Induction of labor by intracervical prostaglandin gel and oxytocin infusion in primigravid women with unfavorable cervix

The rate of Cesarean Section for failed induction of labor and maternal and fetal compilations are high when labor is induced in a nulliparas women with an unripe cervix by amniotomy and oxytocin infusion. Prostaglandins (PG) in different forms have been used for ripening the cervix with an aim of reducing these problems. A prospective randomized trial was performed on one hundred primigravid women between 37 and 42 weeks of gestation with singleton pregnancy, cephalic presentation and unfavorable cervix (Modified Bishop Score < or = 5) in the department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology of Institute of Postgraduate Medicine & Research from 1st May 1996 to 30th April 1997. In this study the efficiency of prostaglandin E2 intracervical (PGE2 IC) gel in induction of labor in a group of primigravid women with unripe cervix was assessed and compared with another group with similar characteristics using oxytocin infusion and artificial rupture of membrane (ARM). The Modified Bishop Score (MBS), interval between IOL and onset of labor and the duration of labor after insertion of PGE2 gel was significantly different from those of oxytocin infusion group. But the Apgar Score at 1 & 5 min had shown no statistically significant difference. Any significant difference could also not be detected in the mode of delivery between the two induction group. The proportion of emergency Cesarean Section (CS) was high in the oxytocin infusion group than that of in the prostaglandin group. There was also no significant difference regarding the acceptability of both the induction methods.     

Performance Evaluation of Doped Titanium Oxide for Low‐Voltage Applications

Varistors are the electronic devices which are used in various industries to protect the electrical and electronic systems from sudden surges. In this research, the electrical properties of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) doped with tantalum pentoxide (Ta₂O₅), tungsten trioxide (WO₃), cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄), and bismuth oxide (Bi₂O₃) and fired at different temperatures were investigated for low‐voltage applications. The adequate amount of dopants at suitable sintering temperature had beneficial effect in improving the properties of TiO₂. The relative density was found to be more than 97% of theoretical density when samples sintered between 1300°C and 1400°C for all composition compared to undoped samples. On the other hand, the addition of dopants enhanced hardness and compressive strength of varistor disks. The average grain size was also increased with the dopants system, making it suitable for low‐voltage application. Furthermore, the current–voltage characteristic of the TiO₂ revealed a significantly high value of nonlinearity of 19.6. A high dielectric constant of 10⁴ with minimum dissipation factor of 0.002852 at 1 kHz was also obtained, thereby making it suitable for low‐voltage application.     

PEPT Investigation of Particle Separation in a Novel Vertically Vibrated Particle Separator

Separation of particle mixtures in micron size range is of concern to many industrial processes. The experimental work presented in this article has looked into the operational assessment of a novel vertical vibration driven particle separator by using a positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) technique. In addition to PEPT, a smoke blanket visualization technique was used to track the intestinal air movements during the course of vibration induced particle separation. Three different finely sized glass and bronze particle mixtures that formed an average particle bed heights of 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 mm in separation cells of thickness 20 and 40 mm were used to investigate the particle separation behavior. For a range of operating conditions, the results showed in favor of low particle bed heights (below 40 mm), lower vibration frequency (30 ± 10% Hz) and a small partition separation gap size of 5 mm for optimum separation of bronze particles in the presence of air.     

Effect of crosslinker feed content on catalaytic activity of silver nanoparticles fabricated in multiresponsive microgels

We investigated the effect of crosslinking density of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) microgels on catalytic activity of silver nanoparticles fabricated hybrid microgels. Multiresponsive poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) microgels with 2, 4, 6 and 8 mole percentage of N,N-methylene-bis-acrylamide were synthesized by emulsion polymerization. These microgels were characterized by dynamic light scattering and were used as microreactors to synthesize silver nanoparticles. Hybrid system was characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The catalytic activity of hybrid microgels with different crosslinker content was compared by studying the reduction of pnitrophenol as a model reaction. Kinetics of reaction was monitored by spectrophotometry. The value of the apparent rate constant decreases from 0.568 to 0.313min^?1, when content of crosslinker are increased from 2 to 8 mole percentage respectively. This decreases in value of apparent rate constant is due to increase in diffusional barrier offered by high crosslinking of polymer network at high mole percentages of N,N-methylene-bis-acrylamide.     

