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Arsenic is a carcinogenic and toxic element that possesses a high health risk from its presence in crops, water, and soil. The present study has been conducted by fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-granecum) seeds which is a very common spice used for cooking, especially in India. An equal number of seeds have been germinated in laboratory conditions. Three concentrations e.g. 1, 2, and, 3 mg/L of arsenite (As+3) and arsenate (As+5) salt solutions were used throughout the experiments for the treatment of plants. After 10 days of germination, the concentration of the arsenic accumulated into the plant edible parts was estimated and health risk was assessed. Effects of arsenic concentration were observed through estimating the total chlorophyll (a, b, c), carotenoid content, and taking the fresh weight and dry weight of both the control and treatment plants. The results of the biochemical analysis revealed that chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were decreased than that of control plants. Moreover, fresh weight and dry weight results also showed lower values in treatments than in controls. The bioaccumulation factor results demonstrated that an increased level of soil arsenic doesn’t certainly result in high arsenic uptake by the Fenugreek plants. From the concentration estimated in the plant body, the health risk was assessed in adults and children and found that both adults and children having a potential health risk upon consumption of fenugreek. Moreover, Incremental Life Time Cancer Risk was found high (< 10-4) which indicates the presence of potential cancer risk. Hence, it is possible to conclude from the present study that fenugreek can bio-accumulate arsenic and it may be used as an indicator plant for arsenic-contaminated areas.

More than 75% population living in rural sectors in India and mostly rely on biomass fuels due to their easy availability. Here in this study we examined the health risk from the smoke emitted due burning of biomass fuels while cooking in rural houses in West Bengal. Out of numerous gaseous pollutant this study selected NO2 component to find out the health risk of women. NO2 has been monitored in kitchen and adjacent living room in N= 30 households in three season namely summer, monsoon and winter, respectively. Study results found that highest NO2 concentration found in kitchen room than in living room in all seasons and the difference between the concentrations showed significant results (< 0.001). However, ANOVA analysis has been done to check the seasonal variation within the kitchen and living room NO2 concentrations and results have revealed that there was significant (< 0.001) difference present within kitchen and living room concentration seasonally. Moreover, women health risk were assessed with established empirical model. Results showedthathere were no immediate acute health risk present among women whereas women possessed chronic health risk (HQ > 1) from kitchen room NO2 concentration. This study concluded that NO2 has chronic health effects on women who habituated to continue cooking with unprocessed biomass fuels. Study also suggested to use more clean fuel like LPG, electric and solar energy for daily use and in this respect PMUY is doing a significant work.

Almost half of the world’s population still practice biomass fuel burning for various domestic purposes. About 1.6 million deaths are attributed to acute exposure to indoor air pollutants in India. A very few attempts have been made in the eastern part of India for remediation from household air pollution through the intervention of improved cookstoves. In this study, an attempt has been made to curb the pollution level by substituting traditional biomass cookstoves with an improved cookstove. The concentrations of pollutants (CO, CO2, O3, NO2, SO2, PM2.5, PM10 and TSPM) were measured, and health parameters were assessed before and after installation of the improved cookstove. Results revealed that the pollution was reduced and health parameters were improved significantly (p

In rural areas of developing countries, solid fuels are still widely used for cooking, heating, and lighting purposes. This study investigates the effects of household air pollutants (HAPs) exposure on the occurrence of respiratory symptoms, blood pressure, and lung function. In this study, we randomly selected 123 (83 biomass and 40 clean fuel user) subjects to assess the impact of smoke generated from solid biomass fuel by assessing their health status along with the ventilation pattern of the kitchens and living rooms. HAPs (PM10, PM2.5, and CO) and different health parameters were measured along with monitoring of self-reported health symptoms for a consecutive period of eight months. Results revealed that the concentration of CO, PM2.5, and PM10 were found highest in biomass using households. Higher odds of the upper respiratory symptoms, runny nose (OR: 4.08, 95% CI: 1.22-22.14, p 0.03), nasal congestion (OR: 9.07, 95% CI: 1.39-97.89, p 0.01) and the odds of the lower respiratory symptoms like wheezing (OR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.23-10.94, p 0.01), breathlessness (OR: 4.44, 95% CI: 1.3-14.75, p 0.01), chest tightness (OR: 4.89, 95% CI: 1.23-22.14, p 0.03) and dry cough (OR: 3.661, 95% CI: 1.05-12.25, p 0.04) were significantly higher in biomass fuel user. Similarly higher systolic (+11.41 mmHg), higher diastolic pressure (+3.3 mmHg), higher pulse pressure (+8.11 mmHg), and a 6 mmHg higher mean arterial pressure among biomass fuel using tribal women. The risk of hypertension was significantly (p 0.03) higher (OR: 3.04; 95% CI: 1.18-7.89) among solid biomass fuel users. The lung abnormality was recorded 28.91% (OR: 5.02, 95% CI: 1.50 to 16.56, p 0.01) among biomass fuel user. Finally, it is suggested that the use of efficient cookstoves, increase in cross ventilation, and cleaner fuel are urgently needed to curb the pollution load.

