EFFECTS OF MEDU AND COASTAL TOPOGRAPHY ON THE DAMAGE PATTERN DURING THE RECENT INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI ALONG THE COAST OF TAMILNADU

Effects of Medu (naturally elevated landmass very close to the seashore and elongated parallel to the coast) and coastal topography on the damage pattern during the deadliest Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004 is reported. The tsunami caused severe damage and claimed many victims in the coastal areas of eleven countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The damage survey revealed large variation in damage along the coastal region of Tamilnadu (India).The most severe damage was observed in the Nagapattinam district on the east coast and the west coast of Kanyakumari district. Decrease of damage from Nagapattinam to Kanchipuram district was observed. Intense damage again appeared to the north of Adyar River (from Srinivaspuri to Anna Samadhi Park). Almost, no damage was observed along the coast of Thanjavur, Puddukkotai and Ramnathpuram districts in Palk Strait, situated in the shadow zone of Sri Lanka.It was concluded that the width of continental shelf has played a major role in the pattern of tsunami damage. It was inferred that the width of the continental shelf and the interference of reflected waves from Sri Lanka and Maldives Islands with direct waves and receding waves was responsible for intense damage in Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari districts, respectively. During the damage survey authors also noted that there was almost no damage or much lesser damage to houses situated on or behind the Medu. Many people observed the first arrival. The largest tsunami amplitude occurred as the first arrival on the eastern coast and in the second arrival on the western coast

Safety and effi cacy of insertion of supraglottic device in anaesthetised patients by fi rst-time users

Background: Over the years, several supraglottic devices have been developed, but the most recent one is the i-gel®. It is a new device with some distinctive features that set it apart from many of its competitors. This study was designed to determine the safety and efficacy of placing different airway devices by first-time users. Methods: Fifty volunteer doctors who are regularly involved in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency medicine were divided into two groups on the basis of their experience and were timed to insert the two supraglottic devices, i-gel® and laryngeal mask airway (LMA), in ASA grade I, II and III anaesthetised patients under expert guidance. The haemodynamic parameters were recorded and the volunteers were asked to complete a questionnaire.Results: In both the groups, i-gel® was inserted in less time than LMA. The time taken for insertion of i-gel® by both the groups was not significant. The success rate of inserting i-gel® by both groups was not significant (p > 0.05). Ninety-six percent of participants in both the groups found that i-gel® was easier to insert and required minimal adjustment.Conclusion: Our results suggest that i-gel® is rapidly inserted by novices, and produces haemodynamic changes compared to those resulting from insertion of classic LMA. We suggest that the device is safe and can be used by first-time users and experts in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and in emergencies.Keywords: first-time users; laryngeal mask airway; i-ge

Generator Coordinate Calculations for the Breathing-Mode Giant Monopole Resonance in Relativistic Mean Field Theory

The breathing-mode giant monopole resonance (GMR) is studied within the framework of the relativistic mean-field theory using the Generator Coordinate Method (GCM). The constrained incompressibility and the excitation energy of isoscalar giant monopole states are obtained for finite nuclei with various sets of Lagrangian parameters. A comparison is made with the results of nonrelativistic constrained Skyrme Hartree-Fock calculations and with those from Skyrme RPA calculations. In the RMF theory the GCM calculations give a transition density for the breathing mode, which resembles much that obtained from the Skyrme HF+RPA approach and also that from the scaling mode of the GMR. From the systematic study of the breathing-mode as a function of the incompressibility in GCM, it is shown that the GCM succeeds in describing the GMR energies in nuclei and that the empirical breathing-mode energies of heavy nuclei can be reproduced by forces with an incompressibility close to $K = 300$ MeV in the RMF theory.Comment: 27 pages (Revtex) and 5 figures (available upon request), Preprint MPA-793 (March 1994

Optical Response of Solid CO2_2 as a Tool for the Determination of the High Pressure Phase

We report first-principles calculations of the frequency dependent linear and second-order optical properties of the two probable extended-solid phases of CO$_2$--V, i.e. $I\bar42d$ and $P2_12_12_1$. Compared to the parent $Cmca$ phase the linear optical susceptibility of both phases is much smaller. We find that $I\bar42d$ and $P2_12_12_1$ differ substantially in their linear optical response in the higher energy regime. The nonlinear optical responses of the two possible crystal structures differ by roughly a factor of five. Since the differences in the nonlinear optical spectra are pronounced in the low energy regime, i.e. below the band gap of diamond, measurements with the sample inside the diamond anvil cell are feasible. We therefore suggest optical experiments in comparison with our calculated data as a tool for the unambiguous identification of the high pressure phase of CO$_2$.Comment: 4 pages 2 fig

Case study: Systemic complications following absolute alcohol embolisation of scalp arteriovenous malformation

Alcohol ablation is an accepted technique for the management of arteriovenous malformations. It is preferred due to the unique property of absolute alcohol to cause complete ablation and prevention of revascularisation. However, this technique is associated with multiple complications which may lead to patient morbidity. Here the case is presented of a female patient with scalp arteriovenous malformation who underwent alcohol ablation and developed supraventricular arrhythmia accompanied with haemodynamic instability and intravascular haemolysis in the postoperative period

