Investigation on Mechanical Properties of Aluminum 8011 Metal Matrix Compositewith Titanium Carbide Particulate Reinforcement

Aluminium metal matrix composites are the key material in engineering fields like aerospace, defense, automobiles and consumer goods. Aluminium matrix composite dominates the conventional materials due to its low economic rate, high wear resistance and strength to weight ratio. So, the present work considered Al 8011 alloy as the metal matrix and titanium carbide (TiC) particles as reinforced material for investigation. The composite was prepared by stir casting method. A digital pin on disc tester was used to measure the wear with EN32 steel disc as counter surface (72HRC) and cylindrical pin as the composite specimens. The present tests were conducted for various sliding velocity of 1,57 m/s, 2,62 m/s and 3,67 m/s. The normal load of 20 N, 40 N, 60 N and the filler content of 0%, 10%, 20% have been considered for the sliding distance of 1000, 3000 and 5000 m. The results of new composite show better wear resistance than matrix metal. The micro structural characterization of worn surface was investigated using De-wintor inverted trinocular metallurgical microscope. Prepared polished matrix shows the distribution of TiC particles in Al 8011 metal matrix based on the quantity added. The impact energy of the samples was found using Izod impact testing machine. Final results showed improved mechanical properties for Al 8011 with 7% TiC compared with other two samples

A Prospective study of Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopic findings in patients presenting with dyspepsia

Dyspepsia is affecting about 25% of general population in developed nations and it is a major cause for medical visits. New patients comprise about 10% of population every year. Dyspepsia majorly affects quality of life and it is a major burden in view of social costs. Directly the expenses are for laboratory tests, medical consultation and drugs and indirectly by absence from work. Dyspepsia refers to spectrum of diseases and heterogeneous group of symptoms confined to upper abdomen. Dyspepsia is a vague term used to explain upper abdominal collection of symptoms like indigestion, fullness, early satiety (not able to complete the meals), bloating, belching, nausea, epigastric discomfort or pain and anorexia. Indigestion is very common in general population; almost all have had indigestion at some time in their lifetime. Sometimes patients will include constipation and undigested food particles in the stool. OBJECTIVES: 1. To evaluate the upper gastro intestinal endoscopic findings in patients presenting with dyspepsia 2. To detect esophago gastroduodenal carcinoma at an earlier stage 3. To study the age and sex prevalence in patients presenting with dyspepsia. METHODOLOGY: A prospective clinical study was undertaken at Madurai medical college hospital, Madurai to know the various upper gastro-intestinal endoscopic findings in patients presenting with dyspepsia. The study was conducted from march 2016 to August 2016. The patient selection was by convenience sampling. Dyspeptic patients were included in this study with their informed consent. A detailed clinically history was elucidated, followed by careful clinical examination, which were recorded as per the proforma. All the patients included in the study underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and the findings were noted. The inclusion and exclusion criterias were as follows: Inclusion criteria: 1. Patients above 18 years of age. 2. Patients showing symptoms of dyspepsia. 3. Patients who have consented for the study Exclusion criteria: 1. Patients below 18 years of age, 2. Patients with chronic liver disease, 3. Patients who has not consented for the study. RESULTS After informed consent 110 cases of dyspepsia were included in the study and were studied clinically as per the proforma from March 2016 to August 2016. All the patients underwent upper gastro-intestinal endoscopy and various findings were noted. Out of 110 patients, 86 (78.1%) patients had epigastric pain and discomfort as their chief complaint whereas nausea and vomiting was present in 74 (67.27%) patients. The other complaints were heart burn 67 (60.9%), food intolerance 50 (45.4%), indigestion 52 (47.27%) and loss of appetite and weight 35 (31.81%). In this study 66% were male patients, 44% were female patients. The incidence of different presentations of dyspepsia were more common in males compared to females. clinically significant endoscopic findings were observed in 61 patients accounting for 55.45%. Gastritis was by far the most common finding (24.54%). The next common findings were duodenitis, and gastric ulcer accounting for 7.2% each. There were 6 patients with carcinoma stomach accounting for 5.4%, among them which 3 were male patients and 3 were female patients. Gastric malignancies were common in older age groups The following were the observations: 1. Highest prevalence of dyspepsia in the age group of 30-39 years 2. Most common presenting complaint was epigastric pain and discomfort 3. Dyspepsia was more common in males (60%) when compared to females (40%) 4. Most common endoscopic finding was normal study followed by gastritis 5. Malignancy was diagnosed in 5.4% patients with dyspepsia. 6. Stomach is the common site of lesion in patients presenting with dyspepsia 7. Gastritis, duodenitis, gastric ulcer, is more common in males than females presenting with dyspepsia. 8. Incidence of malignancy increases as the age advances. CONCLUSION From the present study of "A Prospective study of upper gastro-intestinal endoscopy findings in patients presenting with dyspepsia ". Endoscopic examination revealed gastritis which accounted for the majority of the cases. Incidence of malignancy in the present study was observed to be 5.4% (gastric malignancies). Clinically significant endoscopic findings were observed in 55.45% of patients with uninvestigated dyspepsia. Most patients presented with a complex of three or more dyspeptic symptoms and the symptom profile was not predictive of the endoscopic findings. Prevalence of large number of inflammatory lesions as a result of increased acid production and low incidence of malignancy in the study group suggests that the uninvestigated patients with dyspepsia may be initially managed medically with acid suppressive therapy

