A Review on Cloud Computing Model

n recent year cloud computing has been an emerging computing model in the IT industry such as google, Amason, Microsoft. Cloud computing is emerging as a model of "everthing as a service" (XaaS). This paper present a study on service model and deployment model of cloud computing. The paper also attempts to layout the prons and cons of cloud computin

Mutations in the mitochondrial DNA D-loop region are frequent in cervical cancer

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is known for high mutation rates caused by lack of protective histones, inefficient DNA repair systems, and continuous exposure to mutagenic effects of oxygen radicals. Alterations in the non-coding displacement (D) loop of mitochondrial DNA are present in many cancers. It has been suggested that the extent of mitochondrial DNA mutations might be useful in the prognosis of cancer outcome and/or the response to certain therapies. In order to investigate whether a high incidence of mutations exist in mitochondrial DNA of cervical cancer patients, we examined the frequency of mutations in the D-loop region in 19 patients of cervical cancer. RESULTS: Mutations, often multiple, were detected in 18 of 19 (95%) patients. The presence of mutations correlated with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection in these patients. Mutations were also detected in normal samples and lymphocytes obtained from cervical cancer patients, but their frequency of occurrence was much lower as compared to the cervical cancer tissues. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that D-loop alterations are frequent in cervical cancers and are possibly caused by HPV infection. There was no association of mtDNA D-loop mutations with the histopathological grade and tumor staging

Factors affecting people’s participation in joint forest management programmes in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, India

The present investigation examined the various factors affecting people's participation in the planning, implementation and maintenance of JFM programmes in the tribal distrct (Kinnaur) of Himachal Pradesh. In total, 10 factors were identified that influence people’s participation in Joint Forest Management (JFM) activities in the study area, which were independently affecting in all of three development blocks. District as a whole factors affecting in decreasing order were Lack of awareness about participatory forest management (66%), lack of co-ordination with forestry officials (64%), non availability of routine funds (56%), lack of training and visit programme (56%), clash between agriculture and JFM activities (54%), lack of emphasis on quick economic activities (49%), improper usufruct sharing (43%) etc. were some of major factors that influenced people’s participation. Policy and development emphasis on these factors, particularly taking into consideration the geography and need based activity in the various development blocks will increase the people’s participation in similar kind of projects

RNA interference: A novel tool for plant disease management

Plant diseases pose a huge threat to crop production globally. Variations in their genomes cause selection to favor those who can survive pesticides and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops. Though plant breeding has been the classical means of manipulating the plant genome to develop resistant cultivar for controlling plant diseases, the advent of genetic engineering provides an entirely new approach being pursued to render plants resistant to fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes. RNA interference (RNAi) technology has emerged to be a promising therapeutic weapon to mitigate the inherent risks such as the use of a specific transgene, marker gene, or gene control sequences associated with development of traditional transgenics. Silencing specific genes by RNAi is a desirable natural solution to this problem as disease resistant transgenic plants can be produced within a regulatory framework. Recent studies have been successful in producing potent silencing effects by using target doublestranded RNAs through an effective vector system. Transgenic plants expressing RNAi vectors, as well as, dsRNA containing crop sprays have been successful for efficient control of plant pathogens affecting economically important crop species. The present paper discusses strategies and applications of this novel technology in plant disease management for sustainable agriculture production.Keywords: Plant disease, RNA interference, transgene, managementAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(18), pp. 2303-231

Inhibition of preS1-hepatocyte interaction by an array of recombinant human antibodies from naturally recovered individuals

Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies are being found to be increasingly useful in viral infections. In hepatitis B infection, antibodies are proven to be useful for passive prophylaxis. The preS1 region (21–47a.a.) of HBV contains the viral hepatocyte-binding domain crucial for its attachment and infection of hepatocytes. Antibodies against this region are neutralizing and are best suited for immune-based neutralization of HBV, especially in view of their not recognizing decoy particles. Anti-preS1 (21–47a.a.) antibodies are present in serum of spontaneously recovered individuals. We generated a phage-displayed scFv library using circulating lymphocytes from these individuals and selected four preS1-peptide specific scFvs with markedly distinct sequences from this library. All the antibodies recognized the blood-derived and recombinant preS1 containing antigens. Each scFv showed a discrete binding signature, interacting with different amino acids within the preS1-peptide region. Ability to prevent binding of the preS1 protein (N-terminus 60a.a.) to HepG2 cells stably expressing hNTCP (HepG2-hNTCP-C4 cells), the HBV receptor on human hepatocytes was taken as a surrogate marker for neutralizing capacity. These antibodies inhibited preS1-hepatocyte interaction individually and even better in combination. Such a combination of potentially neutralizing recombinant antibodies with defined specificities could be used for preventing/managing HBV infections, including those by possible escape mutants

