Bharata’s Natyashastra-based Theatre Analysis Model: An experiment on British South Asian and contemporary Indian theatre in English

This thesis tests a newly developed model based on the Natyashastra, an Indian treatise on performing arts, and uses this for theatrical analysis in the contexts of British Asian theatre productions and contemporary Indian theatre in English. The study offers a tool that can provide an alternative model of analysis. By extending the existing analytical models, we can ask questions concerning the actors’ emotional manifestation and their mental state while acting. This thesis attempts to interpret the actors’ gestures and provides a structure to analyse them. In order to do that, this project uses the Natyashastra and rasa/bhava concepts as performance analysis tools, which might provide an alternate perspective to theatre analysis. The thesis reviews existing models of theatrical analysis and argues for an alternative model in Chapter One. It examines the analysis of theatre productions by scholars of British Asian theatre and contemporary Indian theatre in English in Chapter Two. Here, I review the ways in which scholars of British South Asian theatre have examined theatrical productions so far. Chapter Three tests the proposed model on four theatre productions, illustrating the ways in which theatre productions could be analysed, and identifies the model’s limitations and advantages. Chapter Four discusses findings in the light of the results analysed in Chapter Three; it also outlines some questions which needs further investigation. By doing so, this thesis contributes to the field of performance analysis and theatre studies by developing strong links between the manifestation of the actors’ bodymind, the directors' reception after their first reading of a play’s text, and playwrights’ initial emotions within the text, through production analysis

Three essays on the global financial crisis of 2007-2008

JEL Classification Codes: G01, E5The present Doctoral Thesis is comprised of three empirical essays addressing the Global Financial Crisis of 2007 – 2008. The said essays analyse distinct, but interconnected issues pertaining to this fundamental research topic. In the first paper, a careful examination is conducted in order to ascertain whether the ‘Subprime’ Crisis in the U.S.A. might have been duly forecasted using publicly available data. This hypothesis is confirmed by using two distinctive methodologies applied to a set of financial indicators, which independently confirm the predictability of the said financial shock. The second paper addresses the degree of heterogeneity of banking responses in forty two countries in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. By employing a novel methodology – the Heterogeneous Regime-Switching Model (HRSM) –, representative country banking institutions worldwide are deemed to have had quite distinctive and heterogeneous responses to the onset of the global systemic event under scrutiny, and these responses may be grouped according to certain clusters. The third paper addresses the impact of the Global Financial Crisis upon the Euro Area and corresponding sovereign debt schedules. An updated academic survey is first conducted regarding the topic of the impact of excessive Member States’ sovereign debt in the wake of the systemic breakdown. The survey is followed by an empirical study using quadratic econometric specifications demonstrating that the over-accumulation of sovereign debt in the Euro Area is strongly associated with the diminishment of output growth in the latter Area, and that sound sovereign debt thresholds in key Euro Area Member States have been unwisely breached.A presente Tese Doutoral abarca três ensaios académicos empíricos que analisam a Crise Financeira Global de 2007 – 2008. Estes ensaios analisam questões científicas distintas, mas interligadas entre si, relativamente a este fundamental tópico de investigação. O primeiro ensaio investiga cuidadosamente a hipótese segundo a qual a Crise ‘Subprime’ nos E.U.A. poderia ter sido adequadamente prevista por recurso a dados publicamente disponíveis. Esta hipótese é verificada por recurso a duas metodologias alternativas, devidamente aplicadas a um conjunto de indicadores estritamente financeiros, sendo confirmada a previsibilidade do dito choque financeiro. O segundo ensaio investiga, no seguimento da Crise Financeira Global, o grau de heterogeneidade dos comportamentos de instituições financeiras em quarenta e dois países. Utilizando uma inovadora metodologia – intitulada Heterogeneous Regime-Switching Model (HRSM) –, constata-se que os distintos sistemas financeiros nacionais reagiram de forma diferenciada e heterogénea ao choque financeiro global sob estudo, sendo estas respostas passíveis de serem agrupadas em certas categorias. O terceiro ensaio investiga o impacto económico da Crise Financeira Global sobre a Zona Euro e, em particular, sobre a dinâmica da respectiva dívida soberana. Primeiramente, é elaborado um survey académico actualizado relativamente ao tópico do excessivo endividamento público e respectivo impacto sobre o produto económico, prestando-se particular atenção ao contexto do choque sistémico sob análise. Este survey académico é seguido de uma aplicação empírica envolvendo especificações econométricas quadráticas que atestam que a excessiva acumulação de dívida soberana na Zona Euro está associada a um processo de decrescimento económico da dita Zona, e que níveis óptimos associados a rácios de dívida pública em determinados Estados Membros foram imprudentemente ultrapassados

Efficacy of pulverised leaves of Annona squamosa (L.), Moringa oleifera (Lam.) and Eucalyptus globulus (Labill.) against the stored grain pest, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst.)

