The effect of varying dietary protein level on the growth, food conversion, protein utilization and body composition of tropical catfish Mystus nemurus (C. and V.) cultured in static pond water system

Tropical catfish, Mystus nemurus (C. & V.) (25.89 ± 0.7 g) were stocked semi-intensively in 0.03-ha earthen ponds at the rate of 10 000 ha”-1 and fed six iso-energetic practical diets ranging from 27% to 50% protein for 8 weeks. Each diet was fed in three replicate ponds twice daily to satiation. Experimental fish were also reared extensively, in control ponds, without supplementary feed. Fish fed the 42% protein diet had the highest standing crop, weight gain and protein utilization values and the differences from other diets were statistically significant (P > 0.05). Protein efficiency ratio (PER) decreased as dietary protein increased. The experiment indicated that natural food organisms contributed to some degree if not significantly to the catfish production. Weight gain, food conversion ratio (FCR). PER and SGR (specific growth rate) indicated that a 42% protein diet with digestible protein-to-energy ratio (D/E) of 27.57 mg kj_1 produced maximum growth in the static pond system

Numerical simulation of suddenly expanded flow at Mach 2.2

A numerical simulation has been performed to investigate the control of base pressure with microjets in a suddenly expanded duct. Microjets placed at the pitch circle diameter (PCD) of 13 mm, two micro jets of 1 mm orifice diameter located at 900 for active control. The flow Mach number of the investigation was M = 2.2, the L/D ratio of the enlarged duct considered is 6, and the area ratio is 3.24. The convergent-divergent (CD) nozzle geometry has been modeled and simulated employing K-ε turbulence model for standard wall function. From the code independently was checked with the commercial computational fluid dynamics software. The numerical simulations carried for nozzle pressure ratio’s (NPR) 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. From the present numerical investigation, it is observed that the NPR, Mach number, and area ratio plays a vital role in fixing the base pressure values. NPR's of the present study is such that the flow mostly remained over expanded. Despite jets being over-expanded the control is effective in decreasing the base suction and hence the base drag

Development of low-cost IoT-based wireless healthcare monitoring system

According to studies, up to 99 percent of alarms triggered in hospital units are false or clinically insignificant while indicating no genuine harm to patients. However, false alarms can lead to alert overload, causing healthcare workers to miss critical occurrences that could be harmful or even fatal. The purpose of this work is to tackle the problem by developing an integrated system that can continually track the patient's health condition utilising a cloud computing platform, allowing alerts to be targeted to the appropriate medical facility personnel in a timely and orderly manner. Arduino microcontrollers are used to collect health parameters such as temperature and pulse rate and provide a real-time monitoring system for medical practitioners. Multiple sensors and an RF transceiver are attached to a small microcontroller, forming a wearable module that the patient will wear. This wearable component is wirelessly connected to the main module consisting of a larger microcontroller, where the data is then uploaded to the database in the cloud through the internet. The data can then be accessed through a web-based terminal, providing medical practitioners access through the web page. If the system detects any abrupt changes to the patient's temperature or pulse rate, a push notification will be sent to the medical practitioner's Android smartphone so that immediate action can be taken. The system is scalable as multiple wearable modules can be connected to the main module, allowing monitoring of multiple patients simultaneously. More sensors can also easily be added to the wearable module to monitor other vital health parameters such as oxygen saturation and blood pressure. The testing has indicated that the system can achieve 99.4% accuracy in temperature monitoring and 86% accuracy for pulse monitoring

Roof integrated photovoltaic for electric vehicle charging towards net zero residential buildings in Australia

The residential building sector & transportation sector has received significant attention in recent years due to carbon emissions affecting the livelihoods of humans. Electric vehicles (EVs) are poised to play a vital role in reducing dependency on non-renewable fuels and the transportation sector's environmental implications. Building integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), on the other hand, will be able to cut down the energy requirements and contribute to building sustainability. This paper evaluates the energy, economic, and environmental performances of BIPV with EV charging system systems for a building in Canberra, Australia. BIPV with EV charging can assist in fulfilling building energy needs, charging electric vehicles, and reducing grid reliance. Different load scenarios were studied to optimize system size. Different panel layouts with orientation have been studied for the 5.0kWp BIPV system, each module rating 355kWp. The annual energy output of the BIPV system was found to vary between 8.56 MWh for layout one and 7.08MWh for layout 3. It was found that the payback back of the proposed BIPV system is 4.46 years, LCOE of 0.074AUD/kWh and EV charging cost of 0.95AUD/100 km. The BIPV with EV charging system could save approximately 160,198 kgCO2e in GHG emissions over its lifespan

