Prenatal Diagnosis and Screening of Thalassemia Mutations in Bangladesh: Presence of Rare Mutations.

Thalassemia is the most common congenital monogenic disorder in Bangladesh. Prenatal diagnosis (PND) and pregnation termination of an affected child is one of the best options to reduce the burden of thalassemic children. This article reports the results of DNA analyses of chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis of fetuses of mothers who came to the thalassemia center of Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. DNA analysis was done by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Sanger sequencing. Maternal contamination was ruled out by variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs). A total of 232 samples were analyzed. Hb E (HBB: c.79G>A)/ß-thalassemia (Hb E/ß-thal) was the most common type of thalassemia seen in 32 samples (13.79%) followed by ß-thal major (ß-TM) in 10 cases (4.31%). Molecular characterization of the most predominant mutation was IVS-I-5 (G>A) (HBB: c.92+5G>C). The analysis also revealed five rare mutations: IVS-II-654 (C>T) (HBB: c.316-197C>T), IVS-II-1 (G>A) (HBB: c.315+5G>A), codon 44 (-C) (HBB: c.135delC), -86 (C>A) (HBB: c.-136C>A) and codons 14/15 (+G) (HBB: c.45_46insG), which have not been reported previously in Bangladesh. This study provides important information for PND and will help in the development of similar diagnostic programs for other DNA centers in Bangladesh.

Thermodynamic Analysis of Entropy Generation Minimization in Thermally Dissipating Flow Over a Thin Needle Moving in a Parallel Free Stream of Two Newtonian Fluids.

This article is devoted to study sustainability of entropy generation in an incompressible thermal flow of Newtonian fluids over a thin needle that is moving in a parallel stream. Two types of Newtonian fluids (water and air) are considered in this work. The energy dissipation term is included in the energy equation. Here, it is presumed that u∞ (the free stream velocity) is in the positive axial direction (x-axis) and the motion of the thin needle is in the opposite or similar direction as the free stream velocity. The reduced self-similar governing equations are solved numerically with the aid of the shooting technique with the fourth-order-Runge-Kutta method. Using similarity transformations, it is possible to obtain the expression for dimensionless form of the volumetric entropy generation rate and the Bejan number. The effects of Prandtl number, Eckert number and dimensionless temperature parameter are discussed graphically in details for water and air taken as Newtonian fluids.

A Novel ß-Thalassemia Insertion/Frameshift Mutation Between Codons 77/78 (p.Leu78Profs*13 or HBB: c.235_236insC) Observed in a Family in Bangladesh.

ß-Thalassemia (ß-thal) is one of the most common inherited hemoglobin (Hb) disorders, worldwide. A 28-year-old female and her husband came to Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital, Bangladesh for prenatal diagnosis for thalassemia mutations. We identified and characterized a novel ß-thalassemia (ß-thal) mutation due to an insertion of cytosine between codons 77 and 78 (p.Leu78Profs*13) found in mother in a heterozygous state. This mutation caused an insertion in the normal reading frame of the ß-globin coding sequence and the new stop codon being the amino acid 90 (HBB: c.235_236insC) in exon 2 that leads to a ß0-thal phenotype.

Isolation and Seroprevalence of Aeromonas spp. Among Common Food Animals Slaughtered in Nagpur, Central India.

Aeromonads are ubiquitous foodborne pathogens with a global distribution. Animal-origin foods and contaminated animals are the main sources of Aeromonas infection to humans. So far little is known about the occurrence of Aeromonas spp. in food-producing animals in India. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence and seroprevalence of Aeromonas species from 50 each of meat, blood, and sera samples collected from cattle, buffaloes, goats, and pigs slaughtered in and around Nagpur, Central India. Alkaline peptone water and ampicillin dextrin agar were used to isolate Aeromonas spp. An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was standardized by use of whole-cell antigen (WC) and outer membrane protein (OMP) of Aeromonas hydrophila (MTCC 646). Aeromonads were isolated from 44 (22%) of the meat samples, and 1 (0.5%) from the blood samples. Seroprevalence by indirect ELISA-based WC antigen was estimated as 68% in cattle, 44% in buffaloes, 60% in goats, and 30% in pigs. OMP-based ELISA yielded a seroprevalence of 56%, 48%, 52%, and 22% in cattle, buffaloes, goats, and pigs, respectively. The results revealed that OMP-based ELISA and WC-based ELISA were in agreement with one another. Isolation along with high seropositivity demonstrates the presence of foodborne Aeromonas spp. in the Nagpur city of Central India.

