32 research outputs found
Transnational discursive shifts on Mithila paintings: Towards a (postcolonial) inclusive feminism ?
No full textInternational audience“Mithila painting” is an umbrella term for ritual/art forms. During the Bihar drought, AIHB encouraged shifting artwork onto paper to generate income, causing socio-aesthetic changes. The resulting globalization coincided with gender/postcolonial studies, deconstructing hegemonic discourses, and male and primitivist canons. The painters/ings narratives undergo a reversal, making visible the overlapping of dominance criteria (gender, caste, class…). Evolution of Mithila art belongs to a connected history involving transnational mediators. Mithila art was a subalternised ritual before commodification. In 1917, Maharaja of Darbhanga assigns no primary function to murals, though the paintings for his daughter’s marriage were sophisticated. They were marginal to male Brahminical values. Guided by upper caste male informants, William Archer documented socalled parallels he saw to modern European art. Even if the reception of his 1949 article reifies a vision of Mithila art based on a stylistic distribution per castes, a collective, anonymous women practice, he was less essentialist than he appears. Nevertheless, his wife Mildred is invisibilized in their common work. Primitivist schemes persist in Vequaud, through a countercultural myth. He positions Mithila art at the heart of a timeless village utopia, casting Mithila as a Lost Eden. He presents painters as prophetic figures within a matriarchal countersociety spread by EMMA magazine. A discourse valuing subalternized minorities emerges by Moser-Schmitt, Ray and Naomi Owens promoting a fair trading system. Moser-Schmitt’s contribution on Mithila artists in Heresies asserts an inclusive radical feminism. Her committed anthropology contributed to the assertion of Dalit women’s identity. Filming and thinking women’s creativity contribute to thwart inequalities. An inclusive feminism emerges early in India with Women's Quest for Power (1980). The shift from a reified vision to its deconstruction has been gradual. The changing of narratives follows global flux and interareal transfers
Transnational discursive shifts on Mithila paintings: Towards a (postcolonial) inclusive feminism ?
No full textInternational audience“Mithila painting” is an umbrella term for ritual/art forms. During the Bihar drought, AIHB encouraged shifting artwork onto paper to generate income, causing socio-aesthetic changes. The resulting globalization coincided with gender/postcolonial studies, deconstructing hegemonic discourses, and male and primitivist canons. The painters/ings narratives undergo a reversal, making visible the overlapping of dominance criteria (gender, caste, class…). Evolution of Mithila art belongs to a connected history involving transnational mediators. Mithila art was a subalternised ritual before commodification. In 1917, Maharaja of Darbhanga assigns no primary function to murals, though the paintings for his daughter’s marriage were sophisticated. They were marginal to male Brahminical values. Guided by upper caste male informants, William Archer documented socalled parallels he saw to modern European art. Even if the reception of his 1949 article reifies a vision of Mithila art based on a stylistic distribution per castes, a collective, anonymous women practice, he was less essentialist than he appears. Nevertheless, his wife Mildred is invisibilized in their common work. Primitivist schemes persist in Vequaud, through a countercultural myth. He positions Mithila art at the heart of a timeless village utopia, casting Mithila as a Lost Eden. He presents painters as prophetic figures within a matriarchal countersociety spread by EMMA magazine. A discourse valuing subalternized minorities emerges by Moser-Schmitt, Ray and Naomi Owens promoting a fair trading system. Moser-Schmitt’s contribution on Mithila artists in Heresies asserts an inclusive radical feminism. Her committed anthropology contributed to the assertion of Dalit women’s identity. Filming and thinking women’s creativity contribute to thwart inequalities. An inclusive feminism emerges early in India with Women's Quest for Power (1980). The shift from a reified vision to its deconstruction has been gradual. The changing of narratives follows global flux and interareal transfers
International Reception of Mithila Paintings and Heroization : : Constructing Women (Painters) Figures in Véquaud's Writings
