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It is observed that articular cartilage damage is an increasing problem across the globe. Poly 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (pHEMA) hydrogels are promising implants for ersatz articular cartilage due to their similar tissue properties. However the major obstacle to their use as replacing articular cartilage is their poor mechanical properties. By the development of composite hydrogels with hydroxylapatite (HA) nano fillers the lack properties may overcome. The purpose of this study is to describe mechanical properties of composite hydrogels for replacement of cartilage. Therefore with different percentages of HA nano fillers the hydrogels (pHEMA/HA) were prepared by cast drying method. Mechanical properties of composite hydrogels are studied with reciprocating sliding tribo-tester and the porous nature is investigated by SEM. By the results it is observed that mechanical properties of composite hydrogels are improved by adding hydroxylapatite nano fillers.

Bioprocessing advancements for cleaner fuel synthesis seem to make a lot of sense because they require less energy input, cost less, and have fewer environmental impacts compared with fossil fuels. This chapter describes the processes and trending advancements in technologies for bioprocessing biomass to produce biofuels with the aim of promoting a green and clean environment. Any biomass-based biorefinery is largely dependent the fullest possible utilization of raw biomass for maximum recovery of product and lowest cost so that the production model will be working in profit mode. The difference between production and consumption is balanced by advanced biofuel utilization strategies adopted by existing automotive engine manufacturers and heating industries with not much change in the existing systems. Organic solvents used in biorefineries include alcohols, phenols, amines, and ketones. Lower dipole interaction makes organic solvents better than water as a suspending medium in bioproduct extraction processes. Microwave biomass carbonization can produce bio-oil, wood vinegar, syngas, and organic acids.

Global outlook of biofuels turns out to be a full-fledged search focusing the viability and sustainability assets. The present day option for immediate and sustainable alternate fuels lies with algal biofuels. Algae are the most sustainable fuel resource in terms of food security and environmental issues. Inefficient and unsustainable biofuel derived from food crops twosome food security issues thus increasing interests towards algal energy. CO2 mitigation, quick biomass accumulation accomplishing simultaneous bioremediation have gathered progressive attention. Cultivation of biomass, harvesting, processing and fuel production by chemical/biochemical reactions are the sequential stages in algal biofuel production. Currently, biofuels produced from algal biomass is not economical since biomass cultivation, processing and separation of fuel products appears costly although certain advancements in culturing techniques have been recently unearthed. Further improvements with the biomass processing strategies may step up the third-generation biofuel concept a profitable one in the near future. This article reviews various cultivation methods, processing techniques and stages in algal biofuel production thereby extensively investigating their potential application in biofuel refineries.

This paper provides an overview of the Internet of Things (IoT) with emphasis on enabling Architecture, protocols, and application issues. The IoT is enabled by the latest developments in RFID, smart sensors, communication technologies, and Internet protocols. The basic premise is to have smart sensors collaborate directly without human involvement to deliver a new class of applications. The current revolution in Internet, mobile, and machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies can be seen as the first phase of the IoT. In the coming years, the IoT is expected to bridge diverse technologies to enable new applications by connecting physical objects together in support of intelligent decision making. This paper starts by providing a horizontal overview of the IoT. Then, we give an overview of some technical details that pertain to the IoT enabling protocols, and applications.

