Point Of Source Research Articles

Studies on character association and path analysis studies for yield, grain quality and nutritional traits in F2 population of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Rice is a major cereal crop from the consumption point of view, dietary energy and nutrition source for more than half of the world’s population. Rice is rich in starch but deficient in major micronutrients. Present experiment consists of F2 mapping population for high grain zinc content, with 312 entries studied for 15 different traits. Correlation study indicated that, grain zinc and iron content were significant and positive. So there is a scope for simultaneous improvement of both traits. Grain yield per plant showed a non-significant and negative association with zinc and iron content. Plant height, total tillers per plant, the number of effective tillers per plant, panicle length, 1000 grain weight, fertile grains per panicle, kernel breadth, L/B ratio has significant and positive correlation and positive direct effects with grain yield per plant.

Association between distance from the radiation source and radiation exposure: A phantom‐based study

The study evaluated the association between distance from radiation source and radiation exposure. Radiation exposure during medical procedures is associated with increased risk of cancer and other adverse effects. An American National Standards Institute phantom was used to study the relationship between measured entrance surface exposure (MESE) and distance from the X-ray source in postero-anterior, left anterior oblique, and right anterior oblique projections. Three distance settings for table height were evaluated with "low" defined as 52 cm, "mid" 66 cm, and "high" 80 cm from the focal point of the X-ray source. Air-kerma and dose-area product measurements were recorded. Operator exposure with each of these conditions was measured, in a short operator (150 cm) as well as in a tall operator (190 cm). Aggregate results for the three projections were as follows. MESE (μGy/frame) significantly decreased as table-height increases (median, interquartile range, p-value) (low table-height 192.5 [122.4-201.2], mid table-height 105.8 [82.7-115.8], and high table-height 71.7 [58.4-75], p < .0005). The operator exposure (μGy/frame), significantly increased as the table-height increased (low table-height 0.0943 [0.0598-0.1157], medium table-height 0.1128 [0.0919-0.1397], and high table-height 0.158 [0.1339-0.2165], p < .0005). A shorter operator received higher radiation exposure compared to a taller operator (short operator 0.1405 [0.1155-0.1758] and tall operator 0.0995 [0.0798-0.1212], p < .0005). Increasing table-height is associated with a significant decrease in MESE. Operator radiation exposure increases with increasing table-height and shorter operators receive greater radiation exposure compared to taller operators.

Characterization of sugar factory effluents from different factories of north coastal Andhra Pradesh, India and its effect on soil properties

Sugarcane is important sugar crop which is accounting for approximately 80 percent of world sugar production. Sugarcane is one of the important agro industrial crops of commercial importance grown in North Coastal Andhra Pradesh, India. During processing of cane, sugar mills will discharge huge amounts of wastewater as large quantities of water is utilized in sugar mills. However, water resources are limited and a wide gap exists between available water supply and the amount of water required for intensive cropping, appropriate use of industrial effluents may be helpful in meeting a part of the increased water demand. No systematic study has been carried out so far to assess the relative heavy metals availability in soils irrigated with effluent waters. Therefore, a study was undertaken to survey both surface and subsurface soils irrigated with effluent waters for availability of heavy metals and also to assess the contents of the pollutant elements in sugar industrial effluents at the point of source. Survey of effluents and irrigation waters for their quality (heavy metal, RSC, SAR, pH and EC) with special reference to sugarcane cultivation in different factory zones of North Coastal Zone was carried out during 2011-12 and 2012-13.Effluents samples were collected from all the five existing sugar factory areas of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh viz., M/s Thummapala Cooperative sugar factory, Anakapalle, M/s Etikoppaka Cooperative sugar factory, Darlapudi and M/s Govada Cooperative sugar factory, Chodavaram of Visakhaptanm district; M/s GMR Sugar factory, Sankili of Srikakulam district and M/s NCS sugars, Bobbili of Vizianagaram district. Results revealed that all sugar factory effluents are highly acidic with the pH values varying from 4.32 (M/s Govada Cooperative sugar factory, Chodavaram) to 5.50 (M/s Etikoppaka Cooperative sugar factory, Darlapudi). However after effluent treatment, the pH values in all the factory areas were reached to safer limits. Concentrations of magnesium, calcium, sodium and sodium absorption ratios are within the limits in all the factory effluents. Heavy metals viz., cadmium and lead also not recorded in factory effluents, whereas cobalt, nickel and chromium are found in traces. Hence, effluents from all the sugar factories can be used safely for irrigation with respect to concentration of heavy metals in the sugar factory effluents. Data on soil analysis results revealed that, effluent irrigated soils are neutral in reaction with non-saline in conductivity. Mean organic carbon content pertaining to all the five factory soils was medium in range. Hence, it is found safe to irrigate soils with treated sugar factory effluents as of soil physico-chemical and chemical properties are at permissible limits and for sugarcane cultivation.

