Preparation effect of mould systems on microstructure and mechanical properties of spheroidised graphite iron

This study is based on evaluation of microstructure and mechanical properties such as tensile strength, Brinell hardness and Charpy impact test of as-cast spheroidal graphite iron using sandwich techniques in different mould systems viz. green sand mould, dry sand mould and CO2 sand mould under varying cooling rates

Prevention of endotoxin-induced uveitis in rabbits by Triphala, an Ayurvedic formulation

Purpose: Triphala (TA) is an Ayurvedic formulation used to treat various disorders. The present study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of TA aqueous extract on experimental uveitis in the rabbit. Methods: Anterior uveitis was induced in rabbits by intravitreal injection of lipopolysaccharide from Eschericha coli after pretreatment with TA aqueous extract. Subsequently the anti-inflammatory activity of TA was evaluated by grading the clinical signs and estimating the inflammatory cell count, protein, and TNF-α level in the aqueous humour. Results: The anterior segment inflammation in the control group was significantly higher than in TA and prednisolone treated groups, as observed by clinical grading. The inflammatory cell count in the control group was 31.23 ± 0.80 × 105cells/ml, whereas it was 3.29 ± 0.47 × 105cells/ml (P < 0.0001 vs. control) and 1.31 ± 0.31 × 105 (P < 0.0001 vs. control) cells/ml in the TA and prednisolone treated groups, respectively. The protein content of the aqueous humour was 15.43 ± 0.54, 3.13 ± 0.35 (P < 0.0001 vs. control), and 1.96 ± 0.39 (P < 0.0001 vs. control) mg/ml in the control, TA and prednisolone treated groups respectively. The aqueous TNF- α level in the control group was 942.20 ± 6.46 pg/ml and was 261.30 ± 13.60 (P < 0.001 vs. control) and 104.00 ± 4.50 (P < 0.0001 vs. control) pg/ml in the TA and prednisolone treated groups, respectively. \ud Conclusions: Topical administration of aqueous extract of TA prevented uveitis in endotoxin-induced experimental rabbits.\u

Magnetic, magnetocaloric and magnetotransport properties of RSn_{1+x}Ge_{1-x} compounds (R=Gd, Tb, Er; x=0.1)

We have studied the magnetic, magnetocaloric and magnetotransport properties of RSn1+xGe1-x(R=Gd, Tb, Er; x=0.1) series by means of magnetization, heat capacity and resistivity measurements. It has been found that all the compounds crystallize in the orthorhombic crystal structure described by the centrosymmetric space group Cmcm (No. 63). The magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity data suggest that all the compounds are antiferromagnetic. Large negative values of {\theta}p in case of GdSn1.1Ge0.9 and TbSn1.1Ge0.9 indicate that strong antiferromagnetic interactions are involved, which is also reflected in the magnetization isotherms. On the other hand ErSn1.1Ge0.9 shows weak antiferromagnetic interaction. The heat capacity data have been analyzed by fitting the temperature dependence and the values of {\theta}D and {\gamma} have been estimated. Among these three compounds, ErSn1.1Ge0.9 shows considerable magnetic entropy change of 9.5 J/kg K and an adiabatic temperature change of 3.2 K for a field of 50 kOe. The resistivity data in different temperature regimes have been analyzed and the dominant contributions have been identified. All the compounds show small but positive magnetoresistance.Comment: 23 pages,11 figure

Dynamic Instruction Scheduling For Microprocessors Having Out Of Order Execution

Dynamic Instruction Scheduling is very much needed for fast working of multiprocessor and reduction of overhead by the processor. The Instruction scheduling logic mainly depends on associative searching of the entries to the dynamic wakeup instructions for the execution. We also describes the scheduler concept which also the concern for scalability and complexity of the multiprocessor. We have different Dynamic Instruction Scheduling Logic highlighting the objectives, goals, advantages and challenges facing during scheduling logic like energy issues and complexity issues as well as full description of dynamic instruction Scheduling logic. In this paper, we will be presented in a comprehensive analysis to reschedule the execution order of instructions for improve the performance of microprocessor. General Terms: Design, Performance, Measurement Keywords: Dynamic Instruction Scheduling, Instruction Grouping, Issue Queue

HIV Testing among Patients with Presumptive Tuberculosis: How Do We Implement in a Routine Programmatic Setting? Results of a Large Operational Research from India.

BACKGROUND: In March 2012, World Health Organization recommended that HIV testing should be offered to all patients with presumptive TB (previously called TB suspects). How this is best implemented and monitored in routine health care settings in India was not known. An operational research was conducted in Karnataka State (South India, population 64 million, accounts for 10% of India's HIV burden), to test processes and learn results and challenges of screening presumptive TB patients for HIV within routine health care settings. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study conducted between January-March 2012, all presumptive TB patients attending public sector sputum microscopy centres state-wide were offered HIV testing by the laboratory technician, and referred to the nearest public sector HIV counselling and testing services, usually within the same facility. The HIV status of the patients was recorded in the routine TB laboratory form and TB laboratory register. The laboratory register was compiled to obtain the number of presumptive TB patients whose HIV status was ascertained, and the number found HIV positive. Aggregate data on reasons for non-testing were compiled at district level. RESULTS: Overall, 115,308 patients with presumptive TB were examined for sputum smear microscopy at 645 microscopy centres state-wide. Of these, HIV status was ascertained for 62,847(55%) among whom 7,559(12%) were HIV-positive, and of these, 3,034(40%) were newly diagnosed. Reasons for non-testing were reported for 37,700(72%) of the 52,461 patients without HIV testing; non-availability of testing services at site of sputum collection was cited by health staff in 54% of respondents. Only 4% of patients opted out of HIV testing. CONCLUSION: Offering HIV testing routinely to presumptive TB patients detected large numbers of previously-undetected instances of HIV infection. Several operational challenges were noted which provide useful lessons for improving uptake of HIV testing in this important group

The Novel Lossless Text Compression Technique Using Ambigram Logic and Huffman Coding

The new era of networking is looking forward to improved and effective methods in channel utilization. There are many texts where lossless data recovery is vitally essential because of the importance of information it holds. Therefore, a lossless decomposition algorithm which is independent of the nature and pattern of text is today's top concern. Efficiency of algorithms used today varies greatly depending on the nature of text. This paper mainly brings in the idea of using an art form called ambigram to compress text which is again compressed by Huffman coding with consistency in the efficiency of the compression. Keywords: Ambigrams, Huffman coding, Lossless compression, Steganography, Embedded algorithms, Encryption

Mechanical and Water Absorption Properties of Hybrid Sisal/Glass Fibre Reinforced Epoxy Composite

Our environment is being pullulated due to the great use of synthetic fibre as reinforcement for polymer composites. Natural fibres may be better choice for replacement of synthetic fibre for polymer composite to reduced environment burden. Hybrid sisal/glass fibre reinforced epoxy composites are prepared by hand lay-up technique using different weight fractions (10, 20, 30 and 40 %) with 10 mm length of fibres. Mechanical and water absorption properties of prepared composites are investigated. This study shows that the addition of glass fibre into sisal fibre reinforced composite has increased its mechanical properties. Statistical analysis is also carried out using T-test and ANOVA and found significant variation among composites

Performance criteria for verbal autopsy-based systems to estimate national causes of death: development and application to the Indian Million Death Study.

BACKGROUND: Verbal autopsy (VA) has been proposed to determine the cause of death (COD) distributions in settings where most deaths occur without medical attention or certification. We develop performance criteria for VA-based COD systems and apply these to the Registrar General of India's ongoing, nationally-representative Indian Million Death Study (MDS). METHODS: Performance criteria include a low ill-defined proportion of deaths before old age; reproducibility, including consistency of COD distributions with independent resampling; differences in COD distribution of hospital, home, urban or rural deaths; age-, sex- and time-specific plausibility of specific diseases; stability and repeatability of dual physician coding; and the ability of the mortality classification system to capture a wide range of conditions. RESULTS: The introduction of the MDS in India reduced the proportion of ill-defined deaths before age 70 years from 13% to 4%. The cause-specific mortality fractions (CSMFs) at ages 5 to 69 years for independently resampled deaths and the MDS were very similar across 19 disease categories. By contrast, CSMFs at these ages differed between hospital and home deaths and between urban and rural deaths. Thus, reliance mostly on urban or hospital data can distort national estimates of CODs. Age-, sex- and time-specific patterns for various diseases were plausible. Initial physician agreement on COD occurred about two-thirds of the time. The MDS COD classification system was able to capture more eligible records than alternative classification systems. By these metrics, the Indian MDS performs well for deaths prior to age 70 years. The key implication for low- and middle-income countries where medical certification of death remains uncommon is to implement COD surveys that randomly sample all deaths, use simple but high-quality field work with built-in resampling, and use electronic rather than paper systems to expedite field work and coding. CONCLUSIONS: Simple criteria can evaluate the performance of VA-based COD systems. Despite the misclassification of VA, the MDS demonstrates that national surveys of CODs using VA are an order of magnitude better than the limited COD data previously available

Pattern and incidence of adverse drug reactions observed in cardiac clinic of tertiary hospital, Hakeem Abdul Hameed Centenary Hospital, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi

Background: The aim of the present study was to monitor the incidence and pattern of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in cardiac care unit at Hakeem Abdul Hameed (HAH) Centenary Hospital.Methods: Study was conducted with the permission of Institutional Ethics Committee. Patients visiting medicine outpatient department, cardiac clinic, medical ward, and emergency departments over a period of 15 months were recruited. ADRs were recorded on the prescribed form. Causality assessment was done using Naranjo probability scale. 223 patients of hypertension and stable coronary artery disease were enrolled of which 48.9% were males and 51.1% females. The most common prescribed drugs were ace-inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blocker, and beta-blockers. Other prescribed drugs were calcium channel blockers, statins, nitrates, and antiplatelets.Results: A total of 44 ADRs were recorded. 26 ADRs were seen in females and 18 in males. Statins were the commonest drug associated with ADRs (29.5%) in our study. The most common organ system associated with ADRs in the present study was central nervous system followed by skin 15.9% each. The incidence of ADRs was about 20% of which 20% ADRs were probable, and 80% were possible. Maximum ADRs occurred in patients prescribed statins followed by beta-blockers and angiotensin receptor blockers.Conclusion: There is a need for conducting such studies in more and more patients to see the pattern of ADRs in cardiac patients. More information will help in reducing the ADR occurrence and making drug use more rational and safe for patients.