Evidences for Extreme Wave Events in Velanganni Coast, Southeast of India

The present study focuses on sediment grain size, microfossil content and heavy minerals present in the sediments collected from a trench in the southeast coast of India in order to identify the frequent extreme wave events (e.g. storm surge, cyclone, tsunami, etc.). Two different depositional events were identified at different depths with distinct sedimentological, mineralogical and microfossil characteristics. These geological features further improve the understanding of depositional sequences in this region

Prospective Study of the Diagnostic Accuracy of the In Vivo Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope for Severe Microbial Keratitis.

To determine the diagnostic accuracy of in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) for moderate to severe microbial keratitis (MK). Double-masked prospective cohort study. Consecutive patients presenting to Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India, between February 2012 and February 2013 with MK (diameter ≥3 mm, excluding descemetocele, perforation, or herpetic keratitis). Following examination, the corneal ulcer was scanned by IVCM (HRT3/RCM, Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). Images were graded for the presence or absence of fungal hyphae or Acanthamoeba cysts by the confocal microscopist who performed the scan (masked to microbial diagnosis) and 4 other experienced confocal graders (masked to clinical features and microbiology). The regrading of the shuffled image set was performed by 3 graders, 3 weeks later. Corneal-scrape samples were collected for microscopy and culture. The main outcome measures were sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of IVCM compared with those of a reference standard of positive culture or light microscopy. Sensitivities and specificities for multiple graders were pooled and 95% confidence intervals calculated using a bivariate random-effects regression model. The study enrolled 239 patients with MK. Fungal infection was detected in 176 (74%) and Acanthamoeba in 17 (7%) by microbiological methods. IVCM had an overall pooled (5 graders) sensitivity of 85.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 82.2%-88.6%) and pooled specificity of 81.4% (95% CI: 76.0%-85.9%) for fungal filament detection. For Acanthamoeba, the pooled sensitivity was 88.2% (95% CI: 76.2%-94.6%) and pooled specificity was 98.2% (95% CI: 94.9%-99.3%). Intergrader agreement was good: κ was 0.88 for definite fungus; κ was 0.72 for definite Acanthamoeba. Intragrader repeatability was high for both definite fungus (κ: 0.88-0.95) and definite Acanthamoeba classification (κ: 0.63-0.90). IVCM images from 11 patients were considered by all 5 graders to have a specific organism present (10 fungus, 1 Acanthamoeba) but had negative results via culture and light microscopy. Laser scanning IVCM performed with experienced confocal graders has high sensitivity, specificity, and test reproducibility for detecting fungal filaments and Acanthamoeba cysts in moderate to large corneal ulcers in India. This imaging modality was particularly useful for detecting organisms in deep ulcers in which culture and light microscopy results were negative

Recent benthic foraminifera from off the coast of Arkattuthurai (near Nagapattinam), south east coast of India

877-887<span style="font-size:9.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt" lang="EN-GB">Sediment samples were collected from 12 stations ranging in depth from &lt;1 m to 6m for the study of foraminiferal fauna. In the present study, 41 foraminiferal species belonging to 22 genera have been identified. It consists 4 arenaceous agglutinated, 16 calcareous porcelaneous and the rest 21 calcareous perforate. Shore station is poorly populated while intermediate stations of the traverse (station 6 and 7) have a large population. Among the 41 foraminiferal species, the following species viz., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Ammonia beccarii, A. dentata, A. tepida, Asterorotalia inflata, Elphidium crispum, Osangularia venusta, and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> Quinqueloculina seminulum are found to be widespread and abundantly occurring. Sedimentological parameters such as CaCO3, organic matter determined from all these samples ranging from 11.26 – 12.22%, 0.67 - 0.90%, respectively. Out of the possible 12 sediment types (Trefethen, 1950) only three namely, sand, silty sand and clay sand are represented in this area. Among these three sediment types the most accommodative substrate for foraminiferal species has been found to be clay sand in the present area. Main ecological parameters which govern the distribution of foraminifera are organic matter content, calcium carbonate content and nature of the substrate. </span

Not Available

Not AvailableIn e-learning, learning object sequencing is a challenging task. It is difficult to sequence learning objects manually due to their abundant availability and the numerous combinations possible. An adaptive e-learning system that offers a personalized learning path would enhance the academic performance of learners. The main challenge in providing a personalized learning path is finding the right match between individual characteristics and learning content sequences. This paper presents a collaborative optimization algorithm, combining ant colony optimization and a genetic algorithm to provide learners with a personalized learning path. The proposed algorithm utilizes the stochastic nature of ant colony optimization and exploration characteristics of the genetic algorithm to build an optimal solution. Performance of the proposed algorithm has been assessed by conducting qualitative and quantitative experiments. This study establishes that the hybrid approach provides a better solution than the traditional approach. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Not Availabl

