Improved Chameleon Swarm Optimization-Based Load Scheduling for IoT-Enabled Cloud Environment

Internet of things (IoT) and cloud computing (CC) becomes widespread in different application domains such as business, e-commerce, healthcare, etc. The recent developments of IoT technology have led to an increase in large amounts of data from various sources. In IoT enabled cloud environment, load scheduling remains a challenging process which is applied for ensuring network stability with maximum resource utilization. The load scheduling problem was regarded as an optimization problem that is solved by metaheuristics. In this view, this study develops a new Circle Chaotic Chameleon Swarm Optimization based Load Scheduling (C3SOA-LS) technique for IoT enabled cloud environment. The proposed C3SOA-LS technique intends to effectually schedule the tasks and balance the load uniformly in such a way that maximum resource utilization can be accomplished. Besides, the presented C3SOA-LS model involves the design of circle chaotic mapping (CCM) with the traditional chameleon swarm optimization (CSO) algorithm for improving the exploration process, shows the novelty of the work. The proposed C3SOA-LS model computes an objective with the minimization of energy consumption and makespan. The experimental outcome implied that the C3SOA-LS model has showcased improved performance and uniformly balances the load over other approaches.     

Modelling and motion control of a mechatronic system using BGM with intelligent controllers

In this research paper, a mechatronics system such as a pan tilt platform (PTP) has been considered for motion control under intelligent controllers. A proportional-derivative (PD) controller is considered for comparison of results obtained from fuzzy and hybrid controllers. The trajectory following performance of the mechatronics system is found against these controllers. The results of simulations show that hybrid fuzzy controller reduce the tracking error effectively in lesser settling time. The intelligent controllers require knowledge base of error and derivative of error to compensate the PTP dynamics. The intelligent controllers have similar trends as the PD controllers and compensated both electrical and mechanical dynamics. The PD controller requires position measurement. The intelligent controllers have knowledge base consisting of position and velocity data. Thus intelligent controllers have position measurement along with knowledge base for position control system. The best results were achieved with hybrid fuzzy controllers. They meet the desired specifications.     

Identification of spatiotemporally invariant systems for control adaptation

We present a distributed projection algorithm for system identification of spatiotemporally invariant systems with the ultimate purpose of utilizing it in an indirect adaptive control scheme. Each subsystem communicates only with its immediate neighbors to share its current estimate along with a cumulative improvement index. On the basis of the cumulative improvement index, the best estimate available is picked in order to carry out the next iteration. For small estimation error, the scheme switches over to a “smart” averaging routine. The proposed algorithm guarantees to bring the local estimates arbitrarily close to one another, developing a “local consensus”, which makes it amenable to control by the application of indirect distributed adaptive control schemes. It is also shown through simulations that the proposed algorithm has a clear advantage over the standard projection algorithm. Our proposed algorithm is also suitable for addressing the estimation problem in distributed networks that arise in a variety of applications, such as environment monitoring, target localization and potential sensor network problems.     

Flavonone 3-hydroxylase Relieves Bacterial Leaf Blight Stress in Rice via Overaccumulation of Antioxidant Flavonoids and Induction of Defense Genes and Hormones

Efficient accumulation of flavonoids is important for increased tolerance to biotic stress. Although several plant defense mechanisms are known, the roles of many pathways, proteins, and secondary metabolites in stress tolerance are unknown. We generated a flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H) overexpressor rice line and inoculated Xanthomonas Oryzae pv. oryzae and compared the control and wildtype inoculated plants. In addition to promoting plant growth and developmental maintenance, the overexpression of F3H increased the accumulation of flavonoids and increased tolerance to bacterial leaf blight (BLB) stress. Moreover, leaf lesion length was higher in the infected wildtype plants compared with infected transgenics. Kaempferol and quercetin, which scavenge reactive oxygen species, overaccumulated in transgenic lines compared with wildtypes in response to pathogenic infection, detected by scanning electron microscopy and spectrophotometry. The induction of F3H altered the antioxidant system and reduced the levels of glutathione peroxidase activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in the transgenic lines compared with the wildtypes. Downstream gene regulation analysis showed that the expression of F3H increased the regulation of flavonol synthase (FLS), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), and slender rice mutant (SLR1) during BLB stress. The analysis of SA and JA signaling revealed an antagonistic interaction between both hormones and that F3H induction significantly promoted SA and inhibited JA accumulation in the transgenic lines. SA-dependent nonexpressor pathogenesis-related (NPR1) and Xa1 showed significant upregulation in the infected transgenic lines compared with the infected control and wildtype lines. Thus, the overexpression of F3H was essential for increasing BLB stress tolerance.     

Systematic significance of pollen morphology and foliar epidermal anatomy of medicinal plants using SEM and LM techniques

