Dendroclimatic analysis of teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) annual rings from two locations of peninsular India

Climate-related tree-growth variability in teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) has been studied based on response function analysis from dry deciduous forests of Mundagod (Karnataka) and Chandrapur (Maharashtra), peninsular India, representing two ecological zones. Rainfall during the monsoon months of the current year was found to be positively associated with radial growth of teak at both sites, whereas premonsoon April rainfall was found to be negatively associated. Rainfall and temperature of the current year during March have positive influence on the growth of teak at Chandrapur and Mundagod respectively. Furthermore, rainfall during October of the preceding year showed negative influence on tree growth at Mundagod and positive influence at Chandrapur, which might be due to the difference in relative humidity and soil type at both the locations, apart from soil moisture

Role of technology: Podcast in influencing respondents to receive a flu shot

Background and Problem: Studies have demonstrated that flu shots are an effective method to control flu infection. However, statistics reveal that only about 68% of people get vaccinated in the U.S. every year. We wanted to develop and evaluate an intervention to increase influenza vaccination rate. [See PDF for complete abstract

Preference Aware Service Recommendation Using Collaborative Filtering Approach

Service recommendations are shown as remarkable tools for providing recommendations to users in an appropriate way. In the last few years, the number of customers, online information and services has grown very rapidly, resulting in the big data analysis problem for service recommendation system. Consequently, there is scalability and inefficiency problems associated with the traditional service recommendation system which suffers in processing or analyzing large-scale data. Moreover, most of available service recommendation system gives the same rankings and ratings of services to different users without any considerations of many user’s preferences, and hence it fails to reach user’s personalized requirements. In this paper, we have proposed a Preference-Aware Service Recommendation method, to overcome the above challenges. It aims at recommending the most appropriate and preferred services to the users and provide a personalized service recommendation list in an effective way. Here, users' preferences are captured as keywords, and a user-based Collaborative filtering approach is adopted to create appropriate recommendations. A widely-adopted distributed computing platform, Hadoop is used for the implementation of this approach, which improves its efficiency and scalability in big data environment, using the MapReduce parallel processing method. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.150510

"Integrated Geospatial Solutions for Enhanced Kukadi River Basin Delineation using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques"

This study offers an innovative approach to enhance the precision and accuracy of the delineation of the Kukadi River Basin by integrating cutting-edge geospatial technologies, particularly Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) methods. Due to its varied topography and land cover, the Kukadi River Basin play a crucial hydrological entity in the area which presents difficulties for standard delineation techniques. High-resolution satellite imagery is used in the study to provide exact information on land cover in the Kukadi River Basin. The work aims to extract comprehensive land cover data by utilizing spectral analysis and image classification techniques, which are part of RS. In order to improve the delineation of the Basin borders, this data is seamlessly integrated with GIS spatial analytic tools, which also incorporate digital elevation models, slope, and other terrain metrics. The research findings demonstrate the possibility of combining RS and GIS technology to overcome the challenges associated with varying terrains, hence furthering the improvement of Basin delineation approaches. The results provide a useful and dependable paradigm for defining river Basin in a variety of geographical contexts, which is important for water resource management, Environmental Conservation, Land use planning, decision-makers, researchers, and practitioners working on hydrological studies. &nbsp

EXPLORING DEEP LEARNING APPROACHES FOR DETECTING NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES IN CROP LEAVES: A COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW

This research paper offers an extensive examination of diverse methodologies and computational approaches designed to identify deficiencies in critical plant nutrients, encompassing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, boron, sulfur, and iron. It systematically analyzes the diverse methodologies and strategies proposed by scholars, assessing their effectiveness, constraints, and precision. Plants demand 13 essential mineral nutrients for optimal growth, and any insufficiency or excess of these nutrients can critically disrupt growth or lead to plant mortality. Consequently, the establishment of a continuous monitoring system to oversee nutrient levels is imperative for the enhancement of crop yield and quality. Through diagnostic systems that utilize digital image processing, computer vision, machine learning, and deep learning frameworks (such as pre-trained Convolutional Neural Network models like InceptionV3, VGG16, VGG19, ResNet50, and ResNet152, along with Support Vector Machines), nutrient deficiencies can be detected significantly earlier than through manual methods, thereby allowing farmers to implement timely corrective actions. This article assesses the efficiency of these sophisticated methods in addressing the diagnosis of deficiencies in plant nutrients

A Study on Job Performance of Anganwadi Workers under ICDS Scheme in Sehore District of Madhya Pradesh

Under ICDS various jobs are assigned to Anganwadi workers which include coordination with block and district health care establishments to avail medical schemes and to help pregnant/lactating women and infants for nutrition supplements. Anganwadi workers also focus to ascertain immunization and health check-ups for women and children. They organize supplementary nutrition for feeding infants and keep a record of expecting mother’s childbirths and diseases/infections of any kind. They work proactively to spread awareness of health schemes run by government and inform supervisors for village’s health progression, or issues needing attention and intervention. Keeping in view the job performance of Anganwadi workers was studied by taking 120 Anganwadi workers of Sehore district. The main finding is that most of the Anganwadi workers (40.00%) had moderate job performance, 34.17% of workers had low job performance whereas, only 25.33% Anganwadi workers had high job performance

Microbiological, histological, immunological, and toxin response to antibiotic treatment in the mouse model of Mycobacterium ulcerans disease.

