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Abstract Background Several computational and mathematical models of protein synthesis have been explored to accomplish the quantitative analysis of protein synthesis components and polysome structure. The effect of gene sequence (coding and non-coding region) in protein synthesis, mutation in gene sequence, and functional model of ribosome needs to be explored to investigate the relationship among protein synthesis components further. Ribosomal computing is implemented by imitating the functional property of protein synthesis. Result In the proposed work, a general framework of ribosomal computing is demonstrated by developing a computational model to present the relationship between biological details of protein synthesis and computing principles. Here, mathematical abstractions are chosen carefully without probing into intricate chemical details of the micro-operations of protein synthesis for ease of understanding. This model demonstrates the cause and effect of ribosome stalling during protein synthesis and the relationship between functional protein and gene sequence. Moreover, it also reveals the computing nature of ribosome molecules and other protein synthesis components. The effect of gene mutation on protein synthesis is also explored in this model. Conclusion The computational model for ribosomal computing is implemented in this work. The proposed model demonstrates the relationship among gene sequences and protein synthesis components. This model also helps to implement a simulation environment (a simulator) for generating protein chains from gene sequences and can spot the problem during protein synthesis. Thus, this simulator can identify a disease that can happen due to a protein synthesis problem and suggest precautions for it.

Abstract The paper evaluates the adaptation of neoliberal policies in the Indian urban housing policy sector. While completing the objectives of this paper, the article also appraises the expression of neoliberalism as it unfolds in the literature. Neoliberalism is considered a loose set of philosophical, institutional, and political principles to safeguard individual and collective freedom like private property rights, goods and services exchange, movement of capital and labor, etc. Neoliberal policies promote open markets and trade to unbound creative potentials and entrepreneurial skills through efficient utilization of resources and upbringing of human well-being. In a neoliberal regime, cities compete to attract talented people, capital, and resources to achieve newer economic and social benchmarks. However, the constant pursuit of excessive achievements lets some negativities grow within. Large-scale inequality, deprivation, social unrest, and meager quality of life affect the sustainable and holistic development of seemingly most developed cities worldwide. Referring to literature from social sciences, urban planning, and development studies, this paper focuses on the consequences of neoliberalism and its impact on urban housing in India.

In community-based studies, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) appears to be a superior predictor of childhood under nutrition than many other anthropometric indicators. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional status of children aged 2-5 years using mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) cut-off values recommended by the World Health Organization in 2007. The present study was a cross-sectional study carried out in randomly selected 44 ICDS canters in Maynaguri Block, Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal, India. Children aged 24 – 60 months (Boys - 499 and Girls - 522) from three (Rajbanshi, Nama Shudra, Nashya Seikh) ethnic communities. Significant age variation was found among boys (F = 14.777; p< 0.001) and girls (9.465; p< 0.001). The overall percentage of moderate and severe undernourished girls (moderate – 25.67%; severe – 5.75%) is higher than the boys (moderate – 24.85 %; severe – 5.41%). Chi-square analysis shows a statistically significant relationship of under nutrition with age, birth weight, ethnicity, birth order, number of siblings, bath place, fuel of cooking, income level and Asia-specific maternal BMI level. Comparison with international studies reveals that the prevalence of under nutrition in the present study is higher than the children of Malaysia, Cameroon, Nepal, Nigeria and Pakistan. In the context of India, the present study reported a higher prevalence of under nutrition than the children of Midnapur South 24 Pargana of West Bengal, children of Odisha and Bihar.

In this article, we present dielectric modulation-based label free detection of biomolecules at a cavity under gate metal located near the tunneling junction of charge plasma based dual metal-double gate tunnel FET (CP-DM DGTFET). The biomolecules that settle down in the cavity act as dielectric above the tunneling junction and cause drain current to increase/ decrease. To eliminate the short channel impact and to enhance ION/IOFF ratio without compromising any other device features, dual metal gate architecture with laterally split dielectric is used. The biosensor is capable of recognizing neutral, positive, and negative charges with the highest drain current sensitivity of $2.9\times 10 ^{9}$ Ccm-2 and highest ION/IOFF ratio of $9.02\times 10 ^{11}$ for biomolecule gelatin with dielectric constant k =12. This work explores the effectiveness of charge-plasma based DM DGTFET for detection of biomolecules such as gelatin (k =12), keratin (k =8), bacteriophage T7 (k =6.3), and APTES (k =3.57) with varied charge distribution at various biasing. The drain current sensitivity, subthreshold slope, drain current, ON/OFF current ratio are computed for various biomolecules and their variations with respect to cavity length, biomolecule charge, etc. are used to detect unknown biomolecules. Finally, RF analysis such as gain bandwidth product, cut-off frequency, transit time, and linearity/selectivity of biosensors are incorporated. The device shows better linearity and less distortion for high –k biomolecules. The results of our studies are reproducible for repeated computed analysis.

