We present an interactive sand art drawing system using one RGB-D sensor, such as Kinect. Our system supports the common sand drawing functions, such as sand erosion, sand spilling, and sand leaking. To use hands to draw virtual sand on a drawing plane, we design four key gestures which enable drawing manipulation actions for sand. The basic idea is that the gesture of one hand controls the dra...

Risk analysis of urban aquatic systems due to heavy metals turns significant due to their peculiar properties viz. persistence, non-degradability, toxicity, and accumulation. Akkulam Veli (AV), an urban tropical lake in south India is subjected to various environmental stresses due to multiple waste discharge, sand mining, developmental activities, tourism related activities etc. Hence, a compr...

The Taklimakan Desert is located in the foreland basin of the Tibetan Plateau. We report here the results of stratigraphic investigations of a 1626-meter-thick sequence with interbedded wind-blown silt from the southern marginal Taklimakan Desert. Because the studied section is located downwind of the desert, the eolian silt accumulation is closely linked to desert formation. Our new evidence i...

Engineered nano particles may have a variety of effects on plant systems which is not well studied as yet. We have studied for the first time the beneficial effect of hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanorod on seed germination and growth of chickpea plant.  HAP nanorods have been synthesized by sol gel technique and then characterized.  Chickpea plants have been allowed to germinate and grow in sterile sa...

This experiment compared the effects of sand and straw bedding in free stalls on resting time, cleanliness, hock injuries, and hoof health of dairy cows and tested whether cow preferences for a bedding material depended on the familiarity with the material. A total of 52 dairy cows were kept either on straw bedded concrete stalls or sand stalls for at least 21 wk. The lying behavior was observe...

compared to quartz sand, the shear behavior of carbonate sand differs in  appearance, origin, and kind. carbonate sand is found mainly in the northern coast of the persian gulf and the oman sea. in this research, a comparison is made between the shear behavior of carbonate sand retrieved from the eastern region of the chabahar port, located north of the oman sea, and quartz sand obtained from f...