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In recent years, applications of marginal materials, also called nontraditional (either natural or waste products), have been considered in road construction with great interest in many industrialized and developing countries. The use of nontraditional materials in road making is based on technical, economic, and ecological criteria. The lack of traditional road materials and the protection of the environment make it imperative to investigate marginal materials carefully. India has a large network of steel plants located in different parts of the country and many more are planned for the near future. Several million metric tons of iron and steel are produced in these plants. However, along with production of iron and steel, huge quantities of solid wastes like blast furnace slag and steel slag as well as other wastes such as flue dust, blast furnace sludge, and refractories are also being produced in these plants. The iron ores in India, although rich in iron content, are high in alumina content also and as such the volume of slag generated is very high. Normally production of 1 metric ton (1 Mg) of steel generates 1 Mg of solid waste. Although the steel industry slags have their own unique properties and are exploitable for road works, they have never been put to use on Indian roads because of a lack of scientific studies conducted on these materials, nonavailability of proper design and construction standards on them, and the absence of data about the long-term behavior of these materials. In the absence other outlets, these solid wastes have occupied several acres of land around plants throughout the country. Keeping in mind the need for bulk use of these solid wastes in India, it was thought expedient to test these materials and to develop specifications to enhance the use of slags in road making, in which higher economic returns may be possible. Exhaustive and detailed laboratory investigations have been carried out at the Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi, India, to develop suitable specifications for construction of low-volume roads. Based on laboratory investigation results, specifications were developed for construction of low-volume roads in different parts of the country. While specifications were being formulated, attempts were made to maximize use of solid wastes in different layers of the road pavement. Postconstruction pavement performance studies have clearly indicated that these waste materials can be used for construction of low-volume roads with twofold benefits: ( a) it will help clear valuable land of huge dumps of slags, and ( b) it will also help preserve the natural reserves of aggregates, thus protecting the environment.

In most radiology departments, axial computed tomography (CT) is the standard acquisition mode for routine head examinations. Historically, this practice involved the use of singledetector row machines, and has persisted even with the advent of helical and multidetector row CT systems. Artefacts seen using multidetector row CT systems have been shown to be substantially fewer than a single-detector row machines, and those that were identified were associated with helical scanning. However, artefacts can be seen if the axial scanning mode is used on a multidetector row CT system when one of the detector rows is faulty. It is important for radiologists, CT radiographers, and physicists to be aware of these as they can mimic disease and cause misinterpretation. We report the cases of three patients who underwent emergency head CT examinations that showed artefacts misinterpreted initially as pathological lesions by the radiologist, necessitating further investigations. Although there has been a report of an unknown substance on the collimator assembly causing hypoattenuating artefacts, prior to the present series, there have been no reports of contrast medium spill on the detector and optic assembly causing artefacts.

Oxide particles are commonly used as fillers in plastics, paper, rubber, etc. (particulate composites). The successful fabrication of such composites is dependent upon the adhesive strength of the filler particles to the matrix. The compatibility of the matrix and the filler particles is generally enhanced by the adsorption of surface modifiers such as surfactants and polymers at the particle-matrix interface. To develop a scientific basis for the selection of the appropriate modifiers it is necessary to understand their adsorption mechanisms. Specifically, the adsorption of polymeric additives is attributed to a combination of chemical and electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces. Hydrogen bonding has been suggested to be the primary adsorption mechanism for nonionic polymers. However, a literature survey of the Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-oxide system suggested that PEO, a nonionic polymer, was substrate specific. A systematic study was undertaken to investigate the adsorption mechanisms of PEO on oxide particles. It was determined that strong Bronsted acid sites on the surface interact with the ether oxygen, a Lewis base, of PEO to induce adsorption. In this work, characterization of PEO binding sites on oxides is reported and the mechanisms of PEO adsorption are discussed.

Results were collected from 11 studies comparing intrauterine insemination (IUI) with intracervical insemination (ICI) of frozen donor semen, 10 studies comparing IUI with timed natural intercourse (NI) or ICI in couples with semen defects and seven studies comparing ICI with NI or ICI in couples with unexplained infertility. IUI significantly increased the pregnancy rate relative to favourably timed ICI in donor insemination (DI) with frozen semen both with and without gonadotrophin stimulation of the female partner (odds ratios (95% confidence interval) 1.92 (1.02–3.61) and 2.63 (1.52–4.54) respectively). The benefit of IUI tended to be less when the pregnancy rate for ICI was high and IUI had no benefit with fresh donor semen. Overall IUI was of significant benefit in the male factor couples compared with NI-ICI (odds ratio 2.20 (1.43–3.39) and the advantage appeared to be maintained when comparison was confined to properly timed ICI although the odds ratios were not significantly greater than 1. IUI had no benefit relative to favourably timed NI-ICI for couples with unexplained infertility; an apparent advantage overall was produced by studies where NI was late. None of the studies on male factor used a sperm function test to define male subfertility and three only included couples with good mucus penetration by sperm. The range of semen defects defined was such that many couples would have had a good chance of conceiving naturally given a normal female partner but nevertheless the overall pregnancy rate (4.8%) was considerably less than in the unexplained group (11.6%), suggesting that some sperm dysfunction was present. We conclude that the available evidence suggests that IUI is valuable for DI with cryopreserved semen and for couples with mild to moderately impaired semen quality and postulate that it overcomes failure to fertilize due to impaired mucus penetration and poor survival in the female reproductive tract.

