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AbstractIndustrially mature digital networking technologies form the backbone of the distributed control architectures of nuclear reactors. Typically, hundreds of control systems responsible for assuring safer and secure plant operations are located in the field and interconnected via wired isolated local area networks, which are also connected to centralized servers and operating consoles located in the main control room. Many of such control systems require data processed by other systems situated far away in the plant, which mandates multiple concurrent reliable TCP sessions to be active or live for such field-level control systems.Multi-socket communication beyond 10 is practically difficult for embedded systems with limited memory and processing capabilities; hence, data accumulation, extraction, and routing are typically done with the help of commercially available high-performance servers and switches. The servers and operating consoles of a plant are generally Linux-based commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) industrial computers, whose development lifecycle is not accessible for review and in accordance with safety guides; hence, qualifying such components for safety operations is extremely difficult.This paper presents a novel way of independently offloading safety-related data transactions from such COTS components (reducing dependency) with the help of very simple, reliable, and secure hardware, which is referred to as a data exchange and processing unit (DEPU). An approach is proposed to realize distributed control architecture with this proposed hardware (to simplify qualification tasks) along with existing servers and operating consoles without compromising powerful and convenient human-machine interface as well as the data logging capabilities of such components. Hardware and software design perspectives, performance characterization, and qualification testing of the DEPU in accordance with nuclear power plant instrumentation and control system design guidelines are also briefed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reports the cloudy grouper, Epinephelus erythrurus for the first time from off Odisha coast. The species was confirmed by using morphometric analyses and COI gene sequencing. Hence the study updates the fish species diversity along the Odisha coast by adding another Epinephelus species to the family Epinephelidae faunal composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) offload modules play a crucial role in India's first commercial fast breeder reactor (PFBR) distributed digital control system architecture by providing networking capabilities to the real-time control systems used in safety-critical and safety-related applications of the PFBR. These modules enable operators to remotely control various mechanisms, facilities, and process loops via real-time control systems from the main control room display stations. The malfunctioning of these modules may hamper the overall plant's availability; hence to improve further upon safety, security, reliability, and performance, these modules have been indigenously developed for upcoming fast breeder reactors in India. This paper proposes methods to justify the suitability of these communication modules as per the D-25 design guidelines issued by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India. The design and testing aspects are covered, including an approach toward hardware descriptive language-based design and testing with respect to the IEEE standard and the TCP/IP protocol specifications. Module design validation based on ethernet frame transactions is detailed in this paper. The test platform design, which includes the diagnostics software design for CPUs designed with these TCP offload modules, and the design of a graphical user interface to detect and record TCP connection anomalies are detailed. The network interface response to postulated events of TCP packet corruption, packet drop, packet delay, out-of-order packets, duplicate packets, and heavy traffic is characterized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Garole is a highly prolific micro-sheep breed whose breeding tract falls under the coastal saline zone of Sundarbans in West Bengal, India. Generally, this sheep breed is mainly reared for meat production by the small, marginal and landless farmers. The breed is highly resistant to foot rot disease and has a high mothering instinct for the lambs. Adaptability to hot humid conditions in the saline marshy lands of Sundarbans, survivability under low-input system and grazing capability in knee-deep water makes it the suitable breed in this region. The average weights of Garole sheep at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age ranged from 0.06-1.00, 4.1-5.8, 6.0-8.68, 7.81-8.01 and 10.4-14.4 kg, respectively. The average daily weight gain (ADG) of this breed at pre-weaning (0-3 months) age is 32.4 g, while ADGs at post-weaning ages, i.e., at 3-6, 6-9, 9-12 and 3-12 months of ages are 22.11, 20.41, 21.93 and 21.28 g, respectively. On