An attempt at optimizing the flow characteristics of blast furnace slag by investigation with synthetic slag prepared in the laboratory using pure oxides

In the cohesive zone the ore layer becomes compacted due to softening-melting and the gas passes predominantly through the sandwiched coke layer (coke slits). Minimizing the size and lowering the position of the cohesive zone will improve productivity and decrease coke rate. This work is designed at arriving at a slag composition through actual experimentations which will ensure the lowering of the cohesive zone of the blast furnace with simultaneous decrease in the difference between the softening temperature (ST) and flow temperature (FT) of the slag. Slag samples from SAIL, Rourkela were brought and their flow characteristics were measured under the heating microscope. With the same composition as obtained from the plant, a synthetic slag was prepared in the laboratory. It was melted to 1600 °C and then water quenched to form the glassy state. Flow characteristics for the same were also determined. In addition, all slag samples were sent to DISIR, Rajgangpur for slag analysis as well as to determine the mineralogical phases present in them. For this, they heated the slag samples to 1500 °C followed by slow cooling to convert them to crystalline form. Then, XRD analysis was done to determine the mineralogical phases. Finally, with relevant phase diagram study, we arrived at a composition which will ensure the lowering of cohesive zone. Moreover, flow characteristics data of synthetic slag was compared with that obtained from Blast Furnace slag

Trust in Government in the Trump Era: A Comprehensive Study of U.S. Public Opinion on the Federal Government Under the Trump Administration

The election and presidency of Donald Trump has upended American politics in numerous ways. For his most ardent supporters, President Trump's efforts to change things in Washington; to deliver nationalist economic policies on trade, jobs, and immigration; and to advance culturally conservative rhetoric and racial appeals are worth the break with past presidential behavior and national unity. For his detractors, the actions of Trump and his administration represent a serious abrogation of presidential norms and mark a dangerous shift away from pluralist democracy and toward more authoritarian nationalism. Many other voters with less intense feelings about Trump are just trying to put the whole spectacle out of their minds and to find some semblance of normalcy in a politically fractured environment. For those who study public attitudes about government itself, the Trump presidency raises serious questions about whether the United States is experiencing real, long-lasting changes in voters' attitudes toward government, or if Americans are reacting in intense but more typical ways that are consistent with past trends. To examine these issues in more detail, the Center for American Progress, along with its colleagues at Hart Research Associates, designed a comprehensive national survey to measure basic beliefs about government and specific voter attitudes about the Trump administration. The online survey of 1,500 registered voters nationally was conducted March 19–25, 2018, and has an overall margin of error of +/- 2.6 percent. This study builds upon a major public opinion study that CAP and Hart conducted in 2015, which examined public attitudes about government and explored a variety of proposals for improving the performance and representation of the government in Washington. The results of that research are summarized in the unpublished May 2016 report, "Of the People, By the People, For the People? A National Study of Public Trust and Confidence in Government."1Based on the results of the current study and comparisons with earlier responses from the 2015 research and other publicly available data, we believe that reactions to the Trump administration represent a genuine break with past public views of government in significant ways. Most importantly, the partisan divisions on measures of trust and confidence in government found in earlier research are now fully solidified. Many American voters today are not basing their evaluations of government on objective criteria that weigh policy choices and overall performance in a neutral manner. Rather, in-party and out-party voters are reacting in entirely divergent ways to the government itself based primarily upon who is leading the government and which party is in control

AN INTRIGUING CAUSE OF CHRONIC DIARRHEA – PROTEIN-LOSING ENTEROPATHY AS THE PRESENTING MANIFESTATION OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

ABSTRACTSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune inflammatory disease.  It presents with myriad of clinical manifestations affecting every other organ system in human body. The gastrointestinal system is one of the commonest affected and it involves any part of the GI tract with incidences ranging from 1.3% to 27.5%. Gastrointestinal manifestations as a presenting feature of SLE is unusual. Chronic diarrhea due to protein losing enteropathy as the presenting manifestation of SLE is very rare and a diagnosis of SLE should be kept in mind when other systemic manifestations are absent. Hence, we report a 29-year-old female with chronic diarrhea as the main manifestation of SLE.Â

BRONCHOCONSTRICTION SECONDARY TO USE OF TOPICAL TIMOLOL IN A NON-ASTHMATIC PATIENT

Ophthalmic application of a non-selective beta blocker like timolol maleate is known to produce bronchoconstriction in asthmatic individuals or patients with obstructive lung diseases. Timolol-induced bronchoconstriction in a previously healthy young adult without any pulmonary disease is rare. We report a case of a young adult who developed bronchoconstriction following ocular instillation of timolol maleate ophthalmic solution when he was treated for open-angle glaucoma

