Bony impressions on caput and neck of human femora in Indian Population.

Idiopathic osteoarthritis of the hip has been currently attributed by researchers to the repetitive microtrauma caused to the femoral neck by its impingement against the acetabular rim. This impingement occurs as a result of abnormal morphological traits like Allen’s fossa, Poirier’s Facet, and Posterior Cervical Imprint that appear on the proximal end of femur especially on the neck. Hence, this study was undertaken to investigate the incidence of these traits in the Indian population and to find a correlation between the occurrence of the trait and the side and sex of the bone. The study was conducted on 152 adult dried femora in the Department of Anatomy, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India. The positive findings were photographed. The significance of the correlation was found out using Chi-square test. Allen’s Fossa was found to occur in 71.1% of the total bones assessed Poirier’s Facet in 31.6% and Posterior Cervical Imprint in 19.7%. Out of these, a significant side association was found for the Poirier’s Facet with a predominance of the left side. All the traits were found to be more in males with a significant sex variation for Poirier’s Facet. Each trait demonstrated a significant side and gender dimorphism

Influence of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement Aggregates on Strength and Durability Properties of Concrete Mixes in Rigid Pavements

The use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) aggregates in rigid pavements instead of conventional aggregates in Himalayan regions solves the problem associated with shrinking natural resources and dumping of wastes. This study studied the effect of partial replacement of conventional coarse aggregates by RAP in Dry Lean Concrete (DLC) mixes suitable for rigid pavements. A total of 114 specimens (cubical and cylindrical) were cast and tested for mechanical and durability properties as per ASTM and IS code guidelines, partially replaced with CRAP by 25%, 50%, and 75% by weight. The simultaneous effect of fly ash addition by partial replacement of cement by it was also studied. The study concludes that 25% partial replacement by CRAP with 10% fly ash as partial replacement of cement led to the achievement of the strength benchmark as mandated by IRC SP 44 (2014). It was also observed that durability properties such as resistance to acid attack, sulphate attack and carbonation also improved in DLC mixes, including CRAP and fly ash, when compared to control mixes. 

Growth status and site quality of different seed production areas of teak (Tectona grandis L. f) in Karnataka, India

In the present study 20 SPAs of teak distributed in southern, central and northern parts of Karnataka, India are selected. Phenotypic parameters of standing trees of different SPAs were recorded. Further, seed yield was also recorded and compared with site quality and stand growth parameters. Result showed that there was a greater variation among SPAs for phenotypic growth characters as well as site quality. The overall growth of SPAs of Madikeri zone (Southern region) was found to be superior with respect to tree height, clear bole height and DBH.SPAs belonged to Dandeli (Northern region) recorded more DBH and nearly round stem. SPAs of Yallapur seed zone showed comparatively less growth over Madikeri zone. SPA of Dandeli zone recorded the more tree volume and top height, followed by SPA of Madikeri zone. Considering site quality of different SPAs, all the studied SPAs of Karnataka are growing under relatively poor site conditions. Sixteen out of twenty SPAs, nearly 80% were growing in areas with site quality classes IV and V. Interestingly, none of the studied SPAs belonged to either class I or II. Association study showed that tree height (r=0.403) and clear bole height (r=0.412) showed positive relationship with seed yield. Furthermore, site quality showed a weak positive relationship with seed yield (R2 =0.052) among SPAs indicating poor site quality could be a major factor for low seed yield. It is concluded that SPAs of Madikeri and Dandeli zones performed better in growth and stem form. Therefore, it is suggested to collect quality seeds from these seed zones

The comparison of USG measured cervical length in pregnant women with previous induced abortion versus those who have not had an induced abortion