Derived flood frequency distributions (DFFD) are relatively new in the field of hydrology. These models use rainfall and catchment characteristics for deriving the flood frequency distribution. The DFFD models developed so far use joint probability density function of exponentially distributed rainfall intensity and duration and consider these variables as independent of each other. In reality this may not be true and these variables may be correlated as well. In the present paper a physically based flood frequency model has been developed for negatively correlated rainfall intensity and duration. In the model, infiltration losses are represented by the Φ index. The geomorphoclimatic instantaneous unit hydrograph (GcIUH) is used as the effective rainfall-runoff model.

This article develops a major departure from conventional thinking about business strategy. A competitive strategy must be designed not for a company or profit centre, but for an offering, the thing that customers choose to buy or not buy. Moreover, each such offering normally has a market which differs from the markets of its competing substitutes. This is a central theme in the authors' book Creating Value: Shaping Tomorrow's Business (Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1997), which comprehensively covers competitive and corporate strategy, including the resource-based approach.

A fast growing strain of Chlorella saccharophila was isolated from the marine water of New Zealand and grown in heterotrophic conditions using glucose or glycerol as a carbon source. Biomass production was found to be higher in culture fed with glucose (2.14±0.08 g L(-1)) as compared to glycerol (0.378±0.04 g L(-1)). Lipid accumulation was similar for both carbon sources, at approximately 22% of dry cell weight. However, carotenoid yield was higher with glycerol (0.406±0.0125 mg g(-1)) than with glucose (0.21±0.034 mg g(-1)). Further optimization of the growth of the isolate gave maximal carotenoid production of 16.39±1.19 mg g(-1) total carotenoid, containing 11.32±0.64 mg g(-1) zeaxanthin and 5.07±0.55 mg g(-1) β-carotene. Comparison of various chemical and physical carotenoid extraction methods showed that ultrasonication was required for maximum extraction yields. The new strain has potential for biofuel, with carotenoid co-production.

We present the discovery of an outflowing ionized wind in the Seyfert 1 Galaxy Mrk 335. Despite having been extensively observed by most of the largest X-ray observatories in the last decade, this bright source was not known to host warm absorber gas until recent XMM-Newton observations in combination with a long-term Swift monitoring program have shown extreme flux and spectral variability. High resolution spectra obtained by the XMM-Newton RGS detector reveal that the wind consists of three distinct ionization components, all outflowing at a velocity of 5000 km/s. This wind is clearly revealed when the source is observed at an intermediate flux state (2-5e-12 ergs cm^-2 s^-1). The analysis of multi-epoch RGS spectra allowed us to compare the absorber properties at three very different flux states of the source. No correlation between the warm absorber variability and the X-ray flux has been determined. The two higher ionization components of the gas may be consistent with photoionization equilibrium, but we can exclude this for the only ionization component that is consistently present in all flux states (log(xi)~1.8). We have included archival, non-simultaneous UV data from HST (FOS, STIS, COS) with the aim of searching for any signature of absorption in this source that so far was known for being absorption-free in the UV band. In the COS spectra obtained a few months after the X-ray observations we found broad absorption in CIV lines intrinsic to the AGN and blueshifted by a velocity roughly comparable to the X-ray outflow. The global behavior of the gas in both bands can be explained by variation of the covering factor and/or column density, possibly due to transverse motion of absorbing clouds moving out of the line of sight at Broad Line Region scale., 24 pages, 12 figures, ApJ accepted

The evaluation of tight clastic reservoirs challenges not only the accuracy of well logging techniques, but also routine and special core analysis. Traditional formation evaluation approaches, often fail to adequately characterize tight sands or carry a large and sometime unacceptable uncertainty in the results. During the on-going exploration and appraisal stage of the field, significant amount of data was acquired to build a robust static and dynamic model. Core acquired from the reservoir section was carefully analysed and integrated with other multidisciplinary data in order to reduce the level of uncertainty in critical formation evaluation properties like shale volume, porosity, permeability and saturations. These formation evaluation properties are considered as the basic inputs for static and dynamic modelling. The only way to make the models robust is by reducing the uncertainty associated with these critical petrophysical parameters. This can be achieved by planning, executing, and screening proper core analysis protocols and the integration with cross functional data like NMR logs. Additional confidence on the results comes from analogue field data.The objective of this paper is to document some of the challenges and how, through application of optimized integrated formation evaluation techniques, tight sand reservoirs had been characterized.

