Hot ductility and deformation behavior of C-Mn/Nb-microalloyed steel related to cracking during continuous casting

Hot ductility studies have been performed on C-Mn and C-Mn-Nb steels with an approach to simulate the effect of cooling conditions experienced by steel in secondary cooling zone during continuous casting. Thermal oscillations prior to tensile straining deteriorate hot ductility of steel by deepening and widening the hot ductility trough. C-Mn steels are found to exhibit ductility troughs in three distinct zones whereas C-Mn-Nb steel shows drop in ductility only at low temperature in the vicinity of ferrite transformation temperatures. Start of ferrite transformation in steels causes yield ratio to increase while work hardening rates and strength coefficient decrease with decrease in test temperature in presence of thermal oscillation prior to tensile testing. Inhibition of recrystallization due to build-up of AlN particles along with the presence of MnS particles in structure and low work hardening rates causes embrittlement of steel in austenitic range. Alloying elements enhancing work hardening rates in austenitic range can be promoted to improve hot ductility. The presence of low melting phase saturated with impurities along the austenitic grain boundaries causes intergranular fracture at high temperature in C-Mn steels

Molecular Study of Glycoprotein (G) Gene Region of Rabies Virus from Spotted Deer, Delhi, India

Rabies is a viral zoonotic disease of public health importance in India. The disease is usually transmitted by a rabid animal bite, scratches and licks on broken skin and mucous membrane. Rabies is reported from all continents except Antarctica although prevalence is more in Asia and Africa. India is endemic for rabies virus (RABV) throughout the country except for islands of Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar. In the present study, brain samples of clinically suspected animals obtained during the RABV outbreak at National Zoological Park, New Delhi, India, in 2016 were initially tested for rabies antigen by DFAT. All the 32 DFAT positive brain samples were then processed for RNA isolation. The extracted RNA was amplified for glycoprotein (G) gene of 590 bp by RT-PCR followed by nucleotide sequencing. Nucleotide alignment revealed only substitutions without any insertion or deletion. Amino acid alignment revealed replacement at four positions namely L244I, T264A, M310I and N375K. The amino acid change at position where Leucine is replaced by Isoleucine has not been observed in available RABV references of the G gene region either from India or other countries. This mutation was observed in all the samples included in the present study. A phylogenetic tree showed that all the study sequences belonged to Arctic like 1a lineage, in RABV genotype 1. In conclusion, RABV in the study region is acquiring genetic variation; which may have effect on the pathogenicity. This indicates that continued molecular surveillance of the circulating rabies virus strains should be carried out

Identifying design criteria for urban system last-mile solutions -A multi-stakeholder perspective

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2016.1147099This study presents a novel approach to design and evaluate ‘last-mile’ solutions – encompassing the social and economic perspectives of key stakeholders. While urban system initiatives have been implemented in practice, theoretical gaps remain at the operational design level. A theoretical framework is developed, based on design criteria identified from a critical synthesis of supply chain and operations management literature, and ‘operationalised’ using an in-depth case study demonstrating implementation of a Consumer Choice Portal-Package Consolidation Centre solution, within a densely populated urban geography. Findings suggest that there is a need to re-define the role of institutional actors beyond that of the traditional governance task, to one of being able to facilitate performance outcomes. Similarly, industrial efficiency dimensions need to be reorientated to include consumer participation, social considerations and multi-stakeholder service outcomes. Finally, implications for operations theory and practising managers in city logistics are highlighted, with suggested directions for future research.TS

Pretenuring for Java

Pretenuring is a technique for reducing copying costs in garbage collectors. When pretenuring, the allocator places long-lived objects into regions that the garbage collector will rarely, if ever, collect. We extend previous work on profiling-driven pretenuring as follows. (1) We develop a collector-neutral approach to obtaining object lifetime profile information. We show that our collection of Java programs exhibits a very high degree of homogeneity of object lifetimes at each allocation site. This result is robust with respect to different inputs, and is similar to previous work on ML, but is in contrast to C programs, which require dynamic call chain context information to extract homogeneous lifetimes. Call-site homogeneity considerably simplifies the implementation of pretenuring and makes it more efficient. (2) Our pretenuring advice is neutral with respect to the collector algorithm, and we use it to improve two quite different garbage collectors: a traditional generational collector and an older-first collector. The system is also novel because it classifies and allocates objects into 3 categories: we allocate immortal objects into a permanent region that the collector will never consider, long-lived objects into a region in which the collector placed survivors of the most recent collection, and shortlived objects into the nursery, i.e., the default region. (3) We evaluate pretenuring on Java programs. Our simulation results show that pretenuring significantly reduces collector copying for generational and older-first collectors. 1

Molecular profiling of ETS and non‐ETS aberrations in prostate cancer patients from northern India

BACKGROUNDMolecular stratification of prostate cancer (PCa) based on genetic aberrations including ETS or RAF gene‐rearrangements, PTEN deletion, and SPINK1 over‐expression show clear prognostic and diagnostic utility. Gene rearrangements involving ETS transcription factors are frequent pathogenetic somatic events observed in PCa. Incidence of ETS rearrangements in Caucasian PCa patients has been reported, however, occurrence in Indian population is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the ETS and RAF kinase gene rearrangements, SPINK1 over‐expression, and PTEN deletion in this cohort.METHODSIn this multi‐center study, formalin‐fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) PCa specimens (n = 121) were procured from four major medical institutions in India. The tissues were sectioned and molecular profiling was done using immunohistochemistry (IHC), RNA in situ hybridization (RNA‐ISH) and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).RESULTSERG over‐expression was detected in 48.9% (46/94) PCa specimens by IHC, which was confirmed in a subset of cases by FISH. Among other ETS family members, while ETV1 transcript was detected in one case by RNA‐ISH, no alteration in ETV4 was observed. SPINK1 over‐expression was observed in 12.5% (12/96) and PTEN deletion in 21.52% (17/79) of the total PCa cases. Interestingly, PTEN deletion was found in 30% of the ERG‐positive cases (P = 0.017) but in only one case with SPINK1 over‐expression (P = 0.67). BRAF and RAF1 gene rearrangements were detected in ∼1% and ∼4.5% of the PCa cases, respectively.CONCLUSIONSThis is the first report on comprehensive molecular profiling of the major spectrum of the causal aberrations in Indian men with PCa. Our findings suggest that ETS gene rearrangement and SPINK1 over‐expression patterns in North Indian population largely resembled those observed in Caucasian population but differed from Japanese and Chinese PCa patients. The molecular profiling data presented in this study could help in clinical decision‐making for the pursuit of surgery, diagnosis, and in selection of therapeutic intervention. Prostate 75:1051–1062, 2015. © 2015 The Authors. The Prostate, published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111808/1/pros22989.pd