Ayodhya: The Imageability and Perceptions of Cultural Landscapes

Most of the visitors (pilgrims in the majority) and the dwellers (mostly Hindus) perform some sorts of rituals at varying degrees and become involved in the religious activities to gain solace or soul healing. Of course, as sidetrack visitors also perform other activities of recreation and side-show. However, these are the marginal activities. It is obviously noted that personality of pilgrims and dwellers in the context of economic, social, cultural, job status, and perspective of life, has a direct effect on the nature of environmental sensitivity to its sacred landscapes and mythologies that support and make them alive. Ongoing rituals, continuous performances of Ramalila in the evening, pilgrimages and auspicious glimpses to the divine images, and associated happenings together make the whole are a part of the sacred environment. These are categorised within the frame of responsive perception, testing Kevin Lynch’s scale of imageability represented with the five elements, viz. path, edge, node, district, and landmark. The perceptual survey of dwellers and pilgrims are codified into a composite cognitive map that reflects the generalised images of various behavioural attributes that fit the cultural and natural landscapes of the city; this is similar to other holy cities of north India like Varanasi, Mathura, and Chitrakut

Clinical effectiveness of selective nerve root block in lumbar radiculopathy

Background: Epidural steroid injections (ESIs) have been used as an adjunct in the treatment of sciatica. Since the early reports, success rates ranging from 18% to 90% (average, 67%) have been documented. However, the efficacy of ESI has lasted, on the average, less than 3 months.Methods: This study was conducted at Abrol medical centre, Punjab from June 2019 to June 2020. One hundred patients with back pain documented with lumbar disc disease treated initially with rest, analgesics and physiotherapy for at least six weeks were included in the study and treated with transforaminal epidural steroid injection. The protocol of the study was approved by ethical committee. Patients to be participated in this study were documented. Patients with lumbar disc disease were given transforaminal epidural steroid injection in Orthopaedics operation theatre of our institute. Informed and written consent were obtained as per ethical committee guidelines.Results: Pre-procedure Roland Morris disability mean score was 17.54 and it got reduced to 5.57 by 4th day immediately post injection, was 6.44 by 6 weeks, by 3rd month 7.1 and by end of 6 months it was 8.34. Improvement in score on 4th day post injection was 68.24 percent which is considered significant and successful.Conclusions: Transforaminal epidural steroid treatment better medication for pain relief, patient satisfaction, disability improvement and functional improvement

Maternal mortality at a tertiary health care: a retrospective study

Background: Maternal mortality is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy irrespective of the duration and site of pregnancy from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy, but not from accidental or incidental causes. The aim of this study is to find out the causes of maternal mortality and the complications leading to maternal death.Methods: A retrospective study was conducted by reviewing the hospital records to study the maternal deaths and complication leading to maternal death over the period of one year from July 2016 June 2017 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bundelkhand Medical College, and associated hospital Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. All the maternal deaths were scrutinized for various aspects likely to be related to death such as age, locality of residence, antenatal care, admission death interval and the cause of death.Results: The maternal mortality ratio in the present study is 292.33/100,000 live births. There were 28 maternal deaths out of 9578 live birth during the study period. The majority of deaths occurred in the 20-30 age group. hemorrhage (32.14%) and hypertensive disorders (14.28%) are two most common direct cause of maternal deaths. 42.85% of maternal deaths occurred within the first twenty-four hours of admission. Post-operative and post abortal sepsis, amniotic fluid embolism and pulmonary embolism are other direct causes. Indirect causes of maternal deaths account for 21.42%. Severe anemia was the leading indirect causes of maternal deaths.Conclusions: Hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, and anaemia remain the major cause of maternal deaths. Delay in decision making, provision of treatment and referral to tertiary centre contributed higher maternal mortality. This requires more efforts to recognize the direct and indirect causes of maternal deaths

Dalit Women in History: Struggles, Voices, and Counterpublics

History is a projection of realities from the historian\u27s lens and parameters. The popularity and acceptance of historical accounts depend much on hegemonic structures and knowledge. The Dalit community was marginalized within the Indian economic, social, and political historiography. Gradually, with the rise of Dalit consciousness, men—the better-positioned gender of the community—tried to express their vulnerabilities from a masculinist perspective. The literature written also projected women only as extensions of male protagonists. Though the traumas Dalit women have faced due to intersectional realities are separate from that of men, they could not find a place in early literature as complete entities, entitled to be acknowledged as such. The trade union movements also sidelined the issues of Dalit women laborers. To date, issues of Dalit women\u27s property rights, longevity, education, and empowerment are largely androcentric, as the state’s schemes and policies are majorly heteronormative and male-centric. The reason why we need to keep invoking the past and history is to assert that the present condition of Dalit women has its roots in the past and their issues and voices continue to remain on the margins despite the rich social experiences they carry and represent

