Stepwise Stability Constants & Thermodynamic Functions of In (III) Complexes with Some Substituted Derivatives of Quinoline & Pyridine

327-32

Enhanced MHC I antigen expression on tumour target cells is inversely correlated to lysis by allogenic but not by xenogenic NK cells

Relationship between the levels of MHC class 1 antigen expressed on tumour cells and their susceptibility to allogenic and xenogenic NK cells was investigated. Mouse and human natural killer-resistance inducing factor (NK-RIF) preparations were used for augmenting/inducing MHC 1 antigen expression on murine YAC and human K562 tumour cells, respectively YAC cells with augmented MHC I antigen expression became relatively resistant to lysis by murine NK cells but not to rat NK cells. Similarly, induction of MHC I antigens on K562 cells reduced their susceptibility to human NK cells but not to monkey NK cells. These results indicate that the inverse correlation of MHC I antigen expression and NK susceptibility does not hold true for xenogenic pairs of NK effector and target cells

Mixing in the surface waters of the western Bay of Bengal using 228Ra and 226Ra

228Ra and 226Ra have been measured in the surface waters of the western Bay of Bengal during five cruises conducted between 1988 and 1999. The ranges and mean (given in brackets) concentrations for 228Ra and 226Ra are 6.8-42.1 (17.8 ± 7.9) dpm/100 kg and 6.0-16.7 (9.2 ± 2.2) dpm/ 100 kg, respectively. (228Ra/226Ra) Activity Ratio (henceforth denoted as [228/226]) ranges from 0.8 to 3.4 with a mean of 1.9 ± 0.5. Both 228Ra and 226Ra show inverse correlation with salinity, the former much stronger. A surface 2-D diffusion-advection model is used with a new approach. A simple bivariate function, C(x,y) = C0e-Ax·e-By where C0, A and B are constants, is fitted to the whole 228Ra and 226Ra data C(x,y). Substituting C(x,y) in the two-dimensional steady-state diffusion equation of Ra, the estimated values of the constants A and B can be related to eddy diffusivities and advection velocities in the zonal (x) and meridional (y) directions. From this relationship, the horizontal eddy diffusivities in the zonal and meridional directions are inferred to be 1.3 × 107 and 2.1 × 108 cm2s-1, respectively in the absence of advection terms. Similarly, neglecting the influence of diffusion, one can estimate the advection velocities, wx and wy in the zonal and meridional directions, as 0.2 and 1.1 cm s-1, respectively. The model-fit values C(x,y) of 228Ra concentrations are in good agreement with the measured values except in regions showing exceptionally high and low values. Incorporating both the advection rates and eddy diffusivities into the equation, it is found that increasing advection velocities depending on the direction can decrease or increase the eddy diffusivities and that such changes are more effective in the meridional direction compared to zonal direction in the region of study. On the whole, 228Ra appears a good tracer to derive rates of mixing between low salinity waters in the north and their high salinity southern counterparts of the western Bay of Bengal. The eddy diffusivities, Kx and Ky (without advection) derived for the Bay of Bengal are higher by about an order of magnitude than the ones similarly obtained for the Arabian Sea. This is not unexpected due to the turbulent conditions prevailing in the Bay of Bengal for most of the year

A First-Order Primal-Dual Method for Saddle Point Optimization of PAPR Problem in MU-MIMO-OFDM Systems

This paper investigates the use of a particular splitting-based optimization technique for constrained l∞-norm based peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction problem in multiuser orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) based multiple-input multi-output (MIMO) systems. PAPR reduction and multi-user interference (MUI) cancelation are considered in a saddle-point formulation on the downlink of a multi-user MIMO-OFDM system and an efficient primal-dual hybrid gradient (PDHG) inspired algorithm with easy-to-evaluate proximal operators is developed. The proposed algorithm converges significantly faster to satisfactory solutions with much improved asymptotical convergence rate than existing methods. Numerical results illustrate the superior performance of the proposed algorithm over existing methods in terms of PAPR reduction for different MIMO configurations

A randomized controlled trial of lamivudine to treat acute hepatitis B

The role of antivirals in patients with acute viral hepatitis B (AVH-B) has not been evaluated in controlled trials. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of lamivudine in patients with AVH-B. AVH-B patients with serum bilirubin of more than 5 mg/dL were randomized to receive either 100 mg of lamivudine daily for 3 months (group 1, n = 31) or placebo (group 2, n = 40). Patients were considered to have severe AVH-B if they fulfilled 2 of 3 criteria: (1) hepatic encephalopathy; (2) serum bilirubin ≥ 10.0 mg/dL; and (3) international normalized ratio (INR) ≥ 1.6. At week 4, HBV DNA levels were significantly lower (P = 0.037) in group 1 (median: 3.6721 log copies/mL) than group 2 (median: 4.2721 log copies/mL). Thereafter, HBV DNA levels were comparable in the 2 groups. The improvement in serum bilirubin, ALT, and INR values was similar in the 2 groups. Twenty-two patients (71%) in group 1 and 25 patients (62.5%) in group 2 had severe AVH-B. Results were similar when patients with severe AVH-B were analyzed separately. After 12 and 18 months, 93.5% and 92.5%, respectively, of patients in the lamivudine group and 96.7% and 97.5%, respectively, of patients in the placebo group lost HBsAg. There were no deaths in either group. After 1 year, 21 patients (67.7%) in group 1 and 34 patients (85%) in group 2 developed protective anti-HBs titers (P = 0.096). All HBeAg-positive patients in both groups lost e antigen and anti-HBe developed in 71% and 87.5% of patients in groups 1 and 2, respectively (P = 0.132). Conclusion: Though lamivudine causes a greater decrease in levels of HBV DNA, it does not cause significantly greater biochemical and clinical improvement as compared to placebo in patients with acute hepatitis B

