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The adoption of Lean Six Sigma has become increasingly widespread in manufacturing industries worldwide. It is a powerful methodology for optimizing operational efficiency and quality, leading to increased productivity, reduced costs, and higher customer satisfaction. However, implementing LSS effectively, especially in Indian manufacturing sectors striving for sustainability, presents significant challenges. In this paper, the authors have presented the critical factors that impede the successful integration of sustainable Lean Six Sigma practices within the Indian manufacturing landscape. Through a systematic review of existing literature and empirical studies, authors have identified the eighteen failure factors. To prioritize these factors, authors have employed the Best Worst Method (BWM), a decision-making tool that aids in ranking factors based on their importance and impact. It is a multi-criterion decision-making (MCDM) methodology to solve different types of fact-based decision--making problems. This method involves initially identifying the best (most important) and worst (least important) factors, followed by pairwise comparisons to determine their relative significance. Results depict that "Failure of leadership to inspire and motivate", "Lack of well-defined framework for executing initiatives", and "High implementation cost and poor estimation of cost" are three top-level critical failure factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern research, several brilliant minds investigate linear programming problems involving fuzzy variable quantities. Many researchers have turned to linear programming by fuzzy variables to address this problem. Various fuzzy simplex approaches have been developed, using ranking functions to handle fuzzy numbers. Results from this research suggest that linear ranking functions can provide a straightforward interpretation of problems involving linear programming by fuzzy variable quantities. To solve these types of problems, the Fuzzy Dual Simplex Tableau method is often applied, which proves useful for sensitivity analysis when modifications are made to the activity vectors of the fundamental columns. In this study, a numerical case is presented to demonstrate the potential benefits of this approach for future technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are great administrators in maintaining their personal goals to satisfy family needs. The main aim of the study is to determine the student's level of preference towards investment avenues. Diindium District is the study area selected for the study based on questionnaire method and analysed using simple percentage analysis, chi-square and scaling technique. The study concludes that investment became more convenient because it is very useful investment tool and it could help to improve the status of the women investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of growing importance of financial status, there is an increased importance for various financial institutions which provide such loans. The main objective of the study of the loans and advances is to understand the lending policies and the various schemes of financial assistance provided by the bank. The bank works comparatively different from other financial institutions and banks as it works according to the rules and regulations and the guidelines by the RBI. In this background the topic of personal lending schemes of ICICI BANK LTD is chosen as the subject matter of this project. The findings of the project may be considered by ICICI BANK LTD while formulating the policies for increasing the volume of personal lending schemes. The study is also required to analyze the views of the borrowers and to analyze the satisfaction level of customers. It helps to know in detail the Loans and Advances provided by the bank, right from its inception stage, growth and future prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of any organization is highly dependent and how it attracts, recruits, motivates and retains its work force. Today organization needs to be more flexible so that they are equipped their work force and enjoy their commitment. Therefore, organizations are required to adopt a strategy to improve the employees 'quality of work life'. To satisfy both the organizational objectives and employee's needs. One of the ways to accomplishing QWL is through job design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, abrasive waterjet machining has emerged as a promising machining technique for the machining of composites because of its non-thermal nature. In the present study, the effect of machining parameters on the quality of machining has been studied and the process parameters have been optimized to machine jute-fiber-reinforced polymer composites. The design of the experiment was used to predict the combination of the input parameters for L27 experiments. Taguchi and response surface methodology (RSM) techniques were employed to analyze the experimental data and identify the optimum combination of process parameters to achieve as little delamination as possible. The results indicate that an increase in the values of the parameters traverse speed and abrasive mass flow rate leads to an increase in the damage obtained. However, an increase in the value of the parameter stand-off distance minimizes the damage produced. To achieve minimum delamination, the optimum combination of input parameters is obtained through Taguchi and RSM. For the present experimental condition, to achieve minimum delamination, the parameter traverse speed should be set at 20 mm/min, the stand-off distance should be 4 mm, and the abrasive flow rate should be set at 0.25 kg/min. The results confirm that the optimum combination of parameters obtained through both approaches is similar. This investigation results indicated a significant improvement in the cutting quality with reduced damage, achieved through the optimized process parameters. For the considered range of parameters, graphs are plotted such that any intermediate values can be anticipated within the considered range without performing any further experiments. The present work signifies the effect of fiber orientation on delamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Service Industries Journal is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The design and manufacture of medical implants is a dynamic and