Mass Transfer Studies in Three-phase Fluidized Bed Using Response Surface Method

Mass transfer characteristics of co-current three-phase fluidization were determined in terms of mass transfer coefficient and Sherwood number using Box-Behnken method. The experiment was carried out in a 5.4 cm I.D, 6 cm O.D and 160 cm high vertical Perspex column. Gypsum particles of diameter 0.0842 cm, 0.1676 cm and 0.2818 cm, water, and air were used as solid, liquid and gaseous phase respectively. Initially, the superficial liquid velocity was maintained constant and superficial gas velocities varied. After attaining steady state, at a particular gas velocity, the fluidized bed height and manometer readings were recorded for pressure drop estimation. The above-mentioned procedure was repeated for four different liquid velocities in a fluidized bed. The effect of individual phase holdup and mass transfer coefficient for various particle sizes with the specific liquid flow rates and gas flow rates were studied. It was observed that the mass transfer coefficient and Sherwood number increased with increase in superficial gas velocity and particle size in cocurrent three-phase fluidized bed. A quadratic model for bed porosity, gas holdup, Sherwood number and mass transfer coefficient were developed using response surface method (RSM)

Wound Healing Ethnomedicinal Plants Popular among the Malayali Tribes in Vattal Hills, Dharmapuri, TN, India

Healing of chronic lower extremity wounds is a global problem, especially in developing countries where traditional medicine is often used by the people in remote places. India has a rich tradition of plant based knowledge pertinent to healthcare. A survey of ethnomedicinal plant species used by Malayali’s to heal cut/ wounds in Vattal Hills of Dharmapuri was made. A large number of plants/ extracts/ decoctions/ pastes are used by tribals to heal wounds, cuts and burns. In the present study, an attempt has been made to document ethnobotanical knowledge base and methods employed by Malayali’s for treatment of cut/ wounds. A large number of ethnomedicinal plants used by the Malayali’s have not been validated for wound healing potential. The present investigation resulted in the identification of 82 medicinal plant species distributed across 39 families that are used by Malayali’s to heal cut/ wounds. This study is an attempt to gather the information on the existing ethnobotanical knowledge base and document the traditional claims toward the development of safe of effective herbal drugs for cut/ wounds. Results of the study is organized in table form depicting the botanical name, family, vernacular name and habit with a brief note on plant parts used and method of administration

Wireless end-to-end image transmission system using semantic communications

Semantic communication is considered the future of mobile communication, which aims to transmit data beyond Shannon's theorem of communications by transmitting the semantic meaning of the data rather than the bit-by-bit reconstruction of the data at the receiver's end. The semantic communication paradigm aims to bridge the gap of limited bandwidth problems in modern high-volume multimedia application content transmission. Integrating AI technologies with the 6G communications networks paved the way to develop semantic communication-based end-to-end communication systems. In this study, we have implemented a semantic communication-based end-to-end image transmission system, and we discuss potential design considerations in developing semantic communication systems in conjunction with physical channel characteristics. A Pre-trained GAN network is used at the receiver as the transmission task to reconstruct the realistic image based on the Semantic segmented image at the receiver input. The semantic segmentation task at the transmitter (encoder) and the GAN network at the receiver (decoder) is trained on a common knowledge base, the COCO-Stuff dataset. The research shows that the resource gain in the form of bandwidth saving is immense when transmitting the semantic segmentation map through the physical channel instead of the ground truth image in contrast to conventional communication systems. Furthermore, the research studies the effect of physical channel distortions and quantization noise on semantic communication-based multimedia content transmission

