An Interacting Scenario for Dark Energy in Bianchi Type-I Universe

We study the interaction between dark energy (DE) and dark matter (DM) in the scope of anisotropic bianchi type I space-time. First we derive the general form of the dark energy equation of state parameter (EoS) in both non-interacting and interacting cases and then we examine it's future by applying a hyperbolic scale factor. It is shown that in non-interacting case, depending on the value of the anisotropy parameter $K$, the dark energy EoS parameter is varying from phantom to quintessence whereas in interacting case EoS parameter vary in quintessence region. However, in both cases the dark energy EoS parameter $\omega^{de}$, ultimately (i. e at $z=-1$) tends to the cosmological constant ($\omega^{de}=-1$). Moreover, we fixed the cosmological bound on the anisotropy parameter $K$ by using the recent observational data of Hubble parameter.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 201

Associative search through formal concept analysis in criminal intelligence analysis

Criminal Intelligence Analysis often requires a search different from the semantic and keyword based searching to reveal the associations among semantically and operationally connected objects within a crime knowledge base. In this paper we introduce associative search as a search along the networks of association between objects like people, places, other organizations, products, events, services, and so on. We also propose an associative search model based on the 5WH associated concepts of a crime, i.e. WHAT (what has happened), WHO (who was involved in the crime), WHEN (the temporal information of the crime), WHERE (the geo-spatial information of the crime) HOW (the modus-operandi used in committing a crime). We have employed Formal Concept Analysis theory to reveal the associations, highlighting Hot Spots, offender‘s profile and its associated offenders in a criminal activit

Ethanologenic potential of the bacterium Bacillus cereus NB-19 in media comprising of sugar mill and dairy industrial wastes

Ethanologenic bacterium was cultivated in a suspension of sugarcane bagasse and processed yogurt whey under the predetermined growth optimized conditions. It was found that blending of processeddefatted yogurt whey with 2% sugarcane bagasse (MNCH-9 medium) caused significantly higher growth of the bacterium after 24 h of incubation as compared to the values obtained when the Bacillus cereus-NB-19 was cultivated in MNCH-2 (2% bagasse in distilled water) and MNCH-10 (only processed whey). Saccharification potential of the bacterium increased significantly when the bagasse was supplemented with whey. Glucose contents of the cultured MNCH-9 turned out significantly higher as compared to the corresponding values of MNCH-2 at various sampling periods. Provision of whey caused significant increase in xylose content, so that the media MNCH-9 and MNCH-10 attained 3.77 and 4.74 folds of thepentose sugar, respectively, as compared to the value obtained for the MNCH-2. Likewise, much elevated levels of proteins and lipids were found in the culture fluids of MNCH-9 and MNCH-10 as compared to the corresponding figures for the MNCH-2. Cellulase activities of cultivated MNCH-9 and MNCH-10 turned out to be 5.75 folds higher at first sampling period as compared to the value obtained for MNCH-2 culture. At 12th day of the fermentation, MNCH-9 culture fluid showed more than 30% higherethanol content as compared to the yield obtained in case of MNCH-2. The MNCH-10 expressed ethanol even less than the value found for the MNCH-2. Conclusively, blending of processed whey to sugarcanebagasse is very useful for obtaining yields of the different products including cell mass and ethanol as compared to the cultivation of the B. cereus NB-19 in media containing only bagasse or whey. Theseresults dictate the importance of blending agro-industrial wastes of varying nature for their efficient and economical upgradation tied up with the selection of suitable microorganism(s). Such trends are likely to gain more attention of the scientists in related areas

A reinforcement learning recommender system using bi-clustering and Markov Decision Process

