Global Income Inequality and Savings: A Data Science Perspective

A society or country with income equally distributed among its people is truly a fiction! The phenomena of socioeconomic inequalities have been plaguing mankind from times immemorial. We are interested in gaining an insight about the co-evolution of the countries in the inequality space, from a data science perspective. For this purpose, we use the time series data for Gini indices of different countries, and construct the equal-time cross-correlation matrix. We then use this to construct a similarity matrix and generate a map with the countries as different points generated through a multi-dimensional scaling technique. We also produce a similar map of different countries using the time series data for Gross Domestic Savings (% of GDP). We also pose a different, yet significant, question: Can higher savings moderate the income inequality? In this paper, we have tried to address this question through another data science technique - linear regression, to seek an empirical linkage between the income inequality and savings, mainly for relatively small or closed economies. This question was inspired from an existing theoretical model proposed by Chakraborti-Chakrabarti (2000), based on the principle of kinetic theory of gases. We tested our model empirically using Gini index and Gross Domestic Savings, and observed that the model holds reasonably true for many economies of the world.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. IEEE format. Accepted for publication in 5th IEEE DSAA 2018 conference at Torino, Ital

Development and Application of a Performance and Operational Feasibility Guide to Facilitate Adoption of Soil Moisture Sensors

Soil moisture sensors can be effective and promising decision-making tools for diverse applications and audiences, including agricultural managers, irrigation practitioners, and researchers. Nevertheless, there exists immense adoption potential in the United States, with only 1.2 in 10 farms nationally using soil moisture sensors to decide when to irrigate. This number is much lower in the global scale. Increased adoption is likely hindered by lack of scientific support in need assessment, selection, suitability and use of these sensors. Here, through extensive field research, we address the operational feasibility of soil moisture sensors, an aspect which has been overlooked in the past, and integrate it with their performance accuracy, in order to develop a quantitative framework to guide users in the selection of best-suited sensors for varying applications. These evaluations were conducted for nine commercially available sensors under silt loam and loamy sand soils in irrigated cropland and rainfed grassland for two different installation orientations [sensing component parallel (horizontal) and perpendicular (vertical) to the ground surface] typically used. All the sensors were assessed for their aptness in terms of cost, ease of operation, convenience of telemetry, and performance accuracy. Best sensors under each soil condition, sensor orientation, and user applications (research versus agricultural production) were identified. The step-by-step guide presented here will serve as an unprecedented and holistic adoption-assisting resource and can be extended to other sensors as well

Evaluation of vegetal cover loss and its impact on surface temperature in Manipur valley using remote sensing and GIS technology, India

This study assesses forest cover change (1989–2016) in the Manipur valley using Landsat imageries and examines the quantum change in land surface temperature within the study area. Vegetation abundance is one of the most influential factors in controlling Land surface temperature. Vegetation change, NDVI and LST maps of four different dates are generated using Landsat TM images for 1989, 2002, 2009 and Landsat 8 OLI for 2016. Limited ground truth verification and field visits were conducted. The study reveals that the forests area decreased at an average annual rate of 330 ha year-1, amounting to a rate of loss of 8.6 % year-1 whereas the built-up area increases by 4 fold and the surface temperature simultaneously increases spatially over the study periods. The initial findings have shown that there is significant increase in the built-up areas, the conversion of forest cover into residential and commercial areas resulted in higher LST in impervious areas. Dense forest and water bodies comparatively observe low temperature than the built-up land. The study evaluates the relationship between the land surface temperature and vegetation cover loss, using Normalized vegetation index (NDVI) to indicate vegetation abundance. A strong negative correlation results between LST and NDVI, where the cooling effect of green areas can be observe. The results indicate a greater loss of the natural ecosystem to infrastructural development at the expense of forest class

Nanotechnology based approaches to fight against COVID 19 infection

Nanotechnology, the study of nanoparticles, is emerging as a leading pharmaceutical technique. It is used in various fields of drug delivery, bioimaging, biomedical diagnosis, tissue engineering, production of formulation, medical devices and many others, thereby playing a key role in future pharmaceutical and pharmacotherapy production. The ability to modify molecules and supramolecular frameworks for the development of devices or substances with altered functions or features is the most significant benefit of this technology. Nanoscience provides a solution to the spread of COVID-19 infection by aiding in its detection, including surface antiviral coatings, protection of facemasks, increased personal protection services, airborne filtration and therapeutic administration. Addressing the numerous clinical and wellbeing issues that have arisen as a result of the global dissemination of coronavirus infection. This study explores in depth the different uses of this technology in combating the pandemic situation of COVID-19 with an insight into the creation of a chemically engineered nanodevice that prevents its proliferation in the host cells. Low medication loading capability, low loading performance, and poor ability to monitor the delivery of sizes are the only problems with existing approaches. The use of nanotechnology, such as nanopatterning, could allow high loading efficiency and highly homogeneous particle sizes to generate nano / micro particles

Decoding X-ray observations from centres of galaxy clusters using MCMC

We correct for the use of electron densities instead of total gas density in the pressure fits which were used to derive the local free-fall times (t$_{\rm ff}$) in the original paper

UNUSAUAL PRESENTATION OF SUBMANDIBULAR DUCT AND GLAND CALCUI: CASE REPORT

Sialolithiasis is one of the most common pathologies of the submandibular gland; sialoliths account for about 80 percent of all salivary duct calculi.The majority of sialolith occurs in the submandibular gland or its duct and is common cause of acute and chronic infection. Salivary stones larger than 15 mm are classified as giant sialoliths. They are uncommon in the practice of otolaryngology, and their management has always been a therapeutic challenge. This report presents the two unusual and rare cases of large sialolith of the submandibular duct as well as gland measuring 70x11mm and 54x25mm respectively.

Supernumerary Nipples, Congenital Scoliosis, Spina Bifida, Diastematomyelia, and Crossed Renal Ectopia in a child

Introduction: Supernumerary nipples are common anomalies which may be associated with several systemic disorders, particularly urinary tract abnormalities.   Case report: Here we report a case of a 4½ year old male presenting to the pediatric out patient clinic with fever for three days and recurrent sinopulmonary infections. The child had supernumerary nipples over the right side with deformed thoracic cage, congenital scoliosis, diastematomyelia, crossed renal ectopia, and spina bifida. All the conditions present together did not match any syndrome reported till date.   Conclusion: This was a rare syndrome and did not match fully with any known syndromes till date. This case warranted further investigation for its definite diagnosis but we do not have resources to that extent