Integrity Assessment of LCA Drop Tank under Internal Cyclic Pressure

A facility and expertise has been developed at NAL to conduct automated internal pressure cycling tests. The hardware and instrumentation includes capturing of pressure on the data logger along with strain gage data. Digital data can be recorded continuously during entire pressure cycle, thus enabling to provide comparative view of reduction in stiffness, if any,in terms of graphs. The Maximum Pressure up To Which the Central Shells Could Be Tested Was 188 .5psi. A Maximum Strain Of 5166 Micro Strains, At A Pressure Of 188 .5psi, Was Found Near The GFRP Bulkhead In The Circumferential Direction. The Integrity Of The Bulkhead Joint Appears Satisfactory. The Nose-Cone, Tested For Internal Pressure Cycling Between 3 And L Lpsi Did Not Show Any Leaks Anywhere On The Surface Or From The Filler Cap . However, After 1104 Pressure Cycles,The End Flange Failed With A Loud Pop.On Inspection, It Was Found That The Failure Is Due To Improper Adhesion Between The GFRP Base Material And The Aluminum Ring Holding The End-Flange. Subsequently, This Ring Was Joined To The GFRP Shell By Bolts And The Pressure Cycling Was Continued For A Further 5000 Cycles,As Required, Without Any Failure/Leaks Anywhere On The Nose Cone. The Nose Cone Was Then Subjected To A Steadily Increasing Pressure To Verify The Residual Strength.At About 60psi, Leaks Were Observed Around The Filler Cap And The Pressure Was Continued Up To 85psi . At This Pressure, The Filler Cap Seal Gave-Up And A Profuse Leak Sprouted Around The Cap This Was Verified Again By Replacing The Filler Cap With A New One That Also Failed Completely At About 85psi Pressure. Presently,It May Be Concluded That The Lca s Gfrp Drop Tank Internal Bulkheads Of Central Shell Can Withstand A Pressure Of 185psi And The Weak Link,In The DT Assembly, Is The Filler Cap Seal That Can Stand A Pressure Of Only 60psi

Massive Splenic Pseudocysts : Report of 2 cases

Splenic cysts can be classified as parasitic and nonparasitic. Non parasitic cysts can be further divided into true and pseudocysts. Pseudocysts of spleen does not contain an epithelial lining. Pseudocysts of spleen are usually post traumatic and they rarely grow to a large size and most of them are asymptomatic. It can be confused with cystic lesions of spleen or pancreas or from the surrounding structures. These cases require exploration and is both diagnostic and therapeutic. Conservative measures to preserve spleen can be considered only in presence of expertise and if remnant functional splenic parenchyma is more than 25 %. Here we present two cases of giant pseudocysts who were confused with malignancy and referred to our centre and were later found to be pseudocysts of spleen. We would like to report these cases as they are rare and as diagnostic dilemmas

Epitheloid Variant of Angiomyolipoma in a Patient with Tuberous Sclerosis.

Epitheloid angiomyolipoma of kidney is a type of Perivascular endothelial cell derived tumor with an aggressive behaviour with specific pathological, immunohistochemistrical and genetic characteristics. They can occur in a pure form or in assosciation with classical angiomyolipoma. It can be assosciated with tuberous sclerosis in 50% of cases. Our case is a possible case of tuberous sclerosis with epitheloid angiomyolipoma, hepatic angiomyolipoma and lymphangioleiomyomatosis with normal MRI brain and no cutaneous features. Radical nephrectomy with biopsy of hepatic lesion was performed. Histopathological examination revealed epitheloid variant with features of angiomyolipoma. It is six months post surgery and patient is doing well with no evidence of recurrence. Epitheloid angiomyolipoma is a rare malignancy with only 120 cases reported in literature

Morbidity following Surgical Management of Vulval Cancer.

The objective of this study was to know the complications following vulvectomy and inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy including the time taken to complete wound healing. 42 patients who were subjected to either radical or modified radical vulvectomy for primary and inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy (80 groins) for groin metastases were analysed retrospectively. The complications analysed were wound breakdown, wound cellulitis or infection, lymphocyst, limb edema and the time to wound healing. In a total of 80 inguinofemoral lymphadenectomies 55% had wound breakdown, 17.5% had wound infection/cellulitis, lymphocyst in 31%, limb edema in 36% and time taken for complete wound healing ranged from 10-134 (average 46 days). Overall post operative morbidity was 85%

A viable mouse model of factor X deficiency provides evidence for maternal transfer of factor X.

BackgroundActivated factor X (FXa) is a vitamin K-dependent serine protease that plays a pivotal role in blood coagulation by converting prothrombin to thrombin. There are no reports of humans with complete deficiency of FX, and knockout of murine F10 is embryonic or perinatal lethal.ObjectiveWe sought to generate a viable mouse model of FX deficiency.MethodsWe used a socket-targeting construct to generate F10-knockout mice by eliminating F10 exon 8 (knockout allele termed F10(tm1Ccmt), abbreviated as '-'; wild-type '+'), and a plug-targeting construct to generate mice expressing a FX variant with normal antigen levels but low levels of FX activity [4-9% normal in humans carrying the defect, Pro343-->Ser, termed FX Friuli (mutant allele termed F10(tm2Ccmt), abbreviated as F)].ResultsF10 knockout mice exhibited embryonic or perinatal lethality. In contrast, homozygous Friuli mice [F10 (F/F)] had FX activity levels of approximately 5.5% (sufficient to rescue both embryonic and perinatal lethality), but developed age-dependent iron deposition and cardiac fibrosis. Interestingly, F10 (-/F) mice with FX activity levels of 1-3% also showed complete rescue of lethality. Further study of this model provides evidence supporting a role of maternal FX transfer in the embryonic survival.ConclusionsWe demonstrate that, while complete absence of FX is incompatible with murine survival, minimal FX activity as low as 1-3% is sufficient to rescue the lethal phenotype. This viable low-FX mouse model will facilitate the development of FX-directed therapies as well as investigation of the FX role in embryonic development

Formulation and evaluation of controlled release ethylcellulose and polyethylene glycol microspheres containing metoprolol tartrate.

