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Considering the environmental impact of cement manufacturing industries, this paper concerns the potential of using supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), like fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag, as being essential to replacing the existing Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). The objective of this paper is to study the microstructural characteristics of concrete with SCMs and improve the durability of the product to increase the lifespan of concrete structures. Replacement SCMs in OPC are 0, 40, 50, and 60 by percentage of cement weight, and we have taken a water-binder ratio of 0.40 for M40 grade and 0.28 for M60 grade concrete. The physical properties and chemical composition of OPC, Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag (GGBS), and fly ash were identified, and three different experiments were conducted to determine the resistance to penetration of chloride ions and corrosion processes. The rapid chloride permeability test, accelerated corrosion, and sorptivity tests were employed to measure concrete's resistance to the effects of aggressive environments and examine the durability properties. The most performed grade samples were analyzed as individual microspheres with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDXS), and X-ray diffraction. Significant improvements in various concrete properties were achieved through the partial replacement of fly ash and GGBS with cement. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-04-05 Full Text: PDF

In recent years, the geopolymer will considerably replace the role of cement in the construction field. Generally, geopolymers have advantageous characteristics such as minimal shrinkage, minimal creep, and high compressive strength, respectively. In the literature, some of the geopolymer-based concrete is designed which attains low compressive strength and inadequate compressive strength computation. Hence, in this research paper, lightweight geopolymer mortar with base material for the based concrete mix is designed. The base material is considered as fly ash (FA) and alkali-activated slag (AAFS). The main components of lightweight geopolymer mortar are insubstantial burnish aggregate and AAFS binder or alkali-activated FA. The mixed concrete design compressive strength is computed with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technique. Here, Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference Controller (ANFIS) with Salp Swarm Optimization (SSO) is utilized to compute the urging force of the concrete mix. SSO is used to compute the optimal learning rate to find out the urging force of the concrete. The preliminary parameter's potential was inspected with the relations of variant urging force in insubstantial geopolymer mortar. The performance is evaluated by changing the temperature and binder content. The proposed method with an intended concrete mix result illustrates the performance. The proposed method is compared with existing methods of Artificial Neural Network (ANN).

Computational intelligence methods play an important role for supporting smart networks operations, optimization, and management. In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), increasing the number of nodes has a need for transferring large volume of data to remote nodes without any loss. These large amounts of data transmission might lead to exceeding the capacity of WSNs, which results in congestion, latency, and packet loss. Congestion in WSNs not only results in information loss but also burns a significant amount of energy. To tackle this issue, a practical computational intelligence approach for optimizing data transmission while decreasing latency is necessary. In this article, a Softmax-Regressed-Tanimoto-Reweight-Boost-Classification- (SRTRBC-) based machine learning technique is proposed for effective routing in WSNs. It can route packets around busy locations by selecting nodes with higher energy and lower load. The proposed SRTRBC technique is composed of two steps: route path construction and congestion-aware MIMO routing. Prior to constructing the route path, the residual energy of the node is determined. After that, the residual energy level is analyzed using softmax regression to determine whether or not the node is energy efficient. The energy-efficient nodes are located, and numerous paths between the source and sink nodes are established using route request and route reply. Following that, the SRTRBC technique is used for congestion-aware routing based on buffer space and bandwidth capability. The path that requires the least buffer space and has the highest bandwidth capacity is picked as the optimal route path among multiple paths. Finally, congestion-aware data transmission is used to minimize latency and data loss along the route path. The simulation considers a variety of performance metrics, including energy consumption, data delivery rate, data loss rate, throughput, and delay, in relation to the amount of data packets and sensor nodes.

Semi-enclosed coastal environments are under constant stress due to diverse chemical pollutants from multiple anthropogenic sources. Among them, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) are most common in coastal environments. Pulicat Lake is one such environment situated on the southeast coast of India where, the present study was conducted. The TPHs were measured using a modified ultrasonication method, so as to reduce the organic solvent consumption as well as to minimize time. The TPHs in Pulicat Lake sediments ranged from 0.28 to 6.86 μg/g dry weight with a median of 0.71 ± 1.59 μg/g dry weight. Euclidean based cluster analysis using normalized data of TPHs, SOC and sediment texture classified the lake into three discrete regions such as south, central and north. Linear regression analysis showed positive correlation of TPHs with SOC (R2 = 0.567, P