Review on characteristics of biomaterial and nanomaterials based polymeric nanocomposite membranes for seawater treatment application

Membrane technology, especially nanofiltration (NF) has great attention to provide an imperative solution for water issues. The membrane is considered to be the heart in the separation plant. Understanding the membrane characteristics could allow predicting and optimizing the membrane performance namely flux, rejection and reduced fouling. The membrane development using biomaterials and nanomaterials provides a remarkable opportunity in the water application. This review focuses on the membrane characteristics of biomaterials and nanomaterials based nanofiltration. In this review, recent researches based on biomaterials and nanomaterials loaded membrane for salt rejection have been analyzed. Membrane fouling depends on the membrane characteristics and this review defined fouling as a ubiquitous bottleneck challenge that hampers the NF blooming applications. Fouling mitigation strategies via membrane modification using biomaterial (chitosan, curcumin and vanillin) and various other nanomaterials are critically reviewed. This review also highlights the membrane cleaning and focuses on concentrates disposal methods with zero liquid discharge system for resource recovery. Finally, the conclusion and future prospects of membrane technology are discussed. From this current review, it is apparent that the biomaterial and various other nanomaterials acquire exclusive properties that facilitate membrane advancement with improved capability for water treatment. Regardless of membrane material developments, still exist considerable difficulties in membrane commercialization. Thus, additional studies related to this field are needed to produce membranes with better performance for large‒scale applications

Explainable AI for Soil Fertility Prediction

Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil in a particular area to provide favorable chemical, physical and biological characteristics that help the plant in its growth. It is affected by multiple parameters, from the available concentration of Nitrogen in the soil to the concentration of Organic Carbon in the soil. This paper discusses the implementation of an explainable AI (XAI) model based on a Random Forest classifier. The developed model reliably predicts the relative soil fertility of a given soil using its various physiochemical properties, and explain the reasons behind the model&#x2019;s soil fertility indicator prediction using user friendly graphs. The model shows 97.02&#x0025; accuracy in comparison with state-of-the-art machine learning models. The paper also discusses applications of developed model in providing possible solutions to further improve upon soil fertility in the short term and long term

Structural, spectral, computational, thermal and antibacterial studies on a co-crystal: 2-Aminopyrazine phthalic acid

In the present work, the crystal growth of a new co-crystal of aminopyrazine with phthalic acid (APPA) and the corresponding structural, vibrational, thermal and antibacterial characteristics have been reported. Crystals of aminopyrazine phthalicacid (PAPA) were grown by slow solvent evaporation technique. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the present crystal structure is monoclinic system with P21/n space group. In the crystal structure, molecules were connected via N-H center dot center dot center dot O and O-H center dot center dot center dot N intermolecular hydrogen bonds with R-2(2)(8) and R-4(4)(18) ring motifs thus forming a C-2(2)(10) chain motif along the b axis. The crystal structure was dominated by N-H center dot center dot center dot O and weak O-H center dot center dot center dot N interactions and it was quantitatively analyzed by Hirshfeld surface and fingerprint analysis. The molecular geometry of the grown crystal was optimized theoretically by using density functional theory with B3LYP/cc-PVTZ basis set. The optimized molecular geometry and computed vibrational spectra were compared with experimental results which showed noteworthy agreement. Thermal stability was determined as 148 degrees C for APPA crystal using TG/DTA study. The atomic charge distribution on atoms of APPA molecule has been calculated by Mulliken charge analysis. Energy gap, ionization potential and chemical hardness of the APPA molecule were carried out by HOMO-LUMO plot. In which, the frontier orbitals has lower band gap value indicating the possible bio activity of the molecule. The natural bond orbital analysis was carried out to interpret the stability of the molecule and charge delocalization within the molecule. The antibacterial activity of the compound was tested and found increased significantly against all bacteria. Enhanced antibacterial activity of the APPA was attributed to the synergistic effects of intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions N-H center dot center dot center dot O and O-H center dot center dot center dot N between APZ and PA. The molecular docking study supported the antibacterial activity and exhibiting the binding energy. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved