Energy Use and its Efficiency in Tamil Nadu Agriculture: A Case Study of Different Groundwater Development Regions in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu

The study has revealed that over-exploitation of groundwater has effected drastic changes in energy input-use and energy output produced across the regions in Coimbatore district and the Tamil Nadu state. Energy equivalent values have been used for various direct sources of energy (human, animal and mechanical power), indirect sources (fertilizers, pesticides, manures), commercial, non-commercial, renewable and non-renewable energy sources to analyse the economics of energy usage in the agricultural production process in the two different groundwater development regions of the Coimbatore district. Energy inputs usage has been found very high in groundwater less-exploited area of Perur in paddy and cotton crops. For the coconut crop, Palladam block has shown consumption of more energy-inputs. Energy output-input ratios for paddy, coconut and cotton have been reported as 0.85, 29.35 and 0.09 in Perur region and 0.76, 13.20 and 0.09 in Palladam region. The energy efficiency has been observed higher in coconut crop among crops and in Perur among regions. Not much difference has been observed in gross value of output per MJ of energy input in paddy and cotton crops among groundwater severely-exploited and less exploited regions.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

A Study on Evolving Optimal Cropping Patterns in Groundwater Over-exploited Region of Perambalur District of Tamil Nadu

Falling groundwater tables and depletion of economically accessible groundwater resources would have major social and economic consequences. The present study has been taken up with the overall objective of evolving optimal crop plans to sustain the use of groundwater resources for irrigation. Perambalur district was purposively selected for the study as it mainly depends on groundwater for its irrigation. Linear programming technique was used to evolve optimal crop plans. The constraints identified were primarily irrigation water, besides land availability during the cultivating seasons and capital. Six typical farms were selected, one each for the open well, wells in tank command area and tubewell-irrigated farms in critical and over-exploited groundwater regime and also for semi-critical and safe groundwater regime. The results of the optimal crop plans derived showed that the irrigation water-use in the critical period could be reduced by 24.30, 4.54 and 51.71 hours of pumping in ordinary wells, wells in tank command area and tubewell-irrigated farms, respectively in critical and over-exploited groundwater regime sample farms. In the semi-critical and safe groundwater regime sample farms, the optimal crop plans revealed that the irrigation water-use in the critical period could be reduced by 4.61, 3.99, and 4.73 hours of pumping in ordinary wells, wells in tank command area and tubewell-irrigated farms, respectively. Area under high water intensive crops namely, paddy and sugarcane declined almost in all the optimal crop plans. Area under low water intensive crops (groundnut, gingelly and tapioca) showed an increasing trend in all optimal crop plans. The net income of the sample farms increased marginally or considerably in the optimal crop plans of both the critical and overexploited groundwater regime sample farms and semi-critical and the safe groundwater regime sample farmsAgricultural and Food Policy,

DRUG DISCOVERY: AN APPRAISAL

The process of drug discovery and development has undergone radical changes over the years. Introduction of several novel technologies in genomics, proteomics and other omics areas have enabled drug target identification and validation more specific. In silico virtual screening and other computational chemistry methods like QSAR (Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship) and QSPR (Quantitative Structure-Property Relationship) have enabled the emergence of new drugs with minimal toxicity and higher efficacy in this post-genomics era. Moreover, initiative like Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) is playing a promising role in accelerating the pace of drug discovery process. Better understanding of these methods and initiatives by researchers will kindle interest towards adopting it. Hence, by this review, we intend to present a comprehensive view of overall transition and modernization of the drug discovery process and it's impacts on the scientific community.Â

An Analysis of Farmers’ Perception and Awareness towards Crop Insurance as a Tool for Risk Management in Tamil Nadu

To insulate farmers against risks in agriculture, government has launched several schemes such as National Agricultural Insurance Scheme and weather index based crop insurance schemes. But their coverage seems to be limited among the farmers primarily due to lack of full information. This paper has reported the results of a survey of 600 farmers conducted to assess their perception about various facets of crop insurance schemes. The Probit and Tobit models have been employed to analyse the factors affecting awareness among the farmers. Crop diversification index has also been used to examine the farmers’ adjustment mechanism against risks. The survey has revealed that most farmers (65%) are aware of risk mitigation measures of the government. But, only half of the farmers have been found aware about the crop insurance schemes/products. This implies that there is need to disseminate information about insurance schemes across the target groups. Further, it has been shown that factors such as gross cropped area, income from other than agricultural sources, presence of risk in farming, number of workers in the farm family, satisfaction with the premium rate and affordability of the insurance premium amount significantly and positively influence the adoption of insurance and premium paid by the farmers. The study has clearly brought out the urgency of developing more innovative products, having minimum human interventions.Crop insurance, Risk management, Crop diversification index, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q14, Q18,