Graph theoretic network analysis reveals protein pathways underlying cell death following neurotropic viral infection

Complex protein networks underlie any cellular function. Certain proteins play a pivotal role in many network configurations, disruption of whose expression proves fatal to the cell. An efficient method to tease out such key proteins in a network is still unavailable. Here, we used graph-theoretic measures on protein-protein interaction data (interactome) to extract biophysically relevant information about individual protein regulation and network properties such as formation of function specific modules (sub-networks) of proteins. We took 5 major proteins that are involved in neuronal apoptosis post Chandipura Virus (CHPV) infection as seed proteins in a database to create a meta-network of immediately interacting proteins (1st order network). Graph theoretic measures were employed to rank the proteins in terms of their connectivity and the degree upto which they can be organized into smaller modules (hubs). We repeated the analysis on 2nd order interactome that includes proteins connected directly with proteins of 1st order. FADD and Casp-3 were connected maximally to other proteins in both analyses, thus indicating their importance in neuronal apoptosis. Thus, our analysis provides a blueprint for the detection and validation of protein networks disrupted by viral infections

Abnormalities of cell packing density and dendritic complexity in the MeCP2 A140V mouse model of Rett syndrome/X-linked mental retardation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rett syndrome (RTT), a common cause of mental retardation in girls, is associated with mutations in the <it>MECP2 </it>gene. Most human cases of <it>MECP2 </it>mutation in girls result in classical or variant forms of RTT. When these same mutations occur in males, they often present as severe neonatal encephalopathy. However, some <it>MECP2 </it>mutations can also lead to diseases characterized as mental retardation syndromes, particularly in boys. One of these mutations, A140V, is a common, recurring missense mutation accounting for about 0.6% of all MeCP2 mutations and ranking 21^stby frequency. It has been described in familial X-linked mental retardation (XLMR), PPM- X syndrome (Parkinsonism, Pyramidal signs, Macroorchidism, X-linked mental retardation) and in other neuropsychiatric syndromes. Interestingly, this mutation has been reported to preserve the methyl-CpG binding function of the MeCP2 protein while compromising its ability to bind to the mental retardation associated protein ATRX.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report the construction and initial characterization of a mouse model expressing the A140V MeCP2 mutation. These initial descriptive studies in male hemizygous mice have revealed brain abnormalities seen in both RTT and mental retardation. The abnormalities found include increases in cell packing density in the brain and a significant reduction in the complexity of neuronal dendritic branching. In contrast to some MeCP2 mutation mouse models, the A140V mouse has an apparently normal lifespan and normal weight gain patterns with no obvious seizures, tremors, breathing difficulties or kyphosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have identified various neurological abnormalities in this mouse model of Rett syndrome/X-linked mental retardation which may help to elucidate the manner in which <it>MECP2 </it>mutations cause neuronal changes resulting in mental retardation without the confounding effects of seizures, chronic hypoventilation, or other Rett syndrome associated symptoms.</p