important area of research, both from a medical and an engineering standpoint. For use in the actual fabrication of the end-use implant utilizing the investment casting method, a replica of a knee implant can be produced using the fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique. Whereas there are numerous benefits of the FDM process, the outer surface of the FDM printed parts are subjected to poor surface finishing due to the successive addition of material layers. So FDM printed details need to be post-processed using suitable surface finishing techniques, i.e., abrasive flow machining (AFM) process. This paper describes an experimental investigation on AFM of freeform surfaces of FDM printed femoral component of knee implant replica for investment casting application. The AFM media is made with a base material of corn-starch powder, a carrier medium of EDM oil, and additives of aloe barbadensis miller (aloe vera gel) and glycerin. The rheology of this newly developed AFM media has been measured and optimized for maximum material removal rate. AFM media is also characterized to check its thermal stability and functional elements using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic method. Finally, the FDM printed pattern of the femoral component of the knee implant is finished using a one-way AFM machine using the newly prepared optimized AFM media. For an FDM printed pattern of a femoral component of a knee implant, the maximum percentage improvement in average surface roughness (Ra) that a medium based on corn-starch (50% corn-starch powder) can achieve is 83%, and the initial surface roughness was reduced by 81.58%, from 9.30 to 02.10 μm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the difficulty of approximating the population average of a variable y by knowledge about a supplementary variable x in the context of two successive (rotation) sampling occasions. The paper proposes a group of exponential-class estimators that includes the regular balanced estimator, produce-class estimator, and proportion-class estimator and suggests that these estimators are superior to existing estimators. The paragraph also mentions that the paper discusses optimal substitute statements and then the implementation of the recommended estimators, which may be important considerations for practical applications of the proposed methods. Finally, an empirical study is mentioned as supporting evidence for the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ortho-xylene (o-xylene), a derivative of benzene and an important aromatic compound is applied as an anti-knocking agent in automobiles and jet engines. Knocking being a dynamical phenomenon that occurs at very high temperatures and high pressures, here we have reported the pump–probe technique based time-resolved Raman spectroscopy studies under laser-driven shock compression (high temperature and high pressure) along with the numerical simulation to understand the molecular level response of o-xylene under shock compression. The laser shock experiments carried out up to 4.1 GPa using confinement geometry target holder assembly show indication of three phase transitions, i.e., liquid–solid phase-I, solid phase-I–solid phase-II, and solid phase-II–solid phase-III at 1.2, 2.1, and 3.6 GPa, respectively. The shock velocities calculated for 700 mJ laser energy (corresponding pressure 2.5 GPa) using intensity ratios of Raman modes scattered from the shocked and whole region of the sample for 735 and 582 cm−1 Raman modes are 3.4 ± 0.3 and 3.5 ± 0.3 km/s, respectively, which is in close agreement with the shock velocity of 3.51 km/s determined using 1D radiation hydrodynamic numerical simulation. In addition, our high-pressure static compression studies on this compound employing diamond anvil cell up to 13 GPa show that this compound shows four possible phase transitions at 0.4, 0.9, 3.8, and 12 GPa pressures to solid phase I, II, III, and IV, respectively. On release, these phase transitions are reversible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main problem is to raise the standard of construction, rethinking concrete's expanding potential as a construction material. The scarcity of river sand as a fine aggregate ingredient is currently a widespread issue for many concrete plants. As a result, quarried stones that were accessible locally were used as fine aggregate. Crushed Rock Particles, also known as crushed sand, performs better in terms of fresh characteristics since there are more fines present in CRF than in river sand. The current study additionally examines the relationship between plastic viscosity and the fresh and hardened SCC properties. As a partial substitute for Ordinary Portland Cement, Fly Ash and Ground Granulated Blast Slag blends are used to generate binary and ternary. The experimental tests satisfactorily validate the suggested blend design. The results shown that SCC mixture with ternary blend, binary blend with GGBS, fly ash, and blend with pure OPC are suitable for creating fresh characteristics. Additionally, it was found that a cohesive and workable mix was produced when 100 % CRF was used in place of sand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterococci species are known commensals of the gastrointestinal flora; however, in recent years, they have emerged as important nosocomial pathogens that possess many virulence factors that are attributed to the pathogenesis of diseases caused by them. The study evaluated and compared the virulence factors of Enterococci isolated from fecal and clinical samples. From the obtained isolates, the clinical enterococcal isolates produced 35%, 20%, and 50%, and fecal isolates produced 23%, 13%, and 13% gelatinase, hemolysin, and biofilm, respectively. Biofilm production determined by the Congo Red agar, tube, and microtiter plate methods was 23%, 39%, and 49%, respectively. The sensitivity of the Congo Red agar and tube method compared to the microtiter plate method was 27% and 46%, respectively, whereas the specificity of both tests was 79%. This study showed that biofilm production plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of diseases caused by Enterococci. Detection of biofilm production using the microtiter plate method is more sensitive and specific than the Congo Red agar and tube method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, a new multi-criterion-based fuzzy logic (FL) model has been proposed to determine the health index