The pulverized leaves of Annona squamosa (L.), Moringa oleifera (Lam.) and Eucalyptus globulus (Labill.) were tested for their insecticidal and seed protective effect against the stored grain pest of wheat, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst). Different concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 2.0 g (0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 1.0 and 2.0 g) per 10.0 g wheat grains were tested against larvae and adults. When larvae were introduced to pulverized leaves of A. squamosa, M. oleifera and E. globulus separately, mortality rate increased with increase in concentrations and resulted in 100% mortality within a short period of eight, nine and ten days respectively with the highest concentration. The larvae which were introduced to these cultures did not grow well or molt to the next developmental stage. They have also shown very effective seed protection as the extent of damage produced in treated cultures were significantly reduced in comparison to control cultures. The seed protective effect ranged from 39% to 82% in A. squamosa, 34% to78% in M. oleifera and 42% to 88% in E. globulus. Considering the insecticidal and seed protective effect, these three plant powders could be employed as alternatives for chemical and synthetic pesticides at small scale level by farmers

DEVELOPMENT OF MUCOADHESIVE CARBOHYDRATE HETEROPOLYMER MICROBEADS FOR SUSTAIN RELEASE OF THEOPHYLLINE

Objective: The aim of present study was to develop and evaluate mucoadhesive microbeads for oral sustained release of an antiasthmatic agent theophylline†using natural gums such as sodium alginate and sesbania gum.Methods: The compatibility studies of drug with different polymers were investigated by using DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimeter) and FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy). Carbohydrate heteropolymer microbeads of alginate and sesbania gums were prepared by ionotropic gelation technique, where calcium chloride is used as a source of counter ions. Prepared beads were characterized for particle size, entrapment efficiency, surface morphology, swelling index, in vitro release studies and release kinetics.Results: Final optimized formulation consists of a polymer blend of alginate and sesbania gum with hydroxy propyl cellulose as release modifier. Microbeads exhibited good swelling index and high percentage of drug entrapment efficiency. The developed formulation showed a maximum drug release of 92% in 11 h using 0.1 N hydrochloric acid buffer (pH 1.2). The formulation followed Korsmeyer-Peppas and Higuchi release mechanism, releasing the drug by non-fickian diffusion. Prepared beads showed significant mucoadhesion in acidic buffer.Conclusion: The sustained release microbeads were successfully designed for oral administration of theophylline which may be used for the treatment of nocturnal asthma.Â

Seroprevalence Study of Human Brucellosis by Conventional Tests and Indigenous Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

Brucellosis is one of the most important reemerging zoonoses in many countries. Brucellosis is caused by Gram-negative coccobacillus belonging to genus Brucella. Human brucellosis often makes the diagnosis difficult. The symptoms and clinical signs most commonly reported are fever, fatigue, malaise, chills, sweats headaches, myalgia, arthralgia, and weight loss. Some cases have been presented with only joint pain, lower backache, and involuntary limb movement, burning feet, or ischemic heart attacks. The focus of this work was to develop a highly sensitive and specific indirect ELISA by using smooth lipopolysaccharide antigen of Brucella abortus 99 to detect anti-Brucella antibodies at Project Directorate on Animal Disease Monitoring and Surveillance. Serum samples collected from 652 individuals in whom fever was not the major symptom but the complaint was of joint pain, headache, lower backache, and so forth, were screened by Rose Bengal plate agglutination test (RBPT) and standard tube agglutination test (STAT). Subsequent testing of sera by indigenous indirect ELISA detected 20 samples positive (3.6% seroprevalence), and indirect ELISA was found to be more sensitive than RBPT and STAT. The seroprevalence in South Karnataka was 2.14%, and in North Karnataka it was 0.92%

Natural remedies to combat aberrant hallmark signatures including altered glycosylation in oral carcinoma

Background: Tobacco associated oral cancers remain a major concern in India with higher incidence and mortality making it an Indian-centric burning issue. To combat this dreadful disease, we investigated effects of certain natural compounds on the hallmark signatures including glycosylation transcripts levels in oral carcinoma. Methods: The tongue carcinoma cells- SAS cells were treated with tobacco compounds, natural compounds and Cisplatin. RNA was isolated from the cells and converted to cDNA. RT-qPCR was performed to evaluate expression levels of various genes. Results: The treatment of tobacco compounds resulted in similar pattern of altered makers (ST3GAL1, NEU3, FUT5, FUT6, MMP2, BCL2) as observed in tobacco habituated patients. The treatment of Curcumin resulted in down regulation of FUT8 and MMP2 which are known to have a significant association with disease progression and metastasis. Furthermore, Curcumin treatment also resulted in up regulation of the good prognostic glycosylation transcript marker i.e. FUT3 showing its protective effect against the tumor invasion and metastasis. Butein treatment resulted in the down regulation of the worst prognostic indicators i.e. FUT8 and MMP2 in a dose dependent manner. Piceatannol treatment showed better protective effects via down regulation of the markers related to the aggressive disease progression (ST3GAL2, FUT5, FUT8, MMP2, VEGFC). Conclusion: The study provides novel approach of targeting aberrant hallmark signatures including glycosylation with natural compounds which may open the possibility of promising therapeutic strategies using natural compounds alone or in combination with other conventional therapies to alleviate the present scenario of this dreadful disease in India

