Observation of Mixed Alkali Like Behaviour by Fluorine Ion in Mixed Alkali Oxyfluro Vanadate Glasses: Analysis from Conductivity Measurements

In this communication we report the fluorine ion dynamics in mixed alkali oxyfluro vanadate glasses. We have measured the electrical conductivity using impedance spectroscopy technique Room temperature conductivity falls to 5 orders of magnitude from its single alkali values at 33 mol% of rubidium concentration. We have also estimated the distance between similar mobile ions using the density values. Assuming this distance as the hopping distance between the similar ions we have estimated the anionic (Fluorine ion in our case) conductivity. It is observed that the fluorine ion dynamics mimics the mixed alkali effect and scales as the onset frequency f0.Comment: submitted to DAE-SSDP 2018 Indi

Biomechanics of Disc Degeneration

Disc degeneration and associated disorders are among the most debated topics in the orthopedic literature over the past few decades. These may be attributed to interrelated mechanical, biochemical, and environmental factors. The treatment options vary from conservative approaches to surgery, depending on the severity of degeneration and response to conservative therapies. Spinal fusion is considered to be the “gold standard” in surgical methods till date. However, the association of adjacent level degeneration has led to the evolution of motion preservation technologies like spinal arthroplasty and posterior dynamic stabilization systems. These new technologies are aimed to address pain and preserve motion while maintaining a proper load sharing among various spinal elements. This paper provides an elaborative biomechanical review of the technologies aimed to address the disc degeneration and reiterates the point that biomechanical efficacy followed by long-term clinical success will allow these nonfusion technologies as alternatives to fusion, at least in certain patient population

Cerebral Palsy: Still A Social Problem

Research Problem: What arc the social aspects of cerebral palsy? Objective: To determine the extent and severity of neuromuscular involvement in cases of cerebral palsy and to find out the associated defects among these children. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Tertiary care hospital, outdoor patients. Participants: Children in the age group of 0 - 12 years. Sample Size: 120 children suffering from cerebral palsy. Study Variables: Social factors, neuromuscular involvement. Statistical Analysis: By proportions Result: Out of 120 cases, maximum number of cases (66.6%) were in the age group of 1- 4 years. 83 cases ( 69.16%) were males. Among the various types, spastic type was the commonest (87.5%). Of these spastic cases, 52 (49.52%) had quadriplegia. No case of tremor and rigidity was seen. Delayed milestones was the commonest associated disorder, seen in 107 (89.16%) cases, followed by speech defect in 58(48.3%) cases, visual defect in 34(28.3%) cases and convulsions in 24 (20.0%) cases. Hearing defect was seen in 5 cases (4.16%) only. Conclusion: More concerted efforts arc required to identify children with cerebral palsy and rehabilitate them for the betterment of society

A Rapid Flow through Membrane Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Bacillus anthracis using Surface Array Protein as a Biomarker

Anthrax, caused by Bacillus anthracis is an important disease of biowarfare and public health importance. It is imperative to develop a simple system which can detect and differentiate B. anthracis from other closely related species. The surface array protein (Sap), which is secreted during the early growth phase of bacteria can be an important biomarker for detection of B. anthracis. In the present study, we have developed a rapid flow through membrane ELISA for detection of B. anthracis. Polyclonal antibodies were used to develop a sandwich plate ELISA, which could detect 3.9 ng/ml of recombinant Sap. B. anthracis bacteria grown in culture broth could be detected after 5 h of growth. Finally, a rapid flow through membrane ELISA was developed which can be accomplished just within 2 minutes, instead of 3-4 h as required in sandwich plate ELISA. The results established that the developed flow through membrane ELISA may be used for detection of B. anthracis. The proposed method is rapid, safe and user friendly for detection of B. anthracis culture

Mesoscale convection system and occurrence of extreme low tropopause temperatures: observations over Asian summer monsoon region

The present study examines the process of how tropospheric air enters the stratosphere, particularly in association with tropical mesoscale convective systems (TMCS) which are considered to be one of the causative mechanisms for the observation of extremely low tropopause temperature over the tropics. The association between the phenomena of convection and the observation of extreme low tropopause temperature events is, therefore, examined over the Asian monsoon region using data from multiple platforms. Satellite observations show that the area of low outgoing long wave radiation (OLR), which is a proxy for the enhanced convection, is embedded with high altitude clouds top temperatures (&le;193 K). A detailed analysis of OLR and 100 hPa temperature shows that both are modulated by westward propagating Rossby waves with a period of ~15 days, indicating a close linkage between them. The process by which the tropospheric air enters the stratosphere may, in turn, be determined by how the areas of convection and low tropopause temperature (LTT) i.e. <I>T</I>&le;191 K are spatially located. In this context, the relative spatial distribution of low OLR and LTT areas is examined. Though, the locations of low OLR and LTT are noticed in the same broad area, the two do not always overlap, except for partial overlap in some cases. When there are multiple low OLR areas, the LTT area generally appears in between the low OLR areas. Implications of these observations are also discussed. The present analysis also shows that the horizontal mean winds have a role in the spatial distribution of low OLR and LTT

Exploring the Diagnostic Potential of Infrared Thermography for Experimental Assessment of Cavitation and Air Entrainment-induced Faults in Centrifugal Pumps

This research pioneers the application of thermographic principles to diagnose faults, specifically cavitation and air entrainment, in centrifugal pumps. The study represents the inaugural investigation into the feasibility of leveraging infrared thermography for this purpose, underpinned by rigorous experimental methodologies to validate its efficacy. By capturing thermal images of pumps operating under varying conditions, a pseudo-coloring technique for precise temperature range segmentation was employed. This technique facilitated the assessment of fault severity, quantified through the computation of the . This index emerged as a quantifiable metric of fault severity, with elevated values correlating to more pronounced degrees of fault occurrence. Notably, in the case of air entrainment faults, a maximum temperature escalation of 3.9°C was recorded after 60 min run time, and the corresponding thermal index was found to be 5.12. The investigation employs the HSV model, extracting regions of thermal variation through hue differences for fault detection. This process is combined with edge detection methods like Sobel, Prewitt, Roberts, Canny, and Otsu. The Otsu technique consistently outperformed alternative approaches. Specifically, for high cavitation and air entrainment faults, the Otsu method had the highest mean of 0.1730 and 0.1253, respectively. Key findings include the effectiveness of image processing techniques, statistical measures, and edge detection methods for fault diagnosis, as well as insights into temperature differentials and motor load reductions with increasing fault severity. The research improves maintenance, enhancing efficiency and reducing downtime. It emphasizes infrared thermography's potential for fault diagnosis while identifying constraints and advocating further research