Disrupting traditional politics: the AAP’s partnerships with civil society activists

KumKum Dasgupta analyses the Aam Aadmi Party’s decision to forge alliances with development professionals and activists during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections

Organisations as complex adaptive systems : implications for the design of information systems

Today a paradigm shift in the field of organisation and management theories is no longer disputed and the need to switch from the Command-and-Control to the Leaming Organisation Paradigm (LOP) in the area of organisational theory is well understood. However, it is less well appreciated that learning organisations cannot operate effectively if supported by centralised databases and tailor-made application programs. LOP emphasises adaptability, flexibility, participation and learning. It is important to understand that the changes in organisational and management strategies will not on their own be able to produce the desired effects unless they are supported by appropriate changes in organisational culture, and by effective information systems. This research demonstrates that conventional information system strategies and development methods are no longer adequate. Information system strategies must respond to these needs of the LOP and incorporate new information systems that are capable of evolving, adapting and responding to the constantly changing business environment. The desired adaptability, flexibility and agility in information systems for LOP can be achieved by exploiting the technologies of the Internet, World Wide Web, intelligent agents and intranets. This research establishes that there is a need for synergy between organisational structures and organisational information systems. To obtain this desired synergy it is essential that new information systems be designed as an integral part of the learning organisational structure itself. Complexity theory provides a new set of metaphors and a host of concepts for the understanding of organisations as complex adaptive systems. This research introduces the principles of Complex Adaptive Systems and draws on their significance for designing the information systems needed to support the new generation of learning organisations. The search for new models of information system strategies for today's dynamic world of business points to the 'swarm models' observed in Nature

Fungal endophytes that confer tolerance to salt and dry conditions

Fungal endophytes grow symbiotically inside plants, where some strains promote plant growth and survival under particular abiotic stresses. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Var. Rutgers) seeds were inoculated with systemic (also called class 2) fungal endophytes (Alternaria spp and Trichoderma harzianum). These endophytes were isolated from plants naturally growing in salinized-soil in Saskatchewan, e.g. Little Manitou Lake shore, Radisson Lake shore, and Mosaic Belle Plaine tailings area. The effects of colonization with systemic fungal endophytes were studied on growth performance of tomato plants under NaCl and drought stress. Endophyte-colonized plants had greater fresh shoot biomass than control plants after 20 d of NaCl stress (300 and 500 mM). They also maintained greater fresh root biomass after 10 d NaCl stress (300 mM). After exposure to chronic 100 mM and 200 mM NaCl stress, there was no remarkable difference in plant biomass (both root and shoot) between endophyte-colonized plants and non-colonized control plants. Exposure to NaCl stress altered different aspects of the plants’ physiology such as photosynthetic efficiency, osmolyte adjustment, and reactive oxygen species generation. Photosynthetic efficiency was improved by endophyte colonization during chronic NaCl stress, but decreased significantly during ≥400 mM NaCl stress. Although osmolality of plants increased with the increase of NaCl salinity, there was no effect of endophyte colonization on plant osmolality. On the other hand, reactive oxygen species activity of endophyte-colonized plants was always lower in comparison to non-colonized control plants in response to NaCl stress. Endophyte-colonized plants growth performance and physiological responses were also determined under drought. Endophyte-colonized plants had significantly higher shoot biomass in comparison to non-colonized control plants after intermittent drought and continuous drought. Physiological responses of plants differed following intermittent and continuous drought stress. Photosynthetic efficiency of endophyte-colonized plants improved significantly after intermittent drought, but there was no effect of endophyte colonization on photosynthetic efficiency of plants after continuous drought. On the other hand, increased proline accumulation and decreased osmolyte concentration were observed in endophyte-colonized plants in response to drought stress. There was also indication of less reactive oxygen species in endophyte-colonized plants upon drought stress. Finally, better fluid use efficiency of endophyte-colonized plants was observed, which is correlated to drought tolerance in endophyte-colonized plants. These results suggest that our systemic fungal endophytes have the potential to improve agriculture and horticulture on salinized and dry soils which are common phenomenon in semi-arid environments

Ergonomic hazard identification of workers engaged in brick making factories

This study was done with the aim to identify the specific ergonomic risk factors in the workplace affecting the both male and female workers while doing raw brick making activities and to analyze the pain/discomfort related to it. Twenty male and twenty female workers from the raw brick making unit were randomly selected and a detailed ergonomic risk factors were analyzed with the help of NIOSH Ergonomic Hazard Identification checklist. The questions were based on the primary job responsibility of the workers. Data revealed that nearly 8 percent males and 10 percent females were in ‘usually’ category, 25 percent males and 28 percent females in ‘sometimes’ and approximately 18 percent male and 13 percent females who never performed the task were kept in the category ‘never’. It was found that all the male and female workers usually require exerting force with their hands and used the hand tools to do the task. About 8 percent males and 5 percent females were usually, 15 percent male and only 10 percent female were sometimes and 28 percent males and 35 percent female were never stood continuously for a period of more than 30 minutes. On the whole all the male and female respondents were lifting or lowering the objects between floor and waist height or shoulder height and most of the workers were becoming exposed to the vibration while performing the task and they were carrying the weight more than 50 lb. The study indicates that the majority of the activities are in the high risk category and demands immediate ergonomic intervention in the form of tool, workstation and process design

Quantification and classification of low back pain severity based on Aberdeen low back pain scale

