The Role of Wet-Tensile Strength of Foundry Sands in the Surface Finish of Aluminium Sand Casting

0NE of the most striking features of industrial deve-lopment during the past decade has been the rapid growth in the use of aluminium and it, alloys in the form of castings. To obtain sound casting has always been a prob-lem for the foundry engineer, as the qualities required of it moulding sand are in some measure contradictory and a compromise must be made. Thus permeability is favoured by a low clay content and coarse particle size, whereas a smooth finish calls for a line sand with a higher clay content.Similarly, green strength is impr- oved by the addition of clay up to a certain point but permeability is reduced. Further permeability and green strength depend largely on the moisture content. These conventional green properties do not allow conclusions of sand properties on casting conditions 1 2, because all these are tested at room temperature, where temper-ature and material distributions are uniform inside the moulding sand. To overcome the above difficulties a new concept of Wet-Tensile Strength has been developed recently in the Foundry institute of Rhcinsch- West falischen Technischen Hoehschule Aachen (West Germany. It shows a very good correlation with the scabbing tendency of moulding materials and has been found to be of practical importance in order to control the quality of' aluminium castings in the foundr

Design and Implementation of Coal Mine Physiological Parameters Monitoring Protocol

Modernization in the industries also concerns with the safety of workers especially for underground mining?s. This paper mainly deals with surveillance and safety measures for mine workers, which is most essential in underground mining areas. Here, a concept of wireless sensors network is used to monitor the environment parameters of underground mine area and all sensed parameters are sent to host computer. Arduino Microcontroller is a heart of a system used to build a fully automated measuring system with reliability, high accuracy and smooth control. Upon detecting critical conditions, alert system starts and the same information is transmitted to remote location by ZigBee Communication. The observed changes in the parameters will also be displayed on the host computer at base station which makes it easier for the underground control center to monitor and to take necessary immediate action to avoid damages

Propionibacterium acnes infections in patients with idiopathic scoliosis: a case-control study and review of the literature.

Purpose:Surgical site infection (SSI) caused by Propionibacterium acnes is an infrequent but devastating complication after spinal fusion. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for SSI with Propionibacterium acnes after spinal fusion for juvenile and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (JIS and AIS). Methods:A case-control study was performed. Each case was matched 2:1 for age, gender and diagnosis. Retrospective chart review was performed to obtain relevant demographic, surgical and clinical data for all cases and controls. Statistical analysis included paired t-test and McNemar test, as well as exact logistic regression and robust regression models. Results:This study included ten infection cases (eight AIS, two JIS) and 20 controls (16 AIS, four JIS). In total, six infected cases presented within two weeks of the index procedure (acute infection) and four infected cases presented more than one year from the index procedure (delayed infection). The most common presentation for acute infections was wound drainage, while back pain was more common in delayed infections. All infections were successfully treated with surgical irrigation and debridement and postoperative antibiotics. Hardware was removed for patients with delayed infections. The strongest risk factor for infection was increased requirement for blood transfusion, but it did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion:SSI with Propionibacterium acnes is an important complication after spinal fusion for idiopathic scoliosis. These infections can be successfully treated, but larger studies are needed to further identify risk factors and establish standardized guidelines for the treatment and prevention of this complication. Level of Evidence Level III

A first step in determining appropriate amounts of obstetric anesthesia work

Abstract Ginosar, et al. describe a new performance indicator, the Obstetric Anesthesia Activity Index, to represent the current amount of obstetric anesthesia work done daily at each of 25 Israeli hospitals. The authors claim, correctly, that this index is a closer reflection of the anesthetic workload than simply looking at the number of deliveries at each hospital. However, the Obstetric Anesthesia Activity Index could easily be refined to reflect more closely the actual obstetric anesthesia workload by using the average cesarean delivery time for each hospital rather than one value for all hospitals. Although the authors state that they developed the Obstetric Anesthesia Activity Index out of concern for inadequate obstetric anesthesia manpower in Israel, they have not compared the Obstetric Anesthesia Activity Index with the size of the patient population or any measure of patient satisfaction or patient safety. In its current form, the Obstetric Anesthesia Activity Index describes the current work situation but does not evaluate the extent of the unmet need for additional anesthesia providers. Despite these shortcomings, the Obstetric Anesthesia Activity Index is an important first step in developing a tool to assess unmet obstetric anesthesia needs.</p

