Effect of Reinforced Concrete Jacketing on Axial Load Capacity of Reinforced Concrete Column

Whenever a member of a structure becomes structurally deficient, it becomes vulnerable to the existing load and for the additional loads that it may be subjected to in the coming future. Since columns are the most important structural element, the structural retrofit of columns, relative to other structural elements is of prime importance. This study intends to investigate the performance and behaviour of an RC column jacketed with Reinforced Concrete columns under axial loads. The objective of this paper is to find out the efficiency of RC jacket in enhancing the strength of an existing RC column. A mathematical design based upon Indian Standards codes has been designed to identify the behaviour of jacketed RC columns. This has been followed by a finite element based numerical simulation using the same material properties as used in the process of designing. The simulation has been done in ABAQUS software with appropriate contact modelling. The analytical model considers that there is no bond slippage between the existing and new concrete surface i.e. the bond between the existing and new concrete is assumed to be perfect. This perfect bond between the surfaces has been modelled by using appropriate constraints in ABAQUS software. The finite element models show fair agreement with the designed values in terms of ultimate capacity and failure mode. The load bearing capacity enhancement of the RC jacketed column has been found to increase substantially. The enhancement capacity results obtained from the finite element software differs about 16-25% from the design values

Breakdown voltage modelling for leatherite paper dielectrics using fuzzy logic technique & estimating the lifetime using step-stress test

OBJECTIVE The real insulation systems are often heterogeneous and some times nonlinear. Quality of insulation is accessed in terms of break down strengths. Partial discharge caused in insulation system by local defects and the resultant overstressing caused by them ultimately lead to breakdown. So the estimation has to be done properly to save insulation from failure. The use of modern computers in bdv analysis has lead to the estimation based on fuzzy logic modeling. The mamdani fuzzy logic using triangular and trapezoidal mf used for the modeling. The bdv got from the modeling section is used to get the weibull parameters using MLE. The shape parameters are used for the life estimation of the dielectric. DESCRIPTION Fuzzy logic modeling is widely used in those fields where the boundary between having a property and not having it is not sharp. The construction of this model can be viewed as a process in which a collection of objects called variables and parameters of the model are related by some other objects called the operators of the model. In the present case it is tried to estimate the bdv of dielectrics depending upon various input conditions. The most important source of partial discharge and breakdown in dielectrics is the voids. Voids are produced due to process control errors at the time of production of most of the solid dielectrics. This is a gas discharged event. The test dielectric is taken as leatherite paper and the estimation is based on data experimentally generated in the laboratory using a CIGRE-2 electrode. The choice of test procedure to know the breakdown voltage of a typical insulation material on insulation system is determined by the test objective. Constant voltage tests provide reliable comprehensive data for the distribution function of the breakdown time but is very time consuming. An accelerated test with increase in voltage stress in discrete steps is quite often used for an electrical insulation study and is widely accepted by the insulation designers. With this method the stress at which the insulation breaks down and time to failure is taken as 6 observed variable The effect of void dimensions on the output is studied and implemented in MATLAB environment. The various steps in modeling include study of the range variation, grouping, rule list generation and simulation. Present system is a MISO system having three inputs (thickness of dielectric, depth and diameter of void) and one output (bdv). The min max algorithm is used as t-norm and s-norm operator. Coa is used for difuzzification. Programming approach is adopted for estimation. The surface plot is plotted to study the variation. Weibull probability has gained wide acceptance in the statistical treatment of time to electrical breakdown of solid dielectrics. It seems to fit experimental data well. MLE is used for parameter estimation. Confidence interval is chosen to get lower and upper limits of the parameters within which the estimation lie for a surety. Throughout the experiment the step stress test is considered. The inverse power law is applied to life estimation. From the slope of the graph the slope is to be found out and used for estimating the life. RESULTS In the mamdani fuzzy logic modeling using the triangular and trapezoidal mf the Mae is found out to be 1.4% and 1.324% respectively. The weibull parameters and life estimation values have close resemblance with the experimentally generated value. CONCLUSION Fuzzy logic provides an easier and a better computation technique based on the fuzzyness of rules. By accurately choosing the parameters and deciding the rule bases the error can be significantly reduced. The weibull parameter calculation using MLE and lifetime also found to be in good agreement. Thus the results indicates that the modeling can be well implemented for such kind of estimation