The purpose of the study was to develop and validate a match analysis system of playing ability on men handball teams. To achieve the purpose of the study the top four teams those who participated in the Madurai Kamaraj University Inter-Collegiate Handball Tournament 2017-18 for men were selected. The teams were SVN College, American College, Arul Anandar College and Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai. The age of the men handball players ranged from 18 to 24 years. Totally the 15 match analysing factors which are expected to give the complete performance of the team & individual were selected and from that 6 factors were finalized. A panel of experts consisting of coaches, players and experts as well as fellow researchers aided in the development and ranking of performance scores for the effects of each skill as it is performed during the game. In this study Software was developed by the investigator with the help of computer experts for analyzing the Handball matches. The entire process of designing and developing digital match analysis system was done with the help of Microsoft .Net 3.5 (C#). Front end .Net 3.5 (C#) and backend Microsoft SQL Server 2005. A pilot work was done during practice match to see its effectiveness. The data was collected during the real time match. The shortcomings in the software were corrected during the stage of pilot work. A match in the above said tournament between SVN College and American College, Madurai was digitally analysed. Initially team and players names of either team were registered in the digital system. Similarly details about the tournament, its format, venue and toss were entered in the system. SVN College, Madurai won the toss and chosen the side. By clicking the START MATCH button it will reach the match analysis part in the screen. The coaches and media persons were asked to rate the digital match analysis system in hundred point scale in the feedback form. The range of the scale shall be between 0 and 10 points. 0 stands for poor and 100 stands for excellent. It was concluded that the digital match analysing system would be very much helpful to the Coaches, Players, media persons and Physical Educationists in enhancing the performance level of the Handball players., {"references":["1.\tBarris, S. & Button, C. (2008). A review of vision-based motion analysis in sport. Sports Med. 38(12):1025-43. 2.\tBayios I.A., Anastasopoulou E.M., Sioudris D.S., Boudolos K.D. (2001) Relationship between isokinetic strength of the internal and external shoulder rotators and ball velocity in team handball. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 41, 229-235. 3.\tBuchheit M., Laursen P.B., Kuhnle J., Ruch D., Renaud C., Ahmaidi S. (2009b) Game-based Training in Young Elite Handball Players. International Journal of Sports Medicine 30, 251-258. 4.\tBuchheit M., Lepretre P.M., Behaegel A.L., Millet G.P., Cuvelier G., Ahmaidi S. (2009a) Cardiorespiratory responses during running and sport-specific exercises in handball players. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 12, 399-405. 5.\tGillet, E., Leroy, D., Thouvarecq, R. & Stein, J.F. (2009). A notational analysis of elite tennis serve and serve-return strategies on slow surface. J Strength Cond Res. 23(2):532-9. 6.\tLupo, C., Condello, G. & Tessitore, A. (2012). Notational Analysis of Elite Men's Water Polo Related to Specific Margins of Victory. J Sports Sci Med. 1; 11(3):516-25. 7.\tMalagoli, L.I., Di Michele, R. & Merni, F. (2014). A notational analysis of shot characteristics in top-level table tennis players. Eur J Sport Sci. 14(4):309-17. 8.\tPori P., Bon M., Sibila M. (2005) Jump shot performance in team-handball. A kinematic model evaluated on the basis of expert modeling. International Journal of Fundamental and Applied Kinesiology 37, 40-49. 9.\tThorlund J.B., Michalsik L.B., Madsen K., Aagaard P. (2008) acute fatigue-induced changes in muscle mechanical properties and neuromuscular activity in elite handball players following a handball match. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports 18, 462-472. 10.\tWagner H., Buchecker M., von Duvillard S.P., Müller E. (2010b) Kinematic comparison of team-handball throwing with two different arm positions. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance 5, 469-483. 11.\tWagner H., Orwat M., Hinz M., Pfusterschmied J., von Duvillard S.P., Müller E. (2014) Testing game based performance in team-handball. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (In press). 12.\tWagner H., Pfusterschmied J., von Duvillard S.P., Müller E. (2012) Skill-dependent proximal-to-distal sequence in team-handball throwing. Journal of Sport Sciences 30, 21-29."]}

Hydroxyapatite is the natural bone mineral found in abundance in human bones and teeth. Fish and bovine bone also have the same property as human hydroxyapatite. Thus, it can be replaced by bovine bones and fish bones. The gel of Aloe vera naturally has wound healing property. The main objective is to produce a cost-effective biomimetic material using hydroxyapatite with a natural wound healing agent for biomedical purposes. The objective is to be accomplished by producing a thin film of HAp scaffolds using fish bone as a source of hydroxyapatite and Aloe vera as a natural wound healing agent. Combining these two properties is expected to improve wound healing and faster bone growth. In this work, hydroxyapatite was obtained from fish bone waste. It is then added with natural Aloe vera gel of different concentration. The thin scaffold was prepared using sodium alginate and calcium chloride. The obtained scaffold is to be tested using SEM and XRD. A further test is to be done to check wound healing and bone ingrowth.

The rapid economic development and industrialization mainly depends on fossil fuels for their energy sources. Diminishing oil reserves, high cost and other environmental problems lead the researchers to ripen carbon-unbiased and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. When compared with other alternate fuels, biodiesel gained its popularity. The dynamic growth of biodiesel production results in colossal generation of glycerol as a waste by-product of about 10% of the total biodiesel production. Disposal of crude glycerol tainted with salt, methanol, free fatty acids, etc., causes severe economic and environmental challenge. However, high cost of crude glycerol purification and market saturation urges the biodiesel producers to look for new, cheaper, and alternate solution for utilizing it. Presence of impurities and its composition in crude glycerol can have a negative influence in the fermentation process by inhibiting microbial growth and product formation. Microbial fermentation of crude glycerol represents a notable alternate and competitive to add value for the biodiesel producers. Hence, pre-treatment of crude glycerol becomes requisite before using it as carbon source. The higher degree reduction of carbon atom in glycerol confers that it could be used as a sole organic carbon and energy source for the production of higher value chemicals such as citric acid, ethanol, DHA, glyceric acid.

