Engineering Properties of Bentonite-Lime-Phosphogypsum Composite Reinforced with Treated Sisal Fibers

The present work primarily investigates the unconfined compressive strength, the tensile load-diametral strain, the toughness characteristics and the shear strengths of bentonite-lime-phosphogypsum-treated sisal fibre composite. The unconfined compressive strengths and tensile strengths were obtained using the unconfined compressive test and indirect tensile test respectively. The results revealed that the unconfined compressive stress, the deviator stress and the tensile load at failure of bentonite-lime-phosphogypsum composite with untreated sisal fibres could be improved by the successive chemical treatment with sodium periodate, p-aminophenol and sodium hydroxide. The brittleness index and deformability index indicated a change from the brittle to ductile behavior of the bentonite-lime-phosphogypsum-untreated sisal fiber composite, with the chemical treatment

Engineering Properties of Bentonite Modified with Lime and Gypsum

This paper presents the engineering properties such as compaction, unconfined compressive strength, consistency limits, free swell index, California bearing ratio and consolidation of bentonite stabilized with lime and modified with gypsum. The content of lime and gypsum was varied from 0 to 10% and from 0.5 to 8%, respectively, to check the improvement in the engineering properties. The results of this study revealed that the dry unit weight and optimum moisture content of bentonite + 8% lime increased with the addition of 4% gypsum. The unconfined compressive strength of bentonite did not change with the increase in curing period. The unconfined compressive strength of bentonite + 8% lime increased with the addition of 4% gypsum. Beyond 4%, the unconfined compressive strength decreased. The unconfined compressive strength of bentonite-lime-gypsum mix increased with the increase in curing period. The liquid limit, plastic limit and free swell index of bentonite + 8% lime decreased; whereas the plasticity index increased with the addition of 4% gypsum. The California bearing ratio and modulus of subgrade reaction increased for bentonite stabilized with 8% lime and modified with 4% gypsum leading to reduction in earth work and required thickness of subgrade bentonite. The coefficient of consolidation of bentonite increased with the addition of 8% lime and did not change with the addition of 4% gypsum. The swell potential of bentonite + 8% lime increased with the addition of 4% gypsum. The improved behaviour of the bentonite-lime-gypsum mixture will boost the construction of road pavements on such problematic soils

Two-way Mechanism to Enhance Confidentiality and Accuracy of Shared Information

As such internet and information technology have influenced the human life significantly thus the current technology cannot solely assure the security of shared information. Hence, to fulfil such requirements mass amount of research have been undertaken by various researchers among which one of the mechanisms is the use of dynamic key rather than static one. In this regard, we have proposed a method of key generation to provide the dynamic keys. The scheme not only can change the key but also provide the error control mechanism. At the end of this paper, a comparison with the existing techniques has also been made to prove the efficiency of the proposed scheme

Efficacy of synthetic pyrethroid and propoxur aerosol in the control of German cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Blatellidae) in cookhouses

Background & objectives: A field trial was carried out in cookhouses in an urban area to evaluate theefficacy of synthetic pyrethroid (0.02% deltamethrin + 0.13% allethrin) and propoxur aerosols (2%) inthe control of German cockroaches (Blatella germanica).Methods: A total of six cookhouses were selected by simple random sampling method (two each forthe two insecticide treatments and two for control).Results: It was observed that 89.36–87.8 and 77.95–59.74% reductions were achieved with propoxurand synthetic pyrethroid treatment respectively by first week post-treatment. The reduction in propoxurtreated areas by eight weeks post-treatment was 82.98–76.13%, whereas the reduction in thesame time period in synthetic pyrethroid treated areas ranged from 14.36% to an increase in density bya phenomenal 157.86% in one of the treated sites.Interpretation & conclusion: The study reports the efficacy of propoxur aerosol (2%) treatment oversynthetic pyrethroid (0.02% deltamethrin + 0.13% allethrin) in the control of cockroach infestation incookhouses in urban area

An observational study of the effect of escitalopram and etizolam in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with depression

Background: Past decades have witnessed a rapid rise in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus; estimated to affect 415 million adults worldwide and 69.1 million adults in India. There has been an increased prevalence of diabetes associated depression, which can aggravate the symptoms of depression and diabetes associated complications. Use of tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) can disturb the glycemic control. Escitalopram is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and Etizolam is a new safe antianxiety agent. The objective of this study was to study the prevalence of depression and anxiety in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and to assess the efficacy of escitalopram and etizolam in the treatment of depression and/or anxiety in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.Methods: Total 125 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus with fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study. Informed written consent was obtained from the patients willing to participate in the study. They were screened for the presence of depression with the help of PHQ-9. Their demographic features were recorded and initial laboratory investigations done. Haemogram, blood sugar level - fasting (BSL-F) and postprandial (PP), serum alanine transferase (ALT), serum creatinine and Urine routine analysis. Patients were started on Escitalopram (10 mg) + Etizolam (0.5 mg) daily for 30 days and others were not treated and acted as control; keeping the management of diabetes mellitus unchanged for all. Laboratory investigations were repeated after 30 days.Results: The prevalence of depression with/without anxiety was 35.2%. 51 patients treated with Escitalopram + Etizolam improved clinically and biochemically. There was a significant (P < 0.05) improvement in BSL-F and PP and HbA1C in patients treated with Escitalopram + Etizolam.Conclusions: Prevalence of depression among type 2 diabetes mellitus was found to be 35% in this study. Fifty one patients treated with escitalopram + etizolam improved clinically as well as biochemically. There was significant improvement in BSL-F, BSL-PP and HbA1c. Escitalopram may be considered as antidepressant of choice in such cases