The Concrete is a rigid heterogeneous matrix formed of cement, aggregates, and water. It has high compressive strength and weak tensile strength. The concrete’s elastic region, yield region, and plastic region cannot be properly distinguished unlike mild steel, and it is a brittle material. That makes the failure assessment difficult for concrete. So, the use of fibers to enhance the behavior of concrete has been a major research area. The comprehensive analytical research on the use of concrete mixed with glass fibers is used for the study of the bending behavior of RC beams. The different grades of concrete - (M20), (M40), (M60) with reinforcement of 10 mm diameter and 12 mm diameter bars for top and bottom reinforcement have been used for analytical investigation. The size of the specimens are 150 mm × 150 mm × 750 mm, 150 mm × 300 mm × 1500 mm RC beams in this paper. The studies show that beams undergo flexure under point loads and comparison is made between the different grades of concrete, reinforcements and blended ratios among them we have taken optimum mix (60:20:20), (50:25:25),(40:30:30) of Cement, Fly Ash, and GGBS respectively from the code IS 269, IS3812(P-1), IS12089 for additions of 0.5% of Glass fibers. The specimens were tested in a four-point loading over the span and non-linear analysis carried using the Abaqus software.

The aim of the proposed work is to classify the leaf species from an image of a leaf with computer vision. For this the input image will be processed with image processing algorithms, analyzed to extract features and then classified based on the extracted features with the help of pattern analysis and recognition techniques. We present a robust leaf species recognition system based on Gabor wavelet. Multiple Gabor wavelets with different scale and orientations are used to extract features. To have robust discriminative features which will also reduce the computational complexity and memory cost, we have used Gabor wavelet with selected scale and orientations only. For this selection, we performed number of experiments taking a varied number of scales and orientations. The feature vector so obtained has high dimensionality. The feature dimension is reduced by down sampling & subspace analysis. The kernel based subspace analysis is used to extract the nonlinear leaf variations. The performance of the proposed system is extensively tested using the Folio database. The results show a considerable saving in terms of computational cost and improvement in recognition rate compared to the contemporary related work.

The morphological changes of spits and inlets of the Chilika lagoon, the largest brackish water tropical coastal lagoon in Asia, are investigated using real-time kinematic GPS observation a...

The spatio-temporal variation of mesozooplankton assemblages and the relative environmental variables were assessed in a coastal upwelling system. Remarkable seasonal variations were found in the mesozooplankton community structure and Chl-a concentration due to the seasonal shift in the environmental variables. Copepods were found to be the dominant group during the winter monsoon (WM) and spring inter monsoon (SIM) seasons whereas, cladocerans (Evadne tergestina and Penilia avirostris) were dominant during the summer monsoon (SM) which may be attributed to the availability of preferential food and favorable environmental conditions (viz., temperature and salinity etc.). Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that the distribution and their possible spatio-temporal pattern of dominant copepods (Acrocalanus gibber, Acartia danae, Nanocalanus minor and Oncaea venusta), siphonophores (Chelophyes appendiculata and Diphyes chamissonis) and pelagic tunicates (Doliolida sp.) synchronized with their specific food habits and adaptive mechanism. The present findings emphasize the significance of the trophic relationship between Chl-a concentration and mesozooplankton abundance in the coastal waters of Kochi, southeastern Arabian Sea.

In MANETs (Mobile Adhoc Network) detecting optimal reliable ordered routing paths between source network nodes to destination network is all the time a challenging task because of the mobility nature of the nodes in a MANET. Complexity in the infrastructure in the network another vital criteria. On top of it adhoc networks are dynamic and insecure due to wireless adaptability. So the main objective of this paper is to identify optimal secured reliable routing paths among routing nodes in an MANET.

The seasonal variation in phytoplankton composition as well as the influencing factors on phytoplankton community were examined for the coastal waters of Kochi, southeastern Arabian Sea during 2015. The elevated flux of total nitrogen (TN) and silica (Si) during the summer monsoon (SM) induced the harmful algal blooms (HABs) of Scrippsiella trochoidea (11.9 × 105 cells L−1) and Karenia mikimotoi (6 × 105 cells L−1) near the inlets of Kochi estuary. Blooms of S. trochoidea were recorded for the first time in the Indian waters. The satellite data of chlorophyll-a showed the significant correlation with insitu observations of phytoplankton abundance and provided a better understanding of the spatio-temporal distribution. The canonical correspondence analysis indicates that the increased TN and Si fluxes and lower temperature induced the HABs during the SM. The reduction in the load of N and Si in the coastal waters of southeastern Arabian Sea is essential for controlling the HABs.

