Digital Library Architecture

Digital library is a very complex system. A digital library can have multi-tier architecture. Different digital libraries follow different architectures and models. This paper discusses the basic concepts and principles involved in its design and architecture. It further presents an evaluative account of various digital library architectures

Inculcating active citizenship through stories

Children across the world love stories. Whether they are narrated by their grandmothers or by voiceover artists in animated cartoons or movies, stories remain the windows to a world unseen by children. They connect people across time and space. A period film on the life of Akbar definitely makes Social Science classes more interesting because it transforms Akbar from being a historical figure engaged in wars and battles to a human being who children, as well as adults, can relate to at an emotional level. It becomes important, however, to examine how the stories can be utilised effectively to inculcate life skills necessary for active citizenship

Quintessence and effective RN de Sitter brane geometries

We revisit an effective space-time torsion curvature in a second order formalism, underlying the non-linear $U(1)$ gauge dynamics, of a two form on a $D_4$-brane in type IIA superstring theory. The formalism incorporates the significance of a global NS two form into the theory via its perturbative coupling to a dynamical two form. In particular, we explore the non-linear gauge dynamics on a $D_4$-brane in presence of a non-trivial background metric. The fact that the global modes of a NS two form in an open string theory sources the background metric on a $D_4$-brane may hint at the existence of an anti $D_4$-brane in the formalism. An effective de Sitter universe is shown to emerge on a vacuum created pair of $(D{\bar D})_3$-brane by a local two form at the past horizon with a Big Bang. We obtain a number of 4D de Sitter quantum black holes, including a Reissner-Nordstrom vacuum, with and without a propagating torsion. The quantum black holes are shown to be free from curvature singularity at $r\rightarrow 0$. In a low energy limit, the nonperturbative correction sourced by a torison may seen to be insignificant. The quantum black hole undergoes an expansion in the limit and presumably identifies with the Einstein vacuum. Interestingly our analysis reveals a plausible quintessence (axion) on an anti $D_3$-brane which may source the dark energy in a $D_3$-brane universe. Arguably a brane universe moves away from its anti-brane due to the conjectured repulsive gravity underlying the quintessence. It leads to a growth in extra fifth dimension between a brane and an anti-brane which may provide a clue behind an accelerating universe observed in cosmology.Comment: 29 page

Monitoring the status of Human-wildlife conflict and its impact on community based conservation in Bandhavgarh tiger reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India

The Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is one of the famous tiger reserve in India. The human wildlife conflict is on rise for few years. A total of 194 human casualties and 1960 livestock depredation were reported between 2001 to 2011. Out of 194 casualties, 6.7% were lethal which caused death and 93.3% were injuries. Out of these maximum 37.57% (68) were reported by Jackal (Canis aureus) followed by 27.64% (50) of Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), 20.99% (38) by Wild boar (Sus scrofa), 8.84% (16) by Tiger (Panthera tigris), 3.31% (6) by Leopard (Panthera Pardus) and 1.65% (3) by other carnivores. Out of 194 casualties 71.13% were male and 28.87% were female. The livestock killings were reported to be 1960 out of which maximum 81.78% (1603) were by tiger followed by 17.60% (345) by leopard and rest 0.62% (12) by other carnivores. The mean livestock killing was 178.182±42.82 (SE) per year. Discussions and surveys were made with affected peoples to know the views about conflict and its alleviation by using Close ended questionnaire. Total 180 individuals were surveyed.  Out of these 151 (83.89 %) respondent felt that wildlife should be conserved while 29 (16.11 %) felt there is no need for conservation. Adequate compensation, habitat management practices, livestock and crop insurance scheme and bio fencing around the affected villages and conservation awareness could be the way to mitigate existing conflict.&nbsp

Regional Inequality in India: A State Level Analysis

This paper tries to understand the nature and extent of inequality across states of India with special reference to Bihar. This study is based on secondary data collected from various sources including, NSSO, NFHS and other government/non-government documents and reports. The study analyse inequalities under four themes; livelihood, education, health and gender. The analysis finds that, however some positive changes can be seen in terms of enrolment in primary education, but still productivity of education is lowest in Bihar. State government has invested money in attracting students to government schools, but because of low per capita expenditure on education, access to facilities like computer in schools is the lowest in Bihar. In case of health expenditure people of Bihar has to bear significantly higher per capita out of pocket expenditure. Though, Bihar has achieved higher growth in the last couple of years but, still the level of female empowerment is very low in the state. Thus, this study finds that Bihar is still at lowest position in all four themes across states of India and, people of this state is facing grim challenges related to livelihood, quality education and health

