Effect of Hedging-Integrated Rule Curves on the Performance of the Pong Reservoir (India) During Scenario-Neutral Climate Change Perturbations

This study has evaluated the effects of improved, hedging-integrated reservoir rule curves on the current and climate-change-perturbed future performances of the Pong reservoir, India. The Pong reservoir was formed by impounding the snow- and glacial-dominated Beas River in Himachal Pradesh. Simulated historic and climate-change runoff series by the HYSIM rainfall-runoff model formed the basis of the analysis. The climate perturbations used delta changes in temperature (from 0° to +2 °C) and rainfall (from −10 to +10 % of annual rainfall). Reservoir simulations were then carried out, forced with the simulated runoff scenarios, guided by rule curves derived by a coupled sequent peak algorithm and genetic algorithms optimiser. Reservoir performance was summarised in terms of reliability, resilience, vulnerability and sustainability. The results show that the historic vulnerability reduced from 61 % (no hedging) to 20 % (with hedging), i.e., better than the 25 % vulnerability often assumed tolerable for most water consumers. Climate change perturbations in the rainfall produced the expected outcomes for the runoff, with higher rainfall resulting in more runoff inflow and vice-versa. Reduced runoff caused the vulnerability to worsen to 66 % without hedging; this was improved to 26 % with hedging. The fact that improved operational practices involving hedging can effectively eliminate the impacts of water shortage caused by climate change is a significant outcome of this study

A multicomponent model of the infrared emission from Comet Halley

A model based on a mixture of coated silicates and amorphous carbon grains produces a good spectral match to the available Halley data and is consistent with the compositional and morphological information derived from interplanetary dust particle studies and Halley flyby data. The dark appearance of comets may be due to carbonaceous coatings on the dominant (by mass) silicates. The lack of a 10 micrometer feature may be due to the presence of large silicate grains. The optical properties of pure materials apparently are not representative of cometary materials. The determination of the optical properties of additional silicates and carbonaceous materials would clearly be of use

Allylation of p-ketoaldehydes and functionalized imines by diallyltin dibromide: formation of skipped and conjugated dienes

Diallyltin dibromide reacts with β-keto-aldehydes possessing no aromatic side groups and with (hydroxy) aryl imines to afford the expected homoallyl alcohols or amines respectively. With β-ketoaldehydes having aromatic side groups, skipped or conjugated dienes are obtained depending on whether or not an aqueous work up procedure is used

MulPSSM: a database of multiple position-specific scoring matrices of protein domain families

Representation of multiple sequence alignments of protein families in terms of position-specific scoring matrices (PSSMs) is commonly used in the detection of remote homologues. A PSSM is generated with respect to one of the sequences involved in the multiple sequence alignment as a reference. We have shown recently that the use of multiple PSSMs corresponding to an alignment, with several sequences in the family used as reference, improves the sensitivity of the remote homology detection dramatically. MulPSSM contains PSSMs for a large number of sequence and structural families of protein domains with multiple PSSMs for every family. The approach involves use of a clustering algorithm to identify most distinct sequences corresponding to a family. With each one of the distinct sequences as reference, multiple PSSMs have been generated. The current release of MulPSSM contains ∼33 000 and ∼38 000 PSSMs corresponding to 7868 sequence and 2625 structural families. A RPS_BLAST interface allows sequence search against PSSMs of sequence or structural families or both. An analysis interface allows display and convenient navigation of alignments and domain hits. MulPSSM can be accessed at

Approximation Algorithms for Connected Maximum Cut and Related Problems

An instance of the Connected Maximum Cut problem consists of an undirected graph G = (V, E) and the goal is to find a subset of vertices S $\subseteq$ V that maximizes the number of edges in the cut \delta(S) such that the induced graph G[S] is connected. We present the first non-trivial \Omega(1/log n) approximation algorithm for the connected maximum cut problem in general graphs using novel techniques. We then extend our algorithm to an edge weighted case and obtain a poly-logarithmic approximation algorithm. Interestingly, in stark contrast to the classical max-cut problem, we show that the connected maximum cut problem remains NP-hard even on unweighted, planar graphs. On the positive side, we obtain a polynomial time approximation scheme for the connected maximum cut problem on planar graphs and more generally on graphs with bounded genus.Comment: 17 pages, Conference version to appear in ESA 201

Identification of Phytochemical Constituents of Aegle marmelos Responsible for Antimicrobial Activity against Selected Pathogenic Organisms

Antimicrobial activity and phytochemical constituents of an ethanolic extract of Aegle marmelos were investigated. The phytochemical screening of the crude extract revealed the presence of Alkaloids, Cardiac glycosides, Terpenoids, Saponins, Tannis, Flavonoids, and Steroids. The crude ethanolic extract was tested for antimicrobial activity against gram positive organisms of Bacillus subtilis (NCIM: 3471), Staphylococcus aureus (NCIM: 2079), gram negative Escherichia coli (NCIM: 2065) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCIM: 2200) at different concentrations levels of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 mg/ml. At the 2.5 mg/ml concentration, gram negative Escherichia coli exhibits a zone of inhibition about 25.7mm; Pseudomonas aeruginosa 19.9mm; gram positive Staphylococcus aureus 29.0 mm; and Bacillus subtilis, a maximum zone of inhibition about 28.1 mm as compared to the control drug penicillin. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis exhibit a maximum zone of inhibition, hence they were considered as susceptible to the plant extracts but Staphylococcus aureus doesn’t exhibit such a zone of inhibition and is therefore considered as resistant

Generalized symmetric nonextensive thermostatistics and q-modified structures

We formulate a convenient generalization of the q-expectation value, based on the analogy of the symmetric quantum groups and q-calculus, and show that the q->q^{-1} symmetric nonextensive entropy preserves all of the mathematical structure of thermodynamics just as in the case of non-symmetric Tsallis statistics. Basic properties and analogies with quantum groups are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure. To appear in Mod. Phys. Lett.

Preparation, Characterization and In Vitro Drug Release Studies of 6-mercaptopurine Thin Film

Oral thin films of 6-mercaptopurine were fabricated from mucoadhesive polymer, chitosan and polyvinylpyrrolidone for the purpose of prolonging drug release and improving its bioavailability. All fabricated film formulations prepared were smooth and translucent, with good flexibility. The weight and thickness of all the formulations were found to be uniform. These films were also evaluated for surface pH, folding endurance, swelling percentage (% S) and in vitro disintegration time. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) were used to evaluate the physico-chemical nature of the films. In-vitro drug release have shown enhanced release profiles for thin films compared to pure drug and the release patterns have been found to be pH dependant. The results of the study reveals that fabrication of 6-MP oral thin film by using solvent cast technology is a simple and an efficient method for drug delivery to achieve desired therapeutic compliance.Keywords: 6-mercaptopurine; In Vitro Drug Release; SEM; FTI

Haematological Studies in High Altitude Natives at Plains and on Return to High Altitude

Haematologic studies were carried out in 20 high altitude natives during two months stay at plains (200 m) and on their return to an altitude of 3,500 m. Haemoglobin, erythrocyte count, haematocrit and reticulocyte count decreased rapidly on arrival to plains and attained minimum level by the end of fourth week. All these parameters increased rapidly on return to high altitude and were found to attain maximum values by 23rd day on return to high altitude. Mean cell volume and mean cell haemoglobin showed significant increase at altitude. Blood volume and red cell mass increased significantly at altitude. It is concluded that the high altitude natives of Ladakh were well adapted to hypoxic environment due to normocythaemic hypervolemia