The CoRoT short asteroseismic runs give us the opportunity to observe a large variety of late-type stars through their solar-like oscillations. We report the observation and modeling of the F5V star HD 175272. Our aim is to define a method for extracting as much information as possible from a noisy oscillation spectrum. We followed a differential approach that consists of using a well-known star as a reference to characterize another star. We used classical tools such as the envelope autocorrelation function to derive the global seismic parameters of the star. We compared HD 175272 with HD 181420 through a linear approach, because they appear to be asteroseismic twins. The comparison with the reference star enables us to substantially enhance the scientific output for HD 175272. First, we determined its global characteristics through a detailed seismic analysis of HD 181420. Second, with our differential approach, we measured the difference of mass, radius and age between HD 175272 and HD 181420. We have developed a general method able to derive asteroseismic constraints on a star even in case of low-quality data. %This method is based on the comparison to a star with common seismic and classical properties. Seismic data allow accurate measurements of radii and masses differences between the two stars. This method can be applied to stars with interesting properties but low signal-to-noise ratio oscillation spectrum, such as stars hosting an exoplanet or members of a binary system., Comment: Accepted in A&A

KG-ONN-2003/1 is an onshore block located in the south-western part of the Krishna-Godavari Basin, India (Figure 1). The block was awarded to the consortium of Cairn India and ONGC with Cairn India as the Operator. The JV made two discoveries in the block in early Cretaceous sandstone sequences, the Raghavapuram Formation sandstones and the deeper Golapalli Formation sandstones. The first discovery well-A was drilled based on 3D seismic data in year 2010. Well-A encountered both the Raghavapuram Formation and the Golapalli Formation sandstone reservoir units at depths of shallower than 4000m. Both these Cretaceous sandstone packages are very low permeability. Petrography of core material coupled with routine core analysis demonstrates that a combination of mechanical compaction and clay authigenesis has dramatically reduced porosities and permeability. The main objective of the rock physics studies reported here was to derive a methodology to map the extent of the reservoir in order to reduce the sub-surface uncertainties for the forthcoming field appraisal campaign. This paper illustrates why rock characterisation studies should be integral within field development, and how integration of studies which include rock physics, petrophysics, seismic and geological data can help fully delineate reservoir and non-reservoir zones.

The numerous results obtained with asteroseismology thanks to space missions such as CoRoT and Kepler are providing a new insight on stellar evolution. After five years of observations, CoRoT is going on providing high-quality data. We present here the analysis of the double star HD169392 complemented by ground-based spectroscopic observations. This work aims at characterizing the fundamental parameters of the two stars, their chemical composition, the acoustic-mode global parameters including their individual frequencies, and their dynamics. We have analysed HARPS observations of the two stars to retrieve their chemical compositions. Several methods have been used and compared to measure the global properties of acoustic modes and their individual frequencies from the photometric data of CoRoT. The new spectroscopic observations and archival astrometric values suggest that HD169392 is a wide binary system weakly bounded. We have obtained the spectroscopic parameters for both components, suggesting the origin from the same cloud. However, only the mode signature of HD169392 A has been measured within the CoRoT data. The signal-to-noise ratio of the modes in HD169392B is too low to allow any confident detection. We were able to extract mode parameters of modes for l=0, 1, 2, and 3. The study of the splittings and inclination angle gives two possible solutions with splittings and inclination angles of 0.4-1.0 muHz and 20-40 degrees for one case and 0.2-0.5 muHz and 55-86 degrees for the other case. The modeling of this star with the Asteroseismic Modeling Portal led to a mass of 1.15+/-0.01 Ms, a radius of 1.88+/-0.02 Rs, and an age of 4.33+/-0.12 Gyr, where the uncertainties are the internal ones., Comment: 13 pages, 12 Figures, Accepted for publication in A&A

A systematic investigation has been made into the degree of silylium ion character in species of the type i-Pr3SiY where Y- is a weakly coordinating hexahalo-carborane anion, X6-CB11H6-, with X = Cl, Br, I. By X-ray crystal structural criteria such as the average C−Si−C angle (117.3(4)°, 117.0(13)°, and 115.6(9)° for X = Cl, Br, I, respectively) and the downfield 29Si chemical shift (115, 110, and 97 ppm for X = Cl, Br, I, respectively) the hexachloro-carborane anion is the least coordinating. Thus, the “ion-like” species i-Pr3Siδ+(Cl6-CB11H6)δ- becomes the closest structural approach to date to a condensed phase silylium ion. With the aid of ab initio molecular orbital theory and silicon chemical shift calculations we address the question of how much silylium ion character this species represents. From structural, energetic, and NMR criteria (where expectation values for the condensed phase 29Si chemical shifts are revised downward) we conclude that i-Pr3Siδ+(Cl6-CB11H6)δ- may have >50% silylium ion char...

Objective The Endometriosis Health Profile-30 (EHP-30), an endometriosis-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaire, forms part of our service evaluation of all women undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for endometriosis in our reproductive medicine unit. We used the EHP-30 to investigate patient-reported outcomes in all patients undergoing this procedure. Study design Retrospective review of 16 women with endometriosis undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for debilitating symptoms after other modalities of treatment had failed. Patients completed EHP-30 questionnaires before the operation and again three months after surgery. Results Total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for endometriosis results in a significant improvement in HRQoL. The impact was greatest in the core domains – control and powerlessness, emotional wellbeing and social support. There was a 100% response rate for the core domains whereas in the modular domains, missing response rates ranged from 12.5% to 62.5%, with the percentage of missing data being greatest in the concern on infertility and relationship with children domains. Pain was significantly positively correlated with control and powerlessness, emotional wellbeing, work life and relationship with children. After multiple regression analyses, only control and powerlessness and emotional wellbeing were found to be predictive of pain. Additionally, changes in pain before and after total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy were significantly positively correlated with the changes in the core domains – control and powerlessness, emotional wellbeing and self image. After multiple regression analyses, change in pain was found to be predictive of ΔControl and powerlessness in our study subjects. Conclusion Total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy significantly improves HRQoL in patients debilitated by symptoms attributable to endometriosis and in whom other modalities of treatment have failed.