an average, male lambs attain puberty at the age of 8-9 months. The highest average litter size of this breed is observed as 1.94 in the third lambing. The incidence of twining is 66%. The optimum age of slaughter is 12 months of age. The dressing percentage of this sheep is almost 53% at 12 months of age. This breed produces coarse-quality fleece with a staple length of 4.99 cm and a fibre diameter of 53.02 microns. The original source of the FecB gene (Fecundity gene) is proclaimed to be the Garole sheep. In India, this breed is also being utilized to improve the prolificacy rate of non-prolific sheep breeds. The population of Garole sheep has declined from 0.27 to 0.16 million from 2003 to 2013 in its native tract. The breed needs the utmost attention in conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A menippid crab Myomenippe hardwickii (Gray, 1831) was obtained in the macrobenthic collections from Hukitola, a mangrove-associated Bay located south of Bhitarkanika, Odisha, on the east coast of India. Although the crab was reported from the coastal waters adjoining Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, documentation of the species from Odisha remained elusive until the current study. Therefore, species diagnosis with suitable illustrations and ecological details are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of now, SRAM-based FPGAs are mainly preferred in the non-safety applications of NPPs. If the susceptibility to radiation effects of SRAM-FPGAs improves further, then the reliability of the applications can be improved. This experimental study investigates the radiation absorbed dose effects in SRAM-based FPGAs. The irradiation experiments have been conducted by keeping the device in both the power-on and power-off states inside a gamma radiation chamber of Co-60 source. In some applications, the device is deployed in the radiation environments and remains in the power-off condition for substantial period. At the time of need, the device may not function properly as demanded by the system due to the cumulative dose effect on SRAM-based FPGA. So the study of irradiation experiments on SRAM-FPGAs in the power-off state has its significant importance the same as the power-on state. The power supply current variation and the functionality failure of the device are monitored in both cases. In the power-on test, the device is configured with particular functionality and the parameters are measured continuously, but in the power-off test, the performance variations of the device are captured after configuring the device at particular time intervals during the course of the experiment. Along with the power supply current variation, we used an indirect method of measuring the propagation delay based on ring oscillator implementation. The device has been irradiated up to a dose level of 2.5 Mrad in power-on test and up to 50 Mrad in the power-off test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present study was envisaged to examine existence of genetic group x THI in crossbred cows at institute herd of ERS, ICAR-NDRI, Kalyani, West Bengal. 1041 fertility records each on service period (SP) and conception rate (CR) and weather parameters spanned over 22 years (1994-2015) were collected; arranged under three THI groups; thermal comfort (THI<72), two heat stress zones (THI 72-78) and THI>78 and six genetic groups.SP was longest (163.61 ± 6.83 days) when THI>78and lowest (149.27±6.69 days) during THI<72. CR was lowest (65.66±2.73 %) when THI>78 and highest (70.54±2.8 %) at THI<72. Genetic group x THI was non-significant on SP and CR. However, there was re-ranking of genetic groups across three THI zones. Genetic group bearing 50% Jersey + 50% Tharparkar followed by 50% Jersey + 50% Red Sindhi exhibited least increase in SP (5.09 and 6.37 days) when THI>78.Cows bearing 50% Jersey and 50% indigenous cattle inheritance followed by 50% Jersey + 50% Red Sindhi and 50% Jersey + 50% Tharparkar depicted least drop in CR at THI>78 (-2.38, -2.40 and -3.6%) in comparison to THI<72. The genetic group with>75% Jersey depicted maximum increase in SP (15.33 days) and drop in CR (-7.43%) at THI>78. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, for the first time, we propose a unified framework based on attentive cycle-generative adversarial network for the synthesis of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals from the seismocardiogram (SCG) signals. The proposed attentive cycle generative adversarial network exploits dual generators and dual discriminators to learn the pattern for the synthesis of ECG from SCG and vice versa. The proposed framework is evaluated on publicly available combined measurement of ECG, breathing and seismocardiogram (CEBS) database. Subjective visual analysis and objective performance metrics demonstrate that the proposed framework can accurately derive the ECG signal from SCG signal. Since, the SCG can be recorded using a wearable and non-adhesive modality, it can provide comfort to the patients by avoiding adhesive ECG electrodes. Further, the derived ECG can help in