Use of norethisterone and estradiol in mini doses as a contraceptive in the male : Efficacy studies in the adult male bonnet monkey (Macaca radiata)

Administration of norethisterone (NET) or NET + estradiol benzoate using an Alzet minipump or as once-a-month intramuscular injection of their depot forms, NET-enanthate (NET-EN) and estradiol valerate (E-val), resulted in azoospermia in all monkeys (n = 13) within 60 to 150 days of treatment. Although addition of depot form of testosterone (T, 20 mg/month) to the regimen restored the behavioral response typical of a normal male, it did not reverse the azoospermic state. Serum T (heightened nocturnal) levels were significantly reduced (> 85%, p < 0.001) in all the treated groups. Evidence for blockade in spermatogenesis following treatment was obtained by DNA flow cytometry. Following withdrawal of treatment, the T level was restored to normalcy within 15 days but 120 days more were required for the animals to exhibit normal sperm counts. In conclusion, the efficacy of once-a-month injection of relatively low doses of NET-EN + E-Val to bring about azoospermia in monkeys, in a relatively short time, has been demonstrated. As the results are uniform and reproducible, it appears desirable that this steroid regimen be tested in man for its contraceptive efficacy.

Mechanisms of formation of the Arabian Sea mini warm pool in a high-resolution Ocean General Circulation Model

An Ocean General Circulation Model of the Indian Ocean with high horizontal (0.25 degrees x 0.25 degrees) and vertical (40 levels) resolutions is used to study the dynamics and thermodynamics of the Arabian Sea mini warm pool (ASMWP), the warmest region in the northern Indian Ocean during January-April. The model simulates the seasonal cycle of temperature, salinity and currents as well as the winter time temperature inversions in the southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS) quite realistically with climatological forcing. An experiment which maintained uniform salinity of 35 psu over the entire model domain reproduces the ASMWP similar to the control run with realistic salinity and this is contrary to the existing theories that stratification caused by the intrusion of low-salinity water from the Bay of Bengal into the SEAS is crucial for the formation of ASMWP. The contribution from temperature inversions to the warming of the SEAS is found to be negligible. Experiments with modified atmospheric forcing over the SEAS show that the low latent heat loss over the SEAS compared to the surroundings, resulting from the low winds due to the orographic effect of Western Ghats, plays an important role in setting up the sea surface temperature (SST) distribution over the SEAS during November March. During March-May, the SEAS responds quickly to the air-sea fluxes and the peak SST during April-May is independent of the SST evolution during previous months. The SEAS behaves as a low wind, heat-dominated regime during November-May and, therefore, the formation and maintenance of the ASMWP is not dependent on the near surface stratification.

Modeling Indian Ocean circulation: Bay of Bengal fresh water plume and the Arabian Sea Mini Warm Pool

The Indian subcontinent divides the north Indian Ocean into two tropical basins, namely the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The Arabian Sea has high salinity whereas the salinity of the Bay of Bengal is much lower due to the contrast in freshwater forcing of the two basins. The freshwater received by the Bay in large amounts during the summer monsoon through river discharge is flushed out annually by ocean circulation. After the withdrawal of the summer monsoon, the Ganga – Brahmaputra river plume flows first along the Indian coast and then around Sri Lanka into the Arabian Sea creating a low salinity pool in the southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS). In the same region, during the pre-monsoon months of February – April, a warm pool, known as the Arabian Sea Mini Warm Pool (ASMWP), which is distinctly warmer than the rest of the Indian Ocean, takes shape. In fact, this is the warmest region in the world oceans during this period. Simulation of the river plume and its movement as well as its implications to thermodynamics has been a challenging problem for models of Indian Ocean. Here we address these issues using an ocean general circulation model – first we show that the model is capable of reproducing fresh plumes in the Bay of Bengal as well as its movement and then we use the model to determine the processes that lead to formation of the ASMWP. Hydrographic observations from the western Bay of Bengal have shown the presence of a fresh plume along the northern part of the Indian coast during summer monsoon. The Indian Ocean model when forced by realistic winds and climatological river discharge reproduces the fresh plume with reasonable accuracy. The fresh plume does not advect along the Indian coast until the end of summer monsoon. The North Bay Monsoon Current, which flows eastward in the northern Bay, separates the low salinity water from the more saline southern parts of the bay and thus plays an important role in the fresh water budget of the Bay of Bengal. The model also reproduces the surge of the fresh-plume along the Indian coast, into the Arabian Sea during northeast monsoon. Mechanisms that lead to the formation of the Arabian Sea Mini Warm Pool are investigated using several numerical experiments. Contrary to the existing theories, we find that salinity effects are not necessary for the formation of the ASMWP. The orographic effects of the Sahyadris (Western Ghats) and resulting reduction in wind speed leads to the formation of the ASMWP. During November – April, the SEAS behave as a low-wind heatdominated regime where the evolution of sea surface temperature is solely determined by atmospheric forcing. In such regions the evolution of surface layer temperature is not dependent on the characteristics of the subsurface ocean such as the barrier layer and temperature inversion.

