Study of Detached (Fresh) Leaf and Dried Leaf with Image Processing

Agriculture is the keystone of human being provisions on this world. Now with rising inhabitants we need the efficiency of the agriculture to be augmented a lot to meet the demands. In ancient days they used natural methods to boost the yield, such as using the animal dung as manure in the fields. That resulted increase in the productivity sufficient to meet the requirements of the population. Although later people started thinking of earning more profits by getting more result. So, there came a revolution called “Green Revolution”. So, in this paper we have carried out some methods to measure the plant growth by the means of having area of a leaf. The study gives aspect of comparing the detached leaf with the dried leaf and it will be helpful to researcher to evaluate the dryness and also it will be helpful for the analysis at the time of biodegradation of the leaves and for the generation of organic manures. In this paper we implemented image processing using IJ (Image J 1.48V – Java 1.6.0_20(32- bit)) to measure various image processing related functions. And images of plants we took from D. K. Parmar’s field. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15011

Estimation of Plant Leaf Area using Java Image Processing Techniques

Leaf area represents the amount of leaf material in ecosystems and controls the links between biosphere and atmosphere through various processes like photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration and rain interception. It is also helpful parameter in evaluating damage caused by leaf diseases and pastes, micronutrient deficiencies, water and environmental stress, need of fertilization for effective management and treatment. Precision agriculture production adapting rapid and accurate methods to measure plant leaf area. At presently, grid counting and Leaf Area Meter (Li3100) are used as conventional methods for leaf area estimation. These methods are simple in principle and highly accurate but tend to be time consuming. The above constraints can be overcome by proposed Leaf Area Meter (LAM); a Java based Image processing software application. The software application has many advantages like User friendly, fast, accurate and reusable. The paper discusses different Leaf Area (LA) estimation methods namely Instrument based Using Li 3100 Machine, Manual Graph based Method and Software based Method. Results show that LAM software gives 99.96% to 95.31% accurate results for different leaves except Jasud. Between two image formats, .jpg format shows comparatively less error than .png format. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15029

Determinants of enrollment in the NHIS for women in Ghana

Background The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was introduced in 2005 to provide equitable access to healthcare. Furthermore, concessions were made for pregnant women, yet inequities in access continue to exist. This study explores whether dimensions of social exclusion explain why some groups of women are not benefitting from the scheme. Methods Data was collected from 4050 representative households in five districts. Logistic regression is used to examine the factors that determine enrolment of women under the NHIS. Results The study sample consists of a sub-sample of 3,173 women out of whom 58% were insured. The majority (64.9%) of the women were in the reproductive age (15-45 years). The results show that wealth status, age, health status, locality, perception about the quality of care at health facilities and perception of the NHIS, are the key factors that determine enrolment into the scheme. Conclusion With women dominating the informal sector of Ghana’s economy which is often characterised by relatively low incomes, these inequities in access need to be addressed

Equitable access to health insurance for socially excluded children? The case of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Ghana

To help reduce child mortality and reach universal health coverage, Ghana extended free membership of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to children (under-18s) in 2008. However, despite the introduction of premium waivers, a substantial proportion of children remain uninsured. Thus far, few studies have explored why enrolment of children in NHIS may remain low, despite the absence of significant financial barriers to membership. In this paper we therefore look beyond economic explanations of access to health insurance to explore additional wider determinants of enrolment in the NHIS. In particular, we investigate whether social exclusion, as measured through a sociocultural, political and economic lens, can explain poor enrolment rates of children. Data were collected from a cross-sectional survey of 4050 representative households conducted in Ghana in 2012. Household indices were created to measure sociocultural, political and economic exclusion, and logistic regressions were conducted to study determinants of enrolment at the individual and household levels. Our results indicate that socioculturally, economically and politically excluded children are less likely to enrol in the NHIS. Furthermore, households excluded in all dimensions were more likely to be non-enrolled or partially-enrolled (i.e. not all children enrolled within the household) than fully-enrolled. These results suggest that equity in access for socially excluded children has not yet been achieved. Efforts should be taken to improve coverage by removing the remaining small, annually renewable registration fee, implementing and publicising the new clause that de-links premium waivers from parental membership, establishing additional scheme administrative offices in remote areas, holding regular registration sessions in schools and conducting outreach sessions and providing registration support to female guardians of children. Ensuring equitable access to NHIS will contribute substantially to improving child health and reducing child mortality in Ghana

Intercalation-enhanced electric polarization and chain formation of nano-layered particles