This study examined microplastic particles present in the benthic invertebrates Sternaspis scutata, Magelona cinta (deposit feeders) and Tellina sp. (suspension feeder) from the surface sediments of off-Kochi, southwest coast of India. The microplastic particles and thread-like fibres detected in these organisms were identified to be polystyrene by using DXR Raman microscope. Examination of the microplastic particle in Sternaspis scutata by epifluorescent microscopy showed fragmentation marks on the surface suggesting that the microplastic particle was degraded/weathered in nature. The study provides preliminary evidence of the presence of microplastics in benthic fauna from the coastal waters of India. However, further studies are required to understand the sources, distribution, fate and toxicity of the different types of microplastics in benthic invertebrates in order to identify any potential threats to higher trophic level organisms.

Fluctuations in salinity are known to influence coastal marine communities. In this study, we present the effect of salinity on the distribution characteristics of mesozooplankton in Pulicat lake, the second largest lagoon situated along the south east coast of India. During different seasons of the study period, salinity varied from hyposaline (12.57) to hypersaline (139.74) in the lake. Salinity values were moderate in southern (33.75 ± 0.7) and northern inlets (29.38 ± 4.33), which were connected with the sea; while in the central region of the lake salinity was observed to be higher (52.32 ± 4.57). Mesozooplankton biovolume and abundance were high in the southern and northern inlets whereas a severe reduction in diversity and abundance was observed in the central region of the lake manifesting that increase in salinity is negatively impacting the mesozooplankton distribution. Copepod (Acartia tonsa, Acrocalanus gibber, Paracalanus parvus, Oithona brevicornis and Oithona similis), crustacean and molluscan larvae dominated the mesozooplankton abundance. A. tonsa predominance (79%) over the lake and across different seasons indicates its tolerance to a wide range of salinity fluctuations i.e., brackish to hypersaline environment of the Pulicat. The distribution of euryhaline species A. tonsa in all the sampling locations throughout the study period indicated their prevalence in the lake. Multilinear analysis between biotic and abiotic components through redundancy analysis (RDA) also suggested that salinity is the major constraint factor for the distribution of mesozooplankton. In conclusion, this study showed that the increased salinity levels have profound effects on mesozooplankton community and distribution.

The quantity of floating plastic debris (FPD) is continuously being increased in the oceans. To assess their size, structure, and composition along the eastern Arabian Sea (EAS), FPD samples were collected by using a surface plankton net. The microplastic size fraction (0.5–5 mm) was the most prevalent accounting for >50% of the total, followed by mesoplastics (5–25 mm; ~40%) and macroplastics (>25 mm; ~10%). The collected FPDs were categorized into five different types and eight colours. Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (ATR-FTIR) analysis of the plastics revealed that polypropylene, polyethylene, and nylon were the most dominant polymers, and these comprised mostly of fibre/fishing line. The abundance of FPD in the EAS (0.013 ± 0.012 no.s/m3) was found to be very low compared to elsewhere. The prevalent microplastics presence in the oceans might have occurred mainly by the degradation of larger items. It increases bioavailability, and hence, is a risk to marine ecosystems.

Modelled and observed tendencies of temperature and salinity are investigated to assess the factors governing the heat and salt in the Pulicat lagoon, a hypersaline (>3.5%) lagoon along the south east coast of India. The salinity of the lagoon is extremely fluctuating, shifting regimes from fresh to hypersaline on seasonal scales. Examination of the spatio-temporal variability of the salinity of the lagoon shows certain regions of the lagoon remain hypersaline during most of the year. Hydrology and vertical solar heat fluxes constitute the major governing factors of the salt and heat of the lagoon respectively, while advection by hydrodynamics is important in specific regions during particular time of the year. Extremely high salinities higher than previously reported values, exceeding those during severe drought conditions were observed during this study period. A first account of meromixis with high heliothermic subsurface temperature and salinity during winter months November to February of different years in an embedded region of the lagoon is reported.

Dissolved nutrients, Chl-a and primary productivity were measured from seven transects along the coastal waters of the southeastern Arabian Sea during northeast monsoon. Ten major estuaries were ch...

