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Hydrogen (H-2) production using mixed anaerobic cultures often suffers severe yield reduction due to the syntrophic association between H-2 consumers (methanogens and homoacetogens) and H-2 producers (acidogens). The objective of this study was to uncouple the syntrophic association between H-2 producers and consumers by optimizing conditions for minimum H-2 consumption using a Box-Behnken design approach. The factors investigated in this study include temperature, pH and linoleic acid (LA) concentration. A quadratic response surface model was developed to predict the H-2 consumed by mixed anaerobic cultures and the optimum conditions for minimum H-2 consumption were 38 degrees C, pH 5.5 and 2 g L-1 LA. Methanogenesis was inhibited in cultures fed 2 g L-1 LA and maintained at pH 6.0 and 53 degrees C. In comparison, both methanogenesis and homoacetogenesis were inhibited in cultures fed 1-2 g L-1 LA and maintained at a pH of 4.5 (Fig. 2B and 2E and Table 2 Expt. # 1, 2 and 11). Microbial diversity analysis revealed that LA fed cultures was dominated by spore forming Clostridium sp. in addition to Syntrophus aciditrophus. In comparison, control cultures were dominated by Eubacterium sp., Methanocalculus halotolerans and Methanococcoides alaskense. This study described an approach for regulating H-2 consumption in mixed cultures by optimizing process and environmental factors. Understanding the effects of these individual factors and their interaction is important in the full-scale operation of H-2 production facilities. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this study, hydrogen (H 2 ) production from the fermentation of steam exploded corn stalk (CS) liquor was statistically optimized using a fractional factorial design approach. The factors under consideration included temperature, pH and hydraulic retention time (HRT). Under optimal conditions at 53 °C, a pH at 4.5 and a 9.5 h HRT, the observed maximum H 2 yield of 98 ± 2 mL g −1 TVS together with negligible CH 4 were similar to the model predicted responses. A flux analysis revealed negligible homoacetogenic activity in cultures at 53 °C and low pH (≤5.5). Both homoacetogenic (R17) and methanogenic (R28 and R29) fluxes accounted for more than 68–90% of H 2 consumption in cultures at low temperatures. The low H 2 yields observed in cultures maintained at 21 °C and 37 °C was associated with high lactate and solvent levels. High H 2 yields in cultures at 53 °C were associated with a higher abundance of Clostrdium sp. and CH 4 production at low temperatures was due to the presence of hydrogenotrophic methanogens ( Methanothermobacter marburgensis and Methanobrevibacter ruminatum ) and aceticlastic methanogens ( Methanosaeta sp. and Methanosarcina sp.). The results obtained from this study (within the factor ranges investigated) indicated that steam exploded CS liquor could be a potential substrate for H 2 production using mixed microbial cultures.

Due to the toxicity effects and endocrine disrupting properties of phenolic compounds, their removal from water and wastewater has gained widespread global attention. In this study, the photocatalytic degradation of phenolic compounds in the presence of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-particles and UV light was investigated. A full factorial design consisting of three factors at three levels was used to examine the effect of particle size, temperature and reactant type on the apparent degradation rate constant. The individual effect of TiO2 particle size (5, 10 and 32 nm), temperature (23, 30 and 37 °C) and reactant type (phenol, o-cresol and m-cresol) on the apparent degradation rate constant was determined. A regression model was developed to relate the apparent degradation constant to the various factors. The largest photocatalytic activity was observed at an optimum TiO2 particle size of 10 nm for all reactants. The apparent degradation rate constant trend was as follows: o-cresol > m-cresol > phenol. The ANOVA data indicated no significant interaction between the experimental factors. The lowest activation energy was observed for o-cresol degradation using 5-nm TiO2 particles. A maximum degradation rate constant of 0.0138 min−1 was recorded for o-cresol at 37 °C and a TiO2 particle size of 13 nm at a D-optimality value of approximately 0.98. The response model adequately related the apparent degradation rate constant to the factors within the range of factors under consideration.

