Localised Broadband Curing of Directly Written Inks for the Production of Electrical Devices for Aerospace Applications

Direct Write (DW) technologies afford the possibility of printing electronics and sensors directly onto structural components. This allows advantageous weight saving by making good use of available space through conformal printing whilst adding functionality. To enable DW fabrication of devices onto large aerospace structures a localised processing method is required. This paper investigates the feasibility of using a broadband thermal spot curing system for processing DW Inkjet and Polymer Thick Film (PTF) materials onto composite structures. The characteristics of spot cured tracks were compared to conventional oven cured tracks and were shown to exhibit equivalent resistances.Mechanical Engineerin

SURFACE MODIFICATION OF RING-TRAVELER OF TEXTILE SPINNING MACHINE FOR SUBSTANTIALITY

In this report, a study of the wear mechanisms involved in spinning Ring and Traveler of textile industry have been presented. These components, after surface processing with various coatings techniques, were analyzed on the test rig to analyze the wear mechanism. The objective was accomplished by comparing various plasma sprayed coatings on E52100 steel pins using a Pin-on-Disc machine. The surface morphology as well as mechanical properties of the deposited coatings namely WC-Co-Cr, Al2O3+TiO2 (Alumina-Titania) and Cr3C2NiCr, as well as uncoated E52100, were comparatively studied. This study elucidates towards improving the working life of the Ring in a Textile mill while spinning operation. An X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was employed to characterize the unworn and worn surfaces of the specimens. The study revealed that the wear rate of Plasma sprayed thermal coatings enhanced with augmenting load. The Plasma sprayed WC-Co-Cr, Cr3C2NiCr, Al2O3+13TiO2 coatings developed on workpiece pins exhibited a notable decrease in volume loss of the material as compared to uncoated E52100 substrate. WC-Co-Cr coating turned out to be the best performer in terms of lowest cumulative volume loss among all the variants of coatings

TO EVALUATE CARDIAC AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM FUNCTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

AIM: To evaluate cardiac autonomic nervous system functions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present study was carried out on both males and females of mean age group 44+12 years to study autonomic functions in RA. All parameters were recorded and studied on 35 volunteers, out of which 25 were diagnosed with RA and 10 were healthy individuals which served as controls.The cardiac functions were evaluated by six non-invasive standardized tests consisting of 30:15 ratio, standing / lying ratio, expiration / inspiration ratio, valsalva ratio, blood pressure response to standing, blood pressure response to valsalva maneuver and hand grip test.The tests were carried out on patient (in and out door) in department of Medicine, at DMC & H by using cardiofax Machine (Medicarid systems).Details of history and examination were recorded on special proforma. RESULTS: In the present study standing to lying ratio (p<0.001),Expiration to inspiration ratio (p<0.01) both indicative of parasympathetic function were significantly less in RA patients as compared to control indicating an impaired vagal function in study group.On the blood pressure response to standing, the decrease in diastolic blood pressure was significant (P<0.01) in study group as compared to control which is indicative of hypofunctional sympathetic ANS. CONCLUSIONS: There is cardiac autonomic nervous system dysfunction (both sympathetic and parasympathetic) in the patients with Rheumatoid arthritis when compared to control.Autonomic function tests can help in predicting cardio vascular risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients

Endonuclease EEPD1 Is a Gatekeeper for Repair of Stressed Replication Forks

Replication is not as continuous as once thought, with DNA damage frequently stalling replication forks. Aberrant repair of stressed replication forks can result in cell death or genome instability and resulting transformation to malignancy. Stressed replication forks are most commonly repaired via homologous recombination (HR), which begins with 5' end resection, mediated by exonuclease complexes, one of which contains Exo1. However, Exo1 requires free 5'-DNA ends upon which to act, and these are not commonly present in non-reversed stalled replication forks. To generate a free 5' end, stalled replication forks must therefore be cleaved. Although several candidate endonucleases have been implicated in cleavage of stalled replication forks to permit end resection, the identity of such an endonuclease remains elusive. Here we show that the 5'-endonuclease EEPD1 cleaves replication forks at the junction between the lagging parental strand and the unreplicated DNA parental double strands. This cleavage creates the structure that Exo1 requires for 5' end resection and HR initiation. We observed that EEPD1 and Exo1 interact constitutively, and Exo1 repairs stalled replication forks poorly without EEPD1. Thus, EEPD1 performs a gatekeeper function for replication fork repair by mediating the fork cleavage that permits initiation of HR-mediated repair and restart of stressed forks

