BACKGROUND: The study was done to evaluate the feasibility, safety and outcomes of a one-stop thyroid clinic (OSTC) in a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) setting METHODS: This was a prospective non-randomised case control study consisting of patients with thyroid nodules evaluated and managed at a tertiary referral centre in an LMIC between February 2019 and January 2020. Patients were divided into two groups based on the kind of preoperative evaluation protocol: OSTC group (n =118) - OSTC protocol, and control group (CG, n = 108) - routine protocol RESULTS: Baseline clinical characteristics of the two groups including median age (p = 0.13) and gender distribution (p = 0.76) were comparable. The majority of patients in both groups belonged to a low-income group (46.6% vs 47.3%; p = 0.91), followed by a middle-income group (35.6% vs 30.5%; p = 0.41). The median number of outpatient department visits (1 vs 3 days; p = < 0.001), waiting time for neck ultrasonography (1 vs 3 days; p = < 0.0001), fine needle aspiration cytology (1 vs 2 days; p = < 0.0001), and out of pocket expenditure (INR 3 965 vs 6 624; p = < 0.001) was significantly less in the OSTC group compared to the CG. Patients in the OSTC group reported better satisfaction levels (p = < 0.0001). Accuracy of diagnosis did not differ between the two groups (p = 0.14 CONCLUSION: OSTC practice is feasible, provides comparative clinical outcomes and seems cost effective in an LMIC. This protocol can be adopted as a routine practice in any health system

ABSTRACT Recent advances in nanotechnology and the synthesis of nanoparticles through biosynthesis have increased the urge in scientists than for chemical or physical methods. The biosynthesis method is the most significant method than a conventional method because of its eco-friendly, low cost and rapid synthesizing process. The present study describes the antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized from leaf extracts of Dypsis lutescens. The synthesis of AgNPs was confirmed by colour change from light yellow to brown colour. Further, the morphology of the biosynthesized nanoparticles, average size and presence of functional groups were characterized by UV – Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The UV spectra results show a strong resonance center and surface of silver nanoparticles at 450 nm. XRD studies revealed that the synthesized AgNPs show crystalline in shape. The FT-IR spectrum described the biological molecules which stabilize and form the silver nanoparticles in the aqueous medium. The average AgNPs size was found to be 31 nm by using the Debye-Scherrer formula. The antimicrobial property of AgNPs was tested against Escherichia coli (MTCC 443) and Vibrio cholerae (MTCC 3906) pathogen, which showed maximum zones of inhibition of 22 mm at a concentration of 100 μL. Therefore, the biosynthesized AgNPs proved to have significant antibacterial activity.

Utilizing biomaterials for every conceivable purpose area, such as automobiles, sporting goods, medical, civil, and textile industries, is the aim of the research field. Applications of Natural Fiber (NF) reinforced polymer composites in structural and tribological engineering are rapidly expanding. For the first time in this work, Prosopis juliflora bark and two different types of NF (jute and kenaf) were reinforced with polyester matrix by the hand layup method. The objective of the work is to determine the wear performance and viscoelastic properties of the new hybrid bio-composite. Under dry contact conditions, the tribological performance of the proposed hybrid composite material was evaluated using a range of process parameters, including sliding distance (1000-2000 m), applied load (10-50 N), and sliding velocity (1-5 m/s). The wear behaviour of the fabricated NF composite was greatly enhanced (17.5 x10-8 mm3 /N-mm) by the higher composition of kenaf fibers has been observed. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed that the manufactured composites had high storage modulus (4.1 GPa) and loss modulus (3.8 GPA). SEM was used to investigate and propose a potential wear mechanism for the developed composites by evaluating the exterior geomorphology of samples after wear tests. AFM provided details on the fiber surface properties of hybrid composites.

The non-toxic anticorrosion properties of nicotinamide have been studied on aluminum in an acidic medium. The techniques included weight loss method, electrochemical measurements, quantum chemical calculations, Monte Carlo simulation, infra-red spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This study gathers information about the inhibitor molecule adsorption onto the surface of metal specimens. Thermodynamic parameters were utilized to predict the adsorption mechanism. The dependence of corrosion inhibition efficiency on various parameters was examined, and it was seen that the increase in the inhibitor concentration and in temperature led to an increase in the inhibition efficiency. The dipole moment and E HOMO-E LUMO influenced the inhibition efficiency, which was observed by quantum chemical studies.