The impact of different chemical microbial stressors (2-bromoethanesulfonate (BES), furfural, fish oil, lauric acid (LUA) and linoleic acid (LA)) on the inhibition of mesophilic hydrogen (H-2) consumption was examined in this study. Hydrogen consumption half-life values were used to compare the extent of inhibition by the different microbial stressing agents. A statistical analysis of the percent H-2 consumed using Tukey's analysis revealed the following trend: Control > fish oil = linoleic acid (LA (C18:2)) = furfural > BES > lauric acid (LUA (C12:0). The terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RLFP) results indicated that aceticlastic methanogens (Methanosaeta sp., Methanosarcina sp.) and hydrogenotrophic methanogens (Methanococcus sp.) were inhibited by the different chemical stressing agents. Cultures fed LUA and LA had a high abundance of Clostridium sp., Clostridium propionicum and Propionibacterium acnes. In comparison, BES and furfural fed cultures contained large fractions of Clostridium sp., Eubacteria sp. and Bacteroides sp. while in the fish oil fed cultures, the dominant organism detected was Eubacteria sp. This study indicated that H-2 consumption was affected by the chemical stressing agent concentration. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Removal of nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) as struvite from bio-oil aqueous phase generated via hydrothermal liquefaction of algae was evaluated in this study. Effect of process parameters such as pH, temperature and reaction time on struvite formation was studied. More than 99% of phosphorus and 40-100% ammonium nitrogen were removed under all experimental conditions. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of struvite, and the struvite recovered from bio-oil aqueous phase can be used as a slow-release fertilizer. Biogas production from struvite recovered bio-oil aqueous phase showed 3.5 times higher CH4 yield (182±39mL/g COD) as compared to non-struvite recovered aqueous phase. The results from this study indicate that both struvite and methane can be produced from bio-oil aqueous phase.

Hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass such as algae is a promising thermochemical process for the production of bio-oil. Bio-oil aqueous phase generated during liquefaction process is rich in complex organics and can be utilized for biogas production following its pre-treatment with granular activated carbon. In our study, use of 30% activated carbon resulted in higher chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction (53 ± 0.3%) from aqueous phase. Higher CH4 production (84 ± 12 mL/g COD) was also observed in 30% carbon-treated aqueous phase fed cultures, whereas only 32 ± 6 mL CH4/g COD was observed in control (non-carbon treated) cultures. The results from this study indicate that almost 67 ± 0.3% initial COD of aqueous phase can be reduced using a combination of both carbon treatment and biogas production. This study shows that aqueous phase can be utilized for CH4 production.

