Search

Background: Exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with a significant number of deaths. Much of the evidence associating air pollution with adverse effects is from North American and Europe, partially due to incomplete data in other regions limiting location specific examinations. The aim of the current paper is to leverage satellite derived air quality data to examine the relationship between ambient particulate matter and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in Asia. Methods: Six cohorts from the Asia Cohort Consortium provided residential information for participants, recruited between 1991 and 2008, across six countries (Bangladesh, India, Iran, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan). Ambient particulate material (PM2·5) levels for the year of enrolment (or 1998 if enrolled earlier) were assigned utilizing satellite and sensor-based maps. Cox proportional models were used to examine the association between ambient air pollution and all-cause and cause-specific mortality (all cancer, lung cancer, cardiovascular and lung disease). Models were additionally adjusted for urbanicity (representing urban and built characteristics) and stratified by smoking status in secondary analyses. Country-specific findings were pooled via random-effects meta-analysis. Findings: More than 300,000 participants across six cohorts were included, representing more than 4-million-person years. A positive relationship was observed between a 5 µg/m (Dockery et al., 1993) increase in PM2·5 and cardiovascular mortality (HR: 1·06, 95 % CI: 0.99, 1·13). The additional adjustment for urbanicity resulted in increased associations between PM2.5 and mortality outcomes, including all-cause mortality (1·04, 95 % CI: 0·97, 1·11). Results were generally similar regardless of whether one was a current, never, or ex-smoker. Interpretation: Using satellite and remote sensing technology we showed that associations between PM2.5 and all-cause and cause-specific Hazard Ratios estimated are similar to those reported for U.S. and European cohorts. Funding: This project was supported by the Health Effects Institute. Grant number #4963-RFA/18–5. Specific funding support for individual cohorts is described in the Acknowledgements.

With the advent of Industry 4.0, several cutting-edge technologies such as cyber-physical systems, digital twins, IoT, robots, big data, cloud computation have emerged. However, how these technologies are interconnected or fused for collaborative and increased functionality is what elevates 4.0 to a grand scale. Among these fusions, the digital twin (DT) in robotics is relatively new but has unrivaled possibilities. In order to move forward with DT-integrated robotics research, a complete evaluation of the literature and the creation of a framework are now required. Given the importance of this research, the paper seeks to explore the trends of DT incorporated robotics in both high and low research saturated robotic domains in order to discover the gap, rising and dying trends, potential scopes, challenges, and viable solutions. Finally, considering the findings, the study proposes a framework based on a hypothesis for the future paradigm of DT incorporated robotics.

The unique properties of superconductivity have facilitated many significant innovations of the 20th century in sectors like high energy physics, industrial machinery, medicine, defense, electrical power, etc. After the discovery of high Tc superconductors, many attempts have been driven to utilize high Tc superconducting materials in space science and technology. The superconducting magnetic shield is considered as one of the futuristic and visionary space applications of superconductivity which can certainly minimize the long-term health risk to the crews in a spacecraft due to the ceaseless exposure to galactic cosmic rays during the space expeditions. Although immensely restricted to the analytical models and simulations, in the past few years the efforts of applying superconducting magnets for radiation shielding have come a long way. In this study, a brief description of the shielding methods and the principle beneath the superconducting magnetic shield has been described. After that, noteworthy studies and investigations on the superconducting magnetic shield that took place within the past two decades with their key findings have been illustrated and assessed. Technological and physical constraints of these proposed shields are also briefly discussed.