The influence of upwelling on the phytoplankton community was examined during the upwelling-relaxation period in the southeastern Arabian Sea. Elevated upwelling intensity during the summer monsoon season of 2016 resulted in the re-suspension of harmful dinoflagellates into the surface water. Further, the surplus of phosphorus (P) inputs into the coastal waters from estuarine runoff during the upwelling-relaxation period induced blooming of Gonyaulax polygramma (4.9 × 106 cells L−1). Results from canonical correspondence analysis revealed that elevated upwelling intensity, P and salinity during the year 2016 likely triggered the bloom of G. polygramma in the study region. HABs like G. polygramma threaten fish stocks such as sardines which have a vital role in the ecosystem. Studies on phytoplankton communities and nutrient dynamics in upwelling systems would be useful in predicting the incidence/toxic effects of harmful algal blooms as these regions have a high potential for fisheries.

Returning to beforehand saw website pages is a typical yet uneasy undertaking for clients because of the huge volume of by and by got to information on the web. This paper use human's regular review procedure of utilizing long winded and semantic memory signals to encourage review, and displays an individual web revisitation method called Webpage Prev through setting and substance watchwords. Basic methods for setting and substance recollections' securing, stockpiling, rot, and usage for page re-finding are talked about. An importance criticism component is likewise required to tailor to person's memory quality and revisitation propensities. Our half year client ponder demonstrates that: Contrasted and the current web revisitation instrument Memento, History List Searching technique, and Search Engine method. The proposed Webpage Prev conveys the best re-discovering quality in discovering rate (92.10%), normal F1-measure (0.4318) and normal rank mistake (0.3145). Our dynamic administration of setting and substance recollections including rot and fortification technique can emulate clients' recovery and review component. With importance criticism, the discovering rate of Webpage Prev increments by 9.82%, normal F1-measure increments by 47.09%, and normal rank blunder diminishes by 19.44% contrasted with stable memory administration strategy. Among time, area, and movement setting factors in Web Page Prev, action is the best review sign, and context+content based re-finding delivers the best execution, contrasted with setting based re-finding and substance based re-finding

Microzooplankton play an important connecting role in the aquatic food webs. During our bimonthly time series observation on microzooplankton ecology and dynamics in the estuarine waters of Kochi, Southwest coast of India, dense swarming of Tintinnopsis uruguayensis was noticed. The contribution of T. uruguayensis during the swarm period was 98.4% of the total microzooplankton density. The swarming of T. uruguayensis during the postmonsoon (November 2015) could be related to the higher concentrations of food supply. The results demonstrate a statistically significant positive relationship between the swarm of T. uruguayensis and the small centric diatom Thalassiosira decipiens. Our observation suggest that the increase of Thalassiosira decipiens contributed to the proliferation of T. uruguayensis.

Seawater quality status of shore and offshore areas of four selected locations (Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Ennore, and Pondicherry) along the east coast of India were studied based on the analysis of various water quality parameters (Temperature, pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Biological Oxygen Demand, Suspended Sediment Concentration, Nitrate, Phosphate, and Fecal Coliforms collected during 1993–2014 under the COMAPS program of ICMAM-PD, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India. The National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index was used to estimate the indices for different seasons. The water quality parameters have strong seasonal and spatial variability along the coast. Higher concentration of BOD and SSC toward shore waters and lower concentration toward offshore is noticed. In Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, the nitrate and phosphate concentration was comparatively higher than Ennore and Pondicherry. The Fecal Coliform counts in the shore waters were significantly high for all the four locations. Computation of Water Quality Index based on different water quality parameters reveals that the water quality along these sites varied from ‘medium’ to ‘good’ depending on the location and the season. The analysis of the data clearly emphasize the need for continuous monitoring of these water quality parameters to maintain and preserve the water quality as well as the related coastal ecosystem productivity of the Indian coast. Further, comprehensive studies are required for the Indian coastal water to determine the relative weightages of various water quality parameters and to develop an optimum WQI index methodology.

The main objective of this study was to analyze the effect of debonding on the stiffness and long-term creep of sandwich panel. Sandwich panel is made of thermoplastic core which is viscoelastic in nature and debonding is the major failure mode of the sandwich panel. Sandwich beams were made of different types of materials and the different materials have different properties. Numerical modeling of sandwich beam with aluminium face sheet and polypropylene core is done. Analysis was performed by using ANSYS software and the element used in the modeling is SHELL181. Four-point load configuration was created for the model with loading of 60 % of core shear strength according to McCallum (2012) and the model were subjected to static deflection. Static deflection results were compared with experimental and theoretical results and stiffness of deboned sandwich beam was evaluated. Primary and Secondary creep was evaluated in ANSYS by using Time hardening and the Norton equations to the propylene core and Burger model was used to fit with the secondary creep of the bonded sandwich beam. The primary and the secondary creep of bonded and the deboned sandwich beams were compared and long-term creep of deboned sandwich beam was determined.

