Amino acids and hexosamines in the Hess Rise core during the past 220,000 years

Core sediment samples collected from the Hess Rise, North Pacific, were analyzed for 20 common amino acids (AA) and two hexosamines (HA) to understand the relation between glacial–interglacial variations and deposition/preservation of sedimentary organic matter (OM). The sediments are predominantly carbonaceous (carbonates 35–80%). AA-based parameters—aspartic acid/glycine ratio and serine+threonine relative mole content—suggest that calcareous plankton was the major source of OM in these sediments. This inference is supported by the similarity in distribution patterns of AA and HA contents with that of organic carbon. Low values of AA/HA and glucosamine/galactosamine ratios (average 4.4 and 1.1, respectively) imply that much of the planktonic OM was replaced by microbial OM. The relative molar concentration of two nonprotein AA (β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid) varied with age of sediments; i.e., they were less abundant in recent sediments and more abundant in the oldest sediments. This trend is an indicator of extremely slow but continuous enzymatic degradation of proteinaceous OM within the sediments. So far, bulk OM has been believed to be one of the best proxies for estimation of primary productivity. However, it may be an underestimate, even for the late Quaternary sediments. Comparison of AA and HA content variations with SPECMAP stack revealed their enhanced deposition and preservation during glacial periods relative to interglacial periods. This, in turn, affected not only the planktonic production in surface waters but also the benthic community, including bacteria on the seafloor.     

A statistical significance of differences in classification accuracy of crop types using different classification algorithms

Crop classification is needed to understand the physiological and climatic requirement of different crops. Kernel-based support vector machines, maximum likelihood and normalised difference vegetation index classification schemes are attempted to evaluate their performances towards crop classification. The linear imaging self-scanning (LISS-IV) multi-spectral sensor data was evaluated for the classification of crop types such as barley, wheat, lentil, mustard, pigeon pea, linseed, corn, pea, sugarcane and other crops and non-crop such as water, sand, built up, fallow land, sparse vegetation and dense vegetation. To determine the spectral separability among crop types, the M-statistic and Jeffries–Matusita (J–M) distance methods have been utilised. The results were statistically analysed and compared using Z-test and χ²-test. Statistical analysis showed that the accuracy results using SVMs with polynomial of degrees 5 and 6 were not significantly different and found better than the other classification algorithms.     

On pressure waves in the coastal region

Summary Several authors have tried to explain the different aspects of pressure waves in water including the phenomenon of «Singing» by assuming another fluid layer below the water column. In this note an attempt has been made to determine the thickness of such a layer.     

Fatigue damage in randomly vibrating jack-up platforms under non-Gaussian loads

The problem of fatigue damage estimation of ageing jack-up platforms is considered, using theories of random processes. The sea-wave excitations are modelled as stationary, Gaussian random processes, with specified power spectral density function. The loads acting on the structure due to the sea waves is calculated using Morison’s equation and are therefore non-Gaussian whose probabilistic properties are not available in explicit form. Assuming linear structure behaviour, the probabilistic properties of the structure response are determined using theories of random vibrations. The simple peak counting method is adopted for estimating the mean fatigue damage. This requires knowledge of the joint probability density function of the structure response and its first and second time derivatives, at the same time instant. A methodology has been presented for developing analytical expressions for this joint pdf. This requires evaluation of multidimensional integrals. A recently developed computational algorithm is presented to deal with integrals for which derivation of closed form analytical expressions may not be feasible. The methodology proposed in this paper provides an alternative and computationally cheaper technique for estimating the fatigue damage in comparison to the Monte Carlo simulation procedure. Numerical results have been presented for illustration of the proposed methodology.     

Nitrogen and phosphorus budgets in the Baltic Sea

The paper reports the budgets of inorganic and total nitrogen and phosphorus based on a recalculation of the existing water balance. The nitrogen budgets indicate that humus carried by river runoff probably dominates in the sedimentation of nitrogenous organic matter, while the excess transferred to the layer below the halocline is controlled by the amounts added by river runoff and waste disposal. The budgets appear to be considerably influenced by eutrophication and human activity. The phosphorus budget indicates that the supply of organic phosphorus and oxygen in the layers below the halocline are in a precarious balance with each other. Phosphorus and nitrogen compounds appear to sediment in almost the same proportions as their concentrations in the bottom water.     

On numerical evaluation of theH-functions of transport problems by kernel approximation for the albedo 0<ω≤1

Das Gupta represented theH-functions of transport problems for the albedo [0, 1] in the formH(z)=R(z)–S(z) (see Das Gupta, 1977) whereR(z) is a rational function ofz andS(z) is regular on [–1, 0] ^c . In this paper we have representedS(z) through a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind with a symmetric real kernelL(y, z) as . The problem is then solved as an eigenvalue problem. The kernel is converted into a degenerate kernel through finite Taylor's expansion and the integral equation forS(z) takes the form: (which is solved by the usual procedure) where _r 's are the discrete eigenvalues andF _r 's the corresponding eigenfunctions of the real symmetric kernelL(y, z).     

TheH-functions of radiative transfer in an active amplifying medium

We obtain two explicit closed form representations of Chandrasekhar'sH-functionsH(z) characterising transfer of radiation in an active amplifying medium corresponding to the dispersion function $$T(z) = 1 - 2z^2 \int\limits_0^1 {Y(x)dx/(z^2 - x^2 ), Y(x)< 0 on [0, 1]} .$$ Their basic properties are derived and the values of theH-functionH(z, ω) whenY(x)=ω/2, are approximately computed for values of ω in the range (?10^?12)–(?10²) and for values ofzε[0, 1].     

Some studies on Hα-flares and microwave bursts in relation to sunspot magnetic configurations

Sunspot associated H-flares and microwave bursts occurring during the period 1972 to 1974 have been examined in relation to the magnetic strength and configurations of the sunspots and sunspot groups (abbreviated as spots). Important results obtained are: (i) percentage occurrences of flares exceeds those of microwave bursts up to a magnetic field strength of 2000 G while the reverse is true for higher field strength of spots, (ii) flare productivity (average number of flares per spot) and also burst productivity are comparatively higher in the case of and types of spots than in the case of other types of spots, (iii) the above productivities are predominantly high when magnetic configuration of spots changes during their life time, and (iv) impulsive type of microwave bursts are more associated with spots having changing type of magnetic configuration.     

Evaluation of Cartographic accuracy of IRS-1A LISS II data for upgrading linear details on the existing maps (A case study of Chandigarh area)

Considering the fest pace of development, up-to-date maps have become imperative in developmental planning. Conventional map updating techniques are expensive and time consuming. The present paper makes an attempt to tackle the problem using GIS techniques. Maps generated from IRS-1A LISS II data and Survey of India (SOI) toposheets were used as input maps in GIS. These maps were overlaid to obtain the positional errors at road junction points. The area statistics of each sector were calculated taking the SOI map as reference data. The results show that the areas calculated from LISS II data and SOI map are well comparable and the deviations are within 10%, whereas the positional accuracy (MSE) of points is within 30 m. The study demonstrates that the IRS-1A LISS II data can be used for updating of maps on scale 1:100,000 and smaller in areas where linear features are identifiable in the IRS LISS II image.     

Theoretical Love wave dispersion in a single layer model

Summary From a study of the Love wave dispersion in a single layer model it is shown that the shape of the dispersion curves is very insensitive to the changes in the density ratio. The bilogarithmic grids giving dispersion curves for different shear velocity ratios and a mean density ratio of 1.20 should be sufficient for interpretation by the method of curve matching. Such grids and the numerical data are given both for the phase velocity and the group velocity. An example is given illustrating the use of these grids.