Density Weighted Connectivity of Grass Pixels in Image Frames for Biomass Estimation

Accurate estimation of the biomass of roadside grasses plays a significant role in applications such as fire-prone region identification. Current solutions heavily depend on field surveys, remote sensing measurements and image processing using reference markers, which often demand big investments of time, effort and cost. This paper proposes Density Weighted Connectivity of Grass Pixels (DWCGP) to automatically estimate grass biomass from roadside image data. The DWCGP calculates the length of continuously connected grass pixels along a vertical orientation in each image column, and then weights the length by the grass density in a surrounding region of the column. Grass pixels are classified using feedforward artificial neural networks and the dominant texture orientation at every pixel is computed using multi-orientation Gabor wavelet filter vote. Evaluations on a field survey dataset show that the DWCGP reduces Root-Mean-Square Error from 5.84 to 5.52 by additionally considering grass density on top of grass height. The DWCGP shows robustness to non-vertical grass stems and to changes of both Gabor filter parameters and surrounding region widths. It also has performance close to human observation and higher than eight baseline approaches, as well as promising results for classifying low vs. high fire risk and identifying fire-prone road regions.Comment: 28 pages, accepted manuscript, Expert Systems with Application

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Characterization of One-dimensional Ceria Nanorod for Chromium Ion Removal from Wastewater

Remediation of wastewater contaminated with Cr(VI) species by ceria particles has received considerable attention in recent years. The main objectives of the present study were to investigate the adsorption of Cr(VI) species on the one-dimensional (1-D) ceria nanorod (CeNR). In where, CeNR has 20–40 nm in diameter and 200–300 nm in length, as confirmed through FE-SEM and TEM images. Higher surface area of CeNR is insisted to the remediation of Cr(VI)-contaminated wastewaters. This work exemplifies the utilization of XAS and BET to reveal the speciation of CeNR for further understands of the very complex adsorption process. It is also very clear that decontamination of Cr species in wastewater via the in-situ remediation with CeNR permeable reactive barriers would be environmentally attractive in the near future. Keywords: Cr(VI)-contaminant, One-dimensional Ceria, Wastewater treatment; XANES/EXAFS

Automated Hardware Logic Obfuscation Framework Using GPT

Obfuscation stands as a promising solution for safeguarding hardware intellectual property (IP) against a spectrum of threats including reverse engineering, IP piracy, and tampering. In this paper, we introduce Obfus-chat, a novel framework leveraging Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models to automate the obfuscation process. The proposed framework accepts hardware design netlists and key sizes as inputs, and autonomously generates obfuscated code tailored to enhance security. To evaluate the effectiveness of our approach, we employ the Trust-Hub Obfuscation Benchmark for comparative analysis. We employed SAT attacks to assess the security of the design, along with functional verification procedures to ensure that the obfuscated design remains consistent with the original. Our results demonstrate the efficacy and efficiency of the proposed framework in fortifying hardware IP against potential threats, thus providing a valuable contribution to the field of hardware security

Oral Health Behavior and Dental Caries status: A comparative study between rural and urban school-going children in Dhaka Division

Introduction: The importance of oral health in children is paramount. Proper techniques of brushing and the influence of fermentable carbohydrates in dental caries should be taught at the early childhood stage. Objective: To estimate the mean deft, DMFT, Oral health-related behavior, and practice among the selected rural and urban school-going children in Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out among 593 (152 rural and 441 urban children) school children using the purposive sampling technique. Data were collected from 3 urban schools and 1 rural school, using an interview-based structured questionnaire and oral examination. Consent was taken both from the college authority and participants before data collection. Descriptive analysis was performed. Results and Discussion: The study was carried out among 593 school children with an age range between below 5 years to above 15 years old. The majority of the students at urban schools brush their teeth twice daily while most rural school children brush their teeth once daily. Most of the students use toothbrushes and toothpaste as cleaning aids, however, the majority of them usually brush before meals. In addition, the majority of the students at rural and urban schools do not brush their teeth after taking sweet foods. Mean deft in deciduous teeth is high among rural school children (2.07) while mean DMFT in permanent teeth is high among urban schools. Conclusion: Organized and systemic community oral health promotion should be strengthened and a prevention-oriented oral health system is needed for promoting future oral self-care practices among school children

Adsorption of methylene blue on papaya bark fiber: Equilibrium, isotherm and kinetic perspectives

Rapid population growth and industrial expansion lead us to be habitat of a polluted planet. One of the major pollutants that badly affect the ecosystem being organic dyes released from various chemical industries where cleaner production concept is straightway adopted. Papaya (Carica papaya) bark fiber (PBF) is a natural product used for Methylene Blue (MB) dye removal as a cost–effective adsorbent from aqueous solution by batch method. Several parameters as the effect of pH, initial dye concentration, contact time, and adsorbent dosage were studied and optimized for maximum dye recovery. Reaction kinetics of the process and Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were investigated. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to confirm the surface properties of the PBF adsorbent. The maximum MB uptake capacity of PBF adsorbent was found to be 66.67 mg/g. Based on the results, the papaya bark fiber might be employed as a cost–effective bio–sorbent for the exclusion of dyestuffs from industrial effluent for cleaner production

Exploring the knowledge, awareness and practices of COVID-19 among dentists in Bangladesh: A Cross-sectional Investigation

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unpre-cedented strike on humanity around the world . The scenario in Bangladesh is getting worse day by day, and every aspect of the society is observing its impact. Health care professionals are at a greater risk of contracting the disease while caring for patients. Objective: The research objective is to explore knowledge, awareness, and practices of registered dentists regarding COVID-19 epidemiology and transmission during the rapid outbreak of this highly contagious virus in Bangladesh. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted among the dentists who were enrolled with their valid unique Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) registration number. A structured questionnaire was distributed among the dentists through different social media platforms. A total of 184 dentists participated in the survey between March and April 2020. Both descriptive analysis and multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: The dentists' mean age was 31.75 years, with a standard deviation of 6.5 years. About 29.3% of dentists completed their postgraduate qualification, and 76% of them were engaged in private practice at the time of data collection. Compared to the dentists with undergraduate education, the dentists with a postgraduate education are three times (OR=3.1, 95%CI 1.2-7.9 and over 5 times (OR=5.3, 95% CI: 1.2-23.3) more likely to have) better knowledge and practices toward COVID-19 respectively. Dentists aged 26-30 years are less likely to have good practices than the younger dentists (OR: .1; 95% CI: .01-.5). However, dentists with less than five years experience are 10.3 (1.6-68.9) times more likely to have good practices compared to the dentists with more experience. Conclusion: Majority of the dentists from Bangladesh have shown good knowledge, awareness, and practice regarding COVID-19. We recommend that the healthcare authorities, professional organizations, and hospitals coordinate, and conduct mandatory advanced infectious disease training for all the practicing dentists in the country