Ferromagnetic ground state of the robust charge-ordered manganite Pr(0.5)Ca(0.5MnO(3)obtained by minimal Al-substitution

We show that minimal disturbance to the robust charge ordered Pr(0.5)Ca(0.5)MnO(3) by 2.5% Al substitution on Mn-site drives the system towards ferromagnetic ground state. The history-dependent coexisting phases observed are explained as an outcome of a hindered first order transition with glass like arrest of kinetics resulting in irreversibility. Consistent with a simple phase diagram having ferromagnetic ground state, it is experimentally shown that these coexisting phases are far from the equilibrium.Comment: This version is Accepted in Physical Review

Consumers\u27 Perceptions of Voluntary and Involuntary Deconsumption: An Exploratory Sequential Scale Development Study

This exploratory sequential mixed methods study of scale development was conducted among baby boomers in the United States to render conceptual clarity to the concepts of voluntary and involuntary deconsumption, to explore deconsumption behavior under the tenets of the attribution theory of motivation, and to examine the components, structures, uses, and measurement properties of scales of voluntary and involuntary deconsumption. It was also an attempt to reiterate the importance of the baby boomer segment(s) for marketing practitioners based on growth, economic viability, and the power of influence, and to establish a deep understanding of the deconsumption processes, which could enable marketers to devise strategies to pre-emptively avoid, pro-actively influence, and/or reactively mitigate deconsumption outcomes. The critical incident in a relationship context (CIRC) technique was used in conjunction with grounded theory approach in the qualitative phase (study 1); and survey research, principal components analysis, and Rasch analysis were used in the quantitative phase (study 2). Behavioral process theories of the experience of voluntary and involuntary deconsumption were posited; and motivations and consequences of both types of deconsumption were discussed. The differences in the experience of deconsumption based on variables such as deconsumption type (voluntary and involuntary), gender (male and female), and baby boomer type (trailing- and leading-edge) were explained as well. Subscales of voluntary deconsumption included four components, i.e., elevated state of purpose, social agency and activism, non-materialism, and acceptance of life circumstances. Subscales of involuntary deconsumption included three components, i.e., victim mentality, materialism, and non-acceptance of life circumstances. Finally, the unidimensionality, appropriate scale use, invariance, and levels of validity and reliability of all the subscales of voluntary and involuntary deconsumption were tested, and reported as acceptable and appropriate. In conclusion, the implications of the results for theory, research methodology, and practice were discussed, and recommendations for future research inquiry were made

Maternal Health Situation in India: A Case Study

Maternal Health Services are one of the basic health services to be provided by nay government health system as pregnant women are one of the most vulnerable victims of dysfunctional health system, India, in spite of rapid economic progress is still farm away from the goal of lowering maternal mortality to less than 100 per 100,000 live births. It still accounts for 25.7% maternal deaths. The maternal mortality in India varies across the states. Geographical vastness and socio-cultural diversity make implementation of health sector reforms a difficult task. The chapter analyses the trends in maternal mortality and various maternal health programs implemented over the years including the maternal health care delivery system at various levels including the recent innovative strategies. It also identifies the reasons for limited success in maternal health and suggests measures to improve the current maternal health situation. It recommends improvement in maternal death reporting, evidence based, focused, long term strategy along with effective monitoring of implementation for improving Maternal Health situation. It also stress the need for regulation of private sector and proper Public Private Partnership (PPP) policy together with a strong political will for improving Maternal Health.

Kipling's India

The aim of the thesis is to examine the sources and the extent of Kipling's knowledge of India, and the way in which he pictures it in his writings. His undoubted talent as a story-teller,in particular his ability to make his stories convincing and believable, has succeeded in imposing his picture on the world. It will be shown, however,that what he wanted to see in India was often in opposition to what in fact he saw,and that at times he preferred to ignore aspects of the truth which did not suit his own or Anglo-Indian interests. The first chapter deals with the Indian scene. Kipling travelled widely as a reporter for his paper in northern India,and has described with confidence what he saw. The second chapter deals with his attitude to the Indians and the Anglo-Indians, and how it changed by the time he left India. The third chapter deals with omissions-the things he had seen and known about but had purposely ignored in his writings. The fourth chapter deals with the influence upon him of various Indian religions and superstitions end the sources of his knowledge of them. This influence can be traced in work which is not confined to India. The last chapter deals with the sources if his Indian stories and the way in which he collected material for them.Kipling emerges as well informed,and highly skilled in his craft as a writer,but with a bias in favour of the white rulers, first exemplified in the days of his own unimportance in the simple soldier,later in the unacknowledged field-work of lesser civil servants, and finally tending to an identification with the Government itself, especially in its less liberal forms

Anomalous First-order transition in Nd<SUB>0.5</SUB>Sr<SUB>0.5</SUB>MnO<SUB>3</SUB>: an interplay between kinetic arrest and thermodynamic transitions

A detailed investigation of the first-order antiferromagnetic insulator (AFI) to ferromagnetic metal (FMM) transition in Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 is carried out by resistivity and magnetization measurements. These studies reveal several anomalous features of thermomagnetic irreversibility across the first-order transition. We show that these anomalous features cannot be explained in terms of the supercooling effect alone and the H-T diagram based on isothermal M-H or R-H measurements alone does not reflect the true nature of the first-order transition in this compound. Our investigations reveal glass-like arrest of kinetics at low temperature which plays a dominant role in the anomalous thermomagnetic irreversibility observed in this system. The interplay between kinetic arrest and supercooling is investigated by following novel paths in the H-T space. It is shown that coexisting FMM and AFI phases can be tuned in a number of ways at low temperature. These measurements also show that kinetic arrest temperature and supercooling temperature are anticorrelated, i.e. regions which are arrested at low temperature have higher supercooling temperature and vice versa