Efficient data dissemination using locale covers

Location-dependent data are central to many emerging applications, ranging from traffic information services to sensor networks. The standard pull- and push-based data dissemination models become unworkable since the data volumes and number of clients are high.We address this problem using locale covers, a subset of the original set of locations of interest, chosen to include at least one location in a suitably defined neighborhood of any client. Since location-dependent values are highly correlated with location, a query can be answered using a location close to the query point. Typical closeness measures might be Euclidean distance, or a $k$-nearest neighbor criterion.We show that location-dependent queries may be answered satisfactorily using locale covers. Our approach is independent of locations and speeds of clients, and is applicable to mobile clients.We also introduce a nested locale cover scheme that ensures fair access latencies, and allows clients to refine the accuracy of their information over time. We also prove two important results: one regarding the greedy algorithm for sensor covers and the other pertaining to randomized locale covers for $k$-nearest neighbor queries.     

A theoretical investigation of the emerging standards for web services

Currently, standards for web services are being developed via three different initiatives (W3C, Semantic web services and ebXML). To the best of our knowledge, no theoretical perspectives underlie these standardization efforts. Without the benefit of a strong theoretical basis, the results, within and across these initiatives, have remained piecemeal. We suggest ‘Language–Action Theories’ as a plausible perspective that can effectively define, assess and refine web services standards. In this paper, we first investigate the existing initiatives to identify commonalities that point to theories of ‘Language–Action’ as an appropriate theoretical basis for web services standards. Next, we adapt work from these theories to develop a comprehensive reference framework for understanding web services standards. Finally, we use this reference framework to assess the three initiatives, and analyze the findings to provide insights for future development and refinement of web services standards.

Geomorphology Based Semi-Distributed Approach for Modelling Rainfall-Runoff Process

This study presents a geomorphology based semi-distributed methodology for prediction of runoff of a catchment. In this proposed methodology, the catchment area is divided into a number of sub-catchments using the Thiessen polygon method. The rainfall records of particular rain-gauge station are considered as uniformly distributed over the entire sub-watershed. Four different weighting factors are proposed to obtain the sub-catchment’s contribution towards runoff. The weighting factors are calculated based on the geomorphological parameters of the catchment. The geomorphological parameters of the sub-watersheds are obtained from SRTM digital elevation data. The weighted contributions from all the sub-watersheds at current and previous time steps and the previous time step discharge are used to develop an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for predicting the discharge at the basin outlet. A lump model considering average rainfall of the catchment is also developed using ANN for evaluating the performance of the proposed distributed model. For the lump model, average rainfall is calculated using Thiessen polygon method. The historic rainfall and runoff data recorded at the Dikrong basin, a sub-catchment of the river Brahmaputra is used to evaluate the efficiency of the developed methodology. The evaluation results show that the presented model is superior to the lump model and has the potential for field application. A comparative study is also carried out to obtain the most influential combination of geomorphological parameters in predicting the catchment’s runoff.     

Analysis of temporal jitter in a copper vapor laser system

Temporal jitter in a magnetic pulse compression based copper vapor laser (CVL) system is analyzed by considering ripple present in the input dc power supply and ripple present in the magnetic core resetting power supply. It is shown that the jitter is a function of the ratio of operating voltage to the designed voltage, percentage ripple, and the total propagation delay of the magnetic pulse compression circuit. Experimental results from a CVL system operating at a repetition rate of 9 kHz are presented.     

Setup for in situ deep level transient spectroscopy of semiconductors during swift heavy ion irradiation

A computerized system for in situ deep level characterization during irradiation in semiconductors has been set up and tested in the beam line for materials science studies of the 15 MV Pelletron accelerator at the Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi. This is a new facility for in situ irradiation-induced deep level studies, available in the beam line of an accelerator laboratory. It is based on the well-known deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) technique. High versatility for data manipulation is achieved through multifunction data acquisition card and LABVIEW. In situ DLTS studies of deep levels produced by impact of 100 MeV Si ions on Aun-Si(100) Schottky barrier diode are presented to illustrate performance of the automated DLTS facility in the beam line.     

Prevalence,characterization, and genetic diversity of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from foods of animal origin in North East India

Listeria monocytogenes is a pathogenic microorganism infects man mostly through food. A total of 1615 samples of foods of animal origin and water were collected from retail meat shops of North-Eastern India and processed. Sixty-three (3.9%) samples were positive for L. monocytogenes. Animal origin foods showing the highest prevalence was chevon (9.8%) followed by beef (8.9%), chicken (8.5%), pork (2.8%) and milk (1.8%). The prevalence rate in water from retail meat shops was 10%. Recovered L. monocytogenes were distributed into 3 serogroups, of which 74.6% fit in to 1/2a, 3a serogroup, 17.5% to 1/2b, 3b and 7.9 % to 4b, 4d, 4e serogroups. Thirty-five isolates out of 63 possessed all the tested four virulence genes. RAPD- and ERIC -PCR based analyses jointly revealed a discriminative genetic profile for the L. monocytogenes. On the whole, the occurrence of L. monocytogenes in foods of animal origin of North Eastern India displays public health hazard.     

Multiple metastatic infections in a hemodialysis patient with untunneled internal jugular catheter

We present an end‐stage renal disease patient on dialysis with fever. The primary source was right internal jugular vein catheter which had metastatic infections in the body probably via an arteriovenous communication in a cavity in left lung. Patient had right psoas muscle abscess and a left kidney abscess. An ¹⁸F‐fluorodeoxyglucose‐positron emission spectroscopy scan was done to find out left kidney abscess. A search of literature did not reveal many patients of psoas abscess secondary to infection of hemodialysis access.     

Electrospinning pure protein solutions in core–shell fibers

Electrospinning of protein‐loaded fibers faces many challenges, e.g. burst release owing to segregation of the protein on the fiber surface, loss of activity due to electrospinning conditions, limitation of loading capacity etc. Core–shell electrospinning provides an effective way to electrospin fibers wherein the core can be loaded with bioactive molecules in friendly conditions of a compatible polymer solution, thereby protecting the molecules from the electrostatic field and organic solvent of shell solutions. The shell polymer, after the electrospinning, acts as a barrier to control the release of the loaded molecules. However, the limitation of loading capacity still remains due the prerequisite of using an additional polymer as additive to achieve the minimum viscosity of the core solution required for viscous drag by the shell solution being drawn by the electrostatic force. The work reported here aims to alleviate the need of a polymer additive by using aqueous protein solutions of very high concentration. High concentrations of protein solutions were successfully electrospun as the core of the protein–poly(lactide‐co‐glycolic acid) core–shell fibers. A partitioning effect was seen in the controlled release of hydrophilic proteins as they were retained in the aqueous core for longer times. Using lysozyme as a model protein, it was shown that the activity is significantly retained after electrospinning, compared with electrospinning in monolithic fibers. Moreover, the lysozyme activity was also comparable with the lysozyme released from core–shell fibers spun using poly(vinyl acetate) as additive in the core. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Recent advances in indium metallurgy: A review

The by-products of zinc refineries are used as the primary mineral resources for the commercial production of indium. The discarded LCDs containing adequate amount of indium is rather worth as its secondary resources compared to the by-products of zinc refineries. Mining and recycling rates of indium, respectively from minerals and waste LCDs are in progress to meet its huge demand. Recycling of the LCDs has been dominating over mining, as presently 480t of indium are produced annually from mining, however, that of 650t annually from recycling. Different aspects of the extractive metallurgy of indium are summarized in this review paper.