The spatio-temporal variation of mesozooplankton in response to environmental variables was studied for the coastal waters of southeastern Arabian Sea during the spring inter-monsoon (SIM) and fall inter-monsoon (FIM) of 2014. Overall 84 mesozooplankton taxa belonging to 17 taxonomic groups were identified. The copepod group dominated species richness (58 species) of the mesozooplankton community. Spatial variation of mesozooplankton biomass and total abundance changed significantly in relation to the distribution of sub-surface water (0.5 m) dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Carnivorous and omnivorous mesozooplankton abundance increased substantially with an increasing DOC level. Factor analysis and Mantel test revealed that the distribution of mesozooplankton community, biomass and abundance had significant positive correlation with the distribution of chlorophyll a (Chl-a) and DOC during both the seasons. Distribution of Chl-a had a positive influence on herbivorous mesozooplankton abundance, while DOC had a positive relationship with omnivorous and carnivorous mesozooplankton abundance. Our study indicates that the distribution of Chl-a and DOC influences the spatial variation of mesozooplankton community and abundance in the coastal waters of eastern Arabian Sea during the inter-monsoon seasons (SIM and FIM).

Owing to the environmental sensitivity of ciliate species, the monitoring and assessment of these communities can indicate the health of the aquatic environment. Sampling for loricate ciliates was carried out during different seasons at three different locations in the estuarine and coastal waters of Kochi, Southwest coast of India. The loricate ciliate community comprising of 27 species belonging to 10 genera revealed significant differences among the three sampling locations. The maximum numerical abundance and less species diversity of loricate ciliates were recorded at the estuarine locations whereas the minimum abundance and more species diversity were encountered in the coastal waters. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed that Tintinnopsis beroidea and Tintinnopsis uruguayensis were correlated positively with nutrients in the estuarine environment, which receives large amount of anthropogenic inputs. Thus, we propose that these two loricate ciliates may be considered as a potential bioindicator of eutrophication status in marine ecosystems.

Coastal lagoons around the world have become increasingly vulnerable to eutrophication and often the impingement is severe with regard to plankton. In this study, we measured how environmental heterogeneity persuades mesozooplankton (MSP) community dynamics in a large tropical coastal lagoon wrought by human impingement, including the creation of a new mouth. Here, we hypothesised that trophic gradients and environmental redundancy resulting from the pooled effect of trophic and salinity–light gradients majorly influence MSP structure in one of Asia’s largest brackish water lagoons in India. Multivariate analysis of environmental variables (May 2004–September 2006; n=1008) and MSP examined (May 2004 to October 2005; n=522) at monthly intervals revealed discrete hydrographical and MSP regimes. Beta diversity measures revealed ∼50% community turn-over between assemblages. Residual analysis on salinity-corrected fractionated chlorophyll a and size-specific copepod functional groups revealed pico-nanoplankton (

In now a days, most of the communication takes place through Internet. Most of the users are used to transmit their information through insecure channels that are interconnected throughout world. Thus, security must be provided to achieve confidentiality, access control, integrity and authentication. To ensure all these services, various cryptography and steganography techniques like RSA, AES, MD5 and RC5 have been used. Even though, cryptanalysts reinforcing it using some mathematical computation and misused information. Currently, quantum computers have been used to increase the speed of computation and to provide more security for data. It exploits quantum mechanics to provide secure communication. Quantum cryptography (QC) technique has been used to share the key among the participants who wish to share the data. This paper discusses various cryptographic key distribution protocols and quantum mechanics. In this paper we proposed “Secure Node Signature Verification Algorithm”(SNSVA) based on Quantum cryptography technique that describes how authentication can be verified with network nodes. In addition, it explains an approach to improve the performance of cryptography technique. General Terms Sharing, Intrude, Securing, Sender, Receiver, Transceiver, information.