A 10-week indoor culture study was done to evaluate the effects of varying C/N ratios on growth performance, body composition, immunity, and haematology of stinging catfish Heteropneustes fossilis cultured in zero-water exchange culture tanks. Biofloc-based tanks with four levels of C/N ratio (12, 15, 18, 21) via the addition of carbohydrate referred to as ‘CN12′, ‘CN15', 'CN18' and 'CN21', and freshwater tanks operated with the facility of water exchange and without the addition of carbohydrate referred to as 'Control' (CN10). Fish (average weight 0.60 g) were stocked in 15 experimental tanks with 300 L water capacity and fed a commercial diet containing 30 % crude protein. The water quality parameters (pH, temperature, total ammonia nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids, and total dissolved solids) were monitored throughout the experiment. There was no significant (P > 0.05) difference among the treatments in the case of DO and temperature. The pH, total ammonia nitrogen, and nitrite nitrogen contents decreased with increasing C/N ratio, whereas the total dissolved solids and total suspended solids increased with gradually increasing the C/N ratio. Compared to the control, the treatment CN15 resulted in a 72 % and 34.4 % higher percent weight gain and specific growth rate, respectively. CN15 treatment resulted in improved feed utilization, as measured by feed conversion ratio (1.32 ± 0.07) and protein efficiency ratio (1.36 ± 0.10), which were 36.2 % lower and 54.5 % higher, respectively, than control. However, there were no differences in growth performance and feed utilization data between CN15 to CN21. Increasing the C/N ratio increased the body protein and ash contents and decreased the moisture and lipid contents compared to control. In the serum lysozyme test, the lysozyme value increased with a gradually increasing C/N ratio, and a better result was found in the CN15-CN21 treatments (15.58–15.74 µg ml−1) compared to the control (12.45 µg ml−1). At the end of the rearing period, fish were subjected to a challenge test with Aeromonas hydrophilla to determine the mortality rate where mortality was the lowest in CN15 treatment. Furthermore, increasing the C/N ratio from 15 to 21:1 showed better results for haemoglobin, white blood cells, red blood cells and hematocrit values. Overall, the manipulation of the C/N ratio from 15 to 21:1 revealed suitable for the feed utilization, growth performance, body composition, and immunity of stinging catfish. Therefore, maintaining a C/N ratio of 15:1 can be recommended for the culture of stinging catfish in the biofloc system.

This paper presents the design and preliminary performance assessment of a full-body assistive exoskeleton (AXO-SUIT) for older adults. AXO-SUIT is a system that consists of separate lower-body and upper-body modular exoskeletons, which can be combined to form a full-body system to provide flexible physical assistance as needed. The full-body exoskeleton comprises 27 degrees of freedom (dof), of which 17 are passive and 10 active. It can assist people in walking, standing, carrying and handling tasks. A user-centered design approach was adopted throughout the development of the exoskeleton. This paper describes the design process of AXO-SUIT, involving a review of user needs, a kinematic and kinetic motion study, and innovative system design. Tests with the developed systems were conducted on selected end-user subjects, covering both performance evaluations at different levels and useability testing. End-user testing results show the effectiveness of the exoskeleton in providing flexible physical assistance.

Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) is an exceedingly promising energy storage device for its cycle efficiency and fast response. Though the ubiquitous utilization of SMES device is restricted because of the immense cost of cryogenic refrigeration system to sustain the superconducting state but with the continuous evolution of high Tc superconductors, SMES is turning into a major contender to the existing energy storage devices in the future. Among its several parts, the superconducting coil is considered to be the most crucial segment of this technology and the inductance generated in the coil determines the quantity of stored energy. In this paper, the possible geometrical configurations of SMES coil have been demonstrated. High Tc superconducting tapes are usually employed to form these configurations worldwide. BSCCO (Bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide)-2223 tape superconductor has been considered for studying the conceptual designs of superconducting coil of SMES. Before estimating the results, the value of critical current at different magnetic field densities and temperatures have been addressed through the study of superconducting tape characterization. Numerical results and the relationship among the several parameters for both the solenoid and toroid configurations in different specifications have been presented. Based on the results, the size ratio in solenoid and the mean toroid diameter in toroid arrangement is found to play the vigorous roles in the generation of inductance and hence the energy storage. The results also match the propensity of other studies. Suggestions for maximum energy gain from a specific solenoid configuration have been provided. Future research scopes with alternative superconducting tapes and limitations of this study have been briefly conferred.

The timing of eating, relative to when feed is offered, is affected by the social rank of feedlot cattle due to limited feed bunk space. As cattle can select feed based on dietary preference, the timing of eating for cattle in feedlot may be associated with the ingested diet composition. Our objectives were to determine the nutritive value and timing of feed ingested by 100 feedlot cattle during transition and the association of timing of eating with feeding behaviours and average daily gain (ADG). Cattle behaviour and timing of eating were determined on 100 feedlot cattle using accelerometer-based ear tag sensors from days 3 to 6 post feedlot induction (observation period), and the ongoing impact of this period on ADG was determined for the full feed period (75 days). To determine eating patterns at the time of feed offer, cattle were grouped according to the number of days they were recorded as eating within 1 h of feed being offered across 4 observation days, G0: not present across 4 days, G1: present for 1 day, G2: 2 days, G3: 3 days and G4: present for each of the 4 days. Total mixed ration (TMR) samples were collected for nutritive value analysis from four locations along the feed bunk from the time feed was offered and at hourly intervals thereafter for 7 h each day during the observation period. The composition of feed in the bunk changed across the 7 h of measurement (P