A preliminary effort to identify the barriers to dissemination of renewable energy technologies in developing countries has been made.

It was previously reported that dolomite samples from different locations showed varying flocculation behavior with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). In this study, a Florida dolomite sample was examined, and it was determined that palygorskite associated with dolomite was responsible for its flocculation with PEO. A detailed characterization of dolomite samples from different locations was made by electrokinetic, XRD and FT-IR analyses, and the relevance of these characteristics to flocculation with PEO is discussed.

$\theta$ Cygni is an F3 spectral-type main-sequence star with visual magnitude V=4.48. This star was the brightest star observed by the original Kepler spacecraft mission. Short-cadence (58.8 s) photometric data using a custom aperture were obtained during Quarter 6 (June-September 2010) and subsequently in Quarters 8 and 12-17. We present analyses of the solar-like oscillations based on Q6 and Q8 data, identifying angular degree $l$ = 0, 1, and 2 oscillations in the range 1000-2700 microHz, with a large frequency separation of 83.9 plus/minus 0.4 microHz, and frequency with maximum amplitude 1829 plus/minus 54 microHz. We also present analyses of new ground-based spectroscopic observations, which, when combined with angular diameter measurements from interferometry and Hipparcos parallax, give T_eff = 6697 plus/minus 78 K, radius 1.49 plus/minus 0.03 solar radii, [Fe/H] = -0.02 plus/minus 0.06 dex, and log g = 4.23 plus/minus 0.03. We calculate stellar models matching the constraints using several methods, including using the Yale Rotating Evolution Code and the Asteroseismic Modeling Portal. The best-fit models have masses 1.35-1.39 solar masses and ages 1.0-1.6 Gyr. theta Cyg's T_eff and log g place it cooler than the red edge of the gamma Doradus instability region established from pre-Kepler ground-based observations, but just at the red edge derived from pulsation modeling. The pulsation models show gamma Dor gravity-mode pulsations driven by the convective-blocking mechanism, with frequencies of 1 to 3 cycles/day (11 to 33 microHz). However, gravity modes were not detected in the Kepler data, one signal at 1.776 cycles/day (20.56 microHz) may be attributable to a faint, possibly background, binary. Asteroseismic studies of theta Cyg and other A-F stars observed by Kepler and CoRoT, will help to improve stellar model physics and to test pulsation driving mechanisms., Comment: Accepted for Publication in The Astrophysical Journal, July 1, 2016

Background Chronic idiopathic urticaria (hives) (CIU) is a common, often debilitating, disorder with no known cause. Existing research suggests that increased stress and anxiety are associated with CIU. This study examines the relationship between HPA reactivity (ACTH and cortisol), perceived stress, and anxiety in adults with CIU. Methods The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used to elicit an acute stress response in adults with CIU (n = 36) and healthy controls (n = 37). Repeated blood samples were assayed for ACTH and cortisol to determine Area Under the Curve (AUCi), Task Reactivity, and Peak Response. Stress appraisal and anxiety were assessed with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), respectively. Groups were compared on ACTH, Cortisol, PSS, and BAI via t-tests. Linear regression models assessed diagnostic group with PSS and BAI separately in predicting ACTH and cortisol AUCi, Task Reactivity, and Peak Response. Results There were no significant group differences in ACTH, cortisol, PSS or BAI. CIU significantly moderated the relationship between (a) BAI with both ACTH and Cortisol Task Reactivity (B = .414, p = .021; B = .221, p = .042), and (b) PSS with ACTH AUCi (B = .428, p = .002), and Cortisol Task Reactivity (B = .029, p = .041). Conclusions Adults with CIU who have higher anxiety and/or who appraise life as more stressful may be at increased risk for alterations in HPA acute stress responses, thereby also increasing risk of sustained dermal inflammation.

