Grain silo location-allocation problem with dwell time for optimization of food grain supply chain network

In the last few decades, production and procurement of food grain in India have steadily increased, however, storage capacity has not increased proportionally. The government of India (GOI) is establishing the various capacitated silos across the country to bridge this storage capacity gap. This paper presents a novel integrated multi-objective, multi-modal and multiperiod mathematical model for grain silo location-allocation problem with Dwell time to support the decision-making process of GOI. Two conflicting objectives- minimization of total supply chain network cost and total lead time (transit and dwell time) are simultaneously optimized using two Pareto based multi-objective algorithms with calibrated parameters

Plant regeneration through organogenesis and shoot proliferation in Trichodesma indicum (Linn) R. Br. – a medicinal herb

Adhahpuspi (Trichodesma indicum, Family – Boraginaceae) is a cross-pollinated species. Its complete regeneration was accomplished through in vitro techniques. The zygotic embryos placed on MS (Murashige and Skoog) medium fortified either with kinetin, BA (N6-benzyl Aminopurine) or NAA (&#8733-naphthalene acetic acid) produced callus and adventitious shoots; whereas those placed on MS medium supplemented with 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) formed callus. On subculture, thenodal pieces produced axillary shoots that were suitable for further propagule proliferation. Rhizogenesis occurred in 60% micro shoots treated with IBA (indole-3-butyric acid) pulse. The regenerated plants successfully acclimatized and started flowering in green house maintained at 30 ± 2ºC temperature and 70% RH

Potential use of cyanobacterial species in bioremediation of industrial effluents

This study investigated the potential degradation of industrial effluents by environmental species of cyanobacteria. Cyanobacterial species isolated from the Pharmaceutical and Textile industries Mandideep, Bhopal were exposed. Isolation and utilization of the locally generated cyanobacterial biomass for remediation of private industrial activities will generate a source of revenue in Bhopal localities. Biodegradation and biosorption capacity of some potential cyanobacterial species: Oscillatoria sp., Synechococcus sp., Nodularia sp., Nostoc sp. and Cyanothece sp. dominated the effluents and mixed cultures showed varying sensitivity. Contaminant was removed by all the species, either as individuals or mixtures, at both concentrations. The abundance of cyanobacteria in thiseffluent was due to favorable contents of organic matter, rich calcium and nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates with less dissolved oxygen. Removal efficiencies of the different contaminants were evaluated and compared. Results confirmed the high efficiencies of the investigated species for the removal of the target contaminants which were species and contaminant-dependent. The contaminants removal efficiency (RE) percentage of cyanobacterial species ranged between 69.5 and 99.6% with a maximum of 97.0 to 99.6% at 5 ppm, 83.9% and 99.7% at 10 ppm and maximum between 95.5 and 99.7%. Mixed culture RE percentages ranged between 91.6 and 100% at 5 ppm with a maximum range of 99.3 to 100%, while at 10 ppm, the RE percentage ranged between 90.4 and 100%, with a maximum range of 96.0 to 100%. Results indicate the potential of natural resources as efficient agents for pollution control.Key word: Cyanobacteria, industrial effluents, bioremediation

Results of sun photometer-derived precipitable water content over a tropical Indian station

A compact, hand-held multiband sun photometer (ozone monitor) has been used to measure total precipitable water content (PWC) at the low-latitude tropical station in Pune, India (18°32′N, 73°51′E). Data collected in the daytime (0730–1800 LT) during the period from May 1998 to September 2001 have been used here. The daytime average PWC value at this station is 1.13 cm, and the average for only the clear-sky days is 0.75 cm. PWC values between 0.75 and 1.0 cm have the maximum frequency of occurrence. There is a large day-to-day variability due to varied sky and meteorological conditions. Mainly two types of diurnal variations in PWC are observed. The one occurs in the premonsoon summer months of April and May and shows that forenoon values are smaller than afternoon values. The other type occurs in November and December and shows a minimum around noontime. There is a diurnal asymmetry in PWC in which, on the majority of the days, the mean afternoon value is greater than the forenoon value. This asymmetry is more pronounced in the summer and southwest monsoon months (i.e., March–June). Monthly mean PWC is highest in September and lowest in December. The increase in PWC from the winter (December–February) to summer (March–May) seasons is about 50% and from the summer to southwest monsoon seasons (June–September) is almost 98%. Sun photometer–derived PWC shows a fairly good relationship with surface relative humidity and radiosonde-derived PWC, with a correlation coefficient as high as 0.8