Collaborative filtering (CF) recommender systems are static in nature and does not adapt well with changing user preferences. User preferences may change after interaction with a system or after buying a product. Conventional CF clustering algorithms only identifies the distribution of patterns and hidden correlations globally. However, the impossibility of discovering local patterns by these algorithms, headed to the popularization of bi-clustering algorithms. Bi-clustering algorithms can analyze all dataset dimensions simultaneously and consequently, discover local patterns that deliver a better understanding of the underlying hidden correlations. In this paper, we modelled the recommendation problem as a sequential decision-making problem using Markov Decision Processes (MDP). To perform state representation for MDP, we first converted user-item votings matrix to a binary matrix. Then we performed bi-clustering on this binary matrix to determine a subset of similar rows and columns. A bi-cluster merging algorithm is designed to merge similar and overlapping bi-clusters. These bi-clusters are then mapped to a squared grid (SG). RL is applied on this SG to determine best policy to give recommendation to users. Start state is determined using Improved Triangle Similarity (ITR similarity measure. Reward function is computed as grid state overlapping in terms of users and items in current and prospective next state. A thorough comparative analysis was conducted, encompassing a diverse array of methodologies, including RL-based, pure Collaborative Filtering (CF), and clustering methods. The results demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms its competitors in terms of precision, recall, and optimal policy learning

Development of reporter genes for use in gram positive bacteria

Green fluorescent protein (gfp) and bacterial luminescence (lux) reporter genes have been used to construct a variety of reporter plasmids for Gram positive bacteria with the aim of using these for bacterial localisation and gene expression studies. The native gfp and luxCDABE genes were cloned into a shuttle vector and the resulting plasmids used to transform Listeria monocytogenes. However, the bacterial populations were found to be weakly fluorescent or luminescent compared to E. coli harbouring the same plasmids. When L. monocytogenes expressing gfp were examined by fluorescence microscopy, only a small proportion of the population was seen to fluoresce. This phenomenon was observed regardless of the gfp variant used in the cloning procedure. However, when gfp3 was placed downstream of PxylA, slightly more individual fluorescent cells were observed compared to when gfp3 was expressed from Pxyn, but the majority of the population was still non-fluorescent. Northern blot analysis and subsequent analysis by SDS PAGE and immunoblotting lead to the supposition that translation of gfp was limiting in L. monocytogenes. A variety of factors could potentially lead to poor translation of the protein, for example poor codon usage, the presence of a ribosome stall site, or poor initiation of translation by the ribosomes. These were all investigated in tum to determine why translation of gfp3 was limiting. Modification of the translational initiation region of gfp3, resulted in a homogeneously fluorescent L. monocytogenes population when the modified gene was expressed from PxylA. Individual lux genes, luxA, luxC and luxE were also translationally enhanced in a similar way to gfp3, and reorganised into an operon where the luciferase genes were adjacent to, but separate from the aldehyde genes. This engineered luxABCDE operon was also expressed from PxylA and highly luminescent populations of L. monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus obtained. Having optimised translation for expression III Gram positive bacteria, these reporters were used to construct a variety of reporter plasmids that were successfully employed to observe the intracellular invasion and to monitor agr expression in S. aureus

Development of reporter genes for use in gram positive bacteria

Green fluorescent protein (gfp) and bacterial luminescence (lux) reporter genes have been used to construct a variety of reporter plasmids for Gram positive bacteria with the aim of using these for bacterial localisation and gene expression studies. The native gfp and luxCDABE genes were cloned into a shuttle vector and the resulting plasmids used to transform Listeria monocytogenes. However, the bacterial populations were found to be weakly fluorescent or luminescent compared to E. coli harbouring the same plasmids. When L. monocytogenes expressing gfp were examined by fluorescence microscopy, only a small proportion of the population was seen to fluoresce. This phenomenon was observed regardless of the gfp variant used in the cloning procedure. However, when gfp3 was placed downstream of PxylA, slightly more individual fluorescent cells were observed compared to when gfp3 was expressed from Pxyn, but the majority of the population was still non-fluorescent. Northern blot analysis and subsequent analysis by SDS PAGE and immunoblotting lead to the supposition that translation of gfp was limiting in L. monocytogenes. A variety of factors could potentially lead to poor translation of the protein, for example poor codon usage, the presence of a ribosome stall site, or poor initiation of translation by the ribosomes. These were all investigated in tum to determine why translation of gfp3 was limiting. Modification of the translational initiation region of gfp3, resulted in a homogeneously fluorescent L. monocytogenes population when the modified gene was expressed from PxylA. Individual lux genes, luxA, luxC and luxE were also translationally enhanced in a similar way to gfp3, and reorganised into an operon where the luciferase genes were adjacent to, but separate from the aldehyde genes. This engineered luxABCDE operon was also expressed from PxylA and highly luminescent populations of L. monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus obtained. Having optimised translation for expression III Gram positive bacteria, these reporters were used to construct a variety of reporter plasmids that were successfully employed to observe the intracellular invasion and to monitor agr expression in S. aureus