Nowadays pollution control and abatement are critical issues faced by environmental scientists due to rapid industrialization. Petroleum industry is one of the major industries which release hydrocarbon pollutants in environment. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the priority pollutants which are released into the environment by exploration activities of petroleum industries. The indiscriminate accumulation of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants can be hazardous to the human life and aquatic biota. Due to toxicity of these pollutants, establishing efficient and environment-friendly method to degrade and detoxify these pollutants is an important research challenge. Various physiochemical methods are applied all over the world to remediate of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants. Bioremediation technique has been developed for treatment of crude oil pollutants using biological agents like bacteria, fungi, algae, and plants. Applications of certain microorganisms have gained importance in the field of applied environmental microbiology. The application of microbes to degrade pollutants is getting attention due to its environmental and economic benefits. They can be used to change bioavailability and toxicity of petroleum hydrocarbons present in polluted soil and aqueous environment. This paper explores hydrocarbons present in petroleum crude. The effect of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants on human health and environment is also discussed. This chapter also explains microbial degradation of these pollutants.

In natural environments, the average abundance of heavy metals is generally low and much of that sequestered in sediments, soil and mineral deposits may be biologically unavailable. Microorganisms have ability to adapt and live in all ecological condition. In natural habitat, the cause for microbes on heavy metal depends on the physico-chemical properties of the environmental condition. Microbes can metabolize the metal ion and yield energy through oxidation and reduction process by dissolving them. Many trace metals are necessary for growth and metabolism at low concentrations, (e.g. Co, Cu, Ni, Mo, Fe, Zn), and microorganism acquires mechanisms of varying specificity for the intracellular increase from the external environment. The molecular mechanism of microorganism and plants in the removal of toxic heavy metals into nontoxic form using plants and microorganisms is well studied, and this has many biotechnology implications in the bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated sites.

Calcium oxide nanoparticles and its potential towards purification of vehicle gas exhaust were investigated in this work. Calcium oxide nanoparticles were synthesised and its efficiency in absorbing constituents of vehicle gas exhaust has been estimated. Calcium oxide nanoparticles were synthesised by chemical coprecipitation and thermal decomposition of chicken egg shells. The obtained powdered particles were characterised using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, SEM and X-ray diffraction techniques. The powdered products on the addition of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) have been fabricated into a nanoporous membrane using electrospinning technique. The thin film was made with varying weight per cent of CaO particles. The efficiency of these membranes was estimated by passing exhaust gas through it using exhaust gas analyser/smoke metre. The FT-IR analysis confirms the presence of CaO particles. The SEM and XRD of the obtained samples showed the crystalline nature of CaO nanoparticles, and the size of the powdered CaO was found to be ~15–20 nm. The nanoporous electrospun membrane has low filtration capacity. The other two CaO nanoparticles with varying weight percentage showed great potential towards purifying vehicle gas exhaust. It reduces the quantity of HC, CO, CO2 in high rates. It is also proved that increase in the concentration of CaO increased the efficiency of filtration.

The purpose of the study was to assess the playing ability by notational analysis system for men handball players. To achieve the purpose of the study the four teams those who participated in the Madurai Kamaraj University Inter-Collegiate Handball Tournament 2017-18 for men were selected. The teams were SVN College, American College, Arul Anandar College and Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai. The age of the men handball players ranged from 18 to 24 years. The following match analysing factors which are expected to give the complete performance of the team & individual five factors were finalized. A panel of experts consisting of coaches, players and experts as well as fellow researchers aided in the development and ranking of performance scores for the effects of each skill as it is performed during the game. Each attempt was noted according to whether the attempt was off-target, on-target, or resulted in a goal. The pass was evaluated according to the result, such as if the other team intercepted the pass or it resulted in a scoring opportunity. Cards received by the players, penalty shoot were carefully noted. The data was collected during the real time match. The collected data were analysed statistically using mean and standard deviation. The outcome of the study might act as a tool to analyse the team & individual performance in the game of Handball., {"references":["1.\tGillet, E., Leroy, D., Thouvarecq, R. & Stein, J.F. (2009). A notational analysis of elite tennis serve and serve-return strategies on slow surface. J Strength Cond Res. 23(2):532-9. 2.\tCarling, C., Bradley, P., McCall, A. & Dupont, G. (2016). Match-to-match variability in high-speed running activity in a professional soccer team. J Sports Sci. 34(24):2215-2223. 3.\tBarris, S. & Button, C. (2008). A review of vision-based motion analysis in sport. Sports Med. 38(12):1025-43. 4.\tLupo, C., Condello, G. & Tessitore, A. (2012). Notational Analysis of Elite Men's Water Polo Related to Specific Margins of Victory. J Sports Sci Med. 1; 11(3):516-25. 5.\tBilge, M. (2012). Game analysis of Olympic, World and European Championships in men´s handball. Journal oh Human Kinetics, 35: 109-128. 6.\tLago-Penas, C., Gómez, M.A., Viaño, J., González-García, I. & Fernández-Villarino, M.A. (2013). Home advantage in elite handball: the impact of the quality of opposition on team performance. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 13: 724-733. 7.\tPrieto, J., Gómez, M.A., Volossovitch, A. & Sampaio, J. (2016). Effects of team timeouts on the teams´ scoring performance in letite handball close games. Kinesiology, 48, 115-123."]}

