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Background Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the commonest juvenile psychiatric disorder distinguished by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. ADHD is a serious public health concern because it has a long-term negative impact on academic, career and social-emotional development, thereby hampering the quality of life of the individual. Owing to the prolonged, expensive and ambiguous treatment, an increasing number of parents turn towards homeopathy for safe and cost-effective treatment of their ‘trouble-makers’ as they are labeled. Method A 7-year-old child diagnosed with ADHD (combined type) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) uncomplicated with other psychiatric comorbidity presented to the outpatient department after having consulted various physicians in succession in search of effective treatment. The child received individualised homoeopathic medicine. Outcome was measured using the parent completed Conners' Parent Rating Scale-Revised-Short version (CPRS:R-S) every 4 months. Results At the start of the treatment, the child's CPRS:R-S score was 76 which was very high. After a year, it was reduced to eight (within normal range). Conclusion This case demonstrates the usefulness of individualised homoeopathic treatment in improving the ADHD status over a span of 1 year. Nevertheless, large sample randomised controlled trials would be required to approve or disprove this single case observation.

For the majority people in India, the agriculture industry is their main source of income. India's policy discussions continue to center on the industry's low and stagnating income. The global market and the agriculture industry are becoming more intertwined, and the sector is also being affected more by environmental, food safety and quality, and animal welfare standards. To fulfil the rising need for food, to remain competitive globally, and to create high- quality agricultural goods, it must overcome new obstacles. In the context of ongoing agricultural policy change, it must also fulfil sustainability goals. Adoption of more advanced agricultural technology is one of the most popular strategies to increase farmers' revenue. This report provides information on India's present agricultural technology situation. Technology must be used effectively in agriculture to increase output and worker employability. Understanding how to employ technology in the agriculture industry effectively is the major goal of this study article. Several different kinds of technology are used to increase productivity. The main factors affecting the adoption of technologies, types of technologies, technologies used in the agricultural sector, advanced agricultural technologies currently in use, areas of information technology, and the function of information technology in managing agricultural education have all been taken into consideration. The agricultural industry has to get familiar with new technologies like biotechnology, nanotechnology, high-tech protected farming, and contemporary irrigation systems to increase productivity if it is to expand and develop effectively.

Solar cells based on lead-free perovskite have demonstrated great potential for next-generation renewable energy. The SCAPS-1D simulation software was used in this study to perform novel device modelling of a lead-free perovskite solar cell of the architecture ITO/WS2/CH3NH3SnI3/P3HT/Au. For the performance evaluation, an optimization process of the different parameters such as thickness, bandgap, doping concentration, etc., was conducted. Extensive optimization of the thickness and doping density of the absorber and electron transport layer resulted in a maximum power-conversion efficiency of 33.46% for our designed solar cell. Because of the short diffusion length and higher defect density in thicker perovskite, an absorber thickness of 1.2 µm is recommended for optimal solar cell performance. Therefore, we expect that our findings will pave the way for the development of lead-free and highly effective perovskite solar cells.

In the present article, modeling outcomes of novel and third-generation heterojunctions (3G) thin-film solar cells (TFSCs): quaternary semiconductor compound CZTS and ternary semiconductor compound CuSbS2 and CuSbSe2 have been presented. Solar cells have been studied and analysed to investigate optimized structure with good efficiency. CuSbS2 and CuSbSe2 are promising earth-abundant photovoltaic absorber materials which are chemically simpler than the widely studied Cu2ZnSnS4. However, CuSbS2 and CuSbSe2 photovoltaic (PV) devices currently have relatively low efficiency and poor reproducibility, often due to suboptimal material quality and insufficient optoelectronic properties. To overcome these concerns, we carried out numerical analysis using the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator-1 dimensional software (SCAPS-1D). The band alignment and several parameters such as thickness and doping concentration have been investigated. Further C-V, C-f and J-V characteristics are also studied to compare and optimize the performance of CZTS, CuSbS2 and CuSbSe2 solar cell. Understanding the constraints imposed by the CZTS, CuSbS2, and CuSbSe2 absorber layers could help this technology to overcome the lower efficiency barrier.

