Association of the pre-monsoon thermal field over north India and the western Tibetan Plateau with summer monsoon rainfall over India

In this paper, interannual variability of tropospheric air temperatures over the Asian summer monsoon region during the pre-monsoon months is examined in relation to Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR; June to September total rainfall). For this purpose, monthly grid-point temperatures in the entire troposphere over the Asian summer monsoon region and ISMR data for the period 1949–2012 have been used. Spatial correlation patterns are investigated between the temperature field in the lower tropospheric levels during May over the Asian summer monsoon region and ISMR. The results indicate a strong and significant northwest–southeast dipole structure in the spatial correlations over the Indian region, with highly significant positive (negative) correlations over the regions of north India and the western Tibetan Plateau region – region R1 (north Bay of Bengal: region R2). The observed dipole is seen significantly up to a level of 850 hPa and eventually disappears at 700 hPa. Thermal indices evaluated at 850 hPa level, based on average air temperatures over the north India and western Tibetan Plateau region (TI1) and the north Bay of Bengal region (TI2) during May, show a strong, significant relationship with the ISMR. The results are found to be consistent and robust, especially in the case of TI1 during the period of analysis. A physical mechanism for the relationship between these indices and ISMR is proposed. Finally the composite annual cycle of tropospheric air temperature over R1 during flood/drought years of ISMR is examined. The study brings out the importance of the TI1 in the prediction of flood/drought conditions over the Indian subcontinent

Optimization of SLS Process Parameters Using D-Optimality

Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) refers to a group of processes that manufacture parts of arbitrarily complex geometry without tooling. Currently, the operation of most SFF machines requires skilled operators with expertise in choosing process parameters in ordered to achieve the desired part quality. Thus, the “push-button 3D hardcopy” promise of SFF has yet to be realized. This paper presents a framework for selecting optimal process parameter values automatically for the selective laser sintering (SLS) process. The research described considered five process parameters that are important for the SLS process. To achieve quality measures from the five process parameters, optimization is inevitable. The method optimizes these process parameters of SLS with respect to a set of desired quality measures, based on user input of the relative importance of each of the quality measures. The basis for the framework is the so-called Doptimality criterion applied to a series of factorial experiments that capture empirically the relationships between the process parameters and part quality measures. The framework is implemented in MINITAB™ and a macro is used to perform the optimization.Mechanical Engineerin

Development and testing of real-time tunable diode laser based water vapor measurement system

The water vapor sensor based on tunable laser diode absorption spectroscopy, capable of measuring concentration of water vapor in real time at multiple locations in fire environment under extreme obscuration was designed. A three-tier detection sensitivity scheme was implemented using various levels of laser power to overcome continuously changing smoke obscuration. Simulations based on HITRAN database were used to quantify water vapor concentration in real-time by comparing the absorbance values after accounting for temperature correction based on local temperatures monitored using thermocouples. Water vapor concentration in training fire scenarios carried out in three different structures, i.e metal container, concrete and drywall were studied. The effect of fuel load on water vapor concentration was compared by considering three distinct fuel loads namely, pallet and straw, pallet, straw and oriented standard board (OSB) and lightweight furnishings. Suppression by water application caused an increase in water vapor concentration in the metal structure but the maximum water vapor concentration was observed during the evolution of fire for most of the scenarios. Among the fuel loads investigated, the highest temperature and water vapor concentration was observed when pallet, straw and OSB were used as fuel load, irrespective of the structure. However, for the same fuel load, fires in concrete structure recorded the highest temperature while fires in dry wall structure generated higher water vapor concentration. Concrete structure was found to absorb the least amount of energy from the fire. Dry wall structure, made of gypsum (CaSO4∙2H2O) when exposed to high temperature fire environment, dehydrated resulting in higher observed water vapor concentration

Immunophenotyping and Transcriptomic Outcomes in PDX-Derived TNBC Tissue

Cancer tissue functions as an ecosystem of a diverse set of cells that interact in a complex tumor microenvironment (TME). Genomic tools applied to biopsies in bulk fail to account for this tumor heterogeneity while single cell imaging methods limit the number of cells which can be assessed or are very resource intensive. The current study presents methods based on flow cytometric analysis and cell sorting using known cell surface markers (eg, CD184, CD24, CD90) to identify and interrogate distinct groups of cells in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) clinical biopsy specimens from patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. The results demonstrate that flow cytometric analysis allows a relevant subgrouping of cancer tissue and that sorting of these subgroups provides insights on cancer cell populations with unique, reproducible and functionally divergent gene expression profiles. The discovery of a drug resistance signature implies that uncovering the functional interaction between these populations will lead to deeper understanding of cancer progression and drug response. Implications: PDX-derived human breast cancer tissue was investigated at the single cell level and cell subpopulations defined by surface markers were identified which suggest specific roles for distinct cellular compartments within a solid tumor

Seed protectants for healthy exports

Dry formulations of three insecticides (chlorpyriphos, fenvalerate and carbaryl) were compared for their efficacy against rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) and groundnut bruchid Caryedon serratus Oliver, in the context of identifying a suitable alternative to aldrin. Fenvalerate 4 g/kg seed showed quick action and killed all the Corcyra eggs, and Caryedon grubs and adults, within 48 h. Chlorpyriphos and carbaryl were less effective, although the former showed high persistency. Fenvalerate and carbaryl were significantly superior to a range of rates of chlorpyriphos up to 180 DAT, and were on par with aldrin. For seed exports that require storage of 60 days or more, chlorpyriphos could be used as an effective replacement for aldrin. The chemicals tested hid no deleterious effects on seed viability of pearl millet and groundnut up to 180 days at ambient temperature during storag

Performance of plate-based cytokine flow cytometry with automated data analysis

BACKGROUND: Cytokine flow cytometry (CFC) provides a multiparameter alternative to ELISPOT assays for rapid quantitation of antigen-specific T cells. To increase the throughput of CFC assays, we have optimized methods for stimulating, staining, and acquiring whole blood or PBMC samples in 96-well or 24-well plates. RESULTS: We have developed a protocol for whole blood stimulation and processing in deep-well 24- or 96-well plates, and fresh or cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) stimulation and processing in conventional 96-well round-bottom plates. Samples from both HIV-1-seronegative and HIV-1-seropositive donors were tested. We show that the percent response, staining intensity, and cell recovery are comparable to stimulation and processing in tubes using traditional methods. We also show the equivalence of automated gating templates to manual gating for CFC data analysis. CONCLUSION: When combined with flow cytometry analysis using an automated plate loader and an automated analysis algorithm, these plate-based methods provide a higher throughput platform for CFC, as well as reducing operator-induced variability. These factors will be important for processing the numbers of samples required in large clinical trials, and for epitope mapping of patient responses

Field Diagnosis of Chickpea Diseases and their Control

Chickpea is an important cool season food crop grown mainly in dry lands. The crop suffers from serious diseases which affect it in all growth stages. The pathogens that affect chickpea include fungi, bacteria, viruses, and mycoplasma. Among these, the most important are fungi, affecting roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and pods. This information bulletin provides information on the distribution of major diseases, field symptoms, environmental conditions favoring these diseases and control measures. Color photographs are included to facilitate identification of the diseases. An index of the technical terms used is also given

Field Diagnosis of Chickpea Diseases and their Control. Information Bulletin No. 28 (revised)

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the world’s most important cool season food crops mostly grown in dry lands. The crop suffers from serious diseases that affect it in all growth stages. The pathogens that affect chickpea include fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes and mycoplasma, which results in severe economic losses globally. Among these, fungi are the largest and perhaps...