Spatial Decision Support System for Assessing Micro, Mini and Small Hydel Potential

This study describes the design and implementation of DSS for assessment of Mini, Micro and Small Schemes. The design links a set of modelling, manipulation, spatial analyses and display tools to a structured database that has the facility to store both observed and simulated data. The main hypothesis is that this tool can be used to form a core of practical methodology that will result in more resilient in less time and can be used by decision-making bodies to assess the impacts of various scenarios (e.g.: changes in land use pattern) and to review, cost and benefits of decisions to be made. It also offers means of entering, accessing and interpreting the information for the purpose of sound decision making. Thus, the overall objective of this DSS is the development of set of tools aimed at transforming data into information and aid decisions at different scales.

Mini Forest - An experiment to evaluate the adaptability of Western Ghats species for afforestation

Saplings of forty nine species of trees from Western Ghats forests were planted on a 1.5 hectare tract of Deccan plateau (in the campus of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) and their performance monitored for 23 years. The objective was to evaluate their adaptability to a habitat and conditions apparently alien to these species. The study was also meant to understand the linkages of these trees with the surrounding environment. Contrary to the belief that tree species are very sensitive to change of location and conditions, the introduced trees have grown as good as they would do in their native habitat and maintained their phenology. Further, they have grown in perfect harmony with trees native to the location. The results show that the introduced species are opportunistic and readily acclimatized and grew well overcoming the need for the edaphic and other factors that are believed to be responsible for their endemicity. Besides ex situ conservation, the creation of miniforest has other accrued ecosystem benefits. For instance, the ground water level has risen and the ambient temperature has come down by two degrees.

Characteristics of Arabian Sea mini warm pool and Indian summer monsoon

Arabian Sea Mini Warm Pool (ASMWP) is a part of the Indian Ocean Warm Pool and formed in the eastern Arabian Sea prior to the onset of the summer monsoon season. This warm pool attained its maximum intensity during the pre-monsoon season and dissipated with the commencement of summer monsoon. The main focus of the present work was on the triggering of the dissipation of this warm pool and its relation to the onset of summer monsoon over Kerala. This phenomenon was studied utilizing NCEP/NCAR (National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric and Research) re-analysis data, TRMM Micro wave Imager (TMI) and observational data. To define the ASMWP, sea surface temperature exceeding 30.25A degrees C was taken as the criteria. The warm pool attained its maximum dimension and intensity nearly 2 weeks prior to the onset of summer monsoon over Kerala. Interestingly, the warm pool started its dissipation immediately after attaining its maximum core temperature. This information can be included in the present numerical models to enhance the prediction capability. It was also found that the extent and intensity of the ASMWP varied depending on the type of monsoon i.e., excess, normal, and deficient monsoon. Maximum core temperature and wide coverage of the warm pool observed during the excess monsoon years compared to normal and deficient monsoon years. The study also revealed a strong relationship between the salinity in the eastern Arabian Sea and the nature of the monsoon.

QCD mini-jets contribution to the total cross-section for pions and protons and expectations at LHC

We describe our kt-resummation model for total cross-sections and show its application to pp and ¯pp scattering. The model uses mini-jets to drive the rise of the cross-section and soft gluon resummation in the infrared region to transform the violent rise of the mini-jet cross-section into a logarithmic behaviour in agreement with the Froissart bound.

