Super-linear speed-up of a parallel multigrid Navier-Stokes solver on Flosolver

In parallel computing, scalability is an important issue and getting linear speed-ups is difficult for most codes. Super-linear speed up has been achieved on an eight-processor Flosolver system for a multigrid Navier-Stokes code. The physical problem solved, the parallelization method, the speed-ups obtained and possible explanations for this result are discussed here

Three cases of Actinomyces isolation from the eye lesions of patients with a chronic and recurrent ophthalmic infection

Actinomycosis is an indolent, slowly progressive infection caused by Gram-positive facultative anaerobic bacteria from the genus Actinomyces. These bacteria have been reported as a cause of ophthalmic infections such as endophthalmitis, keratitis, and canaliculitis. The objective of the present study was to investigate the pattern and antibiotic sensitivity profile of anaerobes isolated from lesions in the medial canthus of the eye.Three pus aspirate samples (from eye) were delivered to a microbiology laboratory in a strict anaerobic condition in Robertson Cooked Meat media (RCM). The samples were inoculated on Blood Agar and incubated anaerobically in a Gas Pack Jar incubator at 5%-10% CO2 and in aerobic condition at 37°C. Pure colonies isolated on anaerobically incubated plates were identified by the VITEK® 2 COMPACT system. Antibiotic sensitivity testing was conducted using an Epsilometer-strip test.Three isolates identified and confirmed with the help of VITEK® 2 were Actinomyces israelii, Actinomyces odontolyticus, and Actinomyces meyeri. All three species of Actinomyces were sensitive to Vancomycin, Moxifloxacin, and Imipenem, but they were resistant to Metronidazole.Since there have been several cases of anaerobic ophthalmic infections reported to date, samples from patients with chronic eye infections should be analyzed for anaerobic culture for correct diagnosis and proper treatment. Moxifloxacin but not Metroni­dazole is a suitable drug for the treatment of anaerobic eye infection. Actinomycosis is an indolent, slowly progressive infection caused by Gram-positive facultative anaerobic bacteria from the genus Actinomyces. These bacteria have been reported as a cause of ophthalmic infections such as endophthalmitis, keratitis, and canaliculitis. The objective of the present study was to investigate the pattern and antibiotic sensitivity profile of anaerobes isolated from lesions in the medial canthus of the eye.Three pus aspirate samples (from eye) were delivered to a microbiology laboratory in a strict anaerobic condition in Robertson Cooked Meat media (RCM). The samples were inoculated on Blood Agar and incubated anaerobically in a Gas Pack Jar incubator at 5%-10% CO2 and in aerobic condition at 37°C. Pure colonies isolated on anaerobically incubated plates were identified by the VITEK® 2 COMPACT system. Antibiotic sensitivity testing was conducted using an Epsilometer-strip test.Three isolates identified and confirmed with the help of VITEK® 2 were Actinomyces israelii, Actinomyces odontolyticus, and Actinomyces meyeri. All three species of Actinomyces were sensitive to Vancomycin, Moxifloxacin, and Imipenem, but they were resistant to Metronidazole.Since there have been several cases of anaerobic ophthalmic infections reported to date, samples from patients with chronic eye infections should be analyzed for anaerobic culture for correct diagnosis and proper treatment. Moxifloxacin but not Metroni­dazole is a suitable drug for the treatment of anaerobic eye infection.

SEASONAL VARIATION IN THE CONTENT OF MANGIFERIN IN LEAVES OF MANGIFERA INDICA L.

Objective: Mangifera indica L., a member of the genus of evergreen trees, is cultivated extensively in India. The various parts of the tree find its use in the Ayurvedic system of medicine against diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, dyspepsia, sprue and carbuncle. The major constituent of the stem bark and leaves of M. indica is mangiferin and the various activities associated with the stem bark or the leaves are reported to be due to this component. Mangiferin is currently of interest due to its activities like antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, gastroprotective, antibacterial, chemopreventive and many more. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the variation in the mangiferin content with time, in leaves of M. indica, throughout the year.Methods: Samples of M. indica leaves were collected every month for a period of one year and the content of mangiferin was assessed at these time points. Mangiferin was quantified using the HPLC method.Results: Seasonal variation was seen in the mangiferin content of the leaves. Highest content was seen during the month of April.Conclusions: Content of mangiferin changes with the different seasons and reaches its highest value during fruit ripening.Â

Frobenius splitting and ordinarity

We examine the relationship between the notion of Frobenius splitting and ordinarity for varieties. We show that the de Rham-Witt cohomology groups Hi(X,W(OX)) of a smooth projective Frobenius split variety are finitely generated over W(k). We provide counterexamples to a conjecture of Mehta that Frobenius split varieties are ordinary or even Hodge-Witt

Numerical prediction and experimental validation of sound transmission loss for different acoustic materials

This paper examines the sound transmission loss (STL) through multilayer panel materials commonly used in the building industry. The acoustic characteristics of different materials and multilayer panels are studied. Experimental data for the noise reduction coefficient in the frequency range 100 to 4000 Hz have been obtained using the two room’s method.  Mass theory is also used to predict the acoustic performance of these systems and to improve their acoustic performance with noise treatment