In this study, the long term effect of different microbial stressing agents on hydrogen (H-2) production was examined using repeated batch cultivations. When compared to thermophilic cultures, higher H-2 yields were observed in mesophilic cultures receiving repeated glucose addition. Methane production was only observed in control mesophilic cultures receiving repeated 5 glucose additions. Lower hydrogenase evolution specific activity was observed in thermophilic cultures (except alkali-treated cultures) compared to mesophilic cultures. For both mesophilic and thermophilic cultures, the hydrogenase uptake specific activity of the untreated control cultures exhibited higher levels of activity than the pre-treated cultures. A flux balance analysis (FBA) showed negligible homoacetogenic flux in mesophilic cultures pretreated with linoleic acid (IA) and loading shock (LS) after successive batch cultivations. The homoacetogenic flux accounted for approximately 98% loss in the H-2 yield in untreated mesophilic control cultures. Both homoacetogens (Eubacterium sp.) and aceticlastic methanogens (Methanosaeta sp. and Methanosarcina sp.) were abundant in the control cultures. In comparison, Clostridium sp. were dominant in mesophilic stress treated cultures whereas under thermophilic conditions, the dominant microorganisms were Flavobacterium sp., Bacillus sp., Thermoanaerobacter sp., Bacteroides sp., Lactobacillus sp. and Thioalkalivibrio sp. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effects of lauric (LUA), myristic (MA), palmitic (PA), and a mixture of myristic:palmitic (MA:PA) acids on hydrogen (H-2) production from glucose degradation using anaerobic mixed cultures were assessed at 37 degrees C with an initial pH set at 5.0 and 7.131 mM of each acid. The maximum H-2 yield (2.53 +/- 0.18 mol mol(-1) glucose) was observed in cultures treated with PA. A principal component analysis (PCA) of the by-products and the microbial population data sets detected similarities between the controls and PA treated cultures; however, differences were observed between the controls and PA treated cultures in comparison to the MA and LUA treated cultures. The flux balance analysis (FBA) showed that PA decreased the quantity of H-2 consumed via homoacetogenesis compared to the other LCFAs. The control culture was dominated by Thermoanaerovibrio acidaminovorans (60%), Geobacillus sp. and Eubacterium sp. (28%), while Clostridium sp. was less than 1%. Treatment with PA, MA, MA:PA, or LUA increased the H-2 producers (Clostridium sp. and Bacillus sp.) population by approximately 48, 67, 86, and 86%, respectively. Copyright (C) 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Problem statement: Whether it is a surgical site or medical treatment at a hospital site, the nurses in particular and the entire medical team including surgeons/physicians in general undergo a risk of being infected ironically by the patients whom they intend to disinfect. There are 2-tiers of patients at the site. One type consists of patients who are internally and well pre-disinfected, not to be sourced for infecting the medical team. The second type consists of patients who are influx to the hospital site and are not well pre-disinfected enough. It is the second type which is a source of hospital site infection for the medical team in general and for the nurses in particular. In other words, the nurses who have to deal with the second type of patients get more exposed to the virus from the patients themselves. This is named the nurses’ exposure exposure rate. Independently, there is an inactivity rate in general for anyone. To reduce such an infectivity, the hospital management makes an intervention with preventive efforts to reduce the infection rate and the impact of such preventive intervention efforts is captured by a parameter in our model. Using a maximum likelihood estimate of the intervention parameter with the data information, we assess the significance of the intervention efforts. Approach: For this concept to work, there is a need to develop an appropriate model as none exists in the literature to be suitable. The model is an abstraction of the reality in the hospital set up. Such a needed, new probability count model is introduced. It is named an Intervened 2-Tier Poisson (I2TP) distribution in this article. Several statistical properties of the I2TP distribution are derived and illustrated to explain the inactivity rate, θ>0 during the treatments of contagious patients in a hospital. Not all nurses are exposed to the virus, while 0 (π≤1 is their exposure rate towards infection. The physicians/surgeons, nurses and staffs undergo a risk of being infected during their treatment of infection or surgery on patients in spite of precautions to avoid infection. The hospital management intervenes with several precautions to minimize, if not eliminate the health care personnel’s risk of being infected. In this article, a statistical methodology is developed to estimate and test the significance of the management’s intervention effect, ρ≥0. Results: The methodology is illustrated using the number of exposed and infected nurses during their healthcare of SARS patients in a Toronto hospital as reported in http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/. There were 32 nurses in the Toronto hospital working with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) patients. The sixteen activities of the nurses included in our analysis are administration of medication, intubation, bathing, manipulation of bipap mask, radiology procedures among others. In all these activities, the nurses are well trained to use disinfected gloves, nasal masks. As part of the preventive measures to avoid infection from the SARS patients. The exposure rates for the nurses in these activities to SARS patients varied from 0.13 to 0,81. The infectivity ranged from 1.26 to 8 in these activities. The impact of the intervention efforts ranged from 0.25 to 206.3 in all these sixteen activities. The impact of the intervention efforts was insignificant in the activities: endotracheal aspirate, integration of a peripheral,, intravenous catheter Intubation, manipulation of bipap mask, Manipulation of bipap mask, manipulation of commodes or bedpans, Nebulizer treatment and Suctioning before intubation. The impact of the intervention was significant in the activities: administration of medication, assessment of patient, bathing or patient transfer, manipulation of oxygen mask, mouth or dental care, performing an electrocardiogram, radiology procedures, suctioning after intubation and venipuncture. Conclusion/Recommendations: It is interesting to notice that the preventive intervention efforts by the hospital management for the nurses to be disinfected from the SARS patients worked in some activities but not in others. This distinction could be made because of the intervened 2-tier Poisson distribution which is introduced in this article. Clues for successful intervention in some but not in other activities perhaps hid in covariates. Currently, the author is not able to access such data on covariates. The future research work would proceed in this direction using regression concepts.

