scholarly journals A simple and affordable method for estimating the fluid volume a mosquito sucks using food dyes

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chisako Sakuma ◽  
Hirotaka Kanuka
Keyword(s):  
Adenine Nucleotides ◽  
Chemical Compounds ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Color Intensity ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
Membrane Feeding ◽  
Cost Effective Method ◽  
Food Dyes ◽  
Toxic Food ◽  
Chili Peppers

Abstract Background Blood-sucking by mosquitoes is an inevitable behavior when pathogens are transmitted among humans. Adenine nucleotides such as ATP are known as phagostimulants for mosquitoes and are widely used to induce and enhance the blood-sucking activity in an artificial manner. Although using ATP solution is convenient to introduce a variety of substances (for example chemicals and pathogens) into the mosquito body via sucking, establishing an easy and cost-effective method to quantify the amount of solution ingested has yet to be reported. Results A set of commercial food dyes (green, blue, yellow, and red) was employed in this study. Each dye was added to ATP solution used to colorize the abdomen of Ae. aegypti female mosquitoes after ingestion. The intake of food dyes did not show any toxicity to the mosquitoes, affecting neither ATP-sucking behavior nor survival of the mosquitoes. We observed that quantifying the color intensity of green dye in the mosquito abdomen by spectral analysis, as well as distinguishing the size of the colored abdomen using the naked eye, allowed the estimation of the amount of ingested solution. Using this method, capsaicin, a pungent component of chili peppers, was identified as an aversive tastant that can discourage mosquitoes from sucking the ATP solution. Conclusions Employing commercially available, non-toxic food dyes converted ATP-driven membrane feeding into an easy-to-use method to estimate the amount of solution ingested by mosquitoes. This method can be further applied for a variety of experiments such as introducing a certain quantity of chemical compounds or microbes into the mosquito body.

2D Color-Intensity Representation of Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge Measurements

2020 ◽  
pp. 1192-1198
Author(s):  
M.S. Mohammad ◽  
Tibebe Tesfaye ◽  
Kim Ki-Seong
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
The Other ◽  
Thickness Gauge ◽  
Color Intensity ◽  
Digital Readout ◽  
Flat Surfaces ◽  
Video Cameras ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cost Effective Alternative ◽  
Ultrasonic Thickness

Ultrasonic thickness gauges are easy to operate and reliable, and can be used to measure a wide range of thicknesses and inspect all engineering materials. Supplementing the simple ultrasonic thickness gauges that present results in either a digital readout or as an A-scan with systems that enable correlating the measured values to their positions on the inspected surface to produce a two-dimensional (2D) thickness representation can extend their benefits and provide a cost-effective alternative to expensive advanced C-scan machines. In previous work, the authors introduced a system for the positioning and mapping of the values measured by the ultrasonic thickness gauges and flaw detectors (Tesfaye et al. 2019). The system is an alternative to the systems that use mechanical scanners, encoders, and sophisticated UT machines. It used a camera to record the probe’s movement and a projected laser grid obtained by a laser pattern generator to locate the probe on the inspected surface. In this paper, a novel system is proposed to be applied to flat surfaces, in addition to overcoming the other limitations posed due to the use of the laser projection. The proposed system uses two video cameras, one to monitor the probe’s movement on the inspected surface and the other to capture the corresponding digital readout of the thickness gauge. The acquired images of the probe’s position and thickness gauge readout are processed to plot the measured data in a 2D color-coded map. The system is meant to be simpler and more effective than the previous development.

CAD Of Anticorrosive Protection Of Steel Structures

2019 ◽  
pp. 18-23
Keyword(s):  
Protective Coating ◽  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Steel Structures ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Computational Tool ◽  
Protection Method ◽  
Cost Effective Method ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Aided Design

The choice of cost-effective method of anticorrosive protection of steel structures is an urgent and time consuming task, considering the significant number of protection ways, differing from each other in the complex of technological, physical, chemical and economic characteristics. To reduce the complexity of solving this problem, the author proposes a computational tool that can be considered as a subsystem of computer-aided design and used at the stage of variant and detailed design of steel structures. As a criterion of the effectiveness of the anti-corrosion protection method, the cost of the protective coating during the service life is accepted. The analysis of existing methods of steel protection against corrosion is performed, the possibility of their use for the protection of the most common steel structures is established, as well as the estimated period of effective operation of the coating. The developed computational tool makes it possible to choose the best method of protection of steel structures against corrosion, taking into account the operating conditions of the protected structure and the possibility of using a protective coating.

Monitoring effluent quality in hypertrophic wastewater reservoirs using remote sensing

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Dor ◽  
N. Ben-Yosef
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Operational Parameters ◽  
Effluent Quality ◽  
Optical Images ◽  
Routine Monitoring ◽  
Cost Effective Method ◽  
Wastewater Quality

About one hundred and fifty wastewater reservoirs store effluents for irrigation in Israel. Effluent qualities differ according to the inflowing wastewater quality, the degree of pretreatment and the operational parameters. Certain aspects of water quality like concentration of organic matter, suspended solids and chlorophyll are significantly correlated with the water column transparency and colour. Accordingly optical images of the reservoirs obtained from the SPOT satellite demonstrate pronounced differences correlated with the water quality. The analysis of satellite multispectral images is based on a theoretical model. The model calculates, using the radiation transfer equation, the volume reflectance of the water body. Satellite images of 99 reservoirs were analyzed in the chromacity space in order to classify them according to water quality. Principal Component Analysis backed by the theoretical model increases the method sensitivity. Further elaboration of this approach will lead to the establishment of a time and cost effective method for the routine monitoring of these hypertrophic wastewater reservoirs.

