Vortex matching effect in engineered thin films of NbN

We report robust vortex matching effects in antidot arrays fabricated on thin films of NbN. The near absence of hysteresis between field sweep directions indicates a negligible residual pinning in the host thin film. Owing to the very small coherence length of NbN thin films ($\xi < 5 nm$), the observations suggests the possibility of probing physics of vortices at true nanometer length scales in suitably fabricated structures.Comment: Submitted to Appl. Phys. Let

A simple paper test for isoniazid in urine

Tests for the presence of chemotherapeutic drugs or their metabolites in urine play an important part in the management of the treatment of tuberculosis (Dixon et al., 1957; Fox, 1958). A previous report from this Centre (Gangadharam et al., 1958) presented a comparison of a number of methods for detecting isoniazid in urine including the direct naphthoquinone-mercuric chloride (N-M) test (Short and Case, 1957), and also a modification of this test which employed alkaline hydrolysis to liberate isoniazid from its conjugated forms. The direct-and hydrolysis N-M tests have been employed in this Centre for the past four years to control the self-administration of isoniazid used in the domiciliary treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. The effect of irregularity in taking isoniazid as detected by these tests on the response to treatment has been reported elsewhere (Tuberculosis Chemotherapy Centre, 1960). Since this method has the disadvantage that it requires a certain amount of equipment and trained personnel, it is not suitable for routine use in all chest clinics or under field conditions. An attempt was therefore made in this Centre to simplify the direct N-M test by incorporating the reagents in absorbent papers; Though impregnation of the paper with the pHl0 buffer and naphthoquinone reagent was successful, impregnation with the aqueous solution of the mercuric chloride was unsatisfactory. In 1960, Cattaneo, Fantoli and Belasio published details of a paper test modification of the N-M test in which this difficulty was overcome by impregnating absorbent papers with a solution of mercuric chloride in ether. Since then this modification has been adopted for the preparation of the test-paper developed in this Centre. Since a lower concentration of the naphthoquinone reagent and a shorter period of exposure was used in the preparation of the testpaper developed in this Centre than described by Cattaneo et al. (1960), both the paper tests have been compared with the direct and combined N-M tests described previously (Gangadharam et al., 1958). This paper presents the results of the comparison and of an of the specificity of the paper test

Ionic mass transfer at point electrodes located at cathode support plate in an electrorefining cell in presence of rectangular turbulent promoters

Current density plays a major role in deciding the plant size, current efficiency, and energy consumption in electrorefining cells. In general, operating current density will be 40% of the limiting current density. Forced circulation of the electrolyte in the presence of promoters improves the mass transfer coefficient. In the present study, rectangular turbulence promoters are fitted at the bottom side of the cell to improve the mass transfer coefficient at the cathode support plate. The limiting current density technique is used to measure the mass transfer coefficient. The variables covered in the present study are the effects of flow rate, promoter height, and spacing among the promoters. The electrolyte consists of copper sulfate and sulphuric acid. At a regulated flow rate, the electrolyte is pumped from the recirculation tank to the cell through an intermediate overhead tank. The limiting current density increased with an increasing flow rate in the presence of promoters, and thus the overall mass transfer coefficient on the cathode support plate also improved. With an increase in the flow rate of the electrolyte from 6.67 × 10−6 to 153.33 m3/s, limiting current density increased from 356.8 to 488.8 A/m2 for spacing of 0.30 m, with a promoter height of 0.01 m. However, it is noteworthy that when the promoter height is increased from 0.01 to 0.07 m, the overall mass transfer coefficient is found to increase up to 60%, but with the further increase in the promoter height to 0.30 m the mass transfer coefficient starts to decrease. Therefore, the optimized cell parameters are established in this work. The current sustainable concept of employing rectangular turbulence promoters will bring benefits to any precious metal refining or electrowinning tank house electrolytes