No full textLocation: Hotel Maurya, PatnaInternational audienceDerived from Maithil practices and festivals and assumed to protect the household, the Madhubani Paintings spread since the 1960s in India and abroad. Transferred on paper in order to be commercialized, they undergo important changes. I will focus on the reception history of Mithila paintings through two Western mediators, who each declared themselves to be the discoverers of these paintings: one is British, William Archer (1907- 1979); the other French, Yves Véquaud (1938-2000). They bear witness to an international reception which underlines a particular aspect of the worldwide connected and shared histories of Bihar. After being appointed officer of the Indian Civil Service in Bihar, Archer publishes in 1949 the article “Maithil Painting”. This is a first moment in the reception history of these paintings. His writings show a universal aesthetic, based on psychoanalyze, surrealism and an organic vision of art. The hippie “counter-culture” renews enchanted orientalist and romantic visions of a South Asian universe presumed to be spiritual, pantheist and sensorial. Followed on the heels of the sixties, indophily appears a particularly favourable, moment - or kairos - in the reception of Maithil works. It parallels the internationalization of its actors: Erika Moser Schmitt in Germany, Tokio Hasegawa in Japan, Raymond and Naomi Owens as well as David Szanton in United States and Yves Véquaud in France. The writings of the latter mingled an aptitude to capture the “air du temps” with a real interest in India and adhered to the values of the counter-culture. He is today mostly known for his essays on Mithila paintings. The Mithila Art is published in 1976, then translated in 1977 into English and German. In 1974, he co-directed the documentary Mithila. During a period of about ten years, he exhibited his collection of Mithila paintings in France and abroad (in particular in Paris, Musée de l’Homme, Musée des arts Décoratifs...). In 1970, Véquaud discovered the Mithila paintings in New-Delhi thanks to the museologist Ratna Fabri. He remained in India for two years, went to Madhubani and met some village painters. In his writings, the Maithil women painters are presented as charismatic figures, between holiness and genius. In 1973, Sita Devi “appears to him as a saint”, withdrawn from the world, “in a inner-peace and trust refuge which nothing could disturb". From the author’s standpoint, the talent of these painters, neo-tantric muses presumed to create only when in a yogic state, is compared with that of an exorcist. This vision of the prophetic artist, fluctuating between the christic figure of the saviour and the holy icon, also bears witness to the transformation of the status of the artist since the 19th Century in the West and to the appearance of a ”vocational regime” (Nathalie Heinich). These charismatic figures call to mind the appearance of a conception of the artist as the author of innovative works, and living a singular life. Like Braque and Rouault, the Maithil women painters would so be transformed into figures of legend, likely to guide the work of their followers in their efforts to become an artist. These prophetic artists would become a modern incarnation of holiness. In 1968, Yves Véquaud describes Mozart and Van Gogh as saints, whose example overwhelms. From his standpoint, the prophetic Maithil artists are devoid of the overwhelming heroization that affects Western artists. They would correspond to his promotion of creative spontaneity and a present freed from the burden of the past, in quest of eternal moments. In Yves Véquaud’s conception, the women painters swing between an ideal of devout humility and religious immortality. In 1973, Sita Devi is described as the one who “knew all the honours” and yet remained “humble and loving”. From the westernized standpoint of Véquaud, the artistic success of Maithil painters may be explained by their desire for singularity and timelessness in their results. This involves both the personalization of means, namely the invention of new paths, as well as the depersonalization of the ends of the success, namely the creation of objects crystallizing values recognized beyond the author. This contingency was traditionally reserved for saints and heroes. His admiration for these artists assumed an almost devotional character. Following the example of the canonization of Western art, Yves Véquaud established a relationship between the Maithil pictorial phenomenon and a religious phenomenon, the neo-tantrism. His behaviour was almost that of a believer. He set up his exhibitions with a nearly sacerdotal and proselytizing diligence. His hermeneutics of the works is almost theological. The conditions in which the paintings were produced has been neglected. The art of Mithila is described as a (wedding) liturgy ; the paintbrush becomes the tool of prayer. The biographies of the painters appear as a “golden legend”. Nevertheless, these exegeses underline the effective ritual dimension of these paintings. Maithil art became the sphere onto which he projected the expectations traditionally assumed by the religion. It is no longer the instrument, but the object of the sacralization. Sanctified with the admiration of Yves Véquaud, the painters were