Shear Strength Models for Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete Beams: Current Scenario

This review paper presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of various studies conducted on the shear strength of Self-compacting Concrete (SCC) and Normally Vibrated Concrete (NVC) in order to determine the sustainability and affordability of SCC as a construction material. Compaction is the main factor in concrete production. NVC needs compaction and vibration to remove the entrapped air which is both expensive and time-consuming. But SCC has flow ability and passing ability. Although SCC takes a greater amount of paste content, thereby raising the cost of building material, yet the use of such waste material as fly ash, silica, etc. comes in handy as paste content. Thus, the advantages offered by SCC in terms of increased strength as well as cost reduction makes it a highly desirable construction material. The review has selected the works of some eminent scholars on concrete and has analyzed them through individual as well as comparative perspective. A close analysis has helped filter out relevant works for the current study. This process of selection has proved helpful to include most standard works available in the review. Major findings have been enlisted at the end and ways to improve concrete behaviour have been suggested. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091661 Full Text: PD

ANTIHYPERTENSIVE PHARMACOTHERAPY IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS AT A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL COLLEGE IN INDIA

Aim and Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy of Atenolol and Olmesartan in Stage-1 hypertension (HTN), and the adverse effect profile of Atenolol and Olmesartan in Stage-1 HTN. Methods: A prospective, randomized, open, and parallel study was carried out in 100 patients attending the outpatient department of General Medicine Department MMIMSR, Mullana, Ambala, India with Stage -1 HTN according to joint national committee VII. The patients were randomly divided into two groups to receive Tab. Atenolol 50 mg od (Group A, n=50) and Tab. Olmesartan medoxomil 20 mg (Group B, n=50) od for a total period of 12 weeks with regular follow up every 2 weeks from the baseline. At each visit, blood pressure (BP), heart rate, and adverse effects were evaluated. Laboratory investigations were carried out at baseline and end of the study period. p<0.005 was considered statistically significant. Results: Atenolol and Olmesartan medoxomil both significantly reduce BP and heart rate (p<0.005). Olmesartan medoxomil is more efficacious in reducing BP. Conclusion: Olmesartan medoxomil is a better choice for Stage -1 HTN between the two drugs as it leads to a greater decrement in BP

THE PATTERN OF ORGANOPHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS POISONING AT A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL COLLEGE IN NORTHERN INDIA

Objective: A retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital collaborated with a medical college, to analyze the drug therapy including antidotes administered and pattern of Organophosphorous compounds poisoning.  Material and methods: The data are analytically drawn from record sheets of Organophosphorous poisoning patients. The collected tabulated data were statistically analyzed with SPSS version for the pattern of Organophosphorous compounds poisoning. Results: The demographic data of 122 Organophosphorous poisoning clinical cases documented 84.42 % suicidal tendency and 15.57 % accidental exposure of patients, 66.39 % in the age of 15-24 years, and 70.49 % were females and 70.49 % from a rural background, and 29.50 % from an urban background. Before pharmacotherapy, all patients were subjected to general supportive measures including stomach wash, and patients were administered pharmacotherapy consisting of Pralidoxime (23.77 %) and Atropine (41.80 %).  Conclusion: This present concluded that patients diagnosed with Organophosphorous poisoning can be managed by alone administration of atropine as an antidote which is available as a cost-effective drug as compared to Pralidoxime. Thus cost-effectiveness can be significantly reduced by the rational drug use and strict implementation of the pesticide act to further strengthen the proper maintenance of procurement of Organophosphorous compounds for exclusive agricultural purpose

Assessing the Use of Follow-up Skeletal Surveys in Children with Suspected Physical Abuse

Background: A follow-up SS (FSS) can provide additional clinical data in a subset of children that undergo an initial skeletal survey (ISS) for the evaluation of physical abuse. Three studies suggested that 33-57% of FSS identify additional fractures, but the study populations were small and highly selective. Objective: To assess a consecutive study sample of children who underwent an ISS and FSS, to evaluate the results of the ISS and FSS, and to calculate the proportion in whom clinical diagnosis depended on the FSS results. Methods: This was a retrospective, descriptive study of children who had an ISS and FSS at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC from 4/1/02 to 3/31/09. Data were collected about demographics, reason for and results of ISS and FSS, the interval in days between ISS and FSS, and whether the FSS affected clinical diagnosis.Results: During the 7-yr study period, 1470 children underwent an ISS. Eleven percent (169/1470) of these children also underwent a FSS. These 169 children made up the subjects of the study. The FSS identified 39 fractures in 16% (27/169) of the study subjects. All 39 fractures were rib, metaphyseal or metacarpal. The identification of new fractures on FSS led a definite diagnosis of abuse in 7.6% (7/92) of the subjects who did not have a previous diagnosis. These 7 subjects were all less than a year of age. The ISS identified no fractures in 43% (3/7) of these subjects. A total of 29 fractures that were felt to be equivocal of ISS were confirmed as normal variants on FSS. Conclusions: This is the largest study to evaluate the use of FSS. The proportion of subjects with additional fractures identified on FSS was lower than in previous studies. The FSS made a definite diagnosis of abuse in ~8% of subjects. A large number of equivocal fractures on ISS were felt to be normal variants on FSS. Future studies will compare children who only receive an ISS with those who receive an ISS and FSS to identify characteristics that, when present in a child undergoing an ISS, also warrant a FSS

A new integrated finite volume–finite volume hydrodynamic modelling framework for wave-structure interactions