BackgroundFrom a demographic perspective, the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on life expectancy is not clear. Hence, there is a need to study the number of years of life lost concerning the existing average life expectancy due to COVID-19 in India.ObjectiveThis study aimed to estimate the impact of life expectancy due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.MethodologyWe considered day-wise age-specific mortality due to COVID-19 which was extracted from the COVID-19 data repository from March 11, 2020, to June 30, 2021, in India. All-cause mortality was collected from the United Nations population estimates. An abridged life table technique was utilized for calculating life expectancies based on all-cause mortality and mortality due to COVID-19. MortPak software was used to calculate the life expectancy with and without the COVID-19 pandemic. Life expectancy at birth in different age groups was estimated with respect to with and without COVID-19.ResultsA total of 399,459 deaths due to COVID-19 were distributed age wise, and their corresponding life expectancy was calculated. The general mortality was compared with COVID-19 mortality for the various age groups, and it was observed that mortality due to COVID-19 was significantly higher among the elderly age group [i.e., 45 to 60 years (36%) and > 60 years (51%)] when compared with < 25 years (1%) and 26–44 years (11%) (trend Chi-square 7.59; p = 0.001). The life expectancy without and with COVID-19 was 69.28 years and 69.16 years, respectively.ConclusionOverall, it was estimated that COVID-19 has an impact on life expectancy by 0.12 years during the study period. Even though mortality due to COVID-19 was high, factors such as lockdown, vaccination, and accidents also had an influence on mortality. Thus, there is a need to assess the impact of COVID-19 on life expectancy in future.

Carbon nanotube-added Cu5Se75Te10In10 glassy composites have been successfully developed by the melt quench mechanism. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study confirms the incorporation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and the composition of the composite. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been effectively used to study the glass transition kinetics of MWCNT-added multicomponent Cu5Se75Te10In10 chalcogenide glassy composite under nonisothermal condition. The investigated value of glass transition temperature increases with a rise in CNT concentration at different heating rates (5, 10, 15 and 20 K min−1). It has been explained on the basis of a greater degree of efficient carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-mediated cross-linking through the glassy matrix. Kissinger’s and Moynihan’s relations were used to determine the activation energy of the glass transition mechanism as a function of glass transition temperature Tg at different heating rates and also with MWCNT concentrations. Thermal characteristics of MWCNT/Cu5Se75Te10In10 were studied using different quantitative methods such as Dietzel relation, Hurby’s parameter, Lie and Liu parameters, etc.

During the early months of the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, critical services in India for tuberculosis (TB) have been disrupted. India has one of the highest burdens of TB and requires continuity of critical TB care. Here, we highlight important points and approaches that can be used to guide navigation of the combined COVID-19 and TB crisis in India.

Perovskite solar cells appear to be the most promising candidate for thin-film solar cells. ETL layer which can be processed at lower temperature is highly desired. In this work, an n-i-p PSC was simulated using SCAPS 1-D simulator in which different ETL layers were used keeping other layers fixed. Among all the ETL layers used, we found a new ETL material WO3 which showed better power conversion efficiency and other PV parameters as compared to other ETL’s. The proposed ETL gave an efficiency of 15.54% under optimal conditions. This paper addresses the properties of WO3 thin films to be used as ETL layer in PSC and a comparative study has been done with other suitable ETL layers reported till date with the optimization of the absorber layer as well as HTL layer thickness.