In this study, we attempt to quantify the effect of improved population health on technical efficiency in agricultural production. Using data for over 260 districts in 15 Indian states, we employ the random-coefficients technique to estimate a Cobb-Douglas production function, computing overall and input specific technical efficiencies for each district. We then model health (the district infant mortality rate) as a determinant of (in) efficiency in a second stage, controlling for a range of other socioeconomic variables. We find that decreases in the infant mortality rate, as well as increases in the literacy rate and level of irrigation, are associated with significant increases in overall technical efficiency, and that a good portion of healths effect is probably due to improvements in the efficiency of labor use. While efficiency increases from improvements in irrigation and literacy are larger, the potential gains from health are still fairly substantial.

This study contributes to the ownership–performance literature by analysing the issue for the Indian banking sector during the post reform period (1992–2007). Results indicate that both foreign and domestic private banks are superior to their public counterparts with respect to four performance indicators namely, Return on Asset, Operating Profit Ratio, Operating Cost Ratio and Staff Expense Ratio. The one indicator in which the private banks are less efficient than their counterpart is Net Interest Margin. Furthermore, the foreign banks seem to be superior among the private banks, while the State bank group shows better performance among the public banks. The results also highlight a convergence in the performances across various ownership groups over the reform period. The competitiveness due to reform measures seems to help the poor performing banks in reducing the performance gap. Since publicly owned banks still perform poorly, privatisation seems to be an effective policy in improving the performance of Indian banks.

The choice of appropriate discount rate for comparing the long-term health benefits of policies is a complex issue. This study contributes to this sparsely researched issue from the perspective of developing countries by estimating the implicit discount rate that workers reveal through their willingness to incur death risks on-the-job and quantity-adjusted value of life of workers using an original data set from the Indian labor market. The estimated real discount rate ranges from 7.6 to 9.7 per cent, which is closer to the financial market rate for the study period and consistent with earlier studies from developed nations. The estimated value of life ranges are Rs. 24.3–26.5 (US $1.34–1.47) million. The results of the study can aid policy makers, international agencies, and researchers in evaluating health projects in India and other developing nations.

Wear has drastic effects on flank wear during the turning process, which affects tool life and the surface roughness of the finished component. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of factors such as cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut on flank wear of a highspeed steel (HSS) cutting tool during the turning process of a mild steel component. A mathematical model was developed relating flank wear and the main factors such as cutting speed V, feed rate F, and depth of cut T. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to develop the mathematical model and the model was checked for adequacy by regression analysis. Main and interaction effects of the control factors on flank wear are presented in graphical form, which helps in selecting quickly the process parameters to achieve the desired quality of machining surface by way of controlling the wear of the cutting tool. It is a very important technique to measure the tool wear on-line, so that the tool can be changed when its profile is lost or it produces a poor quality, which is not acceptable.

This article discusses a timely and relevant problem that deals with the subject of recatched web pages during an internet virus attack. An innovative and appropriate statistical model is introduced and used in this article. The main premise is that the intervened Poisson distribution represents a better model for capturing web-page changes during the spread of an internet virus. This article further addresses the issue of whether the recatching process should continue when the high number of changes exceeds a critical threshold value. Method for determining this critical value is discussed in the article.

This article contributes to the banking efficiency literature by measuring technical efficiency of banks in four different ownership groups in India during the reform period, 1992–1999. It employs the stochastic frontier function methodology for panel data. The results indicate that the efficiency of raising interest margin is time invariant while the efficiencies of raising other outputs-non-interest income, investments and credits are time varying. The state bank group and foreign banks are more efficient than their counterparts. The reform period witnessed a relatively high efficiency for augmenting investments, which is consistent with economic growth objective of the reform measures. However, there are still larger gaps between the actual and potential performances of banks.