The paper investigates the terahertz performance of a mutually injection-locked multi-element high electron mobility avalanche transit time (HEM-ATT) source based on AlGaN/GaN two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG). Utilizing a nanostrip patch type planar coupling circuit, mutual injection locking between adjacent elements is achieved. The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the integrated power combining technique in the mutually injection-locked multi-element HEM-ATT oscillator. A ten-element mutually injection-locked integrated power combined source is designed for operation at 1.0 THz, and simulation studies are conducted to examine its DC, large-signal, and avalanche noise characteristics. The capability of generating a narrow-band terahertz wave is verified by introducing various levels of structural mismatches between the elements. Results indicate that the ten-element HEM-ATT oscillator can deliver 2.27 W peak power with a 17% DC to THz conversion efficiency at 1.0 THz. The average noise measure of the oscillator is found to be 12.54 dB. Additionally, the terahertz performance of the mutually injection-locked ten-element HEM-ATT oscillator is compared with other state-of-the-art THz sources to evaluate its potentiality as an excellent integrated THz radiator.

The device dimension down scaling beyond 14 nm technology node utilization of device architecture and new materials is a need of the semiconductors industry. In this paper, three materials, In $_{\mathrm {1-x}}$ GaxAs/ In $_{\mathrm {1-x}}$ GaxP, In $_{1-}$ xGax GAA JL FET developed and analyzed for their analog performance at high temperature. In $_{\mathrm {1-x}}$ GaxAs has a composition of 53% InAs and 47% GaAs with a band gap of 0.75 eV, whereas In $_{\mathrm {1-x}}$ GaxP and In $_{\mathrm {1-x}}$ GaxN exhibit a wider band gap of 1.90 eV and 3.2 eV, respectively, and exhibit different analog performance. An analytical model that is temperature-dependent for the drain current of In $_{\mathrm {1-x}}$ GaxAs, In $_{\mathrm {1-x}}$ GaxP, In $_{\mathrm {1-x}}$ GaxN GAA JL FET with mobility variations has also been developed. The ratio of transconductance-to-normalized drain current (gm/I $_{\mathrm {DS}}$ ) is utilized to examine analog properties. This ratio is a crucial measure of analog performance since it reveals the sensitivity and linearity of the device. All device parameters such as transconductance (g $_{\mathrm {m}}$ ), gm/IDS, cut-off frequency, and intrinsic gain were investigated for higher temperatures ranging from T =300 K to T =500 K. The newly developed device parameters have very low-temperature sensitivity, making these three material devices potential candidates for high temperature applications.

A multiple quantum barrier (MQB) avalanche photodiode (APD) structure based on GaN/AlxGa $_{1{-}x}\text{N}$ material system has been proposed in this paper which is capable of detecting infrared (IR) signal up to $6.0~\mu \text{m}$ wavelength. A self-consistent quantum drift-diffusion (SCQDD) model developed by the authors, has been used to determine the current-voltage characteristics under dark and illuminated conditions, spectral response, excess noise properties, signal-to-noise ratio, time and frequency responses. Results show that the proposed MQB APD attains peak responsivity of 60 AW $^{-1}$ at $3.0\, \mu \text{m}$ wavelength. Incorporation of a dedicated thin $n$ -type GaN layer for avalanche multiplication in between the $p^{+}$ -GaN contact layer and MQB constant-field drift-layer ensures significantly low noise equivalent power under normal operating conditions at room temperature (300 K). Optical pulse response of the device reveals that special restriction over the charge multiplication able to supress the minor peaks of the current response and consequently significantly narrow pulse response can be achieved. Narrow pulse response leads to broad bandwidth of 274.5 GHz, which is significantly broader than the existing IR photo-detectors.

