A solitary giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath of left third finger in a 23-year-old man: a case report

Giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath (GCTTS) is a common condition usually encountered in middle aged men, usually seen on the thumb, index, middle fingers. These benign tumors are known to reoccur. Re-occurrence can be attributed to poor surgical technique, excision of the tumor in toto is considered difficult given the close proximity of the digital nerves, blood vessels, tendons to the tumor. A magnifying loop is usually used in these cases to identify and resect the satellite lesions. In this case report, we are presenting a case of solitary GCTTS of the tendon sheath in a 23-year-old man with history of gradually progressive painless swelling over his left third finger. Musculo-skeletal ultrasound revealed a heterogeneously hypo-echoic well-defined lesion over the ventral aspect of the left third finger. Histopathology showed giant cell morphology. Patient underwent exploration, tumor excision in toto with primary suturing in our institute with an uneventful postoperative period. No loss of range of movements of the PIP, DIP joints was noted in the postoperative period. Good dissection with excision of the tumor in toto gives better outcomes

Rare occurrence of sunfish Mola mola (Linnaeus) from the coastal waters off Visakhapatnam (Bay of Bengal)

The occurrence of sunfish in any sea is a rare event. It is so rare that even fishermen engaged in fishing throughout their lives find it totally strange when they come across one. On 6 May, 1986, a local fisherman reported to the Zoology Department of the Andhra University that a very strange looking fish was part of that day's catch

Numerical study on underground structures subjected to shock loading

ABSTRACT This paper presents a numerical investigation on shock response of underground structures made of fibre reinforced composite material. A finite element model is developed for determining the shock response of the structure including soil-structure interactions. Commercially available software ABAQUS is used for the finite element model and computations. Circular, horseshoe and square cross-sections of the underground structures are considered for the analysis and design against the air blast of 500 kT TNT at a distance of 1 mile. Equivalent of TNT yield value the pressures and time histories are generated and accordingly blast parameters are obtained. The mechanical properties of steel fibre composite material used in the study are determined based on laboratory tests. The soil-structure interaction effects are implemented through spring and dashpot systems at the boundary regions. Various responses like displacements, von Mises stresses and strain energies obtained from the numerical analysis are reported

Coordinated Intelligent Traffic Lights using Uppaal Stratego

Automatic decision making in traffic signal controllers, semi-automated assistance to drivers, accident detection and response, anti-collision measures in autonomous driving etc., are relatively new applications in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Recent developments in radar and sensor technology coupled with algorithmic and software advances brings ITS closer to realization. In this paper, we extend the work of Ericksen et. al., 'Uppaal Stratego for Intelligent Traffic Lights', in Proc. of the 12th Int. Conf. on ITS European Congress, 2017, France where they use a tool called UPPAAL STRATEGO to synthesize traffic light timing strategies through statistical model checking and machine learning. While Ericksen et.al. consider a single traffic light controller at an isolated intersection, we consider coordination between the controllers at two traffic intersections by providing a 'green wave' in the heavily congested direction which reduces the overall waiting time of cars and queue length. Our experimental results show a significant improvement over uncoordinated isolated traffic light controllers in terms of the waiting time of cars and providing a new functionality of the controller such as giving a green wave

Scalable Coordinated Intelligent Traffic Light Controller for Heterogeneous Traffic Scenarios Using UPPAAL STRATEGO

We propose a new approach for coordinating traffic flows in large cities that helps in reducing the travel time and carbon emissions from vehicles. We use the UPPAAL STRATEGO tool chain that leverages statistical model checking and machine learning for synthesizing optimal traffic coordination strategies. Our approach employs a hierarchical view of the city with two levels-individual traffic intersections and area controllers. While the choice of a phase at an intersection is decided locally, the phase threshold is decided at the level of an area consisting of several intersections. The algorithm and models that we report in this paper are a nontrivial generalization of previous approaches that used UPPAAL STRATEGO. This generalization allows scaling to large cities with several traffic intersections, with improved results.We compare our approach against other techniques including fixed-time and fully-actuated controllers. Experiments show that the it performs better in terms of waiting time and carbon emissions, especially in scenarios of changing traffic loads. Our approach also reduces overall and individual delays at intersections

Natural Frequencies and Modeshapes of 20 Storey Building Using MATLAB

Abstract MATLAB is generally programming software as C, unlike C and other programming languages MATLAB is problem-solution kind of software which is much useful to evaluate results instantly. In the present topic use of software is done for calculating Natural Frequencies and Modeshapes of a 20 storey building with basic functions by using MATLAB. The results obtained from the MATLAB are accurate comparitively this results obtained shows that the MATLAB can be furthur used to write programs which involve complicated iterations and cannot be done manually. The furthur work can be extended for writing the programs of much more complex equations in MATLAB and obtains exact solution. This analysis indicate that the MATLAB can also be used in Civil applications and to obtain Exact solution with our knowledge kept in use

Statistical Model Checking for Traffic Models

Statistical Model Checking (SMC) is a popular technique in formal methods for analyzing large stochastic systems. As opposed to the expensive but exact model checking algorithms, this technique allows for a trade-off between accuracy and running time. SMC is based on Monte Carlo sampling of the runs of the stochastic system, and lends itself to stochastic discrete event simulators as well. In this paper, we use SMC to analyze traffic models like car-following and lane-changing models. We achieve this through an integration of the SMC tool MultiVeStA with the discrete event simulation software for urban mobility, SUMO. As illustration of the approach and the tool chain, we compare the car-following and lane-changing models against various performance parameters like throughput, emissions and waiting times. Importantly, the use of formal methods allows for formulating and evaluating complex queries that can be asked of the model. The results show the utility of such a tool chain in performing complex quantitative what-if analyses of various traffic models and policies. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Studies in sorghum - the non-auriculate and e-ligulate condition

The occurrence of the non-auriculate and e-ligulate condition and its repurcussions on the earhead throw light on the homology between the leaf and the earhead. In non-auriculate and e-ligulate families, the leaves are more erect and the panicle branches likewise. With the suppression of the auricle and ligule there is an absence of the pulvinus and a shortening of the spikelet-free area in the panicle branches and branchlets. This leads to a choking overcrowding of the spikelts on the earhead and consequent risk of sterility. In highly evolved sorghums with auricle and ligule, the presence of the pulvinus and pushing away of the grain-bearing area from the central axis have resulted in producing an economic earhead. These observations are wider in their import in that they throw light on the evolution of the gramineae

The occurrence and inheritance of waxy bloom on sorghum

All sorghum varieties develop a waxy bloom. When heavy this bloom is present on the leaf-sheath, leaf-blade, internode, panicle branch and glume. It is best seen at flowering time. When sparse, the bloom is easily seen at the top of the leaf-sheath, top of the internode, and the base of the under-surface of the leaf. Some groups of sorghum show the bloom in heaviness and others in sparseness. The heavy bloomed condition (H) is a simple dominant to the sparse bloomed condition (h). The factor (H) is independent in inheritance to the leaf-sheath colour factors P and Q, leaf margin disposition factor Mu, grain surface structure factor Z, and the brown grain factors B1 and B2