BACKGROUND--In normal subjects treadmill exercise usually produces the greatest maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). This may not be true for patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in whom bicycle exercise, which offers support for the shoulder girdle, may produce a higher oxygen consumption than treadmill exercise. The aim of this study was to determine which mode of exercise produced the greatest oxygen consumption in patients with severe COPD. METHODS--Eight patients with severe COPD (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) more than three standardised residuals below predicted) exercised to a symptom limited maximum on a bicycle and on a treadmill on separate days. The workload on the bicycle wa increased by 10 watts each minute, and the treadmill gradient was increased by 2.5% alternate minutes whilst the speed remained constant. Measurements of oxygen consumption (VO2), ventilation (VE), heart rate, and oxygen saturation were made, and capillary blood gases were measured before and immediately after exercise. Lactate concentration was measured before and four minutes after exercise. RESULTS--There were no differences at peak exercise between the two forms of exercise for VO2 (median 11.7 and 12.2 ml/min/kg for bicycle and treadmill, respectively), for VE (median 26.6 and 25.0 l/min, respectively), and for heart rate (median 119 and 115 beats/min, respectively). The median lactate levels after bicycle exercise were higher than those after the treadmill (2.42 v 0.94 mmol/l). CONCLUSIONS--Although only a small number of patients was studied and individual variability was large, there was no clear difference between the two forms of exercise. Regular bicycle exercise was unfamiliar to this group of patients and generated the greatest lactate response. The results do not support the hypothesis that bicycle exercise will produce a better performance in patients with severe COPD, but the two modes of exercise cannot be used interchangeably.

A number of mutant strains overproducing cellulase, s‐glucosidase, and xylanase enzymes were isolated from the cellulolytic fungus Trichoderma reesei QM 9414 after mutagenesis by chemical treatment. Selection was carried out using agar plates containing microcrystalline cellulose. Cellulase (filter paper hydrolyzing activity) and s‐glucosidase production by one of the mutants in shake flask cultures was approximately twice as high as the parent strain. Xylanase production was found to be twenty‐five times as high when 1% xylan was used as the carbon source as when 1% cellulose was used. The morphology of the mycelium of the mutants was quite different from that of the parent strain. The mutants, for example, produced mycelium which was highly branched and showed a typical restricted growth pattern when grown on cellulose agar plates. During solid‐state fermentation of paddy straw, maximum degradation was observed in the treatment where a superior mutant of T. reesei was inoculated in combination ...

The viability of physico-chemical purification methods such as selective flocculation for the separation of two components having similar chemical compositions and the same crystal structure but different surface properties is demonstrated. A loss of selectivity was observed in a dolomite-dolomite mixture when polyethylene oxide (PEO) (five million molecular weight) was used as the flocculant. Heteroflocculation was minimized using a low molecular weight PEO (MW ≈ 105) as a site blocking agent (SBA). Near complete separation was achieved at pH 10.5 at the 100% recovery level.

Protein tyrosine kinase 6 (PTK6) is an intracellular tyrosine kinase that has distinct functions in normal epithelia and cancer. It is expressed primarily in nondividing epithelial cells in the normal intestine, where it promotes differentiation. However, after DNA damage, PTK6 is induced in proliferating progenitor cells, where it contributes to apoptosis. We examined links between PTK6 and the tumor suppressor p53 in the isogenic p53+/+ and p53−/− HCT116 colon tumor cell lines. We found that p53 promotes expression of PTK6 in HCT116 cells, and short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of PTK6 leads to reduced induction of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21. Knockdown of PTK6 enhances apoptosis in HCT116 cells with wild-type p53, following treatment of cells with γ-radiation, doxorubicin, or 5-fluorouracil. No differences in the activation of AKT, ERK1/2, or ERK5, known PTK6-regulated prosurvival signaling proteins, were detected. However, activity of STAT3, a PTK6 substrate, was impaired in cells with knockdown of PTK6 following DNA damage. In contrast to its role in the normal epithelium following DNA damage, PTK6 promotes survival of cancer cells with wild-type p53 by promoting p21 expression and STAT3 activation. Targeting PTK6 in combination with use of chemotherapeutic drugs or radiation may enhance death of colon tumor cells with wild-type p53. Mol Cancer Ther; 11(11); 2311–20. ©2012 AACR.

It is believed that magnetic activity on the Sun and solar-type stars are tightly related to the dynamo process driven by the interaction between rotation, convection, and magnetic field. However, the detailed mechanisms of this process are still incompletely understood. Many questions remain unanswered, e.g.: why some stars are more active than others?; why some stars have a flat activity?; why is there a Maunder minimum?; are all the cycles regular? A large number of prox- ies are typically used to study the magnetic activity of stars as we cannot resolve stellar discs. Recently, it was shown that asteroseismology can also be used to study stellar activity, making it an even more powerful tool. If short cycles are not so un- common, we expect to detect many of them with missions such as CoRoT, Kepler, and possibly the PLATO mission. We will review some of the latest results obtained with spectroscopic measurements. We will show how asteroseismology can help us to better understand the complex process of dynamo and illustrate how the CoRoT and Kepler missions are revolutionizing our knowledge on stellar activity. A new window is being opened over our understanding of the magnetic variability of stars.

OBJECTIVES. Eating disorders have been associated with body image disturbances, disordered eating attitudes, and other psychiatric difficulties. There is limited published literature on body shape and eating attitudes from non-western settings. This article presents the findings of a study of eating attitude and body shape concerns among female nursing students in India. METHODS. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted at a government nursing college associated with a tertiary-level multi-specialty hospital. Instruments used included semi-structured proforma, Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), and the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ). Correlations of age and body mass index with EAT-26 and BSQ scores were carried out using Pearson's correlation statistics. The level of statistical significance was accepted at p0.05. RESULTS. A total of 97 nursing students returned the completed study questionnaire. There was a significant positive correlation between body mass index and BSQ score. However, body mass index was not found to be correlated with EAT-26 score. CONCLUSIONS. The findings from the current study bring some interesting insights into body shape and eating attitudes of female nursing students from India.