Abstract Thermoplastics are finding the place in the current industrial sector due to its load bearing capacities. In this research, With the aid of pin on disc test set up, adhesive and abrasive wear behavior of leaf spring materials 30% short carbon fiber reinforced epoxy (SF), 30% long carbon fiber reinforced epoxy (LF) as well as Unreinforced epoxy (UF) are evaluated for automobile applications. Under multi pass abrasive wear condition, the effect of fiber reinforcement on plastic energy of deformation, matrix crystallinity and clogging behavior were investigated. The transient friction of Leaf spring materials was carried out under the load condition of 19.62N and 28.43N. During the friction test, the effect of fiber length, fiber loading condition on the co-efficient of friction and its specific wear rate of the composite materials are also investigated. The increase in load during adhesive mode for all the materials, specific wear rate and wear volume of the test materials also increased. Furthermore, the fiber- matrix interface, fractured surfaces were observed thoroughly through Scanning Electron microscopic (SEM) morphology.

A three-dimensional model for heat transfer analysis of continuous casting mould plate has been developed to predict the hot face temperature. Actual geometry has been considered by incorporating the bolt holes used for fixing bolts to tighten the plate with the backup water box, and the effect of these bolt holes on the hot face temperature of the mould plate is analysed. The high thermal conductivity of copper makes it suitable for use as mould plate material where high heat transfer rates are required. However, copper has poor resistance to abrasion and this disadvantage becomes apparent in the lower part of the mould, where severe wear of the copper surface takes place. To eliminate this problem, high-hardness materials like nickel are coated over the copper surface. This does not affect the heat transfer significantly. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the bolt holes, as well as the nickel coating, on the hot face temperature.

Abstract The present paper deals with the ultrafiltration (UF) of produced water using a polysulfone membrane. Membranes were prepared by the phase inversion technique using polysulfone (PSf) polymer base, poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) additive and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent. Prepared UF membranes were characterized by determining the surface morphology by scannaing electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), porosity, (iii) water contact angle, equilibrium water content and pure water flux, whereas membrane performance was determined by measuring permeate flux and oil rejection using oily synthetic produced water. With the increase in trans-membrane pressure in the cell, the permeate flux increased significantly, but oil rejection showed a decreasing trend. The best UF membrane performance under different trans-membrane pressures was obtained by maintaining (90% oil rejection using an UF membrane with the following composition: PSf- 15%, PVP - 5% and NMP - 80%.

ABSTRACT A series of E-Glass fiber reinforced polyurethane (PU)/vinyl ester(VER) resin interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) composites were prepared. The Mechanical Properties like tensile, flexural and impact of IPN composite were studied. Results revealed that addition of PU increases the impact strength by 8.33%, 7.69%, 14.28%, 12.5%, 11.11% for the proportinate of 0%PU, 10%PU, 20%PU, 30%PU, 40%PU, 50%PU respectively, at the slight expense of decrease in flexural and tensile modulus. The obtained experimental results were compared with the Finite Element Analysis data's (ANSYS 10). The comparison shows good agreement with experimental data's.

