A software architecture for autonomous maintenance scheduling: Scenarios for UK and European Rail

A new era of automation in rail has begun offering developments in the operation and maintenance of industry standard systems. This article documents the development of an architecture and range of scenarios for an autonomous system for rail maintenance planning and scheduling. The Unified Modelling Language (UML) has been utilized to visualize and validate the design of the prototype. A model for information exchange between prototype components and related maintenance planning systems is proposed in this article. Putting forward an architecture and set of usage mode scenarios for the proposed system, this article outlines and validates a viable platform for autonomous planning and scheduling in rail

Use of Contingent Valuation to Assess Farmer Preference for On-farm Conservation of Minor Millets: Case from South India

Smallholder farmers all over the world, particularly in regions of rich agro-biodiversity contribute to on-farm conservation. Past and present agricultural progress could not have happened neither without these genetic resources nor the associated farmer knowledge. Six species of minor millets are grown in India on more than 2 million hectares. The Kolli Hills in Tamil Nadu has been a region where five of these millet species have been under cultivation over the last several hundred years. These minor millets are currently under threat due to high competition from tapioca (cassava) as well as easy access to PDS rice at low cost. Over last three decades there has been decline in the millet area and number of farmers cultivating these species. It is in this context that this study attempts to examine the role of farmer incentive mechanisms to conserve minor millets in Kolli Hills. The millet varieties existing in the study area were classified either as most preferred varieties (MPVs) or least preferred varieties (LPVs) by the farmer respondents based on their yield and consumption preferences. The farmer willingness to accept compensation to participate in the conservation programme is estimated using a contingent valuation method (CVM). Seemingly unrelated bivariate probit regression was used to estimate the determinants of willing to participate in on-farm conservation of minor millets. The result shows that the impact of bid value is significant and positive to participate in the on-farm millet conservation of MPVs. The farmers participating is millet related organization are willing to accept lower compensation for MPVs and higher for LPVs compared to farmers who are not participating in such organization

Efficacy of ondansetron as antiemetic agent in preventing the incidence of PONV in LSCS under subarachnoid block

Background: Nausea and vomiting are the most common distressing symptom in the postoperative period. Antiemetic drugs play an important role in therapy of PONV. Though many drugs have been tried as prophylaxis and treatment of PONV, no drug has been proved significantly effective and hence, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of prophylactic ondansetron in LSCS patients given spinal anaesthesia.Methods: After institutional approval and informed consent 100 ASA I & II patients undergoing non emergent LSCS taken for study. The patients were received ondansetron 4mg i.v. 3-5min before surgery. Episodes and severity of nausea, vomiting and retching were noted at the end of 1st, 2nd, 6th and 24th hr.Results: The mean age, weight and duration of surgery was not significantly different when compared group-A parturiants with group-B. The mean episodes of emesis, nausea and retching at different postoperative duration were significantly decreasing as postoperative time progresses.Conclusion: The present study suggests that prophylactic ondansetron 4mg is more efficacious in preventing post operative nausea and vomiting in LSCS under spinal anaesthesia.

Identification of borinic esters as inhibitors of bacterial cell growth and bacterial methyltransferases, CcrM and MenH

As bacteria continue to develop resistance toward current antibiotics, we find ourselves in a continual battle to identify new antibacterial agents and targets. We report herein a class of boron-containing compounds termed borinic esters that have broad spectrum antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) in the low microgram/mL range. These compounds were identified by screening for inhibitors against Caulobacter crescentus CcrM, an essential DNA methyltransferase from gram negative alpha-proteobacteria. In addition, we demonstrate that borinic esters inhibit menaquinone methyltransferase in gram positive bacteria using a new biochemical assay for MenH from Bacillus subtilis. Our data demonstrate the potential for further development of borinic esters as antibacterial agents as well as leads to explore more specific inhibitors against two essential bacterial enzymes