Assessment of the efficiency of sewage treatment plants: a comparative study between Nagasandra and Mailasandra sewage treatment plants

Bangalore city hosts two Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants (UWTPs) towards the periphery of Vrishabhavathi valley, located in Nellakedaranahalli village of Nagasandra and Mailasandra Village, Karnataka, India. These plants are designed and constructed with an aim to manage wastewater so as to minimize and/or remove organic matter, solids, nutrients, disease-causing organisms and other pollutants, before it reenters a water body. It was revealed from the performance study that efficiency of the two treatment plants was poor with respect to removal of total dissolved solids in contrast to the removal/reduction in other parameters like total suspended solids, BOD and COD. In Mailasandra STP, TDS, TSS, BOD, and COD removal efficiency was 20.01, 94.51, 94.98 and 76.26 % and respectively, while in Nagasandra STP, TDS, TSS, BOD, and COD removal efficiency was 28.45, 99.0, 97.6 and 91.60 % respectively. The order of reduction efficiency was TDS < COD < TSS < BOD and TDS < COD < BOD < TSS respectively in Mailasandra and Nagasandra STPs. Additionally, the problems associated with the operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment plants is discussed. Keywords: Total dissolved solids; Chemical oxygen demand; Biochemical oxygen demand; Aeration tank; Mixed liquor suspended solids; Sludge volume index DOI: 10.3126/kuset.v6i2.4020 Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Vol.6. No II, November, 2010, pp.115-12

Lagrangian bias in the local bias model

It is often assumed that the halo-patch fluctuation field can be written as a Taylor series in the initial Lagrangian dark matter density fluctuation field. We show that if this Lagrangian bias is local, and the initial conditions are Gaussian, then the two-point cross-correlation between halos and mass should be linearly proportional to the mass-mass auto-correlation function. This statement is exact and valid on all scales; there are no higher order contributions, e.g., from terms proportional to products or convolutions of two-point functions, which one might have thought would appear upon truncating the Taylor series of the halo bias function. In addition, the auto-correlation function of locally biased tracers can be written as a Taylor series in the auto-correlation function of the mass; there are no terms involving, e.g., derivatives or convolutions. Moreover, although the leading order coefficient, the linear bias factor of the auto-correlation function is just the square of that for the cross-correlation, it is the same as that obtained from expanding the mean number of halos as a function of the local density only in the large-scale limit. In principle, these relations allow simple tests of whether or not halo bias is indeed local in Lagrangian space. We discuss why things are more complicated in practice. We also discuss our results in light of recent work on the renormalizability of halo bias, demonstrating that it is better to renormalize than not. We use the Lognormal model to illustrate many of our findings.Comment: 14 pages, published on JCA

DYSTOCIA DUE TO PEROSOMUS HORRIDUS MONSTER IN A SAHIWAL COW - A CASE REPORT

The present case study reports dystocia due to Perosomus horridus monster in a Sahiwal cow and its successful management through per-vaginal delivery

NEURAL NETWORK IMPLEMENTATION FOR CHARACTER RECOGNITION

This paper describes a NEURAL NETWORK based technique for feature extraction applicable to segmentation-based word recognition systems. The proposed system extracts the geometric features of the character contour.. The system gives a feature vector as its output. The feature vectors so generated from a training set, were then used to train a pattern recognition engine based on Neural Networks so that the system can be benchmarked. Since, an attempt was made to develop a system that used the methods that humans use to perceive handwritten characters. Hence a  system that recognizes handwritten characters using Pattern recognition was developed.Here the data generated by comparison of two images was stored in excel format and then calling that data as an indivual input for generation of simulink diagram. Pattern recognition can be used to model human perception. The mathematics that Pattern recognition requires is extremely fundamental. Thus, any algorithm developed using Pattern recognition would require relatively simple and short calculations. Due to simplicity of calculations, they can be implemented on any hardware or software platform without too much concern for computing power. In this paper first part is about introduction to  character Recognition. Then next part giving short introduction  to Neuarl network implementaion for image processing using MATLAB

The first SSR-based genetic linkage map for cultivated groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Molecular markers and genetic linkage maps are pre-requisites for molecular breeding in any crop species. In case of peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), an amphidiploid (4X) species, not a single genetic map is, however, available based on a mapping population derived from cultivated genotypes. In order to develop a genetic linkage map for tetraploid cultivated groundnut, a total of 1,145 microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers available in public domain as well as unpublished markers from several sources were screened on two genotypes, TAG 24 and ICGV 86031 that are parents of a recombinant inbred line mapping population. As a result, 144 (12.6%) polymorphic markers were identified and these amplified a total of 150 loci. A total of 135 SSR loci could be mapped into 22 linkage groups (LGs). While six LGs had only two SSR loci, the other LGs contained 3 (LG_AhXV) to 15 (LG_AhVIII) loci. As the mapping population used for developing the genetic map segregates for drought tolerance traits, phenotyping data obtained for transpiration, transpiration efficiency, specific leaf area and SPAD chlorophyll meter reading (SCMR) for 2 years were analyzed together with genotyping data. Although, 2–5 QTLs for each trait mentioned above were identified, the phenotypic variation explained by these QTLs was in the range of 3.5–14.1%. In addition, alignment of two linkage groups (LGs) (LG_AhIII and LG_AhVI) of the developed genetic map was shown with available genetic maps of AA diploid genome of groundnut and Lotus and Medicago. The present study reports the construction of the first genetic map for cultivated groundnut and demonstrates its utility for molecular mapping of QTLs controlling drought tolerance related traits as well as establishing relationships with diploid AA genome of groundnut and model legume genome species. Therefore, the map should be useful for the community for a variety of applications

