Diaspora and postmodern fecundity

Central to the experience of postmodernity is the increase in, and the intensification of, transnational encounters. The globalization of capital, culture, work-forces, and identities leads to patterns of homogenization whose totalizing tendency is undercut by intense fragmentation and the local play of differences. The increased productivity in economic and cultural terms marks the postmodern as remarkably fecund. This perception of fecundity comes from the various, and often opposing, groups on the political continuum.1 The \u27triumph\u27 of transnational capital in Asia and the entry of Eastern Europe into the capitalist fold have created unprecedented economic and financial flows. Simultaneously, the antifoundational dismantling of epistemological hierarchies release long-repressed energies that create new flows and open up fresh possibilities. These new flows and structuration’s require cognitive refrigeration, as older modes of knowing the world have become inadequate. The nation is one social and cultural formation that has come to be rigorously Interrogated in the light of the global-local· dynamisms. A rise in the volume of migrations and the increasing visibility of varied diasporas - communities that transcend the geopolitical boundaries of the nation-state - demand a new sense of national belonging: national heritage, essence, tradition etc. have lost their immanent valences. For instance, Chow (1993) stresses the need to "unlearn Chinese ness" in order to foster Chinese diasporic identity

Size Matters: Cigarette Size and Quitting Behaviour Among Male Smokers in An Urban Slum Of West Bengal

Introduction: Tobacco kills half of its users and globally every year around 8 million deaths are attributable to tobacco use. All forms of tobacco are harmful and there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco but cigarette smoking is the most common and notorious since it kills not only its users but also the innocent passive bystanders. Objectives: The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of cigarette use, minimum length of cigarette (nicotine portion) to quench the craving, level of nicotine dependence along with their stage of change (in behaviour to quit tobacco use) and also to find out its determinants among males above 15 years residing in the urban field practicing area of a Public Health Institute. Materials and methods: A community based observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in a slum of West Bengal. Data was collected as per a pre-designed and pre-tested schedule adapted from GATS India Questionnaire. Males above 15 years of age residing in the study area were interviewed during house-to-house visit. Results: A total of 352 study participants were interviewed. 38.4% of study participants consumes cigarettes on a regular basis. Study participants with a positive family history of tobacco use are 2.1 times (95% CI: 1.3, 3.4) more probable to use cigarettes. Half of the population are in stage of precontemplation and 43.7% of them are having high level of nicotine dependency. 66.7% of them do not need to consume the full length of a cigarette to quench their craving. Those with younger age of initiation (OR 5.35 95%CI:2.5,11.2) and consume full length of cigarette (OR 2.72, 95% CI: 1.3,5.7) are having more probability of high nicotine dependency than their counterparts. Odds of willingness to quit is significantly more among those who don’t require full length of a cigarette even when adjusted with various covariates found significant in univariate regression. Conclusion: Length of the cigarettes (nicotine portion) may be reduced to at least half the size of present standard length to not only decrease the nicotine dependence but also to encourage quitting behaviour among the users

A Study of some hydromagnetic problems with or without Hall current

Thesis: Ph. D., Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, Department of Applied Mathematics with Oceanology and Computer Programming, 2013A Study of some hydromagnetic problems with or without Hall currentDepartment of Applied Mathematics with Oceanology and Computer Programming, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore INDI

Analysis of outcome of percutaneous versus open pedicle screw fixation in the treatment of thoraco-lumbar spine fractures: a prospective comparative study

Background: Aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness between percutaneous and open pedicle screw fixation in the treatment of traumatic thoracolumbar burst fractures with spinal injury.Methods: A prospective comparative study including thirty patients with thoracolumbar burst fracture were equally divided into an open pedicle screw fixation (OPSF) group and a percutaneous pedicle screw fixation (PPSF) group. Demographic characteristics, clinical and radiological outcomes, and adverse events were assessed and compared between the 2 groups.Results: Demographic and clinical features including age, gender, fracture level, mechanism of injury and neurological status in both groups were not significantly different (all p>0.05). The PPSF group exhibits significantly lower operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and hospital stay compared with the OPSF group (all p<0.05). There was no significant difference in the sagittal Cobb′s angle (CA), fracture vertebral body angle (VBA), anterior vertebral body height (AVBH) on pre-operative, immediate post-operative and final follow up between the two surgical techniques (all p>0.05). Visual analogue scale (VAS) remarkably decreased in both groups after surgery but difference was not statically significant (p=0.808). Common postoperative complications in both groups were superficial infections, pressure ulcer and urinary tract infection (UTI) worsening. Hardware failure was seen only in one case of PPSF group.Conclusions: Patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures can be effectively managed with PPSF/OPSF. There were no significant differences in radiological and clinical outcomes and post-op complications between 2 groups but blood loss, operative time and hospitalization stay were less in percutaneous group, which may represent a potential benefit.

