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Globally, oral cancer is becoming more and more of an issue, and in some nations, like Taiwan, India, and Sri Lanka, it is at the very top of the list. Tobacco, alcohol, and betel nut use are responsible for more than 95% of all mouth cancer cases (BQ). In Western nations, smoking and alcohol consumption are the two biggest risk factors, but in Asian nations, smoking and BQ usage are the two most risk factors. It is alarming how frequently people with advanced oral cancer arrive. The best method for minimising personal illness burden, lowering morbidity and mortality, and enhancing quality of life. The detection, evaluation, and treatment of oral cancer remain challenges for the dental profession. In the proposed approach, deep learning algorithm has been used to simulate the development of cancer diagnosis and therapy, and they are successful in predicting future outcomes of a cancer. For the best outcomes in the detection and diagnosis of oral cancer, an effective deep learning and feature selection approach utilising Alex net model has been applied.Overall, 500 images with different resolution were used in our system.

Globally, one amongst the major agro-based industry contributing significantly is Coffee. Coffee growing estates use water for pulping and the wastewater generated from coffee pulping activity is generally discharged to the water bodies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of effluents from traditional wet coffee processing plants on the water quality. Coffee fruits are processed by two methods, wet and dry process. The wet processing produces a drink of higher quality and has the advantage of reducing the drying space area and time required. However, this preparation step generates high volume of coffee wastewater as it involves utilizing large volumes of water with concurrent generation of wastewater. Throughout wet processing, coffee fruits generate enormous quantities of high strength wastewater. The so generated wastewater is characterized by high concentrations of organic matter, low pH, nutrients, suspended matter associated with odor and dark color with high chemical oxygen demand and biochemical oxygen demand requiring systematic treatment before disposal. The inadequate disposal of the coffee wastewater into environment directly without proper management and handling will pose aa pollution risk to receiving water body. Efforts have made by various researchers to evolve an alternative method for the treatment of coffee pulping waste and the same is discussed in this paper.

The interest for improving the quality of coffee production has led to the increased use of wet processing so as to highlight the quality and aroma of the beverage. The coffee pulping process has been causing environmental problems at the local level not only due to the consumption of water, but more due to the discharge of effluents with large volumes of organic waste. The wet processing generates enormous quantity of wastewater which causes irrepairable damage to the receiving water bodies. Indispensable. However, physico chemical treatment method coupled with biological treatment as proved effective treatment mode for safe and proper disposal of the wastewater generated. In this sense, the objective of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of electrocoagulation batch reactor as pretreatment for anaerobic sequencing batch reactor to treat coffee processing wastewater.

This present study investigates the comparative study of iron and aluminum electrodes for the treatment of landfill leachate by the Batch Electrocoagulation (EC) technique. The performance of EC was used to determine the removal efficiency of COD and Color. The effects of operating conditions such as electrode material, stirring speed, inter-electrode distance, electrolysis time, initial pH, and applied voltage were studied to evaluate the performance of the electrode. The electrodes were arranged in a monopolar mode by applying different cell voltages of 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 V for 180 min of electrolysis time (ET) with a varying inter-electrode distance between 1 and 4 cm. The iron and aluminum electrodes can be successfully used as anodes and cathodes for the treatment process, which makes the process more efficient and easier to maintain. Based on the obtained results, it was observed that there was an increase in BOD/COD ratio from 0.11 to 0.79. The maximum removal of COD and Color was found to be 76.5% and 67.2% respectively, accomplished with 105 min optimum electrolysis time with a pH of 9.25 using an iron electrode. In the case of the aluminum electrode, the BOD/COD ratio was increased from 0.11 to 0.66. Over 78.4% of COD and 77.0% of Color removal was obtained with 90 min optimum electrolysis duration and pH 9.3 with an optimum 10 V and an optimum inter-electrode distance of 1 cm. However, the aluminum electrode is superior to iron as a sacrificial electrode material in terms of Color and COD removal efficiency. The aluminum electrode significantly treated landfill leachate by the electrocoagulation method under optimum experimental conditions.

