Acid Attack on Reinforced Concrete Incorporated with Industrial Wastes

The study was conducted to evaluate the durable characteristics of Reinforced Concrete with silica fume and copper slag. The concrete mix design was done for M40 grade concrete with 7% silica fume as cement and 10 to 30% of copper slag as sand. Also the concrete contains the total fiber content 3% of steel, basalt and Alkali Resistant Glass Fiber (ARGF).  To study the durability characteristics such as resistance against acid, specimens were cast for different content of industrial wastes, fibers and it was compared with the control concrete.In this investigation an attempt was made in order to know the behavior of standard concrete of M40 grade specimens curing with acids such as HCl, and H2SO4 of 1% concentration at 28 days curing. Test results indicate that use of Silica fume, copper slag and fibers in concrete has improved the performance of concrete in durability aspec

Growth and characterization of benzil single crystals using nanotranslation by the modified vertical Bridgman technique

Benzil single crystals have been grown by the modified vertical Bridgman technique using the double wall ampoule with nanotranslation for the first time. The characterization studies of benzil crystals grown by both single and double wall ampoules were analyzed. The grown benzil crystal was confirmed by single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction analyses. Fourier transform infrared analysis confirms the functional groups of the grown benzil. High resolution X-ray diffraction analysis indicates the crystalline perfection of the grown crystals. The UV-Vis-NIR studies show that the grown benzil crystals cutoff wavelength is around 434 nm. The green emission of the grown benzil was identified by photoluminescence studies. The thermal property of the grown benzil was studied by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses. The dielectric measurements of benzil crystals were carried out with different frequencies and temperatures and the results indicate an increase in dielectric and conductivity parameters with the increase of temperature at all frequencies. The second harmonic conversion efficiency of the grown benzil was determined

Development and in-vitro Evaluation of a Topical Drug Delivery System Containing Betamethazone Loaded Ethyl Cellulose Nanospheres

Purpose: Lipid nanospheres are used for the passive targeting of cosmetic agents to skin, thereby achieving major benefits such as reduction of total dose and avoidance of systemic absorption. The present study was carried out to exploit the feasibility of using polymeric nanospheres as an alternative and cheaper carrier for targeting corticosteroids to the skin. Methods: Nanospheres were prepared from ethyl cellulose by a modified method of desolvation and cross linking. The drug betamethazone was incorporated into nanospheres and the drug: polymer ratio was evaluated to determine the carrier capacity of the polymer. In-vitro release studies of drug-loaded nanospheres were carried out by the centrifugal ultrafiltration method. The kinetics of release was determined and fitted to an empirical equation. The release of drug from drug-loaded nanospheres dispersing in a conventional cream was evaluated. A comparative in-vitro diffusion study was carried out between a commercial brand of cream and the cream incorporating nanospheres. Results: Formulation of nanospheres of betamethazone by a modified method produced discrete particles. Studies on drug:polymer ratio showed a linear relationship between drug concentration and percentage of loading. The in-vitro release of drug-loaded nanospheres was found to be first order. The comparative in-vitro diffusion study between the commercial cream and the formulated cream showed a marked reduction in release rate from nanospheres-bound cream. Conclusion: Formulated topical cream containing nanospheres of betamethazone was found to be a potential dermal delivery system for sustaining the release of the drug. Keywords: Nanospheres, desolvation and cross-linking method, ethyl cellulose, betamethazone, in-vitro diffusion studies.> Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research Vol. 4 (2) 2005: pp. 495-50

ANALYSIS OF SULPHUR CONTENT IN COPRA

Agriculture is the largest economic sector in India. Coconut is one of the most demanded fruit amongst all. The dried coconut, copra is the main source of coconut oil. Naturally it contains 70% of moisture content and it is dried to about 7% for production of coconut oil. The sulphur is added as preservative which acts as anti-microbial agent for preventing bacteria, fungus etc. Sulphur is a toxic food preservative which restricts lung performance and leads to direct allergenic reactions. The survey of World Health Organisation says that 65% of asthmatic children are sensitive to sulphur and 75% of children exposed to sulphur exhibits changes in their behaviour. The sulphur fumigation over coconut affects human both externally and internally. Fumigation leads to cancer and environmental pollution. In order to prevent this devastating effect, copra is examined using image processing. The proposed idea is to identify the presence and percentage of sulphur region present in copra. The region of interest is segmented by method of superimposition thereby segmenting white layers in copra. The RGB colour features are extracted to differentiate the sulphur added copra from normal copra. The coconut is dried under 60? in a tray drier and shapes of copra decreases at regular interval of time are extracted using image processing. The decreasing percentage of shape features are measured to identify the sulphur added in the copra. The k-means clustering technique is used to discriminate the copra at different levels. The segmented patch area is measured to determine the percentage of sulphur present in copra. The percentage of sulphur over copra is divided into three levels (low sulphur added region, medium sulphur added region and high sulphur added region). The K-Nearest Neighbour classification is also used to classify the sulphur added copra at different levels. The proposed algorithm classifies the sulphur added copra at three different levels with 86% accuracy

