Navigation Techniques for Control of Multiple Mobile Robots

The investigation reported in this thesis attempt to develop efficient techniques for the control of multiple mobile robots in an unknown environment. Mobile robots are key components in industrial automation, service provision, and unmanned space exploration. This thesis addresses eight different techniques for the navigation of multiple mobile robots. These are fuzzy logic, neural network, neuro-fuzzy, rule-base, rule-based-neuro-fuzzy, potential field, potential-field-neuro-fuzzy, and simulated-annealing- potential-field- neuro-fuzzy techniques. The main components of this thesis comprises of eight chapters. Following the literature survey in Chapter-2, Chapter-3 describes how to calculate the heading angle for the mobile robots in terms of left wheel velocity and right wheel velocity of the robot. In Chapter-4 a fuzzy logic technique has been analysed. The fuzzy logic technique uses different membership functions for navigation of the multiple mobile robots, which can perform obs..

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MORPHOLOGY AND PHYTOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS IN DIFFERENT POPULATIONS AND MORPHOTYPES OF DATURA INNOXIA MILL. AND DATURA METEL L. FROM PUNJAB PLAINS

Objective: Comparative analysis of morphology and phytochemical constituents in different populations and morphotypes of Datura innoxia Mill. and Datura metel L. from Punjab plains.Methods: Morphological analyses of different populations have been done. Methanol extracts of seeds and roots of different populations have been prepared and total phenols, flavonoid contents were measured through spectrophotometry. Antioxidant activity was studied by 2, 2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and total antioxidant capacity. Two major compounds, caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid were quantified by high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) analyses.Results: Two morphotypes of D. metel were reported in the present study. Out of five different populations of D. metel and D. innoxia, the wild populations have more bioactive compound as compared to the cultivated ones from the detailed phytochemical investigation. Pharmacologically important two marker compounds chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid has been identified and quantified by HPTLC technique.Conclusion: Variation in terms of morphology and secondary metabolites exists among the different populations of Datura spp. Among the two plant parts studied, seeds have the maximum amount of bioactive metabolites and antioxidant activity. This study revealed that chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid are the potential polyphenolic compounds in Datura spp. It has been found that the antioxidant activity of plant is due to its polyphenol contents, which provides insight to various researchers to work on it as it imparts health benefit

ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS AND BIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF PHYSALIS ANGULATA L. USING WAVE LENGTH-DISPERSIVE X-RAY FLUORESCENCE TECHNIQUE, WAVELENGTH DISPERSION X-RAY FLUORESCENCE, FROM RAJASTHAN

Physalis angulata L. is an important medicinal plant, commonly known by different names such as mullaca, wintercherry, camapu, cutleaf, andreferred as pilu,†by local tribal people of Rajasthan. This plant species is distributed from temperate to tropical region of the world. Traditionally, ithas anticancerous, antimycobacterial, and anticoagulant properties. The juice is used in the treatment of earache, jaundice, fever, gonorrhea bladderdiseases, etc., cytological exploration of the species from Rajasthan revels the existence of two cytotypes diploid (2n=12) and tetraploid (2n=24). Thisstudy is undertaken to identify the total mineral content of both the cytotypes from different plant parts, i.e., fruit, leaf, stem, and roots by wavelength dispersion X-ray fluorescence technique which is a simple method, recognized as a nondestructive technique to determine the elements from the raw plant material without any chemical treatment and helps to ascertain the nutritional role. The analysis of mineral content led to the identification and concentration analysis of twenty-seven elements in diploid cytotype and twenty-five in tetraploid cytotype. The percentage value of potassium (5.52%); iron (0.50%) and selenium (0.0042%) is reported to be higher in diploid cytotype and the amount of calcium (2.15%); magnesium (0.75%) and zinc (0.0075%) are higher in tetraploid cytotype. The amount of most of the minerals is higher in tetraploid cytotype as compared to the diploid cytotype. This information is very helpful in standardization of herbal products as this plant species is widely used for its medicinal benefits

Finite Element Based Vibration Analysis of a Nonprismatic Timoshenko Beam with Transverse Open Crack

AbstractThe present day structures and machineries are designed based on optimizing of multi-objectives such as maximum strength, maximum life, minimum weight and minimum cost. Due to this they are flexible and allow having a very high level of stresses. This leads to development of cracks in their elements. Many engineering structures may have structural defects such as cracks due to long-term service. So it is very much essential to know the property of structures and its response in various cases. The present article deals with finite element based vibration analysis of a nonprismatic cracked beam. The beam is modeled using the Timoshenko beam theory. The governing equation of motion is derived by the Hamilton's principle. In order to solve the governing equation two noded beam element with two degrees of freedom (DOF) per node is considered. In this work the effect of structural damping is also incorporated in the finite element model. The dynamic analysis is carried out by using state space model in time domain

Evaluating air quality and criteria pollutants prediction disparities by data mining along a stretch of urban-rural agglomeration includes coal-mine belts and thermal power plants

