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A new RP-HPLC method with a quick, sensitive and stable indication for the quantitative measurement of selexipag and its associated substances was developed and validated in the present study. In this new method, using the impurity-spiked solution, the chromatographic approach was optimized. Similarly, using the X-bridge phenyl column with isocratic elution of mobile phase containing acetonitrile and formic acid, selexipag and its impurities were separated. Recovery experiments obtained were satisfactory, and also the calibration graphs plotted for selexipag and its five impurities were found to be linear. The system validation parameters such as specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness were determined successfully. The obtained results indicated that the developed method was found to be useful for analyzing selexipag from its impurities. Further, using stress tests against acid, alkali, peroxide, reduction, thermal, hydrolysis and UV conditions, the present established method of HPLC was assessed and validated as per ICH Q2(R1) guidelines.

Accurate estimation of ET0, and determination of its trend/variability and sensitivity to changes in climate variables is essential at regional scale for different applications. These are attempted for India by considering 18 homogeneous ET0 regions formed in companion paper. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommends Penman�Monteith (PM) equation for ET0 estimation, which requires information on several climate variables. The equation cannot be used in data-sparse areas where information/forecasts on one or more required climate variables is unavailable/unreliable. To address this, relevance vector regression (RVR) relationships are developed in this paper for the 18 homogeneous regions to arrive at FAO-PM estimate of ET0 from subsets of its predictor climate variables, which could be typically expected in data-sparse areas. The developed relationships are shown to be better in arriving at ET0 estimates when compared to multiple linear regression (MLR) relationships and three widely used empirical equations (Hargreaves, Mcguinness�Bordne, Priestly�Taylor). Regional trend analysis revealed that ET0 is significantly decreasing (increasing) in most regions located in north (south) India. Sensitivity of ET0 and surface runoff to changes in their predictor climate variables is determined for each region by considering third-order Taylor series approximation of their functional relationships. Key climate variable(s) that govern ET0 changes in each region are identified. Results indicate that at annual scale solar radiation and relative humidity govern ET0 changes in regions located in south and north-east India, whereas wind speed followed by relative humidity mostly influence the ET0 changes over other regions. Existence of evaporation paradox in four regions and validity of Bouchet's complementary relationship between ET0, actual evapotranspiration (ETa), and precipitation in 11 regions is also established. Significant divergence in trend of ET0 and ETa was evident in north-east India. © 2020 Royal Meteorological Society

The objective of the present investigation is to explore the influence of ternary (diesel‐biodiesel‐alcohol) fuel blends on the combustion and vibration parameters of a variable compression ratio compression ignition engine. Kusum seed oil biodiesel and isobutyl alcohol were blended with conventional diesel to make a ternary fuel. The blend of biodiesel‐diesel (B20) was made in proportion of 20% and 80% by volume, respectively. Furthermore, isobutyl alcohol was added at diverse proportions (ie, 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1%). The investigation was carried at different compression ratios (CRs), namely, 16.5, 17.5, and 18.5. The study shows that, upon the addition of isobutyl alcohol, the combustion characteristics (ie, cylinder pressure [CP] and net heat release rate [NHRR]) are significantly enhanced, whereas the mechanical vibration level maintains stable. The CP and NHRR of B20+ 1% isobutyl alcohol are greatly improved for corresponding values of 4.55% and 8.39%, respectively, except for the conventional diesel at CR 18.5. Furthermore, the root mean square velocity (vibration) decreases when increasing the quantity of isobutyl alcohol and attained a minimum with B20+ 1% isobutyl alcohol. The experimental results show that the isobutyl alcohol up to 1% with diesel‐biodiesel blends can be used in the CI engine with no further adjustments.

Cluster analysis based regionalization procedure is proposed to construct a regional envelope curve for use with Hershfield probable maximum precipitation (PMP) estimation method. The procedure suggests (1) delineation of the study area into homogeneous PMP zones (regions) by performing cluster analysis on attributes affecting PMP, and (2) construction of regional envelope curve for each of the zones, and use of the curve(s) as the basis to estimate regional frequency factor (RFF) and PMP for site(s) in the study area. Conventional practice suggests construction of a single envelope curve for entire study area, which could be a political/physiographic area, or a river basin. This practice could yield unreliable RFF and PMP estimates if there is considerable variation in topography, landscape and/or climate in the study area. Effectiveness of the proposed regionalization procedure is demonstrated through a case study on 0.25° resolution rainfall data covering India. Global K-means (GKM) and global fuzzy c-means (GFCM) methods are considered for cluster analysis. The number of delineated homogeneous PMP zones is 20 with GKM method and 17 with GFCM method. The PMP estimates obtained for 0.25° resolution grids using the proposed procedure are generally found to be lower than those obtained by considering (1) one/two envelope curves for the entire India determined based on zones considered in previous studies, and (2) envelope curves prepared for four major river basins (Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery) in peninsular India. The PMP estimates are often considered as the basis to arrive at probable maximum flood (PMF) for design and risk assessment of large-scale hydrological structures in river basins. Hence, PMF estimates could be expected to be lower when based on PMP estimates obtained using the proposed procedure, which is likely to have economic implications in design of the structures.

