On Weighted Generalized Residual Information Measure

In this paper, we have proposed the concept of weighted generalized residual entropy of order α and type β, and have shown that the proposed measure characterizes the distribution function uniquely

Nucleate Pool Boiling Heat Transfer of Refrigerants Using Coated Surfaces

This work presents the experimental study of nucleated pool boiling heat transfer of R-134a and R-410A on a horizontal coated heating surface. The heating surface dimensions are 25.4 mm outer diameter and 116 mm effective length. The coated surfaces were fabricated by flame spraying technique. The copper powder was used as a coating material applied to the outer surface of copper tube. The experiments were performed for heat flux range of 5–50 kWm−2 at saturation temperature of 10°C. The heat transfer coefficients of both refrigerants demonstrated the same trends with applied heat flux increase and their magnitudes increases with increasing the value of applied heat flux. The present study also includes the effects of heat flux and coating parameter on boiling characteristics. The boiling heat transfer coefficient is enhanced by 1.9 times that of plain surface. An empirical correlation was also developed to predict the heat transfer coefficient with a mean error of 13%

Traits for Screening and Selection of Cowpea Genotypes for Drought Tolerance at Early Stages of Breeding

The association of leaf water content with yield-attributes such as pod setting and number of pods/plant and seed yield in cowpea was examined using midday drop of leaf relative water content (RWC) determined from morning (800 h) and midday (1330 h) measurements of RWC. Midday drop of RWC was significantly correlated to pod setting ratio (R2 = 0.80, P 0.01), number of pods/plant (R2 = 0.87, P 0.01) and seed yield (R2 = 0.37, P 0.05). There was a significant genotypic variation for leaf water potential (LWP) at 800 and 1330 h and for RWC at 1330 h. Significant genotypic differences were also observed in pod setting ratio, number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod, 1000-seed weight, biomass and seed yield. Pod setting ratio was significantly and positively correlated with number of pods/plant (R2 = 0.80, P 0.01) and seed yield (R2 = 0.38, P 0.05). These results showed that the genotypes with a smaller reduction in midday drop of RWC produced a larger number of pods/plant and consequently had higher seed yield as compared with a larger midday drop of RWC. The results also showed that there was a large genotypic variation in the midday drop of RWC, which was correlated with yield-attributes and seed yield. It may therefore be possible to use midday drop of RWC as a screening and selection trait for drought tolerance of cowpea genotypes

Rapid Bispecific Antibodies Based Homogeneous Immunoassay for Detection of Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA)

Development of rapid and economical method for detection of prostate- specific antigen (PSA) in human blood. Methods: The usual procedure for the detection of prostate cancer markers in human is prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in blood (normal level ≤ 4 ng/mL) using heterogeneous immunoassay enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). However, a rapid homogeneous immunoassay for the detection of PSA in serum, based on bispecific antibodies, is more convenient due to its speed, accuracy and obviating the need of multiple washing steps. The assay using bispecific antibody P57 (against PSA and peroxidase) and monospecific antibody B87 (against PSA) conjugated with glucose oxidase was developed in the presence of excess catalase. Similarly, in solid phase homogeneous immunoassay the monospecific antibody B87 (against PSA) and glucose oxidase were immobilized onto a solid support (plastic) and other reagents, bio-chemicals, and bispecific antibody P57 were taken in homogeneous solution. All variables, viz., glucose oxidase, peroxidase and catalase were optimized at different PSA concentrations. Results: Homogeneous immunoassay (HIA) showed linearity of PSA detection 1-10 ng/mL whereas, solid phase homogeneous immunoassay (SPHIA) showed in the range of 1-50 ng/mL suggesting SPHIA has a broader operating range, thus much better than HIA. Detection of PSA in a homogeneous solution can be completed in 90 minutes without involving any washing and incubation steps. Conclusions: Homogeneous assay is a rapid, economical method that eliminates all washing and incubation steps of conventional ELISA