Sustainably increasing rice (Oryza sativa L.) becomes more challenging due to environmental stresses. High temperature stress resulting from global warming impact of climate change is highly damaging as it can cause growth and yield reduction of rice via cellular and physio-biochemical impairments. Application of either salicylic acid or chitosan can possibly increase plant's tolerance to different abiotic stresses; however, their combined mitigation effects remained inadequately explored. Thus, the objective of the current study was to evaluate the mitigation potential of combined salicylic acid and chitosan against high temperature stress of rice. The experiment was conducted in a factorial combination of two temperature regimes (optimum temperature [control] and high temperature); two salicylic acid levels (−SA: 0 mg L−1 and +SA: 140 mg L−1); and two chitosan levels (−Ch: 0 mg L−1, +Ch: 100 mg L−1) following a completely randomized design. High temperature impaired rice growth and productivity by negatively influencing all tested parameters; however, salicylic acid and chitosan could significantly mitigate those impairments. The mitigation on growth and yield contributing parameters was recorded at best 11 %, 21 %, 12 %, 75 %, 61 %, 46 %, 27 %, and 43 % for plant height, leaf area, shoot dry matter, pollen viability, effective tiller percentage, filled grain percentage, 1000-grain weight, and grain yield respectively. Highest alleviation in physio-biochemical parameters was also found at best 35 %, 68 %, and 67 % for leaf greenness, net photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance respectively with 28 % and 60 % respective increase in transpiration rate and proline concentration. Superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and peroxidase activity were also boosted as high as 1.6-folds, 1.4-folds, 1.9-folds, and 2.6-folds respectively with subsequent reduction of 32 % lipid peroxidation and 34 % hydrogen peroxide concentration. For all tested parameters, the best positive effects were observed under combined salicylic acid and chitosan treatment. Individually, salicylic acid was found more effective than chitosan; however, their combined application resulted in significantly better alleviation responses over their individual application for most studied parameters. Our findings would contribute in present understanding of high temperature stress and would also help in strategizing better-suited management practices toward sustainable rice productivity.

Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy (DCS) is a widely used non-invasive measurement technique to quantitatively measure deep tissue blood flow. Conventional implementations of DCS use expensive single photon counters as detecting elements and optical probes with bulky fiber optic cables. In recent years, newer approaches to blood flow measurement such as Diffuse Speckle Contrast Analysis (DSCA) and Speckle Contrast Optical Spectroscopy (SCOS), have adapted speckle contrast analysis methods to simplify deep tissue blood flow measurements using cameras and single photon counting avalanche detector arrays as detectors. Here, we introduce and demonstrate integrated Diffuse Speckle Contrast Spectroscopy (iDSCS), a novel optical sensor setup which leverages diffuse speckle contrast analysis for probe-level quantitative measurement of tissue blood flow. iDSCS uses a standard photodiode configured in photovoltaic mode to integrate photon intensity fluctuations over multiple integration durations using a custom electronic circuit, as opposed to the high frequency sampling of photon counts with DCS. We show that the iDSCS device is sensitive to deep-tissue blood flow measurements with experiments on a human forearm and compare the sensitivity and dynamic range of the device to a conventional DCS instrument. The iDSCS device features a low-cost, low-power, small form factor instrument design that will enable wireless probe-level measurements of deep tissue blood flow.

Rapid depletion of groundwater and climate change mediated shifting precipitation pattern is forcing farmers to look for alternative irrigation options like wastewater. However, routine irrigation with trace metal contaminated wastewaters could potentially pollute soil as well as cause health risks through the consumption of food products grown in contaminated soil. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the trace metals build-up status in topsoil and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers upon continuous irrigation with coalmine effluent contaminated wastewater compared to irrigation with groundwater and surface water over three consecutive years. Soil pollution status and human health risk associated with consumption of potato tubers grown on wastewater-irrigated soil was also assessed in this study. Three separate experimental sites differing in irrigation source (groundwater, surface water, and coalmine wastewater) were selected near Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited located at Parbatipur upazilla of Dinajpur district, Bangladesh. Nine trace metals namely arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) were estimated. Results showed significantly higher trace metal content in both soil and potato tubers due to wastewater irrigation. Wastewater suitability for irrigation regarding Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni and Pb were off the permissible level although the soil contamination with trace metals and their levels in potato tubers remained within the safety limit. Health risk assessment revealed that, consumption of potato tubers grown in wastewater-irrigated soil remained safe although health risk associated with Cr was almost at the border. The study exclusively highlighted the core massage that, trace metal contamination of both soil and potatoes cultivated in them was increasing alarmingly due to three years of wastewater-irrigation. Although the extent of contamination was below critical limit, it can potentially become hazardous in years to come unless wastewater-irrigation is checked. This study was successful to provide valuable insights regarding the potential environmental and human health threats that might arise due to unmindful irrigation of contaminated coalmine wastewater. Besides, this study should prove useful in strategizing safety measures for cropping under trace metal contaminated soils and for planning industrial effluent disposal to avoid agricultural soil contamination.

