Remote sensing study of snowline altitude at the end of melting season, Chandra-Bhaga basin, Himachal Pradesh, 1980-2007

Glaciers have a direct relation with climate change. The equilibrium line altitude (ELA) is the most useful parameter to study the effect of climate change on glaciers. The ELA is a theoretical snowline at which the glacier mass balance is zero. Snowline altitude (SLA) at the end of melting season is generally regarded as the ELA. Glaciers of Chandra-Bhaga basin in Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh were chosen to study the ELA, using satellite images from 1980 to 2007. A total of 19 glaciers from the Chandra-Bhaga basin were identified and selected to carry out the study of ELA variation over 27 years. This study reveals that the mean SLA of the sub-basin has increased from 5009 +/- 61m to 5401 +/- 21m from 1980 to 2007. The study is in agreement with the reported increase in the temperature and decrease in winter snowfall of North-West Himalaya in the last century.

DNA and protein targeting 1,2,4-triazole based water soluble dinickel(II) complexes enhances antiproliferation and lactate dehydrogenase inhibition

Water soluble dinickel(II) complexes Ni-2(L)(2)(1-2)](NO3)(4) (1-2), where L1-2 are triazole based dinucleating ligands, were synthesized and characterized. The DNA binding, protein binding, DNA hydrolysis and anticancer properties were investigated. The interactions of complexes 1 and 2 with calf thymus DNA were studied by spectroscopic techniques, including absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. The DNA binding constant values of the complexes 1 and 2 were found to be 2.36 x 10(5) and 4.87 x 10(5) M-1 and the binding affinities are in the following order: 2 > 1. Both the dinickel(II) complexes 1 and 2, promoted the hydrolytic cleavage of plasmid pBR322 DNA under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Kinetic data for DNA hydrolysis promoted by 1 and 2 under physiological conditions give the observed rate constants (k(obs)) of 5.05 +/- 0.2 and 5.65 +/- 0.1 h(-1), respectively, which shows 10(8)-fold rate acceleration over the uncatalyzed reaction of ds-DNA. Meanwhile, the interactions of the complex with BSA have also been studied by spectroscopy. Both the complexes 1 and 2 display strong binding propensity and the binding constant (K-b), number of binding sites (n) were obtained are 0.71 x 10(6) 1.47] and 5.62 x 10(6) 1.98] M-1, respectively. The complexes 1 and 2 also promoted the apoptosis against human carcinoma (HeLa, and BeWo) cancer cells. Cytotoxicity of the complexes was further confirmed by lactate dehydrogenase enzyme level in cancer cell lysate and content media. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Large-area Piezoceramic Coating with IDT Electrodes for Ultrasonic Sensing Applications

In the present paper, the ultrasonic strain sensing performance of large-area piezoceramic coating with Inter Digital Transducer (IDT) electrodes is studied. The piezoceramic coating is prepared using slurry coating technique and the piezoelectric phase is achieved by poling under DC field. To study the sensing performance of the piezoceramic coating with IDT electrodes for strain induced by the guided waves, the piezoceramic coating is fabricated on the surface of a beam specimen at one end and the ultrasonic guided waves are launched with a piezoelectric wafer bonded on another end. Often a wider frequency band of operation is needed for the effective implementation of the sensors in the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of various structures, for different types of damages. A wider frequency band of operation is achieved in the present study by considering the variation in the number of IDT electrodes in the contribution of voltage for the induced dynamic strain. In the present work, the fabricated piezoceramic coatings with IDT electrodes have been characterized for dynamic strain sensing applications using guided wave technique at various different frequencies. Strain levels of the launched guided wave are varied by varying the magnitude of the input voltage sent to the actuator. Sensitivity variation with the variation in the strain levels of guided wave is studied for the combination of different number of IDT electrodes. Piezoelectric coefficient e(11) is determined at different frequencies and at different strain levels using the guided wave technique.

