Enhancing EDM Machining Precision through Deep Cryogenically Treated Electrodes and ANN Modelling Approach

The critical applications of difficult-to-machine Inconel 617 (IN617) compel the process to be accurate enough that the requirement of tight tolerances can be met. Electric discharge machining (EDM) is commonly engaged in its machining. However, the intrinsic issue of over/undercut in EDM complicates the achievement of accurately machined profiles. Therefore, the proficiency of deep cryogenically treated (DCT) copper (Cu) and brass electrodes under modified dielectrics has been thoroughly investigated to address the issue. A complete factorial design was implemented to machine a 300 μm deep impression on IN617. The machining ability of DCT electrodes averagely gave better dimensional accuracy as compared to non-DCT electrodes by 13.5% in various modified dielectric mediums. The performance of DCT brass is 29.7% better overall compared to the average value of overcut (OC) given by DCT electrodes. Among the non-treated (NT) electrodes, the performance of Cu stands out when employing a Kerosene-Span-20 modified dielectric. In comparison to Kerosene-Tween-80, the value of OC is 33.3% less if Kerosene-Span-20 is used as a dielectric against the aforementioned NT electrode. Finally, OC’s nonlinear and complex phenomena are effectively modeled by an artificial neural network (ANN) with good prediction accuracy, thereby eliminating the need for experiments

Wireless Body Area Networks for Healthcare Applications: An Overview

Healthcare systems have been facing various new challenges due to increasing and rising aging population in healthcare. Advance information and communication technologies have introduced Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) for healthcare systems. WBANs provide different monitoring services in healthcare sector for monitoring their patients with more convenience. WBANs are economical solutions and non-invasive technology for healthcare applications. This review paper provides a comprehensive review on WBANs applications, services and recent challenges

Structural Performance of GFRP Bars based High-Strength RC Columns: An Application of Advanced Decision-Making Mechanism for Experimental Profile Data

Several past studies have shown the use of glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars to alleviate the reinforced steel rusting issue in different concrete structures. However, the practise of GFRP bars in concrete columns has not yet achieved a sufficient confidence level due to the lack of a theoretical model found in the literature. The objective of the current study is to introduce a novel prediction model for the axial capability of concrete columns made with bars of GFRP. For this purpose, two different approaches, such as data envelopment analysis (DEA) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) modelling, are used on a collected dataset of 266 concrete column specimens made with GFRP bars from previous literature works. Eight parameters were used to predict the axial performance of GFRP-based RC columns. The proposed DEA and ANNs predictions demonstrated a good correlation with the testing dataset, having R2 values of 0.811 and 0.836, respectively. A comparative analysis of the DEA and ANNs models is undertaken, and it was found that the suggested models are capable of accurately forecasting the structural response of GFRP-made RC column structures. Then, a comprehensive parametric analysis of 266 GFRP-based columns was performed to study the effect of different materials and their geometrical shape.publishedVersio

EDM of Ti6Al4V under nano graphene mixed dielectric: A detailed roughness analysis

Surface finish has an essential role in superior performance of machined products which becomes crucial for sophisticated applications like invasive biomedical implants and aerospace components. Ti6Al4V is popular in these applications due to its exceptional characteristics of weight-to-strength ratio. However, Ti6Al4V is a difficult-to-cut material, therefore, non-traditional cutting techniques especially, Electric Discharge Machining (EDM) are widely adopted for Ti6Al4V cutting. The engagement of nano powders are used to upsurge the cutting rate and surface quality. Among the different powders a novel nano-powder additive i.e. graphene has not been tested in EDM of Ti6Al4V. Therefore, the potential of nano-graphene is comprehensively investigated herein for roughness perspective in EDM of Ti-alloy. The experimental design is based on Taguchi L18 orthogonal framework which includes six EDM parameters. The experimental findings are thoroughly discussed with statistical tests and physical evidence. The surface quality achieved with an aluminum electrode was found best amongst its competitors. Whereas, the worst surface asperities were noticed when brass electrode was used under graphene mixed dielectric. Moreover, it is conceived that the positive tool polarity provides lower roughness for all types of electrodes. Furthermore, optimal settings have been developed that warrant a reduction of 61.4 in the machined specimen's roughness compared to the average roughness value recorded during the experimentation

