Quantum Edge Extraction of Chest CT Image for the Detection and Differentiation of Infected Region of COVID-19 Patient.

The COVID-19 outbreak requires urgent public health attention throughout the world due to having its fast human to human transmission. As per the guidelines of the World Health Organization, rapid testing, vaccination, and isolation are the only options to break the chain of COVID-19 infection. Lung computed tomography (CT) plays a prime role in the accurate detection of COVID-19. For detection and pattern analysis of COVID-19, here an improved Sobel quantum edge extraction with non-maximum suppression and adaptive threshold (ISQEENSAT) has been employed to extract clinical information of infected lungs suppressing minimal noises present in the chest. In comparison with conventional classical edge extraction operators, the proposed technique can detect more sharp and accurate clinical edges of peripheral ground-glass opacity that appeared in the initial stage of COVID-19 patients. The edge extraction results assure the detection and differentiation of COVID-19 infection. ISQEENSAT can be a useful tool for assisting COVID-19 analysis and can help the physician to detect the region how much it has infected. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13369-021-06511-9.

A novel electrochemical interdigitated electrodes sensor for limonin quantification and reduction in citrus limetta juice.

Limonin, a highly oxygenated triterpene biomolecule of citrus fruits is responsible for delayed bitterness of its juice lowering consumer's acceptability. Hence, limonin detection is essential for appropriate debittering intrusions. A novel interdigitated capacitive sensor using magnesium silicate-poly vinyl alcohol (MgSiO3.xH2O-PVA) composite has been introduced for quantification of limonin and debittering through selective adsorption of limonin from the citrus limetta juice. The sensor showed high sensitivity of 2.392 µF/ppm and fast response time of ∼6s. The sensor enables both quantification as well as measure debittering of citrus juice showing a reduction in limonin content from 5.77 ppm to 4.29 ppm with an exposure time of 60s to the sensing material making it distinctive in comparison to other methods. The sensor's results were validated with HPLC analysis. The device is simple, low-cost and reusable which promises easy, on-site and rapid quantification and reduction of limonin content in citrus juices without having toxicity.

Design and development of IDE sensor for naringin quantification in pomelo juice: An indicator of citrus maturity.

Maturity determination of pomelo fruits having health-benefiting attributes is an important issue to enhance the quality of harvesting. Here, an interdigitated electrode (IDE) based sensor is introduced to detect its maturity by determining the naringin content. The sensor was made by depositing amberlite IRA-400 as a sensing layer on IDE patterned PCB substrate at room temperature with hydrothermal and spin-coating techniques. The sensor exhibits excellent selectivity for naringin, high sensitivity of 0.008 µA for 10 ppb of naringin, and reusability up to 3-4 times for naringin quantification in maturity testing of fruits. The pomelo fruits start to mature when maximum values of current response and naringin content are found at 140 DAFS. The naringin content decreases as maturity progresses and maximum phytochemical attributes were obtained at 180-220 DAFS. The IDE sensor assures an appropriate period of plucking of pomelo fruits improving harvesting practices and trade of citrus fruits.

Variation in Phytochemical, Antioxidant and Volatile Composition of Pomelo Fruit (Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck) during Seasonal Growth and Development.

Citrus fruits exhibit a high level of different phytoconstituents, of which the changes in the different parts of the fruit during ripening have not been thoroughly studied yet. Thus, in this study, we have investigated how different parts of pomelo fruit (Citrus grandis L.) are modified throughout the development of two consecutive growing seasons. In detail, the main phytochemical compounds, such as total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, antioxidant capacity, DPPH free radical scavenging activity, Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and naringin and tannin content, were analyzed. A systematic metabolism of these compounds was found during the development of the fruit, but some pomelo tissues showed a fluctuating trend, suggesting a dependence on the different growing season. Focusing on the tissue distribution of these compounds, the fruit membrane contained the highest level of total phenolic and flavonoid content; fruit flavedo displayed the highest antioxidant capacities and FRAP activities, whereas maximum accumulation of naringin was noticed in fruit albedo. Instead, the highest DPPH free radical scavenging activity and tannin contents were found in the pomelo juice. Regarding the distribution of compounds, a possible bias pattern for the accumulation of those compounds has been noticed throughout the fruit development. From the GC-MS analysis, a total of 111 compounds were identified, where 91 compounds were common in both seasons. Overall, these results could be useful for the food processing industry as guidelines for excellent quality foods and for introducing health-beneficial products and components into our daily diets.