The state of Kerala, located on the west coast of India, experienced a record 100‐year flood that resulted in major landslides from unprecedented prolonged and extremely heavy rainfall (50–480 mm·day−1) during August 1–19, 2018, causing extensive damage and about 500 causalities. Rainfall observations indicate that the heavy rainfall occurred over two spells (August 7–10 and 14–18) in association with an offshore trough, and a depression over the Bay of Bengal (BOB). High‐resolution 38‐year climatology data (5 km) and the ERA‐Interim reanalysis dataset show a strong low‐level jet over the Arabian Sea and a depression over the BOB with a southwestward tilt during the heavy rainfall. Very high‐resolution (2‐km) mesoscale model simulations suggest that this high convective instability due to the strong westerly jet along with the formation of offshore vortex, the transport of mid‐tropospheric moisture under the presence of conducive vertical shear of horizontal wind, and transport of mid‐tropospheric moisture from the BOB are the major factors (as shown in the schematic diagram) behind the extreme heavy rainfall over Kerala.

The α−κ−μ fading channel is a generalized fading model that incorporates the nonlinearity and nonhomogeneous scattering behavior of the propagation medium. In this paper, we investigate th...

The impact of variational data assimilation for predicting two heavy rainfall events that caused devastating floods in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is studied using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. On 25 November 2009 and 26 January 2011, the city was deluged with more than double the annual rainfall amount, caused by convective storms. We used a high-resolution, two-way nested domain WRF model to simulate the two rainfall episodes. Simulations include control runs initialized with National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Forecasting System (GFS) data and three-dimensional variational (3D-Var) data assimilation experiments conducted by assimilating NCEP PREPBUFR and radiance observations. Observations from Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs), synoptic charts, radar reflectivity and satellite pictures from the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME), Jeddah are used to assess the forecasting results. To evaluate the impact of the different assimilated observational datasets on the simulation of the major flooding event of 2009, we conducted 3D-Var experiments assimilating individual sources and a combination of all datasets. Results suggest that while the control run had a tendency to predict the storm earlier than observed, the assimilation of profile observations greatly improved the model's thermodynamic structure and led to better representation of simulated rainfall both in timing and amount. The experiment with assimilation of all available observations compared best with observed rainfall in terms of timing of the storm and rainfall distribution, demonstrating the importance of assimilating different types of observations. Retrospective experiments with and without data assimilation, for three different model lead times (48, 72 and 96 h), were performed to examine the skill of the WRF model to predict the heavy rainfall events. Quantitative rainfall analysis of these simulations suggests that 48 h lead time runs with assimilation of all observational data provide the best statistical scores.

Homogeneous temperature regions are necessary for use in hydrometeorological studies. The regions are often delineated by analysing statistics derived from time series of maximum, minimum or mean temperature, rather than attributes influencing temperature. This practice cannot yield meaningful regions in data-sparse areas. Further, independent validation of the delineated regions for homogeneity in temperature is not possible, as temperature records form the basis to arrive at the regions. To address these issues, a two-stage clustering approach is proposed in this study to delineate homogeneous temperature regions. First stage of the approach involves (1) determining correlation structure between observed temperature over the study area and possible predictors (large-scale atmospheric variables) influencing the temperature and (2) using the correlation structure as the basis to delineate sites in the study area into clusters. Second stage of the approach involves analysis on each of the clusters to (1) identify potential predictors (large-scale atmospheric variables) influencing temperature at sites in the cluster and (2) partition the cluster into homogeneous fuzzy temperature regions using the identified potential predictors. Application of the proposed approach to India yielded 28 homogeneous regions that were demonstrated to be effective when compared to an alternate set of 6 regions that were previously delineated over the study area. Intersite cross-correlations of monthly maximum and minimum temperatures in the existing regions were found to be weak and negative for several months, which is undesirable. This problem was not found in the case of regions delineated using the proposed approach. Utility of the proposed regions in arriving at estimates of potential evapotranspiration for ungauged locations in the study area is demonstrated.

