Comparison of membrane immobilized zero-valent iron nanoparticles for RED ME4BL azodye degradation

Textile industries are hailed as one of the major environmental polluters in the world, owing to their release of undesirable dye effluents. Synthetic dyes do not adhere to fabric firmly and are released into the aquatic ecosystem as effluent. Consequently, the consistent release of wastewater from numerous textile industries without previous treatment has detrimental effects on the ecosystem and human health.   Treatment methods currently being used fail to degrade the dye effluents and have their own shortcomings. Immobilized nanoparticles have been extensively studied for dye remediation because of their many advantages over conventional methods. The present study aimed to compare the efficiency of two different carrier matrices [namely Poly(vinylidene fluoride) and Polyurethane] for iron nanoparticle and their decolorization activity on an azo dye (RED ME4BL). Scanning Electron Microscopy was carried out to show the deposition of iron nanoparticles on the membrane. The reaction kinetics of the bare nanoparticles were compared with that of the immobilized nanoparticles, and all were found to follow pseudo-second-order kinetics. Polyurethane immobilized iron nanoparticles showed a significant degradation of RED ME4bl than the Poly(vinylidene fluoride) immobilized iron and bare nanoparticles. This paper also demonstrates a relatively newer method for nanoparticle immobilisation using the synthetic polyurethane form.

Improved techniques to enhance the yield of paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) for commercial cultivation

Cultivation of Volvariella volvacea in circular compact bed method recorded maximum yield of 972.8 g/bed (biological efficiency of 23.8%). Seeding the beds with 15 and 20 days old spawn with well developed chlamydospores contributed for significantly higher yields. Oil palm bunch waste in combination with rice straw or alone recorded significantly higher yields of 876.3 and 832 g/bed, and cotton waste, in combination with rice straw or alone, recorded 841.6 g and 778 g/bed, respectively. In vitro evaluation of the micronutrient based boosters VVB1 (CaCO3 400 ppm + CaCl2 50 ppm + KH2PO4 50 ppm + NaCl 50 ppm + Na2HPO4 50 ppm) and VVB2 (CaCl2 400 ppm + Na2HPO4 100 ppm) produced profuse mycelium with aerial silky strands, early chlamydospore formation (20.8 and 21.8 days) and increased chlamydospore density (7.8 × 102 and 7.2 × 102 spores/ml). Yields of 960 g/bed with more number of sturdy fruiting bodies were observed in beds sprayed with VVB1. V. volvacea can be successfully cultivated from March to September with 18 to 20% biological efficiency. Storage of V. volvacea at egg stage in air tight plastic box at deep freeze (-20°C) conditions remained intact until 36 h without spoilage.Keywords: Paddy straw mushroom, Volvariella volvacea, boosters, bed methods, cultivation technique

Smart Farm-Care using a Deep Learning Model on Mobile Phones

Deep learning and its models have provided exciting solutions in various image processing applications like image segmentation, classification, labeling, etc., which paved the way to apply these models in agriculture to identify diseases in agricultural plants. The most visible symptoms of the disease initially appear on the leaves. To identify diseases found in leaf images, an accurate classification system with less size and complexity is developed using smartphones. A labeled dataset consisting of 3171 apple leaf images belonging to 4 different classes of diseases, including the healthy ones, is used for classification. In this work, four variants of MobileNet models - pre-trained on the ImageNet database, are retrained to diagnose diseases. The model’s variants differ based on their depth and resolution multiplier. The results show that the proposed model with 0.5 depth and 224 resolution performs well - achieving an accuracy of 99.6%. Later, the K-means algorithm is used to extract additional features, which helps improve the accuracy to 99.7% and also measures the number of pixels forming diseased spots, which helps in severity prediction. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-02-013 Full Text: PD

The Eye: A Light Weight Mobile Application for Visually Challenged People Using Improved YOLOv5l Algorithm