Iron toxicity originated from excess ferrous ion (Fe2+) availability within plant growth medium remains a potent stress severely limiting rice productivity via alteration of photosynthetic and metabolic processes. Silicon (Si) or potassium (K) individually can enhance plant tolerance to abiotic stresses, including metal toxicity. However, their combined mitigation effects lack proper exploration even though greater alleviation potential could possibly be achieved. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the potential of combined application of Si and K in mitigating Fe2+ toxicity impairments to rice leaf mesophyll tissue. The experiment was laid out in a factorial combination of two Fe2+ levels (0 and 300 mg L−1), two Si levels (0 and 56 mg L−1), and two K levels (0 and 200 mg L−1) following a completely randomized design. Excess Fe2+ impaired leaf mesophyll performance by negatively affecting all tested parameters; however, Si and K significantly reduced those impairments. The integrated application of Si and K resulted in the maximum mitigation effects as high as 23%, 27%, 14%, 40%, 25%, 37%, 24%, 48%, 34%, 28%, 41%, and 15% for total chlorophyll content, maximum quantum yield of photosystem II, membrane stability index, relative cell death, lipid peroxidation, total protein content, free proline content, total polyphenol content, hydrogen peroxide content, total antioxidant activity, net photosynthetic rate, and plant biomass, respectively, compared with the control, with 29% decrease in Fe content and 4.2-fold and 1.7-fold respective increase in Si and K content of rice leaf mesophyll. Silicon or K enhanced photosynthetic performance by boosting antioxidant activity, proline content, and polyphenol content, thereby reducing oxidative damages from Fe2+-generated free radicals like hydrogen peroxide; however, K was comparatively more effective than Si. The combined application of Si and K resulted in significantly better Fe2+ toxicity alleviation response over their sole application for the maximum studied traits. The findings would contribute to the present understanding of Fe2+ toxicity alleviation and help in strategizing crop management practices for sustainable rice production in Fe2+-toxic lowlands.

In our pursuit of high-power terahertz (THz) wave generation, we propose innovative edge-terminated single-drift region (SDR) multi-quantum well (MQW) impact avalanche transit time (IMPATT) structures based on the AlxGa1−xN/GaN/AlxGa1−xN material system, with a fixed aluminum mole fraction of x = 0.3. Two distinct MQW diode configurations, namely p+-n junction-based and Schottky barrier diode structures, were investigated for their THz potential. To enhance reverse breakdown characteristics, we propose employing mesa etching and nitrogen ion implantation for edge termination, mitigating issues related to premature and soft breakdown. The THz performance is comprehensively evaluated through steady-state and high-frequency characterizations using a self-consistent quantum drift-diffusion (SCQDD) model. Our proposed Al0.3Ga0.7N/GaN/Al0.3Ga0.7N MQW diodes, as well as GaN-based single-drift region (SDR) and 3C-SiC/Si/3C-SiC MQW-based double-drift region (DDR) IMPATT diodes, are simulated. The Schottky barrier in the proposed diodes significantly reduces device series resistance, enhancing peak continuous wave power output to approximately 300 mW and DC to THz conversion efficiency to nearly 13% at 1.0 THz. Noise performance analysis reveals that MQW structures within the avalanche zone mitigate noise and improve overall performance. Benchmarking against state-of-the-art THz sources establishes the superiority of our proposed THz sources, highlighting their potential for advancing THz technology and its applications.