All-optical tunable power splitter based on a surface plasmonic two-mode interference waveguide.

In this paper, we have introduced a surface plasmonic two-mode interference (SPTMI) coupler having a silicon core, GaAsInP side cladding, and silver top and bottom cladding as an optical power splitter. A wide range of tunability from the 50∶50 splitting ratio to 1∶99 is achieved by refractive index modulation of the GaAsInP cladding with application of varying optical pulse power. The coupling length of the SPTMI-based splitter is ∼11.5 times less than that of a previously reported optical power splitter based on multimode waveguide holograms. The proposed optical power splitter has potential in development of large-scale integrated circuits due to its compactness and high fabrication tolerance.

Compact component for integrated quantum optic processing.

Quantum interference is indispensable to derive integrated quantum optic technologies (1-2). For further progress in large scale integration of quantum optic circuit, we have introduced first time two mode interference (TMI) coupler as an ultra compact component. The quantum interference varying with coupling length corresponding to the coupling ratio is studied and the larger HOM dip with peak visibility ~0.963 ± 0.009 is found at half coupling length of TMI coupler. Our results also demonstrate complex quantum interference with high fabrication tolerance and quantum visibility in TMI coupler.

All-optical compact surface plasmonic two-mode interference device for optical logic gate operation.

In this paper, we have proposed an ultra-compact surface plasmonic two-mode interference (SPTMI) coupler having a silicon core, silver upper and lower cladding, and GaAsInP left and right cladding for basic logic gate operations. By modulating the refractive index of the GaAsInP cladding with incidence of optical pulse energy, we have shown coupling characteristics depending on additional phase change ΔΦ(E) between the excited surface plasmon polariton modes propagating through the silicon core. By using applied optical pulse dependent coupling behavior of the proposed SPTMI device, the operations of NOT, AND, and OR logic gates are shown. It is also seen that the coupling length of the proposed device is 32.3 times more compact than that of a multimode interference-directional coupler.

All-optical switch using optically controlled two mode interference coupler.

In this paper, we have introduced optically controlled two-mode interference (OTMI) coupler having silicon core and GaAsInP cladding as an all-optical switch. By taking advantage of refractive index modulation by launching optical pulse into cladding region of TMI waveguide, we have shown optically controlled switching operation. We have studied optical pulse-controlled coupling characteristics of the proposed device by using a simple mathematical model on the basis of sinusoidal modes. The device length is less than that of previous work. It is also seen that the cross talk of the OTMI switch is not significantly increased with fabrication tolerances (±Î´w) in comparison with previous work.

Remuneration differences in the emerging economies of China and India.

Emerging economies by definition tend to be less dependent on expatriate skills and labour than lower-income countries, yet remuneration (pay plus benefits) differences between expatriate and local workers persist in them to some degree. According to relative deprivation theory, economic development paradoxically elevates the salience of relatively small gaps in remuneration. We therefore expected workers to report injustice and demotivation regarding relative remuneration, despite the closing of remuneration gaps between expatriate and local workers due to the economic development of recent years. To explore that possibility, 482 skilled professionals from a variety of sectors and organizations in two emerging economies, India (n = 233, response rate = 54%) and China (n = 249, response rate = 58%), participated in the research. International salaries were greater than local salaries by a factor of 2.73:1 in India and 1.90:1 in China; these mean ratios bordered on intolerable in the India sample and were largely tolerable among the sample from China. In both countries, differently remunerated workers differed in their justice cognitions and their demotivation, with lowered motivation and fewer justice cognitions in the locally salaried, local workers. These differences were however more statistically significant between people working in India than in China. Insofar as the motivational and justice gaps persisted, the findings support relative deprivation theory. Insofar as the same gaps appear to be sharper in the country with the higher-not lower-mean remuneration differential, they do not. An in-country workshop with local experts who interpreted the findings (in India), and content analysis of the participants' recommendations (in China) jointly recommended linking remuneration to (i) workplace performance instead of (ii) economy-of-origin, to help promote (iii) fairness.