Coupled mech nical and electromagnetic modeling of eddy current sensors

To effectively monitor the vibration of blades in a rotating machine, a non-contacting method called blade tip-timing (BTT) has been used. The method is based on the analysis of the differential arrival times of the blades at sensors mounted on the stator to characterize the vibration amplitude and frequency of the blades. These sensors can also provide blade tip clearance measurement. A combination of these data can provide a robust condition monitoring approach for the early detection of blade cracks. Eddy current sensors (ECS) have shown great potential to assess the health of an engine without any need for direct access to the blade and therefore they are insensitive to the presence of any type of contaminant. Also, both tip timing and tip clearance of each blade could be measured by these sensors in real time and at high resolution. ECSs measure the magnetic field caused by eddy currents during the blade motion, and hence are a coupled mechanical and electromagnetic problem. An ECS on the casing of a machine has been modeled to fully understand how the dynamic response of the blade is measured by the sensors. Detailed 2-D and 3-D modeling and simulation of a rotating simplified bladed disk passing an ECS is presented. The effect of the variation of the rotation speed and the gap between the sensor and the blade tip on the accuracy of the measurement is investigated. Such an analysis will enable the reliable monitoring of blade damage during engine operation

Synthesis, Spectral Analysis, Molecular Docking and Biological Evaluation of Cyclohepta[b]indole Derivatives

A new series of specifically substituted cyclohepta[b]indole derivatives from the precursor thiophen-2-ylmethylene has been synthesized. The structures of synthesized derivatives were established by spectral and elemental analyses. The docking studies with protein kinase CK2 was performed, derivative 6c exhibited the most excellent glide and E model score of –7.61 and –58.27, respectively. In-vitro anticancer activity against cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) was studied. The IC50 values were compared with the standard drug Ellipticine. Compounds 5c, 6c and 6d showed better IC50 value when compared to the other molecules. The derivatives were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against the reference drugs Sparfloxacin and Norfloxacin using agar dilution method. The derivatives 4a–d exhibited better MIC values against Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria when compared with remaining derivatives. Structure activity relationship (SAR) analyses established that the derivatives are potential lead compounds for future drug development studies. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Predictive modelling and machine learning-assisted engineering of AvPAL for improved thermal stability

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Incisional Hernia Following Open Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair: A Contemporary Review of Risk Factors and Prevention

While the endovascular approach has been the treatment of choice for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair in the modern era, open AAA repair remains a treatment option and may have a resurgence after the recent release of draft guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Incisional hernia is a common long-term complication of open AAA repair and causes significant patient morbidity. As the number of patients undergoing open AAA repair increases, it is imperative that vascular surgeons are aware of and aim to reduce the complications associated with open surgery. This article summarises current evidence, highlighting the risk factors for incisional hernia and the modern surgical techniques that can prevent complications

CAR T-Cell-Based gene therapy for cancers: new perspectives, challenges, and clinical developments

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is a progressive new pillar in immune cell therapy for cancer. It has yielded remarkable clinical responses in patients with B-cell leukemia or lymphoma. Unfortunately, many challenges remain to be addressed to overcome its ineffectiveness in the treatment of other hematological and solidtumor malignancies. The major hurdles of CAR T-cell therapy are the associated severe life-threatening toxicities such as cytokine release syndrome and limited anti-tumor efficacy. In this review, we briefly discuss cancer immunotherapy and the genetic engineering of T cells and, In detail, the current innovations in CAR T-cell strategies to improve efficacy in treating solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Furthermore, we also discuss the current challenges in CAR T-cell therapy and new CAR T-cell-derived nanovesicle therapy. Finally, strategies to overcome the current clinical challenges associated with CAR T-cell therapy are included as well

Economic evaluation of implementing a rapid point-of-care screening test for the identification of hepatitis C virus under National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme in Tamil Nadu, South India

Introduction: Viral hepatitis is a crucial public health problem in India. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination is a national priority and a key strategy has been adopted to strengthen the HCV diagnostics services to ensure early and accurate diagnosis. Methods: To conduct an economic evaluation of implementing a rapid point-of-care screening test for the identification of HCV among the selected key population under the National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme in Tamil Nadu, South India. Economic evaluation of a point-of-care screening test for HCV diagnosis among the key population attending the primary health care centers. A combination of decision tree and Markov model was developed to estimate cost-effectiveness of point-of-care screening test for HCV diagnosis at the primary health care centers. Total costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) of the intervention and comparator, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) were calculated. The model parameter uncertainties which would influence the cost-effectiveness outcome has been evaluated by one-way sensitivity analysis and probabilistic sensitivity analysis. Results: When compared to the tertiary level diagnostic strategy for HCV, the point-of-care screening for selected key population at primary health care level results in a gain of 57 undiscounted QALYs and 38 discounted QALYs, four undiscounted life years and two discounted life years. The negative ICER of the new strategy indicates that it is less expensive and more effective compared with the current HCV diagnosis strategy. Conclusions: The proposed strategy for HCV diagnosis in the selected key population in Tamil Nadu is dominant and cost-saving compared to the current strategy

