Diversity and Plurality in Media Consumerism-An Explorative Study

Consumerism as a practice about media acceptance is relatively a new concept for the Indian subcontinent. Before commercialisation and globalisation set in, the target audience of media were termed as honourable readers, listeners or viewers. Soon, due to the dictates of market forces on content and reach of media, the exposed community of media were termed as media consumers. For a multi-lingual, cultural and complex society such as that of India, plurality in media needs measurement in real sense. The Democratic India with its thriving media demands for social reengineering. Issues of social hierarchy and social ills have to be addressed and media has a crucial role in it. Priority issues of change in social thinking, addressing dignity of labour and providing social justice should be on agenda about the functioning of media which should be the reflection of society. But a conflict of today’s media in India that– ‘Should media give what people want?’ or, ‘Should it also give what is good for the people?’ has to be addressed. Consistent irrational content in every media has often mislead large sections of society members towards digress and futility. The marginalised groups are taken for a ride. In a diverse Indian society, fantasy concepts of cinema are projected as realities on TV among the intimate, home communities. Reaching a dark auditorium with heterogeneous audience is different from reaching a drawing room of a small family. There is no meaning in media sowing blind beliefs by keeping aside scientific temperament. Indian society has not stretched to media for betterment, nor has it been allowing the change-makers to stretch. With such societal limitations to consume media, there is need for its sensitisation and disciplining for positive usage of media. In this background, the study adoptedcritical approach as methodology under theoretical studies aboutthe role of the decision making individuals and sections of society to work in tandem with media communicating for change towards better consumerism. This study checked for penetration of the media messages in a complex societal situation. It examined the aspects of plurality in the diverse functioning of media in terms of its economic priorities, reach, access and utility. The study is significant as it helps understand the fruitfulness of the communication process in the era of information pollution, explosion and globalisation. Here, the methodology adopted is of theoretical type with Critical Studies in its approach

Ethics and Indian Television Content Portrayals: A Critical Study

Ethics in communication approaches by the Indian electronic media, particularly television about its content on air are a heated debate in the country today. Why do channels adopt “devious” ways to lure the viewers? How fair are channels conducting media trials? Is judiciary in India unable to address that TV channels should take up head-on? Does political ownership of Channels affect ethical practices? Do artistes on programs pass-off comments that affect social order? Do channels air programs without prior permissions or copyrights from the artistes or organizers? What is the degree of professionalism and credibility among viewers? The theoretical framework of the study is based on the macroscopic theory of Political Economy. This critical study examines case studies of program content drawn from different pan-India channels, satellite or cable. This study focuses on media ethics and effects on society

Two-dimensional Wigner-Ville transforms and their basic properties

This thesis deals with Wigner-Ville transforms and their basic properties. The Wigner-Ville transforms are a non-linear transform which constitute an important tool in nonstationary signal analysis. Wigner-Ville transforms in one dimension and their basic properties are discussed here. Special attention is given to formulation of two dimensional Wigner-Ville transform, its inversion formula and some of their basic properties. Some applications of Wigner-Ville transforms are also briefly discussed

Design of Quality 4.0 Maturity Assessment Methodology

Industry 4.0 has been adopted by the firms and the practitioners. This revolution has changed the manner in which the firms design and strategies their business operations by incorporating digital transformation and improvising business models. There is a need for designing the guidelines and pursuing the digital transformation. Maturity models are actually the standard structure adopted for improvement by evaluating the existing situation. In this study, a conceptual framework was designed to study the Quality 4.0 Maturity Assessment Methodology. Wherein, ‘Quality 4.0’ being a dependent variable is affected by five independent variables affecting Quality 4.0, these were Process, People, Culture, Methods and Tools, these independent variables were in turn influenced by the three control variables strategy, leadership and knowledge. To corroborate the findings a pilot test was conducted by collecting data from 150 participants as per convenient sampling. The exploratory research design was adopted for the study, qualitative data was evaluated using Descriptive statistics, and a Test of Association of variables was conducted using tools Z-test; Chi-Square test; one way ANOVA; and Correlation to conclude the study.Průmysl 4.0 byl přijat firmami i odborníky z praxe. Tato revoluce změnila způsob, jakým firmy navrhují a strategie svých obchodních operací začleněním digitální transformace a improvizovaných obchodních modelů. Je potřeba navrhnout směrnice a pokračovat v digitální transformaci. Modely zralosti jsou ve skutečnosti standardní strukturou přijatou pro zlepšení hodnocením stávající situace. V této studii byl navržen koncepční rámec pro studium Metodiky hodnocení zralosti Quality 4.0. Zatímco ‚Kvalita 4.0‘ je závislá proměnná, je ovlivněna pěti nezávislými proměnnými ovlivňujícími kvalitu 4.0, kterými byly Proces, Lidé, Kultura, Metody a Nástroje, tyto nezávislé proměnné byly zase ovlivněny třemi kontrolními proměnnými, strategií, vedením a znalostmi. Pro potvrzení zjištění byl proveden pilotní test sběrem dat od 150 účastníků podle vhodného vzorkování. Pro studii byl přijat design průzkumného výzkumu, kvalitativní data byla vyhodnocena pomocí deskriptivní statistiky a byl proveden Test asociace proměnných pomocí nástrojů Z-test; Chí-kvadrát test; jednosměrná ANOVA; a Korelace k uzavření studie.639 - Katedra managementu kvalityvelmi dobř

On a Spatiotemporal Population Dynamics Model to Track Density and Average Mass: Application to Brown Shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) in Gulf of Mexico

