Experimental Study On Plastic Waste As A Course Aggregate For Structural Concrete

The use of plastic is increasing day by day, although steps were taken to reduce its consumption. This creates substantial garbage every day which is much unhealthy. The suitability of recycled plastics as coarse aggregate in concrete and its advantages are discussed here. In this project, Plastic Coarse Aggregates (PCA) and steel fibers were used as replacement of Natural Coarse aggregate by different percentage of plastic aggregate for making concrete of M-25 grade, with w/c ratio 0.48. The study involves replacement of natural coarse aggregates by 0, 15 and 30 percentage of PCA. The steel fibers are used 1 to 3 percent by weight of cement. OPC-53 grade cement was used for making concrete. The waste plastic of HDPE (High density poly Ethylene) is collected from Agriculture waste, E-waste. The study also involves casting cube, beam and cylinder by using M-25 concrete with varying percentage of PCA and then testing compressive strength, flexural strength and Split tensile strength respectively. Also, from this study Optimum percentage replacement of natural aggregate by PCA was found out and that can be used in structural concrete

Deltamethrin Contact Exposure Mediated Toxicity and Histopathological Aberrations in Tissue Systems of Public Health Importance Cockroach Species Periplaneta americana and Blattella germanica

Cockroach species Periplaneta americana and Blattella germanica potentially survive in locations close to human activity. Besides spoiling food material, cockroaches also transfer pathogens of different diseases among human beings. Since the insecticides have been used extensively to control cockroaches, information on their insecticide susceptibility and toxicity at the cellular level may be crucial. In the study, deltamethrin toxicity as well as the deltamethrin-mediated cytomorphological changes in the brain, ovary and midgut of the two important cockroach species have been assessed. Different concentrations [0.00025% (0.0025 mg/ml), 0.0025% (0.025 mg/ml), 0.025% (0.25 mg/ml), 0.25% (2.5 mg/ml), 0.5% (5 mg/ml), 1% (10 mg/ml)] of deltamethrin in acetone were used to expose test species in WHO bottle assay. Knockdown was recorded after 5 min interval while delayed mortality was observed after 24 h. Brain, ovary and gut were dissected post 1 h exposure and 24 h holding (for 0.25, 0.5 and 1% concentration), and tissues were processed for microscopic analysis. Deltamethrin exposed cockroaches and dissected tissues were used to estimate deltamethrin using HPLC. At 0.00025% (lowest concentration), the percentage knock-down observed was 66.7% for P. americana and 80% B. germanica respectively (R2 = 0.78; p = 0.0001) in 1 h. KDT50 value was found to be 8.7 min (95% CI: 7.3–10.2), while KDT99 was 20.7 min (95% CI: 16.0–35.7) in P. americana at 1% concentration. Whereas, the KDT50 and KDT99 values for B. germanica were 7.4 min (95% CI: 5.4–9.1) and 27.4 min (95% CI: 18.2–80.0) at a similar concentration. LD50 and LD95 values (for 60 min standard exposure) were 0.0006% (95% CI: 0.00–0.001) and 0.034% (95% CI: 0.013–0.49) respectively for P. americana, while these values were 0.0005 (95% CI: 0.00–0.001) and 0.04 (95% CI: 0.01–0.23) for B. germanica. Exposure to 1% deltamethrin induced a considerable toxic effect in the epithelial cells in the midgut. HPLC estimated 0.21 ± 0.05 mg (95% CI: 0.18–0.25; CoV 23.9%) deltamethrin in P. americana post 1% exposure. Even short term exposure to a low concentration of synthetic pyrethroid deltamethrin displayed immediate knockdown and delayed mortality in both the test species. Considerable histological damage was observed in both the insects at 1% exposure. In India, resistance to deltamethrin may have been reported among different insects due to its extensive use. However, the formulations such as insecticide paints, attractant baits etc. developed using deltamethrin as an active ingredient could be useful in cockroach control operations

Enhanced Differential Crossover and Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization for IoT Applications

An optimized design with real-time and multiple realistic constraints in complex engineering systems is a crucial challenge for designers. In the non-uniform Internet of Things (IoT) node deployments, the approximation accuracy is directly affected by the parameters like node density and coverage. We propose a novel enhanced differential crossover quantum particle swarm optimization algorithm for solving nonlinear numerical problems. The algorithm is based on hybrid optimization using quantum PSO. Differential evolution operator is used to circumvent group moves in small ranges and falling into the local optima and improves global searchability. The cross operator is employed to promote information interchange among individuals in a group, and exceptional genes can be continued moderately, accompanying the evolutionary process's continuance and adding proactive and reactive features. The proposed algorithm's performance is verified as well as compared with the other algorithms through 30 classic benchmark functions in IEEE CEC2017, with a basic PSO algorithm and improved versions. The results show the smaller values of fitness function and computational efficiency for the benchmark functions of IEEE CEC2019. The proposed algorithm outperforms the existing optimization algorithms and different PSO versions, and has a high precision and faster convergence speed. The average location error is substantially reduced for the smart parking IoT application

A Novel Enhanced Quantum PSO for Optimal Network Configuration in Heterogeneous Industrial IoT

