Geometry of deformations of branes in warped backgrounds

The `braneworld' (described by the usual worldvolume action) is a D dimensional timelike surface embedded in a N dimensional ($N>D$) warped, nonfactorisable spacetime. We first address the conditions on the warp factor required to have an extremal flat brane in a five dimensional background. Subsequently, we deal with normal deformations of such extremal branes. The ensuing Jacobi equations are analysed to obtain the stability condition. It turns out that to have a stable brane, the warp factor should have a minimum at the location of the brane in the given background spacetime. To illustrate our results we explicitly check the extremality and stability criteria for a few known co-dimension one braneworld models. Generalisations of the above formalism for the cases of (i) curved branes (ii) asymmetrical warping and (iii) higher co-dimension braneworlds are then presented alongwith some typical examples for each. Finally, we summarize our results and provide perspectives for future work along these lines.Comment: 21 pages. Version matching final version. Accepted for publication in Class. Quant. Gra

Diffuse solar radiation and associated meteorological parameters in India

International audienceSolar diffuse radiation data including global radiation, shortwave and longwave balances, net radiation and sunshine hours have been extensively analyzed to study the variation of diffuse radiation with turbidity and cloud discharges appearing in the form of atmospherics over the tropics. Results of surface radiation measurements at Calcutta, Poona, Delhi and Madras are presented together with some meteorological parameters. The monthly values of diffuse radiation and the monthly ratios of diffuse to global solar radiation have been examined, with a special emphasis in relation to the noise level of atmospherics at Calcutta in the very low frequency band. The results exhibit some definite seasonal changes which appear to be in close agreement with one another

On Property (FA) for wreath products

We characterize permutational wreath products with Property (FA). For instance, the standard wreath product A wr B of two nontrivial countable groups A,B, has Property (FA) if and only if B has Property (FA) and A is a finitely generated group with finite abelianisation. We also prove an analogous result for hereditary Property (FA). On the other hand, we prove that many wreath products with hereditary Property (FA) are not quotients of finitely presented groups with the same property.Comment: 12 pages, 0 figur

Knowledge, attitude and practices of postgraduates, interns and nurses, on adverse drug reaction reporting in a tertiary care hospital: a comparative study

Background: Pharmacovigilance is multidisciplinary field of the detection, assessment, understanding, and prevention of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The incidences of ADRs about 95% are undocumented worldwide. However, there is a lack of information on ADR burden in developing countries due to lack of resources, infrastructure, and expertise.Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted on 90 staff nurses 90interns and 90 postgraduates. The validated questionnaire contained items to check knowledge including 7 questions, 9 questions to analyze attitude and 5 for practices. Comparison between knowledge, attitude and practice data obtained from resident doctors and nurses was performed using Chi square test.Results: A total of 270 healthcare professionals participated in the study. In our study the participants had good knowledge regarding the purpose of monitoring and reporting ADRs etc. The result shows that health care professionals felt reporting of ADRs is a professional obligation and all ADRs should be reported. There was no significant difference in the knowledge and attitude between interns and nurses but few questionnaires show significant variations between post graduate and staff nurse. The practice of ADR reporting was significantly higher in postgraduate compared to nurses.Conclusions: This study concluded that post graduate, intern and staff nurse had good knowledge and positive attitude towards pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting, but unfortunately the actual practice of ADR reporting is still deficient among staff nurse and intern. This can be improved by adequate training and motivation

Cognitive development in children with chronic protein energy malnutrition

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malnutrition is associated with both structural and functional pathology of the brain. A wide range of cognitive deficits has been reported in malnourished children. Effect of chronic protein energy malnutrition (PEM) causing stunting and wasting in children could also affect the ongoing development of higher cognitive processes during childhood (>5 years of age). The present study examined the effect of stunted growth on the rate of development of cognitive processes using neuropsychological measures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty children identified as malnourished and twenty as adequately nourished in the age groups of 5–7 years and 8–10 years were examined. NIMHANS neuropsychological battery for children sensitive to the effects of brain dysfunction and age related improvement was employed. The battery consisted of tests of motor speed, attention, visuospatial ability, executive functions, comprehension and learning and memory</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Development of cognitive processes appeared to be governed by both age and nutritional status. Malnourished children performed poor on tests of attention, working memory, learning and memory and visuospatial ability except on the test of motor speed and coordination. Age related improvement was not observed on tests of design fluency, working memory, visual construction, learning and memory in malnourished children. However, age related improvement was observed on tests of attention, visual perception, and verbal comprehension in malnourished children even though the performance was deficient as compared to the performance level of adequately nourished children.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Chronic protein energy malnutrition (stunting) affects the ongoing development of higher cognitive processes during childhood years rather than merely showing a generalized cognitive impairment. Stunting could result in slowing in the age related improvement in certain and not all higher order cognitive processes and may also result in long lasting cognitive impairments.</p

Effect of subsoiling on strength of a Chernozemic soil

Non-Peer Reviewe

Environmental and Waste Management in Some Mining Operations in Orissa

This paper attempts to provide a survey on environmental parameters, viz. solids and liquids collected from five different mines in Orissa. These mines are (i) Dolomite Quarry, or Gomardih (Tisco) (ii) Fireclay Mines, Talabasta (Grind)(iii) Iron Ore Mines, Joribahal (Patnaik Minerals Pvt.Ltd.) (iv) Limestone Quarry,Lanjiherna (O CL) and (v) Graphite Mines, Patnagarh (T. Pradhan). The solid samples consisted of (a) top more often the undisturbed soil near the mine, (b) the overburdenlwastelspoilt dump, (c) soil from nearby paddyfield, (d) plantation area and (e) garden. These are analysed for agricultural parameters .such aspll, organic carbon content, available phosphate and potassium, heavy metals such as copper, lead, zinc, chromium etc. and bacterial count. The liquid sample consisted of water and effluent collected from (i) mine pit/flow both active and abandoned, (ii) mine discharge, (iii) mineral spring, (iv) accumulated water in mines, (v) piped water in mine office and residential colony and (vi) dug well used by mine workers. These samples were analysed for heavy metals similar to solid samples, physical parameters such as total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS) and the bacterial count. The analysed results were compared with the standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and recommendations on pollution control measures and strategy by other means are made for better environmental management