Indian Scientists Making Snake Robot for Search and Rescue Missions

"When deployed in a search and rescue operation or a surveillance mission (defence-related), snake robots communicate with each other and with a central station from a cyber-physical system through various sensors such as video camera, GPS, Infrared and ultrasonic range finders," Kumar said

Study on Stress Analysis of Araldite HY-951 and CY-230 Bell Crank Lever using Photoelasticity and FEM

Bell crank lever is a bar capable of turning about a fixed point, used as a machine to lift the load by the application of small effort. Bell crank lever is used in railway signaling, governers of hartnell type, the drive for the air pump of condensers etc. The major stresses induced in the bell crank lever at the fulcrum are bending stress and fulcrum pin is shear stress. The maximum stresses are developed at the fulcrum. The Bell crank is a type of crank that changes motion through an angle. The angle can be any angle from 0 to 360 degrees, but 90 degrees and 180 degrees are most common. Hence, the work deals with the stress analysis of bell crank lever within the angle ranges 900 to 1800 by finite element method using ANSYS WORKBENCH 14.5 software and Photoelasticity. Experimental and Analytical results are observed and compared, so that the obtained results are in close agreement with each other. For the photoelastic stress analysis which is the Experimental method, the bell crank lever models are prepared with photoelastic sheet of Araldite hardener HY-951 and curing agent CY-230 is used. Keywords: Bell Crank Lever, Stress Analysis, MATLA

Ectrodactyly-lobster claw deformity

Lobster-claw deformity, also called as ectrodactyly is an uncommon congenital presentation occurring in the hand due to longitudinal failure of development of second, third or fourth ray. It occurs in 1 to 4 newborns in 100,000 live births. It occurs mostly due to consanguineous marriage but can also occur in the non - consanguineous marriage. This deformity is usually associated with ectodermal defects, mental retardation, deafness, orofacial clefting and tibial aplasia. A 6-year-old boy was brought to the Department of Orthopedics in a Private Medical Hospital, Chennai, with deformity of left hand since birth. The affected hand had a wide median cleft and, there was deformity of flexion of the ring and index finger with absence of middle finger. The other hand and both feet were normal. On radio-imaging, left hand showed transversely oriented bone between third and fourth metacarpal and phalanges of middle finger were absent except for rudimentary proximal phalanx. No other congenital defects were present other than this. The child was born to non-consanguineous parents with no significant family history. The treatment for this anomaly is complete surgical excision of transverse bone with partial excision of the third metacarpal and apposition of the second and fourth metacarpal by absorbable sutures which leads to a smaller cleft. If required, flexion contracture of ring and index finger will be corrected

Working and Limitations of Cable Stiffening in Flexible Link Manipulators

Rigid link manipulators (RLMs) are used in industry to move and manipulate objects in their workspaces. Flexible link manipulators (FLMs), which are much lighter and hence highly flexible compared to RLMs, have been proposed in the past as means to reduce energy consumption and increase the speed of operation. Unlike RLM, an FLM has infinite degrees of freedom actuated by finite number of actuators. Due to high flexibility affecting the precision of operation, special control algorithms are required to make them usable. Recently, a method to stiffen FLMs using cables, without adding significant inertia or adversely affecting the advantages of FLMs, has been proposed as a possible solution in a preliminary work by the authors. An FLM stiffened using cables can use existing control algorithms designed for RLMs. In this paper we discuss in detail the working principle and limitations of cable stiffening for flexible link manipulators through simulations and experiments. A systematic way of deciding the location of cable attachments to the FLM is also presented. The main result of this paper is to show the advantage of adding a second pair of cables in reducing overall link deflections

Virtual Quantification of Protein Stability Using Applied Kinetic and Thermodynamic Parameters

Protein stability, the most important aspect of molecular dynamics and simulations, requires sophisticated instrumentations of molecular biology to analyze its kinetic and thermodynamic background. Sequence- and structure-based programs on protein stability exist which relies only on single point mutations and sequence optimality. The energy distribution conferred by each hydrophobic amino acid in the protein essentially paves way for understanding its stability. To the best of our knowledge, Protein Stability is a first program of its kind, developed to explore the energy requirement of each amino acid in the protein sequence derived from various applied kinetic and thermodynamic quantities. The algorithm is strongly dependent both on kinetic quantities such as atomic solvation energies and solvent accessible surface area and thermodynamic quantities viz. enthalpy, entropy, heat capacity, etc. The hydrophobicity pattern of protein was considered as the important component of protein stabilization

Drug utilisation pattern in geriatric patients of a teritiary care teaching hospital: a retrospective study

Background: The objective of the study was to assess the prescribing pattern of drugs in geriatrics patient in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted by department of Pharmacology for a period of one year in patients above 65 years from case sheets of medical record section. WHO basic indicators were used for studying the prescribing pattern of drugs.Results: A total of 200 patients were included in the study. Respiratory tract and gastrointestinal infections were most commonly found among patients of geriatric age group. Among antibiotics ceftriaxone, cefixime, ampicillin, amoxicillin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, cotrimaxazole for upper respiratory tract infections and rantidine, norfloxacin for gastrointestinal tract infections were maximum utilized. Polypharmacy was prevalent and majority of drugs prescribed were by brand names because of free supply of drugs.Conclusions: There is a need to bring changes in the prescribing practices with particular emphasis on generic drug and restricting polypharmacy. Also antibiotic policy needs to be introduced in the hospital and continuous medical education besides evidence based medicine approach for rationale use of drugs

On The Center Sets and Center Numbers of Some Graph Classes

For a set $S$ of vertices and the vertex $v$ in a connected graph $G$, $\displaystyle\max_{x \in S}d(x,v)$ is called the $S$-eccentricity of $v$ in $G$. The set of vertices with minimum $S$-eccentricity is called the $S$-center of $G$. Any set $A$ of vertices of $G$ such that $A$ is an $S$-center for some set $S$ of vertices of $G$ is called a center set. We identify the center sets of certain classes of graphs namely, Block graphs, $K_{m,n}$, $K_n-e$, wheel graphs, odd cycles and symmetric even graphs and enumerate them for many of these graph classes. We also introduce the concept of center number which is defined as the number of distinct center sets of a graph and determine the center number of some graph classes

Collodion baby

Lamellar ichthyosis or non-bullous congenital ichthyosis is an inherited autosomal recessive genodermatosis with a prevalence of 1 in 300,000 live births. The affected child is born with a tight, clear sheath covering their skin called a collodion membrane, that usually dries and peels off during the first few weeks of life, and then it becomes obvious that affected babies have scaly skin, and eyelids and lips that are turned outward. Infants with lamellar ichthyosis may develop infections, an excessive loss of fluids (dehydration), respiratory problems and even death within the first few days to weeks of life. Although the cause of this disorder is unknown, in some cases mutations in the Transglutaminase-1 (TGM1) gene are held accountable. We present to you a case of a term male baby born to a 31-year-old primigravid mother, with yellowish brown hard scales covering the whole body, but mostly the head, trunk, palm and soles with abnormally formed fingernails and toenails (nail dystrophy). The baby was examined for any other abnormalities. Skin biopsy showed epidermal hyperkeratosis and preservation of granular layer, confirming the diagnosis. The baby was treated in humidified environment with intravenous fluids and prophylactic antibiotics. Emollient was applied to the whole body. Rarity of such a case requires early and prompt diagnosis by clinicians, paying attention to skin care and hydration status of the baby, also mindful of any respiratory complications that may occur to prevent morbidity and mortality occurring from this condition