Near-surface Characterization Using P- and S-wave Tomography

Near-surface seismic application, and those that mainly investigate the first 5 m of the subsurface, have to rely on analysis of transmission coda because reflections are typically lacking. Currently, full-waveform inversion, a method of iteratively refining an initial guesses of the subsurface (the starting model) so that the field data can be replicated wiggle-by-wiggle, is considered state-of-the-art in seismic modeling. However, waveform result with acoustic (or even elastic) approximation can be highly biased in the near-surface because the transmission wavefield is distorted by high porosity and patchy fluid saturation, factors that are difficult to incorporate in the forward modeling code. A less advanced method, which only attempts to replicate the first-arrival times, known as traveltime inversion, is available but not often used as a terminal analysis methods. Traveltime inversion is less susceptible to biases from porosity and saturations but has lower resolution than full-waveform methods. This research shows that if, in addition to the typical vertical component data, tangential component data are also acquired, the first arrival times from both components together have comparable resolution to the single-component full-waveforms. This idea is demonstrated here using a 23m long profile across two well-documented utility pipes and a poorly documented backfilled void. Tangential data are acquired with horizontal phones oriented perpendicular to the profile to capture the SH propagation mode. Compressional and shear wave velocity models (VP and VS respectively) from both inversion techniques is developed. The traveltime inversion refines a simplistic 1D starting model and the full-waveform inversion refines the traveltime solution. As expected, individual traveltime images from either component are incapable of resolving the targets, but the full-waveform images are. However, when VP and VS traveltime images are combined as a Poisson�s Ratio image, targets resolution is comparable to the full-waveform inversion results. Results for this thesis allow a practitioner to optimize resources for near-surface seismic survey. Multi-component acquisition is more difficult and expensive than a single-component survey; but multi-component traveltime processing is easier to implement than the single-component full-waveform inversion. The results may appear to question the utility of full-waveform in near surface characterization, however, full-waveforms also yield the attenuation solution, which cannot be obtained from the arrival times and is very helpful in near-surface characterization. Although the results are presented using an ultra-shallow example, they are applicable to a wider range of settings such as shear and rupture zones or even in medical imaging where all physical factors that distort waveforms cannot be incorporated in modeling.Geolog

Effect of Gamma Radiation on the Titrable Acidity and Vitamin C Content of Citrus Fruits

The study was carried out to assess effect of gamma radiation on the acidity and vitamin C content of the Citrus macroptera (Satkora) and Citrus assamensis (Ginger lime). Irradiation with doses 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 kGy were applied to assess the effect on the titrable acidity and vitamin C contents every one week interval for total five weeks. Both titrable acidity and vitamin C content of C. macroptera, and C. assamensis are sensitive to both gamma radiation and storage time; have decreased with increase of radiation does as well as storage time and this changes of vitamin C and titrable acidity content with gamma radiation and increasing storage period have found statistically significant.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v2i1.13986 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 2 (1): 1-6, June, 201

Determination of Apposite Plant Regeneration Protocol for Several Cucurbits through Direct and Indirect Organogenesis

A competent and reproducible practice for the invitro shoot regeneration of Cucurbita maxima,C.pepo and Cucumissativus was developed from various explants through direct and indirect organogenesis.InC. maxima, between cotyledon and leaf segment, cotyledon was found to be most responsive for callus induction in MS medium augmented with 0.5 mg·L-1 2,4 dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) plus 100 mg·L-1 casein hydrolysate and 0.5 mg·L-1 2,4-D plus 15% coconut water and for leaf segment it was on MS medium containing 2.5 mg·L-1 2,4-D. Comparing the 2 explants it was found that leaf segment was most suitable for callus induction in C. maxima. For massive multiplication of C. pepomericlones shoot tip and nodal cutting were used. MS medium containing 3.0 mg·L-1 6-benzyl aminopurine plus 0.5 mg·L-1gibberellic acid (GA3) was found most effective for shoot regeneration and 1.0 mg·L-1 IBA was found most effective for rooting. In this trait cv. Bulum was more responsive than cv. Rumbo. On the other hand, to generate virus free plantlets of C. sativus, different concentrations of kinetin were used, and 1.5 mg·L-1 KIN shown the best performance for primary culture establishment. For shoot multiplication, 1.0 mg·L-1 BAP and 2.0 mg·L-1 BAP plus 0.5 mg·L-1 KIN containing medium shown best result. Subsequently, 2.0 mg·L-1 BAP plus 0.5 mg·L-1 KIN was best composition for root induction. Our report demonstrated comprehensive protocols and variability in explants, growth regulator response in shoot regeneration potential of in different cucurbit plants

