Efficient shadow detection by using PSO segmentation and region-based boundary detection technique

The Journal of Supercomputing - The presence of shadows in satellite images is inevitable, and hence, shadow detection and removal has become very essential. In this paper, a shadow detection...     

Investigations on the Influence of Liquid-Assisted Laser Ablation of NiTi Rotating Target to Improve the Formation Efficiency of Spherical Alloyed NiTi Nanoparticles

In this work, the liquid-assisted laser ablation of NiTi rotating target has been used as a promising technique for generating spherical NiTi alloy nanoparticles with higher formation efficiency. Nd: YAG nanosecond laser with three different laser wavelengths (355, 532 and 1064 nm), three different laser fluences (30, 40 and 50 J/cm²) and three different rotational speeds (10 RPM, 20 RPM and 30 RPM) of target has been used to ablate the nitinol (Ni-55%, Ti-45%) target. The influences of different laser parameters (wavelengths and fluences) and different RPMs have been studied on the size, morphology and formation of alloy nanoparticles. It has been observed that the formation efficiency is maximum (39.9 mg/h) for smaller size nanoparticle (~40 nm) at 355 nm wavelength, 50 J/cm² fluence and 10 RPM rotational speed. On the other hand, we find that the formation efficiency (10.5 mg/h) is lowest with a bigger size of nanoparticle (~110 nm) at 1064 nm wavelength, 50 J/cm² fluence and 30 RPM speed. Therefore, this is a promising technique to synthesize spherical alloy nanoparticles with higher ablation efficiency. Thus, the higher ablation of particles helps to improve the optical absorption of the colloidal solution as optical absorption has a direct relation with the particle concentration. The shape and size of particles were characterized through SEM and DLS analysis whereas the crystallinity was confirmed through TEM and XRD analysis, respectively. Moreover, the elemental analysis was done with the help of XPS and EDS and optical absorption through UV–Vis spectrum analysis.     

Structural characterisation of pentosans from hemicellulose B of wheat varieties with varying chapati-making quality

Wheat varieties, such as DWR-162 and GW-322 (good chapati-making quality), and MACS-2496 and HD-2189 (poor chapati-making quality), were used to study the structural features of pentosans. Structural features of the purified pentosans from hemicellulose B were elucidated by a combination of methods, such as methylation analysis, ¹H NMR, FT-IR, periodate oxidation, Smith degradation and optical rotation measurements. Pentosans from hemicellulose B were mainly arabinoxylan type polysaccharides with xylan backbone in β-(1 → 4) linkages. Mono, and di-substituted xylosyl residues were present in these polysaccharides. Variations in structural features of pentosans could be responsible for the differences in chapati-making qualities of wheat.     

Parametric investigation of stationary plasma thruster performance

A particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision method is used to carry out parametric investigations on the performance of a stationary plasma thruster (SPT). The effects of applied voltage, channel length, working gas pressure and the peak magnetic field are studied. The evolution of the plasma density, electron temperature, discharge current etc. are observed under various operating conditions. The performance of the SPT is evaluated in terms of specific impulse and thrust efficiency. The results are compared with existing theoretical and computational results, wherever possible. An attempt is made to understand the nature of the variations in terms of the physical processes involved.     

Homeopathic remedy for arsenic toxicity?: Evidence-based findings from a randomized placebo-controlled double blind human trial

Millions of people are at risk of groundwater arsenic contamination, but supply of arsenic-free drinking water is grossly inadequate. The present study was intended to examine if a potentized homeopathic remedy reportedly showing ameliorating potentials in people inhabiting high-risk arsenic-contaminated areas but drinking arsenic-free water, can also ameliorate arsenic toxicity in subjects living in high-risk arsenic-contaminated areas, and drinking arsenic-contaminated water. This pilot study was conducted on 20 males and 19 females of village Dasdiya (arsenic contaminated) who initially agreed to act as volunteers; but as many as 14, mostly placebo-fed subjects, later dropped out. 18 volunteers, 14 males and 4 females, from a distant village, Padumbasan (arsenic-free), served as negative controls. In a double blind placebo-controlled study, a potentized remedy of homeopathic Arsenicum Album-30 and its placebo (Succussed Alcohol-30) were given randomly to volunteers. Arsenic contents in urine and blood and several widely accepted toxicity biomarkers and pathological parameters in blood were analyzed before and after 2 months of administration of either verum or placebo. Elevated levels of ESR, creatinine and eosinophils and increased activities of AST, ALT, LPO and GGT were recorded in arsenic exposed subjects. Decreased levels of hemoglobin, PCV, neutrophil percentages, and GSH content and low G-6-PD activity were also observed in the arsenic exposed people. The administration of "verum" appeared to make positive modulations of these parameters, suggestive of its ameliorative potentials. Most of the subjects reported better appetite and improvement in general health, thereby indicating possibility of its use in remote arsenic-contaminated areas as an interim health support measure to a large population at risk.     

A comparison study of three non-parametric control charts to detect shift in location parameters

Control charts are used as a statistical process control or SPC tool to identify the presence of assignable cause of variation in the process. Despite immense use and acceptability of parametric control charts, non-parametric control charts are an emerging area of recent development in the theory of SPC. The main advantage of non-parametric control charts is that they do not require any knowledge about the underlying distribution of the variable. In this work, we have summarized the different non-parametric control charts for controlling location from a literature survey, viz. control charts based on the sign test, control charts based on the Hodges–Lehmann estimator and control charts based on the Mann–Whitney statistic and compared their efficiency to detect the shift in location while in out of the control state under different situations and identified the best method under the prevailing situation.     

Likelihood-Based Data Squashing: A Modeling Approach to Instance Construction

Squashing is a lossy data compression technique that preserves statistical information. Specifically, squashing compresses a massive dataset to a much smaller one so that outputs from statistical analyses carried out on the smaller (squashed) dataset reproduce outputs from the same statistical analyses carried out on the original dataset. Likelihood-based data squashing (LDS) differs from a previously published squashing algorithm insofar as it uses a statistical model to squash the data. The results show that LDS provides excellent squashing performance even when the target statistical analysis departs from the model used to squash the data.