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Fluoride contamination in the groundwater has got great attention in last few decades due to their toxicity, persistent capacity and accumulation in human bodies. There are several sources of fluoride in the environment and different pathways to enter in the drinking water resources, which is responsible for potential effect on human health. Presence of high concentration of fluoride ion in groundwater is a major issue and it makes the water unsuitable for drinking purpose. Availability of fluoride in groundwater indicates various geochemical processes and subsurface contamination of a particular area. Fluoride-bearing aquifers, geological factors, rate of weathering, ion-exchange reaction, residence time and leaching of subsurface contaminants are major responsible factors for availability of fluoride in groundwater. In India, several studies have reported that the groundwater of several states are contaminated with high fluoride. The undesirable level of fluoride in groundwater is one of the most natural groundwater quality problem, which affects large portion of arid and semiarid regions of India. Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and West Bengal are the relatively high-fluoride-contaminated states in India. Chronic ingestion of high doses of fluoride-rich water leads to fluorosis on human and animal. Over 66 million Indian populations are at risk due to excess fluoride-contaminated water. Therefore, groundwater contamination subject to undesirable level of fluoride needs urgent attention to understand the role of geochemistry, hydrogeology and climatic factors along with anthropogenic inputs in fluoride pollution.

PurposeIncipient motion plays an instrumental role in understanding various aspects of sediment transport, such as river bed aggradation and degradation, channel design, bank erosion, scour around bridge piers, and water quality issues.Materials and methodsExperiments were conducted to study the incipient motion of gravel particles in three types of bed material, i.e., gravels only, silt-gravel mixture, and clay-silt-gravel mixture. The clay content varied from 10 to 50% in the clay-silt-gravel mixture while silt and gravel were in equal proportion by weight. Samples were taken out from the prepared cohesive bed for the determination of their bulk density, unconfined compressive strength, and water content. The incipient motion was observed visually, which corresponded to the beginning of movement of gravel particles in the mixture. The shear stress corresponding to incipient motion was computed using measured flow depth and slope of water surface. The physical appearance of the top layer of cohesive bed was observed visually at the end of experiment.Results and discussionThe effects of clay content, water content, unconfined compressive strength, and bulk density of the mixture on the critical shear stress were investigated using the data collected in this study on clay-silt-gravel mixture along with the data from previous studies. A relationship is proposed for the computation of critical shear stress of gravel particles in the cohesive mixtures. The physical appearance of the top surface of the bed for clay-silt-gravel mixture has also been investigated with varying percentages of clay content in the mixture.ConclusionsHigh clay percentage significantly increased the critical shear stress. The presence of silt lowers the critical shear stress especially when there is low clay content (up to 20%) in the mixture. The clay content along with the bulk density was found to be the dominant parameters that affect the incipient motion of the gravel particles in the cohesive mixtures. The proposed relationship for critical shear stress was found to be in good agreement with the observed ones.

Background Adequate post-operative analgesia in the obstetric patient is necessary to facilitate breastfeeding and the care of the newborn. Considering the limitations of intravenous analgesic options such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioids, other alternatives have been tried for offering better analgesia with fewer potential side effects. Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is one such option that has been tried with various local anesthetic drugs, either alone or in combination with other adjuvants. The addition of dexmedetomidine to bupivacaine in TAP block has been shown to prolong the duration of post-operative analgesia when compared to local anesthetic alone. This study was conducted to determine the efficacy of dexmedetomidine, as an adjuvant to ropivacaine, when administered in TAP block in patients undergoing cesarean section. Methodology The study was a prospective, randomized, parallel assignment, triple-blinded controlled trial. Hundred patients posted for elective lower segment cesarean section, fulfilling the inclusion criteria, were randomly divided into two equal groups, group R and group RD, comprising 50 patients each. Patients in group R were administered bilateral TAP block by landmark technique using ropivacaine alone, whereas patients in group RD were administered TAP block with dexmedetomidine 1 micrograms/kg, in addition to a similar dose of ropivacaine. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), visual analog scale (VAS)-R (pain score on VAS scale at rest), VAS-C (pain score on VAS scale on coughing), nausea and vomiting, and Ramsay sedation score were recorded on admission to post-operative care unit (PACU), and at first, fourth, eighth, 12th, 18th, and 24th hours post-operatively. Rescue analgesia was provided with intravenous morphine. Short Assessment of Patient Satisfaction Score (SAPS) was noted on a five-point scale after 24 hours based on patient satisfaction regarding the quality of post-operative analgesia. Results While there was no significant difference between groups R and RD with respect to VAS-C and VAS-R immediately after shifting and at the first, fourth, and eighth hours, a significant difference was observed at the 12th and 18th hours post-operatively. After 24 hours, no significant difference was observed between groups R and RD with respect to VAS-C and VAS-R. While 50% of patients needed rescue analgesia in group R, only 28% of patients needed rescue analgesia in group RD. There was significantly better patient satisfaction measured by the Short Assessment of Patient Satisfaction Score (SAPS) with respect to the quality of analgesia in patients in group RD as compared to those in group R. Conclusions The addition of dexmedetomidine to ropivacaine increased the duration of post-operative analgesia up to 18 hours post-operatively in cases of elective lower segment cesarean section. Also, the quality of post-operative analgesia is better in such patients, as shown by a significant difference in patient satisfaction scores between the two groups.

