Microbial keratitis in Gujarat, Western India: findings from 200 cases

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to study the epidemiological characteristics and the microbiological profile of patients suspected with microbial keratitis in Gujarat

Painless Jaundice

When dealing with jaundice that is painless, Your thinking should not be aimless

Active-passive damping characteristics of extension and shear mode piezoelectric fiber nano reinforced composite (PFNRC)

This paper presents a simulation-based study to investigate the damping properties of a novel piezocomposite, consisting of piezoelectric fiber and epoxy reinforced with randomly orientated double walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNT), termed as piezoelectric fiber nano reinforced composite (PFNRC). Authors have observed that the past research dealt with the effect of aligned single walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) on active damping of piezoelectric composite in extension mode (e13 and e33). It is known from the past research that DWCNT inclusions improve the passive damping of a composite. Therefore, the authors use DWCNT inclusions to study the active-passive damping of the piezoelectric composite, in this article. The random orientation of the DWCNT is considered to replicate the physical composite as it known that aligning CNTs in a single direction is not feasible due to fabrication constraints. A multistep homogenization method involving Method of Cells (MOC) is employed to obtain effective properties of PFNRC. A modified 3D-MOC is used to obtain the effective properties of epoxy matrix with DWCNT inclusions (DWCNT-epoxy), considering the effect of nano particle agglomeration. A 2D-MOC is then implemented with long fiber PZT as the active material and DWCNT-epoxy as the matrix. This procedure is followed for computing the effective material properties of extension (e33) as well as shear (e15) mode of PFNRC, when DWCNT inclusions are added into the epoxy matrix at different weight percentages. The constitutive equations are derived with the help of Maple and simulated in MATLAB. These results are used to compare the active-passive damping performance of the composites using a single degree of freedom damping model, employing Newmark’s numerical integration method. The active damping performance of the composites is evaluated by varying the displacement and velocity gains in a negative feedback system. The main focus of the study is to find the most efficient operating mode of the proposed composite for damping of structural vibrations

A Case of Babesiosis Complicated by Hepatic and Renal Failure

Case Report A 67-year-old male with a past medical history of chronic kidneyinsufficiency, splenectomy, and recurrent babesiosis infectionwas transferred to with jaundice and abdominal pain.The patient initially presented to an outside hospital (OSH) withgeneralized weakness, chills, and gastrointestinal symptoms andwas found to have Babesia on peripheral blood smears. The patient received seven days of azithromycin and atovaquone,followed by three days of clindamycin and quinine sulfate.The patient was discharged home with improved symptomsand a negative peripheral blood smear. Less than 24 hourslater he returned to the OSH with worsening myalgias andabdominal pain. Physical exam was significant for jaundiceand hepatomegaly. Laboratory data revealed anemia, elevatedcreatinine, bilirubin of 30 mg/dL, and 1% parasitemia. At this point the patient was transferred for further management