Study on flame retardant properties of poly(lactic acid) fibre fabrics

Polylactic acid  and its blended yarns with various fibres have been converted in to woven fabrics. These fabric samples have been scoured and then tested for mechanical and flame retardant properties. The results indicate that the high alkaline scouring severely damages polylactic acid fibre. Therefore, mild alkaline scouring is done for further studies. The scoured fabric samples are tested for various flame retardant properties and compared with polyester blended fabrics. Results indicate that polylactic acid fibre is not suitable for upholstery, apparel and work wear in terms of flame retardant properties

Ecosystem service assessment of selected wetlands of Kolkata and the Indian Gangetic Delta: multi-beneficial systems under differentiated management stress

© 2019, The Author(s). A structured literature review using the search term ‘ecosystem services’ found few relevant studies relating to three contrasting wetlands in West Bengal: the unpopulated Sudhanyakhali Island in the Sundarbans National Park, the populated Gosaba Island separated from Sudhanyakhali Island by a narrow channel, and the East Kolkata Wetland (EKW). Subsequent structured review focused on the EKW using specific service-related terms located only 2 provisioning, 6 regulating, 1 cultural and 3 supporting services. Few services are currently recognized in the literature, with significant gaps in whole service categories. Significantly, there was no published evidence of a systemic overview of service production at these sites. Field observations and stakeholder dialogue informed assessment of ecosystem services using the Rapid Assessment of Wetland Ecosystem Services (RAWES) approach, adopted by the Ramsar Commission, on both islands and three discretely different areas of the EKW. The RAWES surveys found that 32 of 36 ecosystem services were produced from at least one assessed wetland site. Despite low sample size, statistically significant differences were observed in the range of services produced between the five wetland sites and the geographical range at which benefits accrued, explained by differing wetland characteristics and management regimes. Were decisions based solely on evidence provided by existing published knowledge, few ecosystem services would be considered and, potentially, whole ecosystem service categories might be overlooked. Importantly, there would also be no systemic account of service production and interdependencies. RAWES assessment serves as a practical, rapid and systemic approach, taking account of interdependent ecosystem services, supporting protection of the ecological character and achievement of wise use of wetlands. RAWES can also help redress perceptions that the values of peri-urban wetlands are currently under-represented

Sphincter saving anorectoplasty (SSARP) for the reconstruction of Anorectal malformations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This report describes a new technique of sphincter saving anorectoplasty (SSARP) for the repair of anorectal malformations (ARM).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty six males with high ARM were treated with SSARP. Preoperative localization of the center of the muscle complex is facilitated using real time sonography and computed tomography. A soft guide wire is inserted under image control which serves as the route for final pull through of bowel. The operative technique consists of a subcoccygeal approach to dissect the blind rectal pouch. The separation of the rectum from the fistulous communication followed by pull through of the bowel is performed through the same incision. The skin or the levators in the midline posteriorly are not divided. Postoperative anorectal function as assessed by clinical Wingspread scoring was judged as excellent, good, fair and poor. Older patients were examined for sensations of touch, pain, heat and cold in the circumanal skin and the perineum. Electromyography (EMG) was done to assess preoperative and postoperative integrity of external anal sphincter (EAS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The patients were separated in 2 groups. The first group, Group I (n = 10), were newborns in whom SSARP was performed as a primary procedure. The second group, Group II (n = 16), were children who underwent an initial colostomy followed by delayed SSARP. There were no operative complications. The follow up ranged from 4 months to 18 months. Group I patients have symmetric anal contraction to stimulation and strong squeeze on digital rectal examination with an average number of bowel movements per day was 3–5. In group II the rate of excellent and good scores was 81% (13/16). All patients have an appropriate size anus and regular bowel actions. There has been no rectal prolapse, or anal stricture. EAS activity and perineal proprioception were preserved postoperatively. Follow up computed tomogram showed central placement the pull through bowel in between the muscle complex.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The technique of SSARP allows safe and anatomical reconstruction in a significant proportion of patients with ARM's without the need to divide the levator plate and muscle complex. It preserves all the components contributing to superior faecal continence, and avoids the potential complications associated with the open posterior sagittal approach.</p

Federated learning enables big data for rare cancer boundary detection.

