Spectral Studies and Bactericidal, Fungicidal, Insecticidal and Parasitological Activities of Organotin(IV) Complexes of Thio Schiff Bases Having no Donor Atoms

Twelve new organotin(IV) complexes of the type RnSnLm [where n = 3, m = 1, R = CH₃ or C₆H₅; n = 2, m = 2, R = C₆H₅ or C₄H₉ ; L = anion of Schiff bases derived from the condensation of 2-amino-5-(o-anisyl)-l,3,4-thiadiazole with salicylaldehyde (HL-1), 2- hydroxynaphthaldehyde (HL-2) and 2-hydroxyacetophenone (HL-3)] have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductances, electronic, infrared, far-infrared, ¹H NMR and ¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer spectral studies. Thermal studies of two complexes, viz., Ph₃Sn (L-1) and Ph₂Sn(L-2)₂ have been carried out in the temperature range 25-1000∘C using TG, DTG and DTA techniques. All these complexes decompose gradually with the formation of SnO₂ as an end product. In vitro antimicrobial activity of the Schiff bases and their complexes has also been determined against Streptococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus Penicillin resistance (2500 units), Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Sporotrichum schenckii, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Aspergillus fumigatus. The Schiff bases (HL-1), (HL-2) and the organotin(IV) compounds have also been tested against various important herbicidal, fungicidal, insecticidal species and also for parasitological activity against freeliving nematode.     

Effect of prescribed sleep surfaces on back pain and sleep quality in patients diagnosed with low back and shoulder pain

The purpose of this study was to assess sleep quality and comfort of participants diagnosed with low back pain and stiffness following sleep on individually prescribed mattresses based on dominant sleeping positions. Subjects consisted of 27 patients (females, n = 14; males, n = 13; age 44.8 yrs ± SD 14.6, weight 174 lb. ±SD 39.6, height 68.3 in. ± SD 3.7) referred by chiropractic physicians for the study. For the baseline (pretest) data subjects recorded back and shoulder discomfort, sleep quality and comfort by visual analog scales (VAS) for 21 days while sleeping in their own beds. Subsequently, participants’ beds were replaced by medium-firm mattresses specifically layered with foam and latex based on the participants’ reported prominent sleeping position and they again rated their sleep comfort and quality daily for the following 12 weeks. Analysis yielded significant differences between pre- and post means for all variables and for back pain, we found significant (p < 0.01) differences between the first posttest mean and weeks 4 and weeks 8-12, thus indicating progressive improvement in both back pain and stiffness while sleeping on the new mattresses. Additionally, the number of days per week of experiencing poor sleep and physical discomfort decreased significantly. It was concluded that sleep surfaces are related to sleep discomfort and that is indeed possible to reduce pain and discomfort and to increase sleep quality in those with chronic back pain by replacing mattresses based on sleeping position.     

Modelling coastal barrier breaching flows with well-balanced shock-capturing technique

This paper presents a coastal hydrodynamic model for simulating coastal barrier breaching flows through an inlet which are mostly induced by extreme hydrological conditions such as storm/hurricane surges, waves and tides. In order to simulate wave field and wave-induced flow field in a coast, a wave action spectral model is coupled with a hydrodynamic model. The Godunov-type shock-capturing technique is used in the hydrodynamic model to simulate the supercritical flows and shocks driven by the extreme storm conditions. The hydrodynamic model is based on the solution of depth-averaged non-linear shallow water equations with all physical forcings common to coastal hydrological conditions so that it is capable of simulating multiple flow regimes, in which subcritical, transcritical, or supercritical flows may happen. The bed slope terms in the system of equations are treated in such a way that exact balance between flux gradient and bed slope terms is achieved under still water condition. The wave model readily provides the radiation stresses that represent the shortwave-averaged forcings in a water column and take into account wave-induced nearshore currents. In the coupled system, the models are operated systematically. The coastal hydrodynamic model is shown to accurately reproduce analytical and benchmark numerical solutions. To further test the accuracy of the model, flow through a coastal inlet with a storm surge is simulated and the results are compared with an established coastal flow model. Finally, the model is examined to simulate a severe storm surge that develops supercritical flows and the results are found to be encouraging.     

Image thresholding by variational minimax optimization

In this paper we introduce an adaptive image thresholding technique via minimax optimization of a novel energy functional that consists of a non-linear convex combination of an edge sensitive data fidelity term and a regularization term. While the proposed data fidelity term requires the threshold surface to intersect the image surface only at places with large image gradient magnitude, the regularization term enforces smoothness in the threshold surface. To the best of our knowledge, all the previously proposed energy functional-based adaptive image thresholding algorithms rely on manually set weighting parameters to achieve a balance between the data fidelity and the regularization terms. In contrast, we use minimax principle to automatically find this weighting parameter value, as well as the threshold surface. Our conscious choice of the energy functional permits a variational formulation within the minimax principle leading to a globally optimum solution. The proposed variational minimax optimization is carried out by an iterative gradient descent with exact line search technique that we experimentally demonstrate to be computationally far more attractive than the Fibonacci search applied to find the minimax solution. Our method shows promising results to preserve edge/texture structures in different benchmark images over other competing methods. We also demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method for delineating lung boundaries from magnetic resonance imagery (MRI).     

