher ash content have always challenged the metallurgists to develop a suitable method for their utilization. In the present study, an attempt is made to establish an energy effective method for the reduction of iron ore fines in the form of nuggets by using ‘Syngas’. By devolatisation (expulsion of volatile matter by applying heat) of boiler coal, gaseous product (enriched with reducing agents like CO, CO2, H2, and CH4 gases) is generated. Iron ore nuggets are reduced by this syngas. For that reason, there is no direct contact between iron ore nuggets and coal ash. It helps to control the minimization of the sulphur intake of the reduced nuggets. A laboratory scale devolatisation furnace designed with reduction facility is evaluated after in-depth studies and exhaustive experimentations including thermo-gravimetric (TG-DTA) analysis to find out the volatile fraction present in boiler grade coal, gas chromatography (GC) to find out syngas composition in different temperature and furnace temperature gradient measurements to minimize the furnace cost by applying one heating coil. The nuggets are reduced in the devolatisation furnace at three different temperatures and three different times. The pre-reduced nuggets are subjected to analytical weight loss calculations to evaluate the extent of reduction. The phase and surface morphology analysis of pre-reduced samples are characterized using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), carbon sulphur analyzer and chemical analysis method. Degree of metallization of the reduced nuggets is 78.9% by using boiler grade coal. The pre-reduced nuggets with lesser sulphur content could be used in the blast furnace as raw materials or coolant which would reduce the high quality of coke rate of the furnace due to its pre-reduced character. These can be used in Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) as coolant also.

Keywords: alternative ironmaking, coal gasification, extent of reduction, nugget making, syngas based DRI, solid state reduction

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Ajay Mandal, Jitendar Kumar Tiwari, N. Sathish, A. K. Srivastava

Abstract:

A fundamental investigation is performed on the development of graphene (Gr) reinforced stainless steel 316L (SS 316L) metal matrix composite via selective laser melting (SLM) in order to improve specific strength and wear resistance property of SS 316L. Firstly, SS 316L powder and graphene were mixed in a fixed ratio using low energy planetary ball milling. The milled powder is then subjected to the SLM process to fabricate composite samples at a laser power of 320 W and exposure time of 100 µs. The prepared composite was mechanically tested (hardness and tensile test) at ambient temperature, and obtained results indicate that the properties of the composite increased significantly with the addition of 0.2 wt. % Gr. Increment of about 25% (from 194 to 242 HV) and 70% (from 502 to 850 MPa) is obtained in hardness and yield strength of composite, respectively. Raman mapping and XRD were performed to see the distribution of Gr in the matrix and its effect on the formation of carbide, respectively. Results of Raman mapping show the uniform distribution of graphene inside the matrix. Electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD) map of the prepared composite was analyzed under FESEM in order to understand the microstructure and grain orientation. Due to thermal gradient, elongated grains were observed along the building direction, and grains get finer with the addition of Gr. Most of the mechanical components are subjected to several types of wear conditions. Therefore, it is very necessary to improve the wear property of the component, and hence apart from strength and hardness, a tribological property of composite was also measured under dry sliding condition. Solid lubrication property of Gr plays an important role during the sliding process due to which the wear rate of composite reduces up to 58%. Also, the surface roughness of worn surface reduces up to 70% as measured by 3D surface profilometry. Finally, it can be concluded that SLM is an efficient method of fabricating cutting edge metal matrix nano-composite having Gr like reinforcement, which was very difficult to fabricate through conventional manufacturing techniques. Prepared composite has superior mechanical and tribological properties and can be used for a wide variety of engineering applications. However, due to the unavailability of a considerable amount of literature in a similar domain, more experimental works need to perform, such as thermal property analysis, and is a part of ongoing study.

Keywords: selective laser melting, graphene, composite, mechanical property, tribological property

Procedia PDF Downloads 108