Modeling a Sensor to Improve its Efficacy

Robots rely on sensors to provide them with information about their surroundings. However, high-quality sensors can be extremely expensive and cost-prohibitive. Thus many robotic systems must make due with lower-quality sensors. Here we demonstrate via a case study how modeling a sensor can improve its efficacy when employed within a Bayesian inferential framework. As a test bed we employ a robotic arm that is designed to autonomously take its own measurements using an inexpensive LEGO light sensor to estimate the position and radius of a white circle on a black field. The light sensor integrates the light arriving from a spatially distributed region within its field of view weighted by its Spatial Sensitivity Function (SSF). We demonstrate that by incorporating an accurate model of the light sensor SSF into the likelihood function of a Bayesian inference engine, an autonomous system can make improved inferences about its surroundings. The method presented here is data-based, fairly general, and made with plug-and play in mind so that it could be implemented in similar problems.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, submitted to the special issue of "Sensors for Robotics

Role of Cell Phone in Creating Coveted Mobility in JOB Viewing the Current Employment Challenges in Service Economy

The paper investigates the obstacles to youth employment in India. It draws insights from various case studies across the world and has put a reflection of the experience of Bolivia in Latin America and the services that are offered by the companies such as Assured Labor, Babajob, LabourNet and Souktel. There are several existed innovative model  induced by globalization and technological advancement which can be emulated to create job for poor and marginalized groups of women and youth in developing countries. The paper also discussed employment prospects and employment protection in different social security schemes and active labor protection measures that brought in by the Government of India. Keywords: Youth Employment, Employment Challenges, Active Labour Market Policies, Indian Labour force, Local Economy, Information Services, Mobile Phone For Job Creation, Mobile Phone Technology, Cell Phone And Mobilit

Expression and function of Williams syndrome transcription factor (WSTF) in the neural development of Xenopus laevis

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2008Imitation Switch (ISWI) is a member of the Switch2/Sugar Non-Fermenting2 (SWI/SNF2) superfamily of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) - dependent chromatin remodelers. Twenty different ISWI complexes have been identified so far in yeast, Drosophila, Xenopus and mammals. Three ISWI-containing complexes, WSTF-ISWI chromatin remodeling complex (WICH), ATP-dependent chromatin assembly and remodeling factor (ACF) and chromatin accessibility complex (CHRAC), have been characterized in Xenopus. Loss of ISWI function in Xenopus embryos results in severe defects in neural and eye development, including loss of retinal differentiation and formation of cataracts. We have begun to dissect the contributions of individual ISWI dependent complexes to development, by using in situ hybridization and antisense morpholino knockdowns against subunits unique to different ISWI-containing complexes. Here I have investigated the WICH complex in Xenopus and have targeted the WSTF subunit. Whole mount in situ hybridization shows WSTF localized in the neural tissue including eye, brain, branchial arches and neural tube/ spinal cord. Injection of antisense morpholino oligonucleotides into fertilized eggs leads to misregulation and aberrant expression of genes involved in neural patterning and development, such as Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) and Sonic hedgehog (Shh). Whole mount in situ hybridization shows mislocalization of BMP4 in the probable deformed neural tube of WSTF knockdowns. All these data suggest that WSTF is critical for neural development.1. Introduction -- 1.1. Chromatin structure and remodeling -- 1.2. The role of ISWI subfamily in development -- 1.2.1. Development roles of the ISWI ATPase -- 1.2.2. Developmental roles of individual ISWI complexes -- 1.3. Williams syndrome transcription factor -- 2. Materials and methods -- 2.1. Morpholinos -- 2.2. Microinjection -- 2.3. Protein isolation and immunoblotting -- 2.4. Whole-mount in situ hybridization -- 2.5. rtRT-PCR -- 3. Results -- 3.1. Xenopus WSTF is expressed primarily in anterior neural tissue -- 3.2. Xenopus WSTF is critical for normal development of the eye and brain -- 3.3. WSTF is specifically inhibited in the WSTF knockdowns -- 3.4. WSTF knockdowns have severely impaired eye development -- 3.5. WSTF is required for normal expression of genes involved in neural patterning and development -- 3.6. BMP4 is spatially misregulated in WSTF knockdowns -- 4. Discussion -- References -- Appendix

PREVALENCE OF JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS IN DHEMAJI DISTRICT OF ASSAM

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is the viral disease caused by Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) transmitted to human by Culex mosquitoes.  As per WHO, annually 10,000–15,000 people die due to JEV in worldwide. In India, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) is playing an important role for controlling the JEV by surveillance in each Region by Government of India. The present study was carried out to check the positivity rate of JEV among Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES cases) in 2013-2014 at Dhemaji district of Assam and to find out the risk age group and relation of JEV with living behavior. In our study it was found that 74.46% patients reported as AES were below 10 years and out of which 38.09 % patients were JE positive

Continuous flow photochemical production of antimalarials

Padmakana Malakar investigated the synthesis of antimalarial compounds using light and continuous flow operation. She developed an efficient process for the synthesis of the important antimalarial artemisinin. She likewise generated a library of novel trioxane compounds with potential antimalarial activities. She also utilized metal-organic-frameworks as advanced sensitizers for the photooxygenation to the bioactive ascaridole

Interactions between two gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) pathogens, nuclear polyhedrosis virus and Entomophaga maimaiga (Entomophthorales: Zygomycetes).

The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L., is one of the most damaging pests of the deciduous forests in the United States. It was accidentally introduced from Europe in 1868 by an amateur naturalist in eastern Massachusetts. High density gypsy moth populations are regulated primarily by a nuclear polyhedrosis virus (LdNPV). LdNPV is transmitted by feeding the LdNPV contaminated foliage or the contaminated egg chorion on the way out from the egg by a larva. In 1989, an entomophthoralean fungus, Entomophaga maimaiga Humber, Shimazu et Soper was discovered in the northeastern United States, which caused massive epizootic in both low and high density gypsy moth populations. My study focused on the interactions between E. maimaiga and LdNPV. Laboratory bioassays in which I inoculated gypsy moth larvae with LdNPV and E. maimaiga at the same time indicated that the majority of dually inoculated larvae die from E. maimaiga because of the shorter incubation period of E. maimaiga (5-7 days) compared to LdNPV (14 days) at 20\sp\circC. When the larvae were inoculated with E. maimaiga, 10 days after LdNPV inoculation, there was an apparent synergistic effect of E. maimaiga with LdNPV. Dually inoculated larvae died producing LdNPV propagules, 1-2 days earlier than the larvae inoculated with LdNPV alone. Small-scale field experiments conducted in mesh-bags showed that artificial rainfall increases the E. maimaiga transmission. In a naturally occurring, moderate density gypsy moth population, I found that the LdNPV infection level was little affected by the presence of E. maimaiga. Host heterogeneity is suspected as one of the factors leading non-linear LdNPV transmissions. I showed that the host heterogeneity cannot explain the E. maimaiga epizootic observed in low density populations. I experimentally demonstrated this by comparing the E. maimaiga infection rates in feral (experienced the E. maimaiga/LdNPV epizootic in their parental generations) and laboratory reared (with no epizootic experience) larvae. This is probably due to the short period to which the North American gypsy moths have been exposed to E. maimaiga, so these gypsy moths have not had chance to develop resistance against E. maimaiga