A Cost-Effective Method to Prepare Pure Vildagliptin

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Peng ◽  
Yue Feng ◽  
Zhu Tao ◽  
Yingjie Chen ◽  
Xiangnan Hu
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Cost Effective Method

scholarly journals Computer-supported Detection of M-Components and Evaluation of Immunoglobulins after Capillary Electrophoresis

2001 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Jonsson ◽  
Joyce Carlson ◽  
Jan-Olof Jeppsson ◽  
Per Simonsson
Keyword(s):  
Capillary Electrophoresis ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Protein Separation ◽  
Serum Proteins ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Computerized Decision Support ◽  
Cost Effective Method ◽  
Mathematical Algorithms

Abstract Background: Electrophoresis of serum samples allows detection of monoclonal gammopathies indicative of multiple myeloma, Waldenström macroglobulinemia, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, and amyloidosis. Present methods of high-resolution agarose gel electrophoresis (HRAGE) and immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) are manual and labor-intensive. Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) allows rapid automated protein separation and produces digital absorbance data, appropriate as input for a computerized decision support system. Methods: Using the Beckman Paragon CZE 2000 instrument, we analyzed 711 routine clinical samples, including 95 monoclonal components (MCs) and 9 cases of Bence Jones myeloma, in both the CZE and HRAGE systems. Mathematical algorithms developed for the detection of monoclonal immunoglobulins (MCs) in the γ- and β-regions of the electropherogram were tested on the entire material. Additional algorithms evaluating oligoclonality and polyclonal concentrations of immunoglobulins were also tested. Results: CZE electropherograms corresponded well with HRAGE. Only one IgG MC of 1 g/L, visible on HRAGE, was not visible after CZE. Algorithms detected 94 of 95 MCs (98.9%) and 100% of those visible after CZE. Of 607 samples lacking an MC on HRAGE, only 3 were identified by the algorithms (specificity, 99%). Algorithms evaluating total gammaglobulinemia and oligoclonality also identified several cases of Bence Jones myeloma. Conclusions: The use of capillary electrophoresis provides a modern, rapid, and cost-effective method of analyzing serum proteins. The additional option of computerized decision support, which provides rapid and standardized interpretations, should increase the clinical availability and usefulness of protein analyses in the future.

scholarly journals CO$$_{2}$$ Convection in Hydrocarbon Under Flowing Conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trine S. Mykkeltvedt ◽  
Sarah E. Gasda ◽  
Tor Harald Sandve
Keyword(s):  
Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Fine Grid ◽  
Cost Effective Method ◽  
Gravity Effects ◽  
Petroleum Resources ◽  
Nearby Point ◽  
Diffusive Processes

AbstractCarbon-neutral oil production is one way to improve the sustainability of petroleum resources. The emissions from produced hydrocarbons can be offset by injecting capture CO$$_{2}$$ 2 from a nearby point source into a saline aquifer for storage or a producing oil reservoir. The latter is referred to as enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and would enhance the economic viability of CO$$_{2}$$ 2 sequestration. The injected CO$$_{2}$$ 2 will interact with the oil and cause it to flow more freely within the reservoir. Consequently, the overall recovery of oil from the reservoir will increase. This enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique is perceived as the most cost-effective method for disposing captured CO$$_{2}$$ 2 emissions and has been performed for many decades with the focus on oil recovery. The interaction between existing oil and injected CO$$_{2}$$ 2 needs to be fully understood to effectively manage CO$$_{2}$$ 2 migration and storage efficiency. When CO$$_{2}$$ 2 and oil mix in a fully miscible setting, the density can change non-linearly and cause density instabilities. These instabilities involve complex convective-diffusive processes, which are hard to model and simulate. The interactions occur at the sub-centimeter scale, and it is important to understand its implications for the field scale migration of CO$$_{2}$$ 2 and oil. In this work, we simulate gravity effects, namely gravity override and convective mixing, during miscible displacement of CO$$_{2}$$ 2 and oil. The flow behavior due to the competition between viscous and gravity effects is complex, and can only be accurately simulated with a very fine grid. We demonstrate that convection occurs rapidly, and has a strong effect on breakthrough of CO$$_{2}$$ 2 at the outlet. This work for the first time quantifies these effects for a simple system under realistic conditions.

Fast and cost-effective method for non-contact respiration rate tracking using UWB impulse radar

2021 ◽  
pp. 112814
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Kakouche ◽  
Abdelmadjid Maali ◽  
Mohammed Nabil El Korso ◽  
Ammar Mesloub ◽  
Mohamed Salah Azzaz
Keyword(s):  
Respiration Rate ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Cost Effective Method
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