3,108 research outputs found
Implications for Conservation of Coral Reefs in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands comprised of 306 Islands and 226 rocks covering
about 948.8 km2 coral reefs and 762 km2 mangrove areas. There are 106 protected
areas in these Islands, 96 designated as wildlife sanctuaries, 9 national parks and one
biosphere reserve. Among the 9 national parks, 2 are marine national parks which have
not yet inventoried thoroughly. There are about 6540 species of fauna, 2500 species of
flora reported from these islands. About 4% of marine species are endemic. Natural
and human impacts on coral reefs have been increasing in recent years. The Indian
Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004 caused severe damage to coral reefs of these
Islands. About 4000 ha of North Andaman, 1211 ha of South Andaman and 3500 ha of
Nicobar Island reefs were damaged due to tsunami. All corals and important
associated animals are protected under Indian Wildlife Act, 1972 and Biodiversity Act,
2002. The tribal people of Nicobar Islands are exempted from the wildlife act and it
cause extensive damage to coral reef associated fauna. Nowadays poaching and
tourism developments are the major threats to reefs. There are 1,10,000 tourists are
visiting the islands during the calm weather season from October to February. Paddy
field of these Islands covers about 10,517 ha with the usage of 32 kg fertilizers per
hectare. Fertilizers discharges into sea cause algal over growth on reefs. Most of the
coral reefs monitoring works are restricted to South Andaman reefs only. There is an
urgent need for establishment of permanent monitoring site in each reef, increase of
awareness campaign, sea patrolling and strict enforcement of law. The conservation
strategies for coral reefs of these Islands are discussed in the paper in detail
High Prevalence of Tuberculosis among Adults with Fever Admitted at a Tertiary Hospital in North-western Tanzania
Tuberculosis is a leading cause of death in developing countries where HIV is endemic. This hospital based study was done to estimate the magnitude of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis and to determine predictors of tuberculosis among febrile adults admitted at Bugando Medical Centre (BMC), Mwanza, Tanzania. A total of 346 adults febrile patients admitted in medical wards were studied. Sputum for AFB microscopy and chest X-rays was used to diagnose tuberculosis. Clinical features were collected using standardized data collection tool. HIV testing and CD4 counts were determined. Data were analyzed using STATA version 11 software. Of 346 febrile adults patients 116 (33.5%) were diagnosed to have tuberculosis; of which 79 (68.1%) and 37 (31.9%) had pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis, respectively. Smear negative PTB were more common in HIV positive than in HIV negative patients (50% vs. 18.5%, p=0.007). Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis was more common in HIV positive patients than pulmonary tuberculosis (86.4% vs. 13.6%), p=0.0001). On multivariate logistic regression analysis the predictors of tuberculosis were; age above 35 years (OR =2.38, p=0.007), cardinal symptoms (OR=37, p<0.0001), pleural effusion (OR=24, p=0.0001), and HIV status (OR =3.2, p=0.0001). Of 79 patients with PTB, 48 (60.7%) were AFB smear positive and 31(39.3%) were AFB smear negative. HIV patients with smear negative tuberculosis had significantly lower CD4 count than HIV patients with smear positive tuberculosis (63.5 cells/μl versus 111.5 cells/μl) [Mann- Whitney test p=0.0431]]. No different in mortality was observed between patients with TB and those without TB admitted in BMC medical wards (28.5% vs. 23.0%, p= 0.1318). Tuberculosis is the commonest cause of fever among adults patients admitted at BMC and is predicted by age above 35 years, positive HIV status, cardinal PTB symptoms, and pleural effusion. Routinely TB screening is highly recommended among adults with fever, cough, night sweating and wasting in countries where HIV is endemic.\u
Quantum Monte Carlo Studies of Relativistic Effects in Light Nuclei
Relativistic Hamiltonians are defined as the sum of relativistic one-body
kinetic energy, two- and three-body potentials and their boost corrections. In
this work we use the variational Monte Carlo method to study two kinds of
relativistic effects in the binding energy of 3H and 4He. The first is due to
the nonlocalities in the relativistic kinetic energy and relativistic one-pion
exchange potential (OPEP), and the second is from boost interaction. The OPEP
contribution is reduced by about 15% by the relativistic nonlocality, which may
also have significant effects on pion exchange currents. However, almost all of
this reduction is canceled by changes in the kinetic energy and other
interaction terms, and the total effect of the nonlocalities on the binding
energy is very small. The boost interactions, on the other hand, give repulsive
contributions of 0.4 (1.9) MeV in 3H (4He) and account for 37% of the
phenomenological part of the three-nucleon interaction needed in the
nonrelativistic Hamiltonians.Comment: 33 pages, RevTeX, 11 PostScript figures, submitted to Physical Review
Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft versus allograft in young patients
Objectives: Traditionally, bone-patella tendon-bone (BTB) autograft has been the gold standard graft choice for younger, athletic patients requiring ACL reconstruction. However, donor site morbidity, post-operative patella fracture, and increased operative time have led many surgeons to choose BTB allograft for their reconstructions. Opponents of allografts feel that slower healing time, higher rate of graft failure, and potential for disease transmission makes them undesirable graft choices in athletic patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical outcomes, both subjective and objective, of young patients that who have undergone either BTB autograft or allograft reconstructions with a minimum of 2-year follow-up. Methods: One hundred and twenty patients (60 autograft, 60 allograft), age 25 and below at time of surgery, were contacted after being retrospectively identified as patients having an ACL reconstruction with either a BTB allograft or autograft by one senior surgeon. Patients were administered the Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale and IKDC Subjective Knee Evaluation questionnaires. Fifty (25 BTB autograft and 25 BTB allograft) of the 120 returned for physical examination as well as completion of a single leg hop test and laxity evaluation using a KT-1000 arthrometer evaluation. Of the 120 patients contacted, there were a total of 7 failures (5.8%) requiring revision, 6 in the allograft group (86%) and 1 in the autograft group (14%). Results: The average Lysholm scores were 89.0 and 89.56 and the average IKDC scores were 90.8 and 92.1 in the autograft and allograft groups respectively. The differences in the Lysholm scores and the IKDC scores were not significant. The single leg hop and KT-1000 scores were also not significantly different. One autograft patient had a minor motion deficit. Three allograft patients had a grade 1 Lachman and pivot glide. One autograft patient and two allograft patients had mild patellafemoral crepitus. There was no significant difference in anterior knee pain between the two groups Conclusion: There is no significant difference in patient-rated outcome between ACL reconstructions using BTB autografts versus allografts. However, the overall study group did reveal an increased failure rate requiring revision in the allograft group. © The Author(s) 2015