Background: The majority of women who undergo induced abortion are young and of low parity. Hence, it is desirable to look for any association effects of induced abortion with future reproductive outcomes. In this study, we aim to compare ultrasound measured cervical length in pregnant women with previous induced abortion versus those who have not had an induced abortion.Methods: This was a prospective observational study performed at tertiary care hospital. Total of 400 patients were recruited, divided into two groups. Patients with an induced abortion in previous pregnancy were included as cases and those with no history were taken as controls. Cervical length was measured by transvaginal ultrasound in all participants at 11-14, 18-22 and 28-32 weeks. Pregnancies were followed up to note incidence of spontaneous preterm delivery, preterm pre labour rupture of membranes (PPROM), threatened preterm, and second trimester miscarriage.Results: Authors have found that there was no significant difference in the cervical length of pregnant patients with or without a history of prior induced abortions.  In our study authors found that mean cervical length at 11-14weeks, 18-22 weeks, and 28-32 weeks was 3.47±0.126cm and 3.48±0.195cm; 3.44±0.296cm and 3.49±0.182cm; 3.36±0.477cm and 3.42±0.310cm respectively among cases and controls. However, there was a demonstrably increased risk of spontaneous preterm delivery, PPROM and threatened preterm in patients with a history of prior induced abortion.Conclusions: Authors conclude that previous induced abortion increases the risk of threatened preterm, PPROM, spontaneous preterm delivery in the subsequent pregnancy. But, this risk is not predictable by measuring cervical length as the mean cervical length remained the same in both the groups

Studies of Phosphazenes: Part II*-Reactions of Hexachlorocyclotriphosphazatriene with N-Methylaniline

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Multilevel SVM and AI based Transformer Fault Diagnosis using the DGA Data

The Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) is utilized as a test for the detection of incipient prob-lems in transformers, and condition monitoring of transformers using software-based diagnosis tools has become crucial. This research uses dissolved gas analysis as an intel-ligent fault classification of a transformer. The Multilayer SVM technique is used to de-termine the classification of faults and the name of the gas. The learned classifier in the multilayer SVM is trained with the training samples and can classify the state as normal or fault state, which contains six fault categories. In this paper, polynomial and Gaussi-an functions are utilized to assess the effectiveness of SVM diagnosis. The results demonstrate that the combination ratios and graphical representation technique is more suitable as a gas signature, and that the SVM with the Gaussian function outperforms the other kernel functions in diagnosis accuracy

Challenges in materials research for sustainable nuclear energy

Global energy demand is expected to increase steeply, creating an urgent need to evolve a judicious global energy policy, exploiting the potential of all available energy resources, including nuclear energy. With increasing awareness of environmental issues, nuclear energy is expected to play an important role on the energy scenario in the coming decades. The immediate thrust in the science and technology of nuclear materials is to realize a robust reactor technology with associated fuel cycle and ensure the cost competitiveness of nuclear power and to extend the service life of reactors to 100 years. Accordingly, the present-generation materials need to be modified to meet the demands of prolonged exposure to irradiation and extended service life for the reactor. Emerging nuclear systems incorporate features to ensure environmental friendliness, effective waste management, enhanced safety, and proliferation resistance and require development of high-temperature materials and the associated technologies. Fusion, on a longer horizon of about fve decades, also requires the development of a new spectrum of materials. The development of next-generation materials technology is expected to occur in short times and is likely to be further accelerated by strong international collaborations

Development of fuels and structural materials for fast breeder reactors

Fast breeder reactors (FBRs) are destined to play a crucial role in the Indian nuclear power programme in the foreseeable future. FBR technology involves a multi-disciplinary approach to solve the various challenges in the areas of fuel and materials development. Fuels for FBRs have significantly higher concentration of fissile material than in thermal reactors, with a matching increase in burn-up. The design of the fuel is an important aspect which has to be optimised for efficient, economic and safe production of power. FBR components operate under hostile and demanding environment of high neutron flux, liquid sodium coolant and elevated temperatures. Resistance to void swelling, irradiation creep, and irradiation embrittlement are therefore major considerations in the choice of materials for the core components. Structural and steam generator materials should have good resistance to creep, low cycle fatigue, creep-fatigue interaction and sodium corrosion. The development of carbide fuel and structural materials for the Fast Breeder Test Reactor at Kalpakkam was a great technological challenge. At the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), advanced research facilities have been established, and extensive studies have been carried out in the areas of fuel and materials development. This has laid the foundation for the design and development of a 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor. Highlights of some of these studies are discussed in this paper in the context of our mission to develop and deploy FBR technology for the energy security of India in the 21st century