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Modern-day reservoir management and monitoring of geological carbon storage increasingly call for costly time-lapse seismic data collection. In this letter, we show how techniques from graph theory can be used to optimize acquisition geometries for low-cost sparse 4D seismic. Based on midpoint-offset domain connectivity arguments, the proposed algorithm automatically produces sparse non-replicated time-lapse acquisition geometries that favor wavefield recovery.

Requirements of large amounts of data is a difficulty in training many GANs. Data efficient GANs involve fitting a generators continuous target distribution with a limited discrete set of data samples, which is a difficult task. Single image methods have focused on modeling the internal distribution of a single image and generating its samples. While single image methods can synthesize image samples with diversity, they do not model multiple images or capture the inherent relationship possible between two images. Given only a handful of images, we are interested in generating samples and exploiting the commonalities in the input images. In this work, we extend the single-image GAN method to model multiple images for sample synthesis. We modify the discriminator with an auxiliary classifier branch, which helps to generate a wide variety of samples and to classify the input labels. Our Data-Efficient GAN (DEff-GAN) generates excellent results when similarities and correspondences can be drawn between the input images or classes.

Acquired aplastic anemia (aAA) is an autoimmune disease, characterized by infiltration of T lymphocytes in the bone marrow with destruction of hematopoietic stem cells by the effector cells. Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and perforin are important mediators of cell destruction. In this flow cytometry-based study, we have investigated the percentage of intracellular IFN-γ+ and perforin+ CD5+ T cells in peripheral blood of newly diagnosed aAA patients before and after immunosuppressive therapy (IST). Patients were categorized as per standard disease severity and response to IST. The median percentage of IFN-γ+ and perforin+ CD5+ T cells was higher in untreated patients compared to healthy controls. The percentage of these cells was also increased in untreated severe and very severe aplastic anemia when compared with non-severe aplastic anemia patients. In patients before and after IST the median percentage of T cells producing IFN-γ and perforin was elevated in non-responders as compared to partial plus complete responders. The higher percentage of IFN-γ+ and perforin+ CD5+ T cells may be useful as an early diagnostic marker for aberrant activation of immune system and predict poor response to IST in aAA patients, who will benefit from alternative therapy.

Introduction: Accuracy and total design and implementation cost of the GPS framework determine the viability of GPS based projects. As the greater part of the advanced framework including telemetry, IoT, Cloud, and AUTOSAR frameworks use GPS to get exact outcomes, finding a software-controlled error correction becomes important. The execution of open source library such as RTKLIB will help in controlling and revising GPS blunders. Methods: The project utilizes the RTKLIB along with two stations for better accuracy. The RTKGPS framework works under Linux environment, which is embedded in the Beagleboard. The communication between the GPS system is set up utilizing both serial communication protocol and TCP/IP suite. Results: To get high precision inside the network, two GPS modules are utilized. One of them will be mounted on the rover and another GPS is the base station of the setup. Both the GPS will have a double radio wire setup to increase the reception level to reduce the noise and obtain centimeterlevel precision. For long-range communication, rover utilizes Wi-Fi with TCP/IP stack protocol. In this research paper, setup is intended to accomplish the centimeter level precision through libraries in a Linux environment. Conclusion: The design will be set up and tried on a college campus under various conditions with different error parameters to acquire a low cost and centimeter level GPS accuracy.

Background: Steinstrasse, is described as array of stone pieces in the ureter following extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL). It is well-recognized, transient event. Steinstrasse clears spontaneously, however about 6% require intervention. Spontaneous steinstrasse without prior history of SWL is a rare occurrence and only few case reports are published in literature. Objective of the study was to assess the aetiology and management issues of large spontaneous steinstrasse in our centre. Method: From February 2017 to March 2019, 684 patients underwent SWL for renal or ureteric stones. Twenty-eight patients presented with steinstrasse of which nine patients had no prior history of SWL. Detailed clinical profile and management issues have been discussed. Result: Among the nine patients of spontaneous steinstrasse, there were six males and three females. Mean age of the patients was 39 years (±13 years SD). Bilateral large spontaneous steinstrasse was seen in one out of nine patients. Seven patients had associated renal stones. Five patients presented with obstructive uropathy and three out of them had urosepsis as initial presentation. Ureterolithotomy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy were commonly performed procedures for stone clearance. Metabolic work was done in all cases in follow up period. Three patients had hypercalciuria and hypocitraturia suggestive of renal tubular acidosis. Conclusion: Large spontaneous steinstrasse is uncommon case scenario. It can be subtle in presentation and yet have significant patient consequence in terms of renal function and infection. Prompt management is essential to preclude permanent loss of renal function. Metabolic evaluation is indispensable in such cases.