Optimising mobile laser scanning for underground mines

Despite several technological advancements, underground mines are still largely relied on visual inspections or discretely placed direct-contact measurement sensors for routine monitoring. Such approaches are manual and often yield inconclusive, unreliable and unscalable results besides exposing mine personnel to field hazards. Mobile laser scanning (MLS) promises an automated approach that can generate comprehensive information by accurately capturing large-scale 3D data. Currently, the application of MLS has relatively remained limited in mining due to challenges in the post-registration of scans and the unavailability of suitable processing algorithms to provide a fully automated mapping solution. Additionally, constraints such as the absence of a spatial positioning network and the deficiency of distinguishable features in underground mining spaces pose challenges in mobile mapping. This thesis aims to address these challenges in mine inspections by optimising different aspects of MLS: (1) collection of large-scale registered point cloud scans of underground environments, (2) geological mapping of structural discontinuities, and (3) inspection of structural support features. Firstly, a spatial positioning network was designed using novel three-dimensional unique identifiers (3DUID) tags and a 3D registration workflow (3DReG), to accurately obtain georeferenced and coregistered point cloud scans, enabling multi-temporal mapping. Secondly, two fully automated methods were developed for mapping structural discontinuities from point cloud scans – clustering on local point descriptors (CLPD) and amplitude and phase decomposition (APD). These methods were tested on both surface and underground rock mass for discontinuity characterisation and kinematic analysis of the failure types. The developed algorithms significantly outperformed existing approaches, including the conventional method of compass and tape measurements. Finally, different machine learning approaches were used to automate the recognition of structural support features, i.e. roof bolts from point clouds, in a computationally efficient manner. Roof bolts being mapped from a scanned point cloud provided an insight into their installation pattern, which underpinned the applicability of laser scanning to inspect roof supports rapidly. Overall, the outcomes of this study lead to reduced human involvement in field assessments of underground mines using MLS, demonstrating its potential for routine multi-temporal monitoring

Lack of research aptitude in medical education

Students are attracted towards the medical profession to become a doctor and not to be a researcher. According to a recent study there are about 1,00,000 undergraduate medical students in India at a given point of time, out of them only 0.9% of the students have shown research aptitude. During their training period of graduation in medical sciences, they are so much burdened with the work load of exams, practicals, ward duties and tutorials. In such an over burdened situation very few of them can think about research. A study had shown that training in research methodology received early in medical school helps students to develop a positive attitude towards research. So changes in the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum are required to promote research among medical students

Sveti vodeni bazeni hinduističkih svetih krajolika u sjevernoj Indiji

The basic metaphysical frame of life in ancient India, that of sacred water (paviṭra jala) and the notion that “Water itself is life” (jala hī jivan hai), can be illustrated with case studies of two cities. Settled continuously since 1000 BCE, the cities of Varanasi and Ayodhya have been eulogized as the salvific holy-heritage cities in India known for their ritualscapes associated with sacred waters and pools. According to the ancient treatises and tales, there were fifty-four sacred tanks (kunds) and wells (kūpas) in each of these cities, and they became important sites for purification rituals, pilgrimage, healing and festive celebration by devout Hindus. After providing descriptions of the sacred water pools, this essay in part explores traditions associated with a water-pool sacred to the Sun god in both the cities. More broadly, using ancient texts, present participatory surveys, and ethnological narration, the essay considers the long-lived sacrality of water pools in these holy cities and current development strategies involving them.Osnovni metafizički okvir života u drevnoj Indiji, onaj svete vode (paviṭra jala), te predodžba da je “voda sam život” (jala hī jivan hai) mogu se ilustrirati studijama slučaja dvaju gradova. Nastanjeni kontinuirano od 1000. godine prije Krista, gradovi Varanasi i Ayodhya u Indiji slave se kao spasiteljski sveti i baštinski gradovi, poznati po svojim obrednim krajolicima povezanima sa svetim vodama i bazenima. Prema drevnim raspravama i pričama, u svakom od tih gradova postojale su pedeset i četiri svete cisterne (kunds) i bunara (kūpas), koji su postali važna mjesta za rituale pročišćavanja, hodočašće, ozdravljenja i svečana slavlja pobožnih hinduista. Nakon opisa svetih vodenih bazena, u radu se djelomično istražuju tradicije vezane uz vodene bazene posvećene bogu sunca u oba grada. U širem smislu, koristeći se drevnim tekstovima, današnjim participativnim anketama i etnološkim pripovijedanjem, u radu se razmatra dugovječna sakralnost vodenih bazena u spomenutim gradovima te s njima povezane aktualne razvojne strategije

A review of laser scanning for geological and geotechnical applications in underground mining

Laser scanning can provide timely assessments of mine sites despite adverse challenges in the operational environment. Although there are several published articles on laser scanning, there is a need to review them in the context of underground mining applications. To this end, a holistic review of laser scanning is presented including progress in 3D scanning systems, data capture/processing techniques and primary applications in underground mines. Laser scanning technology has advanced significantly in terms of mobility and mapping, but there are constraints in coherent and consistent data collection at certain mines due to feature deficiency, dynamics, and environmental influences such as dust and water. Studies suggest that laser scanning has matured over the years for change detection, clearance measurements and structure mapping applications. However, there is scope for improvements in lithology identification, surface parameter measurements, logistic tracking and autonomous navigation. Laser scanning has the potential to provide real-time solutions but the lack of infrastructure in underground mines for data transfer, geodetic networking and processing capacity remain limiting factors. Nevertheless, laser scanners are becoming an integral part of mine automation thanks to their affordability, accuracy and mobility, which should support their widespread usage in years to come

Physico-chemical attributes and organoleptic assessment of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars grown in eastern Uttar Pradesh

A study was conducted to evaluate the different guava cultivars for their physico-chemical composition and organoleptic assessment during the year 2012-2013. Results of study indicated that Gorakh Bilas Pasand cultivar proved to be superior on the basis of physical characters (Length-7.64 cm, Breadth-7.79 cm , Weight-240.60 g, Number of seeds per fruit-251 etc.) followed by Lucknow-49. However, Lucknow-49 was found noteworthy in respect of chemical composition (TSS-13.00 oBrix, Acidity-0.50%, pH-5.86, Vitamin C-300.36 mg/100g etc). In organoleptic assessment, it was found that ‘liked very much’ rating was provided by consumer to Lucknow-49. On the basis of overall findings, it was concluded that ‘Lucknow-49’ was superior in most of characters studied and might be one of the promising cultivars for quality fruits under eastern Uttar Pradesh conditions