Two-stage drying of wheat and barley

PhD ThesisThe results of a theoretical and experimental investigation into the drying of wheat and barley in two stages with an intervening rest period are presented. The reduction in drying time, excluding rest period, has been determined in comparison with the conventional continuous drying for various drying requirements. The effect of airflow rate and the temperature difference between grain and air on the reduction in moisture content and the time required to cool the grain during dryeration is also included. The moisture diffusion equation was solved numerically assuming a spherical grain. The variable grid spacing, Crank-Nicolson approximation technique and the Gauss-Seidel iterative procedure was employed. The theoretical predictions were compared with experimental results. The drying and resting was performed on a thin layer at a temperature of 60°C. An automatic micro-computer based system was developed to record and store the experimental data. The results indicate that the moisture redistribution during resting is well advanced after a period of two hours for wheat and one hour for barley. The extent of redistribution was measured by the increase in drying rate observed as the rest period was extended. An optimum moisture content for commencing resting is specified, which is a function of initial, final and equilibrium moisture contents. This optimum was chosen to minimise the actual drying time. There is good agreement between the theoreticaaand experimental predictions. It was found that the incorporation of a surface resistance into the diffusion model improves the description of the experimental results. The results enable a drying strategy to be specified that reduces the actual drying time by as much as 39%. - iv For dryeration experiments, the grains pre-heated to different temperatures were put into a well insulated aluminium cylinder and aerated at various airflow rates. An airflow rate of about 60-120 m3/hr/m3 of grain was found to be optimum. The moisture reduction during cooling was observed to be 0.65 to 0.78% (db) per 10°C temperature difference. It was noticed that moisture reduction also depends on initial moisture content of the grain. The practical implications of two-stage drying are discussed.Commonwealth Scholarship Commission of United Kingdom

Outcome of staged injection of autologous platelet rich plasma in treatment of mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis

Background: Autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) offers an easy solution for delivering multiple growth factors needed for tissue repair. Intra-articular injections of PRP have been proposed as a simple low cost minimally invasive way to obtain the concentration of growth factors and biologically active molecules to promote cartilage healing in osteoarthritic (OA) knee joint. The objective of the present study was designed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of autologous platelet rich plasma injection in mild to moderate osteoarthritic knee and to assess the role of serial staged autologous platelet rich plasma injection.Methods: 50 patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of knee were divided into two groups. Group A was given staged injection of freshly prepared autologous PRP in the affected knee. Group B was given single injection of PRP. The Results were evaluated on the basis of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire and visual analog scale (VAS) before treatment and 3 weeks, 8 weeks, 16 weeks and 24 weeks after treatment.Results: At 24-weeks follow up the following observations were made; the MeanVAS in Group A decreased to 3.30 whereas in Group B it increased to 4.54. The Mean WOMAC score in Group A was reduced to a mere28.64 in Group A and in Group B it was 39.76.Conclusions: It is concluded from our study that concomitant use of serial staged injection (two) of PRP over four months is more effective than single injection in patients with mild to moderate OA of knee

A prospective study of neglected and resistant clubfoot cases treated using Joshi’s external stabilization system

Background: Clubfoot is a common congenital deformity occurring in 1 to 2 per thousand live births. In relapsed or neglected clubfoot the deformities become fixed and treatment using conservative methods often fails. JESS (Joshi’s external stabilizing system) is a simple construct for the correction of deformity in these patients. The present study was taken up to assess the results of JESS fixator in correction of deformities in neglected, resistant or relapsed cases of clubfoot and deformities in the late presented patients.Methods: The present study was conducted on randomly selected patients of clubfoot in the department of Orthopaedics, ESI Hospital, Basaidarapur, New Delhi between June 2014 and December 2017. A total of 22 feet (of 16 patients) suffering from neglected, resistant or relapsed clubfoot under the age of 7 years, were included in the study.Results: Excellent results were obtained in 52% of cases, while 19% had good, 14.5% had fair and 14.5% had poor results. Complications encountered were temporary oedema in 10 feet, superficial pin tract infection in 5 feet, pin loosening in 3 feet, skin necrosis 2 feet and flexion contracture of toes in 2.Conclusions: JESS application is an excellent technique for treatment of recurrent and neglected clubfoot. This procedure is ideally suited for children in whom the clubfoot deformities remain uncorrected by POP casts and manipulation, as well as for recurrent clubfoot cases

Two Stage Fuzzy Flow Shop Scheduling to Minimize Rental Cost with Job – Block Criteria

In this paper we consider two stage flow shop scheduling to minimize the total rental cost of machines for n-jobs in fuzzy environment. The processing time of jobs and setup time for machines are uncertain. The fuzzy triangular membership function is used to describe uncertain processing times and setup times. Further, the restriction of equivalent job-block on job processing is also considered. The objective of the paper is to develop a new heuristic algorithm to minimize the rental cost of machines which is simple and straight forward. A numerical illustration explaining the computational process of the proposed algorithm is also given. Keywords: fuzzy processing time, fuzzy setup time, rental cost, average high ranking, utilization time and equivalent job –bloc

