Evaluation of Hindi to Punjabi Machine Translation System

Machine Translation in India is relatively young. The earliest efforts date from the late 80s and early 90s. The success of every system is judged from its evaluation experimental results. Number of machine translation systems has been started for development but to the best of author knowledge, no high quality system has been completed which can be used in real applications. Recently, Punjabi University, Patiala, India has developed Punjabi to Hindi Machine translation system with high accuracy of about 92%. Both the systems i.e. system under question and developed system are between same closely related languages. Thus, this paper presents the evaluation results of Hindi to Punjabi machine translation system. It makes sense to use same evaluation criteria as that of Punjabi to Hindi Punjabi Machine Translation System. After evaluation, the accuracy of the system is found to be about 95%

Modeling and Verification of Agent based Adaptive Traffic Signal using Symbolic Model Verifier

This paper addresses the issue of modeling and verification of a Multi Agent System (MAS) scenario. We have considered an agent based adaptive traffic signal system. The system monitors the smooth flow of traffic at intersection of two road segment. After describing how the adaptive traffic signal system can efficiently be used and showing its advantages over traffic signals with predetermined periods, we have shown how we can transform this scenario into Finite State Machine (FSM). Once the system is transformed into a FSM, we have verified the specifications specified in Computational Tree Logic(CTL) using NuSMV as a model checking tool. Simulation results obtained from NuSMV showed us whether the system satisfied the specifications or not. It has also showed us the state where the system specification does not hold. Using which we traced back our system to find the source, leading to the specification violation. Finally, we again verified the modified system with NuSMV for its specifications.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, Submitted to International Journal of Computer Application (IJCA

Genomic Prediction of Salinity Stress Tolerance in Maize (\u3ci\u3eZea mays L.\u3c/i\u3e)

Maize is the largest crop in the world in terms of production. Utah, maize is a potential fodder crop. With increasing climate change, soil salinity is also increasing worldwide. Soil salinity is very detrimental to plants\u27 growth and development and crop production. For a fodder crop, plant biomass is an important trait, and maize biomass is adversely affected by salinity stress, especially at the seedling stage. A Selection of salt-tolerant breeding material is a time-consuming process and its complexity is further increased by significant heterogeneity in soil salinity under field based evaluation. Genomic prediction is an emerging tool that can address this problem of selection of salt-tolerant genotypes in lesser time than the field phenotyping, increasing the genetic gain per unit of time. In the present ongoing investigation, we are trying to develop genomic selection models for predicting salinity stress tolerance in maize. The phenotypic data obtained from a previous study conducted at USDA-Riverside, California, is being trained on the SNP data of 399 maize inbred lines. Salt Index for shoot height and shoot weight (important fodder related traits) calculated using BLUP estimates in the previous study are being used as phenotypic data. The imputed SNP data set of 0.8 million SNPs was filtered for Minor Allele Frequency of 0.05 and a subset of 10,000 SNPs is being used to train the ridge regression model to obtain prediction accuracy. A higher prediction accuracy, if obtained in the analysis will be helpful in the selection of salt-tolerant genotypes in a set of inbred lines which are closely related to the training set. The outcome of this research may be useful to select high biomass salt tolerant genotypes in segregating generations in grain or fodder-oriented breeding programs, which may help increase the fodder area under maize in Utah. Presentation Time: Thursday, 12-1 p.m.Zoom link: https://usu-edu.zoom.us/j/83738417563?pwd=SHlRcGdaaTdmVzVUOENqTnVHQ3UzZz0

Combating protein energy wasting in end stage kidney disease: role of exogenous proteolytic enzyme as an adjuvant to dietary protein

Background: Despite interventions, the prevalence of protein energy wasting in patients on dialysis continues to be unacceptably high. The objective of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of exogenous proteolytic enzyme Aminace 70000 (Hemoglobin Tyrosine Unit), as an adjuvant to dietary protein in improving the nutritional status.Methods: This is a retrospective, real world, single centre, observational study, aimed at assessing the changes in key nutritional indices, over 6 months in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) initiated on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). The intervention included addition of egg protein and use of an exogenous proteolytic enzyme. Three cohorts were identified. Cohort 1, had access to a nephrologist and CAPD counsellor; Cohort 2, in addition had access to a dietician who emphasized the need for increase in dietary protein in form of 4-6 eggs a day; and cohort 3, were in addition given an exogenous proteolytic enzyme with the major protein meal.Results: The absolute fall in serum albumin at 6 months for the cohort 1, 2 and 3 is 0.48, 0.29 and 0.09 gm/dl respectively. Not only was the fall in serum albumin significantly less with the use of exogenous proteolytic enzyme, a higher proportion of patients were able to maintain or improve their serum albumin. The fall in midarm circumference was maximum in cohort 1 (2.08 cm) and least in cohort 3 (0.45 cm). This positive trend however, did not achieve statistical significance.Conclusions: Use of exogenous proteolytic enzyme, when combined with egg protein, improves key nutritional indices in patients of CKD on CAPD

Probiotics as a Novel Treatment of Mastitis in Dairy Goats to Combat a Nutritional Concern