The eye is an essential sensory organ that allows us to perceive our surroundings at a glance. Losing this sense can result in numerous challenges in daily life. However, society is designed for the majority, which can create even more difficulties for visually impaired individuals. Therefore, empowering them and promoting self-reliance are crucial. To address this need, we propose a new Android application called “The Eye” that utilizes Machine Learning (ML)-based object detection techniques to recognize objects in real-time using a smartphone camera or a camera attached to a stick. The article proposed an improved YOLOv5l algorithm to improve object detection in visual applications. YOLOv5l has a larger model size and captures more complex features and details, leading to enhanced object detection accuracy compared to smaller variants like YOLOv5s and YOLOv5m. The primary enhancement in the improved YOLOv5l algorithm is integrating L1 and L2 regularization techniques. These techniques prevent overfitting and improve generalization by adding a regularization term to the loss function during training. Our approach combines image processing and text-to-speech conversion modules to produce reliable results. The Android text-to-speech module is then used to convert the object recognition results into an audio output. According to the experimental results, the improved YOLOv5l has higher detection accuracy than the original YOLOv5 and can detect small, multiple, and overlapped targets with higher accuracy. This study contributes to the advancement of technology to help visually impaired individuals become more self-sufficient and confident. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-011 Full Text: PD

Diethyl 2-{[3-(2-meth­oxy­benz­yl)thio­phen-2-yl]methyl­idene}malonate

In the title compound, C20H22O5S, the dihedral angle between the mean planes through the thio­phene and benzene rings is 75.2 (1)°. The meth­oxy group is essentially coplanar with the benzene ring, the largest deviation from the mean plane being 0.019 (2) Å for the O atom. The malonate group assumes an extended conformation

Impact of dengue virus (serotype DENV-2) infection on liver of BALB/c mice: a histopathological analysis

In this research, we characterized the histopathological impact of dengue virus (serotype DENV-2) infection in livers of BALB/c mice. The mice were infected with different doses of DENV-2 via intraperitoneal injection and liver tissues were processed for histological analyses and variation was documented. In the BALB/c mouse model, typical liver tissues showed regular hepatocyte architecture, with normal endothelial cells surrounding sinusoid capillary. Based on histopathological observations, the liver sections of BALB/c mice infected by DENV-2 exhibited a loss of cell integrity, with a widening of the sinusoidal spaces. There were marked increases in the infiltration of mononuclear cells. The areas of hemorrhage and micro- and macrovesicular steatosis were noted. Necrosis and apoptosis were abundantly present. The hallmark of viral infection, i.e., cytopathic effects, included intracellular edema and vacuole formation, cumulatively led to sinusoidal and lobular collapse in the liver. The histopathological studies on autopsy specimens of fatal human DENV cases are important to shed light on tissue damage for preventive and treatment modalities, in order to manage future DENV infections. In this framework, the method present here on BALB/c mouse model may be used to study not only the effects of infections by other DENV serotypes, but also to investigate the effects of novel drugs, such as recently developed nano-formulations, and the relative recovery ability with intact immune functions of host

ACASI and face-to-face interviews yield inconsistent estimates of domestic violence among women in India: The Samata Health Study 2005-2009.

BACKGROUND: Audio computer-assisted self-interviews (ACASI) are increasingly used in health research to improve the accuracy of data on sensitive behaviors. However, evidence is limited on its use among low-income populations in countries like India and for measurement of sensitive issues such as domestic violence. METHOD: We compared reports of domestic violence and three less sensitive behaviors related to household decision making and spousal communication in ACASI and face-to-face interviews (FTFI) among 464 young married women enrolled in a longitudinal study of gender-based power and adverse health outcomes in low-income communities in Bangalore, India. We used a test-retest design. At the 12-month study visit, we elicited responses from each participant through FTFI first, followed by ACASI. At the 24-month visit, we reversed the order, implementing ACASI first, followed by FTFI. Univariable log-linear regression models and kappa statistics were used to examine ACASI's effects on self-reports. RESULTS: Regression results showed significantly lower reporting in ACASI relative to FTFI at both visits, including for domestic violence (12-month risk ratio [RR] = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.52, 0.73; 24-month RR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.62, 0.89). Response agreement between interview modes, calculated by kappa scores, was universally low, though highest for domestic violence (12-month κ = 0.45; 24-month κ = 0.48). Older age and greater educational attainment appeared associated with higher response agreement. CONCLUSIONS: Greater reporting in FTFI may be due to social desirability bias for the less sensitive questions and perceptions of therapeutic benefit for domestic violence. These results cast doubt on the appropriateness of using ACASI for measurement of sensitive behaviors in India

