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Some of the properties of flame retardant medium density fiberboard made from rubberwood and recycled containers containing aluminum trihydroxide

Hashim R, How LS, Kumar RN, Sulaiman O

Bioresour Technol, 2005 Nov;96(16):1826-31.
PMID: 16051090

The flame retardancy of medium density fiberboard (MDF) made from mixture of rubberwood fibers and recycled old corrugated containers was studied. Aluminum trihydroxide (ATH) was used as a fire retardant additive and mixed with the fibers to manufacture experimental MDF panels using wet process. Phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin in liquid, 2% based on oven dry weight of fibers, was used along with 0%, 10%, 15% and 20% of ATH. The flame retardant test was done using the limiting oxygen index (LOI) test. The other properties investigated include internal bond strength, thickness swelling and water absorption. The results showed that ATH loading increased as the LOI of MDF increased. This demonstrated that ATH could improved the fire retardant property of MDF at sufficient loading. An increase in concentration of ATH showed an increase in the IB values of MDF made without resin. MDF panels made without resin showed a progressive increase in internal bond as the composition of recycled old corrugated containers fiber increased. Addition of resin improved internal bond strength and reduced thickness swelling, and water absorption. Thickness swelling of panel increased as the composition of recycled old corrugated containers fiber increased. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) showed that there is indication of ATH and resin filling the void space in between fibers.
Impact of anemia on sputum smear conversion and treatment outcomes among newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients in Southern India

Hithaish Kumar RN, Rao CR, Maradi R, Umakanth S, Chidananda Sanju SV, Sreenivasa Rao BP

Int J Mycobacteriol, 2023;12(2):117-121.
PMID: 37338470 DOI: 10.4103/ijmy.ijmy_24_23

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. The higher prevalence of anemia among TB patients is concerning due to its association with delayed sputum conversion and poor treatment outcomes. The present study aimed to evaluate the association of anemia with sputum smear conversion and treatment outcomes among TB patients.
METHODS: In a prospective community-based cohort study, TB patients were recruited from 63 primary health centers in the district. Blood samples were collected at baseline, at 2 months, and at the end of 6 months. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 15.
RESULTS: Out of 661 patients recruited, anemia was observed among 503 (76.1%) participants. Prevalence of anemia was more among males 387 (76.9%) than 116 (23.1%) females. Out of 503 anemic patients, 334 (66.4%) had mild, 166 (33.0%) had moderate, and 3 (0.6%) had severe anemia at baseline. At 6-month treatment completion, 16 (6.3%) were still anemic. Among 503 anemic patients, 445 (88.4%) were given iron supplements and remaining 58 (11.6%) were managed with diet modifications. After completion of TB treatment, 495 (98.4%) patients had favorable treatment outcomes, whereas 8 (1.6%) patients had died. Severe anemia was not associated with poor outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS: The presence of anemia among newly diagnosed TB patients, especially pulmonary TB was high. Increased risk of anemia was noted among males who were alcohol and tobacco consumers. There was no significant association between the presence of anemia and sputum conversion from baseline to 6 months of treatment completion.
Fulltext Predicting the thermal distribution in a convective wavy fin using a novel training physics-informed neural network method

Chandan K, Saadeh R, Qazza A, Karthik K, Varun Kumar RS, Kumar RN, et al.

Sci Rep, 2024 Mar 25;14(1):7045.
PMID: 38528081 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-57772-x

Fins are widely used in many industrial applications, including heat exchangers. They benefit from a relatively economical design cost, are lightweight, and are quite miniature. Thus, this study investigates the influence of a wavy fin structure subjected to convective effects with internal heat generation. The thermal distribution, considered a steady condition in one dimension, is described by a unique implementation of a physics-informed neural network (PINN) as part of machine-learning intelligent strategies for analyzing heat transfer in a convective wavy fin. This novel research explores the use of PINNs to examine the effect of the nonlinearity of temperature equation and boundary conditions by altering the hyperparameters of the architecture. The non-linear ordinary differential equation (ODE) involved with heat transfer is reduced into a dimensionless form utilizing the non-dimensional variables to simplify the problem. Furthermore, Runge-Kutta Fehlberg's fourth-fifth order (RKF-45) approach is implemented to evaluate the simplified equations numerically. To predict the wavy fin's heat transfer properties, an advanced neural network model is created without using a traditional data-driven approach, the ability to solve ODEs explicitly by incorporating a mean squared error-based loss function. The obtained results divulge that an increase in the thermal conductivity variable upsurges the thermal distribution. In contrast, a decrease in temperature profile is caused due to the augmentation in the convective-conductive variable values.
Fulltext Safety attitudes, burnout and well-being among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: an Indo-Pacific regional cross-sectional study

Kanneganti A, Tan BYQ, Nik Ab Rahman NH, Leow AS, Denning M, Goh ET, et al.

Singapore Med J, 2023 Nov;64(11):667-676.
PMID: 35139631 DOI: 10.11622/smedj.2022014

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented impact in Asia and has placed significant burden on already stretched healthcare systems. We examined the impact of COVID-19 on the safety attitudes among healthcare workers (HCWs), as well as their associated demographic and occupational factors, and measures of burnout, depression and anxiety.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey study utilising snowball sampling was performed involving doctors, nurses and allied health professions from 23 hospitals in Singapore, Malaysia, India and Indonesia between 29 May 2020 and 13 July 2020. This survey collated demographic data and workplace conditions and included three validated questionnaires: the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ), Oldenburg Burnout Inventory and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. We performed multivariate mixed-model regression to assess independent associations with the SAQ total percentage agree rate (PAR).
RESULTS: We obtained 3,163 responses. The SAQ total PARs were found to be 35.7%, 15.0%, 51.0% and 3.3% among the respondents from Singapore, Malaysia, India and Indonesia, respectively. Burnout scores were highest among respondents from Indonesia and lowest among respondents from India (70.9%-85.4% vs. 56.3%-63.6%, respectively). Multivariate analyses revealed that meeting burnout and depression thresholds and shifts lasting ≥12 h were significantly associated with lower SAQ total PAR.
CONCLUSION: Addressing the factors contributing to high burnout and depression and placing strict limits on work hours per shift may contribute significantly towards improving safety culture among HCWs and should remain priorities during the pandemic.