Although various theoretical as well as empirical studies have emerged to analyze the interjurisdictional tax competition, most of them concern developed nations. This study analyzes the sales tax choice interaction among the State governments in India during 1990–91 to 1998–99. In the first exercise, it uses the effective sales tax rate for 16 States and the Union Territory of Pondicherry and in the second, it uses the actual rates for ten selected commodities in Southern States. In both cases, tax reaction functions are specified and estimated using the panel data methodologies. The results provide strong evidence for the existence of interstate competition in choosing the actual/effective sales tax rates during the study period. The results favor for region and commodity specific tax coordination policies.

Thermal power industry plays a leading role in power generation in India. This study employs the stochastic frontier production function methodology to measure the technical efficiency of Indian thermal power plants using latest available panel data. Efficiency varies widely across firms and regions and is timevariant. Mean technical efficiency increased from 79 per cent in 1994-95 to 85 per cent in 1996-97 which indicates that there is scope for raising power production without employing additional resources. The findings can aid policy-makers and international agencies in adopting appropriate strategies to improve power generation in India.

The conventional wisdom on the relationship of firm growth with its size and age is typically based on the studies in developed economies. In contrast, this study analyses the firm growth patterns for an emerging economy, namely India. It uses a balanced panel of 392 manufacturing firms over the years 1989–1990 to 1992–1993 to explore unobserved heterogeneity among firms. Results indicate that age positively influences growth, which is the opposite of the result obtained in previous studies. The current size negatively impacts growth as in earlier studies. Results also indicate that smaller and older firms grow faster than their counterparts. Size effect is larger in food industry while the age effect is larger in non-metal industry.

We investigate whether better population health may impact economic performance through improvements in technical efficiency in agricultural production. Using district-level data from India, we employ a random-coefficients approach to estimate a Cobb-Douglas production function, computing overall and input-specific technical efficiencies for each district. We then model health (district infant mortality rate) as a determinant of (in)efficiency in a second stage, controlling for a range of other socioeconomic variables. In the preferred specifications, we find that decreases in the infant mortality rate are associated with substantively and statistically significant increases in overall technical efficiency, and that a good portion of this association is likely due to improvements in the efficiency of labor use.

This study contributes to the hedonic wage literature in developing countries by estimating the collective willingness to pay of a statistical life/injury, using an original data set from the Indian labor market. As self-selection by workers results in biased estimates of the wage premium for job risks, the study uses a modified selectivity bias correction technique. Empirical results indicate substantial heterogeneity in returns to risk. The estimated value of life without selectivity bias is Rs. 56 million (US $3 million), which is substantially larger than the value with selection bias. The estimates provided by the study can aid policy makers, international agencies and other researchers in evaluating health projects in India and other developing countries.

A research on valuing risks to life and health in thecontext of a developing country is practicallynon-existent. This study provides the first estimatedvalues of life and health, using data from India.These values can aid policy makers, internationalagencies and researchers in evaluating health projectsin developing nations. They can also be used to carryout comparisons with values obtained for developedcountries.

In this study, fermentation of a thermally treated simulated organic solid waste into hydrogen (H-2) was examined using a pretreated anaerobic mixed culture. The culture was fed a steam exploded food waste plus paper-cardboard waste blend liquor with and without linoleic acid (LA). The individual and interaction effects of the initial pH, LA concentration and the initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration on H-2 and methane (CH4) production was assessed using a Box-Behnken design (BBD). The BBD model predicted a maximum H-2 yield of 87 mL g(-1) COD or 98 mL H-2 g(-1) VS with 1.6 g L-1 LA, an initial pH of 5.93 and an initial COD of 9.34 g COD L-1. The major microbial populations detected in cultures at pH 5.5 with and without LA included Clostridium sp., Enterococcus asini, Enterococcus faecalis, and Lactobacillus gallinarum. The dendrogram for the 16S rRNA gene T-RFs profiles showed four major groups with a similarity index of 72-75% for Clade III. The major H-2-producing populations were grouped in Cade I with a similarity index range of 55-75%. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this article we compare and contrast finite algorithms for computing the noncentral x2 distribution function for odd or even degrees of freedom with the algorithms proposed recently by Ashour & Abdel-Samad (1990). We also obtain an alternative error bound for Ruben's (1974a) algorithm for even degrees of freedom and analyze the rate of convergence of two common infinite series representations for computing the cdf