Chalcogenide glasses are attracting interest nowadays due to their various technological applications like telecommunications, computer memories, chemical, and ionic sensors, writing channel waveguides and photo-detectors. These glasses possess large transmission in middle, far and near spectral region. Se–Te alloys have created extreme interest due to their greater hardness, lower aging effect, higher photosensitivity, and higher crystallization temperature as compared with amorphous Se. A review of fabrication, optical properties, characterization techniques, doping effect of various elements on Se–Te compounds and also their optoelectronic applications are discussed in the present paper which can help the researchers to expedite their research work in the field of chalcogenide glasses.

CZTSSe materials have been studied for a highly efficient solar cell. In this paper, Cu2ZnSn(S0.2Se0.8)4 (CZTSSe) thin film was prepared and its application to photovoltaic solar cells was studied. The CZTSSe thin film was deposited using facile thermal evaporation process and examined by various techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman-scattering and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Interestingly, the synthesized CZTSSe thin are exhibiting broad-spectrum absorption. The I–V characteristics were performed to study the photoresponse of CZTSSe nanofilm. By the numerical simulation, the observed maximum efficiency of the fabricated device was ∼16.5%. Therefore, the present study reveals that Cu2ZnSn(S0.2Se0.8)4 thin films could be used as an effective absorber layer for efficient solar cells applications.

An evanescent field based fiber optic sensor is proposed using ternary chalcogenide glasses under diffuse source illumination for straight fiber for detection of biological tissues. The field distribution within the core region and evanescent field beyond it has been shown pictorially. The simulation is performed in near infrared region for three liver tissues, normal liver tissue (N), Non-cancerous metastatic tissue (NMET) and non-cancerous hepatocellular carcinoma tissue (NHCC). Interrogation of absorption coefficient and transmitted power has been performed. The effect of variation in core diameter and wavelength on sensitivity of the samples have been studied to have high sensitivity.

Fiber optic evanescent based biosensor is suggested for detection and identification of non-malignant tissues of gastrointestinal tract of stomach by determining their analogous refractive indices values. Current experimental data are considered for theoretical computations with certain variations of complex index of refraction of intestinal tissues in near infrared (NIR) region. Here we are describing intensity interrogation approach with chalcogenide glass fibers. Also, achievement of proposed sensor is approximated in terms of its sensitivity and design parameters (length of sensing area and core diameter of fiber) at various operating wavelengths falling in NIR region. The designed sensor has possibilities to produce higher sensitivity for detecting tissues of gastrointestinal tract.

Thin films of Se90Cd10–xSbx (2 ≤ x ≤ 8) of thickness 0.4 microns were prepared on ultra-clean glass substrate by thermal evaporation technique. The vacuum level was 10–6 torr. This paper intends to investigate the impact of Sb concentration on the optical characterization. XRD measurement has been done to investigate the Structural characterization of the prepared thin films. XRD result indicates the prepared thin have amorphous nature. To analyze the optical characterization of the thin films the absorption spectra were recorded over 400–1100 nm wavelength range. In the present study the optical absorption follows direct allowed transition. An increase in photon energy causes an increase in absorption coefficient while extinction coefficient has been found to increase with an increase in frequency of the photons i.e., deceases with increase of wavelength. Optical bandgap (Eg) of thin films have been studied and an increase in it has been recorded with increasing Sb concentration.

Thin film of Ge8Se60Te30Sb2 was synthesized by conventional melt quench technique. The structural properties of the pre annealed and post annealed films were studied by XRD characterization. Once the Ge8Se60Te30Sb2 film is annealed in the temperature range of 373–413 K for 2 h, it is observed that there is a continuous change in structure and formation of some polycrystalline structures in the amorphous phases. The optical transmission of these films was studied in the range 300–1000 nm as a function of photon wavelength. The band gap value suggests that sample is a semiconductor. The optical band gap Eg was observed to decrease in the range 373–413 K with increasing annealing temperature. The absorption coefficient (α) and extinction coefficient (k) were also evaluated. Annealing induced effect on the optical parameters was described on the basis of defect states and density of localized states arises from amorphous to crystalline phase transformation.

