An automated algorithm for the quantification of hCG level in novel fabric-based home pregnancy test kits

We report a new image processing algorithm that extracts quantitative information about the concentration of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), an important early pregnancy marker, from commercially available qualitative home pregnancy kits. The algorithm could potentially be ported onto a simple camera based cell phone making it a low-cost, portable point-of-care device as opposed to costly and time consuming clinical labs for accurate quantitative determination of hCG. The algorithm takes the image of the test result as input, classifies and determines the hCG concentration based on the RGB intensities of the test line. The efficacy of the algorithm is demonstrated using control samples on commercially available strips as well as novel fabric based strips designed for this application

Male sex pheromone components in Heliconius butterflies released by the androconia affect female choice.

Sex-specific pheromones are known to play an important role in butterfly courtship, and may influence both individual reproductive success and reproductive isolation between species. Extensive ecological, behavioural and genetic studies of Heliconius butterflies have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of speciation. Male pheromones, although long suspected to play an important role, have received relatively little attention in this genus. Here, we combine morphological, chemical and behavioural analyses of male pheromones in the Neotropical butterfly Heliconius melpomene. First, we identify putative androconia that are specialized brush-like scales that lie within the shiny grey region of the male hindwing. We then describe putative male sex pheromone compounds, which are largely confined to the androconial region of the hindwing of mature males, but are absent in immature males and females. Finally, behavioural choice experiments reveal that females of H. melpomene, H. erato and H. timareta strongly discriminate against conspecific males which have their androconial region experimentally blocked. As well as demonstrating the importance of chemical signalling for female mate choice in Heliconius butterflies, the results describe structures involved in release of the pheromone and a list of potential male sex pheromone compounds

Urban wastewater for agriculture : farmers’ perspectives from peri-urban Bengaluru

Urbanisation, while offering marketing opportunities, inflicts considerable impacts on ecology, health, and livelihoods in the peri-urban farming areas. The city demands perishable products that need input intensive farming. In parallel, it also discharges domestic sewage and industrial effluents into peri-urban water bodies. The availability of wastewater for irrigation has been a saviour for peri-urban farmers, amidst the many constraints they face. Using nutrient-rich wastewater is also a smart strategy of combining fertiliser application with irrigation. This can balance nutrient flows between the consumption and production hubs. Concomitant and discernible implications of this process on the health of farmers, consumers, and the peri-urban environment, rarely receive needed attention. Even the discourse on sustainable cities seldom conveys the imperative of reducing consumptive use of water to curtail its forward and backward impacts. A participatory assessment using focus group discussions, multi-criteria mapping and a stakeholder workshop was conducted in Byramangala in order to understand the farmers’ perspectives on their future as beneficiaries of wastewater (domestic sewage with industrial effluents) generated in the Vrishabhavathy watershed of Bengaluru city. Farmers were trying hard to adapt to the heavily polluted environment manifested in the restricted choice of crops, lower prices fetched by their produce, health impacts and resultant socio-cultural fallouts. The study also revealed high priority that farmers attach to health imparting attributes of agriculture. Their concerns on the two possible scenarios of wastewater supply were elicited. Farmers’ preference for effectively treated wastewater was found to be overshadowed by its potential diversion for urban use. Despite concerns on water quality, they were keen to continue agriculture and would expect to be informed in advance about any impending diversions. The political-economic ‘eminent domain’ of urbanism excludes the farmer constituency from strategizing freshwater extraction and the disposal of its wastewater. It needs to be confronted with concerted efforts to build institutional capacities for a decentralised wastewater governance, inclusive of downstream farmers, in place of pacifying measures like installing subsidised water purifiers for domestic use. The development and sustainability benefits of such efforts will include reliable farm livelihoods built on regional circular economies along with safe and healthy food and the environment in the urban - peri-urban continuum

Small farms around Bangalore : growing money at the cost of food and environment

Urbanisation, along with becoming a universal trend, has also emerged as a significant driver of agricultural transition in the developing world. More and more people from rural parts of India migrate to urban centers in search of non-farm livelihood options and for better living conditions. Urbanisation is closely coupled with transformation of traditional rural economies into modern industrial economies through irreversible land use change. The land remaining under farming is also influenced by urban demand with mixed outcomes in production and livelihoods. India exhibits this reciprocity of urbanisation and farming prominently

Male sex pheromone components in Heliconius butterflies released by the androconia affect female choice

Sex-specific pheromones are known to play an important role in butterfly courtship, and may influence both individual reproductive success and reproductive isolation between species. Extensive ecological, behavioural and genetic studies of Heliconius butterflies have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of speciation. Male pheromones, although long suspected to play an important role, have received relatively little attention in this genus. Here, we combine morphological, chemical and behavioural analyses of male pheromones in the Neotropical butterfly Heliconius melpomene. First, we identify putative androconia that are specialized brush-like scales that lie within the shiny grey region of the male hindwing. We then describe putative male sex pheromone compounds, which are largely confined to the androconial region of the hindwing of mature males, but are absent in immature males and females. Finally, behavioural choice experiments reveal that females of H. melpomene, H. erato and H. timareta strongly discriminate against conspecific males which have their androconial region experimentally blocked. As well as demonstrating the importance of chemical signalling for female mate choice in Heliconius butterflies, the results describe structures involved in release of the pheromone and a list of potential male sex pheromone compounds. © 2017 Darragh et al