The photocatalytic degradation of Alizarin red S, an anthroquinone dye has been investigated in the presence of aqueous suspension of ZnO under visible light irradiation. ZnO was impregnated with Ag of varying concentrations such as 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 at.% and the samples were calcined at different temperatures for 2 h. The catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO was found to be enhanced by silver addition and 1 at.% of silver-impregnated ZnO has high photocatalytic activity. Calcination of samples at higher temperature decreased the photocatalytic activity. The effect of various process parameters such as catalyst loading, initial concentration of dye and pH of the solution has been investigated. The kinetics of dye degradation was also studied and the data were well fitted to pseudo-first order kinetic model.

A very severe cyclonic storm ‘Thane’ developed over the Bay of Bengal during 25–30 December 2011, crossed the Tamilnadu coast between Pondicherry and Cuddalore (southeast coast of India) in early hours of 30 December with a wind speed 120–140 km/h. The offshore tide record reveals that the surge started to generate around 1100 hours on 29 December 2011 with a height 0.4 m and later raised to 0.68 m at the time of land fall, that is, early hours (0000 hours) of 30 December 2011. Field reconnaissance survey on surge run-up and inundation distance at 15 selected locations of cyclone affected areas reveals that the vulnerability levels are highly variable along the coast. The inundation distance extended up to 30–230 m landward from the shoreline and run-up reached to 1.6–3.2 m above chart datum depending upon the cross-shore geometry of the location. In the areas (Verranampattinam, Chinamudaliyar kuppam and Silver beach) near cyclone landfall, the run-up was up to 2.5–3.2 m and the inundation distance extended up to a maximum of 230 m. However, in the areas located about 150 km north of cyclone landfall, the run-up limited from 1.6 to 1.7 m and the inundation distance extended up to only a maximum of 169 m. The inundation distance is mainly influenced by the slope of the beach. In the areas having beach slope between 1 in 135 and 1 in 220, the inundation distance was 210–230 m. However, in the areas having beach slope 1 in 17 to 1 in 34, the inundation distance is restricted between 35 and 50 m.

The photocatalytic degradation of Eosin Y, a xanthenes dye has been investigated under visible light irradiation in the presence of aqueous suspension of ZnO and silver impregnated ZnO at various conditions. ZnO was impregnated with Ag of varying concentrations such as 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 at.% and the samples were calcined at various temperatures for 2 h. The catalyst was characterized by XRD, SEM and UV–Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopic studies. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO was found to be enhanced by silver impregnation and 1 at.% of silver impregnated ZnO has high photocatalytic activity. Calcinations of samples at higher temperature decreased the photocatalytic activity. Effect of various parameters such as catalyst loading, initial concentration of dye and pH of the solution on dye degradation was also studied. The kinetics of dye degradation showed that the data were well fitted to pseudo-first order kinetic model.

A review of field research conducted at the ICRISAT in collaboration with national partners to monitor the insecticide residues on food crops (rice, chickpea, maize, pigeon pea) and vegetables and the recent studies by other researchers in this field revealed the presence of residues of selected pesticides on crops. These include monocrotophos, chlorpyrifos, endosulfan, and cypermethrin. Only 3 % of the rice had beta endosulfan residues, while 35 % of tomato and 56 % brinjal had residues of these insecticides; however, only 4 % of the samples had residues above the maximum residue limits (MRLs). The crop samples analyzed (56) for pesticide residues in 15 contact (nonchemical pesticide group of 41 farmers) and 5 noncontact (15 samples) villages revealed the presence of pesticide residues in 21 samples above 0.001 ppm, except for two Dolichos bean and tomato samples which had residues of monocrotophos and chlorpyrifos above MRL. Though the residues in pulses were observed at harvest, they were below detectable levels after processing, i.e., thrashing and splitting the seed into dhal, indicating their safety in food chain; however, their haulms had insecticide residues. Fields under integrated pest management (IPM) showed substantial reduction in pesticide use across crops, which reflected in the occurrence of low residues. Twenty percent of brinjal and tomato samples had residues compared to 47 % in non-IPM fields. Though the contamination levels in crops in IPM and non-IPM fields indicated substantial differences, the residue concentrations were below MRLs indicating safety to beneficial arthropods.