Identification of homogeneous hydrometeorological regions (HMRs) is necessary for various applications. Such regions are delineated by various approaches considering rainfall and temperature as two key variables. In conventional approaches, formation of regions is based on principal components (PCs)/statistics/indices determined from time series of the key variables at monthly and seasonal scales. An issue with use of PCs for regionalization is that they have to be extracted from contemporaneous records of hydrometeorological variables. Therefore, delineated regions may not be effective when the available records are limited over contemporaneous time period. A drawback associated with the use of statistics/indices is that they do not provide effective representation of the key variables when the records exhibit non-stationarity. Consequently, the resulting regions may not be effective for the desired purpose. To address these issues, a new approach is proposed in this article. The approach considers information extracted from wavelet transformations of the observed multivariate hydrometeorological time series as the basis for regionalization by global fuzzy c-means clustering procedure. The approach can account for dynamic variability in the time series and its non-stationarity (if any). Effectiveness of the proposed approach in forming HMRs is demonstrated by application to India, as there are no prior attempts to form such regions over the country. Drought severity-area-frequency (SAF) curves are constructed corresponding to each of the newly formed regions for the use in regional drought analysis, by considering standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) as the drought indicator.

SummaryObjective Endocrine diagnosis relies on a thorough history, examination and confirmatory biochemical tests. Previously, in our unit, tests were performed after new patients attended clinic. We proposed that diagnosis and management would be improved if this system was inverted. Design Clinicians and chemical pathologists reviewed available guidance and local practice to determine the key tests to confirm or refute most common endocrine disorders. A system was developed for clinicians to categorize new referrals into diagnostic groups: for example, nodular thyroid disease or possible polycystic ovarian syndrome. Standard letters were developed and sent to patients explaining the requirement for tests to be performed prior to first hospital appointment. The letters and requests for investigation sets were standardized for each diagnostic group and generated via a one-click automated method. After one year, clinical outcomes were audited and patients and staff surveyed. Results The time from referral to confirming diagnosis and starting treatment was halved: mean 11·8–5·7 weeks (P

CuFe2O4 is used as inexpensive, non-toxic, and magnetically separable catalyst for the reaction of arylsulfinic acid salts with organohalides or boronic acids to yield sulfones with a wide range of functional group tolerance.

Climate change impact assessment studies involve downscaling large-scale atmospheric predictor variables (LSAPVs) simulated by general circulation models (GCMs) to site-scale meteorological variables. This article presents a least-square support vector machine (LS-SVM)-based methodology for multi-site downscaling of maximum and minimum daily temperature series. The methodology involves (1) delineation of sites in the study area into clusters based on correlation structure of predictands, (2) downscaling LSAPVs to monthly time series of predictands at a representative site identified in each of the clusters, (3) translation of the downscaled information in each cluster from the representative site to that at other sites using LS-SVM inter-site regression relationships, and (4) disaggregation of the information at each site from monthly to daily time scale using k-nearest neighbour disaggregation methodology. Effectiveness of the methodology is demonstrated by application to data pertaining to four sites in the catchment of Beas river basin, India. Simulations of Canadian coupled global climate model (CGCM3.1/T63) for four IPCC SRES scenarios namely A1B, A2, B1 and COMMIT were downscaled to future projections of the predictands in the study area. Comparison of results with those based on recently proposed multivariate multiple linear regression (MMLR) based downscaling method and multi-site multivariate statistical downscaling (MMSD) method indicate that the proposed method is promising and it can be considered as a feasible choice in statistical downscaling studies. The performance of the method in downscaling daily minimum temperature was found to be better when compared with that in downscaling daily maximum temperature. Results indicate an increase in annual average maximum and minimum temperatures at all the sites for A1B, A2 and B1 scenarios. The projected increment is high for A2 scenario, and it is followed by that for A1B, B1 and COMMIT scenarios. Projections, in general, indicated an increase in mean monthly maximum and minimum temperatures during January to February and October to December.

