Protocol of an observational study to evaluate diabetic nephropathy through detection of microalbuminuria in Indian patients

Aim: To assess the prevalence of persistent microalbuminuria (MAU), its clinical correlates by dip stick method, its predictive value for potential kidney disease and the utility of this test as objective cue for health care seeking behavior in adult Indian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and Methods: Approximately 400,000 patients shall be enrolled in this multicentric, cross sectional study. Patients meeting eligibility criteria shall be screened for MAU through urine dipstick test using random daytime single spot urine specimen. Result shall be expressed either positive or negative based on the presence or absence of albumin in the urine and will be correlated with the corresponding random blood glucose. Height, weight, waist circumference and blood pressure shall be assessed. There will be three visits with a minimum interval of 28 days between two visits, to be completed within 180 days, and at least two of three urine tests measured in this period must show elevated albumin levels to diagnose MAU. Conclusion: Detection of MAU through the dipstick method is postulated to be a rapid, reliable test for early detection of diabetic nephropathy, which, in turn will help the physician to plan treatment strategy. Further, it will help to identify the disease burden on the individual and society, and may serve as an objective cue for improved health care seeking behavior, as well as a catalyst for health policy change

High Stress Abrasive Wear Mechanism of LM13-SiC Composite Under Varying Experimental Conditions.

An attempt has been made to understand the mechanism of material removal during two-body abrasive wear of Al-alloy (LM13)-SiC composite under varying experimental conditions through the wear surface and subsurface examination. It has been noted that the mechanisms of material removal during the wear process are primarily cutting and plowing, which lead to formation of continuous wear grooves. In the composite, SiC particles act as protrusions over the surface and protect the matrix from wear. But at higher applied load, coarser abrasive size, and larger sliding distances, some of the SiC particles get fractured into fine particles and scooped off from the wear surface leading to a higher wear rate. The subsurface studies show severe plastic deformation and finally formation of a mechanically mixed layer (MML) over the plastically deformed zone. The MML gets fractured during the wear process and finally removed by the formation of lateral and transverse cracking. The cracks are generally initiated at the interface of MML and the plastically deformed zone and propagate along the weaker region in MML. The material removal mechanism has been schematically presented in order to have a better understanding