Studies in ventilatory control in exercising humans

Minute ventilation (VE, and its pattern) is the result of an interaction between the drive to breathe (from the respiratory controller) and the mechanical properties of the respiratory system. While there is abundant information about the chemoreceptor based control of exercise V E, the present studies were designed to examine the roles of other neuro-mechanical stimuli from the airways, lungs, chest wall, respiratory muscles and/or the limbs in healthy humans performing constant work-rate heavy exercise (CWHE) or maximal incremental exercise (MIE) on a cycle-ergometer. With increasing V E during CWHE, there was a progressive increase in inspiratory (I) and a relatively greater increase in expiratory (E) muscle pressures (Pmus ). Furthermore, the Total Pmus (I + E) - VE and inspiratory tension time index - VE relationships were significantly linear, while post-inspiratory inspiratory activity decreased progressively throughout CWHE. However, when the load on all the respiratory muscles was significantly reduced With flow-proportional mouth pressure assist) throughout CWHE, there was no effect on VE (or breathing pattern) or other metabolic variables and on exercise performance. These results differ from the hyperventliatory response that results when airflow resistance is reduced with heliox (HeO2) substituted for air as the breathing mixture. The results suggest that receptors from large and central airways play a major role in the mediation of the transient, but not the sustained V E response to HeO2 breathing during exercise. However, airway receptors do not appear to be involved in the mediation of VE and breathing pattern responses during MIE, or affect the ventilatory and breathing pattern adaptations to added external deadspace during exercise. While some subjects developed spontaneous locomotor-respiratory coupling (LRC, manifesting as entrainment of breathing to pedalling frequency, coupling of I and/or E to limb movements) when pedalling freely (without imposed or fixed pedalling roles), LRC had no effect on VE for breathing pattern) control or metabolic variables throughout MIE. It is concluded that ventilatory control during exercise in humans, is the result of the integration of a variety of numerous and apparently "redundant" stimuli and is ultimately directed towards optimal gas exchange and maintenance of acid-base homoeostasis, while minimizing both respiratory muscle work and the oxygen cost of breathing

<span style="font-size: 21.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Targetted localisation and imaging of a murine lymphoma using ¹³¹<span style="font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I<span style="font-size:21.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">-labelled monoclonal antibody </span></span></span>

993-997In vivo <span style="font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size:8.5pt; font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">tumor targetting with radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies is a promising approach for the diagnosis and therapy of tumors. A specific monoclonal antibody (mAb), DLAB was generated to the Dalton's lymphoma associated antigen (DLAA) from Haemophilus paragallinarum -induced spontaneous fusion. In order to study the tumor localisation and <span style="font-size: 15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size:8.5pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">biodistribution properties of the monoclonal antibody, scintigraphic studies were performed using the radiolabelled DLAB. <span style="font-size:21.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:14.5pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">131I -labelled DLAB was administered intravenously into Swiss mice bearing Dalton's lymphoma and external scintiscanning was performed at different time intervals. Clear tumor images were obtained which revealed selective and specific uptake of radiolabel and the results were compared with biodistribution data. The radioiodinated monoclonal antibody showed fast tumor uptake which increased significantly to 14.6% injected dose (ID)/g at 12 hr post-injection. Enhanced blood clearance of radioactivity resulted in higher tumor/blood ratio of 5.96 at 48 hr. <span style="font-size:21.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.5pt; font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">131<span style="font-size: 15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size:8.5pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">I -labelled DLAB resulted in selective and enhanced uptake of the radioactivity by the tumor compared to the non-specific antibody and the results suggest the potential use of <span style="font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size:8.5pt; line-height:115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">spontaneous fusion for producing specific monoclonal antibodies for tumor detection and therapy. </span