Effect of high‐protein supplemental therapy on subjective global assessment of CKD‐5D patients

Adequate nutrition in patients on hemodialysis is an important step for improving the quality of life. This prospective study was undertaken to monitor the nutritional status of patients who were given high‐protein supplements on malnutrition inflammation score (MIS) and to correlate with biochemical parameters in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. This prospective study was conducted on 55 chronic kidney disease patients on MHD (37 women, 18 men), aged between 21 and 67 years. Of the 55 patients, 26 patients received high‐protein commercial nutritional supplements, whereas 29 patients received high‐protein kitchen feeding. Every patient had their MIS, 24‐hour dietary recall, hand grip, mid arm circumference, triceps skin‐fold thickness at 0, 3, and 6 months. Each of the above parameters was compared between the high‐protein commercial nutritional supplement cohort and high‐protein kitchen feeding cohort, and the data were analyzed. Of the 55 patients, 82.61% of patients on high‐protein kitchen feeding group and 66.67% in high‐protein commercial nutritional supplement group were nonvegetarian (P = 0.021). According to the MIS, improvement was observed in malnutrition status from 3‐ to 6‐month period in 38.1% of patients in high‐protein commercial supplement group, whereas only in 8.7% in high‐protein kitchen feeding group (P = 0.04). Assessment showed improvement in malnutrition status with high‐protein commercial nutritional supplement, which was marked in patients with age group >65 years (P = 0.03) and in those in whom serum albumin is <35 g/L (P = 0.02). Both high‐protein kitchen feeding and high‐protein commercial nutritional supplement cohorts were observed to have improvement in overall nutritional status. Older patients >65 years with lower serum albumin levels (<3.5 g/dL) were observed to have significant improvement in nutritional status with high‐protein commercial nutritional supplements.     

An innovative approach for Steam Generator Pressure Control of a nuclear power plant

The main function of the Steam Generator Pressure Control (SGPC) Program is to match the power (heat) generation in the reactor core with the heat removal in the steam generators (SGs). For most of the designs these programs have been over simplified to cater to the limitation of the instrumentation and control, hardware and software. The main objective of balancing the heat generation, transfer and removal gets lost in the process, which leads to reduction in the availability of the nuclear power plant. This is reflected in under utilization of the process and control system provisions to avoid reactor trips on low/high pressure. Most of the transients/accidents have their origin in the mismatch among the heat generated in the reactor core and the heat removal in the SGs. A new Advanced Process Control (APC) based supervisory controller is proposed to ride over the existing SGPC to achieve the goal. This APC makes use of the estimated/measured heat generation-removal error to alter the SGPC set point to tide over the transients after detection. The transients are detected based on the magnitude of this error to activate the APC. After tiding over the transient successfully the control switches back to the existing SGPC. For evaluation of this error additional instrumentation is proposed in the SG tube walls and other structures of the primary system.The Reactor Regulating System (RRS) which manipulates the reactor power, PHT pressure controller and the SGPC must work in a synchronized and optimized fashion so as to avoid a reactor trip following the PCP trip and other transients. With the existing design it is often observed that these control loops conflict with each other, as they are not designed with a multivariable integrated approach. The objective is being fulfilled by developing new supervisory APC logics to ride over the existing Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controllers of various process loops. The new APC concept/logics formulation and supervisory control details along with performance tests are presented in this paper.     

Preparation of highly ordered growth of single-crystalline Gd2O2S:Eu nanostructures

A simple and facile template-assisted hydrothermal route has been demonstrated for the shape-selective preparation of highly ordered single-crystalline Gd₂O₂S:Eu³⁺ nanostructures, such as nanotubes, nanorods and nanoflowers. These fabricated nanostructures possess desirable atomic structures, surfaces, morphologies and properties to meet the growing demands and specific requirements of new technologies. The concentration of precursor chemicals, the temperature, the reaction time, and the use of a capping agent are key factors in the morphological control of Gd₂O₂S:Eu³⁺ nanostructures. The morphology and the phase composition of the prepared nanostructures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS) and photoluminescence (PL). We believe this technique will be readily adopted in realizing other forms of various nanostructured materials.     

Hydrodynamic and heat transfer characteristics of a centrally heated cylindrical enclosure: CFD simulations and experimental measurements

Natural convection in enclosures is of importance in many engineering applications. The stratification arising out of natural convection may be desirable/undesirable depending on applications. In order to control the degree of stratification, understanding of flow pattern and temperature profiles is required. In the present work, transient natural convection in a cylindrical enclosure has been investigated for water with CFD simulations and flow visualization [using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and hot film anemometry (HFA)] over a wide range of parameters namely Rayleigh number (1.08 × 10¹¹ ≤ Ra ≤ 3.76 × 10¹³) and aspect ratio (1 ≤ H/R ≤ 2). The effect of various parameters like pressure, tube diameter and aspect ratio on the extent of stratification has been studied. PIV measurements have been performed to understand the transient flow behavior. Multiple thermocouples were used to measure the temperature profiles. CFD simulations have been performed using SST k–ω model and the results have been compared with the PIV measurements. The CFD simulations have been carried out for 2D axi-symmetric cases and the effect of boundary conditions (free-slip and no-slip) has been investigated. An excellent agreement was found between the CFD predictions and the experimental measurements of flow and temperature patterns. The extent of stratification has been quantified using dimensionless parameters like stratification number and stratification time. The kinetic energy profiles and kinetic energy dissipation profiles show that almost 75% of the enclosure is stratified (after different times depending on Ra number and the aspect ratio). The turbulence parameters were found to weaken with time in the stratified region and these predictions are corroborated with HFA measurements.     