Early outcomes from a randomized, controlled trial of supervised exercise, angioplasty, and combined therapy in intermittent claudication

BACKGROUND: To compare angioplasty (PTA), supervised exercise (SEP) and PTA + SEP in the treatment of intermittent claudication (IC) due to femoropopliteal disease. METHODS: Over a 6-year period, 178 patients (108 men; median age, 70 years) with femoropopliteal lesions suitable for angioplasty were randomized to PTA, SEP, or PTA + SEP. Patients were assessed prior to and at 1 and 3 months post treatment. ISCVS outcome criteria (ankle pressures, treadmill walking distances) and quality of life (QoL) questionnaires (SF-36 and VascuQoL) were analyzed. RESULTS: All groups were well matched at baseline. Twenty-one patients withdrew. Results are as follows: Intragroup analysis: All groups demonstrated significant clinical and QoL improvements (Friedman test, p 0.05). CONCLUSION: SEP should be the primary treatment for the patients with claudication and PTA should be supplemented by an SEP

E-hailing services: antitrust implications of uber and grab`s merger in Southeast Asia

Uber-Grab’s merger had attracted antitrust scrutiny by competition authorities in Southeast-Asia. The merger between the two had created a large giant company that provides various services through a platform such as ridesharing and food delivery services. According to the deal, Grab will take over Uber’s assets (ridesharing and food delivery service), and in return, Uber will take a 27.5 percent stake in Grab. Although Grab claimed that the merger would create a cost-efficient platform in Southeast Asia and put it in a better position to serve consumers, there was a genuine concern that the merger will reduce competition in the market and provide incentives to Grab to engage in anti-competitive behaviour such as increasing the price of its services. This article aims to analyse how different countries in Southeast Asia responded to the Uber-Grab’s merger and measures taken to address competitive concerns ex-ante and ex-post-merger. Unlike other competition jurisdictions in Southeast-Asia, the Malaysia Competition Act 2010 contains no merger control provision, which empowers the Malaysian competition authority to block any merger that has the effect of substantially lessening competition. The studies on how other countries evaluated the Uber-Grab merger could assist Malaysia’s competition authority to regulate the future behaviour of the big digital platform in the Malaysian market. This article was written based on research that relies on both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources include statutory provisions on competition, decision, proposed decision, interim measures, and others. while secondary sources include journal articles, news, internet resources, and others. The article also adopts a comparative approach in order to analyse the approaches and measures taken by the various merger control regimes in Southeast Asia in dealing with the Uber-Grab’s merger

Early result: randomized controlled trial of treatment for intermittent claudication

Objective: To compare angioplasty (PTA), supervised exercise (SEP) and PTA + SEP in the treatment of intermittent claudication (IC) due to femoro-popliteal disease Methods: Over a 6 years period, 178 patients (108 men, median age 70 years) with angioplastiable femoro-popliteal lesions were randomized to: PTA, SEP or PTA + SEP. Patients were assessed prior to and at 1 & 3 month post treatment. ISCVS outcome criteria (Ankle pressures, treadmill walking distances) and Quality of Life (QoL) questionnaires (SF36 and VascuQoL) were analysed. Results: All groups were well matched at baseline. 21 patients withdrew. Intra group analysis: All groups demonstrated significant clinical and QoL improvements (Friedman test, p < 0·05). SEP (59 patients, 8 withdrew) – 62·7% of patients (n = 32) improved following treatment [20 mild, 9 moderate, 3 marked], 27·4% (n = 14) no improvement and 9·8% (n = 5) deteriorated. PTA (60 patients, 3 withdrew) – 66·6% of patients (n = 38) improved following treatment [19mild, 10 moderate, 9 marked], 22·8% (n = 13) no improvement and 10·5% (n = 6) deteriorated. PTA + SEP (59 patients, 10 withdrew) – 81·6% of patients (n = 40) improved following treatment. [10 mild, 17 moderate, 13 marked], 14·2%% (n = 7) no improvement and 4·0% (n = 2) deteriorated Inter group Analysis: PTA + SEP produce a much greater improvement in clinical outcome measures than PTA or SEP alone, but there was no significant Q0L advantage (Kruskal Wallis test, p > 0·05). Conclusion: SEP should be the primary treatment for the patients with claudication and PTA should be supplemented by a SEP