Phytoplankton primary production, chlorophyll-a and nutrient concentrations in the water column of mountainous Lake Phewa, Nepal

The seasonal patterns of phytoplankton primary production, chlorophyll‐a concentration, cell number and several other limnological variables in Lake Phewa, located in the active monsoon zone in Central Himalaya, Nepal, were studied for a year beginning in April 2001. During the study period, the gross primary production and chlorophyll‐a concentrations were relatively low during the monsoon season. The phytoplankton cell number, represented by 24 genera, also fluctuated seasonally, but tended to increase in the pre‐ and post‐monsoon period. These results suggest that the monsoon plays a crucial role in the primary production and phytoplankton dynamics for Lake Phewa. Among the phytoplankton species, Microcystis aeruginosa, a representative species for eutrophic lakes, was the dominant phytoplankton. At the same time, however, it is clear that the lake is not yet heavily eutrophic. The present study suggests that the exchange of lake water during the monsoon season contributes to maintaining the health of the lake against further degradation. Nevertheless, the silt carried in the monsoon rain run‐off from the lake's catchment area suggests increasingly serious degradation problems for this small mountainous lake.     

Voltage transfer function synthesis using current conveyors

A synthesis procedure for generating current conveyor active filters is presented, and a novel network which realises the general 2nd-order voltage transfer function is given.<>     

"Significance of serum gamma glutamyl transpeptidase in cholestatic jaundice"

In conclusion, our study showed that serum G.G.T rises in cholestasis, and the rise is significantly higher in extraphepatic cholestasis as compared to intrahepatic cholestasis. Serum G.G.T has not shown any superiority over alkaline phosphatase in the evaluation of cholestatic liver disease. However, two considerations must caution against the use of serum G.G.T. alone for evaluation of hepatobiliary disease. The first of these is the lack of specificity for hepatobiliary disease. Serum G.G.T. activity can be elevated in some non-hepatic disorders such as acute pancreatitis, congestive cardiac failure, myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus and alcoholism. Determination of serum G.G.T. in these patients is of no value. Second, the possibility that changes in serum G.G.T. activity results from drug administration in man.     

Restoration of small lakes through cooperative management: A suitable strategy for poverty‐laden areas in developing countries?

Lake Rupa is a small, subtropical, shallow lake with a surface area of 100 ha situated 600 m a.s.l. in Central Himalaya, Nepal. This degraded lake was studied between 2000 and 2006, with the goal of determining whether or not it could be restored by a community‐based cooperative of local people living in its catchment. Main threats to the lake, its aquatic life and its very existence include encroachment by excessive aquatic vegetation, sedimentation, and low in‐lake concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO). Small lakes (≤ 500 ha) are relatively prone to the process of ‘succession and climax’, although they also can be of social, environmental and ecological importance. Thus, their disappearance could spark social chaos and disorder in areas already having to cope with other rapid environmental changes. This means that credible mechanisms for revitalizing or protecting small lakes are an important goal. Accordingly, a lake cooperative of 329 households living in close vicinity to Lake Rupa was formed in 2002, by prioritizing traditional fishers, women and other deprived community members with the goals of respecting the citizenry and equity. Following the cooperative's campaigns directed at weed removal and fish stocking, encroachment of vegetation on the lake margins was halted, its aquatic weeds became under control, and its fisheries improved. In addition to the cooperative's restoration activities, several water quality parameters, including water transparency and DO and chlorophyll‐a concentrations, were monitored on a monthly basis. The measured water transparency was inconsistent, exhibiting large variations between 2000 and 2003. Relatively low, but consistent, values, however, were measured after 2004. The results imply that the removal of weeds, and sufficient nutrients and solar radiation are subsequently available to the lake's phytoplankton communities. Supporting this notion is that the chlorophyll‐a concentration spiked to 205 µg L⁻¹ in November 2006, the water transparency became consistent, and the DO concentration increased to >3.8 mg L⁻¹ during the critical months (March–May) after 2004. These water quality indicators indicated improvement in the degraded Lake Rupa, suggesting that the establishment of cooperatives such as that highlighted in this study could be a powerful and sustainable mechanism for restoring degraded lakes in similar socioeconomic settings by maintaining equity, by connecting communities with their resources, and by facilitating integrity, equity, citizenry and social justice.     