and health status of power transformers. To facilitate an effective decision-making environment, the proposed model incorporates multi-criterion analysis and various diagnostic parameters concerning the transformer. Most significant parameters of the oil-paper insulation that represents the degradation as potential aging markers have been considered for developing the proposed model. In addition to these, other parameters including visual inspection, oil age, and the number of faults detected are also included in the loop. To validate the proposed model, monitoring data of 200 in-service identical transformers that belong to the local utility have been adopted. Comparison has been made between the output health indices of the present proposed method and the diagnostic expert model proposed previously by the author's group. The similarity index of the results in both models is found to be 94%. It is observed that existing fuzzy logic methods have shortcomings such as a large number of rules and complexity issues. Thus, routing to an inaccurate and non-reliable output. However, it is inferred that multi-criterion analysis along with FL may certainly overcome all such shortcomings. It is envisioned that the proposed model is accurate and reliable. Importantly, the proposed model is simple with less computational effort and is easily adoptable by the utilities and engineers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the residual compressive strength of wood ash (WA) concrete cube specimens after immersion in diluted sulfuric acid (H2SO4) solutions. The sulfuric acid resistance of WA concrete is observed using 2% and 5% H2SO4 solutions. WA is used as mineral admixture and the partial substitution levels of WA are 0% (CW0), 5% (CW5), 10% (CW10), 15% (CW15), and 20% (CW20) by weight of 53 grade Portland cement. WA concrete results are compared with the results of M30 grade concrete (CW0). At CW5 and CW10 replacement levels, a slight enhancement in the strength of WA concrete is noticed. No significant resistance to H2SO4 is observed with WA concrete when compared with CW0 concrete. Further, the deterioration of CW0, CW5, and CW10 concrete is similar. The substitution of WA with cement reduces the cement content and eventually gives fewer hydrated cementitious products that enable deterioration by H2SO4. Furthermore, WA helps in improving the density and filling capacity of the interaction transition zone of concrete which leads to the reduction of pores and capillary action. In brief, the use of WA in concrete benefits by converting environmental concern material into a sustainable resource in producing cementing materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a novel bearing fault detection framework for the real-time condition monitoring of induction motors based on difference visibility graph (DVG) theory. In this regard, the vibration signals of healthy as well as different rolling bearing defects were acquired from both fan-end and drive-end accelerometers. These data were recorded for three different bearing defects and under four loading conditions. The acquired vibration time series were converted to a topological network using DVG. From the transformed vibration data in the graph domain, degree distribution (DD) was selected as feature to discriminate different fault networks. Using analysis of variance test and false discovery rate correction, most discriminative DD features were selected. These features were subsequently fed as inputs to a deep learning model, i.e., a bidirectional long short-term memory network classifier for fault classification. In this study, 112 classification problems have been addressed, and for all of them, the proposed approach delivered very high fault detection accuracy. Finally, the classification performance of the proposed framework is compared with other well-known deep-learning classifiers all of which delivered satisfactory results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combined-numeral nonlinearity coding problem (CNNLCP) troubles concerning usual restrictions and empirical roles and constant then numeral variable quantity frequently appear in a production project, substance method business, and organization. Even though several optimize techniques need to be established for CNNLCP troubles, these techniques can hold signal relationships together with a particular variable quantity. Thus, this analysis intends a different approach used to explain a signal CNNLCP trouble and set free variable amount towards achieving an internationally optimum explanation. The signal CNNLCP trouble is initially converted into an individual with one certain variable quantity. However, the changed trouble is redeveloped as a curving combined-numeral system as the Convexness of the approaches and piecewise linearization systems. A comprehensive optimal signal CNNLCP trouble can ultimately be realized inside the acceptable inaccuracy. Algebraic models are also introduced to establish the effectiveness of the recommended approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Acute surge in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID)-associated mucormycosis (CAM) cases was reported during mid-May 2021, which was later declared an epidemic in various states of India including Bihar. Objective: We carried out a rapid investigation of CAM cases to describe the epidemiological and clinical profiles and find plausible predictors to guide the initiation of public health actions. Methods: A team of public health specialists contacted all the CAM cases reported to our hospital to collect relevant information using a case-investigation-form. In addition, the team visited the Flu Clinic and Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) outpatient department (OPD) to capture CAM cases on daily basis during the period of the acute surge of CAM cases. Results: About 88% of 130 CAM cases reported during the period of the acute surge were in the advanced stage of mucormycosis. The majority of the CAM cases were younger (less than 60 years) [76.2%], diabetics [65.4%], un-vaccinated [86.9%], and had used steroids for management of COVID-19 [64.6%]. Other findings of public health importance were summarized and possible public health actions were recommended for the prevention of outbreaks in future. Conclusion: Optimum management of diabetes including screening for each COVID case, rational use of steroids only when necessary, strict adherence