Modeling of solidification process in a rotary electromagnetic stirrer

A macroscopic model of the solidification process in a rotary electromagnetic stirrer is presented. The fluid flow, heat, and mass transfer inside a rotary stirrer are modeled using, 3-D swirl flow equations in which turbulent flow is simulated using a k-ε model. A hybrid model is used to represent the mushy zone, which is considered to be divided into two regions: a coherent region and a noncoherent region. Each region is represented by a separate set of governing equations. An explicit time-stepping scheme is used for solving the coupled temperature and concentration fields, while an implicit scheme is used for solving equations of motion. The coupling relations also include eutectic solidification, which is an important feature in modeling solidification with electromagnetic stirring, especially in the context of the formation of semi-solid slurry. The results from the present numerical solution agree well with those corresponding to experiments reported in literature

Prospective, randomized, double blind, placebo controlled clinical study to different doses of ketamine for prevention of shivering during spinal anaesthesia

Background: Ketamine has better effect than other drugs like pethidine, fentanyl, clonidine, tramadol, midazolam in prevention of shivering during anaesthesia and has a role in thermoregulation by different means. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety, efficacy of Ketamine injection and to compare the different doses (0.25 mg/kg and 0.5 mg/kg) of inj. Ketamine in prevention of shivering in operative patients under spinal anaesthesia.Methods: The present study was a prospective, randomized, double blinded and clinical study conducted in L.T.M.M.C & L.T.M.G.H, Mumbai, India during January 2012 to September 2013. 120 patients with American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) physical status of I or II, between the age of 18 – 65 years of either sex and height 150-170 cms were randomly selected and included in the study as per eligibility.Results: The study suggests that prophylactic administration of injection Ketamine at doses of 0.25 mg/kg and 0.5 mg/kg was producing a significant antishivering effect but an incidence of sedation and hallucination was observed in the Ketamine 0.5 mg/kg receiving group throughout the perioperative period.Conclusions: From this study we can conclude that prophylactic dose of Ketamine 0.25 mg/kg i.v. has lesser side effects comparison to Ketamine 0.5 mg/kg i.v. in prevention of shivering in patients, undergoing surgical procedure under spinal anaesthesia

New Chromogenic Spray Reagent for TLC Detection and Identification of Organophosphrous Insecticide Monocrotophos in Biological Material.

Monocrotophos is a member of Organophosphate insecticide. It is an important insecticide and has a diversified role in agriculture in INDIA. The increasing numbers of human poisoning cases were found to be occurred by the consumption of organophosphate insecticide monocrotophos. So in this paper, we represent a novel Thin Layer Chromatographic spray reagent for the detection and identification of Monocrotophos

Online) An Open Access

ABSTRACT Wetlands of the many areas of kachchh region are reduced day to day by the natural processes as well as developmental activities and as a result the population of birds depend upon these wetlands are under threat. This paper was attempted to assess the composition of avifauna in Lakhara, a fragmented wetland inside the Kachchh Biosphere Reserve. Regular survey was made in year 2009 to observe and identifying the avifauna using standard field guide and field equipments. A total of 57 species of bird recorded during the whole survey period and their feeding and threatened status was also analyzed. A good number of birds recorded in Lakhara wetland in spite of the small area. Most of the recorded birds of this wetland were belong to the Least Concern category of IUCN red list, 2010 and Schedule IV of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Lakhara wetland is also proved to be an important bird area of Kachchh for conservation aspects

The timing of death in patients with tuberculosis who die during anti-tuberculosis treatment in Andhra Pradesh, South India