Introduction: The assessment of growth is essential during preschool age, more particularly in pediatric neurological examination, where measurement of the head circumference plays a vital role. Head circumference (HC) is a simple and non-invasive anthropometric measure. Also known as the frontal occipital circumference, HC has been cautiously used to assess the frequencies of undernutrition among preschool children. Material & Methods: The current study was done on 782 preschool children (boys= 384, girls = 398) aged 24-60 months ICDS beneficiaries of Jalpaiguri by using WHO (2007) recommended cut-off points for head circumference for age. Statistical analyses were also done to determine age and sex variations in Head Circumference. Results: Age combined rates of Head Circumference based moderate undernutrition for boys was 21.87 % and for girls was 25.37 %. Age-combined severe undernutrition among boys and girls were 5.72% and 6.53 %, respectively. The higher percentage of malnourished girls was seen in the previous study done on Midnapore and Bangalkot and a higher percentage of malnourished boys was seen than the Midnapore children. The present study reveals Girls were more affected by moderate and severe undernutrition compared to boys. Conclusion: Head Circumference is an indicator of brain development so initiative should be taken for regular monitoring of ICDS beneficiaries to improve the nutritional condition of preschool children.

Internet-of-Things (IoT)-based Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Network (HWSN) has emerged as a prevalent technology that plays a significant role in developing various human-centric applications. Like in a wireless sensor network (WSN), energy is also the most crucial resource in IoT-based HWSN. The researchers have proposed many works to achieve energy-efficient network operations by minimizing energy usage. A vast proportion of these works emphasize using the clustering approach, which has proved its worth to a great extent. However, most schemes require the repeated formation of clusters incurring a significant amount of nodes’ energy in the clustering process. The protocol design of such schemes also varies with the changing levels of heterogeneity. In this work, a hybrid clustering scheme- An Energy-Efficient Hybrid Clustering Technique (EEHCT) has been proposed for IoT-based HWSN that minimizes the energy consumption in clusters’ formation and distributes the network load evenly irrespective of the heterogeneity level to prolong network lifetime. It appropriately utilizes dynamic and static clustering strategies to formulate the load-balanced clusters in the network. EEHCT establishes its supremacy over state-of-the-art schemes via an extensive set of simulations and experimentation in terms of multiple network performance metrics like stability, throughput, and network lifetime. Like, it achieves a gain up to 90.27% with respect to network lifetime over its peers in the standard operating conditions and under varying network configurations. In addition to quantitative analysis, a statistical analysis has also been provided to demonstrate the formation of energy-balanced clusters through the proposed scheme.

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.), a globally cultivated carbohydrate producing crop of industrial importance is being challenged by soil salinity due to its glycophytic nature. Water stress coupled with cellular and metabolic alterations resulting from excess sodium (Na+) ion accumulation is irreversibly damaging during early crop developmental stages that often results in complete crop failure. This study therefore aimed to explore the potential of salicylic acid as a sett priming material to mitigate the negative effects of salt stress on sugarcane during germination and early growth stages. Five doses of salicylic acid (0 [hydropriming] [control], 0.5 mM, 1 mM, 1.5 mM and 2 mM) were tested against three levels of salinity (0.5 dS m−1 [control], 4 dS m−1, and 8 dS m−1) within a polyhouse environment. Results revealed 11.2%, 18.5%, 25.4%, and 38.6%, average increase in final germination, germination energy, seedling length and seedling vigor index respectively with a subsequent reduction of 21% mean germination time. Investigations during early seedling growth revealed 21.6%, 17.5%, 27.0%, 39.9%, 10.7%, 11.5%, 17.5%, 47.9%, 35.3% and 20.5% overall increase in plant height, total leaf area, shoot dry matter, root dry matter, leaf greenness, relative water content, membrane stability index, proline content, total antioxidant activity and potassium (K+) ion accumulation respectively with a subsequent reduction of 24.9% Na+ ion accumulation and 35.8% Na+/K+ ratio due to salicylic acid priming. Germination, seedling growth and recovery of physiochemical traits were highly satisfactory in primed setts than non-primed ones even under 8 dS m−1 salinity level. This study should provide useful information for strategizing salinity management approaches for better productivity of sugarcane.