Microbial communities are important for the functioning of the ecosystem, both in relation to direct interactions with the plants and with regard to nutrient and organic matter recycling. A study in field condition was undertaken in Kashmir valley to reveal the effect of various temperate fruit crops viz. apricot, peach, plum and cherry along with a control (no-plantation) on microbial biomass carbon (MBC), nitrogen (MBN), phosphorus (MBP) and dehydrogenase, phosphomonoesterase (acid and alkaline) and urease activities in soil at two different depths (0-20 and 21-40 cm). All the fruit crops showed a sharp decline in microbial biomass and enzyme activities with the increase in soil depth. Each of the four fruit crops showed significant (p<0.05) impact on MBC over the control and the maximum MBC was recorded in plum (1000 mg kg-1) and the lowest value was observed in control (457 mg kg-1), at the surface layer. Since there is a relationship between MBC and MBN, the similar trend was also observed in MBN as in case of MBC. For MBP, fruit crops showed any significant effect neither on surface soil, nor on subsurface soil layer over control. At the surface layer, unlike microbial biomass the highest dehydrogenase activity was observed in peach (318 mg TPF g soil-1 h-1) and the lowest value (166 mg TPF g soil-1 h-1) was attained at control plot. Maximum alkaline phosphomonoesterase activity was observed in peach (381 mg PNP g soil-1 h-1), although for acid phosphomonoesterase the highest value recorded in apricot (306 mg PNP g soil-1 hr-1), at surface soil. A significant positive correlation (p <0.01) was observed amongst MBC, MBN and MBP. Both the phosphomonoesterase activities were significantly (p <0.05) correlated with MBP in soil. It can be concluded that the influence of the studied fruit crops on the soil was not uniform, in terms of the measured parameters.

ABSTRACT Objective: Death due to burn occurs frequently. This study investigated time-dependent alterations in cardiac troponin T (CTnT) associated with fatal burns. Methods: Cardiac tissue samples were collected from 10 medico-legal autopsies after informed consent from the relatives and post-mortem degradation by incubation of the cardiac tissue was studied at room temperature for different time periods. The cases included in this study were the subjects of burns without any prior history of disease who died in the hospital and their exact time of death was known. An efficient extraction protocol to analyse the banding pattern of cTnT in post-mortem tissue was developed. Results: The data show a distinct time-dependent profile corresponding to the degradation of cTnT by proteases found in cardiac muscle. Both post-mortem interval and cardiac tissue of burned corpse had a statistically significant effect where the greatest amount of protein breakdown was observed within the first 41.20 hours, after which intact protein slowly disappears. The average molecular weight of all fragments showed intact cTnT to be rapidly degraded into smaller fragments. Conclusion: In cases of burns, such knowledge will assist in knowing if there were previous scars that might have mimicked a burn and also help to properly evaluate the real cause of death.

RESUMEN Objetivo: La muerte debido a quemaduras ocurre con frecuencia. Este estudio investigó las alteraciones dependientes del tiempo en la troponina T cardíaca asociada con quemaduras mortales. Métodos: Se obtuvieron muestras de tejido cardíaco de 10 autopsias forenses después del consentimiento de los parientes, y se estudió la degradación post-mortem por incubación del tejido cardíaco a temperatura ambiente durante períodos de tiempo diferentes. Los casos incluidos en este estudio fueron objeto de quemaduras, no tenían ninguna historia previa de enfermedad, murieron en el hospital, y se conocía la hora exacta de la muerte. Se desarrolló un protocolo de extracción eficiente para analizar el patrón de bandas de cTnT en el tejido post-mortem. Resultados: Los datos muestran un claro perfil dependiente del tiempo, correspondiente a la degradación de la troponina cardiaca T (cTnT) por las proteasas que se encuentran en el músculo cardiaco. Tanto el intervalo post mortem (IPM) como el tejido cardíaco de los cadáveres quemados tuvieron un efecto estadísticamente significativo, en el que se observó la mayor cantidad de descomposición de proteína en las primeras 41.20 horas, tras lo cual la proteína intacta desapareció lentamente. El peso molecular promedio de todos los fragmentos mostró que el cTnT intacto se degrada rápidamente en fragmentos más pequeños. Conclusión: En los casos de quemaduras, este conocimiento servirá para saber si hubo cicatrices anteriores que podrían haber tomado la apariencia de una quemadura, y también ayudará a evaluar adecuadamente la verdadera causa de la muerte.