A CLINICAL STUDY OF PATIENTS WITH IDIOPATHIC THROMBOCYTOPENIC PURPURA

OBJECTIVE To study the incidence, age and sex distribution among adults, various modes of presentation, correlation between thrombocytopenia and bleeding manifestations and various modalities of treatment of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura in a tertiary care hospital in India.MATERIALS AND METHODSProspective study consisting of 4o cases of ITP admitted to Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Manipal from November 2005 to March 2007. Patients above 14 years of age admitted with thrombocytopenia in this institution were screened based on detailed clinical history, physical examination and laboratory investigations.RESULTSThe maximum incidence was in the 3 rd decade of life accounting for 27.5% of the patients. Ratio of male to female was 1:1.9 with female preponderance. Females in 3 rd decade had maximum incidence while males in 4th decade have maximum incidence. Majority 12 (85.71%) of male patients and 15(57.69%) of female patients  developed purpura during the course of disease. The mean count was 17.8X109/L with range between 2.0 X109/L to 76 X109/L. Cutaneous bleeding spots were found to be assosiated with counts above 25000X109/L and hematuria with lowest counts around 4000 X109/L. 20 (50%) of the above 40 patients responded to corticposteroids alone and did not have any further relapse. Among the remaining patients 3 (7.5%) had a relapse of symptoms within next 6 months and responded to repeat prednisolone started at 1mg/kg. 2 (5%) patients were given steroids tapering dose with IV Immune globulins for initial 5 days as therapy to which they responded.CONCLUSIONIdiopathic thrombocytopenia is 1.9 times more common in females than males. Most common presentation is bleeding spots over body. Bleeding manifestations are more common with thrombocytopenia less than 30000/mm3. Corticosteroids are the mainstay in treatment. Complete remission is seen in up to 57.5% of the patients. Splenectomy is the second modality of treatment in ITP. Complete and sustained remission is seen 75% of patients. Â

PREVALENCE OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY IN TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY IN SOUTHERN INDIA

  Objectives: In India, 69.1 million are diabetics as of 2015 compared to 18 million in 1995. Pan India prevalence study in diabetics carried out at 194 centers by All India Ophthalmological Society reported the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) among diabetics as 21.8%. DR is of two types, non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). The severity of NPDR depends on microaneurysms, hemorrhages, cotton wool spots, and beading of veins and can progress to PDR. Inherit characteristic of PDR is neovascularization. The aim of this observational prevalence study is to study the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Type 2 diabetic patients attending diabetic clinic and to study the distribution of diabetic retinopathy with respect to age, sex, and duration of disease in a tertiary care hospital in southern India.Methods: This is a retrospective observational study. Age above 20 years and patients diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and examined by the ophthalmologist were included and others excluded. Data documented were analyzed using statistical software SPSS version 16.Results: About 52.07% of patients with Type 2 DM for more than 10 years had diabetic retinopathy and 13.07 % of patients with Type 2 DM for more than 5 years have diabetic retinopathy.Conclusion: India being the diabetic capital of the world and DR being the most common cause for visual impairment and blindness and it becomes empirical to assess the factors for its rising prevalence, which will significantly contribute in reducing the progression of DR

Anticonvulsant activity of gap-junctional blocker carbenoxolone in albino rats

Background: Gap junctions (GJs) are clusters of channels that connect the interiors of adjoining neurons and mediate electrical/electrotonic coupling by transfer of ions and small molecules. Electrotonic coupling between principal neurons via GJs is increasingly recognized as one of the mechanisms in the pathogenesis of the abnormal neuronal synchrony that occurs during seizures. Carbenoxolone the succinyl ester of glycyrrhetinic acid obtained from liquorice has been shown to have the property of blocking gap junctional intercellular communication. The objectives were to study if carbenoxolone has in-vivo anticonvulsive activity in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) and maximal electroshock (MES) seizure models and to probe the functional role of GJs in seizures.Methods: Carbenoxolone was tested for anticonvulsive effect in albino rats subjected to seizures by the PTZ and MES at three doses 100 m/kg, 200 m/kg, 300 m/kg. In the PTZ model parameters observed were seizure protection, seizure latency and seizure duration. In the MES model parameters observed were seizure protection and seizure duration.Results: The results showed that the carbenoxolone has anticonvulsant activity in both PTZ and MES induced seizures with better protection in the PTZ induced seizures. In the PTZ model carbenoxolone produced a statistically significant increase in seizure latency, decrease in seizure duration and seizure protection. In the MES model carbenoxolone produced a statistically significant decrease in seizure duration.Conclusions: Carbenoxolone has in-vivo anticonvulsive effect and could be useful in both petitmal (absence) seizures and grand mal (generalized tonic-clonic epilepsy) seizures. The protective effect of carbenoxolone could be due to blockade of GJ channels that mediate electro tonic coupling and thereby prevent the neural synchronization that is characteristic of seizures. The study also supports the view that GJs have a functional role in the electrophysiology of seizures and GJ blockers have potential as a new class of antiepileptic drugs

