A quantitative framework for estimating water resources in India

While issues related to water attract considerable attention in all spheres of life in India, very little quantitative information is available on the water budget of the country. There are primarily two reasons for this lacuna: first, the dearth of information on the variables associated with hydrology, and second, the absence of an easily accessible quantitative framework to put these variables in perspective. In this article, we discuss a framework that has been assembled to address both these issues. At the core of the framework is a hydrological routing model (HYDRA) that has been used to study the water balance of basins on various scales, ranging from a few square kilometres to continents. The basic data needed for implementing the framework are a suitable digital elevation model (DEM) and data on precipitation and evapotranspiration. Available discharge data can be used to validate the performance of the model. We demonstrate the viability of the framework by applying it to the hydrology of the Mandovi river on the western slopes of the Sahyadris; it is typical of the rivers along the Indian west coast. Most of the catchment area of the river is in Goa, but parts of the river also flow through Karnataka and Maharashtra. We use a 30" -resolution (∼ 1 km) DEM (GLOBE) and HYDRA to show that the model output mimics the observed discharge well, providing indirect validation for the surface run-off and sub-surface drainage values on which no data are available

GAIT ANALYSIS OF PEOPLE WITH TRANSTIBIAL AMPUTATION

Causes of transtibial (below knee) amputation vary from traumatic events such as accidents to vascular and circulatory disorders. Following amputation, the individual is fitted with a prosthetic device in order to regain mobility. However, the extent of recovery depends on factors such as prosthetic socket fit, functionality of the prosthetic device, the type of amputation and the individual’s health. Prior research was undertaken to study the asymmetry in gait, energy consumption and muscle activity in intact muscles of traditional amputees. Recently, research into residual muscle activity and residuum socket interface force in amputees with transtibial osteomyoplastic amputation has been undertaken. However, very little research has been undertaken to compare the residual muscle activation in unilateral transtibial traditional amputees and in those with unilateral transtibial osteomyoplastic amputation. Furthermore, the correlation between residual muscle activation, residuum socket interface force and the type of gait in individuals with unilateral transtibial osteomyoplastic amputation has never been studied. Study of residuum socket interface forces and residual muscle activity is important because these two parameters have been linked to factors that increase the risk of injury to the residual limb. Furthermore, study of residuum socket interface force helps a prosthetist better understand the loading in the prosthetic socket during gait and helps in achieving better prosthetic socket fit. Study of residual muscle activity patterns also helps in determining the effect of amputation on residual muscles and in turn on the health of the individual. Transtibial osteomyoplastic amputation is known to provide the amputees with distal end weight bearing and restoring the length tension relationship in the residual muscles and has been verified in the previous studies. However, a comparison between results observed after transtibial traditional amputation and transtibial osteomyoplastic amputation have never been studied. Such comparative studies provides insight into the type of prosthetic design that best suits each type of amputation and also provides a better understanding of advantages and disadvantages of each type of amputation. Gait is an important factor that affects residuum socket interface force and residual muscle activation. Study of the dependence of both these factors on the type of gait is of importance to develop better rehabilitation techniques and improve the performance of prosthetic devices. In this thesis, the residual muscle activation in transtibial osteomyoplastic amputees and transtibial traditional amputees is looked at. For this purpose, 10 transtibial osteomyoplastic amputees and 4 transtibial traditional amputees were recruited for the study. This would help in realizing the effect of amputation on residual muscle activity and lays the foundation for understanding the effect of amputation on residual limb health. We expect to see considerable residual muscle activity in the transtibial osteomyoplastic amputees and minimal or random muscle activity in transtibial traditional amputation. Furthermore, the co-relation between residuum socket interface (RSI) force and EMG to the type of gait is studied in transtibial osteomyoplastic amputees. For this purpose, 10 transtibial osteomyoplastic amputees were recruited for this study. We expect to see increasing RSI force and EMG activity while comparing self-selected gait, brisk gait and weight carry gait. This would help establish a co-relation between RSI force and EMG activity laying foundation in developing better rehabilitation techniques and prosthetic devices

Interpreting Answers to Yes-No Questions in User-Generated Content

Interpreting answers to yes-no questions in social media is difficult. Yes and no keywords are uncommon, and the few answers that include them are rarely to be interpreted what the keywords suggest. In this paper, we present a new corpus of 4,442 yes-no question-answer pairs from Twitter. We discuss linguistic characteristics of answers whose interpretation is yes or no, as well as answers whose interpretation is unknown. We show that large language models are far from solving this problem, even after fine-tuning and blending other corpora for the same problem but outside social media.Comment: Accepted at the Findings of EMNLP 202

Down-regulation of the global regulator SATB1 by statins in COLO205 colon cancer cells

Special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 (SATB1) regulates the expression of more than 1,000 genes in tumor cells. SATB1 expression has been implicated in metastasis, and its silencing results in reduced cancer progression and the reversion of metastatic cells to normal appearance. Therefore, any compound causing down-regulation of SATB1 expression or activity may be exploited for its therapeutic potential in terms of cancer regression. Earlier studies showed that the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzymeA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statin drugs), which are widely used to treat hypercholesterolemia, possess other pleotropic activities. These are now increasingly gaining attention for their cancer prevention abilities. However, the downstream interplay of the molecular mechanisms of such anti-cancer activities is unclear. Here, we show that SATB1 is down-regulated by statins in a time- and dose-dependent manner in COLO205 cells. This effect was statin-specific as the down-regulation of SATB1 was brought about by hydrophobic statins, such as simvastatin and fluvastatin, but not by hydrophilic pravastatin. Notably, treatment with mevalonate, an intermediate in the cholesterol and isoprenoid biosynthetic pathways, led to the inhibition of SATB1 down-regulation and cytotoxicity mediated by statins. Treatment with the proteasome inhibitors lactacystine and MG-132 inhibited the statin-mediated down-regulation of SATB1, suggesting that regulation occurs at the post-translational level. Thus, our results demonstrate a novel molecular mechanism for the anti-cancer activity of statin drugs in colon cancer cells, without invoking significant cytotoxicity