Knowledge, attitude, and practice study among healthcare workers, during COVID-19 pandemic in an aspiring district of Uttar Pradesh

Background: COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) declared pandemic by WHO on 30th January 2020. Till date there is no antiviral treatment or vaccine has been developed for COVID-19. Primary preventive measures include regular hand washing, social distancing and respiratory etiquettes are only proven methods till date.Methods: A type of questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted among the healthcare workers (HCWs) of Maharaja Suheldev Autonomous State Medical College, Bahraich.Results: In this predominantly uneducated and socially backward area, majority of participants had knowledge about COVID-19 precautionary measures and most of them are confident of winning over the disease; 77.5% were confident of successfully controlling the disease, yet maximum healthcare workers took seriously the precautionary measures.Conclusions: Good COVID-19 knowledge is associated with optimistic attitudes and appropriate practices towards COVID-19, suggesting that health education programs aimed at improving COVID-19 knowledge are helpful for encouraging an optimistic attitude and maintaining safe practices

Bridging yield gap of winter maize using improved agronomic management practices

Appropriate combinations of inputs determine the productivity of crops. A field experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of different combinations of inputs on the yield of winter maize at National Maize Research Program (NMRP), Rampur, Chitwan. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with four replications comprising of six treatments (T1= Hybrid (H) + recommended doses of NPK (RD) + irrigation (I) + high density (HD) (83333 plant ha-1) + improved weed management practice (IWMP), T2=Open pollinated variety (OPV)+RD+I+HD+IWMP, T3=OPV+ farmer’s doses of NPK (FD)+I+HD+IWMP, T4= OPV+FD+rainfed (R)+HD+IWMP, T5=OPV+ FD+ R+low  density (LD) (55555 plant ha-1) + IWMP, T6=OPV+FD+R+LD+ farmer’s weed management practice (FWMP). The research result revealed significant variation on the grain yield among the different treatments. The highest grain yield (5357 kg ha-1) was obtained when hybrid maize was grown with recommended dose of fertilizer, higher density, irrigation and improved weed management practices. This treatment was followed by replacement of OPV in the above treatment (4410.77 kg ha-1). The decline in yield due to replacement of OPV from hybrid was 17.67 percent. The percent yield decline from full Package of practices (T1) were 23.01, 47.81, 36.66 and 35.95 when input combinations OPV+FD+I+ HD+IWMP, OPV + FD+R+HD+IWMP, OPV+FD+R+LD+IWMP and OPV+FD+R+LD+ FWMP respectively were used..The contrast for grain yield between hybrid vs. OPV, RD vs. FD and Irrigated vs. Rainfed were significant. Therefore, present investigation showed hybrid maize, recommended dose of fertilizer and irrigation were the most important inputs for improving maize productivity in winter season in Chitwan like climatic condition

Scenario of mycobacterial and fungal infection in HIV seropositive patients and their co-relation with CD4 count in Western Uttar Pradesh

Background: HIV infection is defined by sero-conversion and the detection of HIV-specific antibodies. Emergence and pandemic spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is due to the exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A decrease in CD4 count is at least partially responsible for the profound immunodeficiency that leads to various OIs in HIV- infected persons. When the CD4 count falls below 200cells/µL, there is irreversible breakdown of immune defence mechanism and patient become prey to a variety of human opportunistic pathogens.HIV positive patients must receive infections screening and access medical care before onset of advanced immunosuppression.Methods: In this study, total 230 HIV positive patients were selected during 18 months of study period. CD4 counts were estimated of all HIV positive cases. Positive HIV patients were investigated further to detect mycobacterial and fungal opportunistic infections. They were subjected to routine microscopy such as KOH mount, India ink, Gram’s staining for suspected fungal infection and ZN staining method for suspected mycobacterial infection. For fungal infection, samples were inoculated in two Sabouraud Dextrose Agar followed by different biochemical test and LPCB mount; for mycobacterial infection, samples were cultured on LJ medium followed by biochemical test.Results: In our study, maximum patients presented with complain of fever (90.43%), weight loss (73.91%) followed by loss of appetite (35.65%), breathlessness (33.91%), coughing (28.69%) and chest pain (22.17%). Overall prevalence of OIs (Mycobacterium and fungal) was 93 (40.43%) among 230 HIV positive patients. Among OIs 63(27.39%) patients were detected as having Mycobacterial infection and 41(17.82%) as had opportunistic fungal infections. Maximum OIs were related to patients with CD4 count 0-200 cells/µL followed by 201-400 Cells/µL. Most common OIs, among mycobacterial and opportunistic fungal infection were M. tuberculosis (50 isolates) and Candida spp. (26 isolates) respectively.Conclusions: This study provides important information about the risks of OIs at lower CD4 counts among HIV positive patients. These results highlight the need for early screening of HIV infected patients for opportunistic infections. There is also need to increase awareness in healthcare providers in order to improve decisions regarding prophylaxis for prevention of OIs and appropriate therapeutic intervention