Brain inspired memory prototypes, such as atomristors, are touted as next generation two terminal memories for neuromorphic computation. To make rapid progress toward developing such atomic scale memory, a facile technique to fabricate atomristor prototypes has to be developed. In this work, one such simple and lithography free technique to fabricate an atomristor prototype using photoexfoliated monolayer molybdenum di-sulfide (MoS2) is illustrated. Resistive switching characteristics of the atomristor were demonstrated by applying a write voltage pulse of 10 (SET) and −5 V (RESET) for 100 s between the active tantalum di-sulfide (TaS2) and inert indium tin oxide electrodes. During the SET process (ON state), the Ta2+ ions from the active electrode diffuse through monolayer MoS2 to create a number of parallel conducting channels. The persistence of the conducting channel even after removing the SET bias drives the atomristor to the low resistance state. On applying the “RESET” bias, the device resistance increased by a factor of five possibly due to the rupturing of the conducting channel. On cyclically applying the “SET” and “RESET” biases, the device was switched between low and high resistance states with excellent repeatability. Interestingly, it was also observed that the switching ratio increased on increasing the SET bias making this device a promising candidate for realizing tunable write once read many (WORM) memory devices.

Channel contact with millimeter wave is a crucial enabler to addressing bandwidth shortage of potential 5G networks. In order to overcome the higher route failure, millimeter wave communications throughout the 60 GHz range requires massive antennas clusters at the sender and recipient nodes to obtain signal amplification benefits. Analog approaches could not employ the power of evolutionary income. In addition, band pass filters with maybe vibrating strings processes can be electronically regulated, thereby reducing the likelihood of sophisticated processes and culminating in poor results. Hybrid systems are exciting nominee approaches which transcend their drawbacks of shaping mere virtual or analog beams, because they combine all methods’ advantages. Through utilizing multiple concurrent beam transfers, hybrid systems growing bandwidth learning relative to analog-only systems.

Due to the particular characteristics of hospitals, the hospital buildings are highly sensitive to environmental noise. However, they are usually located close or within urban agglomerations and in particular main roads. Hence, hospitals are, in many cases, exposed to high levels of environmental noise. In this study of comprehensive one-month research project, traffic and community noise levels were measured and monitored at five sensitive areas (near hospitals) in its spatial–temporal aspect, at the city of Mysuru, Karnataka. Noise measurements were taken at different peak sessions in morning and evening, for duration of one hour. Observed noise values were analysed and compared with the recommended permissible limits (40–50 dB) as stated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The measured values exceeded the CPCB noise limits prescribed for sensitive areas. This paper presents an analogy of obtained noise readings with the national CPCB standards for silent zones.

With the degradation of fossil fuels, recent era witness the penetration of renewable energy sources like wind and solar energy into various electrical applications. Integration of these renewable energy sources is of prime importance as they possess zero carbon emission, environmental friendly and zero fuel cost. However, the unpredictability and unreliable nature of solar and wind motivates the combine utilization of these sources i.e. hybrid energy systems. These systems are more reliable and have better continuous production of electrical energy than using the sources individually. Combination of hybrid energy system into grid/standalone applications demands the use of power electronic interface and appropriate control strategy. In this context, this thesis aims at development of a hybrid Photovoltaic (PV)/wind energy based systems for grid connected application. PV and wind are hybridized on a DC side to avoid the synchronizing issues between the sources. However, the proposed hybrid system is integrated on distribution side of the grid with a DC/AC converter (inverter). Considering the essential need of synchronization, the control input i.e. pulses to the inverter are generated from a voltage and frequency controller i.e. Phase Lock Loop (PLL).The task of tuning the controller is formulated as an optimization problem and is solved using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique. The objective of the system is to meet the load demand and to manage the power generated from different sources at different operating conditions. Each module in the complete system is modeled on Matlab/Simulink platform. Also, the performance of the system is tested for additional utilization of battery charging.

The coexistence of negative photoconductivity and metallic-like behavior in conventional semiconductors is very uncommon. In this work, we report the existence of such unconventional physical properties in molybdenum disulfide nanoflowers (MoS2-NF). This is achieved by making the surface of MoS2 hygroscopic by alcohol treatment and creating a transport channel that favors protonic over electronic conduction. On cooling the MoS2-NF in a heat sink, the excess water that condenses on the surface forms a proton (H3O+) wire which exhibits pinched hysteresis characteristics. The conductivity of MoS2 increased by two orders of magnitude in the proton-dominated conduction regime with an exceptionally high positive temperature coefficient of 1.3 × 104 Ω K−1. Interestingly, MoS2-NF also exhibits strong negative photoconductivity at room temperature when illuminated with UV and infra-red radiation. This interesting behavior observed in MoS2 NF can be useful for energy harvesting applications and the realization of fast thermal memories and optical switches.

