Introduction Diabetic patients have a higher tendency of developing all infections, especially infections of the genitourinary tract. In most cases, urinary tract infections (UTI) in diabetic patients are asymptomatic. The aim of this study to was to compare the incidence and clinical and microbiological features of UTI between diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Methods In this prospective, comparative study, the incidence and clinical and microbiological features of UTI were compared between diabetic and non-diabetic patients via consecutive nonprobability sampling technique. For every diabetic patient, one non-diabetic control was included. All patients were screened for UTI through a midstream urinary sample. Their demographic characteristics, clinical profile, and urinary microscopy were compared. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. Results In the diabetes group, 35/256 (13.67%) patients had culture-positive UTI as compared to 18/250 (7.2%) in the non-diabetic group. Diabetic group had twice the risk of UTI (p = 0.01; odds ratio [OR]: 2.04; confidence interval [CI]: 1.12, 3.71) and female gender in the diabetic group had a risk of almost five times (p = 0.01; OR: 4.93; CI: 1.12, 20.16) that of the non-diabetic group. In the diabetic group, 31.4% patients were asymptomatic as compared to 5.6% in the non-diabetic group (p = 0.03; OR: 7.79; CI: 0.92, 66.18). E. coli was the most commonly identified microorganism in both groups. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was identified in 14% of diabetic cases and none in the non-diabetic. Conclusions UTIs are more frequent among diabetics. Asymptomatic bacteriuria is a more common entity in diabetic patients and does not require any treatment.

Pacejka's Magic Formula Tyre Model is widely used to represent force and moment characteristics in vehicle simulation studies meant to improve handling behaviour during steady-state cornering. The experimental technique required to determine this tyre model parameters is fairly involved and highly sophisticated. Also, total test facilities are not available in most countries. As force and moment characteristics are affected by tyre design attributes and tread patterns, manufacturing of separate tyres for each design alternative affects tyre development cycle time and economics significantly. The objective of this work is to identify the interactions among various tyre design attributes-cumoperating conditions and the Magic Formula coefficients. This objective is achieved by eliminating actual prototyping of tyres for various design alternatives as well as total experimentation on each tyre through simulation using finite element analysis. Mixed Lagrangian-Eulerian finite element technique, a specialized technique in ABAQUS, is used to simulate the steady-state cornering behaviour; it is also efficient and cost-effective. Predicted force and moment characteristics are represented as Magic Formula Tyre Model parameters through non-linear least-squares fit using MATLAB. Issues involved in the Magic Formula Tyre Model representation are also discussed. A detailed analysis is made to understand the influence of various design attributes and operating conditions on the Magic Formula parameters. Tread pattern, tread material properties, belt angle, inflation pressure, frictional behaviour at the tyre-road contact interface and their interactions are found to significantly influence vehicle-handling characteristics.

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In this paper, an attempt has been made to simulate the steady-state operation of a jet pipe electrohydraulic servo valve using the finite element (FE) method. The jet pipe electrohydraulic servo valve is a mechatronic component, used for precise flow control applications in gas turbine engines. It has two assemblies: a first-stage torque motor assembly and a second-stage valve assembly. Between the first and the second stage, there is a mechanical feedback spring assembly to stabilize the valve operation. Each assembly has various delicate and precise components interacting with fluid flows. In the present paper, the structural components were modelled with general-purpose finite elements, e.g. shell, beam, and solid elements, while the fluid cavities were modelled with special-purpose hydrostatic fluid elements. The fluid flows from one fluid cavity to another fluid cavity were modelled with fluid links. The simulation was carried out in a commercially available FE code, ABAQUS, interfaced with user subroutines to form a closed-loop system. The FE simulation clearly showed the dynamics of the jet pipe and spool displacement in achieving the equilibrium position when the applied torque and restoring torques balance, known as steady state. The pressure and flow variations during torque balance are presented. The effect of the feedback loop from the second-stage spool movement to the first-stage jet pipe is seen in the FE results obtained. The theoretical aspects of pressure recovery and flow modelling are presented and used in FE simulation.