656 research outputs found
Trace element analysis of fly ash samples by EDXRF technique
Trace element analysis of some fly ash samples and soil samples have been
carried out by Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence technique. Fourteen elements
namely K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Se, Rb, Sr and Pb have been quantified
in the fly ash samples by this technique. It was found that there is no huge
concentration difference between the fly ash and soil samples as a result of which
fly ash can be used as soil manure without any adverse impact on the plants.Trace element analysis of fly ash samples by EDXRF technique
T R Rautray1*, B Behera1, T Badapanda1, V Vijayan2 and S Panigrahi1
1Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela-769 008, Orissa,
India
2Department of Physics, Valliammai Engineering College, SRM Nagar, Chennai-603 203,
Tamil Nadu, India
E-mail : [email protected] of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela-769 008, Orissa,
India
2Department of Physics, Valliammai Engineering College, SRM Nagar, Chennai-603 203,
Tamil Nadu, Indi
Semantic segmentation of conjunctiva region for non-invasive anemia detection applications
Technology is changing the future of healthcare, technology-supported non-invasive medical procedures are more preferable in the medical diagnosis. Anemia is one of the widespread diseases affecting the wellbeing of individuals around the world especially childbearing age women and children and addressing this issue with the advanced technology will reduce the prevalence in large numbers. The objective of this work is to perform segmentation of the conjunctiva region for non-invasive anemia detection applications using deep learning. The proposed U-Net Based Conjunctiva Segmentation Model (UNBCSM) uses fine-tuned U-Net architecture for effective semantic segmentation of conjunctiva from the digital eye images captured by consumer-grade cameras in an uncontrolled environment. The ground truth for this supervised learning was given as Pascal masks obtained by manual selection of conjunctiva pixels. Image augmentation and pre-processing was performed to increase the data size and the performance of the model. UNBCSM showed good segmentation results and exhibited a comparable value of Intersection over Union (IoU) score between the ground truth and the segmented mask of 96% and 85.7% for training and validation, respectively
X-ray studies on crystalline complexes involving amino acids and peptides. XVII. Chirality and molecular aggregation: the crystal structures of DL-arginine DL-glutamate monohydrate and DL-arginine DL-aspartate
DL-Arginine DL-glutamate monohydrate and DL-arginine DL-aspartate, the first DL-DL amino acid-amino acid complexes to be prepared and x-ray analyzed, crystallize in the space group P1 with a = 5.139(2), b = 10.620(1), c = 14.473(2) Å, α = 101.34(1)°, β = 94.08(2)°, γ = 91.38(2)° and a = 5.402(3), b = 9.933(3), c = 13.881(2) Å, α = 99.24(2)°, β = 99.73(3)°, γ = 97.28(3)° , respectively. The structures were solved using counter data and refined to R values of 0.050 and 0.077 for 1827 and 1739 observed reflections, respectively. The basic element of aggregation in both structures is an infinite chain made up of pairs of molecules. Each pair, consisting of a L- and a D-isomer, is stabilized by two centrosymmetrically or nearly centrosymmetrically related hydrogen bonds involving the α-amino and the α-carboxylate groups. Adjacent pairs in the chain are then connected by specific guanidyl-carboxylate interactions. The infinite chains are interconnected through hydrogen bonds to form molecular sheets. The sheets are then stacked along the shortest cell translation. The interactions between sheets involve two head-to-tail sequences in the glutamate complex and one such sequence in the aspartate complex. However, unlike in the corresponding LL and DL complexes, head-to-tail sequences are not the central feature of molecular aggregation in the DL-DL complexes. Indeed, fundamental differences exist among the aggregation patterns in the LL, the LD, and the DL-DL complexes
Innovative "Microsate" Cage Culture Systems for Livelihood and Nutritional Security: A Participatory Approach
Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food production sector in the world and is considered to be of vital importance
for the livelihood and nutritional security. Here we describe an innovative “Microsate” cage fish culture model for
alternative income generation and livelihood security of inland fisherfolks. The “Microsate” were implemented in
the Vembanad lake close to Azhikode bar mouth along the West coast of India. The programme implementation
have processes such as stakeholder selection, site selection, fabrication of cages, monitoring the culture
process, harvesting and marketing of the fish. The selected male and female stakeholders members were
trained for “Microsate” fabrication and rearing of the fish. Hatchery reared Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) and
indigenous Pearl spot (Etroplus suratensis) fingerlings were stocked in the cages. They were fed with pellet feed
as well as trash fish at dawn and dusk period. After the seven months of “Microsate” culture, plate size fishes
were harvested and sold out in the domestic market with premium price. The income generated equally divided
among the members which was used for the second culture. The newly developed, ecofriendly microsate cage
culture model can be used as a replicable model to
address the livelihood insecurity of the rural fisher folk. Most importantly it acts as a means for ensured
alternative livelihood and to culture the indigenous fish stocks which are presently overexploited and are under
the threat of extinction. This type of food production systems can decrease the fishing pressure on indigenous
fish species and also generate alternative income for the inland rural fishers. “Microsate” cage fish culture
endeavor for livelihood and nutritional security of the rural fisherfolks has become a promising intervention in
India
Acute tropical pulmonary eosinophilia: characterization of the lower respiratory tract inflammation and its response to therapy
Although acute tropical pulmonary eosinophilia (TPE) is well
recognized as a manifestation of filarial infection, the processes
that mediate the abnormalities of the lung in TPE are unknown.
