1,077 research outputs found
Heavy Vb‑cyclone precipitation: a transfer entropy application showcase
No full textSeveral past summer floods in Central Europe were associated with so-called Vb‑cyclones propagating from the Mediterranean Sea north-eastward to Central Europe. This study illustrates the usefulness of the parametric transfer entropy measure TE‑linear in investigating heavy Vb‑cyclone precipitation events in the Odra catchment (Poland). With the application of the TE‑linear approach, we confirm the impact of the Mediterranean Sea on precipitation intensification. Moreover, we also detect significant information exchange to Vb‑cyclone precipitation from evaporation over the European continent along the typical Vb‑cyclone pathway. Thus, the Mediterranean Sea could enhance the Vb‑cyclone precipitation by pre-moistening continental moisture source regions that contribute to precipitation downstream in the investigated catchments. Overall, the transfer entropy approach with the measure TE‑linear proved to be computationally effective and complementary to traditional methods such as Lagrangian and Eulerian diagnostics
Kumar versus Olsen cannulation technique for intraoperative cholangiography:a randomized trial
No full text<p>There is resistance to routine intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) during cholecystectomy because it prolongs surgery and may be experienced as cumbersome. An alternative instrument may help to reduce these drawbacks and lower the threshold for IOC. This trial compared the Kumar cannulation technique to the more commonly used Olsen clamp for IOC (KOALA trial; Dutch Trial Register NTR2582).</p><p>Patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomized between IOC using the Kumar clamp and the Olsen clamp. Primary end points were the time that the IOC procedure took and its perceived ease as measured on a visual analog scale from 0 (impossible) to 10 (effortless). To detect a difference of 33 % in IOC time, a total sample size of 40 patients was required.</p><p>Fifty-nine patients were randomized. Nine were excluded because of conversion to open cholecystectomy before the IOC procedure. Twenty-eight patients underwent IOC with the Kumar clamp and 22 with the Olsen clamp. The success rate was 23 (82.1 %) of 28 for the Kumar clamp and 19 (86.4 %) of 22 for the Olsen clamp (p > 0.999). The mean IOC time was 10 min 27 s +/- A 6 min 17 s using the Kumar clamp and 11 min 34 s +/- A 7 min 27 s using the Olsen clamp (p = 0.537). Surgeons graded the ease of the Kumar clamp as 6.8 +/- 2.7 and the Olsen clamp as 6.8 +/- A 2.1 (p = 0.977).</p><p>IOC using the Kumar clamp was neither faster nor easier than using the Olsen clamp. Both clamps facilitated IOC in just over 10 min. Individual surgeon preference should dictate which clamp is used.</p>
Investigation of the reactivity of AlCl3 and CoCl2 toward molten alkali-metal nitrates in order to synthesize CoAl2O4
No full textCobalt aluminate CoAl2O4 powder, constituted of nano-sized crystallites, is prepared, involving the reactivity of AlCl3 and CoCl2 with molten alkali-metal nitrates. The reaction at 450 °C for 2 h leads to a mixture of spinel oxide Co3O4 and amorphous γ-Al2O3. It is transformed into the spinel oxide CoAl2O4 by heating at 1000 °C. The powders are mainly characterized by XRD, FTIR, ICP, electron microscopy and diffraction, X-EDS and diffuse reflection. Their properties are compared to those of powders obtained by solid state reactions of a mechanical mixture of chlorides or oxides submitted to the same thermal treatment
Globalisation and sustainable exports of Indian medicinal and aromatic plants: A protection study
No full textIndia has a rich heritage of traditional systems of medicine viz. Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Tibetan which are mostly based on botanical formulations. Although biologically, the region is extremely rich in medicinal plants, due to years of unwise use, the availability of raw materials in desired quality and quantity has become difficult to obtain raising serious doubt about the safety and efficacy of the medicines currently in use. There is unprecedented demand for natural medicines, green health products, pharmaceuticals, food supplements, cosmetics, and herbal pesticides to bring about this alarming loss of plant biodiversity. The sustainable production, conservation and use of medicinal plants are influenced by a number of factors, largely of socio-economic, technical, institutional and policy nature. Unsustainable harvesting of the raw materials from the wild by untrained and poor collectors mostly using primitive methods and lack of awareness about the real value of the resources are other two important factors leading to resource depletion. Rural people derive a substantial portion of their income and products for their basic health care needs from medicinal plants gathered from the nature. Medicinal plants-based drug industries and enterprises which run into thousands presently source more than 85% of their raw materials from the wild as they are cheap and believed to be of higher potency. There is a great need to reduce pressure on the in-situ sources by diversifying the production sites of these important plants. Domestication is one of the alternatives being attempted but given the large population of developing countries living below poverty line and growing need for economic and environmental security, it is unlikely that the current lands devoted to pure or mixed agriculture or forestry can be diverted to grow medicinal plants in a significant amount. Besides, domestication has to be carried out in similar habitats since some of the cultivated plants are known to give different chemical constituents than their natural counterparts due to environmental factors. As a large number of private sectors investment is possible in this sector, medicinal plants can be developed as a potential bridge between sustainable economic developments, safe & affordable health care and conservation