Rural Employment and Income: The Inter-household Variations in Punjab

The employment pattern and income sources have been reported in the rural areas of Punjab, based on the primary data collected from 315 rural households. The results have revealed a negative relationship between employment diversification and size of landholding. Distress nature of the rural labour markets has induced casualization of work in the absence of land for cultivation. A majority of the households have been found dependent on multiple sources of income, further confirming the distress nature of these income sources. The dependence on non-farm sector as a major source of income has revealed a negative relationship with the land-size. More than two-thirds (66.9%) of the non-cultivating households have non-farm sector as the major source of their income. The results have further revealed the inability of an average non-cultivating and marginal or small cultivating household to achieve the overall average income of a rural household. The rural household income has been found to follow a highly skewed distribution. The incomes from crops and dairying have been observed highly unequally distributed, perhaps due to their strong association with the size of landholding. On the other hand, rural non-farm income distribution seems to be least skewed.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Middle lobe syndrome: an extraordinary presentation of endobronchial tuberculosis

Tuberculous infection of the tracheobronchial tree, termed as endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB), is more common in young adults and females. This clinical entity is poorly understood and the diagnosis is frequently delayed as sputum smears are often negative for acid fast bacilli and the chest radiograph can be normal, resulting in diagnostic confusion. Bronchoscopy continues to play a key role in its diagnosis. Though atelectasis is not uncommon in these patients, EBTB presenting as a middle lobe syndrome (MLS) has rarely been documented. MLS refers to chronic or recurrent collapse of the right middle lobe and has a myriad of causes. The pathogenesis of this entity too is not fully established. We report this exceptional clinical manifestation in a 19-year-old male, who presented for evaluation of respiratory symptoms for 6 months along with constitutional complaints. Imaging suggested the presence of MLS and bronchoscopy established the diagnosis of endobronchial tuberculosis. GeneXpert evaluation of bronchial aspirate detected Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Histopathology confirmed the presence of granulomatous lesions. Subsequently, the cultures of bronchial aspirate and post-bronchoscopy sputum grew M. tuberculosis. Appropriate therapy with anti-tuberculosis drugs resulted in a remarkable symptomatic and radiological improvement. EBTB presenting as a MLS is a distinct rarity

A SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION OF AYURVEDIC DRUGS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES MELLITUS TYPE 2: AN EVIDENCE BASED REVIEW

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a major challenging health problem of the 21st century. Prevalence of DM is rapidly rising throughout the globe where India leads with largest number of diabetics and became “Diabetes capital of the worldâ€. It refers to a heterogenous chronic metabolic disorder that shares the phenotype of hyperglycaemia. DM is caused by a complex interaction of genetic, behavioural and environmental factors. It results due to impaired insulin secretion or insulin resistance, decreased glucose utilization and increased glucose production. It is characterized by polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, fatigue, Dryness of mouth and throat, constipation and instance itching. Diabetes mellitus is of two types- Type I - IDDM (Jata pramehi or Sahajapramehi) Type II - NIDDM (Sthula pramehi and Apathyanimittaja pramehi).Ayurvedic management strategy of Apathayanimittajaprameha (type-2 diabetes mellitus) include Snehana (oleation), Shodhan and shaman treatments accompanied with suitable dietary and life style modification which has been found very effective. In Ayurvedic system of medicine various single herbs, herbal formulations, herbominerals and minerals are using popularly and very effectively in the treatment of Madhumeha i.e., Diabetes Mellitus type- 2. Many Ayurvedic drugs revalidated to having anti-diabetic and anti-hyperglycaemic activity by clinical and experimental study but many are awaited. In this study, the initiation have been taken to collect and compiled all the related information regarding Ayurvedic drugs used therapeutically that may facilitate further research works

Multi-sensor remote sensing analysis of coal fire induced land subsidence in Jharia Coalfields, Jharkhand, India

The subsidence in coal mines induced by surface and subsurface fires leading to roof collapse, infrastructure loss, and loss of lives is a prominent concern. In the study, satellite imagery from thermal and microwave remote sensing data is used to deduce the effect of coal fires on subsidence in the Jharia Coalfields, India. The Thermal Infrared data acquired from the Landsat-8 (band 10) is used to derive the temperature anomaly maps. Persistent Scatterer Interferometry analysis was performed on sixty Sentinel-1, C-band images, the results are corrected for atmospheric error using Generic Atmospheric Correction Online Service for InSAR (GACOS) atmospheric modelling data and decomposed into vertical displacement values to quantify subsidence. A zone-wise analysis of the hazard patterns in the coalfields was carried out. Coal fire maps, subsidence velocity maps, and land cover maps were integrated to investigate the impact of the hazards on the mines and their surroundings. Maximum subsidence of approximately 20 cm/yr. and temperature anomaly of up to 25 °C has been observed. The findings exhibit a strong positive correlation between the subsidence velocity and temperature anomaly in the study area. Kusunda, Keshalpur, and Bararee collieries are identified as the most critically affected zones. The subsidence phenomenon in some collieries is extending towards the settlements and transportation networks and needs urgent intervention. © 2021 The Author

The conformational phase diagram of charged polymers in the presence of attractive bridging crowders