The indiscriminate extraction and consumption of fossil fuels have left the world with a corner kick into the area of exponential fuel demand and now the race is on for alternate energy source. The fortunate improvements in Biodiesel fuel production techniques has been the heading topic of economic and environment sustainability so far. Biodiesel have the potential to replace diesel in vehicle engines. It has been tested and proved that engines running on biodiesel have shown low smoke emission and low toxic gas emission. Biodiesel properties such as oxidation stability, cloud point, iodine value, linoleic acid and poly-unsaturated fatty acid methyl ester content of biodiesel are dependent upon the quality of the feedstock. Processing parameters such as density, viscosity, acid value, distillation property are dependent on feedstock as well as the reaction conditions or the extent of reaction. Combustion property greatly varies with the substrates used and almost all the varieties have been proven to be as superior as that of conventional diesel fuel. Though the existing fossil and terrestrial biomass based oil cannot realistically satisfy the existing demands, algal oil source scores the most out of demanded factors like oil content, extractability, comfortable cultivation and efficient biomass production. Algae are a diverse group of plant like microorganisms, prokaryotic and eukaryotic, mostly autotrophic in nature with basic requirement such as CO 2 and light for their normal growth and metabolic activity. Being micro scaled in physiology, most species of algae have less doubling time and the oil productivity greatly exceeds the outcome of best oil producing crops which clearly portrays that microalgae acts as a renewable source and can yield enough amount of oil for biodiesel production to meet the present intensifying demands. This article aims at reviewing the technical aspects of various biodiesel production methods from diverse oil feedstocks, their importance and significance of microalgal, process availability, commercialization potential of various processes.

In the present study, the Aspergillus flavus were screened to produce multienzyme containing amylase and protease using starch agar and skimmed milk agar plate assay. The fungus was cultivated by solid state fermentation using wheat bran as substrate. The parameters such as pH, temperature, incubation time, and moisture content were optimized. The maximum production was achieved by amylase with a yield of 55 U/mL and followed by protease yielding to 37 U/mL at 70% moisture (Room temperature), pH of 9.5, at 28 °C and 96 h of incubation. Application studies were carried out for dehairing and extraction of lanolin, using sheep wool. Results suggested that use of multienzyme substantially replaces the usage of chemicals and will be considered as a suitable bio-agent in the current scenario on green process technology development.

This paper deals with the design of thermoacoustic refrigerators using linear thermoacoustic theory. The refrigerator components are designed at 3% drive ratio by considering the practical limitations of providing sufficient spacing for attaching the loudspeaker to the resonator tube and accommodating instrumentation. The effects of spiral stack spacing in terms of thermal penetration depth on the theoretical performance of refrigerator using helium and air as working substances are discussed. The quarter-wavelength resonator designs with taper and divergent section terminated with hemispherical end are optimized with helium and air for better performance. Theoretical results are validated with DeltaEC software results and are in agreement with each other. Helium shows better performance compared to air but lacks power density. The DeltaEC predicts COP 0.514 at the cold heat exchanger temperature of [Formula: see text]C with helium compared to air (COP 0.616 at [Formula: see text]C) for the 50[Formula: see text]W cooling power 100[Formula: see text]mm diameter quarter-wavelength resonator designs.

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the pancreas is an intraductal mucin-producing epithelial neoplasm that arises from the main and/or branched pancreatic duct. It usually presents as cystic lesion of pancreas. There are well known differential diagnosis of cystic pancreatic lesion. Pancreatic cystic neoplasms are detected at an increasing frequency due to an increased use of abdominal imaging. The diagnosis and treatment of intraductal papillary mucinous tumors (IPMN) of the pancreas has evolved over the past decade. IPMN represents a spectrum of disease, ranging from benign to malignant lesions, making the early detection and characterization of these lesions important. Definitive management is surgical resection for appropriate candidates, as benign lesions harbor malignant potential. IPMN has a prognosis, which is different from adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. We report a case of a 58-year-old male with intraductal papillary neoplasm involving main duct and side branches presenting to us with clinical symptoms of chronic pancreatitis with obstructive jaundice and cholangitis treated surgically.