to COVID appropriate behavior by health professionals as well as the public, increasing COVID vaccine coverage, CAM awareness, and setting up a CAM surveillance mechanism may be the key to prevent and control CAM outbreaks in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the growing interest in environmental concerns, synthetic and natural esters have become the key focus of the picture in the last two decades as insulating fluids for high-voltage equipment. This is because, unlike mineral oil, ester liquids are biodegradable, nontoxic, and safe for the environment and human health. These fluids are derived from renewable sources and have high fire resistance. However, synthetic and natural ester fluids are still used in a rather limited number of electrical equipment for several reasons (high cost, high viscosity and density, increased tendency toward electrostatic charge, faster propagation of streamers in an inhomogeneous electric field, etc.). Besides, a huge amount of equipment is filled with mineral oils. The massive replacement of oil-filled equipment with natural or synthetic esters may be extremely expensive to utilities and transformer owners. In addition, in the event of partial or complete retrofilling of mineral oil with an ester fluid, the equipment may evidently contain a mixture of two insulating fluids, and therefore, demanding the scope for research on mixed insulating liquids. The intent of this article is to present a comprehensive review of the literature on the blend of mineral oil and other alternative dielectric fluids. The critical research progresses, highlights, and challenges related to mixed liquids along with significant tutorial elements as well as some analyses are discussed. This review should be useful for researchers, utilities, and transformer owners concerned with ester liquids and retrofilling aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present article, around 40 compounds from Indigofera aspalathoides were screened for inhibition of MAP Kinase, as mitogen-activated protein Kinase plays a vital role in many signaling pathways for transducing the extracellular signals. Screening of MAPK inhibitors is essential for direct inhibition of other effector proteins downstream in MAPK pathway. For this purpose In silico molecular modeling and molecular docking were performed to predict the variation in binding efficiency of a diverse set of compounds. The bonding energy and docking score were utilized to determine the binding efficiency of tested compounds. Results showed that the three compounds were found to be a potent inhibitors of MAPK. It was concluded that these compounds might be explored for inhibiting MAPK and other proteins involved in cell proliferation and cell division in diseases related to neuronal dysfunction and tumorigenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows a proposal for a nonadaptive prefilter based three-phase type-I synchronous reference frame-based phase locked-loop (PLL) algorithm. This solution is simpler than the widely accepted type-II PLL algorithms, which require a great deal of effort as regards tuning the proportional-integral gains. In the proposed approach, a type-I controller that is merely a proportional gain with a fixed magnitude is employed. Moreover, improvements are made to the implementation of the nonadaptive demodulation based prefiltering approach, which consist of moving average filters and delayed signal cancellation operators. In the event of a fault, the improved prefilter structure is still incapable of rejecting the fundamental negative sequence (FNS) component. We propose to overcome this issue by using a nonadaptive computationally simplified structure to improve the immunity to the adverse effects of FNS. It is consequently possible to avoid the dependence on the frequency feedback loop while involving a simple and fast feed-forward error compensation approach. Finally, the performance of the proposed PLL is experimentally verified using a real-time controller to demonstrate its feasibility for grid synchronization applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power transformers represent one of the most abundant and expensive components in the electric power industry. Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) of transformer is the most widely accepted diagnostic tool across the globe to understand insulation incipient failures. Nevertheless, DGA fault gas interpretation is a remarkable challenge for transformer owners and utility engineers. Several computational techniques have been adopted for DGA fault classification along with offline methods. However, limited data availability, high ambiguity in DGA interpretation, suitability, and model accuracy are critical challenges in the DGA fault classification using computational techniques. In this work, highly diverse and large DGA data samples of in-service transformer fleets from five different utilities have been used to develop an efficient fault classification methodology. A total of 4580 DGA samples and IEC TC 10 database are used for training and testing, respectively, for various machine learning algorithms. Discussions on performance indicators and evaluation of several algorithms to verify the most suitable class algorithms are also the focus of this work. Furthermore, a best-performing model is identified based on various performance indicators. The hyperparameters of the best model are further tuned to achieve a most precise fault classification. It is inferred that non-parametric methods and non-linear SVM are best suitable for transformer DGA fault classification. Importantly, the rankings in the present study suggest that transformer DGA fault prediction is better with ensemble learning methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of low pour point esters in transformers insulation serving in cold climatic regions is still a challenge. To address this concern, the pre-breakdown and breakdown analyses of thermally aged low pour point ester fluids are investigated. The breakdown measurements are performed at different aging conditions under AC stress. Needle-plane electrode geometry (with varying radii of the tip) is employed since this configuration is necessary for any practical diagnostic based on partial discharge (PD). This allows studying the effect of the chemical impurities (aging by-products) as assessed by some physicochemical properties (acidity, particles count, turbidity, and