Growth kinetics and immune response of chimeric foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype `O' produced through replication competent mini genome of serotype Asia 1, 63/72, in BHK cell lines

Regular vaccinations with potent vaccine, in endemic countries and vaccination to live in non-endemic countries are the methods available to control foot-and-mouth disease. Selection of candidate vaccine strain is not only cumbersome but the candidate should grow well for high potency vaccine preparation. Alternative strategy is to generate an infectious cDNA of a cell culture-adapted virus and use the replicon for development of tailor-made vaccines. We produced a chimeric `O' virus in the backbone of Asia 1 and studied its characteristics. The chimeric virus showed high infectivity titre (>10(10)) in BHK 21 cell lines, revealed small plague morphology and there was no cross reactivity with antiserum against Asia I. The virus multiplies rapidly and reaches peak at 12 h post infection. The vaccine prepared with this virus elicited high antibody titres.

3D gravity, Chern-Simons and higher spins: A mini introduction

We give a review on (a) elements of (2 + 1)-dimensional gravity, (b) some aspects of its relation to Chern-Simons theory, (c) its generalization to couple higher spins, and (d) cosmic singularity resolution as an application in the context of flat space higher spin theory. A knowledge of the Einstein-Hilbert action, classical non-Abelian gauge theory and some (negotiable amount of) maturity are the only pre-requisites.

Stalking influenza by vaccination with pre-fusion headless HA mini-stem

Inaccuracies in prediction of circulating viral strain genotypes and the possibility of novel reassortants causing a pandemic outbreak necessitate the development of an anti-influenza vaccine with increased breadth of protection and potential for rapid production and deployment. The hemagglutinin (HA) stem is a promising target for universal influenza vaccine as stem-specific antibodies have the potential to be broadly cross-reactive towards different HA subtypes. Here, we report the design of a bacterially expressed polypeptide that mimics a H5 HA stem by protein minimization to focus the antibody response towards the HA stem. The HA mini-stem folds as a trimer mimicking the HA prefusion conformation. It is resistant to thermal/chemical stress, and it binds to conformation-specific, HA stem-directed broadly neutralizing antibodies with high affinity. Mice vaccinated with the group 1 HA mini-stems are protected from morbidity and mortality against lethal challenge by both group 1 (H5 and H1) and group 2 (H3) influenza viruses, the first report of cross-group protection. Passive transfer of immune serum demonstrates the protection is mediated by stem-specific antibodies. Furthermore, antibodies indudced by these HA stems have broad HA reactivity, yet they do not have antibody-dependent enhancement activity.

Prediction of compressive strength of SCC and HPC with high volume fly ash using ANN

An artificial neural network (ANN) is presented to predict a 28-day compressive strength of a normal and high strength self compacting concrete (SCC) and high performance concrete (HPC) with high volume fly ash. The ANN is trained by the data available in literature on normal volume fly ash because data on SCC with high volume fly ash is not available in sufficient quantity. Further, while predicting the strength of HPC the same data meant for SCC has been used to train in order to economise on computational effort. The compressive strengths of SCC and HPC as well as slump flow of SCC estimated by the proposed neural network are validated by experimental results.

Total photoproduction cross section at very high energy

In this paper we apply to the photoproduction total cross section a model we have proposed for purely hadronic processes and which is based on QCD mini-jets and soft gluon re-summation. We compare the predictions of our model with the HERA data as well as with other models. For cosmic rays, our model predicts substantially higher cross sections at TeV energies than models based on factorization, but lower than models based on mini-jets alone, without soft gluons. We discuss the origin of this difference.

Constrained linear minimax filter for systems with large plant uncertainties

This paper presents a method of designing a minimax filter in the presence of large plant uncertainties and constraints on the mean squared values of the estimates. The minimax filtering problem is reformulated in the framework of a deterministic optimal control problem and the method of solution employed, invokes the matrix Minimum Principle. The constrained linear filter and its relation to singular control problems has been illustrated. For the class of problems considered here it is shown that the filter can he constrained separately after carrying out the mini maximization. Numorieal examples are presented to illustrate the results.

Estimation of Execution Times of Process Control Algorithms on Microcomputers

An important question which has to be answered in evaluting the suitability of a microcomputer for a control application is the time it would take to execute the specified control algorithm. In this paper, we present a method of obtaining closed-form formulas to estimate this time. These formulas are applicable to control algorithms in which arithmetic operations and matrix manipulations dominate. The method does not require writing detailed programs for implementing the control algorithm. Using this method, the execution times of a variety of control algorithms on a range of 16-bit mini- and recently announced microcomputers are calculated. The formulas have been verified independently by an analysis program, which computes the execution time bounds of control algorithms coded in Pascal when they are run on a specified micro- or minicomputer.