The effects of linoleic acid (LA (C18:2)) and its degradation by-products on hydrogen (H-2) production were examined at 37 degrees C and an initial pH value of 5.0 using granular and flocculated mixed anaerobic cultures from the same source. In the flocculated cultures, the H-2 consumers were inhibited to a greater extent when compared to the granular cultures. The maximum H-2 yields were 2.52 +/- 0.2 and 1.9 +/- 0.2 mol mol(-1) glucose in the flocculated and granular cultures, respectively. The major long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) detected at which H-2 attained a maximum value were LA (750 mg L-1) and myristic acid (MA) (500 mg L-1). Bacteroides sp. dominated the granular cultures whereas Clostridium sp. and Bacillus spp. were the major microorganisms in the flocculated cultures. A flux balance analysis (FBA) revealed that homoacetogens consumed more H-2 in the granular when compared to the flocculated culture. A principal component analyses (PCA) showed the first three principal components accounted for approximately 76% and 68.5% of the total variability for the LA and its degradation by-products and the T-RFLP data sets, respectively. Copyright (C) 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this study, granular and flocculated anaerobic mixed cultures were pretreated using heat, shock loading, acid, alkali, linoleic acid (LA) and 2-bromoethane sulphonic acid (BESA). Under mesophilic conditions (37 degrees C) and an initial pH value of 6.0, higher H-2 yields were observed for the flocculated cultures when compared to the granular cultures. The maximum yield for granular cultures treated acid, BESA or LA were statistically the same. Butyric acid fermentation was dominant in a majority of the treated cultures. The maximum hydrogenase evolution specific activity (ESA) (124 +/- 8 U-e mg VSS-1) at 37 degrees C correlated with the maximum H-2 yield for the LA treated flocculated cultures (1.69 +/- 0.18 mol mol(-1) glucose). The microbial diversity data clearly showed that the low H-2 yield in the granular cultures was due to the lower proportion of H-2 producers. A principle component analysis (PCA) revealed that the LA treated flocculated and granular cultures were grouped together and showed more diversity in comparison to other pretreatment methods. Copyright (C) 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper gives an algorithm for the noncentral t distribution, without evaluating the incomplete beta function. This makes it possible to evaluate the noncentral t distribution function even on electronic calculators. A step by step algorithm is presented in a form that can easily be programmed.

This study contributes to the literature by estimating discount rate for environmental health benefits and value of statistical life of workers in India. The discount rate is imputed from wage-risk trade-offs in which workers decide whether to accept a risky job with higher wages. The estimated real discount rate ranges between 2.7 and 3 percent, which is closer to the financial market rate for the study period and consistent with earlier studies from developed nations. The estimated value of life is Rs. 20 (US $ 1.107) million. The results of the study can aid policymakers, international agencies and other researchers in evaluating health projects in India and other developing countries.

Superoxide dismutase, ascorbic acid, glutathione and uric acid levels were decreased and xanthine oxidase, glutathione-s-transferase activities were increased in alcohol treated (2 g/kg body weight, once daily for 30 days) group. However, treatment with ethanolic extract of ginger (100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg body weight, po, once daily for 30 days) these parameters came to normalcy showing the antioxidant effect of ginger. The antioxidant compounds of ginger may modulate the oxidative stress parameters. The biochemical findings were supplemented by histopathological examination of the kidney. Severe congestion and degenerative changes in tubules in alcohol treated rats were restored by ginger extract treatment. The results confirm the renal protective effect of ginger in alcohol treated rats.

