Fracture life estimation of Al-1050 thin beams using empirical data and a numerical approach

A technique based on empirical data and finite element (FE) analysis to predict the fracture life of Al-1050 beams with the help of its fundamental mode is presented in this study. Experiments were performed on a non-prismatic beam vibrating with a constant value of the amplitude at the fixed end until the complete fracture of the specimen was achieved. The beam was vibrating at its fundamental mode to achieve fracture in less time. A power law model was used to acquire the possible trends between the values of natural frequencies and the number of cycles recorded during these experiments. These trends were further compared with a numerically modelled specimen but with artificial cracks. FE modal analysis was used for this comparison. An error of less than 1% was observed in the estimated number of total cycles obtained through the power law model before fracture, compared to those obtained using the numerical approach. Using this approach, the fracture life was also predicted for specimens of different lengths

Anthelmintic Activity of a Herbal Formulation Against Gastrointestinal Nematodes of Sheep

This study was carried out to evaluate the anthelmintic activity of a herbal formulation (HF) based on aqueous extracts of leaves of Azadirachta indica and Nicotiana tabacum, flowers of Calotropis procera and seeds of Trachyspermum ammi. In vitro, eggs and adult Haemonchus contortus were exposed to different concentrations of HF following the standard procedures of egg hatch test (EHT; 50 to 0.024414 mg ml-1) and adult motility assay (AMA; 200-0.1953125mg ml-1), respectively. The reference drugs used in the study were oxfendazole (0.0056704 to 0.0000027 mg ml-1) and levamisole (1.50 mg ml-1) for EHT and AMA, respectively. In vivo, pre and post-treatment (4 mg, 2 mg and 500 µg kg-1 body weight) fecal egg counts were determined following standard fecal egg count reduction test in sheep naturally parasitized with mixed species of gastrointestinal nematodes. In EHT, LC50 values of HF and oxfendazole (reference drug) were 275.1 and 0.016 µg ml-1, respectively. In AMA, 100% mortality of H. contortus was observed 6 hr post-exposure to 3.125-200 mg ml-1 concentrations of HF and 2 hr post-exposure to levamisole. In vivo, maximum (96.2%) fecal egg count (EPG) reduction was recorded in sheep treated with HF @ 4 mg kg-1 body weight; whereas, 89.3% reduction in EPG was recorded in sheep treated with levamisole @ 7.5 mg kg-1 body weight. A graded dose response was noted in all the tests used in the present study to evaluate the anthelmintic activity of HF. Therefore, HF seems to be promising as an anthelmintic for animals. Large scale trials on efficacy and safety, however, are recommended before the HF is considered for commercialization in crude form

Establishment of Hand Rearing Protocols with Respect to Feeding, Physiological and Behavioral Aspects in Abandoned Lion Cubs at Safari Zoo Lahore

African lion (Panthera leo) being most attractive but vulnerable exhibit of zoos and safaris; need particular attention to breeding plans. At captive sites, lioness neglects newborns commonly; at that stage, hand rearing is preferred. This study will highlight the best practices for hand-rearing lion cubs, including knowledge of early medical issues along with their treatment during the first 4 months of growth. 34 lions (08Male: 17Females: 9Cubs) were housed on 15 acres during 2019-21 at Safari Zoo Lahore. A total of 04 lionesses were found entirely abandoned to 05 newborns (03 males & 02 females). The hand-rearing period was divided into four phases based on age and feeding protocol and every cub was offered formula milk with or without meat depending upon age. The average weight gain of all the cubs was recorded along with problems/ conditions faced during process. The male cub 3 was found highest in weight gain but statistically no age wise or sex wise difference in growth was observed. The major problems faced were constipation, diarrhea, hyperthermia, eye blindness, and hind quarter weakness in 100 %, 100 %, 40 %, 20 %, and 40 % animals, respectively. All five successfully hand-reared cubs were shifted to 03 sub- adult lion’s enclosures. The behavioral changes of all the lion cubs were also recorded concerning aggression while feeding and pacing in the enclosure, etc. The study outcomes the protocol for hand rearing abandoned lion cubs, which would ultimately be helpful to the zoo keepers and wildlife conservationists

Unveiling and addressing implementation barriers to routine immunization in the peri-urban slums of Karachi, Pakistan: A mixed-methods study

Background: Great disparities in immunization coverage exist in Pakistan between urban and rural areas. However, coverage estimates for large peri-urban slums in Sindh are largely unknown and implementation challenges remain unexplored. This study explores key supply- and demand-side immunization barriers in peri-urban slums, as well as strategies to address them. It also assesses immunization coverage in the target slums.Methods: Conducted in four peri-urban slums in Karachi, this mixed-methods study consists of a baseline cross-sectional coverage survey of a representative sample of 840 caregivers of children aged 12-23 months, and 155 in-depth interviews (IDIs) through purposive sampling of respondents (caregivers, community influencers and immunization staff). After identifying the barriers, a further six IDIs were then conducted with immunization policy-makers and policy influencers to determine strategies to address these barriers, resulting in the development of an original validated implementation framework for immunization in peri-urban slums. A thematic analysis approach was applied to qualitative data.Results: The survey revealed 49% of children were fully vaccinated, 43% were partially vaccinated and 8% were unvaccinated. Demand-side immunization barriers included household barriers, lack of knowledge and awareness, misconceptions and fears regarding vaccines and social and religious barriers. Supply-side barriers included underperformance of staff, inefficient utilization of funds, unreliable immunization and household data and interference of polio campaigns with immunization. The implementation framework\u27s policy recommendations to address these barriers include: (1) improved human resource management; (2) staff training on counselling; (3) re-allocation of funds towards incentives, outreach, salaries and infrastructure; (4) a digital platform integrating birth registry and vaccination tracking systems for monitoring and reporting by frontline staff; (5) use of digital platform for immunization targets and generating dose reminders; and (6) mutual sharing of resources and data between the immunization, Lady Health Worker and polio programmes for improved coverage.Conclusions: The implementation framework is underpinned by the study of uncharted immunization barriers in complex peri-urban slums, and can be used by implementers in Pakistan and other developing countries to improve immunization programmes in limited-resource settings, with possible application at a larger scale. In particular, a digital platform integrating vaccination tracking and birth registry data can be expanded for nationwide use