of vital biodiversity. The paper suggests that a long-term and sustainable bio-partnerships between industry and rural communities should be formed which is in the interest of both the producers/collectors and drug industries as both stand to gain. The former will have regular, reliable and quality supply sources of raw materials and later will have assured market, increased income and fair price for their products. Necessary support and facilitation by the GOs, NGOs and academia in terms of technology transfer, Policy and legal support and extension may build and strengthen the partnership evolution process. There is an immediate need to initiate pilot case studies and model buy back arrangements between collectors/growers and industry representatives to start this process. This paper analyses the social, economic and institutional implications of such relationships based on various examples of evolving partnership concepts focusing on their efficiency, equity, and feasibility.Medicinal Plants and Livelihood Security; Holistic Rocource Management Approach; Partnership Ventures; Sustainable Commercialisation
Arsenic Distribution and Mobilization: A Case Study of Three Districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (India)
No full textTectonic evolution of Himalayas is related to high erosional potential and substantial sediment transport. Fluvial deposition of clastic material in the Middle Gangetic plain (MGP) is mainly governed by crustal deformation and climatic condition of Himalayas (Singh M, Singh IB, Müller G, Geomorphology 86:144-175, 2007). Seven large Asian rivers-Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra, Yangtze, Huang He or Yellow River, Salween and Mekong-are fed by Himalayan glaciers which are supplying ~30 % of the global sediments to the ocean (Milliman JD, Meade RH, J Geol 9:1-19, 1983; Singh VB, Ramanathan AL, Pottakkal JG, Kumar M, J Asian Earth Sci 79:224-234, 2014, 2005). High flux of sediment transported from different terrain of Himalayas is product of geologically young rock formation (Singh VB, Ramanathan AL, Pottakkal JG, Kumar M, J Asian Earth Sci 79:224-234, 2014). It provides an opportunity to study the fluvial system and post-depositional changes in sediment water interaction depending on the degree of mobility of element under the altered environmental conditions. Arsenic (As) contamination of groundwater is a global problem. Understanding of As mobilization from sediments to As-contaminated aquifers is important for water quality management in areas of MGP of India.</p
Thermal and structural characterization of ultrasonicated Bi-Sn alloy in the eutectic composition
No full textIrradiation of the molten eutectic Bi43Sn57 alloy with ultrasonic energy produced different bismuth–tin phases that were not reported in the equilibrium binary phase diagram. The X-ray powder diffraction data, refined using the Rietveld method, allowed the identification of these metastable phases and their crystal structure. The Bi2Sn and b0-Sn phases, with distorted b-Sn type structure,
were obtained in the sample which was rapidly quenched after ultrasonication. On the other hand, the equiatomic phase BiSn was obtained in the quenched sample when the ultrasonication was continued during the rapid cooling below the eutectic point. The ultrasonicated samples were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry. The results suggested that the metastable phases, which were kinetically stable at RT, decomposed into equilibrium components during the heating treatment at 320 C, and that this conversion is an irreversible process. Observations by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis complete the characterization of samples
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High-resolution Near-infrared Spectroscopy of a Flare around the Ultracool Dwarf vB 10
No full textWe present high-resolution observations of a flaring event in the M8 dwarf vB 10 using the near-infrared Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) spectrograph on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The high stability of HPF enables us to accurately subtract a vB 10 quiescent spectrum from the flare spectrum to isolate the flare contributions and study the changes in the relative energy of the Ca ii infrared triplet, several Paschen lines, the He λ10830 triplet lines, and to select iron and magnesium lines in HPF's bandpass. Our analysis reveals the presence of a red asymmetry in the He λ10830 triplet, which is similar to signatures of coronal rain in the Sun. Photometry of the flare derived from an acquisition camera before spectroscopic observations and the ability to extract spectra from up-the-ramp observations with the HPF infrared detector enable us to perform time-series analysis of part of the flare and provide coarse constraints on the energy and frequency of such flares. We compare this flare with historical observations of flares around vB 10 and other ultracool M dwarfs and attempt to place limits on flare-induced atmospheric mass loss for hypothetical planets around vB 10. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]
Existence of variance-balanced binary designs with fewer experimental units
No full textAgarwal and Kumar (1986b) constructed variance-balanced (VB) ternary designs of [nu] treatments with a considerable reduction in number of experimental units as compared to the other existing block designs when [nu] - 1 is a prime. In this note, we shall show the existence of VB binary designs which make the further reduction in the number of experimental units.BIB design VB design GD design ternary binary
Decrease of pre-load in high strength bolts in the coarse of time (provisional result)
No full textCivil Engineering and GeosciencesStructural Engineerin
The programme of a series of tests in order to compare the friction factors of Fe 37 and Fe 52
No full textCivil Engineering and GeosciencesStructural Engineerin
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