This thesis presents a new integrated hydrodynamic modelling framework for and long-time and large-scale wave-structure interaction problems. It is developed by coupling a finite-volumebased fully-nonlinear potential-flow (FNPF) solver with the native OpenFOAM incompressible ‘interFoam’ solver in a numerical wave tank (NWT). This new model, named IntegratedFoam, has the primary advantage that each constituent solver has been developed in the same numerical framework (OpenFOAM), and consequently, are both also based on the same numerical method, i.e., the finite-volume method (FVM). Consequently, the method for transferring information is made simple and the coupling stable. Indeed, the coupling procedure follows a domain decomposition approach in which an overlapping relaxation zone is utilised to implement a oneway coupling. Hence, given that both solvers have been developed in OpenFOAM and are finite-volume-based, only a method to calculate the volume fraction from the free-surface elevation needs to be implemented: the velocity and pressure are already calculated as part of the FNPF solution and can be transferred accordingly in one direction—simplifying things greatly and avoiding unwanted errors. In addition, existing advanced OpenFOAM functionalities can be used for the required interpolation—easily addressing the problem of nonconforming meshes. These functionalities then also allow for the easy implementation of an overlapping relaxation zone which is key to a stable coupling because it ensures that there is a smooth transition from the FNPF to interFoam solution. Without it, there is a danger of there being a lack of continuity between each solution due the underlying physics of each solver being different. This could potentially then lead to errors and subsequently make the coupling unstable. Moreover, this zone also absorbs any reflected waves in the NWT, again aiding stability. In conjunction with the development of this new integrated model, a new stabilisation method for finite-volume or finite-difference FNPF models, motivated by a total variation diminishing (TVD) approach, is also presented. The accuracy and efficiency of the new IntegratedFoam model are then systematically validated through a series of wave propagation and wave-structure interaction test cases. In particular, the sensitivity of the model to its main coupling parameters is first assessed through fifth-order Stokes wave propagation. The model is then applied to a number of test cases involving wave interaction with offshore structures: fifth-order Stokes waves interaction with a 2-D T-shaped floating body acting as simplified midship section with superstructure, focused wave interaction with a fixed 3-D cylinder acting as a simplified monopile foundation, and focused wave interaction with a 3-D wave energy converter (WEC) device. It is shown to produce accurate numerical solutions that agree well with existing theoretical results and experimental data, all whilst significantly improving computational efficiency. Therefore, given that OpenFOAM is open source, the new integrated model can readily be used by researchers as a more efficient model for complex wave-structure interaction problems than interFoam. The new stabilisation method is then also systematically validated through fifth-order Stokes wave propagation, focused wave propagation, and wave shoaling. Again, it is shown to produce accurate numerical solutions that agree well with existing theoretical results and experimental data, all whilst reducing excessive numerical dissipation and thus significantly improving energy conservation

Modelling Body Mass Index Distribution using Maximum Entropy Density

The objective of this paper is to model the distribution of Body Mass Index (BMI) for a given set of covariates. BMI is one of the leading indicators of health and has been studied by health professionals for many years. As such, there have been various approaches to model the distribution of BMI. Furthermore, there are numerous studies which investigate the association between an individual’s physical and socio-economic attributes (covariates) to their BMI levels. This paper proposes the use of Maximum Entropy Density (MED) to model the distribution of BMI using information from covariates. The paper shows how covariates can be incorporated into the MED framework. This framework is then applied to an Australian data set. The results show how different covariates affect different moments of the estimated BMI distribution

ACUTE SUICIDAL POISONING BY ALUMINUM PHOSPHIDE: RARE CASE REPORT FROM NORTHERN RURAL INDIA

Aluminum phosphide (ALP) is a highly toxic pesticide and is lethal if abused as a suicidal agent invariably. The ALP or a celphos powder is a major contributor to mortality, as such celphos poisoning lacks a specific antidote. The management of the patients includes fast decontamination and all international protocol supportive measures. The ALP poisoning has gained enormous interest with the spike in the number of cases due to its increased use for non-agricultural purposes as well. The easy ease of availability and laxity in the implementation of the sale of pesticides has eventually led to misuse, rather an abuse for the commitment of suicide. Celphos powder is commonly available in the form of tablets. This is a case of suicidal consumption of ALP by 54 years old male, a farmer by occupation. According to our interpretation, we believe that strict implementation of pesticide laws must be enforced and suicide help awareness programs under the banner of government and non-government organizations must come in the front line up

A methodology for projecting sparse populations and its application to remote Indigenous communities

© 2020, The Author(s). A new method is proposed for generating projections for sparse populations by locality, age cohort and gender. An adaptation of the cohort replacement method, the approach uses a Tobit model with varying censoring limits to model population changes by cohort. As an applied example, projections are generated for 2016 Indigenous populations in communities in regional and remote Australia, and then compared to actual 2016 Census population counts. We argue the approach has considerable potential, with the model performing well in out-of-sample projection while offering projections at a much finer-grained level of disaggregation than currently available to planners and policy-makers

DIABETES MELLITUS: A REVIEW WITH EDGE OF SGLT2 INHIBITORS

The relative (Type 2 DM) or absolute (Type 1 DM) deficiency of insulin hormone could result into hyperglycemia, which is a characteristic feature of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality because of its associated complications viz. Neuropathy, Nephropathy, Retinopathy, Cardiovascular disorders.The feature which has to be noted down is the death of individuals before the age of 70 y, which is attributable to high blood glucose levels. According to WHO diabetes mellitus will be the seventh leading cause of deaths till 2030.The induction of glycosuria as meant for gly­caemiac control in patients with DM is an extension of the physiological role of renal TmG to curb the menace of hyperglycemia. The first biologically derived SGLT2 inhibitor phlorizin, isolated in 1835 from the root bark of apple tree, was not developed as an antihyperglycaemic drug because of rapid degradation by lactase-phlorizin hydrolase and poor absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. Other glycoside moieties derived from phlorizin struc­ture have subsequently been developed recently