Uranium isotopes and radium in the Bhagirathi Alaknanda river system - evidence for high uranium mobilization in the Himalaya

Extensive measurements of dissolved 238U and 226Ra concentrations and 234U/238U activity ratio have been made on samples collected from the Bhagirathi, Alaknanda and their tributaries-the source waters of the Ganga. The objectives of this study are to determine (i) the sources of U and Ra to the Ganga river; (ii) the weathering rate of uranium in the Himalaya, and (iii) the role of Himalayan-Tibetan rivers on the marine budget of uranium. The dissolved 238U and 226Ra concentrations in the Ganga source waters are typically ~ 2-μgl-1 and ~ 0.2 dpml-1 respectively. The low 226Ra concentrations relative to 238U in these waters indicate that Ra is far less mobile. The Bhagirathi and Alaknanda weather uranium from their drainage basins at a rate of ~2 kgkm-2yr-1 comparable to that of the other Himalayan rivers like the Yamuna, Gandak and Ghaghara, but orders of magnitude higher than that derived for some of the world's major rivers (Amazon and Congo). These results suggest that large-scale mobilization of uranium in the Himalaya by rivers is ubiquitous. In the global context, the rivers draining the Himalayan-Tibetan region could be a major source of uranium to the oceans and that its supply via these rivers may have considerably influenced the marine budget of uranium

A Novel Circular Slotted Microstrip-Fed Patch Antenna with three Triangle Shape Defected Ground Structure for Multiband Applications

In this paper, a novel circular slotted rectangular patch antenna with three triangle shape Defected Ground Structure (DGS) has been proposed. Radiating patch is made by cutting circular slots of radius 3 mm from the three sides and center of the conventional rectangular patch structure and three triangle shape defects are presented on the ground layer. The size of the proposed antenna is 38 X 25 mm2. Optimization is performed and simulation results have been obtained using Empire XCcel 5.51 software. Thus, a miniaturized antenna is designed which has three impedance bandwidths of 0.957 GHz,  0.779 GHz, 0.665 GHz with resonant frequencies at 3.33 GHz, 6.97 GHz and 8.59 GHz and the corresponding return loss at the three resonant frequencies are -40 dB, -43 dB and -38.71 dB respectively. A prototype is also fabricated and tested. Fine agreement between the measured and simulated results has been obtained. It has been observed that introducing three triangle shape defects on the ground plane results in increased bandwidth, less return loss, good radiation pattern and better impedance matching over the required operating bands which can be used for wireless applications and future 5G applications

Trace element and isotopic studies of Permo-Carboniferous carbonate nodules from Talchir sediments of peninsular India: environmental and provenance implications

Syngenetic carbonate nodules constitute an interesting feature of the glaciogene sediments of various Talchir basins in peninsular India. Petrographic, cathodoluminescence and sedimentary results suggest that many of these nodules contain primary carbonate precipitates whose geochemical signatures can be used for determining environment of deposition and provenance of the sediments and drainage source. Several nodules were collected from Gondwana basins of east-central India and analyzed for stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios, REE and trace element composition, and Sr isotope ratio. The mean δ18O and δ13C values of the calcites in the nodules are - 19.5% and-9.7% (w.r.t. PDB) respectively suggesting a freshwater environment (probably lacustrine) for formation of these objects. Trace element ratios (Eu/Eu* and La/Yb) of the nodule samples show that the source of the sediments in the Damodar valley basin was the granites, gneisses and intrusives in the Chotanagpur region. The sediments in the Mahanadi valley were derived from granulites, charnockites and granites of the eastern ghat region. The Sr concentration of the carbonate phase of the nodules is low, ranging from 10-60 ng/g. The87Sr/86Sr ratios of the samples from the west Bokaro basin and Ramgarh basin vary from 0.735 to 0.748 (mean: 0.739) and from 0.726 to 0.733 (mean: 0.730) respectively. These values are consistent with our proposition that water of these basins drained through the granitic rocks of the Chotanagpur region. In contrast, the87Sr/86Sr ratios of the samples from the Talchir basin (Type area) of Mahanadi valley vary from 0.718 to 0.723 (mean: 0.719). These87Sr/86Sr ratios are close to those of the granulites in the adjoining eastern ghat belt suggesting that area as the drainage source

Fertilizer use in semi-srid tropical India: The case of high-yielding varieties of sorghum and pearl millet

Sorghum and pearl millet are the two most important cereals grown on drylands in semi-arid tropical (SAT) areas of india. These have traditionally formed part of a highly unstable, low-cost, low-output farminq system and are evaluated in the market as relatively inferior foodgrains (Jodha 1973)..