EMPIRICAL MODELING OF SURFACE ROUGHNESS AND METAL REMOVAL RATE IN CNC MILLING OPERATION

Surface finish and material removal rate are two important factors in the manufacturing organization which affect acceptability of the product which in turn reflects on the profitability of the organization. Ability of the production setup to produce the components with high material removal rate without sacrificing the surface requirements can play vital role in sustainability and profitability of the organization. In this paper, the effect of process parameters on metal removal rate and surface roughness has been investigated in milling of SAE52100 tool steel. Cutting speed, feed and depth of cut have been taken as input factors in three level full factorial orthogonal arrays used for experimentation. Mathematical models have been developed using response surface methodology to predict surface finish, and metal removal rate in term of machining parameters.  Depth of cut and feed rate are found to be a dominant parameter for surface roughness; whereas feed rate mainly effects the metal removal rate. The results of mathematical models have been compared with the experimental and found to be in good agreement. The results of predicted model can be used in selection of process parameters to insure desired quality and improved productivity

Diversity in Honors: Understanding Systemic Biases through Student Narratives

Centered on superiority over a certain group or individual, discrimination becomes predominant in prestigious institutions that pride themselves on exclusivity. Collegiate honors programs tend to deepen this practice by creating highly elite spaces accessible only to a select few. This rigidity can lead to an underrepresentation of historically marginalized groups, students who often lack the necessary resources for achieving academic excellence. This case study examines the ways honors programs inadvertently perpetuate discrimination among different social identities. Using inductive interviewing of honors students (n = 12) to gauge individual perceptions of program diversity, researchers rely on content analysis to generate four themes (relationship, discrimination, exclusion, conformity). By cross-analyzing participant responses with social identities, key programmatic components that may have led to covert systemic bias are uncovered. Results further indicate a possible link between a student’s racial identity and their sense of belonging within the program, with people of color reporting more instances of “othering” and discrimination. This study reveals a pressing need for increasing access to honors for minority students and improving the level of integration and retention among students currently enrolled

Effect of Obesity on Acute Ozone-Induced Changes in Airway Function, Reactivity, and Inflammation in Adult Females

We previously observed greater ozone-induced lung function decrements in obese than non-obese women. Animal models suggest that obesity enhances ozone-induced airway reactivity and inflammation. In a controlled exposure study, we compared the acute effect of randomized 0.4ppm ozone and air exposures (2 h with intermittent light exercise) in obese (N = 20) (30<BMI<40Kg/m2) vs. non-obese (N = 20) (BMI<25Kg/m2) non-smoking 18–35 year old women. We measured spirometry and bronchial reactivity to inhaled methacholine (3h post-exposure). Inflammation and obesity markers were assessed in the blood (pre, 4h post, and 20h post exposures) and induced-sputum (4h post-exposures and on 24h pre-exposure training day, no exercise): measures of C reactive protein (CRP) (blood only), leptin (blood only), adiponectin, interleukins IL-6, IL-1b, and IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor alpha, and sputum cell differential cell counts. The pre- to post-exposure decrease in forced vital capacity after ozone (adjusted for the change after air exposure) was significantly greater in the obese group (12.5+/-7.5 vs. 8.0+/-5.8%, p<0.05). Post ozone exposure, 6 obese and 6 non-obese subjects responded to methacholine at ≤ 10mg/ml (the maximum dose); the degree of hyperresponsiveness was similar for the two groups. Both BMI groups showed similar and significant ozone-induced increases in sputum neutrophils. Plasma IL-6 was increased by exercise (4 hr post air exposure vs. pre) only in the obese but returned to pre-air exposure levels at 20hr post-exposure. Plasma IL-6 was significantly increased at 4hr post ozone exposure in both groups and returned to pre-exposure levels by 20h post-exposure. These results confirm our previous findings of greater post-ozone spirometric decrements in obese young women. However, acute ozone-induced airway reactivity to methacholine and airway inflammation did not differ by obesity at the exposure and exercise levels used

Major and minor fisheries harbours of India. 8. Fisherries harbours along the coasts of North Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal

The present account gives information about the three major and five minor fisheries harbours along the coasts of north Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Benga

Impact of recent cyclone lashed along West Bengal, Orissa and northern Andhra Pradesh coasts on the marine fishery sector

Impact of recent cyclone lashed along West Bengal, Orissa and northern Andhra Pradesh coasts on the marine fishery secto

An agenda for integrated system-wide interdisciplinary agri-food research

© 2017 The Author(s)This paper outlines the development of an integrated interdisciplinary approach to agri-food research, designed to address the ‘grand challenge’ of global food security. Rather than meeting this challenge by working in separate domains or via single-disciplinary perspectives, we chart the development of a system-wide approach to the food supply chain. In this approach, social and environmental questions are simultaneously addressed. Firstly, we provide a holistic model of the agri-food system, which depicts the processes involved, the principal inputs and outputs, the actors and the external influences, emphasising the system’s interactions, feedbacks and complexities. Secondly, we show how this model necessitates a research programme that includes the study of land-use, crop production and protection, food processing, storage and distribution, retailing and consumption, nutrition and public health. Acknowledging the methodological and epistemological challenges involved in developing this approach, we propose two specific ways forward. Firstly, we propose a method for analysing and modelling agri-food systems in their totality, which enables the complexity to be reduced to essential components of the whole system to allow tractable quantitative analysis using LCA and related methods. This initial analysis allows for more detailed quantification of total system resource efficiency, environmental impact and waste. Secondly, we propose a method to analyse the ethical, legal and political tensions that characterise such systems via the use of deliberative fora. We conclude by proposing an agenda for agri-food research which combines these two approaches into a rational programme for identifying, testing and implementing the new agri-technologies and agri-food policies, advocating the critical application of nexus thinking to meet the global food security challenge

Opportunities and Challenges of establishing Open Access Repositories: A case study of OpenMED@NIC

National Informatics Centre had established a subject repository in May 2005. It is meant for Medical and Allied Sciences and named as OpenMED@NIC http://openmed.nic.in. It has MeSH® based subject categorization and this makes it one of its own kind. Taking OpenMED@NIC as a case – this paper discusses key issues in establishing and maintaining an open access repository. Librarians and information science professionals can play active role in providing access and exposure to quality research and academic content generated in their institutions. Mature and standard open sources softwares are now available for setting up repositories. Libraries can install one of these on existing institutional or library servers to setup repositories. However to ensure better access and faster response time dedicated hardware and reliable connectivity would be required. Librarians and information science professional can play important role in exposing intellectual content produced by their organizations. They can take of various roles like – generating awareness among staff, researchers and students about benefits of self arching in institutional or subject repositories; training them in uploading their articles and other documents in such repositories; acting as meta-data editors and repositories managers. Establishing a repository, administrating and inviting authors to deposit their articles and other works in it is golden opportunity available to librarians and information science professionals. This opportunity should be grabbed with open hands