Biaxial Flexural Strength and Estimation of Size on the Strength Properties of FRP Composites

Fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) are widely used as structural materials. For designing structural components, a designer is provided with data based on unidirectional testing. But in real structural applications the component is subjected to multiaxial stress throughout the material. Hence a multiaxial test is a better gauge of the behaviour of FRP components in service. In the present paper a ring-on-ring method was adopted which produces biaxial flexural stress on the FRP specimen. Wubull's statistical weakest link theory was applied to standardize the complexity and to assess the reliability of the results

Mental health, sleep and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a correlational study

Background: Co-morbid psychological impairments (depression and anxiety) are common in COPD and are often associated with increased disability, health care usage and morbidity. They also impair quality of life in COPD and are often not fully explored in the clinical management of COPD patients. Psychological distress may, however, contribute to sleep difficulties in all stages of disease severity. Both anxiety and depression have been shown to have a negative effect on the sleep and quality of life (QoL).Objectives: To study the correlation between depression, anxiety and sleep with quality of life in patients with COPD.Methodology: In a tertiary care hospital, this Observational study was conducted on 39 patients of age group 40-70 years, with spirometry confirmed COPD GOLD category I-IV and smokers with more than 5 years of disease who fulfilled were included  in the study. Quality of life was assessed using SGRQ-C, SF-12 and CAT. Depression, Anxiety and Sleep were assessed using PHQ-9, GAD-7 and PSQI questionnaires respectively. The correlation between quality of life scores and mental health scores were analysed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient.Results: Anxiety was significantly correlated with all the sub domains of SGRQ-C, PCS, MCS of SF-12 and the CAT score. (p value<0.001) Similarly, sleep was significantly correlated with all the three QoL Scales. (p value< 0.001) However, depression significantly correlated with all the subdomains of SGRQ-C and CAT except activity sub-domain of SGRQ-C and MCS of SF-12. (p value<0.001)Conclusion: Anxiety, Depression and Sleep moderately correlated with QoL scores in patients with COPD

A REVIEW ON ADVANCES IN PHARMACEUTICAL CO-CRYSTAL PREPARATION ROUTES, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PERSPECTIVE AND REGULATORY ASPECTS

As in recent years, due to the pervasiveness of poorly soluble APIs that demonstrates poor and erratic bioavailability, pharmaceutical cocrystal’s applicability to tailor the physicochemical properties has gained attention. Pharmaceutical cocrystal has been an exciting field of interest to researchers as this encouraged several regulatory bodies to create regulatory standards, which led to the approval of these crystals for marketing in various nations. With the upsurge in the growth of pharmaceutical cocrystals, the major concern is over the intellectual property perspective and regulatory status of cocrystals. With the new guidelines from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA), the manufacturing and characterization of cocrystal have become less complicated. In this article, various preparation routes are mentioned along with this intellectual property perspective and regulatory perspective, including regulatory guidelines, which give an idea of whether cocrystals meet the criteria for patent eligibility and how they would change the current state of the pharmaceutical industry. Here, we also reviewed some recently approved patients on pharmaceutical crystals, which provided benefits over poor physicochemical property of drug substances and also enhanced the therapeutic effectiveness of that drugs

Application of Wavelet Analysis on Transient Rlectivity in Ultra-thin Films

Applications of wavelet analysis in ultra-thin film transient reflectivity (TR) measurements have been investigated. Advantages of utilizing different localized wavelet bases, in position and time, have been addressed on the residual TR signals. Morse wavelets have been used to obtain information from the abrupt oscillatory modes in the signal, which are not distinguishable with conventional methods such as Fourier transforms. These abrupt oscillatory modes are caused by the surface, interface, or any short-lived oscillatory modes which are suppressed in the TR signal in ultra-thin films. It is demonstrated that by choosing different Morse wavelets, information regarding different oscillatory modes in the TR signal of a heterostructure thin film is achievable. Moreover, by performing wavelet analysis on multiferroic heterostructures, oscillatory modes with very close energy ranges are easily distinguishable. For illustration, residuals of the TR signals have been obtained by a pumpprobe setup in reflectivity mode on La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrTiO3 and BaTiO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrTiO3 samples, where sufficient signal to noise ratios have been achieved by taking multiple scans. The residual signals have been analyzed with Morse wavelets, and multiple oscillatory modes with close energy ranges have been observed and distinguished. This approach can isolate the location of various oscillatory modes at the surface, interface and in the bulk of the heterostructure sample

Nanoengineered Materials for SWIR HOT Detectors

Heavy metal Selenide has been investigated for more than half century for high operating temperature (HOT) mid wave infrared (MWIR) applications. Most of the efforts have been devoted to make detector arrays on high-resistivity Si substrates for operating wavelengths in the 1.5 to 5.0 m region using physical vapor transport grown poly crystalline materials. For most of the biological spectral and imaging applications, short wave infrared (SWIR) detectors have shown better performance. Recent growth materials have shown variation in morphology with slight change in growth conditions and hence variation in performance parameters such as bandgap, mobility and resistivity from sample to sample. We have performed growth and optical characterization of pure and doped PbS and PbSe and have determined bandgap using available theoretical models for different morphologies

Design of Materials for IR Detectors Using High Z Elements for High Energy Radiation Environment

There is a strong need for rad hard and high operating temperature IR detectors for space environment. Heavy metal Selenides (high Z and large density) have been investigated for more than half century for high operating temperature mid wave infrared (MWIR) applications. Most of the efforts have been devoted to make detector arrays on high-resistivity Si substrates for operating wavelengths in the 1.5 to 5.0 m region using physical vapor transport grown poly crystalline materials. For most of the biological spectral and imaging applications, short wave infrared (SWIR) detectors have shown better performance. Recent growth materials have shown variation in morphology with slight change in growth conditions and hence variation in performance parameters such as bandgap, mobility and resistivity from sample to sample. We have performed growth and optical characterization of binary materials CdSe-PbSe to determine the suitability for IR detector. We have determined bandgap using several theoretical models for different morphologies observed during growth on silicon wafers

A Saffron Spice Separation System with Computer Vision

A separation device is described to obtain saffron spice after harvesting. To set the separation device, a vertical wind tunnel is developed which measures the terminal velocities of parts of saffron flower, with variations for different regions and years of production. The separation device is equipped with a vision system, which evaluates the separation and the percentage of purity of the saffron spice obtained after separation. In this paper, the design and the realization of the wind tunnel and of the separation device are described and the separation of the flower is performed and discussed, evaluating the separation efficiency