Occupational low back pain (LBP) remains the leading safety and health challenge for many industries. The present study was focused to evaluate the physical demands of the manual material handling task in terms of back pain to assess the potential risk of injury. This investigation measures the prevalence of low back pain of rice mill workers in Rudrapur block, District Udhamsingh Nagar, Uttarakhand. Sixty workers, extensively involved in manual material handling (MMH) task (including, loading, unloading, stacking, filling carrying of rice or paddy sack etc.) were investigated for the presence of low back pain and associated personal and workplace risk factors and symptoms. The severity, intensity; frequency, duration and medication of low back pain was assessed utilizing the ‘Aberdeen Low Back Pain Scale’ developed by Ruta and Garratt (1994) on the basis of scoring in terms of light, moderately light, heavy , very heavy and extremely heavy back pain. The interpretation of scores revealed that 18.33 % respondents were falling under the category of moderately light pain (M), 66.66 % respondents were under heavy back pain (H), only 15 % were under the category of very heavy back pain (V), whereas none of the respondents were under the category of light pain (l) and extremely heavy pain (E). It was concluded that there remains an interest in developing integrated models to predict LBP among Rice mill workers using ergonomic and psychosocial factors as well as control strategies to reduce risk of injury

Encapsulation and Extended Release of Anti-Cancer Anastrozole by Stealth Nanoparticles

To improve delivery efficiency of anastrozole, we applied dendrimer-based stealth nanoparticles to encapsulate anastrozole to formulate stealth anastrozole nanoparticles. This work demonstrated that stealth nanoparticles composed of a PAMAM dendrimers core and a PEG layer could encapsulate anastrozole, hence causing improved water solubility of anastrozole. Anastrozole encapsulation depended on concentration of stealth nanoparticles and generation of dendrimer. The extended release of anastrozole was achieved. We envisioned that this highly structurally adaptable stealth nanoparticle could be further biofunctionalized to construct a targeted therapeutic delivery system for breast cancer treatment

Design of a Biochar-Based Water Filter for Metal Removal

Heavy metal contamination is a serious concern that needs to be addressed in order to prevent the severe health effect caused from its exposure through drinking water. Activated carbon is the adsorbent of existing water filters available in the market but it has some limitations in removing metal contaminants such as lead. Literatures report, biochar shows higher adsorption potential in removing lead from drinking water than that of activated carbon due to the presence of oxygen containing functional group. Biochar has lower energy demand, lower global warming potential impact, and retrieve more cost efficiently than activated carbon for metal removal. The current study presents the experiences of designing, testing, and operating a low-cost biochar water filter for removing lead from drinking water. To make a customized filter, three major steps are conceived including (i) making biochar, (ii) granulating biochar, and (iii) packing granulated biochar in a filter casing. Small-scale biochar maker is constructed by using recyclable household materials like food cans. A handcrafted or low-technology method for granulation of biochar powder have been implemented. The product will be developed simulating the process of actual faucet flow rate and mimicing the practical lead contamination condition. The filter will be highly effective (with 99.99% reduction efficiency) in providing protection from lead contamination. The filter is unique since it uses the adsorption potential of biochar and can be made at a nominal cost (\u3c $1 per unit) from locally available biomass waste and recyclable materials. This will provide significant benefits in water purification technology and metal contamination management not only for the developed world but also to the developing countries with subpar infrastructure.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/engineering_batten/1011/thumbnail.jp

Evaluation of Lead (Pb(II)) Removal Potential of Biochar in a Fixed-bed Continuous Flow Adsorption System

Background. Lead (Pb(II)) exposure from drinking water consumption is a serious concern due to its negative health effect on human physiology. A commercially available filter uses the adsorption potential of activated carbon for removing heavy metals like Pb(II). However, it has some constraints since it uses only surface area for the adsorption of these contaminants. Biochar produced via slow pyrolysis of biomass shows the presence of oxygen-containing functional groups on its surface that take part in the adsorption process, with higher removal potential compared to activated carbon. Objectives. The current study examined the adsorption kinetics and mechanisms of Pb(II) removing potential of biochar from water using a fixed-bed continuous flow adsorption system. Methods. The effect of initial Pb(II) concentration, mass of adsorbent (bed depth), and flow rate on adsorption potential were evaluated. The Adams-Bohart model, Thomas model, and Yoon-Nelson model were applied to the adsorption data. Results. The maximum removal efficiency of Pb(II) was 88.86 mg/g. The result illustrated that the Yoon-Nelson model is the best fit to analyze the adsorption phenomena of Pb(II) in a fixed-bed biochar column. Conclusions. The breakthrough data obtained from this study can be utilized to design a point of use filter that would be able to effectively remove Pb(II) from drinking water. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests

Is online training effective in retail business?

Learning is more effective when it is an active rather than a passive process. This research investigates whether online training is effective in retail business. The major perspective is to analyse the significance of online training, examine efficiency of online training to enhance the quality of learning, and develop strategy to improve learning and training. In this research, the data was collected by using secondary methods in which data is collected by someone other than the user. The discussion is illustrated by secondary research data providing a comparison to the organisation. The results from research show that eLearning provides flexible learning which allow learners to up-skill more rapidly. It is efficient to remove geographical gaps and able to provide education to all workplaces. It is concluded that the impact of online training in retail business helps to improve the efficiency of both employer and business. It also deepens understanding and promotes motivation and self-evaluation. Self-pacing in online training reduces stress and increases satisfaction. Recommendations include using interactive video in order to enhance memory and motivate. Usage of humour ensures engagement. Provision of feedback after the module helps both learner and instructor to analyse progress