Impact of climate change on yield of different crops grown in Cachar district of Assam, India

Impact of climate change on crop yield threatens food security which is detrimental to agricultural sector. Cachar district of Assam is a climate susceptible district due to its unique geographical location and hydrological regime in north-eastern India. So, the present study was carried out to assess impact of climate change on crop yield for sustainability of agriculture. Climatic data viz., rainfall, maximum-minimum temperature and sunshine hours were collected from an observatory of Tea Research Association, Silcoorie, Cachar district for 2007-2012. Statistical and correlation analysis was employed to evaluate potential climate change impact on productivity of twenty three major crops of the study site. The correlation coefficient (r, Pearson’s Product Moment) between any climatic parameter and crop yield implied that climate has strong linear correlation with yield of crops resulting in twenty-two strong correlations. Among the climatic parameters rainfall was found to have most significant impact on yield. Noteworthy reduction was observed in yield of Autumn Paddy and Winter Paddy by 8.75 and 20.44 during the year 2008-2009 due to 3.98 and 36.22% decrease of rainfall with r values 0.95 and -0.76, respectively. Also, a quantum leap of 145.32% increase of rainfall during Rabi season of 2007-2008 decreased the yield of Potato and Rabi vegetables by 22.96 and 16.89%, respectively. The study revealed that climate change has significant impact on crop yield which could be alleviated by adopting rainwater harvesting technology at the top and foot hills of the hilly areas

Modeling and analysis of direct internal reforming in ethanol-fueled SOFC

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), in which the chemical energy of the fuel is directly converted to electrical energy, offer a compelling alternative to combustion-based power technologies due to their fuel flexibility, high efficiency, and low emissions, especially when coupled with combined heat and power (CHP) systems. SOFCs hold significant promise due to their potential to serve as distributed power sources and as reliable backup solutions during primary power disruptions. Among the various configurations of SOFC systems, those employing direct internal reforming stand out. This approach involves the in-situ conversion of hydrocarbon fuels like methane and diesel into hydrogen inside an SOFC device, which is subsequently electrochemically oxidized to generate power. This method offers distinct advantages over other configurations. In this study, a newly developed model is introduced that is specifically tailored for SOFCs with direct internal reforming of ethanol. By comparing the model's predictions with experimental data, its accuracy and reliability was validated. Additionally, a comprehensive analysis of polarization curves under varying operating conditions were conducted, examining factors such as hydrogen yield and species distribution along the channel length. This investigation enhanced our understanding of the internal reactions within SOFCs, providing valuable insights for optimizing their technology

Scrutinizing Data from Sky: An Examination of Its Veracity in Area Based Traffic Contexts

Traffic data collection has been an overwhelming task for researchers as well as authorities over the years. With the advancement in technology and introduction of various tools for processing and extracting traffic data the task has been made significantly convenient. Data from Sky (DFS) is one such tool, based on image processing and artificial intelligence (AI), that provides output for macroscopic as well as microscopic variables of the traffic streams. The company claims to provide 98 to 100 percent accuracy on the data exported using DFS tool. The tool is widely used in developed countries where the traffic is homogenous and has lane-based movements. In this study, authors have checked the veracity of DFS tool in heterogenous and area-based traffic movement that is prevailing in most developing countries. The validation is done using various methods using Classified Volume Count (CVC), Space Mean Speeds (SMS) of individual vehicle classes and microscopic trajectory of probe vehicle to verify DFS claim. The error for CVCs for each vehicle class present in the traffic stream is estimated. Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) values are calculated for average speeds of each vehicle class between manually and DFS extracted space mean speeds (SMSs), and the microscopic trajectories are validated using a GPS based tracker put on probe vehicles. The results are fairly accurate in the case of data taken from a bird eye view with least errors. The other configurations of data collection have some significant errors, that are majorly caused by the varied traffic composition, the view of camera angle, and the direction of traffic

Agro-economic analysis of sustainable cropping patterns in hydric rice fallows of upper Brahmaputra valley, Asom

Three post rainy season crops, viz. potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.) and mustard (Brassica juncea L.) were evaluated for their economic efficiency for two years (2005-06 to 2006-07) in four hydric rice growing soils under two management levels (farmers' practice and recommended package of practices) in upper Brahmaputra valley of Asom. The farm experimental results recorded tuber yield of 208 q/ha for potato, 9.48 q/ha of grain yield of mustard and 57.5 q/ha of green pod yield of peas under recommended doses with high benefit cost ratio of 2.44 for potato and 2.35 for mustard in Lahangaon series (coarse loamy Aeric Fluvaquents) as compared to farmer’s practice (benefit cost ratio of 1.57 for potato to 1.71 for peas). The performance of potato and peas in rice fallows of Brahmaputra valley was evident in all soils under recommended practices in terms of benefit cost ratio, efficient uptake of NPK and yield