A Novel Intermetallic Nickel Aluminide (Ni3Al) as an Alternative Automotive Body Material

Investigation on Intermetallic Nickel Aluminides (Ni3Al) was carried to determine the suitability of this material to replace the existing automotive body. The purpose is to produce vehicles which are lighter, more fuel efficient and cause less pollution. One key technical design strategy for improving vehicles efficiency is the light weighting. Attractive properties of Ni3Al including low density (~ 6g/cm3) resulting lightweight, high oxidation and corrosion resistance, combined with their ability to retain strength and stiffness at elevated temperatures lead to its selection as a candidate alternative material. The prime focus will be on to obtain the mechanical properties such as hardness which was tested using Vickers Micro hardness Tester. XRD was used to determine the crystal structure of the designed alloy. Microstructural properties of these alloys were examined using optical microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). SEM equipped with EDX used to do compositional analysis. Heat treatment (annealing) and Tafel extrapolation tests were carried out for thermal and corrosion properties of the intermetallic nickel aluminides respectively

Auxin pretreatment promotes regeneration of sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) midrib segment explants

We have developed a new, simple, quick and genotype-independent method for direct regeneration of sugarcane using novel midrib segment explants. Our protocol involves two steps: the pretreatment of starting material on MS (Murashige and Skoog (1962) Physiol Plant 15:473–497) medium containing 3.0 mg/l 2,4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) for 8 days under continuous dark and subsequent transfer of the explants to MS medium augmented with 0.1 mg/l benzyladenine (BA) and 0.1 mg/l naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) under light-dark conditions. On the regeneration medium, numerous globular structures appeared from the explants and subsequently differentiated into shoots. Regenerated shoots attained 2–5 cm height within 30 days of culture initiation and readily rooted on MS basal medium. Hardened plants were successfully established in the greenhouse. The regulation of sugarcane morphogenesis by auxin pretreatment is discussed

A Novel Intermetallic Nickel Aluminide (Ni3Al) as an Alternative Automotive Body Material

Investigation on Intermetallic Nickel Aluminides (Ni3Al) was carried to determine the suitability of this material to replace the existing automotive body. The purpose is to produce vehicles which are lighter, more fuel efficient and cause less pollution. One key technical design strategy for improving vehicles efficiency is the light weighting. Attractive properties of Ni3Al including low density (~ 6g/cm3) resulting lightweight, high oxidation and corrosion resistance, combined with their ability to retain strength and stiffness at elevated temperatures lead to its selection as a candidate alternative material. The prime focus will be on to obtain the mechanical properties such as hardness which was tested using Vickers Micro hardness Tester. XRD was used to determine the crystal structure of the designed alloy. Microstructural properties of these alloys were examined using optical microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). SEM equipped with EDX used to do compositional analysis. Heat treatment (annealing) and Tafel extrapolation tests were carried out for thermal and corrosion properties of the intermetallic nickel aluminides respectively

Learning curves of basic laparoscopic psychomotor skills in SINERGIA VR simulator

Purpose: Surgical simulators are currently essential within any laparoscopic training program because they provide a low-stakes, reproducible and reliable environment to acquire basic skills. The purpose of this study is to determine the training learning curve based on different metrics corresponding to five tasks included in SINERGIA laparoscopic virtual reality simulator. Methods: Thirty medical students without surgical experience participated in the study. Five tasks of SINERGIA were included: Coordination, Navigation, Navigation and touch, Accurate grasping and Coordinated pulling. Each participant was trained in SINERGIA. This training consisted of eight sessions (R1–R8) of the five mentioned tasks and was carried out in two consecutive days with four sessions per day. A statistical analysis was made, and the results of R1, R4 and R8 were pair-wise compared with Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Significance is considered at P value <0.005. Results: In total, 84.38% of the metrics provided by SINERGIA and included in this study show significant differences when comparing R1 and R8. Metrics are mostly improved in the first session of training (75.00% when R1 and R4 are compared vs. 37.50% when R4 and R8 are compared). In tasks Coordination and Navigation and touch, all metrics are improved. On the other hand, Navigation just improves 60% of the analyzed metrics. Most learning curves show an improvement with better results in the fulfillment of the different tasks. Conclusions: Learning curves of metrics that assess the basic psychomotor laparoscopic skills acquired in SINERGIA virtual reality simulator show a faster learning rate during the first part of the training. Nevertheless, eight repetitions of the tasks are not enough to acquire all psychomotor skills that can be trained in SINERGIA. Therefore, and based on these results together with previous works, SINERGIA could be used as training tool with a properly designed training program

Finite element analysis of conceptual lumbar spine for different lifting position

The Lower-back pain (LBP) which is caused by lifting loads manually is one of the common issues faced by industrial workers. The objective of this paper is to determined the maximum stress and displacement on human lumbar by using computer aided engineering (CAE) software called Msc. Patran/Nastran. The 3D modeling of the lumbar spine from transferring data points of 3D scanner is reconstructed. The stress used for lifting loads from 20 to 60 kg is ranging between 2.52 to 74.1 MPa. The results showed that the end plate at 5th lumbar is experiencing the maximum stress development. This analysis is relevant to the industries especially manufacturing sector in order to provide a direction for ergonomists in the modification of jobs for workers who perform manual lifting. In order to gain a higher precision, it is suggested in the future that the lumbar spine is to be built based directly on a loaded CT scan and biodynamic loading situation with vibration and impact

