Assessment of Soil Contamination in Patancheru Industrial Area

Abstract: Toxic trace metals concentrations in soil exert a decisive impact on soil quality and its use in food production particularly in an industrial area. An attempt is made here to study toxic metals such as Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, including Ba, Co and V in representative soil samples from Patancheru industrial area near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. It is a known polluted area and is one of the most contaminated regions where about 260 small and large-scale manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, paints, pesticides, chemicals, steel and metallic products have been functioning for over several decades. Toxic trace metal geochemical studies were carried out in fifteen representative soil samples collected from residential and agricultural area, to understand the spatial distribution and to assess the level of contamination on the basis of index of geoaccummulation, enrichment factor, contamination factor and degree of contamination. The various indices show that residential soils are contaminated with Cr, Ni and Pb (Cu to some extent). The agricultural area, although were invariably enriched in these toxic metals, showed comparatively less contamination possibly due to uptake by plants

COMPARISON OF ELISA AND RT-PCR FOR THE DETECTION OF PEANUT BUD NECROSIS VIRUS IN ONION (ALLIUM CEPA.L)

ABSTRACT: Peanut bud necrosis virus (PBNV) is an important re-emerging viral pathogen in onion (Allium cepa L.) in India. The virus transmitted by thrips vectors; it belongs to the genus Tospovirus and family Bunyaviridae. The onion crop infected by PBNV and it is a major problem in Southern India. This paper presents the comparison of DAC-ELISA and RT-PCR in the detection of PBNV infected onion samples from South India. The PBNV suspected onion samples (n=145) were collected in the major growing areas of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states from South India. Among these collected onion samples, Seventy five samples (51.72%) were confirmed as PBNV infected by DAC-ELISA using the PBNV specific antiserum and in RT-PCR method one hundred twenty four samples (85.51%) were amplified (~800bp) by using the PBNV-CP gene specific primers. In comparison studies the RT-PCR method has added the advantage that it is more sensitive than the DAC-ELISA in the detection of PBNV in onion

Comparison of Speed Controlling Techniques of Field-Oriented Controlled Induction Motor Drives

ABSTRACT: Various control strategies of controlling inverter fed Induction Motor Drives have proved good steady state performance but poor dynamic performance. In order to achieve good dynamic performance and to meet the preferences set by DC drives variable speed AC Drives came into existence. This paper presents an intelligent speed controller for an indirect field oriented controlled induction motor drives. Here by separating the current produced by the stator into flux and torque producing components of an induction motor, indirect field oriented control is implemented. SVM based indirect vector controlled induction motor drive with PI controller is first developed and replaced by employing fuzzy controller via an intelligence-based Fuzzy PI controller in order to achieve better dynamic response. By considering the behaviour of the FLC the speed, torque and stator voltage responses were observed and compared with the PI controller using MATLAB/Simulink. KEYWORDS: PI controller, FLC, indirect vector control, modelling of induction motor I.INTRODUCTION Today's sophisticated industrial drives are the result of the far research and improvement during last decade. The hence so-called vector control or field oriented control (FOC) was one of the most important inventions in AC motor drives which opened the gate for the researchers to take the aim for ever enhancing control of performance. And by other aspects, there are many process control benefits that might be provided by adjustable speed drive such as smoother operation, acceleration control, different operating speeds, control of torque etc., In the past decades, Induction and synchronous machines were used for constant speed applications. This was mainly because of unavailability of variable frequency supply. The advancement in electric drive systems is related to the development of power semiconductor devices. The introduction of Silicon-controlled rectifier in 1957 initiated further more development in electrical drive systems. In early 1960's, the improvement in fabrication of BJT along with the PWM technique has significantly contributed to achieve improvement in AC drives. But required precise torque control is not obtained and was still dominated by DC drives. This high performance torque control was achieved with the invention of Field Oriented Control or Vector control in 1972', which was developed by Prof. Blashke in his publications. Vector control of induction motors allows the decouple analysis where the torque and flux components are independently controlled just as in Dc motor. In vector control scheme, the stator phaser currents are resolved into two components and with this individual torque and flux control is possibl

Maternal death inquiry and response in India - the impact of contextual factors on defining an optimal model to help meet critical maternal health policy objectives

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maternal death reviews have been utilized in several countries as a means of identifying social and health care quality issues affecting maternal survival. From 2005 to 2009, a standardized community-based maternal death inquiry and response initiative was implemented in eight Indian states with the aim of addressing critical maternal health policy objectives. However, state-specific contextual factors strongly influenced the effort's success. This paper examines the impact and implications of the contextual factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We identified community, public health systems and governance related contextual factors thought to affect the implementation, utilization and up-scaling of the death inquiry process. Then, according to selected indicators, we documented the contextual factors' presence and their impact on the process' success in helping meet critical maternal health policy objectives in four districts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. Based on this assessment, we propose an optimal model for conducting community-based maternal death inquiries in India and similar settings.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The death inquiry process led to increases in maternal death notification and investigation whether civil society or government took charge of these tasks, stimulated sharing of the findings in multiple settings and contributed to the development of numerous evidence-based local, district and statewide maternal health interventions. NGO inputs were essential where communities, public health systems and governance were weak and boosted effectiveness in stronger settings. Public health systems participation was enabled by responsive and accountable governance. Communities participated most successfully through India's established local governance Panchayat Raj Institutions. In one instance this led to the development of a multi-faceted intervention well-integrated at multiple levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The impact of several contextual factors on the death inquiry process could be discerned, and suggested an optimal implementation model. District and state government must mandate and support the process, while the district health office should provide overall coordination, manage the death inquiry data as part of its routine surveillance programme, and organize a highly participatory means, preferably within an existing structure, of sharing the findings with the community and developing evidence-based maternal health interventions. NGO assistance and the support of a development partner may be needed, particularly in locales with weaker communities, public health systems or governance.</p