The performance of the high-resolution Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (ARW) model for tropical cyclone prediction over the Bay of Bengal region of the northern Indian Ocean is assessed through study of 21 cyclone systems. Error metrics in the predicted fields of maximum sustained winds (MSW), central sea-level pressure (CSLP) and the vector track position are computed by comparison with corresponding tropical cyclone estimations from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). From 65 sensitivity experiments for five severe cyclones the combination of Kain–Fritsch (KF) convection, Yonsei University (YSU) planetary boundary layer (PBL), LIN explicit microphysics and NOAH land surface schemes are found to provide the best simulations for intensity and track prediction. It has been found that the KF convection scheme gives higher convective warming with stronger vertical motions relative to other tested cumulus schemes and that the YSU scheme simulates more realistic winds in the inflow region than other tested PBL schemes. Results of simulations with the best physics for all 21 cyclones reveal that the model had a tendency to overestimate the intensity, with mean errors ranging from −2 to 15 hPa for CSLP, 1 to 22 m s−1 for MSW corresponding to 24 to 72 h predictions. The mean vector landfall position errors are found to be 122 km at 12 h, 170 km at 24 h, 244 km at 48 h and 250 km at 72 h, and 67% of the landfall errors are less than 135 km, indicating fairly good forecasts. Further, the predictions are found to be best for northward moving cyclones followed by northwestward, westward and northeastward moving cyclones.

In this study, the performance of the weather research and forecasting (WRF) ARW regional model was evaluated for simulating the regional scale precipitation during Indian summer monsoon (ISM) at 30 km resolution over seven different homogeneous rainfall zones falling under different climatic (perhumid, humid, dry/moist subhumid, dry/moist semiarid, arid) regions of India. Seasonal scale simulations were made for ten summers (JJAS months) over 2000-2009 using the boundary conditions derived from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data. Sensitivity experiments were conducted with three convection schemes (Kain-Fritsch, KF; Betts-Millor-Janjic, BMJ; Grell-Devenyi, GD). Simulated regional climate was evaluated by comparison of precipitation with 0.5° India Meteorological Department (IMD) gridded rainfall data over land, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) rainfall data over the ocean and atmospheric circulation fields with 1° NCEP global final analysis (FNL). Although all the simulations showed spatio-temporal rainfall patterns, BMJ had least bias towards dryness whereas KF had moist bias and GD had higher dry bias. BMJ could simulate low, moderate and high rainfall reasonably well with relatively higher correlations and threat scores, lower bias and mean absolute errors in most zones as compared to better simulation of heavy precipitation events with KF and low rainfall days alone with GD scheme. The better performance of BMJ scheme is evident owing to better simulation of surface pressure, temperature, and geopotential, lower and upper atmospheric flow fields. Simulations revealed a relatively less intensive heat, weaker low-level westerly winds, weaker north-south geopotential gradients, weaker subtropical easterlies in the El Nino years than in the La Nina years, which indicate the model is able to simulate the interannual variations in monsoon characteristics. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society

Atmospheric surface layer meteorological observations obtained from 20 m height meteorological tower at Mangalore University campus, situated along the west coast of India, are used to estimate the surface layer scaling parameters of roughness length (zo) and drag coefficient (CD) and the surface layer fluxes of sensible heat and momentum. These parameters are computed using the simple flux-profile relationships under the framework of Monin–Obukhov (M–O) similarity theory. The estimated values of zo are higher (1.35–1.54 m) than the reported values in the literature (>0.4–0.9 m), probably due to the undulating topography surrounding the location. The magnitude of CD is high for low wind speed (

Gas–solid fluidization has a wide range of industrial applications like catalytic reactions, combustion, gasification, etc. In a number of these applications, there is particle size reduction during the operation leading to severe entrainment and limitation of operating velocity. The various problems associated with particles of different sizes or changing particles sizes could be overcome by adopting tapered beds in fluidization operation. In the present investigation, the fluidization phenomenon in tapered beds has been critically assessed through experimental investigations using particles of different sizes and materials and wide range of apex angles of the vessels. The effect of particle size and apex angle on the fluidization behaviour is clearly brought out which has not been reported so far in literature. The importance of compressive force existing in tapered beds is highlighted. In addition, correlations for all hydrodynamic characteristics, viz. critical fluidization velocity, minimum velocity for full fluidization, maximum velocity for defluidization, peak pressure drop, fluctuation ratio, compressive force, and hysteresis have been developed some of which are proposed for the first time. La fluidisation gaz-solide revet un vaste eventail d'applications industrielles comme les reactions catalytiques, la combustion, la gazeification, etc. Pour un certain nombre deces applications, il y a une reduction granulometrique durant l'activite menant a un entrainement eta une limitation intenses de la vitesse de fonctionnement. Les divers problemes lies aux particules de dimensions differentes ou aux dimensions de particules changeantes pourraient etre surmontesen adoptant les lits coniques dans les activites de fluidisation. Dans le cadre de la presente etude, lephenomene de fluidisation dans les lits coniques a ete evalue de facon critique au moyen deverifications experimentales employant des particules de dimensions et de matieres differentes et d'un vaste eventail d'angles de sommet de fluidiseurs. L'effet de la dimension des particules et del'angle des sommets sur le comportement de la fluidisation est nettement mis en evidence, ce quin'a pas ete souleve a venir jusqu'ici dans la documentation. L'importance de la force decompression qui existe dans les lits coniques est mise en evidence. De plus, les correlations relativement a l'ensemble des caracteristiques hydrodynamiques, c.-a-d. la vitesse de fluidisation critique, la vitesse minimale de fluidisation complete, la vitesse maximale de defluidisation, la chute des pics de pression, le taux de fluctuation, la force de compression et l'hysteresis, ont ete elaborees, certaines d'entre elles etant avancees pour la premiere fois.

The cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie acquired changes in Ca(2+) dynamics of different neuronal compartments are important in the induction and maintenance of epileptiform activity. Simultaneous electrophysiology and Ca(2+) imaging techniques were used to understand the basic properties of dendritic Ca(2+) signaling in rat subicular pyramidal neurons during epileptiform activity. Distance-dependent changes in the Ca(2+) decay kinetics locked to spontaneous epileptiform discharges and back-propagating action potentials were observed in the apical dendrites. A decrement in the mean tau value of Ca(2+) decay was observed in distal parts (95-110 mum) of the apical dendrites compared with proximal segments (30-45 mum) in in-vitro epileptic conditions but not in control. Pharmacological agents that block Ca(2+) transporters, i.e. Na(+)/ Ca(2+) exchangers (Benzamil), plasma membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase pumps (Calmidazolium) and smooth endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase pumps (Thapsigargin), were applied locally to the proximal and distal part of the apical dendrites in both experimental conditions to understand the molecular aspects of the Ca(2+) extrusion mechanisms. The relative contribution of Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchangers in Ca(2+) extrusion was higher in the distal apical dendrites in the in-vitro epileptic condition and this property modulated the excitability of the neuron in simulation. The Ca(2+) homeostatic mechanisms that restore normal Ca(2+) levels could play a major neuroprotective role in the distal dendrites that receive synaptic inputs.

This paper presents a methodology to downscale monthly precipitation to river basin scale in Indian context for special report of emission scenarios (SRES) using Support Vector Machine (SVM). In the methodology presented, probable predictor variables are extracted from (1) the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data set for the period 1971–2000 and (2) the simulations from the third generation Canadian general circulation model (CGCM3) for SRES emission scenarios A1B, A2, B1 and COMMIT for the period 1971–2100. These variables include both the thermodynamic and dynamic parameters and those which have a physically meaningful relationship with the precipitation. The NCEP variables which are realistically simulated by CGCM3 are chosen as potential predictors for seasonal stratification. The seasonal stratification involves identification of (1) the past wet and dry seasons through classification of the NCEP data on potential predictors into two clusters by the use of K-means clustering algorithm and (2) the future wet and dry seasons through classification of the CGCM3 data on potential predictors into two clusters by the use of nearest neighbour rule. Subsequently, a separate downscaling model is developed for each season to capture the relationship between the predictor variables and the predictand. For downscaling precipitation, the predictand is chosen as monthly Thiessen weighted precipitation for the river basin, whereas potential predictors are chosen as the NCEP variables which are correlated to the precipitation and are also realistically simulated by CGCM3. Implementation of the methodology presented is demonstrated by application to Malaprabha reservoir catchment in India which is considered to be a climatically sensitive region. The CGCM3 simulations are run through the calibrated and validated SVM downscaling model to obtain future projections of predictand for each of the four emission scenarios considered. The results show that the precipitation is projected to increase in future for almost all the scenarios considered. The projected increase in precipitation is high for A2 scenario, whereas it is least for COMMIT scenario. Copyright  2007 Royal Meteorological Society.