Malignant gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors in adults up to an extent of 78% of all primary malignant brain tumors. However, total surgical resection is almost unachievable due to the considerable infiltrative ability of glial cells. The efficacy of current multimodal therapeutic strategies is, furthermore, limited by the lack of specific therapies against malignant cells, and, therefore, the prognosis of these in patients is still very unfavorable. The limitations of conventional therapies, which may result from inefficient delivery of the therapeutic or contrast agent to brain tumors, are major reasons for this unsolved clinical problem. The major problem in brain drug delivery is the presence of the blood–brain barrier, which limits the delivery of many chemotherapeutic agents. Nanoparticles, thanks to their chemical configuration, are able to go through the blood–brain barrier carrying drugs or genes targeted against gliomas. Carbon nanomaterials show distinct properties including electronic properties, a penetrating capability on the cell membrane, high drug-loading and pH-dependent therapeutic unloading capacities, thermal properties, a large surface area, and easy modification with molecules, which render them as suitable candidates for deliver drugs. In this review, we will focus on the potential effectiveness of the use of carbon nanomaterials in the treatment of malignant gliomas and discuss the current progress of in vitro and in vivo researches of carbon nanomaterials-based drug delivery to brain.

The present study was carried out to evaluate the performance of two novel gladiolus hybrid selections IIHRG-7 and IIHRG-11 along with commercial checks, for flower quality traits and Fusarium wilt resistance in completely randomized block design, during 2012-13 to 2014-15. Three years data were pooled and analyzed statistically. The hybrid selections IIHRG-7 and IIHRG-11 had been developed through hybridization by crossing Arka Meera x Picardy and Gold Medal 412 x Arka Poonam, respectively followed by selection. IIHRG-7 has novel flower colour (as per RHS Colour Chart) i.e., Red-Purple (65.B) having Red-Purple (62.A) streaks with Red-Purple (67.B) splash and spike with variegated florets, while, IIHRG-11 has novel floret colour as Red (41.C) having Red (41.A) margin. Blotch Red (46.B) with yellow (13.C) border and resistance to Fusarium wilt disease. These hybrid selections are suitable for cut-flower and flower arrangement purposes. Further, these hybrid selections will be useful for developing new gladiolus hybrid selections with novel traits and resistance to Fusarium wilt disease.

Failure of mature kidney to reach its natural location in renal fossa is termed as renal ectopia. Ectopic kidney can be found in pelvic, iliac, abdominal, and thoracic location. Pelvic ectopia has been estimated to occur in 1 of 2100 to 3000 autopsies. In contrast, ectopic ureters are commonly associated with complete renal duplication. Commonest presentation in females in continuous urinary incontinence with normal voiding habits as ectopic ureter open below the bladder neck in urethra or vagina. An ectopic kidney with ectopic ureter is extremely rare congenital anomaly. We report a 36-year-old woman presenting with left lower abdomen pain with no history of fever, dysuria, or urinary incontinence. On evaluation, she was found to have left nonfunctioning ectopic pelvic kidney with ectopic ureter opening in the vestibule of the vagina, which was managed with laparoscopic nephroureterectomy. One should suspect an ectopic ureter in a female presenting with continuous urinary incontinence since birth. However, diagnosis is challenging when clinical presentation is unusual with no urinary incontinence as seen in the index case. Detailed local examination in correlation with imaging is key for diagnosis and rule out other congenital anomalies. Laparoscopic approach in such clinical scenario is a safe and feasible option.

Nowadays there is a huge demand of High Strength Temperature Resistance (HSTR) alloys such as titanium, carbide, nimonics and ceramics in aerospace, defence and electronics. Among these alloys machining of tungsten carbide alloy is of interest, because of its numerous applications. Complex shapes of tungsten carbide are not generally made by traditional manufacturing process. To machine tungsten carbide with high accuracy, non-traditional machining process like Laser beam machining, Electron beam machining and Electrical discharge machining are a proper choice. In the present paper, the authors have machined Tungsten carbide (93% WC and 7%Co) with copper electrode. The machining is performed on EDM MODEL 500 X 300 ENC with VELVEX EDMVEL-2 as dielectric oil. The 17 experiments are carried out based on RSM (Box-Behnken) method. Further, in order to find the optimum combination grey relational approach is used. The results showed that pulse-on-time of 40μs, pulse-off-time of 2μs and current of 8A are optimum combination for machining of Tungsten carbide (93% WC and 7%Co). Lastly, the confirmation experiment has been conducted.