Waste management is a difficult errand in hilly regions in India due to its rugged terrain and land issues. However, despite these challenges, Chamundi Hills in Mysore becomes a famous tourist place due to Chamundeshwari Temple situated at the top of this Chamundi Hills. It is located 13 km east of Mysore city with an average altitude is 3300 ft. Tourism is one of the main economical sources of the Mysore. It has been reported that approximately 3.5 million tourists visited Mysore city every year. During peak tourist seasons, it increases approximately 7.0 million as per the survey of Mysore City Corporation (MCC). It becomes a cause of massive problem on the basic infrastructure amenities and environment, especially when it comes to waste management. The new SWM rules in India have some special provision for waste management in the hilly areas. However, the implementation stage is quite not clear in such places with high rate of tourism and religious purposes. The case of Chamundi Hills is quite so, and very less intervention has been done to understand the current status of SWM there. As a result, the way forward and the scopes of improvement are unknown. In this paper, an attempt has been taken to understand the current status of SWM at Chamundi Hills by conducting surveys. The perspective of the stakeholders on the factors which are affecting the SWM has also been studied in details. Finally, the solutions to address the issues and challenges towards proper SWM have been suggested. The findings will help the stakeholders and policymakers in further decision-making.

Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is the most common packaging material used for packaging a wide range of products. The efficient disposal of these plastic materials is a herculean task as they are not easily degradable and pose detrimental effects on the environment. An efficient approach is to degrade them into simpler compounds that can be disposed safely. Out of the various degradation techniques, biodegradation is vastly used as it is more economical method. Biodegradation may either be carried out in a specific aqueous medium so designed for the most efficient degradation. The present work is on the study of biodegradation of LDPE in aqueous media. For biodegradation studies various combinations of LDPE and starch i.e., LDPE, LDPE+10% starch, LDPE+20% starch, LDPE+30% starch, LDPE+40% starch, and LDPE+50% starch samples of size 15 mm x 15 mm were used and were exposed to minimal medium in a shake flask maintained at a pH of 7.5. The inoculums of bacterial consortium were added to each flask and a control was also maintained for each set of samples. In the liquid cultures the degradation followed the same pattern i.e., the degradation increased with increase in starch content. The degradation observed on day 150was 1.53%, 1.67%, 1.50%, 5.06%, 40.65% and 54.33% for pure LDPE, 10%, 20% 30%, 40% and 50% starch blended plastics respectively. For the blended starch plastics at each level the degradation increased with time. At the lowest levels the degradation was almost uniform in the early stages but at higher starch content LDPE the degradation increased with time.

Poor cost recovery, owing to inherent problems associated with intermittent water service, is common in the majority of towns and cities in India. The water supply in twin cities of Hubli–Dharwad, located in North Karnataka, India, was characterized by several issues such as water losses, poor service delivery, low cost recovery and low investments. Provision of water service to the twin cities was the responsibility of the Hubli–Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) until 2003. The municipal revenues were affected by the large gap between revenue and expenditure on account of poor performance of the water division of the corporation, which further impeded the efforts to improve water service. In 2003, due to deteriorating performance with regard to water supply, the Government of Karnataka transferred the responsibility for maintenance of the water service to the Karnataka Urban Water Supply & Drainage Board (KUWS&DB). The KUWS&DB along with the HDMC adopted a multi-pronged strategy to improve cost recovery. The sustained efforts for over a decade (2003–2013) led to a gradual increase in full cost recovery from about 12% in 2003 to 47% in 2013. This study examines the impact of the multi-pronged approach adopted for improving cost recovery in water supply in the twin cities.

Various water supply mechanisms prevail in Hubli-Dharwad, a Tier-2 city in Karnataka State of India, wherein, piped water does not cover the entire city. Since 2008, Karnataka State Government’s demonstration project with World Bank assistance has been serving about 10 per cent of the entire population with 24×7 water service. A majority of the population on the city outskirts with no consistent water service faced hardships in obtaining water through bore wells, public stand posts, and from private vendors at exorbitant prices. Lack of tenure and the inability to pay connection fees were some of the barriers that precluded the urban poor from having a water connection. The local corporation faced poor revenues exhibiting poor performance. This paper discusses how innovative approaches were devised and implemented using local knowledge to address such barriers and increase water access. We also discuss how the local revenues improved and were used to provide cross-subsidies to the urban poor.

In the year 2008, the Karnataka Urban Water Sector (KUWS) Improvement Project brought continuous water service (CWS) to a demonstration zone in the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad, India. Scale-up of CWS for the rest of the city has been authorized and the initial stages of construction are currently in progress. We compared the historical consumption pattern in the CWS demonstration zone of Hubli with system capacity. We found that demand in the demonstration zone has stayed within system capacity and below the national standards for adequate supply. We developed two forecast models of bulk water demand under CWS and compared forecasts with planned future system capacity. In the case of full scale-up of CWS to the rest of Hubli-Dharwad, our forecasts indicate that planned system capacity may be insufficient to meet bulk demand. These forecast models can be adopted by similar mid-sized cities in India.