Freak Waves in Random Oceanic Sea States
Freak waves are very large, rare events in a random ocean wave train. Here we
study the numerical generation of freak waves in a random sea state
characterized by the JONSWAP power spectrum. We assume, to cubic order in
nonlinearity, that the wave dynamics are governed by the nonlinear Schroedinger
(NLS) equation. We identify two parameters in the power spectrum that control
the nonlinear dynamics: the Phillips parameter and the enhancement
coefficient . We discuss how freak waves in a random sea state are more
likely to occur for large values of and . Our results are
supported by extensive numerical simulations of the NLS equation with random
initial conditions. Comparison with linear simulations are also reported.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let
The detailed mechanism of the eta production in pp scattering up to the Tlab = 4.5 GeV
Contrary to very early beliefs, the experimental cross section data for the
eta production in proton-proton scattering are well described if pi and only
eta meson exchange diagrams are used to calculate the Born term. The inclusion
of initial and final state interactions is done in the factorization
approximation by using the inverse square of the Jost function. The two body
Jost functions are obtained from the S matrices in the low energy effective
range approximation. The danger of double counting in the p-eta final state
interaction is discussed. It is shown that higher partial waves in
meson-nucleon amplitudes do not contribute significantly bellow excess energy
of Q=100 MeV. Known difficulties of reducing the multi resonance model to a
single resonance one are illustrated.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, corrected typos in relation (3), changed content
(added section with differential cross sections
Fuzzy Spheres in pp Wave Matrix String Theory
The behaviour of matrix string theory in the background of a type IIA pp wave
at small string coupling, g_s << 1, is determined by the combination M g_s
where M is a dimensionless parameter proportional to the strength of the
Ramond-Ramond background. For M g_s << 1, the matrix string theory is
conventional; only the degrees of freedom in the Cartan subalgebra contribute,
and the theory reduces to copies of the perturbative string. For M g_s >> 1,
the theory admits degenerate vacua representing fundamental strings blown up
into fuzzy spheres with nonzero lightcone momenta. We determine the spectrum of
small fluctuations around these vacua. Around such a vacuum all N-squared
degrees of freedom are excited with comparable energies. The spectrum of masses
has a spacing which is independent of the radius of the fuzzy sphere, in
agreement with expected behaviour of continuum giant gravitons. Furthermore,
for fuzzy spheres characterized by reducible representations of SU(2) and
vanishing Wilson lines, the boundary conditions on the field are characterized
by a set of continuous angles which shows that generically the blown up strings
do not ``close''.Comment: 45 pages REVTeX 4 and AMSLaTeX. 1 figure. v2: references added.
Figure redrawn using LaTe
Properties of Regge Trajectories
Early Chew-Frautschi plots show that meson and baryon Regge trajectoies are
approximately linear and non-intersecting. In this paper, we reconstruct all
Regge trajectories from the most recent data. Our plots show that meson
trajectories are non-linear and intersecting. We also show that all current
meson Regge trajectories models are ruled out by data.Comment: 30 pages, latex, 18 figures, to be published in Physical Review
Autonomy of Nations and Indigenous Peoples and the Environmental Release of Genetically Engineered Animals with Gene Drives
This article contends that the environmental release of genetically engineered (GE) animals with heritable traits that are patented will present a challenge to the efforts of nations and indigenous peoples to engage in self‐determination. The environmental release of such animals has been proposed on the grounds that they could function as public health tools or as solutions to the problem of agricultural insect pests. This article brings into focus two political‐economic‐legal problems that would arise with the environmental release of such organisms. To address those challenges, it is proposed that nations considering the environmental release of GE animals must take into account the underlying circumstances and policy failures that motivate arguments for the use of the modified animals. Moreover, countries must recognize that the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights place on them an obligation to ensure that GE animals with patented heritable traits are not released without the substantive consent of the nations or indigenous peoples that could be affected
Hole depletion and localization due to disorder in insulating PrBa2Cu3O7-d: a Compton scattering study
The (mostly) insulating behaviour of PrBa2Cu3O7-d is still unexplained and
even more interesting since the occasional appearance of superconductivity in
this material. Since YBa2Cu3O7-d is nominally iso-structural and always
superconducting, we have measured the electron momentum density in these
materials. We find that they differ in a striking way, the wavefunction
coherence length in PrBa2Cu3O7-d being strongly suppressed. We conclude that Pr
on Ba-site substitution disorder is responsible for the metal-insulator
transition. Preliminary efforts at growth with a method to prevent disorder
yield 90K superconducting PrBa2Cu3O7-d crystallites.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, revised version submitted to PR
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