Cold stress adversely affects plant growth, development, and yield. Also, the spatial and geographical distribution of plant species is influenced by low temperatures. Cold stress includes chilling and/or freezing temperatures, which trigger entirely different plant responses. Freezing tolerance is acquired via the cold acclimation process, which involves prior exposure to non-lethal low temperatures followed by profound alterations in cell membrane rigidity, transcriptome, compatible solutes, pigments and cold-responsive proteins such as antifreeze proteins. Moreover, epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin dynamics and small non-coding RNAs play a crucial role in cold stress adaptation. Here, we provide a recent update on cold-induced signaling and regulatory mechanisms. Emphasis is given to the role of epigenetic mechanisms and antifreeze proteins in imparting cold stress tolerance in plants. Lastly, we discuss genetic manipulation strategies to improve cold tolerance and develop cold-resistant plants.

Background: Nephrolithiasis is a common ailment in developing countries such as India. Ureteroscopic management has superseded shockwave lithotripsy as the common treatment for upper urinary tract stones. The process of miniaturizing the instrument along with improved quality of video processor has amplified its potential application, maintaining the procedure safe and effective. However, with its extensive use, complications have risen in parallel, and one should be aware of its adverse effects. Ureteric stricture though rare is a serious problem and risks the loss of renal function. Case presentation: A 37-year-old male presented with right flank pain. On evaluation, he was diagnosed with right upper ureteric stone and left renal stone. The patient suffered ureteric perforation while the right ureterorenoscopy was being performed, and an open repair was done. On postoperative follow-up, he developed long segment ureteric stricture. Boari flap ureteroneocystostomy was done. Conclusion: Iatrogenic ureteric injury following ureterorenoscopy is common, minor and managed conservatively. Important tips to prevent major injury are: placement of the safety guide wire across the length of the ureter, small-calibre scopes during access if a tight gripping sensation is present and the use of lubricant along the length of the ureteroscope.

Objective: Optical networks exploit the Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) to meet the ever-growing bandwidth demands of upcoming communication applications. This is achieved by dividing the enormous transmission bandwidth of fiber into smaller communication channels. The major problem with WDM network design is to find an optimal path between two end users and allocate an available wavelength to the chosen path for the successful data transmission. Methods: This communication over a WDM network is carried out through lightpaths. The merging of all these lightpaths in an optical network generates a virtual topology which is suitable for the optimal network design to meet the increasing traffic demands. But, this virtual topology design is an NP-hard problem. This paper aims to explore Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) framework to solve this design issue. Results: The comparative results of the proposed and existing mathematical models show that the proposed algorithm outperforms with the various performance parameters. Conclusion: Finally, it is concluded that network congestion is reduced marginally in the overall performance of the network.

Aim: To report the surgical technique and early outcomes of robot-assisted ureterocalicostomy (RAUC) with near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) in the management of secondary pelvi-ureteric junction obstruction (PUJO) in adults. Materials and Methods: The data of 6 patients who underwent RAUC using Da Vinci Xi system with NIRF technology between November 2017 and April 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Indication was secondary PUJO due to previous failed pyeloplasty. The outcome variables evaluated include operative time (total and console), length of hospital stay, blood loss, and complications. Success was defined as the absence of pain and radionuclide scan demonstrating nonobstructive drainage and improvement/stabilization of split function of the renal moiety. Results: The mean (range) patient age was 33.7 (18-41) years. Total mean (range) operating time was 178 (140-240) minutes and mean console time was 135 minutes. Estimated mean blood loss was 115 (50-200) mL and average hospital stay was 6.1 (5-8) days. There were no conversions to open or laparoscopic surgery. Clavien-Dindo complications occurred in 2 patients. (Grade I-1 and Grade II-1). After a median (range) follow-up of 15 (6-22) months, all 6 patients had successful clinical and radiological outcomes. Conclusion: RAUC is a safe and feasible technique with acceptable outcomes in the setting of secondary PUJO. The utility of NIRF in determining vascularity of the ureter seems to be promising in this setting. Multi-institutional prospective studies with large patient cohort are necessary to validate the role of robotic platform in ureterocalicostomy in the reoperative settings.