Design and Experiment of a Power Sharing Control Circuit for Parallel Fuel Cell Modules

In this paper, a novel control circuit that can connect fuel cell (FC) modules in parallel is proposed, which is particularly useful when the employed FCs have different electrical characteristics. Conventional methods (e.g., DC/DC converters) are not applicable in such situations because they cannot regulate the power output of each source in a parallel-connected topology. Consequently, the uniformity requirement of FCs increases and becomes costly. In contrast to existing methods, the proposed method adopts a novel power-feedback method to control the power output of each FC module under both rated conditions and load changes, which in turn determines the operating point of each FC module. Therefore, the uniformity requirement can be relaxed. For proof of concept, the experiments employed two FC-like sources with different I–V characteristics. The experimental results indicated that the power assignment under the rated condition had a relative error of &lt; 6.62%. The distribution ratio error under the load change was &lt; 7.43%. Therefore, the proposed method can regulate the power output (operation point) of each parallel-connected FC-like power source.

Stimulation of 700–900 nm wavelength optical emission from Si AMLEDs and coupling into Si3N4 waveguides using a RF silicon integrated circuit process

Stimulation of 700 and 900 nm optical emissions in a two junction monolithically integrated circuit silicon avalanche mode Si light emitting device have been achieved, based on some first iteration modelling and realization of first iteration experimental results. Previously only stimulation of 600 nm emission intensities had been realized. The current devices are of micron dimension and were realized using a standard Si integrated circuit design in a 0.35-micron RF design process. Evidence has been obtained that 700 nm and 900 nm in Si AM LEDs occur primarily through direct intra-band exited electron and exited hole relaxation phenomena and short-range phonon assisted inter-band transitions. Indications have been obtained that this occurs when energetic electrons relax in a high impurity density charge scattering environment. The devices operate at 8–10 V, 1 mA–10 mA regimes. Emission intensities of up to 1000 nW·µm−2 at the point of source have been derived. The developed technologies can find diverse new applications for on-chip electro-optic applications, particularly for coupling optical radiation laterally in silicon nitride-based waveguides in silicon integrated circuitry.

Evaluation of Industry 4.0 Data formats for Digital Twin of Optical Components

A wide range of software and hardware components are present in today’s production systems and plants using a variety of interfaces and data formats for information exchange on different levels of the system. To increase the traceability, the lifecycle management and providing a single point of source of component-specific data, the Digital Twin technology is proposed, linking different data sets tailored to the requirements of different kind of users (e.g., machines, technicians, logistics, manufacturing execution systems). The data exchange between entities in the manufacturing network relies on machine-readable, flexible and self-describing data formats. When implementing or integrating different components into complex systems, the interoperability challenge is a major concern to address by the system designers and becomes a central task for the creation and integration of Digital Twin technology. In this paper, we evaluate different formats that are used in real environments and create a requirements framework for an ideal format for exchanging flexible and self-describing data in context of optical components manufacturing process and their special requirements.

Racial Gaps in Financial Outcomes: Big Data Evidence

Even amidst strong macroeconomic conditions, families experience high levels of income volatility that have important implications for well-being. Families with limited liquid assets are dramatically less likely to smooth consumption in the face of income fluctuations, and it stands to reason that racial gaps in liquid assets could result in racial differences in consumption smoothing. In this report, the JPMorgan Chase Institute uses administrative banking data to study racial gaps in liquid assets, take-home income, and families’ consumption response to income volatility from the vantage point of a novel de-identified data source: administrative banking data paired with self-reported race information from voter registration files. We find large racial gaps in take-home income and liquid assets which persist across age, income, gender, and geographic segments. Additionally, we find racial differences in consumption smoothing. Compared to White families, Black and Hispanic families exhibit sharper drops in spending after involuntary job loss and larger increases in expenditures after the arrival of the tax refund. However, these racial differences in consumption smoothing are explained by racial gaps in liquid and financial asset buffers. Taken together, our results shed light on the distributional impacts and importance of efforts to reduce financial volatility and increase liquid assets for low-income families and address the structural factors that contribute to racial gaps in income and assets.

