Proposal for an experiment to search for Randall-Sundrum type corrections to Newton's law of gravitation

String theory, as well as the string inspired brane-world models such as the Randall-Sundrum (RS) one, suggest a modification of Newton's law of gravitation at small distance scales. Search for modifications of standard gravity is an active field of research in this context. It is well known that short range corrections to gravity would violate the Newton-Birkhoff theorem. Based on calculations of RS type non-Newtonian forces for finite size spherical bodies, we propose a torsion balance based experiment to search for the effects of violation of this celebrated theorem valid in Newtonian gravity as well as the general theory of relativity. We explain the main principle behind the experiment and provide detailed calculations suggesting optimum values of the parameters of the experiment. The projected sensitivity is sufficient to probe the Randall-Sundrum parameter up to 10 microns.Comment: 4 pages and 5 figures, figures improved, minor clarifications and few references added, final version to appear in PRD (rapid communications

Analysis of Blood Flow through Viscoelastic Blood Vessel

Analysis of viscoelastic material can be done through ansys multi physics software. For modelling viscoelastic materials, prony series coefficients had been generated from the stress relaxation data (shear modulus vs. time) using prony series curve fitting. Also, Ansys was used to study the fluid interaction on viscoelastic materials. First blood vessel was modelled using geometric modeller and it is exported to ansys and using prony series curve fitting, viscoelastic properties are given to the blood vessel. Blood flow was modelled in CFX. Two way coupling was established between Ansys and CFX. And the boundary conditions such as pressure pulse and mass flow rate was given to the blood flow. Then the model was solved in CFX. And the variation of pressure, von mises stress and total mesh displacement along the length of blood vessel is plotted

Penning collisions of laser-cooled metastable helium atoms

We present experimental results on the two-body loss rates in a magneto-optical trap of metastable helium atoms. Absolute rates are measured in a systematic way for several laser detunings ranging from -5 to -30 MHz and at different intensities, by monitoring the decay of the trap fluorescence. The dependence of the two-body loss rate coefficient $\beta$ on the excited state ($2^3P_2$) and metastable state ($2^3S_1$) populations is also investigated. From these results we infer a rather uniform rate constant $K_{sp}=(1{\pm}0.4)\times10^{-7}$ cm$^3$/s.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, Revte

Mortality rates due to diabetes in a selected Urban South Indian population - the Chennai Urban Population Study [CUPS - 16]

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the mortality rate in diabetic and non-diabetic subjects in urban south India. Methods: The Chennai Urban Population Study is an ongoing epidemiological study in Chennai [formerly Madras, in south India]. All individuals . 20 years of age living in two residential colonies in Chennai were invited to participate in the study. Of the total 1399 eligible subjects, 1262 individuals responded [90.2%] at baseline, and of these, 1140 individuals [90.3%] could be followed annually from 1997 to 2003-04. Mortality rates and causes of death were the main outcome measures. Results: The median follow up period was six years. The overall mortality rate was higher in diabetic compared to non-diabetic subjects [18.9 vs.5.3 per 1000 person-years, p=0.004]. Mortality due to cardiovascular [diabetic subjects, 52.9%; non-diabetic subjects, 24.2%,p=0.042] and renal causes[diabetic subjects, 23.5%; non-diabetic subjects, 6.1%,p=0.072] was higher among diabetic subjects whereas mortality due to gastrointestinal [12.1%], respiratory [9.1%], lifestyle related [6.1%] and unnatural causes [18.2%] were observed only among non-diabetic subjects. Hazards ratio [HR] for all cause mortality for diabetes was 3.6, [95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 2.02-6.53, p<0.001] and this remained significant even after adjusting for age [HR:1.9, 95% CI:1.04-3.45, p=0.038]. Light grade physical activity was associated with higher mortality rate [p=0.008], but the significance disappeared when adjusted for age. Smoking was also associated with increased mortality. Conclusions: In urban India, mortality rates are two fold higher in people with diabetes compared to nondiabetic subjects. Cardiovascular and renal diseases are the commonest causes of death among diabetic subjects

The Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS)

The CLASS experiment on Chandrayaan-2, the second Indian lunar mission, aims tomap the abundance of the major rock forming elements on the lunar surface using the technique of X-ray fluorescence during solar flare events. CLASS is a continuation of the successful C1XS [1] XRF experiment on Chandrayaan-1. CLASS is designed to provide lunar mapping of elemental abundances with a nominal spatial resolution of 25 km (FWHM) from a 200 km polar, circular orbit of Chandrayaan-2

