The use of remote sensing data for drought assessment and monitoring in southwest Asia

Drought / Monitoring / Indicators / Assessment / Remote sensing / Asia

A Note on the Impact of the Canada-India Diplomatic Standoff on the Performance of Canadian Mutual Funds Investments in India

On June 18, 2023, Mr. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen of Indian origin, was killed in Canada. On September 18, 2023, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Justin Trudeau, accused the Indian Government of involvement in killing Mr. Nijjar in the Canadian Parliament. This accusation preceded and succeeded by other events, led to a significant diplomatic standoff that is still ongoing. We examine the impact of this event chain on the performance of daily returns of mutual funds based in Canada that are predominantly invested in Indian securities. Our results, controlled for general stock market returns, fund size, expense ratio, and interest rates, indicate that the events negatively impacted fund performance. Our study adds to the existing literature on the benefits of international diversification of mutual funds in disconnected markets. The findings of this paper suggest that political discord between two distinct and unrelated economies may impact profits and negate the advantages of international diversification. Our study is significant to professionals, particularly mutual fund managers, as it demonstrates the role of two countries’ political ties in affecting mutual fund returns

Small substrate, big surprise: fold, function and phylogeny of dihydroxyacetone kinases

Abstract.: Dihydroxyacetone (Dha) kinases are a family of sequence-conserved enzymes which utilize either ATP (in animals, plants and eubacteria) or phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP, in eubacteria) as their source of high-energy phosphate. The kinases consist of two domains/subunits: DhaK, which binds Dha covalently in hemiaminal linkage to the Nε2 of a histidine, and DhaL, an eight-helix barrel that contains the nucleotide-binding site. The PEP-dependent kinases comprise a third subunit, DhaM, which rephosphorylates in situ the firmly bound ADP cofactor. DhaM serves as the shuttle for the transfer of phosphate from the bacterial PEP: carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS) to the Dha kinase. The DhaL and DhaK subunits of the PEP-dependent Escherichia coli kinase act as coactivator and corepressor of DhaR, a transcription factor from the AAA+ family of enhancerbinding proteins. In Gram-positive bacteria genes for homologs of DhaK and DhaL occur in operons for putative transcription factors of the TetR and DeoR families. Proteins with the Dha kinase fold can be classified into three families according to phylogeny and function: Dha kinases, DhaK and DhaL homologs (paralogs) associated with putative transcription regulators of the TetR and DeoR families, and proteins with a circularly permuted domain order that belong to the DegV famil

Effect of Magnetic Steering of the Arc on Clad Quality in Submerged Arc Strip Cladding Magnetic steering of the arc is demonstrated to improve corrosion resistance and microstructure while minimizing dilution

ABSTRACT. Submerged arc strip cladding is often used when thickness of clad material is required. The productivity of this process has been improved by the use of higher welding currents and wider strips. The associated problems were arc blow, increased penetration and poor bead characteristics. Dilution is the parameter that controls almost all qualities of cladding. Magnetic steering reduces penetration, and hence, dilution and arc blow control. Stainless steel cladding on mild steel is often used to impart corrosion resistance. In such situations, the clad quality is specified by corrosion resistance, ferrite content and good fusion between clad metal and base metal. This paper discusses results of an investigation on the effect of an oscillating magnetic field used to steer the arc in submerged arc strip cladding using 60 X 0.5-mm 309L stainless steel strips, with varying magnetizing flux intensity and dwell time. The resulting test pieces were evaluated for parameters that imparted the best clad quality and the results indicate the following: 1) Magnetic steering of the arc reduces dilution and corrosion rate. 2) Magnetic steering of the arc permits use of higher currents for a given dilution •level, thus increasing productivity

A Pathwise Ergodic Theorem for Quantum Trajectories

If the time evolution of an open quantum system approaches equilibrium in the time mean, then on any single trajectory of any of its unravelings the time averaged state approaches the same equilibrium state with probability 1. In the case of multiple equilibrium states the quantum trajectory converges in the mean to a random choice from these states.Comment: 8 page

A Validated RP-HPLC Method for the Determination of Impurities in Montelukast Sodium

Abstract: The present paper describes the development of a reverse phase chromatographic (RPLC) method for montelukast sodium in the presence of its impurities and degradation products generated from forced degradation studies. The drug substance was subjected to stress conditions of hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis and thermal degradation. The degradation of montelukast sodium was observed under acid and oxidative environment. The drug was found to be stable in other stress conditions studied. Successful separation of the drug from the process impurities and degradation products formed under stress conditions were achieved on an Atlantis dC18 (250 x 4.6 mm) 5 µm column. The gradient LC method employs solution A and solution B as mobile phase. The solution A contains aqueous 0.1% OPA and solution B contains a mixture of water, acetonitrile (5:95 v/v). The HPLC method was developed and validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision, specificity and ruggedness

In Vivo Tracking of Human Neural Stem Cells with 19F Magnetic Resonance Imaging

(c)The Author

Effect of improved crop production technology on pigeonpea yield in resource poor rainfed areas.