In this study, a highly angular sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor has been designed for cancer cell detection. The proposed surface plasmon resonance biosensor structure is based on Kretschmann configuration, which works on an angular interrogation technique. The proposed SPR biosensor has enormous possibility to detect the various kind of cancer cells. The refractive index alteration of different cancerous (skin, cervical and blood) cells is 1.360–1.390. The proposed SPR biosensor is stacked with multilayers having CaF2 prism, silver metal, bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) and MXene (Ti3C2Tx) layers. The performance parameters like angular sensitivity, quality factor, detection accuracy, and electric field intensity distribution have been optimized in this article. Here, various kind of cancer cells (skin, cervical and blood) have been also analyzed and corresponding angular sensitives are 252.20, 305.70 and 319.46 deg R−1IU−1 respectively. The proposed SPR biosensor shows best results for blood cancer cell detection. Some other important performance parameters like detection accuracy, quality factor, and electric field intensity distribution have also been calculated for proposed SPR biosensor device. The simulation results have been performed by MATLAB 2019a software. The proposed SPR biosensor design may open a new way for the medical industry.

Thin films of Ge10–xSe60Te30Inx (x = 0, 2, 4 and 6) were developed by thermal evaporation technique. The annealing effect on the structural properties of Ge10–xSe60Te30Inx (x = 0, 2, 4 and 6) films has been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD results indicate amorphous nature of the as-prepared films whereas crystalline phases in annealed films were identified. Structural parameters such as average crystallite size, strain, and dislocation were determined for different annealing temperatures. Effect of annealing on optical constants of prepared films has been explored using UV-Vis spectrophotometer in the wavelength range of 400 nm to 1000 nm. Various optical constants were determined depending on annealing temperature. It has been noticed that the film transparency and optical bandgap Eg have been reduced whereas the absorption coefficient α and extinction coefficient k increased with increasing annealing temperature. It was found that the prepared samples obey the allowed direct transition. The reduction in optical bandgap with annealing temperature has been described by Mott and Davis model. Due to annealing dependence of the optical parameters, the investigated material could be utilized for phase change memory devices.

The amorphous glassy alloys Se82 – xTe18Gex (x = 0, 4, 8, 12, at %) was synthesized using melt quench technique. Thermal stability was examined with the help of various parameters such as Dietzal parameter, Hruby parameter, Saad and Poulin and Lu and Liu parameters. Vicker hardness was obtained from Vicker hardness tester and other related thermo-mechanical properties such as volume of micro-voids, energy formation of micro-voids and modulus of elasticity were calculated.

The dielectric relaxation and ac conduction play a vital role to understand the mechanism of conduction. The structure and defects of solid can be determined by dielectric relaxation whereas the nature of defect states and their density of states can be studied by a. c. conductivity. In the present work, we have prepared a novel Se90Cd10–xSbx (2 ≤ x ≤ 8) glass in bulk form by conventional melt quenching technique. The investigation of dielectric behavior and conduction of amorphous Se90Cd10–xSbx (2 ≤ x ≤ 8) of pellets has been studied in the frequency span 5 × 102–1 × 105 Hz at temperature 323 K. It is observed that the dielectric constants (ɛ′) dielectric loss (ɛ″), loss angle (tan (δ)) and AC conductivity (σac) show the frequency dependent behavior. It is also noticed that ɛ′, ɛ″, tan(δ) and σac decreases with increase of Sb concentration in Se90Cd10–xSbx (2 ≤ x ≤ 8) glassy alloys.

Over the last few decades, study of dielectric relaxation and a. c. conductivity of chalcogenides glasses is fascinating field among various researchers to explore the new dimensions for their end user applications with enhanced properties. In this paper, dielectric parameters viz dielectric constant (ɛ1) and dielectric loss (ɛ2) have been made for bulk Ge8Se60Te30Sb2 chalcogenide glass in the frequency span 100 Hz to 1 MHz and temperature span 303 K to 328 K. Temperature and frequency dependence of ɛ1 and ɛ2 is reported and discussed in the investigated quaternary glassy alloy. The change in ɛ1 with frequency and temperature was described by orientational polarization while change in ɛ2 with frequency and temperature was described by conduction loss and single polaron hopping theory of charge carriers proposed by Elliot and Shimakawa for chalcogenide glasses.

