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Wolves use howls to maintain large territories, intra-pack communication and social bonding. Besides their physical presence, howls are also instrumental in creating fear and impacting foraging behaviour among the lower cascade. Anthropocene-led behavioural alteration in vocalization has been observed in a wide range of species, but the effect on wolf howl is unknown. In this context, we have studied the howling behaviour of the Indian wolf through playback surveys (n = 264) across the anthropogenic gradient. We found a disparity in their howl response – based on the distance to villages. In the low disturbed East-Maharashtra (EM), wolves mostly avoided responding to howling surveys (HS) if done within 1200 m of villages [response rate (RR) = 0.03 ± 0.021], but they did respond once it was done far from villages (>1200 m) (RR = 0.226 ± 0.075). In high human-density West-Maharashtra (WM), wolves showed high RR within 1200 m from the villages (RR = 0.148 ± 0.031). But the RR within 500 m from villages was less as howling near villages might lead to easy detection. The collared wolf data showed significantly high RR (0.635 ± 0.067) in their home-range core, but low RR if the core area was close to a village. Therefore, howling too close to a village is disadvantageous, although their tolerance for responding to HS has increased in the human-dominated landscape. The extent of the village may increase further with development, which will leave fewer areas for the wolf to defend territory with a long-range howl. The wolves might behaviourally adapt to a human-modified landscape by reducing their howling intensity. Adaptation to a fragmented habitat may save the wolves from extinction, but the repercussions of the fundamental behavioural alteration might adversely impact wolf behaviour and the ecological cascade. Whereas ecologists are mainly concerned with the extinction of species, this study highlights the vulnerability of fundamental behaviour of a keystone species attributed to human-induced contemporary evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Theoretical calculations (optimization) are carried out for the total front contact losses (viz. optical and electrical) of commercially available patterns solar cell. • The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) due to Silver (Ag) paste has also been estimated for production of 10 MW power. • The effect of increasing number of busbars on solar cell performance is analyzed here. The EM field distribution due to incident photon flux is also shown here using COMSOL Multiphysics simulation software. Solar cell performance is highly dependent upon the front contact grid design for minimizing the power losses due to shading (optical loss) and for proper collection of the photo-generated charge carriers (electrical loss). In this paper, theoretical calculations (optimization) have been carried out for the total power losses (viz. optical and electrical) due to different front grid multi-busbar patterns similar to the ones currently used in industrial production. Busbar width and finger spacing, the two important design parameters of solar cell with standard busbar structure, are optimized for multi busbar systems. Role of interlinks between the fingers to reduce the power loss has also been studied. The effect of each optimized grid design on the component in the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) due to Silver (Ag) requirement has been estimated for a 10 MW power system with a 25 years lifespan. The study of EM field distribution due to incident photon flux shows that increasing the number of busbars can generate carriers within the shaded areas under the busbars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary In this paper we solve the Navier Stokes’ equation using finite difference method, on a simulated porous rock structure in 2-D, to study the velocity distribution of fluid flowing through it under a constant pressure gradient. A reactive solute carried through the fluid is allowed to interact with the minerals in the rock. Depending on the rock composition, both dissolution and precipitation reactions may occur. However precipitation occurs only through the cations that are released in the solution due to dissolution. These combined dissolution–precipitation reactions change the porosity, permeability and pore geometry of the sedimentary rock. We study the temporal changes of these properties as functions of Peclet number, concentration of the reactive solute and ratio of Damkholer numbers of dissolution to precipitation. The final flow property is decided by a combination of these parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a simulation study on competition between cracking and peeling, in a layer of clay on desiccation and how this is affected by the rate of drying, as well as the roughness of the substrate. The system is based on a simple 2-dimensional spring model. A vertical section through the layer with finite thickness is represented by a rectangular array of nodes connected by linear springs on a square lattice. The effect of reduction of the natural length of the springs, which mimics the drying is studied. Varying the strength of adhesion between sample and substrate and the rate of penetration of the