Toxic erythema of chemotherapy is an umbrella term encompassing a range of reactions characterized by symmetric erythematous to dusky patches, which can develop oedema, desquamation and/or purpura. We describe an elderly patient with prostate cancer who developed this complication while receiving docetaxel chemotherapy, presenting with prominent mucosal and periorificial involvement, along with epidermal necrosis, closely mimicking toxic epidermal necrolysis.

Primary urinary bladder amyloidosis is a rare disease. Its importance lies in the ability of the disease to masquerade the carcinoma urinary bladder in clinical presentation and imaging but with a distinctively contrasting treatment. The commonest presentation is painless hematuria. Definitive diagnosis is made on histopathology and by ruling out systemic amyloidosis. Here, we report a 60-year-old male presenting with lower abdomen pain diagnosed with primary urinary bladder amyloidosis and discuss the management based on current literature.

E Compendium of invited lectures and abstracts of the National Online Training Programme on “Conservation, Management and Utilization of Horticultural Genetic Resources for Livelihood and Nutritional Security” held during November, 22-26, 2021 organized by ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru in association with the Society for Promotion of Horticulture, Bengaluru.ISBN 978-93-5508-005-9 Rajashekaran P.E., Rajiv Kumar, Sridhar Gutam, Rohini M.R., Linta Vincent and Anushma P.L. (2021)

More than 50% of all cancer patients receive radiation therapy. The clinical delivery of curative radiation dose is strictly restricted by the proximal healthy tissues. We propose a dual-targeting strategy using vessel-targeted-radiosensitizing gold nanoparticles and conformal-image guided radiation therapy to specifically amplify damage in the tumor neoendothelium. The resulting tumor vascular disruption substantially improved the therapeutic outcome and subsidized the radiation/nanoparticle toxicity, extending its utility to intransigent or nonresectable tumors that barely respond to standard therapies.

It is generally believed that high energy radiation (power-law components) can be mostly produced by a hot corona gas in the accreting black holes. There is a very popular hybrid disk radial coupling model that the inner part of cool Keplerian disk (or Shakura-Sunyaev disk) can produce advection-dominated accretion flow or corona-like structure, which can also generate outflows/jets. Here we argue that this simple coupling model cannot explain the whole hardness-intensity diagram of the spectral states and their transitions, and associated jets of a $X-$ray binary. Based on recent theoretical works on advective disk structures around a black hole, as well as many observational behaviors of a source, we conclude that there should be a third component of hot accretion flow with the radial coupling model, which can successfully explain all the spectral states and transitions. Interestingly, this model also provides a new scenario for the jet generation, launching, and evolution during the states with help of created barrier of the inner flow. We have also find out the jet kinetic power expression with our new jet generation scenario., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ, comments are welcome

Additional file 6: Table S6. List of different post-translational modifications observed at peptide level using ModPred. Also, detailed list of ADP-ribosylated and phosphorylated peptides and their protein identifiers along with modified residues.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have led to the identification of hundreds of susceptibility loci across cancers, but the impact of further studies remains uncertain. Here we analyse summary-level data from GWAS of European ancestry across fourteen cancer sites to estimate the number of common susceptibility variants (polygenicity) and underlying effect-size distribution. All cancers show a high degree of polygenicity, involving at a minimum of thousands of loci. We project that sample sizes required to explain 80% of GWAS heritability vary from 60,000 cases for testicular to over 1,000,000 cases for lung cancer. The maximum relative risk achievable for subjects at the 99th risk percentile of underlying polygenic risk scores (PRS), compared to average risk, ranges from 12 for testicular to 2.5 for ovarian cancer. We show that PRS have potential for risk stratification for cancers of breast, colon and prostate, but less so for others because of modest heritability and lower incidence.

