Video--EEG monitoring in intractable attacks of uncertain etiology

Video-EEG monitoring was done in 26 patients with paroxysmal intractable attacks of uncertain etiology to determine the nature and cause. Two broad categories were identified: Those with prominent motor activity and those with attacks of collapse/limpness. Events were recorded in 16 patients of which 11 showed no abnormality on the simultaneously recorded EEG, thus helping to confirm their diagnosis of pseudoseizures.     

Energy-efficient production of chilled water in industry

Current practices for operation of a water-chilling plant (WCP) in the cement product industry in Kuwait have been studied and evaluated under different load conditions. Experimental results and weather data are used to demonstrate deficiencies in the present design. An analysis has been conducted to arrive at the optimum use of a cooling tower (CT) and chillers for year-round application. A significantly larger cooling tower is recommended for technical and economic viability. Our case study may serve as a guide for optimizing the design and operation of other types of water-chilling plants.     

An Approach to Tackle the Threat of Sympathy Trips in Directional Overcurrent Relay Coordination

This paper proposes to introduce additional constraints in the directional overcurrent relay coordination problem to tackle the sympathy trips. This paper attempts to tackle the sympathy trips in which other relay(s) in the system operate(s) earlier in the designated primary relay. The solution to this problem requires the inclusion of some additional constraints, making the coordination problem too complex. This paper proposes to solve the problem in two phases. In the first phase, the problem is solved by a normal coordination procedure and sympathy trips are identified. In the second phase, the proposed additional constraints are imposed only for the sympathy trips identified in the first phase. For the second phase, three approaches for including additional constraints were investigated. This paper includes results of the proposed algorithm for the IEEE 30-bus system. The results amply suggest that one of the three approaches of including additional constraints successfully tackled the problem of sympathy trip     

Effects of regulation on the flow regime of the river Murray,Australia

The flow regime of the River Murray has changed markedly over the last century, and especially the last 50 years, through increased diversions, construction of dams, weirs and levees and changes in operational procedures. A model developed by the Murray–Darling Basin Commission is used to compare simulated natural (unregulated) flows at eight stations with those at seven consecutive stages in the development of regulation. Monthly and annual average flows and coefficients of variation and skewness were computed, and the flow-duration, peak-flow and low-flow characteristics curves plotted. The results confirm that average monthly and annual flows are now considerably lower than those which prevailed under natural conditions. The seasonal distribution of flows has changed in the upper Murray, owing to the influence of dams. Flow-duration characteristics now vary considerably along the river, whereas there was little change under natural conditions. The effect of regulation on flow-duration characteristics is minimal at Albury and becomes more pronounced downstream; it is most apparent in regard to flows exceeded 20–80% of the time. The magnitude of average annual floods (annual exceedance probability 50%) has been reduced by over 50% at all stations, but big floods (average recurrence interval 20 years or more) are little affected. Further, the low flows for a given annual non-exceedance probability are higher under regulated conditions than those under natural conditions. These changes have profound implications for communities of native plants and animals in both riverine and floodplain environments, and also for the long-term utility of the river as a resource.     

EFFECTS OF SAWDUST ON BIOGAS PRODUCTION FROM COWDUNG

The biogas generation was performed using cowdung and sawdust in the ratios of 4:1 and 2:1, respectively. The experiments were also conducted using cowdung alone for the comparison purpose. The increase in the amount of sawdust in the mixture of cowdung and sawdust decreases the quantity of gas production. The production of methane up to three weeks is also effected by the amount of sawdust. The nitrogen contents increase and volatile solids decrease with the digestion of waste materials. The thermogravimetric studies of the materials support the biogas generation as the decomposition of particular part of cowdung.     

Comparative bioavailability of curcumin,turmeric and Biocurcumax™ in traditional vehicles using non-everted rat intestinal sac model

The bioavailability of curcumin from turmeric, Biocurcumax? and as plain curcumin was investigated using conventional vehicles by a non-everted rat intestinal model. Results of ex vivo intestinal permeability studies showed an enhancement in the permeability of curcumin with increase in lipophilicity of the vehicle used. Maximum permeability of curcumin was obtained from corn oil (13.4%) followed by clarified butter (9.82%), milk (4.24%) and aqueous suspension (1.66%) in 8 h. Another very interesting and important observation was that the permeation of curcumin was more from turmeric and Biocurcumax? than from plain curcumin. These studies strongly suggest that curcumin may be consumed as turmeric/Biocurcumax? in lipophilic vehicles instead of plain curcumin for maximum beneficial effects.     

Studies on Mechanical and Morphological Characterization of Developed Jute/Hemp/Flax Reinforced Hybrid Composites for Structural Applications

In the present study, an attempt has been made to develop and characterize natural fiber-based composites (jute/epoxy, hemp/epoxy, flax/epoxy) and their hybrid composites (jute/hemp/epoxy, hemp/flax/epoxy, and jute/hemp/flax/epoxy) using hand-lay-up technique. Mechanical characterization (tensile, flexural, impact, and hardness test) of the developed composites was performed. The interface between fiber and matrix was examined using scan electron microscopy (SEM). Among (jute/epoxy, hemp/epoxy, flax/epoxy), flax/epoxy composite has shown higher hardness (98 Shore-D) and tensile strength (46.2 MPa) whereas better flexural and impact strength have been shown by hemp/epoxy (85.59 MPa) and jute/epoxy (7.68 kJ/m²) composites respectively. Results showed that hybrid composites observed better mechanical properties. Jute/hemp/flax/epoxy hybrid composite showed the highest tensile strength, modulus and impact strength of 58.59 MPa, 1.88 GPa, and 10.19, kJ/m², respectively. Jute/hemp/epoxy hybrid composite achieved the maximum flexural strength of 86.6 MPa.