The dielectric properties and thermally assisted conduction are the two essential phenomena which determine the suitability of prepared chalcogenide glasses for specific device applications. Chalcogenide glassy alloy of a-Ge10−xSe60Te30Sbx (0 ≤ x≤6) was prepared by melt quench technique. Dielectric analysis and mechanism of ac conduction have been studied for the novel multicomponent chalcogenide glasses at frequency and temperature range (100 Hz–1 MHz) and (303–328 K) respectively. It has been clearly observed that the value of both dielectric constant ( $$\upvarepsilon_{1}$$ ) and dielectric loss ( $$\upvarepsilon_{2}$$ ) decreases with increasing frequency and increases with increasing temperatures. The variation of dielectric constant with frequency and temperature was described by orientational polarization. The change in dielectric loss with frequency and temperature was interpreted by Guintini relation. The ac conductivity follows the universal power law ( $${\text{A}}\upomega^{\text{s}}$$ ) with frequency where the frequency exponent s ≤ 1 and it reduces with increase of temperature which confirms that the CBH model is best suited to describe the ac conductivity in the prepared glassy alloys. The change in dielectric constant, dielectric loss and a.c. conductivity with Sb doping was also examined.

Amorphous Ge10−xSe60Te30Inx (0 ≤ x ≤ 6) chalcogenide glasses were prepared by melt quench technique. Surface morphology with the chemical composition of the prepared glass was examined using SEM and EDS analysis respectively. Dielectric properties and a.c. conductivity of the multicomponent Ge10−xSe60Te30Inx (0 ≤ x ≤ 6) chalcogenide glasses have been examined in the frequency range 100 Hz–1 MHz and temperature range 303–328 K. It was noticed that dielectric constant and dielectric loss decreases with the increase of frequency and increases with the increase of temperatures. Frequency and temperature dependence of dielectric constant was explained by orientational polarization. The variation of dielectric loss with frequency and temperature was explained by conduction loss and theory of single polaron hopping of charge carriers suggested by Elliot and Shimakawa for chalcogenide glasses. The experimental results show that a.c. conductivity follows the power law ωs where s

Selenium-based chalcogenide glasses are best suitable materials for optical data storage due to their amorphous-to-crystalline phase transformation. Average coordination number and number of constraints for Ge10-xSe60Te30Inx (x = 0, 2, 4, 6) system have been discussed with two topological effects, floppy and rigid transition. Mean bond energy and glass transition temperature have been investigated using chemical bond approach to understand structural features of glasses. Heat of atomization, mean bond energy and glass transition temperature have been studied theoretically.

Bulk Ge4Se60Te30In6 chalcogenide glass was synthesized by melt quenching process. Thin films of prepared glassy alloy were deposited onto highly cleaned glass substrate using thermal evaporation technique. In the present work the effect of annealing temperature on the structural and optical behavior of Ge4Se60Te30In6 thin film is investigated by DSC, XRD and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Optical transmittance with wavelength was recorded, for as-prepared and annealed films by a double beam spectrophotometer in the wavelength span 300 to 1000 nm. The optical constants like α, k and Eg were calculated as a function of annealing temperature. The optical transition was found to be allowed direct transition. The decrease of optical band gap with increasing the annealing temperature from 373K to 413 K was explained by Mott and Davis model. The decrease of optical bandgap with increase of annealing temperature were explained by structural relaxation as well as change in defect states and density of localized states due to amorphous-crystalline transformation.