To evaluate the hypothesis that the derangements of the lower
respiratory tract in this disorder are mediated by inflammatory
cells in the local milieu we utilized bronchoalveolar lavage to
evaluate affected individuals before and after therapy. Inflaminatory
cells recovered from the lower respiratory tract of individuals
with acute, untreated TPE (a = 8) revealed a striking
eosinophilic alveolitis, with marked elevations in both the proportion
of eosinophils (TPE 54±5%; normal 2±5%; P < 0.001)
and the concentration of eosinophils in the recovered epithelial
lining fluid (ELF) (TPE 63±20 X 103/Al; normal 03±0.1
X 103/jl; P < 0.01). Importantly, when individuals (a = 5) with
acute TPE were treated with diethylcarbamazine (DEC), there
was a marked decrease of the lung eosinophils and concomitant
increase in lung function. These observations are consistent with
the concept that at least some of the abnormalities found in the
lung in acute TPE are mediated by an eosinophil-dominated inflammatory
process in the lower respiratory tract
Muscle fiber conduction velocity is more affected after eccentric than concentric exercise
It has been shown that mean muscle fiber conduction velocity (CV) can be acutely impaired after eccentric exercise. However, it is not known whether this applies to other exercise modes. Therefore, the purpose of this experiment was to compare the effects of eccentric and concentric exercises on CV, and amplitude and frequency content of surface electromyography (sEMG) signals up to 24 h post-exercise. Multichannel sEMG signals were recorded from biceps brachii muscle of the exercised arm during isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and electrically evoked contractions induced by motor-point stimulation before, immediately after and 2 h after maximal eccentric (ECC group, N = 12) and concentric (CON group, N = 12) elbow flexor exercises. Isometric MVC decreased in CON by 21.7 ± 12.0% (± SD, p < 0.01) and by 30.0 ± 17.7% (p < 0.001) in ECC immediately post-exercise when compared to baseline. At 2 h post-exercise, ECC showed a reduction in isometric MVC by 24.7 ± 13.7% (p < 0.01) when compared to baseline, while no significant reduction (by 8.0 ± 17.0%, ns) was observed in CON. Similarly, reduction in CV was observed only in ECC both during the isometric MVC (from baseline of 4.16 ± 0.3 to 3.43 ± 0.4 m/s, p < 0.001) and the electrically evoked contractions (from baseline of 4.33 ± 0.4 to 3.82 ± 0.3 m/s, p < 0.001). In conclusion, eccentric exercise can induce a greater and more prolonged reduction in muscle force production capability and CV than concentric exercis
Direct observation of incommensurate magnetism in Hubbard chains
The interplay between magnetism and doping is at the origin of exotic
strongly correlated electronic phases and can lead to novel forms of magnetic
ordering. One example is the emergence of incommensurate spin-density waves
with a wave vector that does not match the reciprocal lattice. In one dimension
this effect is a hallmark of Luttinger liquid theory, which also describes the
low energy physics of the Hubbard model. Here we use a quantum simulator based
on ultracold fermions in an optical lattice to directly observe such
incommensurate spin correlations in doped and spin-imbalanced Hubbard chains
using fully spin and density resolved quantum gas microscopy. Doping is found
to induce a linear change of the spin-density wave vector in excellent
agreement with Luttinger theory predictions. For non-zero polarization we
observe a decrease of the wave vector with magnetization as expected from the
Heisenberg model in a magnetic field. We trace the microscopic origin of these
incommensurate correlations to holes, doublons and excess spins which act as
delocalized domain walls for the antiferromagnetic order. Finally, when
inducing interchain coupling we observe fundamentally different spin
correlations around doublons indicating the formation of a magnetic polaron
Amino Acid Compositions of 27 Food Fishes and Their Importance in Clinical Nutrition
Proteins and amino acids are important biomolecules which regulate key metabolic pathways and serve as precursors for synthesis
of biologically important substances; moreover, amino acids are building blocks of proteins. Fish is an important dietary source of
