Gender Bias and Artificial Intelligence: A Challenge within the Periphery of Human Rights

Technology is advancing at an exponential rate, and artificial intelligence has become a contentious issue of the day. A plethora of fields influencing human life has been impacted by artificial intelligence, whereas the development of artificial intelligence has opened Pandora’s box of legal concerns. Several international organizations, including the United Nations, have identified gender equality as an indispensable constituent of the protection of human rights. The voyage of gender equality has seen a long phase of struggle and persists. This paper aims to analyze, in what manner artificial intelligence is affecting gender equality, raising concerns on the issues regarding the role played by the United Nations in securing gender equality through conventions and resolutions, is artificial intelligence capable of posing a threat to gender equality and what measures can be implemented to secure gender equality about artificial intelligence. 

LOW ENERGY SPECTROSCOPY OF TOPOLOGICAL SUPERCONDUCTOR CANDIDATE MATERIALS

A Topological superconductor is a superconductor that is not adiabatically connected via a smooth crossover to the Bose-Einstein condensate limit. Some of these superconductors can host Majorana-Bound-States (MBSs). Since Majorana bound states are potentially applicable to fault-tolerant quantum computation, searching for new topological superconductor materials is one of the central challenges in quantum science. Most of the proposed topological superconductor candidate materials superconduct at very low temperatures of ~1 K. So, the energy gap of these superconductors lies in the microwave and Terahertz energy scale, making the spectroscopic tools in these energy ranges very useful for studying them. This thesis explores the utilization of low-energy optical spectroscopy techniques like time-domain-THz spectroscopy and microwave cavity resonator technique to study the electrodynamic response of various topological superconductor candidates, including heterostructures of Bi/Ni bilayer and Al-InAs two-dimension electron gas based hybrids, polycrystalline thin-films of β-tungsten, and single crystalline PdPb2. I use magneto-terahertz spectroscopy to elaborate on the nature of the superconducting gap and the origin of superconductivity in the time-reversal symmetry-breaking superconductor bilayer heterostructure of ultra-thin Bi and Ni. Through rigorous analysis of the optical spectra, I show that this complex order-parameter superconductor develops fully-gapped superconductivity in the entire sample rather than just the surface, as previously believed. Next, I explore the superconductivity in polycrystalline β-tungsten thin-films, where I find an anomalously small energy gap that cannot be explained by conventional BCS theory and dissipation, which likely comes from the predicted topologically non-trivial surface states. Similarly, crystalline PdPb2 show anomalous transport properties and unusual temperature dependence of microwave surface impedance measured using a cavity resonator. By ruling out disorder as an origin of this behavior through extensive sample characterization, we determine PdPb2 to be a candidate topological superconductor with a fully gapped bulk and normal fluid surface, consistent with Majorana surface states. Lastly, I study normal and superconducting state properties of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in InAs quantum well proximitized by aluminum which is a promising platform for topological qubits based on Majorana zero modes using magneto-terahertz spectroscopy

Porphyrin derivatives for functional nanomaterials

The thesis consists of two major research topic i.e. Porphyrin and Nano crystalline cellulose. The porphyrin project started with the production of porphyrin chromophores for dye sensitized solar cells. These derivatives were required as references for an ongoing project of the research group that hosted me. In addition, some porphyrin-porphyrin tweezers were prepared using a one pot synthetic methodology developed in our lab, based on the use of trichloro triazine as a linker. These derivatives were necessary for collaboration with Professor Nina Berova at Columbia University that studies their use for the determination of the absolute configuration of chiral molecules by circular dichroism. After this training period, the thesis project continued with an original research based on the use of click-chemistry for porphyrin functionalization. The nanocellulose project started with the production of nanocrystalline cellulose from microcrystalline cellulose by acid hydrolysis. The nanocellulose has chemically modifiable OH groups on the surface. This allows the use of a wide range of chemical reactions for its functionalization. The linking of a pH sensitive dye on the surface of NCC was studied. In addition, several strategies were being employed for the functionalization of NCC with other groups such as cationic substituents (using (2,3-epoxypropyl)trimethylammonium chloride), amino (using epichlorohydrin and 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane), carboxy (using ammonium persulfate and TEMPO). Out of various chemical modifications carried out on NCC, the TEMPO mediated carboxylation for introduction of carboxyl group on NCC was proved to be easy, convenient and even resulted in high degree of functionalization. Using these material and typical carbodiimide chemistry, functional groups such as porphyrins (that acts as a sensitizer for singlet oxygen production) and a nitro-derivative (capable of producing NO upon irradiation) were prepared. These features are under study to verify their potential in various therapeutic applications

Modeling Drivers of Political Risk in Offshore Outsourcing

Offshore outsourcing presents many opportunities that are not available domestically. Lower labor costs are the primary driver, but companies also want to focus on their core businesses and create value for their shareholders. Recently, companies even move beyond non-strategic functions into important operational and strategic functions. Smart companies have gained strategic advantage by offshoring processes. Many risks involve in offshore outsourcing of professional services because on behalf of client organization service provider provides services. Political instability in offshore destinations is one of the risks related to offshore outsourcing. Political risks are very volatile and also often more difficult to observe, so they may go unnoticed. Terrorism, Fiscal & Monetary policies, and Corruption are obvious problems that complicate offshore process management. The main objective of this paper is to identify and understand the mutual interaction among various drivers of political risk which affects the performance of offshore outsourcing.  To this effect, authors have identified various drivers through extant review of literature.  From this information, an integrated model using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) for drivers of political risk in offshore outsourcing is developed and the structural relationships between these drivers are modeled.  Further, MICMAC analysis is done to analyze the independent power and dependency of drivers which shall be helpful to managers to identify and classify important criterions and to reveal the direct and indirect effects of each criterion of political environment on offshore outsourcing. Results show that Domestic policies of host country, Civil war, Terrorism and Human resource availability are act as independent drivers Keywords: Political risk, offshore outsourcing, interpretive structural modeling, MICMAC analysi