There is a growing evidence that the burning of unprocessed biomass fuels is associated with adverse health impacts. This study estimated the gaseous pollutants (CO, CO

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are well-known hazardous substances; nevertheless, research on their exposure and health concerns associated with kerosene fuel emissions is limited. In this study, PAH (combined gaseous and particle phase) monitoring was carried out in the kitchen and living room in selected households. Personal exposure and cooking time monitoring were also carried out, simultaneously. The study's findings revealed that BaP, BA, BbF, and Nap were the most prevalent PAHs in both the summer and winter seasons, regardless of urban or rural households. The estimated values of average incremental lifetime cancer risks were found to be greater than the USEPA level, i.e., 1 × 10

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a risk factor of heart failure and promotes cardiac dysfunction. Diabetic tissues are associated with NAD(+) redox imbalance; however, the hypothesis that NAD(+) redox imbalance causes diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) has not been tested. This investigation employed mouse models with altered NAD(+) redox balance to test this hypothesis. METHODS: Diabetic stress was induced in mice by streptozotocin. Cardiac function was measured by echocardiography. Heart and plasma samples were collected for biochemical, histological and molecular analyses. Two mouse models with altered NAD(+) redox states (cardiac-specific knockout mice of Ndufs4, cKO; nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase transgenic mice, NAMPT) were used. RESULTS: Diabetic stress caused cardiac dysfunction and lowered NAD(+)/NADH in wild-type mice. Mice with lowered cardiac NAD(+)/NADH without baseline dysfunction, cKO mice, were challenged with chronic diabetic stress. NAD(+) redox imbalance in cKO hearts exacerbated systolic (FS: 27.6% vs 36.9% at 4-week, male cohort, P

Background: Diabetes is a risk factor for heart failure and promotes cardiac dysfunction. Diabetic tissues are associated with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD + ) redox imbalance; however, the hypothesis that NAD + redox imbalance causes diabetic cardiomyopathy has not been tested. This investigation used mouse models with altered NAD + redox balance to test this hypothesis. Methods: Diabetic stress was induced in mice by streptozotocin. Cardiac function was measured by echocardiography. Heart and plasma samples were collected for biochemical, histological, and molecular analyses. Two mouse models with altered NAD + redox states (1, Ndufs4 [NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase subunit S4] knockout, cKO, and 2, NAMPT [nicotinamide phosphoribosyltranferase] transgenic mice, NMAPT) were used. Results: Diabetic stress caused cardiac dysfunction and lowered NAD + /NADH ratio (oxidized/reduced ratio of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) in wild-type mice. Mice with lowered cardiac NAD + /NADH ratio without baseline dysfunction, cKO mice, were challenged with chronic diabetic stress. NAD + redox imbalance in cKO hearts exacerbated systolic (fractional shortening: 27.6% versus 36.9% at 4 weeks, male cohort P P + redox imbalance promoted superoxide dismutase 2 acetylation, protein oxidation, troponin I S150 phosphorylation, and impaired energetics in diabetic cKO hearts. Importantly, elevation of cardiac NAD + levels by NAMPT normalized NAD + redox balance, alleviated cardiac dysfunction (fractional shortening: 40.2% versus 24.8% in cKO:NAMPT versus cKO, P P Conclusions: Our results show that NAD + redox imbalance to regulate acetylation and phosphorylation is a critical mediator of the progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy and suggest the therapeutic potential for diabetic cardiomyopathy by harnessing NAD + metabolism.