drying front produces an interesting phase diagram, showing cross-over from peeling to cracking behavior. Changes in the number and width of cracks on varying the layer thickness is observed to reproduce experimental reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model is suggested to simulate the physical aspect of diagenesis in porous rocks. A bidisperse ballistic deposition model with relaxation of deposited grains is used to generate the porous structure. Sedimentation and erosion are allowed to restructure the pore space as a fluid flows through the rock. The effect of this restructuring of the pore space on permeability is studied. The Navier–Stokes equation is solved numerically by the finite difference method to determine the pressure and velocity distributions in the pore space. We find that though deposition is the dominant process in our model of diagenesis, reducing the porosity, the permeability may increase dramatically in some cases. These are when the erosion takes place at a single narrow constriction in the pore channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant nutrients are essential for the production of healthy crops for the world's expanding population and thus, they are a vital component of sustainable agriculture. Increased crop production depends on the type of fertilizers used to supplement essential nutrients for plants. The nutrient level fertilizers provide depends on their nature-each type of fertilizer has its advantages and disadvantages concerning crop growth and soil fertility. The management of using fertilizer must aim to ensure both an enhanced and safeguarded environment. Thus, a balanced fertilization strategy must be implemented. An experiment was conducted under field conditions to assess the effects of combinations of bio-fertilizers on agronomic and quality criteria of Brassica juncea (brown mustard), Basella alba (climbing spinach), and Amaranthus dubius (red spinach). Randomized block design with three replicas were used for the study, one set with the application of fertilizers containing Azotobacter, Rhizobium, Sesbania, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Glomus (Mycorrhizal inoculant)-under bio-fertilizer; another with a mixture of urea, Potassium Nitrate, Super Phosphate, Potassium Sulfate, and Maple EM solution as chemical fertilizer and a control (water). Results indicated that yield and other plant criteria like chlorophyll content and gel volume were enhanced in bio-fertilizer treated plants compared to the plants grown with chemical fertilizer and control. In general, the application of bio-fertilizer significantly increased leaf length by 16-50%, the total number of leaves by 50-80%, plant size 19.15-63.15%, and gel volume by 147% (approximately) in comparison with untreated plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of taking into account the influence of turbulence comes up while solving both fundamental questions of geo- and astrophysics and applied problems arising in the development of new engineering solutions. Difficulties in applying the standard propositions of the theory appear when considering flows with a special spatial structure, for example, helical flows. The flow helicity determines the topology of vortices and is conserved in the process of energy transfer in a turbulent flow. In this paper we suggest an approach for numerical simulation of homogeneous isotropic helical turbulence aimed at detecting characteristic signatures of the inertial range and finding the distributions of the spectral energy and helicity densities. In this approach we use the TARANG code designed to numerically solve various problems of fluid dynamics in the regime of a developed turbulent flow and to study hydrodynamic instability phenomena of a different physical nature (thermal convection, advection of passive and active scalars, magnetohydrodynamics, and the influence of Coriolis forces). TARANG is an open source code written in the object-oriented C++ language with a high efficiency of computation on multiprocessor computers. Particular attention in the paper is given to the application of the tool kit from the package to analyze the solutions obtained. The spectral distributions and fluxes of energy and helicity have been computed for Reynolds numbers of 5700 and 14 000 on 5123 and 10243 grids, respectively. We have checked whether the -5/3 spectral law is realizable and estimated the universal Kolmogorov and Batchelor constants in the inertial range. An analysis of the energy and helicity transfer functions between the selected scales (shell-to-shell transfer) shows a significant contribution of nonlocal interactions to the cascade process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Papanicolaou (Pap) staining is used with various modifications for the staining of cervical smears. It gives a good contrast with sharp nuclear features which aid in accurate interpretation. However, it utilises ethyl alcohol, which is expensive and difficult to purchase. We have attempted to devise a rapid Pap technique which uses acetic acid instead of ethyl alcohol, and yet provides good staining for correct diagnosis. Methods Liquid-based cytology samples were collected from 102 patients as a part of routine screening. Two smears were prepared from each sample, which were stained with