Dynamic pressure on lock gate structure coupled with fluid

The effect of fluid on the dynamic pressure distribution of a rectangular lock gate structure subjected to external harmonic ground acceleration is studied. The fluid is assumed to be inviscid and incompressible, having an irrotational flow. Pressure for fluid domain and displacement for lock gate are considered as nodal variables in the finite element formulation. The interaction of coupled problem is maintained by transferring acceleration of the lock gate to fluid and pressure of the fluid to lock gate. Mindlin’s plate theory is used to formulate the lock gate. The Laplace equation is solved using Fourier half range cosine series expansion to truncate the far boundary nearer to the lock gate. The time dependent forced vibration equations are solved by using Newmark-beta time integration method

Chasing the Intruder: A Reinforcement Learning Approach for Tracking Intruder Drones

Drones are becoming versatile in a myriad of applications. This has led to the use of drones for spying and intruding into the restricted or private air spaces. Such foul use of drone technology is dangerous for the safety and security of many critical infrastructures. In addition, due to the varied low-cost design and agility of the drones, it is a challenging task to identify and track them using the conventional radar systems. In this paper, we propose a reinforcement learning based approach for identifying and tracking any intruder drone using a chaser drone. Our proposed solution uses computer vision techniques interleaved with the policy learning framework of reinforcement learning to learn a control policy for chasing the intruder drone. The whole system has been implemented using ROS and Gazebo along with the Ardupilot based flight controller. The results show that the reinforcement learning based policy converges to identify and track the intruder drone. Further, the learnt policy is robust with respect to the change in speed or orientation of the intruder drone

Ethnobotanical Studies of Nubra Valley - A Cold Arid Zone of Himalaya

An attempt has been made to explore traditional medicinal knowledge of Nubra valley, the cold arid zone of Himalaya. Ethnobotanical information were gathered through several visits, group discussions and cross checked with local medicine men. The study identified 65 plant species belonging to 30 families have been used to cure various diseases and ailments. Maximum number of species was recorded to be used in kidney complaints (14 spp.), cold & cough (13 spp.) and fever (11 spp.). Leaves of 27 species; whole plant extract of 20 species and root/bulb of 19 species were mostly used. Juice, raw items, paste and decoction of plant species were the common method of usage. A large number of ethnic groups with varied culture inhabiting the remote and isolated valleys of Ladakh offer a great scope for ethnobotanical studies. Over exploitation of medicinal herbs can lead to the local extinction of the valuable herbs indicating an urgent need to draw up the necessary plans for medicinal plant utilization and conservation

EVALUATION OF IN VITRO ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY AND HPTLC ANALYSIS OF PLANT PHYLLANTHUS FRATERNUS

Objective: The present investigation evaluated in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of Phyllanthus fraternus. Inhibition of Cyclooxygenase and 5-lipoxygenase was performed along with protein denaturation.Methods: Alcoholic extract of plant was subjected to in vitro anti-inflammatory activity and HPTLC analysis.Results: The results of anti-inflammatory activity showed significant inhibition in Cyclooxygenase and 5-lipoxygenase assay, extract also showed more than 70 % inhibition in protein denaturation method. HPTLC of plant materials was also performed; spots of alkaloids were recorded.Conclusion: Different alkaloids were spotted in chromatographic analysis and study suggested that anti-inflammatory activity of Phyllanthus fraternus may be due to the presence of alkaloids.Â

Phytochemical and Anti-Inflammatory Evaluation of Herbal Gel Prepared from Bark Extract of Mesua Ferrea Linn

The present research work involves formulation of herbal gel containing stem bark extracts of Mesua ferrea Linn and its evaluation for in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. The gel formulations were prepared using ethanolic extracts along with different polymer. The physiochemical parameters of formulations like; pH, viscosity and spreadability etc. also evaluated. Phytochemical analysis revealed presence of phenols, flavonoids and alkaloids, etc. The ethanolic extracts showed appreciable anti-inflammatory activity compared to the standard drug. Study confirmed that potential anti-inflammatory formulation can be developed from bark extract of Mesua ferrea Linn.   Keywords: Mesua ferrea Linn., Anti-inflammatory, Herbal Gel, Phytochemical, Albumin denaturation

ANTIMICROBIAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF CISSUS QUADRANGULARIS L.

The present investigation involves antimicrobial and phytochemical evaluation of Cissus quadrangularis L. The antibacterial activity of Cissus quadrangularis was performed using disk diffusion method. The Results of study proved prompt efficacy of herbal extract against S. aureus and E. coli. The concentration dependent antibacterial activity of extract was observed against both organisms. Study also involves phytochemical investigation of herbal extract using HPTLC, IR and UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The result of study indicated that the methanolic extract possessed most potent antibacterial activity as compared to other extract. The antibacterial activity increases with the concentration and results indicated that the diameters of zone inhibition of the extract were comparable with the standard drug. The antimicrobial potential of plant extract may be attributed to the presence of specific phytoconstituents