Impact of urban growth on water bodies: The case of Hyderabad

Being located in the Deccan Plateau region, Hyderabad city has been dotted with a number of lakes, which formed very important component of its physical environment. With the increasing control of the State and private agencies over the years, and rapid urban sprawl of the city, many of the water bodies have been totally lost. Many have been shrunk in size while the waters of several lakes got polluted with the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents. This study makes an attempt to analyse the transformation of common property resources (the lakes) into private property. The adverse consequences of the loss of water bodies are felt in the steep decline in water table and the resultant water crisis in several areas. Further, the severity of flooding that was witnessed in August 2000 was also due to a reduction in the carrying capacity of lakes and water channels. The State has not bothered to either implement the existing laws or pay attention to the suggestions of environmental organisations in this regard. The paper argues that in this process of loss of water bodies in Hyderabad, the State is as much responsible as private agencies in terms of the policies that it has formulated and the lack of ensuring legislation and implementation.

Impact of Urban Growth on Water Bodies - The Case of Hyderabad

Being located in the Deccan Plateau region, Hyderabad city has been dotted with a number of lakes, which formed very important component of its physical environment. With the increasing control of the State and private agencies over the years, and rapid urban sprawl of the city, many of the water bodies have been totally lost. Many have been shrunk in size while the waters of several lakes got polluted with the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents. This study makes an attempt to analyse the transformation of common property resources (the lakes) into private property. The adverse consequences of the loss of water bodies are felt in the steep decline in water table and the resultant water crisis in several areas. Further, the severity of flooding that was witnessed in August 2000 was also due to a reduction in the carrying capacity of lakes and water channels. The State has not bothered to either implement the existing laws or pay attention to the suggestions of environmental organisations in this regard. The paper argues that in this process of loss of water bodies in Hyderabad, the State is as much responsible as private agencies in terms of the policies that it has formulated and the lack of ensuring legislation and implementation.Urban Growth, Water Bodies, Hyderabad

Low-stress mechanical properties and fabric hand of cotton and polylactic acid fibre blended knitted fabrics

Low-stress mechanical behavior of cotton-rich/polylacticacid blended fabrics has been investigated and the results arecompared with cotton and polylactic acid fibre fabrics. Thepolylactic acid fibres are mixed with cotton fibres in two differentproportions, namely 20% and 35% and spun into 14.76 tex (40sNe) yarn. The yarns are then knit into single jersey structurefollowed by chemical pretreatments and relaxation. The relaxedfabrics are tested for low-stress mechanical properties usingKawabata evaluation system for fabrics (KES-F) and the handvalues are calculated. The results show that the addition of PLAfibres to cotton enhances the smoothness and softness of theblended fabrics. The total hand value of the fabrics rangesbetween 3.2 and 3.5

Measurement of 92Mo(n,α)89Zr and 97Mo(n,p)97Nb reactions at the neutron energy 13.52 MeV with covariance analysis

218-222The cross sections have been estimated for the Nuclear reactions 92Mo(n,α)89Zr and 97Mo(n,p)97Nb produced in Purnima neutron generator at neutron energy of 13.52±0.0045 MeV using activation analysis and off-line γ -ray spectrometric techniques. 27Al(n,α)24Na has been used as a monitor reaction. The covariance analysis for these cross sections has been carried out by taking into consideration of partial uncertainties of different attributes and correlations between the attributes. The cross section values of the present study have been compared with EXFOR, ENDF data of various libraries and theoretical data of TALYS-1.8 code

93Nb(n,2n) 92mNb, 93Nb(n,α) 90mY and 92Mo(n,p) 92mNb Reactions at 14.78 MeV and Covariance Analysis

The cross sections for the 93Nb(n,2n)92mNb, 93Nb(n,α)90mY and the 92Mo(n,p)92mNb reactions have been measured with respect to the 197Au(n,2n)196Au monitor reaction at the incident neutron energy of 14.78 ± 0.19 MeV by employing methods of activation and off-line γ-ray spectrometry. The covariance analysis was carried out by taking into consideration of partial uncertainties in different attributes and correlation among the attributes. The present data have been compared with the literature data available in EXFOR, evaluated data of different libraries and theoretical values based on TALYS-1.8 code

Simultaneous expression of regulatory genes associated with specific drought‐adaptive traits improves drought adaptation in peanut

Adaptation of crops to drought-prone rain-fed conditions can be achieved by improving plant traits such as efficient water mining (by superior root characters) and cellular-level tolerance mechanisms. Pyramiding these drought-adaptive traits by simultaneous expression of genes regulating drought-adaptive mechanisms has phenomenal relevance in improving stress tolerance. In this study, we provide evidence that peanut transgenic plants expressing Alfalfa zinc finger 1 (Alfin1), a root growth-associated transcription factor gene, Pennisetum glaucum heat-shock factor (PgHSF4) and Pea DNA helicase (PDH45) involved in protein turnover and protection showed improved tolerance, higher growth and productivity under drought stress conditions. Stable integration of all the transgenes was noticed in transgenic lines. The transgenic lines showed higher root growth, cooler crop canopy air temperature difference (less CCATD) and higher relative water content (RWC) under drought stress. Low proline levels in transgenic lines substantiate the maintenance of higher water status. The survival and recovery of transgenic lines was significantly higher under gradual moisture stress conditions with higher biomass. Transgenic lines also showed significant tolerance to ethrel-induced senescence and methyl viologen-induced oxidative stress. Several stress-responsive genes such as heat-shock proteins (HSPs), RING box protein-1 (RBX1), Aldose reductase, late embryogenesis abundant-5 (LEA5) and proline-rich protein-2 (PRP2), a gene involved in root growth, showed enhanced expression under stress in transgenic lines. Thus, the simultaneous expression of regulatory genes contributing for drought-adaptive traits can improve crop adaptation and productivity under water-limited conditions

Measurement of 92Mo(n,α)89Zr and 97Mo(n,p)97Nb reactions at the neutron energy 13.52 MeV with covariance analysis

The cross sections have been estimated for the Nuclear reactions 92Mo(n,α)89Zr and 97Mo(n,p)97Nb produced in Purnima neutron generator at neutron energy of 13.52±0.0045 MeV using activation analysis and off-line γ -ray spectrometric techniques. 27Al(n,α)24Na has been used as a monitor reaction. The covariance analysis for these cross sections has been carried out by taking into consideration of partial uncertainties of different attributes and correlations between the attributes. The cross section values of the present study have been compared with EXFOR, ENDF data of various libraries and theoretical data of TALYS-1.8 code

Which method is best for the induction of labour?: A systematic review, network meta-analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis

Background: More than 150,000 pregnant women in England and Wales have their labour induced each year. Multiple pharmacological, mechanical and complementary methods are available to induce labour. Objective: To assess the relative effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of labour induction methods and, data permitting, effects in different clinical subgroups. Methods: We carried out a systematic review using Cochrane methods. The Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group’s Trials Register was searched (March 2014). This contains over 22,000 reports of controlled trials (published from 1923 onwards) retrieved from weekly searches of OVID MEDLINE (1966 to current); Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library); EMBASE (1982 to current); Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (1984 to current); ClinicalTrials.gov; the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Portal; and hand-searching of relevant conference proceedings and journals. We included randomised controlled trials examining interventions to induce labour compared with placebo, no treatment or other interventions in women eligible for third-trimester induction. We included outcomes relating to efficacy, safety and acceptability to women. In addition, for the economic analysis we searched the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and Economic Evaluations Databases, NHS Economic Evaluation Database and the Health Technology Assessment database. We carried out a network meta-analysis (NMA) using all of the available evidence, both direct and indirect, to produce estimates of the relative effects of each treatment compared with others in a network. We developed a de novo decision tree model to estimate the cost-effectiveness of various methods. The costs included were the intervention and other hospital costs incurred (price year 2012–13). We reviewed the literature to identify preference-based utilities for the health-related outcomes in the model. We calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, expected costs, utilities and net benefit. We represent uncertainty in the optimal intervention using cost-effectiveness acceptability curves. Results: We identified 1190 studies; 611 were eligible for inclusion. The interventions most likely to achieve vaginal delivery (VD) within 24 hours were intravenous oxytocin with amniotomy [posterior rank 2; 95% credible intervals (CrIs) 1 to 9] and higher-dose (≥ 50 μg) vaginal misoprostol (rank 3; 95% CrI 1 to 6). Compared with placebo, several treatments reduced the odds of caesarean section, but we observed considerable uncertainty in treatment rankings. For uterine hyperstimulation, double-balloon catheter had the highest probability of being among the best three treatments, whereas vaginal misoprostol (≥ 50 μg) was most likely to increase the odds of excessive uterine activity. For other safety outcomes there were insufficient data or there was too much uncertainty to identify which treatments performed ‘best’. Few studies collected information on women’s views. Owing to incomplete reporting of the VD within 24 hours outcome, the cost-effectiveness analysis could compare only 20 interventions. The analysis suggested that most interventions have similar utility and differ mainly in cost. With a caveat of considerable uncertainty, titrated (low-dose) misoprostol solution and buccal/sublingual misoprostol had the highest likelihood of being cost-effective. Limitations: There was considerable uncertainty in findings and there were insufficient data for some planned subgroup analyses. Conclusions: Overall, misoprostol and oxytocin with amniotomy (for women with favourable cervix) is more successful than other agents in achieving VD within 24 hours. The ranking according to safety of different methods was less clear. The cost-effectiveness analysis suggested that titrated (low-dose) oral misoprostol solution resulted in the highest utility, whereas buccal/sublingual misoprostol had the lowest cost. There was a high degree of uncertainty as to the most cost-effective intervention

The dielectric properties of ferroelectric bismuth vandate,Bi2 VO5.5 under pressure

The dielectric properties of single crystals and ceramics of BizV05 5 have been investigated as a function of pressure up to 4 GPa at room temperature.The dielectric constant and the loss are found to decrease with increase in pressure for all the samples under study. However. the rate of decrease of the dielectric constant in the case of partially grain oriented ceramic is higher than that of the single crystal and conventionally synthesised ceramic. The decrease in dielectric constant with increase in pressure is attributed to the decrease in ionic polarisation as a consequence of the decrease in interionic distances