Synthesis of sol-gel silica chemically bonded with cyanex 272 for the removal of Cu(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II)

This article reported on the synthesis of SSCBB, a new solid-phase, sol-gel silica chemically bonded with [bis (2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinate], (BTMPP, anion of Cyanex 272) prepared with a sol-gel method, and its application as a reusable solid-phase sorbent for the selective removal of Cu(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II). The synthesized SSCBB was characterized by FTIR, EDX, SEM, BET, TGA, and DSC. To evaluate its extraction performance, various parameters such as equilibration time, pH of the aqueous phase, solid to liquid ratio, initial copper ion concentration and reusability of SSCBB were studied. Equilibrium time was found to be 60 min for all metals and almost 100% extraction occurred at a pH of 4.0, 6.0, and 8.8 for Zn(II), Cu(II), and Ni(II) extraction, respectively. The maximum extraction capacity was found to be 0.2 mmol of Cu(II) per gram of SSCBB. Moreover, it was also regenerated and reused for subsequent recovery in ten cycles. The uptake performance of regenerated SSCBB after ten regeneration cycles was found to be the same as the freshly prepared SSCBB. Finally, based on the results, a proposed flow sheet for the removal of Cu(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) was provided.     

Pulmonary Wegener's granulomatosis: changes at follow-up CT

The objective of this study was to assess the reversibility of pulmonary lesions in Wegener's granulomatosis using serial CT. We reviewed the follow-up CT scans of ten treated patients with confirmed Wegener's granulomatosis. The delay between the first evaluation before treatment and the second, on patients in clinical and biological remission, ranged from 6 to 54 months (mean 20.5 months). Follow-up CT showed a decrease in the extent of disease in all cases. Lesions disappeared completely, without scarring, in 4 of 4 ground-glass opacities, 25 of 36 nodules, and 4 of 9 pulmonary consolidations; they disappeared with residual scarring in 8 of 8 masses, 3 of 9 pulmonary consolidations, and 2 of 36 nodules. The majority of lesions disappear without scarring. Residual fibrosis may follow the occurence of masses and pulmonary consolidation. Computed tomography permits assessment of cicatricial lesions.     

Optimal coordination of directional overcurrent relays ininterconnected power systems

The authors present a new methodology based upon the principles of optimization theory, to treat the problem of optimal coordination of directional overcurrent relays in interconnected power systems. With the application of the proposed technique, this coordination problem is stated as a parameter optimization problem, which in general, is of a large dimension, especially when many different system configurations and perturbations are to be considered. Several optimization procedures, including direct methods and decomposition techniques, for solving this large scale coordination problem are described, and results of optimally coordinating directional overcurrent relays in power systems with up to 30 buses are presented     

The effect of nanoconfinement on methyl methacrylate polymerization: Tg, molecular weight,and tacticity

The effect of nanoconfinement on the free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) is investigated using differential scanning calorimetry, gel permeation chromatography, and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance. Both hydrophobic and hydrophilic 13 nm-diameter controlled pore glasses (CPG) are used for polymerization under nanoconfinement. The number-average and weight-average molecular weights increase under nanoconfinement because the onset of autoacceleration shifts to shorter times, whereas the polydispersity index at full conversion decreases relative to the bulk value. The tacticity changes from syndiotactic-rich triads for the bulk PMMA to a higher percentage of isotactic-rich triads in hydrophilic pores; the data are described by the first-order Markov model. In addition to the changes in molecular weight and tacticity, the glass transition temperature increases for both pore surfaces compared with the bulk, but the increase in hydrophilic pores is more pronounced.