Energy fluence measurement for pulse hard X-ray

&lt;sec&gt;Pulsed high-energy fluence X-ray source is based on the “Flash II” accelerator. It can be used to carry out effect vulnerability and sensitivity test of unit level system generated electromagnetic pulse (SGEMP). The energy fluence of pulsed hard X-ray is a main parameter of the equipment beam. At present, theoretical calculation method is widely used. Energy fluence can be calculated according to the dose, energy spectrum and energy absorption coefficient of each energy segment.&lt;/sec&gt;&lt;sec&gt;The principle measuring energy fluence of pulsed hard X-ray by total absorption method is introduced. The photoelectric cell with lutetium silicate (LSO) scintillator is selected as a core component of the detection system, and the measurement system is developed. It is composed of scintillation detector, LSO scintillator, dimmer film, photon collimator, visible light shielding material, power supply and signal collecting system. The conversion coefficient between the incident photon energy and the waveform parameter is calibrated by a standard X-ray source. &lt;/sec&gt;&lt;sec&gt;The energy fluence measurement experiment is carried out with the high-energy beam source of the “Flash II” accelerator as an experimental platform. In order to meet the requirements of the effect test experiments, the series diode structure is used in the accelerator for forming a high strength and large area uniform X-ray source. In the experiment, the LiF TLD is located in the front of the phototube and used to monitor the dose. According to the measured waveform, the actual energy of the incident photons is calculated. Combined with the receiving area of incident photons, the energy fluence of pulsed hard X-ray is calculated. The average measured value is 35.9 mJ/cm&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; in 5 consecutive experiments. Energy fluence calculated from the measured dose and energy spectrum is 39.8 mJ/cm&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;. The results of the two methods are compared.&lt;/sec&gt;&lt;sec&gt;It can be found that the experimental result is about 9.8% smaller than the theoretical value. The reasons are as follows. According to the law of exponential decay of rays in matter, in fact, the scintillator cannot absorb all the rays, and some of the rays can penetrate through, the energy of these rays cannot be detected, and thus giving rise to small experimental value. Due to the limited energy point of quasi-monoenergetic source, the sensitivity under the mean photon energy is taken as the sensitivity of the detector, and therefore there is a certain degree of uncertainty. &lt;/sec&gt;&lt;sec&gt;The successful application of the measurement technology provides a good experimental method for the following similar research, and can also provide a reference for X-ray intensity analysis.&lt;/sec&gt;

Water, Sanitation and Agriculture Linkages With Health and Nutrition Improvement

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly recognized access to safe water and sanitation infrastructure a matter of human right. This right is reflected in Sustainable Development Goal 6, whose targets 1 and 2 point to universal access to safe and affordable drinking water and adequate sanitation by 2030, in a gender equitable way. Progress towards these targets has been recorded, building on successes achieved under the previous framework of the Millennium Development Goals (Target 7.c). These positive developments could be expected to spill over to other dimensions of human development, health and nutrition in particular. Yet, progress in either of these dimensions, particularly among young children (SDG target 2.2 on ending all forms of malnutrition), is not commensurate. In this paper, we advocate for a systemic approach to water management for improved health and nutrition. We focus on rural and peri-urban areas of the developing world, where multi-purpose water systems are particularly relevant. As competition for safe water resources intensifies, it is important to understand the trade-offs between specific uses and their implications for health and nutrition, based on the gender and age of individuals. We conduct statistical and econometric analyses of secondary, nationally representative data for four countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana and India. These data sets have been routinely used to report on progress toward SDG 6 (availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) and SDG 2 (ending hunger and achieving food security and improved nutrition for all). Our cross-sectional analysis reflects the positive association between access to improved sanitation infrastructure and long-term child nutrition outcomes (height-for-age and weight-for-age). On the other hand, the analysis fails to demonstrate a positive association between access to improved drinking water sources and the same child nutrition indicators. In the next step, we investigate the associations between multi-use water systems, especially around agricultural activities, and health and nutrition. To that end, we compile data from four household surveys we collected in the same countries, including indicators on the type of irrigation system. The regression analysis of this pooled dataset is complemented by an in-depth, context-specific analysis of behavior around drinking water use and irrigation practices. The analyses reveal a low correlation between water quality at the point of source and water quality at the point of use, drawing attention to behavioral issues around water use. Similarly, the prevalence of open defecation seems much more important to health and nutrition than the existence of sanitation infrastructure. Finally, irrigation is not per se a detrimental factor for drinking water quality or nutrition, but the integration of waste water irrigation in particular needs to be carefully managed in order to avoid adverse nutrition and health effects.

