Semianalytical Model for Drawdown due to Pumping a Partially Penetrating Large Diameter Well

A semianalytical model is developed for computing drawdowns in and around a partially penetrating large diameter well. The new model can take into account an unsteady pumping discharge and thus drawdowns during recovery can be computed. This model can also yield the unsteady contributions from well and aquifer storages to the pumped discharge. While developing the model, the flow from the bottom of the well is also accounted.     

In Situ Performance Testing of Deteriorating Water Tanks for Durability Assessment

Reports of failure of existing concrete structures due to a lack of durability, rather than a deficiency in structural strength, has made concrete technologists, engineers, and researchers focus research on the parameters influencing durability performance with respect to time. Systematic performance monitoring, with respect to chosen durability parameters of existing concrete structures, will decide the direction of future research in this area. Inferences based on laboratory simulations and testing need to be confirmed by in situ field measurements and studies. In situ condition rating and performance monitoring surveys have been conducted by many researchers, scientists, and professional associations, and reported in literature. Inferences of few such studies are summarized and discussed. Deterioration of concrete structures constructed in recent times is observed at relatively faster rates, and has been mainly attributed to cracking. Cracking is associated with the use of faster-hydrating portland cements with increased fineness and the tricalcium silicate (C3S) content to support the high speed of modern construction. In the present research, a case study of deteriorated water tank structures situated in the semitropical region of India is presented. Some selected parameters—such as concrete cover, carbonation depth, chloride concentration, compressive strength, etc. which influence long term durability of structures—have been measured.     

Action and reason in the theory of Āyurveda

The paper explores the relation between reason and action as it emerges from the texts of āyurveda. Life or Ayus (commonly understood as life-span) is primary subject matter of Ayurveda. Life is a locus of experience, action and disposition. Experiences and actions are differentially determined by dispositions that characterize the organism; otherwise all living organisms will be identical. Ayus of each living being is uniquely individual and remains constant between birth and death. In this journey, upkeep of ayus is the purpose of āyurveda or science of life. Ayurveda is a science of experienced matter as well as of experienced body. The living body is critically dependent on the influx of matter for its upkeep. āyurveda offers a conceptual system to reason about balance and imbalances of the system and the causal role of the material flux through the system. This sensate matter is causally open and makes room for definite causal role for the individual and the effective insertion of the felt-purpose of action. Some of the strengths of Ayurveda are brought forth in the paper such as (a) reasoning out the compatibility between the bodily processes and the selection of the natural products for diet and drug, (b) role for heuristics in medical diagnosis, which takes into cognizance the particularity of each living body and the teleology evident in the very act of diagnostic reasoning. The paper shows that āyurvedic theory is built on experiential datum whereas scientific medical theory is built on experience-independent datum. āyurveda explores causal efficacy of ‘secondary qualities’ whereas scientific medicine explores causal efficacy of ‘primary qualities’. The actionable experiential reasoning is at the foundations of āyurveda whereas modern medical science is ab initio saddled with difficult ‘hiatus theoreticus’ between theory and practice. For Ayurveda it is experience of qualities that discloses behavior of matter. The types of qualities that appear in experience have a special significance for theorizing about the actions of matter with the help of qualities. The paper explores the relation between experience of qualities and the method of science. It shows how efficacy of medical practice is based on the foundational stance of experiential realism in theory. To bring the point home, the paper borrows Aristotalian concepts to show how the relation between phantasm and phronesis is honored in the very theory of āyurveda.     

Finite-difference time-domain analysis and experimental examinationof the performance of a coupled-cavity MQW laser/active waveguide at1.54 μm

The performance characteristics of a coupled cavity InGaAsP-InP MQW laser/active waveguide made by one-step epitaxy and well-controlled reactive ion etching (RIE) have been theoretically analyzed and experimentally determined. A theoretical model based on a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique was used to simulate the propagation of an optical wave launched in the coupled system and determine the reflectivity of the facets created by RIE. The calculated effective reflectivity of the coupling region consisting of two facets and an air gap is between 0.45 and 0.55, which is in good agreement with the experimentally measured value of 0.5. The reflectivity of a single etched mirror derived from this value is estimated to be 0.3. A 120-μm-long monolithically integrated active waveguide when biased as a modulator and excited by the laser shows a maximum extinction ratio of 8 dB and a modulation bandwidth ⩾14 GHz at a dc bias of -0.5 V with a bias swing of 2 V     

P300 latency: abnormal in sleep apnea with somnolence and idiopathic hypersomnia, but normal in narcolepsy

To evaluate cognitive abnormalities in excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) using cognitive evoked potentials (P300), and to evaluate if P300 measures differentiate among disorders of EDS, a series of EDS subjects were administered a polysomnogram, auditory and visual P300 testing using 31 scalp electrodes, and a multiple sleep latency test. P300 variables were compared with those of normal subjects. Forty normal subjects ages 16 to 65 years, and 69 EDS patients ages 16 to 65 years were used. Of these, 39 had profound obstructive sleep apnea (OSA, Respiratory Disturbance Index or RDI > 80/h sleep) with severe somnolence (Mean Sleep Latency < 5 min). Twenty-two had idiopathic hypersomnia (IH). Eight had narcolepsy. The normals and the three EDS groups did not differ in age. IH and profound OSA patients had longer visual P300 latency than normals or narcolepsy patients (p < 0.05). (p < 0.05). IH and profound OSA patients had longer auditory P300 latency than normals. They had smaller auditory P300 amplitude than narcolepsy patients. There were visual P300 latency topographic differences between normals and profound OSA patients. In conclusion, IH and profound OSA patients show cognitive evoked potential evidence of cognitive dysfunction. Narcolepsy patients do not show such evidence. Visual P300 latency differentiates among disorders of EDS.     