Bacterial foraging-optimized PID control of a two-wheeled machine with a two-directional handling mechanism

This paper presents the performance of utilizing a bacterial foraging optimization algorithm on a PID control scheme for controlling a five DOF two-wheeled robotic machine with two-directional handling mechanism. The system under investigation provides solutions for industrial robotic applications that require a limited-space working environment. The system nonlinear mathematical model, derived using Lagrangian modeling approach, is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink(®) environment. Bacterial foraging-optimized PID control with decoupled nature is designed and implemented. Various working scenarios with multiple initial conditions are used to test the robustness and the system performance. Simulation results revealed the effectiveness of the bacterial foraging-optimized PID control method in improving the system performance compared to the PID control scheme

Histopathological diagnosis of myocarditis in a dengue outbreak in Sri Lanka, 2009

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In 2009, an outbreak of dengue caused high fatality in Sri Lanka. We conducted 5 autopsies of clinically suspected myocarditis cases at the General Hospital, Peradeniya to describe the histopathology of the heart and other organs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The diagnosis of dengue was confirmed with specific IgM and IgG ELISA, HAI and RT-PCR techniques. The histology was done in tissue sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 319 cases of dengue fever, 166(52%) had severe infection. Of them, 149 patients (90%) had secondary dengue infection and in 5 patients, DEN-1 was identified as the causative serotype. The clinical diagnosis of myocarditis was considered in 45(27%) patients. The autopsies were done in 5 patients who succumbed to shock (3 females and 2 males) aged 13- 31 years. All had pleural effusions, ascites, bleeding patches in tissue planes and histological evidence of myocarditis. The main histological findings of the heart were interstitial oedema with inflammatory cell infiltration and necrosis of myocardial fibers. One patient had pericarditis. The concurrent pulmonary abnormalities were septal congestion, pulmonary haemorrhage and diffuse alveolar damage; one case showed massive necrosis of liver.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The histology supports occurrence of myocarditis in dengue infection.</p

RedundancyMiner: De-replication of redundant GO categories in microarray and proteomics analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Gene Ontology (GO) Consortium organizes genes into hierarchical categories based on biological process, molecular function and subcellular localization. Tools such as GoMiner can leverage GO to perform ontological analysis of microarray and proteomics studies, typically generating a list of significant functional categories. Two or more of the categories are often redundant, in the sense that identical or nearly-identical sets of genes map to the categories. The redundancy might typically inflate the report of significant categories by a factor of three-fold, create an illusion of an overly long list of significant categories, and obscure the relevant biological interpretation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We now introduce a new resource, RedundancyMiner, that de-replicates the redundant and nearly-redundant GO categories that had been determined by first running GoMiner. The main algorithm of RedundancyMiner, MultiClust, performs a novel form of cluster analysis in which a GO category might belong to several category clusters. Each category cluster follows a "complete linkage" paradigm. The metric is a similarity measure that captures the overlap in gene mapping between pairs of categories.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>RedundancyMiner effectively eliminated redundancies from a set of GO categories. For illustration, we have applied it to the clarification of the results arising from two current studies: (1) assessment of the gene expression profiles obtained by laser capture microdissection (LCM) of serial cryosections of the retina at the site of final optic fissure closure in the mouse embryos at specific embryonic stages, and (2) analysis of a conceptual data set obtained by examining a list of genes deemed to be "kinetochore" genes.</p

Cerebral Blood Volume Changes During Radiotherapy May Predict Pseudoprogression versus Disease Progression for Patients with High Grade Glioma

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp21/1040/thumbnail.jp

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy