Structural analysis of long arm excavator boom for optimization performance under maximum breakout condition

Long Arm Excavators are widely used in the construction site for excavating deep holes or trenches. However, due to the often-severe work conditions, such as large lifting loads, poor ground conditions to sustain the machine’s self-weight, Long Arm Excavator parts are subjected to constant wear and tear, incurring downtime losses and safety issues. The boom is considered the most critically affected part of the machine in these work conditions, where the high forces and unpredictable elements at the worksite could severely affect the machine’s overall performance. A potential solution is the reinforcement of the boom to improve its robustness. As an industrial collaborative project, the present study examines the performance of an existing machine with simulated improvement of the boom with such an approach, i.e. incorporation of stiffener reinforcement. Simulation works were carried out with Ansys Workbench 19.2 to assess the boom’s performance in terms of resulting stress, strain and deformation under a series of improved conditions, which include varying the dimensions and positions of the stiffeners on the boom. The improved conditions were Improvement I: stiffeners thickness reduction to 10mm, Improvement II: a combination of different stiffeners thickness reduction which 10mm and 8mm at critical and non-critical part of the boom, Improvement III: removal of half intermediate stiffeners thickness 12mm and Improvement IV: removal of half intermediate stiffeners thickness 8mm. Structural analysis was conducted based on the maximum breakout condition in which the excavator generates maximum digging force. From the analysis, it was found that the maximum equivalent stress of the boom decreased with the number of stiffeners. The combination of different stiffeners thickness could also increase the boom’s strength while decreasing the maximum equivalent stress. The lowest maximum equivalent stress of the boom was achieved via Improvement II with a reduction of 26.1% maximum equivalent stress. Removal of non-critical part stiffeners also kept stress values under the designated stress limits against fatigue failure, i.e. 44.49 MPa and 42.47 MPa (Improvement III and IV). In summary, the optimal design could be obtained with improvement II. This would effectively save on the manufacturing costs while maximizing the machine’s performance on-site, simultaneously reducing downtime and hence operating costs and time

The Interests of Justice under the ICC Prosecutor Power: Escaping Forward

This paper examines the application of article 53 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which provides the prosecutor with the discretionary power to decline to investigate or prosecute, if the ‘interests of justice’ would not be served. First, it will analyse the scope of the concept of the ‘interests of justice’. Second, it will consider whether the prosecutor should take into consideration alternative justice mechanisms when making the decision. It will further investigate whether ‘peace processes’ can be under the consideration of the prosecutor when deciding on the ‘interests of justice’. This issue is part of my wider research project, which provides an analytical discussion of the prosecutorial discretion of the prosecutor. It reflects on the approaches to the relationship between international law and politics advanced by Martti Koskenniemi. His theory aims to help decision-makers to work objectively whenever a tension arises between concrete and normative demands in international legal institution

The Role of the Prosecutor in the International Criminal Court: Discretion, Legitimacy, and the Politics of Justice

Under the complex circumstances and the limited capacity in which the International Criminal Court (ICC) operates, the role of its prosecutor has been challenging. The ICC prosecutor cannot pursue all situations for investigation, and cases for prosecution. She has to be selective. Moreover, the individuals and the crimes over which the Court exercises its jurisdiction, and the present circumstances in which it operates raise political sensitivities that might undermine the ability of the Court to deliver its justice effectively. The ICC prosecutor faces a complex dilemma in negotiating a relationship between fealty to the law and the impact and possible benefits of political exigencies in delivering justice. It also raises the problem of the role of political considerations within the decision-making process. The exercise of discretion lies at the heart of these challenges, as the ICC’s Statute allows the prosecutor to exercise significant discretion. This thesis will explore and analyse the discretionary power of the ICC prosecutor. It situates the development of the office historically by referring to the experiences of the War Crimes Tribunals after World War II and the two United Nations Tribunals of the 1990’s. Against this background, it examines the scope of discretion and the way the Prosecutor has exercised it. This thesis will suggest that there has been a tendency to overlook the necessity of distinguishing between various senses of discretion open to the prosecutor to exercise. In exploring the scope of discretion, the thesis will argue that there is wider range of discretion with different senses, available to the Prosecutor and that has been exercised by her, when applying legal thresholds. In assessing these legal thresholds, the focus will be on ‘sufficient gravity’ and ‘the interests of justice’. The thesis will suggest that the indeterminacy of the legal thresholds, such as ‘sufficient gravity’ is the space, which, in effect, allows decision-makers to exercise a wide range of discretion. The thesis refers to this discourse as legal interpretative discretion. This is to be distinguished from prosecutorial discretion, which is a different concept and allows decision-makers to consider extra-legal considerations, as the case with the term ‘interests of justice ’. An implication of the interpretation of the terms like ‘sufficient gravity’, is that the prosecutor can appear to possess almost unlimited power. In exploring the relationship between the two types of discretion the thesis will root the analysis within a close reading of examples of the investigations and prosecutions, and the scholarly literature. The thesis also discusses the relevance of political considerations within the decision-making process in the context of the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. It suggests that there need not be a conflict between the broad sense of justice as outlined in the Statute and political factors in giving effect to decisions. The thesis engages with the repeated statements by prosecutors, which have denied the use of discretion and asserted a fealty to strict legalism. It suggests that beneath these statements lie a resource, discretion, which helps not hinders international criminal justice