A Car Flow Network Model For Lane-Based Evacuation Routing Problem

The problem of evacuation is very important when a disaster occurs. Evacuation must have systematic planning and good calculation. The planning is related to determining the route and flow of the vehicle. The shortest route problem is a matter of how to travel from one point of source through the paths to the destination with the shortest distance. The shortest path is the minimum trajectory needed to reach a certain point. In addition to the trajectory that has passed the shortest route, it needs to be taken into account about the maximum flow of a network. The maximum flow problem aims to maximize the movement of a number of items or objects through certain paths from the point of source to the end point. In this paper, in the future a model of vehicle movement will be developed to evacuate victims with maximum flow and through the shortest evacuation route by taking into account the paths to be followed in order to implement an effective evacuation process.

Transient Powder Melting in SLM Using an Analytical Model with Phase Change and Spherical Symmetry in a Semi-Infinite Medium

In this work, we introduce an analytical expression for approximating the transient melting radius during powder melting in Selective Laser Melting (SLM) assumed with a stationary laser heat source. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the suggested analytical approach in determining the melt pool geometry during laser processing, by considering heat transfer and phase change effects. This will allow for the rendering of the first findings on the way to a quasi-real time calculation of the melt pool during laser melting, which will contribute significantly to the process design and control, especially when new powders are applied. Initially, we consider the heat transfer process associated with a point heat source, releasing a continuous and constant power (in a semi-infinite powder bed. On the point of the heat source the temperature is infinite, and the material starts to melt spherically outwards, creating an interface that separates the solid from the molten material; we assume different properties between the two phases. Unlike the cases of the cartesian and cylindrical coordinates, (in a cartesian coordinate the heat source is over a plane, i.e., W/m2, and in cylindrical along a line, i.e., W/m), where the melting process is proportional to the square root of time, in spherical coordinates the melting stops at a finite radius, i.e., a maximum radius, which depends only on the heat source, the conductivity of the solid and the difference between the far-field temperature and the melting temperature of the material. Here we should also point out that to achieve continuous melting in spherical coordinates the power of the source must increase with the square root of the time. The obtained analytical expression for the maximum melting radius and the approximate expression for its dependence on the time compare well with the numerical results obtained by a finite element analysis.

Approximating earthquake source of Italy using Steepest Descent method

This paper describes the comparison of Newton’s method and Steepest Descent method for determining the coordinates of earthquake source. Here, the Steepest Descent method is used because it is a Newton-based method. The earthquake case used in this research is Italian earthquake August 24, 2016, which has a seismic phase of Pg. The calculation was supported by Azimuth Coordinate equations to find the coordinates and Haversine formula to find the distance between five earthquake stations to the earthquake source. The final result of calculations was path’s graph from the iteration of Steepest Descent method. Moreover, the results will be compared with the results of Newton’s method that has been successfully approaching the point of earthquake source in the same case study of previous research. The result shows the number of final iterations of two methods using tolerance number 0.01, minimum velocity number 3093 m/s and three cases of initial guess in the form of city coordinate of Rome, Milan, and Palermo. Newton’s method generates 12 iterations in every case, Steepest Descent method generate 7, 6, 5 iteration respectively. However, the final numerical errors for Rome, Milan and Palermo initial guess are 0.1598 by Newton’s method, while Steepest Descent method are 0.1566, 0.1567 and 0.1567.

