GPU Accelerated Discontinuous Galerkin Methods for Shallow Water Equations

We discuss the development, verification, and performance of a GPU accelerated discontinuous Galerkin method for the solutions of two dimensional nonlinear shallow water equations. The shallow water equations are hyperbolic partial differential equations and are widely used in the simulation of tsunami wave propagations. Our algorithms are tailored to take advantage of the single instruction multiple data (SIMD) architecture of graphic processing units. The time integration is accelerated by local time stepping based on a multi-rate Adams-Bashforth scheme. A total variational bounded limiter is adopted for nonlinear stability of the numerical scheme. This limiter is coupled with a mass and momentum conserving positivity preserving limiter for the special treatment of a dry or partially wet element in the triangulation. Accuracy, robustness and performance are demonstrated with the aid of test cases. We compare the performance of the kernels expressed in a portable threading language OCCA, when cross compiled with OpenCL, CUDA, and OpenMP at runtime.Comment: 26 pages, 51 figure

Cladophialophora bantiana

Cladophialophora bantiana is one of the few neurotropic fungi which causes CNS infections in immunocompetant hosts. Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis caused by this fungus is one of the most difficult conditions to treat due to its poor prognosis and difficulty in management. Thermo-tolerance and multiple functions of melanin produced by this fungus is responsible for its role as pathogen in immunocompetent hosts. Early recognition and excision of lesion with antifungal therapy are required in the management of this condition.  Culture and histopathology aid in the diagnosis. Research to find out a novel cost effective fungicidal agent against C. bantiana is the need of the day.

Linezolid resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Linezolid is the only antibiotic available as an oral formulation for resistant staphylococcal infections. It is effective in skin & soft tissue infections, nosocomial pneumonias including VAP, infective endocarditis and MRSA meningitis. It is also effective in the eradication of both nasal & throat colonization of MRSA. Its high bioavailability and post antibiotic effect, ease of switching to oral therapy during its use and the fact that it can be used in patients of all ages, also in patients with liver disease and poor kidney function and its increased effectiveness over glycopeptides makes this drug a precious drug in the treatment of resistant staphylococcal infections. Linezolid resistance in staphylococcus is defined as a linezolid MIC of ≥8 mg/L. Reported Linezolid resistance in India and elsewhere is 2-20%.There is clonal dissemination of Linezolid Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LRSA) within or across health care settings which demands continuous surveillance to determine the emergent risk of resistance strains and to establish guidelines for appropriate use. Clinical laboratories should confirm any LRSA preferably by a second method, prior to using linezolid for serious infections. Effective surveillance, more judicious use of this antibiotic, avoiding linezolid usage for empiric therapy in hospital acquired staphylococcus infections, optimization of the pharmacological parameters of the antibiotics in specific clinical situation, decreasing bacterial load by timely surgical debridement or drainage of collections, use of combination therapies would prevent the emergence of resistance to linezolid in staphylococcus aureus.

The Need for Enhanced Physical Infrastructure in the United States

An examination of necessary infrastructure improvements in the United States

ROLE OF RASAYANA CHIKITSA IN THE MANAGEMENT OF FEMALE INFERTILITY W.S.R. HYPOTHYROIDISM- A CASE STUDY

Ayurveda is the Ancient system of Medicine which gives equal importance to preventive and curative aspects of treatment. Rasayana Chikitsa plays a key role in the treatment of all the diseases (both in curative and preventive). There is nothing painful and stressful to women, for not being conceived. In the present modern era, female infertility is raised to the alarming extent due to diet & lifestyle modifications. Couples suffering from the infertility are approaching the infertility centres and going for the artificial reproductive techniques (IUI, IVF, ICSI-ET, Sarogasy). Ayurveda, through its unique line of treatment approaches, paves the way for fertility management through the medicines along with diet & lifestyle modifications. The Commonest cause for fertility being the Hypothyroidism in females (in this present study, I have considered hypothyroidism as Rasa pradosaja vyadi), clinical study was done at OPD, DR. BRKR Govt Ayurvedic College, Hyderabad and treated the patient with Dipana, Pachana, Rasayana Chikitsa and the patient conceived. In this present article an attempt is made to review and understand the concept of Rasayana chikitsa in the management of infertility with special reference to hypothyroidism (Dhatupradosja vyadi)