Figure S1. mRNA expression of ETS transcription factors and downstream targets in tumor tissue. Figure S2. Expression of Ets-factors and TERT in TCGA RNA sequencing data sets. Figure S3. Evaluation of TP53 and CDKN2A/Rb signaling pathways. Figure S4. Activation levels of MEK, ERK and ETS1. Figure S5. Anti-proliferative effects of BRAF inhibitors. Figure S6. Inhibition of TERT expression upon vemurafenib treatment. Figure S7. ETS1 inhibition upon vemurafenib treatment. Figure S8. Changes in expression patterns in patient tissue upon targeted treatment. Figure S9. Ectopic TERT re-expression partly rescues double-mutant glioma cells from YK-4-279- mediated cytotoxicity. Figure S10. Combined BRAF and Ets-factor inhibition. (PDF 786 kb)

In this paper, we proposed a fast recovery strategy for a dual link failure in elastic optical network. The elastic optical network is a promising solution to meet the next generation higher bandwidth demand. The survivability of high speed network is very crucial. As the network size increases the probability of the dual link failure and node failure also increases. Here, we proposed a parallel cross connection backup recovery strategy for dual link failure in the network. Proposed strategy shows lower bandwidth blocking probability (BBP), fast connection recovery, and bandwidth provisioning ratio when compared with the existing shared path protection (SPP) and dedicated path protection (DPP) approaches. Simulation is performed on ARPANET and COST239 topology networks., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures

Let $S=\mathbb{K}[x_1,\dots, x_n]$ be a polynomial ring, where $\mathbb{K}$ is a field, and $G$ be a simple graph on $n$ vertices. Let $J(G)\subset S$ be the vertex cover ideal of $G$. Herzog, Hibi and Ohsugi have conjectured that all powers of vertex cover ideals of chordal graph are componentwise linear. Here we establish the conjecture for the special case of trees. We also show that if $G$ is a unicyclic vertex decomposable graph that does not contain $C_3$ or $C_5$, then symbolic powers of $J(G)$ are componentwise linear., Comment: Title has been changed and some figures has been added. Some minor changes are there

Cooperative Multi-agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) is crucial for cooperative decentralized decision learning in many domains such as search and rescue, drone surveillance, package delivery and fire fighting problems. In these domains, a key challenge is learning with a few good experiences, i.e., positive reinforcements are obtained only in a few situations (e.g., on extinguishing a fire or tracking a crime or delivering a package) and in most other situations there is zero or negative reinforcement. Learning decisions with a few good experiences is extremely challenging in cooperative MARL problems due to three reasons. First, compared to the single agent case, exploration is harder as multiple agents have to be coordinated to receive a good experience. Second, environment is not stationary as all the agents are learning at the same time (and hence change policies). Third, scale of problem increases significantly with every additional agent. Relevant existing work is extensive and has focussed on dealing with a few good experiences in single-agent RL problems or on scalable approaches for handling non-stationarity in MARL problems. Unfortunately, neither of these approaches (or their extensions) are able to address the problem of sparse good experiences effectively. Therefore, we provide a novel fictitious self imitation approach that is able to simultaneously handle non-stationarity and sparse good experiences in a scalable manner. Finally, we provide a thorough comparison (experimental or descriptive) against relevant cooperative MARL algorithms to demonstrate the utility of our approach.

Table S1. Antibodies. Table S2. Primers. Table S3. Histopathological, molecular and clinical parameters of the Vienna patient cohort. (DOCX 16 kb)

Table S1. Antibodies. Table S2. Primers. Table S3. Histopathological, molecular and clinical parameters of the Vienna patient cohort. (DOCX 16 kb)

Figure S1. mRNA expression of ETS transcription factors and downstream targets in tumor tissue. Figure S2. Expression of Ets-factors and TERT in TCGA RNA sequencing data sets. Figure S3. Evaluation of TP53 and CDKN2A/Rb signaling pathways. Figure S4. Activation levels of MEK, ERK and ETS1. Figure S5. Anti-proliferative effects of BRAF inhibitors. Figure S6. Inhibition of TERT expression upon vemurafenib treatment. Figure S7. ETS1 inhibition upon vemurafenib treatment. Figure S8. Changes in expression patterns in patient tissue upon targeted treatment. Figure S9. Ectopic TERT re-expression partly rescues double-mutant glioma cells from YK-4-279- mediated cytotoxicity. Figure S10. Combined BRAF and Ets-factor inhibition. (PDF 786 kb)

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have advanced our understanding of susceptibility to B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL); however, much of the heritable risk remains unidentified. Here, we perform a GWAS and conduct a meta-analysis with two existing GWAS, totaling 2442 cases and 14,609 controls. We identify risk loci for BCP-ALL at 8q24.21 (rs28665337, P = 3.86 × 10-9, odds ratio (OR) = 1.34) and for ETV6-RUNX1 fusion-positive BCP-ALL at 2q22.3 (rs17481869, P = 3.20 × 10-8, OR = 2.14). Our findings provide further insights into genetic susceptibility to ALL and its biology.