Managing the products at the end of its intended use and recovery of such used products from the market is gaining significant importance these days due to global environmental concerns, resource reduction, government regulations and economic factors. Reverse logistics networks serve the same. The handling of products, components and materials during the recovery process can be called reverse logistics. Due to the increasing number of heavy vehicles in the country like India, large quantities of used tires are generated every year, and proper disposal of these used tires creates problem in the day-to-day life. Hence recover the value from these used tires in the form of material recovery is gaining importance. The implementation of such recycling system usually requires an appropriate reverse logistics network for choosing the physical locations, facilities, and transportation links to convey the used products from the end customers to the recycling facility. A case study was conducted and traditional reverse logistics networks involved in the used tires focusing quality characteristics has been analyzed in the paper and a new network has been suggested focusing the quality characteristics of material recovered out of used tires through laboratory work and at the same time without compromising the cost factor involved in it. Finally a mathematical model has been developed and optimization of cost subjected to quantity, and time has been done and validated for the decision makers involved in the reverse logistics activities of used tires recycling.

Pneumonia has been labeled as the single largest cause of child mortality for the children under five in developing countries around the world. We propose a novel method to continuously monitor parameters like Respiration Rate, Heart Rate, Blood Oxygenation (SpO2) and Body Temperature in a noninvasive and nonobtrusive manner behind the ear. The data is streamed using WiFi to the parent's smartphone or a smart gateway device which uploads it to a server. This paper also explores the opportunities for presenting patient vital signs from such a device to the remote health care workers and doctors. A prototype named Raksh was developed and various sensors were evaluated. The final bill of material cost of the device would be 23 US dollars.

Electrochemical (EC) oxidation of distillery wastewater with low (BOD5/COD) ratio was investigated using aluminum plates as electrodes. The effects of operating parameters such as pH, electrolysis duration, and current density on COD removal were studied. At a current density of 0.03 A cm−2 and at pH 3, the COD removal was found to be 72.3%. The BOD5/COD ratio increased from 0.15 to 0.68 for an optimum of 120-min electrolysis duration indicating improvement of biodegradability of wastewater. The maximum anodic efficiency observed was 21.58 kg COD h−1 A−1 m−2, and the minimum energy consumption observed was 0.084 kWh kg−1 COD. The kinetic study results revealed that reaction rate (k) decreased from 0.011 to 0.0063 min−1 with increase in pH from 3 to 9 while the k value increased from 0.0035 to 0.0102 min−1 with increase in current density from 0.01 to 0.03 A cm−2. This study showed that the COD reduction is more influenced by the current density. The linear and the nonlinear regression models reveal that the COD reduction is influenced by the applied current density.

IEEE 1451 standard defines an interface for connecting transducers to microprocessor based data acquisition systems, instrumentation systems, control and field networks. A Smart Transducer Interface Module (STIM) is a unit which provides signal conditioning, digitization and data packet generation functions to the transducers connected to it. This paper describes the implementation of a microcontroller based smart transducer interface module based on IEEE 1451.2 standard. The module, implemented using ADuc847 microcontroller, has 2 transducer channels and is programmed using C language. The Sensor system consists of a Network Capable Application Processor (NCAP) module which controls the STIM over an RS232 interface. The NCAP module is implemented as a software module in C Sharp language. The hardware details, control principles involved and the software implementation for the STIM are described in this paper.

In general, conventional activated sludge (ASP) or enhanced biological phosphorus removing (EBPR) sludge has been used as seed culture for developing EBPR sludge and the time reported for development varies from months to year. In the present study cow-dung has been used as seed culture and EBPR sludge was developed within 36 days. The developed EBPR sludge has been used to evaluate the performance of sequential batch reactor (SBR) and sequential batch biofilm reactors (SBBR) for simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal from synthetic wastewater containing glucose as carbon source. Three reactors were operated, SBR-1 containing only suspended biomass, SBBR-2 and SBBR-3 containing 5% and 10% polyurethane foam (PUF) media respectively along with suspended biomass. In all the reactors phosphorus removal was nearly the same and was more than 80%. In all the three reactors greater than 90% nitrification was achieved. Nitrogen removal in SBR-1 was 48% and in SBBR-2 and SBBR-3 it was more than 62%. On line monitoring of oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), pH and phosphorus during a cycle indicated that ORP and pH can be useful for real time control and optimization of the process.