Single phase thermohydraulic performance analysis of microchannel flow geometry for direct chip cooling

This study examines how direct chip cooling with microchannels can be implemented to regulate the junction temperature of silicon integrated circuits. An optimization is done to identify the channel configuration yielding the minimum pressure drop for a given heat load

Automated simulation as part of a design workstation

A development project for a design workstation for advanced life-support systems (called the DAWN Project, for Design Assistant Workstation), incorporating qualitative simulation, required the implementation of a useful qualitative simulation capability and the integration of qualitative and quantitative simulation such that simulation capabilities are maximized without duplication. The reason is that to produce design solutions to a system goal, the behavior of the system in both a steady and perturbed state must be represented. The Qualitative Simulation Tool (QST), on an expert-system-like model building and simulation interface toll called ScratchPad (SP), and on the integration of QST and SP with more conventional, commercially available simulation packages now being applied in the evaluation of life-support system processes and components are discussed

Knowledge, attitudes and breast-feeding practices of postnatal mothers in Central India

Background: Breast feeding is vital for the health of baby & mother. It is of advantage to baby, mother, family, society and nation. Present study was carried out to evaluate knowledge, attitude and breast feeding practices of postnatal women.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at immunization centre. 208 postnatal women were interviewed.Results: Out of 208 postnatal women, 148 women (71.15%) had delivery by caesarean section while 60 women (28.84%) had vaginal delivery. 118 women (56.73%) started breast feeding the baby within 2 hours of delivery, 52 women (25%) started breast feeding the baby after 24 hours of delivery, 26 women (12.5%) started breast feeding the baby after 2-6 hours of delivery while 12 women (5.76%) started breast feeding the baby after 6-24 hours of delivery. 174 women (83.65%) were giving exclusive breast feeding to their babies, 32 women (15.38%) were giving mixed feeding to their babies due to failure to thrive because of inadequate breast secretions. 28 (13.46%) preferred to give formula feeds while 7 (3.36%) preferred to give cow’s milk when needed. 180 (86.53%) intend or started weaning after 6 months while 28 women (13.46%) started weaning to their babies due to failure of baby to thrive or inadequate lactation.Conclusions: Awareness of breast feeding was good. Majority preferred exclusive breast feeding. Still, antenatal counseling about breast feeding can be further of advantage

Biomass Energy R&D in the San Francisco Bay Area

Biomass is plant matter such as trees, grasses, agricultural crops or other biological material. It can be used as a solid fuel, or converted into liquid or gaseous forms, for the production of electric power, heat, chemicals, or fuels. There are a number of ways of getting energy from biomass, and a number of factors influence the efficiency of the conversion process. All biomass can be easily combusted. The heat of combustion can be used as heat, or can be used to run gas/steam turbines to produce electricity. However, most biomass combustion processes are inefficient and environmentally non-benign. The main pollutants from direct biomass combustion are tars, particulates, and VOCs. Biodiesels can be made from oils obtained from plants/crops such as soybean, peanuts and cotton. The oils from these sources are mainly triglycerides of fatty acids and not directly suitable as diesel substitutes. Transesterification processes convert the triglycerides into simple esters of the corresponding fatty acids (for example, Fatty Acid Methyl Ester or FAME), which can be directly substitutes for diesel fuels. Starches, sugars and cellulose can be fermented to produce ethanol, which can be added to gasoline, or used directly as an engine fuel. Fermentation of starches and sugars is established technology, practiced for thousands of years. Fermentation of cellulose to make ethanol is relatively harder, requiring additional intermediate steps to hydrolyze the cellulose first by adding acids or by raising temperature. Forestry wastes predominantly comprise cellulose and lignin. Lignin cannot be fermented using the current bio-organisms, and, as mentioned above, even cellulose is difficult to ferment directly. In such cases, a suite of alternative technologies can be employed to convert the biomass into liquid fuels. For example, the biomass can be gasified with the use of air/oxygen and steam, the resultant syngas (mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide) can be cleaned to remove tars and particulates, the gas can be shifted to obtain the proper balance between hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and the balanced gas can be converted into either methanol or other hydrocarbons with the use of Fischer-Tropsch catalysts. The liquid fuels thus produced can be transported to the point of use. In addition, they can be reformed to produce hydrogen to drive fuel cells. In addition to agriculture and forestry, a third, and significant, source for biomass is municipal waste. The biomass component of municipal wastes consists mainly of cellulose (paper products and yard wastes) and lignin (yard wastes). This waste can be combusted or gasified, as described above. All the technologies mentioned above are relatively mature, and are being practiced in some form or another. However, there are other technologies that may be promising, yet present significant challenges and may require more work. An example of this is the use of bacteria to use light to decompose water to yield hydrogen

Assessment of menopausal symptoms using modified menopause rating scale among urban women doctors of India