Developed and emerging countries income joints on their ability to stand reasonable gain through nonstop innovation. Advanced technologies are an important component of such strategies, but there are conditions for successful policies supporting the rapid transformation. The automobile industry sustaining the high level standards in high income countries will depend on a strong presence in knowledge-intensive, cutting edge of industries. The national and regional governments are actively facilitating the development, production and application of advanced technologies. However, advanced technology industries are more complicated. The technology information flow among the industry, enterprises, and institutions are a main player of the process of innovative technology. This paper aims to focus the complexity of automobile innovation system in India. Mostly emerging countries have not advanced technology capabilities, the solution is going through the international technology transfer, R&D, and relationship with academia. The technological capabilities hired from developed nations to produce the advanced technologies in the emerging countries. To explore the relationship between automobile industry‘s actors in the system that is involved in the universities, research institutions and government, with the help of the theoretical framework national innovation system.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have advanced our understanding of susceptibility to B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL); however, much of the heritable risk remains unidentified. Here, we perform a GWAS and conduct a meta-analysis with two existing GWAS, totaling 2442 cases and 14,609 controls. We identify risk loci for BCP-ALL at 8q24.21 (rs28665337, P = 3.86 × 10-9, odds ratio (OR) = 1.34) and for ETV6-RUNX1 fusion-positive BCP-ALL at 2q22.3 (rs17481869, P = 3.20 × 10-8, OR = 2.14). Our findings provide further insights into genetic susceptibility to ALL and its biology.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have advanced our understanding of susceptibility to B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL); however, much of the heritable risk remains unidentified. Here, we perform a GWAS and conduct a meta-analysis with two existing GWAS, totaling 2442 cases and 14,609 controls. We identify risk loci for BCP-ALL at 8q24.21 (rs28665337, P = 3.86 × 10⁻⁹, odds ratio (OR) = 1.34) and for ETV6-RUNX1 fusion-positive BCP-ALL at 2q22.3 (rs17481869, P = 3.20 × 10⁻⁸, OR = 2.14). Our findings provide further insights into genetic susceptibility to ALL and its biology. OA gold - CA extern

The Cohen-Macaulay property of a graph arising from a poset has been studied by various authors. In this article, we study the Cohen-Macaulay property of a graph arising from a family of reflexive and antisymmetric relations on a set. We use this result to find classes of multipartite graphs which are Cohen-Macaulay.

