Nattamizh Murugan in the worship of Nagarathar

The Nattukottai Nagarathars lived their lives according to the maxim "Thiraikadal odiyum thiraviyam thedu". They have been living in Sivaganga and Pudukottai districts for a long time. The great people who are doing good business in the Pandya country are referred to as 'Nagarathar' and 'Chettiar'. They are also known as Nattukottai Nagarathar, Dhanavanigar, Dhanavaisiyar, Magudadhana Vaishya, Nattarasan Kottai Chettiar, Gnanadesikar etc. Due to the large share of this community, today they have established and worshipped the Hindu God Muruga all over Asia. This article focuses on the background of the people who lived in Tamil Nadu and South East Asian countries by cooking temples for the Tamil God Muruga, carrying out various renovations and following unique cults in Murugan worship

Disseminating knowledge resources through Weblogs

Discribes about What is Weblogs? How to create a simple Weblogs

Resource sharing protocol Z39.50: A Bird's Eye View

This article discusses the Z39.50 protocol, its genesis, development and structure. It highlights the basic functions with diagrammatic representation. Briefly describes about record syntaxes and definition. The paper also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this protocol

Voltammetric investlgations of iodide catalysed reduction of iodate and periodate ions on glassy carbon electrodes in 0.5m HClO4 medium

fr d.SM VrC!04 medium, KI exhibits two oxidation voltammetric peaks around 0.50V and 1.00V vs SCE on glassy cabon (GC) electrodes. The first wave corresponding to I-/ H l2 couple is highly reversible. The second wave corresponding to HI2/10- couple shows quasireversible behaviour. K103 shows an irreversible diffusion controlled wave on GC electrode around 0.16V in the first cathodic sweep. In the subsequent sweeps the reduction process commences at about 0.30V itself. The fact that this is due to the I- catalysis of 103- reduction is confirmed by studying the effect of KI addition on this process. Such type of I- catalysis is even more pmnounced in the case of 104- reduction. In this case the catalytic shift is as much ss O.4N. Possible causes for such I- catalysis is also discussed

An unusual occurrence of Oil Sardine in Pondicherry on east coast of India

The Indian oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes which forms 10 to 18% of the total fish landings in India, usually occurs in shoals along the west coast of India. Only stray catches of oil sardine have been reported from the east coast. But there has been noleport of its occurrence along the Pondicherry coast. During October-December, 1983 unusual landing of oil sardine in good quantities were noticed in Pondicherry state. During this period an sonivellam alias thenlivellam (drift flowing towards north) was strong instead of the usual southward drift (vannivellam). This was an unusual feature at this coast during monsoon months especially in November. This feature might have been a cause for the abundance of oil sardine in large quantities along the Pondicherry coast

Influence of the vadose zone on groundwater pollution - A review

The vadose zone is the geologic profile that lies between the water table and the ground surface. It has low water content relative to the saturated zone and commonly referred as the unsaturated zone. Recharge to the water table passes through the vadose zone and understanding transport through this region is critical in groundwater pollution studies. Groundwater pollution is controlled by a number of physical and chemical processes which may retard or transform contaminants as they pass through the vadose zone.  Porous materials hold water under tension as a component of soil structure, ambient fluid pressures and other factors. When vadose zone water content is below saturation, leakage liquid as well as the dissolved materials passed on in it are retained. Hydrologically, the depth of unsaturated zone plays an important role in controlling water movement and contaminant transport from the land surface to the aquifer. The purpose of this study is to present an overview of the principles of fluid flow and moisture retention in the vadose zone and its influence on groundwater pollution. The study is presented in two parts: Part I includes descriptions of zones of soil moisture, basic principles of properties controlling the fluid distribution in pore spaces and how subsurface soil properties can be used to assess the leachate mobility. Part II review the principle of fluid movement in the vadose zone and impact of seepage on groundwater pollution. This study will focus on how vadose zone conditions and soil properties act to control groundwater pollution

Laparoscopic vs open hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with cirrhosis: a meta-analysis of the long-term survival outcomes

Background In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cirrhosis, laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) confers short-term benefits over open hepatectomy (OH) but the long-term outcomes of this procedure are unclear. This systematic review aims to compare the long-term survival outcomes of LH and OH for patients with HCC and underlying cirrhosis. Methods EMBASE, MEDLINE and Scopus databases were searched from date of inception to 7th October 2016. Controlled clinical studies comparing LH to OH for HCC in cirrhotic patients, which reported long-term overall and disease-free survival were included. The studies were evaluated using the MOOSE guidelines and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Data were extracted and analysed using a fixed-effects model. Results Five non-randomised, retrospective observational studies representing 888 patients were included. LH was associated with significantly lower tumour recurrence [OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.48, 0.89]. LH conferred greater overall survival at 1- [HR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.25, 0.68], 3- [HR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.46, 0.87] and 5-years [HR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.45, 0.80]. With LH, there was higher disease-free survival at 1-year [HR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.53, 0.96], but not at 3- [HR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.70, 1.14]; and 5-years [HR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.70, 1.04]. Conclusions Laparoscopic surgery is associated with comparable postoperative and survival outcomes in patients with HCC and underlying cirrhosis. With careful selection of patients, this approach is safe, feasible and advantageous

Hydrogeochemical Modeling of Groundwater in the Gadilam River Basin, South India

Hydrogeochemistry of a region is a reflection of hydrodynamic process, composition of lithology and physical constraints. The water chemistry is the resultant of all biogeochemical processes and reactions, which have acted on water from the moment it has condensed in atmosphere till the time it's discharged. A case study has been carried out in a varied lithological terrain with Archaean, Alluvium and Tertiary rocks to unravel the hydrogeochemical process. The dominant facies in the entire litho units is sodium - chloride type indicating saline nature in the groundwater. The speciation of bicarbonate, sulphate and phosphate in the groundwater samples in different litho units was determined using the computer program WATQ4F. This study reveals that higher speciation with increasing concentration of bicarbonate in summer and south west monsoon indicates static environment, whereas lesser speciation in north east monsoon and post monsoon indicates flushing environment in the basin. Higher speciation with lesser contribution of sulphate in summer and south west monsoon and an increasing trend of speciation in north east monsoon and post monsoon was observed

Structural integrity of ultrafine grain Al-3%Mg alloy under dynamic loading conditions

Utilization of various materials for constructing dynamic components and equipments has increased ever today. The high speed deformation mechanics was studied in various scale levels, especially in micro and nano scales. Understanding the micromechanics using shock waves led to development of armor plates in military technology. One dimensional elastic stress is applied using Split Hopkinson pressure bar for the ultra-fine grain aluminum samples and microstructural evolution was discussed in detail. The material characterization of equi channel pressing and its effect on stability of material after shock wave testing is provided. The grain size of material is steadily decreased to obtain ultra-fine grain structure during equi channel pressing and by application of shock waves on those pressed samples, the grain size again increases within the material. The recovery, re-crystallization and grain growth was observed in those shock tested samples due to induced temperature during such shock testing. The existing dislocation sub structure in pressed samples devoid after inertia effects. It is proposed further to understand the interaction between precipitate particle and dislocations