VITAMIN C AND ITS ROLE IN BODY

Ascorbic acid or Vitamin C is very important in our body because of its antioxidant property. But the main problem; that vitamin C uses is to maintain the stability as well as its drug distribution system. Vitamin C also plays a protective role in diabetes, cancer, heavy metal toxicity or poisoning, etc. Vitamin C is found in many sources present in nature, including tomatoes, broccoli, etc. Many factors in the body, as well as outside the body, affect the content of vitamin C in the body or sources like the season, climate, and pollution affect the content in fruits and vegetables besides sex, age, pregnancy, lactation, etc. affect the vitamin C content in the body. It is extensively used in the common cold, wound healing process, cancer, heavy metal poisoning or toxicity, and even in men's fertility. In this article, we focused on the general aspects: its bioavailability, sources, its toxicity and deficiency, and factors affecting vitamin C level as well as its use in humans. In the last, we conclude, the excess or lack of Vitamin C, both conditions have affected the human body in a significant range. It plays a protective role against many disorders and is required for kids, men, women, and even old-aged patients

Customized sorting and packaging machine

India is a country which has a cornerstone of agriculture. And as it comes to fruit/vegetable sorting and packaging in India, human labor has been a vital part. With manual hand picking, it is a very laborious task to classify the quality of fruits/vegetables and simultaneously pack them. One leading-edge technology for the fulfilment of this purpose is ‘Image Processing’ technology which is extremely fast and cost-efficient. Our whole idea revolves around the fact that each fruit will be inspected, sort and simultaneously packed. For the same, a low cost automated mechatronic system has designed consisting of a solitary mechanical arrangement, which is controlled and synchronized through electronic components. Fruits/vegetables are sorted as high-quality and low-quality on the basis of physical appearance and weight. For this, a suitable algorithm is designed using the Open CV library. And the sorting is done using Arduino Uno and Raspberry pi. Hence the aim is to develop a sorting and packaging facility that can be established at the very root level itself which will be economically compact and accurate and will give more justice to farmers

Concurrent chemoradiation in head and neck cancers with weekly cisplatin: analysing toxicities

Background: Head and neck cancers constitute 6% of cancers worldwide. The management requires a multidisciplinary approach. Concomitant chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin is the standard approach for locally advanced head and neck cancers. The most commonly used regime uses three weekly cisplatin which is more toxic. Low-dose once-a-week cisplatin is substituted because of perceived lower toxicity and convenience.  Methods: Squamous cell carcinoma of stage III, IVA and IVB of oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx were studied for one year. 82 patients were studied. Total dose of radiation was 66Gy/33#/6 ½ weeks from Monday to Friday with inj. Cisplatin 40mg/m2 i.v. infusion weekly.Results: 88% of patients were able to complete five or more weekly chemotherapy cycles with cumulative dose of 200mg/m2. Grade 2 and 3 acute toxicities were seen in weekly cisplatin arm but were conservatively managed.Conclusions: Weekly cisplatin can be used with concurrent radiotherapy as the acute toxicities are manageable and is well tolerated

Durability and Mechanical Behavior of Fly Ash-GGBFS Geopolymer Concrete Utilizing Bottom Ash as Fine Aggregate

The mechanical properties and durability parameters such as wet-dry cycles, water sorptivity, efflorescence and acid resistance of geopolymer concrete synthesized from fly ash of three different origins were evaluated. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction tests were conducted to examine the microstructure and mineralogical changes. It has been observed that the performance of geopolymer concrete containing fly ash with more glass content was better. The concrete samples were exposed to atmosphere for 180 days under a wide range of temperature (11o to 39oC) and relative humidity (42 to 82%). But the efflorescence was very low and the compressive strength deterioration was <10% from reference sample kept under controlled condition. This indicates good durability characteristic of fly ash based geopolymer concrete

Replacement of conventional fine aggregate with bottom ash in geopolymer concrete

The commonly used fine aggregate in concrete and mortar is river sand. The steep demand of river sand for infrastructure development is faced with problems of availability, its quality and rising cost. Large scale exploitation of sand is becoming a major concern. Conventional fine aggregate for concrete needs replacement for economic, environmental and ecological benefits.To overcome thepresent crisis, an investigation is made by replacingtheriver sand with bottom ash (BA)in geopolymer concrete (GC). The specimens used in the studies of GC issynthesised from fly ash (FA) of three different originsat ambient temperature with alkali activators of different concentrations. Workability and bleeding of fresh concrete are studied. It has been observed that the compressive strength and split tensile strength of third origin of FA based GC was better as compared to first and second origin FA based GC, which can be correlated with higher glass content. Considering the fresh and hardened properties of GC, the BAcontentwas optimisation at 10% of mix proportion

Leaching and efflorescence effects in geopolymer concrete

The leaching behaviour and efflorescence effects were minimal for geopolymer concrete synthesised from fly ash of three different origins have been evaluated. The specimens used in the studies were geopolymer concrete synthesized at ambient temperature with alkali activators of different concentrations. During these studies, extraction and leaching of various heavy metals and trace elements like Zn, Ni, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Mg, and Cd were carried out by applying batch leach test and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) to check the possibility of ground water contamination. The effect of efflorescence was examined visually and by determining the residual compressive strength up to 180 days after 28 days maturity of concrete specimens. The bulk of the pores lie in the 0.01–1.5μm range. The number of pores below pore size of 0.01 μm and above pore size of 1.5 μm is less. 6MFA3GC was better resistant as compared to 6MFA1GC and 6MFA2GC for leaching and efflorescence effect. The strength comparison of geopolymer concrete specimens in laboratory conditions and on exposure to weathering conditions are within 10%

Estimation of geopolymer concrete strength from ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) using high power pulser

The objective of this paper is to establish the relationship between the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and the compressive strength of geopolymer concrete. The specimens used in the studies were geopolymer concrete synthesized at ambient temperature with alkali activators of different concentrations. A high power pulser based equipment Ultra-β™ designed at CSIR-NML, Jamshedpur was used for the UPV measurement and the compressive strength tests were carried out at the concrete age of 1, 7, 28, and 90 days. The result shows that the relationship between UPV and the compressive strength of concrete is significantly influenced by age and alkali activator concentration. The UPV and the compressive strength of concrete increase with age, but the rate of increase varies with alkali activator. The study of hardened concrete at an age of 90 days was considered as the reference. It is found that with the same content of alkali activator, a clear relationship curve can be drawn to describe the UPV and compressive strength of hardened concrete. The standard error in estimating compressive strength from the UPV varies from 1.6MPa to 2.34MPa. This paper highlights the UPV and strength relationship for geopolymer concrete prepared with different concentration of alkali activator