High-temperature oxidation behavior of any materials depends on the stability of the protective oxide formed on the surface of the materials. The chromium oxide, Cr2O3, formed on Fe-Cr alloys is unstable above 850 °C, whereas the alumina, Al2O3, scale formed on Fe-Al alloys is stable up to 1350 °C. Consequently, Fe-Cr alloys are not suitable for high-temperature applications, especially above 850 °C. In contrast, Fe-Al alloys containing a sufficient amount of Al exhibit an excellent oxidation resistance at high temperatures due to the formation of a continuous and robust layer of Al2O3. However, the high amount of Al required for the formation of a robust layer of Al2O3 on Fe-Al alloys makes the alloys brittle and restricts their structural application. The required critical content of Al for the formation of a protective layer of Al2O3 on Fe-Al alloys can be reduced by the addition of the “third element” like Cr, which improves the ductility of the alloy. In addition, the required critical Al content can further be reduced by decreasing the alloy grain size to the nano-regime. Based on the available literature, it can be hypothesized that the nanocrystalline (NC) structure can enhance the protective oxide formation, and further reduce the required critical content of Al for the formation of a continuous layer of Al2O3 on Fe-Cr-Al alloys. Although the oxidation behavior of Fe-Cr-Al alloys has been studied by several researchers, the studies are limited to the microcrystalline structure of the alloys. The effect of NC structure on the oxidation behavior of Fe-Cr-Al alloys has yet not been reported. Therefore, the present work primarily focuses on the study the oxidation resistance of NC Fe-Cr-Al alloys vis-à-vis the oxidation behavior of their microcrystalline (MC) counterparts.The NC Fe-Cr-Al alloys powders (of compositions Fe-20Cr-5Al, Fe-20Cr-3Al Fe-10Cr-5Al and Fe-10Cr-3Al) were synthesized using high-energy ball milling followed by a rapid consolidation using spark plasma sintering at 900 °C with the application of a pressure of 90 MPa. Out of these four alloys, Fe-20Cr-5Al and Fe-20Cr-3Al alloys were selected to study the effect of the NC structure on their high-temperature oxidation behavior. The oxidation behavior of the NC Fe-20Cr-(3,5)Al alloys at temperatures range (500-900 °C) in 60 h of oxidation was compared with that of their MC counterparts. The oxide scales formed on the NC and MC alloys were analyzed for morphology, chemical composition, and thickness of oxide using different characterization techniques. The post-oxidation characterization shows a remarkable effect of NC structure on the oxidation behavior of the Fe-20Cr-(3,5)Al alloys. The NC Fe-20Cr-(3,5)Al alloys exhibit superior oxidation resistance at high temperatures than that of their MC counterparts due to the formation of a continuous protective layer on the NC alloy. Contrary to the oxidation behavior of common steels at high temperatures, the Fe-20Cr-(3,5)Al alloys show better oxidation resistance at high temperatures (800 and 900 °C) than that at relatively low oxidation temperatures (500 and 700 °C) due to the formation of a considerably more protective oxide layer at high temperatures (800 and 900 °C). Further, the NC structure also influences the “third element effect” of Cr. Consequently, the protective oxide formed on NC Fe-20Cr-5Al alloy with the assistance of the “third element effect” of Cr at 500 and 700 °C, whereas the oxide formed on the NC Fe-20Cr-5Al alloy without the assistance of the “third element effect” of Cr at 800 and 900 °C. On the other hand, the oxide formed on MC Fe-20Cr-(3,5)Al alloys without the assistance of the “third element effect” of Cr at all oxidation temperatures (500-900 °C). Based on the post-oxidation characterization and available literature, the mechanisms for the formation of oxide scale on the Fe-Cr-Al alloys are proposed. The thesis provides the evidence to validate the hypothesis that NC structure can extensively enhance the formation of protective oxide on the Fe-Cr-Al alloys at high temperatures. In addition, the thesis also presents that the NC structure influences the role of the “third element effect” of Cr for the formation of protective oxide on the Fe-Cr-Al alloys at high temperatures. Thus, the present research work has provided a comprehensive overview of the oxidation behavior of NC and MC Fe-Cr-Al alloys at high temperatures.

Stochastic optimization is key to efficient inversion in PDE-constrained optimization. Using 'simultaneous shots', or random superposition of source terms, works very well in simple acquisition geometries where all sources see all receivers, but this rarely occurs in practice. We develop an approach that interpolates data to an ideal acquisition geometry while solving the inverse problem using simultaneous shots. The approach is formulated as a joint inverse problem, combining ideas from low-rank interpolation with full-waveform inversion. Results using synthetic experiments illustrate the flexibility and efficiency of the approach., Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have advanced our understanding of susceptibility to B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL); however, much of the heritable risk remains unidentified. Here, we perform a GWAS and conduct a meta-analysis with two existing GWAS, totaling 2442 cases and 14,609 controls. We identify risk loci for BCP-ALL at 8q24.21 (rs28665337, P = 3.86 × 10−9, odds ratio (OR) = 1.34) and for ETV6-RUNX1 fusion-positive BCP-ALL at 2q22.3 (rs17481869, P = 3.20 × 10−8, OR = 2.14). Our findings provide further insights into genetic susceptibility to ALL and its biology., While GWAS have uncovered susceptibility loci for B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL), much of the heritable risk remains undiscovered. Here, the authors perform a meta-analysis of two existing BCP-ALL GWAS together with an unpublished GWAS to identify risk loci at 8q24.21 and 2q22.3.

