Lithological Discrimination of Anorthosite using ASTER data in Oddanchatram Area, Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu, India

The present study applies with hyperspectral remote sensing techniques to map the lithology of the Oddanchatram anorthosite. The hyperspectral data were subjected to Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF), Pixel Purity Index (PPI) and n-Dimensional Visualization for better lithology mapping. The proposed study area has various typical rock types. The PCA, ICA and MNF have been proposed best band combination for effectiveness of lithological mapping such as PCA (R: G: B=2:1:3), MNF (R: G: B=4:3:2) and ICA (R: G: B=3:1:2). The derived lithological map has compared with published geological map from Geological Survey of India and validated with field investigation. Therefore, ASTER data based lithological mapping are fast, cost-effective and more accurate

UNRAVELING THE POTENTIAL PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OF GYMNEMA SYLVESTRE THROUGH GC-MS STUDY

Objective: To profile the chemical composition of ethanolic extract of Gymnema sylvestre through Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry technique.Methods: The chemical compositions of the plant leaf extracts of G. sylvestre were investigated using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectroscopy (Scion 436-GC Bruker model coupled with a Triple, quadruple mass spectrophotometer) and NIST-MS library.Results: GC-MS analysis of leaf extracts revealed the existence of Terpenes, alcohols, fatty acids, amine and sterols. The highest % Peak area is hexadecanoic acid, α-Santoline alcohol, recorded the next highest % peak area of 9.05. Major of the compounds belongs to terpeneoid group, namely 6-Octen-1-ol, 3,7-dimethyl, Isophytol, Squalene, Nerolidol, β-Amyrin and Cedrene-V6 which constitutes 30.7% of the peak area. The presence of α-Tocopherol-β-D-mannoside and Vitamin E also identified through this study.Conclusion: From the above finding we can interpret that the G. sylvestre contained a considerable amount of phytoconstituents especially terpenoids. In future, this study will be helpful for the quantitative analysis of phytochemicals as well as formulation studies.Â

Identifying drivers of sustainability initiatives in manufacturing organizations—an exploratory study from the Indian cement industry

In the current business scenario, firms need to increasingly focus on environmental sustainability issues, as a result of stricter regulatory enforcements that lay emphasis on cleaner production, and also due to growing pressures from the stakeholders. This paper aims at understanding the organizational factors that contribute towards the successful implementation of sustainability initiatives in a process industry setup. A qualitative case study from a major cement manufacturing firm located in India helps us to identify the key drivers in the context of sustainability. The case findings reveal that organizational culture and practices followed lead to the emergence of innovative and economically viable solutions, which help in achieving the sustainability targets. These exploratory results obtained can be further analysed in the backdrop of other industries

A study on the clinical profile of children with snake envenomation in a tertiary referral centre at Dharmapuri, Tamilnadu, India

Background: Snake envenomation is a well-known cause of morbidity and mortality in rural India. In the year 2009, WHO included snake bite in the list of neglected diseases.Methods: This study was conducted in children admitted with snake bite in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in the year 2015. Their demographic details, site of bite, arrival time, 20Minutes Whole Blood Cloting Time, Clinical signs and symptoms, complications and outcome were measured.Results: The male: female ratio was 2.57:1. Peak age group affected was 6 to 12 years old children. Lower limbs were commonly bitten. 65% of children arrived in the hospital between 6 and 24 hours after the bite. Pain and swelling at the site of bite were the most common symptom of envenomation. 80% of envenomation was found to be hematotoxic, 11% of envenomation was neurotoxic and 68% of children were successfully treated with 10 vials of ASV. There was only one death during the study period.Conclusion: This study reiterates the need for a more rapid transport and administration of ASV in the transit period. Other important observations in the study are that the number of neurotoxic snake bites is only 9% and the presence of allergic reactions to ASV in 6% of children. The development of monovalent ASV specific to the snake species may be considered, which will be associated with less anaphylaxis and more effective neutralisation of venom

