‘So people know I'm a Sikh’: Narratives of Sikh masculinities in contemporary Britain

This article examines British-born Sikh men's identification to Sikhism. In particular, it focuses on the appropriation and use of Sikh symbols amongst men who define themselves as Sikh. This article suggests that whilst there are multiple ways of ‘being’ a Sikh man in contemporary post-colonial Britain, and marking belonging to the Sikh faith, there is also a collectively understood idea of what an ‘ideal’ Sikh man should be. Drawing upon Connell and Messerschmidt's discussion of locally specific hegemonic masculinities (2005. “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept.” Gender and Society 19 (6): 829–859), it is suggested that an ideal Sikh masculine identity is partly informed by a Khalsa discourse, which informs a particular performance of Sikh male identity, whilst also encouraging the surveillance of young men's activities both by themselves and by others. These Sikh masculinities are complex and multiple, rotating to reaffirm, challenge and redefine contextualised notions of hegemonic masculinity within the Sikh diaspora in post-colonial Britain. Such localised Sikh masculinities may both assert male privilege and reap patriarchal dividends (Connell, W. 1995. Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press), resulting in particular British Sikh hegemonic masculinities which seek to shape the performance of masculinity, yet in another context these very same performances of masculinity may also signify a more marginalised masculinity vis-à-vis other dominant hegemonic forms

Correlation of DNA Ploidy with Progression of Cervical Cancer

The majority of squamous cell carcinomas of cervix are preceded by visible changes in the cervix, most often detected by cervical smear. As cervical cancer is preceded by long precancerous stages, identification of the high-risk population through detection of DNA ploidy may be of importance in effective management of this disease. Here we attempted to correlate aneuploid DNA patterns and their influence on biological behavior of flow-cytometry analysis of DNA ploidy which was carried out in cytologically diagnosed cases of mild (79), moderate (36), and severe (12) dysplasia, as well as “atypical squamous cells of unknown significance (ASCUS)” (57) along with controls (69), in order to understand its importance in malignant progression of disease. Cytologically diagnosed dysplasias, which were employed for DNA ploidy studies, 39 mild, 28 moderate, and 11 severe dysplasia cases were found to be aneuploid. Out of the 69 control subjects, 6 cases showed aneuploidy pattern and the rest 63 subjects were diploid. An aneuploidy pattern was observed in 8 out of 57 cases of cytologically evaluated ASCUS. The results of the followup studies showed that aberrant DNA content reliably predicts the occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma in cervical smear. Flow cytometric analysis of DNA ploidy may provide a strategic diagnostic tool for early detection of carcinoma cervix. Therefore, it is a concept of an HPV screening with reflex cytology in combination with DNA flow cytometry to detect progressive lesions with the greatest possible sensitivity and specificity

Higher yields and profits from new crop rotations permitting integration of mediculture with agriculture in the Indo-Gangetic plains

The results of a survey conducted in 100 villages of 7 districts located in Uttar Pradesh in the central Indo-Gangetic plains on the land cropping pattern and profits to the farmers per unit land and area are presented. It is shown that sugarcane is cultivated in about 19.5% of the land. Rice remains the principal kharif crop in the area, occupying about 76% of land. Conventional rice-wheat/Brassica/legume, rice-potato and rice-mint rotations benefitted farmers to the extent of roughly Rs 30,000 ha−1 year−1. Introduction of new rotations based upon newly available short duration Kosi variety of mint is permitting practice of rice-wheat/Brassica/legume-mint and rice-potato-mint rotations, bringing a profit of approximately Rs 61,000 ha−1 year−1 to the farmers of the area. Future prospects of integration of short duration medicinal and aromatic crops (mediculture) between food grain crops (agriculture) like the above, for the development of agriculture, industry and employment are discussed

A pilot study for smartphone photography to assess bleb morphology and vasculature post-trabeculectomy

Purpose The current grading systems used for bleb morphology assessment in patients post-trabeculectomy are based on standardized slit-lamp photographs and anterior segment imaging devices. The lack of availability of these expensive and non-portable devices in resource-deficient settings is a significant deterrent in their widespread utilization for proper post-operative management. The rapidly evolving utilization of smartphone photography has significantly benefited diagnostics of posterior segment disorders and is now being increasingly utilized for monitoring anterior segment pathologies as well as post-surgical course. In this study, we study a novel use of smartphones for bleb photography for assessing the morphological characteristics as vascularity and microcysts. Methods In this pilot, observational study, we compared the trabeculectomy bleb images of five subjects, obtained by iPhone X (dual lens) and iPhone 6S (single lens). We captured two image sets with both smartphones first with a focussed torchlight and then with a built-in flash video light. Results The images resulting from the newer iPhone X were substantially superior than those from iPhone 6S. For the 12-megapixel dual-camera set-up on the iPhone X, the 1 x lens resulted in better images than the 2 x lens with contrast and overall clarity of the area of interest. While the macro-lens attachment had promising results at 1 x zoom, there is no added advantage of the macro-lens attachment as it resulted in considerable loss of image quality at twice the zoom. Using a 20 D lens helped attain higher magnification and better framing as it reduced the focussing distance needed to get sharp images. The images obtained from both smartphones were of higher quality when illuminated from an external source when compared to the native iPhone flash due to even exposure and fewer autofocus artefacts. Conclusion Analyses of all image sets showed that the current generation in-built camera app on IOS and newer iPhone camera optics resulted in high-quality images of the ocular surface with high magnification without any loss in clarity.Ophthalmic researc