Background No standard therapy exists for post-docetaxel castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients. This trial aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of pemetrexed in post-docetaxel CRPC patients. Materials and methods CRPC patients with progression after docetaxel (Taxotere) therapy received pemetrexed (500 mg/m2) i.v. every 3 weeks. The primary end point was prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response. A pharmacogenetic analysis of the reduced folate carrier-1 gene (RFC1) G80A polymorphism was also carried out. Results Forty-nine patients were enrolled: median age 68 years, median baseline PSA 72 ng/ml, and median Karnofsky performance status of 90. Grade 3 or 4 toxicity occurred in 20 (43%) and four patients (8%), respectively. Confirmed >50% PSA decline occurred in four patients (8%), stable PSA lasting at least 12 weeks in 10 patients (20%). A significant relationship was observed between time from prior docetaxel therapy and overall survival. Pharmacogenetic analyses of RFC1 G80A genotype frequencies showed no relationship between genotypes and clinical efficacy. Conclusions Pemetrexed treatment of CRPC patients after docetaxel therapy was associated with only modest clinical activity. Further investigation of pemetrexed as a single agent in a nonenriched CRPC population is unlikely to add significant clinical benefit over that seen with traditional second-line chemotherapy agents such as mitoxantrone.

Textile dyeing industries in Erode and Tirupur district of Tamilnadu (India) discharge effluents ranging between 100 and 200m³/t of production. Dyeing is performed by Jigger or advanced Soft Flow reactor process. Coloring of hosiery fabric takes place in the presence of high concentration of sodium sulphate or sodium chloride (30 – 75 kg/m³) in dye solutions. Wash water and dye bath waste water are the process effluents of dyeing industry which are collected separately and follow the advanced treatment for maximum recycling of recovered waters.Wash water is treated using a sequence of physicochemical and biological unit process, the waste water is passed into ultrafiltration (UF), two stages reverse osmosis (RO) membrane system where the permeate is reused for processes. The rejects about 10 – 12 % of the inlet volume is subject to reverse osmosis for sent to evaporators. Dye bath water after treating, the permeate is used in process for dye bath preparation and the reject of about 20 – 25% is sent to multi effect evaporator / solar evaporation pond (SEP). The final rejects from reverse osmosis system is directed to multi effect evaporator system where condensed waters are recovered. The removal of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Chloride are in the range of 82 – 97%, 90 – 97% and 78 – 97% respectively. This study was carrier out Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), Perundurai, SIPCOT, Erode district.

This investigation considers the study of pH system in Common effluent treatment plant (CETP). For this purpose, Perundurai Common Effluent Treatment (PCETP) is taken for study. Waste from textile industries is rarely neutral. Certain processes such as reactive dyeing require large quantities of alkali but pre-treatments and some washes can be acidic. It is therefore necessary to adjust the pH in the treatment process to make the wastewater neutral. This is particularly important if biological treatment is being used, as the microbes used in biological treatment require a pH in the range of 6-8 and will be killed by highly acidic or alkali wastewater. In PCETP, the wastewater is mostly alkali wastes (high pH). For this purpose, hydrochloric acid (HCl) is added to maintain the pH value from 7.5 to 7.8 to save the microbes used in biological treatment as well as to reduce the wastage of chemicals.

Coal-based thermal power stations are the leaders in electricity generation in India. This study employs the stochastic frontier production function methodology for panel data to measure the technical efficiency (TE) of coal-based thermal power plants in India during 1994-1995 to 2001-2002. Efficiency varies widely across plants and regions, while the TE is time-invariant. The average TE is approximately 73%, indicating a substantial scope for increasing thermal power generation in the country, with improved application of existing technology and without employment of additional resources. The western region is technically more efficient than other regions and young plants are more efficient than their old counterparts. We hope that the findings will prove useful to development agencies and policy-makers in devising appropriate strategies to improve electricity generation in India.

This study attempts to estimate the technical efficiency of growing rice crop in different regions of Karnataka, India from 1991-92 to 1994-95. It employs the stochastic frontier production function methodology for unbalanced panel data. The estimation results indicate that the technical efficiency varies widely across regions and is time invariant. The mean efficiency is 86 per cent, indicating a scope for raising the output of Paddy, without employing additional resources. This study can prove useful to policy makers and researchers in evaluating the performance of rice crop in Karnataka. The existing gap between observed and potential output highlights the need for strengthening extension services in different regions.