Oyster resources of Athankarai estuary, southeast coast of India

The oyster Crassostrea madrasensis is distributed at several places along the east and southwest coasts of India (Rao 1969, Alagarswami and Narasimham 1973) and has good economic potential but so far resources survey of the shellfish populations has not been carried out in any area. Estimates of the standing stocks are essential for planning exploitation of the oyster resources. A precise knowledge of the natural stocks and the ecological conditions in which they abound is especially necessary to plan and conduct oyster culture which is essential for large scale exploitation. Beds of oysters bslonging to the species Crassostrea madrasensis are present in Athankarai Estuary at Athankarai near Mandapam Camp on the southeast coast of India. The highly nutritious shellfish resources are not exploited by people of the area for food. Only occasionally oyster shells are collected and burnt in small kilns and converted into lime. The oyster resources of the estuary have been surveyed. The general features of the Athankarai estuary, hydrological conditions, ecologically associated fauna and flora, distribution and magnitude of standing stocks of oysters, and seasonal changes in meat of oysters have been studied and the results are presented here

Molecular cloning and characterization of drought stress responsive abscisic acid-stress-ripening (Asr 1) gene from wild jujube, Ziziphus nummularia (Burm.f.) Wight & Arn

Drought is a calamitous abiotic stress hampering agricultural productivity all over the world and its severity is likely to increase further. Abscisic acid-stress-ripening proteins (ASR), are a group of small hydrophilic proteins which are induced by abscisic acid, stress and ripening in many plants. In the present study, ZnAsr1 gene was fully characterized for the first time from Ziziphus nummularia, which is one of the most low water forbearing plant. Full length ZnAsr1 gene was characterised and in silico analysis of ZnASR1 protein was done for predicting its phylogeny and physiochemical properties. To validate transcriptional pattern of ZnAsr1 in response to drought stress, expression profiling in polyethylene glycol (PEG) induced Z. nummularia seedlings was studied by RT-qPCR analysis and heterologous expression of the recombinant ZnAsr1 in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the complete open reading frame of ZnAsr1 is 819 bp long encoding a protein of 273 amino acid residues, consisting of a histidine rich N terminus with an abscisic acid/water deficit stress domain and a nuclear targeting signal at the C terminus. In expression studies, ZnAsr1 gene was found to be highly upregulated under drought stress and recombinant clones of E. coli cells expressing ZnASR1 protein showed better survival in PEG containing media. ZnAsr1 was proven to enhance drought stress tolerance in the recombinant E.coli cells expressing ZnASR1. The cloned ZnAsr1 after proper validation in a plant system, can be used to develop drought tolerant transgenic crops

The Social Relations Approach, empowerment and women factory workers in Malaysia

This article discusses the empowerment of women factory workers in Malaysia through the lens of Kabeer’s Social Relations Approach. The approach offers an institutional analysis of how gender inequality is produced and calls for the overall terms of exchange and cooperation to be shifted in women’s favour. Its application shows that Malaysian women factory workers face significant challenges, due to the character of institutions, and women’s difficulties in adopting and internalising the notion of ‘empowerment’

Detecting Endometrial Cancer by Blood Spectroscopy: A Diagnostic Cross-Sectional Study

Endometrial cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women, with a rising incidence worldwide. Current approaches for the diagnosis and screening of endometrial cancer are invasive, expensive or of moderate diagnostic accuracy, limiting their clinical utility. There is a need for cost-effective and minimally invasive approaches to facilitate the early detection and timely management of endometrial cancer. We analysed blood plasma samples in a cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study of women with endometrial cancer (n = 342), its precursor lesion atypical hyperplasia (n = 68) and healthy controls (n = 242, total n = 652) using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and machine learning algorithms. We show that blood-based infrared spectroscopy has the potential to detect endometrial cancer with 87% sensitivity and 78% specificity. Its accuracy is highest for Type I endometrial cancer, the most common subtype, and for atypical hyperplasia, with sensitivities of 91% and 100%, and specificities of 81% and 88%, respectively. Our large-cohort study shows that a simple blood test could enable the early detection of endometrial cancer of all stages in symptomatic women and provide the basis of a screening tool in high-risk groups. Such a test has the potential not only to differentially diagnose endometrial cancer but also to detect its precursor lesion atypical hyperplasia—the early recognition of which may allow fertility sparing management and cancer prevention