Relationship between lung inflammation, changes in lung function and severity of exposure in victims of the Bhopal tragedy

The world's worst chemical industrial disaster, which occurred at Bhopal on 2-3 December, 1984, resulted in considerable respiratory morbidity in the exposed population. Therefore, a study was planned to evaluate the relationship between lower respiratory tract inflammation, lung function and severity of exposure. Sixty patients exposed to methyl isocyanate and presenting with respiratory symptoms were studied using bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) 1-7 yrs after the accident. Pulmonary function tests included forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). An index of severity of exposure was derived retrospectively on the basis of the acute symptoms in the victims themselves or the occurrence of death among their family members. Total lung inflammatory cells (p < 0.01) and absolute numbers of macrophages (p = 0.01) and lymphocytes (p < 0.05) increased as severity of exposure increased. FEV1/FVC % (p = 0.05) was also significantly lower as severity of exposure increased. Moderately exposed subjects had significantly lower FEV1/FVC % (p < 0.05) compared to those mildly exposed. In nonsmokers, BAL neutrophils, both percentage and absolute numbers, showed significant negative correlations with FEV1 % predicted (rs = -0.350, p < 0.05; and rs = -0.374, p < 0.01, respectively). Neutrophil percentage was negatively correlated with FEV1/FVC % (rs = -0.378; p < 0.01). Absolute lymphocytes had significant negative correlations with FVC % pred (rs = -0.318; p < 0.05). Macrophages had significant positive correlations with FVC % pred (rs = 0.322; p < 0.05) and FEV1 % pred (rs = 0.433; p < 0.01). Radiographic abnormalities (International Labour Organization (ILO) classification) were associated with decline in FEV1 % pred (p < 0.05). This study suggests that pulmonary function abnormalities occur in gas-exposed subjects as a consequence of an abnormal accumulation of lung inflammatory cells (lymphocytes and neutrophils), and that the intensity of lung inflammation and reduction in pulmonary function are greater in severely exposed subjects. As it has been observed that decline in pulmonary function is associated with radiographic abnormalities, there is a suggestion that injury following toxic gas exposure can lead to irreversible lung damage.     

Partitioning and gating technique for low-power multiplication in video processing applications

In this paper, we propose a partitioning and gating technique for the design of a high performance and low-power multiplier for kernel-based operations such as 2D convolution in video processing applications. The proposed technique reduces dynamic power consumption by analyzing the bit patterns in the input data to reduce switching activities. Special values of the pixels in the video streams such as zero, repeated values or repeated bit combinations are detected and data paths in the architecture design are disabled appropriately to eliminate unnecessary switching. Input pixels in the video stream are partitioned into halves to increase the possibility of detecting special values. It is observed that the proposed scheme helps to reduce dynamic power consumption in the 2D convolution operations up to 33%.     

Preparation and characterization of CdS nanocrystallites in nafion

Perfluoroethylene sulfonic acid polymer (NAFION) films are subjected to ion exchange in the medium of aqueous solutions of cadmium acetate, followed by ammonia passivation. The films are then treated with hydrogen sulfide gas for prescribed times. X-ray powder diffraction data of these samples have been analyzed for estimating the sizes of the nanocrystallites. The optical absorption spectra of the samples show an absorption edge beginning at 525 nm for the largest size clusters. A broad absorption band appears with a maximum around 410 nm–440 nm in the smaller size clusters.     

Hydrodynamics of a vibrating perforated plate extraction column

Hydrodynamic behaviour of several liquid-liquid systems has been measured in a 5 cm diameter extraction column agitated by finely perforated plates vibrating at frequencies (f) 10–100 Hz and amplitudes (a) 0.024–1.5 mm. The Sauter mean droplet diameter is generally in the range 0.1 to 1 mm. It has been correlated empirically with af², system properties and operating conditions. Dispersed phase holdup, when plotted against the product af, showed minimum values corresponding to the transition from mixer-settler to emulsion regime. Holdup was also found to be affected by mass transfer and its direction. Entrainment of fine droplets in the continuous phase occurs at high agitation levels, but can be reduced by the addition of coalescence plates at the base of the column. Energy dissipation rates greatly exceed predictions from the quasi-steady-state model.