Influence of matrix characteristics on fracture toughness of high volume fraction Al<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>/Al-AlN composites

The role of matrix microstructure on the fracture of Al-alloy composites with 60 vol% alumina particulates was studied. The matrix composition and microstructure were systematically varied by changing the infiltration temperature and heat treatment. Characterization was carried out by a combination of metallography, hardness measurements, and fracture studies conducted on compact tension specimens to study the fracture toughness and crack growth in the composites. The composites showed a rise in crack resistance with crack extension (R curves) due to bridges of intact matrix ligaments formed in the crack wake. The steady-state or plateau toughness reached upon stable crack growth was observed to be more sensitive to the process temperature rather than to the heat treatment. Fracture in the composites was predominantly by particle fracture, extensive deformation, and void nucleation in the matrix. Void nucleation occurred in the matrix in the as-solutionized and peak-aged conditions and preferentially near the interface in the underaged and overaged conditions. Micromechanical models based on crack bridging by intact ductile ligaments were modified by a plastic constraint factor from estimates of the plastic zone formed under indentations, and are shown to be adequate in predicting the steady-state toughness of the composite

Efficacy of Communication Strategies in Augmenting Quality of Life and Participation in Individuals with Aphasia

Use of communication strategies are recommended frequently to individuals with aphasia in order to enhance their communication and societal participation. This study aims to explore the efficacy of communication strategy usage in persons with chronic aphasia and their communicative partners. For this purpose, interviews were conducted with five women and six men with chronic aphasia (N =11) and a qualitative analysis of the same was done. Different factors related to individuals with aphasia, their caregivers and topics of conversation were found to affect the efficacious use of communication strategies. The most important among this was the care givers awareness regarding the need and usage of communication strategies. It was evident from the current research that caregiver training on communication strategies should be an integral goal of aphasia rehabilitation. This will inturn enhance rehabilitation and integration of individuals with aphasia for societal participation

Rare And Popular Event-Based Co-Located Pattern Recognition in Surveillance Videos Using Max-Min PPI-DBSCAN And GREVNN

Co-located pattern recognition is the process of identifying the sequence of patterns occurring in surveillance videos. In greater part of the existing works, the detection of rare and popular events for effective co-located pattern recognition is not concentrated. Therefore, this paper presents the automatic discovery of the co-located patterns based on rare and popular events in the video. First, the video is converted to frames, and the keyframes are preprocessed. Then, the foreground and background of the frames are estimated, and the rare and popular events are grouped using Maximum-Minimum Pixel-Per-Inch Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (Max-MinPPI-DBSCAN). From the grouped image, the object detection and mapping are done, and the patch is extracted from it. Next, the edges are detected and from that, for the moving objects, motion is estimated by the Kullback-Leibler Kalman Filter (KLKF). Also, for non-moving objects, the objects/persons are tracked. From the motion estimated and tracked data, time series features are extracted. Then, the optimal features are selected using the Dung Beetle State Transition Probability Optimizer (DBSTPO). Finally, the co-located pattern is classified using a Generalized Recurrent Extreme Value Neural Network (GREVNN), and the alert message is given to the authorities. Hence, the proposed model selected the features in 53239.44ms and classified the event with 99.0723% accuracy and showed better performance than existing works

TBC-K-Means based Co-Located Object Recognition with Co-Located Object Status Identification Framework Using MAX-GRU

In the application of detached object recognition in public places like railway terminals, the recognition of the co-located objects in the video is a more vital process. Nevertheless, owing to the occurrence of multiple co-located object instances, the analysis of the status of the co-located object in the video is a challenging process. Hence, for solving this issue, this paper proposes the Min-Max Distance based K-Means (MMD-K-Means)-centric co-located object recognition with object status identification. Primarily, the input video from the railway is converted to frames. Subsequently, it was improved using Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE). Next, Tukey’s Bi-weight Correlation-based Byte Tacking (TBC-BT) and MMD-K-Means clustering are done for the detection and tracking of moving and non-moving objects. Subsequently, the Cyclic Neighbor-based Connected Component Analysis (CN-CCA) process was done from the static and moving object-detected frames for the main and co-located object labeling. Next, it executed the patch extraction for the separate analysis of each instance. At last, the Maxout-based Gated Recurrent Unit (Max-GRU) determined the object status in CN-CCA processed frame with the estimated distance between objects and extracted features from the static objects. The proposed system was then experimentally examined and validated in contrast to the standard methods. The proposed MMD-K-Means achieved a co-located object identification rate of 97.92% in 1184 milliseconds. Next, the Max-GRU achieved 98.13% identification accuracy, and it also achieved excellent results for other performance parameters. The proposed system’s performance is experimentally proved with several performance metrics