Diabetes is a risk factor of heart failure and leads to cardiac dysfunction, a condition named diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). NAD redox imbalance is observed in diabetic tissues. However, whether NAD redox imbalance promotes cardiac dysfunction in DCM remains unknown. The objective of this study is to determine the causal role of NAD redox imbalance in DCM.Type 1 diabetes was induced in C57BL6 mice by streptozotocin (STZ) injections, and DCM was allowed to develop for 16 weeks. Diabetes-induced chronic stress led to systolic and diastolic cardiac dysfunction along with a lowered NAD/NADH ratio. The diabetogenic protocol was applied to control and cardiac-specific Ndufs4-KO mice (cKO), a mouse model with lowered cardiac NAD/NADH without baseline cardiac dysfunction. Analyses of blood glucose and >200 metabolites in plasma showed no significant change in diabetic control and diabetic cKO mice, suggesting that their hearts experienced similar diabetic stress. Diabetic cKO hearts showed lowered NAD/NADH, aggravated contractile and relaxation dysfunction compared to the diabetic control hearts in both sexes. The data suggest that NAD redox imbalance exacerbated DCM. Collagen staining and transcript analyses of fibrosis-related genes showed no change in diabetic cKO hearts, signifying that the exacerbated dysfunction was due to cardiomyocyte dysfunction. A global protein acetylation was promoted in the diabetic cKO hearts with an increase in SOD2 acetylation levels at lysine-68 (SOD2-K68Ac) and enhanced protein oxidation. Diabetic cKO mice displayed enhanced levels of TnI S150 phosphorylation (TnI-S150Pi), but not phosphorylation of TnI-S23/24 or MyBPc-S282. These data suggest that enhanced oxidative stress and altered myofilament Ca 2+ sensitivity via TnI-S150Pi are responsible for the NAD redox imbalance-exacerbated DCM.To confirm the role of NAD redox imbalance in DCM, we elevated cardiac NAD levels in diabetic cKO mice by cardiac-specific expression of NAMPT. Expression of NAMPT in the heart improved cardiac systolic and diastolic function in diabetic cKO hearts. This was due to increased NAD/NADH ratio and reversed pathogenic mechanisms (lowered SOD2-K68Ac and TnI-S150Pi). This study supports the causal role of NAD redox imbalance in DCM.

Indoor air pollution from burning of solid unprocessed biomass fuel and health risk arising from it are a crucial issue in developing countries. Smoke deposits (black soot) from traditional cooking stoves in the kitchen are characterized, and the health risk of children arising from it is assessed. Five types of wood, sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo), banyan (Ficus benghalensis), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus sp.), palm (Borassus flabellifer) and mixed wood were used by the villagers as their main cooking fuels. Black soots were collected and characterization was done by X-Ray fluorescence spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The highest concentration of lead was observed in soot from sissoo wood burning among the five types of black soots, followed by mixed wood, palm, banyan and eucalyptus. The quantitative estimation of manganese concentration was found to be very high in all varieties of black soot. Surface morphology study revealed that all the surfaces of black soot were similar in nature. Using metal concentration derived from the five types of black soot, exposure of children to heavy metals was calculated via three types of exposure pathways and it was found that the average daily exposure level of all elements was in the order of hand-to-mouth ingestion > dermal contact > inhalation. It was also noted that the non-carcinogenic hazard indexes and carcinogenic risks of metals in black soots were both well under the safe values.

Arsenic existing in the soil and ground water worldwide is known as a neurotoxic that affects the peripheral nervous system. The peripheral neuropathy caused by chronic or sub acute arsenic exposure by inhalation or oral route is well documented. However, the effects of arsenic, especially chronic low-level exposure, on the central nervous system have been rarely reported. The present result highlights the direct interference of arsenic in the cognitive level of the school of children. The arsenic level in drinking water ranges from 0.0507 to 0.084 ppm with mean, SD, and SE are 0.0506, ±0.0196, and 0.0018, respectively. Mean IQ level in the contaminated area varies between 76 and 120 and two-sample t test results show significance difference (p

Thermal images are mainly used to detect the presence of people at night or in bad lighting conditions, but perform poorly at daytime. To solve this problem, most state-of-the-art techniques employ a fusion network that uses features from paired thermal and color images. Instead, we propose to augment thermal images with their saliency maps, to serve as an attention mechanism for the pedestrian detector especially during daytime. We investigate how such an approach results in improved performance for pedestrian detection using only thermal images, eliminating the need for paired color images. For our experiments, we train the Faster R-CNN for pedestrian detection and report the added effect of saliency maps generated using static and deep methods (PiCA-Net and R3-Net). Our best performing model results in an absolute reduction of miss rate by 13.4% and 19.4% over the baseline in day and night images respectively. We also annotate and release pixel level masks of pedestrians on a subset of the KAIST Multispectral Pedestrian Detection dataset, which is a first publicly available dataset for salient pedestrian detection., Comment: Accepted at CVPR 2019 Workshop (PBVS), 10 pages, 7 figures

We propose a nonparallel data-driven emotional speech conversion method. It enables the transfer of emotion-related characteristics of a speech signal while preserving the speaker's identity and linguistic content. Most existing approaches require parallel data and time alignment, which is not available in most real applications. We achieve nonparallel training based on an unsupervised style transfer technique, which learns a translation model between two distributions instead of a deterministic one-to-one mapping between paired examples. The conversion model consists of an encoder and a decoder for each emotion domain. We assume that the speech signal can be decomposed into an emotion-invariant content code and an emotion-related style code in latent space. Emotion conversion is performed by extracting and recombining the content code of the source speech and the style code of the target emotion. We tested our method on a nonparallel corpora with four emotions. Both subjective and objective evaluations show the effectiveness of our approach., Published in INTERSPEECH 2019, 5 pages, 6 figures. Simulation available at http://www.jian-gao.org/emogan

