Cleanliness Beyond Cities, Celebrities And Tokenisms

Ubiquity of garbage and the proclivity to freely litter is one of few cultural phenomena that unite the length and breadth of India. Therefore the enthusiasm that the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ or Clean India Campaign has generated is noteworthy. It has cut across the political axes, media and civil society and aims to clean up the garbage and litter from the streets and other public spaces. Notwithstanding the cynics and critics’ questioning the feasibility of the campaign beyond the token gestures of celebrities and leaders wielding the broom, the buzz in the print and social media continues. However, the inordinate focus of the campaign on cities and towns seems to suggest that garbage doesn’t occur elsewhere. What about our forests? Given the perception that they are ‘pristine’ and ‘wilderness’ areas, are they automatically free from garbage and litter

Globally optimum cropping pattern as a part of policy solution towards achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs)

Globally optimum cropping pattern as a part of policy solution towards achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs

Biodiversity damage: once dense forests in Kumaon now resemble cremation grounds

Uttarakhand seems to be moving from one natural tragedy to the next – the devastating floods of 2013, to the current forest fires. Though rainfall in the first week of May largely doused the fires except in a few areas, official statistics say that the fires destroyed 1,900 hectares of forests

Interbank contagion at work: evidence from a natural experiment

This paper tests financial contagion due to interbank linkages. For identification we exploit an idiosyncratic, sudden shock caused by a large-bank failure in conjunction with detailed data on interbank exposures. First, we find robust evidence that higher interbank exposure to the failed bank leads to large deposit withdrawals. Second, the magnitude of contagion is higher for banks with weaker fundamentals. Third, interbank linkages among surviving banks further propagate the shock. Finally, we find results suggesting that there are real economic effects. These results suggest that interbank linkages act as an important channel of contagion and hold important policy implications. JEL Classification: G21, G28, E58Bank runs, banking crisis, Contagion, Deposit Insurance, Interbank Market, liquidity dry-ups, macro-prudential analysis, systemic risk, wholesale depositors

A VALIDATED LC-MS/MS METHOD FOR PHARMACOKINETIC STUDY OF CANAGLIFLOZIN IN HEALTHY RABBITS

Objective: A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrophotometric (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for quantification of canagliflozin in rabbit plasma employing Liquid-Liquid extraction technique.Methods: Chromatographic separation was achieved on Inertsil ODS 5 µm C18, 50×4.60 mm with 30:70 v/v of 0.01M ammonium acetate: methanol as an isocratic mobile phase with a flow rate of 0.8 ml/min. The developed LC-MS method was applied to assess Cmax, t1/2, AUC0-t, and AUC0-inf of canagliflozin tablet after oral administration in healthy rabbits.Results: The developed method was linear over working range of 5ng/ml to 600ng/ml with a coefficient of correction (r2) = 0.999. The % recovery of the method was found to be 102.05%. The mean intraday and inter-day precision of the method was found to be 0.77 to 3.72%. The Canagliflozin showed Tmax of 1.58±0.2 and mean Cmax, AUC0®t andAUC0®a for Test formulation is 272±13.24, 2571.20±251and 2777.43±276 respectively.Conclusion: The developed method can be applied for routine analysis for quality control and the established LLOQ is sufficiently low to conduct a pharmacokinetic study with any marketing formulation of Canagliflozin in healthy rabbits

Selection of parameters for advanced machining processes using firefly algorithm

AbstractAdvanced machining processes (AMPs) are widely utilized in industries for machining complex geometries and intricate profiles. In this paper, two significant processes such as electric discharge machining (EDM) and abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) are considered to get the optimum values of responses for the given range of process parameters. The firefly algorithm (FA) is attempted to the considered processes to obtain optimized parameters and the results obtained are compared with the results given by previous researchers. The variation of process parameters with respect to the responses are plotted to confirm the optimum results obtained using FA. In EDM process, the performance parameter “MRR” is increased from 159.70gm/min to 181.6723gm/min, while “Ra” and “REWR” are decreased from 6.21μm to 3.6767μm and 6.21% to 6.324×10−5% respectively. In AWJM process, the value of the “kerf” and “Ra” are decreased from 0.858mm to 0.3704mm and 5.41mm to 4.443mm respectively. In both the processes, the obtained results show a significant improvement in the responses

A UPLC-MS/MS METHOD DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION FOR THE ESTIMATION OF SOFOSBUVIR FROM HUMAN PLASMA

