Enhancing engine oil performance using nanoparticles and bio-lubricants as additives

Optimize internal combustion engine lubrication to reduce friction and wear leading to improve fuel consumption and to reduce exhaust emission

Valuation study for a preference-based quality of life measure for dental caries (Dental Caries Utility Index - DCUI) among Australian adolescents - study protocol.

IntroductionA new health state classification system has been developed for dental caries - Dental Caries Utility Index (DCUI) to facilitate the assessment of oral health interventions in the cost-utility analysis (CUA). This paper reports the protocol for a valuation study, which aims to generate a preference-based algorithm for the classification system for the DCUI.Methods and analysisDiscrete choice experiments (DCEs) will be conducted to value health states generated by the DCUI classification system and preferences for these health states will be modelled to develop a utility algorithm. DCEs produce utility values on a latent scale and these values will be anchored into the full health-dead scale to calculate the quality-adjusted life years in CUA. There is no previous evidence for the most suitable anchoring method for dental caries health state valuation. Hence, we will first conduct pilot studies with two anchoring approaches; DCE including duration attribute and DCE anchoring to worst heath state in Visual Analogue Scale. Based on the pilot studies, the most suitable anchoring method among two approaches will be used in the main valuation survey, which will be conducted as an online survey among a representative sample of 2000 adults from the Australian general population. Participants will be asked to complete a set of DCE choice tasks along with anchoring tasks, basic social-demographic questions, DCUI, a generic preference-based measure and oral health quality of life instrument.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval for this study was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee, Griffith University (reference number HREC/2019/550). The generated algorithm will facilitate the use of the new dental caries preference-based measure in economic evaluations of oral health interventions. The results will be disseminated through journal articles and professional conferences

Fate of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Coated onto Macronutrient Fertilizers in an Alkaline Calcareous Soil

Citation: Milani, N., Hettiarachchi, G. M., Kirby, J. K., Beak, D. G., Stacey, S. P., & McLaughlin, M. J. (2015). Fate of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Coated onto Macronutrient Fertilizers in an Alkaline Calcareous Soil. Plos One, 10(5), 16. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126275Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles may provide a more soluble and plant available source of Zn in Zn fertilizers due to their greater reactivity compared to equivalent micron-or millimetresized (bulk) particles. However, the effect of soil on solubility, spatial distribution and speciation of ZnO nanoparticles has not yet been investigated. In this study, we examined the diffusion and solid phase speciation of Zn in an alkaline calcareous soil following application of nanoparticulate and bulk ZnO coated fertilizer products (monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and urea) using laboratory-based x-ray techniques and synchrotron-based mu-x-ray fluorescence (mu-XRF) mapping and absorption fine structure spectroscopy (mu-XAFS). Mapping of the soil-fertilizer reaction zones revealed that most of the applied Zn for all treatments remained on the coated fertilizer granule or close to the point of application after five weeks of incubation in soil. Zinc precipitated mainly as scholzite (CaZn2(PO4)(2)center dot 2H(2)O) and zinc ammonium phosphate (Zn(NH4)PO4) species at the surface of MAP granules. These reactions reduced dissolution and diffusion of Zn from the MAP granules. Although Zn remained as zincite (ZnO) at the surface of urea granules, limited diffusion of Zn from ZnO-coated urea granules was also observed for both bulk and nanoparticulate ZnO treatments. This might be due to either the high pH of urea granules, which reduced solubility of Zn, or aggregation (due to high ionic strength) of released ZnO nanoparticles around the granule/point of application. The relative proportion of Zn(OH)(2) and ZnCO3 species increased for all Zn treatments with increasing distance from coated MAP and urea granules in the calcareous soil. When coated on macronutrient fertilizers, Zn from ZnO nanoparticles (without surface modifiers) was not more mobile or diffusible compared to bulk forms of ZnO. The results also suggest that risk associated with the presence of ZnO NPs in calcareous soils would be the same as bulk sources of ZnO

