Conformal solids and holography

We argue that a $SO(d)$ magnetic monopole in an asymptotically AdS space-time is dual to a $d$-dimensional strongly coupled system in a solid state. In light of this, it would be remiss of us not to dub such a field configuration $solidon$. In the presence of mixed boundary conditions, a solidon spontaneously breaks translations (among many other symmetries) and gives rise to Goldstone excitations on the boundary$-$the phonons of the solid. We derive the quadratic action for the boundary phonons in the probe limit and show that, when the mixed boundary conditions preserve conformal symmetry, the longitudinal and transverse sound speeds are related to each other as expected from effective field theory arguments. We then include backreaction and calculate the free energy of the solidon for a particular choice of mixed boundary conditions, corresponding to a relevant multi-trace deformation of the boundary theory. We find such free energy to be lower than that of thermal AdS. This suggests that our solidon undergoes a solid-to-liquid first order phase transition by melting into a Schwarzschild-AdS black hole as the temperature is raised.Comment: 31 pages; v2: incorrect calculation in sec. 4 has been deleted; main results unchange

Pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV individuals: Preliminary report on clinical features and response to treatment

Objectives: To study the clinical, radiological and immunological profile of pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV infected patients and assess the response to short-course chemotherapy regimens. Methods: Seventy eight patients (68 males and 10 females) with HIV infection and having symptoms suggestive of tuberculosis attending the Government Hospital for Thoracic Medicine, Tambaram or the Tuberculosis Research Centre, Chennai were studied. The diagnosis of tuberculosis was based on clinical evaluation, bacteriological examination including sputum smear and culture and chest skiagram. HIV diagnosis was based on two tests (rapid/ELISA), detecting different antigens. CD4+ T cell counts were done on all patients initially and at the end of treatment. Blood tests and skiagrams were repeated at 2 months and at the end of treatment. All the patients were treated with standard (RNTCP) short course regimens. Patients were given all the doses under supervision during the initial intensive phase and through community DOTS providers in the continuation phase. Results: Sixty five patients had culture confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis, of whom 54 had smear positive disease, initially. The radiological manifestations were varied, with 11 subjects having miliary tuberculosis, 54 with non-homogeneous opacities and 10 with cavitation. The mean CD4 cell count at intake was 192 ± 172 cells/cumm. Patients showed good initial response to treatment with significant weight gain. At the end of 2 months of treatment, 91% of patients had sputum cultures negative for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, the CD4 % fell significantly by the sixth month. The study is being continued to assess the long-term response to SCC of patients with HIV and tuberculosis. Conclusions: Tuberculosis has a varied clinical presentation in patients with HIV infection. The spectrum of radiographic features ranges from normal to a miliary pattern. Inspite of clinical and bacteriological improvement during treatment, immunologic deterioration may continue

Effect of Aerobic Training Program to Reduce Stress and Anxiety Among Persons with Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

Introduction: To determine the effect of aerobic training programs on reducing stress and anxiety among people with alcohol withdrawal syndrome Objectives: To identify stress and anxiety among alcohol withdrawal patients by using the DASS scale; To find out the effectiveness of conventional therapy among alcohol withdrawal patients in the control group; To administer an effective aerobic training program among alcohol withdrawal patients in the experimental group; To find out and correlate whether this aerobic training protocol is effective for stress and anxiety relief among alcohol withdrawal patients. Methods: A total of thirty (30) populations were selected according to the inclusion criteria. The alcohol withdrawal persons with stress and anxiety were measured by the DASS-21 scale. The samples were divided into fifteen (15) samples in the experimental group and (15) fifteen samples in the control group. The intervention that is given to the sample is mild to severe levels of stress and anxiety. The pre-test and post-test were collected from both the control and experimental groups. The experimental group receives aerobic training exercise whereas the control group does not receive aerobic training exercise. Results: The results showed that the comparison of pre and post-test mean DASS 21 of the experimental group was highly statistically significant, as compared to the control group because of the effect of aerobic training programs to reduce stress and anxiety among persons with alcohol withdrawal syndrome Since the p-value of 0.001 is lesser than 0.05. The DASS 21 measure scores of the pre and post-test of the control group were significantly lower than that of the experimental group after the implementation of an aerobic training program. Conclusions: The current study concludes that there was a significant improvement in the experimental group than the control group after the aerobic training program. Thus, this study proves that aerobic training programs can be used as an effective intervention to reduce stress and anxiety by using the DASS 21 scale for persons with alcohol withdrawal syndrome

Event Centric Modeling Approach in Colocation Pattern Snalysis from Spatial Data

Spatial co-location patterns are the subsets of Boolean spatial features whose instances are often located in close geographic proximity. Co-location rules can be identified by spatial statistics or data mining approaches. In data mining method, Association rule-based approaches can be used which are further divided into transaction-based approaches and distance-based approaches. Transaction-based approaches focus on defining transactions over space so that an Apriori algorithm can be used. The natural notion of transactions is absent in spatial data sets which are embedded in continuous geographic space. A new distance -based approach is developed to mine co-location patterns from spatial data by using the concept of proximity neighborhood. A new interest measure, a participation index, is used for spatial co-location patterns as it possesses an anti-monotone property. An algorithm to discover co-location patterns are designed which generates candidate locations and their table instances. Finally the co-location rules are generated to identify the patterns.Comment: 9 page

