Determining the flow characteristics of synthetic slag and optimizing the slag characteristics

In the dynamics of blast furnace slag plays an important role in the quality of the hot metal produces and also the efficiency of the blast furnace. The quality of the hot metal depends on the formation and other mineralogical transformation that the slag undergoes during the passage of the burden. The minerals such as SiO2 and Al2O3 increases the viscosity of the slag whereas, CaO decreases the viscosity of the slag.The cohesive zone determines gas flow pattern. The cohesive zone's thickness is determined by the melting zone of the slag. The ore is compacted due to softening and melting in the cohesive zone. Minimizing the size, lowering the level of the cohesive zone, increases the efficiency of the blast furnace, improves productivity and decreases coke rate. The work is designed at arriving at a slag composition through actual experiments which will ensure the lowering of the cohesive zone of the blast furnace with simultaneous decrease in the difference between the softening temperature (ST) and flow temperature (FT) of the slag.Synthetic slags were formed by imitation of blast furnace slag using the major oxides (CaO, MgO, SiO2 and Al2O3) and disregarding the minor oxides. The mineralogical compositions of the slag can be varied to obtain different synthetic slag and thus the flow characteristics of the slag can be experimented for different synthetic Slags

Retrospective implementation of quality by design for legacy commercialized enzyme replacement therapies

Quality by Design (QbD) has been widely adopted by the pharmaceutical industry as a tool for transforming development, manufacture, and commercialization of drug products. QbD ensures that quality is built into a manufacturing process to consistently produce desired product. As per a FDA guidance1, QbD should be employed at the product development stage to ensure manufacture of a product with predefined quality. Here we present a retrospective QbD approach employed at Shire to define an improved control strategy for a commercial process using risk-based process understanding and characterization. Key challenges and considerations of implementing a QbD strategy on a commercial process are presented with examples of critical quality attribute review, parameter impact assessment, parameter classification review and updated control strateg

ABC: A Simple Explicit Congestion Controller for Wireless Networks

We propose Accel-Brake Control (ABC), a simple and deployable explicit congestion control protocol for network paths with time-varying wireless links. ABC routers mark each packet with an "accelerate" or "brake", which causes senders to slightly increase or decrease their congestion windows. Routers use this feedback to quickly guide senders towards a desired target rate. ABC requires no changes to header formats or user devices, but achieves better performance than XCP. ABC is also incrementally deployable; it operates correctly when the bottleneck is a non-ABC router, and can coexist with non-ABC traffic sharing the same bottleneck link. We evaluate ABC using a Wi-Fi implementation and trace-driven emulation of cellular links. ABC achieves 30-40% higher throughput than Cubic+Codel for similar delays, and 2.2X lower delays than BBR on a Wi-Fi path. On cellular network paths, ABC achieves 50% higher throughput than Cubic+Codel

Instrumental Techniques for Chemical Analysis of Ferro-Alloys

Ferro-alloys are metallic addition agents used in iron and steel making to incorporate an alloying element into the molten material or to refine steel, for example by removal of oxygen and sulphur, in which case the alloying element is only to a minor extent incorporated in the steel. These additions are made to the ladle before the pouting into moulds. Most ferro-alloys are alloys of the main element (usually, 15-85%), with iron, hence the name. Sometimes ferro-alloy contain two or three alloying elements which act in different ways and there are also complex boron alloys in which titanium and aluminum can fix the oxygen and nitrogen in the steel bath so, that the boron may enter Solution and exert a metallurgical influence

Recycling of Metals from Secondary Sources Treatment Options

Metallurgical industries generate vast quantities of solid wastes such as slag, ash, sludge, dross, grindings, turnings, clippings, residues and secondaries. During the last two decades rapid industrialization has led to many fold declines in the quality of environment. Some of the solid wastes produced during the metal extraction are hazardous in nature, since they contaminate the surface and ground water through the leachate generated at the dump-sites putting the life of the living organism at a risk. But, the effects of pollution due to the toxic constituents of the above leachate, are usually noticed in long run. It is for this reason that the industries are not much concerned about the solid metallic wastes that are invariably thrown and dumped unsystematically during metal production. Therefore, there is a need of concerted efforts involving more research and development work in tandem with the production units so as to achieve the implementation of the cleaner technologies for metal production, waste processing, handling and recycling. In this paper, the kind of solid wastes generated by the Indian lead, zinc, copper and aluminium industries, their treatment and disposal procedures are discussed in a comp-rehensive manner

HeteroSketch: coordinating network-wide monitoring in heterogeneous and dynamic networks

CNS-2107086 - National Science Foundation; CNS-2106946 - National Science FoundationPublished versio

Cervical length measurement by transvaginal sonography in predicting preterm labour in low risk women

Background: Preterm birth is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Transvaginal sonographic measurement of the cervix is a reliable alternative method for the assessment of cervical length as it allows better quality and more accurate visualization of the uterine cervix. Several studies have reported that cervical assessment on transvaginal sonography may be useful in the prediction of preterm delivery. The objective of this study was to assess cervical length at 20 to 24 weeks of gestation in low risk women and correlate with the gestational age at delivery.Methods: A prospective cohort study conducted in a tertiary care Military Hospital in Pune, India. 354 asymptomatic low risk antenatal women with gestational age of 20 to 24 weeks were studied. Cervical assessment with transvaginal sonography for the measurement of cervical length was performed using a 10 MHz transvaginal probe.Results: 7 percent women delivered preterm. The incidence of short cervix in low risk women was only 0.56%. 100% women with short cervix delivered preterm and, only 6.9% patients who had cervical length more than 25 mm delivered preterm. Cervical length 25 mm has got sensitivity and NPV of 100% and a specificity of 93.46%. However, the PPV was only 8%.Conclusions: The study reported significant inverse relation between short cervix and the occurrence of preterm delivery. Our findings suggest that cervical length can be used as a screening method for preterm labour in low risk women. However strong evidences from large randomized control trials would be required to assess its cost-effectiveness.

Clinical features and predictors of in hospital mortality in patients with intra cerebral haemorrhage

Background: Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 15-20% of all strokes and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The present study was done to assess the risk factors for ICH and determine the factors responsible for poor outcome in ICH.Methods: Consecutive patients of ICH were assessed for modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors, followed by detailed examination with emphasis on ICH score and CT scan findings.Results: There were 200 patients with ICH; 108 males and 92 females. The prevalence of ICH was maximum in the age group of 61-70 years (34%). Hypertension was present in 68% of the patients and was the single most important modifiable risk factor. The most common presenting symptom was altered sensorium present in 58% patients. The mean hematoma volume in our study was 44+/-45 cm3. 45 patients with a GCS <5 and both the patients with ICH score 5 expired. On multivariate analysis, there was a significant correlation of mortality with GCS and hematoma volume.Conclusions: Hypertension is the commonest risk factor for ICH. Patients with a low GCS score, large hematoma volume and a higher ICH score have a poor prognosis and higher probability of mortality.