ENANTIOMERIC SEPARATION OF RIVAROXABAN BY A CHIRAL LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHIC METHOD

Objective: To develop a novel,simple, selective and enantiomeric separation of rivaroxaban by a chiral liquid chromatographic method as per ICH guidelines.Methods: An enantioselective reversed phase high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated. The enantiomers of rivaroxaban was resolved on a Chiralcel OD-H (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 mm) column using a mobile phase system containing n-hexane –isopropanol (50: 50 v/v/) and column temperature at 35°C. The resolution between the enantiomers was not less than 2.0. The developed method was validated according to ICH guidelines.Results: The calibration curve was found to be linear over the concentration range of 0.075–1.2µg/mL (r2= 0.9996). The limit of detection and limit of quantification of the (R)-enantiomer were found to be 0.025 and 0.075µg/mL, respectively, for 20 mL injection volume. The percentage recovery of the (R)-enantiomer ranged from 92.06 to 105.9 in bulk drug samples of rivaroxaban. The final optimized method was successfully applied to separate the (R)-enantiomer from rivaroxaban and was proved to be reproducible, accurate and robust for the quantitative determination of the (R)-enantiomer in Rivaroxaban.Conclusion: A novel, simple, selective and simple, selective and enantiomeric separation of rivaroxaban by a chiral liquid chromatographic method was developed as per ICH guidelines.Hence, the method can be used for routine analysis in pharmaceutical industry.Â

A study of feto-maternal outcome of jaundice in pregnancy

Background: Jaundice in pregnancy complicates 3-5% of cases and carries a grave prognosis. The purpose of the study was to assess the epidemiology, magnitude, causes and the maternal and fetal outcome of pregnancies complicated by jaundice.Methods: The maternal and fetal outcomes of 101 cases of jaundice in pregnancy were reviewed retrospectively from July 2013-June 2016.Results: The incidence of jaundice in pregnancy was 2.32%. Primigravidas constituted 46.53%. Women aged 20-30 years constituted 86.13%. Unbooked cases included 60.39%. Serum bilirubin was >10 mg/dl at admission in 1.98%. Out of the 101 women, 4 remained undelivered. Labor was spontaneous in 53.52%, vaginal delivery in 55.67%. However, 38.63% newborns required NICU care.  Perinatal mortality was 8.91% (3.96% stillbirths and 4.95% early neonatal deaths. The causes for jaundice were viral hepatitis (30.69%), HELLP syndrome (30.69%), intrahepatic cholestasis (15.84%), acute fatty liver of pregnancy (13.86%) and the rest in combination constituted 8.91%. Maternal mortality was 3 in 101. The various maternal complications were DIC (44.55%), septicemia (10.89%), ARDS (7.92%), acute renal failure (8.91%) and MODS (3.96%). ICU was needed in 14.85% of mothers and blood component therapy in 70.29% cases. All deaths were within 3 weeks of admission.Conclusions: This study emphasizes the need for essential antenatal care at domiciliary and peripheral levels. Early detection and treatment can prevent most of the complications

Short term energy forecasting techniques for virtual power plants

YesThe advent of smart meter technology has enabled periodic monitoring of consumer energy consumption. Hence, short term energy forecasting is gaining more importance than conventional load forecasting. An Accurate forecasting of energy consumption is indispensable for the proper functioning of a virtual power plant (VPP). This paper focuses on short term energy forecasting in a VPP. The factors that influence energy forecasting in a VPP are identified and an artificial neural network based energy forecasting model is built. The model is tested on Sydney/ New South Wales (NSW) electricity grid. It considers the historical weather data and holidays in Sydney/ NSW and forecasts the energy consumption pattern with sufficient accuracy

Influence of Concentration & Nature of Supporting Electrolytes on the Kinetics of Reduction of Zn(II) at Dropping Mercury Electrode

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