The Comparison of Outcome in Treating Proximal Ureteric Stones of Size 10 mm to 15 mm Using Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy as Compared to Ureterorenoscopic Manipulation Using Holmium Laser

Urinary stone disease or nephrolithiasis, the third most common disease of the urinary tract, is a major health issue due to its high prevalence, occurrence, and recurrence. The hallmark of a stone that obstructs the ureter or renal pelvis is excruciating, intermittent pain that radiates from the flank to the groin or to the inner thigh. Stone size influences the rate of spontaneous stone passage. Our aim was to compare the efficacy & the frequency of stone-free patients after intervention at 1 week after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and ureterorenoscopic (URS) manipulation for proximal ureteric stone (10–15 mm size). This randomized control trial was done in the department of Urology, KRL Hospital Islamabad from 18th Nov 2019 to 18th May 2020. After meeting the inclusion criteria, 100 patients were enrolled and were divided into two groups. The first group was treated with ESWL and the other with URS. Then, procedures were done. Follow-up was noted after 1 week in the stone clinic. The average age of the patients was 39.71 ± 10.17 years. Efficacy in the ESWL group was found in 68% cases while in the URS group, efficacy was noticed in 76% cases (P > 0.05). Male patients were three times at a higher risk of recurrence as compared to females. This study concluded that both ESWL and URS are equally effective statistically in terms of the frequency of stone-free patients at 1 week for proximal ureteric stone (10–15 mm size)

Epidemiological Data of Neurological Disorders in Pakistan and Neighboring Countries: A Review

Neurological disorders are the impairments of nervous system and are an important and growing cause of morbidity, mortality, and disability. In addition to health costs, those suffering from these conditions are also frequently victimized of stigmatization and discrimination. Stigmatization further minimizes the patients\u27 access to treatment and social activities. These disorders, therefore, require special attention particularly in developing countries where unfortunately, the burden of these disorders remains largely unrecognized. Moreover, the burden imposed by such chronic neurological conditions in general can be expected to be particularly devastating in poor populations. These conditions are emerging as severe public health concerns in the developing countries due to the facts such as unawareness, Illiteracy, large numbers of people who are untreated, and unavailability of inexpensive but effective interventions. Regrettably, reliable population-based data from developing countries including Pakistan on the epidemiology of neurological disorders are extremely limited. Although, some information on epidemiological aspects of neurological diseases are available from some developing countries (Pakistan, Iran, India, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia and China) but disease prevalence and pattern are based on geographical, social, cultural, religious, and ethnic factors. In this review, w e critically analyzed data of 209 studies regarding the burden and prevalence of hypertension, depression, Stroke, Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD), epilepsy, and Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) in Pakistan and neighboring countries

Green Computing for Wireless Body Area Networks: Energy Efficient Link Aware Medical Data Dissemination Approach

Recent technological advancement- in wireless communication has invented Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs), a cutting edge technology in healthcare applications. WBANs interconnect with intelligent and miniaturized biomedical sensor nodes placed on human body to un-attendant monitoring of physiological parameter of the patient. These sensors are equipped with limited resources in terms of computation, storage and battery power. The data communication in WBANs is a resource hungry process especially in terms of energy. One of the most significant challenges in this network is to design energy aware next-hop link selection framework. Towards this end, this paper presents a Green computing framework for WBANs focusing on Energy efficient Link aware approach (G-WEL). Firstly, a link efficiency oriented network model is presented considering beaconing information and network initialization process. Secondly, a path cost calculation model is derived focusing on energy aware link efficiency. A complete operational framework G-WEL is developed considering energy aware next hop link selection by utilizing the network and path cost model. The comparative performance evaluation attests the energy oriented benefit of the proposed framework as compared to the state-of-the-art techniques. It reveals a significant enhancement in body area networking in terms of various energy oriented metrics under medical environments

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Effects of antiplatelet therapy after stroke due to intracerebral haemorrhage (RESTART): a randomised, open-label trial