In vitro regeneration of two high-yielding eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) varieties of Bangladesh

An in vitro regeneration protocol was developed for two high-yielding eggplant varieties (Solanum melongena L.) namely BARI begun-4 and BARI begun-6. Multiple shoots were regenerated from cotyledonary explants through organogenesis with growth regulators of different combinations and concentrations.  The best response towards multiple shoot regeneration was achieved from cotyledon explants on MS media complemented with 1 mg/l BAP + 0.2 mg/l IAA in both the two varieties of eggplant. Elongation of shoots was achieved on hormone free MS medium. Regenerated shoots of both the varieties produced   active in vitro root system on half strength of MS medium supplemented with 0.2 mg/l IBA.  The in vitro grown plantlets were acclimatized in soil, grew up to maturity, flowered, fruited and produced seeds as normal healthy plant like the control

Health Problems and Health Care Seeking Behaviour of Rohingya Refugees

Background: Rohingya refugees are one of the most vulnerable group due to lack of health care system, personal hygiene, shelter, sanitation and violence. Aim: The present study aims to find out the health problems and health care seeking behavior of rohingya refugees, to identify the socio-demographic information for such exposure group in relation to age, sex, occupation, living areas, to explore the patient’s physical, emotional, perceptions, attitudes and environmental health problems and to bring out health care seeking behavior of refugees. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 149 samples were selected conveniently for this study from the refugee camps. Data was collected by using mixed type of questionnaire. Descriptive statistic was used for data analysis which has depicted through tables, pie chart and bar chart. Results: The finding of the study showed that 45.6% participants had multiple problems, followed by 16.8% participants who had other specific problems like musculoskeletal pain, visual problems and peptic ulcer. Urinary tract infection was the leading individual health problem with 11.4% of the sample group having it. 10.7% participants had hypertension, 6% had respiratory tract infection, 3.4% had nutrition deficiency, 4.75% had diabetes mellitus and 1.3% had sanitation & hygiene problems. Among the participants, 68.4% age ranged between 15-59 years. The study showed that, only 16.1% participants were satisfied with the quality of service they received while 37.6% participants said that they needed better services such as more laboratory test, radiological imaging, more medicine and more doctors. Conclusion: It is clear that refugees suffered from a variety of health problems, because their living condition and environmental situation were not similar like an independent nation. Further, basic amenities like medicines and other services were not available

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Chromosome 10q24.32 Variants Associated with Arsenic Metabolism and Toxicity Phenotypes in Bangladesh

Arsenic contamination of drinking water is a major public health issue in many countries, increasing risk for a wide array of diseases, including cancer. There is inter-individual variation in arsenic metabolism efficiency and susceptibility to arsenic toxicity; however, the basis of this variation is not well understood. Here, we have performed the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of arsenic-related metabolism and toxicity phenotypes to improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which arsenic affects health. Using data on urinary arsenic metabolite concentrations and approximately 300,000 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for 1,313 arsenic-exposed Bangladeshi individuals, we identified genome-wide significant association signals (P<5×10−8) for percentages of both monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) near the AS3MT gene (arsenite methyltransferase; 10q24.32), with five genetic variants showing independent associations. In a follow-up analysis of 1,085 individuals with arsenic-induced premalignant skin lesions (the classical sign of arsenic toxicity) and 1,794 controls, we show that one of these five variants (rs9527) is also associated with skin lesion risk (P = 0.0005). Using a subset of individuals with prospectively measured arsenic (n = 769), we show that rs9527 interacts with arsenic to influence incident skin lesion risk (P = 0.01). Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analyses of genome-wide expression data from 950 individual's lymphocyte RNA suggest that several of our lead SNPs represent cis-eQTLs for AS3MT (P = 10−12) and neighboring gene C10orf32 (P = 10−44), which are involved in C10orf32-AS3MT read-through transcription. This is the largest and most comprehensive genomic investigation of arsenic metabolism and toxicity to date, the only GWAS of any arsenic-related trait, and the first study to implicate 10q24.32 variants in both arsenic metabolism and arsenical skin lesion risk. The observed patterns of associations suggest that MMA% and DMA% have distinct genetic determinants and support the hypothesis that DMA is the less toxic of these two methylated arsenic species. These results have potential translational implications for the prevention and treatment of arsenic-associated toxicities worldwide