USE OF TISSUE DOPPLER IMAGING TO DETECT RIGHT VENTRICULAR MYOCARDIAL DYSFUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE

Objective: To determine the utility of tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) in detecting early right ventricle (RV) myocardial dysfunction, given its prognostic implications in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods:  A prospective case-control study was carried out involving 36 COPD patients in an acute exacerbated state as cases and 34 healthy subjects serving as controls. Each subject underwent a baseline echocardiography using various methods ranging from m-mode and 2-dimensional measures for analyzing RV geometry to strain and strain rate using Tissue Doppler Imaging to measure RV deformation. The cases underwent a subsequent echocardiogram 1month later once the respiratory symptoms subsided.Results: A significant difference was observed in RV tissue annular velocities ( E', A', S) between cases and the controls at baseline. However no significant increase was observed in tissue annular velocities among cases during remission states from baseline. Peak systolic strain in COPD group was significantly reduced in comparison to controls, but not significantly increased during remission when compared to baseline in cases. FEV1/VC did not bear any significant correlation with RV strain. Tei index had a negative linear correlation with peak systolic strain of RV, which was statistically significant.Conclusion: TDI parameters revealed that RV dysfunction remains unaltered even in remission state of COPD, despite pulmonary arterial pressure normalizing. In light of it bearing a negative prognosis in COPD, RV dysfunction merits assessment in COPD patients, both in acute exacerbations as well as in remission. Â

Anisotropic flow of charged hadrons, pions and (anti-)protons measured at high transverse momentum in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76 TeV

The elliptic, $v_2$, triangular, $v_3$, and quadrangular, $v_4$, azimuthal anisotropic flow coefficients are measured for unidentified charged particles, pions and (anti-)protons in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Results obtained with the event plane and four-particle cumulant methods are reported for the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta|<0.8$ at different collision centralities and as a function of transverse momentum, $p_{\rm T}$, out to $p_{\rm T}=20$ GeV/$c$. The observed non-zero elliptic and triangular flow depends only weakly on transverse momentum for $p_{\rm T}>8$ GeV/$c$. The small $p_{\rm T}$ dependence of the difference between elliptic flow results obtained from the event plane and four-particle cumulant methods suggests a common origin of flow fluctuations up to $p_{\rm T}=8$ GeV/$c$. The magnitude of the (anti-)proton elliptic and triangular flow is larger than that of pions out to at least $p_{\rm T}=8$ GeV/$c$ indicating that the particle type dependence persists out to high $p_{\rm T}$.Comment: 16 pages, 5 captioned figures, authors from page 11, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/186

Centrality dependence of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}} = 2.76 TeV

The inclusive transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) distributions of primary charged particles are measured in the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta|<0.8$ as a function of event centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}=2.76$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC. The data are presented in the $p_{\rm T}$ range $0.15<p_{\rm T}<50$ GeV/$c$ for nine centrality intervals from 70-80% to 0-5%. The Pb-Pb spectra are presented in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm{AA}}$ using a pp reference spectrum measured at the same collision energy. We observe that the suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles strongly depends on event centrality. In central collisions (0-5%) the yield is most suppressed with $R_{\rm{AA}}\approx0.13$ at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7 GeV/$c$. Above $p_{\rm T}=7$ GeV/$c$, there is a significant rise in the nuclear modification factor, which reaches $R_{\rm{AA}} \approx0.4$ for $p_{\rm T}>30$ GeV/$c$. In peripheral collisions (70-80%), the suppression is weaker with $R_{\rm{AA}} \approx 0.7$ almost independently of $p_{\rm T}$. The measured nuclear modification factors are compared to other measurements and model calculations.Comment: 17 pages, 4 captioned figures, 2 tables, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/284