Baculoviruses were isolated from three major lepidopteran pests, Helicoverpa armigera, Spodoptera litura and Amsacta albistriga in the semi-arid tropics during natural epizootic conditions at ICRISAT fields, Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India. Biological, morphological and biochemical analysis identified these isolates as Nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPVs). Scanning electron microscopy of the occlusion bodies (OBs) purified from diseased larvae revealed polyhedral particles of size approximately 0.5-2.5 μm [Helicoverpa armigera Nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV)], 0.9-2.92 μm [Spodoptera litura Nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpltNPV)] and 1.0-2.0 μm [Amsacta albistriga Nucleopolyhedrovirus (AmalNPV)] in diameter. Transmission electron microscopy of thin sections of OBs of the three isolates revealed up to 5-8 multiple bacilliform shaped particles packaged within a single viral envelope. The dimensions of these particles were 277.7 × 41.6 nm for HearNPV, 285.7 × 34.2 nm for SpltNPV and 228.5 × 22.8 nm for AmalNPV. Each of HearNPV and AmalNPV contained up to 6 nucleocapsids and SpltNPV contained up to 7 nucleocapsids per envelope. The estimated molecular weights of the purified OB (polyhedrin) protein of the three NPVs were 31.29-31.67 kDa. Virus yield (OBs/larva) was 5.18 ± 0.45 × 10(9) for HearNPV, 5.73 ± 0.17 × 10(9) for SpltNPV and 7.90 ± 0.54 × 10(9) for AmalNPV. The LC50 values of various NPVs against 2nd and 3rd instar larvae indicated 2.30 × 10(4) and 1.5 × 10(5) OBs/ml for HearNPV, 3.5 × 10(4) and 2.4 × 10(5) OBs/ml for SpltNPV and 5.6 × 10(4) and 3.96 × 10(5) OBs/ml for AmalNPV. The lethal time required to cause 50% mortality (LT50) for these three species were also defined. This study has shown that the NPVs infecting three major lepidopteran pests in India are multiple NPVs, and they have good potential to use as biocontrol agents against these important pests.

The Andhra coast is well known for cyclones and less known for tsunamis. The December 26, 2004, Sumatran Indian Ocean tsunami, created considerable damages along the south Andhra coast, especially along the Krishnapatnam, Kavali, and Ongole coasts. Of these, Krsihnapatnam and Kavali were the most affected and have experienced run-up levels of 1.9 m and inundation distances of 200–1350 m. In places of straight coast, the tsunami run-up was limited to berm level (200–400 m from the shoreline) whereas in places occupied by creeks, inlets, and river mouths the run-up extended far inland up to 600–1350 m. The TUNAMI-N2 model simulations on propagation times, run-up, and inundation distances along Krishnapatnam, Kavali, and Ongole coasts are well agreed with the observed features of tsunami. The travel times of Sumatra 2004 tsunami to reach the shore along the three coasts are 175, 180, and 190 minutes, respectively, which are reproduced well in model simulations. Evaluation tsunami hazard levels along the thre...

E-Government primarily consists of two parts are front-office and back-office. The Government-to-Citizens (G2C) and Government-to-Business (G2B) services are categorized as front-office, Government-to-Government (G2G) and Government-to-Employee (G2E) are categorized as back-office. Most researchers and academics refer only to the G2C, G2B and G2G with out considering the G2E, or simply including it as a part of G2G block, also majority of governments have not yet begun to develop collaborative G2E services but it is certainly need to improve the bureaucracy's day-to-day functions and dealing with employees. Government to Employee solution is about empowering their own employees to assist citizens in the fastest and most appropriate way, speed-up administrative processes, and optimize governmental solutions. Before we can expect citizens to go online, government employees must go online.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the behaviour of composite reinforced concrete square short columns and conventional square short column. Experiments are conducted on four axially loaded column specimens till failure. Among four specimens, two are conventional and remaining two columns are having equal angles as main reinforcement. Short columns are designed using IS 456 2000. The obtained details of main reinforcement are replaced in area wise by equal angle (ISA 2525). The tie reinforcement used to withhold the main reinforcement in position are retained with the same deformed bars. Performance of columns are measured in terms of load carrying capacity, longitudinal strain, stress, crushing modes, strains in each face using strain gauges. Outcome of the experiments are compared and plotted in the form of stress vs strain of the column. A finite element model was developed using Abaqus to simulate the results.