Studies on Batoids Diversity off Rameswaram Island, Tamil Nadu

Gulf of Mannar (GoM) and Palk Bay (PB) are two biodiversity rich ecosystems in the east coast of India as it occupies vast coral reefs, seagrass meadows, sandy and muddy bottoms. Rameswaram Island covers both GoM and PB in its south and north vicinities respectively. Month and season wise species diversity of batoids off the Rameswaram Island analysed. Based on the cyclic phenomena of meteorological events, three seasons are broadly indicated as month wise and they are (1) Pre –Monsoon (PRM) (June to September) (2) Monsoon (M) (October to January) (3) Post-Monsoon (POM) (February-May). The diversity indices calculated using the PRIMER package. In the Rameswaram Island waters, the number of batoid species recorded in various seasons was in the range of 11–40. While the maximum number of species was found in PRM (35), the minimum was found in POM (11). Totally, 40 species of batoids were recorded in the area. These included 21 species belonging to family Dasyatidae, 5 to family Rhinobatidae, 6 to family Mobulidae, 2 each to Rhinopteridae, and Aetobatidae 1 species to families Glaucostegidae, Rhinidae, Gymnuridae and Myliobatidae. Neotrygon indica, was the most dominant species followed by Aetobatus ocellatus., R. javanica, Gymnura poecilura, Brevitrygon imbricata, Himantura uarnak, H. tutul, H. leopard, Maculabatis gerrardi, Taeniurops meyeni, Pateobatis bleekeri and Pastinachus ater were observed in all seasons. The Shannon diversity was more in July (4.60) followed by August (4.45) and June (4.40). The Margalef species richness showed remarkable differences between July (6.12) and April (1.11). The evenness was comparatively more in February (0.97) than July (0.95). Highest Shannon diversity (4.75) and species richness (6.82) was observed in PRM. Species evenness was more in POM (0.94) and least during PRM (0.92). The variation in taxonomic distinctness index was more between PRM and POM (0.962 - 0.912). All three diversity indices in M were intermediate between PRM and POM. PRM and M formed a group with highest similarity percentage of 64.31 to which POM got linked at 32.86

Optical Properties of Bismuth Tellurite Based Glass

A series of binary tellurite based glasses (Bi2O3)x (TeO2)100−x was prepared by melt quenching method. The density, molar volume and refractive index increase when bismuth ions Bi3+ increase, this is due to the increased polarization of the ions Bi3+ and the enhanced formation of non-bridging oxygen (NBO). The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results show the bonding of the glass sample and the optical band gap, Eopt decreases while the refractive index increases when the ion Bi3+ content increases

The emerging role of exosomes in innate immunity, diagnosis and therapy

Exosomes, which are nano-sized transport bio-vehicles, play a pivotal role in maintaining homeostasis by exchanging genetic or metabolic information between different cells. Exosomes can also play a vital role in transferring virulent factors between the host and parasite, thereby regulating host gene expression and the immune interphase. The association of inflammation with disease development and the potential of exosomes to enhance or mitigate inflammatory pathways support the notion that exosomes have the potential to alter the course of a disease. Clinical trials exploring the role of exosomes in cancer, osteoporosis, and renal, neurological, and pulmonary disorders are currently underway. Notably, the information available on the signatory efficacy of exosomes in immune-related disorders remains elusive and sporadic. In this review, we discuss immune cell-derived exosomes and their application in immunotherapy, including those against autoimmune connective tissue diseases. Further, we have elucidated our views on the major issues in immune-related pathophysiological processes. Therefore, the information presented in this review highlights the role of exosomes as promising strategies and clinical tools for immune regulation

A New Approach for Loading Anticancer Drugs Into Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Exosome Mimetics for Cancer Therapy

Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been evaluated for their potential to be used as drug delivery vehicles. Synthetically personalized exosome mimetics (EMs) could be the alternative vesicles for drug delivery. In this study, we aimed to isolate EMs from human MSCs. Cells were mixed with paclitaxel (PTX) and PTX-loaded EMs (PTX-MSC-EMs) were isolated and evaluated for their anticancer effects against breast cancer. EMs were isolated from human bone marrow-derived MSCs. MSCs (4 × 106 cells/mL) were mixed with or without PTX at different concentrations in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and serially extruded through 10-, 5-, and 1-μm polycarbonate membrane filters using a mini-extruder. MSCs were centrifuged to remove debris and the supernatant was filtered through a 0.22-μm filter, followed by ultracentrifugation to isolate EMs and drug-loaded EMs. EMs without encapsulated drug (MSC-EMs) and those with encapsulated PTX (PTX-MSC-EMs) were characterized by western blotting, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The anticancer effects of MSC-EMs and PTX-MSC-EMs were assessed with breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells both in vitro and in vivo using optical imaging. EMs were isolated by the extrusion method and ultracentrifugation. The isolated vesicles were positive for membrane markers (ALIX and CD63) and negative for golgi (GM130) and endoplasmic (calnexin) marker proteins. NTA revealed the size of MSC-EM to be around 149 nm, while TEM confirmed its morphology. PTX-MSC-EMs significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the viability of MDA-MB-231 cells in vitro at increasing concentrations of EM. The in vivo tumor growth was significantly inhibited by PTX-MSC-EMs as compared to control and/or MSC-EMs. Thus, MSC-EMs were successfully isolated using simple procedures and drug-loaded MSC-EMs were shown to be therapeutically efficient for the treatment of breast cancer both in vitro and in vivo. MSC-EMs may be used as drug delivery vehicles for breast cancers