Genetic diversity in threatened plant species Alnus nitida (Spach.) Endel

Alnus nitida (Spach) Endl. is an ethnobotanically important threatened plant species. The genetic diversity among the 50 different genotypes of Alnus nitida was carried out using sodium dodecyl sulfate poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) characterization. A considerable amount of genetic diversity (90%) was observed among the genotypes of A. nitida. The protein characterization was carried out on 12% gel electrophoresis. A total of 10 protein bands were detected in A. nitida genotypes. SDS-PAGE procedure is a useful method for the investigation of both genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship. Especially, B-5 was monomorphic in A. nitida genotypes and was considered as species specific. All other bands/loci were polymorphic. These polymorphic bands displayed 12, 16, 72, 88, 2, 44, 84, 54 and 12 percent variation respectively. In the present examination, the high intra-specific diversity was observed representing SDS-PAGE is a powerful tool for determining the genetically diverse germplasms in A. nitida. The results obtained by this study could be helpful in the identification and selection of desired genotypes of Alnus nitida for conservation programmes in future. Today, there is still a need to assess genetic variation and protect genetic resources, especially of wild species for prospective benefits in plant conservation programmes

A projected finite element update method for inverse identification of material constitutive parameters in transversely isotropic laminates

In this paper, a novel application of Finite Element Update Method (FEUM) is proposed for the inverse identification of material constitutive parameters in transversely isotropic laminates. Two-dimensional Digital Image Correlation (2D–DIC) is used for full-field measurements which is required for the identification process. Instead of measuring the in-plane displacements, which is a well-known application of 2D–DIC, we seek to measure the pseudo-displacements resulting from out-of-plane (towards camera) deflection of plate under a point load. These pseudo-displacements are basically the perspective projection of the three dimensional displacement fields on the image-plane of the image acquisition system. The cost function in this method is defined in terms of these projections instead of the true displacements – and hence the name Projected Finite Element Update Method (PFEUM). In this article, identification of in-plane elastic moduli of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) plate has been performed using plate bending experiments which show pre-dominantly out-of-plane deflection with little contribution from the in-plane displacements. Identification results are validated by direct experimental measurements of the unknown elastic constants as well as theoretical estimates based on volume ratio of constituents. The results show good conformance between estimated and target values for at least three material parameters namely E1, E2 and G12. Effects of experimental noise on parameter estimates has also been evaluated to explain the observed deviation in estimated parameters with current test configuration

Correlation of Red Cell Distribution Width with Severity of Cardiovascular Diseases

Objectives: To determine the correlation of red cell distribution width (RDW) with severity of cardiovascular diseases. Methodology: This study was conducted at the Department of Pathology, Aziz Fatima Medical and Dental College, Faisalabad, over a period of one year from October 2019 to September 2020. A total of 150 participants were included in the study consisting of 75 patients of cardiovascular disease in case group and 75 participants without any cardiovascular disease in control group. All patients in the study underwent trans radial or transfemoral rout coronary angiography using 5F optitorque catheter for trans radial rout or 6F Judkins catheters for transfemoral rout. All the patient had angiography within 24 hours of admission in the hospital. Results: The patients who were diagnosed with Coronary artery Disease (CAD) had significantly higher mean age (51.45 ± 11.29 years) as compared (44.56 ± 9.45 years) to group B without out CAD. There were 53 (70.67%) males in group A, and 42 (56%) males in group B. The rate of hypertension (61.33%) was significantly higher among patient who diagnosed with CAD. The mean value of RDW CV was found significantly (p-value < 0.05) raised among patients of CAD (14.36 ± 1.02vs. 13.52 ± 0.89). The RDW SD was also significantly higher in group A (43.67 ± 4.39 vs. 41.65 ± 3.46, p-value = 0.002) in comparison to group B. Age and male gender were found to be a significant (p-value < 0.05) contributor for CVD with an odds ratio of 1.18 and 3 respectively. Conclusion: RDW is an effective easily available marker for the assessment of severity of coronary artery disease and helps in risk stratification of CAD patients for further events

Reducing machining distortion in AA 6061 alloy through re-heating technique

Solution-treated AA 6061 alloy contains residual stresses which cause unwanted deformation during the machining operation rendering the parts unacceptable for use. Usually for AA 6061 alloy, stress relieving is performed by re-heating the parts at 343°C for 1 h. This stress relieving is however accompanied by a considerable loss of material strength which subsequently reduces the functionality of the parts. This paper is based on an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of lower re-heating temperatures for stress relieving without significant loss of strength. Temperatures within the range of 200–343°C were used and treated samples were tested for both the strength and machining distortion. The experimental results indicate 60% reduction in machining distortions with 21% decrease in the strength