Summary: Background: There is a high burden of stroke, including recurrent stroke, in India. We aimed to assess the effect of a structured semi-interactive stroke prevention package in patients with subacute stroke to reduce recurrent strokes, myocardial infarction, and death. Methods: This was a multicentre, randomised, clinical trial conducted in 31 centres of the Indian Stroke Clinical Trial Network (INSTRuCT). Adult patients with first stroke and access to a mobile cellular device were randomly allocated (1:1) to intervention and control groups by the research coordinators at each centre using a central, in-house, web-based randomisation system. The participants and research coordinators at each centre were not masked to group assignment. The intervention group received regular short SMS messages and videos that promoted risk factor control and medication adherence and an educational workbook, in one of 12 languages, and the control group received standard care. The primary outcome was a composite of recurrent stroke, high-risk transient ischaemic attack, acute coronary syndrome, and death at 1 year. The outcome and safety analyses were done in the intention-to-treat population. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03228979 and Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI/2017/09/009600) and was stopped for futility after interim analysis. Findings: Between April 28, 2018, and Nov 30, 2021, 5640 patients were assessed for eligibility. 4298 patients were randomised to the intervention group (n=2148) or control group (n=2150). 620 patients were not followed up at 6 months and a further 595 patients were not followed up at 1 year because the trial was stopped for futility after interim analysis. 45 patients were lost to follow-up before 1 year. Acknowledgment of receipt of the SMS messages and videos by the intervention group patients was low (17%). The primary outcome occurred in 119 (5·5%) of 2148 patients in the intervention group and 106 (4·9%) of 2150 patients in the control group (adjusted odds ratio 1·12; 95% CI 0·85–1·47; p=0·370). Among the secondary outcome measures, alcohol cessation and smoking cessation were higher in the intervention group than in the control group (alcohol cessation 231 [85%] of 272 in the intervention group vs 255 [78%] of 326 in the control group; p=0·036; smoking cessation 202 [83%] vs 206 [75%]; p=0·035). Medication compliance was better in the intervention group than in the control group (1406 [93·6%] of 1502 vs 1379 [89·8%] of 1536; p

Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy (DCS), a noninvasive optical technique, measures deep tissue blood flow using avalanche photon counting modules and data acquisition devices such as FPGAs or correlator boards. Conventional DCS instruments use in-processor counter modules that consume 32 bits/channel which is inefficient for low-photon budget situations prevalent in diffuse optics. Scaling these photon counters for large-scale imaging applications is difficult due to bandwidth and processing time considerations. Here, we introduce a new, lossless compressed sensing approach for fast and efficient detection of photon counts. The compressed DCS method uses an array of binary-coded-decimal counters to record photon counts from 8 channels simultaneously as a single 32-bit number. We validate the compressed DCS approach by comparisons with conventional DCS in experiments on tissue simulating phantoms and in-vivo arm cuff occlusion. Lossless compressed DCS was implemented with 87.5% compression efficiency. In tissue simulating phantoms, it was able to accurately estimate a tissue blood flow index, with no statistically significant difference compared to conventional DCS. Compressed DCS also recorded blood flow in vivo, in human forearm, with signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range comparable to conventional DCS. Lossless 87.5% efficient compressed sensing counting of photon counts meets and exceeds benchmarks set by conventional DCS systems, offering a low-cost alternative for fast (~100 Hz) deep tissue blood flow measurement with optics.

A Schottky barrier high-electron-mobility avalanche transit time (HEM-ATT) structure is proposed for terahertz (THz) wave generation. The structure is laterally oriented and based on AlGaN/GaN two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG). Trenches are introduced at different positions of the top AlGaN barrier layer for realizing different sheet carrier density profiles at the 2-DEG channel; the resulting devices are equivalent to high–low, low–high and low-high–low quasi-Read structures. The DC, large-signal and noise simulations of the HEM-ATTs were carried out using the Silvaco ATLAS platform, non-sinusoidal-voltage-excited large-signal and double-iterative field-maximum small-signal simulation models, respectively. The breakdown voltages of the devices estimated via simulation were validated by using experimental measurements; they were found to be around 17–18 V. Under large-signal conditions, the series resistance of the device is estimated to be around 20 Ω. The large-signal simulation shows that the HEM-ATT source is capable of delivering nearly 300 mW of continuous-wave peak power with 11% conversion efficiency at 1.0 THz, which is a significant improvement over the achievable THz power output and efficiency from the conventional vertical GaN double-drift region (DDR) IMPATT THz source. The noise performance of the THz source was found to be significantly improved by using the quasi-Read HEM-ATT structures compared to the conventional vertical Schottky barrier IMPATT structure. These devices are compatible with the state-of-the-art medium-scale semiconductor device fabrication processes, with scope for further miniaturization, and may have significant potential for application in compact biomedical spectroscopy systems as THz solid-state sources.