dissolved decay products) on the partial discharge and breakdown characteristics. The complete analysis is carried out for liquids having the pour points less than -50 °C, including a mineral oil (MO) and two synthetic ester liquids (SE1 and SE2). Changes in the streamer properties, such as partial discharge inception voltage (PDIV), breakdown-streamer inception voltage, and breakdown voltage are reported as a function of the needle tip radius and aging condition. It is observed that the breakdown properties of SE1 are better than that of SE2 and are comparable to MO. To understand the influence of aging on the PD, correlations between decay products, acidity, BSIV, and PDIV are reported. It is observed that the acidity and concentration of decay products directly impact the PD characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Research Paper Focused On Multiple Lines, Multiple Server Systems Of Patients In Covid - 19 Government Hospital In India. The Underlying Mathematical Concepts Of Queue Models: Arrival And Service Time Distributions, Queue Disciplines, And Queue Behavior. The Operating Characteristic Formulas For The Multiple-Server Queueing Model Meant To Evaluate The Performance Of Practical Queuing Systems Were Also Presented. Patients' Arrival Time And Service Time Spent To Obtain Maintenance Were Gathered And Evaluated. Various Percentages Of Typical Advent Period Combined With A Facility Period α/β Were Found To Assess The Best Assistance Services (Servers) Suitable For A Government Hospital. The Operation Element, Along With The Usual Delaying Period Of The Consumer Appearing In The Structure, Lingered At 0.176 And 0.152, Correspondingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a robust Lyapunov’s demodulator (LD) based on an orthogonal signal generation (OSG) approach for single-/three-phase applications. The LD is not normally capable of rejecting the dc-offset in the grid signal, and an additional estimation loop is, therefore, required, which may affect the dynamic performance. Nevertheless, an application of a harmonically polluted grid voltage signal to the LD may severely affect the steady-state performance of the parameters estimated. These issues are addressed by proposing an enhanced LD-based-OSG in which a moving average filter is incorporated into the LD-OSG structure. The rapid rejection of dc-offset and harmonics is, therefore, easily achieved without any additional loop. The proposed structure can accurately estimate the fundamental in-phase and quadrature components. However, these orthogonal components may suffer from amplitude imbalance and errors in the phase information under off-nominal frequency conditions. Nevertheless, the errors in the amplitude and the phase information are eliminated using an open-loop frequency deviation detector and a feed-forward curve-fitting approach. The dynamic performance of the proposed scheme has been validated by means of numerical and hardware studies whose results show that, with the less sensitivity toward the phase angle jump and good immunity to the fundamental negative sequence, the proposed scheme is a potential technique with which to synchronize single-/three-phase grid-connected power electronic equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper projected a new overall probabilistic single-source inventory model. This model is devised to evaluate how the firm can determine the optimum order amount, and the optimum reorder time for every piece to reach the key objective of reducing the estimated overall price. The requirement is a chance variable and the lead. A period is a constant. Calculate the economic order quantity (EOQ) for reducing the overall supply price. Compute the reorder level (ROL) to determine replenishment time with known and unknown demand for inventory items. Calculate and understand the use of buffer stock, safety stock, and reserve stock with known and unknown stockout costs. Use inventory status systems. Calculate EOQ when quantity discounts are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gynecological Endocrinology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The legume pod-borer, Maruca vitrata Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) (LPB), is an important insect pest of pigeon pea. Chemical pesticides are generally employed to manage this pest, but because of the soil residue issues and other environmental hazards associated with their use, biopesticides are also in demand. Another benign alternative is to use entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) to manage this vital pest. In the present study, the infectivity of ten native EPNs was evaluated against LPB by assessing their penetration and production in the LPB. The effectiveness of the promising EPNs against second-, third- and fourth-instar LPB larvae was also studied. Heterorhabditis sp. (Indian Agricultural Research Institute-Entomopathogenic Nematodes Rashid Pervez (IARI-EPN RP) 06) and Oscheius sp. (IARI-EPN RP 08) were found to be most pathogenic to LPB, resulting in about 100% mortality within 72 h, followed by Steinernema sp. (IARI-EPN RP 03 and 09). Oscheius sp. (IARI-EPN RP 04) was found to be the least pathogenic to LPB larva with 67% mortality. Maximum penetration was exhibited by Heterorhabditis sp. (IARI-EPN RP 06) followed by Oscheius sp. (IARI-EPN RP 08), whereas the lowest rate of penetration was exhibited by Oscheius sp. (IARI-EPN RP 01). The highest rate of production was observed with Oscheius sp. (IARI-EPN RP 08), followed by Oscheius sp. (IARI-EPN RP 04 and 10). Among the tested instars of the LPB larvae, second-instar larvae were more susceptible to EPNs, followed by third- and fourth-instar larvae. The results indicate that Heterorhabditis sp. (IARI-EPN RP 06) and Oscheius sp. (IARI-EPN RP 08) have a good potential to the manage LPB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural ester dielectric fluids are being used as alternatives for mineral insulating oils in oil-filled power apparatuses. Although partial discharges (PDs) are recognised as one of the main causes of degradation of dielectrics used in power equipment, their characteristic voltages appear to be temperature-dependent. In this contribution, the pre-breakdown and breakdown behaviour of two natural ester fluids, extracted from canola oil (NE1) and soybean oil (NE2) is reported. To assess the effectiveness of the temperature dependence, −5, 0, and + 20°C have been identified