Using extensive molecular dynamics simulations, we obtain the conformational phase diagram of a charged polymer in the presence of oppositely charged counterions and neutral attractive crowders for monovalent, divalent and trivalent counterion valencies. We demonstrate that the charged polymer can exist in three phases: (1) an extended phase for low charge densities and weak polymer-crowder attractive interactions ($CE$), (2) a collapsed phase for high charge densities and weak polymer-crowder attractive interactions, primarily driven by counterion condensation ($CCI$), and (3) a collapsed phase for strong polymer-crowder attractive interactions, irrespective of the charge density, driven by crowders acting as bridges or crosslinks ($CCB$). Importantly, the simulations reveal that the interaction with crowders can induce collapse, despite the presence of strong repulsive electrostatic interactions, and can replace condensed counterions to facilitate a direct transition from the $CCI$ and $CE$ phases to the $CCB$ phase.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

Pharmacological evaluation of Jatropha curcas L. extract for Anti-diarrhoeal Activity

The present study provides the pharmacological evaluation of stem bark extract of Jatropha curcas L. for anti-diarrhoeal activity in rats. We made an attempt to study the effect of stem bark extract of Jatropha curcas L. on diarrhoeal disease. The different activities studied were castor oil-induced diarrhoea, magnesium sulphate induced diarrhoea and charcoal meal transit test. The result of the study reflected that methanol extract of the stem bark (100, 300 mg/kg) decreased total no. of faeces, wet faeces and distance travelled by charcoal plug and showed the anti-diarrhoeal activity. Jatropha curcas L. extract demonstrates the anti-diarrhoeal activity in rats

Study on Magnetic Materials for Removal of Water Pollutants

Water is a primary element for all living things, and we need water for each and every day-to-day activity related to agricultural, industrial, and domestic cares and, thus, its quality influences all aspects of human life including energy, food, health, and economy. Safe drinking water is our primary need to protect our life and thus developing efficient and affordable techniques for water treatment to access potable water to the humanity. Water pollution is one of the severe environmental and health problems worldwide. Pollutants in water can be of organic, inorganic, heavy metals, microbial, and radioactive species, which may be in different forms viz. suspended, dissolved, or dispersed materials. The water quality is mainly affected by industrial discharges, agricultural activities, mismanagement of hazardous materials, etc. Nowadays, nanotechnology offers the possibility of an efficient removal of water pollutants including metals, organic dyes, bacteria, parasites, etc. Magnetic nanomaterials like iron oxide (Fe3O4) are very promising materials used in water decontamination particularly for heavy metals and dyestuffs because of their ease of separation through external magnet, high surface area, unique morphology as well as their high stability. These materials can be used as adsorbent, photocatalyst, and coagulating agents for water remediation based on their composite materials or surface functionalities

A clinical study to evaluate the efficacy of Patoladi Kwath (SU. CH.) with or without Rasnadi Pradeh (CH. SU.) in cases of Vatarakta (W.S.R. to Gouty Arthritis)

In Ayurveda, health means the state of Doshasamya, Agnisamya, Dhatusamya and Samanya Malkriya as well as wellness of Atmendriya and Mana1, which according to Acharya Charak is necessary to achieve Dharma, Artha, Kama & Moksha2, the ultimate aim of life. But it has become quite difficult due to the various health obstacles experienced by men during his routine life. The disease Vatarakta is one of them and the number of Vatarakta patient are increasing day by day. The status of Vatarakta is often compared with Gouty Arthritis in the allied sciences. As far as the treatment of Vatarakta/Gouty Arthritis is concerned various research works conducted from time to time, which had shown encouraging result, but still there are many Ayurvedic medicine whose effect has to be established in the management of Vatarakta/Gouty Arthritis based on latest scientific parameters. Acharya Charak has advocated the use of different Ghrit Yog, Tail Yog, Lepa, Pradeha, etc for external application in different types of Vatarakta for relieving pain, swelling, stiffness, burning, itching, etc. So, for this research work we selected Patoladi Kwath from Susrut Chikitsa Sthana 5 and Rasnadi Pradeh from Charak Sutra Sthana 3 to evaluate their efficacy in the management of Vatarakta (w.s.r. to Gouty Arthritis). For this research work 56 diagnosed patient of Vatarakta having age of 21 to 60 years were registered and sequentially randomized into two parallel groups. Leaving 6 dropout (3 from each group), 25 patients of group A were treated with 40 ml Patoladi kwath 2 times a day after meal for 90 days and 25 patients of group B were treated with 40 ml Patoladi kwath 2 times a day after meal with Rasnadi Praddeh for local application over affected joint in the evening for 90 days. The result of the treatment was accessed based on the improvement in terms of symptomatic relief and improvement in terms of Lab investigation i.e, decrease in Serum Uric Acid level and ESR

On Performance of Integrated Satellite HAPS Ground Communication: Aerial IRS Node vs Terrestrial IRS Node

With a motive of ubiquitous connectivity over the globe with enhanced spectral efficiency, intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) integrated satellite-terrestrial communications is a topic of research interest in an infrastructure-deficient remote terrains. In line with this vision, this paper entails the performance analysis of satellite-terrestrial networks leveraging both aerial and terrestrial IRS nodes, with the support of high altitude platforms over diverse fading channels including shadowed Rician, Rician, and Nakagami-$m$ fading channels. The merits of IRS in enhancing spectral efficiency is analyzed through closed-form expressions of outage probability and ergodic rate. Further, the average symbol error rate analysis for the higher-order quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) schemes such as hexagonal QAM, rectangular QAM, cross QAM, and square QAM is performed. Practical constraints like antenna gains, path loss, and link fading are considered to characterize the satellite terrestrial links. Finally, a comparison between the high-altitude platforms based IRS node and terrestrial IRS nodes is performed and various insights are drawn under various fading scenarios and path loss conditions. This paper contribute towards understanding and potential implementation of IRS-integrated satellite-terrestrial networks for efficient and reliable communication