better cardiac rhythm and arrhythmia analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing and socialization have always played a pivotal role on overall health and welfare of the young calves. Therefore, the study was undertaken to compare the performance of the calves when kept indoors in enclosures (Treatment, T) versus semi covered houses with provision of open space (Control, C), respectively. Calves in semi covered houses (C) was found to display profound results on faecal score (P<0.01) and body weight (P<0.05). Besides, the housing temperature in the treatment sheds was significantly higher (P<0.01) during the mornings in monsoon season although humidity was reportedly higher at all seasons; monsoon (P<0.01), post monsoon (P<0.05) and winters (P<0.01), respectively. The greatest THI were recorded in the month of July (76.72) in Control group (C) and August (79.67) in Treatment group. Besides with the highest THI (74.50±0.81, P<0.01) with elevated rectal temperatures (101.22±0.15 °F, P<0.05) was recorded in the treatment (T) calves. However, a positive significant correlation of rectal temperature with THI (r=0.434; P<0.01) and respiratory rate (r=0.339; P<0.01) was observed in the experimental calves. The calves in C group had fewer incidences of respiratory illness and problems of diarrhoea when compared to the T calves. Therefore, maintaining fewer calves in semi covered houses with provision of open space was found to be beneficial on health, growth and housing environment of the calves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was conducted to study the effect of trehalose an impermeant extra cellular cryoprotectant supplementation on cryopreservation of Black Bengal buck semen. Semen ejaculates (n = 24) were diluted in Tris- soybean lecithin - glycerol extender having trehalose @ 0, 50,100 and 150 mM. Samples were equilibrated at 5°C for 3 hrs, frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen. Semen samples were evaluated for sperm motility, functional membrane integrityand concentration of lipid peroxide compound malondialdehyde at three stages such as 10 minsafter dilution with extender, after completion of equilibration period and after freeze thawing. It was found that the control group (0mM trehalose) had significantly better in vitro sperm characters when compared to extenders supplemented with trehalose (50 mM, 100 mM and 150 mM) during different stages of cryopreservation. It can be concluded that supplementation of trehaloseas a cryoprotectant did not improve the cryopreservability of Black Bengal buck semen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We put forth a dynamic computing framework for scale‐selective adaptation of weighted essential nonoscillatory (WENO) schemes for the simulation of hyperbolic conservation laws exhibiting strong discontinuities. A multilevel wavelet‐based multiresolution procedure, embedded in a conservative finite volume formulation, is used for a twofold purpose. (i) a dynamic grid adaptation of the solution field for redistributing grid points optimally (in some sense) according to the underlying flow structures, and (ii) a dynamic minimization of the in built artificial dissipation of WENO schemes. Taking advantage of the structure detection properties of this multiresolution algorithm, the nonlinear weights of the conventional WENO implementation are selectively modified to ensure lower dissipation in smoother areas. This modification is implemented through a linear transition from the fifth‐order upwind stencil at the coarsest regions of the adaptive grid to a fully nonlinear fifth‐order WENO scheme at areas of high irregularity. Therefore, our computing algorithm consists of a dynamic grid adaptation strategy, a scale‐selective state reconstruction, a conservative flux calculation, and a total variation diminishing Runge‐Kutta scheme for time advancement. Results are presented for canonical examples drawn from the inviscid Burgers, shallow water, Euler, and magnetohydrodynamic equations. Our findings represent a novel direction for providing a scale‐selective dissipation process without a compromise on shock capturing behavior for conservation laws, which would be a strong contender for dynamic implicit large eddy simulation approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single event upset (SEU) has become one of the major threats to dependable application development targeted at safety systems in field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). This article briefly reviews the mitigation techniques for SEUs in the configuration memory of SRAM-based FPGAs, as the configuration memory is highly susceptible to SEUs. Various reconfiguration methods are reviewed and the main focus is given to partial reconfiguration with error correction codes and scrubbing. It also covers the algorithmic and architectural changes which prevent or mitigates SEUs in the configuration memory bits dedicated for routing resources and logic resources. The major techniques are compared based on their SEU mitigation capability, area overhead, and delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was conducted to understand sperm kinetics of Frieswal bull spermatozoa using Computer Assisted Semen Analyzer (CASA). Fifty bull ejaculates were collected from ten healthy bulls that were in routine semen collection. The semen samples were diluted in Tris buffer at a concentration of 25x106 spermatozoa/ ml for analysis. Rapidly moving spermatozoa represented the one with better velocity and progressiveness while spermatozoa with medium motility had low velocity with short distance travelled in spite of its ability to move in a straight line (straightness, STR >70 %). The slow moving cells had good head and flagella movement but they followed a circular path with straight line velocity (VSL m/ sec), linearity (LIN %) and straightenss (STR %) of 10.91, 9.00 and 22.54, respectively. Results indicated that individual sperm cells tracked by CASA as rapid, medium and slow motile were highly variable (p<0.001). However, the sperm motility between bulls varied (p<0.05) only in lateral head displacement (ALH, m) and beat cross frequency (BCF, Hz). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat stress has adverse effects on fertility of dairy animals. Decline in fertility is linearly associated with an increase in combination of both temperature and humidity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between temperature humidity index (THI) and the pregnancy rate of Murrah buffaloes in a subtropical climate. The effects of genetic and non-genetic factors viz., sire, parity, period of calving and age group at first calving were found non-significant on pregnancy rate. The effect of THI was found significant (p<0.001) on pregnancy rate of Murrah buffaloes calved for first time and overall pregnancy rate. The threshold THI affecting the pregnancy rate was identified as THI 75. The months from October to March showed THI<75 and considered as non heat stress zone (NHSZ), while months from April to September were determined as heat stress zone (HSZ) with THI⩾75. The lowest overall pregnancy rate (0.25) was obtained in July with THI 80.9, while the highest overall pregnancy rate (0.59) was found in November with THI 66.1. May and June were identified as critical heat stress zone (CHSZ) within the HSZ with maximum decline (-7%) in pregnancy rate with per unit increase in THI. The highest overall pregnancy rate was estimated as 0.45 in NHSZ with THI value 56.7 to 73.2. The pregnancy rate was found to have declined to 0.28 in HSZ with THI 73.5 to 83.7. However, the lowest pregnancy rate was estimated as 0.27 in CHSZ with THI value 80.3 to 81.6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The operation of a highly sensitive atomic magnetometer using elliptically polarized resonant light is demonstrated. It is based on measurement of zero magnetic field resonance in degenerate two level systems using polarimetric detection. The transmitted light through the polarimeter is used for laser frequency stabilization, whereas reflected light is used for magnetic field measurement. Thus, the experimental geometry allows autonomous frequency stabilization of the laser frequency leading to compact operation of the overall device and has a preliminary sensitivity of <10 pT/Hz1/2 @ 1 Hz. Additionally, the dynamic range of the device is improved by feedback controlling the bias magnetic field without compromising on its sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Boswellic acid consists of a series of pentacyclic triterpene molecules that are produced by the plant Boswellia serrata. The potential applications of Bowsellic acid for treatment of cancer have been focused here. Aims: To predict the property of the bowsellic acid derivatives as anticancer compounds by various computational approaches. Materials and Methods: In this work, all total 65 derivatives of bowsellic acids from the PubChem database were considered for the study. After energy minimization of the ligands various types of molecular descriptors were computed and corresponding two-dimensional quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) models were obtained by taking Andrews coefficient as the dependent variable. Statistical Analysis Used: Different types of comparative analysis were used for QSAR study are multiple linear regression, partial least squares, support vector machines and artificial neural network. Results: From the study geometrical descriptors shows the highest correlation coefficient, which indicates the binding factor of the compound. To evaluate the anticancer property molecular docking study of six selected ligands based on Andrews affinity were performed with nuclear factor-kappa protein kinase (Protein Data Bank ID 4G3D), which is an established therapeutic target for cancers. Along with QSAR study and docking result, it was predicted that bowsellic acid can also be treated as a potential anticancer compound. Conclusions: Along with QSAR study and docking result, it was predicted that bowsellic acid can also be treated as a potential anticancer compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]