Study of the removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution by using coir pith

The use of reasonable and eco friendly adsorbents studied as an alternative substitution of activated carbon for removal of dyes from wastewater. Adsorbents prepared from coconut coir pith, which is a domestic waste, prosperously used to remove the methylene blue from an aqueous solution in a batch wise column. This study explores the potential use of coconut coir pith, pretreated with perfunctory treatment method, for removal of methylene blue from dye house wastewater. Treated coconut coir pith used to adsorb methylene blue at changing dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, pH and contact time. The sorption data were then correlated with the Freundlich and the langmuir adsorption isotherm models. In both isotherms exhibited a maximum K value in which indicates that the coir pith has greater affinity for methylene blue.&nbsp

Pesticide Use in Vegetable Crops: Frequency, Intensity and Determinant Factors

This paper has examined pest management practices in four important vegetable crops, viz. chillies, cauliflower, brinjal and bhendi using farm level cross-sectional data. Average pesticide usage has been estimated at 5.13, 2.77, 4.64 and 3.71 kg active ingredient per hectare on chillies, cauliflower, brinjal and bhendi crops, respectively. On an average, cauliflower and brinjal are each given 15 applications, chillies is given 13 and bhendi is given 12 applications. The study has suggested that for reducing pesticide-use, farmers need to be educated about different nonchemical control methods and should be encouraged to adopt integrated pest management (IPM) practices.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Wavelet Multiresolution Analysis of High-Frequency Asian FX Rates, Summer 1997

FX pricing processes are nonstationary and their frequency characteristics are time-dependent. Most do not conform to geometric Brownian motion, since they exhibit a scaling law with a Hurst exponent between zero and 0.5 and fractal dimensions between 1.5 and 2. This paper uses wavelet multiresolution analysis, with Haar wavelets, to analyze the nonstationarity (time-dependence) and self-similarity (scale-dependence) of intra-day Asian currency spot exchange rates. These are the ask and bid quotes of the currencies of eight Asian countries (Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand), and of Germany for comparison, for the crisis period May 1, 1998 - August 31, 1997, provided by Telerate (U.S. dollar is the numeraire). Their time-scale dependent spectra, which are localized in time, are observed in wavelet based scalograms. The FX increments can be characterized by the irregularity of their singularities. This degrees of irregularity are measured by homogeneous Hurst exponents. These critical exponents are used to identify the fractal dimension, relative stability and long term dependence of each Asian FX series. The invariance of each identified Hurst exponent is tested by comparing it at varying time and scale (frequency) resolutions. It appears that almost all FX markets show anti-persistent pricing behavior. The anchor currencies of the D-mark and Japanese Yen are ultra-efficient in the sense of being most anti-persistent. The Taiwanese dollar is the most persistent, and thus unpredictable, most likely due to administrative control. FX markets exhibit these non- linear, non-Gaussian dynamic structures, long term dependence, high kurtosis, and high degrees of non-informational (noise) trading, possibly because of frequent capital flows induced by non-synchronized regional business cycles, rapidly changing political risks, unexpected informational shocks to investment opportunities, and, in particular, investment strategies synthesizing interregional claims using cash swaps with different duration horizons.foreign exchange markets, anti-persistence, long-term dependence, multi-resolution analysis, wavelets, time-scale analysis, scaling laws, irregularity analysis, randomness, Asia

Wavelet Multiresolution Analysis of High-Frequency FX Rates, Summer 1997

FX pricing processes are nonstationary and their frequency characteristics are time-dependent. Most do not conform to geometric Brownian motion, since they exhibit a scaling law with a Hurst exponent between zero and 0.5 and fractal dimensions between 1.5 and 2. This paper uses wavelet multiresolution analysis, with Haar wavelets, to analyze the nonstationarity (time-dependence) and self-similarity (scale-dependence) of intra-day Asian currency spot exchange rates.foreign exchange, anti-persistence, multi-resolution analysis, wavelets, Asia

Interdependence And Volatility Spillovers Under Market Reforms: The Case Of National Stock Exchange

India, one of the emerging markets in Asia initiated the financial sector reforms by introducing international practices in its financial market.  In this paper an attempt has been made to examine whether and to what extent, Indian stock market is integrated with stock markets in the United States, Japan and U.K before and after the structural changes. It also examines whether such a relationship, if it exists, is affected by the structural changes that began in 1998  using daily data for the period April 1998 to December 2008. The main findings are: No evidence of long run relationships was found between the stock prices of India and its major trading partners before and after the structural changes. Second, in terms of short – run movements of international stock market returns, bidirectional Granger causality exist between the stock returns of India and those of US and UK and Japan after the structural changes but unidirectional relationship exists between India and the UK before the structural changes period.  The estimates from causality – type models suggest that volatility spillovers from UK and Japan were non –existent prior to structural changes and volatility spillovers from US and Japan have become quite pronounced after the structural changes. The results identify the US and Japan markets as the main sources of volatility spillovers for the NSE

