Some Integrals occurring in Fracture Mechanics

Some integrals occurring in fracture mechanics have been derived in close form. The results have been used for obtaining stress intensity factor at the edge of interface crack

Secrets of safe laparoscopic surgery: Anaesthetic and surgical considerations

In recent years, laparoscopic surgery has gained popularity in clinical practice. The key element in laparoscopic surgery is creation of pneumoperitoneum and carbon dioxide is commonly used for insufflation. This pneumoperitoneum perils the normal cardiopulmonary system to a considerable extent. Every laparoscopic surgeon should understand the consequences of pneumoperitoneum; so that its untoward effects can be averted. Pneumoperitoneum increases pressure on diaphragm, leading to its cephalic displacement and thereby decreasing venous return, which can be aggravated by the position of patient during surgery. There is no absolute contraindication of laparoscopic surgery, though we can anticipate some problems in conditions like obesity, pregnancy and previous abdominal surgery. This review discusses some aspects of the pathophysiology of carbon dioxide induced pneumoperitoneum, its consequences as well as strategies to counteract them. Also, we propose certain guidelines for safe laparoscopic surgery

Solution conformation of Substance P antagonists—[d-Arg1, d-Trp7,9, Leu11]-SP, [d-Arg1, d-Pro2, d-Trp7,9, Leu11]-SP and [d-Pro2, d-Trp7,9]-SP by CD, NMR and MD simulations

Substance P (SP) is an important neuropeptide involved in pain transmission and induction of inflammation. Its antagonists are being extensively investigated for their non-narcotic analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity. With a view towards better understanding the structural requirements of these analogs for efficient interaction with the SP receptor, the conformation of three SP antagonists [d-Arg1, d-Trp7,9, Leu11]-SP, [d-Arg1, d-Pro2, d-Trp7,9, Leu11]-SP and [d-Pro2, d-Trp7,9]-SP has been studied by CD, NMR and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. All three peptides exhibit a high dependence of structure on the solvent. The molecules tend to adopt β-turns in solvents like DMSO and H2O and form helices in a hydrophobic environment. A direct relation between the helix forming potential of these antagonists with their receptor binding potency has been observed

What’s Next? A Recommendation System for Industrial Training

Abstract Continuous training is crucial for creating and maintaining the right skill-profile for the industrial organization’s workforce. There is a tremendous variety in the available trainings within an organization: technical, project management, quality, leadership, domain-specific, soft-skills, etc. Hence it is important to assist the employee in choosing the best trainings, which perfectly suits her background, project needs and career goals. In this paper, we focus on algorithms for training recommendation in an industrial setting. We formalize the problem of next training recommendation, taking into account the employee’s training and work history. We present several new unsupervised sequence mining algorithms to mine the past trainings data from the organization for arriving at personalized next training recommendation. Using the real-life data about trainings of 118,587 employees over 5019 distinct trainings from a large multi-national IT organization, we show that these algorithms outperform several standard recommendation engine algorithms as well as those based on standard sequence mining algorithms

Change detection of linear features in temporally spaced remotely sensed images using edge-based grid analysis

Automatic change detection of land cover features using high-resolution satellite images, is a challenging problem in the field of intelligent remote sensing data interpretation, and is becoming more and more effective for its applications viz. urban planning and monitoring, disaster assessment etc. In the present study, a change in detection approach based on the image morphology that analyses change in the local image grids is proposed. In this approach, edges from both the images are extracted and grid wise comparison is made by probabilistic thresholding and power spectral density analysis for identifying change area. One of the advantages of the proposed methodology is that the temporal images used in the change analysis need not be radiometrically corrected as analysis is based on edge extractions. The grid-based analysis further reduces the error, which might have been introduced by image mis-registration. The proposed methodology is validated by finding the temporal changes in the linear land cover features in parts of Kolkata city, India using three different image data-sets from LISS IV, Cartosat-1 and Google earth having varied spatial resolutions of 5.8 m, 2.5 m and about 1 m, respectively. The overall accuracy in identifying changes is found to be 64.82, 73.86 and 80.93% for LISS IV, Cartosat-1 and Google earth data-set, respectively

Role of bone marrow derived pluripotent stem cells in peripheral nerve repair in adult rats: A morphometric evaluation

Objectives: Semi-quantitative and quantitative assessment of the effect of bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BM-MNC) on early and late phase of nerve regeneration in rat sciatic nerve model. Materials and Methods: Sciatic nerve transection and repair was performed in 50 inbred female Wistar albino rats divided equally in two groups. In the test group the gap was filled with BM-MNCs obtained from the two male rats and fibrin sealant, while in the control group only fibrin sealant was used. Sciatic nerve was harvested at 15 days and at 60 days interval. Parameters of regeneration were assessed at anastomosis (G), intermediate distal (C), and distal site (A). Semi-quantitative (histopathological) and quantitative (morphometric) parameters were analyzed. Results: At 15 days there was a statistically significant difference found in mean axon diameter, mean nerve thickness and myelin thickness at the repair site (P < 0.05). However, in the distal areas, the axons were sparse and myelin rings were very thin in both the groups. At 60 days, the difference in above-mentioned parameters was statistically significant at the distal most sites. FISH assay confirmed the presence of Y chromosome, confirming the presence of BM-MNCs from the male rats. Conclusions: Transplanting BM-MNC S at the site of peripheral nerve injury leads to significantly better recovery. These differences were evident at the repair site and at the intermediate distal site at 15 days and at the distal most sites at 60 days. With practically no ethical issue regarding their isolation and application, they can be easily used for clinical trials