Background: India has 2.0 million estimated tuberculosis (TB) cases per annum with an estimated 280,000 TBrelated deaths per year. Understanding when in the course of TB treatment patients die is important for determining the type of intervention to be offered and crucially when this intervention should be given. The objectives of the current study were to determine in a large cohort of TB patients in India:- i) treatment outcomes including the number who died while on treatment, ii) the month of death and iii) characteristics associated with “early” death, occurring in the initial 8 weeks of treatment. Methods: This was a retrospective study in 16 selected Designated Microscopy Centres (DMCs) in Hyderabad, Krishna and Adilabad districts of Andhra Pradesh, South India. A review was performed of treatment cards and medical records of all TB patients (adults and children) registered and placed on standardized anti-tuberculosis treatment from January 2005 to September 2009. Results: There were 8,240 TB patients (5183 males) of whom 492 (6%) were known to have died during treatment. Case-fatality was higher in those previously treated (12%) and lower in those with extra-pulmonary TB (2%). There was an even distribution of deaths during anti-tuberculosis treatment, with 28% of all patients dying in the first 8 weeks of treatment. Increasing age and new as compared to recurrent TB disease were significantly associated with “early death”. Conclusion: In this large cohort of TB patients, deaths occurred with an even frequency throughout anti-TB treatment. Reasons may relate to i) the treatment of the disease itself, raising concerns about drug adherence, quality of anti-tuberculosis drugs or the presence of undetected drug resistance and ii) co-morbidities, such as HIV/ AIDS and diabetes mellitus, which are known to influence mortality. More research in this area from prospective and retrospective studies is needed

Nail lacquer films’ surface energies and in vitro water-resistance and adhesion do not predict their in vivo residence

The in vivo residence of nail lacquers (which are ideal topical drug carriers for the treatment of nail diseases) determines their frequency of application, and is thereby expected to influence patient adherence and success of treatment. Thus in vitro measurements to indicate lacquers’ in vivo residence are routinely conducted during formulation development. However the literature on in vitro-in vivo correlations is severely limited. Thus, the aim of the work discussed in this paper was to investigate correlations between in vivo residence and in vitro film resistance to water, in vitro film adhesion and surface energy of lacquer films. In vivo measurements were conducted on fingernails in six volunteers. Seven commercially available nail lacquers were tested in commonly-used measurements. Correlations between in vivo residence and in vitro water resistance and adhesion were found to be extremely poor. The surface energies of the lacquer films (which were between 33 and 39 mJ/m2) were also not predictive of in vivo residence. High density polyethylene (HDPE) sheet – whose surface energy was determined to be similar to that of the human nailplate – was found to be a suitable model for the nailplate (when investigating surface energy) and was used in a number of experiments

Assessing Tuberculosis Case Fatality Ratio: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Recently, the tuberculosis (TB) Task Force Impact Measurement acknowledged the need to review the assumptions underlying the TB mortality estimates published annually by the World Health Organization (WHO). TB mortality is indirectly measured by multiplying estimated TB incidence with estimated case fatality ratio (CFR). We conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the TB case fatality ratio in TB patients having initiated TB treatment. Methods: We searched for eligible studies in the PubMed and Embase databases through March 4(th) 2011 and by reference listing of relevant review articles. Main analyses included the estimation of the pooled percentages of: a) TB patients dying due to TB after having initiated TB treatment and b) TB patients dying during TB treatment. Pooled percentages were estimated using random effects regression models on the combined patient population from all studies. Main Results: We identified 69 relevant studies of which 22 provided data on mortality due to TB and 59 provided data on mortality during TB treatment. Among HIV infected persons the pooled percentage of TB patients dying due to TB was 9.2% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 3.7%-14.7%) and among HIV uninfected persons 3.0% (95% CI: 21.2%-7.4%) based on the results of eight and three studies respectively providing data for this analyses. The pooled percentage of TB patients dying during TB treatment was 18.8% (95% CI: 14.8%-22.8%) among HIV infected patients and 3.5% (95% CI: 2.0%-4.92%) among HIV uninfected patients based on the results of 27 and 19 studies respectively. Conclusion: The results of the literature review are useful in generating prior distributions of CFR in countries with vital registration systems and have contributed towards revised estimates of TB mortality This literature review did not provide us with all data needed for a valid estimation of TB CFR in TB patients initiating TB treatmen