In today’s internet world is full of data steals and hackers. So, there is a essential to design a system that assists the internet users to interchange their secret and private data safely across the web. Informationhiding process in a Steganography system starts by identifying medium’s redundant bits. The encryption process creates a stego medium by replacing these redundant bits with data from the hidden message. So, we propose a method for encrypting the image, which has two phases. In the first phase, Perform Circular Shift Operations on the image pixels and the number of rotations have been calculated based on the length of the password. In the second phase, the first phase has undergone some bitwise operations with a carriage image, by doing this; breaking of the cipher text is difficult.

Objective: The main aim of this paper is redesigning Muffler internal layout to improve the attenuation based on the critical parameters. Analyzing the baseline muffler design, the area of improvement is identified as frequency range of 250Hz–800Hz. Methods: By keeping t h e volume of muffler constant and varying the critical parameters such as perforation size, length of perforations on the pipe, length of intermediate pipes and the position of baffles thirty iterations were performed. Finding: The exhaust gas flow path was modified in the new concept for better attenuation. Second and fourth chambers were made as expansion chambers. First and third chambers were made as Helmholtz chambers. With this basic flow path, further fine tuning was done by varying the critical parameters. Applications: With this current design and optimistic characteristic, the candidate’s muffler design can be used as noise reduction muffler in automobile industries.

Background/Objectives: To analyze, find and interpret the current challenges in Distributed File Systems for research. Method/Statistical Analysis: With the immense growth of network applications a large amount of data existence is managed and stored. To process a huge amount data that is to be stored, a backend framework is required and for that DFS provides a central store for those data. As the amount of data being increased, the issue of proving efficient and easy to use solution arises and this issue is overcome using distributed file systems. Findings: In this research, an overview about various evolution of file system and how distributed file system is being used effectively in wide variety of network applications. DFS aims at sharing data and storing resources which is physically distributed on computers with a common file system. The main issues concerning the design of DFS such as fault tolerance, architecture, synchronization, consistency and replication and few others are also discussed in detail. It alsogives a comprehensive taxonomy of DFS in detail. Applications/Improvements: The encouraging results observed from this work serve as the motivation to apply future implementation of DFS within the context of current developments in distributed computing.

The manufacturing organizations have been witnessing a paradigm shift on designing products and services from manufacturing to sustainability. Product disassembly is a vital strategy for industrial recycling and remanufacturing which generates the desired parts and/or subassemblies by means of separation of a product into its elements. This article presents the appropriate methods for modeling planning and leveling the disassembly process of a cam-operated rotary switch assembly. The methodology involves disassembly modeling using a graphical approach. Disassembly process planning has been done using reverse assembly approach. Disassembly leveling has been done to maintain profitability and environmental features at a desired level. An optimal disassembly sequence has been derived using disassembly leveling. The resultant cost of disassembly for reusable components has been computed. The article presents a unique contribution to the field of designing for disassembly from the perspective of rotary switches.

The increasing environmental and economic pressures have contributed to the practice of recycling and remanufacturing. Product disassembly is a vital strategy of industrial recycling and remanufacturing which retrieves the desired parts and/or subassemblies by separating a product into its constituents. In this context, decision for disassembly gains importance. Disassembly modeling and planning is a critical activity rather than assembly, because the terminal goal is not vitally fixed, but depends on the product usage and market demands for used parts and recycled materials. Disassembly involves more uncertainties in system structures and components rather than in assembly. This article applies the recent methods for modeling and process planning the disassembly to an industrial product, i.e., rotary switch. The disassembly approach has been practically validated in industrial scenario.

Hyperlipidemia is an associated complication of diabetes mellitus. Many spices and herbs are known to be hypoglycemic. Mahonia leschenaultia Takeda (Berberidaceae) (MLT) is a traditional medicinal plant that is commonly used against diseases in India and other Asian countries. The aim of this study is to identify the phytoconstituents by gas chromatography–mass spectrography (GC–MS) and evaluate the antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effects of the ethanol extract of MLT on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Phytoconstituents like oleicacid, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z, Z)-n-hexadecanoic acid were identified as high % peak when compared with other compounds by GC–MS. STZ-induced diabetic animals were fed with plant extracts at different doses (250 or 500 mg kg−1 body wt) of ethanol extract of MLT. The results of the study revealed a significant increase in total hemoglobin and glycosylated hemoglobin along with the reduction in hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia effects in MLT-treated STZ-in...