A SURVEY OF THE MARKET AVAILABILITY AND ITS POTENTIAL FOR NON-WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MEDICINAL PLANTS AND CANE

Forests provide numerous benefits other than timber and fuelwood and these arecalled non-wood forest products. They playa vital role especially in the ruraleconomy and provide benefits of considerable importance at the national level.Despite an escalating demand, these non wood forest products do not entermarkets directly due to the absence of proper marketing channels. Thisdiscourage primary collectors, do not warrant for sustainable collection of theproduce in the wild and the possible planting of the resources.This study was conducted to assess the current market situation for non-woodforest products with special reference to medicinal plants and cane with a view tomake recommendations for the improvement of the marketing situation in thisregard.Data were collected from plant collectors, small scale regional buyers andwholesale dealers by way of questionnaires and interviews. To collectinformation on medicinal plants 4 areas where medicinal plants are very muchabundant were selected, viz. Ritigala (Anuradhapura District), Rajawakaa·(Ratnapura District), Kanneliya (Galle District) and Bibile (Moneragala District).With regard to Cane, the most abundant areas; Manampitiya (PolonnaruwaDistrict) and BaduraJiya (Kalutara District) were selected. Further, data were alsocollected from wholesale dealers of medicinal plants at Gabo's Lane andayurvedic product manufacturers. With regard to cane, product manufacturers atRadawadunna were interviewed. Secondary data were collected from institutions.The results revealed that both medicinal plants and cane are being collected in aunsustainable manner. As the existing marketing situation is disorganised, themiddle man is benefited most while the collectors do not reap much benefit fortheir labour. Majority of the crude medicinal plant materials are still importedwhile there is very low value addition to the material that is exported. Most of theraw cane too is imported. The cane available in the country do not fetch a gooddemand as it is considered as low quality. Most of the people engaged in thesebusinesses do not use the facilities offered by the banks very much possiblythrough unawareness.The following recommendations emanated from the study to improve themarketing situation with regard to the above industries in the country;introduction of sustainable methods of collection, planting of the produce incountry as large medium scale plantations, improving the quality of products andvalue addition and making the people more aware for the facilities provided byfinancial organizations to improve the industries.

Generating swarm solution classes using the Hamiltonian Method of swarm design

We utilize a swarm design methodology that enables us to develop classes of swarm solutions to specific specifications. The method utilizes metrics devised to evaluate the swarm’s progress – the global variables – along with the set of available technologies in order to answer varied questions surrounding a swarm design for the task. These questions include the question of whether or not a swarm is necessary for a given task. The Jacobian matrix, here identified as the technology matrix, is created from the global variables. This matrix may be interpreted in a way that allows the identification of classes of technologies required to complete the task. This approach allows us to create a class of solutions that are all suitable for accomplishing the task. We demonstrate this capability for accumulation swarms, generating several configurations that can be applied to complete the task. If the technology required to complete the task either cannot be implemented on a single agent or is unavailable, it may be possible to utilize a swarm to generate the capability in a distributed way. We demonstrate this using a gradient-based search task in which a minimal swarm is designed along with two additional swarms, all of which extend the agents’ capabilities and successfully accomplish the task

Development of a rapid environmental assessment methodology for roads sector rehabilitation projects