Quantitative evaluation of pancreatic enhancement during dual-phase helical CT

PURPOSE: To determine the improvement in pancreatic enhancement at helical computed tomography (CT) performed with an early delay after administration of contrast material compared with that performed with a standard delay. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dual-phase helical CT of the abdomen was performed in 120 patients with a 150-mL bolus of contrast material infused at 5 mL/sec. Early and standard delayed scanning was performed beginning at 20 seconds and 49-71 seconds, respectively. Regions of interest were measured in the head, body, and tail of the pancreas in 92 patients. The difference in enhancement between early and standard delayed scanning was calculated. RESULTS: Mean pancreatic enhancement was 82 HU +/- 3 (standard error) with an early delay, whereas enhancement on standard delay scans was 62 HU +/- 2 (P < .001). An improvement in enhancement greater than 10 HU was attained in 66 of 92 cases (72%). CONCLUSION: Pancreatic enhancement at helical CT with an early delay after contrast material administration is often significantly greater than the enhancement seen with a standard delay when a monophasic, rapidly infused bolus of contrast material is used.     

Sub-quarter micron silicon integrated circuits and single wafer processing

This paper describes the role of single wafer processing in the development of sub-quarter micron silicon integrated circuits (ICs). The issues related to device processing, choice of materials, performance, reliability, and manufacturing are covered. Single wafer processing based rapid photothermal processing (dominant photons with wavelength less than about 800 nm) is an ideal answer to almost all the thermal processing requirements of current and future Si ICs. For process integration, a new model for process optimization based on minimization of thermal stress is proposed. For breaking the sub-100 nm manufacturing barriers, high throughput lithography based on direct writing is a proposed solution.     

Vesicoureteral reflux and ureteropelvic junction obstruction: association, treatment options and outcome

PURPOSE: We investigated the association, treatment options and outcomes of patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction and concomitant vesicoureteral reflux. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed 6,790 consecutive pediatric urology records at our university. Treatment options included observation, and primary pyeloplasty, ureteroneocystostomy and nephroureterectomy. Hydronephrosis, reflux and obstruction were judged as resolved, improved, unchanged or worse. RESULTS: A total of 1,140 patients had vesicoureteral reflux, 224 had ureteropelvic junction obstruction and 41 had both conditions (39 ipsilateral and 6 contralateral kidneys). There was no increased risk of obstruction in patients with reflux when all grades of reflux were grouped (odds ratio 1.26, confidence interval 0.91 to 1.71). In contrast, subgroup analysis of patients with high grade reflux demonstrated a 5-fold increased risk of obstruction (odds ratio 5.0, confidence interval 2.4 to 10.8). One patient was lost to followup. Observation of 6 kidneys led to resolution of reflux in 3 (50%), resolution of obstruction in 3 (50%) and resolution or improvement of hydronephrosis in 4 (67%). Primary pyeloplasty was done on 29 kidneys with 10 (35%) requiring subsequent ureteroneocystostomy. At latest followup hydronephrosis resolved or improved in 24 patients (83%), vesicoureteral reflux resolved or improved in 19 (66%) and ureteropelvic junction obstruction resolved in all. Primary ureteroneocystostomy was performed on 5 kidneys, all of which required subsequent pyeloplasty. Hydronephrosis resolved in 3 patients (60%), and reflux and obstruction resolved in all. Two patients treated with primary nephroureterectomy, and 1 who underwent concomitant pyeloplasty and ureteroneocystostomy have had no subsequent urological problems. One patient awaits primary pyeloplasty. CONCLUSIONS: High grade vesicoureteral reflux is associated with ureteropelvic junction obstruction. No association with low or intermediate grade reflux was demonstrated. While some patients may be monitored expectantly, in our series pyeloplasty or nephrectomy was required in 81% and ureteroneocystostomy was required in 36%. In no case did primary ureteroneocystostomy protect against the subsequent need for pyeloplasty.     

Incisional hernia after laparoscopic nephrectomy with intact specimen removal: caveat emptor

The choline-containing phosphoglycolipid, MfGL-II, is the major polar lipid of Mycoplasma fermentans PG18. Anti-MfGL-II antisera raised in rabbits using the purified MfGL-II as an immunogen were employed in immunogold electron microscopic and immunofluorescence studies showing that MfGL-II is uniformly distributed and exposed on the cell surface of M. fermentans cells. The specificity of the antibodies was determined by immunostaining of lipid extracts separated by thin layer chromatography. The antibodies recognize lipids specific to M. fermentans but did not cross-react with lipid extracts of M. penetrans, M. capricolum, M. gallisepticum or Acholeplasma laidlawii. As phosphocholine almost completely abolished antibody interaction with MfGL-II in an ELISA assay it is suggested that the anti-MfGL-II repertoire is composed primarily of anti-phosphocholine antibodies. The anti-MfGL-II antisera inhibit the attachment of M. fermentans to Molt-3 lymphocytes suggesting that MfGL-II plays a major role in M. fermentans-host cell interaction.