Mosquito Bourne disease is a major threat to public health in urban areas. Synthetic insecticides often results adverse environmental effects. The present paper deals with the control of mosquito larvae using cigarette butts (CBs), an waste product. Cigatette butts are thrown everywhere, where it may cause severe problem as it contains several toxic materials. These toxic materials can cause harm to our environment. It is also reported in literature that in the water bodies where the cigarette butts are thrown mosquito larvae has developed resistance against them. So, the present paper deals with the control of mosquito larval control using cigarette butts. CB extract was prepared in laboratory and it was characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis, pH and conductance. FTIR spectra clearly indicate the presence of phenolic and primary amine containing functional groups. Larvicidal experiments were done in laboratory conditions. The results demonstrated that the mosquito mortality is absolutely concentration dependent. Perhaps this is the first report that aqueous extract of CBs can acts as mosquito larvicidal activity.

Emissions from biomass combustion are a major source of indoor and outdoor air pollution, and are estimated to cause millions of premature deaths worldwide annually. In this study, we assessed the effect of exposure to biomass smoke on various health status including blood pressure, gaseous component and ventilation pattern of kitchen and living room. For this investigation, a number of measurements were done to obtain indoor air quality (IAQ) data (indoor humidity, temperature, CO, CO2 and O3 concentration). Blood pressure was measured at baseline and one hour post-exposure. Results highlighted that a higher concentration of CO2 was released during burning of dry leaf, straw, cow dung compared to that from straw and LPG gas. Moreover, correlation study showed a strong negative relationship between CO and humidity (r=−0.609, p

A cross-sectional study was done by considering the biomass (n=50) and fossil fuels (n=50) user in rural villages of West Bengal.The measured pollutants weresulphur dioxide, oxide of nitrogen and suspended particulate matter. However, level of average concentration of SO2, NOx and suspended particulate matter showed higher in winter followed by premonsoon and least in summer respectively. Health related information indicate that fossil fuel users suffer more than that of biofuel users. They suffer from asthma (p, Moroccan Journal of Chemistry, Vol 3, No 1 (2015)

The high level of fluoride concentration in groundwater resources has become one of the most important toxicological and geo-environmental issues in India. This study aims to assess the link between fluoride content in groundwater and its impact on the dental health in rural villages of Santoshpur and Joypur, Birbhum district, West Bengal. A total of 30 tube well water were collected from the target villages. The health impact of fluoride was evaluated based on clinical examination of dental fluorsis among school children using the Dean’s index. In total, seventy nine (N = 79) inhabitant between the age of 5-10 years old using water from tube wells of fluoride range of 0.18 to 0.31 mg/L were examined. Signs of dental fluorosis (Dean’s score ³ 1) were observed in all individuals. Most of the teeth (13 %) recorded Dean’s scores of 4 at Santoshpur, followed by 17 % and 12 % of Dean’s scores 3 for Santoshpur and Joypur, respectively. Correlation analysis revealed that fluoride level in tube well water directly linked with dental fluorosis status of school children. However, other parameters such as BMI and head circumference also showed inverse relationship with water fluoride levels., Moroccan Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 2, No 4 (2014)

An Intelligent Fixturing System (IFS) is currently being developed to hold a family of cylinder heads for machining operations. This system incorporates a Part Location System (PLS) to locate the workpiece reference frame of a cylinder head relative to a pallet. This two-part paper describes the development and evaluation of various part location algorithms that have been created for this application. Part 1 of this paper provides a detailed description of the IFS and the PLS and of the cylinder head location problem. It also provides a detailed description of three different algorithms that were developed for the PLS. The first algorithm, SeQuential Least Squares (SQLS), is based on the sequential, parametric regression model. The second class of algorithms, SiMultaneous Least Squares (SMLS), is based on the simultaneous, parametric regression model. The third algorithm, SQLS-SMLS (fixed cd) is a hybrid of the first two methods.

An Intelligent Fixturing System (IFS) is currently being developed to hold a family of cylinder heads for machining operations. This system incorporates a Part Location System (PLS) to locate the workpiece reference frame of a cylinder head relative to a pallet. This two-part paper describes the development and evaluation of various part location algorithms that have been created for this application. Part 2 of this paper describes a series of simulation experiments that was carried out to assess the accuracy and computation speed of the SeQuential Least Squares (SQLS) algorithm, the SiMultaneous Least Squares (SMLS) algorithm, and the SQLS-SMLS (fixed cd) algorithm. The results of this study reveal that the SQLS algorithm is fast to execute, but its accuracy is very sensitive to random variations in the coordinate data. Alternatively, the SMLS algorithm is insensitive to random variations in the coordinate data but is computationally more expensive to execute. Furthermore, its accuracy is sensitive to bias errors in the chordal distance between the dowel holes. Only the SQLS-SMLS (fixed cd) is insensitive to both types of variations.