Biological assessment of water pollution: A study of the river Kapila

An attempt has been made to assess the feasibility of application of biological data to evaluate and monitor water pollution of the river Kapila, near Nanjangud, Karnataka. Two pollution index factors, one at the generic level and another at species level of the Algae, have been computed. Significant correlation between biological and some physico-chemical factors has been established. The theme that algae serve as tools of pollution and that their index scores at the species level is a more reliable parameter for the evaluation of water quality has been established. © 1984, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved

Anti-diabetic drugs prescription pattern by postgraduate students among type 2 diabetes patients attending a tertiary care hospital

Background: The pattern of prescribing anti-diabetic drugs varies among different medical professionals due to the availability of numerous anti-diabetic drugs and demographic and have increasingly favoured for tighter control of glycemic index. Even with the available multiple therapies many patients are not in control. The reasons may be multi factorial and the one important factor is the drugs prescribed.Methods: This cross-sectional study involving 140 type 2 adult diabetes patients was done to assess the pattern of anti-diabetic drugs prescribed by the postgraduate students in a tertiary health care center using a specially designed questionnaire.Results: Oral medications were predominantly prescribed. Metformin and Glimepiride combination was prescribed in majority. Among insulin, combination of short and intermediate acting insulin was prescribed more and the number of insulin prescription increased with the duration of diabetes. Interestingly no newer classes of drugs are prescribed.Conclusions: There is a rational prescription pattern of antidiabetic drugs but newer antidiabetic drugs are not prescribed and life style changes are not discussed with the patients. There is a need to include life style changes as a part of prescription to all the patients.

Differential scanning calorimetry and wide-angle X-ray scattering studies of bread staling

Wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) was used to follow the development of crystal size and strain during the staling of bread containing different additives. In this it was observed that one can classify the good anti-staling additives as gelatin, propylene glycol, maltodextrin and anti-staling enzyme corresponding to the order of increasing crystal size for a particular Bragg reflection in all the samples and correlate using DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) studies of all the bread compositions containing different additives. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

SARAS 2: A Spectral Radiometer for probing Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization through detection of the global 21 cm signal

The global 21 cm signal from Cosmic Dawn (CD) and the Epoch of Reionization (EoR), at redshifts $z \sim 6-30$, probes the nature of first sources of radiation as well as physics of the Inter-Galactic Medium (IGM). Given that the signal is predicted to be extremely weak, of wide fractional bandwidth, and lies in a frequency range that is dominated by Galactic and Extragalactic foregrounds as well as Radio Frequency Interference, detection of the signal is a daunting task. Critical to the experiment is the manner in which the sky signal is represented through the instrument. It is of utmost importance to design a system whose spectral bandpass and additive spurious can be well calibrated and any calibration residual does not mimic the signal. SARAS is an ongoing experiment that aims to detect the global 21 cm signal. Here we present the design philosophy of the SARAS 2 system and discuss its performance and limitations based on laboratory and field measurements. Laboratory tests with the antenna replaced with a variety of terminations, including a network model for the antenna impedance, show that the gain calibration and modeling of internal additives leave no residuals with Fourier amplitudes exceeding 2~mK, or residual Gaussians of 25 MHz width with amplitudes exceeding 2~mK. Thus, even accounting for reflection and radiation efficiency losses in the antenna, the SARAS~2 system is capable of detection of complex 21-cm profiles at the level predicted by currently favoured models for thermal baryon evolution.Comment: 44 pages, 17 figures; comments and suggestions are welcom

Based Crime Mapping and Analysis A Case Study of Mudugiri Town Police Station Jurisdiction

Madhugiri, also known as Maddagiri is a Taluk headquarter in Tumkur districtin the Indian state of Karnataka, geographically located at 13.66°N and 77.21°E, with anaverage elevation of 787 m (2582 ft), located at ~43 km north of Tumkur town and 107km north-west of Bangalore city. The present study aimed to analyze the crime scenarioin Madugiri town police station jurisdiction by using Hot Spot and Buffer Analysis.Based on Madugiri police station records, the crime data were classified under variousgroup of offence such as Murder, Robbery, Cheating, House theft, Motor-vehicles theft,Missing, Mobile theft, Pick pocketing, Burglary, Chain snatching, Quarreling andHouse breaking (day), House breaking (Night), etc. The distribution of crime incidenceshowed that KHB colony, Madugiri old and new bus-stand around Madugiri fort,Gowribidanur road, Koratgere road, Sira road and Madugiri market areas were affectedby notorious activities. Crime maps generated were able to identify and differentiate hotspot of crime and their displacement, illustrate the relationship between the mappedcrimes patterns and socio-economic characteristics of Madugiri town. It was concludedthat in Madugiri police jurisdiction, crime rates were not so high, but still occurrences ofcrimes like house theft, material theft, etc., were of a great concern. The crime patternschange over space and time in an area and hence the data so generated will be ofimmense help to Indian Police Department to utilize GIS tools and techniques instead oftraditional pin and dot maps to determine spatio-temporal crime pattern as well as tocapture crime series and forecast future crime occurrences. The public can also beeducated with the visual information obtained through GIS analysis to clarify crimeconcerns and enlist community action and finally to arrive at reducing overall crimedisorders.Key words: GIS, GPS, Hot spot analysis, Buffer analysis, Crime analysis