as test temperatures. It was found that the different pre-breakdown and breakdown characteristic voltages increase with increasing temperature for both types of esters. The delay time is always longer for canola oil when compared to soybean oil regardless of the test temperature. The analysis of the average propagation velocity of NE1 and NE2 indicates that PDs propagate faster in NE2 than in NE1. The field strength at the tip of the needle electrode during the inception of the streamers leading to breakdown indicates that streamers in both oils are propagating in the slow mode. It is found that the temperature has a significant influence on the PDs' parameters for both fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural ester dielectric fluids are being used as alternatives for mineral insulating oils in oil‐filled power apparatuses. Although partial discharges (PDs) are recognised as one of the main causes of degradation of dielectrics used in power equipment, their characteristic voltages appear to be temperature‐dependent. In this contribution, the pre‐breakdown and breakdown behaviour of two natural ester fluids, extracted from canola oil (NE1) and soybean oil (NE2) is reported. To assess the effectiveness of the temperature dependence, −5, 0, and + 20°C have been identified as test temperatures. It was found that the different pre‐breakdown and breakdown characteristic voltages increase with increasing temperature for both types of esters. The delay time is always longer for canola oil when compared to soybean oil regardless of the test temperature. The analysis of the average propagation velocity of NE1 and NE2 indicates that PDs propagate faster in NE2 than in NE1. The field strength at the tip of the needle electrode during the inception of the streamers leading to breakdown indicates that streamers in both oils are propagating in the slow mode. It is found that the temperature has a significant influence on the PDs' parameters for both fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As per the voices in the precision manufacturing industries, the machining of brittle materials such as glass and diamond is intricate owing to their thermo-mechanical properties. Machining of the brittle material with a localized heating method produced softness in the work material during the operation, resulting in microcracks and voids on the finished surface due to thermal stresses. Such pressing issues are solved by dry machining with bulk heating. The objective of the present research is to develop a sophisticated lab-made portable multipurpose heating setup for enabling various potent applications such as machining, elevated temperature scratch and indentation tests, and grinding, among other things, on hard and brittle materials. The mentioned process is done by softening the material with preheating of the samples. The overall dimensions of the developed setup are 105 × 150 × 53 mm3. This setup has been evaluated at different temperatures of the 45S5 bioglass sample surface up to 426 °C and is capable of holding and heating the samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the contemporary scenario and importance of alternative liquid dielectrics, IEEE DEIS Technical Committee on Liquid Dielectrics laid emphasis on pre-breakdown phenomena of ester dielectric fluids. The present article reports the background knowledge on the breakdown theories and behavior of streamers in insulating oils. The major influencing properties of the streamers aroused in liquid insulating systems are discussed keeping in view of the ester based dielectric fluids. Importantly, modelling of streamers, testing approaches, and review of pre-breakdown phenomena in ester dielectric fluids has been presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, two synthetic esters along with a natural ester are investigated to monitor the generation of colloidal and dissolved decay particles under thermal aging. The thermal aging of the oils is carried out as per a modified ASTM D1934 in the presence of cellulose and copper at elevated temperatures. Later, the colloidal and dissolved decay particles are monitored as per ASTM D1698 (centrifuge treatment) and ASTM D7150 (Fuller's earth filtration), respectively. The aged and treated dielectric liquids are characterized for the number of decay particles, oil absorbance curves, the concentration of dissolved decay content, and turbidity as per ASTM standards. The evolution of colloidal and dissolved decay contents is individually reported for ester fluids and mineral oils. The degradation in mineral oils has been witnessed by both dissolved and colloidal particles. The generation of colloidal particles following the degradation of ester fluids is almost negligible, whereas dissolved decay content is noticed with thermal degradation time. Importantly, the obtained results depict the ability of esters to dissolve more sludge. This is due to the high (oxidative) stability of ester leading to reduced radical decomposition products. Also, the temperature solvent nature of the ester group tends to dissolve sludge particles back to the liquid phase into the bulk liquid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-state, two-dimensional cellular automaton (2D CA) with uniform linear rules on 9-neighborhood renders multiple copies of any twodimensional binary image as an initial configuration. In total, there are 512 linear rules and these rules are classified into groups of nine basis of their capacities in producing the number of copies of a given image and these groups are Group-1, Group-2, · · ·, Group-9. All groups other than Group-1 have been found to be generating multiple copies for a given image at time t = 2n where n = 0. A relation was derived among the size of a binary image, neighborhood and exact time for replication (two non-overlapping copies) in one-dimensional cellular automaton (1D CA). In this paper, we classify the Group-2 rules into four classes based on the directions of the translation of two copies of an image on the grid. The four classes as Horizontal rules, Vertical rules, Diagonal rules and Combination rules. We have computed the exact time for replication of a given binary image for each class separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Letter, a demodulation based pre-filtering technique is proposed for fast detection of the single-phase grid variables. The estimation of grid voltage parameters is achieved through