Effect of Auditory based Play Therapy on Auditory Avoidance Behavior Among Children with Asd

Introduction: Autism is a set of heterogeneous neurodevelopment conditions, characterized by early-onset difficulties in social communication and unusually restricted, repetitive behavior and interests. The worldwide population prevalence is about 1%. Autism affects more male than female individuals, and co-morbidity is common (>70% have concurrent conditions). Individuals with autism have atypical cognitive profiles, such as impaired social cognition and social perception, executive dysfunction, and atypical perceptual and information processing. These profiles are underpinned by atypical neural development at the systems level. Genetics has a key role in the etiology of autism, in conjunction with developmentally early environmental factors. Large-effect is mutations and small-effect common variants contribute to risk (Meng-Chuan Lai et al. Lancet. 2014). Auditory defensiveness is characterized by an extreme sensitivity to sound. The child’s nervous system may interpret sounds as too loud, or the pitch may be intolerable. To deal with the discomfort, the child may act out, try and avoid or minimize the auditory input, hyper-focus on something else, or escape. Objectives: To select the children with auditory avoidance behavior among children with ASD with help of short sensory profile. To find out the effect of conventional occupational therapy in control group. To find out the effect of auditory based play therapy on auditory avoidance behavior among children with ASD in experimental group. To compare the effect between auditory based play therapy and conventional occupational therapy among control group and experimental group. Methods: 30 ASD children with auditory avoidance behavior were selected for the study based on the assessment. The assessment tool (short sensory profile) was used as pre and post test score. 15 children were given auditory based play therapy that was in experimental group and 15 children were given conventional occupational therapy that was in control group. Post test were taken after 12 weeks of intervention. The results were obtained by comparing the pre test and post test scores. Results: The results showed that the comparison of pre and post-test mean short sensory profile scores of the experimental group were highly statistically significant, as compared to the control group because of the effect of auditory based play therapy ot reduce auditory avoidance  behavior. Since the p value of 0.001 is lesser than 0.05,.The short sensory profile measure scores of the pre and post test of the control group were significantly lower that was that of the experimental group after the implementation of auditory based play therapy on auditory avoidance behavior   Conclusions: The current study concludes that there was a significant improvement in the experimental group than the control group after the auditory based play therapy. Thus, this study proves that auditory based play therapy can be used as an effective intervention to reduce auditory avoidance behavior by using short sensory profile (SSP) for children with ASD

Broadband Passive Sonar Signal Simulation in Shallow Ocean

The broadband plane wave model is valid only in the far-field of a point source under free-field propagating conditions. However the acoustics in ocean is characterized by multi-modal acoustic propagation due to its top-bottom limited boundary conditions. The effect of multi-modal field is to alter the source spectrum while the effect of dispersion is to modify the pulse shape. Moreover the use of a plane wave beamformer in a multi-modal field leads to a bias in the bearing estimates. These effects are highly dependant on the environment parameters and have important ramifications for target localization and classification in an ocean waveguide. We propose a more realistic simulator which essentially models these effects and therefore serves to provide test signals for first hand verification of signal processing algorithms to be developed for such scenarios. This model is to be understood as a better model than the naïve plane wave model which is entirely oblivious of even the gross features such as wave propagation in an oceanic waveguide. The channel parameter so estimated from the present simulation can be convolved with the radiated noise spectra of the source to generate the passive sonar signal.Defence Science Journal, 2011, 61(4), pp.370-376, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.61.8

DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-COST ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM THROUGH SELECTIVE INHIBITION SINTERING (SIS) PROCESS AND EVALUATION OF MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FABRICATED PARTS

Additive manufacturing (AM) is widely being used in today’s contemporary industry; however, products fabricated by the existing AM techniques are costly due to the high machine cost and low production rate. Therefore, the focus of this work is to design and fabricate a cost-effective and novel powder based selective inhibition sintering (SIS) system. Various subsystems of the machine such as the infrared heater assembly, inhibition deposition mechanism, build and feed tank assemblies, powder deposition, and the compaction system have been indigenously designed and fabricated. An electronic control system is also established through integrating sensors, linear and rotary actuators, belt and pulley mechanism, and temperature feedback control unit. The customized SIS system is developed by integrating the assembly of all the subsystems, and the electronic modules with an open-source platform to generate the necessary motion characteristics. Besides, an open source RepRap user interface firmware has been used to control the machine. Thermo-structural finite element analysis has been used to study the sintering behaviour of powder material. Inhibitor material selection and preparation have been carried out by performing an experimental investigation on the inhibition effects of various materials. The machine has been tested through fabricating parts from HDPE polymer powder. Finally, the performance of the produced parts has been evaluated by conducting an experimental investigation. The results of the investigation indicated that the fabricated parts have attained sufficient mechanical strength and, hence, the developed SIS system can be utilized to manufacture functional parts. ABSTRAK: Industri pembuatan bahan tambahan (AM) banyak digunakan dalam industri kontemporari semasa; walau bagaimanapun, produk yang terhasil daripada teknik sedia ada AM adalah mahal disebabkan harga mesin yang mahal dan kadar penghasilan yang rendah. Oleh itu, tujuan kajian ini adalah bagi mereka cipta serbuk baharu dengan harga berpatutan berdasarkan sistem pensinteran rencatan pilihan (SIS). Pelbagai mesin subsistem seperti pemasangan pemanas inframerah, mekanisme pemendapan rencatan, binaan dan pemasangan tangki suapan, deposisi serbuk, dan sistem pemadatan telah direka cipta secara alami dan dipasang siap. Sistem kawalan elektronik juga diadakan melalui integrasi sensor, lelurus dan penggerak putaran, jaluran dan mekanisme takal dan suhu unit kawalan suap balik. Sistem SIS yang dibuat mengikut pesanan ini dihasilkan dengan mengintegrasi pemasangan kesemua subsistem, dan modul elektronik melalui platfom sumber terbuka bagi menghasilkan ciri-ciri pergerakan bersesuaian. Selain itu, sumber terbuka RepRap perisian tegar antara muka telah digunakan bagi mengawal mesin. Analisis unsur terhingga struktur-terma digunakan bagi mempelajari perihal pensinteran bahan serbuk. Pilihan bahan perencat dan persediaan telah dijalankan dengan menjalankan siasatan eksperimen pada kesan perencat pelbagai bahan. Mesin diuji melalui pemasangan bahagian daripada HDPE serbuk polimer. Akhirnya, bahagian yang terhasil diuji melalui ujian eksperimen. Hasil kajian menunjukkan pemasangan bahagian telah mencapai kekuatan mekanikal mencukupi, dengan itu sistem SIS yang dibina boleh digunakan bagi mengilang bahagian berkaitan

Genotype trait analysis to identify potential resistant types to root knot nematode in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Six F1 hybrids were tested for nematode resistance along with their parents and commercial cultivars for two seasons and the pooled mean results were analysed to explore the genetic potential of traits linked to specific genotypes. Nine quantitative, four qualitative and six physiological parameters were analyzed to identify superior hybrids through statistical models viz., analysis of variance, GE biplot and Wards clustering. The hybrids Hisar Arun×HN2 (susceptible), Arka Abha×HN2 and LE 812×HN2 (resistant) were found to be superior for yield per plant under stressed conditions. Higher plant height was observed in IIHR 2868 (86.21cm), primary branch in Arka Abha×HN2 (5.68) and shorter root length in Hisar Lalith (16 cm). Resistant hybrids exhibited earlier flowering i.e., 25 days and less fruit number. The susceptible genotypes expressed lower fruit number (17-20 fruits) on the contrary resistant hybrids had more than 20 fruits. The yield ranged between 667 g in CLN2123A to 1189 g in Hisar Arun×HN2. Under stressed conditions, the resistant hybrids Arka Abha×HN2 and LE 812×HN2 produced yields of 1169 g and 1153 g, respectively. Genotype Trait Biplot revealed that the PC1 and PC2 had contributed 70 % to the total variance and positive contributions to parents and hybrids were capped. The hybrids LE 812×HN2 and Arka Abha×HN2 can be well utilized in root knot nematode infested fields. The contribution of parents and its hybrids, associated traits and their interrelationships provide new dimension for the breeders to select trait specific parents and hybrids for crop improvement programs

Determinants of climate-smart agricultural technology adoption: A comprehensive systematic review

Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) technologies are essential in enhancing agricultural sustainability and resilience in the face of climate change. However, the successful adoption of these technologies remains a complex challenge influenced by various factors. This research aims to provide a systematic review of the factors affecting the adoption of CSA technologies and thoroughly examine academic research in this rapidly developing study area. Scientific mapping was conducted, analytical techniques were used to understand the annual scientific production countries with the highest citations and co-occurrence network analysis was also done using the key search terms of CSA adoption research. The literature on determinants of CSA adoption is synthesized in terms of theories, contexts, characteristics and methods (TCCM) framework to propose future research directions.Additionally, the study develops a conceptual framework incorporating the commonly mentioned antecedents, mediators, moderators and consequences in existing literature. Drawing upon an extensive review of peer-reviewed articles, this study categorizes factors into 3 main dimensions: Socio-Demographic and Socioeconomic factors, Farm and Land factors and Technological and Informational factors. This review of the research also reveals the impact of positive and negative aspects onCSA's adoption. In addition, this review summarizes the theoretical perspectives taken in this field of study. Furthermore, to develop this research domain, some interesting future research directions have been recommended by identifying understudied research areas