This research deals with the highly available sugar industry waste material, press mud as low cost biosorbent for the removal of textile dyestuff from aqueous medium, and the investigation of the probably involved physiochemical mechanisms. Experiments were carried out in batch reactor. The results of equilibrium studies showed that equilibrium state was reached within 48 h of exposure time and maximum biosorption taken place at the biosorbent dosage of 30 mg/ml of solution. Secondly, several biosorption kinetic models were applied to fit the experimental data, namely Lagergren irreversible first-order, Reversible first-order, Pseudo-second-order, Elovich and intraparticle diffusion models. The proposed explanations were deduced from the theoretical assumptions behind the most appropriate model(s), which could satisfactorily describe the present biosorption phenomenon. The interpretation of the related results have shown that, with R 2 of about 99%, the pseudo-second order model is the most suitable dynamic theory describing the biosorption of dye onto press mud predicting therefore a chemisorption process.

The development of numerical methods for modelling contaminant transport in the subsurface is of major importance in view of the numerous applications in the contaminant hydrogeology and geoenvironmental engineering. Conventional mesh-based numerical methods have some difficulties when dealing with contaminant transport problems wherein high advective velocities, low dispersivities and/or high contrast in dispersivity are involved. The present study aims at contributing to the numerical study of two-dimensional contaminant transport thorough unsaturated porous media using meshfree technique, namely element-free Galerkin method (EFGM). In the EFGM, an approximate solution is constructed entirely in terms of a set of nodes and no characterization of the interrelationship of the nodes is needed. The EFGM employs moving least squares approximants to approximate the function and uses the Lagrange multiplier method for imposing the essential boundary conditions. van Genuchten model is used for describing the hydrodynamic properties of the unsaturated porous media. MATLAB code is developed to obtain the numerical solution. Three numerical examples are presented and the results are compared with those obtained from the finite element method. The EFGM has generated stable and convergent results for advection-dominated transport problems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper presents a numerical model of two-dimensional (2D) contaminant transport through unsaturated porous media using a mesh-free method, called the radial point interpolation method (RPIM), with polynomial reproduction. A 2D form of the advection– dispersion equation, involving a reactive contaminant with linear first-order degradation, is considered in the analysis. In the RPIM, the Galerkin weak form is used to establish the system equation using 2D mesh-free shape functions constructed using thin plate spline radial-basis functions. A Matlab code is developed to obtain the numerical solution. Experimental results are used to validate the proposed RPIM. The applicability and performance of the RPIM are studied using three numerical examples. The results of the RPIM are compared with those obtained from the finite-element method. The RPIM has generated results with no oscillations, and which are insensitive to Péclet constraints.

This paper presents an alternative numerical tool to model the one—and two—dimensional contaminant transport through saturated porous media using a meshfree method called Element Free Galerkin Method (EFGM). In EFGM, an approximate solution is constructed entirely in terms of a set of nodes and no characterization of the interrelationship of the nodes is needed. The advection-dispersion equation with sorption is considered to illustrate the applicability of EFGM. The unknown concentration values are approximated by using moving least-square approximants, which are constructed using a weight function, a linear basis function and a set of non-constant coefficients. The weak form of the governing equation is formulated and Lagrange multiplier method is used for enforcing the essential boundary conditions. Three numerical examples are presented and the results are compared with those obtained from the analytical and finite element results.

Background: The objective is to study the strength of concrete, when using definite proportions of materials generated from industrial wastes with micro particles. As per Integrated National Plan on waste, Ceramic wastes are considered as Non – Hazardous. Methods/Analysis: In the present work, partial replacement of concrete compositions with Titanium dioxide TiO 2 micro particle, ceramic wastes and rice husk ash are analysed. The coarse aggregate is replaced by 30% of ceramic waste and cement has been replaced by 10% RHA with added TiO 2 micro particle in the range of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2% by weight for M30 grade concrete. Findings: Concrete Specimens are tested and compared in terms of compressive, split tensile values to the conventional concrete. These tests were carried out to evaluate the strength for 7 and 28 days. Test results have indicated that the strength achieved by replacing coarse aggregate with 30% ceramic waste and cement with (10% of RHA+ 1% of TiO 2 ) is in optimum condition without affecting properties of fresh and hardened concrete. Applications/Improvements: Combination of nanotechnology with use of industrial waste results in attaining an energy efficient and greener concrete. Also an industrial waste in concrete not only helps in their disposal, but also saves the natural resources.