Low-Power-Level Passive Harmonic Reradiator for Sensor Nodes

Sensor nodes distributed over a large area can be used to collect environmental information such as chemical pollution. The sensed information can be communicated to a central location, without significant power consumption by the sensor nodes, by utilizing backscatter modulation. In this approach, a central source such as a radar illuminates the sensor nodes by microwave radiation. The reradiation from each sensor can be modulated by switching a load on the sensor antenna. This permits design of low-power sensors having a long battery life. To avoid interference at the radar from unwanted objects, harmonic reradiation can be used on the sensor nodes and the reradiated harmonic can be processed. A passive harmonic reradiator is designed to reradiate an incident 10 GHz electromag- netic wave at 20 GHz. The design is for low incident power density. The design comprises of receiving and transmitting integrated patch antennas, a low-barrier Schottky diode and double stub impedance matching. Measurement of the reradiated power, with a represen-tatively input low power density, showed promising characteristics for the use of harmonic reradiator as described above

Urban wastewater for agriculture : farmers’ perspectives from peri-urban Bengaluru

Urbanisation, while offering marketing opportunities, inflicts considerable impacts on ecology, health, and livelihoods in the peri-urban farming areas. The city demands perishable products that need input intensive farming. In parallel, it also discharges domestic sewage and industrial effluents into peri-urban water bodies. The availability of wastewater for irrigation has been a saviour for peri-urban farmers, amidst the many constraints they face. Using nutrient-rich wastewater is also a smart strategy of combining fertiliser application with irrigation. This can balance nutrient flows between the consumption and production hubs. Concomitant and discernible implications of this process on the health of farmers, consumers, and the peri-urban environment, rarely receive needed attention. Even the discourse on sustainable cities seldom conveys the imperative of reducing consumptive use of water to curtail its forward and backward impacts. A participatory assessment using focus group discussions, multi-criteria mapping and a stakeholder workshop was conducted in Byramangala in order to understand the farmers’ perspectives on their future as beneficiaries of wastewater (domestic sewage with industrial effluents) generated in the Vrishabhavathy watershed of Bengaluru city. Farmers were trying hard to adapt to the heavily polluted environment manifested in the restricted choice of crops, lower prices fetched by their produce, health impacts and resultant socio-cultural fallouts. The study also revealed high priority that farmers attach to health imparting attributes of agriculture. Their concerns on the two possible scenarios of wastewater supply were elicited. Farmers’ preference for effectively treated wastewater was found to be overshadowed by its potential diversion for urban use. Despite concerns on water quality, they were keen to continue agriculture and would expect to be informed in advance about any impending diversions. The political-economic ‘eminent domain’ of urbanism excludes the farmer constituency from strategizing freshwater extraction and the disposal of its wastewater. It needs to be confronted with concerted efforts to build institutional capacities for a decentralised wastewater governance, inclusive of downstream farmers, in place of pacifying measures like installing subsidised water purifiers for domestic use. The development and sustainability benefits of such efforts will include reliable farm livelihoods built on regional circular economies along with safe and healthy food and the environment in the urban - peri-urban continuum

Dual Damascene Compatible, Copper Rich Alloy Based Surface Passivation Mechanism for Achieving Cu-Cu Bonding at 150 Degree C for 3D IC Integration

n this paper, we demonstrate a low temperature, low pressure wafer level damascene compatible Cu-Cu thermocompression bonding using an optimized ultra-thin Copper-Nickel-Manganese based alloy layer, Manganin as passivation layer. Surface oxidation and roughness are the major bottlenecks in achieving low temperature and low pressure high quality Cu-Cu bonding. Manganin alloy have dual role of protecting Cu surface from oxidation even at higher temperature

Zinc oxide nanowire modified flexible plastic platform for immunosensing

In this work, we demonstrate a novel, label-free flexible plastic based platform for immunosensing application. This nanobiosensor platform comprises of mercaptopropionic acid functionalized electrospun zinc oxide nanofiber modified flexible plastic film for covalent conjugation of protein. The highly oriented zinc oxide nanowires were synthesized by simple, low cost electrospinning technique and electrophoretically deposited on the ITO coated flexible plastic sheet. The performance of nanobiosensor platform is validated by using BSA-Anti BSA interaction as a model system. The zinc oxide nanowire modified flexible biosensing platforms have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The fabricated flexible plastic based immunosensor shows a remarkable detection limit of 100fg/mL in the wider detection range of 100 fg/mL–100 μg/mL. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that zinc oxide nanofiber modified flexible plastic substrate have been used to develop immunosensing application and efforts should be made to explore this flexible immunosensor platform for the detection of several important biomarkers for point of care (POC) diagnostics