Exploring the Perceptions of Generations X, Y and Z about Online Platforms and Digital Marketing Activities – A Focus-Group Discussion Based Study

Purpose: This study analyzes the perceptions and attitudes of GenX, GenY and GenZ towards online platforms and digital marketing activities.   Theoretical framework: This study is qualitative in nature and data were collected from three separate focus group discussions, one each among generations X, Y and Z. Secondary data sources like previous research articles, internet sources and books were referred.   Design/methodology/approach: This article is intended to get insights regarding the online platforms and digital marketing consumption patterns to understand the perceptions and attitudes of GenX, GenY and GenZ towards various online platforms. Group discussion was conducted among all generations with pre-planned questions prepared by the researcher; participants were from researcher’s personal and professional network. From transcripts were prepared and information regarding their perceptions on digital marketing and online platforms were obtained and thematic analysis was done using NVivo. Ten themes and sub-themes were identified from the chart presented through Nvivo.   Findings: The perceptions of three generations regarding online platforms and digital marketing activities differ significantly as GenX are digital migrants, GenY are digital natives and GenZ are mobile natives.   Research, Practical & Social implications: The emergence of internet and digitalization has forced companies to concentrate more on online platforms and digital marketing avenues. Different generations’ interest, traits, perceptions, habits, etc differ and hence there is a need to analyze and understand the perceptions of different generational cohorts for businesses to develop an effective digital marketing strategy. This study would pave the way for more studies and researches which would benefit both academics and industry.   Originality/value: This study would help to understand the perceptions of different generational cohorts for businesses to develop an effective digital marketing strategy.

Reveiw of effective data encryption and decryption technique

The requirements of information security within an organization have undergone two major changes in the last several decades. Before the wide spread use of data processing equipment, the security of information  felt to be valuable to an organization was provided primarily by physical and administrative means. The collection of tools designed to protect data and to thwart hacker is computer security. Network security measures are needed to protect data during their transmission. This technique for encryption and decryption process to combine two methods ceaser cipher and transposition cipher, ceaser cipher is one of the substitution techniques. A substitution technique is one in which the letters of plain text are replaced by other letter or by numbers or symbols. if the plaintext is viewed as a sequence of bits, then substitution involves replacing plaintext bit patterns with cipher text bit patterns. The encryption process is two stages first, to convert the given plaintext into cipher text using ceaser cipher text technique, second stage the cipher converted using transposition technique, the final output is cipher text, The Decryption is the reverse process of the Encryption

DRIVERS OF NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND PARTICIPATION IN FOREST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES- A SOCIO ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF FOREST DWELLERS’ ROLE IN SITTILINGI VALLEY FORESTS OF TAMIL NADU

This study aims at investigating the links between forest dwellers’ participation in afforestation and development of forest areas in Sittilingi valley of Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu and a set of socio-economic variables. A sample of 50 forest dwellers each in Sittilingi and Naikuthi village of the valley was selected to get a sample size of100 by proportional random sampling. The result of the content validity of questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha) showed that the selected variable had high reliability. Traditional Diffusion Model of Rogerts was employed to analyse the forest dwellers’ awareness, willingness and participation in afforestation and other forest development programmes. The findings revealed that age, participation in capacity building programmes, forest dependency, social participation, social solidarity, economic and social motivations are positively and significantly correlated with forest dwellers' participation in afforestation and development of forest areas. About 77 per cent of the forest dwellers expected good quality of water for conserving their natural resources. Financial and technical assistances are preferred equally by the residents of the valley as subsidy measure to adopt conservation measures. Sixty per cent of the forest dwellers were against allocating any money from their own for resource conservation. At the same time valley residents were positive towards natural resources conservation within the valley. Forest dwellers are ready to plant trees around their farm lands and homes but they felt otherwise when the case of planting in common lands and degraded land  arise since they felt planting in such areas as the duty of the government. Thus the prioritization of the forest dwellers was personally inclined. Variables like, attitude, knowledge, concern for biodiversity and concern for soil fertility were significantly influencing the forest dwellers to allocate economic resources in natural resources conservation programmes in the valley. The result of multiple regression showed that variables of level of participation in capacity building programmes, size of household, age, economic motivation, social solidarity and level of literacy could explain 51.4 per cent of the variation in the level of forest dwellers' participation in afforestation and other development activities of forest areas