The paper records the spatial dynamics and water consumption pattern through statistical and spatial evidence. The objective of this paper is to analyse the impact of land use land cover change on water demand and supply pattern of a rapidly growing urban region. The research analyses data from Census report, local governments and spatial data from remotely sensed images. The research finds rapid transformation of open land to the built-up area, particularly in the North-West, North, North-East, South-West and South districts. Inequality of water supply volume and supply pattern varies greatly between the districts. The city continues to experience water crisis such as water deficiency during the peak summer, groundwater degradation, water accessibility of slums and informal settlements. The findings will help the policymakers to comprehend the water crisis and consider appropriate mitigation strategies.

Metropolitan regions are an increasingly relevant scale for political decision making and determining urban utilities and services functions. Metropolitan institutions functions with autonomous local governments, parastatal organisations and public-private enterprises. Therefore, it is always difficult to network between the decentralised municipal governments and create a hierarchy of planning, development and inter-local collaboration for governmental services delivery. One may expect that output legitimacy or legitimacy by performance is the dominant source for legitimacy in metropolitan governance. This paper examines India's metropolitan governance, its functioning under the decentralisation, the varied implementation of the act by states, its relevant comparison with global cases, and the opportunity of efficient collaboration between decentralised local governments within a metropolitan governance mechanism. The 74th Constitutional amendment act (74th CAA) 1992 provides the necessary legislative backdrop for decentralisation and establishment of the local governments or urban local bodies in India. The amendment act also pave ways for institutionalisation of metropolitan governance by establishing metropolitan/regional development authorities. The purpose of this metropolitan institution is to establish a framework of democratic governance, provide infrastructure services and improve regional prosperity. However, this contribution of the amendment act is not highlighted much in literature. The paper narrates the functioning of the metropolitan institution for the integration among the decentralised local governments and the relevant issues from two empirical evidences. It divulges the mechanisms of establishing metropolitan governance and decentralisation in India. In the process, it showcases the contribution of 74th CAA towards the establishment of the metropolitan governance. It also outlines the potential and challenges present in this dual system.

Context: Studies from the different ethnic regions of the world have reported variable results on association of APOE gene polymorphism in stroke. Aim: The aim of this study is to find out the possible association of APOE polymorphism in stroke patients in ethnic Bengali population. Settings and Design: A prospective case–control study was undertaken in the Department of Neurology, Burdwan Medical College, Burdwan, West Bengal, India, over a period of 3 years. Methods: We collected 10 ml venous blood samples from 148 clinically and radiologically diagnosed acute stroke patients (80 of ischemic stroke and 68 of intracerebral hemorrhage) and consecutive 108 ethnic age- and sex-matched controls, in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid vials after informed written consent. Genomic DNA was prepared at S.N. Pradhan Centre of Neurosciences, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India. Exotic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs429358, rs 7412) were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism for genotype of APOE. Results: The frequencies of different APOE allele among 80 ischemic stroke patients were 5.6% (n = 9) for E2, 75.68% (n = 121) for E3, and 18.7% (n = 30) for E4. The E3 allele is significantly over-represented (P = 0.004) in controls compared to the patients (88% in controls vs 75.6% ischemic stroke patients and 80% hemorrhagic patients). A significantly high frequency of APOE4 allele was observed in ischemic (18.7%) and hemorrhagic patients (11%) compared to controls (8%). The E4 allele plays a major risk for developing ischemic stroke [odds ratio (OR) = 2.744; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.43–5.10] and E3 plays a protective role for hemorrhagic stroke (OR = 0.53; 95% CI: 0.29–0.96), while E4 allele plays a nonsignificant (P = 0.31) increase in trend in hemorrhage stroke (OR = 1.4). Conclusions: There is significant association of APOE gene polymorphism in stroke patients of ethnic Bengali population. The E4 allele increases significant risk for development of ischemic strokes, and it also plays nonsignificant increase in trend in hemorrhagic strokes.

