Viewing the relative importance of some surface parameters associated with pre-monsoon thunderstorms through Ampliative Reasoning

Instead of going into the physical detail of the pre-monsoon thunderstorms of north eastern India, a mathematical study has been done to discern the relative importance of some prominent surface parameters namely, surface temperature, relative humidity and air-pressure, in creating severe thunderstorms over the aforesaid region. The dataset associated with this weather phenomenon has been explored through the technique of Ampliative Reasoning. It has been finally found that surface temperature has the most important role in creating pre-monsoon thunderstorms. Relative humidity is less important and air-pressure is the least important.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60292/1/Probabilistic03.PD

Editorial: Organizing amidst Covid-19

The world is on fire, with both fever and flame. After a few months of lockdown, things are erupting in new ways. The movement for Black Lives is demanding an end to anti-Black racism and conversations about abolishing the police are on late night television. In North America, a new world appears to be dawning, one that didn’t seem possible even a month ago. Meanwhile, in the new centre of global capitalism, the long-standing Hong Kong movement seems to be on the point of succumbing to a new wave of repression

Proton-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) Analysis and DNA-chain Break study in rat hepatocarcinogenesis: A possible chemopreventive role by combined supplementation of vanadium and beta-carotene

Combined effect of vanadium and beta-carotene on rat liver DNA-chain break and Proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis was studied during a necrogenic dose (200 mg/kg of body weight) of Diethyl Nitrosamine (DENA) induced rat liver carcinogenesis. Morphological and histopathological changes were observed as an end point biomarker. Supplementation of vanadium (0.5 ppm ad libitum) in drinking water and beta-carotene in the basal diet (120 mg/Kg of body weight) were performed four weeks before DENA treatment and continued till the end of the experiment (16 weeks). PIXE analysis revealed the restoration of near normal value of zinc, copper, and iron, which were substantially altered when compared to carcinogen treated groups. Supplementation of both vanadium and beta-carotene four weeks before DENA injection was found to offer significant (64.73%, P < 0.001) protection against generation of single-strand breaks when compared with the carcinogen control counter parts. A significant stabilization of hepatic architecture of the cells was observed as compared to carcinogen control in vanadium plus beta-carotene treated group. This study thus suggests that vanadium, a prooxidant but potential therapeutic agent yield safe and effective pharmacological formulation with beta-carotene, an antioxidant, in the inhibition of experimental rat hepatocarcinogenesis

How can we research social movements? An introduction

This introductory chapter is written for beginning researchers, whether in movements or universities, for people from non-traditional academic backgrounds and non-native English speakers. We share some of our own complicated and messy routes to movement research. We also explain why researching social movements matters, and how it can genuinely help movements. This is the first methods handbook for movement researchers that takes a genuinely global perspective, rather than focussing on researchers and movements in the global North. Understanding movements means not being restricted to knowing about one movement or one academic discipline. The chapter introduces the book’s themes - the methodologies and politics of knowledge of movement research; different methods of data collection/analysis; and the uses of research for movements - followed by a chapter-by-chapter overview, highlighting the specific movements studied. The chapter concludes with reflections on the future of social movements research and a call for solidarity

A comparative study of oral clonidine and oral pregabalin as premedication for the control of haemodynamic surge in patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: Pregabalin, a gabapentinoid compound, which exhibits potent analgesic, anticonvulsant, and anxiolytic activity, is now additionally being used in the preoperative period to reduce stress responses to direct laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation as well as to reduce the opioid requirement perioperatively. Clonidine is also being used for amelioration of hemodynamic surge response both during laryngoscopy with endotracheal intubation as well as during various time points of pneumoperitoneum. Aims and Objectives: The study was designed with an aim to compare the role of oral clonidine (200 mcg) and oral Pregabalin (150 mg) as premedications in controlling the hemodynamic surge response to direct laryngoscopy, endotracheal intubation, and pneumoperitoneum in patients posted for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anesthesia (GA). Materials and Methods: Sixty-six adult patients aged between 20 and 60 years of age, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status 1 and 2, undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy under GA with endotracheal intubation, were randomly allocated to two equal groups (n=33 in each group) to receive either single dose oral 200 mcg clonidine or single dose oral 150 mg pregabalin 2 h before induction of GA. Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), and arrhythmia if any, were recorded at different points of time perioperatively and compared. Oxygen saturation (SpO2), end-tidal CO2 (EtCO2) were also compared at different points of time. Postoperative adverse effects like nausea and vomiting, shivering, and dry mouth were also noted and compared. Sedation was assessed in the immediate postoperative period using Ramsay Sedation Scale and was compared between the two groups. Results: HRs were significantly lower in the clonidine group at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 min after laryngoscopy and 15 min after pneumoperitonium. MAP and SBP were significantly lower in the clonidine group at 3, 4, and 5 min after laryngoscopy and intubation. There was no significant difference in DBP between the two groups at different points of time. SpO2 and EtCO2 at different points of time and adverse effects like nausea and vomiting, shivering, and dry mouth were comparable between the two groups. Postoperative sedation score was also comparable between the two groups. Conclusion: Oral clonidine (200 mcg) was found to be superior to oral pregabalin (150 mg) as a premedicant, in attenuating the hemodynamic surge during direct laryngoscopy, endotracheal intubation and during pneumoperitoneum in patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy under GA

High-protein rice in high-yielding background, cv. Naveen.