Slip resistance of winter footwear on snow and ice measured using maximum achievable incline

Protective footwear is necessary for preventing injurious slips and falls in winter conditions. Valid methods for assessing footwear slip resistance on winter surfaces are needed in order to evaluate footwear and outsole designs. The purpose of this study was to utilise a method of testing winter footwear that was ecologically valid in terms of involving actual human testers walking on realistic winter surfaces to produce objective measures of slip resistance. During the experiment, eight participants tested six styles of footwear on wet ice, on dry ice, and on dry ice after walking over soft snow. Slip resistance was measured by determining the maximum incline angles participants were able to walk up and down in each footwear-surface combination. The results indicated that testing on a variety of surfaces is necessary for establishing winter footwear performance and that standard mechanical bench tests for footwear slip resistance do not adequately reflect actual performance. Practitioner Summary: Existing standardised methods for measuring footwear slip resistance lack validation on winter surfaces. By determining the maximum inclines participants could walk up and down slopes of wet ice, dry ice, and ice with snow, in a range of footwear, an ecologically valid test for measuring winter footwear performance was established

Development of genic-SSR markers by deep transcriptome sequencing in pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh]

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pigeonpea [<it>Cajanus cajan </it>(L.) Millspaugh], one of the most important food legumes of semi-arid tropical and subtropical regions, has limited genomic resources, particularly expressed sequence based (genic) markers. We report a comprehensive set of validated genic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers using deep transcriptome sequencing, and its application in genetic diversity analysis and mapping.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, 43,324 transcriptome shotgun assembly unigene contigs were assembled from 1.696 million 454 GS-FLX sequence reads of separate pooled cDNA libraries prepared from leaf, root, stem and immature seed of two pigeonpea varieties, Asha and UPAS 120. A total of 3,771 genic-SSR loci, excluding homopolymeric and compound repeats, were identified; of which 2,877 PCR primer pairs were designed for marker development. Dinucleotide was the most common repeat motif with a frequency of 60.41%, followed by tri- (34.52%), hexa- (2.62%), tetra- (1.67%) and pentanucleotide (0.76%) repeat motifs. Primers were synthesized and tested for 772 of these loci with repeat lengths of ≥18 bp. Of these, 550 markers were validated for consistent amplification in eight diverse pigeonpea varieties; 71 were found to be polymorphic on agarose gel electrophoresis. Genetic diversity analysis was done on 22 pigeonpea varieties and eight wild species using 20 highly polymorphic genic-SSR markers. The number of alleles at these loci ranged from 4-10 and the polymorphism information content values ranged from 0.46 to 0.72. Neighbor-joining dendrogram showed distinct separation of the different groups of pigeonpea cultivars and wild species. Deep transcriptome sequencing of the two parental lines helped <it>in silico </it>identification of polymorphic genic-SSR loci to facilitate the rapid development of an intra-species reference genetic map, a subset of which was validated for expected allelic segregation in the reference mapping population.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We developed 550 validated genic-SSR markers in pigeonpea using deep transcriptome sequencing. From these, 20 highly polymorphic markers were used to evaluate the genetic relationship among species of the genus <it>Cajanus</it>. A comprehensive set of genic-SSR markers was developed as an important genomic resource for diversity analysis and genetic mapping in pigeonpea.</p

Preventing Back Injury in Caregivers

Caregivers injure their backs more than workers in any other industry. Efforts to reduce injuries have been on-going for decades with limited results. Mechanical lift devices have been incorporated into clinical practice over the past 30 years to reduce the risk of injury from patient lifting. Yet injury rates remain high. The use of mechanical lifts may be partly to blame. While these devices assist with lifting patients, they also introduce new activities that result in caregivers experiencing unsafe loading on the spine. We measured loads on the lower back during manoeuvres of the two most common lift types (overhead and floor) as well as during sling insertion. A new device called SlingSerterTM was evaluated for use in the clinical environment. We also investigated spine shrinkage as a measurement tool for estimating cumulative load. Caregivers worked alone and in pairs for both lift maneuvering and sling insertion activities. Overhead lift use resulted in much lower loads than floor lift use. We conclude caregivers can safely operate overhead lifts alone, while floor lift use remained unsafe even with two caregivers. Less-experienced caregivers had higher loads than more-experienced counterparts when using floor lifts. There was no corresponding effect of experience with overhead lift use and we found this to be a further benefit of overhead lifts over floor lifts. Most caregivers exceeded the safe limit for spine compression during sling insertion, though a single caregiver was at no higher risk of injury than two caregivers working together. Clinicians who tested SlingSerterTM agreed the device would be useful in clinical practice, particularly with bariatric patients and other special patient populations that are difficult to roll or turn. Finally, we investigated a novel method for estimating cumulative load based on spine shrinkage. There is growing recognition that excess cumulative load may be responsible for back injury. We found the variability in spine shrinkage was too large to estimate cumulative load directly. However, the technique may still be useful for determining the relative importance of the load from different activities to the cumulative total.Ph