not “acknowledged by the ecclesiastical authorities”: it concords with the informal religiosity of the author. He thus put forward an essentialized vision of Mithila paintings. Perhaps it represented also an attempt to sublimate his own artistic failures by projecting onto fantasized painters an imaginary solution to a melancholy situation: giving up novelistic publications, whether due to lack of inspiration or to editorial refusals. His neo-tantric vision of Mithila paintings resulted from the kairos of the hippie phase previously evoked. Yet in 1994 India Served and Observed, the memoirs posthumously published by William Archer and his spouse, Mildred, put forward a fanciful account about the discovery of Mithila paintings, marked with a Flower Power sensitivity : it stays in-between the construction of a storytelling and an aesthetic emotion, which is a posteriori inflamed. To seize the proclaimed strong and valued discourses of the moment on South-Asia is equivalent to a re-enchantment of Archer’s writings. This work builds itself in resonance with Véquaud’s one. Thus in this new narrative about the discovery of Mithila paintings, the meeting with the paintings and the painters is described as simultaneously exalted and distanced, but sublimated by aesthetic emotion. A narrative play takes shape wavering between desire and repression. According to their words, "in these murals we somehow electrically met". I will analyzed in what extent these idealized works and their women heroized figures could be situated in the social context of the “counter-culture” and the hippie movement, foreseeing the globalization of Mithila paintings in the 1990s : since then some maithil artists free themselves from categories of gender, caste and local belonging. The appearance of painters men in Mithila, motivated in particular by the prospect of profits, polls gender categories associated to a practice for a long time exclusively feminine. Simultaneously some researchers deconstruct this essentialized tradition. They expound Archer’s and Vequaud's interpretations as an hegemonic discourse constituted from masculine canons
International Reception of Mithila Paintings and Heroization : : Constructing Women (Painters) Figures in Véquaud's Writings
No full textLocation: Hotel Maurya, PatnaInternational audienceDerived from Maithil practices and festivals and assumed to protect the household, the Madhubani Paintings spread since the 1960s in India and abroad. Transferred on paper in order to be commercialized, they undergo important changes. I will focus on the reception history of Mithila paintings through two Western mediators, who each declared themselves to be the discoverers of these paintings: one is British, William Archer (1907- 1979); the other French, Yves Véquaud (1938-2000). They bear witness to an international reception which underlines a particular aspect of the worldwide connected and shared histories of Bihar. After being appointed officer of the Indian Civil Service in Bihar, Archer publishes in 1949 the article “Maithil Painting”. This is a first moment in the reception history of these paintings. His writings show a universal aesthetic, based on psychoanalyze, surrealism and an organic vision of art. The hippie “counter-culture” renews enchanted orientalist and romantic visions of a South Asian universe presumed to be spiritual, pantheist and sensorial. Followed on the heels of the sixties, indophily appears a particularly favourable, moment - or kairos - in the reception of Maithil works. It parallels the internationalization of its actors: Erika Moser Schmitt in Germany, Tokio Hasegawa in Japan, Raymond and Naomi Owens as well as David Szanton in United States and Yves Véquaud in France. The writings of the latter mingled an aptitude to capture the “air du temps” with a real interest in India and adhered to the values of the counter-culture. He is today mostly known for his essays on Mithila paintings. The Mithila Art is published in 1976, then translated in 1977 into English and German. In 1974, he co-directed the documentary Mithila. During a period of about ten years, he exhibited his collection of Mithila paintings in France and abroad (in particular in Paris, Musée de l’Homme, Musée des arts Décoratifs...). In 1970, Véquaud discovered the Mithila paintings in New-Delhi thanks to the museologist Ratna Fabri. He remained in India for two years, went to Madhubani and met some village painters. In his writings, the Maithil women painters are presented as charismatic figures, between holiness and genius. In 1973, Sita Devi “appears to him as a saint”, withdrawn from the world, “in a inner-peace and trust refuge which nothing could disturb". From the author’s standpoint, the talent of these painters, neo-tantric muses presumed to create only when in a yogic state, is compared with that of an exorcist. This vision of the prophetic artist, fluctuating between