Anisotropy dissipation in brane-world inflation

We examine the behavior of an anisotropic brane-world in the presence of inflationary scalar fields. We show that, contrary to naive expectations, a large anisotropy does not adversely affect inflation. On the contrary, a large initial anisotropy introduces more damping into the scalar field equation of motion, resulting in greater inflation. The rapid decay of anisotropy in the brane-world significantly increases the class of initial conditions from which the observed universe could have originated. This generalizes a similar result in general relativity. A unique feature of Bianchi I brane-world cosmology appears to be that for scalar fields with a large kinetic term the initial expansion of the universe is quasi-isotropic. The universe grows more anisotropic during an intermediate transient regime until anisotropy finally disappears during inflationary expansion.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures; minor typo corrected in Eq. (16); matches version to appear in Phy Rev

An Approximate Method For Solving Fractional Delay Differential Equations

This paper presents an approximate method for solving a kind of fractional delay differential equations defined in terms of Caputo fractional derivatives. The approximate method is based on the application of the Bernstein’s operational matrix of fractional differentiation. First, Bernstein operational matrix of fractional differentiation is presented generalizing the idea of Bernstein’s operational matrix of derivative for integer orders, and then applied to solve the nonlinear fractional delay differential equations. The operational matrix method combined with the typical tau method reduces the fractional delay differential equation into system of nonlinear equations. Solving these nonlinear equations the desired solution is achieved. Two different cases of the fractional delay differential equations are illustrated and solved using the presented method. Numerical results and discussions demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method

Not Available

Not AvailableSkin diseases among farmers is usually under reported and it is ignored by farmers as most of them consider it as "part of their job". Skin being the most exposed organ while farming, the farmers are predisposed to skin diseases among other health hazards. Objective: This study aims at finding out the prevalence of skin disease and associated risk factors among farmers. Methodology: Multistage cluster random sampling using PPS (Probability Proportional to Size) was used to select farmers in a coastal block of Odisha. A total of 200 farmers were selected for the study. Complete dermatological examination was conducted in a well lit area. Results: The prevalence of skin diseases was found to be 63% among farmers in rural settings. The common skin diseases reported among pesticide handlers were hyperkeratosis, paronychia, fungal infections, nail dystrophy, dermatitis, melasma, freckles, PLE and others. Lower socioeconomic status, illiteracy, longer exposure to pesticides, non usage of PPE were found to be risk factors for skin diseases among farmers. Conclusion: Health education among the farmers along with appropriate PPE should be encouraged to prevent skin diseases in this group of population. An integrated approach and further research is required to find out a casual association between different risk factors and skin diseases among farmers.Not Availabl