Inadequate organic waste management leads to a plethora of problems such as environmental pollution, eutrophication, esthetic damage to urban landscape, greenhouse gases emission and effects on human health. Unwise and non-scientific disposal of wastes not only poses a grave threat to environmental quality but also results in loss of economic value of wastes. Since organic wastes are an abundant pool of organic matter and valuable plant nutrients, agricultural recycling of these wastes appears to be a promising alternative enabling value addition and their resourceful utilization. Land application of organic wastes stabilized through techniques such as composting, vermicomposting and anaerobic digestion yielding excellent organic fertilizer like compost augments soil fertility and crop yield. Additionally, the practice incorporates indirect environmental benefits such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, land conservation due to reduced landfilling of wastes and substitute to chemical fertilizers. Economically also, agricultural utilization of organic wastes reduces the cost of landfilling, transportation of wastes, imports and production cost of chemical fertilizers and opens avenues for rural employment. However, effective utilization of organic wastes for agricultural purposes requires thorough and strict risk assessment to prevent the adverse effects of contaminants like heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants to ensure agro-environmental sustainability. The present article aims to enlist the positives and negatives associated with this practice enabling to devise an approach or strategy deriving maximum environmental and economic benefits.Agricultural recycling of organic wastes can be explored as an eco-friendly and sustainable waste management approach.Organic wastes are a rich source of beneficial plant nutrients (macro and micro) and organic matter.Organic waste amendments improve soil physico-chemical and biological properties and benefit plant productivity.Organic wastes offer the potential to be used as a valuable resource.

Mahananda River is an important river in India and Bangladesh, as the people of both the countries use the water extensively, without sufficient and reliable information about water qualities and pollution status. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the water quality of the river and to analyse the suitability for drinking, agricultural and industrial uses. This is why this study on the Mahananda River is extremely important for the region. For this study, samples from fourteen sampling stations were collected in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons in 2016 and water quality index (WQI), agriculture and industry-related indices were computed. WQI values designated two sampling stations out of fourteen sampling stations as ‘very bad’ category and another two sampling stations as ‘bad’ category. The pH values of some sampling stations slightly exceeded the upper permissible limit. USSL diagram analysis classified two samples of pre-monsoon season in C2S1 category which indicates a medium salinity and low sodium water. Magnesium hazard values of four sampling stations are above 50% suggesting not suitable for irrigation. However, some indices like sodium per cent, residual sodium carbonate and residual sodium bicarbonate, Kelly’s index, permeability index and potential salinity allow the water for use in irrigation purposes. Langelier Saturation Index and aggressive index values designate the water as moderately aggressive or non-aggressive. Ryznar Stability Index values designate the water as ‘aggressive’ or ‘very aggressive’ indicating unsuitability for industrial uses. Sampling stations S-1, S-2, S-8 and S-14 need special attention.