Dialysis Initiation in Patients With Chronic Coronary Disease and Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease in ISCHEMIA-CKD

BACKGROUND: In participants with concomitant chronic coronary disease and advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), the effect of treatment strategies on the timing of dialysis initiation is not well characterized. METHODS AND RESULTS: In ISCHEMIA‐CKD (International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches–Chronic Kidney Disease), 777 participants with advanced CKD and moderate or severe ischemia were randomized to either an initial invasive or conservative management strategy. Herein, we compare the proportion of randomized participants with non–dialysis‐requiring CKD at baseline (n=362) who initiated dialysis and compare the time to dialysis initiation between invasive versus conservative management arms. Using multivariable Cox regression analysis, we also sought to identify the effect of invasive versus conservative chronic coronary disease management strategies on dialysis initiation. At a median follow‐up of 23 months (25th–75th interquartile range, 14–32 months), dialysis was initiated in 18.9% of participants (36/190) in the invasive strategy and 16.9% of participants (29/172) in the conservative strategy (P=0.22). The median time to dialysis initiation was 6.0 months (interquartile range, 3.0–16.0 months) in the invasive group and 18.2 months (interquartile range, 12.2–25.0 months) in the conservative group (P=0.004), with no difference in procedural acute kidney injury rates between the groups (7.8% versus 5.4%; P=0.26). Baseline clinical factors associated with earlier dialysis initiation were lower baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (hazard ratio [HR] associated with 5‐unit decrease, 2.08 [95% CI, 1.72–2.56]; P<0.001), diabetes (HR, 2.30 [95% CI, 1.28–4.13]; P=0.005), hypertension (HR, 7.97 [95% CI, 1.09–58.21]; P=0.041), and Hispanic ethnicity (HR, 2.34 [95% CI, 1.22–4.47]; P=0.010). CONCLUSIONS: In participants with non–dialysis‐requiring CKD in ISCHEMIA‐CKD, randomization to an invasive chronic coronary disease management strategy (relative to a conservative chronic coronary disease management strategy) is associated with an accelerated time to initiation of maintenance dialysis for kidney failure

Carbon-sensitive pedotransfer functions for plant available water

Currently accepted pedotransfer functions show negligible effect of management-induced changes to soil organic carbon (SOC) on plant available water holding capacity (θAWHC), while some studies show the ability to substantially increase θAWHC through management. The Soil Health Institute\u27s North America Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements measured water content at field capacity using intact soil cores across 124 long-term research sites that contained increases in SOC as a result of management treatments such as reduced tillage and cover cropping. Pedotransfer functions were created for volumetric water content at field capacity (θFC) and permanent wilting point (θPWP). New pedotransfer functions had predictions of θAWHC that were similarly accurate compared with Saxton and Rawls when tested on samples from the National Soil Characterization database. Further, the new pedotransfer functions showed substantial effects of soil calcareousness and SOC on θAWHC. For an increase in SOC of 10 g kg–1 (1%) in noncalcareous soils, an average increase in θAWHC of 3.0 mm 100 mm–1 soil (0.03 m3 m–3) on average across all soil texture classes was found. This SOC related increase in θAWHC is about double previous estimates. Calcareous soils had an increase in θAWHC of 1.2 mm 100 mm–1 soil associated with a 10 g kg–1 increase in SOC, across all soil texture classes. New equations can aid in quantifying benefits of soil management practices that increase SOC and can be used to model the effect of changes in management on drought resilience

Linking soil microbial community structure to potential carbon mineralization: A continental scale assessment of reduced tillage

