Inequality: A China and India Perspective

In the years since the introduction of liberalizing market reforms in China and India, both countries have experienced rapid and sustained economic growth even as they have struggled with a simultaneous surge in economic and social inequality. This working paper traces the evolution of the post-reform growth in inequality and demonstrates the pervasive influence of location in determining and entrenching a spatial pattern to the deepening divides in each country. Though the centrality of location serves as a common link between China and India, the unique reform experiences of each country have led to distinct outcomes. Specifically, the paper illustrates how in China the spatial pattern of inequality stems from the divide between the interior western provinces and the rapidly growing coastal provinces, whereas in India the disparity is more apparent between urban and rural areas. The analysis outlines how policy choices in agriculture, hard infrastructure, soft infrastructure, migration and industry have affected income inequality and how these inequalities have manifested. In China, the export-led growth strategy employed after market-reforms has allowed the country to capitalize on its expansive coastline, resulting in a rapid rise in disparity between coastal and interior provinces coupled with rapid economic growth. Similarly, in India a booming service sector in the post-liberalization era allowed for a disproportionate increase in the importance and growth of urban centers at the expense of rural areas. While location alone cannot explain the post-reform experience of China and India, geographical factors underlie many of the forces which have driven the disparity. While this analysis is inherently context-specific and requires nuanced enquiry on a local level, the implications of this discussion are global in scope. The paper concludes with several questions which require a more inclusive exploration. Does the Chinese case provide evidence that regional inequalities, particularly those that result from geographical factors, are a necessary evil of growth and globalization? What lessons can India take from the growth experience of other nations, and in turn, what lessons can it provide? These questions, and others, may serve as the basis for a larger, multi-faceted and multi-sited project on global inequality

Gemini Imidazolinium Surfactants: A Versatile Class of Molecules

Gemini imidazolinium surfactants fascinated the researchers and many industries towards it due to their distinct molecular structure. It belongs to the cationic surfactant group. The variation in the physicochemical properties of the gemini surfactant can be achieved by changing the characteristics in the structure. There are several applications of imidazolinium such as antistatic agents, fabric softener that makes it a demanding surfactant in detergent industries as well as in the laundry industries due to the immense number of properties like dispersibility, viscosity, desirable storage stability, emulsification, critical micelle concentration and fabric conditioning etc. This book chapter discussed about the Gemini imidazolinium surfactants and its various properties, synthesis methods and applications in various fields

Sine Cosine Algorithm for Optimization

This open access book serves as a compact source of information on sine cosine algorithm (SCA) and a foundation for developing and advancing SCA and its applications. SCA is an easy, user-friendly, and strong candidate in the field of metaheuristics algorithms. Despite being a relatively new metaheuristic algorithm, it has achieved widespread acceptance among researchers due to its easy implementation and robust optimization capabilities. Its effectiveness and advantages have been demonstrated in various applications ranging from machine learning, engineering design, and wireless sensor network to environmental modeling. The book provides a comprehensive account of the SCA, including details of the underlying ideas, the modified versions, various applications, and a working MATLAB code for the basic SCA

Study of Liquid-Crystalline Behaviour of Aliphatic-Aromatic Polyamides Derived from Castor Oil Based Dimer Acid by DSC

ABSTRACT Aliphatic-aromatic polyamide of castor oil based dimer acid (DA) with pphenylenediamine (PPD) was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry. Thispolyamide exhibited interesting liquid-crystalline behavior which was quite unexpectedlooked at the structure of dimer acid moiety

Evidence for a Grooming Claw in a North American Adapiform Primate: Implications for Anthropoid Origins