Multiple myeloma: the disease and its treatment

Multiple myeloma represents a malignant proliferation of plasma cells derived from a single clone. The tumor, its products and the host response to it result in a number of organ dysfunctions and symptoms of bone pain, fracture, anemia, hypercalcemia, susceptibility to infection, neurologic symptoms, clotting abnormalities and manifestations of hyperviscosity. The cause of myeloma remains unexplained but it is associated with few occupations, inflammatory conditions, autoimmune illnesses, viral infections and genetic heterogeneity. Direct interaction between multiple myeloma cells and bone marrow cells activates pleiotropic signalling pathways that mediate growth, survival, migration of multiple myeloma cells and also resistance to chemotherapy. Although myeloma remains incurable, but the use of novel drugs like thalidomide, lenalidomide and bortezomib have resulted in a paradigm change in the therapy of myeloma. Their inclusion in current multiple myeloma treatment regimens have extended median overall survival especially in younger patient population. Recent advances in the molecular genetics have provided opportunities to design highly specific inhibitors of signal transduction pathways that may enhance the efficacy of standard chemotherapy drugs by reducing or altering the pathways associated with cell survival. Despite therapeutic advances, multiple myeloma ultimately relapses and remains an incurable disease. Current research goals are to further increase our knowledge, to identify additional targeted therapies, and to reduce adverse effects and improve response rate. This review focuses on recent clinical advancement in ant myeloma strategies with additional discussion dedicated to emerging drugs that may prove beneficial to patients with this disease

Correlation of maternal age and combined assessments on risk of chromosomal anomaly during prenatal screening

Background: Prenatal detection of genetic abnormalities is one of the biggest challenges of current fetal medicine. Prenatal screening for chromosomal abnormalities can be done using biochemical tests. The screening is a risk estimation test and not a diagnostic test. Methods: Statistical data treatment had been performed on a sample of 362 pregnant women for prenatal screening. This was a retrospective data analysis study undertaken at the National Reference Laboratory, Redcliffe Labs. Results: Nine (2.48%) women out of 362 were screen positive for chromosomopathy. The point biserial correlation between variables (Free β-hCG - Free Beta Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin, PAPP-A- pregnancy associated plasma protein-A and NT-(nuchal translucency) amongst patients with positive and negative screen test was statistically significant. There was a positive correlation between positive screen for chromosomopathy and hCG, MoM, NT MoM whereas a negative correlation between them and PAPP-A. This study indicates that higher values of hCG and lower values of PAPP-A MoM as seen in the positive screen patients is associated with a significant risk of chromosomopathy. A positive correlation between age and screen positive cases was seen. The McNemar’s test indicated a significant reduction in screen positive cases when biomarkers were added to screen for Trisomy 21 in women aged >35 years (n=86). 81 women eventually screened negative. Conclusions: The analyses stresses on the importance of using state-of-the-art, prenatal noninvasive screening software to help provide a predictive outcome, individualized for that pregnant woman.

Angiogenesis in Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: An Intercategory Comparison of Microvessel Density

Background. This study was aimed at comparing angiogenesis, seen as microvessel density (MVD) in subtypes of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Methods. In this study, 64 cases of NHL diagnosed over a three-year period were included along with 15 lymph node biopsies of reactive hyperplasia. NHLs were classified using REAL classification, and immunohistochemistry was performed for CD34 in all cases. CD34-stained sections were evaluated for “hot spots,” where MVD was assessed and expressed as per mm2. Appropriate statistical methods were applied. Results. There were 6 cases of well-differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), 21 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), 15 follicular lymphoma, 10 lymphoblastic lymphoma, 7 MALToma, and 5 peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). Mean MVD was highest in reactive hyperplasia (191.92 ± 12.16 per mm2) compared to all NHLs. Among NHLs, PTCL demonstrated the highest MVD (183.42 ± 8.24) followed by DLBCL (149.91 ± 13.68). A significant difference was found in MVD between reactive and individual lymphoma groups. SLL had significantly lower MVD than other lymphoma subtypes. Conclusion. Angiogenesis, assessed by MVD, showed significant differences among subtypes of NHL, especially the indolent types like SLL. The higher MVD in aggressive lymphomas like PTCL and DLBCL can potentially be utilized in targeted therapy with antiangiogenic drugs

Development of Graphene Nanoplatelets Reinforced Shape Memory Polyurethane and Their DMA Studies

Shape memory nanocomposites have been synthesized using ether type shape memory polyurethane (SMPU) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs). A twin screw co-rotating microcompounder with a back flow channel has been employed to ensure proper dispersion of GNPs in the polymer matrix. Four compositions of GNPs in SMPU have been prepared. Morphology of fractured nanocomposites reveals uniform dispersion of graphene in SMPU. The dynamic-thermo-mechanical properties of nanocomposites at 0.1 and 10 Hz have been studied. Addition of 1 phr GNPs increases storage modulus of SMPU from 2.8 to 3.73 GPa and the value of tan δ peak has been decreased from 0.81 to 0.53. The GNPs in SMPU matrix influence shape recovery which improves with the addition of GNPs with in experimental range

Development of Nano SiO2 Particles Dispersed Shape Memory Epoxy Composites

Thermo responsive shape memory epoxy based composites are being investigated for their excellent mechanical and thermal properties. In present study the thermosetting epoxy containing different composition of SiO2 nano particles ranging from 1 to 4 wt. % have been prepared through solvent casting route. Developed composites have been studied for grain analysis, FTIR, shape recovery, impact strength and hardness. Addition of 3 wt. % SiO2 improves hardness and impact strength significantly. Average grain size of SiO2 particles increase at higher wt. % of SiO2 in polymer matrix due to agglomeration of nanoparticles