Mycobacterium ulcerans infection causes a neglected tropical disease known as Buruli ulcer that is now found in poor rural areas of West Africa in numbers that sometimes exceed those reported for another significant mycobacterial disease, leprosy, caused by M. leprae. Unique among mycobacterial diseases, M. ulcerans produces a plasmid-encoded toxin called mycolactone (ML), which is the principal virulence factor and destroys fat cells in subcutaneous tissue. Disease is typically first manifested by the appearance of a nodule that eventually ulcerates and the lesions may continue to spread over limbs or occasionally the trunk. The current standard treatment is 8 weeks of daily rifampin and injections of streptomycin (RS). The treatment kills bacilli and wounds gradually heal. Whether RS treatment actually stops mycolactone production before killing bacilli has been suggested by histopathological analyses of patient lesions. Using a mouse footpad model of M. ulcerans infection where the time of infection and development of lesions can be followed in a controlled manner before and after antibiotic treatment, we have evaluated the progress of infection by assessing bacterial numbers, mycolactone production, the immune response, and lesion histopathology at regular intervals after infection and after antibiotic therapy. We found that RS treatment rapidly reduced gross lesions, bacterial numbers, and ML production as assessed by cytotoxicity assays and mass spectrometric analysis. Histopathological analysis revealed that RS treatment maintained the association of the bacilli with (or within) host cells where they were destroyed whereas lack of treatment resulted in extracellular infection, destruction of host cells, and ultimately lesion ulceration. We propose that RS treatment promotes healing in the host by blocking mycolactone production, which favors the survival of host cells, and by killing M. ulcerans bacilli

Impact of Soil Health Card on Soybean Production Technology in Ujjain Block of Ujjain District, M.P

Soybean is known as “golden bean”, “miracle crop” etc, because of its several uses, It is anexcellent source of protein and oil. It contains good quality protein (43%), carbohydrate (21%), mineral(5%), moisture (8%), fat (20%), fiber (4%) and reasonable amounts of vitamins. Soybean is one of theimportant crops of the world. It is one of the most economical protein source in the world. It is a versatilecrop with innumerable possibilities of improving agriculture and supporting industry (Ali, 2003). MadhyaPradesh is known as the Soybean bowl of India, because major chunk of Soybean production is contributedby Madhya Pradesh State alone. Nutrients are essential for plants’ growth and development. When soilnutrients are missing or in short supply, plants suffer from nutrient deficiency and stop growing. Then,application of fertilizers to soils as per requirement is very important to provide balanced nutrients to theplants grown on it. Considering the growing importance of soil testing. The present study undertaken with120 soybean growers in Ujjain district of M.P. The study showed that out of the total beneficiaries, thehighest proportion of Soybean beneficiaries 45.83 percent was found to have medium impact about Soybeanproduction technology followed by high impact 33.33 percent and low impact about Soybean productiontechnology 20.84 percent respectively. Thus, the majority of beneficiaries were found to have medium impactof various components of Soybean production technology followed by high and low impact of variouscomponents of Soybean production technology.&nbsp

Chemical Hand Warmer Packet Ingestion: A Case of Elemental Iron Exposure.

For individuals who work outdoors in the winter or play winter sports, chemical hand warmers are becoming increasingly more commonplace because of their convenience and effectiveness. A 32-year-old woman with a history of chronic pain and bipolar disorder presented to the emergency department complaining of a warm sensation in her mouth and epigastrium after reportedly ingesting the partial contents of a chemical hand warmer packet containing between 5 and 8 g of elemental iron. She had been complaining of abdominal pain for approximately 1 month and was prescribed unknown antibiotics the previous day. The patient denied ingestion of any other product or medication other than what was prescribed. A serum iron level obtained approximately 6 hours after ingestion measured 235 micrograms/dL (reference range 40-180 micrograms/dL). As the patient demonstrated no new abdominal complaints and no evidence of systemic iron toxicity, she was discharged uneventfully after education. However, the potential for significant iron toxicity exists depending on the extent of exposure to this or similar products. Treatment for severe iron toxicity may include fluid resuscitation, whole bowel irrigation, and iron chelation therapy with deferoxamine. Physicians should become aware of the toxicity associated with ingestion of commercially available hand warmers. Consultation with a medical toxicologist is recommended

Bouveret's syndrome as an unusual cause of gastric outlet obstruction: a case report

An 83 year old caucasian gentleman presented with vomiting and left sided abdominal pain. A subsequent upper GI endoscopy demonstrated a large smooth mass impacted within the duodenum. A cholecysto-duodenal fistula was discovered at laparotomy, with a large gallstone impacted in the duodenum. A diagnosis of Bouveret's syndrome was made. The management of this rare cause of gastric outlet obstruction is discussed