Fault Tolerant Real Time Dynamic Scheduling Algorithm For Heterogeneous Distributed System

Fault-tolerance becomes an important key to establish dependability in Real Time Distributed Systems (RTDS). In fault-tolerant Real Time Distributed systems, detection of fault and its recovery should be executed in timely manner so that in spite of fault occurrences the intended output of real-time computations always take place on time. Hardware and software redundancy are well-known e ective methods for faulttolerance, where extra hard ware (e.g., processors, communication links) and software (e.g., tasks, messages) are added into the system to deal with faults. Performances of RTDS are mostly guided by eciency of scheduling algorithm and schedulability analysis are performed on the system to ensure the timing constrains. This thesis examines the scenarios where a real time system requires very little redundant hardware resources to tolerate failures in heterogeneous real time distributed systems with point-to-point communication links. Fault tolerance can be achieved by..

Socio-Economic status of fishers of reservoirs of India

The present study is a rapid assessment of socio-economic status to estimate income, illiteracy and health of reservoir fishersinsevenstatesoflndia.stmctureddatafrom4l5fishermenwerecollected. The result indicated that against the Indian average literacy rate of '74.52o/o the literacy rate of 63.32% was recorded among the sampled hshers. The school dropouts were more at secondary level of education(57 .75%o ). Fishers' children were vaccinated in most of the states as per the recommendation of Indian Council of Medical Research. The average monthly expenditure of the households was worked out to be Rs. 3148.3 only, which is very low to sustain livelihood; often lead to indebtness

Towards actionable international comparisons of health system performance: expert revision of the OECD framework and quality indicators

Objective To review and update the conceptual framework, indicator content and research priorities of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Health Care Quality Indicators (HCQI) project, after a decade of collaborative work. Design A structured assessment was carried out using a modified Delphi approach, followed by a consensus meeting, to assess the suite of HCQI for international comparisons, agree on revisions to the original framework and set priorities for research and development. Setting International group of countries participating to OECD projects. Participants Members of the OECD HCQI expert group. Results A reference matrix, based on a revised performance framework, was used to map and assess all seventy HCQI routinely calculated by the OECD expert group. A total of 21 indicators were agreed to be excluded, due to the following concerns: (i) relevance, (ii) international comparability, particularly where heterogeneous coding practices might induce bias, (iii) feasibility, when the number of countries able to report was limited and the added value did not justify sustained effort and (iv) actionability, for indicators that were unlikely to improve on the basis of targeted policy interventions. Conclusions The revised OECD framework for HCQI represents a new milestone of a long-standing international collaboration among a group of countries committed to building common ground for performance measurement. The expert group believes that the continuation of this work is paramount to provide decision makers with a validated toolbox to directly act on quality improvement strategie

Early versus delayed initiation of antiretroviral therapy for Indian HIV-Infected individuals with tuberculosis on antituberculosis treatment

BACKGROUND: For antiretroviral therapy (ART) naive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected adults suffering from tuberculosis (TB), there is uncertainty about the optimal time to initiate highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) after starting antituberculosis treatment (ATT), in order to minimize mortality, HIV disease progression, and adverse events. METHODS: In a randomized, open label trial at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, eligible HIV positive individuals with a diagnosis of TB were randomly assigned to receive HAART after 2-4 or 8-12 weeks of starting ATT, and were followed for 12 months after HAART initiation. Participants received directly observed therapy short course (DOTS) for TB, and an antiretroviral regimen comprising stavudine or zidovudine, lamivudine, and efavirenz. Primary end points were death from any cause, and progression of HIV disease marked by failure of ART. FINDINGS: A total of 150 patients with HIV and TB were initiated on HAART: 88 received it after 2-4 weeks (early ART) and 62 after 8-12 weeks (delayed ART) of starting ATT. There was no significant difference in mortality between the groups after the introduction of HAART. However, incidence of ART failure was 31% in delayed versus 16% in early ART arm (p = 0.045). Kaplan Meier disease progression free survival at 12 months was 79% for early versus 64% for the delayed ART arm (p = 0.05). Rates of adverse events were similar. INTERPRETATION: Early initiation of HAART for patients with HIV and TB significantly decreases incidence of HIV disease progression and has good tolerability. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CTRI/2011/12/00226

Phosphorus Mitigation to Control River Eutrophication: Murky Waters, Inconvenient Truths, and “Postnormal” Science

This commentary examines an "inconvenient truth" that phosphorus (P)-based nutrient mitigation, long regarded as the key tool in eutrophication management, in many cases has not yet yielded the desired reductions in water quality and nuisance algal growth in rivers and their associated downstream ecosystems. We examine why the water quality and aquatic ecology have not recovered, in some case aft er two decades or more of reduced P inputs, including (i) legacies of past land-use management, (ii) decoupling of algal growth responses to river P loading in eutrophically impaired rivers; and (iii) recovery trajectories, which may be nonlinear and characterized by thresholds and alternative stable states. It is possible that baselines have shifted and that some disturbed river environments may never return to predisturbance conditions or may require P reductions below those that originally triggered ecological degradation. We discuss the practical implications of setting P-based nutrient criteria to protect and improve river water quality and ecology, drawing on a case study from the Red River Basin in the United States. We conclude that the challenges facing nutrient management and eutrophication control bear the hallmarks of "postnormal" science, where uncertainties are large, management intervention is urgently required, and decision stakes are high. We argue a case for a more holistic approach to eutrophication management that includes more sophisticated regime-based nutrient criteria and considers other nutrient and pollutant controls and river restoration (e.g., physical habitat and functional food web interactions) to promote more resilient water quality and ecosystem functioning along the land-freshwater continuum

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Not AvailableThe article examines the willingness of people of Sundarban to pay for restoration of natural ecosystem using contingent valuation approach. Most of the people depend on Sundarban ecosystem for their livelihood and sustenance through fishing, collection of honey and fuelwood/timber. It is an example of a community living in a balance with surrounding mangrove forest, upon which it depends for subsistence and livelihoods. Stratified random sampling method was used which involves dividing the whole population into homogeneous sub-groups and then taking a simple random sample in each sub-group. The sub-groups were made on the basis of their occupational status. The sample residents of Gosaba islands aged 18 and above were interviewed. The data collection of the sub-group fisherman and agriculturist were covered by visiting individual households and group discussion. For traders and other sub-groups the data was collected from markets and haats.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableGovernment of Chhattisgarh has taken unique initiative for development of bio-fuel in consonance with government of India. Bio-fuel production in state can effectively increase employment, improve economy of rural area, reduce dependence on oil imports and minimize pollution. This paper tries to analyse the economic feasibility of biofuel policy of Chhattisgarh which has enormous renewable resources with immense potential of tree borne oil species. To analyse the parameters of bio-fuel policy, official documents and data pertaining to plantation, carried out by different agencies involved in bio-fuel programme, were collected. Alternative plans were worked out using criteria of survival of plantation carried out by different agencies. The survival rates were considered in the proportion/percentage of total plantation (i.e. 100%, 75%, 50% and 25% respectively). Similarly recovery of oil from one kg of seed was worked out in the scale of 25%, 30%, 35% and 40% respectively. This study suggested that the best option will be to ensure 100 per cent survival of plantation with 40 per cent oil recovery in per kg seed. The paper concludes that the success of biodiesel greatly depends on oil percentage in seeds as well as survival percentage. Therefore a targeted research programme should be launch giving a clear mandate and targets to research institutes. Government may develop a long term programme to involve local community under SHGs or informal group structure. Minimum support price for seed should be determined on the base of oil percentage. The bio-fuel development, incentive should be given in form of subsidies, tax relief, insurance to the entrepreneurs involved in pre and post harvest processing.Not Availabl

Anthropogenic modifications and river ecosystem services: A landscape perspective

The process of development has led to the modification of river landscapes. This has created imbalances between ecological, economic, and socio-cultural uses of ecosystem services (ESs), threatening the biotic and social integrity of rivers. Anthropogenic modifications influence river landscapes on multiple scales, which impact river-flow regimes and thus the production of river ESs. Despite progress in developing approaches for the valuation ecosystem goods and services, the ecosystem service research fails to acknowledge the biophysical structure of river landscape where ecosystem services are generated. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to synthesize the literature to develop the understanding of the biocomplexity of river landscapes and its importance in ecosystem service research. The review is limited to anthropogenic modifications from catchment to reach scale which includes inter-basin water transfer, change in land-use pattern, sub-surface modifications, groundwater abstractions, stream channelization, dams, and sand mining. Using 86 studies, the paper demonstrates that river ESs largely depend on the effective functioning of biophysical processes, which are linked with the geomorphological, ecological, and hydrological characteristics of river landscapes. Further, the ESs are linked with the economic, ecological, and socio-cultural aspect. The papers show that almost all anthropogenic modifications have positive impact on economic value of ESs. The ecological and socio-cultural values are negatively impacted by anthropogenic modifications such as dams, inter-basin water transfer, change in land-use pattern, and sand mining. The socio-cultural impact of ground-water abstraction and sub-surface modifications are not found in the literature examined here. Further, the ecological and socio-cultural aspects of ecosystem services from stakeholders’ perspective are discussed. We advocate for linking ecosystem service assessment with landscape signatures considering the socio-ecological interactions