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The performance of the Electrical Distribution System (EDS) depends on how efficiently it utilizes the distribution lines, provides power flow with minimum losses, and provides a better voltage profile to utilities. The Distribution Static Synchronous Compensators (DSTATCOM) or Distribution Generation (DG) (like number of Photovoltaic Array (PVA) or number of Wind Turbine Generation Unit (WTGU)) play a major role in the EDS system to improve its performance. The right location and right size of DSTATCOM, or DG is a challenging problem for acquiring their maximum possible benefits to improve EDS performance. This paper proposes a constrained generalized multi-objective performance index (MOPI) objective function proposed with EDS performance indices. Improved Teaching Learning Based Optimization (ITLBO) is used by eliminating the convergence issue of basic Teaching Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) to solve the proposed objective function. DSTATCOM, PVAs, and WTGUs are considered for placement and sizing at different locations for EDS performance improvement by optimizing the MOPI objective function with ITLBO. The optimal solution helps to minimize the power losses, enhance the consumer voltage profile and voltage stability, increase the line loadability margin, and reduce the burden of consumer loss allocation in EDS. The performance test is conducted on 33 node EDS and showed the efficiency of the proposed solutions using the MATLAB software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Solar Mean Magnetic Field (SMMF) is the mean value of the line-of-sight (LOS) component of the solar vector magnetic field averaged over the visible hemisphere of the Sun. So far, the studies on SMMF have mostly been confined to the magnetic field measurements at the photosphere. In this study, we calculate and analyse the SMMF using magnetic field measurements at the chromosphere, in conjunction with that of photospheric measurements. For this purpose, we have used full-disk LOS magnetograms derived from spectropolarimetric observations carried out in Fe i 6301.5 Å and Ca ii 8542 Å by the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS)/Vector Spectromagnetograph (VSM) instrument during 2010–2017. It is found from this study that the SMMF at the chromosphere is weaker by a factor of 0.60 compared to the SMMF at the upper-photosphere. The correlation analysis between them gives a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.80. The similarity and reduced intensity of the chromospheric SMMF with respect to the photospheric SMMF corroborate the idea that it is the source of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we have demarcated five zones within the Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP): (1) Kutch, (2) Western Ghats, (3) Central Son–Narmada, (4) Eastern Son–Narmada and (5) South-Eastern Deccan (SE DVP) to evaluate spatial geochemical variations within the DVP possibly controlled by different eruption loci. True OIB-type unmixed trace element and isotopic signatures are demonstrated by both alkali and tholeiitic basalts from Kutch and a small proportion from Western Ghats. However, large number of tholeiitic basaltic samples from both the zones and Central Son–Narmada zone illustrate sub-continental lithosphere mantle (SCLM) signatures. The Eastern Son–Narmada and SE DVP zones of the DVP show evolved compositions, but are dominantly derived from sub-lithospheric sources. The plume–lithosphere interaction is represented by mixing and/or assimilation and fractional crystallisation (AFC) of plume-derived melts with the sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM)-derived melts, sediments preserved in the SCLM, lower crustal (TTG-type) and upper crustal (granitic) components. We argue that melts from the Archaean sediments preserved in the SCLM, represented by calc-alkaline lamprophyres, are the most suited components that interacted with the plume-derived as well as SCLM peridotite-derived melts. Few Kutch zone basalts require granitic components, while some proportion of Western Ghats zone basalts require TTG-type assimilate to explain their isotopic characteristics. Mixing and/or AFC between the plume-derived and sediment-derived melts and SCLM peridotite-derived and sediment-derived melts played fundamental roles in the observed geochemical heterogeneity of the Deccan basalts. We demonstrate that original sub-lithosphere melts may display apparent SCLM signatures by ~10% mixing and/or ~20% AFC of lamprophyre source melts and entire Deccan data considered in the present study can be explained by 20% mixing and/or 50% AFC of plume-derived melts with calc-alkaline lamprophyre as an assimilate. Research Highlights: The melts generated from the Archaean sediments preserved in the SCLM, represented by calc-alkaline lamprophyres, are most likely the components that interacted with the plume-derived as well as SCLM-derived partial melts during the formation of DVP. Mixing and/or AFC of calc-alkaline lamprophyres, TTGs and granites by plume-derived melts and SCLM peridotite-derived melts explain total geochemical spread of the Deccan basalts. Approximately, 10% mixing and/or ~20% AFC of Archean calc-alkaline lamprophyre melts can make original sub-lithosphere melts display apparent SCLM signatures. The basalts from the western side of DVP have undergone higher levels of assimilation compared to those from the eastern side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diagnostic capabilities of spectral lines in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelength ranges are explored in terms of their Hanle and Zeeman sensitivity to probe the vector magnetic fields in the solar corona. The temperature range covered is log (10 T) = 5.5 – 6.3. The circular-polarization signal due to longitudinal Zeeman effect is estimated for spectral lines in the wavelength range of 500 to 1600 Å. The Stokes V / I signal for a FUV line is found to be of the