Finite-element analysis of top-casing electric source method for imaging hydraulically active fracture zones

Imaging hydraulically active fracture zones (HAFZ) is of paramount importance to subsurface resource extraction, geologic storage, and hazardous waste disposal. We have developed advanced 3D finite-element (FE) electrical imaging algorithms for HAFZ in the presence of a steel-cased well. The algorithms use tetrahedral FE meshes in the simulation domain and coarse rectangular finite-difference meshes in the imaging domain. This heterogeneous dual-mesh approach is well suited to modeling the multiscale earth model due to steel-cased wells. We find that the algorithms accurately and efficiently simulate surface electric field measurements over a 3D HAFZ at depth when one end point of a surface electric source is connected to a wellhead. For brevity, this configuration is called the top-casing electric source method. By replacing a hollow cased well with a solid prism, we improve our computational efficiency without affecting the solution accuracy. The sensitivity of the top-casing source method to HAFZ highly depends on the continuity of a steel-cased well because it makes currents preferentially flow to HAFZ. The sensitivity also depends on conductivity structures around the well because they control current leaking from the steel-cased well. We find that the method can image a localized HAFZ and detect changes in its width and height. The imaging results are improved when a volume of the imaging domain is constrained from geomechanical perspectives. A primary advantage of the method is the fact that the sources and receivers are placed on the surface, thus not interrupting the well operation.

Leaf shape variation as a potential biomarker of soil pollution

Halophytic plants play a fundamental role in salt marshes, influencing their structure, dynamics, and cycling of nutrients and minerals. These plants have the ability to retain metals in the soil, or absorb and retain them in underground structures, or transport them to their aerial structures. Here we aim to study shape variation in the leaves of Cressa truxillensis inhabiting the salt marsh of San Antonio Oeste, according to their proximity to a source of metals in the soil. A gradient of bioavailability of metal was observed in the soil, decreasing from the site closest to the source to the most distant point, where Zn was the most abundant metal followed by Pb and Cu. We used landmark-based geometric morphometric tools to study leaf shape variation. We observed more oval leaf growth on the farthest point of the pollutant's source, and lanceolate shape close to it. No significant among-site size differences were found. Collectively, these results suggest that the stress conditions associated with the soil metals’ concentration generate changes in the leaf shape of Cressa truxilensis. Considering that this species has not been extensively analyzed, this study establishes a baseline and supports the use of the leaf as an early biomarker of stress by contamination in plants associated with marshes.

Electrochemical Biosensing of Algal Toxins in Water: The Current State-of-the-Art.

Due to increasing stringency of water legislation and extreme consequences that failure to detect some contaminants in water can involve, there has been a strong interest in developing electrochemical biosensors for algal toxin detection during the past decade, evidenced by literature increasing from 2 journal papers pre-2009 to 24 between 2009 and 2018. In this context, this review has summarized recent progress of successful algal toxin detection in water using electrochemical biosensing techniques. Satisfactory detection recoveries using real environmental water samples and good sensor repeatability and reproducibility have been achieved, along with some excellent limit-of-detection (LOD) reported. Recent electrochemical biosensor literature in algal toxin detection is compared and discussed to cover three major design components: (1) biorecognition elements, (2) electrochemical read-out techniques, and (3) sensor electrodes and signal amplification strategy. The recent development of electrochemical biosensors has provided one more step further toward quick in situ detection of algal toxins in the contamination point of the water source. In the end, we have also critically reviewed the current challenges and research opportunities regarding electrochemical biosensors for algal toxin detection that need to be addressed before they attain commercial viability.

Survey on Data Integrity, Recovery, and Proof of Retrievability Techniques in Cloud Storage

Recently the technologies are growing fast, so they have become the point of source and also the sink for data. Data is generated in large volume introducing the concept of structured and unstructured data evolving "Big Data" which needs large memory for storage. There are two possible solutions either increase the local storage or use the Cloud Storage. Cloud makes data available to the user anytime, anywhere, anything. Cloud allows the user to store their data virtually without investing much. However, this data is on cloud raising a concern of data security and recovery. This attack is made by the untrusted or unauthorized user remotely. The attacker may modify, delete or replace the data. Therefore, different models are proposed for a data integrity check and proof of retrievability. This paper includes the literature review related to various techniques for data integrity, data recovery and proof of retrievability.