Globally linearized control system design of a constrained multivariable distillation column

The goal of this paper is to develop a discrete-time multivariable globally linearized control (GLC) algorithm, which provides low computational requirements with constraint handling ability. The control strategy is constructed with four elements: a transformer that accounts for process nonlinearities; an estimator, which observes the required unmeasured states; a variable constraint mapping optimizer that transforms the input constraints of the nonlinear process into constraints on the manipulated inputs of the globally linearized system and a quadratic dynamic matrix controller (QDMC) that provides constraints handling ability. The effectiveness of the designed controller has been tested on a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear distillation column through extensive numerical simulations. The control law showed a high quality performance for set point tracking and disturbance rejection in presence of parametric uncertainty. The effect of unmeasured disturbance also has been studied through the simulation experiment. In the comparative study, the proposed GLC-QDMC control technique outperformed the GLC-DMC control law.     

Thermal and ferroelectric properties of potassium nitrate: polyvinyl fluoride composite films

The thermal and ferroelectric properties of potassium nitrate (KNO/sub 3/): polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) composite films have been studied. The dielectric constant has been measured as a function of temperature and shows a sharp change during heating and cooling cycles. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been employed to characterize the phase transitions and corresponding enthalpies in the composite. A good correlation has been found between the transition peak temperatures of the DSC and the transition temperatures of the dielectric measurements in the composite films. The DSC experiments suggest that phase III is retained at room temperature in the composite films. The switching current investigations support the presence of ferroelectric phase in the composite film. The capacitance-voltage (C-V) and conductance-voltage (G-V) characteristics of the composite films exhibit essential butterfly features of a ferroelectric material.     

Correlation of medical dosimetry quality indicators to the local tumor control in patients with prostate cancer treated with iodine-125 interstitial implants

The treatment of prostate cancer by 125I interstitial implants has been extensively studied with mixed results by one institution or another. A recent study from Hahnemann [Int. J. Radiat. Oncol., Biol., Phys. 21,955-960 (1991)] reported results that were extremely poor compared to those reported in an earlier study at Yale [Int. J. Radiat. Oncol., Biol., Phys. 14, 1153-1157 (1988)] or those in an Eastern Virginia Study [Cancer 63, 2415-2420 (1989)]; differences in 5-yr survival rates being more than a factor of 2. Such large discrepancies from institution to institution led us to a reexamination of the dosimetry. This study analyzed quantitatively three-dimensional dosimetric parameters of 110 prostate cancer patients treated with 125I interstitial implants. The study searched for "cutoff" values in each parameter that divided the patients into two groups with statistically significant differences in the local recurrence-free survival rates. A comparison of the three-dimensional isodose surfaces of patients with favorable values in all of the parameters to those patients with all unfavorable parameters show how these characteristics translated into poor dose coverage and much inhomogeneity within the implant even for cases that met the traditional criteria for adequacy (160 Gy to the tumor volume). Patients in the favorable group had 10-yr survival rates higher by a factor of up to 2 compared to those in the unfavorable group. The strong correlation of three-dimensional volume-dose parameters to the local control rate observed in this study further emphasizes how important it is to assess the three-dimensional dosimetric adequacy of interstitial implants before deciding on their clinical efficacy. If implants are performed with appropriate attention to dosimetry parameters, excellent clinical results are obtained. On the other hand, if dosimetry parameters are not correct, the implant results can be poor.     

Image edge detection and enhancement by an inversion operation

Edge extraction is an essential part of image processing. In digital image processing there are several optical methods for properly obtaining image edges. We propose a method of image edge extraction and enhancement by using a lens-based optical setup, the image, and its inverted form. The inverted and the noninverted images help here to obtain the image edges.     

Wireless Node Localization under Hostile Radio Environment using Smart Antenna

This paper presents a resilient localization scheme for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). It suits well in estimation of node position under a corrupted radio environment. Position computation is based on information of angle-of-arrivals (AoA) and references obtained from a few mobile anchors. In the network, anchors are equipped with smart antennas and global positioning system receivers. They broadcast signals in a synchronous and periodic fashion. The neighboring nodes having the signals with received signal strength values above a prescribed threshold level, respond with their respective IDs. Anchors evaluate AoA information from these signals using estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance technique (ESPRIT) algorithm. Next, they forward beacon messages, containing their references and estimated angles, to the corresponding nodes and move along random trajectories. After receiving three sets of such data, at least, nodes can initiate selective segregation of the inconsistent position estimations. Simulation results attaining higher degree of localization accuracy validate its competency over the existing schemes.