TCV divertor upgrade for alternative magnetic configurations

The Swiss Plasma Center (SPC) is planning a divertor upgrade for the TCV tokamak. The upgrade aims at extending the research of conventional and alternative divertor configurations to operational scenarios and divertor regimes of greater relevance for a fusion reactor. The main elements of the upgrade are the installation of an in-vessel structure to form a divertor chamber of variable closure and enhanced diagnostic capabilities, an increase of the pumping capability of the divertor chamber and the addition of new divertor poloidal field coils. The project follows a staged approach and is carried out in parallel with an upgrade of the TCV heating system. First calculations using the EMC3-Eirene code indicate that realistic baffles together with the planned heating upgrade will allow for a significantly higher compression of neutral particles in the divertor, which is a prerequisite to test the power dissipation potential of various divertor configurations

The fishery, biology and stock assessment of jew fish resources of India

Sciaenids are one of the major component of the demersal trawl The total catch of this resource during 1990-94 period was 1.50,142 t contributing 8.86% to the demersal catch of India. A number of species are found in different states of India. Of which biological and stock assessment studies were made on eleven important species. Crustaceans and fish appear to be the chief food in Juvenile and adult stage respectively. Most of the species have a protracted spawning season. Among all the species studied the largest asymptotic length was estimated for O.ruber from Tuticorin and the smallest for J. sina from Cochin. The highest Z of 7.59 was recorded for K. axillaris from Chennai and the lowest was for O. cuvierifrom Mumbai. The average exploitation rate (E) and the Lc/ Lao was 0.62 and 0.53 respectively. The present yield is 91.222 t and the MSY is 1.42,613 t for all the species taken together. The exploitation rate for almost all the stocks in the states appears to be more than the optimum leve

Novel role of PKR in inflammasome activation and HMGB1 release

The inflammasome regulates release of caspase activation-dependent cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-18, and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1)1-5. During the course of studying HMGB1 release mechanisms, we discovered an important role of double-stranded RNA dependent protein kinase (PKR) in inflammasome activation. Exposure of macrophages to inflammasome agonists induced PKR autophosphorylation. PKR inactivation by genetic deletion or pharmacological inhibition severely impaired inflammasome activation in response to double-stranded RNA, ATP, monosodium urate, adjuvant aluminum, rotenone, live E. coli, anthrax lethal toxin, DNA transfection, and S. Typhimurium infection. PKR deficiency significantly inhibited the secretion of IL-1beta, IL-18 and HMGB1 in E. coli-induced peritonitis. PKR physically interacts with multiple inflammasome components, including NLR family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3), NLR family pyrin domain-containing 1 (NLRP1), NLR family CARD domain-containing protein 4 (NLRC4), Absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2), and broadly regulates inflammasome activation. PKR autophosphorylation in a cell free system with recombinant NLRP3, ASC and pro-casapse-1 reconstitutes inflammasome activity. These results reveal a critical role of PKR in inflammasome activation, and indicate that it should be possible to pharmacologically target this molecule to treat inflammation

Implementing Andersen Alias Analysis in LLVM

Alias Analysis information is a prerequisite for most of the program analysis and the quality of this information can greatly boost up the precision and performance of the program. Many recent works in this area have focused on high precision and scalability, but still they lack an efficient and scalable alias analysis. The inclusion based or Andersen style alias analysis is widely used to compute such information. Andersen alias analysis is flow insensitive which make it highly precise and motivate many modern optimizing compilers to deploy it. In this work, we have improved and implemented the Andersen alias analysis in the latest version of LLVM

Physio-chemical characterization of three-component co-amorphous systems generated by a melt-quench method

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the possibility of creating a ternary co-amorphous system and to determine how the properties of a co-amorphous material are altered by the addition of a selected third component. Piroxicam and indomethacin form a stable co-amorphous with the Tg above room temperature. The third component added was selected based on tendency to crystallise (benzamide, caffeine) or form amorphous (acetaminophen, clotrimazole) on cooling. Generated co-amorphous systems were characterised with TGA, HSM, DSC, FTIR, and XRD. Stable ternary co-amorphous systems were successfully generated, which was confirmed using XRD, DSC and FTIR analysis. In all cases, Tg of the ternary system was lower than the Tg of the binary system, although higher than that of the individual third compound. Upon storage for 4 weeks all created ternary systems showed significantly smaller variation in Tg compared to the binary system. Stable three-component co-amorphous systems can be generated via melt quench method using either a crystalline or amorphous third component. Addition of third component can alter the Tg of co-amorphous system and in all cases created more stable co-amorphous system upon storage. Physical parameters may not be sufficient in predicting the resulting Tg, therefore knowledge of chemical interaction must be brought into equation as well

Review of Dielectric Properties of Sodic Soil at C-band Microwave Frequency

Soil dielectric properties have been extensively studied in the past decade. This review focuses on understanding the dielectric behaviour of soils, particularly sodic soils. The dielectric characteristics of soil can be analyzed to gain insight into the presence and quantities of contaminants. Soil texture, composition, and salinity play a crucial role in determining soil erodibility, nutrient losses, and intensity of erosion. The salt of the earth (SOTE) model is introduced to evaluate the risk of long-term soil degradation. The Salt of the Earth model is used to simulate the progression of sodicity in soils exposed to shallow, Na-rich groundwater and experiencing clear dry seasons. The SOTE model can be used to assess soil degradation, providing an alternative method for soil analysis and the development of sensors for soil response analysis. In this paper, we discuss the importance of understanding soil dielectric behaviour, focusing on soil microbial communities and their interactions within soil profiles. The results show that sandy soil has lower dielectric property, whereas Dookie clay soil has higher dielectric loss factors