A novel enhanced quantum particle swarm optimization algorithm for IIoT deployments is proposed. It provides enhanced connectivity, reduced energy consumption, and optimized delay. We consider heterogeneous scenarios of network topologies for optimal path configuration by exploring and exploiting the hunts. It uses multiple inputs from heterogeneous IIoT into quantum and bio-inspired optimization techniques. The differential evolution operator and crossover operations are used for information interchange among the nodes to avoid trapping into local minima. The different topology scenarios are simulated to study the impact of $p$ -degrees of connectivity concerning objective functions’ evaluation and compared with existing techniques. The results demonstrate that our algorithm consumes a minimum of 30.3% lesser energy. Furthermore, it offers improved searching precision and convergence swiftness in the possible search space for $p$ -disjoint paths and reduces the delay by a minimum of 26.7%. Our algorithm also improves the throughput by a minimum of 29.87% since the quantum swarm inclines to generate additional diverse paths from multiple source nodes to the gateway

Fasting and surgery timing (FaST) audit

Background & aimsInternational guidance advocates the avoidance of prolonged preoperative fasting due to its negative impact on perioperative hydration. This study aimed to assess the adherence to these guidelines for fasting in patients undergoing elective and emergency surgery in the East Midlands region of the UK.MethodsThis prospective audit was performed over a two-month period at five National Health Service (NHS) Trusts across the East Midlands region of the UK. Demographic data, admission and operative details, and length of preoperative fasting were collected on adult patients listed for emergency and elective surgery.ResultsOf the 343 surgical patients included within the study, 50% (n = 172) were male, 78% (n = 266) had elective surgery and 22% (n = 77) underwent emergency surgery. Overall median fasting times (Q1, Q3) were 16.1 (13.0, 19.4) hours for food and 5.8 (3.5, 10.7) hours for clear fluids. Prolonged fasting >12 h was documented in 73% (n = 250) for food, and 21% (n = 71) for clear fluids. Median fasting times from clear fluids and food were longer in the those undergoing emergency surgery when compared with those undergoing elective surgery: 13.0 (6.4, 22.6) vs. 4.9 (3.3, 7.8) hours, and 22.0 (14.0, 37.4) vs. 15.6 (12.9, 17.8) hours respectively, p < 0.0001.ConclusionsDespite international consensus on the duration of preoperative fasting, patients continue to fast from clear fluids and food for prolonged lengths of time. Patients admitted for emergency surgery were more likely to fast for longer than those having elective surgery

Childhood tuberculosis is associated with decreased abundance of T cell gene transcripts and impaired T cell function

The WHO estimates around a million children contract tuberculosis (TB) annually with over 80 000 deaths from dissemination of infection outside of the lungs. The insidious onset and association with skin test anergy suggests failure of the immune system to both recognise and respond to infection. To understand the immune mechanisms, we studied genome-wide whole blood RNA expression in children with TB meningitis (TBM). Findings were validated in a second cohort of children with TBM and pulmonary TB (PTB), and functional T-cell responses studied in a third cohort of children with TBM, other extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) and PTB. The predominant RNA transcriptional response in children with TBM was decreased abundance of multiple genes, with 140/204 (68%) of all differentially regulated genes showing reduced abundance compared to healthy controls. Findings were validated in a second cohort with concordance of the direction of differential expression in both TBM (r2 = 0.78 p = 2x10-16) and PTB patients (r2 = 0.71 p = 2x10-16) when compared to a second group of healthy controls. Although the direction of expression of these significant genes was similar in the PTB patients, the magnitude of differential transcript abundance was less in PTB than in TBM. The majority of genes were involved in activation of leucocytes (p = 2.67E-11) and T-cell receptor signalling (p = 6.56E-07). Less abundant gene expression in immune cells was associated with a functional defect in T-cell proliferation that recovered after full TB treatment (p<0.0003). Multiple genes involved in T-cell activation show decreased abundance in children with acute TB, who also have impaired functional T-cell responses. Our data suggest that childhood TB is associated with an acquired immune defect, potentially resulting in failure to contain the pathogen. Elucidation of the mechanism causing the immune paresis may identify new treatment and prevention strategies

Leukotrienes inhibit early stages of HIV-1 infection in monocyte-derived microglia-like cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Microglia are one of the main cell types to be productively infected by HIV-1 in the central nervous system (CNS). Leukotriene B₄(LTB₄) and cysteinyl-leukotrienes such as LTC₄are some of the proinflammatory molecules produced in infected individuals that contribute to neuroinflammation. We therefore sought to investigate the role of leukotrienes (LTs) in HIV-1 infection of microglial cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To evaluate the role of LTs on HIV-1 infection in the CNS, monocyte-derived microglial-like cells (MDMis) were utilized in this study. Leukotriene-treated MDMis were infected with either fully replicative brain-derived HIV-1 isolates (YU2) or R5-tropic luciferase-encoding particles in order to assess viral production and expression. The efficacy of various steps of the replication cycle was evaluated by means of p24 quantification by ELISA, luciferase activity determination and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report in this study that virus replication is reduced upon treatment of MDMis with LTB₄and LTC₄. Additional experiments indicate that these proinflammatory molecules alter the pH-independent entry and early post-fusion events of the viral life cycle. Indeed, LT treatment induced a diminution in integrated proviral DNA while reverse-transcribed viral products remained unaffected. Furthermore, decreased C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) surface expression was observed in LT-treated MDMis. Finally, the effect of LTs on HIV-1 infection in MDMis appears to be mediated partly via a signal transduction pathway involving protein kinase C.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data show for the first time that LTs influence microglial cell infection by HIV-1, and may be a factor in the control of viral load in the CNS.</p

MicroRNAs:New players in IBD

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs, 18–23 nucleotides long, which act as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. miRNAs are strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of many common diseases, including IBDs. This review aims to outline the history, biogenesis and regulation of miRNAs. The role of miRNAs in the development and regulation of the innate and adaptive immune system is discussed, with a particular focus on mechanisms pertinent to IBD and the potential translational applications