Eneterotoxigenic Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis Spores in U.S. retail Spices

Bacillus cereus is a ubiquitous organism and a potential foodborne pathogen that can cause two types of gastrointestinal diseases: emesis and diarrhea. The emetic syndrome is caused by a heat and acid stable peptide toxin that is pre-formed in food, while the diarrheal syndrome is associated to two 3-protein, heat labile enterotoxin complexes that are formed in the intestine after ingestion of the organism. There are many reports on the isolation and characterization of Bacillus cereus from various foods, however there are no studies on the levels, toxigenicity and physical characteristics of B. cereus isolated from U.S. retail spices. A huge part of spices sold in the U.S. are imported from developing nations. Developing nations lack hygienic practices during processing and packaging of spices, due to which there is a high chance of imported spices being contaminated with B. cereus. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis work was to characterize B. cereus spores from U.S. retail spices. Levels of aerobic spores and B. cereus spores were determined. B. cereus spores were further analyzed for their enterotoxigenic ability, growth characteristics and physical spore characteristics. In the 247 spice samples analyzed 77 were found to contain B. cereus, while 11 were positive for B. thuringiensis. Eighty four of the 88 spices tested possessed either one of the enterotoxin genes. None of the isolates tested positive for the emetic toxin (ces) gene. Seventy five of the B. cereus isolates grew at 12 °C, although only two isolates grew well at 9 °C. Seven selected diarrheal B. cereus spore strains had D95-values ranging from 0.64-3.53 min while the two emetic strains had D95-values of 7.04 min and 6.64 min. B. cereus grew well in pre-cooked rice. After 48 h, counts of 1.26 X 107 and 3.8 X 107 B. cereus/ 10 g were obtained in pre-cooked rice maintained at 17 °C and 20 °C respectively. At 12 °C, counts did not reach 104 CFU/ 10g even after 48 h of incubation. The aerobic mesophilic bacterial population and B. cereus population of 0.1% crushed pepper in pre-cooked rice over a period of 48h at temperature 20 °C and 17 °C were also analyzed. Counts of B. cereus in pepper rice samples reached a maximum of 1600 MPN/ 10 g and 1100 MPN/ 10 g at 20 °C and 17 °C respectively while the aerobic mesophilic counts per 10 g were 2.4 X 108 and 4.4 X 106 at these temperatures. The low B. cereus counts and high aerobic mesophilic population indicates competition of nutrients in cooked rice by background flora other than B. cereus. The physical spore characteristics of five B. cereus and 3 B. thuringiensis strains were studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Tubular, whip-like appendages were present in four B. cereus and two B. thuringiensis, while all seven isolates possessed exosporia

EFFICIENT E-MRZT ALGORITHM BASED TREE CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE FOR ZIGBEE MOBILE WIRELESS NETWORKS

In Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs), the Zigbee protocol/IEEE 802.15.4 standard is a protocol specification for low range, less cost and low power systems. The Zigbee network is usually constructed using cluster trees for the purpose of performing data delivery among nodes and for power saving. Here the data delivery failures occur due to node mobility. In order to handle node movements so as to increase data delivery we use mobility-robust tree construction technique with clustering mechanism. In this paper we propose an E-MRZT (Extended MRZT) algorithm. We collect information about regularity of mobility patterns and by using this history, perform data delivery. We employ a clustering mechanism in our network to obtain a set of cluster trees; each with a specific mobility pattern. The entire setup is developed and simulated by using NS2 network simulator. The result is that we obtain mobility-robust tree with a considerable increase in data delivery

Active LC Clamp dv/dt Filter for Voltage Reflection due to Long Cable in Induction Motor Drives

This paper presents an active LC clamped dv/dt filter to mitigate the over voltages appearing across the motor terminals. The over voltages at motor terminal is due to voltage reflection effect of long motor cable connected between high frequency PWM inverter having high dv/dt switching waveforms and ac motor drives. The voltage reflection due to fast switching transients can be reduced by increasing the rise time and fall time of inverter output voltage pulses. The most commonly available mitigating technique is a passive dv/dt filter between inverter and cable.  Since, size, cost and losses of passive LC dv/dt filter is more, an active dv/dt filtering technique is used to reduce over voltage at motor terminals. Active LC clamp filtering technique used here consists of a small LC filter designed for a single motor cable length which can be used for any lengths of cable up to 1000m only by changing the active control of the PWM pulses to achieve the desired voltage slope during voltage transition period. The basic principle of active dv/dt filer used here is to charge and discharge the capacitor in the filter with modified PWM pulses to increase the rise time and fall time of output voltage pulses without any extra devices to handle the transient response of the LC filter. Detailed investigation is carried out by simulation using MATLAB-Simulink software with active control of common LC clamp dv/dt filter suitable for various cable lengths ranging from 100 m to 1000 m. Comparative analysis is done with active dv/dt filter designed with a common LC clamp filter and active LC clamp dv/dt filter designed for various cable lengths and also with diode clamped passive dv/dt filter. The results proves the effectiveness of the active common LC dv/dt filter to mitigate the over voltages at motor terminal for cable lengths up to 1000m