A comparative study of efficacy of micro-needling alone versus micro-needling with autologous platelet rich plasma in facial atrophic acne scars

Abstract— Post acne scarring is a consequence of abnormal resolution or wound healing following the damage that occurs in the sebaceous follicle during acne inflammation. The present study was undertaken to compare the improvement in facial atrophic acne scars by micro-needling alone and combination of micro-needling with autologous platelet rich plasma (PRP). A prospective, observer blinded, comparative interventional study was conducted on 50 patients of facial atrophic acne scars fulfilling inclusion criteria. They were randomly divided into two group of 25 each i.e. group 'A' (micro-needling alone) and group 'B' (micro-needling with PRP). Three sessions on monthly interval were conducted and Final follow up was done at 4th month. They were evaluated by Goodman and Baron’s quantitative and qualitative grading scale, for clinical improvement and for patient's satisfaction. Although qualitative and quantitative improvement was observed in both the groups but the improvement in group 'B' was more than 'A' on Goodman and Baron’s quantitative and qualitative grading scale, however it was not statistically significant. On clinical improvement and on patient satisfaction, group 'B' had better results than group 'A' which was statistically significant (p<0.05). It was concluded that Micro-needling with autologous PRP is simple, safe and cost-effective procedure for facial atrophic acne scars. Micro-needling when combined with autologous PRP provides better overall clinical improvement. It is suggested that PRP should be considered as an adjuvant therapeutic option along with micro-needling in the management of atrophic acne scars

Behavioral analysis of control room operator during plant operation using display interaction and eye gaze information for effective plant monitoring

Safety in process plants is at top in list of issues that are yet to be resolved fully. Recent accidents and their impact on economy,environment and human lives have raised this issue once again. There are many causes for such accidents and many reports have been published to explain why such accidents had happened. All of these have a common point of view which is related to control room. Human operator is at the heart of control room as operator is responsible for proper monitoring and controlling of plant by observing information from resources present inside control room. A lot of information, sudden bombardment with lot of alarms under abnormal situations makes operator paralyzed. A variety of methods are available in literature such as root cause analysis, removal of alarm chattering etc. to help operator and make control room much more friendly to operator. But their implementation and usefulness in process plant is yet to see a significant level of success. Usefulness of these methods depends on the extent in which these methods can help operators. In this study an attempt has been made towards understanding behavior of control room operators. A Graphical Display Unit(GUI) is designed based on display panel’s outlook in Distributed Control System(DCS) room.Participants are asked to perform duty of operators where they are exposed to abnormal situations and asked to control plant through suitable actions. This is for the first time eye tracker has been used for this kind of study. A variety of man machine interface data has been gathered. Results related to effect of training, effect of more exposure to GUI etc. have been observed. Moreover a metric for operator’s performance based on GUI interaction data has also been formulated. Eye gaze data has been used for identifying key factors for effective controlling have been identified at preliminary level.by Chandresh SharmaM.Tech

An approach to identify the cognitive load on the operator using pupillometry information

by C.Sharma, Babji Srinivasan and Rajagopalan Srinivasa

Performance Evaluation Criterion at Equal Pumping Power for Enhanced Performance Heat Transfer Surfaces

The existing equations for the thermal performance evaluation, at equal pumping power for the artificially roughened and smooth surfaced multitube and rectangular duct heat exchangers, have been critically reviewed because the literature survey indicates that a large number of researchers have not interpreted these equations correctly. Three of the most widely used equations have been restated with clearly defined constraints and conditions for their application. Two new equations have been developed for the design constraints not covered earlier

Eye gaze movement studies of control room operators: a novel approach to improve process safety

Process industries continue to suffer from accidents despite significant regulatory intervention since the mid-1980s. Human error is widely considered to be the major cause for most accidents today. Detailed analysis of various incidents indicates that reduced staffing levels in control rooms and inadequate operator training with complex automation strategies as common reasons for human errors. Therefore, there is a need to develop deeper understanding of human errors as well as strategies to prevent them. However, similar to hardware failures, traditionally human error has been quantified using likelihood approaches; this viewpoint abnegates the role of the cognitive abilities of the operators. Recent studies in other safety critical domains (aviation, health-care) show that operator's level of situation awareness as inferred by eye tracking is a good online indicator of human error. In this work, a novel attempt is made to understand the behavior of the operator in a typical chemical plant control room using the information obtained from eye tracker. Experimental studies conducted on 72 participants reveal that fixation patterns contain signatures about the operators learning and awareness at various situations. Implications of these findings on human error in process plant operations them are discussed.by Chandresh Sharmaa, Punit kumar Bhavsar, Babji Srinivasan and Rajagopalan Srinivasa