Background: Antiplatelet therapy reduces the risk of major vascular events for people with occlusive vascular disease, although it might increase the risk of intracranial haemorrhage. Patients surviving the commonest subtype of intracranial haemorrhage, intracerebral haemorrhage, are at risk of both haemorrhagic and occlusive vascular events, but whether antiplatelet therapy can be used safely is unclear. We aimed to estimate the relative and absolute effects of antiplatelet therapy on recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage and whether this risk might exceed any reduction of occlusive vascular events. Methods: The REstart or STop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial (RESTART) was a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded endpoint, parallel-group trial at 122 hospitals in the UK. We recruited adults (≥18 years) who were taking antithrombotic (antiplatelet or anticoagulant) therapy for the prevention of occlusive vascular disease when they developed intracerebral haemorrhage, discontinued antithrombotic therapy, and survived for 24 h. Computerised randomisation incorporating minimisation allocated participants (1:1) to start or avoid antiplatelet therapy. We followed participants for the primary outcome (recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage) for up to 5 years. We analysed data from all randomised participants using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusted for minimisation covariates. This trial is registered with ISRCTN (number ISRCTN71907627). Findings: Between May 22, 2013, and May 31, 2018, 537 participants were recruited a median of 76 days (IQR 29–146) after intracerebral haemorrhage onset: 268 were assigned to start and 269 (one withdrew) to avoid antiplatelet therapy. Participants were followed for a median of 2·0 years (IQR [1·0– 3·0]; completeness 99·3%). 12 (4%) of 268 participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy had recurrence of intracerebral haemorrhage compared with 23 (9%) of 268 participants allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (adjusted hazard ratio 0·51 [95% CI 0·25–1·03]; p=0·060). 18 (7%) participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy experienced major haemorrhagic events compared with 25 (9%) participants allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (0·71 [0·39–1·30]; p=0·27), and 39 [15%] participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy had major occlusive vascular events compared with 38 [14%] allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (1·02 [0·65–1·60]; p=0·92). Interpretation: These results exclude all but a very modest increase in the risk of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage with antiplatelet therapy for patients on antithrombotic therapy for the prevention of occlusive vascular disease when they developed intracerebral haemorrhage. The risk of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage is probably too small to exceed the established benefits of antiplatelet therapy for secondary prevention

Effects of antiplatelet therapy after stroke due to intracerebral haemorrhage (RESTART): a randomised, open-label trial

Background: Antiplatelet therapy reduces the risk of major vascular events for people with occlusive vascular disease, although it might increase the risk of intracranial haemorrhage. Patients surviving the commonest subtype of intracranial haemorrhage, intracerebral haemorrhage, are at risk of both haemorrhagic and occlusive vascular events, but whether antiplatelet therapy can be used safely is unclear. We aimed to estimate the relative and absolute effects of antiplatelet therapy on recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage and whether this risk might exceed any reduction of occlusive vascular events. Methods: The REstart or STop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial (RESTART) was a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded endpoint, parallel-group trial at 122 hospitals in the UK. We recruited adults (≥18 years) who were taking antithrombotic (antiplatelet or anticoagulant) therapy for the prevention of occlusive vascular disease when they developed intracerebral haemorrhage, discontinued antithrombotic therapy, and survived for 24 h. Computerised randomisation incorporating minimisation allocated participants (1:1) to start or avoid antiplatelet therapy. We followed participants for the primary outcome (recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage) for up to 5 years. We analysed data from all randomised participants using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusted for minimisation covariates. This trial is registered with ISRCTN (number ISRCTN71907627). Findings: Between May 22, 2013, and May 31, 2018, 537 participants were recruited a median of 76 days (IQR 29–146) after intracerebral haemorrhage onset: 268 were assigned to start and 269 (one withdrew) to avoid antiplatelet therapy. Participants were followed for a median of 2·0 years (IQR [1·0– 3·0]; completeness 99·3%). 12 (4%) of 268 participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy had recurrence of intracerebral haemorrhage compared with 23 (9%) of 268 participants allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (adjusted hazard ratio 0·51 [95% CI 0·25–1·03]; p=0·060). 18 (7%) participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy experienced major haemorrhagic events compared with 25 (9%) participants allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (0·71 [0·39–1·30]; p=0·27), and 39 [15%] participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy had major occlusive vascular events compared with 38 [14%] allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (1·02 [0·65–1·60]; p=0·92). Interpretation: These results exclude all but a very modest increase in the risk of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage with antiplatelet therapy for patients on antithrombotic therapy for the prevention of occlusive vascular disease when they developed intracerebral haemorrhage. The risk of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage is probably too small to exceed the established benefits of antiplatelet therapy for secondary prevention