Structured population models have been used to model density of individuals over time and other factors such as age, mass, developmental stage and space. Mass is a particularly useful measure of condition of a population. For example, large individuals tend to reproduce more offspring and survive better than smaller ones. Traditional models of mass as a continuous structure parameter do not introduce a separate partial differential equation (PDE) for mass; rather they model the population as being subdivided into classes parameterized by mass and then number density is written as a function of spatial location, time and mass. Our approach to modeling mass dependent population dynamics introduces mass as a dependent variable. In particular, we developed a new PDE for mass where mass is a function of spatial location and time. We constructed a spatiotemporal population dynamics model to track density and average mass of the population at location x and time t and the model will be called as density and mass model. Our model provides an insight into the identification of key processes (reproduction, growth, mortality) controlling populations over various space and time. We developed a finite difference scheme for the numerical solution to the system of PDEs arising from our modeling effort. Then the model is applied to brown shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico to understand their spatiotemporal dynamics of density and mass. To derive a density and mass model, we start with conservation laws for biomass and number density. Then, we define average mass and derive the system of coupled parabolic and hyperbolic PDEs for spatial movement of individuals in a population. Then, birth, growth and death processes are added to derive the final system of PDEs to include spatial movements, birth, growth and death of individuals. Then, we impose fishing to some locations to investigate fishery yield. Among the issues studied in the application of the general theory to brown shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico are: (1) investigate how the mobility of species affects the yield with multiple fishing zones and network of marine protected areas (MPAs), (2) test the efficacy of MPAs under multiple fishing zones, and (3) investigate how mass dependent mortality influences density and mass of a population. Calculating yield is critically important for helping the fishers to earn a better profit and keeping the population sustainable. The results show that (1) to obtain a maximum sustainable biomass yield (MSBY), it is crucial to consider the speed or mobility of species under consideration before MPAs are designed, (2) when a network of MPAs are designed along the coastline, the fishing rate at MSBY increases with the number of marine protected areas and (3) small MPAs are very effective in producing a sustainable biomass yield for a low mobile species

Nonlinear optical studies of sodium borate glasses embedded with gold nanoparticles

Optical glasses possessing large third-order optical nonlinear susceptibility and fast response times are promising materials for the development of advanced nonlinear photonic devices. In this context, gold nanoparticle (NP)-doped borate glasses were synthesized via the melt-quench method. The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of thus prepared glasses were investigated at different wavelengths (i.e., at 532 nm using nanosecond pulses, at 750 nm, 800 nm, and 850 nm wavelengths using femtosecond, MHz pulses). At 532 nm, open aperture (OA) Z-scan signatures of gold NP-doped borate glasses demonstrated reverse saturable absorption (RSA), attributed to mixed intra-band and interband transitions, while in the 750850 nm region, the OA Z-scan data revealed the presence of saturable absorption (SA), possibly due to intra-band transitions. The NLO coefficients were evaluated at all the spectral regions and further compared with some of the recently reported glasses. The magnitudes of obtained NLO coefficients clearly demonstrate that the investigated glasses are potential materials for photonic device applications

Coconut Grove Biodiversity Credits: A Microcosm for Nature Restoration through Miyawaki Architectures and Mycorrhizal Networks.

<p>The coconut tree, often referred to as the "tree of life," not only plays a vital role in the livelihood of many communities but also provides a unique microcosm for supporting biodiversity restoration. In this paper, we explore the concept of coconut-based Miyawaki architectures and their integration with mycozerreal networks as a means to restore and sustain biodiversity. Additionally, we present a stochastic model for nature risk and species stability in coconut groves, offering a probabilistic framework for assessing the feasibility of biodiversity credits in such ecosystems. Our findings showcase the potential of coconut groves as biodiversity hotspots and the importance of mitigating nature risk.</p><p> </p&gt

Deciphering the essential role of Tic22 and Tic20 proteins in chloroplast preprotein import

The biogenesis and function of photosynthetically active chloroplasts relies on the import of thousands of nuclear encoded proteins via the coordinated actions of two multiprotein translocon machineries in the outer and inner envelope membrane. Trafficking of preproteins across the soluble compartment of InterMembrane Space (IMS) is currently envisioned to be facilitated by an IMS complex composed of outer envelope proteins Toc64 and Toc12, a soluble IMS component, Tic22 and an IMS-localized Hsp70. Among them, currently Tic22 is the only component that stands undisputed in terms of its existence. Having two closely related homologs in A. thaliana, their biochemical and functional characterization was still lacking. A critical analysis of Tic22 knockout mutants displayed growth phenotype reminiscent of ppi1, the mutant of Toc33. However, both the genes have similar expression patterns with no clear preference for photosynthetic or nonphotosynthetic tissues, which explained the absence of a detectable phenotype in single mutants. In addition, transgenic complementation study with either of the homolog affirmed the identical localization of both proteins in the IMS which characterizes the two homologs as functionally redundant. Based on the pale-yellow phenotype exhibited by the double mutant plants, an attempt to analyze the import capacity of a stromal substrate in the double mutant revealed threefold reduction when compared to wild-type acknowledging the essential role of Tic22 in the import mechanism. Initially, Tic22 was identified together with another protein, Tic20, which has been heavily discussed as a protein conducting channel in the inner membrane. Despite being characterized, in A. thaliana, two out of four homologs of Tic20 are differentially localized with one being additionally localized in mitochondria and the other, exclusively residing in the thylakoids. According to in silico analysis, for all the Tic20 proteins, a four-helix transmembrane topology was predicted. Accordingly, its topology was mapped by employing the recently established selfassembling GFP-based in vivo experiments. Astonishingly, the expression of one of the inner envelope localized Tic20 homolog enforces inner membrane proliferation affecting the shape and organization of the membrane. Therefore this study focuses on analyzing the effects of high envelope protein concentrations on membrane structures, which together with the existing results, an imbalance in the lipid to protein ratio and a possible role of signaling pathway regulating membrane biogenesis is discussed