Design of e-shoe for Visually Impaired by Using RFID Technology

It is a known fact that blind people find it extremely difficult to detect their way through obstacles and stairs. Using a white stick to detect the obstacles had been an age old method, which cannot provide complete solution. In order to overcome this problem, an obstacle detecting shoe is developed. It senses the obstacle through ultrasonic sensors and alerts the user through the message. The ultrasonic waves transmitted are reflected by the obstacles and echo is received by the ultrasonic receiver, where the distance is calculated by using a microprocessor. The RFID system is used to assist the blind people. When the reader located on the shoe moves on to a specific tag, unique tag ID is sent to the reader. While in the case of walking in traffic, RF Link Transmitter/receiver is used for traffic signal detection and for passing instructions to the user through voice messages. A timer is used to detect the wet areas and helps the blind to avoid slippery.       

Performance of no-till maize under drip-fertigation in a double cropping system in semi arid Telangana state of India

Availability of water for Agriculture is becoming increasingly difficult, besides the cost of power for applying it. Improving the water and nitrogen use efficiency has become imperative in present day’s Agriculture. Drip irrigation and fertigation provides the efficient use of limited water with increased water and nutrient use efficiency, respec- tively. A field experiment was conducted during post rainy season of two consecutive years (2011 and 2012), in sandy loam soils of Warangal, Telangana State, India to study the response of no-till maize (Zea mays L) after aerobic rice (Oryza sativa L) to drip irrigation and nitrogen fertigation under semi-arid environment. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with four replications. Three irrigation schedules viz. drip irrigation at 75% Pan Evaporation (PE); 100% PE and 125% PE were taken as main plots and three nitrogen levels through fertigation viz. 120, 160, and 200 kg ha-1 as sub plots. The growth parameters (plant height, LAI, drymatter accumulation), root volume and dry weight, yield attributes (cobs plant-1, kernels cob-1, kernel weight cob-1) kernel yield, stover yield and nitrogen uptake of no till maize increased with increase in water input from 75% PE to 100% PE irrigation schedule in drip irrigation but could not reach the level of significance at 125% PE. Tasseling and silking was hastened in 125% PE schedule. Increase in the level of N application through fertigation from 120 to 160 kg N ha-1 resulted in the increase of all the growth parameters, yield attributes, kernel yield, stover yield and nitrogen uptake. Barrenness and test weight were unaffected by either the irrigation schedules or nitrogen levels. The economic indicators (gross returns, net returns and net benefit: cost ratio) were higher with the irrigation schedule of 125% PE and nitrogen dose of 200 kg N ha-1 applied through fertigation. Increased water input from 75 to 125% PE resulted in decreased water use efficiency but enhanced nitrogen use efficiency while the reverse trend was found with respect to N levels under fertigation

The Invasive Capacity of HPV Transformed Cells Requires the hDlg-Dependent Enhancement of SGEF/RhoG Activity

A major target of the HPV E6 oncoprotein is the human Discs Large (hDlg) tumour suppressor, although how this interaction contributes to HPV-induced malignancy is still unclear. Using a proteomic approach we show that a strong interacting partner of hDlg is the RhoG-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor SGEF. The interaction between hDlg1 and SGEF involves both PDZ and SH3 domain recognition, and directly contributes to the regulation of SGEF's cellular localization and activity. Consistent with this, hDlg is a strong enhancer of RhoG activity, which occurs in an SGEF-dependent manner. We also show that HPV-18 E6 can interact indirectly with SGEF in a manner that is dependent upon the presence of hDlg and PDZ binding capacity. In HPV transformed cells, E6 maintains a high level of RhoG activity, and this is dependent upon the presence of hDlg and SGEF, which are found in complex with E6. Furthermore, we show that E6, hDlg and SGEF each directly contributes to the invasive capacity of HPV-16 and HPV-18 transformed tumour cells. These studies demonstrate that hDlg has a distinct oncogenic function in the context of HPV induced malignancy, one of the outcomes of which is increased RhoG activity and increased invasive capacity