An Educational Interventional Study to Assess Awareness about Mosquito Breeding, Diseases Caused and Protective Measures Against them among Families Residing in an Urban Slum of Indore City

Background: Community participation plays an important role in control of Mosquito borne diseases. This study tries to assess impact of educational intervention on various aspects of mosquito borne diseases in an urban slum. Methodology: An educational interventional study was done in 200 families residing in a slum (Badi Gwaltoli) which is in field practice area of Urban Health Centre attached to Department of Community Medicine of M.G.M.Medical College, Indore. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire was administered to the Head of the family which studied their awareness and perception regarding breeding sites and biting habits of mosquitoes, diseases spread by them and personal protective measures used, followed by an educational intervention and post assessment. Data was entered into Microsoft excel spread sheet and analysed using SPSS version 20 software. Results: 46% of study population knew the correct breeding season of mosquitoes (monsoon season) during pre-intervention and 68% of the population post- intervention (p- value 0.004). When asked at what time mosquitoes bite the most, maximum number (92%) of people said that mosquitoes bite most in the evening and night, while only 6% and 2% were for morning and noon, respectively. Only 3.5% of the population who knew about breeding sites knew about artificial collections of water. Majority said mosquito breed in dirty stagnant water (78.5%). About 96%of the study population was aware that mosquitoes spread diseases. However, only 33.3%of respondents knew correctly about the diseases spread which improved to 68% in the post-intervention period (p-value=.000). 46% knew all the protection measures against mosquitoes in the pre-intervention which increased to 86% in the post intervention (p.value-.005). Conclusion: Awareness about Aedes mosquitoes and its habits is quite poor and many people still believe that only dirty water serves as a breeding place in mosquitoes. Regular IEC sessions informing community about mosquito-borne diseases will improve community participation

Evaluation and utilization of Aegilops germplasm for biofortification of wheat for high grain iron and zinc content

Contains fulltext : 135415.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)24 p

Bioinspired Multifunctional Glass Surfaces through Regenerative Secondary Mask Lithography

Nature-inspired nanopatterning offers exciting multifunctionality spanning antireflectance and the ability to repel water/fog, oils, and bacteria; strongly dependent upon nanofeature size and morphology. However, such patterning in glass is notoriously difficult, paradoxically, due to the same outstanding chemical and thermal stability that make glass so attractive. Here, regenerative secondary mask lithography is introduced and exploited to enable customized glass nanopillars through dynamic nanoscale tunability of the side-wall profile and aspect ratio (>7). The method is simple and versatile, comprising just two steps. First, sub-wavelength scalable soft etch masks (55–350 nm) are generated through an example of block copolymer micelles or nanoimprinted photoresist. Second, their inherent durability problem is addressed by an innovative cyclic etching, when the original mask becomes embedded within a protective secondary organic mask, which is tuned and regenerated, permitting dynamic nanofeature profiling with etching selectivity >1:32. It is envisioned that such structuring in glass will facilitate fundamental studies and be useful for numerous practical applications—from displays to architectural windows. To showcase the potential, glass features are tailored to achieve excellent broadband omnidirectional antireflectivity, self-cleaning, and unique antibacterial activity toward Staphylococcus aureus

Trace gases and CO2 isotope records from cabo de rama, India

Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrous oxide (N2O) and hydrogen (H2), and the stable carbon (δ 13C-CO2) and oxygen (δ 18O-CO2) isotopic composition of CO2 have been measured in air samples collected from Cabo de Rama (CRI), India, for the period 1993-2002. The observations show clear signatures of Northern and Southern Hemispheric (NH and SH) air masses, mixed with their regional fluxes and chemical loss mechanisms, resulting in complex seasonal variation of these gases. The CRI measurements are compared with remote marine sites at Seychelles and Mauna Loa. Simulations of two major anthropogenic greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4) concentrations using a chemistry-transport model for the CRI site suggest that globally optimized fluxes can produce results comparable to the observations. We discuss that CRI observations have provided critical guidance in optimizing the fluxes to constrain the regional source/sinks balance