Standard endoscopy is an insensitive test for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Narrow band imaging (NBI) endoscopy enhances visualization of the distal esophagus. NBI patterns like intrapapillary capillary loop (IPCL) dilatation, tortuosity, and increased number; microerosions; increased vascularity at the squamocolumnar junction (SCJ); ridge-villous pattern below the SCJ; and presence of columnar islands in the distal esophagus have been suggested as features of GERD. We evaluated the effect of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy on NBI findings in GERD patients. Patients prospectively underwent NBI upper endoscopy before and after PPI therapy. NBI findings were recorded at each endoscopy. Twenty-one patients with GERD symptoms (mean age 60.0 years; males 90.5%; white 90.5%) were studied. After PPI therapy, there was a significant reduction in the proportion of patients with the following NBI features: IPCL tortuosity (90% vs. 4.8%, P0.0001), dilated IPCLs (86% vs. 9.5%, P0.0001), and increased vascularity at the SCJ (43% vs. 9.5%, P= 0.0082). PPI led to healing of all microerosions (71% vs. 0%, P0.0001) and disappearance of ridge-villous patterns below the SCJ (14% vs. 0%, P0.0001). There was no significant change in the proportion of patients with increased numbers of IPCLs pre- and post-PPI therapy (71% vs. 48%, P= 0.09) or columnar islands in the distal esophagus (38% vs. 29%, P= 0.31). In patients with GERD symptoms, NBI features suggestive of GERD respond to PPI; suggesting these features are truly acid-mediated. These findings need to be confirmed by randomized controlled trials.

This paper presents a detailed and precise study of the characteristics of the Exoplanet Host Star and CoRoT main target HD 52265, as derived from asteroseismic studies. The results are compared with previous estimates, with a comprehensive summary and discussion. The basic method is similar to that previously used by the Toulouse group for solar-type stars. Models are computed with various initial chemical compositions and the computed p-mode frequencies are compared with the observed ones. All models include atomic diffusion and the importance of radiative accelerations is discussed. Several tests are used, including the usual frequency combinations and the fits of the \'echelle diagrams. The possible surface effects are introduced and discussed. Automatic codes are also used to find the best model for this star (SEEK, AMP) and their results are compared with that obtained with the detailed method. We find precise results for the mass, radius and age of this star, as well as its effective temperature and luminosity. We also give an estimate of the initial helium abundance. These results are important for the characterization of the star-planet system., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 7 tables, to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics

WOS: 000301297500010, The evolved solar-type stars 16 Cyg A and B have long been studied as solar analogs, yielding a glimpse into the future of our own Sun. The orbital period of the binary system is too long to provide meaningful dynamical constraints on the stellar properties, but asteroseismology can help because the stars are among the brightest in the Kepler field. We present an analysis of three months of nearly uninterrupted photometry of 16 Cyg A and B from the Kepler space telescope. We extract a total of 46 and 41 oscillation frequencies for the two components, respectively, including a clear detection of octupole (l = 3) modes in both stars. We derive the properties of each star independently using the Asteroseismic Modeling Portal, fitting the individual oscillation frequencies and other observational constraints simultaneously. We evaluate the systematic uncertainties from an ensemble of results generated by a variety of stellar evolution codes and fitting methods. The optimal models derived by fitting each component individually yield a common age (t = 6.8 +/- 0.4 Gyr) and initial composition (Z(i) = 0.024 +/- 0.002, Y-i = 0.25 +/- 0.01) within the uncertainties, as expected for the components of a binary system, bolstering our confidence in the reliability of asteroseismic techniques. The longer data sets that will ultimately become available will allow future studies of differential rotation, convection zone depths, and long-term changes due to stellar activity cycles., NASA's Science Mission Directorate; NASANational Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) [NNX09AE59G]; National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation (NSF) [NSF PHY05-51164]; Science and Technology Facilities CouncilScience & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) [ST/J001163/1], Funding for this Discovery mission is provided by NASA's Science Mission Directorate. This work was supported in part by NASA grant NNX09AE59G. Computational time on Kraken at the National Institute of Computational Sciences was provided through NSF TeraGrid allocation TG-AST090107. We acknowledge the KITP staff at UCSB for their warm hospitality during the research program "Asteroseismology in the Space Age." This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF PHY05-51164. The authors thank Jeff Hall, Todd Henry, Dave Soderblom, and Russel White for helpful discussions, as well as the entire Kepler team, without whom these results would not be possible. We also thank all funding councils and agencies that have supported the activities of the Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium Working Group 1, including the Pale Blue Dot Project hosted by White Dwarf Research Corporation (http://whitedwarf.org/palebluedot/).