This paper looks at how the city of Hyderabad, the capital of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and production centre of the Telugu film industry, has been represented in recent popular cinema. It outlines the history of a new mode of representing the city in Telugu cinema and argues that its significance lies in the tendency to delocalize the city. Criminalization of the city's older inhabitants, who are marked by either religion (Islam) or their ‘non-standard’ dialect of Telugu, often accompanies this move. In the process, any claims that they might have on the city are delegitimized. Okkadu, a major commercial hit, restaged the country versus city dichotomy and the antagonisms complicated by cultural and political tensions between the three constituent regions of Andhra Pradesh. This film follows the late 1990s trend in the film industry to recreate entire cityscapes within the studio, ensuring that location shooting in busy city streets and neighbourhoods merely returns us to the grandeur of lavish and ‘realistic’ studio sets. It reconstructs Hyderabad's most recognizable monument, the 400-year-old Charminar, in addition to its obviously imaginary residential neighbourhood. This paper looks at how and why the city of Hyderabad, especially its older parts, for which Charminar is a metonym, is rendered into a fantasy space in the film.

Neuronal network topologies and connectivity patterns were explored in control and glutamate-injured hippocampal neuronal networks, cultured on planar multielectrode arrays. Spontaneous activity was characterized by brief episodes of synchronous firing at many sites in the array (network bursts). During such assembly activity, maximum numbers of neurons are known to interact in the network. After brief glutamate exposure followed by recovery, neuronal networks became hypersynchronous and fired network bursts at higher frequency. Connectivity maps were constructed to understand how neurons communicate during a network burst. These maps were obtained by analysing the spike trains using cross-covariance analysis and graph theory methods. Analysis of degree distribution, which is a measure of direct connections between electrodes in a neuronal network, showed exponential and Gaussian distributions in control and glutamate-injured networks, respectively. Although both the networks showed random features, small-world properties in these networks were different. These results suggest that functional two-dimensional neuronal networks in vitro are not scale-free. After brief exposure to glutamate, normal hippocampal neuronal networks became hyperexcitable and fired a larger number of network bursts with altered network topology. The small-world network property was lost and this was accompanied by a change from an exponential to a Gaussian network.

The first total synthesis of racemic scorzocreticin and its pure enantiomers is described from readily available 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid. The key steps include Wittig olefination, asymmetric Me-CBS (Corey–Bakshi–Shibata) oxazaborolidine reduction, and improved Pd-catalyzed intramolecular lactonization reactions. Both the (S)-natural and (R)-unnatural enantiomers of scorzocreticin have been synthesized in excellent enantioselectivities (>99% and 99% ee, respectively). In addition, 1,10-phenanthroline, a bidentate N-ligand was employed in palladium-catalyzed intramolecular carbonylation/lactonization reaction for the construction of 3,4-dihydroisocoumarin ring.

We establish a systematic methodology to design and analyse electromagnetic components such as advanced multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) using the finite element (FE) method. We employ a coupled formulation to compute the interaction between the electric and magnetic fields. Unlike a linear distribution of current assumed in the circuit model, an accurate electrostatic solution to model the entire advanced MLCCs (4 × 4 × 27 = 432 cells) is presented. The FE solution is used to compute the lumped parameters for a range of frequencies. These lumped parameters are then used to compute the parasitic elements of the MLCCs. We introduce two algorithms to efficiently analyse the behaviour of a capacitor with changing frequency. The lower frequency (much below the self-resonant frequency of the capacitor) algorithm separates the effect of the electric and magnetic fields and reduces the computational effort required to solve the FE problem, whereas, the high-frequency algorithm couples the effect between the electric and the magnetic fields. We use these algorithms in conjunction with a new multiple scale technique to effectively determine the small values of R, L and C in MLCCs. The formulation, the implementation, and the numerical results demonstrate the efficacy of the present FE formulation and establish a systematic methodology to design and analyse advanced electromagnetic components.

Objective To retrospectively review the clinical data from patients undergoing radical cystectomy for bladder cancer, and to analyse the complications and survival rates associated with this operation in a developing country. Patients and methods The study comprised 105 patients who underwent radical cystectomy from 1986 to 1993. Data were collected from retrospective reviews of hospital and physician's office records, and by contact with the patients. Metastatic status was evaluated before surgery and tumours staged using the Tumour-Nodes-Metastasis classification. The indication for surgery was histologically confirmed muscle invasion after transurethral resection biopsy, or endoscopically uncontrollable superficial disease. The data were analysed to assess the perioperative complications and long-term survival, with 5-year survival rates determined using Kaplan–Meier survival curves. Results The complication rate was 27.6%; most of the complications were managed conservatively with good results and re-operation was required in only two patients. There were two deaths (1.9%) at 15–45 days after surgery, but none during surgery. Patients were divided into node-negative and node-positive groups for analysis and 5-year survival rates determined; for node-negative organ-confined disease ( pT3A) the survival was 68% and for nonorgan-confined disease ( pT3B) 25%. The 5-year survival rate in the presence of nodal metastases was 13% for N1 and none for N2 disease. Six patients developed urethral recurrence, detected on follow-up urethral-wash cytology. Five of these patients underwent urethrectomy, and four of the six survived for 5 years. Pelvic recurrence occurred in five patients (4.7%), none of whom survived for 5 years. Conclusion Radical cystectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection remains the mainstay of treatment in muscle-invasive bladder cancer. This is a relatively safe procedure with minimal morbidity and mortality; 68% of the present patients with organ-confined disease survived 5 years and 12 patients were alive at 10 years, indicating the effectiveness of this operation in selected cases. However