In this research work, we propose macronutrients incorporated slow-release based nano-fertilizer using nanozeolite as a carrier. A simple chemical approach was used to synthesis the proposed nanozeolite composite fertilizer (NZCF). To gain an insight into the properties, morphology and structure of the synthesized NZCF, it was further characterized by different techniques such as powder XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and TG/DTA. A considerable enhancement of the quality and the water retention capacity of the soil was observed as a result of applying the proposed NZCF when compared with a commercial fertilizer. Furthermore, the swelling ratio and the equilibrium water content of NZCF were compared to the commercial fertilizer and their effect on plant growth was observed. Slow-release studies were carried out for both NZCF and the commercial fertilizer. The results of these studies reveled that NZCF possessed a long-term release pattern of the macronutrients and that showed a great potential for promoting plant growth. Hence, the prepared nanocomposite fertilizer can be safely used as an environment-friendly source of nutrients to enhance plant growth.

The diurnal feeding patterns of dairy cows affects the 24 h robot utilisation of pasture-based automatic milking systems (AMS). A decline in robot utilisation between 2400 and 0600 h currently occurs in pasture-based AMS, as cow feeding activity is greatly reduced during this time. Here, we investigate the effect of a temporal variation in feed quality and quantity on cow feeding behaviour between 2400 and 0600 h as a potential tool to increase voluntary cow trafficking in an AMS at night. The day was allocated into four equal feeding periods (0600 to 1200, 1200 to 1800, 1800 to 2400 and 2400 to 0600 h). Lucerne hay cubes (CP = 19.1%, water soluble carbohydrate = 3.8%) and oat, ryegrass and clover hay cubes with 20% molasses (CP = 11.8%, water soluble carbohydrate = 10.7%) were offered as the ‘standard’ and ‘preferred’ (preference determined previously) feed types, respectively. The four treatments were (1) standard feed offered ad libitum (AL) throughout 24 h; (2) as per AL, with preferred feed replacing standard feed between 2400 and 0600 h (AL + P); (3) standard feed offered at a restricted rate, with quantity varying between each feeding period (20:10:30:60%, respectively) as a proportion of the (previously) measured daily ad libitum intake (VA); (4) as per VA, with preferred feed replacing standard feed between 2400 and 0600 h (VA + P). Eight non-lactating dairy cows were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. During each experimental period, treatment cows were fed for 7 days, including 3 days habituation and 4 days data collection. Total daily intake was approximately 8% greater (P < 0.001) for the AL and AL + P treatments (23.1 and 22.9 kg DM/cow) as compared with the VA and VA + P treatments (21.6 and 20.9 kg DM/cow). The AL + P and VA treatments had 21% and 90% greater (P < 0.001) dry matter intake (DMI) between 2400 and 0600 h, respectively, compared with the AL treatment. In contrast, the VA + P treatment had similar DMI to the VA treatment. Our experiment shows ability to increase cow feeding activity at night by varying feed type and quantity, though it is possible that a penalty to total DMI may occur using VA. Further research is required to determine if the implementation of variable feed allocation on pasture-based AMS farms is likely to improve milking robot utilisation by increasing cow feeding activity at night.

Zinc (Zn) deficiency is one of the causes of anemic disease and mortality in developing countries where rice is the staple food. Such deficiency is enhanced with over polishing of rice grains. Grain Zn contents can be improved through fortification. Agronomic fortification through the use of Wuxal Zn and Antracol (Zn containing fungicide) were tested with BRRI dhan58 and BRRI dhan74 (Zn enriched variety) and compared with no spraying conditions on grain Zn contentin two locations of Bangladesh during 2016-17. Grain yield increased with Zn spraying by about 2–10% for BRRI dhan58 and about 6–18% for BRRI dhan74 compared to control. Grain Zn content in brown rice of BRRI dhan58 under control condition was about 17 mg kg−1 that increased to about 19 mg kg−1 through Zn spraying. Similarly, Zn content of BRRI dhan74 varied from 22.02 to 23.78 mg kg-1 under control condition, which increased to 24.25–25.79 mg kg−1 after Zn spraying. Grain non-parboiled polishing at 9–10% reduced Zn content by about 2.6–5.84 mg kg−1 irrespective of varieties and locations. Zinc enrichment through agronomic practices and awareness buildup on reduced polishing would be the important options for improving rice grain nutritional quality in Bangladesh. Keywords: Rice, Paddy soil, Zn spraying, Grain yield, Polishing, Zn enrichment

