Experimental Study of Plain and Reinforced Concrete Targets Subjected to Impact Loading

AbstractIn order to study the influence of the plain concrete and reinforced concrete on ballistic performances. Penetration tests were conducted on different thicknesses of plain concrete and reinforced concrete plates having 40Mpa unconfined compressive strength and reinforcement of 8mm diameter steel mesh in reinforced concrete plates is incorporated. The plates were 450mm of diameter and 60mm, 80mm, 100mm thicknesses are studied. The plates were subjected to an impact of hard steel projectile with ogive nose weighing 1kg with diameter 19mm and length of 450mm. The projectiles were accelerated by the laboratory pneumatic gun to velocities range between 28m/s to 102m/s. impact and residual velocities were measured by the high speed digital camera system. Ballistic resistance of plain concrete and reinforced concrete at different thicknesses had been find out in the experiments and compared with already proposed analytical formula. The results thus obtained are presented and influences there on due to the variation in the concrete plate thicknesses to the projectile impact are discussed. The ballistic limit was found to increase with an increase of target thickness

Evaluation of Medical Officer Certificate Programme Course Competency Based Learning

Background: Medical Officer Certificate Programme (MOCP) is a 6 months training programme in Pediatrics/Medicine at medical colleges wherein doctors work like postgraduate students, learn various Out Patients and In Patient Department (OPD and IPD) procedures, attain hands on skills, perform day and night duties, attend postgraduate training programmes and specialty clinics. This is a course unique to Maharashtra. It has been designed to overcome shortage of Pediatricians and Physicians in the state. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of MOCP courses for medical officers by finding out if their clinical skills have improved and if they have achieved expected level of competence. Methods: Public Health Department deputed 28 medical officers of primary health centers. At the end of 6 months training course, they were evaluated during 2012-2013. Results: OPD increased by 24% and IPD by 54%. There was a decrease in the number of cases referred to tertiary centers by 24%, post-MOCP training. Infant immunization increased by 35% after training. Number of children with severe acute malnutrition/moderate acute malnutrition treated increased by 22%, treatment of neonatal emergencies, resuscitation, sepsis, jaundice increased by 36%. Number of adults with diarrhoea and snake bite treated increased by 40% and 63% respectively. Number of ECGs taken and myocardial infarctions managed also has shown rising trend. Conclusion: There was tremendous benefit to the patients after MOCP training. Skill of doctors was found to have enhanced. It is therefore recommended that such novel trainings should be imparted in other states of India too

BiLaWO6: Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ phosphor: study of multiple fluorescence intensity ratiometric thermometry at cryogenic temperatures

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Nontoxic glasses: Preparation, structural, electrical and biological properties

The authors are grateful by the FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Program and National Funds through FCT?Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the project UID/CTM/50025/2013, UCIBIO, REQUIMTE UID/Multi/04378/2013, and DENTALBLAST project (ref. n? 17956).Bacterial infections affect about 1 in 5 patients who receive a dental implant within 5 years of surgery. To avoid the implant rejection it is necessary for the development of innovative biomaterials, with addition or substitution of the ions, for implant coatings that promote a strong bond with the new host bone and antibacterial action. The objective of this work was to synthesize a bioactive glass with different silver concentrations to evaluate their antibacterial performance. The glasses were synthesized with up to 2% silver content by melt-quenching. Structural, morphological, biological, and electrical properties of all samples were studied. The biological behavior was evaluated through cytotoxicity tests and antibacterial activity. The structural analysis shows that the introduction of silver do not promote significant changes, not altering the advantageous properties of the bioglass of the bioglass. It was verified that the glasses with a silver content from 0.5% to 2%, completely prevented the growth of both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli while being nontoxic toward mammalian cells. Therefore, these bioglasses are promising materials to be used in the production of dental implants with antimicrobial activity.authorsversionpublishe

A Single Atom Change Facilitates the Membrane Transport of Green Fluorescent Proteins in Mammalian Cells

Direct delivery of proteins into mammalian cells is a challenging problem in biological and biomedical applications. The most common strategies for the delivery of proteins into the cells include the use of cell-penetrating peptides or supercharged proteins. Herein, we show for the first time that a single atom change, hydrogen to halogen, at one of the tyrosine residues can increase the cellular entry of similar to 28kDa green fluorescent protein (GFP) in mammalian cells. The protein uptake is facilitated by a receptor-mediated endocytosis and the cargo can be released effectively into cytosol by co-treatment with the endosomolytic peptide ppTG21

Slope stability of tailing dam under seismic excitation

The slope stability analysis of the tailing dams or mine dumps becomes a more challenging task for engineers when they are subjected to a combination of static and dynamic loadings. Several tailing dam failures have been observed in the past worldwide. The failure of tailing dam not only releases the waste deposit to the surrounding but also yields the property damage and cause environmental threat to the locality. The waste deposit may liquefy under the earthquake with an increase of the horizontal load on the saturated dam tailing. Hence failure of the dam under liquefaction may lead to catastrophe. In 2015, Samarco tailing dam has failed under the earthquake condition. When the dynamic loading associates with horizontal seismic load along with vertical load, it may reduce the stability of slope leading to failure. A two-dimensional numerical attempt has been made by utilising the commercial software Geostudio, and the same is presented in this paper. Initially stability of the slope is evaluated by considering the finite element stress analysis. A staged pseudo-static analysis has been presented to the study the effect of factor of safety of tailing dam under the action of both horizontal and vertical seismic loads

Directing Traffic: Halogen-Bond-Mediated Membrane Transport

The plasma membrane regulates the transport of molecules into the cell. Small hydrophobic molecules can diffuse directly across the lipid bilayer. However, larger molecules require specific transporters for their entry into the cell. Regulating the cellular entry of small molecules and proteins is a challenging task. The introduction of halogen, particularly iodine, to small molecules and proteins is emerging to be a promising strategy to improve the cellular uptake. Recent studies reveal that a simple substitution of hydrogen atom with iodine not only increases the cellular uptake, but also regulates the membrane transport. The strong halogen-bond-forming ability of iodine atoms plays a crucial role in the transport and the introduction of iodine may provide an efficient strategy for studying membrane activity and cellular functions and improving the delivery of therapeutic agents. This Concept article does not provide a comprehensive picture of membrane transport but highlights halogen-substitution as a novel strategy for understanding and regulating the cell-membrane traffic