CuFe2O4 is used as inexpensive, non-toxic, and magnetically separable catalyst for the reaction of arylsulfinic acid salts with organohalides or boronic acids to yield sulfones with a wide range of functional group tolerance.

The temperature dependence of the ac susceptibility of amorphous Fe 90-x Mn x Zr 10 (x = 0, 4, 8) has been measured at different ac fields in the frequency range of 80 Hz to 1 kHz. All the compositions of the present study exhibit a double magnetic transition below room temperature. It is found that the Curie temperature (T c ) decreases while the spin-glass transition temperature (T f ) increases as Mn concentration increases from 0 to 8 at%. The values of T c and critical exponent associated with the magnetic susceptibility were extracted from ac susceptibility measurements. The critical exponent is in close agreement with the value predicted by the three-dimensional Heisenberg model. The results obtained here can be explained on the basis of competing exchange interactions below the magnetic ordering temperature.

We have correlated the serum levels of TNFα and soluble TNF receptor superfamily members with clinico-pathologic parameters in patients of Hodgkin's disease (HD, N = 26) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHLs, N = 35). HD patients had significantly higher levels of TNFα, sTNFRI, and sTNFRII in serum while NHL patients had significantly higher levels of sTNFRI, sTNFRII, sCD27, and sFas as compared to controls. In NHL patients the levels of sCD27 correlated directly and significantly with the high-stage disease, bone marrow involvement, lymph nodal presentation, and serum LDH levels. Similarly in NHL patients, levels of sFas also correlated directly and significantly with the presence of high stage disease. HD patients with B symptoms had significantly higher levels of sTNFRII. Am. J. Hematol. 65:105–110, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The temperature dependence of electrical resistivity of a-Fe 100-x Zr x alloys (x = 8.5 and 9.5) is measured in the temperature range 5 to 300 K. Our observations indicate some correlations between the magnetic and electrical resistivity behavior near the transition region. The resistivity data have been analyzed in the light of both magnetic and nonmagnetic scattering models to quantify the contributions from these scattering processes. From the quantitative analysis it is found that the magnetic contribution is noticeable around the transition temperature and the nonmagnetic contribution is present in the complete temperature range of the present study.

A cellular transcriptional factor initially identified as the c-myc promoter binding protein (MBP-1) was subsequently characterized as a cell regulatory protein with multifunctional activities. In this study, the role of MBP-1 on human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) transcriptional activity was investigated. MBP-1 showed inhibition of HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR)-directed chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) activity in a transient cotransfection assay. Deletion of upstream elements of the HIV-1 LTR, including the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) and Sp1 binding sites, did not affect the MBP-1 mediated suppression of HIV-1 LTR. The core promoter of the HIV-1 appeared to be the primary sequence involved in MBP-1 mediated inhibition. In the presence of HIV-1 TAR sequence and Tat protein, MBP-1 did not inhibit the viral promoter activity. In addition, cotransfection experiments with HIV-1 LTR and deletion mutants of MBP-1 suggested that the carboxyl terminal half of MBP-1 suppresses the HIV-1 promoter activity. Exogenous expression of MBP-1 showed suppression of HIV-1 replication in acutely infected cells and in cells cotransfected with a molecular clone of HIV-1. These results suggest that exogenous expression of MBP-1 plays an important role in the regulation of HIV-1 replication in infected cells. J. Cell. Biochem. 64:565–572. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