Potential carbon mineralization (Cmin) is a commonly used indicator of soil health, with greater Cmin values interpreted as healthier soil. While Cmin values are typically greater in agricultural soils managed with minimal physical disturbance, the mechanisms driving the increases remain poorly understood. This study assessed bacterial and archaeal community structure and potential microbial drivers of Cmin in soils maintained under various degrees of physical disturbance. Potential carbon mineralization, 16S rRNA sequences, and soil characterization data were collected as part of the North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements (NAPESHM). Results showed that type of cropping system, intensity of physical disturbance, and soil pH influenced microbial sensitivity to physical disturbance. Furthermore, 28% of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), which were important in modeling Cmin, were enriched under soils managed with minimal physical disturbance. Sequences identified as enriched under minimal disturbance and important for modeling Cmin, were linked to organisms which could produce extracellular polymeric substances and contained metabolic strategies suited for tolerating environmental stressors. Understanding how physical disturbance shapes microbial communities across climates and inherent soil properties and drives changes in Cmin provides the context necessary to evaluate management impacts on standardized measures of soil microbial activity

Primary anal malignant melanoma: A case report

Anal melanoma is a rare and highly aggressive mucosal melanocytic malignancy. It is the third most common after melanomas of the skin and retina. The peak incidence in seen in the sixth and seventh decades. The clinical symptoms are pain, anal mass, bleeding per rectum, tenesmus or change in the bowel habits. It affects anal canal, rectum or both with a tendency to spread along submucosal planes. It is mostly beyond complete resection at the time of diagnosis and majority of patients die of metastasis. MR imaging significantly increases the diagnosis of anal melanoma in its early stages

To determine the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions and their association with pattern of tobacco

Aim: To determine the Prevalence of Oral mucosal lesions and their association with Pattern of tobacco. Methods: Following ethical approval, a descriptive, cross sectional research with 200 participants was done at the department of oral pathology. Individuals aged 16 and up who visited the research location and were consulted for wilful involvement in the study were included. Personal interviews were used to collect demographic information as well as tobacco use status utilising a selfdesigned proforma. Tobacco consumption habits were broadly classified into four categories based on the following criteria: smokers were those who reported daily or less than daily use of smoked form of tobacco without use of smokeless tobacco, whereas smokeless tobacco users were those who reported daily or less than daily use of smokeless tobacco without use of smoked form of tobacco. Individuals who used both forms throughout the research were classified as dual users, whereas those who never used tobacco or had a history of quitting one or both kinds were classified as nontobacco users. Results: The study population consisted of 100 people, 70 percent of whom were men and 30 percent of whom were females, with a mean age of 47.41 10.52 years

Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy in Cirrhosis- How Long to Treat?

Introduction: Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) can reverse after short-term treatment. However, relapse rate of MHE after stopping treatment has not been studied so far. We aimed to evaluate long-term (9 months) efficacy of a short-term (3 months) treatment of MHE with lactulose/rifaximin, for maintenance of remission from MHE. Material and Methods: In this prospective study, consecutive patients with cirrhosis and MHE were treated with lactulose/rifaximin for 3 months. After treatment, they were followed up for 6 months. Psychometric testing for diagnosis of MHE was performed at baseline, 3 months and 9 months. Results: Of the 527 patients screened, 351 were found eligible and tested for MHE. Out of these, 112 (31.9%) patients had MHE (mean age 55.3 years; 75% males). They were randomized to receive Rifaximin (n = 57; 1,200 mg/day) or Lactulose (n = 55; 30-120 mL/day) for three months. At 3 months, 73.7% (42/57) patients in Rifaximin group experienced MHE reversal compared to 69.1% (38/55) in Lac-tulose group (p = 0.677). Six months after stopping treatment, 47.6% (20/42) in rifaximin group and 42.1% (16/38) patients in lactu-lose group experienced MHE relapse (p = 0.274). The overt hepatic encephalopathy development rate (7.1% vs. 7.9%) and mortality rate (0.23% vs. 0%) were similar in both groups. The Child-Turcotte-Pugh score and model for end stage liver disease (MELD) scores of patients who had MHE relapse were higher compared to those who didn’t. On multivariate regression analysis, MELD score was an independent predictor of MHE relapse. Conclusion: Of the patients who became MHE negative after short-term (3 months) treatment with rifaximin/lactulose, almost 50% had a relapse of MHE at 6 months follow-up