the christic figure of the saviour and the holy icon, also bears witness to the transformation of the status of the artist since the 19th Century in the West and to the appearance of a ”vocational regime” (Nathalie Heinich). These charismatic figures call to mind the appearance of a conception of the artist as the author of innovative works, and living a singular life. Like Braque and Rouault, the Maithil women painters would so be transformed into figures of legend, likely to guide the work of their followers in their efforts to become an artist. These prophetic artists would become a modern incarnation of holiness. In 1968, Yves Véquaud describes Mozart and Van Gogh as saints, whose example overwhelms. From his standpoint, the prophetic Maithil artists are devoid of the overwhelming heroization that affects Western artists. They would correspond to his promotion of creative spontaneity and a present freed from the burden of the past, in quest of eternal moments. In Yves Véquaud’s conception, the women painters swing between an ideal of devout humility and religious immortality. In 1973, Sita Devi is described as the one who “knew all the honours” and yet remained “humble and loving”. From the westernized standpoint of Véquaud, the artistic success of Maithil painters may be explained by their desire for singularity and timelessness in their results. This involves both the personalization of means, namely the invention of new paths, as well as the depersonalization of the ends of the success, namely the creation of objects crystallizing values recognized beyond the author. This contingency was traditionally reserved for saints and heroes. His admiration for these artists assumed an almost devotional character. Following the example of the canonization of Western art, Yves Véquaud established a relationship between the Maithil pictorial phenomenon and a religious phenomenon, the neo-tantrism. His behaviour was almost that of a believer. He set up his exhibitions with a nearly sacerdotal and proselytizing diligence. His hermeneutics of the works is almost theological. The conditions in which the paintings were produced has been neglected. The art of Mithila is described as a (wedding) liturgy ; the paintbrush becomes the tool of prayer. The biographies of the painters appear as a “golden legend”. Nevertheless, these exegeses underline the effective ritual dimension of these paintings. Maithil art became the sphere onto which he projected the expectations traditionally assumed by the religion. It is no longer the instrument, but the object of the sacralization. Sanctified with the admiration of Yves Véquaud, the painters were not “acknowledged by the ecclesiastical authorities”: it concords with the informal religiosity of the author. He thus put forward an essentialized vision of Mithila paintings. Perhaps it represented also an attempt to sublimate his own artistic failures by projecting onto fantasized painters an imaginary solution to a melancholy situation: giving up novelistic publications, whether due to lack of inspiration or to editorial refusals. His neo-tantric vision of Mithila paintings resulted from the kairos of the hippie phase previously evoked. Yet in 1994 India Served and Observed, the memoirs posthumously published by William Archer and his spouse, Mildred, put forward a fanciful account about the discovery of Mithila paintings, marked with a Flower Power sensitivity : it stays in-between the construction of a storytelling and an aesthetic emotion, which is a posteriori inflamed. To seize the proclaimed strong and valued discourses of the moment on South-Asia is equivalent to a re-enchantment of Archer’s writings. This work builds itself in resonance with Véquaud’s one. Thus in this new narrative about the discovery of Mithila paintings, the meeting with the paintings and the painters is described as simultaneously exalted and distanced, but sublimated by aesthetic emotion. A narrative play takes shape wavering between desire and repression. According to their words, "in these murals we somehow electrically met". I will analyzed in what extent these idealized works and their women heroized figures could be situated in the social context of the “counter-culture” and the hippie movement, foreseeing the globalization of Mithila paintings in the 1990s : since then some maithil artists free themselves from categories of gender, caste and local belonging. The appearance of painters men in Mithila, motivated in particular by the prospect of profits, polls gender categories associated to a practice for a long time exclusively feminine. Simultaneously some researchers deconstruct this essentialized tradition. They expound Archer’s and Vequaud's interpretations as an hegemonic discourse constituted from masculine canons
Optimising LSP conditions and modelling the geometric effects on residual stress