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy can reveal the nature of the adsorbed species in the solid—liquid interfacial region and hence the underlying adsorption mechanisms. Efficiency of physico-chemical separation processes such as flotation and selective flocculation is strongly influenced by the nature of the adsorbed species. The role of IR spectroscopy in understanding the nature of the adsorbed species at the apatite/dolomite-surfactant/polymer interface is discussed. Also, the application of Fourier transform IR spectroscopy in analyzing trace amounts of impurities, and its potential for quantitative analysis of powders is outlined.

The quantitative analysis of mixtures of particles of similar chemical composition and the same crystal structure but different surface chemical groups may be performed using diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry. This was demonstrated by analyzing a dolomite-dolomite mixture, only one component of which had isolated surface hydroxyl groups.

The southern Florida phosphate deposits that will be mined in the future contain significant amounts of dolomite. Because high MgO levels are undesirable in phosphoric acid production, several flotation schemes for the removal of the dolomite have been attempted. Alternatively, selective flocculation has been suggested as a potential process. A high MgO rock was simulated with a 30:10:60 mixture of apatite, dolomite and silica, respectively. Single mineral selectivity was observed in the apatite-silica and dolomite-silica systems using Polyacrylic acid (PAA) and Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) flocculants, respectively. However, no single mineral selectivity was observed in the apatite-dolomite system using PEO. Heteroflocculation, suspected to be the major reason for the loss of selectivity, was minimized by the addition of a site blocking agent (SBA), consisting of a lower-molecular-weight fraction of PEO. Process parameters such as size reduction schemes, flocculant/SBA dosage and pH were investigated to achieve the desired separation. The selectivity obtained in binary mixed-mineral tests was also achieved in the ternary mixed-mineral system, namely, the apatite-dolomite-silica system. In this report, surface chemical characterization of the samples and their flocculation behavior are discussed.

An Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI), Approximate Factorization (AF) scheme is presented here for the solution of the two-dimensional elliptic partial differential equations, with control functions as source terms, used for grid generation. This scheme requires significantly less computational effort than a Successive Over Relaxation (SOR) scheme. The dependence of the choice of the acceleration parameter on the rate of convergence of the AF scheme has been studied. As an example, grids generated by this method are shown, along with a comparison of the convergence history for the present AF and SOR schemes.

PROBLEM The localization and biological effects of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) are not limited to cardiac tissue but extend to a number of extra-atrial tissues and organs, including the ovary. The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of ANP on granulosa cell steroidogenesis. Hence, the direct effects of ANP on the production of progesterone, 20 alpha-hydroxpregn-4-en-3-one (20 alpha-OH-P), and estrogen by undifferentiated and differentiated rat ovarian granulosa cells were examined in vitro. METHOD Undifferentiated granulosa cells obtained from the ovaries of diethylstilbestrol-primed, immature rats were treated with increasing doses (10(-12) to 10(-6) M) of rANP for 48 h. RESULTS ANP evoked a two- and threefold increase in progesterone and 20 alpha-OH-P production relative to untreated controls, respectively. Increasing doses of ANP in combination with porcine FSH (125 ng/well) resulted in a biphasic response in progesterone production above FSH-treated controls. Specifically, a maximal inhibition of 35% in progesterone production was achieved at 10(-9) M ANP, followed by a stimulation to levels comparable with FSH-stimulated controls at higher doses examined. Increasing doses of ANP evoked a twofold increase in FSH-stimulated 20 alpha-OH-P production over respective controls. Following pretreatment of granulosa cells with FSH for 48 h to evoke differentiation, ANP caused a significant dose-dependent inhibition in basal progesterone production that resulted in a 76% suppression at the highest dose examined. In contrast, ANP evoked a 2.8-fold increase in 20 alpha-OH-P production when compared with controls. Finally, in FSH-stimulated differentiated granulosa cells, ANP evoked a threefold increase in progesterone production and a 65% inhibition in 20 alpha-OH-P production. ANP exerted no significant effects on estrogen production by either undifferentiated or differentiated granulosa cells in the presence or absence of FSH. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate that ANP can modulate directly progestin steroidogenesis in both undifferentiated and differentiated rat ovarian granulosa cells in vitro and, therefore, may play an important role in granulosa cell differentiation and follicular maturation.

We present a general classification of all normal and ``chiral" symmetries of heavy quark effective theories. Some peculiarities and conondrums associated with the ``chiral" symmetries are discussed., Comment: 15 pages, preprint UR-1320, ER40685-770

An upwind flux vector splitting algorithm which utilizes the moments of the Boltzmann equation to derive the Euler equations for inviscid compressible flow has been used with a variety of grid types. Although the upwind approach offers the potential for accurate flow simulations, it is necessary to ensure that such procedures can be utilized on realistic grids. In this paper, an upwind algorithm is used with structured multiblock grids, unstructured grids of triangles and hybrid structured/unstructured grids to solve realistic compressible flow problems in two dimensions.

Geotextile filters are rapidly replacing graded granular filters as the standard practice in geotechnical design. This paper describes a laboratory study on filtration behaviour of three different kinds of geotextile, in order to select the most suitable fabric for a particular field application of pavement edge drains. Based on long-term performance studies of the geotextile filters wrapped around drain pipes, retention and permeability criteria for selection of the geotextile under a compacted backfill have been recommended. Regarding the clogging resistance criterion, it has been concluded that instead of choosing a geotextile based on its indicative pore size, it would be advisable to conduct a gradient ratio test at equilibrium flow conditions for studying the clogging resistance of geotextiles.