The majority of countries rely largely on agriculture for employment. Irrigation accounts for a sizable amount of water use. Crop irrigation is an important step in crop yield prediction. Field harvesting is very reliant on human supervision and experience. It is critical to safeguard the field’s water supply. The shortage of fresh water is a major challenge for the world, and the situation will deteriorate further in the next years. As a result of the aforementioned challenges, smart irrigation and precision farming are the only viable solutions. Only with the emergence of the Internet of Things and machine learning have smart irrigation and precision agriculture become economically viable. Increased efficiency, expense optimization, energy maximization, forecasting, and general public convenience are all benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT). As systems and data processing become more diversified, security issues arise. Security and privacy concerns are impeding the growth of the Internet of Things. This article establishes a framework for detecting and classifying intrusions into IoT networks used in agriculture. Security and privacy are major concerns not only in agriculture-related IoT networks but in all applications of the Internet of Things as well. In this framework, the NSL KDD data set is used as an input data set. In the preprocessing of the NSL-KDD data set, first all symbolic features are converted to numeric features. Feature extraction is performed using principal component analysis. Then, machine learning algorithms such as support vector machine, linear regression, and random forest are used to classify preprocessed data set. Performance comparisons of machine learning algorithms are evaluated on the basis of accuracy, precision, and recall parameters.

The shear transfer mechanism was examined to view the contributions of different components of shear transfer such as aggregate interlocking, dowel force and uncracked compression zone. Understanding the role of various shear transfer components with transverse reinforcement provided was complex due to traditional difficulties involved in detail assessment of accompanying kinematics during the failure. In the present paper, the issue was addressed by employing sixteen specimens and grouped under two categories representing conventional beams and beams with preformed cracks and were tested under four - point bending load with a shear span to depth ratio of 1.26 by increasing the characteristic strength of concrete. From the results obtained, empirical formulas proposed were also evaluated and it was concluded that the results were consistent and contribution of shear transfer across uncracked compression zone was maximum in shear resistance with transverse reinforcement provided. Later structural behaviour was also assessed and it was concluded that beams with preformed cracks had exhibited greater stiffness thus nullifying the effect of aggregate interlocking in shear transfer.

The experimental investigation was carried out to study the influence of dowel force of longitudinal flexural reinforcement of concrete beams. Due to intricacy involved in shear transfer mechanism accurate predictions of shear behavior was difficult to evaluate. The influence of shear in uncracked compression zone, aggregate interlocking, stirrups is well understood but contribution of dowel force was not clearly represented despite implied belief that dowel force is an important constituent in shear resistance. The idea of present study is to appraise shear resistance arising from dowel force with varying flexural reinforcement with shear reinforcement provided. A total of eight beams were cast and verified as parametric study. Four beams were provided with preformed diagonal tension cracks and another four beams were conventional beams. The study was carried out by keeping shear span to depth ratio and clear cover constant. Results obtained was studied from moment vs. displacement curve and strain vs. moment curve and compared with existing empirical formulas. It was noticed that aggregate interlocking is insignificant with shear reinforcement provided and beams with preformed diagonal tension cracks had exhibited greater structural behavior when compared to conventional beams.

Identification of parameters governing sediment transport is important, as its understanding can greatly assist in resolving the issues caused by sediment transport in the riverine system. This paper presents the results of an experimental study for the computation of bed load transport rate and suspended load transport rate along with transient bed profile for a cohesive mixture of clay–silt–gravel in which clay varied from 10 to 50% on weight basis. The transport rate of sediment is found to be higher in the initial period of time, however, it decreases with passage of time. Transport rate of sediment decreases with the increase in clay content, while it increases with excess shear stress. Bed degradation was found to be higher in upstream section than that of downstream section. Clay content affects the bed degradation profile as well as equilibrium time. Equilibrium time is found to be increased with clay content. The main parameters affecting the detachment and transport of sediment from cohesive bed are clay content, excess shear stress, and equilibrium time. Relationships have been developed for the computation of bed load transport rate, suspended load transport rate, and transient bed profile along with the auxiliary relationships for initial transport rate of sediment, equilibrium time and maximum degradation. All the developed relationships were found to be in good agreement with the observed ones.

Breast masses are uncommon in children and adolescents. Ectopic breast tissue is further uncommon and may be present in locations such as the face, back, and thigh. A 12-year-old female child presented with a hard, nonmobile lump in the right breast. On exploration by submammary incision, the lump was found to be below the pectoralis major muscle and had no communication with the overlying orthotopic breast tissue. Histopathological examination revealed a well-encapsulated biphasic lesion, with features characteristic of a phyllodes tumor. We report a hitherto unreported case of aberrant breast tissue lying under the pectoralis muscle and containing phyllodes tumor.