Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati Cosmology in Bianchi I brane

The dynamics of Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati Cosmology (DGP) braneworld with an anisotropic brane is studied. The Friedmann equations and their solutions are obtained for two branches of anisotropic DGP model. The late time behavior in DGP cosmology is examined in the presence of anisotropy which shows that universe enters a self-accelerating phase much later compared to the isotropic case. The acceleration conditions and slow-roll conditions for inflation are obtained

Controls of soil spatial variability in a dry tropical forest

We examined the roles of lithology, topography, vegetation and fire in generating local-scale (= 1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), and spatial variation in fire frequency (times burnt during the 17 years preceding soil sampling) in a permanent 50-ha plot. Unlike classic catenas, lower elevation soils had lesser moisture, plant-available Ca, Cu, Mn, Mg, Zn, B, clay and total C. The distribution of plant-available Ca, Cu, Mn and Mg appeared to largely be determined by the whole-rock chemical composition differences between amphibolites and hornblende-biotite gneisses. Amphibolites were associated with summit positions, while gneisses dominated lower elevations, an observation that concurs with other studies in the region which suggest that hillslope-scale topography has been shaped by differential weathering of lithologies. Neither NO3--N nor NH4+-N was explained by the basal area of trees belonging to Fabaceae, a family associated with N-fixing species, and no long-term effects of fire on soil parameters were detected. Local-scale lithological variation is an important first-order control over soil variability at the hillslope scale in this SDTF, by both direct influence on nutrient stocks and indirect influence via control of local relief

Bulk scalar field in DGP braneworld cosmology

We investigated the effects of bulk scalar field in the braneworld cosmological scenario. The Friedmann equations and acceleration condition in presence of the bulk scalar field for a zero tension brane and cosmological constant are studied. In DGP model the effective Einstein equation on the brane is obtained with bulk scalar field. The rescaled bulk scalar field on the brane in the DGP model behaves as an effective four dimensional field, thus standard type cosmology is recovered. In present study of the DGP model, the late-time accelerating phase of the universe can be explained .Comment: 10 pages, to appear in JCA

Nature of yeasts present on grapes grown in south lndia andin their wines

Yeasts isolated from juice, fermenting juice and wines made from the varieties Bangalore Blue and Black Champa feil into 6 genera namely Kloeckera, Torulopsis, Candida, Rhodotorula, Cryptococcus and Saccharomyces.Kloeckera apiculata and Torulopsis spp. were predominant during initial stages of fermentation. Torulopsis spp., Saccharomyces chevalieri and S. cerevisiae were present in the wine.This is the first report on the isolation of Kloeckera apiculata, Saccharomyces chevalieri, Torulopsis spp., Rhodotorula rubra and Cryptococcus albidus var. albidus from grape musts from India.Die Hefenflora südindischer Trauben und ihrer WeineDie aus Traubensaft, gärendem Most und Wein der Rebsorten Bangalore Blue und Black Champa isolierten Hefen gehörten 6 Gattungen an, nämlich Kloeckera, Torulopsis, Candida, Rhodotorula, Cryptococcus und Saccharomyces. Während der frühen Gärungsphasen überwogen Kloeckera apiculata und Torulopsis spp.; im Wein waren Torulopsis spp., Saccharomyces chevalieri und S. cerevisiae vorhanden. Kloeckera apiculata, Saccharomyces chevalieri, Torulopsis spp., Rhodotorula rubra und Cryptococcus albidus var. albidus wurden aus indischen Traubenmosten erstmals isoliert

Free-energy-based framework for early forecasting of stem cell differentiation.

Commitment of stem cells to different lineages is inherently stochastic but regulated by a range of environmental bio/chemo/mechanical cues. Here, we develop an integrated stochastic modelling framework for predicting the differentiation of hMSCs in response to a range of environmental cues, including sizes of adhesive islands, stiffness of substrates and treatment with ROCK inhibitors in both growth and mixed media. The statistical framework analyses the fluctuations of cell morphologies over approximately a 24 h period after seeding the cells in the specific environment and uses the cytoskeletal free-energy distribution to forecast the lineage the hMSCs will commit to. The cytoskeletal free energy which succinctly parametrizes the biochemical state of the cell is shown to capture hMSC commitment over a range of environments while simple morphological factors such as cell shape, tractions on their own are unable to correlate with lineages hMSCs adopt

Satellite Image Classification using Clustering Algorithms with Edge Detection Operators