Mycelium, the root structure of fungi, grows naturally as a biodegradable filamentous material. This unique material has highly heterogeneous microstructure with pronounced spatial variability in density and exhibits strongly non-linear mechanical behavior. In this work we explore the material response in compression, under cyclic deformation, and develop an experimentally-validated multiscale model for its mechanical behavior. The deformation localizes in stochastically distributed sub-domains which eventually percolate to form macroscopic bands of high density material. This is reflected in the stress-strain curve as strain softening. Cycling at fixed macroscopic strain leads to deformation history dependence similar to the Mullins effect. To capture this behavior, we use a two-scale model. At the micro-scale, a random fiber network is used, while at the macroscale the spatial density fluctuations are captured using a stochastic continuum model. The density-dependent local constitutive behavior is defined by the microscale model. An empirical damage model is incorporated to account for the experimentally observed cyclic softening behavior of mycelium. The model is further validated by comparison with a separate set of experimental results. The model can be used to explore the effect of mesoscale density fluctuations on the overall mechanical behavior and to design mycelium-based products with desired mechanical performance. Keywords: Mycelium, Fibrous materials, Mullins effect, Cyclic loading, Constitutive modeling

Thermal unit indices have a strong correlation with the phenology, growth and yield of crops and can be effectively used to select suitable crop cultivars for specific environmental conditions especially temperature. In this study, four mustard varieties (viz., 'BARI Sharisha-14', 'BARI Sharisha-15', 'BARI Sharisha-16' and 'Tori-7') were grown in two consecutive growing to assess the impact of thermal unit indices on crop growth and development, and to select the suitable variety for better yield under optimum sowing condition. Thermal unit indices viz., growing degree-day (GDD), helio-thermal units (HTU), phenothermal index (PTI) and heat use efficiency (HUE) were estimated from daily temperature and sunshine hours. Role of GDD on different growth indicators and seed yield (SY) were estimated through association and dependence of the traits. Significant variations in studied genotypes were observed for different traits. Among the studied varieties, 'BARI Sharisha-16' produced higher dry matter and seed yields (1.82 t ha-1) while accumulated maximum GDD at different growth stages. A strong positive association was obtained between GDD and the studied traits. Thermal unit indices had a strong influence in attaining different phenophases and other growth indicators. Therefore, results suggest that those indices could be used for growth prediction; further 'BARI Sharisha-16' is expected to use heat energy more efficiently for increasing the seed yields which indicated that the crop can perform better under global warming scenarios.

Subthreshold region provides optimal sensitivity for nanowire biosensor. In this paper, sensitivity analysis of nanowire biosensor operating in partially depleted and fully depleted mode of subthreshold region is presented. The analysis is based on analytical radial electrostatic potential functions derived by solving Poisson's equation inside the nanowire for both types of depleted mode of the subthreshold region with available boundary conditions. Characteristics of the plotted conductance and sensitivity curves of the sensor operating in partially and fully depleted mode of subthreshold region show the specificness of these modes of operation on particular types of bio-chemical sensing experiment. Keywords: Subthreshold, Partially depleted, Fully depleted, Sensitivity, Nanowire

This paper presents the development and performance characterization of new composite desiccants. The main compositions for the composite desiccants include silica gel, lithium chloride, calcium chloride and bentonite. Different percentage compositions of these four components were tested to determine the optimal material composition for improving moisture removal capacity under varying inlet air temperature and humidity, and amount of moisture released under different regenerative temperature. For the first time, four-layered composite desiccants were developed and tested experimentally to determine their moisture removal capacity and moisture regeneration capacity at temperature of about 60oC under inlet air conditions similar to Singapore’s tropical climate. The performances of these composite desiccants were benchmarked with the performance of pure silica gel - the most commonly used desiccant in the market today. It was observed experimentally, that employing a four-layered composite desiccant, comprising silica-gel (SiO2), Bentonite, Lithium Chloride (LiCl), and Calcium Chloride (CaCl2), has enabled greater moisture removal capacity for varying inlet air temperature and humidity ranging from 25 to 35oC and 55 to 95% relative humidity (RH). The percentage improvements, in contrast to pure silica gel, are 14 to 22.5%, and 10 to 26.3% for varying inlet air temperature and varying inlet RH, respectively. KEYWORDS: experiments; composite desiccant; dehumidification; energy efficiency