Trends in Cardiac Pacemaker Batteries

Batteries used in Implantable cardiac pacemakers-present unique challenges to their developers and manufacturers in terms of high levels of safety and reliability. In addition, the batteries must have longevity to avoid frequent replacements. Technological advances in leads/electrodes have reduced energy requirements by two orders of magnitude. Micro-electronics advances sharply reduce internal current drain concurrently decreasing size and increasing functionality, reliability, and longevity. It is reported that about 600,000 pacemakers are implanted each year worldwide and the total number of people with various types of implanted pacemaker has already crossed 3 million. A cardiac pacemaker uses half of its battery power for cardiac stimulation and the other half for housekeeping tasks such as monitoring and data logging. The first implanted cardiac pacemaker used nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery, later on zinc-mercury battery was developed and used which lasted for over 2 years. Lithium iodine battery invented and used by Wilson Greatbatch and his team in 1972 made the real impact to implantable cardiac pacemakers. This battery lasts for about 10 years and even today is the power source for many manufacturers of cardiac pacemakers. This paper briefly reviews various developments of battery technologies since the inception of cardiac pacemaker and presents the alternative to lithium iodine battery for the near future

DESIGN OF AN ERROR DETECTION AND DATA RECOVERY ARCHITECTURE FOR MOTION ESTIMATION TESTING APPLICATIONS

Motion estimation (ME) in a video coding system is the critical role, so testing such a module is of priority concern. While focusing on the testing of ME in a video coding system, this work presents an error detection and data recovery (EDDR) design based on residue -and- quotient (RQ) code. An error in processing elements (PEs) can be detected and recovered effectively by using the proposed EDDR design. Importantly, the proposed EDDR design performs satisfactorily in terms of throughput and reliability for motion estimation (ME) testing applications

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Laser Beam Welds of 15CDV6 Steel

The present study is concerned with laser beam welding of 15CDV6 steel, that is in the hardened (quenched and tempered) condition before welding. Autogenously butt-welded joints are made using carbon dioxide laser with a maximum output of 3.5 kw in the continuous wave mode. Weld microstructure, microhardness measurement across the weldment, transverse tensile properties, and room temperature impact properties of the weldment have been evaluated. The fusion zone exhibits a epitaxial grain growth. The microstrutural features of heat-affected zone and fusion zone vary, due to different thermal cycles for which these were subjected during welding. The average weld metal hardness was 480 Hv. The observed hardness distribution across the welds were correlated with the microstructures. The welds exhibited lower toughness of 50 joules as compared to parent metal of 55 joules and the tensile strength values of the welded specimens are close to that obtained for sheet specimens.Defence Science Journal, Vol. 65, No. 4, July 2015, pp. 339-342, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.65.874

The Survey on Deployment of E-Resources in District Central Public Libraries in Andhra Pradesh: The User’s Perspective

The Future Public Libraries are filled with Electronic resources. All the public libraries in India need to improve the e-resource to meet the user information needs. Implementation of Information Communication Technology in the district central public libraries have to instruct their subordinate public libraries in the district., The utilization of the Internet, and conduction of the Digitization process in the district central public libraries in the state. The Community has to give their support to the implementation of information communication technologies and develop the electronic resource in the Central Coastal district public libraries in Andhra Pradesh. Sometime in the future, a public library is a room with a bookshelf and a computer terminal per person. The shelves are mostly bare of books and instead stuffed with old conventional documents. The Indian government had initiated to development of the public library system. Chadavadam makistam (We Love Reading) concept was initiated by the government of Andhra Pradesh, to improve the reading habitation in school level children

Invention into the AC Voltage Regulator with V/F Technique for Induction Motor Starting Applications

Modern electrical motors are available in many different forms with different mounting arrangements. To ensure a long life for the motor it is important to select it with correct degree of protection when operating under heavy duty conditions in a severe environment. Smooth starting is also one of major considerations to get long life and optimum efficiency. The conventional method to start an asynchronous motor with a soft starter is by reducing the voltage of the motor by varying the voltage “off time”. The “off time” could for example be controlled to achieve a desired maximum current level or a constant driving torque.  Even if the voltage is reduced the fundamental frequency of the voltage is equal to the supply voltage frequency. That gives a large difference between angular speed of supply voltage and angular speed of the rotor during start. Due to the large difference in angular speed the motor flux will be low and thereby also the ability to produce torque. Instead of using the conventional control method with a reduced voltage it is possible to use a method with controlled flux similar to frequency inverters for soft-starters. As the soft-starter does not have the intermediate DC energy storage the applied voltage vector has to be directly modulated from the mains supply