Plasticine - Plataforma de suporte a terapeutas e familiares de crianças com necessidades especiais

Tese de mestrado, Informática, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2019Nem todas as crianças apresentam um desenvolvimento cognitivo igual, algumas poderão apresentar um desenvolvimento atípico que por sua vez origina algumas perturbações, como é o caso do Autismo. Este tipo de condições são geralmente tratadas com apoio pedagógico e/ou terapêutico (em equipas multidisciplinares).Contudo os intervenientes associados ao acompanhamento de crianças com necessidades especiais encontram algumas dificuldades na realização das suas tarefas. Através de um estudo analisamos várias vertentes ligadas ao acompanhamento destas crianças e percebemos que os terapeutas nem sempre conseguem comunicar de forma eficaz com os outros terapeutas ou com os familiares. Nas reuniões de equipa, nem sempre é possível transmitir toda a informação que se pretende e não há muita partilha de materiais/recursos técnicos. Há também uma necessidade em integrar os familiares de forma eficaz no processo de tratamento. A realização de registos terapêuticos também não é muito eficiente, pois os terapeutas ainda fazem os seus registos em papel correndo o risco dos documentos se perderem. Neste projeto, desenvolvemos uma plataforma digital para dar suporte a terapeutas e familiares no processo de acompanhar crianças com necessidades especiais. Esta permite realizar registos terapêuticos, com diferentes níveis de privacidade, possibilitando fazer upload de conteúdos multimédia que captem momentos relevantes das sessões de terapia. Estes registos podem ser partilhados com os outros terapeutas que acompanham a criança e com os familiares responsáveis, ajudando os terapeutas a preparar as sessões de terapia e permitindo uma melhor comunicação com os familiares. Alguns materiais utilizados pelos terapeutas podem também ser partilhados com os outros especialistas da instituição, criando assim um repositório de recursos partilhados. Os terapeutas que participaram nos testes consideraram a plataforma muito útil e com potencial para ser usada no dia a dia. Destacaram algumas funcionalidades como a possibilidade de partilhar dados entre os diferentes intervenientes associados ao acompanhamento dos utentes, a possibilidade de adicionar fotografias e outros materiais e a possibilidade de partilhar recursos técnicos com os especialistas, sugeriram também outras para melhorar o trabalho realizado.Not all children have the same cognitive development; some may have an atypical development, which in turn causes some disorders, such as autism. These conditions are generally treated with pedagogical and/or therapeutic support (in multidisciplinary teams). However, those involved in following up children with special needs encounter some difficulties in performing their tasks. Through a study, we analysed several aspects related to the follow-up of these children and realized that therapists are not always able to communicate effectively with each other or with relatives. In team meetings, it is not always possible to transmit all the information they want and there is not much sharing of materials/technical resources. There is also a need to integrate family members effectively into the treatment process. Therapeutic recording is also not very efficient, as therapists still make their records on paper at the risk of losing the documents. In this project, we developed a digital platform to support therapists and family members in the process of following up children with special needs. This allows therapeutic records to be made, with different levels of privacy, allowing multimedia contents to be uploaded that capture relevant moments from the therapy sessions. These records can be shared with the other therapists who follow the child and with the responsible family members, helping the therapists to prepare the therapy sessions and allowing better communication with the family members. Some materials used by therapists can also be shared with other specialists in the institution, thus creating a repository of shared resources. The therapists who participated in the tests found the platform very useful and with potential for day-to-day use. They highlighted some features such as the possibility of sharing data between the different stakeholders associated with the follow-up of patients, the possibility of adding photographs and other materials and the possibility of sharing technical resources with the specialists, and also suggested others to improve the current work

HPV imprints in western India: The overlooked criteria for cancer profiling

Background: In India, HPV infection detection for cancer-typing has been largely evaded. Especially, data on prevalence of HPV types other than the highly prevalent HPV 16 and 18 are lacking, particularly from the western region. Thus, present study aimed to evaluate prevalence of HPV strains in three most prevailing cancers in India i.e. cervical, oral and oropharyngeal cancer. Materials & methods: DNA was isolated from tissue samples of 400 cervical cancer cases, 127 oral cancer cases and 75 oropharyngeal cancer cases and endpoint PCR was performed using degenerative primers MY 09/11, GP 5+/6+ and CP I/II. TS-PCR was conducted to detect HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, 58, 6 and 11. Results: Overall HPV infection was observed in 87% cases of cervical cancer, 12.5% of oral cancer and 26.7% of oropharyngeal cancer using degenerative primers. HPV 16 (72.5% in cervical cancer, 1.33% in oropharyngeal cancer), HPV 18 (14.8% in cervical cancer) and HPV 45 (2.3% in cervical cancer) were observed to be comparatively higher than the other HPV types. All the HPV types except HPV 11 were observed to be present in the studied cohort. HPV was also associated with younger age, well differentiated tumors with no lymph node metastasis. Conclusion: Prominent prevalence of HPV infection was noted in studied population. The study represents need of awareness for HPV screening at clinical set-ups which will lead to upgraded profiling of cancers and better disease management. Moreover, current study provides supportive data for initiation of HPV vaccination programs in India