Twelve on-farm trials were conducted in Nandavaram village of Banaganapalle mandal in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, India, during the 2002/03 rainy season to study the effects of improved production technologies (T1) and farmers' practice (T2) on pigeon pea yield. T1 consisted of a medium-duration high-yielding cultivar (ICPL 87119), sowing rate of 12 kg/ha, seed treatment with thiram (3 g/kg), inoculation with Rhizobium, 20 kg N, 50 kg P2O5/ha, basal application of micronutrient mixture (5 kg borax, 0.5 kg B/ha; 50 kg zinc sulfate, 10 kg Zn/ha; and 200 kg gypsum, 30 kg S/ha), and need-based pest and disease control measures. Inter-cultivation was conducted at 25 and 50 days after sowing to control weeds. One insecticide spray was given at the pod formation stage to control pod borers. T2 included a sowing rate of 10 kg/ha, 12 kg N/ha, and 30 kg P2O5/ha. T1 gave higher yields than T2 and recorded a mean grain yield of 1.61 t/ha, which was 204% higher than that obtained with T2 (0.53 t/ha). T1 also resulted in higher stalk yield (2.93 t/ha) than T2 (1.10 t/ha). The increased grain and stalk yields under were mainly because of increased total dry matter, pod weight, shelling percentage, 100-grain weight and harvest index. T1 recorded a higher mean income (US$290) and a cost-benefit ratio of 2.4

Increased chickpea yield and economic benefits by improved crop production technology in rainfed areas of Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh, India

Sixteen on-farm trials in 2002 and 9 trials in 2003 were conducted in Nandavaram and Jillella villages of Banaganapalle mandal in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, India, during the post-rainy season to evaluate the performance of improved production technologies (T1) and farmers' practice (T2) for chickpea production. T1 consisted of improved cultivar (ICCC 37), sowing rate of 60 kg/ha, seed treatment with thiram (3 g/kg), inoculation with Rhizobium, 20 kg N, 50 kg P2O5/ha, basal application of micronutrient mixture (5 kg borax, 0.5 kg B/ha; 50 kg zinc sulfate, 10 kg Zn/ha; and 200 kg gypsum, 30 kg S/ha), and need-based pest and disease control measures. Inter-cultivation was conducted at 25 and 50 days after sowing to control weeds. One insecticide spray was given at the pod formation stage to control pod borers. T2 consisted of a local cultivar, sowing rate of 50 kg/ha, 14 kg N/ha, and 35 kg P2O5/ha. T1 gave higher grain yields and recorded a mean yield of 2.09 t/ha, which was 53% higher than that obtained with T2 (1.37 t/ha). The increased grain yield under T1 was mainly because of greater total dry matter, 100-grain weight and harvest index. T1 also resulted in increased mean income of US$190 and a cost-benefit ratio of 2.9

In vivo clearance of 19F MRI imaging nanocarriers is strongly influenced by nanoparticle ultrastructure

Perfluorocarbons hold great promise both as imaging agents, particularly for (19)F MRI, and in therapy, such as oxygen delivery. (19)F MRI is unique in its ability to unambiguously track and quantify a tracer while maintaining anatomic context, and without the use of ionizing radiation. This is particularly well-suited for inflammation imaging and quantitative cell tracking. However, perfluorocarbons, which are best suited for imaging - like perfluoro-15-crown-5 ether (PFCE) - tend to have extremely long biological retention. Here, we showed that the use of a multi-core PLGA nanoparticle entrapping PFCE allows for a 15-fold reduction of half-life in vivo compared to what is reported in literature. This unexpected rapid decrease in (19)F signal was observed in liver, spleen and within the infarcted region after myocardial infarction and was confirmed by whole body NMR spectroscopy. We demonstrate that the fast clearance is due to disassembly of the ~200 nm nanoparticle into ~30 nm domains that remain soluble and are cleared quickly. We show here that the nanoparticle ultrastructure has a direct impact on in vivo clearance of its cargo i.e. allowing fast release of PFCE, and therefore also bringing the possibility of multifunctional nanoparticle-based imaging to translational imaging, therapy and diagnostics