A prospective study of the study of maternal and perinatal outcome in cases of eclampsia

Background: This is an observational analytical study carried out in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, in a tertiary care center to determine the factors influencing fetal and maternal outcome, prognosis and complications in booked and unbooked eclamptic cases.Methods: The present study is a prospective study of perinatal and maternal outcome in 50 cases of eclampsia, above 32 weeks of gestation, from 1st May 2013 to 30th April 2014. Patients with medical complications like anemia, preexisting hypertension, diabetes, vascular or renal disease, multiple gestation, polyhydraminos, etc. are excluded from the study. Detailed history, physical examinations were carried out and appropriate management instituted as per individual patient need. Follow-up of mothers up to 6weeks postpartum and neonates in the early neonatal period was done.                Results: Incidence of eclampsia is 0.64%, incidence of maternal mortality is 0.4% and perinatal mortality is 24%. 36% of patients developed complications. Maternal mortality was significantly high in patients with 6 or more episodes of convulsions. The most common cause of perinatal mortality is prematurity. Antepartum eclampsia with gestational age less than 36 weeks, BP >160/100, preterm births, low birth weight babies, low apgar scores influenced adverse perinatal outcome.Conclusions: Eclampsia still remains a major problem in developing countries. It is one of the important causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality due to lack of proper ANC, low socio-economic status and lack of education

United Kingdom Diabetic Retinopathy Electronic Medical Record (UK DR EMR) Users Group: report 4, real-world data on the impact of deprivation on the presentation of diabetic eye disease at hospital services.

AIM: To assess the impact of deprivation on diabetic retinopathy presentation and related treatment interventions, as observed within the UK hospital eye service. METHODS: This is a multicentre, national diabetic retinopathy database study with anonymised data extraction across 22 centres from an electronic medical record system. The following were the inclusion criteria: all patients with diabetes and a recorded, structured diabetic retinopathy grade. The minimum data set included, for baseline, age and Index of Multiple Deprivation, based on residential postcode; and for all time points, visual acuity, ETDRS grading of retinopathy and maculopathy, and interventions (laser, intravitreal therapies and surgery). The main  outcome measures were (1) visual acuity and binocular visual state, and (2) presence of sight-threatening complications and need for early treatment. RESULTS: 79 775 patients met the inclusion criteria. Deprivation was associated with later presentation in patients with diabetic eye disease: the OR of being sight-impaired at entry into the hospital eye service (defined as 6/18 to better than 3/60 in the better seeing eye) was 1.29 (95% CI 1.20 to 1.39) for the most deprived decile vs 0.77 (95% CI 0.70 to 0.86) for the least deprived decile; the OR for being severely sight-impaired (3/60 or worse in the better seeing eye) was 1.17 (95% CI 0.90 to 1.55) for the most deprived decile vs 0.88 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.27) for the least deprived decile (reference=fifth decile in all cases). There is also variation in sight-threatening complications at presentation and treatment undertaken: the least deprived deciles had lower chance of having a tractional retinal detachment (OR=0.48 and 0.58 for deciles 9 and 10, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.90 and 0.29 to 1.09, respectively); in terms of accessing treatment, the rate of having a vitrectomy was lowest in the most deprived cohort (OR=0.34, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.58). CONCLUSIONS: This large real-world study suggests that first presentation at a hospital eye clinic with visual loss or sight-threatening diabetic eye disease is associated with deprivation. These initial hospital visits represent the first opportunities to receive treatment and to formally engage with support services. Such patients are more likely to be sight-impaired or severely sight-impaired at presentation, and may need additional resources to engage with the hospital eye services over complex treatment schedules

Collaborating around digital tabletops: children’s physical strategies from the UK, India and Finland

We present a study of children collaborating around interactive tabletops in three different countries: the United Kingdom, India and Finland. Our data highlights the key distinctive physical strategies used by children when performing collaborative tasks during this study. Children in the UK tend to prefer static positioning with minimal physical contact and simultaneous object movement. Children in India employed dynamic positioning with frequent physical contact and simultaneous object movement. Children in Finland used a mixture of dynamic and static positioning with minimal physical contact and object movement. Our findings indicate the importance of understanding collaboration strategies and behaviours when designing and deploying interactive tabletops in heterogeneous educational environments. We conclude with a discussion on how designers of tabletops for schools can provide opportunities for children in different countries to define and shape their own collaboration strategies for small group learning that take into account their different classroom practices

Reaction of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes and hybrids against Fusarium wilt (Fusarium solani)

Field experiment was conducted to evaluate chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes and hybrids against Fusarium solani. About 56 restorer lines and 38 F1 hybrids were evaluated for resistance to Fusarium solani under laboratory conditions. Among the 56 genotypes, none of them were immune or resistant. However, only one genotype viz., P3 was found moderately resistant in both seed inoculation and rapid root dip transplanting techniques. However, out of 38, two hybrids, viz., JNA2 × ACB1 × 9608D and Rajaput × P3 showed resistance under sick pot culture condition. &nbsp