Impact of wastewater-irrigation on in-household water contamination. A cohort study among urban farmers in Ahmedabad, India

This cohort study explores the contribution of wastewater irrigation, in the context of WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene), on in-household water contamination among urban farming households in Ahmedabad, India. Drinking water samples of 204 households in four peri-urban farming communities were collected from the point-of-source (PoS) and point-of-use (PoU) of each household four times over the 12-month follow-up period. Next to the quantification of E. coli, three household surveys (baseline, hygiene and farm) were conducted. Additionally, an observational spot-check was undertaken in bi-monthly intervals throughout the follow-up period. Significant positive differences in water quality between PoS and PoU samples were identified in 78% of households. During the monsoon, the peak of contamination, only 6% of households had access to safe drinking water at PoU. The Average Treatment Effect (ATE) of wastewater irrigation indicates an adverse effect on in-household water contamination, larger in effect size than the mitigation effect of access to sanitation or personal hygiene. To control transmission of fecal pathogens, effective barriers are required for wastewater irrigation similar to the necessity of ensuring access to sanitation and practicing adequate hygiene behavior.

Intelligent control strategy for a grid connected PV/SOFC/BESS energy generation system

In this paper, an intelligent control strategy for a grid connected hybrid energy generation system consisting of Photovoltaic (PV) panels, Fuel Cell (FC) stack and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is proposed. Firstly, the dynamic modeling of the electrical energy resources is carried out. Then, the local controllers of DC-DC power converters are designed to regulate the operating points of the energy generation units. An online-trained Elman Neural Network (ENN) based controller is developed to perform the tracking of the optimal operating point of the PV source. Moreover, a Takagi-Sugeno-Kang based fuzzy gain tuner is adopted for the adjustment of the PI parameters of the FC and BESS controllers. Besides, the Virtual Flux Oriented Control (VFOC) scheme based on neuro-fuzzy gain tuners is adopted to control the power flow between the hybrid system, the local loads and the utility grid. Furthermore, a centralized power supervisor is established to determine the levels of the power references for the local controllers according to the supply and demand conditions. The simulation results obtained in the Matlab/Simulink environment demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed control scheme.

Research on numerical simulation technology about regional important pollutant diffusion of haze

In order to analyze the formation of haze in Shenyang and the factors that affect the diffusion of pollutants, the simulation experiment adopted in this paper is based on the numerical model of WRF/CALPUFF coupling. Simulation experiment was conducted to select PM10 of Shenyang City in the period from March 1 to 8, and the PM10 in the regional important haze was simulated. The survey was conducted with more than 120 enterprises section the point of the emission source of this experiment. The contrastive data were analyzed with 11 air quality monitoring points, and the simulation results were compared. Analyze the contribution rate of each typical enterprise to the air quality, verify the correctness of the simulation results, and then use the model to establish the prediction model.

DipTest: A litmus test for E. coli detection in water.

We have developed a new litmus paper test (DipTest) for detecting Escherichia coli (E. coli) in water samples by performing enzymatic reactions directly on the porous paper substrate. The paper strip consists of a long narrow piece of cellulose blotting paper coated with chemoattractant (at bottom edge), wax hydrophobic barrier (at the top edge), and custom formulated chemical reagents (at reaction zone immediately below the wax hydrophobic barrier). When the paper strip is dipped in water, E. coli in the water sample is attracted toward the paper strip due to a chemotaxic mechanism followed by the ascent along the paper strip toward the reaction zone due to a capillary wicking mechanism, and finally the capillary motion is arrested at the top edge of the paper strip by the hydrophobic barrier. The E. coli concentrated at the reaction zone of the paper strip will react with custom formulated chemical reagents to produce a pinkish-red color. Such a color change on the paper strip when dipped into water samples indicates the presence of E. coli contamination in potable water. The performance of the DipTest device has been checked with different known concentrations of E. coli contaminated water samples using different dip and wait times. The DipTest device has also been tested with different interfering bacteria and chemical contaminants. It has been observed that the different interfering contaminants do not have any impact on the DipTest, and it can become a potential solution for screening water samples for E. coli contamination at the point of source.