a Type-I synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop (PLL). The modified bandpass filter in the pre-filtering stage ensure a better rejection of the DC-offset and harmonics. Thus, the grid variables are estimated rapidly with the help of a simple proportional controller. Consequently, in-loop filtering burden and the effort required to tune the PLL is minimal. However, steady errors are witnessed in the fundamental amplitude and the phase information which are mitigated by a curve fitting technique. Importantly, the proposed PLL scheme has improved the dynamic performance under off-nominal frequency conditions with immunity against grid disturbances. The robustness of the proposed algorithm is experimentally verified vis-à-vis existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Laparoscopic repair is now the treatment of choice for most cases of ventral/incisional hernia. Although the technique has undergone many refinements, there is no standard technique for difficult or complicated hernias. Aim: The aim of this study was to show the different innovative methods used to treat difficult ventral hernia through hybrid techniques. Materials and Methods: A total of 75 (n = 75) patients underwent Laparoscopic Ventral Hernia Hybrid Mesh Repair (LVHHMR) by our surgical unit between January 2014 and December 2016. Three different techniques of repairing the defects were used. Mesh fixation time, post‑operative pain score (visual analogue score) and follow‑up for pain and recurrence (at 6 months, 12 months and 24 months) were recorded and analysed. Results: Out of 75 patients (20 men and 55 women), the median age was 45 years and body mass index of the patients was 25-35. Types of hernias operated were paraumbilical hernias, incisional and recurrent hernias. The techniques used were (1) laparoscopic adhesiolysis, open sac excision with closure of defect and laparoscopic mesh placement, (2) laparoscopic adhesiolysis, omphalectomy with closure of defect and laparoscopic mesh placement and (3) open adhesiolysis, sac excision with closure of defect and laparoscopic mesh placement. Five patients required analgesics for 48 h. No patients complained of pain at follow‑ups (1 month, 6 months, 12 months and 24 months). Mean hospital stay postoperatively was 2-3 days. Conclusion: LVHHMR is safe and feasible approach for complicated/difficult ventral hernias. However, further larger studies are required to establish these methods as gold standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The diversity of tissue structure in histopathological images makes feature extraction for classification a challenging task. Dictionary learning within a sparse representation-based classification (SRC) framework has been shown to be successful for feature discovery. However, there exist stiff practical challenges: 1) computational complexity of SRC can be onerous in the decision stage since it involves solving a sparsity constrained optimization problem and often over a large number of image patches; and 2) images from distinct classes continue to share several geometric features. We propose a novel analysis–synthesis model learning with shared features algorithm (ALSF) for classifying such images more effectively. Methods: In the ALSF, a joint analysis and synthesis learning model is introduced to learn the classifier and the feature extractor at the same time. Unlike SRC, no explicit optimization is needed in the inference phase leading to much reduced computation. Crucially, we introduce the learning of a low-rank shared dictionary and a shared analysis operator, which more accurately represents both similarities and differences in histopathological images from distinct classes. We also develop an extension of ALSF with a sparsity constraint, whose presence or absence facilitates a cost–performance tradeoff. Results: The ALSF is evaluated on three challenging and well-known datasets: 1) spleen tissue images; 2) brain tumor images; and 3) breast cancer tissue dataset, provided by different organizations. Conclusion: Experimental results demonstrate both complexity and performance benefits of the ALSF over state-of-the-art alternatives. Significance: Modeling shared features with appropriate quantitative constraints lead to significantly improved classification in histopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to examine the effect of sliding speeds on the elevated temperature tribological performance of atmospheric plasma-sprayed Ni-Al-Ag-MoS2 (NAMB), Ni-Al-Ag-MoS2-5 wt.% hBN (NAMB5) and Ni-Al-Ag-MoS2-10 wt.% hBN (NAMB10) composite coatings, friction and wear tests were conducted against alumina ball as a counter face using 'a rotary ball on disk configuration' at a constant load of 5 N and different sliding speeds 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9 m/s from room temperature (RT) to 800 °C using a high-temperature tribometer. Both coefficient of friction and wear rate were found to decrease with increasing speed from 0.3 to 0.7 m/s with a marginal increase beyond that for all the coatings. However, coating NAMB5 exhibited better lubricity in comparison with the other coatings at all sliding speeds and temperatures. The coefficient of friction recorded for this coating decreased from 0.51 to 0.23 at a sliding speed of 0.3 m/s and from 0.48 to 0.1 at a sliding speed of 0.7 m/s as the temperature was increased from RT to 800 °C. The results indicate the existence of a synergistic action of hBN in combination with Ag and MoS2 in providing lower friction and wear, thus highlighting the potential of hBN as an effective solid lubricant to stabilize the friction in a wide range of temperatures and speeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, evaluation of Nomex-910 and thermally upgraded Kraft (TUK) paper has been investigated in soya-based natural ester oil by performing accelerated thermal ageing. All the test samples have been prepared in standard oil/paper ratio in accordance with the IEEE Std. C57.154.2012 and are thermally stressed at 120°C, 150°C and 180°C as per modified ASTM D1934. Diagnostic measurements those including dielectric strength and tensile strength for insulating papers; UV/Vis spectroscopy, Dissipation factor, and Resistivity of oil have been reported as per ASTM standard test methods. The degree of concentration of conductive contaminants in Nomex system is slightly higher but are comparable. This is attributable to the high absorbance of