Non-isothermal austenitisation kinetics of three plain carbon steels have been studied with the help of Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) employing modified Kissinger's analysis. Kinetic parameters like activation energy and coefficient of Johnson-Mehl-Avrami (JMA) kinetic equation so obtained, were used to calculate the theoretical intercritical annealing time for intercritical annealing of three plain carbon steels to develop dual-phase structure. Good correlation has been obtained between theoretical and experimentally found intercritical annealing time.

Two-body nonleptonic decays of charmed mesons are studied on the basis of a simple pole-dominance model involving the vector, pseudoscalar and axial-vector meson poles., Preprint No. UR-1314 ER-40685-764 (Postscript file of figures upon request.)

Chopped paddy straw was used as a substrate to study the pattern of biodegradation after inoculation (singly or in combination) with four cellulytic fungi: Trichoderma reesei QM 9414, T. viride, Pleurotus sajor-caju and Coprinus cinereus. To assess the rate of biodegradation, samples were drawn at regular intervals and analysed for organic carbon, total nitrogen, humus synthesis and respiratory activities of the degrading substrate. The C:N ratio was also calculated to judge the extent of biodegradation. Maximum lowering of the C:N ratio was observed in the treatment where dual inoculation with T. reesei and P. sajor-caju was done. A pot-culture experiment was conducted to assess the effects of application of composted paddy straw on the yield of wheat. Application of the paddy straw degraded by the two fungi, in combination with urea at 80 kg N ha−1, produced a significant effect on the yield of wheat.

Using a sample of high-redshift lensed quasars from the CASTLES project with observed-frame ultraviolet or optical and near-infrared spectra, we have searched for possible biases between supermassive black hole (BH) mass estimates based on the CIV, Halpha and Hbeta broad emission lines. Our sample is based upon that of Greene, Peng & Ludwig, expanded with new near-IR spectroscopic observations, consistently analyzed high S/N optical spectra, and consistent continuum luminosity estimates at 5100A. We find that BH mass estimates based on the FWHM of CIV show a systematic offset with respect to those obtained from the line dispersion, sigma_l, of the same emission line, but not with those obtained from the FWHM of Halpha and Hbeta. The magnitude of the offset depends on the treatment of the HeII and FeII emission blended with CIV, but there is little scatter for any fixed measurement prescription. While we otherwise find no systematic offsets between CIV and Balmer line mass estimates, we do find that the residuals between them are strongly correlated with the ratio of the UV and optical continuum luminosities. Removing this dependency reduces the scatter between the UV- and optical-based BH mass estimates by a factor of approximately 2, from roughly 0.35 to 0.18 dex. The dispersion is smallest when comparing the CIV sigma_l mass estimate, after removing the offset from the FWHM estimates, and either Balmer line mass estimate. The correlation with the continuum slope is likely due to a combination of reddening, host contamination and object-dependent SED shapes. When we add additional heterogeneous measurements from the literature, the results are unchanged., Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. 37 text pages + 8 tables + 23 figures. Updated with comments by the referee and with a expanded discussion on literature data including new observations

Studying star clusters offers significant advances in stellar astrophysics due to the combined power of having many stars with essentially the same distance, age, and initial composition. This makes clusters excellent test benches for verification of stellar evolution theory. To fully exploit this potential, it is vital that the star sample is uncontaminated by stars that are not members of the cluster. Techniques for determining cluster membership therefore play a key role in the investigation of clusters. We present results on three clusters in the Kepler field of view based on a newly established technique that uses asteroseismology to identify fore- or background stars in the field, which demonstrates advantages over classical methods such as kinematic and photometry measurements. Four previously identified seismic non-members in NGC6819 are confirmed in this study, and three additional non-members are found -- two in NGC6819 and one in NGC6791. We further highlight which stars are, or might be, affected by blending, which needs to be taken into account when analysing these Kepler data., 12 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables, accepted by ApJ

Candidaemia is associated with high mortality. Despite the fact that Candida species account for close to 10% of all nosocomial bloodstream infections, relatively few studies have investigated the management of candidaemia in hospitals. Our objective was to find out how candidaemia is managed in hospitals. Data relating to all episodes of candidaemia for the year 2008 were retrospectively collected in five centres in Scotland and Wales. A total of 96 candidaemic episodes were recorded in the year 2008, yielding 103 isolates of Candida. Fifty candidaemic episodes were caused by Candida albicans. Fluconazole was the most common agent prescribed for the treatment of candidaemia. There was great variation in the prescribed dose of fluconazole. Forty per cent of patients who survived received2 weeks of systemic antifungal therapy. Central venous catheters (CVC) were removed in 57% of patients. CVC removal was not associated with better survival. The overall mortality was 40.4%. Management of candidaemia varies between the UK centres and is often inadequate. There is need to have consensus on the dosages of antifungal agents and the duration of therapy. The current guidance on removal of CVC in all cases of candidaemia should be reviewed.