Distal radius fractures: a prospective study of the clinical and radiological outcomes in surgically managed patients

Background: Objective of the research was to evaluate radiological and functional outcome in fractures of the distal radius treated by various surgical methods.Methods: 89 patients with distal radius fractures were randomly divided into three groups according to a computer-generated table of randomization. 40 patients were managed by K wire fixation. 22 patients were managed by external fixator. 27 patients were managed by volar plating technique. Anatomical restoration was evaluated by posterior-anterior and lateral radiographs obtained preoperatively and at 09 months of follow up to evaluate radial height (RH), radial inclination (RI) and volar tilt (VT). Functional outcome was evaluated using Mayo scoring system.Results: According to Mayo score, in K-wire group 72.5% (n=29) patients had excellent to good outcome, 17.5% (n=7) had fair outcome while as 10% (n=4) patients had poor outcome. In external fixator group 72.7% (n=16) patients had excellent to good outcome while as 27.3% (n=6) had fair outcome. In volar plating group 81.5% (n=22) patients had excellent to good outcome while as 18.5% (n=5) had fair outcome.Conclusions: In our study we found that volar locked plating provides advantage in dorsally or volarly displaced intra-articular fractures with excellent to good radiological outcome. However, in type B (partial intra-articular fractures) fractures, volar locking compression plate (LCP) and external fixator provide almost equivocal results. Percutaneous pinning can be recommended for extra-articular or simple intra-articular fracture patterns, with a loss of volar and/or RI but without significant radial shortening

Fungal endophyte misidentified as Neurospora crassa.

The endophytic fungus isolate, ZP5SE, recently described in Rehman et al. 2008 was misidentified identified as Neurospora crassa. The 28S ribosomal gene sequence of the isolate shows 100% sequence similarity with GenBank accession Neurospora crassa M38154

Effect of Modified Atmosphere Packaging on Maintenance of Quality in Apple

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on the quality of 'Red Delicious' and 'Golden Delicious' apples. Freshly harvested fruits were wiped clean and (25 μm thick) with varying number of perforations and stored in cardboard boxes at ambient temperature. 'Golden Delicious' showed higher incidence of bitter pit as compared to 'Red Delicious' apples. MAP proved effective in controlling the bitter pit disorder and in maintenance of quality. The least incidence of bitter pit in 'Golden Delicious' was recorded with T4 (30 x 2 mm perforation) and T3 (20 x 2 mm) treatment in 'Red Delicious' apples. However, MAP retained more freshness in 'Golden Delicious' than in 'Red Delicious'

Law Libraries and Laboratories: The Legacies of Langdell and His Metaphor

Law Librarians and others have often referred to Harvard Law School Dean C.C. Langdell’s statements that the law library is the lawyer’s laboratory. Professor Danner examines the context of what Langdell through his other writings, the educational environment at Harvard in the late nineteenth century, and the changing perceptions of university libraries generally. He then considers how the “laboratory metaphor” has been applied by librarians and legal scholars during the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. The article closes with thoughts on Langdell’s legacy for law librarians and the usefulness of the laboratory metaphor