Thin-walled cylindrical tubes have been renowned as an ideal energy absorber in aerospace and automotive industries for their lightweight potential and extraordinary energy absorbing capability. In ...this research article, systematic investigations on the specific energy absorption characteristics and lateral crushing behaviour of deep drawn non-capped and plain end-capped cylindrical tubular structures were performed. Initially, finite element models were developed with ABAQUS/CAE® code to predict the deformation characteristics of the proposed tubes under quasi-static lateral compression. Subsequently, detailed experimental studies on the aluminium cylindrical tubes of various thickness (1.63 mm, 2.04 mm and 3.25 mm) under lateral quasi-static loading have been performed and the lateral crushing force-deformation histories obtained were analyzed. The lateral deformation response of the proposed tubes under impact lateral loading has been studied further and analyzed with the validated finite element model. Also, the impact crushing performance of the plain end-capped cylindrical tubes was related to the non-capped cylindrical tubes and within tested samples, the plain end-capped tubes absorbed 0.8–1.6 times more specific energy than the conventional non-capped cylindrical tubes. Finally, it was found that the plain end-capped tubular structures exhibit desirable force–deformation characteristics such as uniform crushing force with a long crush stroke and maximum energy which is very important in the design of energy absorbers for transverse direction.
•Lateral deformation behaviour and energy absorption capability of press formed non-capped and plain end-capped cylindrical tubes were investigated.•The plain end-cap on the cylindrical tube influences the crumpling mechanism in such a way that the cylindrical tubes with the plain end-cap collapse in three-plastic hinge deformation mode.•Under impact lateral loading conditions, SEA of plain end-capped cylindrical tubes increased with increasing wall thickness and decreasing diameter of the tube.•SEA of the plain end-capped cylindrical tubes is nearly 0.8–1.6 times more than that of the non-capped cylindrical tubes when crushed under impact lateral loading.
•An efficient mechanism to construct directed spanning tree to find forwarding node for each sensor node.•A new ACO-based algorithm for finding a near optimal set of RPs and tour length of the mobile ...sink.•A comprehensive validation of the proposed algorithm ACO-MSPD via simulation runs.•Simulation study of various parameter to know their impact on the network lifetime.
In wireless sensor networks, a mobile sink is used to collect data from sensors by traversing the network periodically to prevent hotspot or energy-hole problem. In order to avoid the delay incurred by visiting all the sensor nodes, a mobile sink may allow visiting only a few number of locations or nodes referred as rendezvous points and remaining nodes send their data to the nearest rendezvous point. Finding an optimal set of rendezvous points will improve the data gathering process of the sink and also maximize the network lifetime. However, it is more challenging to find an optimal set of rendezvous points and traveling path of the mobile sink when the sensor node generates data unevenly. In this paper, we propose a new Ant Colony Optimization-based mobile sink path determination for wireless sensor networks. The objective of the proposed algorithm is to maximize the network lifetime and minimize the delay in collecting data from the sensor nodes. In the proposed algorithm, we devise an efficient mechanism to find a near-optimal set of rendezvous points and traveling path of the mobile sink to achieve the desired objectives. The proposed algorithm also adopts re-selection of rendezvous points to balance the energy consumption of the sensors. Through simulation runs, we show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the existing ones.
Vanillic acid incorporated chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) active films were prepared by employing a cost-effective solvent casting technique. FTIR investigation validated the intermolecular interaction ...and formation of Schiff's base (C=N) between functional groups of vanillic acid, chitosan, and poly(vinyl alcohol). The addition of vanillic acid resulted in homogenous and dense morphology, as confirmed by SEM micrographs. The tensile strength of active films increased from 32 to 59 MPa as the amount of vanillic acid increased and the obtained values are more significant than reported polyethylene (2231 MPa) and polypropylene (31–38 MPa) films, widely utilized in food packaging. Active film's UV, water, and oxygen barrier properties exhibited excellent results with the incorporation of vanillic acid. Around 40 % of degradation commences within 15 days. Synergistic impact against S. aureus, E. coli, and C. albicans pathogens caused the expansion of the inhibition zone, evidenced by the excellent antimicrobial activity. The highest antioxidant capacity, 73.65 % of CPV-4 active film, proved that active films could prevent the spoilage of food from oxidation. Green chillies packaging was carried out to examine the potential of prepared active films as packaging material results in successfully sustaining carotenoid accumulation and prolonging the shelf life compared to conventional polyethylene (PE) packaging.