quality animal proteins and amino acids and play important role in human nutrition. In the present investigation, crude protein
content and amino acid compositions of important food fishes from different habitats have been studied. Crude protein content
was determined by Kjeldahl method and amino acid composition was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography and
information on 27 food fishes was generated. The analysis showed that the cold water species are rich in lysine and aspartic acid,
marine fishes in leucine, small indigenous fishes in histidine, and the carps and catfishes in glutamic acid and glycine. The enriched
nutrition knowledge base would enhance the utility of fish as a source of quality animal proteins and amino acids and aid in their
inclusion in dietary counseling and patient guidance for specific nutritional needs
Rapid Plant Identification Using Species- and Group-Specific Primers Targeting Chloroplast DNA
Plant identification is challenging when no morphologically assignable parts are available. There is a lack of broadly applicable methods for identifying plants in this situation, for example when roots grow in mixture and for decayed or semi-digested plant material. These difficulties have also impeded the progress made in ecological disciplines such as soil- and trophic ecology. Here, a PCR-based approach is presented which allows identifying a variety of plant taxa commonly occurring in Central European agricultural land. Based on the trnT-F cpDNA region, PCR assays were developed to identify two plant families (Poaceae and Apiaceae), the genera Trifolium and Plantago, and nine plant species: Achillea millefolium, Fagopyrum esculentum, Lolium perenne, Lupinus angustifolius, Phaseolus coccineus, Sinapis alba, Taraxacum officinale, Triticum aestivum, and Zea mays. These assays allowed identification of plants based on size-specific amplicons ranging from 116 bp to 381 bp. Their specificity and sensitivity was consistently high, enabling the detection of small amounts of plant DNA, for example, in decaying plant material and in the intestine or faeces of herbivores. To increase the efficacy of identifying plant species from large number of samples, specific primers were combined in multiplex PCRs, allowing screening for multiple species within a single reaction. The molecular assays outlined here will be applicable manifold, such as for root- and leaf litter identification, botanical trace evidence, and the analysis of herbivory
Simultaneous Optimization of Both Node and Edge Conservation in Network Alignment via WAVE
Network alignment can be used to transfer functional knowledge between
conserved regions of different networks. Typically, existing methods use a node
cost function (NCF) to compute similarity between nodes in different networks
and an alignment strategy (AS) to find high-scoring alignments with respect to
the total NCF over all aligned nodes (or node conservation). But, they then
evaluate quality of their alignments via some other measure that is different
than the node conservation measure used to guide the alignment construction
process. Typically, one measures the amount of conserved edges, but only after
alignments are produced. Hence, a recent attempt aimed to directly maximize the
amount of conserved edges while constructing alignments, which improved
alignment accuracy. Here, we aim to directly maximize both node and edge
conservation during alignment construction to further improve alignment
accuracy. For this, we design a novel measure of edge conservation that (unlike
existing measures that treat each conserved edge the same) weighs each
conserved edge so that edges with highly NCF-similar end nodes are favored. As
a result, we introduce a novel AS, Weighted Alignment VotEr (WAVE), which can
optimize any measures of node and edge conservation, and which can be used with
any NCF or combination of multiple NCFs. Using WAVE on top of established
state-of-the-art NCFs leads to superior alignments compared to the existing
methods that optimize only node conservation or only edge conservation or that
treat each conserved edge the same. And while we evaluate WAVE in the
computational biology domain, it is easily applicable in any domain.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
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