Developing an international higher education partnerships between high and low-income countries: two case studies

Many people and departments in higher education institutions and hospitals across the globe have objectives that include cross-national partnership working, internationalisation, capacity-building and sharing education and research. We find such commendable ideals at a global level in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to strategic plans of individual organisations from both low and high-income countries. Using a case-study approach this paper offers insights into some of the key practical issues around global partnership working. We use two case studies of a developing partnership between two separate higher education institutions from the United Kingdom (UK) and one from Nepal. To inform and guide others interested in developing global partnerships we highlight key the reasons for, considerations about, key procedures around the development of such Nepal-UK partnerships and key challenges

Surface Incompressibility from Semiclassical Relativistic Mean Field Calculations

By using the scaling method and the Thomas-Fermi and Extended Thomas-Fermi approaches to Relativistic Mean Field Theory the surface contribution to the leptodermous expansion of the finite nuclei incompressibility has been self-consistently computed. The validity of the simplest expansion, which contains volume, volume-symmetry, surface and Coulomb terms, is examined by comparing it with self-consistent results of the finite nuclei incompressibility for some currently used non-linear sigma-omega parameter sets. A numerical estimate of higher-order contributions to the leptodermous expansion, namely the curvature and surface-symmetry terms, is made.Comment: 18 pages, REVTeX, 3 eps figures, changed conten

Impact of integrated nutrient management on vegetative growth and flowering quality of gladiolus (Gladiolus hybridus Hort.) cv. American Beauty

A field study on ‘effects of integrated nutrient management on vegetative growth and flowering quality of gladiolus (Gladiolus hybridus Hort.) cv. American Beauty’ was carried out at College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar during 2016-17. It was found that cv. American Beauty with treatment the tallest plants (121.50 cm), maximum number of leaves per plant (9.03), the maximum  leaf length (38.20 cm), earliest spike emergence (59.22 days), minimum number of days to floret opening (12.50 days), maximum number of florets per spike (17.53), maximum spike length (108.50 cm), maximum floret diameter (9.01 cm), maximum rachis length (39.03 cm) was found in T12 (RDF 75% + Azotobacter + PSB + Mycorrhiza). The maximum stem diameter (1.52 cm) and maximum spike girth (0.97 cm) was recorded in T10 (RDF 75% + PSB + Mycorrhiza). On the basis of foregoing summary, the results may be concluded as follow: The different bio-fertilizer treatments had significant influence on the vegetative growth, flowering and post-harvest of gladiolus in the present study. Application of bio fertilizer singly and in different combinations has significant effect on all the vegetative, floral and corms parameters. Therefore, among various bio fertilizers and their combinations, Azotobacter, PSB and Myccorhiza were found the best, followed by un-inoculated treatment show least value for these parameters during the seasons of experiment

Microfluidic and Nanofluidic Cavities for Quantum Fluids Experiments

The union of quantum fluids research with nanoscience is rich with opportunities for new physics. The relevant length scales in quantum fluids, 3He in particular, are comparable to those possible using microfluidic and nanofluidic devices. In this article, we will briefly review how the physics of quantum fluids depends strongly on confinement on the microscale and nanoscale. Then we present devices fabricated specifically for quantum fluids research, with cavity sizes ranging from 30 nm to 11 microns deep, and the characterization of these devices for low temperature quantum fluids experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, Accepted to Journal of Low Temperature Physic

Pressure-driven instabilities in astrophysical jets

Astrophysical jets are widely believed to be self-collimated by the hoop-stress due to the azimuthal component of their magnetic field. However this implies that the magnetic field is largely dominated by its azimuthal component in the outer jet region. In the fusion context, it is well-known that such configurations are highly unstable in static columns, leading to plasma disruption. It has long been pointed out that a similar outcome may follow for MHD jets, and the reasons preventing disruption are still not elucidated, although some progress has been accomplished in the recent years. In these notes, I review the present status of this open problem for pressure-driven instabilities, one of the two major sources of ideal MHD instability in static columns (the other one being current-driven instabilities). I first discuss in a heuristic way the origin of these instabilities. Magnetic resonances and magnetic shear are introduced, and their role in pressure-driven instabilities discussed in relation to Suydam's criterion. A dispersion relation is derived for pressure-driven modes in the limit of large azimuthal magnetic fields, which gives back the two criteria derived by Kadomtsev for this instability. The growth rates of these instabilities are expected to be short in comparison with the jet propagation time. What is known about the potential stabilizing role of the axial velocity of jets is then reviewed. In particular, a nonlinear stabilization mechanism recently identified in the fusion literature is discussed. Key words: Ideal MHD: stability, pressure-driven modes; Jets: stabilityComment: 20 pages, 3 figures. Lecture given at the JETSET European school "Numerical MHD and Instabilities". To be published by Springer in the "Lectures notes in physics" serie