order of 10−4 for a longitudinal field strength of 10 gauss, which further reduces to 10−5 for wavelengths below 1200 Å. Due to such low signals, the present study aims to find combinations of spectral lines having different Hanle sensitivity but with identical peak formation temperature to probe the coronal magnetic-field vector. The combination of Hanle-sensitive lines is better suited because the Hanle signals are stronger by at least an order of magnitude compared to Zeeman signals. The linear polarization signals due to the Hanle effect from at least two spectral lines are required to derive information on the full vector. It is found from this study that there is always a pair of Hanle-sensitive lines for a given temperature range suitable for probing the coronal vector magnetic field and they are located in close proximity to each other in terms of their wavelength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of spectropolarimetric observations of two circular sunspots located close to disk centre in H α (6562.8 Å) and Fe i (6569.22 Å) is presented in this paper. The corresponding active region numbers are NOAA 10940 and NOAA 10941 referred to as AR1 and AR2, respectively. The vector magnetic field at the photosphere is derived through inversion of Stokes profiles of Fe i under Milne–Eddington atmospheric model. The chromospheric vector magnetic field is derived from H α Stokes profiles under weak-field approximation. Azimuthally averaged magnetic field as a function of radial distance from the centre of sunspot at the photosphere and chromosphere are studied. At the photosphere, the radial variation shows a well known behaviour that the total field and the line-of-sight (LOS) component monotonically decrease from centre to the edge of the sunspot and the transverse component initially increases, reaches a maximum close to half the sunspot radius and then decreases. LOS and the transverse components become equal close to half the sunspot radius consistent with the earlier findings. At the chromosphere, all the components of the magnetic field decrease with the sunspot radius. However, the LOS component decreases monotonically whereas the transverse component decreases monotonically up to about 0.6 times the sunspot radius after which it reaches a constant value. Azimuthally averaged magnetic field gradient from photosphere to chromosphere is also presented here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MHD flow of an electrically conducting Newtonian fluid over a super linear stretching sheet in the presence of suction/injection and Navier slip is studied using modified Adomain decomposition method (MADM) and Padé approximants. Governing nonlinear partial differential equations are transformed into nonlinear ordinary differential equations using an appropriate similarity transformation. The transformed equations are solved analytically by the modified ADM and Padé approximation. The modified ADM for solving nonlinear differential equations is purely and solely the traditional Taylor's series method. Padé approximants are applied to increase the convergence of the given series. The developed analytical technique is verified comprehensively. It is found that Navier's slip condition can lead to a non-essential growth of the boundary layer thickness and a decrease in the axial and transverse velocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The sella turcica is an important component situated in the mid-third of the cranial fossa. Knowledge about its normal morphologies and dimensions may play a crucial role in diagnosing underlying pathologies. The present study aimed to analyze the principal morphological shapes of the sella turcica, measure its linear dimensions, and determine whether any correlations exist between its dimensions and body mass index (BMI) in subjects in a North Indian population. Methods: The study was conducted on 100 subjects (50 men; 50 women) who underwent cone-beam computed tomography scans at our Oral Medicine and Radiology Department. The subjects had an age range of 20–60 years. The morphology of the sella turcica was examined according to age and various measurements were taken to determine its size. Possible correlations between the dimensions of the sella turcica and BMI were evaluated by statistical analysis. Results: In the present study, 69% of the subjects had a normal morphology. No uniform increases in length, width, and depth of the sella turcica were observed with aging. When Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated, no strong correlations were found between the dimensions of the sella turcica and BMI. A mild correlation was seen between the length and width of the sella turcica. Conclusion: No significant correlations were found between the dimensions of the sella turcica and BMI in the present study. These findings may have arisen through the small sample size, and thus further studies with larger groups of subjects are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the theoretical analysis for the unsteady magnetohydrodynamic laminar boundary layer flow due to impulsively stretching sheet. The third-order highly nonlinear partial differential equation modeling the unsteady boundary layer flow brought on by an impulsively stretching flat sheet was solved by applying Adomian decomposition method and Pade approximants. The exact analytical solution so obtained is in terms of rapidly converging power series and each of the variants are easily computable. Variations in parameters such as mass transfer (suction/injection) and Chandrasekhar number on the velocity are observed by plotting the graphs. This particular problem is technically sound and has got applications in expulsion process and related process in fluid dynamics problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Justification: Asthma and allergic rhinitis together are part of the concept of 'one airway, one disease' or 'united airway disease'. The management of allergic airway diseases should address this