Effect of Yoga on obesity, hypertension and lipid profile

Background: Hypertension is a major chronic lifestyle disease and an important public health problem worldwide. Mind-body therapies i.e., the transcendental meditation and Yoga have raised interest as they represent an alternative to medication; also contribute to an increased feeling of empowerment for patients in preventing and treating hypertension. Yoga, as a therapeutic regimen, has been shown to be useful to individuals with cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The objective of our study is to study the effect of Pranayama and certain Yogic Asana’s on BP, BMI & lipid profile. Methods: 50 male subjects in the age group of 35-55 years were randomly selected based on exclusion criteria. BP, BMI and lipid profile was estimated before any intervention. They were subjected to pranayama and other Asana’s for a period of 3 months. After 3 months of Yoga intervention, BP, BMI and lipid profile was estimated.Results: We observed a statistically significant decrease in Systolic BP, Diastolic BP and BMI after 3 months of Yoga training. Also, we observed a decrease in total cholesterol, VLDL, triglycerides and an increase in HDL cholesterol which is not statistically significant.Conclusion: A significant decrease in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure in subjects who have practiced Yoga, Asanas along with pranayama technique for 3 months duration.

Unimpeded permeation of water through helium-leak-tight graphene-based membranes

Permeation through nanometer pores is important in the design of materials for filtration and separation techniques and because of unusual fundamental behavior arising at the molecular scale. We found that submicron-thick membranes made from graphene oxide can be completely impermeable to liquids, vapors and gases, including helium, but allow unimpeded permeation of water (H2O permeates through the membranes at least 10^10 times faster than He). We attribute these seemingly incompatible observations to a low-friction flow of a monolayer of water through two dimensional capillaries formed by closely spaced graphene sheets. Diffusion of other molecules is blocked by reversible narrowing of the capillaries in low humidity and/or by their clogging with water

Proportion of metabolic syndrome among overweight and obese children of age 6 to 16 years attending a tertiary care centre, Kerala

Background: This study aimed to find out the proportion of overweight and obese children of age 6-16 years having metabolic syndrome and to find out the risk factors for the same. Methods: This hospital based cross sectional study was conducted in obesity clinic of Department of Paediatric, Government T D Medical College, Alappuzha over a period of 18 months (from jan 2019 to june 2020). Sample size was calculated as 210 children including 20% expected dropout. Children of age 6-16 years with BMI &gt; 85th centile attending the obesity clinics were enrolled for the study as per the inclusion and exclusion criteria. After getting consent/assent, relevant points from history, physical examination and investigations were recorded. The data obtained were entered in excel spread sheet and analyzed. Results: In this study, 28.9% were overweight and 71.1% were obese. Proportion of metabolic syndrome [MetS] among subject with overweight and obese were 18% and 29.3% respectively. Metabolic syndrome were more in males, children receiving more calories, have passive smoking and were born as preterm or big baby. Abdominal obesity was present in all children with MetS. Significant associations were found between MetS and inflammatory markers like CRP. Among the metabolic parameters, elevated level of uric acid, SGOT, SGPT and abnormal lipid profile were found to have a positive correlation with MetS. Conclusions: More than 25% of children with BMI &gt; 85th centile is found to have MetS. Being overweight also is high risk for development of metabolic syndrome. High calorie intake, passive smoking, prematurity, birth weight more than 4 kg and abdominal obesity are significant risk factors identified

An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic study of electrochemically deposited Fe-P thin films on copper substrate

Electrochemically deposited Fe-P magnetic thin film from acidic tartarate complex bath solution was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. As-prepared film contains both Fe3+- and P5+ -like species, whereas the same film after 10 and 20 min sputtering shows peaks corresponding to Fe metal as well as P(δ-) species along with P5+ species. The film after heat-treatment contains Fe3+ together with P5+ and Pδ- species, whereas heat-treated film after sputtering shows the presence of both Fe metal and Fe2+ species. There is an increase in Pδ- intensity on sputtering the heat-treated film. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

A prospective study to evaluate oral iron preparations in antenatal women at a tertiary care hospital

Background: Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia in pregnancy worldwide. It can be mild, moderate or severe. Severe anemia can have very serious consequences for mothers and babies. Pregnant women requiring medication represent a challenge to healthcare providers to avoid any teratogenic risk to foetus. The purpose of this study was to provide information about the most effective iron preparations prescribed to pregnant women and to evaluate the haemoglobin status before and after oral iron therapy.Methods: This was a Prospective observational study conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital, between October 2013 and March 2014.This study was conducted by reviewing the antenatal care Outpatient department case papers of 200 pregnant women who were anaemic.Results: Demographic profile, detailed medical history and drug intake in current pregnancy was noted. The prescription pattern was assessed. Of the three common iron preparations prescribed, Ferrous sulphate was the most common preparation. Findings of our study showed that all pregnant anaemic women included in the study were provided with iron and folic acid therapy and the most effective oral iron preparation was Ferrous sulphate.Conclusions: Present study shows that ferrous sulphate is the most common iron preparation prescribed. Ferrous sulphate and ferrous fumarate preparations showed better improvement in Hb levels. Anaemia is common among all pregnant women and therefore it raises the concern about high morbidity and mortality associated with pregnancy outcome. This can be minimized by educating pregnant women about importance of balanced diet and utilization of antenatal facilities even during early pregnancy.