COMPARISON OF KIDNEY DISEASE PREVALENCE IN TYPE 2 DIABETIC PEOPLE AND NON-DIABETIC PEOPLE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Aim: The key motive of this research is to evaluate the frequency of kidney diseases in subjects with type 2 diabetes vs. nondiabetic patients. For the estimation of the similarity between the relation of normoalbuminuria and microalbuminuria with type 2 diabetes and on which point renal diseases different percentage of the patient of type 2 diabetes lies. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 200 cases organized at a tertiary care center in Bihar, India. 100 patients with type 2 diabetes and 100 nondiabetic patients of the same age and gender were included. The study was performed for 24 months, and all the patients were 20-80 years of age. Results: It was evaluated that the incidence of kidney diseases in subjects with diabetes was higher in contrast to non-diabetic subjects. No gender-wise variation was found. The majority of the patients had a period of diabetes between 5 and 10 years. Hypertension was common in both the groups that are type 2 diabetic and nondiabetic. Conclusion: Chronic kidney diseases are highly frequent in diabetic patients. There is a need to deal with hypertension, increased BMI, and weight. Recommendation: An antihypertensive regimen that includes an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) is recommended for Type 2 diabetic patients

Cor-pulmonale: a rare presentation in a case of middle lobe syndrome

Brock’s syndrome or middle lobe syndrome (MLS) is chronic or recurrent collapse of right middle lobe due to causes which may be obstructive or non obstructive. The pathogenesis is not completely understood. An expert committee of the world health organization defined cor pulmonale as hypertrophy of the right ventricle resulting from diseases affecting the function and/or structure of the lungs.” Cor pulmonale is a common heart disease and a leading cause of disability and death. We are reporting this association in a 65y old female who presented to the emergency with acute exacerbation of COPD with SpO2=64% room air. Chest X-ray and HRCT thorax showed features suggesting MLS and ECG shows features suggesting P pulmonale /right atrial enlargement. BNP too was elevated. Patient was resuscitated and put on mechanical ventilation after ABG showed respiratory acidosis. Appropriate treatment with bronchodilators and antibiotics was given

Erythrophagocytosis and its relation to band 3 clustering in chronic myelogenous leukemia

Band 3, a major erythrocyte membrane glycoprotein, undergoes topographic redistribution leading to enhanced clustering, in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). This is probably due to the binding of heme compounds to the CML erythrocyte membrane resulting from depletion of cellular levels of reduced glutathione (GSH). Band 3 clustering appears to be one of the factors associated with increased erythrophagocytosis in CML

The effect of community health worker-led education on women's health and treatment-seeking: A cluster randomised trial and nested process evaluation in Gujarat, India.

BACKGROUND: A community-based health insurance scheme operated by the Self-Employed Women's Association in Gujarat, India reported that the leading reasons for inpatient hospitalisation claims by its members were diarrhoea, fever and hysterectomy - the latter at the average age of 37. This claims pattern raised concern regarding potentially unnecessary hospitalisation amongst low-income women. METHODS: A cluster randomised trial and mixed methods process evaluation were designed to evaluate whether and how a community health worker-led education intervention amongst insured and uninsured adult women could reduce insurance claims, as well as hospitalisation and morbidity, related to diarrhoea, fever and hysterectomy. The 18-month intervention consisted of health workers providing preventive care information to women in a group setting in 14 randomly selected clusters, while health workers continued with regular activities in 14 comparison clusters. Claims data were collected from an administrative database, and four household surveys were conducted amongst a cohort of 1934 randomly selected adult women. RESULTS: 30% of insured women and 18% of uninsured women reported attending sessions. There was no evidence of an intervention effect on the primary outcome, insurance claims (risk ratio (RR) = 1.03; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.81, 1.30) or secondary outcomes amongst insured and uninsured women, hospitalisation (RR = 1.05; 95% CI 0.58, 1.90) and morbidity (RR = 1.09; 95% CI 0.87, 1.38) related to the three conditions. The process evaluation suggested that participants retained knowledge from the sessions, but barriers to behaviour change were not overcome. CONCLUSIONS: We detected no evidence of an effect of this health worker-led intervention to decrease claims, hospitalisation and morbidity related to diarrhoea, fever and hysterectomy. Strategies that capitalise on health workers' role in the community and knowledge, as well as those that address the social determinants of diarrhoea, fever and the frequency of hysterectomy - such as water and sanitation infrastructure and access to primary gynaecological care - emerged as areas to strengthen future interventions