Effect of shape anisotropy on transport in a 2-dimensional computational model: Numerical simulations showing experimental features observed in biomembranes

We propose a 2-d computational model-system comprising a mixture of spheres and the objects of some other shapes, interacting via the Lennard-Jones potential. We propose a reliable and efficient numerical algorithm to obtain void statistics. The void distribution, in turn, determines the selective permeability across the system and bears a remarkable similarity with features reported in certain biological experiments.Comment: 1 tex file, 2 sty files and 5 figures. To appear in Proc. of StatPhys conference held in Calcutta, Physica A 199

Nowcasting severity of thunderstorm associated with strong wind flow over Indian Subcontinent: Resource lightning surge

This study uses the data of Indian Air Force (IAF) Lightning Detection System (LDS) network to prepare climatological plots of lightning over India and to formulate location-specific thunderstorm (TS) guidance for a total of 12 Indian airports. The analysis of climatological plots reveals that there is a distinct warm-season preponderance of lightning strikes over Indian subcontinent, with pre-monsoon months receiving the maximum lightning. The most probable time of occurrence being 12:00-14:00 UTC during all the seasons across the country. Location-specific TS guidance not only signifies the most probable direction of occurrence of TS with respect to the airport, but also clearly brings out the favorable direction of movement. Hence, the same can be judiciously used as nowcasting aid. Further, the characteristic features of lightning, like surges in flash rate, can be objectively used to define a predictor for nowcasting severe weather associated with a TS cloud. The study of these surges in lightning flash rate vis a vis the occurrence of strong surface winds (SSW) > 60 km h–1 over Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) (Hindan Airport observations), indicated that there is an increase in the number of lightning flashes prior to the occurrence of SSW. Within 45 min of their occurrence, 77.5% of SSW are preceded by surges in flash rates; however, the probability of detection of the event with a lead time of 15 to 45 min is around 71%

Solar Energy powered active Greenhouse for the cultivation of Fresh Food during winter in Trans Himalayan Cold Arid Region, India

The Trans-Himalayan Cold arid high altitude region of Ladakh have hostile climatic conditions particularly lowtemperature (-20°C to -45°C). The region shares international borders with two countries viz. China and Pakistanand hence large numbers of Army personnel are deployed in the region due to their strategic importance. Production of fresh food locally is difficult due to low atmospheric temperatures. The region remains cut off from the external world during the winter period for almost 6-8 months due to the closure of roads, which causes an acute shortage of fresh food. Some supply from other regions through the air is carried out but available only to a limited population and costly also, hence beyond the pocket of the common’s man. The inhabitants hence mostly have to survive on packaged food containing food preservatives and harmful chemicals, which are the causes of many diseases. In addition, the unavailability of fresh food causes nutritional deficiency in the inhabitants of the region. Production of fresh food locally seems possible and realistic in closed structures, only if the temperature is maintained. The objective of this study is to prove fresh food production by maintaining suitable temperatures in structures during peak winter using solar energy. Solar energy is available in plenty in the region and stood at 4 th position in India in terms of irradiation. A variety of fresh foods were produced by maintaining temperature in the coldest and largest existing structure using commercially available heating units successively from 2016-2019 during the winter period. The heating units were supplied energy from a Solar PV-based system. An average of 1500kgs-1800kgs of a variety of fresh vegetables were produced and supplied for the first time in the region during the peak winter period of 2016 to 2019. The survival percentage of 92.5% to 100% is found in a structure with an area of 3600 2 feet.Fresh foods were produced and supplied to the user by maintaining minimum survival temperature using solar energy as a source with commercially available heating technology in the largest and coldest existing structure

Quantification of the energy required for the destruction of Balanus amphitrite larva by ultrasonic treatment

Ultrasonic treatment, a relatively less explored technology in water disinfection, was used to quantify the energy required for the destruction of larvae of barnacle Balanus amphitrite, which is a major marine fouling and a potential invasive organism. Since the power used and treatment time for disinfection are economically, and practically, the most important parameters, the energy required to pulverize the larvae into pieces ≤30 μm was determined as a function of the acoustic power density. The present investigation suggests that an ultrasonic system operating at 20 kHz and 0.0975 W/cm3 can effectively pulverize barnacle larvae having length (~440 μm) and breadth (~350 μm) within 45 seconds using 0.1 mJ/larva of pulverization energy. It was also observed that following pulverization of the larvae, the bacterial abundance increased and the rate of release of bacteria was dependent on power level and treatment time, which in turn decided the pulverization rate and hence the rate of release of bacteria

Food Production in Ergonomically Designed Unit with Low Energy Consuming Thick Film Hot Plate

The Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh is a cold desert where the temperature drops as low as -45°C, which makes the cultivation of fresh food almost impossible. The region is strategically very important as it borders two countries China and Pakistan. The unavailability of fresh food causes nutritional deficiency in the deployed troops and locals, affecting their performance. Cultivation of fresh food is very difficult due to the average low temperature and mountainous soil of the region. Transportation of fresh food to such forward locations causes decaying of nutrition besides the difficulty of reaching such snow-bound mountainous locations.  Nutritious micro-greens grown in media under controlled conditions look perfect solutions for meeting nutritional requirements. The present study focuses on year-round cultivation of nutritious micro-green (2-3 times more nutritious than mature counterparts) with low energy consuming thick-film hot plate for necessary temperature maintenance in properly designed portable structures to reduce dependency on packaged food which are the causes of many diseases. The study involves the development of a thick film energy-efficient micro-climate maintenance technology-based system for the maintenance of temperature along with phase-wise development of suitable cultivation structure and standardization of the number of such plates and sizing of the portable unit.These hotplates produce heat based on the principle of Joule heating or resistive heating and the power of a hotplate is equal to I2R. The hotplates are capable of raising the surface temperature to 90°C –100°C at the expense of only 8W power consumption and maintenance of average temperature in the range of 18°C to 20°C at -25°C to -40°C outside ambient temperature. The region receives the highest solar irradiance along with annual average of 7-8 hours of sunshine duration and hence a solar-based technology can fulfill the energy supply of 8W with ease.The study revealed that a suitable temperature can be maintained for growing variety of nutritious micro-green in a triple layer-based multitier structure integrated with low energy consuming (~8 W), small (50.8 mm (x) 50.8 mm), efficient, and lightweight thick film technology.Thick-film hot plate integrated standardized unit is capable of producing an average of 1000grams/trial/unit in a short period of 8-12 days during the winter period of 6-8 months for the targeted supply of 8-10grams/person/day with total energy consumption of approximately 20-25Kw/trial at ~3350 m to ~5400 m Altitude