This paper presents a CMOS temperature sensor working at sub-threshold voltage (Sub-VTh) for ultra low power applications. The sensor consists of a proportional-to-absolute-temperature (PTAT) current element that starves a current starved ring oscillator (CSRO). Since the circuit is designed in Sub-VTh, it enables ultra low power applications. But at the same time it becomes highly vulnerable to variations due to changes in process thereby resulting circuit currents to vary from die to die. An architecture is proposed where a bit-weighted current mirror (BWCM) is incorporated with CSRO to mitigate the effect due to process variations in the PTAT current. Lastly we have integrated the CSRO with a frequency to digital converter that converts the oscillator output signal into digital bits. Designing of the temperature sensor system is done in 180nm CMOS technology. The output frequency of the CSRO was found to be 50 Mhz. The sensor is operated at a VDD of 0.2V and the power consumed is 3.75 pW.

This paper work is about a transimpedance amplifier which have very high gain and sensitivity designed using cadence CMOS 0.18 μm technology with supply voltage of 1.8 V dissipates power 43μW suitable for current sensing signals from a sensor, molecular and nanodevice system. The integrator based circuit followed by an ADC. Because of the ability to handle large standing currents, the circuit is competent for use in the biological system where physical medium is also present. The trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) designed has low noise high gain which make it suitable to interface with ADC. A capacitive-feedback current amplifier drives current in to active load to obtain a 80 M-Om trans-impedance gain, 1.79 MHZ bandwidth phase response near 0.

Candidate gene and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 15 independent genomic regions associated with bladder cancer risk. In search for additional susceptibility variants, we followed up on four promising single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that had not achieved genome-wide significance in 6911 cases and 11 814 controls (rs6104690, rs4510656, rs5003154 and rs4907479, P < 1 × 10(-6)), using additional data from existing GWAS datasets and targeted genotyping for studies that did not have GWAS data. In a combined analysis, which included data on up to 15 058 cases and 286 270 controls, two SNPs achieved genome-wide statistical significance: rs6104690 in a gene desert at 20p12.2 (P = 2.19 × 10(-11)) and rs4907479 within the MCF2L gene at 13q34 (P = 3.3 × 10(-10)). Imputation and fine-mapping analyses were performed in these two regions for a subset of 5551 bladder cancer cases and 10 242 controls. Analyses at the 13q34 region suggest a single signal marked by rs4907479. In contrast, we detected two signals in the 20p12.2 region-the first signal is marked by rs6104690, and the second signal is marked by two moderately correlated SNPs (r(2) = 0.53), rs6108803 and the previously reported rs62185668. The second 20p12.2 signal is more strongly associated with the risk of muscle-invasive (T2-T4 stage) compared with non-muscle-invasive (Ta, T1 stage) bladder cancer (case-case P ≤ 0.02 for both rs62185668 and rs6108803). Functional analyses are needed to explore the biological mechanisms underlying these novel genetic associations with risk for bladder cancer.

Acquisition cost is a crucial bottleneck for seismic workflows, and low-rank formulations for data interpolation allow practitioners to `fill in' data volumes from critically subsampled data acquired in the field. Tremendous size of seismic data volumes required for seismic processing remains a major challenge for these techniques. We propose a new approach to solve residual constrained formulations for interpolation. We represent the data volume using matrix factors, and build a block-coordinate algorithm with constrained convex subproblems that are solved with a primal-dual splitting scheme. The new approach is competitive with state of the art level-set algorithms that interchange the role of objectives with constraints. We use the new algorithm to successfully interpolate a large scale 5D seismic data volume, generated from the geologically complex synthetic 3D Compass velocity model, where 80% of the data has been removed., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures

Streptomycin has been used to derive organic metal complexes (OMCs) after metallation with ZnCl2, CdCl2 and PbCl2 and characterized by elemental analysis, electronic and vibrational spectroscopy, 1H and 13C NMR, mass spectroscopy (time-of-flight MS), magnetic measurement, thermal decomposition analysis (TGA, DTA), molecular modeling and X-ray powder diffraction. OMCs are monomeric. Crystal system, lattice parameters, unit cell, particle size and volume of crystalline OMCs have been determined using X-ray powder diffraction pattern analysis. The geometries of complexes were optimized on the basis of molecular modeling. Kinetic parameters were computed from thermal analysis, confirming first-order kinetics. Molecular models have been optimized by MM2 calculations. Architecture and tailoring of the rationally designed and synthesized supramolecular models having covalent bonded oxygen or other molecular contacts extended through Huckel Charge Distribution in highest occupied molecular orbit (HOMO). Antimicrobial effectiveness of OMCs has been reported. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.