Objective: The present work aimed to develop a simple, rapid, specific and precise ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrophotometric (LC–MS/MS) validated method for quantification of sofosbuvir and internal standard (ISTD) Sofosbuvir-d3 in human plasma.Methods: Samples prepared by employing liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) using 2.5 ml of ethyl acetate. Chromatographic separation was achieved on Gemini 5µ C18, 50 x 4.6 mm column using a mixture of 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water to methanol at a ratio of 30:70 v/v as the mobile phase. The flow rate was 0.50 ml/min. The LC eluent was split, and approximately 0.1 ml/min was introduced into Tandem mass spectrometer using turbo Ion Spray interface at 325 °C. Quantitation was performed by transitions of 428.35/279.26 (m/z) for sofosbuvir and 431.38/282.37 (m/z) for sofosbuvir-d3.Results: The concentrations of ten working standards showed linearity between 4.063 to 8000.010ng/ml (r2 ≥ 0.9985). Chromatographic separation was achieved within 2 min. The average extraction recoveries of three quality control concentrations were 75.36% for sofosbuvir and were within the acceptance limits. The coefficient of variation was ≤15% for intra-and inter-batch assays. The %CV of ruggedness ranges 0.35% and 3.09%. The % stability of short term and long term stock solution stability studies was found to be 97.25% and 98.81% respectively.Conclusion: The results obtained for specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, ruggedness and stability studies were within the acceptance limits. Thus the validated economical method was applied for pharmacokinetic studies of sofosbuvir

Conservation amidst political unrest: the case of Manas National Park,India

Across the world there exists a large overlap of biodiversity hotspots with areas experiencing high levels of sociopolitical and ethnic conflicts, making the impacts of such activities a critical factor for long-term conservation of biodiversity in these regions1. India is no exception with many forested areas, including protected areas, experiencing conflicts of varying intensity owing to numerous complicated issues ranging from cultural identity to socio-political and environmental security. Such conflicts not only act as a major impediment to scientific monitoring, protection and management in the biodiversity-rich areas, but also lead to abuse of wildlife and natural areas by conflict parties and opportunistic elements in the absence of adequate protection and monitoring forces. Therefore, in the collective interest of biodiversity conservation, a greater challenge perhaps lies in devising new ways and methods to conserve landscapes in strifetorn areas, where emotions are often charged up and conservation of biodiversity does not figure among the immediate priorities

AN IMPROVED LC-MS/MS METHOD DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION FOR THE DETERMINATION OF TRANDOLAPRIL AND VERAPAMIL IN HUMAN PLASMA

Objective: A simple, sensitive and rapid LC-MS/MS technique was developed for the quantitation of trandolapril (TDL) and verapamil (VPL) in a biological matrix and validated. Methods: Sample preparation processed by SPE (Solid Phase extraction) on phenomenex cartridge using Ledipasvir as an internal standard. Two drugs were eluted on waters symmetry-RP18 (5µ, 150 mm×4.0 mm) column with the mobile composition of 10 mmol ammonium formate and ACN(acetonitrile) in the ratio of 70:30 %V/V. Detection and quantitation were processed by electrospray ionization in positive ionization mode. Results: The quantification approach was validated in 5-1500 ng/ml linear concentration range for TDL and 1-2000 ng/ml for VPL. The intraday and inter-day precision and accuracy were found to be 0.58% to 5.69% and 93% to 104% for two drugs. The average recoveries for TDL and VPL were found to be 92.9% and 93.5% respectively. Conclusion: The developed work was validated and can be applicable to the routine analysis of TDL and VPL simultaneously in a biological matrix

Screening in New Credit Markets: Can Individual Lenders Infer Borrower Creditworthiness in Peer-to-Peer Lending?

The current banking crisis highlights the challenges faced in the traditional lending model, particularly in terms of screening smaller borrowers. The recent growth in online peer-to-peer lending marketplaces offers opportunities to examine different lending models that rely on screening by multiple peers. This paper evaluates the screening ability of lenders in such peer-to-peer markets. Our methodology takes advantage of the fact that lenders do not observe a borrower's true credit score but only see an aggregate credit category. We find that lenders are able to use available information to infer a third of the variation in creditworthiness that is captured by a borrower's credit score. This inference is economically significant and allows lenders to lend at a 140-basis-points lower rate for borrowers with (unobserved to lenders) better credit scores within a credit category. While lenders infer the most from standard banking "hard" information, they also use non-standard (subjective) information. Our methodology shows, without needing to code subjective information that lenders learn even from such "softer" information, particularly when it is likely to provide credible signals regarding borrower creditworthiness. Our findings highlight the screening ability of peer-to-peer markets and suggest that these emerging markets may provide a viable complement to traditional lending markets, especially for smaller borrowers.