No full textcompressive stresses close to the surface of a metal component. The method is particularly useful in the surface treatments of highly-stressed alloys used in the aerospace industry. LSP typically produces compressive zones over 1.5-2.0mm deep, in comparison to about 0.25mm produced by conventional shot peening. The laser parameters can be relatively easily controlled, allowing the process to be tailored to specific design requirements. Additionally, the flexibility of the process allows peening of complex geometries (e.g. leading edges of aero-engine blades). However, a comprehensive analytical or numerical method for predicting the residual stress (RS) distributions generated by LSP is lacking. Consequently, the method is not being exploited as effectively as it might be and in some situations (e.g. in complex geometries) the process has failed to give the expected benefits.The current study forms part of a wider programme of work involving a number of industrial and academic collaborators and the study developed a comprehensive understanding of the LSP process through interpretation of experimental and model results. The experimental work involves measuring and understanding how laser process parameters, specimen geometry and material properties affect the RS fields caused by LSP. X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques have been used to measure RS profiles in Ti-6Al-4V and aluminium alloys (Al2024 and Al7050), all of which are widely used in the aerospace industry for a range of LSP parameters. The experimental results are used to determine the optimal peening conditions and also to quantify the fatigue performance of specimens with a wide range of geometries.A more physically-based eigenstrain (i.e. misfit strain) model which considered the plastic strains introduced by the process has been developed to determine the RS field generated by LSP [1]. Due to propagation of the shock wave generated by a laser shock, the top layers of the specimen experience plastic deformation, and on relaxation the deformed material is loaded in compression by the undeformed material which surrounds this region. Thus, the plastic deformation caused by the shock wave generates the RS field, and also once the plastic deformations are fully stabilised the response of the workpiece is elastic. In the present model, the effect of the LSP pulse is first modelled as a dynamic pressure load in an explicit FE model in order to determine the stabilised plastic strain distribution, which is then incorporated into a static FE model as an eigenstrain. The elastic response of the static FE model gives the RS distribution generated by the original laser pulse.The eigenstrain analysis has a number of advantages. Firstly, once the eigenstrains have been determined, thecomplete RS distribution can be reconstructed through a single elastic analysis, and hence, the solution can bedetermined at a manageable computational cost. The formulation of the solution this way ensures strain compatibility, global stress equilibrium, and matches the boundary conditions. The results have shown that the LSP process parameters can be directly linked to the underlying eigenstrain distribution, and also, a given laser setting produces similar eigenstrain distributions in workpieces (of a given material) of different geometries. Therefore, it is possible to undertake a rapid assessment of the RS field caused in new or complex geometries, and also, the effect of multiple LSP shots simply by installing the appropriate eigenstrain distributions at the correct locations within the component
Syanobakteerin Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 sopeutuminen typen puutteeseen
No full textSyanobakteerien malliorganismilla Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 hiili- ja typpimetabolia ovat tiukasti yhteydessä toisiinsa. Tutkimusryhmämme on tunnistanut uuden signalointireitin, joka säätelee Synechocystiksen kasvua hiilidioksidipitoisuuden mukaan. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, ohjaako sama signalointireitti myös solujen sopeutumista typen puutteeseen että siitä palautumisessa.
Tutkimuksessa käytettiin hiilisignalointireitin mutanttikantoja. ΔrpoZ kannalta puuttuu RNA-polymeraasin ω-alayksikkö ja se ei pysty sopeutumaan korkeaan hiilidioksidipitoisuuteen. ΔrpoZ-S1 ja ΔrpoZ-S2 ovat ΔrpoZ-kannan supressorimutaatiokantoja, jotka pystyvät sopeumaan korkeaan hiilidioksidipitoisuuteen. Molemmilla kannoilla on mutaatio Ssr1600-proteiinissa, joka toimii anti-SigC -tekijän vastavaikuttajana. Ssr1600-oe on Ssr1600-proteiinin ylituottokanta, ΔsigC-kannalla ei ole toimivaa sigC-geeniä ja ΔsigBDE-kannalla ryhmän 2 sigmatekijöistä toimii ainoastaan SigC. Näiden kantojen kasvua ja fotosynteettisten pigmenttien absorptiospektrejä mitattiin solujen sopeutuessa typen määrän muutoksiin. Lisäksi tutkittiin Ssr1600-proteiinin fosforylaatiota, joka säätelee RNA-polymeraasi-SigC-holoentsyymien muodostumista.
Tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että hiilen signalointireitin komponenteilla ei ole yhtä merkittävää vaikutusta typen määrän muutoksiin sopeutumisessa kuin hiilen määrän muutoksiin sopeutumisessa. Erityisesti ΔrpoZ-kanta sopeutui paremmin typen määrän muutoksiin kuin korkeaan hiilidioksidipitoisuuteen. Lisäksi havaittiin, että ΔsigBDE-kanta kasvoi heikosti typen määrän muuttuessa, riippumatta ilmakehän hiilidioksidipitoisuudesta. Sen pigmenttien hajoaminen typen puutteen aikana ja typen puutteesta palautuessa olivat hitaita, erityisesti solujen kasvaessa korkeassa hiilidioksidipitoisuudessa. Ssr1600-proteiinin runsas määrä tehosti solujen kasvua ilmakehän hiilidioksidipitoisuudesta riippumatta. Syanobakteerien typpi- ja hiilisignalointia on tärkeää tutkia jatkossakin, jotta niiden potentiaalia biotuotannossa voitaisiin ymmärtää paremmin
Redesign of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Q<sub>B</sub> binding niche reveals photosynthesis works in the absence of a driving force for Q<sub>A</sub>-Q<sub>B</sub> electron transfer
No full textAn in silico redesign of the secondary quinone electron acceptor (QB) binding pocket of the D1 protein of Photosystem II (PSII) suggested that mutations of the F265 residue would affect atrazine binding. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutants F265T and F265S were produced to obtain atrazine-hypersensitive strains for biosensor applications, and the mutants were indeed found to be more atrazine-sensitive than the reference strain IL. Fluorescence and thermoluminescence data agree with a weak driving force and confirm slow electron transfer but cannot exclude an additional effect on protonation of the secondary quinone. Both mutants grow autotrophically, indicating that PSII requires strong light for optimal function, as was the case in the ancestral homodimeric reaction center.</p
MULTISORB: A LOW-COST APPROACH TO REMOVE MULTIPLE METALS AND ORGANICS FROM LEACHATE AND WASTEWATER
No full textABSTRACT: Landfill leachates are considered now as a reusable source of water. Even irrigation projects are now considering use of non-traditional water sources, including treated wastewater, to augment supplies. Treated wastewater or leachate, however, may still contain many inorganic and organic pollutants of emerging concern, because traditional wastewater treatment plants are unable to remove all of them. Adsorbents have been demonstrated to effectively remove heavy metals and recalcitrant organics from leachate/wastewater more effectively, at lower cost, and using less chemicals and energy than many competing techniques. A single adsorbent with one pre-treatment, however, is not effective for simultaneously removing different types of water pollutants. This work proposes a novel solution: waste materials - rice husk (RH) and sewage sludge (SS) - will be modified with different physical/chemical pre-treatments to create a multi-sorbent mixture MultiSorb, which will be able to simultaneously remove different inorganics like heavy metal (Cu, Fe) and organics like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCP). The principal goal of this project was to develop a multiple sorbent mixture “MultiSorb” from readily available waste materials, to cost-effectively remove heavy metals and organics from leachate/wastewater. Specific objectives were: 1. Prepare/characterize adsorbents from rice husk and sewage sludge, using varied pre-treatments. 2. Develop and test PreSorb for removing natural organic matter (NOM), using batch tests. 3. Develop and test MultiSorb for removing perfluorinated compounds (PFAS), pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), and metals using batch tests. 4. Compare costs for leachate/wastewater treatment using PreSorb/MultiSorb with commercial activated carbon. The overarching hypothesis was that various tailored physical or chemical pretreatments on two waste materials, namely rice husk and sewage sludge, would produce a multiple sorbent mixture (“MultiSorb”) capable of simultaneously adsorbing greater amounts of metals, PFAS and PPCPs than regular commercial activated carbon (CAC). “PreSorb” was also developed, to be used in a pretreatment step to remove fulvic acid (i.e., NOM) from leachate/wastewater, prior to use of MultiSorb. The experimental design included 48 powdered adsorbents: 4 base materials (RH; rice husk ash, RHA; SS; sewage sludge char, SSC) x 4 chemical treatments (phosphoric acid, H3PO4; potassium hydroxide, KOH; zinc chloride, ZnCl2; none/physical activation only) x 3 temperatures (500, 650, 800ºC). Five controls were tested: unmodified RH, SS, RHA, SSC, and commercial AC (CAS#7440-44-0). Based on