A current steering positive feedback Improved Recycling Folded Cascode OTA

In the literature, Improved Recycling Folded Cascode (IRFC) Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) is proposed for enhancing the DC gain and the Unity Gain Bandwidth (UGB) of the Recycling Folded Cascode (RFC) OTA. In this paper, an enhanced IRFC (EIRFC) OTA which uses positive feedback at the cascode node is proposed for enhancing the differential mode (DM) gain without changing the unity gain bandwidth (UGB) and lowering the Common mode (CM) gain. For the purpose of comparison, IRFC and EIRFC OTAs are implemented using UMC 90 nm CMOS technology and studied through simulation. From the simulation, it is found that the DM gain and CM gain of EIRFC OTA is higher by 6 dB and lower by 38 dB respectively, compared to that of IRFC OTA for the same power and area. The slew rate of EIRFC OTA is also higher by a factor of 1.5

Effect of Inorganic Fillers on the Friction Properties of Polyamide 66

Organic materials are those which  have carbon elements in them and the inorganic materials are those which  do not have carbon  elements and those obtained from earth materials such as minerals and the atmosphere.  The inorganic materials have advantages such as high thermal stability, chemical stability etc.  Fly ash and silica fume are inorganic industrial wastes which are produced in large quantities during production of power and silicon respectively. These are the sources of land pollution and this pollution could be minimized if they are successfully reused in appropriate applications.  . The polymer composites are becoming suitable alternative materials for metals in various tribological applications and so wear and friction studies of these materials gain significance. Polyamide 66, also known as Nylon 66 are engineering polymers used in such applications. Nylon was reinforced with these fillers in 5 to 25 % weight fraction increasing in steps of 5%, using a twin- screw extruder. The friction tests were carried out under dry sliding conditions in a pin-on-disc type friction and wear monitoring test rig at different normal loads and at a constant sliding distance and velocity. Friction coefficient of both composites have found to be decreased than pure Nylon. The friction coefficient of fly ash reinforced Nylon is lesser than the silica fume filled nylon at all the tested conditions

Risk factors for relapse in childhood steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome

Background: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) generally tends to follow a benign and chronic relapsing course. Relapses are a major problem in children with steroid sensitive NS (SSNS). Objective: To identify the risk factors for frequent relapse (FR) in the first episode childhood SSNS. Methods: This prospective study was conducted in the Government Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital, Tamil Nadu, between July 2013 and January 2016. Children aged 9 months - 12 years with a diagnosis of SSNS (first episode) who came for follow-up for at least 12 months in the pediatric nephrology clinic were included. The enrolled cases were divided into 2 groups: (1) frequent relapser (FR) and (2) infrequent relapser (IFR). 9 factors were studied as possible risk factorsfor relapse. The data collected were analyzed using Chi-square test and Student’s t-test. Results: Of 160 SSNS children, there were 92 (57.5%) cases of IFR and 68 (42.5%) cases of FR. There were 97 males (60.6%) and 63 females (39.4%) with a male to female ratio of 1.5:1. The mean age of presentation was 4.37±2.32 years. The mean time taken to achieve remission during the first episode was 1.94±1.04 weeks. The interval between remission and first relapse was 5.56±4.51 months. Incidence of infection and hypertension was 31.9% and 37.5%, respectively. Risk factors significantly associated with FR were: Time taken to achieveremission during the first episode (>14 days) (p<0.0001), mean duration of interval between remission and first relapse (within 6 months) (p<0.0001), associated infections (p<0.0001) and hypertension (p<0.0001). Age at onset, sex, serum albumin, 24 h urine protein, and azotemia did not influence the FR in our study. Conclusion: More than 14 days to achieve remission during the first episode, relapse within first 6 months, associated infections and hypertension were the factors associated with FRs

Review of Topology Optimisation Refinement Processes for Sheet Metal Manufacturing in the Automotive Industry

Topology optimisation is a process that is becoming increasingly reliable and necessary in the pursuit of highly efficient components comprising of low mass with a high structural performance. These components are typically mass-produced on a large-scale in automotive sectors for instance, where components are usually metallic and pressed. The ability to maximise a component’s structural characteristics has yielded many variations of computational topological solvers over the years. Over time many different methodologies have been used to generate suitable manufacturable solutions. Despite this, a gap between the generation of topology optimisation solutions and the creation of ready-to-manufacture solutions still exists today. This review paper outlines existing methods for computational topology optimisation and addresses any refinement methods used to generate a manufacturable solution, particularly focussing on methodologies used in automotive sheet metal forming. These methods are scrutinised in regards to the level of manual user input needed to create a Computer Aided Design (CAD) model representation of the manufacturable solution. Suggestions are also made to highlight further work to improve these techniques for large-scale industry-standard product development