Background: The study was conducted to assess the commonly reported menopausal symptoms among urban women doctors using modified menopause rating scale (MRS).Methods: The study was carried out in the society by google link. Convenient sample of 100 women doctors were included in the study. Menopausal symptoms were assessed using modified MRS.Results: In present study, 3 (3%) female doctors had premature menopause, 5 had menopause at 40-44 years, 15 (15%) had menopause at 45-49 years, 77 (77%) had menopause while no patient had menopause after 55 years. Hot flushes were seen in 70 (79%) women, heart discomfort/ palpitation was seen in 2 (2%) women, muscle and joint problems were seen in 30 (30%) women, sleeping problems were seen in 20 (20%) women. Depressive mood was seen in 2 (2%) women, irritability was seen in 12 (12%) women, an anxiety was seen in 22 (22%) women while physical and mental exhaustion was seen in 34 (34%%) women. Sexual problems were seen in 32 (32%) women, bladder problems were seen in 8 (8%) women dryness of the vagina was seen in 35 (35%) women (Table 6).Conclusions: Hot flushes and joint problems were the most common followed by urogenital symptom, sleep disturbance, and anxiety in the study. Menopausal symptoms were less prevalent. Busy schedule, self-confidence due to independent nature and constructive work might be the reason

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF SOLID SELF-EMULSIFYING DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM OF GLICLAZIDE

Objective: Gliclazide (GCZ) is a widely prescribed anti-diabetic drug belongs to class IΙ under BCS and exhibit low and variable oral bioavailability due to its poor aqueous solubility. The present investigations highlight the development of solid self-emulsifying drug delivery system (solid-SEDDS) for improved oral delivery of the poorly water-soluble drug, GCZ.Methods: Various oils, surfactant and co-surfactant, were screened for their emulsification ability. Ternary phase diagrams were plotted to identify the zone of micro-emulsification. Liquid SEDDS of the drug were formulated using lemon oil as the oil phase, tween 80, as the surfactant, and labrasol, as the co-surfactant. The optimized liquid SEDDS was transformed into free-flowing powder using florite R as the adsorbent. Results: Self-emulsifying powder retained the self-emulsifying property of the liquid SEDDS. The morphology of solid-SEDDS from scanning electron microscopy studies demonstrated the presence of spherical, granular particles indicating good flowing ability. X-ray powder diffraction studies confirmed solubilization of the drug in the lipid excipients and/or transformation of a crystalline form of the drug to amorphous form. In vitro dissolution studies revealed enhanced release of the drug from solid-SEDDS as compared to plain drug and marketed formulation.Conclusion: Thus it can be concluded that solid-SEDDS, amenable for the development of solid dosage form, can be successfully developed using florite R with the potential of enhancing the solubility, dissolution rate, and bioavailability of the drug

DNA Microarray Analysis of Temporal and Spatial Variation of Bacterial Communities in Japanese Rivers

『大阪大学大学院工学研究科環境・エネルギー工学専攻生物圏環境工学領域 研究活動報告』, (2008.4.1～2009.3.31), pp.24～35, 大阪大学大学院工学研究科環境・エネルギー工学専攻環境資源・材料学講座生物圏環境工学領域, 2009.5 に掲

Multiple Detection of Occurrence of Bacterial Pathogens in Two Rivers in the Kinki District of Japan with a DNA Microarray

『大阪大学大学院工学研究科環境・エネルギー工学専攻生物圏環境工学領域 研究活動報告』, (2008.4.1～2009.3.31), pp.105～117, 大阪大学大学院工学研究科環境・エネルギー工学専攻環境資源・材料学講座生物圏環境工学領域, 2009.5 に掲

Hybrid multi-fluid-particle simulations of the cosmic neutrino background

Simulation of the cosmic clustering of massive neutrinos is a daunting task, due both to their large velocity dispersion and to their weak clustering power becoming swamped by Poisson shot noise. We present a new approach, the multi-fluid hybrid-neutrino simulation, which partitions the neutrino population into multiple flows, each of which is characterised by its initial momentum and treated as a separate fluid. These fluid flows respond initially linearly to nonlinear perturbations in the cold matter, but slowest flows are later converted to a particle realisation should their clustering power exceed some threshold. After outlining the multi-fluid description of neutrinos, we study the conversion of the individual flows into particles, in order to quantify transient errors, as well as to determine a set of criteria for particle conversion. Assembling our results into a total neutrino power spectrum, we demonstrate that our multi-fluid hybrid-neutrino simulation is convergent to $<3\%$ if conversion happens at $z=19$ and agrees with more expensive simulations in the literature for neutrino fractions as high as $\Omega_\nu h^2 = 0.005$. Moreover, our hybrid-neutrino approach retains fine-grained information about the neutrinos' momentum distribution. However, the momentum resolution is currently limited by free-streaming transients excited by missing information in the neutrino particle initialisation procedure, which restricts the particle conversion to z $\gtrsim 19$ if percent-level resolution is desired.Comment: 43 pages, 19 figures; v2: 45 pages, added references, extended discussion on timing, matches version accepted by JCA