Application of genetic algorithms in nonlinear heat conduction problems.

Genetic algorithms are employed to optimize dimensionless temperature in nonlinear heat conduction problems. Three common geometries are selected for the analysis and the concept of minimum entropy generation is used to determine the optimum temperatures under the same constraints. The thermal conductivity is assumed to vary linearly with temperature while internal heat generation is assumed to be uniform. The dimensionless governing equations are obtained for each selected geometry and the dimensionless temperature distributions are obtained using MATLAB. It is observed that GA gives the minimum dimensionless temperature in each selected geometry.

EPDM based double slope triangular enclosure solar collector: a novel approach.

Solar heating is one of the important utilities of solar energy both in domestic and industrial sectors. Evacuated tube heaters are a commonly used technology for domestic water heating. However, increasing cost of copper and nickel has resulted in huge initial cost for these types of heaters. Utilizing solar energy more economically for domestic use requires new concept which has low initial and operating costs together with ease of maintainability. As domestic heating requires only nominal heating temperature to the range of 60-90 °C, therefore replacing nickel coated copper pipes with any cheap alternate can drastically reduce the cost of solar heater. We have proposed a new concept which utilizes double slope triangular chamber with EPDM based synthetic rubber pipes. This has reduced the initial and operating costs substantially. A detailed analytical study was carried out to design a novel solar heater. On the basis of analytical design, a prototype was manufactured. Results obtained from the experiments were found to be in good agreement with the analytical study. A maximum error of 10% was recorded at noon. However, results show that error is less than 5% in early and late hours.

Heat and mass transport in an electrically conducting nanofluid flow over two-dimensional geometries.

Engineering equipment in medicine, chemical and power engineering, electronics, and other human endeavours use nanofluids. The ability to improve mass and heat transport because of the low concentration of nanoparticles is the primary driver behind the vast array of nanofluid applications. Thus, the famous problems of viscous, incompressible, Newtonian, and 2-D laminar flow are revisited to investigate the mass and heat transmission rates for water-based carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with variable magnetic fields and external pressure gradients. Flow cases considered with varying pressure gradients are the flows upon a flat plate, flow in a planar diverging and converging channel, flow over a wedge, and plane stagnation flows, which are investigated. The impressions of thermophoresis and Brownian motion parameters are examined through the Buongiorno model. Using the Görtler transformation, the leading boundary layer (BL) equations are converted into dimensionless forms of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Runge-Kutta Fehlberg Method (RKF45) is operated to tackle the ensuing ODEs to find the mass, heat, and skin friction rates. It has been found that the rates of shear stress, mass, and heat transport slow down with an escalating magnetic field. Although mass transport rates are decreased, shear stress and heat transport (HT) rates escalate due to the solid volume portion of carbon nanotubes. Furthermore, the pressure gradient parameter facilitates faster heat and shear stress transmission rates.

Quasilinearization numerical technique for dual slip MHD Newtonian fluid flow with entropy generation in thermally dissipating flow above a thin needle.

In the present article, we investigate the dual slip effect namely the velocity slip and thermal slip conditions on MHD flow past a thin needle. The entropy generation for the incompressible fluids that's water and acetone that flowing above the thin needle is discussed. The energy dissipating term and the magnetic effect is included in the axial direction. The leading partial differential equations are transformed to ODE by an appropriate similarity transformation and solved using a numerical technique that is the Quasilinearization method. The terms for the rate of entropy generation, the Bejan number, and the irreversibility distribution ratio are discussed. Each dimensionless number is shown with velocity slip and also with the magnetic parameter is presented in graphical form. In the result, we conclude that the entropy generation rate is increasing with the increase in thermal slip parameter also some increasing effect is found as the size of the needle increases.