Among fossil primates, the Eocene adapiforms have been suggested as the closest relatives of living anthropoids (monkeys, apes, and humans). Central to this argument is the form of the second pedal digit. Extant strepsirrhines and tarsiers possess a grooming claw on this digit, while most anthropoids have a nail. While controversial, the possible presence of a nail in certain European adapiforms has been considered evidence for anthropoid affinities. Skeletons preserved well enough to test this idea have been lacking for North American adapiforms. Here, we document and quantitatively analyze, for the first time, a dentally associated skeleton of Notharctus tenebrosus from the early Eocene of Wyoming that preserves the complete bones of digit II in semi-articulation. Utilizing twelve shape variables, we compare the distal phalanges of Notharctus tenebrosus to those of extant primates that bear nails (n = 21), tegulae (n = 4), and grooming claws (n = 10), and those of non-primates that bear claws (n = 7). Quantitative analyses demonstrate that Notharctus tenebrosus possessed a grooming claw with a surprisingly well-developed apical tuft on its second pedal digit. The presence of a wide apical tuft on the pedal digit II of Notharctus tenebrosus may reflect intermediate morphology between a typical grooming claw and a nail, which is consistent with the recent hypothesis that loss of a grooming claw occurred in a clade containing adapiforms (e.g. Darwinius masillae) and anthropoids. However, a cladistic analysis including newly documented morphologies and thorough representation of characters acknowledged to have states constituting strepsirrhine, haplorhine, and anthropoid synapomorphies groups Notharctus tenebrosus and Darwinius masillae with extant strepsirrhines rather than haplorhines suggesting that the form of pedal digit II reflects substantial homoplasy during the course of early primate evolution

A Hybrid Material for Sustainable Environmental Protection

AbstractThe hybrid nanocomposite was prepared by in situ intercalative polymerization of acrylamide in a fine dispersion of the sugarcane bagasse, chitin and fuller's earth by microwave irradiation. The product was very efficient as an adsorbent for metal ions and organic dye. It was mechanically stable in wet condition, resistant to fast microbial attack and released no leachates

Nanomembranes-Affiliated Water Remediation: Chronology, Properties, Classification, Challenges and Future Prospects

Water contamination has become a global crisis, affecting millions of people worldwide and causing diseases and illnesses, including cholera, typhoid, and hepatitis A. Conventional water remediation methods have several challenges, including their inability to remove emerging contaminants and their high cost and environmental impact. Nanomembranes offer a promising solution to these challenges. Nanomembranes are thin, selectively permeable membranes that can remove contaminants from water based on size, charge, and other properties. They offer several advantages over conventional methods, including their ability to remove evolving pollutants, low functioning price, and reduced ecological influence. However, there are numerous limitations linked with the applications of nanomembranes in water remediation, including fouling and scaling, cost-effectiveness, and potential environmental impact. Researchers are working to reduce the cost of nanomembranes through the development of more cost-effective manufacturing methods and the use of alternative materials such as graphene. Additionally, there are concerns about the release of nanomaterials into the environment during the manufacturing and disposal of the membranes, and further research is needed to understand their potential impact. Despite these challenges, nanomembranes offer a promising solution for the global water crisis and could have a significant impact on public health and the environment. The current article delivers an overview on the exploitation of various engineered nanoscale substances, encompassing the carbonaceous nanomaterials, metallic, metal oxide and metal–organic frameworks, polymeric nano-adsorbents and nanomembranes, for water remediation. The article emphasizes the mechanisms involved in adsorption and nanomembrane filtration. Additionally, the authors aim to deliver an all-inclusive review on the chronology, technical execution, challenges, restrictions, reusability, and future prospects of these nanomaterials

Synthesis & Characterization of Coordination Polymers of Cobalt(II) & Nickel(II) with Some Monoarylthioureas

1072-107

Selector genes display tumor cooperation and inhibition in Drosophila epithelium in a developmental context-dependent manner

During animal development, selector genes determine identities of body segments and those of individual organs. Selector genes are also misexpressed in cancers, although their contributions to tumor progression per se remain poorly understood. Using a model of cooperative tumorigenesis, we show that gain of selector genes results in tumor cooperation, but in only select developmental domains of the wing, haltere and eye-antennal imaginal discs of Drosophila larva. Thus, the field selector, Eyeless (Ey), and the segment selector, Ultrabithorax (Ubx), readily cooperate to bring about neoplastic transformation of cells displaying somatic loss of the tumor suppressor, Lgl, but in only those developmental domains that express the homeo-box protein, Homothorax (Hth), and/or the Zinc-finger protein, Teashirt (Tsh). In non-Hth/Tsh-expressing domains of these imaginal discs, however, gain of Ey in lgl− somatic clones induces neoplastic transformation in the distal wing disc and haltere, but not in the eye imaginal disc. Likewise, gain of Ubx in lgl− somatic clones induces transformation in the eye imaginal disc but not in its endogenous domain, namely, the haltere imaginal disc. Our results reveal that selector genes could behave as tumor drivers or inhibitors depending on the tissue contexts of their gains