Случай раннего выявления метастазов в бедренной кости у больного раком полового члена

Background. Bone metastasis is very common in the advanced stage of numerous carcinomas. In penile carcinoma, lymph nodes metastasis is somehow common but it is very rare reported to be secondary from penile cancer. till the date, there are only few cases of penis carcinoma reported bone metastasis in literature worldwide.Case Presentation. Herein, We presented a 51-year-old Nepalese male with squamous cell carcinoma of penis. computed tomography (ct) scan of the patient revealed that there was carcinoma involving glans penis and precure with bilateral external & internal inguinal lymphadenopathies. After then, the patient was under gone for partial penectomy and bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy and complete 6-cycle chemotherapy. After one year of treatment, patient developed thigh pain and headache and he advised to have magnetic Resonance imaging (mRi) of brain, 99mTc-MDP whole body bone scan and ct scan of pelvis and thigh. The examination report reveals that there was a sclerotic change in vertex of skull bone and moderate 99mTc-MDP uptake in right proximal shaft of femur just below the neck d/d metastasis. The histopathological examination of the true cut biopsy taken from the lesion of the femur showed metastatic keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma which is rare case of femoral shaft bone metastasis secondary from penile carcinoma. Then patient was sent for surgical reconstruction of femur. Based on the case studies review femur shaft bone metastasis from penile cancer is extremely rare.Conclusion. The best of our knowledge; this is the first early detected bone metastases to shaft of the femur in a patient with penile cancer. early diagnosis helps to radical treatment as well as palliative treatment. surgery is the preferred option of the treatments, especially for metastatic foci in the long bones.Аннотация Метастазы в кости часто встречаются на поздних стадиях разных злокачественных новообразований. Для рака полового члена характерно лимфогенное метастазирование, костные метастазы встречаются очень редко. На данный момент в мировой литературе зарегистрировано лишь несколько случаев рака полового члена с метастазами в кости.Описание клинического случая. Мы представляем описание клинического случая плоскоклеточного рака полового члена у 51-летнего мужчины из Непала. Компьютерная томография (КТ) выявила рак полового члена, локализованный на головке и крайней плоти с двусторонней паховой лимфаденопатией. Пациенту выполнена частичная пенэктомия, двусторонняя паховая лимфаденэктомия, проведено 6 курсов адъювантной химиотерапии. Через один год после завершения лечения у пациента появились боли в бедре и головная боль, рекомендована МРТ головного мозга, сканирование костей скелета с 99mTc-MDP и КТ таза и бедра. Обследование показало наличие склеротических изменений в теменной кости черепа и умеренное накопление 99mTc-MDP в проксимальном отделе правом бедренной кости ниже шейки. Гистологическое исследование биоптата, взятого из очага в бедренной кости, выявило метастаз ороговевающего плоскоклеточного рака, что является редким случаем метастазирования рака полового члена в диафиз бедренной кости. Пациент был направлен на хирургическую реконструкцию бедренной кости. Согласно обзору клинических исследований, метастазы в диафизе бедренной кости при раке полового члена встречаются крайне редко.Заключение. Представлен первый случай раннего выявления костных метастазов в диафизе бедренной кости у пациента с раком полового члена. Ранняя диагностика помогает как радикальному, так и паллиативному лечению. Хирургическое вмешательство является предпочтительным вариантом лечения, особенно при метастатических очагах в длинных костях

Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and life threatening disease with median survival of 2.5-3 years. The IPF lung is characterized by abnormal lung remodeling, epithelial cell hyperplasia, myofibroblast foci formation, and extracellular matrix deposition. Analysis of gene expression microarray data revealed that cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), a non-collagenous extracellular matrix protein is among the most significantly up-regulated genes (Fold change 13, p-value <0.05) in IPF lungs. This finding was confirmed at the mRNA level by nCounter® expression analysis in additional 115 IPF lungs and 154 control lungs as well as at the protein level by western blot analysis. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that COMP was expressed in dense fibrotic regions of IPF lungs and co-localized with vimentin and around pSMAD3 expressing cells. Stimulation of normal human lung fibroblasts with TGF-β1 induced an increase in COMP mRNA and protein expression. Silencing COMP in normal human lung fibroblasts significantly inhibited cell proliferation and negatively impacted the effects of TGF-β1 on COL1A1 and PAI1. COMP protein concentration measured by ELISA assay was significantly increased in serum of IPF patients compared to controls. Analysis of serum COMP concentrations in 23 patients who had prospective blood draws revealed that COMP levels increased in a time dependent fashion and correlated with declines in force vital capacity (FVC). Taken together, our results should encourage more research into the potential use of COMP as a biomarker for disease activity and TGF-β1 activity in patients with IPF. Hence, studies that explore modalities that affect COMP expression, alleviate extracellular matrix rigidity and lung restriction in IPF and interfere with the amplification of TGF-β1 signaling should be persuaded. © 2013 Vuga et al