Population driven demand for energy and materials are the increasing at an exponential rate. Petro refineries are found with intensifying drawbacks such as environmental pollution, depleting fossil resource and global energy demand. Among all other sources, biomass resource stands as promising feedstocks for energy and chemical production because of its cheap availability all over the world. Biomass constitutes about 10% of the global energy demand and is mainly used in power generation, heating, transportation biofuel production and chemical synthesis. In today’s scenario about 90% of the fossil is used only for fuel generation and less than 10% is used to derive platform chemicals. Diverse integration technologies adopted to convert variety of molecules available in the biomass to products that can be used in production of polymers, cattle feed, fertilizers, organic acids, alcohols, food, pharmaceuticals, paper etc.

The aim of the paper is to design and develop a dual side water pumping system using scotch yoke mechanism. The reciprocating motion of the plunger is utilized for the pumping action. The plunger is reciprocated with the help of a cam plate. By this action the water is pumped with very high pressure and to various heads. This can be utilized for various applications like lubrication in machines and water pumping in agriculture field. The cam plate gets the drive from the motor for its rotation and converts that rotary motion to useful dual side reciprocating motion. The motor is powered with the aid of electric power. Thus the water is pumped from source to various heads.

To monitor the different antithrombotic drug combinations, determine the incidence, magnitude of bleeding and the association of HAS-BLED risk scoring schema with the magnitude of bleeding as defined using TIMI bleeding criteria.A prospective observational study in a cohort of patients for a period of 8 months, at one of the tertiary care center-Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, was conducted. Consecutive patients were enrolled and followed from the date of admission till the adverse events are perceived/date of discharge. Pearson Correlation Statistics (Fisher's z Transformation) is applied to assess the association between HAS-BLED risk factors and the total risk score with bleeding criteria.A total of 400 cases were collected during the 8-month study period, of which 372 satisfied the inclusion criteria. Among them 34 (9.1%) bleeding cases were reported with mean (+/- SD) age of 57.8 (+/- 14.19) years. Bleeding occurred mostly in males 79.4% and a HAS-BLED Score ofor = 3 has been observed in 67.6% (n = 23) patients out of 34 bled patients. Two antiplatelets + One anticoagulant is the most common combination which caused bleeding in 41.2% (n = 14). Stroke history, bleeding predisposition, labile INR's are the HAS-BLED risk factors which are significant (0.05) with the TIMI Bleeding Criteria.There was a linear correlation between the HAS-BLED risk score and the TIMI bleeding criteria-higher the risk score the more frequent is the incidence of major bleeding. A HAS-BLED risk score ofor = 3 is associated with TIMI major bleeding.

The title compound, C6H11N3O22+·SO42−, crystallizes with two cations and two anions in the asymmetric unit. In both diprotonated histidinium cations, the Cγ atom has a gauche-II conformation with respect to the amine N atom and it is in a trans position to the C atom. An extensive three-dimensional network of inter­molecular N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds links the histidinium cations and sulfate anions, forming a crystal structure in which zigzag (Z1) head-to-tail sequences are observed for both the cations.

Infections are a common and serious complication among patients with cirrhosis. We assessed the epidemiology, risk factors, and clinical consequences of bacterial infections in cirrhotic patients.In this multicenter prospective study, all patients with cirrhosis of liver with different infections were analyzed. Infections were classified as community-acquired (CA), healthcare-associated (HCA), or hospital-acquired (HA). Site of infection and characteristics of bacteria were recorded; effect on liver function and 30-day survival were evaluated.One hundred and six out of 420 (25 %) patients with cirrhosis of liver had infection. Infection rate among indoor patients was 37.5 % (92/245) and among outdoor patients was 8 % (14/175). Out of 106 patients, CA, HCA, and HA were seen in 19.8 %, 50 %, and 30.2 %, respectively. Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (31.1 %), urinary tract infections (22.6 %), and pneumonia and cellulitis (11.3 % each) were common infections. Gram-negative bacteria (54 %) were more common than Gram-positive cocci (46 %). Multidrug resistant (MDR) organisms were seen in 41.7 % of patients. Most of the MDR organisms were seen in HCA and HA patients. The degree of liver impairment was significantly more severe in patients with infection. Independent predictor of infection was high Child-Turcott-Pugh (CTP) class (p = 0.006, Child B vs. A (odds ratio (OR) 3.04 95 % CI = 1.63 to 5.68) and Child C vs. A (OR 4.17 95 % CI = 2.12 to 8.19). Overall in-hospital mortality was 7.6 %. Patients with infection had increased mortality at 30-day follow up compared to those without infection (23.5 % vs. 2.2 %; p0.001).Infections are one of the important causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with cirrhosis of liver. The most frequent infections are HCA and HA. Infection predisposes to deterioration of liver function and increases mortality. Cirrhotic patients should be monitored closely for infections especially those with Child class B and C.