Image classification consists of image processing algorithms for grouping cells of similar characteristics together. Satellite image classification is essential to extract the information and identify the different components such as water dense region, roads, vegetation etc. from the classified image. In this paper, an attempt is made to locate and identify the different regions of interest using classification algorithms such as K means and Fuzzy-C Means. Comparison is done for both the algorithms in terms of computational time and memory requirements. Also, the algorithms are applied for the input image by considering different values of K and its discussion is presented in the paper. The algorithms are then applied for the given image with edge detection operators to obtain the better visual clarity of the edges

E5501: phase II study of topotecan sequenced with etoposide/cisplatin, and irinotecan/cisplatin sequenced with etoposide for extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE: Sequence-dependent improved efficacy of topoisomerase I followed by topoisomerase 2 inhibitors was assessed in a randomized phase II study in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). METHODS: Patients with previously untreated extensive-stage SCLC with measurable disease, ECOG performance status of 0-3 and stable brain metastases were eligible. Arm A consisted of topotecan (0.75 mg/m(2)) on days 1, 2 and 3, etoposide (70 mg/m(2)) and cisplatin (20 mg/m(2)) (PET) on days 8, 9 and 10 in a 3-week cycle. Arm B consisted of irinotecan (50 mg/m(2)) and cisplatin (20 mg/m(2)) on days 1 and 8 followed by etoposide (85 mg/m(2) PO bid) on days 3 and 10 (PIE) in a 3-week cycle. RESULTS: We enrolled 140 patients and randomized 66 eligible patients to each arm. Only 54.5 % of all patients completed the planned maximum 6 cycles. There were grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events in approximately 70 % of the patients on both arms including 6 treatment-related grade 5 events. The overall response rates (CR + PR) were 69.7 % (90 % CI 59.1-78.9, 95 % CI 57.1-80.4 %) for arm A and 57.6 % (90 % CI 46.7-67.9, 95 % CI 44.8-69.7 %) for arm B. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 6.4 months (95 % CI 5.4-7.5 months) and 11.9 months (95 % CI 9.6-13.7 months) for arm A and 6.0 months (95 % CI 5.4-7.0 months) and 11.0 months (95 % CI 8.6-13.1 months) for arm B. CONCLUSION: Sequential administration of topoisomerase inhibitors did not improve on the historical efficacy of standard platinum-doublet chemotherapy for extensive-stage SCLC

DBC based Face Recognition using DWT

The applications using face biometric has proved its reliability in last decade. In this paper, we propose DBC based Face Recognition using DWT (DBC- FR) model. The Poly-U Near Infra Red (NIR) database images are scanned and cropped to get only the face part in pre-processing. The face part is resized to 100*100 and DWT is applied to derive LL, LH, HL and HH subbands. The LL subband of size 50*50 is converted into 100 cells with 5*5 dimention of each cell. The Directional Binary Code (DBC) is applied on each 5*5 cell to derive 100 features. The Euclidian distance measure is used to compare the features of test image and database images. The proposed algorithm render better percentage recognition rate compared to the existing algorithm.Comment: 15 pages,9 figures, 4 table

Universality behind Basquin's law of fatigue

One of the most important scaling laws of time dependent fracture is Basquin's law of fatigue, namely, that the lifetime of the system increases as a power law with decreasing external load amplitude, $t_f\sim \sigma_0^{-\alpha}$, where the exponent $\alpha$ has a strong material dependence. We show that in spite of the broad scatter of the Basquin exponent $\alpha$, the fatigue fracture of heterogeneous materials exhibits intriguing universal features. Based on stochastic fracture models we propose a generic scaling form for the macroscopic deformation and show that at the fatigue limit the system undergoes a continuous phase transition when changing the external load. On the microlevel, the fatigue fracture proceeds in bursts characterized by universal power law distributions. We demonstrate that in a range of systems, including deformation of asphalt, a realistic model of deformation, and a fiber bundle model, the system dependent details are contained in Basquin's exponent for time to failure, and once this is taken into account, remaining features of failure are universal.Comment: 4 pages in Revtex, 4 figures, accepted by PR

String Cosmology in Anisotropic Bianchi-II Space-time

The present study deals with a spatially homogeneous and anisotropic Bianchi-II cosmological model representing massive strings. The energy-momentum tensor, as formulated by Letelier (1983), has been used to construct a massive string cosmological model for which the expansion scalar is proportional to one of the components of shear tensor. The Einstein's field equations have been solved by applying a variation law for generalized Hubble's parameter that yields a constant value of deceleration parameter in Bianchi-II space-time. A comparative study of accelerating and decelerating modes of the evolution of universe has been carried out in the presence of string scenario. The study reveals that massive strings dominate the early Universe. The strings eventually disappear from the Universe for sufficiently large times, which is in agreement with the current astronomical observations.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures (To appear in Mod. Phys. Lett. A) In this version, the cosmic string has been directed along z-direction and the resultant field equations have been solved exactl