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Microfluidic devices/systems, including Micro-Total-Analysis-System (µTAS), Point of Care Testing (POCT) and Lab-On-a-Chip (LOC) are used in many chemical and biological assays applications. Among the vital tasks that these microfluidic devices must achieve essentially include a high degree of mixing and accordingly, micromixers are being used for the same purpose. The design depends on the yield required in particular application. In the proposed study, the four kinds of heart-shaped micromixers with different obstacles have been studied through simulations. The influence of the shape and size of different obstacles viz., circular shape, diamond shape, teardrop shape, and heart shape obstacles on the performance characteristics has been studied. The performance characteristics namely, the mixing index and pressure drop have been used. In accordance with the study, a heart-shaped micromixer with heart shape obstacles (HSM-HSO) has come out to be the most efficient micromixer due to the significant chaotic convection effect. The heart-shaped micromixer with heart shape obstacles (HSM-HSO) of size 0.350 µm × 0.350 µm has shown better performance for a wider range of Reynolds number (Re), i.e., mixing index of Re > 0.99, for Re of 0.1 and Re in the range of 15–45. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, organizations look for candidates who possess future skills. Students and instructors from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in India participated in this study to find the skill level required for being considered for employment. The results of the study show that employability skills include future skills like communication skills, digital skills, entrepreneurship skills, personal and interpersonal skills, and ethical-cum-critical thinking skills. The study finds no significant difference in the views of students and teachers regarding the implementation/imbibing of future skills required for employment. The study recommends that HEIs should partner with the industry to train students so that they have the relevant skills to be employable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an assessment is made to quantify the influence of random material properties and fabrication/ manufacturing uncertainties on the aeroelastic response and hub vibratory loads of composite rotor blades. The random variables include lamina stiffness properties, ply thicknesses and fiber orientation angles of the laminate structures, and the elastic-axis offset from the aerodynamic center in the section of the blade. The stochastic behavior of the random variables obtained from previous experimental or analytical studies are used to evaluate the stochastic behavior of the cross-sectional stiffnesses of the blades. The uncertainties in the stiffness properties result in the dissimilarity of the rotor system, which brings extra non-[N.sub.b]/rev vibrations. It is observed that the probability histograms of [N.sub.b]/rev hub vibratory loads exhibit a normal distribution, whereas those of non-[N.sub.b]/rev hub loads show non-Gaussian-type distributions. Numerical results showing the effects of material and geometric uncertainties on the aeroelastic response and hub vibration behavior of composite rotor blades are illustrated and important conclusions are drawn based on the observations. DOI: 10.2514/1.44477

A health-monitoring and life-estimation strategy for composite rotor blades is developed in this work. The crosssectional stiffness reduction obtained by physics-based models is expressed as a function of the life of the structure using a recent phenomenological damage model. This stiffness reduction is further used to study the behavior of measurable system parameters such as blade deflections, loads, and strains of a composite rotor blade in static analysis and forward flight. The simulated measurements are obtained using an aeroelastic analysis of the composite rotor blade based on the finite element in space and time with physics-based damage modes that are then linked to the life consumption of the blade. The model-based measurements are contaminated with noise to simulate real data. Genetic fuzzy systems are developed for global online prediction of physical damage and life consumption using displacement- and force-based measurement deviations between damaged and undamaged conditions. Furthermore, local online prediction of physical damage and life consumption is done using strains measured along the blade length. It is observed that the life consumption in the matrix-cracking zone is about 12-15% and life consumption in debonding/delamination zone is about 45-55% of the total life of the blade. It is also observed that the success rate of the genetic fuzzy systems depends upon the number of measurements, type of measurements and training, and the testing noise level. The genetic fuzzy systems work quite well with noisy data and are recommended for online structural health monitoring of composite helicopter rotor blades.

Byline: Tasneem. Dhansura, Nitin. Bhorkar, Prashant. Pawar, Shweta. Gandhi Sir, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), is an age specific childhood epileptic encephalopathy characterised by triad of multiple and frequent epileptic seizures resistant [...]

This paper investigates the augmentation of heat transfer during pool boiling of a novel aqueous binary mixture of surfactants. The surfactants used were sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) (anionic), centrimonium bromide (CTAB) (cationic), and nicotine (nonionic). The aqueous binary mixtures SDS-CTAB, CTAB-nicotine, and SDS-nicotine were prepared on the volume percentage basis. A reduction in surface tension was attained by SDS-CTAB, CTAB-nicotine, and SDS-nicotine aqueous mixtures compared to its individual aqueous surfactant solutions at their optimum concentrations. The most significant surface tension result was obtained by the novel SDS-nicotine aqueous binary system at 25:75 volume percentages. The heat transfer augmentation was investigated by studying the single bubble dynamic in the aqueous SDS-nicotine mixture. The investigation was conducted at two values of heat fluxes to probe the effect of heat flux on bubble dynamics. A significant decrement in the bubble departure diameter and a substantial increment in the release frequency was observed for the SDS-nicotine aqueous mixture at both heat fluxes. The heat transfer coefficient was found to be increased by 36.32% and 58.67% compared to saturated water at low and high heat flux, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2). The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, and has since spread globally, resulting in the ongoing 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed incredible tension on healthcare systems around the globe. Common symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Other symptoms may include muscle pain, diarrhea, sore throat, loss of smell, and abdominal pain. It is challenging for doctors and physicians to distinguish COVID-19 from other acute respiratory tract infections via clinical symptoms because those who are infected display a wide range of symptoms. An effective, point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tool could ease healthcare system strain, protect healthcare professionals, and support quarantine efforts. With a lack of effective medical treatments or vaccines for COVID-19, early identification and patient isolation has been the most effective means of disease management to slow the spread of the pandemic. COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main branches detect either the presence of the virus or of antibodies produced in response to infection. Test analysis is often performed in automated, high-throughput, medical laboratories by medical laboratory scientists. In this article, we have discussed the currently used diagnostic tests for detection of Coronavirus and COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus-2 is a novel coronavirus belonging to the family Coronaviridae and is now known to be responsible for the outbreak of a series of recent acute atypical respiratory infections originating in Wuhan, China. The disease caused by this virus, termed coronavirus disease 19 or simply COVID-19, has rapidly spread throughout the world at an alarming pace and has been declared a pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020. Today, there are thousands of infections and deaths that have been caused by the disease. Moreover, the symptoms of the disease include fever, cough, sneezing, sore throat, difficulty breathing, and tiredness. Additionally, the diagnosis of the disease starts by gathering samples of the upper and lower respiratory tracts of the infected person. Also, chest X-rays and CT scan are used in the diagnosis stage. Basically, there is no precise treatment for the ailment, and this calls for the need to prevent the disease from spreading. Notable prevention strategies are isolation of the infected persons, proper ventilation, hand hygiene and use of personal protective equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]