Effects of MHD and porosity on entropy generation in two incompressible Newtonian fluids over a thin needle in a parallel free stream.

This article is devoted to studying Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)'s combined effect and porosity on the entropy generation in two incompressible Newtonian fluids over a thin needle moving in a parallel stream. Two Newtonian fluids (air and water) are taken into consideration in this study. The viscous dissipation term is involved in the energy equation. The assumption is that the free stream velocity is in the direction of the positive x-axis-(axial direction). The thin needle moves in the same or opposite direction of free stream velocity. The reduced similar governing equations are solved numerically with the help of shooting and the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The expressions for dimensionless volumetric entropy generation rate and Bejan number are obtained through using similarity transformations. The effects of the magnetic parameter, porosity parameter, Eckert number, Bejan number, irreversibility parameter, Nusselt number, and skin friction are discussed graphically in detail for and taken as Newtonian fluids. The results are compared with published work and are found in excellent agreement.

Non-enzymatic glucose sensor with electrodeposited silver/carbon nanotubes composite electrode.

Diabetes mellitus is a debilitating disease that affects each and every organ of human body. Hence it is important to continuously monitor the glucose level throughout the day and night. Glucose sensors are in great demand due to a rapid increase in diabetic community. A strategy has been implemented here to fabricate silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with the support of functionalized carbon nanotubes (f-CNTs). Silver/carbon nanotubes (Ag/CNTs) nanocomposite electrode have been prepared by electrochemical process on Fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass, by varying silver (Ag) concentrations for non-enzymatic glucose sensor. The variable Ag concentration in the morphology of Ag/CNTs nanocomposite has influenced the electrical conductivity, oxidation and reduction potential and electrochemical activity of glucose. Highest current density and good electrocatalytic activity for electrodes are obtained at 70 mM concentration of silver in Ag/CNTs composite. The present study indicates that the Ag/CNTs electrode is a possible substitute of the expensive glassy carbon electrode for enzyme-free glucose sensors.

Melting Flow in Wire Coating of a Third Grade Fluid over a Die Using Reynolds' and Vogel's Models with Non-Linear Thermal Radiation and Joule Heating.

Wire coatings are necessary to provide protection from the aggressive environment and to add mechanical strength to wires and cables. In this study, we investigated the effect of radiative linear as well as non-linear heat transfer on the wire coating in response to joule heating, using a third grade fluid as the coating material. For the temperature dependent viscosity, two models namely-Reynolds' and Vogel's-were used. The non-linear ordinary differential equations were solved analytically by the Homotropy Analysis Method (HAM). Numerical technique was also applied for comparison and good agreement was found. It is interesting to note that the temperature parameter had a remarkable effect on the temperature distribution and heat transfer characteristics in the flow region within the die. It was observed that the velocity of the fluid within the die decreased as the magnetic parameter increased, while the magnetic field had an accelerating effect on the temperature distribution. Near the surface of the wire, the velocity of the coating material accelerated as the temperature parameter and radiation parameter increased. Analysis also showed that the temperature of the coating material decreased with increasing radiation and temperature parameters.

Pathological and molecular identification of porcine cysticercosis in Maharashtra, India.

Porcine cysticercosis, caused by metacestodes of Taenia solium is an important emerging zoonotic disease with public health and economic significance. Pigs acquire the disease through consumption of Taenia solium eggs excreted by human tapeworm carriers. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of porcine cysticercosis in Nagpur and Mumbai region of Maharashtra, India by P/M examination of carcasses followed by histopathology of affected organs in infected animals and molecular identification of cysts for confirmation. Out of 1000 pigs examined during slaughter, three pigs were found to be heavily affected with T. solium cysts giving a prevalence of 0.3%. Histological section of brain in infected animals revealed marked vascular congestion of meninges, mild neuronal degeneration, perivascular cuffing and gliosis while the liver showed the infiltration of mononuclear cell, predominantly eosinophils throughout the parenchyma. Some degree of calcification was observed in the cysts lodged in liver while calcification was not evident in case of cysts lodged in brain, tongue, diaphragm and skeletal muscle. Molecular identification by PCR using two sets of oligonucleotide primers against LSU rRNA gene and Mt-Cox1 gene of T. solium confirms the cysts to be that of T. solium. The molecular diagnostics methods have been considered for validation in conjunction with P/M inspections, parasitological and histopathological examinations. The study confirms the presence of porcine cysticercosis in the two regions and demands proper sanitary measures to minimize the risk of infection from zoonoses and food safety point of view.