Radiation shielding for superconducting RF cavity test facility at A0

The results of Monte Carlo radiation shielding study performed with the MARS15 code for the vertical test facility at the A0 north cave enclosure at Fermilab are presented and discussed. The vertical test facility at the A0 north cave is planned to be used for testing 1.3 GHz single-cell superconducting RF cavities with accelerating length of 0.115 m. The operations will be focused on high accelerating gradients--up to 50 MV/m. In such a case the facility can be a strong radiation source [1]. When performing a radiation shielding design for the facility one has to take into account gammas generated due to interactions of accelerated electrons with cavity walls and surroundings (for example, range of 3.7-MeV electrons in niobium is approximately 3.1 mm while the thickness of the niobium walls of such RF cavities is about 2.8 mm). The electrons are usually the result of contamination in the cavity. The radiation shielding study was performed with the MARS15 Monte Carlo code [2]. A realistic model of the source term has been used that describes spatial, energy and angular distributions of the field-emitted electrons inside the RF cavities. The results of the calculations are normalized using the existing experimental data on measured dose rate in the vicinity of such RF cavities

Design of a Probe for Strain Sensitivity Studies of Critical Current Densities in SC Wires and Tapes

The design of a variable-temperature probe used to perform strain sensitivity measurements on LTS wires and HTS wires and tapes is described. The measurements are intended to be performed at liquid helium temperatures (4.2 K). The wire or tape to be measured is wound and soldered on to a helical spring device, which is fixed at one end and subjected to a torque at the free end. The design goal is to be able to achieve {+-} 0.8 % strain in the wire and tape. The probe is designed to carry a current of 2000A

A study protocol for a randomised open-label clinical trial of artesunate-mefloquine versus chloroquine in patients with non-severe Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in Sabah, Malaysia (ACT KNOW trial)

Introduction Malaria due to Plasmodium knowlesi is reported throughout South-East Asia, and is the commonest cause of it in Malaysia. P. knowlesi replicates every 24 h and can cause severe disease and death. Current 2010 WHO Malaria Treatment Guidelines have no recommendations for the optimal treatment of non-severe knowlesi malaria. Artemisinin-combination therapies (ACT) and chloroquine have each been successfully used to treat knowlesi malaria; however, the rapidity of parasite clearance has not been prospectively compared. Malaysia\u27s national policy for malaria pre-elimination involves mandatory hospital admission for confirmed malaria cases with discharge only after two negative blood films; use of a more rapidly acting antimalarial agent would have health cost benefits. P. knowlesi is commonly microscopically misreported as P. malariae, P. falciparum or P. vivax, with a high proportion of the latter two species being chloroquine-resistant in Malaysia. A unified ACT-treatment protocol would provide effective blood stage malaria treatment for all Plasmodium species.Methods and analysis ACT KNOW, the first randomised controlled trial ever performed in knowlesi malaria, is a two-arm open-label trial with enrolments over a 2-year period at three district sites in Sabah, powered to show a difference in proportion of patients negative for malaria by microscopy at 24 h between treatment arms (clinicaltrials.gov #NCT01708876). Enrolments started in December 2012, with completion expected by September 2014. A total sample size of 228 is required to give 90% power (α 0.05) to determine the primary end point using intention-to-treat analysis. Secondary end points include parasite clearance time, rates of recurrent infection/treatment failure to day 42, gametocyte carriage throughout follow-up and rates of anaemia at day 28, as determined by survival analysis.Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by relevant institutional ethics committees in Malaysia and Australia. Results will be disseminated to inform knowlesi malaria treatment policy in this region through peer-reviewed publications and academic presentations.Trial registration number NCT01708876

Tensile tests of niobium material for SRF cavities

Mechanical tests of cavity-grade niobium samples were conducted to provide engineering information for the certification of 3rd-harmonic superconducting radio-frequency cavities and cryomodules. Large changes of mechanical properties occur throughout the cavity fabrication process due to the cold work introduced by forming, the heating introduced by electron beam welding, and the recovery of cold work during the anneal used to degas hydrogen after chemical processing. Data is provided here to show the different properties at various stages of fabrication, including both weld regions and samples from the bulk niobium far away from the weld. Measurements of RRR were used to assure that any contamination during annealing was negligible