conventional as well as rapid Pap. In the rapid Pap method, the smears were fixed in methanol and dehydration was performed before and after OG6 with 0.5% acetic acid. The final dehydration was performed with methanol. Smears from both techniques were compared by two independent observers for staining quality. Results With the rapid Pap stain, nuclear staining was comparable with that of conventional Pap ( P < 0.05). Cytoplasmic staining was optimal in 69.6% of cases; however, the suboptimal staining in the rest of the smears did not pose any diagnostic problem. Conclusion The rapid Pap technique is a cost-effective alternative to conventional Pap which also saves time and provides good staining quality without compromising the diagnostic interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct numerical simulations of flow through two millimeter-scale rock samples of limestone and sandstone are performed using three diverse fluid dynamic simulators. The resulting steady-state velocity fields are compared in terms of the associated empirical probability density functions (PDFs) and key statistics of the velocity fields. The pore space geometry of each sample is imaged at 5.06− μm voxel size resolution using X-ray microtomography. The samples offer contrasting characteristics in terms of total connected porosity (about 0.31 for the limestone and 0.07 for the sandstone) and are typical of several applications in hydrogeology and petroleum engineering. The three-dimensional fluid velocity fields within the explicit pore spaces are simulated using ANSYS® FLUENT® ANSYS Inc. (), EULAG Prusa et al. (Comput. Fluids 37, 1193-1207 ), and SSTOKES Sarkar et al. (). These computational approaches are highly disperse in terms of algorithmic complexity, differ in terms of their governing equations, the adopted numerical methodologies, the enforcement of internal no-slip boundary conditions at the fluid-solid interface, and the computational mesh structure. As metrics of comparison to probe in a statistical sense the internal similarities/differences across sample populations of velocities obtained through the computational systems, we consider (i) integral quantities, such as the Darcy flux and (ii) main statistical moments of local velocity distributions including local correlations between velocity fields. Comparison of simulation results indicates that mutually consistent estimates of the state of flow are obtained in the analyzed samples of natural pore spaces despite the considerable differences associated with the three computational approaches. We note that in the higher porosity limestone sample, the structures of the velocity fields obtained using ANSYS FLUENT and EULAG are more alike than either compared against the results obtained using SSTOKES. In the low-porosity sample, the structures of the velocity fields obtained by EULAG and SSTOKES are more similar than either is to the fields obtained using ANSYS FLUENT. With respect to macroscopic quantities, ANSYS FLUENT and SSTOKES provide similar results in terms of the average vertical velocity for both of the complex microscale geometries considered, while EULAG tends to render the largest velocity values. The influence of the pore space structure on fluid velocity field characteristics is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For tissue engineering purpose two gelatin based polyester urethane scaffolds of different compositions were prepared from lactic acid, polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG 400) and characterized by FTIR, XRD for their mechanical and morphological properties using SEM and optical microscopic analyses. Degradation and swelling studies of gelatin based polyester urethane scaffolds in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) were performed. Human keratinocyte cells were cultured within these scaffolds, which showed good cell adherence and proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• LaFeO 3 and Gd3+-Ti4+ co-doped LaFeO 3 were synthesized by solid state method. • Rietveld analysis of XRD patterns confirms the co-substitution in LFO. • Magnetic properties of co-doped sample are enhanced. • Enhanced ferroelectric and dielectric properties were observed in LGFTO. Undoped lanthanum iron oxide (LaFeO 3 i.e. LFO) and Gd3+-Ti4+ co-doped La 0.85 Gd 0.15 Fe 0.90 Ti 0.10 O 3 (LGFTO) samples are prepared by solid state reaction method. The X-ray diffractograms (XRD) analyses by Rietveld refinement confirm that both the prepared samples show distorted perovskite structure having space group Pbnm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of both LFO and LGFTO suggests absent of impurity in the prepared samples. Isothermal magnetic hysteresis loops (M−H) show that the magnetic moment of LGFTO is enhanced compared with LFO not only at low but also at room temperature. Thermal variation of magnetization shows that the ferromagnetic phase is dominated over the antiferromagnetic phase below ~56 K. The frequency dependent dielectric constant of LGFTO follows Cole-Cole relaxation in the high frequency region. The polarization vs. electric field (P-E) loops of LGFTO shows a high value of polarization and low value of coercive field compared to LFO, which indicates improved ferroelectric properties of LGFTO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]