Structural variability and its relation to edaphic attributes of mangroves in the south‐west coast of India

We estimated the tree structural variables (density, frequency and basal area) of true mangroves and soil variables like particle size distribution, carbon, available nitrogen and phosphorus, sulphur, nutrient cations (K, Na, Ca, Mg) of Cochin mangroves and examined the relationship between vegetation and environment. The study sites were classified as seaward fringe, riverine and interior. Of the thirteen true mangrove species present, Avicennia officinalis, Sonneratia caseolaris and Excoecaria agallocha showed higher Importance Value Index. The mean stem density varied from 80 to 25,000 no./ha and basal area from 0.1 to 39.68 m²/ha. Seaward mangroves showed maximum stand basal area and biomass production while riverine exhibited maximum density. Maturity Index value of Cochin mangroves revealed a very low degree of structural maturity. Interior mangroves were characterized by silty soil with higher nutrient concentrations. Principal component analysis of soil data revealed that the major factors influencing mangrove vegetation were soil texture, nutrients, salinity and oxidation–reduction potential. The stem density and basal area of different species correlated highly with soil nutrients and texture (p < .001) while salinity showed negative correlations with vegetation characteristics. The data generated in the study would be fundamental in site‐specific management and conservation efforts of these degrading mangroves.     

锌再生利用及发展对策探讨

本文简述了我国锌工业生产、消费和再生锌工业发展的现状,指出了我国再生锌工业发展缓慢,技术装备水平低,企业生产规模小等问题。提出了建立规范化的管理制度,在政策上鼓励发展废锌材料的回收利用,加速我国废锌材料的回收利用程度。     

Policy-based Awareness Management (PAM): Case study of a wireless communication system at a hospital

The present paper evaluates the use of software agents to identify relevance of information, called awareness. This evaluation is based on existing policies and scenarios in the context of wireless communication of a hospital in Norway. The study is to address the lack of literature for experimental studies on a method to employ software agents for awareness identification. Research in computer supported cooperative work indicates the significant contributions of software agents to assist individuals. There are bodies of work that show awareness provides the means for software agents in which effective cooperation can take place. In addition, the role of the methods to identify awareness is emphasized in the literature of both computer supported cooperative work and software agents. This paper explains a step-wise process, called Policy-based Awareness Management, which allows agents to use policies as a source to identify awareness and thus change their behaviors accordingly. The contribution of this method is based on the concepts proposed by the logic of general awareness. The present study applies Directory Enabled Networks-next generation as the policy structure for the method. The paper evaluates the process via its application to identify the relevance of information in wireless communication scenarios in a hospital. The present study conducts observations, interviews and discussions on the wireless communication system of the hospital to identify the different scenarios happening in the system. The paper presents a set of simulations on these scenarios and concludes that the method is effective and cost-efficient.     

Maintaining awareness using policies; Enabling agents to identify relevance of information

The field of computer supported cooperative work aims at providing information technology models, methods, and tools that assist individuals to cooperate. The presented paper is based on three main observations from literature. First, one of the problems in utilizing information technology for cooperation is to identify the relevance of information, called awareness. Second, research in computer supported cooperative work proposes the use of agent technologies to aid individuals to maintain their awareness. Third, literature lacks the formalized methods on how software agents can identify awareness. This paper addresses the problem of awareness identification. The main contribution of this paper is to propose and evaluate a formalized structure, called Policy-based Awareness Management (PAM). PAM extends the logic of general awareness in order to identify relevance of information. PAM formalizes existing policies into Directory Enabled Networks-next generation structure and uses them as a source for awareness identification. The formalism is demonstrated by applying PAM to the space shuttle Columbia disaster occurred in 2003. The paper also argues that efficacy and cost-efficiency of the logic of general awareness will be increased by PAM. This is evaluated by simulation of hypothetical scenarios as well as a case study.     

Yield and Functional Properties of Taro Starch as Affected by Ultrasound

Effect of ultrasound pretreatment on yield and functional properties of taro starch was investigated. A three-factor two-level factorial design was employed with treatment time (5 and 10 min), treatment cycle (0.5 and 1), and amplitude of ultrasound (50 and 100 %). Starch yield from ultrasonic treatment varied from 17.45 to 18.97 % compared to 15.29 % in conventional method. The highest yield of 18.97 % was obtained with treatment time 10 min, treatment cycle 0.5, and amplitude 50 %. A significant increase in swelling, solubility, pasting, and texture properties of the ultrasonically extracted starch was observed. A slight decrease in clarity of the starch pastes was also observed after ultrasonic pretreatment, but the differences were not much significant. Freeze-thaw stability of the ultrasonically extracted starches was found to be better compared to starch extracted using conventional method, making them suitable for foods subjected to refrigeration. The whiteness of the ultrasonically extracted starch powders was lower compared to conventionally extracted starch, but the differences were not statistically significant.     