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Diabetic Nephropathy in an Urban South Indian Population: The Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES 45)

OBJECTIVE— The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of diabetic nephropathy among urban Asian-Indian type 2 diabetic subjects. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS— Type 2 diabetic subjects (n 1,716), inclusive of known diabetic subjects (KD subjects) (1,363 of 1,529; response rate 89.1%) and randomly selected newly diagnosed diabetic subjects (NDD subjects) (n 353) were selected from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES). Microalbuminuria was estimated by immunoturbidometric assay and diagnosed if albumin excretion was between 30 and 299 g/mg of creatinine, and overt nephropathy was diagnosed if albumin excretion was 300 g/mg of creatinine in the presence of diabetic retinopathy, which was assessed by stereoscopic retinal color photography. RESULTS— The prevalence of overt nephropathy was 2.2% (95% CI 1.51–2.91). Microalbuminuria was present in 26.9% (24.8 –28.9). Compared with the NDD subjects, KD subjects had greater prevalence rates of both microalbuminuria with retinopathy and overt nephropathy (8.4 vs. 1.4%, P 0.001; and 2.6 vs. 0.8%, P 0.043, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that A1C (odds ratio 1.325 [95% CI 1.256 –1.399], P 0.001), smoking (odds ratio 1.464, P0.011), duration of diabetes (1.023, P0.046), systolic blood pressure (1.020, P 0.001), and diastolic blood pressure (1.016, P0.022) were associated with microalbuminuria. A1C (1.483, P 0.0001), duration of diabetes (1.073, P 0.003), and systolic blood pressure (1.031, P 0.004) were associated with overt nephropathy. CONCLUSIONS— The results of the study suggest that in urban Asian Indians, the prevalence of overt nephropathy and microalbuminuria was 2.2 and 26.9%, respectively. Duration of diabetes, A1C, and systolic blood pressure were the common risk factors for overt nephropathy and microalbuminuria

The various power decays of the survival probability at long times for free quantum particle

The long time behaviour of the survival probability of initial state and its dependence on the initial states are considered, for the one dimensional free quantum particle. We derive the asymptotic expansion of the time evolution operator at long times, in terms of the integral operators. This enables us to obtain the asymptotic formula for the survival probability of the initial state $\psi (x)$, which is assumed to decrease sufficiently rapidly at large $|x|$. We then show that the behaviour of the survival probability at long times is determined by that of the initial state $\psi$ at zero momentum $k=0$. Indeed, it is proved that the survival probability can exhibit the various power-decays like $t^{-2m-1}$ for an arbitrary non-negative integers $m$ as $t \to \infty$, corresponding to the initial states with the condition $\hat{\psi} (k) = O(k^m)$ as $k\to 0$.Comment: 15 pages, to appear in J. Phys.

Spiny Lobsters and Potential of Sea Cage Culture Spiny Lobster Resources in India

Fishery science and technology contributes a vital role in the augmentation of fish production globally.Among the seafood items, spiny lobsters have a prime position in terms of high unit value, demand, nutritional qualities with less perishable nature. Lobsters have great demand in international and domestic market, especially from tourism based beach resorts and restaurants as a luxury food. The annual lobster landings in India has been declining from a peak of 4,075 t in 1985 to the present annual average of 1,546 t. On an average, the fishery is contributed by Gujarat (43.7%), Maharashtra (25.4%), Tamil Nadu(14.6%) and Kerala (13%) (CMFRI Annual Report 2000-2015). Lobster fishing in India is mostly carried out by region specific traditional fishermen communities inhabiting along the coastal belts of different maritime states. Over the years the lobster fishery in India witnessed changes in fishing pattern, utility pattern with the introduction of live export market , sea cage culture and increased consumption and demand from tourism sector . Live Lobsters have a prominent place in the sea food export market both in terms of demand and price from Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Europe and USA. India witnessed a sea change in foreign exchange earnings through marine products export worth 46,975 million rupees during 1997-98 and 55,111.12 million rupees during 2014-15, from an initial value of 25 million rupees in 1950-51 (Sakthivel, 1999). The marine products export accounted and contributed 3.5 % of the total exports in 1990s. Our marine product exports in the initial stages were in dried and canned form. It has gradually progressed into frozen h 340 million rupees in 1996-97 (Sakthivel, 1999). Spiny lobsters formed one of the items in the live fish export along with mud crabs and reef fishes. The annual average revenue earnings by India through the export of lobsters is amounted to Rs.74 crores