Molecular Docking Studies for the Assessment of Wound Healing Activity of Phytoconstituents in Heliotropium Indicum

One of the most crucial and complex processes is the skin's multi-stage process of healing after an injury. Heliotropium indicum is a potent antibiotic, anti- inflammatory, anti-neoplastic, anti-oxidant, and wound- healing agent. Heliotropium indicum Linn is the source of the chemical compound in question, which is abundant in sterols, ammines, volatile oils, and the pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Molecular docking studies were conducted on Heliotropium indicum using Argus lab 4.0.1 and Autodock 1.5.7. The proteins PDB ID:1YXO, 3V18, and 4G8R were selected because of their role in wound healing. The pieces work together with the protein responsible for mending wounds. The binding affinities of mupirocin and nitrofurazone are higher than those of the components stigmasterol, eugenol, borneol, and campesterol. In order to better customize Heliotropium indicum to our requirements, we now have a better knowledge of the components of the molecule that interact with their receptors in the wound healing process

Genomic instability and tumor-specific alterations in oral squamous cell carcinomas assessed by inter- (simple sequence repeat) PCR

Purpose: Genomic instability plays a major role in the genesis and progression of tumors, and in the evolution of tumor heterogeneity. To determine the role of genomic instability in the genesis and progression of oral cancer, we assessed the extent of genomic alterations in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs). Experimental Design: We used the recently developed inter-(simple sequence repeat) PCR technique to quantitate genomic instability using matched tumor and normal OSCC samples (n = 25). The inter-repeat region bands of similar molecular size observed to be altered in more than one case were sequenced and analyzed to identify probable OSSC-associated specific genetic lesions. Results: Of the four base-anchored, dinucleotide repeat-based primers used for the study, the most informative profile in OSCCs was generated by the (CA)8RG primer. Measurement of genomic instability index using the (CA)8RG primer revealed a high incidence of genomic instability in OSCCs. No significant correlation between the extent of alterations and stage or location of the tumor was observed. Sequencing analysis of the altered bands revealed gains/losses in several chromosomal regions. Of the matched tumor and corresponding normal tissue DNA studied, hitherto unreported losses were seen in 11p15 and 17q25 chromosomal regions. Sequencing of some of the tumor-specific altered regions indicated that they code for regions of UDP-GalNAc and hRAD 17 genes, which were lost (deleted) in oral cancer. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the extent of genomic instability in OSCC is not correlated to the tumor stage or location. For the first time, we have shown that chromosomal alterations detected by inter-(simple sequence repeat) PCR could be correlated to genes associated with cancer development

Fama-French Three Factors Model in Indian Mutual Fund Market

Tax Saving Mutual Fund Schemes were established with the objective of inviting Indian Tax assessees into the stock market-oriented investment. Tax saving mutual fund is an avenue which offers an investor the opportunity to avail tax exemption on investment along with diversified risk and market-related return. All Tax Saving Mutual Fund Schemes have same the objective but each scheme differs in returns produced and risks involved. The mutual fund performance is based on the performance of market and there is no assurance on return of mutual fund investments. As such, an analysis have been made in this paper to measure the performance of Indian Mutual funds market by using Fama French three factor model. In particular, 32 growth-oriented open-ended Tax Saving Mutual Fund Schemes have been taken for the study. The performance of the TSMF has been compared with the market benchmark S&P CNX Nifty. It is found that there is a difference between expected return and actual return of mutual funds. It is also found that there are certain mutual fund schemes have underperformed than the market benchmark. Not all the mutual fund schemes are safe and secured. It is the responsibility of the investors to find the better performing funds