Implementing peace education as a part of the South African school curriculum for learners in the intermediate phase (grades 4-6)

Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.This research article deals with the implementation of peace education in the intermediate phase of South African schools. The specific questions that this research article attempts to address are: (i) What is peace education, with particular reference to its aims and objectives? (ii) Why is it important to include peace education in any school curriculum? (iii) What is the present status of peace education in the National curriculum? (iv) What has been the experience of educators with this curriculum? (v) How may the curriculum be modified to take account of peace education principles? Chapter one provides an overview, outlining the research objectives and the structure of the research article. Chapter two attempts to review the body of literature that has been written on the subject of peace education. In an effort to accomplish this, the article firstly attempts to provide a widely accepted definition of the concept of peace education. In this regard several definitions of different researchers have been presented and discussed and finally a single definition has been formulated for the purposes of this article. Chapter two attempts to provide an analysis of the aims and objectives of peace education. The varying views by different researchers have been presented. After careful consideration of these views a set of aims and objectives have been presented for the purpose of this research article. Chapter three provides strong evidence that children who are exposed to peace education develop more positively. They perceive their social world and react to social factors in a less hostile way. Furthermore, these individuals see violence as an unacceptable option, and choose nonviolent ways to resolve conflict. Chapter four reviews the research design that has been used in data collection. This chapter also focuses on the methodology and techniques employed in the analysis of the data. Chapter five provides an analysis of the research findings. This analysis is presented in two parts. Chapter six focuses on those objectives of peace education that are of critical importance but have not been included in the National Curriculum Statement grades R-9 (schools) 1997 (NCS) or the Revised National Curriculum Statement grades R-9 (schools) 2002 (RNCS). It will be illustrated that when these objectives are incorporated in the curriculum, it will strengthen the curriculum in terms of its provision for the effective teaching of peace education. Chapter seven contains a summary of the salient discussion points of the research and concluding remarks by the researcher

Distal femoral rotational axes of knees in an elderly Indian population.

To define the angular relationships of the distal femoral rotational axes in an Indian population aged between 50 and 75 years using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of the knee joint. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional Review Board approved retrospective study of 300 MRI knees of patients aged between 50 and 75 years to define the Posterior Condylar Angle (PCA) and Whiteside’s Epicondylar Angle (W-EP). The results were compared with pre-existing literature to assess whether knowing these values in this age group may help in bringing about changes in the design of TKA implants for the elderly Indian population. RESULTS: Total number of knees studied was 300 (147 left and 153 right, in 144 men and 156 women). Mean age of patients was 56.7 years (SD 6.3 years), range – 50 to 75 years. The mean PCA and W-EP were 5.5º (SD, 1.2º; range, 2.2º–8.8º), 92.5º (SD, 2º; range, 90º - 99.4º), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Differences have been noted in the distal femoral rotational axes between various races. Mean PCA and W-EP angles in the Indian population are similar to other Asian races such as the Chinese and Japanese in that they are more externally rotated but dissimilar when compared the Western population. Hence using fixed values to describe the angles between the axes can lead to femoral component malrotation. Therefore knowledge of the racial differences is important when implants for the Indian population are designed

IMPACT OF VERIOUS EXIM POLICIES ON INDIAN ECONOMY

Mr. VishwanathPratap Singh, the Commerce Minister, announced the export-import policy on the 12th April 1985 to 1988 for the first time, the Government announced the policy on three year basis, second export-import policy announced for three year period 1988-1991. The Government announced on April 30, 1990-1993 a new import-export policy for three year period.  The policy statement made it clear, “Improvement in our balance of payments position can be achieved not so much through import curtailment as through promotion of export”. The Government announced first five year export-import policy on 31st March 1992-97. After first five year export-import policy government announced 1997-2002, 2002-2007, 2004-2009, 2009-2014