Entropy Based Biological Sequence Study

SARS-CoV-2 virus strains are taken into consideration for the analysis of digitized sequences of information by means of the notions of entropy. The occurrence of a particular pattern in the corona viral sequence is paid a special attention. The incidence of genetic word is represented in a density means. The incidence frequency of the q-gram genetic word is determined with the help of finite impulse response (FIR) filter along the sequence. It is in turn, used for the determination of the probability distribution of the genetic word incidence as the input for the calculation of entropy in the sequence. The sequence entropy is further used for principal component analysis (PCA) to determine the similarity/dissimilarity between the viral sequences. We have considered seven human corona virus sequences. Entropy based similarity study for SARS-CoV-2 strains is presented in this work

A new cold agglutinin from Achatina fulica snails

An electrophoretically homogeneous agglutinin was purified from the albumin gland of Achatina fulica snails using asialofetunin-Sepharose 4B as an affinity column. The agglutinin was found to be temperature sensitive; it agglutinated rabbit and human umbilical cord erythrocytes only at low temperature. It was found to be specific for methyl-β-D-galactoside, and the best inhibitor was N-acetyllactosamine

Autonomated Inspection Policy for Smart Factory—An Improved Approach

The proposed model focuses on an imperfect production process (IPP) in which, during long-term production, the system may change to an “out-of-control” state from an “in-control” state and produce some imperfect products because of a long production run length. Brand image and industry reputation are affected by product defectiveness. To increase the profit of any industry and improve reputation and brand image, inspection of the production system is required. However, this inspection is subjected to human error, which negatively affects the assessment of production systems. Herein, an error-free inspection is performed with the help of an autonomation policy, in which each product is inspected via a machine instead of a human, facilitating an error-free inspection and converting the production system to a smart production system. Moreover, in reality, product demand cannot always be constant. Therefore, in this model, a selling-price-dependent demand is considered along with a variable production rate to enhance model applicability. Moreover, total system profit is optimized and optimal values for production run time, inspection scheduling, selling price, buffer inventory, and production rate are determined. Finally, for model validation, some numerical examples along with special cases are provided. The concavity of the optimal function is also proven through graphical illustration. The sensitivity of the key parameters of the presented model is explored and the significance is explained

A Smart Production Process for the Optimum Energy Consumption with Maintenance Policy under a Supply Chain Management

In the current socio-economic situation, smart products are essential for daily life. Energy is a very much related matter to smart products. To buy a smart product, people mostly care about that smart product’s energy consumption and the price. There is always a tug-of-war between the price of the product and the energy consumption of that product. An energy-efficient smart production system is described in this study where the production is variable, and in the out-of-control state, it produces defective products. For prevention of the out-of-control state, preventive maintenance and restoration are used within the smart production system. The rework policy helps to profit from the defective products, and the warranty policy helps to motivate the users. This model applies an improved strategy to the production process and develops a new product that needs to be marketed. Finally, this model plays a vital role in creating smart products with moderate energy consumption at a minimal cost. The mathematical model is a non-linear profit maximization problem that is solved both analytically and numerically. The classical optimization technique founds optimum solutions. Different numerical examples and sensitivity analysis with graphs are used to validate the mathematical model

Barge impact study on primary producers

Impact of barge movement on phytopankto

Impact assessment of barge trafficking on phytoplankton abundance and Chl a concentration, in River Ganga, India.

