The Economic Reality of Underutilised Crops for Climate Resilience, Food Security and Nutrition: Assessing Finger Millet Productivity in India

In spite of the considerable potential contribution of neglected and underutilised crops to climate resilience, food security and nutrition; widespread adoption of these crops remains a challenge. Uptake is inhibited by poor economic performance due to low yields, compounded further by various social factors. Using farm survey data and aggregated time-series data from four states in southern India, this study examines factors influencing productivity in finger millet cultivation. A farm-level yield gap analysis is complemented by an analysis of total factor productivity (TFP) growth between 1999 and 2014 to better understand the role of research and innovation. Results suggest that there is considerable potential for improved growing practices to achieve better yields, but also education levels and technical support emerge as crucial factors for boosting finger millet productivity. The TFP analysis indicates a moderate level of growth, with a high variability and conflicting trends between states, suggesting a need to invest more in research and development, extension and infrastructure. Sustained productivity gains will require research efforts that respond to the needs expressed by farmers and that finger millet forms part of an overall strategy for sustainable intensification

A study on the clinical profile of children with snake envenomation in a tertiary referral centre at Dharmapuri, Tamilnadu, India

Background: Snake envenomation is a well-known cause of morbidity and mortality in rural India. In the year 2009, WHO included snake bite in the list of neglected diseases.Methods: This study was conducted in children admitted with snake bite in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in the year 2015. Their demographic details, site of bite, arrival time, 20Minutes Whole Blood Cloting Time, Clinical signs and symptoms, complications and outcome were measured.Results: The male: female ratio was 2.57:1. Peak age group affected was 6 to 12 years old children. Lower limbs were commonly bitten. 65% of children arrived in the hospital between 6 and 24 hours after the bite. Pain and swelling at the site of bite were the most common symptom of envenomation. 80% of envenomation was found to be hematotoxic, 11% of envenomation was neurotoxic and 68% of children were successfully treated with 10 vials of ASV. There was only one death during the study period.Conclusion: This study reiterates the need for a more rapid transport and administration of ASV in the transit period. Other important observations in the study are that the number of neurotoxic snake bites is only 9% and the presence of allergic reactions to ASV in 6% of children. The development of monovalent ASV specific to the snake species may be considered, which will be associated with less anaphylaxis and more effective neutralisation of venom

Mass function and dynamical study of the open clusters Berkeley 24 and Czernik 27

We present a $UBVI$ photometric study of the open clusters Berkeley 24 (Be 24) and Czernik 27 (Cz 27). The radii of the clusters are determined as 2\farcm7 and 2\farcm3 for Be 24 and Cz 27, respectively. We use the Gaia Data Release 2 (GDR2) catalogue to estimate the mean proper motions for the clusters. We found the mean proper motion of Be 24 as $0.35\pm0.06$ mas yr$^{-1}$ and $1.20\pm0.08$ mas yr$^{-1}$ in right ascension and declination for Be 24 and $-0.52\pm0.05$ mas yr$^{-1}$ and $-1.30\pm0.05$ mas yr$^{-1}$ for Cz 27. We used probable cluster members selected from proper motion data for the estimation of fundamental parameters. We infer reddenings $E(B-V)$ = $0.45\pm0.05$ mag and $0.15\pm0.05$ mag for the two clusters. Analysis of extinction curves towards the two clusters show that both have normal interstellar extinction laws in the optical as well as in the near-IR band. From the ultraviolet excess measurement, we derive metallicities of [Fe/H]= $-0.025\pm0.01$ dex and $-0.042\pm0.01$ dex for the clusters Be 24 and Cz 27, respectively. The distances, as determined from main sequence fitting, are $4.4\pm0.5$ kpc and $5.6\pm0.2$ kpc. The comparison of observed CMDs with $Z=0.01$ isochrones, leads to an age of $2.0\pm0.2$ Gyr and $0.6\pm0.1$ Gyr for Be 24 and Cz 27, respectively. In addition to this, we have also studied the mass function and dynamical state of these two clusters for the first time using probable cluster members. The mass function is derived after including the corrections for data incompleteness and field star contamination. Our analysis shows that both clusters are now dynamically relaxedComment: 16 pages including 8 tables. 22 figures. Accepted by MNRA

PMU Placement for Power System Observability Using Binary Particle Swarm Optimization

A binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) based methodology for the optimal placement of phasor measurement units (PMUs) for complete observability of a power system is presented in this paper. The objectives of the optimization problem are to minimize the total number of PMUs required, and to maximize the measurement redundancy at the power system buses. Simulation results on the IEEE 14-bus and 30-bus test systems are presented in this paper

Embedded Controller in Farmers Pump by Solar Energy

The primary aim of this project is to develop and atomize the solar farmers pump (water pump) considering the power supply, direct current (DC), Alternating current (AC), inverter frequency, a well, water level in the well, submersible monoblock pump. Here we introduce an advanced technique with GSM module. The solar pumps which work by utilizing the energy from the SOLAR ARRAYS and the power from the PV are stored in a battery. The power from the battery is inverted and given to the pump for irrigation. This pump is also controlled by the GSM module. The use of GSM mode is to start and stop working of pumps using mobile phone; the water level monitoring is also done by the GSM mode which this also provides the message for each hour. This is done with the embedded C in PIC16F877A microcontroller. The main advantage of this project is optimizing the power and also saving government’s free subsidiary electricity (22% of total power production in India). This proves an efficient and economy way of irrigation and this will automate the agriculture sector

Nonlinear Radiative Heat Transfer of Cu-Water Nanoparticles over an Unsteady Rotating Flow under the Influence of Particle Shape

A 3D study on Cu-water-rotating nanofluid over a permeable surface in the presence of nonlinear radiation is presented. Particle shape and thermophysical properties are considered in this study. The governing equations in partial forms are reduced to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations using suitable similarity transformations. An effective Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg fourth-fifth order method along with shooting technique is applied to attain the solution. The effects of flow parameters on the flow field and heat transfer characteristics were obtained and are tabulated. Useful discussions were carried out with the help of plotted graphs and tables. It is found that the rate of heat transfer is more enhanced in column-shaped nanoparticles when compared to tetrahedron- and sphere-shaped nanoparticles. Higher values of rotating parameter enhance the velocity profile and corresponding boundary layer thickness. It has quite the opposite behavior in angular velocity profile. Further, unsteady parameter increases the velocity profile and corresponding boundary layer thickness

Energy-aware self stabilization in mobile ad hoc networks : A multicasting case study

Dynamic networks, e.g. Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), call for adaptive protocols that can tolerate topological changes due to nodes ’ mobility and depletion of battery power. Also proactivity in these protocols is essential to ensure low latency. Self-stabilization techniques for distributed systems provide both adaptivity and proactivity to make it suitable for the MANETs. However, energyefficiency- a prime concern in MANETs with batterypowered nodes- is not guaranteed by self-stabilization. In this paper, we propose a node-based energy metric that minimizes the energy consumption of the multicast tree by taking into account the overhearing cost. We apply the metric to Self-Stabilizing Shortest Path Spanning Tree (SS-SPST) protocol to obtain energy-aware SS-SPST (SS-SPST-E). Using simulations, we study the energy-latency tradeoff by comparing SS-SPST-E with SS-SPST and other MANET multicast protocols, such as ODMRP and MAODV.