The re-use of waste water from coal preparation plant tailings is always desirable, but is generally problematic in terms of solid-liquid separation. Dewatering and disposal of coal slurry at a high percentage of moisture poses a major technological and environmental challenge to mining and mineral processing industries world-wide. Characterization and floccu-lation of these coal tailings reveals that the separation of fine coal tailings depends on factors such as size distribution, slurry viscosity, zeta potential, pulp density, circuit design, plant operating parameters, and the behaviour of solid particles in an aqueous medium. The present study was carried out on -600 mm coal tailings collected from a coking coal preparation plant of Jharia Coalfield, India, using anionic flocculent. Characterization studies revealed that the zeta potential was highest (-44 mV) at a pH of 9.0, the size range of the particles was 1.1-700 μτη, and the average ash content was 62.57%. Flocculation studies were performed at different solid concentrations, pH values, and polymer dosages. The results indicated an efficient settling rate of 178.15 mm/min at 8% solid (w/w) at a flocculent dosage of 32.50 g/t solid. The turbidity of the clear liquid obtained was 7.42 NTU.

The dynamics of microbial growth and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] production in growth/ non-growth phases of Azhohydromonas lata MTCC 2311 were studied using a maintenance-energy-dependent mathematical model. The values of calculated model kinetic parameters were: m s1 = 0.0005 h-1, k = 0.0965, µmax = 0.25 h-1 for glucose; m s1 = 0.003 h-1, k = 0.1229, µmax = 0.27 h-1 for fructose; and m s1 = 0.0076 h-1, k = 0.0694, µmax = 0.25 h-1 for sucrose. The experimental data of biomass growth, substrate consumption, and P(3HB) production on different carbon substrates were mathematically fitted using non-linear least square optimization technique and similar trends, but different levels were observed at varying initial carbon substrate concentration. Further, on the basis of substrate assimilation potential, cane molasses was used as an inexpensive and renewable carbon source for P(3HB) production. Besides, the physico-chemical, thermal, and material properties of synthesized P(3HB) were determined which reveal its suitability in various applications.

This work aims at optimization and analysis of SS316L weldments using TIG Welding, SS316L is selected over other grades because of its lower carbon content and its weldability properties. The welding parameters are being assessed by means of Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array with varying gas flow, current and bevel angle with the predictions achieved the sample is welded. The level of importance of welding parameters for tensile strength is determined by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and it was concluded that gas flow played the prominent role and the bevel angle was least contributor. The optimization of power and the gas flow is made analytically so some confirmatory tests were performed to check the efficiency of the predictions found. The Radiography inspection and microstructure test were performed on samples which showed low, medium and high tensile strength in order to view the changes occurred after welding.

Extreme nature of climate and topographical conditions may affect soil properties at cold desert high altitude. Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to know altitudinal variations in soil physico-chemical properties at cold desert high altitude region. For this, agriculture soils were collected from different altitude viz. site I (1000011000 ft), site II (11000-12000 ft) and site III (>12000 ft amsl) at Leh-Ladakh (cold desert high altitude region), India. Interestingly, sand percentage in soil was significantly high at site III and decreased gradually with the altitude. In contrast to sand level, silt concentration was high at site I and decreased significantly (p<0.05) with increasing altitude. There was no significant (p<0.05) difference in bulk density (BD) and electrical conductivity (EC) among all study sites. However, the highest pH, total dissolved solid (TDS), and CaCO3 value was recorded at site I while higher soil organic matter (SOM) was at site III. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis showed the negative correlation (p<0.01, p<0.05) of clay, silt, and pH, whereas positive correlation of sand and SOM (p<0.01) with altitude. Hence, our findings suggest the altitudinal variations in soil physico-chemical properties at cold desert high altitude.

The effects of blockage ratio on the combined free and forced convection from a long heated square obstacle confined in a horizontal channel are investigated in this work. The numerical computations are performed in the steady regime for Reynolds number = 1 - 30, Richardson number = 0 - 1 for blockage ratios of 0.125 and 0.25 for the fixed Prandtl number of 0.7 (air). The governing equations, along with appropriate boundary conditions, are solved by using a semi-explicit finite volume method implemented on the collocated grid arrangement. The total drag and lift coefficients, local and average Nusselt numbers and the representative streamline, vorticity and isotherm patterns are presented to elucidate the role of blockage ratio on the cross-buoyancy across a confined square cylinder. The asymmetry in the flow and temperature fields decreases with increasing value of the blockage ratio. Similar to forced convection, the total drag coefficient increases with increasing value of the blockage ratio for the fixed values of the Reynolds and Richardson numbers.