Prediction of thermal conductivity of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) electrospun nanocomposite fibers using artificial neural network and prey-predator algorithm.

In this study, multilayer perception neural network (MLPNN) was employed to predict thermal conductivity of PVP electrospun nanocomposite fibers with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and Nickel Zinc ferrites [(Ni0.6Zn0.4) Fe2O4]. This is the second attempt on the application of MLPNN with prey predator algorithm for the prediction of thermal conductivity of PVP electrospun nanocomposite fibers. The prey predator algorithm was used to train the neural networks to find the best models. The best models have the minimal of sum squared error between the experimental testing data and the corresponding models results. The minimal error was found to be 0.0028 for MWCNTs model and 0.00199 for Ni-Zn ferrites model. The predicted artificial neural networks (ANNs) responses were analyzed statistically using z-test, correlation coefficient, and the error functions for both inclusions. The predicted ANN responses for PVP electrospun nanocomposite fibers were compared with the experimental data and were found in good agreement.

G-jitter induced magnetohydrodynamics flow of nanofluid with constant convective thermal and solutal boundary conditions.

Taking into account the effect of constant convective thermal and mass boundary conditions, we present numerical solution of the 2-D laminar g-jitter mixed convective boundary layer flow of water-based nanofluids. The governing transport equations are converted into non-similar equations using suitable transformations, before being solved numerically by an implicit finite difference method with quasi-linearization technique. The skin friction decreases with time, buoyancy ratio, and thermophoresis parameters while it increases with frequency, mixed convection and Brownian motion parameters. Heat transfer rate decreases with time, Brownian motion, thermophoresis and diffusion-convection parameters while it increases with the Reynolds number, frequency, mixed convection, buoyancy ratio and conduction-convection parameters. Mass transfer rate decreases with time, frequency, thermophoresis, conduction-convection parameters while it increases with mixed convection, buoyancy ratio, diffusion-convection and Brownian motion parameters. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper on this topic and hence the results are new. We believe that the results will be useful in designing and operating thermal fluids systems for space materials processing. Special cases of the results have been compared with published results and an excellent agreement is found.

g-Jitter mixed convective slip flow of nanofluid past a permeable stretching sheet embedded in a Darcian porous media with variable viscosity.

The unsteady two-dimensional laminar g-Jitter mixed convective boundary layer flow of Cu-water and Al2O3-water nanofluids past a permeable stretching sheet in a Darcian porous is studied by using an implicit finite difference numerical method with quasi-linearization technique. It is assumed that the plate is subjected to velocity and thermal slip boundary conditions. We have considered temperature dependent viscosity. The governing boundary layer equations are converted into non-similar equations using suitable transformations, before being solved numerically. The transport equations have been shown to be controlled by a number of parameters including viscosity parameter, Darcy number, nanoparticle volume fraction, Prandtl number, velocity slip, thermal slip, suction/injection and mixed convection parameters. The dimensionless velocity and temperature profiles as well as friction factor and heat transfer rates are presented graphically and discussed. It is found that the velocity reduces with velocity slip parameter for both nanofluids for fluid with both constant and variable properties. It is further found that the skin friction decreases with both Darcy number and momentum slip parameter while it increases with viscosity variation parameter. The surface temperature increases as the dimensionless time increases for both nanofluids. Nusselt numbers increase with mixed convection parameter and Darcy numbers and decreases with the momentum slip. Excellent agreement is found between the numerical results of the present paper with published results.

MHD forced convective laminar boundary layer flow from a convectively heated moving vertical plate with radiation and transpiration effect.