Microscopy observations show that suspensions of synthetic and natural nano-layered smectite clay particles submitted to a strong external electric field undergo a fast and extended structuring. This structuring results from the interaction between induced electric dipoles, and is only possible for particles with suitable polarization properties. Smectite clay colloids are observed to be particularly suitable, in contrast to similar suspensions of a non-swelling clay. Synchrotron X-ray scattering experiments provide the orientation distributions for the particles. These distributions are understood in terms of competing (i) homogenizing entropy and (ii) interaction between the particles and the local electric field; they show that clay particles polarize along their silica sheet. Furthermore, a change in the platelet separation inside nano-layered particles occurs under application of the electric field, indicating that intercalated ions and water molecules play a role in their electric polarization. The resulting induced dipole is structurally attached to the particle, and this causes particles to reorient and interact, resulting in the observed macroscopic structuring. The macroscopic properties of these electro-rheological smectite suspensions may be tuned by controlling the nature and quantity of the intercalated species, at the nanoscale.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Does the advent of modern implant systems and the refinement of free flap technique negate the effect of radiotherapy in oral cancer dental implant based oral rehabilitation

Aim: The aim of this study was to see whether the advent of modern implant systems, and the refinement of free flap techniques, negate the effect of radiotherapy in patients with oral cancer who undergo dental implant–based oral rehabilitation. Materials and method: A retrospective study was performed to look at the success rates of implants placed in all patients, in a 3 year period at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. Survival rates in irradiated patients were compared with success rates in patients who did receive radiotherapy. Results and conclusions: The rate of failure is comparable in the no radiotherapy group (1.12%) and post-radiotherapy group (1.76%). Our study shows that there was no significant difference in survival when implants were placed in native, grafted bone or in free flap reconstructions in irradiated head and neck cancer patients. Ultimately, the current evidence is not strong enough to prove whether the advent of modern implants systems, and the refinement of free flap techniques, does negate the effect of radiotherapy in patients with oral cancer undergoing dental implant–based oral rehabilitation. There is a need to perform a prospective clinical trial to observe clinical outcomes in both patients who have received radiotherapy and those who have not received radiotherap

Constraints on Thermal Emission Models of Anomalous X-ray Pulsars

Thermal emission from the surface of an ultramagnetic neutron star is believed to contribute significantly to the soft X-ray flux of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars. We compare the detailed predictions of models of the surface emission from a magnetar to the observed properties of AXPs. In particular, we focus on the combination of their luminosities and energy-dependent pulsed fractions. We use the results of recent calculations for strongly magnetized atmospheres to obtain the angle- and energy-dependence of the surface emission. We include in our calculations the effects of general relativistic photon transport and interstellar extinction. We find that the combination of the large pulsed fractions and the high luminosities of AXPs cannot be accounted for by surface emission from a magnetar with two antipodal hot regions or a temperature distribution characteristic of a magnetic dipole. This result is robust for reasonable neutron star radii, for the range of magnetic field strengths inferred from the observed spin down rates, and for surface temperatures consistent with the spectral properties of AXPs. Models with a single hot emitting region can reproduce the observations, provided that the distance to one of the sources is ~30% less than the current best estimate, and allowing for systematic uncertainties in the spectral fit of a second source. Finally, the thermal emission models with antipodal emission geometry predict a characteristic strong increase of the pulsed fraction with photon energy, which is apparently inconsistent with the current data. The energy-dependence of the pulsed fraction in the models with one hot region shows a wider range of behavior and can be consistent with the existing data. Upcoming high-resolution observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton will provide a conclusive test.Comment: 25 preprint pages, 7 color figures, ApJ, in pres

4U2206+54 - an Unusual High Mass X-ray Binary with a 9.6 Day Orbital Period but No Strong Pulsations

Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer All-Sky Monitor observations of the X-ray source 4U2206+54, previously proposed to be a Be star system, show the X-ray flux to be modulated with a period of approximately 9.6 days. If the modulation is due to orbital variability then this would be one of the shortest orbital periods known for a Be star X-ray source. However, the X-ray luminosity is relatively modest whereas a high luminosity would be predicted if the system contains a neutron star accreting from the denser inner regions of a Be star envelope. Although a 392s pulse period was previously reported from EXOSAT observations, a reexamination of the EXOSAT light curves does not show this or any other periodicity. An analysis of archival RXTE Proportional Counter Array observations also fails to show any X-ray pulsations. We consider possible models that may explain the properties of this source including a neutron star with accretion halted at the magnetosphere and an accreting white dwarf.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa