A Study on the Empowerment of Women Construction Workers as Masons in Tamil Nadu, India

The construction sector has the largest number of unorganised labourers in India next only to agricultural sector. Women form half the workforce and by choice or by design they are not allowed to acquire specific skills that may enable them to become masons. Women join as unskilled workers and remain unskilled till the end of their working life span. However, men get training and systematically upgrade their construction skills to graduate as masons, supervisors and contractors. A study was conducted on the career progress of 440 men construction workers and 440 women construction workers and 51 building contractors to find out the reasons why women in the construction sector were not able to acquire skills for masonry work and how they could be trained to become masons. The findings of the study show that there is an inherent gender bias against women and also the shared general belief that women construction workers are unfit to be trained informally like men in the construction sector even though they have the necessary skills, capability and desire to become masons. Though the contractors are willing to accept women as masons by giving them training and placement in the construction sector, it has been found, the social forces that have perpetuated the concept of women as inferior workers are inimical to any such move. This study also analyses the methodology of training offered to men in the construction sector in India and proposes a new methodology of training that would qualify women construction workers to become masons and empower them economically

Towards predictive modelling of near-edge structures in electron energy loss spectra of AlN based ternary alloys

Although electron energy loss near edge structure analysis provides a tool for experimentally probing unoccupied density of states, a detailed comparison with simulations is necessary in order to understand the origin of individual peaks. This paper presents a density functional theory based technique for predicting the N K-edge for ternary (quasi-binary) nitrogen alloys by adopting a core hole approach, a methodology that has been successful for binary nitride compounds. It is demonstrated that using the spectra of binary compounds for optimising the core hole charge ($0.35\,\mathrm{e}$ for cubic Ti$_{1-x}$Al$_x$N and $0.45\,\mathrm{e}$ for wurtzite Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$N), the predicted spectra evolutions of the ternary alloys agree well with the experiments. The spectral features are subsequently discussed in terms of the electronic structure and bonding of the alloys.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

Topical glyceryl trinitrate for the treatment of tendinopathies: a systematic review

Objective: To produce a best evidence synthesis of the clinical effects of topical glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) in the treatment of tendinopathies. Design: A systematic review of published randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of the use of GTN in patients with tendinopathy. Data sources: MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus and CINAHL from database inception to January 2018. Methods: We examined RCTs comparing the effects of topical GTN with either placebo or other treatments on tendinopathy. Overall quality of each eligible study was determined based on a combined assessment of internal validity, external validity and precision. The level of evidence for each assessed parameter was rated based on the system by van Tulder et al. Results: A total of 10 eligible RCTs were identified including patients with tendinopathy of the rotator cuff (n=4), wrist extensors (n=3), Achilles (n=2) and patellar (n=1) tendons. For all tendinopathies, improvements in pain were significant when comparing GTN versus placebo in the short term (<8 weeks; poor evidence). Significant improvements in midterm outcomes for treatment with GTN versus placebo included the following: patient satisfaction (strong evidence); chances of being asymptomatic with activities of daily living (strong evidence); range of movement (moderate evidence); strength (moderate evidence); pain (at night and with activity; poor evidence) and local tenderness (poor evidence). Patients treated with topical GTN reported a higher incidence of headaches than those who received placebo (moderate evidence). Conclusions and relevance: Treatment of tendinopathies with topical GTN for up to 6 months appears to be superior to placebo and may therefore be a useful adjunct to the treating healthcare professions

Plasticity of streptomyces coelicolor membrane composition under different growth conditions and during development

Streptomyces coelicolor is a model actinomycete that is well known for the diversity of its secondary metabolism and its complex life cycle. As a soil inhabitant, it is exposed to heterogeneous and frequently changing environmental circumstances. In the present work, we studied the effect of diverse growth conditions and phosphate depletion on its lipid profile and the relationship between membrane lipid composition and development in S. coelicolor. The lipid profile from cultures grown on solid media, which is closer to the natural habitat of this microorganism, does not resemble the previously reported lipid composition from liquid grown cultures of S. coelicolor. Wide variations were also observed across different media, growth phases, and developmental stages indicating active membrane remodeling. Ornithine lipids (OL) are phosphorus-free polar lipids that were accumulated mainly during sporulation stages, but were also major components of the membrane under phosphorus limitation. In contrast, phosphatidylethanolamine, which had been reported as one of the major polar lipids in the genus Streptomyces, is almost absent under these conditions. We identified one of the genes responsible for the synthesis of OL (SCO0921) and found that its inactivation causes the absence of OL, precocious morphological development and actinorhodin production. Our observations indicate a remarkable plasticity of the membrane composition in this bacterial species, reveal a higher metabolic complexity than expected, and suggest a relationship between cytoplasmic membrane components and the differentiation programs in S. coelicolor

MyD88-dependent interplay between myeloid and endothelial cells in the initiation and progression of obesity-associated inflammatory diseases.

Low-grade systemic inflammation is often associated with metabolic syndrome, which plays a critical role in the development of the obesity-associated inflammatory diseases, including insulin resistance and atherosclerosis. Here, we investigate how Toll-like receptor-MyD88 signaling in myeloid and endothelial cells coordinately participates in the initiation and progression of high fat diet-induced systemic inflammation and metabolic inflammatory diseases. MyD88 deficiency in myeloid cells inhibits macrophage recruitment to adipose tissue and their switch to an M1-like phenotype. This is accompanied by substantially reduced diet-induced systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, and atherosclerosis. MyD88 deficiency in endothelial cells results in a moderate reduction in diet-induced adipose macrophage infiltration and M1 polarization, selective insulin sensitivity in adipose tissue, and amelioration of spontaneous atherosclerosis. Both in vivo and ex vivo studies suggest that MyD88-dependent GM-CSF production from the endothelial cells might play a critical role in the initiation of obesity-associated inflammation and development of atherosclerosis by priming the monocytes in the adipose and arterial tissues to differentiate into M1-like inflammatory macrophages. Collectively, these results implicate a critical MyD88-dependent interplay between myeloid and endothelial cells in the initiation and progression of obesity-associated inflammatory diseases

Testing Scalar-Tensor Gravity Using Space Gravitational-Wave Interferometers

We calculate the bounds which could be placed on scalar-tensor theories of gravity of the Jordan, Fierz, Brans and Dicke type by measurements of gravitational waveforms from neutron stars (NS) spiralling into massive black holes (MBH) using LISA, the proposed space laser interferometric observatory. Such observations may yield significantly more stringent bounds on the Brans-Dicke coupling parameter \omega than are achievable from solar system or binary pulsar measurements. For NS-MBH inspirals, dipole gravitational radiation modifies the inspiral and generates an additional contribution to the phase evolution of the emitted gravitational waveform. Bounds on \omega can therefore be found by using the technique of matched filtering. We compute the Fisher information matrix for a waveform accurate to second post-Newtonian order, including the effect of dipole radiation, filtered using a currently modeled noise curve for LISA, and determine the bounds on \omega for several different NS-MBH canonical systems. For example, observations of a 1.4 solar mass NS inspiralling to a 1000 solar mass MBH with a signal-to-noise ratio of 10 could yield a bound of \omega > 240,000, substantially greater than the current experimental bound of \omega > 3000.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; to be submitted to Phys. Rev.

High-resolution multiphoton tomography and fluorescence lifetime imaging of UVB-induced cellular damage on cultured fibroblasts producing fibres

Background: Multiphoton tomography (MPT) is suitable to perform both ex vivo and in vivo investigations of living skin and cell cultures with submicron resolution. Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) generates image contrast between different states of tissue characterized by various fluorescence decay rates. Our purpose was to combine MPT and FLIM to evaluate fibroblasts and collagen fibres produced in vitro. Methods: Fibroblast cultures, 2-4 days old, at a subconfluent stage, were evaluated before and after irradiation with a single UVB dose. One month old cultures stimulated with ascorbic acid were also assessed. Results: After UVB radiation, fibroblasts appear irregular in size, lose their alignment and show a decrease in fluorescence lifetime. One month-old fibroblasts, producing collagen fibres after stimulation with ascorbic acid, appear as small roundish structures intermingled by filaments showing a granular arrangement. Conclusion: The combination of MPT and FLIM may be useful for the in vitro study of cell modifications induced by injurious or protective agents and drugs. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S

Stars in five dimensional Kaluza Klein gravity

In the five dimensional Kaluza Klein (KK) theory there is a well known class of static and electromagnetic--free KK--equations characterized by a naked singularity behavior, namely the Generalized Schwarzschild solution (GSS). We present here a set of interior solutions of five dimensional KK--equations. These equations have been numerically integrated to match the GSS in the vacuum. The solutions are candidates to describe the possible interior perfect fluid source of the exterior GSS metric and thus they can be models for stars for static, neutral astrophysical objects in the ordinary (four dimensional) spacetime.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. To be published in EPJ

Aspects of Type IIB Theory on ALE Spaces

D-brane technology and strong/weak coupling duality supplement traditional orbifold techniques by making certain background geometries more accessible. In this spirit, we consider some of the geometric properties of the type IIB theory on R^6 \times M where M is an `Asymptotically Locally Euclidean (ALE)' gravitational instanton. Given the self-duality of the theory, we can extract the geometry (both singular and resolved) seen by the weakly coupled IIB string by studying the physics of a D1-brane probe. The construction is both amusing and instructive, as the physics of the probe completely captures the mathematics of the construction of ALE instantons via `HyperKahler Quotients', as presented by Kronheimer. This relation has been noted by Douglas and Moore for the A-series. We extend the explicit construction to the case of the D- and E-series -- uncovering a quite beautiful structure -- and highlight how all of the elements of the mathematical construction find their counterparts in the physics of the type IIB D-string. We discuss the explicit ALE metrics which may be obtained using these techniques, and comment on the role duality plays in relating gauged linear sigma models to conformal field theories.Comment: 27 pages, three figures. Uses harvmac.tex and epsf.tex (sentences corrected on pages 13+14, reference added, small addition to final remarks

Exploring excited states of Pt(ii) diimine catecholates for photoinduced charge separation

The intense absorption in the red part of the visible range, and the presence of a lowest charge-transfer excited state, render Platinum(II) diimine catecholates potentially promising candidates for light-driven applications. Here, we test their potential as sensitisers in dye-sensitised solar cells and apply, for the first time, the sensitive method of photoacoustic calorimetry (PAC) to determine the efficiency of electron injection in the semiconductor from a photoexcited Pt(II) complex. Pt(II) catecholates containing 2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-di-carboxylic acid (dcbpy) have been prepared from their parent iso-propyl ester derivatives, complexes of 2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-di-C(O)OiPr, (COOiPr)2bpy, and their photophysical and electrochemical properties studied. Modifying diimine Pt(II) catecholates with carboxylic acid functionality has allowed for the anchoring of these complexes to thin film TiO2, where steric bulk of the complexes (3,5-ditBu-catechol vs. catechol) has been found to significantly influence the extent of monolayer surface coverage. Dye-sensitised solar cells using Pt(dcbpy)(tBu2Cat), 1a, and Pt(dcbpy)(pCat), 2a, as sensitisers, have been assembled, and photovoltaic measurements performed. The observed low, 0.02–0.07%, device efficiency of such DSSCs is attributed at least in part to the short excited state lifetime of the sensitisers, inherent to this class of complexes. The lifetime of the charge-transfer ML/LLCT excited state in Pt((COOiPr)2bpy)(3,5-di-tBu-catechol) was determined as 250 ps by picosecond time-resolved infrared spectroscopy, TRIR. The measured increase in device efficiency for 2a over 1a is consistent with a similar increase in the quantum yield of charge separation (where the complex acts as a donor and the semiconductor as an acceptor) determined by PAC, and is also proportional to the increased surface loading achieved with 2a. It is concluded that the relative efficiency of devices sensitised with these particular Pt(II) species is governed by the degree of surface coverage. Overall, this work demonstrates the use of Pt(diimine)(catecholate) complexes as potential photosensitizers in solar cells, and the first application of photoacoustic calorimetry to Pt(II) complexes in general