Kloniranje, izražajnost i pročišćavanje bjelančevine 28 iz vanjske membrane Salmonelle enterice serovar Typhimurium za razvoj podjediničnog cjepiva - kratko priopćenje

Salmonella Typhimurium, a major gastrointestinal pathogen, poses a global threat to human health. Public health problems associated with this organism have increased to the extent that it has become a major issue. The bacterium is becoming resistant to the commonly available antibiotics, and vaccines also suffer from limitations such as short lived immunity. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of an effective vaccine. The outer membrane proteins (Omps) of Salmonella have proven their capability to be developed as a vaccine candidate for prevention of salmonellosis. With this aim, in the present study the Omp28 gene of Salmonella Typhimurium was amplified, cloned and expressed under an IPTG induction system. The recombinant protein thus produced was purified and tested for its antigenicity. The antigenicity of the purified protein was confirmed by western blotting with antiserum raised in rabbit against Omps of S. Typhimurium. The Omp28 gene was amplified as a 330bp product. The expressed protein was found to be of approximately 28kDa and it produced a strong signal in western blot analysis. This study concluded that Omp28 may be proven to be an effective candidate for the development of r-DNA vaccine against salmonellosis.Salmonella Typhimurium glavni je gastrointestinalni patogen koji je globalna prijetnja ljudskome zdravlju. Javnozdravstveni problemi povezani s ovim organizmom povećali su se do te mjere da je postao glavno pitanje na koje se traže brojni odgovori. Bakterija postaje otporna na najčešće dostupne antibiotike, a ograničavajuća uporaba cjepiva povezana je s kratkotrajnim imunitetom. Zbog toga postoji hitna potreba za razvoj učinkovitog cjepiva. Vanjske bjelančevine membrane (engl. Outer membrane proteins, Omps) salmonele dokazale su svoju sposobnost kandidata za razvoj cjepiva koje bi se koristilo u prevenciji salmoneloze. S tim je ciljem u ovom radu, pod uvjetima IPTG indukcijskog sustava, provedeno umnažanje i kloniranje te provjerena izražajnost gena za Omp28 iz Salmonelle Typhimurium. Tako dobivena rekombinantna bjelančevina pročišćena je i testirana s obzirom na antigenu sposobnost. Antigena sposobnost pročišćene bjelančevine potvrđena je uporabom Western blot metode s antiserumom protiv Omps-a iz S. Typhimurium dobivenim od zeca. Genom Omp28 umnožen je kao 330bp produkt. Bjelančevina je imala približno 28 kDa i Western blot analizom pokazala je izraženost jakog signala. Ovim je istraživanjem zaključeno da Omp28 može poslužiti kao učinkoviti kandidat za razvoj r-DNA cjepiva protiv salmoneloze

Uncovering the diversity of pathogenic invaders: insights into protozoa, fungi, and worm infections

Post COVID-19, there has been renewed interest in understanding the pathogens challenging the human health and evaluate our preparedness towards dealing with health challenges in future. In this endeavour, it is not only the bacteria and the viruses, but a greater community of pathogens. Such pathogenic microorganisms, include protozoa, fungi and worms, which establish a distinct variety of disease-causing agents with the capability to impact the host’s well-being as well as the equity of ecosystem. This review summarises the peculiar characteristics and pathogenic mechanisms utilized by these disease-causing organisms. It features their role in causing infection in the concerned host and emphasizes the need for further research. Understanding the layers of pathogenesis encompassing the concerned infectious microbes will help expand targeted inferences with relation to the cause of the infection. This would strengthen and augment benefit to the host’s health along with the maintenance of ecosystem network, exhibiting host-pathogen interaction cycle. This would be key to discover the layers underlying differential disease severities in response to similar/same pathogen infection