Receptor modification as a therapeutic approach against viral diseases

Poliovirus causes flaccid paralysis through the destruction of motor neurons in the CNS. Susceptibility to its infection is mainly due to the interaction in between the surface capsid proteins and its receptors on the host cell surface, important for binding, penetration and other necessary events during early infection. Receptor modification is a new approach to treat viral diseases by the modification of target proteins structure. Binding domains are modified in an effective way to make it difficult for the virus to recognize it. In this study, tolerant and intolerant induced mutations in the poliovirus receptor, VP1 and VP2 were identified and substituted in the seed sequence to get the modified versions. Substitutions causing changes in initial folding were short listed and further analyzed for high level folding, physiochemical properties and interactions. Highest RMSD values were observed in between the seed and the mutant K90F (3.265 Å) and Q130W (3.270Å) respectively. The proposed substitutions were found to have low functional impact and thus can be further tested and validated by the experimental researchers. Interactions analyses proved most of the substitutions having decreased affinity for both the VP1 and VP2 and thus are of significant importance against poliovirus. This study will play an important role for bridging computational biology to other fields of applied biology and also will provide an insight to develop resistance against viral diseases. It is also expected that same approach can also be applicable against other viruses like HCV, HIV and other in near future

Numerical simulation analysis on water jet pressure distribution at various nozzle aperture

The low velocity water jet is required by small scale Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) to control its position, either to remain statics in its position or to perform a slow and steady locomotion. However, the water jet performance is influenced by the size of nozzle aperture. By studying the pressure distribution around the nozzle area, the water jet velocity could be determined and characterized. In this studies, the ejection pressure was fixed at 23.37 Pa according to the constant actuation. Studies were conducted using ANSYS Fluent software. The results show that the water jet velocity and dynamic pressure are higher for larger nozzle aperture size at constant pressure. The total pressure and dynamic pressure had the lowest pressure drop at certain nozzle aperture size but became constant when the nozzle size was wider. This finding is useful in designing the UUV that powered by contractile water jet thruster

Antibacterial, cytotoxic studies and characterization of some newly synthesized symmetrical N 3, N 3 ′ -bis(disubstituted)isophthalyl- bis(thioureas) and their Cu(II) and Ni(II) complexes

A series of some novel ,-bis(disubstituted)isophthalyl-bis(thioureas) compounds with general formula [C6H4 {CONHCSNHR}2], where R = 2-ClC6H4S (L1), 3,5-(Cl)2C6H3 (L2), 2,4-(Cl)2C6H3 (L3), 2,5-(Cl)2C6H3 (L4), and 2-NH2C6H4 (L5), and their Cu(II) and Ni(II) complexes (C1–C10) have been synthesized. These compounds (L1–L5) and their metal(II) complexes (C1–C10) have been characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy, magnetic moments, and electronic spectral measurements. The ligands are coordinated to metal atom in a bidentate pattern producing a neutral complex of the type [ML]2. These compounds (L1–L5) and their metal(II) complexes (C1–C10) were also screened for their antibacterial and cytotoxic activities

Dementia secondary to a potentially treatable cause - role of GPs

Dementia is tragic mind-wrecking disease, defined as a multifaceted decline in cognitive function severe enough to interfere with activities of daily life. We present herein two patients who presented with loss of memory and altered behaviour. The purpose of these case reports is to alert the health professionals, especially general practitioners, in detection of “potentially treatable " cases of dementia that can be treated effectively to restore normal or nearly normal intellectual function

Pregnancy with COVID-19: feto-maternal outcome from a tertiary care hospital, Bangladesh

Background: The objective was to determine the maternal and fetal outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19 infection in the southeast part of Bangladesh.Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Bangladesh, for one year. Pregnant women were divided into suspected and confirmed groups based on the clinical features of COVID-19 and the results of RT-PCR (SARS-CoV2). Outcome measures were maternal death, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and stillbirth/neonatal death. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied for between-group comparisons. Binary logistic regression analysis was done for factors affecting feto-maternal outcomes. Results were presented as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).Results: A total of 144 pregnant women (n=144) were included in the study, divided into confirmed (n=71) and suspected (n=73). Complications were more in the confirmed group (p=0.315). Caesarean section was 69% and 64.4% in the confirmed and suspected groups, respectively (p=0.556). Eight women (5.55%) needed ICU admission, five (3.5%) required mechanical ventilation, and five (3.5%) women expired. Fetal distress was seen in 15 (10.41%) pregnancies. Stillbirth or neonatal death and the need for NICU admission were higher for suspected than in confirmed cases. Pregnancies with suspected COVID-19 had 3.91 times (OR: 3.913, 95% CI: 1.398-10.954) higher poor feto-maternal outcome. Unbooked status, COVID-19 test negativity, and use of antivirals were associated with poor feto-maternal outcomes.Conclusions: Pregnancies with COVID-19 were prone to poor feto-maternal outcomes. The study pointed to an improvement in the ANC of pregnant women with COVID-19 in a public hospital like Bangladesh