Tomato Solanum lycopersicum (formerly Lycopersicon esculentum) L. cv. Momotarou plants were grown hydroponically inside the greenhouse of Hiroshima University, Japan. The adverse effects of potassium ...(K) deficiency stress on the source-sink relationship during the early reproductive period was examined by withdrawing K from the rooting medium for a period of 21 d. Fruits and stem were the major sink organs for the carbon assimilates from the source. A simple non-destructive micro-morphometric technique was used to measure growth of these organs. The effect of K deficiency was studied on the apparent photosynthesis (source activity), leaf area, partitioning ¹³C, sugar concentration, K content, and fruit and stem diameters of the plant. Compared with the control, K deficiency treatment severely decreased biomass of all organs. The treatment also depressed leaf photosynthesis and transport of ¹³C assimilates, but the impact of stress on these activities became evident only after fruit and stem diameter expansions were down-regulated. These results suggested that K deficiency diminished sink activity in tomato plants prior to its effect on the source activity because of a direct effect on the water status of the former. The lack of demand in growth led to the accumulation of sugars in leaves and concomitant fall in photosynthetic activity. Since accumulation of K and sugars in the fruit was not affected, low K levels of the growing medium might not have affected the fruit quality. The micro-morphometric technique can be used as a reliable tool for monitoring K deficiency during fruiting of tomato. K deficiency directly hindered assimilate partitioning, and the symptoms were considered more detrimental compared with P deficiency.
Puri city is situated on the east coast of India, and groundwater is the only source available to meet city water supply. Due to increase in population and urbanization of the city, groundwater ...withdrawal is continuously increasing, which may lead to the movement of saline water interface toward the fresh groundwater. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the hydrodynamics of groundwater flow and to predict withdrawal for future water demand of the city without affecting the saltwater intrusion. For this, a groundwater flow model was conceptualized and validated for the present withdrawal coupled with the saltwater intrusion model. To assess the safe yield of groundwater withdrawal, various iterations were carried out with different withdrawal rates and movement of fresh and saltwater interface. This helped in quantifying the future demand of city water supply without affecting the interface between fresh groundwater and saltwater. Based on the simulation results, various measures were suggested to safeguard the groundwater resource against saltwater intrusion.
Dynamic modulation of ion channels by phosphorylation underlies neuronal plasticity. The Kv2.1 potassium channel is highly phosphorylated in resting mammalian neurons. Activity-dependent Kv2.1 ...dephosphorylation by calcineurin induces graded hyperpolarizing shifts in voltage-dependent activation, causing suppression of neuronal excitability. Mass spectrometry-SILAC (stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture) identified 16 Kv2.1 phosphorylation sites, of which 7 were dephosphorylated by calcineurin. Mutation of individual calcineurin-regulated sites to alanine produced incremental shifts mimicking dephosphorylation, whereas mutation to aspartate yielded equivalent resistance to calcineurin. Mutations at multiple sites were additive, showing that variable phosphorylation of Kv2.1 at a large number of sites allows graded activity-dependent regulation of channel gating and neuronal firing properties.
The integration of process planning and scheduling is considered as a critical component in manufacturing systems. In this paper, a multi-objective approach is used to solve the planning and ...scheduling problem. Three different objectives considered in this work are minimisation of makespan, machining cost and idle time of machines. To solve this integration problem, we propose an improved controlled elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA) to take into account the computational intractability of the problem. An illustrative example and five test cases have been taken to demonstrate the capability of the proposed model. The results confirm that the proposed multi-objective optimisation model gives optimal and robust solutions. A comparative study between proposed algorithm, controlled elitist NSGA and NSGA-II show that proposed algorithm significantly reduces scheduling objectives like makespan, cost and idle time, and is computationally more efficient.
QRON: QoS-aware routing in overlay networks Zhi Li; Mohapatra, P.
IEEE journal on selected areas in communications,
2004-Jan., 2004-01-00, 20040101, Letnik:
22, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Recently, many overlay applications have emerged in the Internet. Currently, each of these applications requires their proprietary functionality support. A general unified framework may be a ...desirable alternative to application-specific overlays. We introduce the concept of overlay brokers (OBs). We assume that each autonomous system in the Internet has one or more OBs. These OBs cooperate with each other to form an overlay service network (OSN) and provide overlay service support for overlay applications, such as resource allocation and negotiation, overlay routing, topology discovery, and other functionalities. The scope of our effort is the support of quality-of-service (QoS) in overlay networks. Our primary focus is on the design of QoS-aware routing protocols for overlay networks (QRONs). The goal of QRON is to find a QoS-satisfied overlay path, while trying to balance the overlay traffic among the OBs and the overlay links in the OSN. A subset of OBs, connected by the overlay paths, can form an application specific overlay network for an overlay application. The proposed QRON algorithm adopts a hierarchical methodology that enhances its scalability. We analyze two different types of path selection algorithms. We have simulated the protocols based on the transit-stub topologies produced by GT-ITM. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithms perform well in providing a QoS-aware overlay routing service.
•Non-dispersive extraction (NDSX) of U(VI) and Th(IV) was carried out.•Hollow fiber contactor was used for the NDSX studies.•Performance of TBP and DHOA was compared.•Separation of U from Th was ...studied.•Mathematical model was developed and tested successfully.
