Ground water quality evaluation in Beed city, Maharashtra, India

The development activities cause depletion and degradation of ground water. A survey was undertaken to assess the quality of ground water in Beed district of Maharashtra taking both physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters into consideration. The present investigation is aimed to calculate Water Quality Index (WQI) of ground water and to assess the impact of pollutants due to agriculture and human activities on its quality. The WQI varied from 329.27 (winter) to 141.56 (monsoon) indicating level of nutrient load and pollution in the handpumps and borewells. The existing results revealed that water from handpumps and borewells are not safe for human use.Key words: Ground water, pollution, water quality index, Seasonal analysis

Síntesis y evaluación de compuestos heterocíclicos derivados de ?-hidroxiácidos con interés industrial potencial.

The reaction of 2-hydroxyheptadecanoyl chloride (2) and anthranilic acid gave 2-(1-hydroxyheptadecyl)-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one (3) which was used as starting material to synthesize some condensed and non-condensed heterocyclic compounds by a reaction with nitrogen nucleophiles (e.g., hydrazine hydrate, and formamide). The subsequent reaction of the synthetic products with different amounts of propylene oxide gave a novel group of nonionic compounds having a double function as antibacterial and surface active agents which may serve in the manufacturing of drugs, cosmetics, pesticides or as antibacterial and/or antifungal products. The surface active properties such as surface and interfacial tensions, cloud point, foaming height, wetting time, and emulsification power were determined. Antimicrobial and biodegradability were also screened.La reacción de cloruro de 2-hidroxiheptadecanoilo (2) con ácido antranílico produjo 2-(1-hidroxiheptadecil)-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-ona (3) que fue usada como material de partida en la síntesis de compuestos heterocíclicos condensados y no condensados por reacción con nucleófilos nitrogenados (hidracina y formamida). La reacción de los productos sintetizados con distintas cantidades de óxido de propileno dio un grupo nuevo de compuestos no iónicos con una función doble como antibacterianos y agentes tensioactivos que pueden servir en la manufactura de medicamentos, cosméticos, pesticidas, o como productos antibacterianos y/o antifúngicos. Se determinaron las propiedades tensioactivas así como la capacidad antimicrobiana y la biodegrabilidad de los compuestos sintetizados

Effects of pitch and timing expectancy on musical emotion

Pitch and timing information work hand in hand to create a coherent piece of music; but what happens when this information goes against the norm? Relationships between musical expectancy and emotional responses were investigated in a study conducted with 40 participants: 20 musicians and 20 non-musicians. Participants took part in one of two behavioural paradigms measuring continuous expectancy or emotional responses (arousal and valence) while listening to folk melodies that exhibited either high or low pitch predictability and high or low onset predictability. The causal influence of pitch predictability was investigated in an additional condition where pitch was artificially manipulated and a comparison conducted between original and manipulated forms; the dynamic correlative influence of pitch and timing information and its perception on emotional change during listening was evaluated using cross-sectional time series analysis. The results indicate that pitch and onset predictability are consistent predictors of perceived expectancy and emotional response, with onset carrying more weight than pitch. In addition, musicians and non-musicians do not differ in their responses, possibly due to shared cultural background and knowledge. The results demonstrate in a controlled lab-based setting a precise, quantitative relationship between the predictability of musical structure, expectation and emotional response.Comment: 53 pages, 5 figures; Submitted to Psychomusicolog

On modeling two immune effectors two strain antigen interaction

In this paper we consider the fractional order model with two immune effectors interacting with two strain antigen. The systems may explain the recurrence of some diseases e.g. tuberculosis (TB). The stability of equilibrium points are studied. Numerical solutions of this model are given. Using integer order system the system oscillates. Using fractional order system the system converges to a stable internal equilibrium. Ulam-Hyers stability of the system has been studied

Investigating the Security of EV Charging Mobile Applications As an Attack Surface

The adoption rate of EVs has witnessed a significant increase in recent years driven by multiple factors, chief among which is the increased flexibility and ease of access to charging infrastructure. To improve user experience, increase system flexibility and commercialize the charging process, mobile applications have been incorporated into the EV charging ecosystem. EV charging mobile applications allow consumers to remotely trigger actions on charging stations and use functionalities such as start/stop charging sessions, pay for usage, and locate charging stations, to name a few. In this paper, we study the security posture of the EV charging ecosystem against remote attacks, which exploit the insecurity of the EV charging mobile applications as an attack surface. We leverage a combination of static and dynamic analysis techniques to analyze the security of widely used EV charging mobile applications. Our analysis of 31 widely used mobile applications and their interactions with various components such as the cloud management systems indicate the lack of user/vehicle verification and improper authorization for critical functions, which lead to remote (dis)charging session hijacking and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks against the EV charging station. Indeed, we discuss specific remote attack scenarios and their impact on the EV users. More importantly, our analysis results demonstrate the feasibility of leveraging existing vulnerabilities across various EV charging mobile applications to perform wide-scale coordinated remote charging/discharging attacks against the connected critical infrastructure (e.g., power grid), with significant undesired economical and operational implications. Finally, we propose counter measures to secure the infrastructure and impede adversaries from performing reconnaissance and launching remote attacks using compromised accounts