This study provides a few composite indices of development, using the State level data for 1981 and 1991. It uses the principal component technique, which provides a straightforward procedure for deriving a single index from a multiplicity of variables, Income and basic need indicators. The results show that a considerable inter-State inequality exists in the case of income, basic needs and overall development index. The overall development and income indices indicate that the inequality has slightly declined during the last decade. However, the income inequality is much lower than the inequality in the overall development. We hope that this study will help policy makers to identify the States making improvement in the living standards and to know whether the State disparity has been reduced over time in India.

This study examines the worker's behaviour in choosing their job risks and the role of trade unions in influencing the wage-risk trade-off. It also analyses the problem of sample selection and its effects on the estimated compensation for job risks. The empirical results provide a strong support for the efficiency of labour market in deriving the optimal risk level. They also imply that the unionists receive a higher compensation for work related risks than the non-unionists. Allowing for sample selectivity produces a downward bias in the estimated union wage differentials for deadly hazards. The estimated values of life and injury might he useful for policy makers, international agencies and researchers in evaluating the health projects in India.

A statistical analysis of the increasing inflow of data with which astronomers are confronted from different modern facilities. This book stems from a meeting held in September 1989 at the International Stellar Data Centre in Strasbourg.

Sometimes, in reliability studies, neither the life of all failed units nor the number of units still functioning is known at any specific time due to problems such as administrative delays. Consequently, one might consider an estimate of the mean time to failure (MTTF) based only on known failure times of part of the units. An investigation is conducted into the bias and efficiency of such an estimator for either an exponential or a Weibull distribution. In the exponential case, exact expressions are obtained, and, for the Weibull case, a Monte Carlo simulation was used. The estimate of MTTF based on known lifetimes of failed units alone underestimates with smaller variance and higher mean squared error than does the estimate based on the total accumulated lifetime of both failed and surviving units. >

A simple electrical system capable of evaluating the contour integrals involved in the transformations between Laplace (frequency) and time domains as developed by the authors is described in this paper. Given the frequency response data of a fixed-parameter linear system, its transient response can be evaluated using this integral analyser. In addition to being useful in such domain transformations this instrument can also be used for Fourier coefficient analysis of periodic functions.

Isradipine is a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker (CCB) commonly used as vasodilator with antihypertensive properties. A remote-controlled release formulation for isradipine would substantially improve the clinical outcomes of the patients requiring chronic long-term treatment. In this work, sustained release (SR) tablets of isradipine, composed of hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC), have been produced by wet granulation and their in vitro and in vivo characterization was compared to a conventional tablet dosage form of immediate release (IR) as preliminary assessment. Tablets composed of 15.0% (wt/wt) HPMC exhibited a SR profile over a period of 24 hours. The release of isradipine followed a Fickian diffusion pattern obeying to the first order kinetics and the extent of absorption was even higher in comparison to the developed conventional tablets, which showed immediate drug release. In vivo studies were carried out in rabbits, showing that the extent of isradipine absorption from the developed tablets was higher in comparison to IR tablets due to the modified release profile obtained for the former (p

Isradipine is a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker (CCB) commonly used as vasodilator with antihypertensive properties. A remote-controlled release formulation for isradipine would substantially improve the clinical outcomes of the patients requiring chronic long-term treatment. In this work, sustained release (SR) tablets of isradipine, composed of hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC), have been produced by wet granulation and their in vitro and in vivo characterization was compared to a conventional tablet dosage form of immediate release (IR) as preliminary assessment. Tablets composed of 15.0% (wt/wt) HPMC exhibited a SR profile over a period of 24 hours. The release of isradipine followed a Fickian diffusion pattern obeying to the first order kinetics and the extent of absorption was even higher in comparison to the developed conventional tablets, which showed immediate drug release. In vivo studies were carried out in rabbits, showing that the extent of isradipine absorption from the developed tablets was higher in comparison to IR tablets due to the modified release profile obtained for the former (p