The granulocytic “shift to left” reflects marrow response to bacterial infection, and this may be quantified as band count or immature granulocyte count (IGC). The former value, used widely in neonatal sepsis, has been notoriously difficult to measure accurately and precisely. A reproducible, precise, and accurate counting of immature granulocyte counts may be possible with automation. This study of 200 febrile patients aimed at analysing the performance characteristics of automated immature granulocytes (AIGs) in predicting blood culture and their clinical utility. The absolute (IGC) and relative IG count (IG%) had area under curve (AUC) of 0.69 and 0.66. Moreover, the means of IGC and IG% between culture positive and negative groups were statistically significant suggesting that they are potential markers for bacteremia. IGC of 0.03 × 103 cu·mm and IG% of 0.5% offered sensitivity of 86.3% and 92.2%, respectively, and may be used for screening for bacteremia. Higher values, IGC > 0.3, and IG% > 3 had specificity greater than 90%, although the values were infrequent. It may not be long before that these automated hemograms are put into regular diagnostic use.

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Pelletizing of Indian chromite ores is more challenging due to their high refractory nature. High Cr/Fe ratio and high MgO content in these ores demand high firing temperatures and longer firing cycles but often result in low strength fired pellets. Aim of this study was to develop cold bonded chromite pellets for smelting in submerged arc furnace (SAF) from chromite fines using suitable binder that induce less gangue into the pellets but cures quickly. Different binders were studied through laboratory pelletizing experiments for their suitability for cold bonding the pellets. As result, a composite binder comprising dextrin and bentonite, was found to be suitable and pellets made from the same were tested for their low and high temperature behavior. Electron and optical micro structural studies with image analysis were carried out to find out the type and amount of phases formed in the chromite pellets during high temperature reduction. High temperature reduction studies revealed that pellets were resistant to disintegration up to 1 200°C. Pilot scale arc furnace trials were also carried out to compare the performance of cold bonded pellets (CBPs) with sintered chromite pellets and found that for a constant power input, smelting rate was faster for CBPs than sintered pellets. Loss of Cr to slag was reduced in case of cold bonded pellets usage.

During induration of magnetite pellets, oxidation of magnetite followed by sintering of the oxidized magnetite (hematite) is desirable. Sintering of magnetite which hampers the oxidation of magnetite is aimed to be kept as low as possible. In succession to our earlier study on sintering behavior of oxidized magnetite (hematite), this paper focusses on the sintering behavior of magnetite phase in isolation with an objective to estimate their kinetic parameters. The pellets prepared from the concentrate of LKAB's mine, which majorly contains (>95 pct) magnetite, are used for the sintering studies. Optical Dilatometer is used to capture the sintering behavior of the magnetite pellet and determine their isothermal kinetics by deducing the three parameters, namely-activation energy (Q), pre-exponential factor (K¢), and time exponent (n) with the help of power law and Arrhenius equation. It is interesting to find that the time exponent (n) is decreasing with the increase in sintering temperature. It is also interesting to note that the activation energy for sintering of magnetite pellet shows no single value. From the present investigation, two activation energies-477 kJ/mole [1173 K to 1373 K (900°C to 1100°C)] and 148 kJ/mole [1373 K to 1623 K (1100°C to 1350°C)]-were deduced for sintering of magnetite, suggesting two different mechanisms operating at lower and other at higher temperatures. The estimated kinetic parameters were used to predict the non-isothermal sintering behavior of magnetite using the sintering kinetic model. Predicted results were validated using experimental data.