ability to adsorb NOM, 3 adsorbents were selected and combined to form ‘Presorb’: Rice Husk Ash-physically activated at 800°C (RHA-800), Sewage Sludge-chemically activated with ZnCl2 at 650°C (SS-650) and Rice Husk Ash-without modification (Cont. 2: RHA). In tests with real leachate, adsorption of NOM (represented by fulvic acid) by waste-made Presorb equaled or exceeded that of CAC. Since the cost of Presorb is lower than CAC, it could be used to adsorb NOM and then potentially disposed of without regeneration. Adsorbents were chosen to form Multisorb based on their ability to remove PFAS (PFOA and PFBA), PPCP (Atenolol, Naproxen, DEET, and Triclosan) and heavy metals (Cu and Fe). The selected adsorbents were Rice husk chemically modified with ZnCl2 at 500°C (RH-500-Zn), Sewage sludge chemically modified with ZnCl2 at 500°C (SS-500-Zn), and Sewage Sludge Char physically activated at 500°C (SSC-500). RH-500-Zn was found to be highly effective in adsorbing PFAS/PPCP, exceeding CAC by a factor of 2 for PFBA and a factor of 1.6 for PFOA. SS-500-Zn was a good adsorber for PFAS and PPCP, with percent adsorbed \u3e73% relative to CAC in all cases except two. In terms of metals adsorption, SS-500-Zn was a strong performer, equaling or exceeding CAC. The waste-made best-performer adsorbents comprising ‘Presorb’ and ‘Multisorb’ were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Optical Microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, CHONS analysis, and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). Most of these adsorbents are dominated by mesopores (favorable for PFAS and PPCP), with a very high pore volume and rough surface area. The surface area of one of the adsorbents (634 m2/gm) was close to that of commercial activated carbon (~700 m2/g). The adsorbents are dominated by several elements like C, O, Zn, Cl, Si, which can form functional groups favorable for adsorption. Finally, the waste-made adsorbents’ cost is found to be 22% of the cost of Commercial Activated Carbon
Total mercury and methylmercury in commercial marine species from the Goa coast: Constraints on risk assessment and environmental issues
No full text1925-1932Mercury (Hg) is a toxic element which accumulates in fish and other aquatic organisms from various sources and poses potential risk to the consumers. Methylmercury (MeHg), the common organic species of mercury, usually forms in aquatic environments and is known for neurotoxicity. In this study, the concentration of total Hg and MeHg in 12 commercial species of fish, shellfish, prawn, and crab from coastal areas of Goa were investigated. The total Hg contents varied between 18.5 -260 µg/kg; while the concentration of MeHg had a range of 7.2 -129 µg/kg. Both the ranges were well below the values recorded at other polluted coastal sites and also meet the permissible limits for human consumption. The interspecies comparison shows species from pelagic and benthic habitats with different food habits have significant difference in body loads of total Hg and MeHg, which increases across the trophic levels. The exposure to higher level of Hg in sediment is likely responsible for enhanced bio-concentration of Hg in benthic species as compared to the values in pelagic fishes
Robust Face Recognition System in Video using Hybrid Scale Invariant Feature Transform
No full textAbstractFace recognition plays a significant role in the research field of biometric and computer vision. The important goal of an efficient Face Recognition (FR) system is to have negligible misclassification rate. In video-based face recognition system, the illumination and pose variation problems are predominant. Most of the efficient FR systems are developed for controlled or indoor environment, hence they fail to give accurate recognition in outdoor environment of different illumination variation. Other challenges include occlusion and facial expression. The illumination problem is handled by Histogram Equalization in existing methods. The original Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) also works well only for pose variation and fails to produce satisfactory results under varying illumination. Hence Hybrid Scale Invariant Feature Transform (HSIFT) with Weighting Factor in feature matching is proposed in this paper which uses a fixed facial landmark localization technique and orientation assignment of SIFT to extract illumination and pose invariant features. The extracted features are then matched using Fast Library for Approximation of Nearest Neighbor (FLANN). The proposed method has been implemented in OpenCV to give a recognition rate of 98% and 95.5% in YouTube celebrity and Extended Yale B dataset respectively