SSR-based genetic linkage map for cultivated groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) for QTL analysis and comparative mapping

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Development of new promising varieties of faba bean through traditional pedigree method for commercial cultivation in plain zone of India

A long term experiment was carried out in MAP Section, Department of Genetics &amp; Plant Breeding,  CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar from 2005-06 to 2018-19 on identification of elite genotypes from germplasm and their utilization in the development of high yielding variety through hybridization followed by traditional pedigree method to obtain desirable transgressive segregants in Faba bean. In the present investigation a number of germplasm lines were screened for seed yield and other related traits including national check Vikrant during 2005-06 under AICRN in augmented block design. As a result, ten elite genotypes identified i.e. EC117755, EC117799, EC248710, EC329675, HB123, HB180, HB430, HB204, HB 430, HB 502, HB 503 &amp; one check variety, Vikrant. By using these elite genotypes, a number of F1 hybrids were made during 2005-06 and F2 to F6 generations were evaluated to identify the superior progenies during 2007-08 to 2011-12. After a long process of evaluation, rejection and selection, 20 superior transgressive segregant homozygous progenies were identified to make new entries. Later on, during 2012-2013, the superior entries (viz. HB12-1, HB12-5, HB12-8, HB12-9, HB12-11, HB12-12, HB12-13, HB12-14, HB12-15, HB12-26, HB12-28, HB12-29, HB12-30, HB12-31, HB12-34, HB12-36, HB12-37,HB12-38, HB12-39 and HB12-42) were evaluated at Hisar centre against Vikrant and found promising. Therefore, all these 20 genotypes were evaluated in SST during 2013-14, LST during 2014-15 and FYT during 2015-16. On the basis of above results, only five genotypes viz. HB12-8 (47.77q/ha), HB12-42 (47.70q/ha), HB12-15 (46.70q/ha), HB12-34 (46.14q/ha) and HB12-37 (45. 31q/ha) were found promising. These were further evaluated in multi-location trials at seven locations (i.e. Ambikpur, Delhi, Faizabad, Faridkot, Hisar, Ludhiana &amp; Ranchi) for seed yield, quality and resistance against insect pest &amp; disease in IVT and AVT during 2016-17 &amp; 2017-18, respectively. Out of these, HB12-34 exhibited yield superiority over national checks,Vikrant and HFB-1 and free from insect pest and disease as well as low in vicine-covicine and high in protein content. Therefore, HB12-34 may be recommended for commercial cultivation in plain zone at national level

Automated quantitative MRI volumetry reports support diagnostic interpretation in dementia: a multi-rater, clinical accuracy study

Objectives: We examined whether providing a quantitative report (QReport) of regional brain volumes improves radiologists’ accuracy and confidence in detecting volume loss, and in differentiating Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), compared with visual assessment alone. Methods: Our forced-choice multi-rater clinical accuracy study used MRI from 16 AD patients, 14 FTD patients, and 15 healthy controls; age range 52–81. Our QReport was presented to raters with regional grey matter volumes plotted as percentiles against data from a normative population (n = 461). Nine raters with varying radiological experience (3 each: consultants, registrars, ‘non-clinical image analysts’) assessed each case twice (with and without the QReport). Raters were blinded to clinical and demographic information; they classified scans as ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’ and if ‘abnormal’ as ‘AD’ or ‘FTD’. Results: The QReport improved sensitivity for detecting volume loss and AD across all raters combined (p = 0.015* and p = 0.002*, respectively). Only the consultant group’s accuracy increased significantly when using the QReport (p = 0.02*). Overall, raters’ agreement (Cohen’s κ) with the ‘gold standard’ was not significantly affected by the QReport; only the consultant group improved significantly (κs 0.41➔0.55, p = 0.04*). Cronbach’s alpha for interrater agreement improved from 0.886 to 0.925, corresponding to an improvement from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’. Conclusion: Our QReport referencing single-subject results to normative data alongside visual assessment improved sensitivity, accuracy, and interrater agreement for detecting volume loss. The QReport was most effective in the consultants, suggesting that experience is needed to fully benefit from the additional information provided by quantitative analyses. Key Points: • The use of quantitative report alongside routine visual MRI assessment improves sensitivity and accuracy for detecting volume loss and AD vs visual assessment alone. • Consultant neuroradiologists’ assessment accuracy and agreement (kappa scores) significantly improved with the use of quantitative atrophy reports. • First multi-rater radiological clinical evaluation of visual quantitative MRI atrophy report for use as a diagnostic aid in dementia

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362