Hybrid plasma discharges for energy-efficient production of plasma-activated water

Plasma-activated water (PAW), an emerging and cost-effective disinfectant produced from the interaction between non-thermal plasma and water, was generated with a newly designed hybrid plasma discharge (HPD) reactor. The HPD reactor produces two simultaneous plasma discharges within one power source, one from the high-voltage electrode above the liquid surface, and the other from the ground electrode enclosed in a quartz tube, allowing the air to flow through the side of the ground electrode and injecting plasma bubbles into the liquid. The simulated distributions of electric field indicated that high electric fields were induced around both the high voltage and ground electrodes, at high input voltages, explaining the plasma discharges observed on both electrodes. The PAW generated via the HPD reactor achieved a high RONS energy efficiency of 1.81 × 10-1 mol·kW−1·h−1 and a high inactivation against Escherichia coli of 5.18-log10 reduction in 30 s of contact time, outperforming reported literature studies, which require minutes or hours to achieve similar inactivation. The effect of the number and size of orifices in the bubble column of the HPD reactor was studied, as well as the effect of the liquid volume (from 0.5 to 2 L), and salinity (from 0 to 8 mM NaCl). The Escherichia coli in PAW was further analysed by TEM and DNA leakage showing that PAW damaged the cell membrane. This hybrid plasma discharge reactor can be the base of producing disinfectant PAW in larger volume for the agriculture, biomedical, food and water treatment industries

DESIGN OF ON-CHIP BUS OCP PROTOCOL WITH BUS FUNCTIONALITIES

The need for on-chip bus protocols are increased drastically for efficient and lossless communication among large number of IP cores of SOC design. This paper proposes a high-performance, highly scalable, bus- independent interface between IP cores named as Open Core Protocol-International partnership. The Open Core Protocol (OCP) is a core centric point to point protocol which provides lossless communication and reduces design time, design risk, and manufacturing costs for SOC designs . Main property of OCP is that it can be configured with respect to the application required. The OCP is chosen because of its advanced supporting features such as configurable sideband control signaling and test harness signals, when compared to other core protocols. The OCP defines a point- to-point interface between two communicating entities such as IP cores and bus interface modules. One entity acts as the master of the OCP instance, and the other as the slave .In this paper, the most efficient bus architecture was adopted to support most advanced bus functionalities including simple transactions, burst transactions, pipelined transactions, and out-of-order transactions with respect to its suitable application in the real time product. The Open Core Protocol (OCP) was designed and the hardware modeling for that architecture was done using VHDL. This design is Simulated and Synthesized. An experimental result shows the efficiency of the proposed bus architecture and interface

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Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant systems in the blood of young rats subjected to chronic fluoride toxicity

857-860Wistar albino rats were exposed to 30 or 100 ppm fluoride in drinking water during their fetal, weanling and postweaning stages of life up to puberty. Extent of lipid peroxidation and response of the antioxidant systems in red blood cells and plasma to prolonged fluoride exposure were assessed in these rats in comparison to the eontrol rats fed with permissible level (0.5 ppm) of fluoride. Rats treated with 100 ppm fluoride showed enhanced lipid peroxidation as evidenced by elevated malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in red blood cells but, 30 ppm fluoride did not cause any appreciable change in RBC MDA level. 30 ppm fluoride- intake resulted in increased levels of total and reduced glutathione in red blood cells and ascorbic acid in plasma while 100 ppm fluoride resulted in decreases in these levels. The activity of RBC glutathione peroxidise was elevated in both the fluoride-treated groups, more pronounced increase was seen with 100 ppm. Reduced to total glutathione ratio in RBC and uric acid levels in plasma decreased in both the groups. RBC superoxide dismutase activity decreased significantly on high- fluoride treatment. These results suggest that long-term high- fluoride intake at the early developing stages of life enhances oxidative stress in the blood, thereby disturbing the antioxidant defense of rats. Increased oxidative stress could be one of the mediating factors in the pathogenesis of toxic manifestations of fluoride

Modified quad helix appliance for thumb sucking and cross bite correction

Digit sucking habit is a learned pattern of behavior commonly seen in children of preschool age. Prolonged digit sucking beyond the preschool age, lead to the development of malocclusion such as anterior open bite, maxillary constriction and posterior crossbite. Treatment strategies include interception of habit and correction of the malocclusion. The present case report describes a modified quad helix appliance used successfully in a 9-year-old child to intercept thumb sucking habit and simultaneous correction of posterior crossbite. The appliance has the advantage of easy fabrication, being versatile and more patients compliant

Fluorescence spectroscopic characterisation of algal organic matter: towards improved in situ fluorometer development

Online fluorescence probes have been applied for the rapid detection of cyanobacterial and algal cells via measurement of fluorescent cell pigmentation with some success; however, this alone is not a sufficiently robust method to identify specific species, stage of the bloom, or measure the released organic matter. This study investigates whether fluorescence can be applied to characterise the AOM released by cyanobacterial and algal species which, when combined with cell pigmentation measurements, may improve the specificity and robustness of these online methods. The AOM released by key cyanobacterial (Dolichospermum circinalis, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, four strains of Microcystis aeruginosa) and algal (Chlorella vulgaris) species were studied at lab scale throughout their growth using 3D-fluorescent excitation–emission matrix (F-EEMs) spectroscopy combined with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). A six-component PARAFAC model was developed for the analysed dataset. Analysis of the PARAFAC data indicated that observations of certain wavelengths could be helpful for AOM monitoring in conjunction with cell pigments, giving information on both, bloom health and AOM character. The relevant wavelengths were shown to vary depending on the species; for example, the fluorescence of amino acid-like material at λex/em = 290/345 nm dominated in the AOM originating from C. vulgaris, while that of M. aeruginosa (CS-555) was dominated by fluorescence at λex/em = 355/475 nm which has previously been associated only with terrestrially delivered substances. Both these fluorescence signatures had significant correlations with the released AOM, measured as dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and dominated across the exponential and stationary phases relative to other PARAFAC components. With fluorescence probes on the market that measure fluorescence in AOM regions, there is an opportunity to monitor these key peaks simultaneously with pigment fluorescence to give further information on the released organic matter character and its treatability

Comparison of Palatal Rugae Pattern among North Indian, South Indian and Chinese Students of Manipal University

Aims: To compare the palatal rugae pattern for possible differences between North Indian, South Indian and Chinese students of Manipal University, Manipal. To determine the rugae length, shape, direction, unification and number of the primary rugae. Materials and Method: The study sample consisted of 50 diagnostic study models of 25 males and 25 females within the age group of 15-23 years that were available in the department and were free from palatal defects. These cases were further segregated into 10 cases of each of North Indian, South Indian and Chinese groups and their dental casts were analyzed. Results: There were no significant differences in any parameter when compared between the sexes in the three groups. The difference in length among 3 groups was not statistically significant. The most common rugae shapes observed were wavy and curved. The North Indian group had a predominantly curved rugae shape while the South Indian and Chinese groups had wavy rugae. The rugae direction observed was mostly forward. Most of North Indians and South Indians had forward rugae and Chinese group had both types. Conclusion: The present study indicated that the rugae patterns of the Chinese group are significantly different from the two Indian groups and can hence be used for group identity