Modeling highly pathogenic avian influenza transmission in wild birds and poultry in West Bengal, India.

Wild birds are suspected to have played a role in highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreaks in West Bengal. Cluster analysis showed that H5N1 was introduced in West Bengal at least 3 times between 2008 and 2010. We simulated the introduction of H5N1 by wild birds and their contact with poultry through a stochastic continuous-time mathematical model. Results showed that reducing contact between wild birds and domestic poultry, and increasing the culling rate of infected domestic poultry communities will reduce the probability of outbreaks. Poultry communities that shared habitat with wild birds or those indistricts with previous outbreaks were more likely to suffer an outbreak. These results indicate that wild birds can introduce HPAI to domestic poultry and that limiting their contact at shared habitats together with swift culling of infected domestic poultry can greatly reduce the likelihood of HPAI outbreaks

Preparation and spectroscopic studies of Hydroxyapatite embedded in Poly(N-Vinylpyrrolidone) matrix

Pure HAp powder was prepared by precipitation and HAp/PVP composites were prepared by casting technique. X-ray diffraction was performed to examine the crystallinity and the complexation between HAp and PVP when the amount of HAp increased. XRD and EDX analysis showed that the concentration 15 wt% is the most confirmation for the formation of HAp. SEM shows more than one form of HAp such as plates, needles and bundles in the morphological structure of pure HAp and 15 wt% of HAp. Two main weight loss regions and two peaks were observed in TGA and DSC thermograms that reveal reduction in the thermal stability of the prepared samples as HAp content increases. The activation energy of the films was decreased with increasing the concentration of HAp. DSC thermographs of the samples show that the values of the glass transition temperatures are decreased with increasing the content of HAp filler which suggest that HAp filler act as plasticizer. The conductivity–temperature plots show linear variation, which suggests an Arrhenius behavior. The conductivity increases with adding HAp content for low concentrations while decreased for the critical concentration (15 wt %) which confirms the XRD results

Minimal-memory realization of pearl-necklace encoders of general quantum convolutional codes

Quantum convolutional codes, like their classical counterparts, promise to offer higher error correction performance than block codes of equivalent encoding complexity, and are expected to find important applications in reliable quantum communication where a continuous stream of qubits is transmitted. Grassl and Roetteler devised an algorithm to encode a quantum convolutional code with a "pearl-necklace encoder." Despite their theoretical significance as a neat way of representing quantum convolutional codes, they are not well-suited to practical realization. In fact, there is no straightforward way to implement any given pearl-necklace structure. This paper closes the gap between theoretical representation and practical implementation. In our previous work, we presented an efficient algorithm for finding a minimal-memory realization of a pearl-necklace encoder for Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) convolutional codes. This work extends our previous work and presents an algorithm for turning a pearl-necklace encoder for a general (non-CSS) quantum convolutional code into a realizable quantum convolutional encoder. We show that a minimal-memory realization depends on the commutativity relations between the gate strings in the pearl-necklace encoder. We find a realization by means of a weighted graph which details the non-commutative paths through the pearl-necklace. The weight of the longest path in this graph is equal to the minimal amount of memory needed to implement the encoder. The algorithm has a polynomial-time complexity in the number of gate strings in the pearl-necklace encoder.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures; extends paper arXiv:1004.5179v

Wave Excitation in Disks Around Rotating Magnetic Stars

The accretion disk around a rotating magnetic star (neutron star, white dwarf or T Tauri star) is subjected to periodic vertical magnetic forces from the star, with the forcing frequency equal to the stellar spin frequency or twice the spin frequency. This gives rise bending waves in the disk that may influence the variabilities of the system. We study the excitation, propagation and dissipation of these waves using a hydrodynamical model coupled with a generic model description of the magnetic forces. The $m=1$ bending waves are excited at the Lindblad/vertical resonance, and propagate either to larger radii or inward toward the corotation resonance where dissipation takes place. While the resonant torque is negligible compared to the accretion torque, the wave nevertheless may reach appreciable amplitude and can cause or modulate flux variabilities from the system. We discuss applications of our result to the observed quasi-periodic oscillations from various systems, in particular neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries.Comment: Small changes/clarifications. To be published in ApJ, Aug.20,2008 issu

Effects of gamma irradiation on salted and frozen mullet fish during storage period

The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of gamma irradiation on decontamination of microbial loud of salted and frozen mullet fish. Mullet fish samples were divided into two groups: The first group was frozen at – 20C° and the second group was dry salted with ordinary commercial refined salt at ratio 1 kg fish / 0.8 kg. Each group was subjected to 0, 2.5 and 5 kGy of gamma irradiation doses before storage period. The results showed that, gamma irradiation hadn’t any significant (P?0.05) effects on the chemical composition and minerals content of mullet fish samples under investigation. Gamma irradiation doses (2.5 and 5.0 kGy) had not significant remarkable effect at P?0.05 on sensory properties (appearance, odor, texture and color) of dry and frozen mullet fish samples neither at zero time nor during storage periods. Microbial aspects (total bacterial counts, coliform bacteria, salmonella, sporeforming bacteria and total molds and yeasts) were detected. Also it could be concluded that, gamma irradiation had a significant (P?0.05) decrease effects on microbial loud and improve the microbiological safety of salted and frozen mullet fishes without any adverse effects on their chemical contents and quality. Keywords: key words, Gamma irradiation, Salting, freezing, Mullet fish, Minerals, Microbial loud

Determination of caffeine in roasted and irradiated coffee beans with gamma rays by high performance liquid chromatography

The present study was carried out to investigate a simple, quick and organic solvent saving procedure for the high performance liquid chromatography determination of caffeine in two different coffee beans (Indonesian and Brazilian) which roasted at two different temperatures (150 & 220 ºC) and irradiated at 3, 6, and 9 kGy doses by gamma rays. A linear calibration curve was generated with caffeine concentration ranging from 0.005 to 0.25 mg/g with correlation coefficient (R2= 0.9995, n=4) and relative standard deviation ? 2.1 %. The developed procedure provided a 7.3 x 10-9 mg/g and 2.2 x 10-8 mg/g limit of detection and limit of quantification, respectively. The developed method was repeatable and could be applied to determine trace amounts of caffeine in popular irradiated coffee beans with three different irradiation doses. Moreover, irradiation treatments at doses up to 9 kGy showed no significant effect on the caffeine content. Keywords: Caffeine determination; High performance liquid chromatography;  Coffee bean; Roasting; Gamma rays; Statistical analysi

On the use of low-cost computer peripherals for the assessment of motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease – Quantification of bradykinesia using target tracking tasks

The potential of computer games peripherals to measure the motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s diseases is assessed. Of particular interest is the quantification of bradykinesia. Previous studies used modified or custom haptic interfaces, here an unmodified force feedback joystick and steering wheel are used with a laptop. During testing an on screen cursor moves in response to movements of the peripheral, the user has to track a continuously moving target (pursuit tracking), or move to a predetermined target (step tracking). All tasks use movement in the horizontal axis, allowing use of joystick or steering wheel. Two pursuit tracking tasks are evaluated, pseudo random movement, and a swept frequency task. Two step tracking tasks are evaluated, movement between two or between two of five fixed targets. Thirteen patients and five controls took part on a weekly basis. Patients were assessed for bradykinesia at each session using standard clinical measures. A range of quantitative measures was developed to allow comparison between and within patients and controls using ANOVA. Both peripherals are capable of discriminating between controls and patients, and between patients with different levels of bradykinesia. Recommendations for test procedures and peripherals are given