Performance assessment of hybrid composite friction materials based on flyash–rock fibre combination

Friction composites based on several combinations of flyash and inorganic mineral rock fibres such as lapinus™ fibre were fabricated, characterised and tribo-evaluated. The tribo-performance in terms of their friction-fade and friction-recovery behaviour has been rigorously evaluated while synchronously taking into account of the in situ braking induced temperature rise in the disc at the braking interface on a Krauss friction testing machine following pulse velocity wave (PVW) 3212 norms as per the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) regulations. The fade behaviour has been observed to be highly dependent on the combination of flyash–lapinus fibre e.g. fade remained maximum (45%) in the composite with the highest amount of lapinus fibre content and lowest amount of flyash whereas the frictional fluctuations in terms of μ_max − μ_min has been observed to be higher in case of low flyash–high lapinus fibre combination. The recovery response seemed unaffected by the disparity of ingredients and remained consistently stable within the range of 112 ± 2%. The analysis of friction and wear performance has revealed that flyash along with lapinus fibre provide thermo-mechanical stability and overall mechanical integrity to the system causing reduction in friction-fade whereas wear was found to be more recovery-controlled and less fade controlled. Worn surface morphology investigation using SEM has been carried out which has revealed that the interplay of flyash–lapinus combination and topographical attributes vis-a-vis dynamics of contact patches (formation–destruction) largely influence the friction and wear performance of such composites.     

Measuring world city formation – The case of Shanghai

One of the important issues related to world cities studies is the lack of systematic measurement of the formation of world cities. Such a measurement technique would be a useful tool for cities aspiring to attain world city status, especially those cities in Pacific Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, and Shanghai. This paper approaches this task by devising a measurement methodology based on quantifiable indicators to generate a World City Index and then uses Shanghai as a case study to test how the city stands compared to 32 current and potential world cities. This paper is a part of the result of the research projects sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation of China with project numbers KZCX2-307 and 40171036.     

Hexagonally ordered arrays of metallic nanodots from thin films of functional block copolymers

We demonstrate a new and simple route to fabricate highly dense arrays of hexagonally close packed inorganic nanodots using functional diblock copolymer (PS-b-P4VP) thin films. The deposition of pre-synthesized inorganic nanoparticles selectively into the P4VP domains of PS-b-P4VP thin films, followed by removal of the polymer, led to highly ordered metallic patterns identical to the order of the starting thin film. Examples of Au, Pt and Pd nanodot arrays are presented. The affinity of the different metal nanoparticles towards P4VP chains is also understood by extending this approach to PS-b-P4VP micellar thin films. The procedure used here is simple, eco-friendly, and compatible with the existing silicon-based technology. Also the method could be applied to various other block copolymer morphologies for generating 1-dimensional (1D) and 2-dimensional (2D) structures.     

Sub-Tenon's anaesthesia: an efficient and safe technique

AIM: To evaluate sub-Tenon's anaesthesia as an alternative to peribulbar anaesthesia. METHODS: 109 consecutive patients listed for various eye operations (including cataract, trabeculectomy, and vitrectomy) under peribulbar anaesthesia were operated on under sub-Tenon's anaesthesia instead. After topical anaesthesia a buttonhole was fashioned through the conjunctiva and Tenon's capsule 10 mm posterior to the limbus. 1.5 ml of lignocaine 2% was then delivered to the posterior sub-Tenon's space using a blunt cannula. The surgical procedure was performed immediately after the completion of the anaesthetic procedure. Chemosis, conjunctival haemorrhage, degree of akinesia, and pain scoring were analysed. RESULTS: There were no anaesthesia related complications. The administration of the block was painless for 99.1% of the patients. In all, 97.3% reported no pain during surgery. There was no akinesia when assessed just after the completion of the block and akinesia was limited when assessed after surgery. Chemosis and conjunctival haemorrhage were frequent but caused no intraoperative problems. CONCLUSION: Sub-Tenon's anaesthesia is an efficient and safe anaesthetic technique. It is a good alternative to peribulbar anaesthesia.