•Chitosan/poly (vinyl alcohol) blend film properties were enhanced by the inclusion of vanillic acid.•Active films are prepared by the cost-effective solvent casting method.•The tensile strength of active films is more predominant than commercially available polyethylene and polypropylene films.•Active films demonstrated excellent antimicrobial and antioxidant activity.•Active films have the capability to preserve food and extend its Shelf life (green Chilli).
•Ours is the first epidemiological report from India on risk factors of Autism Spectrum Disorder.•We conducted a large population based case-cohort study across India.•Out of 25 factors evaluated, ...advanced maternal age, fetal distress, gestational respiratory infections, labor complications, pre-term birth, neonatal jaundice, delayed birth cry and birth asphyxia were significantly associated with the risk of ASD.•These conditions can independently and collectively exert their effect as risk factors, adding important country specific information to existing literature.
Incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is increasing across the globe and no data is available from India regarding the risk factors of ASD. In this regard a questionnaire based epidemiological assessment was carried out on prenatal, perinatal and neonatal risk factors of ASD across 8 cities in India. A retrospective cohort of 942 children was enrolled for the study. 471 children with ASD, under age of 10, were analyzed for pre-, peri-, and neonatal factors and were compared with the observations from equal number of controls. The quality control of the questionnaire and data collection was done thoroughly and the observations were computed statistically. A total of 25 factors were evaluated by unadjusted and adjusted analysis in this study. Among the prenatal factors considered, advanced maternal age, fetal distress and gestational respiratory infections were found to be associated with ASD and had an odds ratio of 1.8. Evaluation of perinatal and neonatal risk factors showed labor complications, pre-term birth, neonatal jaundice, delayed birth cry and birth asphyxia to be associated with ASD with an odds ratio greater than 1.5. This important study, first of its kind in Indian population gives a firsthand account of the relation of pre-, peri- and neonatal risk factors on ASD from an ethnically and socially diverse country like India, the impact of which was unknown earlier. This advocates additional focused investigations on physiological and genetic changes contributed by these risk factor inducing environments.
The optical vortex beam having helical phasefront carries well-defined orbital angular momentum (OAM) which can be specified by its topological charge (TC). This study demonstrates that interferogram ...having conjoined forks structure produced by self-referenced interference of laterally displaced vortex beams, allows simpler and unambiguous way of determining the sign and magnitude of TC. The proposed method uses a Mach–Zehnder interferometer set-up with controlled lateral displacement and tilt angles between the interfering beams, which results into an interferogram with better visual inspection. Theoretical description including intensity and phase profile has been presented.
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•1st kinetic study concerning finger millet straw (FMS) biomass pyrolysis.•Effect of heating rate on characteristics of biochar was explored.•Pyrolysis behavior was successfully ...predicted by empirical modeling.•The kinetic and thermodynamic analysis confirmed the feasibility of FMS pyrolysis.
Pyrolysis kinetics of finger millet straw (FMS) was studied using a thermogravimetric analyzer under N2 environment. Physico-chemical characteristics of FMS were comparable with the established pyrolysis feedstocks. FMS thermally decomposed in three stages: drying, active pyrolysis, and char formation resulting in 70.37% overall weight loss. Average activation energy determined by Friedman and Starink methods was 177.80 and 172.18 kJ mol−1, respectively. Frequency factor was found to be in the range of 108 to 1029. Reaction pathway followed diffusion, nucleation, and order-based mechanisms. The pyrolysis of FMS was characterized by empirical modeling and predicted well with model adequacy of 97.55%. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔG and ΔH) revealed the non-spontaneous and endothermic nature of FMS pyrolysis. The biochar obtained at multiple heating rates were characterized for its physicochemical, functional, and morphological characteristics. The kinetic and thermodynamic analyses illustrate the feasibility of exploiting finger millet straw as a pyrolysis feedstock to derive biofuels.
In this work, we report a novel enzymatic biosensor based on glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), graphene oxide (GO) and nafion for the electrochemical sensing of glutathione (GSH) in body fluids. ...GSH-Px was immobilized covalently via 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) onto modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) decorated with GO and nafion and successfully used for sensing of GSH in the presence of H2O2 as catalyst with Michaelis-Menten constant about 0.131 mmol/L. The active surface are of GCE improve from 0.183 cm2 to 0.225 cm2 after modification with GO. The introduced biosensor (GSH-Px/GO/nafion/GCE) was used for monitoring of GSH over the range 0.003–370.0 μM, with a detection limit of 1.5 nM using differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) method. The GSH-Px/GO/nafion/GCE was successfully applied to the determination of GSH in real samples.
•First nanostructure enzymatic biosensor for determination of glutathione.•Pharmaceutical and biological glutathione sensing.•Simple and selective strategies for bio-sensing of glutathione.
Epilepsy affects the physical, cognitive, emotional, social wellbeing, and thereby the overall quality of life (QOL). Epilepsy is the most prevalent neurological disorder in the pediatric age group ...with a prevalence of 3.13 to 3.73 per 1000 in India. It is imperative for the primary caregiver to look beyond seizure control for improving wellbeing of children with epilepsy (CWE). Hence, there is a need to understand the predictors of QOL in Indian CWE. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of epilepsy and antiepileptic medications on the child's development, health, scholastic performance, and QOL and to identify the predictors of QOL.
This study was a cross-sectional hospital-based prospective study with sociodemographic, clinical data collected from 110 children (age 4–18 years). Seizure severity was assessed with the Hague Seizure Severity Scale, and adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) were assessed using the Adverse Event Profile Scale. The QOL was measured employing the Quality of Life in Children with Epilepsy (QOLCE) questionnaire.
The mean total QOLCE score was 72.6 ± 13.6. Among the subscale scores, memory had the highest mean of 86.5, and the lowest mean was observed for QOL item (40.4). There was no significant association of the total QOLCE score with any of the sociodemographic variables such as gender, place, socioeconomic status, paternal/maternal education, or family type. Children with more severe seizures had significantly lower energy and QOL subscale scores and greater depression and anxiety. Prolonged duration of epilepsy, frequent seizures, and recent seizures had a significant negative correlation with the mean total QOLCE score. Children with epilepsy who are on multiple AEDs, prolonged duration of AED intake, or poor adherence to AEDs have significantly lower total QOLCE score. Children manifesting adverse effects to AEDs had significantly lower overall QOL affecting all domains.
Overall QOL in CWE is most compromised by polytherapy, poor adherence to medication, adverse effects of AEDs, hospitalization, and presence of developmental delay.
•Long duration of epilepsy, frequent/recent seizures are related to poor quality of life (QOL) in children with epilepsy (CWE)•Lower QOL associated with polytherapy, prolonged duration or poor adherence to antiepileptic drug intake•Presence of developmental delay or hospitalizations worsen the QOL•QOL in CWE is not correlated to socio-demographic variables
Purpose
Molecular similarities have been reported between basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) and high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). To date, there have been no prognostic biomarkers that can ...provide risk stratification and inform treatment decisions for both BLBC and HGSOC. In this study, we developed a molecular signature for risk stratification in BLBC and further validated this signature in HGSOC.
Methods
RNA-seq data was downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project for 190 BLBC and 314 HGSOC patients. Analyses of differentially expressed genes between recurrent vs. non-recurrent cases were performed using different bioinformatics methods. Gene Signature was established using weighted linear combination of gene expression levels. Their prognostic performance was evaluated using survival analysis based on progression-free interval (PFI) and disease-free interval (DFI).
Results
63 genes were differentially expressed between 18 recurrent and 40 non-recurrent BLBC patients by two different methods. The recurrence index (RI) calculated from this 63-gene signature significantly stratified BLBC patients into two risk groups with 38 and 152 patients in the low-risk (RI-Low) and high-risk (RI-High) groups, respectively (
p
= 0.0004 and 0.0023 for PFI and DFI, respectively). Similar performance was obtained in the HGSOC cohort (
p
= 0.0131 and 0.004 for PFI and DFI, respectively). Multivariate Cox regression adjusting for age, grade, and stage showed that the 63-gene signature remained statistically significant in stratifying HGSOC patients (
p
= 0.0005).
Conclusion
A gene signature was identified to predict recurrence in BLBC and HGSOC patients. With further validation, this signature may provide an additional prognostic tool for clinicians to better manage BLBC, many of which are triple-negative and HGSOC patients who are currently difficult to treat.
PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTORs （PIFs） are members of the basic helix-loop-helix （bHLH） family of transcription factors in Arabidopsis. Since their discovery in phytochrome-mediated light signaling ...pathways, recent studies have unraveled new functions of PIFs in integrating multiple signaling pathways not only through their role as transcription factors directly targeting gene expression but also by interacting with diverse groups of factors to optimize plant growth and development. These include endogenous （e.g., hormonal） as well as abiotic （light, circadian, and elevated temperature） and biotic （defense responses） pathways. PIFs interact with key factors in each of these pathways and tailor the outcome of the signal integration among these pathways. This review discusses the roles of PIFs as pivotal signal integrators in regulating plant growth and development.
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