Nowadays disposal of wood ash generated from various sources became a very challenging problem. Utilization of wood ash in cement and concrete was started from last 10 years. In this research, an attempt was done to examine the durability properties of reinforced cement concrete with 5, 10, 15 and 20 percentage replacement of cement with wood ash in concrete. The specimens with all proportions were cast, cured 28 days for one set specimens while another 3 set were cured in acid (HCl), base (NaOH) & salt (NaCl) conditions for 90 days. All specimens were tested to failure under loading frame of 500 kN capacity with 1 kN/sec as the rate of loading, weight loss, ultimate load, and deflection were determined. The better performance is shown by blended specimens against NaCl, NaOH and week resistance against HCl. The concrete with 5 percent replaced with wood ash can be used coastal regions as a result of greater resistance to against NaCl.

An experimental study was conducted to compare the structural behavior of beam column joint before and after rehabilitation by using fibrous concrete with steel fibers as a strength enhancer material. Two specimens were examined in this study out of which one was designed according to IS 456: 2000 (control specimen) codal provision and another one was designed according to IS 13920:2016(ductile specimen). Both the supports at top and bottom faces of the column were hinged, and the load was applied on the edge of the beam. The parameter observed during the experiment was Load- deflection response for both control and rehabilitation specimens. The ultimate load carrying capacity for rehabilitated controlled specimen increased by 36.6% in comparison with controlled specimen, and the ultimate load carrying capacity for rehabilitated ductile specimen increased by 62.3% in comparison with ductile specimen. It has been observed that steel fiber reinforced concrete can enhance flexural strength, ductility and crack arrest.

The newly constructed port in 2001 at Ennore, on the southeast coast of India near Chennai, with breakwaters on either side (north and south) has been causing large-scale changes in nearshore morphology. Beach profiles and shoreline positions along 25 km coastline of Ennore were measured at regular intervals during 2001–06 to understand the sediment transport patterns in the region. At the same time the results of wave hind-casting and wave transformation modeling were incorporated in LITDRIFT model to compute the sediment transport rates along Ennore coast. The model results are compared with the sediment transport values obtained from beach profile measurements. The performance of the model at different locations within the study area with variable wave conditions has been examined. The annual net sediment loss (−) versus accumulation (+) were estimated for two smaller study areas (cells) containing ten regularly spaced beach profiles numbered from north to south, BP1-5 in cell I and BP6-10 in cell II. For the cell I region, which is protected by the Ennore shoals and where human interference is minimum, the annual net sediment supply is + 0.02 × 106 m3 as obtained from beach profile measurements while the model gave a value of + 0.014 × 106 m3. For the cell II region where there is large human intervention by way of Ennore port development and breakwater construction, the annual net sediment movement as obtained by the beach measurements is − 0.14 × 106 m3 while the model gave a value of − 0.154 × 106 m3. It is found that the performance of the model is satisfactory and the model may be used successfully to study sediment dynamics along any coastline provided one has detailed understanding of the coastline orientation, nearshore topography, cross-shore bathymetry and prevailing annual wave climate. Based on the sediment transport data and beach profile measurements the beach and shoreline changes for transect locations BP-1 to BP-10 are also critically examined in this paper.

The effect of using different anions (nitrate, chloride, sulfate, and acetate) during the precursor synthesis, by homogeneous precipitation, on the magnetic properties of the final product (nanocrystalline NiO), has been studied. The precursors and the oxide were characterized by various analytical techniques including powder X-ray diffraction, FT-IR spectroscopy, thermal gravimetry (TGA), and magnetic measurements. The synthesized NiO samples possess crystallite size in the range, ∼2−6 nm, depending on the anion of the nickel salt. The nickel oxide nanoparticles exhibit superparamagnetic behavior. Acetate and sulfate anions lead to NiO with higher saturation magnetization (∼1.2−1.8 emu/g), while chloride and nitrate anions lead to NiO nanoparticles with lower saturation magnetization (∼0.1–0.4 emu/g) values. The observed magnetic behavior has been attributed to the size effect.

Factors Responsible for Non-Nodulating Nature of Some Legumes

Lepidopteran insect pest species cause heavy damage to the crop yield annually around the globe. Baculoviruses, the nucleopolyhedroviruses and the granuloviruses, act as natural regulators of pest populations including lepidopteran pests, and their potential to be employed as insecticides is well reported. Baculovirus-based insecticides are safe to animal and human health and lack toxic residues. In the present chapter, a detailed review on the isolation, characterization, mass production techniques, diagnostic and quality control tests of these viruses, and the issues related with commercialization of baculovirus-based products is presented. Their high compatibility with other pest control strategies making them a potential candidate for use in integrated pest management is also discussed.