Not AvailableWhile the developing world is approaching towards food security, nutritional aspects must be addressed properly to combat malnutrition. As the staple food of half of the world’s population, rice is a major source of nutrition and needs to be nutritionally enriched with proteins, micronutrients, etc. With the objective of quantitative and qualitative improvement of grain protein content (GPC) in a popular high-yielding background, ‘Naveen’, we developed backcross popu-lation using high GPC (11%–13%) donor, ARC 10075. The range of GPC in BC3F4 lines was 7.13%–13.6%, estimated through calibrated NIR spectroscopy. Among the population lines, seven having phenotypic similarity with the recurrent parent, Naveen were identified based on high yield coupled with high pro-tein content (10%–12%). Further, elevated levels of glutelin and some of the essential amino acids such as lysine and threonine also indicated the qualitative im-provement of grain protein of these lines. Based on higher GPC and protein yield in multilocational test-ing two high-yielding lines, viz. CR2829-PLN-37 (CR Dhan 310), and CR 2829-PLN-100 (CR Dhan 311/Mukul) in the genetic background of cv. Naveen with an average 10.2% and 10.1% GPC respectively, in polished rice were released at the national and state level respectively. These high-yielding varieties with high GPC can significantly contribute towards better nourishment of millions of underprivileged children depending mainly on rice for their nutrition.Not Availabl

Measuring performance on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational locations: A systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Background A key component of achieving universal health coverage is ensuring that all populations have access to quality health care. Examining where gains have occurred or progress has faltered across and within countries is crucial to guiding decisions and strategies for future improvement. We used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) to assess personal health-care access and quality with the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index for 195 countries and territories, as well as subnational locations in seven countries, from 1990 to 2016. Methods Drawing from established methods and updated estimates from GBD 2016, we used 32 causes from which death should not occur in the presence of effective care to approximate personal health-care access and quality by location and over time. To better isolate potential effects of personal health-care access and quality from underlying risk factor patterns, we risk-standardised cause-specific deaths due to non-cancers by location-year, replacing the local joint exposure of environmental and behavioural risks with the global level of exposure. Supported by the expansion of cancer registry data in GBD 2016, we used mortality-to-incidence ratios for cancers instead of risk-standardised death rates to provide a stronger signal of the effects of personal health care and access on cancer survival. We transformed each cause to a scale of 0–100, with 0 as the first percentile (worst) observed between 1990 and 2016, and 100 as the 99th percentile (best); we set these thresholds at the country level, and then applied them to subnational locations. We applied a principal components analysis to construct the HAQ Index using all scaled cause values, providing an overall score of 0–100 of personal health-care access and quality by location over time. We then compared HAQ Index levels and trends by quintiles on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary measure of overall development. As derived from the broader GBD study and other data sources, we examined relationships between national HAQ Index scores and potential correlates of performance, such as total health spending per capita. Findings In 2016, HAQ Index performance spanned from a high of 97·1 (95% UI 95·8–98·1) in Iceland, followed by 96·6 (94·9–97·9) in Norway and 96·1 (94·5–97·3) in the Netherlands, to values as low as 18·6 (13·1–24·4) in the Central African Republic, 19·0 (14·3–23·7) in Somalia, and 23·4 (20·2–26·8) in Guinea-Bissau. The pace of progress achieved between 1990 and 2016 varied, with markedly faster improvements occurring between 2000 and 2016 for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, whereas several countries in Latin America and elsewhere saw progress stagnate after experiencing considerable advances in the HAQ Index between 1990 and 2000. Striking subnational disparities emerged in personal health-care access and quality, with China and India having particularly large gaps between locations with the highest and lowest scores in 2016. In China, performance ranged from 91·5 (89·1–93·6) in Beijing to 48·0 (43·4–53·2) in Tibet (a 43·5-point difference), while India saw a 30·8-point disparity, from 64·8 (59·6–68·8) in Goa to 34·0 (30·3–38·1) in Assam. Japan recorded the smallest range in subnational HAQ performance in 2016 (a 4·8-point difference), whereas differences between subnational locations with the highest and lowest HAQ Index values were more than two times as high for the USA and three times as high for England. State-level gaps in the HAQ Index in Mexico somewhat narrowed from 1990 to 2016 (from a 20·9-point to 17·0-point difference), whereas in Brazil, disparities slightly increased across states during this time (a 17·2-point to 20·4-point difference). Performance on the HAQ Index showed strong linkages to overall development, with high and high-middle SDI countries generally having higher scores and faster gains for non-communicable diseases. Nonetheless, countries across the development spectrum saw substantial gains in some key health service areas from 2000 to 2016, most notably vaccine-preventable diseases. Overall, national performance on the HAQ Index was positively associated with higher levels of total health spending per capita, as well as health systems inputs, but these relationships were quite heterogeneous, particularly among low-to-middle SDI countries. Interpretation GBD 2016 provides a more detailed understanding of past success and current challenges in improving personal health-care access and quality worldwide. Despite substantial gains since 2000, many low-SDI and middle- SDI countries face considerable challenges unless heightened policy action and investments focus on advancing access to and quality of health care across key health services, especially non-communicable diseases. Stagnating or minimal improvements experienced by several low-middle to high-middle SDI countries could reflect the complexities of re-orienting both primary and secondary health-care services beyond the more limited foci of the Millennium Development Goals. Alongside initiatives to strengthen public health programmes, the pursuit of universal health coverage hinges upon improving both access and quality worldwide, and thus requires adopting a more comprehensive view—and subsequent provision—of quality health care for all populations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio