Glimpses Of Modern India In Gita Mehta’s ‘Snakes And Ladders

Gita Mehta, in her fiction and non-fiction, has dealt with the paradox of the old and the new as a significant component of Indian culture. Scholars tend to believe that the twin factors of tradition and modernity are not antithetical to each other, as some earlier thinkers used to consider. They always co- exist, drawing regularly from each other and work together for the progression of society. Taking into consideration the observations of the scholars on the aspects of tradition, modernity, modernization and westernization, the present article is an effort to study Gita Mehta’s attempt to explore the dual strands of the Indian ritualistic past and its modern rationalistic present, their interaction and their impact on the Indian culture. For this study, Mehta’s non-fiction Snakes and Ladders: Glimpses of Modern India is being taken into consideration

A method for the reconstruction of unknown non-monotonic growth functions in the chemostat

We propose an adaptive control law that allows one to identify unstable steady states of the open-loop system in the single-species chemostat model without the knowledge of the growth function. We then show how one can use this control law to trace out (reconstruct) the whole graph of the growth function. The process of tracing out the graph can be performed either continuously or step-wise. We present and compare both approaches. Even in the case of two species in competition, which is not directly accessible with our approach due to lack of controllability, feedback control improves identifiability of the non-dominant growth rate.Comment: expansion of ideas from proceedings paper (17 pages, 8 figures), proceedings paper is version v

Zirconia nanotubes

Hollow nanotubes of zirconia as well as of yttria-stabilized zirconia are successfully prepared by first coating the carbon nanotubes appropriately with the oxidic material and then burning off the carbon of the template

CADASTRAL LEVEL SOIL FERTILITY MAPPING IN KHAIRWADGI-1 MICRO-WATERSHED OF LINGASUGUR TALUK, RAICHUR DISTRICT

Soil fertility parameter viz., pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), available macro and micro nutrients were determined in surface soil samples taken at cadastral grid intervals from all mapping units of the Khairwadgi-1 micro- watershed of Lingasugur Taluk and Raichur district under The World Bank assisted KWDP II, Sujala-III project on “support for improved programme Integration in rainfed areas” and having total area of 487.59 ha and lies between 76°22’ - 16°30’ North latitudes and 76°24’- 16°10’ East longitudes and average rainfall of this region is 680 mm. Based on soil analysis, fertility maps were prepared at scale (1:8000) using GIS . The surface soil samples have Soil reaction from neutral (pH 6.5-7.3) to moderately alkaline (pH 7.8-8.4) and electric conductivity was non saline. Organic Carbon content was ranges from low (<0.5%) to medium (0.5-0.75%), available Nitrogen was low in entire micro watershed, Phosphorous and potassium content was medium and available sulphur content also low in entire micro-watershed. The available Iron was deficient (<4.5ppm) to sufficient (>4.5ppm), Manganese content was sufficient, Copper was sufficient (>0.2ppm) and available zinc content was deficient in all the parts of micro-watershed

Advanced Dual-Optimized Neural Network Model with Integrated CSO and OBD for Precise Classification and Prediction of North Indian Light Classical Music Genres

Introduction: categorizing North Indian Light Classical Music genres presents a considerable challenge due to their intricate nature. This research introduces a Dual Optimized Neural Network (DONN) model designed to achieve elevated levels of accuracy and efficiency, thereby enhancing the understanding of these music genres. Creating a network of artificial neural with accurate classification and prediction of given genres is the primary objective. This is achieved through the integration of Cat Swarm Optimization (CSO) for enhanced adaptability and Optimal Brain Damage (OBD) for effective network pruning. Methods: the DONN model employs CSO to investigate the solution space effectively while using OBD to minimize unnecessary network connections, thereby improving both computational efficiency and generalization capabilities. The methodology involves modelling the network using a dataset of North Indian Light Classical Music, optimizing the search process with CSO, and applying OBD for network pruning. Results: the DONN model demonstrated a remarkable 98 % accuracy in classifying eleven distinct genres, outperforming previous methods, and highlighting superior classification accuracy and resilience. Compared to earlier research work and Swarm Optimization like Bat and Ant Colony, and Particle Swarm Algorithm, this model shows higher accuracy and efficiency. The fusion of CSO and OBD significantly enhances performance, improving generalization and reducing computational complexity. Conclusions: overall, the DONN model, optimized with CSO and OBD, significantly advances the classification and prediction of North Indian Light Classical Music genres. This research offers a robust and reliable tool for music classification, contributing to a deeper understanding and appreciation of these genres.