Microstructural evolution during remelting of laser surface alloyed hyper-monotectic Al-Bi alloy

The present investigation explores the possibility of synthesizing a two-phase microstructure consisting of a fine dispersion of bismuth particles in an aluminium matrix using the laser surface alloying technique. The possibility of controlling the size distribution of bismuth particles by subsequent remelting is also investigated. The microstructural analysis of the surface alloyed samples shows that the average size of the bismuth particles reduces with increase in laser scan speed. In order to understand the factors that determine the nature of the size distribution of the particles, a detailed model is developed. The model incorporates heat and fluid flow induced by the laser to arrive at the evolution of the temperature and velocity of the melt in three dimensions. Using these as inputs, a kinetic analysis of the nucleation, growth and coarsening induced by collision-controlled coalescence of the bismuth particles from the melt is carried out. Comparison with the experiments indicates that coalescence due to convection plays an important role in the evolution of the size distribution of bismuth particles

A NEW NP-UPLC METHOD FOR THE SEPARATION AND SIMULTANEOUS QUANTIFICATION OF RAMUCIRUMAB AND ERLOTINIB

Objective: This investigation demonstrates a stability-indicating and reliable “normal phase ultra-performance liquid chromatography” method to simultaneously quantify Ramucirumab and Erlotinib in the pharmaceutical dosage form. Methods: Successful separation was accomplished using Chiralcel-OD-3 column (50 mm x 4.6 mm, 3 μm) with an isocratic type of elution using a mobile phase containing n-hexane+isopropyl alcohol+methanol (89:10:1), respectively with 1.0 ml/min flow rate. The wavelength sensor was attuned at 266 nm to quantify Ramucirumab and Erlotinib. Results: Erlotinib and Ramucirumab peaks were eluted with fine resolution at retention times 1.7807 min and 3.175 min, respectively. In the 10-150 μg/ml and 1-15 μg/ml concentration ranges for Erlotinib and Ramucirumab, the calibration graphs were linear, with regression coefficients of 0.99928 and 0.99976, respectively. The suggested ultra-performance liquid chromatography approach has been shown as sensitive, precise, robust, accurate, specific and stability indicating through the resolution of Erlotinib and Ramucirumab from its degradation-based compounds. Conclusion: The established ultra-performance liquid chromatography technique was effectively extended to the evaluation of Erlotinib and Ramucirumab in the pharmaceutical dosage form and the test results appeared satisfactory

Effect of Year, Season and Parity on Milk Production Traits in Murrah Buffaloes

Effects of year, season and parity on total lactation milk yield (TLMY), 305 day milk yield (305d MY) and average fat percentage for Murrah buffaloes maintained at dairy farm under GADVASU, Ludhiana, Punjab, during 2004-2008 were evaluated. Averaged TLMY, 305d MY and Fat percentage were 2191.8± 93.7 kg, 2091.1±87.06 kg and 7.12±0.11%. TLMY was found to be significantly affected by season (P<0.05) but not by year and parity. The highest milk yield was obtained in animals calving in winter followed by rainy and summer. Milk yield of buffaloes in winter was significantly higher than that of animals in summer (P<0.05). The TLMY increased over the years with highest milk yield in the year 2006 (2345.1±99.32kg). There was no consistent increase or decrease with the advance in years there on which may be due to the environmental variation in different years. TLMY was found lower in first parity and highest in fifth parity thereof decreasing (P<0.05). Similar results were obtained for 305d MY, where only the season was found significant (P<0.05). The average fat percentage was significantly affected by year and season (p<0.05). Milk fat percentage of buffaloes calved in winter was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of the animals calved in summer. Similarly the fat percentage varied significantly among the parities with no consistent increase over the advancement of the parities