Queer In AI: A Case Study in Community-Led Participatory AI

Queerness and queer people face an uncertain future in the face of ever more widely deployed and invasive artificial intelligence (AI). These technologies have caused numerous harms to queer people, including privacy violations, censoring and downranking queer content, exposing queer people and spaces to harassment by making them hypervisible, deadnaming and outing queer people. More broadly, they have violated core tenets of queerness by classifying and controlling queer identities. In response to this, the queer community in AI has organized Queer in AI, a global, decentralized, volunteer-run grassroots organization that employs intersectional and community-led participatory design to build an inclusive and equitable AI future. In this paper, we present Queer in AI as a case study for community-led participatory design in AI. We examine how participatory design and intersectional tenets started and shaped this community’s programs over the years. We discuss different challenges that emerged in the process, look at ways this organization has fallen short of operationalizing participatory and intersectional principles, and then assess the organization’s impact. Queer in AI provides important lessons and insights for practitioners and theorists of participatory methods broadly through its rejection of hierarchy in favor of decentralization, success at building aid and programs by and for the queer community, and effort to change actors and institutions outside of the queer community. Finally, we theorize how communities like Queer in AI contribute to the participatory design in AI more broadly by fostering cultures of participation in AI, welcoming and empowering marginalized participants, critiquing poor or exploitative participatory practices, and bringing participation to institutions outside of individual research projects. Queer in AI’s work serves as a case study of grassroots activism and participatory methods within AI, demonstrating the potential of community-led participatory methods and intersectional praxis, while also providing challenges, case studies, and nuanced insights to researchers developing and using participatory methods

Effect of Enhancers and Inhibitors on Photocatalytic Sunlight Treatment of Methylene Blue

In view of the fatal illnesses caused by methylene blue (MB) which is contained in the dye wastewater, the present study focused on the use of natural sunlight in heterogeneous photocatalysis to decolorize and degrade MB. The present study also investigated the effects of enhancers (hydrogen peroxide and persulfate ion) and inhibitors (chloride and carbonate ions) on photodecolorization of MB. Pseudo-first-order rate constants for each studied effect were determined through Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. The recommended conditions to photodecolorize 60 ppm of MB under natural sunlight were 1.0 g/L of titanium dioxide nanopowder at initial pH 10.5 in order to achieve 85.3 % decolorization (rate constant of 10.8 × 10−3 min−1). The addition of 4,080 ppm of hydrogen peroxide and persulfate ion significantly enhanced the decolorization efficiency up to 96.6 and 99.3 %, respectively (rate constants of 66.2 and 91.0 × 10−3 min−1, respectively). However, the addition of 2,000 ppm of chloride and carbonate ions reduced the decolorization efficiency of MB to 74.7 and 70.2 %, respectively (rate constants of 7.8 and 7.3 × 10−3 min−1, respectively). The present study implied that it was possible to use natural sunlight as a light source for photocatalytic treatment of dye in tropical countries like Malaysia

Prehospital transdermal glyceryl trinitrate in patients with ultra-acute presumed stroke (RIGHT-2): an ambulance-based, randomised, sham-controlled, blinded, phase 3 trial

Background High blood pressure is common in acute stroke and is a predictor of poor outcome; however, large trials of lowering blood pressure have given variable results, and the management of high blood pressure in ultra-acute stroke remains unclear. We investigated whether transdermal glyceryl trinitrate (GTN; also known as nitroglycerin), a nitric oxide donor, might improve outcome when administered very early after stroke onset. Methods We did a multicentre, paramedic-delivered, ambulance-based, prospective, randomised, sham-controlled, blinded-endpoint, phase 3 trial in adults with presumed stroke within 4 h of onset, face-arm-speech-time score of 2 or 3, and systolic blood pressure 120 mm Hg or higher. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive transdermal GTN (5 mg once daily for 4 days; the GTN group) or a similar sham dressing (the sham group) in UK based ambulances by paramedics, with treatment continued in hospital. Paramedics were unmasked to treatment, whereas participants were masked. The primary outcome was the 7-level modified Rankin Scale (mRS; a measure of functional outcome) at 90 days, assessed by central telephone follow-up with masking to treatment. Analysis was hierarchical, first in participants with a confirmed stroke or transient ischaemic attack (cohort 1), and then in all participants who were randomly assigned (intention to treat, cohort 2) according to the statistical analysis plan. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN26986053. Findings Between Oct 22, 2015, and May 23, 2018, 516 paramedics from eight UK ambulance services recruited 1149 participants (n=568 in the GTN group, n=581 in the sham group). The median time to randomisation was 71 min (IQR 45–116). 597 (52%) patients had ischaemic stroke, 145 (13%) had intracerebral haemorrhage, 109 (9%) had transient ischaemic attack, and 297 (26%) had a non-stroke mimic at the final diagnosis of the index event. In the GTN group, participants’ systolic blood pressure was lowered by 5·8 mm Hg compared with the sham group (p<0·0001), and diastolic blood pressure was lowered by 2·6 mm Hg (p=0·0026) at hospital admission. We found no difference in mRS between the groups in participants with a final diagnosis of stroke or transient ischaemic stroke (cohort 1): 3 (IQR 2–5; n=420) in the GTN group versus 3 (2–5; n=408) in the sham group, adjusted common odds ratio for poor outcome 1·25 (95% CI 0·97–1·60; p=0·083); we also found no difference in mRS between all patients (cohort 2: 3 [2–5]; n=544, in the GTN group vs 3 [2–5]; n=558, in the sham group; 1·04 [0·84–1·29]; p=0·69). We found no difference in secondary outcomes, death (treatment-related deaths: 36 in the GTN group vs 23 in the sham group [p=0·091]), or serious adverse events (188 in the GTN group vs 170 in the sham group [p=0·16]) between treatment groups. Interpretation Prehospital treatment with transdermal GTN does not seem to improve functional outcome in patients with presumed stroke. It is feasible for UK paramedics to obtain consent and treat patients with stroke in the ultraacute prehospital setting. Funding British Heart Foundation