Nitrogen-containing carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes containing small amounts of nitrogen are produced by the pyrolysis of aza-aromatics such as pyridine, methylpyrimidine and triazine over cobalt nanoparticles in an Ar atmosphere; good yields of such nanotubes are obtained by carrying out the pyrolysis of a mixture of pyridine and Fe(CO)5 in flowing Ar+H2

Catheter ablation vs. thoracoscopic surgical ablation in long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation: CASA-AF randomized controlled trial.

AIMS: Long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (LSPAF) is challenging to treat with suboptimal catheter ablation (CA) outcomes. Thoracoscopic surgical ablation (SA) has shown promising efficacy in atrial fibrillation (AF). This multicentre randomized controlled trial tested whether SA was superior to CA as the first interventional strategy in de novo LSPAF. METHODS AND RESULTS: We randomized 120 LSPAF patients to SA or CA. All patients underwent predetermined lesion sets and implantable loop recorder insertion. Primary outcome was single procedure freedom from AF/atrial tachycardia (AT) ≥30 s without anti-arrhythmic drugs at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included clinical success (≥75% reduction in AF/AT burden); procedure-related serious adverse events; changes in patients' symptoms and quality-of-life scores; and cost-effectiveness. At 12 months, freedom from AF/AT was recorded in 26% (14/54) of patients in SA vs. 28% (17/60) in the CA group [OR 1.128, 95% CI (0.46-2.83), P = 0.83]. Reduction in AF/AT burden ≥75% was recorded in 67% (36/54) vs. 77% (46/60) [OR 1.13, 95% CI (0.67-4.08), P = 0.3] in SA and CA groups, respectively. Procedure-related serious adverse events within 30 days of intervention were reported in 15% (8/55) of patients in SA vs. 10% (6/60) in CA, P = 0.46. One death was reported after SA. Improvements in AF symptoms were greater following CA. Over 12 months, SA was more expensive and provided fewer quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) compared with CA (0.78 vs. 0.85, P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Single procedure thoracoscopic SA is not superior to CA in treating LSPAF. Catheter ablation provided greater improvements in symptoms and accrued significantly more QALYs during follow-up than SA. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN18250790 and ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02755688

Two-site recognition of Staphylococcus aureus peptidoglycan by lysostaphin SH3b

Lysostaphin is a bacteriolytic enzyme targeting peptidoglycan, the essential component of the bacterial cell envelope. It displays a very potent and specific activity toward staphylococci, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Lysostaphin causes rapid cell lysis and disrupts biofilms, and is therefore a therapeutic agent of choice to eradicate staphylococcal infections. The C-terminal SH3b domain of lysostaphin recognizes peptidoglycans containing a pentaglycine crossbridge and has been proposed to drive the preferential digestion of staphylococcal cell walls. Here we elucidate the molecular mechanism underpinning recognition of staphylococcal peptidoglycan by the lysostaphin SH3b domain. We show that the pentaglycine crossbridge and the peptide stem are recognized by two independent binding sites located on opposite sides of the SH3b domain, thereby inducing a clustering of SH3b domains. We propose that this unusual binding mechanism allows synergistic and structurally dynamic recognition of S. aureus peptidoglycan and underpins the potent bacteriolytic activity of this enzyme

Facile Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on WO3Nanorods

Tungsten trioxide nanorods have been generated by the thermal decomposition (450 °C) of tetrabutylammonium decatungstate. The synthesized tungsten trioxide (WO3) nanorods have been characterized by XRD, Raman, SEM, TEM, HRTEM and cyclic voltammetry. High resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the synthesized WO3nanorods are crystalline in nature with monoclinic structure. The electrochemical experiments showed that they constitute a better electrocatalytic system for hydrogen evolution reaction in acid medium compared to their bulk counterpart