Influence of Transferred Arc Plasma Melting Time on the Formation of Phase and Microstructure of Mullite-Zirconia Composite

Transferred arc plasma is an effective and simple technique to synthesis a high temperature reaction ceramic composite material. In this paper, 20 kW transferred arc plasma torch was used to synthesis mullite-zirconia composites through the solid-state reaction of 3:2 mole ratio of ball milled alumina and zircon powders.  Dissociation of zircon in a thermal plasma arc is utilized as to prepare mullite-zirconia composites. The ball milled samples are melted for 3, 6, 9 and 12 minutes in transferred arc plasma torch at 20 kW power level with 10 lpm of argon flow rate and cooled by air. The phase and microstructure of melted samples were determined from X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM images. The obtained results shows that the processing time significantly influence on the formation of phase and microstructure of the mullite- zirconia composite

Dynamics of Metallic Particle Contamination in Gas Insulated Substation (GIS)

This paper analyses the movement of free conducting particles inside a single phase Gas Insulated Bus duct(GIB).A two dimensional mathematical model was proposed for determining the movement pattern of metallic particle in GIB by considering all the forces acting on the particle like gravitational, drag and the electric field forces. These particles may be free to move in the electric field or may be fixed on the conductors, thus enhancing local surface fields. Electric fields at the instantaneous contaminated particle locations were computed using Charge Simulation Method (CSM).To determine the particle trajectory in a single phase Gas Insulated Bus duct (GIB), an enclosure diameter 152 mm and conductor diameter 55 mm is considered. The simulation of the particle movement was carried under different AC voltage levels like 100KV, 132KV, 145KV and 175KV class enclosure of GIB for aluminum, copper and silver particles. The results of the simulation have been presented and analyzed in this paper

Early Outcomes of Highly Active Antiretrovirel Therapy in Resource Constraint Settings

CONCLUSIONS: 1. The early clinical outcomes of patients with HIV in our cohort had improved on HAART similar to other studies, showing the efficacy of HAART in our population. 2. Clinical outcomes like CD4 count, weight gain, haemoglobin showed a significant increase from baseline in our patients on HAART, showing the overall improvement of our population with ART. 3. Adverse events to ART drugs was seen in 5% of patients, which was very low compared to other studies, showing that our patients tolerate ART drugs well. 4. 75.6% of opportunistic infections after start of ART were seen within the first 4 months; after which their incidence reduced, implying that the full effect of antiretroviral drugs starts around this time. 5. Adherence to ART was more than 95% in more than 95% of patients under follow up, which is better than that seen in developed countries, which shows that our population is more adherent to therapy. 6. 81.4% of deaths occurred within 3 months of start of therapy in our cohort, showing the advanced stage of presentation of these patients to hospital, and death before ART could take full effect. In conclusion HAART proved to be effective in our cohort of patients and our findings support the ongoing feasibility of ART roll out in resource poor settings. Widespread voluntary HIV testing and counselling should be encouraged to allow HAART initiation before the development of severe immune suppression. Free access to HAART, as in this study is also important as programmes in which patients had to pay for their treatment have shown higher rates of mortality.[75,79] The findings in this study provide encouragement to those seeking to provide similar services in resource poor settings where HIV morbidity and mortality are high

Role of volar plating in unstable distal radial fractures in elderly patients in tertiary teaching hospital

Background: Aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of volar locking plate fixation for unstable distal radical fractures DRFs in the elderly population (60 years old and older).Methods: An ethical committee approved the study protocol for research studies at NRI medical college. We included only unstable distal radial fractures in elderly patients between 60 to 70 years, and patients who consent to the study. We excluded patients with comorbid conditions and below 60 years and patients with vascular injuries. Results were evaluated by the DASH questionnaire and Gartland and Werley scores.Results: According to Gartland and Werley score, 30 patients (85.7%) had excellent and good results. According to the DASH score, 31 patients (88.5%) had excellent and good results, and four patients (11.4%) had fair results. The most commonly noted complications in our study were arthritis (2 cases 5.7%), extensor pollicis longus tendon irritation (1 case 2.9%), and Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (1 case 2.9 %).Conclusions: Locked compression plate in unstable distal radius fractures provides excellent results with an effective correction of distal radius anatomy. Early range of movements of joints leads to a good outcome and return to regular activity.

Ruptured rudimentary horn of the unicornuate uterus at 16 weeks of pregnancy: a case report

Pregnancy in the rudimentary horn of the uterus is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy; most of the cases were being diagnosed at laparotomy for haemorrhagic shock due to rupture when the patient presents in the second trimester. Pre-rupture diagnosis is possible in the early pregnancy in suspicious cases. Pregnancy in the rudimentary horn has a poor maternal and foetal outcome and 90% of them present with intraperitoneal haemorrhage in the second trimester due to rupture of the horn. We report a case of ruptured rudimentary horn pregnancy at 16weeks, in shock with severe anaemia. Excision of the rudimentary horn with right salpingectomy was done