Hand Gesture Recognition using Python

The goal for the project was to develop a new type of Human Computer Interaction system that subdues the problems that users have been facing with the current system. The project is implemented on a Linux system but could be implemented on a windows system by downloading some modules for python. The algorithm applied is resistant to change in background image as it is not based on background image subtraction and is not programmed for a specific hand type; the algorithm used can process different hand types, recognizes no of fingers, and can carry out tasks as per requirement. As it is stated within this paper, the main goals were reached. The application is capable of the gesture recognition in real-time. There are some limitations, which we still have to be overcome in future

Climate adaptation by crop migration.

Many studies have estimated the adverse effects of climate change on crop yields, however, this literature almost universally assumes a constant geographic distribution of crops in the future. Movement of growing areas to limit exposure to adverse climate conditions has been discussed as a theoretical adaptive response but has not previously been quantified or demonstrated at a global scale. Here, we assess how changes in rainfed crop area have already mediated growing season temperature trends for rainfed maize, wheat, rice, and soybean using spatially-explicit climate and crop area data from 1973 to 2012. Our results suggest that the most damaging impacts of warming on rainfed maize, wheat, and rice have been substantially moderated by the migration of these crops over time and the expansion of irrigation. However, continued migration may incur substantial environmental costs and will depend on socio-economic and political factors in addition to land suitability and climate

Roles of atmospheric and land surface data in dynamic regional downscaling

In studies dealing with the impact of land use changes on atmospheric processes, a key methodological step is the validation of simulated current conditions. However, regions lacking detailed atmospheric and land use data provide limited information with which to accurately generate control simulations. In this situation, the difference between baseline control simulations and different land use change simulations can be quite different owing to the quality of the atmospheric and land use data sets. Using multiple simulations at the Monteverde cloud forest region of Costa Rica as an example, we show that when a regional climate model is used to study the effect of land use change, it can produce distinctly different results at regional scales, depending on the amount of data available to run the climate simulations. We show that for the specific case of land use change impact studies, the simulation results are very sensitive to the prescribed atmospheric information (e.g., lateral boundary conditions) compared to the land use (surface boundary) information

Design, docking, synthesis and anticancer activity of some novel 2-(4-methylbenzenesulphonamido)pentanedioic acid amide derivatives

In the present work few novel 2-(4-methylbenzenesulphonamido)pentanedioic acid amide derivatives and the basic compound 2-(4-methylphenylsulfon-amido)pentanedioic acid have been designed, synthesized, characterized and screened for their possible antineoplastic activity both in vitro and in vivo. The modified drugs were docked against the protein histone deacetylase the energy value obtained was o-iodoanilide (-10.370504) and m-iodoanilide (-10.218276) of the titled compound. The in vitro activity was performed against five human cell lines like human breast cancer (MCF-7), leukemia (K-562), ova-rian cancer (OVACAR-3), human colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29) and Human kidney carcinoma (A-498). The in vivo activity was performed in female Swiss albino mice against Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma (EAC). Among the synthesized compounds, o-iodoanilide, m-iodoanilide and p-iodoanilide derivatives of 2-(4-methyl benzene sulphonyl)-pentanedioic acid amides showed encouraging activity in both the in vitro and in vivo compared to other compounds

Modelling crop yield and harvest index: the role of carbon assimilation and allocation parameters

Crop yield improvement during the last decades has relied on increasing the ratio of the economic organ to the total aboveground biomass, known as the harvest index (HI). In most crop models, HI is set as a parameter; this empirical approach does not consider that HI not only depends on plant genotype, but is also affected by the environment. An alternative is to simulate allocation mechanistically, as in the LPJ-GUESS crop model, which simulates HI based on daily growing conditions and the crop development stage. Simulated HI is critical for agricultural research due to its economic importance, but it also can validate the robust representation of production processes. However, there is a challenge to constrain parameter values globally for the allocation processes. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the sensitivity of yield and HI of wheat and maize simulated with LPJ-GUESS to eight production allocation-related parameters and identify the most suitable parameter values for global simulations. The nitrogen demand reduction after anthesis, the minimum leaf carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N) and the range of leaf C:N strongly affected carbon assimilation and yield, while the retranslocation of labile stem carbon to grains and the retranslocation rate of nitrogen and carbon from vegetative organs to grains after anthesis mainly influenced HI. A global database of observed HI for both crops was compiled for reference to constrain simulations before calibrating parameters for yield against reference data. Two high- and low-yielding maize cultivars emerged from the calibration, whilst spring and winter cultivars were found appropriate for wheat. The calibrated version of LPJ-GUESS improved the simulation of yield and HI at the global scale for both crops, providing a basis for future studies exploring crop production under different climate and management scenarios