Radar Reflectivity of Micro Rain Radar (MRR2) At 16.44180N, 80.620E of India

To improve accurate standards of Radar Reflectivity Z, Rainfall Rates RR, and even to monitor small size precipitation particles Z-R relation is derived in this work with the help of Micro Rain Radar. Formerly, taking rain/precipitation data from ground-based rain gauges (Cylindrical, Optical, Weighing, Tipping Bucket Rain Gauges, Disdrometers, etc.,) currently, in this work using METEK MRR (Micro Rain Radar) of Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave System which reads the vertical structure of precipitation particles and hence named as vertical profile radar which operates at 24.2 GHz and height up to 6000m/6kms with an increment step size of 200m respectively to monitor the frozen hydrometeors. It is installed at (16.440 N, 80.620 E) K L University, 29 meters above the sea level (ASL) in CARE LAB. To know the Radar Reflectivity of precipitation, it is observing the amount of power received to the radar receiver after hitting the precipitation particles with respect to the transmitted power of the radar. This proposed work considered distinctive rain conditions at different heights ASL ranging from 200m 1200m 2200m, and derived Z-R relations respectively

Radar Reflectivity of Micro Rain Radar (MRR2) At 16.44180N, 80.620E of India

To improve accurate standards of Radar Reflectivity Z, Rainfall Rates RR, and even to monitor small size precipitation particles Z-R relation is derived in this work with the help of Micro Rain Radar. Formerly, taking rain/precipitation data from ground-based rain gauges (Cylindrical, Optical, Weighing, Tipping Bucket Rain Gauges, Disdrometers, etc.,) currently, in this work using METEK MRR (Micro Rain Radar) of Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave System which reads the vertical structure of precipitation particles and hence named as vertical profile radar which operates at 24.2 GHz and height up to 6000m/6kms with an increment step size of 200m respectively to monitor the frozen hydrometeors. It is installed at (16.440 N, 80.620 E) K L University, 29 meters above the sea level (ASL) in CARE LAB. To know the Radar Reflectivity of precipitation, it is observing the amount of power received to the radar receiver after hitting the precipitation particles with respect to the transmitted power of the radar. This proposed work considered distinctive rain conditions at different heights ASL ranging from 200m 1200m 2200m, and derived Z-R relations respectively

Gold Nanoparticles with Self-Assembled Cysteine Monolayer Coupled to Nitrate Reductase in Polypyrrole Matrix Enhanced Nitrate Biosensor

We have developed here a novel, highly sensitive and selective nitrate (NO– 3) biosensor by covalent immobilization of nitrate reductase (NaR) in self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of cysteine on gold nanoparticles (GNP)-polypyrrole (PPy) modified platinum electrode. Incorporation of GNP in highly microporous PPy matrix was confirmed by morphological scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. The electrochemical behavior of the NaR modified electrode exhibited the characteristic reversible redox peaks at the potential, –0.76 and –0.62 V versus Ag/AgCl. Further, the GNP-PPy nanocomposite enhanced the current response by 2-fold perhaps by enhancing the immobilization of NaR and also direct electron transfer between the deeply buried active site and the electrode surface. The common biological interferences like ascorbic acid, uric acid were not interfering with the NO– 3 measurement at low concentration levels. This biosensor showed a wide linear range of response over the concentration of NO– 3 from 1 μM to 1 mM, with higher sensitivity of 84.5 nA μM–1 and a detection limit of 0.5 μM. Moreover, the NO– 3 level present in the nitrate-rich beetroot juice and the NO– 3 release from the lipopolysaccharide treated human breast cancer cells were estimated

Visual Representations of Gender and Computing in Consumer and Professional Magazines

Studies in the nineteen-eighties showed that advertising images of computers were gendered, with women relatively less represented, and shown with less empowered roles, problems or presented as sexual objects. This paper uses a mix of content and interpretative analysis to analyse current imagery in consumerist and professional society publications. It reveals the present variation and complexity of the iconography of computers and people across different domains of representation, with the continuation of gender bias in subtle forms

High growth rate 4H-SiC epitaxial growth using dichlorosilane in a hot-wall CVD reactor

Thick, high quality 4H-SiC epilayers have been grown in a vertical hot-wall chemical vapor deposition system at a high growth rate on (0001) 80 off-axis substrates. We discuss the use of dichlorosilane as the Si-precursor for 4H-SiC epitaxial growth as it provides the most direct decomposition route into SiCl2, which is the predominant growth species in chlorinated chemistries. A specular surface morphology was attained by limiting the hydrogen etch rate until the system was equilibrated at the desired growth temperature. The RMS roughness of the grown films ranged from 0.5-2.0 nm with very few morphological defects (carrots, triangular defects, etc.) being introduced, while enabling growth rates of 30-100 \mum/hr, 5-15 times higher than most conventional growths. Site-competition epitaxy was observed over a wide range of C/Si ratios, with doping concentrations < 1x1014 cm-3 being recorded. X-ray rocking curves indicated that the epilayers were of high crystallinity, with linewidths as narrow as 7.8 arcsec being observed, while microwave photoconductive decay (\muPCD) measurements indicated that these films had high injection (ambipolar) carrier lifetimes in the range of 2 \mus