Alternative medicinal source is a hot issue within medicine community now a days due to various side effects of allotropic drugs; most importantly the multidrug resistance phenomena. Medicinal plants provide an attractive and effective alternative to modern synthetic drugs as they contain different types of bioactive compounds, having great potential in treatment of various diseases. The present study deals with identification of micromorphological characteristics of 10 ethnomedicinally important plants of Northern Pakistan, that is, Aster himalaicus C. B. Clarke, Artemisia maritima (Berg.) Wellkomm, Isodon rugosus (Wall. ex Benth.), Myricaria squamosal Desv, Pedicularis groenlandica Retz. Polygonum aviculare L, Salvia himmelbauer E. Peter, Swertia kingie Hook. f., Tanacetum dolichophyllum (Kitam) Kitam, Verbascum epixanthinum Boiss. & Heldr. as potential source for pharmaceutical industry. The characters studied were shape and size of pollen, polar diameter and equatorial diameter, epidermal cell shape and size, stomata width and length, trichome shapes, and type. Most of the species had tricolporate pollen type but hexacolporate pollen was also observed in Isodon rugosus, Polygonum aviculare, Salvia himmelbauer. Different types of exine sculpturing observed were foveolate, scabrate, lophate, regular, steriate, and alveolate. Minimum equatorial diameter was noted in Tanacetum dolichophyllum (12.4 μm) and maximum in Myricaria squamosal (20.9 μm). Shape of epidermis cell ranged from rectangular and irregular, polygonal and pentagonal. Different types of stomata like anisocytic, actinocytic, paracytic, and diacytic were noticed. Variations in microscopic characters observed in the current study have great potential to be used as identification tools by the taxonomists for further studies.     

Foliar epidermal anatomy of some selected wild edible fruits of Pakistan using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy

The present study is focused on the detailed foliar epidermal anatomy of some selected wild edible fruits (WEFs) from Pakistan using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The studied species are Ficus racemosa L., Solanum nigrum L., Capparis spinosa L., Physalis divaricata D.Don, Rosa moschata Herrm. and Ribes orientale Desf. collected from various localities of Pakistan. The objective of the present study is to investigate qualitative and quantitative anatomical characters for the identification and differentiation of collected wild edible fruits. The characters studied are shape and size of epidermal cells, anticlinal wall pattern, trichome type and shape, average number of stomata, length and width of stomata and pore. The detailed microscopic investigation and variations in the characters recorded have a key role in the determination and authentication of wild edible fruits. This study possesses great potential for plant taxonomists to further evaluate the species at molecular and genetic levels.     

Co‐poly(vinyl chloride‐vinyl acetate‐vinyl alcohol)‐silica nanocomposites from sol–gel process: Morphological,mechanical, and thermal investigations

Organic–inorganic nanocomposites consisting of co‐poly(vinyl chloride‐vinyl acetate‐vinyl alcohol) and silica were prepared via sol–gel process. Two types of hybrids were prepared, one in which interactions between hydroxyl group present in the copolymer chain and silanol groups of silica network were developed. In the second set, extensive chemical bonding between the phases was achieved through the reaction of hydroxyl groups on the copolymer chains with 3‐isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane (ICTS). Hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethoxysilane and pendant ethoxy groups on the chain yielded inorganic network structure. Mechanical and thermal behaviors of the hybrid films were studied. Increase in Young's modulus, tensile strength, and toughness was observed up to 2.5 wt % silica content relative to the neat copolymer. The system in which ICTS was employed as binding agent, the tensile strength and toughness of hybrid films increased significantly as compared to the pure copolymer. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that these nanocomposite materials were stable up to 250°C. The glass transition temperature increases up to 2.5 wt % addition of silica in both the systems. Field emission scanning electron microscope results revealed uniform distribution of silica in the copolymer matrix. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Ultrafine grain refinement in a low alloy steel

The phenomenon of grain refinement was studied in a steel containing 0.15% C, 0.32% Si, 1.4% Mn, and 0.43% V. Initial austenite grain size was found to be 50 μm, determined by quenching the specimen in an iced brine solution from 1150 °C. Transformational grain refinement (TGR) was applied to give a reasonable refinement in the grain size. A rolling reduction of about 67% was given to specimens at 900 °C, which was followed by air cooling. Cold rolling and recrystallization of these specimens gave refinement of grains down to 1 μm size was obtained. The electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) technique was used to determine low- and high-angle grain boundaries that are effectively used to determine the substructure contribution at various stages of recrystallization.     

Intracranial chondromas

Biochemical and hormonal effects of oral calcium supplementation in premature and asphyxiated neonates during the first few days of life are described. Eight pairs of infants were matched for gestational age and one-minute Apgar score. One member of each pair served as a control and the other was given supplemental oral calcium (75 mg/kg/24 hr) beginning at 12 and ending at 72 hours of age. The supplemental infants had significantly higher serum calcium values both during the time of supplementation and for 36 hours after supplementation was stopped. The oral calcium supplements had no significant effect on serum concentrations of phosphate, magnesium, 25-hydroxy-vitamin D3, or parathyroid hormone, The incidence of hypocalcemia after 12 hours of age was 0 in eight supplemented infants and three in eight control infants. In patients at risk for hypocalcemia, prospective use of oral calcium supplements during the period when there is inadequate calcium intake from feedings may prevent hypocalcemia, appears to be without deleterious effect on measurable chemical and hormonal factors important in calcium homeostasis, and results in maintenance of higher serum calcium levels after supplementation has been discontinued.     

Aflatoxins: Occurrence in red chilli and control by gamma irradiation

Chilli is one of the valuable spices commercialised globally, added as condiments in various cuisines and is easily susceptible to aflatoxin contamination (produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus) during pre- and post-harvesting stages. The important factors such as temperature, moisture content and humidity affect the growth of fungi producing aflatoxins. Chillies contaminated with aflatoxins could be carcinogenic and thus can pose a threat to the general population leading to the loss of international trade market. Therefore, to overcome this problem, there is a need for some effective and novel technologies such as gamma irradiation. Gamma irradiation minimises the toxicological effects of aflatoxins by inhibiting the growth as well as the proliferation of Aspergillus species. In this work, the natural occurrence of aflatoxins including the contribution of gamma irradiation on either eliminating or controlling the aflatoxins in red chilli is reviewed.