The Indian Railways Reservation System (IRRS) is one of the world’s busiest reservation systems of railway tickets. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic situation has severely impacted the Indian Railway’s (IR) transportation, which eventually has enforced the IR to alter the passenger reservation system. This research attempts to evaluate and analyse the factors that modify the IRRS. In this research, a rough set-based Data Mining Scaffolding (DMS) has been proposed. Here, the relevant preferential information related to the IRRS is managed by introducing a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM), where a decision-maker (DM) can make a decision based on several decision rules. The effectiveness of the proposed DMS is explained by gathering realistic data of 26 trains, which run between railway stations of two metro cities of India during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Minimum spanning tree problem (MSTP) has allured many researchers and practitioners due to its varied range of applications in real world scenarios. Modelling these applications involves the incorporation of indeterminate phenomena based on their subjective estimations. Such phenomena can be represented rationally using uncertainty theory. Being a more realistic variant of MSTP, in this article, based on the principles of the uncertainty theory, we have studied a multi-objective minimum spanning tree problem (MMSTP) with indeterminate problem parameters. Subsequently, two uncertain programming models of the proposed uncertain multi-objective minimum spanning tree problem (UMMSTP) are developed and their corresponding crisp equivalence models are investigated, and eventually solved using a classical multi-objective solution technique, the epsilon-constraint method. Additionally, two multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs), non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGAII) and duplicate elimination non-dominated sorting evolutionary algorithm (DENSEA) are also employed as solution methodologies. With the help of the proposed UMMSTP models, the practical problem of optimizing the distribution of petroleum products was solved, consisting in the search for symmetry (balance) between the transportation cost and the transportation time. Thereafter, the performance of the MOEAs is analyzed on five randomly developed instances of the proposed problem.

This thesis reports several methods for automated analysis and interpretation of bone X-ray images. Automatic segmentation of the bone part in a digital X-ray image is a challenging problem because of its low contrast against the surrounding flesh. In this thesis, we propose a fully automated X-ray image segmentation technique, which is based on a variant of entropy measure of the image. We have also analyzed the geometric information embedded in the long-bone contour image to identify the presence of abnormalities in the bone and perform fracture detection, fracture classification, and bone cancer diagnosis.

Since the inception of successful rasterization of curves and objects in the digital space, several algorithms have been proposed for approximating a given digital curve. All these algorithms, however, resort to thinning as preprocessing before approximating a digital curve with changing thickness. Described in this paper is a novel thinning-free algorithm for polygonal approximation of an arbitrarily thick digital curve, using the concept of “cellular envelope”, which is newly introduced in this paper. The cellular envelope, defined as the smallest set of cells containing the given curve, and hence bounded by two tightest (inner and outer) isothetic polygons, is constructed using a combinatorial technique. This envelope, in turn, is analyzed to determine a polygonal approximation of the curve as a sequence of cells using certain attributes of digital straightness. Since a real-world curve=curve-shaped object with varying thickness, unexpected disconnectedness, noisy information, etc., is unsuitable for the existing algorithms on polygonal approximation, the curve is encapsulated by the cellular envelope to enable the polygonal approximation. Owing to the implicit Euclidean-free metrics and combinatorial properties prevailing in the cellular plane, implementation of the proposed algorithm involves primitive integer operations only, leading to fast execution of the algorithm. Experimental results that include output polygons for different values of the approximation parameter corresponding to several real-world digital curves, a couple of measures on the quality of approximation, comparative results related with two other well-referred algorithms, and CPU times, have been presented to demonstrate the elegance and efficacy of the proposed algorithm.

A novel technique on shape coding of an object in a binary digital image, based on the tight isotheticpolygonal covers of the object in a multiresolution background, is proposed. This technique would be useful in various analyses and applications related with digital images. To demonstrate the power and usefulness of such shape codes, we have also proposed an image retrieval scheme based on shape codes. The elegance of the scheme on shape codes lies in capturing the shape of the object(s) present in an image from its gross appearance to its finer details by a set of isothetic polygons, in a hierarchical manner. The inherent tolerance present in such a cast of isothetic polygonal shape enables the shape codes of two objects resemble closely as the grid resolution becomes finer and finer, provided the objects are of similar shapes. The method is very fast because it does not involve any complex computations, and requires only integer-based comparisons and additions. Experimental results demonstrate the strength and efficiency of the proposed scheme.

Byline: Sadhukhan. Dipanwita, Biswas. Arindam, Biswas. Atanu, Ray. Kunal, Ray. Jharna Background: Genetic factors, including causal gene and modifier genes, contribute significantly in PD pathogenesis in an ethnicity-dependent manner. Dopamine [...]