Confinement induced stochastic sensing of charged coronene and perylene aggregates in alpha-hemolysin nanochannels

Biological nanopores provide optimum dimensions and an optimal environment to study early aggregation kinetics of charged polyaromatic molecules in the nano-confined regime. It is expected that probing early stages of nucleation will enable us to design a strategy for supramolecular assembly and biocrystallization processes. Specifically, we have studied translocation dynamics of coronene and perylene based salts, through the alpha-hemolysin (alpha-HL) protein nanopore. The characteristic blocking events in the time-series signal are a function of concentration and bias voltage. We argue that different blocking events arise due to different aggregation processes as captured by all atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. These confinement induced aggregations of polyaromatic chromophores during the different stages of translocation are correlated with the spatial symmetry and charge distribution of the molecules.

Quorum sensing and pathogenesis: role of small signalling molecules in bacterial persistence

The pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is associated with its ability to survive inside the human host and the bacteria use a variety of mechanism to evade the host's defence. A clearer understanding of the host pathogen interaction is needed to follow the pathogenicity and virulence. Recent advances in the study of inter and intra-cellular communication in bacteria had prompted us to study the role of quorum sensing in bacterial survival and pathogenicity. The cell cell communication in bacteria (quorum sensing) is mediated through the exchange of small molecules called as autoinducers that allow bacteria to modulate their gene expression in response to change in cell-population density. It is a coordinated response that confers multicellularity to a bacterial population in response to stress from external environment. Quorum sensing molecules are the global regulators and regulate a wide range of physiological processes including biofilm formation, motility, cell differentiation, long-term survival and many others. Many bacterial pathogens require quorum sensing to produce the virulence factors in response to host pathogen interaction. Here, we summarize our current understanding on small molecule signalling and their role in the bacterial persistence. New discoveries in these areas have enriched our knowledge on intracellular signalling and their role in the long-term survival of mycobacteria under nutrient starvation.

Spectrum sensing via universal source coding

We consider nonparametric sequential hypothesis testing when the distribution under null hypothesis is fully known and the alternate hypothesis corresponds to some other unknown distribution. We use easily implementable universal lossless source codes to propose simple algorithms for such a setup. These algorithms are motivated from spectrum sensing application in Cognitive Radios. Universal sequential hypothesis testing using Lempel Ziv codes and Krichevsky-Trofimov estimator with Arithmetic Encoder are considered and compared for different distributions. Cooperative spectrum sensing with multiple Cognitive Radios using universal codes is also considered.

Molecular Insights Revealing Interaction of Tim23 and Channel Subunits of Presequence Translocase

Tim23 is an essential channel-forming subunit of the presequence translocase recruiting multiple components for assembly of the core complex, thereby regulating the protein translocation process. However, understanding of the precise interaction of subunits associating with Tim23 remains largely elusive. Our findings highlight that transmembrane helix 1 (TM1) is required for homodimerization of Tim23, while, together with TM2, it is involved in preprotein binding within the channel. Based on our evidence, we predict that the TM1 and TM2 from each dimer are involved in the formation of the central translocation pore, aided by Tim17. Furthermore, TM2 is also involved in the recruitment of Tim21 and the presequence-associated motor (PAM) subcomplex to the Tim23 channel, while the matrix-exposed loop L1 generates specificity in their association with the core complex. Strikingly, our findings indicate that the C-terminal sequence of Tim23 is dispensable for growth and functions as an inhibitor for binding of Tim21. Our model conceptually explains the cooperative function between Tam41 and Pam17 subunits, while the antagonistic activity of Tim21 predominantly determines the bound and free forms of the PAM subcomplex during import.

Projection-based atom selection in orthogonal matching pursuit for compressive sensing

For compressive sensing, we endeavor to improve the atom selection strategy of the existing orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) algorithm. To achieve a better estimate of the underlying support set progressively through iterations, we use a least squares solution based atom selection method. From a set of promising atoms, the choice of an atom is performed through a new method that uses orthogonal projection along-with a standard matched filter. Through experimental evaluations, the effect of projection based atom selection strategy is shown to provide a significant improvement for the support set recovery performance, in turn, the compressive sensing recovery.