Dispersion-free solvent extraction of U(VI) and Th(IV) from nitric acid medium was studied employing microporous hollow fiber membrane with several monoamide extractants, viz. N,N-di-2-ethylhexyl isobutyramide (D2EHiBA), N,N-dihexyl hexanamide (DHHA), N,N-dihexyl decanamide (DHDA) and N,N-dihexyl octanamide (DHOA), and the results were compared with those obtained with conventional TBP extractant. Effects of flow rate and feed metal ion concentration on the extraction rate were examined. The extraction was principally controlled by the distribution coefficient of the metal ions with the extractants. The studies were performed under different hydrodynamic conditions and the overall mass transfer coefficients of the extracting species were calculated and found to be independent of the flow rates. The overall extraction rates were governed by the viscosity and density of the organic phase. The separation factor between U(VI) and Th(IV) was excellent with branched chain monoamides, viz. D2EHiBA, followed by DHOA. The results indicated the selective recovery of Uranium in the presence of large concentrations of Thorium by monoamides in dispersion-free solvent extraction method. A mathematical model was employed for predicting the extraction behavior of metal ions, which gave an excellent match between the calculated and the experimental results.
Background: Some people in Northeast India prepare rice-based alcoholic drinks in the household. People use these drinks in religious and social functions, and these are taken even in the presence of ...parents and elders. Easy access to illicit substances in industrial towns and lack of social inhibition for intake of homemade alcohol might increase the vulnerability of youth to these habits.
Objective: To estimate the prevalence of alcoholic drink user among school-going adolescent students in an industrial town of Assam.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was designed to collect the data using a predesigned questionnaire. Personal interview was conducted to collect the data about pattern of alcohol use, type of alcoholic drinks they use, duration, and information about parents and peer. Data were analyzed using Epi-info 17 and Statistical Package for Social Sciences-17.0 (Chicago, USA, SPSS Inc.).
Results: About 36% out of 1285 students have tasted/used homemade alcoholic drinks (HADs) and 12.3% used commercially available alcoholic drinks (CADs). Significantly higher numbers (P < 0.001) of adolescent students (≥15 years) used CAD in comparison to children (<15 years). However, the number of younger students was higher in using HAD. Minimum age at first experience of CAD was 7 years and that of HAD was 4 years; the duration varied from 1 to 8 years and 1-15 years, respectively. Parent's behavior of taking tobacco and/or alcohol influenced the habit of their children. Father's habit was found to be associated with male offspring's habit of taking CAD. About 16% of the students used one or more substances along with alcohol.
Conclusion: High percentage of adolescents in the industrial town of Assam use alcoholic drinks with a male preponderance. They taste alcoholic drinks at a very young age. Parent's indulgence in taking tobacco, alcohol, or both was found to influence higher intake by their offspring.
Voltage-dependent Kv2.1 K(+) channels, which mediate delayed rectifier Kv currents (I(K)), are expressed in large clusters on the somata and dendrites of principal pyramidal neurons, where they ...regulate neuronal excitability. Here we report activity-dependent changes in the localization and biophysical properties of Kv2.1. In the kainate model of continuous seizures in rat, we find a loss of Kv2.1 clustering in pyramidal neurons in vivo. Biochemical analysis of Kv2.1 in the brains of these rats shows a marked dephosphorylation of Kv2.1. In cultured rat hippocampal pyramidal neurons, glutamate stimulation rapidly causes dephosphorylation of Kv2.1, translocation of Kv2.1 from clusters to a more uniform localization, and a shift in the voltage-dependent activation of I(K). An influx of Ca(2+) leading to calcineurin activation is both necessary and sufficient for these effects. Our finding that neuronal activity modifies the phosphorylation state, localization and function of Kv2.1 suggests an important link between excitatory neurotransmission and the intrinsic excitability of pyramidal neurons.
•PIMs containing TODGA were used for actinide ion uptake and transport.•The trend of uptake was: Am3+>Pu4+>Th4+>UO22+.•The transport trend was similar though significant amount was held in the ...PIM.•The diffusion coefficients were lower than those obtained with SLM.
Polymer inclusion membranes (PIM) containing TODGA (N,N,N′,N′-tetra-n-octyl diglycolamide) were evaluated for the separation of actinide ions such as Am3+, Pu4+, UO22+ and Th4+ from acidic feeds. The PIMs were prepared using cellulose triacetate (CTA) as the polymer matrix and 2-nitrophenyloctyl ether (NPOE) as the plasticizer along with the diglycolamide carrier extractants and were characterized by conventional techniques such as XRD, thermal analysis and AFM. The PIM composition was optimized by a series of studies which involved variation in the CTA, NPOE and carrier concentration which suggested 58% TODGA, 30% NPOE and 12% CTA to be optimum. The uptake studies were carried out using feed solutions containing varying concentrations of nitric acid and showed the trend: Am3+>Pu4+>Th4+>UO22+.
Transport studies were carried out in a two-compartment cell where nitric acid concentration the feed was varied (1–3M) while the receiver compartment contained alpha-hydroxy-iso-butyric acid (AHIBA). The actinide ion transport efficiencies with TODGA containing PIMs followed the same trend as seen in the uptake studies. The AFM patterns of the PIMs changed when loaded with Eu3+ carrier (used as a surrogate for Am3+) while the regenerated membranes have displayed comparable morphologies. Diffusion coefficient values were experimentally obtained from the transport studies and were found to be 8.89×10−8cm2/s for Am3+ transport.
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