The concern for the environment is ever growing and counter measures are also taken by manycountries to minimize environmental impacts arising from developmental activities. One tool utilised toensure that developments are sustainable is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which hasbeen a mandatory requirement in Sri Lanka since 1993. However, due to considerable time taken bythe EIA process particularly for extensive projects such as road sector projects concerns have beenraised as to the delays caused by the process which in certain instances might even cause loss offoreign funds. Although detailed assessments are required in some cases it is not always true. Roadrehabilitation projects do not fall into the category of prescribed projects of the National EnvironmentalAct unless sensitive areas are involved and resettlement of more than 100 families are involved.However, foreign funding agencies generally require an environmental assessment of even suchprojects prior to approving of funding which generally cause delays since environmental assessorstend to follow tile same pattern of assessment for all projects regardless of the scope. Numerousmethods have evolved over the years to conduct EIAs some ct'which address environmental impact assessment of sectoral projects particularly water resource development projects which are ratherconvenient to use. However thus far such methods have not been developed for road sector projects.The present study was conducted to develop a Rapid Environment Assessment (REA) technique forthe Sri Lankan road rehabilitation projects where such a tool is yet to immerge. The REA was designedfrom the information collected from literature survey, questionnaire surveys of affected communities,field observations and subject experts' interviews. Three actual rehabilitation projects were studiedfor this purpose. Based on the information first the activities relevant to all the road rehabilitationprojects were listed with the assistance received from the field engineers. Then those activities whichhave no significant impacts were taken out keeping only the activities causing impacts forconsideration.The designed tool in this study is armed with both primary and secondary impacts whichcan arise from specific activities of road rehabilitation projects as well with proposed mitigatory measureswhich can minimize these impacts. The REA is not only comprehensive but also user friendly asactivities and impacts are predetermined and linked to each other so that the users do not have toprepare their own checklists of activities or environmental aspects. It's handy and small. It's generalin usage and could be used in any site of road rehabilitation projects. It's concise as only those activitieswith significant impacts are chosen and included.From surveys it was also discovered that to avoid unnecessary oppositions and social commotion,which would hinder the rehabilitation projects compensation should be decided and granted at theplanning stage itself. It is also highly recommended that a strong monitoring system is utilized. If anyof the proposed mitigatory measures is not effective in neutralizing the impacts, a search for newmeasures is recommended and REA is to be updated accordingly. As REA is not available for roadrehabilitation projects at present in Sri Lanka the tool designed in my study could be taken for futureroad rehabilitation projects to minimize the disadvantages of ElA. However, it should note that theREA is to be used only by experts in order to be effective and accurate. 

Review on Photomicrography based Full Blood Count (FBC) Testing and Recent Advancements

With advancements in related sub-fields, research on photomicrography in life science is emerging and this is a review on its application towards human full blood count testing which is a primary test in medical practices. For a prolonged period of time, analysis of blood samples is the basis for bio medical observations of living creatures. Cell size, shape, constituents, count, ratios are few of the features identified using DIP based analysis and these features provide an overview of the state of human body which is important in identifying present medical conditions and indicating possible future complications. In addition, functionality of the immune system is observed using results of blood tests. In FBC tests, identification of different blood cell types and counting the number of cells of each type is required to obtain results. Literature discuss various techniques and methods and this article presents an insightful review on human blood cell morphology, photomicrography, digital image processing of photomicrographs, feature extraction and classification, and recent advances. Integration of emerging technologies such as microfluidics, micro-electromechanical systems, and artificial intelligence based image processing algorithms and classifiers with cell sensing have enabled exploration of novel research directions in blood testing applications.

Maternal clinical predictors of preterm birth in twin pregnancies: A systematic review involving 2,930,958 twin pregnancies

Supplementary material related to this article can be found, in the online version, at doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ejogrb.2018.09.025

Sri Lankan Finger Millet (Elucine coracana) Variety ‘Raavana’ as Potential Probiotic Source

This study aims to isolate and identify probiotic potential lactic acid bacteria from fermented Sri Lankan finger millet variety "Raavana" and to investigate the probiotic characteristics, in vitro safety and efficacy. A bacterial isolate with typical lactic acid bacterial phenotypic and biochemical characteristics was isolated and identified. Partial sequence of the 16S rRNA gene of the Sri Lankan strain was deposited in the NCBI gene bank as Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis FM_19LAB and the accession number MF480428 was obtained. It did not demonstrate hemolysis, DNase, gelatine hydrolysis activity as well as did not acquire complete resistance to any of the antibiotics tested hence indicating the safety. Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis FM_19LAB had the capacity to tolerate different concentrations of acid, bile, phenol, salt, simulated gastric juices and range of temperatures. Further it exhibited anti-microbial, anticancer and anti-oxidant activities. Further, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis FM_19LAB assimilated cholesterol and produced lactic acid during the fermentation