Although machine learning (ML) has shown promise across disciplines, out-of-sample generalizability is concerning. This is currently addressed by sharing multi-site data, but such centralization is challenging/infeasible to scale due to various limitations. Federated ML (FL) provides an alternative paradigm for accurate and generalizable ML, by only sharing numerical model updates. Here we present the largest FL study to-date, involving data from 71 sites across 6 continents, to generate an automatic tumor boundary detector for the rare disease of glioblastoma, reporting the largest such dataset in the literature (n = 6, 314). We demonstrate a 33% delineation improvement for the surgically targetable tumor, and 23% for the complete tumor extent, over a publicly trained model. We anticipate our study to: 1) enable more healthcare studies informed by large diverse data, ensuring meaningful results for rare diseases and underrepresented populations, 2) facilitate further analyses for glioblastoma by releasing our consensus model, and 3) demonstrate the FL effectiveness at such scale and task-complexity as a paradigm shift for multi-site collaborations, alleviating the need for data-sharing

Author Correction: Federated learning enables big data for rare cancer boundary detection.

10.1038/s41467-023-36188-7NATURE COMMUNICATIONS14

Federated Learning Enables Big Data for Rare Cancer Boundary Detection

Although machine learning (ML) has shown promise across disciplines, out-of-sample generalizability is concerning. This is currently addressed by sharing multi-site data, but such centralization is challenging/infeasible to scale due to various limitations. Federated ML (FL) provides an alternative paradigm for accurate and generalizable ML, by only sharing numerical model updates. Here we present the largest FL study to-date, involving data from 71 sites across 6 continents, to generate an automatic tumor boundary detector for the rare disease of glioblastoma, reporting the largest such dataset in the literature (n = 6, 314). We demonstrate a 33% delineation improvement for the surgically targetable tumor, and 23% for the complete tumor extent, over a publicly trained model. We anticipate our study to: 1) enable more healthcare studies informed by large diverse data, ensuring meaningful results for rare diseases and underrepresented populations, 2) facilitate further analyses for glioblastoma by releasing our consensus model, and 3) demonstrate the FL effectiveness at such scale and task-complexity as a paradigm shift for multi-site collaborations, alleviating the need for data-sharing

Development of identification procedure for the internal and external damping in a cracked rotor system undergoing forward and backward whirls

In the present work, a procedure for the estimation of internal damping in a cracked rotor system is described. The internal (or rotating) damping is one of the important rotor system parameters and it contributes to the instability of the system above its critical speed. A rotor with a crack during fatigue loading has rubbing action between the two crack faces, which contributes to the internal damping. Hence, internal damping estimation also can be an indicator of the presence of a crack. A cracked rotor system with an offset disc, which incorporates the rotary and translatory of inertia and gyroscopic effect of the disc is considered. The transverse crack is modeled based on the switching crack assumption, which gives multiple harmonics excitation to the rotor system. Moreover, due to the crack asymmetry, the multiple harmonic excitations leads to the forward and backward whirls in the rotor orbit. Based on equations of motions derived in the frequency domain (full spectrum), an estimation procedure is evolved to identify the internal and external damping, the additive crack stiffness and unbalance in the rotor system. Numerically, the identification procedure is tested using noisy responses and bias errors in system parameters

Rolling element bearing design through genetic algorithms

The design of rolling element bearings has been a challenging task in the field of mechanical engineering. While most of the real aspects of the design are never disclosed by bearing manufacturers, the common engineer is left with no other alternative than to refer to standard tables and charts containing the bearing performance characteristics. This paper presents a more viable method to solve this problem using genetic algorithms (GAs). Since the algorithm is basically a guided random search, it weakens the chances of getting trapped in local maxima or minima. The method used has yielded improved performance parameters than those catalogued in standard tables. * Indraneel Chakraborty is currently with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and can be reached at [email protected] † Vinay Kumar is currently with Mindtree Consulting, India and can be reached at [email protected]

Expression of rabies virus glycoprotein gene into eukaryotic system and determination of potential T-cell epitopes

594-599The present study was undertaken to clone, express rabies virus glycoprotein (RVG) and to identify potential T-cell epitopes on it. RVG gene (1590 bp) was amplified using gene specific primers. The amplified product was cloned into pTZ57R/T cloning vector by TA cloning. RVG gene was subcloned into pcDNA3.1 (+) expression vector. In this study, cloning and expression of rabies virus glycoprotein gene was done under CMV promoter and an expression construct (pcDNA.RVG) was prepared and clones were confirmed by restriction digestion, colony PCR and nucleotide sequencing. The expression construct was further characterized by western blotting and indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). In silico analysis of this protein was done to find out potential antigenic sites so that it can be further evaluated for its potential as candidate for epitope vaccine against rabies