Air pollution has become a threat to human life around the world since researchers have demonstrated several effects of air pollution to the environment, climate, and society. The proposed research was organized in terms of National Air Quality Index (NAQI) and air pollutants prediction using data mining algorithms for particular timeframe dataset (01 January 2019, to 01 June 2021) in the industrial eastern coastal state of India. Over half of the study period, concentrations of PM2.5, PM10 and CO were several times higher than the NAQI standard limit. NAQI, in terms of consistency and frequency analysis, revealed that moderate level (ranges 101–200) has the maximum frequency of occurrence (26–158 days), and consistency was 36%–73% throughout the study period. The satisfactory level NAQI (ranges 51–100) frequency occurrence was 4–43 days with a consistency of 13%–67%. Poor to very poor level of air quality was found 13–50 days of the year, with a consistency of 9%–25%. Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Bagged Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) and Bayesian Regularized Neural Networks (BRNN) are the data mining algorithms, that showed higher efficiency for the prediction of PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and SO2 except for CO and O3 at Talcher and CO at Brajrajnagar. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between observed and predicted values of PM2.5 (ranges 12.40–17.90) and correlation coefficient (r) (ranges 0.83–0.92) for training and testing data indicate about slightly better prediction of PM2.5 by RF, SVM, bagged MARS, and BRNN models at Talcher in comparison to PM2.5 RMSE (ranges 13.06–21.66) and r (ranges 0.64–0.91) at Brajrajnagar. However, PM10 (RMSE: 25.80–43.41; r: 0.57–0.90), NO2 (RMSE: 3.00–4.95; r: 0.42–0.88) and SO2 (RMSE: 2.78–5.46; r: 0.31–0.88) at Brajrajnagar are better than PM10 (RMSE: 35.40–55.33; r: 0.68–0.91), NO2 (RMSE: 4.99–9.11; r: 0.48–0.92), and SO2 (RMSE: 4.91–9.47; r: 0.20–0.93) between observed and predicted values of training and testing data at Talcher using RF, SVM, bagged MARS and BRNN models, respectively. Taylor plots demonstrated that these algorithms showed promising accuracy for predicting air quality. The findings will help scientific community and policymakers to understand the distribution of air pollutants to strategize reduction in air pollution and enhance air quality in the study region

Doppler ultrasound scoring to predict chemotherapeutic response in advanced breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Doppler ultrasonography (US) is increasingly being utilized as an imaging modality in breast cancer. It is used to study the vascular characteristics of the tumor. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is the standard modality of treatment in locally advanced breast cancer. Histological examination remains the gold standard to assess the chemotherapy response. However, based on the color Doppler findings, a new scoring system that could predict histological response following chemotherapy is proposed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifty cases of locally advanced infiltrating duct carcinoma of the breast were studied. The mean age of the patients was 44.5 years. All patients underwent clinical, Doppler and histopathological assessment followed by three cycles of CAF (Cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin and 5-Fluorouracil) chemotherapy, repeat clinical and Doppler examination and surgery. The resected specimens were examined histopathologically and histological response was correlated with Doppler findings. The Doppler characteristics of the tumor were graded as 1–4 for <25%, 25–50%, >50% and complete disappearance of flow signals respectively. A cumulative score was calculated and compared with histopathological response. Results were analyzed using Chi square test, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The maximum Doppler score according to the proposed scoring system was twelve and minimum three. Higher scores corresponded with a more favorable histopathological response. Twenty four patients had complete response to chemotherapy. Sixteen of these 24 patients (66.7%) had a cumulative Doppler score more than nine. The sensitivity of cumulative score >5 was 91.7% and specificity was 38.5%. The area under the ROC curve of the cumulative score >9 was 0.72.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Doppler scoring can be accurately used to objectively predict the response to chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced breast cancer and it correlates well with histopathological response.</p

A novel ciprofloxacin-resistant subclade of H58 Salmonella Typhi is associated with fluoroquinolone treatment failure.

The interplay between bacterial antimicrobial susceptibility, phylogenetics and patient outcome is poorly understood. During a typhoid clinical treatment trial in Nepal, we observed several treatment failures and isolated highly fluoroquinolone-resistant Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi). Seventy-eight S. Typhi isolates were genome sequenced and clinical observations, treatment failures and fever clearance times (FCTs) were stratified by lineage. Most fluoroquinolone-resistant S. Typhi belonged to a specific H58 subclade. Treatment failure with S. Typhi-H58 was significantly less frequent with ceftriaxone (3/31; 9.7%) than gatifloxacin (15/34; 44.1%)(Hazard Ratio 0.19, p=0.002). Further, for gatifloxacin-treated patients, those infected with fluoroquinolone-resistant organisms had significantly higher median FCTs (8.2 days) than those infected with susceptible (2.96) or intermediately resistant organisms (4.01)(pS. Typhi clade internationally, but there are no data regarding disease outcome with this organism. We report an emergent new subclade of S. Typhi-H58 that is associated with fluoroquinolone treatment failure