Development of nano indium tin oxide (ITO) grains by alkaline hydrolysis of In(III) and Sn(IV) salts

Indium tin oxide (ITO) nano powders of different compositions (In: Sn = 90: 10, 70: 30 and 50: 50) were prepared by heat treatment (300-450°C) of mixed hydroxides of In(III) and Sn(IV). The hydroxides were obtained by the reaction of aq. NH₃ with mixed aq. solutions of In(NO₃)₃ and SnCl₄. FTIR and TG/DTA studies revealed that powders existed as In(OH)₃H₂O—SnO₃H₂H₂O in the solid state and then they transformed to In₂O₃—SnO₂ via some metastable intermediates after 300°C. Cubic phase of In₂O₃ was identified by XRD for the oxides up to 30% of Sn. Particle size measurements of the solid dispersed in acetone and SEM study for microstructure showed that the oxides were in the nano range (55-75 nm) whereas the size range determined from Debye-Scherrer equation were 11–24 nm.     

Organic‐acid‐catalyzed sol–gel route for preparing poly(methyl methacrylate)–silica hybrid materials

In this study, a series of organic–inorganic hybrid sol–gel materials consisting of a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix and dispersed silica (SiO₂) particles were successfully prepared through an organic‐acid‐catalyzed sol–gel route with N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone as the mixing solvent. The as‐synthesized PMMA–SiO₂ nanocomposites were subsequently characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The solid phase of organic camphor sulfonic acid was employed to catalyze the hydrolysis and condensation (i.e., sol–gel reactions) of tetraethyl orthosilicate in the PMMA matrix. The formation of the hybrid membranes was beneficial for the physical properties at low SiO₂ loadings, especially for enhanced mechanical strength and gas barrier properties, in comparison with the neat PMMA. The effects of material composition on the thermal stability, thermal conductivity, mechanical strength, molecular permeability, optical clarity, and surface morphology of the as‐prepared hybrid PMMA–SiO₂ nanocomposites in the form of membranes were investigated with thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, gas permeability analysis, ultraviolet–visible transmission spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy, respectively. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Method for crosscorrelating images in the presence of geometric distortion

The conventional crosscorrelation function (XCF) used in temporal and spatial displacement measurement is unable to provide satisfactory results when linear distortion is also present in the signals. A 'nested' correlation function (NCF) is proposed which produces accurate results, when the distortion is dispersive, with negligible computational overhead.<>     

Liquid-Phase Catalytic Hydroxylation of Phenol Using Cu(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) Complexes of Amidate Ligand Encapsulated in Zeolite-Y as Catalysts

Copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) complexes of amidate ligand 1,2-bis(2-hydroxybenzamido)ethane(H₂hybe) encapsulated in the super cages of zeolite-Y have been prepared and characterized by spectroscopic studies and thermal as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. These complexes catalyze the liquid-phase hydroxylation of phenol with H₂O₂ to catechol as a major product and hydroquinone as a minor product. Considering the concentration of substrate and oxidant, amount of catalyst, temperature of the reaction and volume of solvent, a best-suited reaction condition has been optimized to get maximum hydroxylation. Under the optimized reaction conditions, [Cu(hybe)]-Y has shown the highest conversion of 40% after 6h, which is followed by [Ni(hybe)]-Y with 37% conversion and [Zn(hybe)]-Y has shown the poorest performance with 33% conversion. All these catalysts are more selective towards catechol formation (90%), irrespective of their catalytic performance.     

Modal analysis of prestressed draft pad of freight wagons using finite element method

The present work intends to investigate dynamic behaviour of draft gear using finite element method. The longitudinal force that the draft gear absorbs usually leads to the failure of its components, especially, the load bearing draft pads. Dynamic behaviour of an individual draft pad and a draft gear is determined and characterized with exciting frequencies and corresponding mode shapes. The effect of compressive prestress load on the dynamic behaviour of an individual draft pad is also determined as the draft pads in assembled state are under constant axial compressive force in the draft gear. The vibration characteristics of individual draft pad are compared with draft pads that are part of draft gear. The modal analysis gives us a basis for subjecting a draft pad to higher frequency loading for determining its fatigue behaviour.

     

Video Data Delivery using Slotted Patching

In the request-based scheme, a patching channel is initiated on arrival of a request in an interarrival time of two adjacent multicast channels. If two requests are received in a short duration in an interarrival time, two patching channels are needed to service them. Both these channels deliver almost the same data, thus, wasting the bandwidth. This problem may be addressed in two ways: using higher level patching technique, or forcing the first request to wait for the second one. Using higher level patching technique makes the system more complex and thus usually not preferred. In the second case, the bandwidth usage certainly reduces, but the length of the waiting time by the first request for the second request is the main issue. In this paper, this issue is addressed by dividing the video duration into uniform time slots such that there is at least one request in a time slot for initiating the patching channel. The proposed scheme is named as Video Data Delivery using Slotted Patching. In this scheme, the patching channels download much less video data than the request-based scheme and thus require less bandwidth. This scheme may not provide immediate services to all users unlike the request-based scheme, but the user's waiting can be made arbitrarily small without using much resources unlike the request-based scheme.