Metoprolol tartrate is rapidly absorbed from both gastric and intestinal regions, after oral administration. To retard the release rate of the metoprolol tartrate, microspheres were prepared with varying concentrations of a mixture containing ethylcellulose and polyethylene glycol-6000. The prepared microspheres were evaluated for various physicochemical characteristics and in vitro drug release. The percent yield of microspheres was in the range of 75.2-87.3%. The particle size of microspheres was found to be in the range of 73.2-85.5 μm. Fourier transform-infrared spectral analysis and differential scanning calorimetry concluded the absence of any interaction between the drug and the carriers. The release time profile of metoprolol tartrate from microspheres in 0.1 N hydrochloric acid solution was to the extent of 33.4-60.2%. The complete release of metoprolol tartrate occurred from MPT-3 and MPT-4 in phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4) within 8 and 7 h, respectively, whereas the incomplete release (72.3%) occurred from MPT-1. Nearly, the complete release (98.5%) of metoprolol occurred from MPT-2 in 10 h. Formulation MPT-2 would be a preferred formulation. The release of metoprolol involves diffusion rate limited (R2 = 0.9865) as a mechanism from drug release. The prepared microspheres of metoprolol tartrate eliminate the need for multiple dosing and provide patient compliance

HEPATOPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF HEDYOTIS LESCHENAULTIANA DC, ETHANOL EXTRACT IN CCL 4 INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN WISTAR RATS

ABSTRACT Objective: The intention of this study is to explore the hepatoprotective potential of hepatoprotective potential of ethanol extract of Hedyotis leschenaultiana whole plant in carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) induced hepatoprotective rats. Methods: Hepatotoxicity was induced in male wistar rats by intraperitoneal infection of CCl (2.5 ml/kg body weight for 14 days). The ethanol extract of H. leschenaultiana whole plant was administered to the experimental rats (100, 200, and 300 mg/kg body weight for 14 days). Silymarin (100 mg/kg) was given as a reference standard drug. In hepatotoxic rats, liver damage was studied by assessing parameters such as serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total, conjugated and unconjugated bilirubin, gamma-glutamyl transferase, concentration of proteins, and antioxidants in serum. Results: Administration of hepatotoxins (CCl 4 4 ) showed significant elevation of SGOT, SGPT, serum ALP, total bilirubin, conjugated, unconjugated, and lipid peroxidation. Treatment with H. leschenaultiana (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) significantly reduced the above-mentioned parameters. Regarding antioxidant activity, the ethanol extract of H. leschenaultiana exhibited a significant effect showing increasing levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, reduced and glutathione, and glutathione reductase by reducing malondialdehyde levels. Conclusion: The ethanol extract of H. leschenaultiana have a significant effect on the CCl induced hepatotoxic animal models. Moreover, it is suggested that H. leschenaultiana can be used as a safe, cheap and effective alternative chemopreventive and protective against in the management of liver diseases. 4 Keywords: H. leschenaultiana, Bilirubins, Hepatotoxicity, Gamma-glutamyl transferase, Carbon tetrachloride, Melondialdehyde

Numerical study of viscoelastic micropolar heat transfer from a vertical cone for thermal polymer coating

A mathematical model is developed to study laminar, nonlinear, non-isothermal, steady-state free convection boundary layer flow and heat transfer of a micropolar viscoelastic fluid from a vertical isothermal cone. The Eringen model and Jeffery’s viscoelastic model are combined to simulate the non-Newtonian characteristics of polymers, which constitutes a novelty of the present work. The transformed conservation equations for linear momentum, angular momentum and energy are solved numerically under physically viable boundary conditions using a finite difference scheme (Keller Box method). The effects of Deborah number (De), Eringen vortex viscosity parameter (R), ratio of relaxation to retardation times (λ), micro-inertia density parameter (B), Prandtl number (Pr) and dimensionless stream wise coordinate (ξ) on velocity, surface temperature and angular velocity in the boundary layer regime are evaluated. The computations show that with greater ratio of retardation to relaxation times, the linear and angular velocity are enhanced whereas temperature (and also thermal boundary layer thickness) is reduced. Greater values of the Eringen parameter decelerate both the linear velocity and micro-rotation values and enhance temperatures. Increasing Deborah number decelerates the linear flow and Nusselt number whereas it increases temperatures and boosts micro-rotation magnitudes. The study is relevant to non-Newtonian polymeric thermal coating processes

Simulation of natural convection heat transfer in a 2-D trapezoidal enclosure

Natural convection within trapezoidal enclosures finds significant practical applications. The natural convection flows play a prominent role in the transport of energy in energy-related applications, in case of proper design enclosures to achieve higher heat transfer rates. In the present study, a two-dimensional cavity with adiabatic right side wall is studied. The left side vertical wall is maintained at the constant hot temperature and the top slat wall is maintained at cold temperature. The dimensionless governing partial differential equations for vorticity-stream function are solved using the finite difference method with incremental time steps. The parametric study involves a wide range of Rayleigh number, Ra, 10(3)<ra<10(5) and Prandtl number (Pr=0.025, 0.71 and 10). The fluid flow within the enclosure is formed with different shapes for different Pr values. The flow rate is increased by enhancing the Rayleigh number (Ra=10(4)). The numerical results are validated with previous results. The governing parameters in the present article, namely Rayleigh number and Prandtl number on flow patterns, isotherms as well as local Nusselt number are reported