In vitro inhibition of biofilm and virulence factor production in azole-resistant strains of Candida albicans isolated from diabetic foot by Artemisia vulgaris stabilized tin (IV) oxide nanoparticles

The advent of nanotechnology has been instrumental in the development of new drugs with novel targets. Recently, metallic nanoparticles have emerged as potential candidates to combat the threat of drug-resistant infections. Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are one of the dreadful complications of diabetes mellitus due to the colonization of numerous drug-resistant pathogenic microbes leading to biofilm formation. Biofilms are difficult to treat due to limited penetration and non-specificity of drugs. Therefore, in the current investigation, SnO2 nanoparticles were biosynthesized using Artemisia vulgaris (AvTO-NPs) as a stabilizing agent and were characterized using ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Furthermore, the efficacy of AvTO-NPs against biofilms and virulence factors of drug-resistant Candida albicans strains isolated from DFUs was assessed. AvTO-NPs displayed minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 1 mg/mL to 2 mg/mL against four strains of C. albicans. AvTO-NPs significantly inhibited biofilm formation by 54.8%–87%, germ tube formation by 72%–90%, cell surface hydrophobicity by 68.2%–82.8%, and exopolysaccharide (EPS) production by 69%–86.3% in the test strains at respective 1/2xMIC. Biosynthesized NPs were effective in disrupting established mature biofilms of test strains significantly. Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the AvTO-NPs-treated C. albicans could be the possible cause of cell death leading to biofilm inhibition. The useful insights of the present study could be exploited in the current line of treatment to mitigate the threat of biofilm-related persistent DFUs and expedite wound healing

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Chromosome 10q24.32 Variants Associated with Arsenic Metabolism and Toxicity Phenotypes in Bangladesh

Arsenic contamination of drinking water is a major public health issue in many countries, increasing risk for a wide array of diseases, including cancer. There is inter-individual variation in arsenic metabolism efficiency and susceptibility to arsenic toxicity; however, the basis of this variation is not well understood. Here, we have performed the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of arsenic-related metabolism and toxicity phenotypes to improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which arsenic affects health. Using data on urinary arsenic metabolite concentrations and approximately 300,000 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for 1,313 arsenic-exposed Bangladeshi individuals, we identified genome-wide significant association signals (P<5×10−8) for percentages of both monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) near the AS3MT gene (arsenite methyltransferase; 10q24.32), with five genetic variants showing independent associations. In a follow-up analysis of 1,085 individuals with arsenic-induced premalignant skin lesions (the classical sign of arsenic toxicity) and 1,794 controls, we show that one of these five variants (rs9527) is also associated with skin lesion risk (P = 0.0005). Using a subset of individuals with prospectively measured arsenic (n = 769), we show that rs9527 interacts with arsenic to influence incident skin lesion risk (P = 0.01). Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analyses of genome-wide expression data from 950 individual's lymphocyte RNA suggest that several of our lead SNPs represent cis-eQTLs for AS3MT (P = 10−12) and neighboring gene C10orf32 (P = 10−44), which are involved in C10orf32-AS3MT read-through transcription. This is the largest and most comprehensive genomic investigation of arsenic metabolism and toxicity to date, the only GWAS of any arsenic-related trait, and the first study to implicate 10q24.32 variants in both arsenic metabolism and arsenical skin lesion risk. The observed patterns of associations suggest that MMA% and DMA% have distinct genetic determinants and support the hypothesis that DMA is the less toxic of these two methylated arsenic species. These results have potential translational implications for the prevention and treatment of arsenic-associated toxicities worldwide