Background: The demand for goat dairy products has grown in the US and continues to increase. This is partially due to nutritional advantages that include higher protein, lower cholesterol, ease in digestibility and low fat content as compared to cows’ milk. Goat milk is also used in a variety of health and beauty products such as lotions, soaps and creams. Mastitis continues to have a negative impact on the supply of and demand for goat milk as well as contributing to lack of financial gains for farmers. Methods: Faculty and graduate students of Department of Veterinary Science and Public Health at Fort Valley State University are conducting research both in vitro and in vivo to determine if mastitis may be prevented and/or treated with probiotics. To demonstrate that probiotics will be an effective alternative to traditional antibiotic therapy in treatment of mastitis in dairy goats, antibiotic-resistant bacteria will be treated in vitro with Lactobacillis sp. probiotics to determine bacterial susceptibility. This study has two phases. In Phase I, bacteria isolated from milk from goats with mastitis is subjected to Kirby-Bauer testing to ascertain antibiotic resistance. Once resistance is observed, bacterial sub-colonies will then be subjected to treatment with probiotics (L. plantarum, B. subtilus, B. licheniformis, S. cerevisiae). Phase II involves treatment of antibiotic resistant mastitis in dairy goats to treat and prevent mastitis. Results: Results are pending completion of all testing, to be reported in 2017. Conclusions: Mastitis, an inflammatory process involving the mammary glands, has a negative effect on milk production which in turn influences the supply of and demand for goat milk products. Probiotics present the possibility of a novel treatment in the treatment of antibiotic resistant mastitis

Transgenic Expression of \u3ci\u3ePrunus persica\u3c/i\u3e Salt Overly Sensitive 2 (\u3ci\u3eppsos2\u3c/i\u3e) in \u3ci\u3eatsos2\u3c/i\u3e Mutant Imparts Salt Tolerance in Arabidopsis

Salinity is one of the major environmental stresses that affect crop growth and productivity. Almond crop has a great potential for Utah as a cash crop and salinity is one of the stresses affecting its growth and yield. Although almond trees are sensitive to salt stress, salinity-tolerant rootstocks can play a significant role in sustaining crop production in semiarid areas. Salinity tolerance has a complex mechanism with many genes acting in different pathways. Understanding the role of potential candidate genes is an important aspect of genomics assisted improvement of stress tolerance. In this study, functional complementation of the Prunus persica Salt Overly Sensitive 2 (ppsos2) gene from the almond rootstock ‘Nemaguard’ was done. Two transgenic lines of ppsos2 were developed into the mutant atsos2 background using constitutive (PpSOS2.OE3.5) and endogenous (PpSOS2NP.2.7) promoters. Both transgenic lines showed significantly higher survival rates and dry weight than atsos2 under 90 mM NaCl treatment. The atsos2 mutant inhibited growth of primary and lateral roots when treated with 50 mM NaCl. The root growth inhibition was restored by ppsos2 complementation. Both transgenic lines showed a significant decrease in electrolyte leak percentage compared to atsos2 when treated with 50 mM NaCl. The electrolyte leakage percentage in transgenic lines was the same as in wild-type plants after treatment. The expression of ppsos2 was induced in both transgenic lines under 90 mM NaCl salt treatment. Expression analysis of six K+-rectifying channel genes revealed differential expression of atakt1, atakt2, and atchx14 genes in transgenic compared to the atsos2 mutant 24 h after the 50 mM NaCl treatment. These observations suggest that ppsos2 modulates and restores salt tolerance in atsos2 and that SOS pathway is conserved in Prunus. Presentation Time: Thursday, 2-3 p.m

Local Competition and Impact of Entry by a Dominant Retailer

This paper analyzes the competition between two spatially differentiated multi-product retailers who encounter entry from a dominant discount retailer. Our primary objective is to determine how entry affects the pricing and relative profits of the incumbent stores and the role played by the location of the entrant. The new entrant has partial overlap in product assortment with the incumbents and is assumed to have lower procurement costs for the common goods. Consumers are heterogeneous in their location, economic status (shopping costs and valuations), as well as purchase basket or the types of products demanded. Results show that in the post entry equilibrium, the prices for the products not offered by the discounter are higher than the pre entry prices. More interestingly, contrary to the conventional wisdom we find that the store that is closer to the new entrant is better off compared to the incumbent located further away. The intuition for these results is that the discounter with its low price draws away the poor consumers – the price sensitive segment – out of the market for the items it carries. This in turn softens price competition between the incumbents for these items. Furthermore, the new entrant’s unique product offering attracts more consumers to visit the location it occupies, which introduces positive demand externalities to the neighboring retailer, leading to an increase in sales for the non-competing products. We provide empirical evidence for our results and discuss implications for retailers facing competition from large discount stores.entry; retail competition; agglomeration

Zoonotic aspects of Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes is a non acid-fast, Gram-positive facultative anaerobic pathogen, which is considered as food- and feed-borne. Whereas poor quality silage is the main cause of animal listeriosis, contaminated food of animal origin is the main cause of human listeriosis. That the raw material for food is of animal origin does not necessarily mean that the L. monocytogenes bacteria also spring from animals. The bacteria may have contaminated the food product while processed. Knowledge of the direct or indirect transmission of L. monocytogenes between animals and humans, via e.g. foods, is limited. To highlight the zoonotic aspects of L. monocytogenes we need more comparative data concerning isolates of animal and human origin. The aim of the present study was to characterize clinical L. monocytogenes isolates from different animal’s species and to compare the patterns with those obtained from previously characterized clinical human strains. Animal isolates were characterized by use of restriction enzymes Asc I and Apa I followed by PFGE. Out of 104 animal strains 47 belonged to clonal types identical or closely related to clonal types seen among clinical human strains. The clonal types shared by animals and humans may indicate that there is an exchange of L. monocytogenes strains between these two groups or there may be a common environmental pool of strains. On the other hand, 42 animal strains belonged to clonal types that were unfamiliar to our collection of human strains. Finally, 15 animal isolates distributed into eight clonal types yielded Asc I profiles familiar to our human clonal types yet unfamiliar Apa I profiles. Human and animal isolates of L. monocytogenes have rarely been compared by use of PFGE. Further studies is needed to highlight routes of transmissions between animals and humans, e.g., via food