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Introduction: Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) is a term that encompasses various clinical presentations such as ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI), Non STEMI (NSTEMI), or unstable angina. Neutrophil Gelatinase-associated Lipocalin (NGAL), also known as lipocalin-2, belongs to the lipocalin category of extracellular proteins. Recent research indicates that NGAL levels are increased in different cardiac situations, regardless of the presence of acute renal injury. Aim: To compare the levels of serum NGAL and Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) scores between cases with ACS and Angio-negative cases, and to study the correlation of serum NGAL with the GRACE score (clinical severity score) in ACS patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 128 patients at the Department of Biochemistry, MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur, Odisha, India, presenting to the Cardiac Emergency Department from November 2020 to August 2021. Coronary Angiograms (CAG) were done to confirm the presence of Coronary Artery Disease CAD), and patients were grouped accordingly as Group-1 with ACS patients and Group-2 with angiogram-negative cases. Apart from the routine work-up, including serum urea and creatinine, serum electrolytes, fasting blood sugar, lipid profile, and management, all patients underwent determination of serum NGAL levels and GRACE score at admission. The data were analysis using student's t-test and Pearson's correlation test. Results: Among the 128 participants (64 cases in Group-1 and 64 cases in Group-2), Group-1 comprised 37 cases of STEMI, 26 cases of NSTEMI, and one case of unstable angina. Serum NGAL levels were significantly elevated in patients with CAGproven ACS (140.89±56.47 ng/mL) without any renal dysfunction, sepsis, or overt infection compared to patients without CAD on CAG (52.01±18.39 ng/mL) (p<0.0001). The serum NGAL level exhibited a positive correlation of 0.359 (p=0.004) with the severity of ACS, as measured by the GRACE score. Conclusion: The present study suggests that serum NGAL in patients with ACS may serve as a potential novel biomarker for risk stratification and predicting the severity of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), a serine protease inhibitor expressed in adipose tissue, causes inflammation in hypertension and vice versa. The excess adipose tissue increases the production of PAI-1. There have been no relevant studies conducted on PAI-1 in southern Odisha in relation to Body Mass Index (BMI) and hypertension. Aim: To compare the BMI, Waist Hip Ratio (WHR), Waist Circumference (WC), and serum levels of PAI-1 in hypertensive cases with controls, and also to correlate the serum level of PAI-1 with BMI and blood pressure. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Biochemistry in collaboration with the Department of Medicine of MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur, Odisha, India from November 2020 to August 2021. A total of 45 newly diagnosed primary hypertensive patients and 43 healthy age and sex-matched individuals between the ages of 18 to 60 years were enrolled in the study. Serum PAI-1 was measured by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). BMI, WC, hip circumference, WHR, and blood pressures of the controls as well as cases were recorded. Data were statistically analysed using the Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The proportion of males was higher (56%) than females (44%). The cases had a significantly higher level of serum PAI-1 (203.36 ng/mL) compared to the control group (60.11 ng/mL) (p-value<0.001). The cases had a higher BMI, WC (meters), and WHR compared to the control group. The serum PAI-1 level positively correlated with Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) (r-value=0.852, p-value<0.001), Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) (r-value=0.726, p-value=0.000), BMI (r-value=0.620, p-value=0.001), WC (r-value=0.444, p-value=0.002), and WHR (r-value=0.593, p-value<0.001). Conclusion: A high serum PAI-1 level was found in the newly diagnosed hypertensive cases, and a significant positive correlation was observed between PAI-1 and systolic and diastolic blood pressure, along with BMI, WC, and WHR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of twisted tape inserts in heat exchangers allows higher heat transfer rates with a simultaneous loss of energy due to turbulence and friction. In a conventional approach, the twisted tape is placed in the entire length of the heat exchanger. The present study explores the effect of the length of the twisted tape insert at a different twist ratio (TR) for 4700 < Re < 22,800. The insert length ratio (LR) ranges from 0.25 to 1 and the TR ranges from 1.5 to 6. The maximum Nusselt number corresponds to the LR of 0.75 at a TR of 1.5. The maximum thermo-hydraulic performance is found to be 3.2 for the LR of 0.75 at a TR of 1.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, mechanical and production industries are facing increasing challenges related to the shift towards sustainable manufacturing. In this work, the machining was performed in dry cutting condition with the newly developed AlTiSiN-coated carbide inserts coated through scalable pulsed power plasma technique, and a dataset was generated for different machining parameters and output responses. The machining parameters are speed, feed and depth of cut, while the output responses are surface roughness, cutting force, crater wear length, crater wear width and flank wear. Abrasion and adhesion were found to be the two dominant wear mechanisms. With speed, the tool wear was found to increase. Cutting force was found to increase rapidly for higher speed ranges (70, 80 and 90 m/min). But reduction of cutting force was observed in both low and medium ranges of cutting speed (40, 50, 55 and 60 m/min). With higher values of feed and depth of cut, higher cutting force was also noticed. With the variation of depth of cut, the machined surface morphology and machined surface roughness were found to deteriorate. With higher feed and depth of cut values, more surface damages were observed compared to low values of feed and depth of cut. Both the feed rate and tool–chip contact length contributed significantly to the formation of crater on the tool rake surface. At high speed, continuous chips were observed. Both chip sliding and sticking were observed on the tool rake face. The data collected from the machining operation was used for the development of machine learning (ML)-based surrogate models to test, evaluate and optimize various input machining parameters. Different ML approaches such as polynomial regression (PR), random forests (RF) regression, gradient boosted (GB) trees and adaptive boosting (AB)-based regression were used to model different output responses in the hard machining of AISI D6 steel. Out of the four ML methodologies, RF and PR performed better in comparison to the other two algorithms in terms of the R 2 values of predictions. The surrogate models for different output responses were used to prepare a complex objective function for the germinal center algorithm-based optimization of the machining parameters of the hard turning operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomous underwater vehicles play an essential role in geophysical data collection, deep water mining, seafloor mapping, ocean exploration, and in many other related activities starting from military to scientific applications. A detailed understanding of hydrodynamic characteristics will lead to better design, better control, and optimal path planning of autonomous underwater vehicles in the deepest corner of oceans. This article will provide a detailed review of the hydrodynamic characteristics of autonomous underwater vehicles, starting from different experimental techniques used in the analysis of hydrodynamic parameters, methods used for fixing the autonomous underwater vehicles in towing tank, instruments used for measurement of the hydrodynamic parameters. Furthermore, numerical methods employed in performing computational analysis, hydrodynamics-based shape optimization, studies on drag reduction, and finally a detailed list of turbulence models used in the computational fluid dynamics–related numerical simulations. The hydrodynamics-based optimal shape of the autonomous underwater vehicles, the best technique to predict the hydrodynamic parameters, and the best turbulence model for the computational fluid dynamics–based prediction of hydrodynamic parameters will be recommended. At last, the hydrodynamic characteristics of different bio-inspired autonomous underwater vehicles are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to report a case of non-resolving bilateral coarse punctate keratitis in a patient with prior bilateral penetrating keratoplasty. In view of non-response to antivirals, corneal epithelial scraping was carried out, which revealed the presence of microsporidial cysts. The infection resolved after a period of 12 days following the diagnosis, during which steroids were discontinued. Microsporidial keratitis needs to be considered in non-resolving coarse punctate keratitis and microbiologic evaluation is essential to establish the diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]