Background. The first line anti-tubercular (anti-TB) treatment normally involves isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol. Clearance of these drugs depends on the activity of several enzymes such as N-acetyl transferase 2, cytochrome P450 oxidase and glutathione S-transferase (GST). Some of these enzymes are highly polymorphic leading to significant inter-individual variation in their activity thereby increasing the risk of drug induced hepatotoxicity (DIH). Aim. To investigate the possible association of anti-TB DIH with genetic polymorphism of GST genes in Western Indian population. Material and methods. A prospective case-control study was undertaken on patients who received anti-TB treatment. Cases (n = 50) were distinguished from controls (n = 246) based on occurrence of DIH during anti-tubercular treatment. A multiplex polymerase chain reaction was employed to identify homozygous null mutation at GSTM1 and GSTT1 loci. Results. Homozygous null mutation in GSTM1 gene alone or in both GSTM1 and T1 genes was found to be significantly associated with anti-TB DIH at p < 0.02 and p < 0.007, respectively, in our study population. Conclusions. This is the first study to report GSTM1 null and combined GSTM1 and T1 null genotypes to be risk factors of anti-TB DIH in Western Indian population. Screening of patients for these genotypes prior to anti-TB regimen would provide better control of hepatotoxicity.

Background: Hospital acquired infections (HAI) are a major problem in each hospital. HAI remains a significant hazard for hospitalized patients and health care workers are potential sources of these infections. Health care workers can transmit pathogens through their hands and contaminated medical devices such as stethoscopes, Blood pressure cuff etc. Hence we intended to determine the level of bacterial contamination of stethoscopes using in present hospital. Methods: Total of 50 stethoscopes were sampled before and after cleaning with 70% isopropyl alcohol by using sterile swab soaked in sterile saline. Samples were processed as per standard microbiological procedures. Results: Out of 50 stethoscopes, 30 (60%) stethoscopes were showing significant bacterial colonization, 7 (14%) showed insignificant colonization, and in 13 (26%) stethoscopes no growth was observed. The bacteria isolated were Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aurues (MRSA) (14%), Methicillin Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) (12%), Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus (CNS) (14%), Klebsiella species (20%). Conclusions: Our study concluded that stethoscopes used by health care workers were colonized by both pathogens and non-pathogenic microorganisms. Strict protocol of cleaning the stethoscopes in between the patients will eliminate the colonization and there by spread of infections.

Social Networks such as Twitter, Facebook play a remarkable growth in recent years. The ratio of tweets or messages in the form of URLs increases day by day. As the number of URL increases, the probability of fabrication also gets increased using their HTML content as well as by the usage of tiny URLs. It is important to classify the URLs by means of some modern techniques. Conditional redirection method is used here by which the URLs get classified and also the target page that the user needs is achieved. Learning methods also introduced to differentiate the URLs and there by the fabrication is not possible. Also the classifiers will efficiently detect the suspicious URLs using link analysis algorithm.

Refereed/Peer-reviewed In the framework of meshfree methods, a new methodology is developed based on radial point interpolation method (RPIM). This methodology is applied to a one-dimensional contaminant transport modelling in the saturated porous media. The one-dimensional form of advection-dispersion equation involving reactive contaminant is considered in the analysis. The Galerkin weak form of the governing equation is formulated using 1D meshfree shape functions constructed using thin plate spline radial basis functions. MATLAB code is developed to obtain the numerical solution. Numerical examples representing various phenomena, which occur during migration of contaminants, are presented to illustrate the applicability of the proposed method and the results are compared with those obtained from the analytical and finite element solutions. The proposed RPIM has generated results with no oscillations and they are insensitive to Peclet constraints. In order to test the practical applicability and performance of the RPIM, three case studies of contaminant transport through the landfill liners are presented. A good agreement is obtained between the results of the RPIM and the field investigation data.

This paper presents a new numerical tool to model the two-dimensional contaminant transport through saturated porous media using a meshfree method, called radial point interpolation method (RPIM) with polynomial reproduction. In RPIM, an approximate solution is constructed entirely in terms of a set of nodes and no characterisation of the interrelationship of the nodes is needed. The advection-dispersion equation with sorption is considered to illustrate the applicability of the RPIM. The Galerkin weak form of the governing equation is formulated using 2D meshfree shape functions constructed using thin plate spline radial basis functions. MATLAB code is developed to obtain the numerical solution. Three numerical examples are presented and the results are compared with those obtained from the finite element method and analytical solutions. In order to test the practical applicability and performance of the RPIM, two case studies of contaminant transport through landfill liners are presented. A good agreement is obtained between the results of the RPIM and the field investigation data. � 2009 Springer-Verlag.