Diel changes in the abundance and size composition of invertebrate drift in five rivers in South Island,New Zealand

Drift was collected over 24‐h periods in five rivers in South Island, New Zealand, to determine whether diel periodicity was consistent across a range of river types, and whether the pattern was similar for different life stages/sizes of selected taxa. Total drift density (numbers per 100 m³ ) of aquatic invertebrates was greater at night than during the day in all rivers; peak abundance occurred shortly after sunset in clear water rivers and shortly before sunrise in a turbid, glacier‐fed river. Densities of drifting Deleatidium spp., Nesameletus spp. (both Ephemeroptera), Aoteapsyche spp., and Hydrobiosidae (both Trichoptera), were generally greater at night than during the day. However, the timing of peak abundance in the drift for other common taxa varied between rivers. Larger Deleatidium spp. larvae (> 1.00 mm head width) were more common in the drift at night than during the day in all rivers. However, this was not apparent for Aoteapsyche spp. and Hydrobiosidae, for which diel differences in the size of drifting animals were not consistent even within the same river. The propensity for some aquatic invertebrates to drift at night may influence fish feeding behaviour, particularly with respect to the timing of feeding and the species or life history stages of their prey.     

The effect of Main-Sequence stars on age estimates of open clusters

Existing methods for age estimation of open clusters are discussed. Most of the observed open clusters (except extremely young and old) contain 50–90% unevolved Main-Sequence stars. Possible difficulties encountered in estimating the actual age of an unevolved Main-Sequence star are discussed. For a relatively reliable cluster age estimation only a small percentage of cluster members are suitable. The effect of unevolved Main-Sequence stars on open cluster age estimates using the modified method of isochromes is analyzed.On leave of absence from the Department of Physics, Kumaon University, Naini Tal, India.     

Radial distribution of the integrated light and photometric colours in open star clusters

Mass segregation in the form of preferential concentration of more massive stars in the central regions of a number of open star clusters has been known for some time. In this paper, integratedUBV colours in concentric zones have been estimated for 12 nearby open clusters using the observations of individual cluster members. It is found that the clusters showing pronounced mass segregation also show significant radial variations in the integrated colours. However, the effects of stochastic fluctuations around the massive portion of the mass distribution function on the integrated colours should be taken into consideration, if they are present.     

Male-female literacy differential in India--1981

The author examines inequalities in the literacy rates between males and females in India. Regional variations in literacy are examined by district using maps. "The male-female literacy differential is low in coastal, peripheral and metropolitan areas and is high in inland and mountainous areas. These regional disparities are the product of differences in length of educational background, age at marriage, level of urbanisation, standard of living and proportion of socially conservative and backward sections of society.... The study in spatial dimension provides a strong base for the removal of sex biased discrimination in society."     

Broad-band optical polarimetric study of IC 1805

We present the BVR broad-band polarimetric observations of 51 stars belonging to the young open cluster IC 1805. Along with the photometric data from the literature, we have modelled and subtracted the foreground dust contribution from the maximum polarization ( P _max) and colour excess [ E ( B − V )]. The mean value of the P _max for intracluster medium and the foreground are found to be 5.008 ± 0.005 and 4.865 ± 0.022 per cent, respectively. Moreover, the mean value of the wavelength of maximum polarization (λ_max) for intracluster medium is 0.541 ± 0.003 μ m, which is quite similar as the general interstellar medium (ISM). The resulting intracluster dust component is found to have negligible polarization efficiency as compared to interstellar dust. Some of the observed stars in IC 1805 have shown the indication of intrinsic polarization in their measurements.     

CCD photometric and mass function study of nine young Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters

We present a CCD photometric and mass function study of nine young Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters, namely NGC 1767, 1994, 2002, 2003, 2006, SL 538, NGC 2011, 2098 and 2136. BV RI data, reaching down to   V ∼ 21  mag, were collected from the 3.5-m NTT/EFOSC2 in subarcsec seeing conditions. For NGC 1767, 1994, 2002, 2003, 2011 and 2136, broad-band photometric CCD data are presented for the first time. Seven of the nine clusters have ages between 16 and 25 Myr, and the other two have ages of  32 ± 4 Myr  (NGC 2098) and  90 ± 10 Myr  (NGC 2136). For the seven youngest clusters, the age estimates based on a recent model and the integrated spectra are found to be systematically lower (∼10 Myr) than the present estimates. In the mass range  ∼2–12 M_⊙  , the mass function slopes for eight out of nine clusters were found to be similar, with the value of γ ranging from  −1.90 ± 0.16  to  −2.28 ± 0.21  . For NGC 1767 the slope is flatter, with  γ=−1.23 ± 0.27  . Mass segregation effects are observed for NGC 2002, 2006, 2136 and 2098. This is consistent with the findings of Kontizas and colleagues for NGC 2098. The presence of mass segregation in these clusters could be an imprint of the star formation process, as their ages are significantly smaller than their dynamical evolution time. The mean mass function slope of  γ=−2.22 ± 0.16  derived for a sample of 25 young (≤100 Myr) dynamically unevolved Large Magellanic Cloud stellar systems provides support for the universality of the initial mass function in the intermediate-mass range  ∼2–12 M_⊙  .     

A general approach for porosity estimation using artificial neural network method: a case study from Kansas gas field

This study aims to design a back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) to estimate the reliable porosity values from the well log data taken from Kansas gas field in the USA. In order to estimate the porosity, a neural network approach is applied, which uses as input sonic, density and resistivity log data, which are known to affect the porosity. This network easily sets up a relationship between the input data and the output parameters without having prior knowledge of petrophysical properties, such as porefluid type or matrix material type. The results obtained from the empirical relationship are compared with those from the neural network and a good correlation is observed. Thus, the ANN technique could be used to predict the porosity from other well log data.     

Study of the galactic cluster NGC 6823

PhotoelectricUBV magnitudes have been determined for 41 stars in NGC 6823. The reddening across the cluster field is determined and found that it varies fromE(B-V)=0.60 to 1.16 mag. The true distance modulus to the cluster is estimated at 12.7±0.3 mag. It is found that cluster stars are not co-equal in age.