Psychiatry Case Record

Neurocysticercosis presenting with Psychosis: Cysticercosis is the most common parasitic disease of human central nervous system. The word cysticercosis derived from Greek KYSITS (cyst) and KERKOS (tail). Cysticercosis is endemic in some parts of all continents except Australia and Antartica. Cysticercosis consists of infection with the small bladder-like larvae of the pork tapeworm Taeniasolium. The life cycle of parasite is maintained between man and pig infected with cysticerci. Epilepsy is the most common presentation of neurocysticercosis; focal signs, headache, involuntary movements and global mental deterioration are other symptoms. Psychosis is a rare presentation and may be seen in up to 5% of patients. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with Comorbid Recurrent Depression Current Episode Severe: DURATION: 5 years, Symptoms started gradually and increased in nature. COURSE: Continuous, Waxing and Waning present, patient never touched normalcy in between, no major precipitating factors. History of repeated thoughts of contamination with dirt present for which he washed hands repeatedly. History of repeated thoughts of something harm might happen to him or his parents. History of excessive brushing the teeth, showering, bathing by repeatedly applying the soap and for which he takes about two hours. Staying in toilet for more than one hour until somebody calls him. History of drinking water repeatedly 10-15 times per day. History of checking and counting things repeatedly and arranges it in a particular order again and again. Chants prayer several times mentally. If he goes to temple goes round it exactly eleven times and prays three times. Before going to bed he stand and count for hundred. History of feeling he has to do all these otherwise something harm might happen to his family. He feels these thoughts of his own, tries to resist but couldn’t. It causes great distress in him. Feels relieved by these acts. History of doing things very slowly present. It interferes with his social and motor functioning. History of fatigue, generalized weakness, inability to do work present. History of sad feelings present throughout the day, History of hopelessness, worthlessness present. History of inability to indulge in pleasurable activity, history of reduced self esteem and confidence, has feeling he might better die. No history of suicidal attempts or feeling others is talking about him. Paranoid Schizophrenia: Patient was apparently alright about 4 years back. She developed suspicious ideas about her husbands’ fidelity. She became emotionally withdrawn denied her family members that they are not her relatives. She stayed aloof and didn’t do any house hold work. At times, she found standing under the sun for long time. Once she wandered away without informing anybody. Also reported that her parents are against her and her mother does not take care of her properly. She used to accuse mother of giving affection only for her elder brother and because of which he is a lawyer now. Patient also would report to her parents that people talk and discuss about her on the streets and she apparently would pick up fights for the same. She was found smiling and muttering to herself at various times. She hears unknown female voices when no one could hear which threatens her and gives commands. She feels that people can know her thoughts without she telling it out. She would not take bath and did not have good personal care. She was also found to have disturbed sleep, frequent quarrels with her parents and assaulted them at times thinking that they were against her. Bipolar Affecting Disorder Current Episode Mania without Psychotic Features: He was apparently normal 3months back. He developed sleep disturbances. Found doing works and studying throughout the night .He became over talkative. He found himself more distractible at class room and could not sustain his attention. He developed over inflated ideas about his knowledge. And claimed that he can acquire any job. He prayed three to four times a day He took bath several times in a day and became much aware of his personal appearance. He exhibited disinhibition in his behavior and changed his dresses publically. He became over spending for his friends by borrowing the money from others. He sang songs and cracked jokes inappropriately. For the one month, he became more aggressive and assaultive towards his family members whenever questioned about his behavior. Dissociative Convulsion: Patient was apparently normal one month back. She has night blindness and she was criticized about this by her hostel in mates. Following which she complaint of giddiness. This was associated with involuntary movements involving all 4 Limbs, Side to side movement of head, screaming, crying and pelvic thrusting lasted for more than 30 minutes to 1 hour. This episode not associated with the followings: 1. Loss of consciousness, 2. Tongue biting, 3. Un concerned urination, 4. Frothing in mouth. No history of upward gaze of eye ball. No history of post ictal confusion. No history of any nocturnal event. Never injured herself. Never occurred when she was alone. She had repeated such episodes and some time 2 to 3 times / day She was consulted Neurology department

Visualizing from Within: A Naturalistic Inquiry on the Implementation of Mindsketching to Build the Academic Literacy of Children Raised in Poverty

Literature has consistently documented that children raised in poverty struggle to achieve academic success, in part, because they often enter school with low academic literacy. Academic literacy is usually defined as the language used in schools to communicate or acquire knowledge. The purpose of this study was to examine seven elementary school teachers’ observations, insights, and perceptions of a visualization strategy called mindsketching. Mindsketching was used to build academic literacy of their students, the majority of whom came from low-income backgrounds. Through naturalistic inquiry, data were obtained from face-to-face interviews and classroom observations. The constant comparative method and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data for emergent themes. The results of the study included the following: first, teachers observed that an in-depth understanding of mindsketching was necessary for purposeful implementation. Teacher use evolved over the years—from introductory activities or games to a teaching tool used for various instructional practices. Second, mindsketching encouraged metacognition in their students. As a result, teachers’ communication with students, such as instructions, explanations, and affirmations, took on a metacognitive bent. Third, mindsketching as a visualization strategy, provided the initial step towards engaging students in effective learning. In conclusion, mindsketching supported students in visually bridging images to words, thereby enhancing learning

Indian Finfish Exports – An Analysis of Export Performance and Revealed Comparative Advantage

The export of finfish from India has been rising over the past few years and in 2006-07 it contributed almost 44 per cent of the total marine products exported from the country in quantity terms. However in value terms its contribution is only 16 per cent, indicating low unit value realization of the products. This paper has analysed the export performance and has studied the revealed comparative advantage of finfish export from India for the period 2001 to 2005. The finfish exports from India have not revealed any comparative advantage among the total marine products export in the period of study. The paper has suggested reviewing of the policy of finfish export, with a shift in emphasis to export of only high-value finfish and value-added low-value finfish.Agricultural and Food Policy,