Gas sensing response analysis of p-type porous chromium oxide thin films

The ethanol sensing properties of porous Cr2O3 thin films deposited by the ultrasonic nebulized spray pyrolysis of an aqueous combustion mixture is reported. The impact of the precursor selection and various deposition parameters on the film crystallinity, surface morphology and stoichiometry are studied using thermo-gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques. The film morphology exhibits a highly porous nature, as a result of the exothermic combustion reaction during film deposition. The gas sensing properties of these films are investigated in the temperature range of 200-375 degrees C for ethanol. The films show two different regions of response for ethanol above and below 300 degrees C. A good relationship between the response and the ethanol concentration is observed, and is modeled using an empirical relation. The possible mechanism and the surface chemical reactions of ethanol over the chromium oxide surface are discussed.

Design and development of Fiber Bragg Grating sensing plate for plantar strain measurement and postural stability analysis

This paper describes an ab initio design and development of a novel Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor based strain sensing plate for the measurement of plantar strain distribution in human foot. The primary aim of this work is to study the feasibility of usage of FBG sensors in the measurement of plantar strain in the foot; in particular, to spatially resolve the strain distribution in the foot at different regions such as fore-foot, mid-foot and hind-foot. This study also provides a method to quantify and compare relative postural stability of different subjects under test; in addition, traditional accelerometers have been used to record the movements of center of gravity (second lumbar vertebra) of the subject and the results obtained have been compared against the outcome of the postural stability studies undertaken using the developed FBG plantar strain sensing plate. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Platinum surface additive based nanostructured CuO films for ethanol sensing

In the present work, Platinum (Pt)/Copper (II) oxide (CuO) thin film based ethanol sensors were fabricated by sputtering of Pt in varying concentrations over pre-sputtered nanostructured CuO films. The responses of these sensors as a function of Pt concentrations were studied using operating temperature modulation (200-450 °C) and ethanol concentration modulation (100-2500 ppm). During these modulations, it was found that the sensing response was maximum at operating temperature near 400 °C for all the samples irrespective of the Pt concentration dispersed over them. Moreover, the sensing behavior improves for lower Pt concentration (Pt/CuO-60s) and deteriorates for higher Pt concentration (Pt/CuO-120s). In comparison with bare CuO sample, the sensitivity of Pt/CuO-60s increased up to 22% in the linear range and 33% for maximum ethanol concentration. Hence, the well dispersed optimum Pt additive concentration improves the overall sensing behavior including sensitivity, linear working range and response as well as recovery time.

H.264 COMPRESSED VIDEO CLASSIFICATION USING HISTOGRAM OF ORIENTED MOTION VECTORS (HOMV)

In this paper, we have proposed a simple and effective approach to classify H.264 compressed videos, by capturing orientation information from the motion vectors. Our major contribution involves computing Histogram of Oriented Motion Vectors (HOMV) for overlapping hierarchical Space-Time cubes. The Space-Time cubes selected are partially overlapped. HOMV is found to be very effective to define the motion characteristics of these cubes. We then use Bag of Features (B OF) approach to define the video as histogram of HOMV keywords, obtained using k-means clustering. The video feature, thus computed, is found to be very effective in classifying videos. We demonstrate our results with experiments on two large publicly available video database.

pH sensing by single and multi-layer hydrogel coated Fiber Bragg Grating

In this paper we show a novel chemo-mechanical-optical sensing mechanism in single and multi-layer hydrogel coated Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) and demonstrate specific application in pH activated processes. The sensing device is based on the ionizable monomers inside the hydrogel which reversibly dissociates as a function of the pH and consequently resulting in osmotic pressure difference between the gel and the solution. This pressure gradient causes the hydrogel to deform which in turn induces secondary strain on the FBG sensor resulting in shift in the Bragg wavelength. We also report on the sensitivity factor of single and multilayer hydrogel coated FBG at various different pH.