New data on the two phase pressure drop for the concurrent upflow of air-liquid (Newtonian and non-Newtonian) mixtures through packed beds of spherical and non-spherical particles are presented. The results for single phase flows and for the air-Newtonian liquid mixtures have been used both to gauge the overall accuracy of the present experimental methods and to evaluate the validity of the predictive expressions available in the literature. The two phase pressure drop has been measured as a function of the liquid and gas flow rates, column diameter and the power law model constants. Depending upon a suitable combination of the gas and liquid fluxes and the power law index, the two phase pressure drop may be less than its value for the flow of liquid alone. A simple expression is proposed which correlates the present set of experiments (nearly 500 data points) with satisfactory levels of accuracy over the following ranges of conditions: 0.54 ≤ n ≤ 1; 0.001 ≤ ReL* ≤ 50; 3.7 ≤ ReG ≤ 177 and 0.9 ≤χ (Lockhart-Martinelli parameter) ≤ 104. On presente de nouvelles donnees sur la perte de charge diphasique pour l'ecoulement ascendant a cocourant de melanges air-liquide (newtoniens et non newtoniens) dans des lits garnis de particules spheriques et non spheriques. On a utilise les resultats des ecoulements monophasiques et des melanges air-liquide newtonien pour estimer la precision globale des methodes experimentales et evaluer la validite des expressions predictives donnees dans la litterature scientifique. La perte de charge diphasique a ete mesuree en fonction des debits de liquide et de gaz, du diametre de la colonne et des constantes du modele de la loi de puissance. Pour des combinaisons particulieres des valeurs de flux de gaz et de liquide et de l'indice de loi de puissance, la perte de charge diphasique peut etre inferieure a la perte de charge pour l'ecoulement du liquide seul. Une expression simple est proposee qui permet de correler la presente serie d'experiences (pres de 500 points de donnees) avec une precision satisfaisante dans la gamme de conditions suivantes: 0,54 ≤ n ≤ 1; 0,001 ≤ ReL* ≤ 50; 3,7 ≤ ReG ≤ 177, et 0,9 ≤ χ (parametre de Lockhart-Martinelli) ≤ 104.

Gene diversity and genetic structure of tribal populations of Andhra Pradesh, India, have been analyzed under a hierarchical model consisting of five regions of the state, tribes within the regions, and local subpopulations within the tribes. Average gene diversity has been estimated from gene frequency data for 15 polymorphic loci by using nested gene diversity analysis of GST. The intralocation coefficient of gene diversity was estimated at 96% of the total, whereas the intertribal, within—and between—regional gene diversities were found to be only 1.90, 0.95, and 1.43%, respectively. The estimate of gene diversity was higher for loci with higher degrees of polymorphism such as ABO, MN, ESD, and PTC and lower for loci with low-level polymorphism and extreme gene frequencies such as Hb, Tf, PHI, 6PGD, and Hp. The nature of selective preference or neutrality at the loci seems to be important in this respect. Tribes of the plains exhibit the least gene diversity, apparently because of higher gene flow among them. The contribution of loci with intermediate gene frequencies in intertribal and regional gene diversity was found to be higher than for loci with extreme allelic frequencies. These results suggest that the most significant component of variation is between individuals within locations and that variation between local subpopulations is negligible in the genetic structure of a population. Forces like selection, gene flow and drift also influence the diversity depending upon the nature of the locus. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Several 5-substituted alkoxy 20(S)-camptothecin analogues having A- and B-ring substituents were prepared via semi-synthesis. Most of these compounds were found to exhibit potent anti-cancer activity based on their in vitro cytotoxicity data obtained against human tumor cell lines.

Percolation theory predicts the ideal perco- lation threshold (PC) for insulator/conductor composites (ICC) to be at 0.16 of the conductor volume fraction in the composite. In this article, we have investigated the perco- lation behavior in polyvinylidene fluoride/nickel (Ni) composites by varying the Ni concentration. It is observed that the thermal effect/time of heat treatment play a cru- cial role in changing the value of PC in a simple random continuum percolative ICC. The effect is attributed to decrease in: (i) intercluster distance, (ii) viscosity of the polymer, and (iii) wetting of the polymer to metal. The heat energy helps the polymer matrix to be melted as a result the metal particles/clusters come closure, that causes an increase in the cluster size of the metal particles. The overall effect is lowering of PC mainly due to decrease in intercluster distance. A drastic enhancement in the dielectric permittivity with increase of metal content is explained using boundary layer capacitive effect arising due to Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars interfacial polarization of accumulated charges at the metal-polymer interfaces and blocking of charge carriers at the insulating boundary. The substantial enhancement of ac conductivity at the PC is attributed to leakage of charge carriers across the insulat- ing barrier. V C 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 117: 3023-3028, 2010

The present communication describes the synthesis and antimicrobial activity of some new 6,8-disubstituted-2-(phenyl/methyl)-3-[4-(3-methyl-5-pyrazolinon-1-yl)carbonyl)phenyl/benzyl/methyl]-4(3H)-quinazolinones.