A snapshot of noncommunicable disease profiles and their prescription costs at ten primary healthcare facilities in the in the western half of the Cape Town metropole

Objectives: There has been a rapid increase in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases globally. It is thought that this increase will have the greatest impact on developing countries, such as South Africa, where it will adversely affect quality of life and increase healthcare costs. This research was conducted to determine the disease profile and cost of treating patients at 10 facilities in the western half of the Cape Town Metropole. Design: An analytical, cross-sectional study was carried out in order to interpret the cost of the medication in relation to the patient disease profile. Setting and subjects: Data were collected from 10 facilities in the western half of the Cape Town Metropole over a three-month period. Outcome measure: The outcome measure was the disease profile of patients attending the facilities and the cost of prescriptions for these patients. Results: Most patient visits to the community health centres were to treat chronic diseases (82%). The disease profile of patients was as follows: 58.96% had hypertension, 19.67% diabetes, 12.14% asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 21.80% arthritis. It was found that 65% of patients with a chronic condition had co-morbidities. The cost of prescriptions was significantly higher (p-value < 0.001) for chronic conditions than for acute conditions. The number of comorbidities per patient also influenced the cost of the prescriptions. Conclusion: The results indicated that most of the adults attending public sector facilities in the western half of the Cape Town Metropole have chronic diseases and that the cost of treating these conditions is significantly greater than that of treating acute conditions. An integrated approach to the management of chronic diseases is important in low-resource settings for the efficient utilisation of limited resources

Resistance of Alkali Activated Water-Cooled Slag Geopolymer to Sulphate Attack

Ground granulated blast furnace slag is a finely ground, rapidly chilled aluminosilicate melt material that is separated from molten iron in the blast furnace as a by-product. Rapid cooling results in an amorphous or a glassy phase known as GGBFS or water cooled slag (WCS). Alkaline activation of latent hydraulic WCS by sodium hydroxide and/or sodium silicate in different ratios was studied. Curing was performed under 100 % relative humidity and at a temperature of 38°C. The results showed that mixing of both sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate in ratio of 3:3 wt.,% is the optimum one giving better mechanical as well as microstructural characteristics as compared with cement mortar that has various cement content (cement : sand were 1:3 and 1:2). Durability of the water cooled slag in 5 % MgSO4 as revealed by better microstructure and high resistivity-clarifying that activation by 3:3 sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate, respectively is better than using 2 and 6 % of sodium hydroxide

Efficiency of selenium in attenuating epididymal histopathological changes in hypercholesterolaemic adult rat

Background: Studies on sperm maturation, epididymal histology, or epididymal tubule physiology are significant parts in reproductive researches. The present study was aimed to evaluate the effect of induced hypercholesterolaemia on the epididymis of adult albino rats and to clarify the possible protective role of selenium. Materials and methods: Forty adult albino Wistar rats were divided into four groups; untreated control group (group I), sham control (group II), group with induced hypercholesterolaemia (group III), group with induced hypercholesterolaemia treated with selenium 0.25 mg/kg/day (group IV). Results: Histological and ultrastructural examination of the epididymal epithelial cells of hypercholesterolaemic rats (group III) showed loss of cilia with many vacuolations, fatty degenerative changes and increased collagen fibres. Morphometrically significant increase (p &lt; 0.0001) in the per cent area of collagen fibres with no significant change in the optical density of periodic acid Schiff reaction (p &gt; 0.05). Selenium treated group (group IV) produced marked improvement in histological, ultrastructural and morphometric results as compared with group III. Conclusions: It could be concluded that hypercholesterolaemia produced deleterious effects to the epididymis and selenium could attenuate these effects

Concurrent Acquisition of a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Diverse Influenza H5N1 Clade 2.2 Sub-clades

Highly pathogenic Influenza A H5N1 was first identified in Guangdong Province in 1996, followed by human cases in Hong Kong in 1997 1,2. The number of confirmed human cases now exceeds 300 and the associated Case Fatality Rate exceeds 60% 3. The genetic diversity of the serotype continues to increase. Four distinct clades or sub-clades have been linked to human cases 4-7. The gradual genetic changes identified in the sub-clades have been attributed to copy errors by viral encoded polymerases that lack an editing function, thereby resulting in antigenic drift 8. We report here the concurrent acquisition of the same polymorphism by multiple, genetically distinct, clade 2.2 sub-clades in Egypt, Russia, Kuwait, and Ghana. These changes are not easily explained by the current theory of &#x201c;random mutation&#x201d; through copy error, and are more easily explained by recombination with a common source. The recombination role is further supported by the high fidelity replication in swine influenza 9 and aggregation of single nucleotide polymorphisms in H5N1 clade 2.2 hemagglutinin 10