Public distribution system reforms and consumption in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh's public distribution system reforms have been lauded as a model for the National Food Security Act, and as one that other states can emulate. Previous research has shown that PDS rice consumption increased in Chhattisgarh following reforms by the Raman Singh government, which began in 2004. However, one-third of PDS rice consumption growth in Chhattisgarh took place before 2004. This finding suggests that the pre-2004 reforms to fair price shop ownership and state procurement by the Ajit Jogi government contributed to PDS consumption growth. Our findings suggest that sustained reforms, when coupled with political and social will, can improve PDS access, and that improvements may not be substantial or sustained in the absence of these factors

Food price subsidies and nutrition: evidence from state reforms to India's public distribution system

We investigate whether food price subsidies affect household nutrition using a dramatic expansion of the availability of subsidized rice in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh in the early 2000's. Households in Chhattisgarh improved their nutritional intake relative to households in districts bordering the state as the availability of subsidized rice expanded. This increase is driven by households most likely to be eligible for rice subsidies, and we do not find evidence that households least likely to be eligible changed their diet. These results differ from recent studies suggesting that food subsidies may have little eff ect on nutrition

Tribological studies on Aluminium alloys

Aluminium alloys have extensive application in industries. The range of physical properties that can be imparted to them is remarkable. Addition of Silicon to Aluminium helps to increase their strength and wear resistance. Al-Si alloys are extensivelyused in industrial applications due to better tribological properties. In the present work,an attempt has been made to study the tribological properties of three Aluminium as-cast alloy samples i.e Al-7wt%Si, Al-10wt%Si and Al-14wt%Si. Wear tests were conducted using a pin-on-disc type wear testing machine(DUCOM wear and friction monitor) after metallographic examination followed by hardness measurement.The operational parameters that were varied were percentage Silicon content of the alloy, normal load,sliding velocity, sliding distance and lubrication. The wear was higher at increased velocity at increased normal load. Wear was found to be increasing with decreasing Silicon content. SEM characterisation was done. Interestingly, wear under lubricated condition was higher. The interaction of Silicon platelets at the Al-Si boundary might have been the possible reason

Re-emergent Tongue Tremor in Neuroleptic Induced Parkinsonism

Background: A re-emergent tremor is suggested to be specific to Parkinson’s disease and although a tongue tremor has been reported in levosulpiride-induced parkinsonism (LIP), re-emergence has never been reported. Case Report: A 59-year-old female presented with a 3-month history of bradykinesia, 2-week history of right-leg tremor, and 10-day history of lip and tongue tremor. A review of the medication revealed a 15-month history of levosulpiride consumption. On examination, asymmetric bradykinesia, rigidity, rest tremor of the right leg, and re-emergent tongue tremor were observed. The parkinsonism subsided after levosulpiride was stopped. Discussion: This is the first report of re-emergent tongue tremor in LIP

Fault Detection and Classification using Wavelet and ANN in DFIG and TCSC Connected Transmission Line

This paper presents fault detection and classification using Wavelet and ANN based methods in a DFIG-based series compensated system. The state-of-the art methods include Wavelet transform, Fourier transform, and Wavelet-neuro fuzzy methods-based system for fault detection and classification. However, the accuracy of these state-of-the-art methods diminishes during variable conditions such as changes in wind speed, high impedance faults, and the changes in the series compensation level. Specifically, in Wavelet transform based methods, the threshold values need to be adapted based on the variable field conditions. To solve this problem, this paper has proposed a Wavelet-ANN based fault detection method where Wavelet is used as an identifier and ANN is used as a classifier for detecting various fault cases. This methodology is also effective under SSR condition. The proposed methodology is evaluated on various fault and non-fault cases generated on an IEEE first benchmark model under varying compensation levels from 20% to 55%, impedance faults, and wind velocity from 6m/sec to 10m/sec using MATLAB/Simulink, OPALRT(OP4510) manufactured real-time digital simulator environment, Arduino board I/O ports communicating with external PC in which ANN model dumped, using Arduino support package of MATLAB. The preliminary results are compared with the state-of-the-art fault detection method, where the proposed method shows robust performance under varying field conditions

Fast Orthostatic Tremor in Parkinson’s Disease: Case Report and Comprehensive Review of Literature

Background: Orthostatic tremor (OT) is a rare symmetric tremor disorder occasionally observed in association with other movement disorders. Case report: We report the presence of a fast OT in a case of Parkinson’s disease (PD), and provide a comprehensive review of the literature. Discussion: A fast OT presenting as unsteadiness may be a presenting symptom of PD. This symptom may be nonresponsive to levodopa, and benzodiazepines should be prescribed to adequately control the OT and reduce disability

ERK1/2 signaling induces skeletal muscle slow fiber-type switching and reduces muscular dystrophy disease severity

© 2019 American Society for Clinical Investigation. MAPK signaling consists of an array of successively acting kinases. ERK1 and -2 (ERK1/2) are major components of the greater MAPK cascade that transduce growth factor signaling at the cell membrane. Here, we investigated ERK1/2 signaling in skeletal muscle homeostasis and disease. Using mouse genetics, we observed that the muscle-specifc expression of a constitutively active MEK1 mutant promotes greater ERK1/2 signaling that mediates fber-type switching to a slow, oxidative phenotype with type I myosin heavy chain expression. Using a conditional and temporally regulated Cre strategy, as well as Mapk1 (ERK2) and Mapk3 (ERK1) genetically targeted mice, MEK1-ERK2 signaling was shown to underlie this fast-to-slow fber-type switching in adult skeletal muscle as well as during development. Physiologic assessment of these activated MEK1-ERK1/2 mice showed enhanced metabolic activity and oxygen consumption with greater muscle fatigue resistance. In addition, induction of MEK1-ERK1/2 signaling increased dystrophin and utrophin protein expression in a mouse model of limb-girdle muscle dystrophy and protected myofbers from damage. In summary, sustained MEK1-ERK1/2 activity in skeletal muscle produces a fast-to-slow fber-type switch that protects from muscular dystrophy, suggesting a therapeutic approach to enhance the metabolic effectiveness of muscle and protect from dystrophic disease