Natural ester fluid. It is found, that dielectric strength and mechanical strength of Nomex paper is superior to that of the TUK paper. The deterioration rate of paper and the oil/paper insulation system has been verified with the natural ester-nomex insulation system and is found to be a possible alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanostructured MoS2 grown on reduced graphene oxide (rGO–MoS2) is demonstrated as a lubricating reinforcement material for copper matrix composite. The Cu–rGO–MoS2 nanocomposites having variable dosages of rGO–MoS2 (0.5 to 2.0 wt%) are prepared via a combinational approach of powder metallurgy and then spark plasma sintering at 700 °C. The XRD and Raman analyses suggested the preparation of rGO–MoS2 hybrid, whereas HRTEM images revealed the thorough distribution of MoS2 nanosheets over the rGO. The tribological properties of Cu–rGO–MoS2 nanocomposites were evaluated against the EN 31 steel ball under the variable loads (4–10 N). The coefficient of friction was found to decrease with increasing of rGO–MoS2 content. The Cu–rGO–MoS2 nanocomposite with a 2.0 wt% of rGO–MoS2 hybrid exhibited the lowest and stable coefficient of friction (μ = 0.2) among all the nanocomposites. The high mechanical strength and low shearing properties driven by the lamellar structure of rGO–MoS2 furnished the self-lubricating properties to Cu–rGO–MoS2 nanocomposites. A combination of adhesion, oxidation, abrasion, and delamination of materials are revealed as major events for the wear mechanisms. These wear events are governed by the dosage of rGO–MoS2 reinforcement in the Cu–rGO–MoS2 nanocomposites and applied load. The results indicate that rGO–MoS2 has the potential to be used as a solid lubricant in the metal matrix composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intent of this work is to evaluate the influence of cellulose insulation paper on gassing tendency of transformer oil under electrical discharge conditions. For comprehensive enumeration, insulation oil was thermally stressed at 115°C as per ASTM D 1934 with a controlled thermal aging history. The thermally aged oils were considered for gassing tendency evaluation as per ASTM D 6180 (5 hours, 10 kV AC) in the presence of cellulose. Different cellulose Kraft paper proportions including 0, 10, 20, and 30% of aged oil were introduced in to discharge cell. Different cellulose proportions and aging conditions were considered to understand the impact of cellulose while understanding the decomposition aspects of insulation. Diagnostic measurements with those including dissolved gas analysis, moisture, interfacial tension, turbidity, dissolved decay contents, acidity, and dissipation factor were performed before and after gassing tendency evaluation. It was found that, cellulose paper aids significantly in increasing dissolved gases and moisture in oil during electrical discharge. Importantly, diagnostic measurements have shown the ability of paper to absorb certain decomposition products during the discharge process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the possibility of occurrence of a synergistic action among hBN, MoS2 and Ag, three coatings, namely Ni-Al-Ag-MoS2, Ni-Al-Ag-MoS2-5 wt.% hBN and Ni-Al-Ag-MoS2-10 wt.% hBN coatings were deposited by plasma spray route and their tribological behavior was evaluated against alumina ball using 'a ball on disk configuration' under different loads of 5, 10, 15 and 20 N and a fixed sliding speed of 0.5 m/s at room temperature (RT) using a rotary tribometer. The content of Ag and MoS2 was fixed, whereas hBN content was 0, 5 and 10 wt.%. Both friction coefficient and wear rate were found to decrease with the increase in load from 5 to 15 N followed by a slight increase till 20 N for all the coatings. However, the composite coating containing 5 wt.% hBN along with Ag and MoS2 has shown the lowest coefficient of friction. The results indicated the existence of synergy among hBN, Ag and MoS2 which helped in improving the tribological performance of the coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformers are one of the most strategic components in balancing the voltage levels and hence a high priority is given to their performance [1]. It is established that, insulation technology plays a critical role in judging the performance and service life in oil filled apparatus [2]. Performance of the insulation system depends mainly on the deterioration behavior of insulation oil and paper. The mechanisms that are responsible for premature aging of oil/paper insulation are almost the same in all the oil filled apparatus. Yet, there will be a significant difference in the intensity of the aging mechanisms in different apparatus. This intensity is attributable to rating, design, and duration of operation for different machines. The detailed discussions on these mechanisms are presented in the subsequent sections of this paper. However, aging of service insulants is unavoidable and is to be maintained at a lower rate or arrested to the greatest possible extent, such that, catastrophic failures and unscheduled outages may be mitigated [3]. Normally, utilities follow scheduled condition monitoring activities to avoid the consequences of premature aging. Hence, knowledge on these in-service condition monitoring activities will be helpful in understanding the exact deterioration rate of the insulation system. Real time in-service experience of several transformer fleets that belong to United Kingdom utilities are reported in [4]. An early degradation of insulation is noticed through increase in acidity and furan concentration in oil for several transformers in the fleet. Authors investigated this early degradation in different perspectives including loading conditions, manufacturers, and oil chemistry changes. It is inferred that changes in oil chemistry is an important attribute for early degradation and hence utilities are advised to adopt different asset management strategies for affected and unaffected transformers in a fleet. Recently, failure rate data of service aged transformer fleets of an Australian utility were analyzed to establish the relationship between aging and different failure types [5]. It is noticed that degradation of the insulation system will be rapid after 20 years of service aging thus entailing the frequent condition monitoring activities after 20 years to identify premature aging failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]