Impact of barge movement on phytoplankton abundance and biomass was assessed in the lower stretch of river Ganga, popularly known as Bhagirathi-Hooghly river, during April 2016 to March, 2017. Based on the magnitude of tide, intensity of shipping and boating activities, the stretch from Baranagar to Lalbag (278 km), located at latitude (22°38'33.41"N to 24°10'59.75"N) and longitude (88°21'21.29"E to 88°16'5.65"E) was divided into three zones viz. zone-I (Baranagar to Barrackpore), zone II (Triveni to Balagarh) and zone III (Nabadweep to Lalbag). Water samples were collected randomly from six stations covering 22 barge movements at their passage at three different time intervals viz., 30 minutes before 'barge movement', during 'barge movement' and 30 minutes after 'barge movement'. Analysis revealed the presence of 52 phytoplankton taxa belonged to 5 phylum during the study period. The abundance of phytoplankton was highest in zone-I followed by zone III and the zone II. A 44% decrease (1,997 ±1,510 ul-1) in phytoplankton abundance was observed during 'barge movement' with respect to normal condition (3,513 ± 2,239 ul-1) which could be due to propeller turbulence in the passage. Cell damage study revealed 21% damage in phytoplankton cell structure in 'during barge' followed by 'after barge' (10%) condition compared to natural state (6%). Study revealed that phytoplankton biomass (Chlorophyll a) was influenced by 'barge movement' in the sampling stretches and the impact was assessed by one way ANOVA. The effect was found significant at Barrackpore (p <0.01), Triveni (p <0.01), Balagarh (p <0.01) and Lalbag (p <0.01) where as it was insignificant at Baranagar and Nabadweep, which may be due to continuous and existing boat trafficking at Baranagar and Nabadweep. Two way ANOVA computed using 'barge movement' and sampling stations showed significant (p<0.01) effect on magnitude of Chl a concentrations in the sampling locations. Thus, the 'barge movement' influenced phytoplankton abundance and biomass, it had a detrimental effect on phytoplankton cell architecture also. The data set of this work serves as foundation information to understand the ecological implications augmented barge induced environmental disturbances in waterways. This is the first such study which depicts the impact of 'barge movement' on aquatic food chain linkages in Bhagirathi- Hooghly river

Micro-magnetic resonance imaging (micro-MRI) study on the sepsis effected eyeball of zebrafish

We have studied the normal and sepsis effected zebrafish eyeball with micro-magnetic resonance imaging (micro-MRI). T2 weighted image was studied and pixel-wise T2 maps were co registered among the normal and sepsis effected eye. From the micro-image the sepsis effect in the eye has been demonstrated. The pixel-wise brightness distribution is not so scattered in the normal eyeball image, whereas it is very scattered in case of sepsis affected eyeball image. Also the T2 mapping on the eye has given valuable information that would be a potential tool for the study of diseased organ in the micro level. From T2 mapping, it has shown that the T2 in normal eyeball have low values in comparison to the sepsis affected eyeball

Corporate Responsibility in India: Academic Perspectives on the Companies Act 2013

Developing prosperous and inclusive societies requires a reformulation of the business-society nexus toward sustainability. This means that all economically motivated behaviors of firms also need to consider their social and environmental impact, and all social and environmental policies their impact on the business sector and the economy. With the Companies Act 2013, the Indian government adopted a legislative approach to reconfigure the business-society nexus. Mandating what has been considered discretionary elicited an extensive academic debate. To study this India-specific political corporate social responsibility (CSR), we employ Content Configuration Analysis on 70 local and international English-language book chapters, research articles, reports, reviews, and expert commentaries published between 2013 and 2019 to develop a typology of the advantages and disadvantages associated with the Companies Act 2013. Among a large number of positions for and against the Act, we find that arguments extolling its advantages concurrently appear as disadvantages in other texts. This paradox is indicative of the diffculties of satisfying stakeholder expectations, as well as the complexities corporate responsibility programs face in India. Nonetheless, CSR as a policy tool allows the Indian government to instrumentalize the growing success of the business sector to address local and national needs and expectations. By systematizing the opportunities and challenges associated with the Companies Act 2013, we show how, similar to China, context and culture influence India's socioeconomic development trajectory beyond the conventional market economy canon. Our analyses reveal how advantages and disadvantages are frequently connected to multiple stakeholders, including the government, business, and society. We conclude by highlighting the contribution this study makes to the field of political CSR