Tentative load and resistance factor design criteria for steel beam-columns

Nominal design equations and reai•tance factors are developed for steel beam-columns as part of Load and Resistance Factor Design criteria for steel buildings. The resistance factors are derived from principles of first-order probability theory using calibration to present designs

Load factors for wind and snow loads for use in load resistance factor design criteria

This report presents the background and the derivations for the determination of the mean maximum loads and the corresponding load factors for wind and snow loading for use in Load and Resistance Factor Design Criteria for steel building structures

Digitized archive of the Kodaikanal images: Representative results of solar cycle variation from sunspot area determination

Photographic images are valuable data resources for studying long term changes in the solar magnetic field and its influence on the Earth's climate and weather. We digitized more than 100 years of white light images stored in photographic plates and films that are available at Kodaikanal observatory starting from 1904. The digitized images were calibrated for relative plate density and aligned in such a way that the solar north is in upward direction. A semi-automated sunspot detection technique was used to identify the sunspots on the digitized images. In addition to describing the calibration procedure and availability of the data, we here present preliminary results on the sunspot area measurements and their variation with time. The results show that the white-light images have a uniform spatial resolution throughout the 90 years of observations. However, the contrast of the images decreases from 1968 onwards. The images are circular and do not show any major geometrical distortions. The measured monthly averaged sunspot areas closely match the Greenwich sunspot area over the four solar cycles studied here. The yearly averaged sunspot area shows a high degree of correlation with the Greenwich sunspot area. Though the monthly averaged sunspot number shows a good correlation with the monthly averaged sunspot areas, there is a slight anti-correlation between the two during solar maximum The Kodaikanal data archive is hosted at http://kso.iiap.res.in. The long time sequence of the Kodaikanal white light images provides a consistent data set for sunspot areas and other proxies. Many studies can be performed using Kodaikanal data alone without requiring intercalibration between different data sources.Comment: 9 pages, A&A(accepted

Meander Line EBG Based Multiband Antenna for WLAN and WiMAX application

There have been many investigations in the past regarding the design of multi- band antennas. A multiband antenna is the one in which the same antenna can be operated at different frequencies. There have been many approaches towards the design of the multiband antenna like stacked patches, parasitic patches, use of slots, shaping i.e., the use of notches, reactive loading, slot loaded patches etc. The use of slots is an easier approach towards the design of multiband an- tenna as there is a well defined theoretical approach towards the design of the slot antennas. These slots can be cut either in the patch or in the ground plane as needed for the application. Higher gain is an important requirement for an antenna and use of Electromagnetic Band-Gap structures(EBG) is one of the promising technique to achieve this. The present thesis work focuses on the design of multiband antenna as well as novel Electromagnetic Band-Gap structures and their integration for enhance- ment of the gain of the antenna at desired frequencies of operation. The multi- band antenna is designed by cutting slots in the ground plane and the Uniplanar EBG is employed for the gain enhancement. The Fractalized Meander Line EBG based Microstrip Patch Slot Antenna oper- ates in the 6-7 GHz (Extended C-Band) and has a fractional bandwidth of 13% , and it maintains the radiation characteristics in the desired band with gain rang- ing from 5.5 to 7 dB. The Meander Line EBG based Multiband Antenna operates in the WLAN and WiMAX bands at frequencies 2.4, 3.6, 5.2 GHz respectively having gain 3.5 , 4.2 and 6.19 d

Review: Colchicine, Current Advances and Future Prospects

Ade R, Rai MK. 2010. Colchicine, current advances and future prospects. Nusantara Bioscience 2: 90-96. Colchicine isa toxic natural compound and secondary metabolite commonly produced by plants like Colchicum autumnale and Gloriosa superba. Itis originally used to treat rheumatic complaints, especially gout, and still finds its uses for these purposes today despite dosing issuesconcerning its toxicity. It is also prescribed for its cathartic and emetic effects. Initially oral colchicine has not been approved as a drugby U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But now FDA approved colchicine as a drug for some disorders. Colchicine's presentmedicinal use is in the treatment of gout and familial mediterranean fever. It is also being investigated for its use as an anticancer drug.In neurons, axoplasmic transport is disrupted by colchicine. Due to all the pharmacological application of colchicine, there is urgentneed to enhance the properties and increase the production of colchicine with the help of in vitro technologies. The present review ismainly focused on the chemistry of colchicine, its medicinal uses and toxicity

Determination of the chromospheric quiet network element area index and its variation during 2008-2011

Generally it has been considered that the plages and sunspots are the main contributors to the solar irradiance. There are small scale structures on the sun with intermediate magnetic fields that could also contribute to the solar irradiance. It has not yet been quantified how much of these small scale structures contribute to the solar irradiance and how much it varies over the solar cycle. In this paper, we used Ca II K images obtained from the telescope installed at Kodaikanal observatory. We report a method to separate the network elements from the background structure and plage regions. We compute the changes in the network element area index during the minimum phase of solar cycle and part of the ascending phase of cycle 24. The measured area occupied by the network elements is about 30% and plages less than 1% of the solar disk during the observation period from February 2008-2011. During the extended period of minimum activity it is observed that the network element area index decreases by about 7% compared to the area occupied by the network elements in 2008. A long term study of network element area index is required to understand the variations over the solar cycle.Comment: 12 pages, 9 Figures, Accepted for publication in RA

P-glycoprotein ATPase from the resistant pest, Helicoverpa armigera: Purification, characterization and effect of various insecticides on its transport function

AbstractHelicoverpa armigera is a major pest of agricultural crops and has developed resistance to various insecticides. A P-glycoprotein (Pgp) with ATPase activity likely to be involved in insecticide resistance was purified and characterized from insecticide-resistant H. armigera. The purification was 18-fold with 3% yield. The optimum pH and temperature were found to be 7.4 and 30–40°C, respectively. Kinetic studies indicated that this enzyme had a Km value of 1.2mM for ATP. Pgp from H. armigera was partially sequenced and found to be homologous to conserved sequences of mammalian Pgps. Pesticides stimulated H. armigera Pgp ATPase activity with a maximum stimulation of up to 40%. Quenching of the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence of purified Pgp was used to quantitate insecticide binding. Using the high-affinity fluorescent substrate, tetramethylrosamine, transport was monitored in real time in proteoliposomes containing H. armigera Pgp. The presence of Pgp could be one of the reasons for insecticide resistance in this pest

STUDY OF ENDOPHYTIC FUNGAL COMMUNITY FROM BARK OF VENTILAGO MADRASAPATNA GAERTN.

Endophytic fungi were isolated from the inner bark of Ventilago madrasapatna, a wellknown medicinal plant of India. It was investigated for endophytic mycoflora as a possible source of bioactive secondary metabolites. A total 66 isolates of 14 species belongs to 5 classes, were studied adopting a standard isolation protocol. The colonization frequency of the endophytic fungi was reported as 87.84%. Fungus composition included 6.25 % Eurotiomycetes, 9.3 % Dothideomycetes, 14.26% Soradariomycetes, 11.08 % Ascomycetes, 2.6 % Leotiomycetes and 1.3 % isolates were classified under Mycelia sterilia. The sterile endophytic fungi presently reported are expected to add to the list of new fungal species. Among the endophytic flora, Fusarium oxysporum was found to be the core-group fungus with a colonization frequency of 34.22%.Cladosporium cladosporiodes and Botrytis sp. are present only in bark of plant collected in Belur forest region. These results indicated that distribution of endophytic fungi is mainly influenced by environment factors