Antibacterial, antioxidant and cell proliferative properties of Coccinia grandis fruits

Objective: Little knowledge is available on the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of Coccina grandis fruits and no study has reported on its cell proliferative property. The aim of this study was to examine the antimicrobial, antioxidant and cell proliferative property of fruits of C. grandis. Material and Methods: Fruits of C. grandis were extracted using water; ethanol and acetone by cold and hot Soxhlet extraction. The antibacterial activities of the extracts were tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using the modified Kirby-Bauer diffusion method and compared against erythromycin. The antioxidant property was determined using Cayman's antioxidant assay; whereas cell proliferation/cytotoxic properties were evaluated using the Cell Titer 96 Aqueous One Solution Cell MTS assay with MDA-MB 321 breast cancer cells. Data were analyzed for correlation and differences using unpaired student's t-test and one-way ANOVA. A p value of Results: Both cold and hot ethanol and acetone extracts of C. grandis fruits showed some degree of bacterial growth inhibition. Acetone extracts exhibited higher antibacterial activity. Both ethanol extracts showed antioxidant property when compared with standard Trolox. In contrary to cytotoxicity, all four extracts showed cell proliferation compared to controls at different concentrations. However, acetone extracts exhibited greater cell proliferation compared to ethanol extracts and cold extracts performed better than the hot extracts. Conclusion: C. grandis fruits exhibited some degree of antimicrobial, antioxidant and cell proliferative properties. Further investigation is warranted to isolate, confirm and characterize phytochemicals that are responsible for the medicinal properties observed

Directing for Higher Seed Production in Vegetables

Vegetables are essential for human health and well-being. For sustaining an excellent production of vegetable crops, the seed is a primary input. Moreover, good quality seed is an important requirement for the vegetable industry, and there is a huge demand that has been expanding, considering the fact that seed multiplication is economically pertinent for vegetable cultivars to contend commercially. But the healthy seed production is usually a sumptuous trait and tormented by agricultural tactics, genetics as well as by the environmental factors. Features like seed output of the vegetables, sizeable genetic variation, the prerequisite for advancement and acceptance of a good quality vegetable seed. Here different mechanisms for seed production in vegetable crops has been presented, also vital areas and factors influencing seed production, and eventually discourses regarding the opportunity of plant breeding to sustainably make improvements to vegetable seed production

A study of prevalence of obesity and its correlates among government and private school children in Hyderabad: a comparative study

Background: Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in India in the 21st Century, affecting 5% of the country’s population. Childhood obesity is an emerging problem in urban Indian children and increase in childhood overweight and obesity may be a major contributor to adult obesity epidemic. Hence present study has been planned with the objective to study and compare the prevalence of obesity in government and private schools and also to study the risk factors associated with obesity.Methods: An institution based cross sectional study was carried out among 718 school children of randomly selected government and private schools of Hyderabad city. Students were enquired about their physical activity and dietary habits as per the questionnaire. Anthropometry measurements like height and weight were recorded for each student. Data was analyzed using appropriate statistical tests.Results: Prevalence of obesity was found to be 21.09% among private school children and 19% in government school children. Physical activity factors like conveyance to school and less frequency of outdoor games were significantly associated with obesity. Diet related determinants like intake of soft drinks, sweets, pizza, fruits were found to be associated with obesity.Conclusions: It can be concluded that the prevalence of obesity in schools of Hyderabad is very high and it is positively associated with inappropriate exercise and improper dietary practices.

Impact of health education on knowledge and attitude of self-breast examination among female nursing students

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and a leading cause of death worldwide, including in India. Breast cancer usually shows a slow development rate, and when it is recognized in the early stages, successful treatment results can be achieved. Breast self-examination is a screening option for young women. Health awareness programs on screening and early detection are the cornerstones for reducing the morbidity and mortality resulting from breast cancer. Objective: To assess the impact of health education on knowledge and attitude of self-breast examination among nursing students. Study Design: The present interventional study was conducted between September and October 2019. Setting: This study was done among 79 nursing students of a tertiary care hospital situated in a central district of Uttar Pradesh. Main Outcome Measures: The self-reported pre-designed and structured questionnaire was used. It included three sections: 1. Sociodemographic profile 2. Knowledge regarding self-breast examination (SBE) 3. Attitude regarding self-breast examination (SBE). Knowledge and attitude scores were calculated and divided into the poor, average, and good categories. Results: There were 87.3% of girls had prior knowledge of the self-breast examination, while 12.7% of girls were not aware of the self-breast examination. Post-intervention, there was a significant increase (p<0.05) in their knowledge about self-breast examination. Conclusion and Relevance: Planned teaching intervention had a significant impact on the knowledge and attitude of self-breast examination. The knowledge and attitude were poor at the early stages, but it had increased significantly after the health education intervention