The reliability and service performance of welded structure depend upon the mechanical strength of different welded joints. With an aim to enhance the weld properties, an auxiliary vibratory setup has been designed. In present investigation, a comparative study has been done in between conventional SMAW and vibratory SMAW process. Various combinations of base metal and filler metals are used for investigation. The microhardness and tensile tests were conducted for evaluation of mechanical properties. The results show that with the application of the vibratory treatment, the values of hardness, yield strength and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) increased. The microstructure study shows that, as compared to the conventional welding process, the vibration welding has fine-grain structure. The study also discusses the solidification behavior during vibratory welding process. Vibratory welding techniques used in the investigation have less investment, more convenient operation, less pollution, and shorter manufacturing period.

Friction stir welding has been constantly used to join both similar and dissimilar aluminum alloy. Since aluminum has a vast application in almost every sector, it becomes very important to study the change in the mechanical and fracture parameters of the alloy before it is being employed into making a part. The current article deals with the comparison of the fracture parameters for the base plate and friction stir welded AA5083 using Digital Image Correlation. An open source 2D MATLAB program ‘NCORR’ has been used to determine the crack mouth opening displacement and the crack tip opening displacement when the specimen cut from the welded plate and base plate is subjected to three-point bend at different loads. The results obtained gives a very clear indication that the welded portion can withstand a bit of higher load before fracture as compared to the base plate.

In many countries, the use of solar thermal systems in the agricultural area to dry vegetables, fruits, coffee, and other crops has shown to be practical, economical, and the responsible approach environmentally. The traditional approach is less economical so there is a need to find an alternative approach. In this paper, fabrication and analysis of the solar air heater is done for various absorber materials. Various easily accessible solar absorbing materials such as pebbles, wire mesh, sand, and wood were analyzed to determine which material has higher temperatures and collector efficiency. Factors like temperature, airspeed and humidity are crucial in this study. The project consists of several experiments and sequential procedure as discussed further in the report. The experimental study and analysis of four different materials produces as result as the pebbles have more collector efficiency followed by wire mesh, sand and wood. Temperature of the pebbles is initially less which is because of the high specific heat of pebbles later as time progresses; temperature builds up due to heat absorption by the pebbles. This heat is then transferred to the flowing air where we can also see that pebbles could retain a temperature of 57 °C at the end of the sunshine hours.

Aim: This study aims to determine the frequency and pattern of gyrA/B mutations in multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains and also to assess the association between diff...

This study is devoted to the investigation of electrical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-contaminated Cu-Se-Te-In chalcogenide glassy composite in the temperature range 303–373 K and frequency interval from 1 Hz to 1 MHz. The MWCNT/chalcogenide glass was characterized by means of X-ray diffractometer, field emission scanning electron microscope, impedance spectroscopy and electrical measurements. Electrical conductivity was increased by 10–100 times of magnitude by adding 1 and 2 wt% of MWCNT to it, changing the behaviour from insulator to the semiconductor. This rapid change in the electrical conductivity for carbon nanotube-added glasses is due to the highly conducting behaviour of carbon nanotubes. The data observed from dc conductivity measurement in the temperature range 303–373 K suggest that thermally activated hopping is the dominant conduction mechanism between localized states in band tails, which is explained by Mott’s model. The temperature-dependent relaxation phenomenon has also been examined by a detailed analysis of impedance spectra.

Aim: To investigate the phenotypic and genotypic profile of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) clinical isolates with reference to second-line injectable drugs (SLIDs). Meth...

This paper compares the thermo-mechanical properties of Se-Te-M (M= Ge, Sb) glassy alloys which were synthesized via melt quench technique. Thermo-mechanical properties including hardness, energy of micro-voids and module of elasticity was examined through Vicker hardness tester. It was found that Vicker hardness number has high value in the case of Sb as compared to Ge due to its large Mohs hardness value which is very significant for applications point of view.

Thin films of Se based chalcogenide glassy alloys Ge10-xSe60Te30Inx (x = 0, 2, 4, 6) were deposited on to glass substrate by vacuum evaporation technique. Glassy nature of the film has been confirm...

Resistance to second-line tuberculosis drugs for patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has emerged globally and is a potential risk factor for unfavorable outcomes of shorter duration drug regimens. We assessed the proportion of patients eligible for a shorter drug regimen in Uttar Pradesh, India, which had the highest rate of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in India.

Chalcogenides are compound formed predominately from one or more of the chalcogen elements; Sulfur, Selenium, and Tellurium. Although they were studied some fifty years ago, interest in chalcogenide glasses has emerged significantly as glasses, crystals, and alloys find new life in the wide range of optoelectronic devices. Various non-oxide glasses have been prepared and characterized in last few decades, thus widening the groups of chalcogen materials used in various optoelectronic glasses. The present review describes the composition of chalcogenide glasses, their synthesis and fabrication, their physical properties and potential applications in optoelectronics. Subsequently, current research and future prospects of chalcogenide glasses have been sketched. A comprehensive review on chalcogenide glasses shall further help the researchers to expedite their research work in this area.

The current investigation was carried out to study the effect of vibratory welding technique on mechanical properties of 6 mm thick butt welded mild steel plates. A new concept of vibratory welding technique has been designed and developed which is capable to transfer vibrations, having resonance frequency of 300 Hz, into the molten weld pool before it solidifies during the Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) process. The important process parameters of vibratory welding technique namely welding current, welding speed and frequency of the vibrations induced in molten weld pool were optimized using Taguchi’s analysis and Response surface methodology (RSM). The effect of process parameters on tensile strength and hardness were evaluated using optimization techniques. Applying RSM, the effect of vibratory welding parameters on tensile strength and hardness were obtained through two separate regression equations. Results showed that, the most influencing factor for the desired tensile strength and hardness is frequency at its resonance value, i.e. 300 Hz. The micro-hardness and microstructures of the vibratory welded joints were studied in detail and compared with those of conventional SMAW joints. Comparatively, uniform and fine grain structure has been found in vibratory welded joints.

Objectives: Sputum culture conversion at the end of the intensive phase of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment is a key predictor for successful treatment outcome. This observational study was undertaken to assess the interim microbiological outcome of a cohort of rifampicin-resistant (RR)-TB patients with variable resistance to second-line drugs. Methods: During Jan–Apr 2018, we consecutively enrolled 100 RR-TB patients, who underwent phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) to assess baseline resistance to second-line drugs. Following RR-TB diagnosis, these patients were started on MDR-TB treatment. After 6 months of treatment, sputum culture conversion status was determined. Data were analysed to assess the impact of resistance to second-line drugs on culture conversion. Results: DST of 100 RR-TB patients showed a high resistance to fluoroquinolones (FQs; levofloxacin 56%; moxifloxacin 44%) followed by kanamycin (8%) and capreomycin (6%). None of the patients were resistant to the other drugs tested (amikacin, clofazimine and linezolid). At 6-month treatment follow-up, 28 patients had been lost to follow-up and eight had died. Microbiological outcome was obtained from the remaining 64 patients, but successful culture conversion was achieved in only 62.5% of the patients. FQ resistance was found to be a strong predictor (P

This study presents a new concept of a vibratory welding setup which can transfer the mechanical vibrations in the weld zone during Shielded Metal Arc welding (SMAW) process and can also produce the resonance frequency of 300 Hz. In the present investigation mild steel plates of 6 mm thickness has been butt welded using both conventional and vibratory welding conditions. Microstructure and the mechanical properties of the butt welded joints were evaluated, and the results were compared. Further, in order to optimize the process parameters of vibratory welding technique Taguchi and analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique have been adopted. The responses considered for analysis are hardness, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and impact strength. The result of the study indicates that by applying the vibratory treatment during welding process the mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength and impact strength have been enhanced. Lastly, the obtained results are correlated from the results in the past researches.