Acetylation of C/EBP alpha inhibits its granulopoietic function

CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBP alpha) is an essential transcription factor for myeloid lineage commitment. Here we demonstrate that acetylation of C/EBP alpha at lysine residues K298 and K302, mediated at least in part by general control non-derepressible 5 (GCN5), impairs C/EBP alpha DNA-binding ability and modulates C/EBP alpha transcriptional activity. Acetylated C/EBP alpha is enriched in human myeloid leukaemia cell lines and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) samples, and downregulated upon granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mediated granulocytic differentiation of 32Dcl3 cells. C/EBP alpha mutants that mimic acetylation failed to induce granulocytic differentiation in C/EBP alpha-dependent assays, in both cell lines and in primary hematopoietic cells. Our data uncover GCN5 as a negative regulator of C/EBP alpha and demonstrate the importance of C/EBP alpha acetylation in myeloid differentiation

LAMBDA: Large Area Modular BaF2 Detector Array for the measurement of high energy gamma rays

A large BaF2 detector array along with its dedicated CAMAC electronics and VME based data acquisition system has been designed, constructed and installed successfully at VECC, Kolkata for studying high energy gamma rays (E>8 MeV). The array consists of 162 detector elements. The detectors were fabricated from bare barium fluoride crystals (each measuring 35 cm in length and having cross-sectional area of 3.5 cm X 3.5 cm X 35.0 cm). The basic properties of the detectors (energy resolution, time resolution, efficiency, uniformity, fast to slow ratio etc.) were studied exhaustively. Complete GEANT3 monte carlo simulations were performed to optimize the detector design and also to generate the response function. The detector system has been used successfully to measure high energy photons from 113Sb, formed by bombarding 145 and 160 MeV 20Ne beams on a 93Nb target. The measured experimental spectra are in good agreement with those from a modified version of the statistical model code CASCADE. In this paper, we present the complete description of this detector array along with its in-beam performance.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, accepted in NIM

Association of Triglyceride-Lowering LPL Variants and LDL-C-Lowering LDLR Variants With Risk of Coronary Heart Disease.

IMPORTANCE: Triglycerides and cholesterol are both carried in plasma by apolipoprotein B (ApoB)-containing lipoprotein particles. It is unknown whether lowering plasma triglyceride levels reduces the risk of cardiovascular events to the same extent as lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. OBJECTIVE: To compare the association of triglyceride-lowering variants in the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene and LDL-C-lowering variants in the LDL receptor gene (LDLR) with the risk of cardiovascular disease per unit change in ApoB. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Mendelian randomization analyses evaluating the associations of genetic scores composed of triglyceride-lowering variants in the LPL gene and LDL-C-lowering variants in the LDLR gene, respectively, with the risk of cardiovascular events among participants enrolled in 63 cohort or case-control studies conducted in North America or Europe between 1948 and 2017. EXPOSURES: Differences in plasma triglyceride, LDL-C, and ApoB levels associated with the LPL and LDLR genetic scores. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Odds ratio (OR) for coronary heart disease (CHD)-defined as coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization-per 10-mg/dL lower concentration of ApoB-containing lipoproteins. RESULTS: A total of 654 783 participants, including 91 129 cases of CHD, were included (mean age, 62.7 years; 51.4% women). For each 10-mg/dL lower level of ApoB-containing lipoproteins, the LPL score was associated with 69.9-mg/dL (95% CI, 68.1-71.6; P = 7.1 × 10-1363) lower triglyceride levels and 0.7-mg/dL (95% CI, 0.03-1.4; P = .04) higher LDL-C levels; while the LDLR score was associated with 14.2-mg/dL (95% CI, 13.6-14.8; P = 1.4 × 10-465) lower LDL-C and 1.9-mg/dL (95% CI, 0.1-3.9; P = .04) lower triglyceride levels. Despite these differences in associated lipid levels, the LPL and LDLR scores were associated with similar lower risk of CHD per 10-mg/dL lower level of ApoB-containing lipoproteins (OR, 0.771 [95% CI, 0.741-0.802], P = 3.9 × 10-38 and OR, 0.773 [95% CI, 0.747-0.801], P = 1.1 × 10-46, respectively). In multivariable mendelian randomization analyses, the associations between triglyceride and LDL-C levels with the risk of CHD became null after adjusting for differences in ApoB (triglycerides: OR, 1.014 [95% CI, 0.965-1.065], P = .19; LDL-C: OR, 1.010 [95% CI, 0.967-1.055], P = .19; ApoB: OR, 0.761 [95% CI, 0.723-0.798], P = 7.51 × 10-20). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Triglyceride-lowering LPL variants and LDL-C-lowering LDLR variants were associated with similar lower risk of CHD per unit difference in ApoB. Therefore, the clinical benefit of lowering triglyceride and LDL-C levels may be proportional to the absolute change in ApoB.Dr. Ference is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre at the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Dr. Clare Oliver-Williams is supported by Homerton College, University of Cambridge. Dr. Butterworth is supported by the European Research Council. Dr Danesh is supported by the Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, and the National Institute for Health Research