united concept and manage the issue by educating the patients and their parents and health care providers, along with environmental control measures, pharmacotherapy and immunotherapy. Here, we present recommendations from the module of 'Airway Diseases Education and Expertise' (ADEX) that focused on allergic rhinitis, asthma and sleep disorder breathing as a single entity or Allergic Airway Disease. Process: A working committee was formed by the collaboration of Pediatric Allergy Association of India (PAAI) and Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) Allergy and Applied Immunology chapter to develop a training module on united airway disease. Objectives: To increase awareness, understanding and acceptance of the concept of 'United Airway disease' and to educate the primary health care providers for children and public health officials, in the management of united airway diseases. Recommendations: Recommendations for diagnosis, management and follow-up of Allergic airway disease are presented in this document. A better compliance by linking education of child, parent, grandparents and other health care providers, and scientific progress by collaboration between practitioners, academicians, researchers and pharmaceutical companies is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To document the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory profile of all children with scrub typhus at a tertiary care centre in Chennai between September 2010 and June 2011. Methods: The case records of all children admitted and diagnosed with scrub typhus between September 2010 and June 2011 were analysed to look for salient clinical and laboratory parameters. Results: During the study period, 52 children were admitted with scrub typhus in the authors' hospital. The presenting complaints included fever in all cases. Other symptoms included swelling of legs (50 %) and vomiting (45 %). 13 % presented with CNS symptoms. The commonest physical findings included eschar (67 %), hepatomegaly (94 %), splenomegaly (73 %) and third spacing (67 %). Salient lab parameters included packed cell volume (PCV) <30 (48 %), leucocytosis (56 %), positive C-reactive protein (CRP) (92 %), hypoalbuminemia (79 %). Common complications included acute kidney injury (10 %) and peripheral gangrene (4 %). There was no mortality in the present case series. Conclusions: The clinical profile of children with scrub typhus in a tertiary care centre is reported. Eschar and hepatosplenomegaly with a high CRP value is helpful in diagnosis. All patients responded well to the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed high resolution spectroscopy of the solar corona during the total solar eclipse of 22 July 2009 in two emission lines: the green line at 5303 Å due to Fe xiv and the red line at 6374 Å due to Fe x, simultaneously from Anji (latitude 30°28.1′ N; longitude 119°35.4′ E; elevation 890 m), China. A two-mirror coelostat with 100 cm focal length lens produced a 9.2 mm image of the Sun. The spectrograph using 140 cm focal length lens in Littrow mode and a grating with 600 lines per millimeter blazed at 2 μm provided a dispersion of 30 mÅ and 43 mÅ per pixel in the fourth order around the green line and third order around the red line, respectively. Two Peltier cooled 1k × 1k CCD cameras, with a pixel size of 13 μm square and 14-bit readout at 10 MHz operated in frame transfer mode, were used to obtain the time sequence spectra in two emission lines simultaneously. The duration of totality was 341 s, but we could get spectra for 270 s after a trial exposure at an interval of 5 s. We report here on the detection of intensity, velocity, and line width oscillations with periodicity in the range of 25 - 50 s. These oscillations can be interpreted in terms of the presence of fast magnetoacoustic waves or torsional Alfvén waves. The intensity ratios of green to red emission lines indicate the temperature of the corona to be 1.65 MK in the equatorial region and 1.40 MK in the polar region, relatively higher than the expected temperature during the low activity period. The width variation of the emission lines in different coronal structures suggests different physical conditions in different structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intraocular inflammatory disease or uveitis, which affects the uveal tract and the retina of the eyes in human, is the major cause of visual impairment. Experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) is a T-cell-mediated autoimmune disease directed against retinal proteins and has been studied in several mammalian species including subhuman primates as a model for human posterior uveitis. Autoimmune responses provoked by molecular mimicry occur when the nonself and host determinants are similar enough to cross-react yet different enough to break immunological tolerance, and is one of the proposed mechanisms for induction of autoimmune diseases. Therapeutic immunomodulatory strategies have been used to induce antigen-specific peripheral immune tolerance in animal models of T-cell-mediated autoimmune diseases by oral administration of autoantigens. Oral tolerance leads to unique mechanisms of tissue and disease-specific immunosuppression, which would circumvent the immunotherapeutic problem of multiple target tissue autoreactivity. Several groups have investigated the effects of delivering autoantigens across gastric mucosal surfaces. This review briefly discusses molecular mimicry and the mechanism of induction of oral tolerance with respect to immunopathogenesis of T-cell-mediated autoimmune diseases in general and EAU in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author examines the association between probiotics and allergic rhinitis. He cites a rationale for using probiotics to modify the gut microbial flora to alter the immune response of the host and mitigate the symptoms of allergy. He offers a look at studies on the effect of probiotics on the clinical symptoms and medication use among children with allergies.