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF ORODISPERSIBLE TABLETS OF DONEPEZIL HYDROCHLORIDE

Objective: The present study was aimed to develop the formulation and in vitro evaluation of Orodispersible tablets by wet granulation method using Donepezil HCl as a model drug to enhance patient compliance. Methods: In the wet granulation method, a mixture of microcrystalline cellulose and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose were used along with superdisintegrants, i.e., croscarmellose sodium and crospovidone. The prepared granules were subjected to both pre and post-compression evaluation parameters including; FTIR spectroscopy, micromeritics properties, tablet weight variation, hardness, friability, drug content, disintegration time and in vitro drug release. Results: FTIR studies indicated that there was nointeraction between the drug and the excipients used. The formulation containing high concentration of crospovidone and mixture as the best formulation F2 based on in vitro drug release characteristics of tablet formulation. Conclusion: The results of this work suggested that orodispersible tablets of Donepezil hydrochloride with rapid disintegration time, fast drug release and good hardness can be efficiently and successfully formulated by wet granulation method

A Pharmacovigilance Study on Causality and Severity Assessment of Adverse Drug Reactions in a Teaching Hospital

Objectives: The main purpose of the study is to assess the causality, severity, preventability of ADRs and factors associated with ADRs in chronic disease patients of tertiary care teaching hospital. Study setting and Design: A Prospective observational longitudinal study was conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital at Hyderabad, India, for 3 years. Materials and Methods: Patients of age group > 18 years were included in the study. All the patients were distributed according to their gender, age, number medications used, disease condition, and socioeconomic state. The reported ADRs were analyzed by WHO-UMC causality, Hartwig’s Siegel’s scale and modified Shumock and Thornton criteria respectively. Statistical analysis used: Descriptive statistical analysis was used. Results: A total of 691 patients enrolled in the study, in that 391 patients reported with 510 ADRs. Of these 37.0% are in-patients and 62.9% are out-patients. Majority of the patients are female category (58.0%) and 45.8% of ADRs reported from adults (41-60 years). 65.8% patients are non-adherent to medication. Life style habits, economic status and education are found to be predictors for ADRs. WHO-UMC scale showed 42.9% of ADRs probable. Hartwig’s and Siegel’s severity scales shown 13.1 % ADRs are severe followed by 33.7% moderate ADRs and 40% of ADRs were preventable. Conclusion: Hence our study advises that there is a need of improvement in ADR reporting from health care professionals. This study also suggests further research in India for the improvement of possible intervention strategies to reduce burden and cost of ADR. Keywords: Prospective, ADR reporting, WHO-UMC, Hartwig’s Siegel’s scale, Shumock and Thornton

Application of Taguchi approach and Utility Concept in solving the Multi-objective Problem when

The traditional Taguchi method is widely used for optimizing the process parameters of a single response problem. Optimizationof a single response results the non-optimum values for remaining. But, the performance of the manufactured products isoften evaluated by several quality characteristics/responses. Under such circumstances, multi-characteristics response optimizationmay be the solution to optimize multi-responses simultaneously. In the present work, a multi-characteristics responseoptimization model based on Taguchi and Utility concept is used to optimize process parameters, such as speed, feed, depthof cut, and nose radius on multiple performance characteristics, namely, surface roughness (Ra) and material removal rate(MRR) during turning of AISI 202 austenitic stainless steel using a CVD coated cemented carbide tool. Taguchi’s L8 orthogonalarray (OA) is selected for experimental planning. The experimental result analysis showed that the combination of higherlevels of cutting speed, depth of cut, and nose radius and lower level of feed is essential to achieve simultaneous maximizationof material removal rate and minimization of surface roughness. The ANOVA and F-tests are used to analyze the results.Further, the confirmation tests are conducted and the results are found to be within the confidence interval

GRNN-Immune Based Strategy for Estimating and Optimizing the Vibratory Assisted Welding Parameters to Produce Quality Welded Joints

Welding is the process of producing permanent joints with the application of pressure and/or heat energy. During welding operation, weldments may be subjected to uneven thermal stresses. These stresses influence the metallurgical structure of the component. Due to this, the strength of the weld joint is reduced. Therefore, vibratory weld treatment during welding has been proposed in the present work to enhance the flexural and impact strength of weldments. However, it is found that the mechanical properties have shown nonlinear behavior with the chosen input parameters. Hence, an efficient Neural Network (NN) based prediction tool is developed to approximate the mechanical properties of weldments without performing the experiments, output values can be predicted for the given input values. Further, an immune based strategy is integrated to the developed prediction tool in order to obtain desired quality welded joints.Welding is the process of producing permanent joints with the application of pressure and/or heat energy. During welding operation, weldments may be subjected to uneven thermal stresses. These stresses influence the metallurgical structure of the component. Due to this, the strength of the weld joint is reduced. Therefore, vibratory weld treatment during welding has been proposed in the present work to enhance the flexural and impact strength of weldments. However, it is found that the mechanical properties have shown nonlinear behavior with the chosen input parameters. Hence, an efficient Neural Network (NN) based prediction tool is developed to approximate the mechanical properties of weldments without performing the experiments, output values can be predicted for the given input values. Further, an immune based strategy is integrated to the developed prediction tool in order to obtain desired quality welded joints