A two-dimensional steady forced convective flow of a Newtonian fluid past a convectively heated permeable vertically moving plate in the presence of a variable magnetic field and radiation effect has been investigated numerically. The plate moves either in assisting or opposing direction to the free stream. The plate and free stream velocities are considered to be proportional to x(m) whilst the magnetic field and mass transfer velocity are taken to be proportional to x((m-1)/2) where x is the distance along the plate from the leading edge of the plate. Instead of using existing similarity transformations, we use a linear group of transformations to transform the governing equations into similarity equations with relevant boundary conditions. Numerical solutions of the similarity equations are presented to show the effects of the controlling parameters on the dimensionless velocity, temperature and concentration profiles as well as on the friction factor, rate of heat and mass transfer. It is found that the rate of heat transfer elevates with the mass transfer velocity, convective heat transfer, Prandtl number, velocity ratio and the magnetic field parameters. It is also found that the rate of mass transfer enhances with the mass transfer velocity, velocity ratio, power law index and the Schmidt number, whilst it suppresses with the magnetic field parameter. Our results are compared with the results existing in the open literature. The comparisons are satisfactory.

Design optimization of pin fin geometry using particle swarm optimization algorithm.

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is employed to investigate the overall performance of a pin fin.The following study will examine the effect of governing parameters on overall thermal/fluid performance associated with different fin geometries, including, rectangular plate fins as well as square, circular, and elliptical pin fins. The idea of entropy generation minimization, EGM is employed to combine the effects of thermal resistance and pressure drop within the heat sink. A general dimensionless expression for the entropy generation rate is obtained by considering a control volume around the pin fin including base plate and applying the conservations equations for mass and energy with the entropy balance. Selected fin geometries are examined for the heat transfer, fluid friction, and the minimum entropy generation rate corresponding to different parameters including axis ratio, aspect ratio, and Reynolds number. The results clearly indicate that the preferred fin profile is very dependent on these parameters.

Behaviour of a premixed flame subjected to acoustic oscillations.

In this paper, a one dimensional premixed laminar methane flame is subjected to acoustic oscillations and studied. The purpose of this analysis is to investigate the effects of acoustic perturbations on the reaction rates of different species, with a view to their respective contribution to thermoacoustic instabilities. Acoustically transparent non reflecting boundary conditions are employed. The flame response has been studied with acoustic waves of different frequencies and amplitudes. The integral values of the reaction rates, the burning velocities and the heat release of the acoustically perturbed flame are compared with the unperturbed case. We found that the flame's sensitivity to acoustic perturbations is greatest when the wavelength is comparable to the flame thickness. Even in this case, the perturbations are stable with time. We conclude that acoustic fields acting on the chemistry do not contribute significantly to the emergence of large amplitude pressure oscillations.

Optimal homotopy asymptotic method for flow and heat transfer of a viscoelastic fluid in an axisymmetric channel with a porous wall.

In this article, an approximate analytical solution of flow and heat transfer for a viscoelastic fluid in an axisymmetric channel with porous wall is presented. The solution is obtained through the use of a powerful method known as Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method (OHAM). We obtained the approximate analytical solution for dimensionless velocity and temperature for various parameters. The influence and effect of different parameters on dimensionless velocity, temperature, friction factor, and rate of heat transfer are presented graphically. We also compared our solution with those obtained by other methods and it is found that OHAM solution is better than the other methods considered. This shows that OHAM is reliable for use to solve strongly nonlinear problems in heat transfer phenomena.

Hydrodynamic and thermal slip effect on double-diffusive free convective boundary layer flow of a nanofluid past a flat vertical plate in the moving free stream.

The effects of hydrodynamic and thermal slip boundary conditions on the double-diffusive free convective flow of a nanofluid along a semi-infinite flat solid vertical plate are investigated numerically. It is assumed that free stream is moving. The governing boundary layer equations are non-dimensionalized and transformed into a system of nonlinear, coupled similarity equations. The effects of the controlling parameters on the dimensionless velocity, temperature, solute and nanofluid concentration as well as on the reduced Nusselt number, reduced Sherwood number and the reduced nanoparticle Sherwood number are investigated and presented graphically. To the best of our knowledge, the effects of hydrodynamic and thermal slip boundary conditions have not been investigated yet. It is found that the reduced local Nusselt, local solute and the local nanofluid Sherwood numbers increase with hydrodynamic slip and decrease with thermal slip parameters.