Genetic distance in coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) for essential oil yield and yield traits

Genetic association and distances were assessed in a collection of 15 Indian accessions of coriander, consisting of 8 land races and 7 cultivars, on the basis of seven economic plant traits including essential oil content and oil yield. The study revealed that genetic distance in the material was substantial with the D2 values ranging from 37.4 (between the genotypes C-2 and DH-5) to 1309 (between the genotypes C-1 and RCr-20). The genotypes clubbed into 8 clusters. The genetic diversity was found to be independent of the geographical diversity of the genotypes. Considered together, the results of genetic association and D2 analysis revealed that the variation in seed yield was the most prominent force accounting for both variations in oil yield and genetic distance in the material. The study suggested that improvement in this crop would be possible by exercising selection for oil yield, seed yield and their associated traits viz. oil content and umbellets per umbel. The results of D2 values and cluster means permitted rational selection of 5-33 and C-1, RCr-41 and PD-1, potent genorypes with complementary characters in morphological fitnesses for yield and its associated traits, for effective cross hybridization programme. &nbsp

Epilepsy knowledge, attitudes, and practices among primary healthcare providers in an Indian district

Introduction: Scaling up the involvement of primary care providers in epilepsy management in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) requires an understanding of their epilepsy knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). / Aim: The aim of the study was to document levels of knowledge about, attitudes towards, and practices regarding epilepsy among different ranks of primary healthcare providers in a North-Western Indian district. / Methods: The survey included government medical officers (MOs), auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), and accredited social health activists (ASHAs). They were administered a specially designed KAP questionnaire. Responses were analyzed according to rank. / Results: The survey showed that nearly 10% of ANMs and almost a fifth of ASHAs had never heard about epilepsy. A quarter of MOs and over two-thirds of ANMs and ASHAs had never provided care to someone with epilepsy. There were significant differences in the levels of knowledge between the three groups of workers. / Conclusions: Closing the huge gaps in KAP by educating primary care and community health workers about epilepsy should be a priority before engaging them in the epilepsy care delivery

Potential for modulation of the hydrophobic effect inside chaperonins

Despite the spontaneity of some in vitro protein folding reactions, native folding in vivo often requires the participation of barrel-shaped multimeric complexes known as chaperonins. Although it has long been known that chaperonin substrates fold upon sequestration inside the chaperonin barrel, the precise mechanism by which confinement within this space facilitates folding remains unknown. In this study, we examine the possibility that the chaperonin mediates a favorable reorganization of the solvent for the folding reaction. We begin by discussing the effect of electrostatic charge on solvent-mediated hydrophobic forces in an aqueous environment. Based on these initial physical arguments, we construct a simple, phenomenological theory for the thermodynamics of density and hydrogen bond order fluctuations in liquid water. Within the framework of this model, we investigate the effect of confinement within a chaperonin-like cavity on the configurational free energy of water by calculating solvent free energies for cavities corresponding to the different conformational states in the ATP- driven catalytic cycle of the prokaryotic chaperonin GroEL. Our findings suggest that one function of chaperonins may be to trap unfolded proteins and subsequently expose them to a micro-environment in which the hydrophobic effect, a crucial thermodynamic driving force for folding, is enhanced

Endophytic Bacteria from Ocimum sanctum and Their Yield Enhancing Capabilities

Abstract Endophytes are beneficial microbes that reside intercellularly inside the plants. Interaction of endophytes with the host plants and their function within their host are important to address ecological relevance of endophyte. Four endophytic bacteria OS-9, OS-10, OS-11, and OS-12 were isolated from healthy leaves of Ocimum sanctum

DermAI 1.0: A Robust, Generalized, and Novel Attention-Enabled Ensemble-Based Transfer Learning Paradigm for Multiclass Classification of Skin Lesion Images

Skin lesion classification plays a crucial role in dermatology, aiding in the early detection, diagnosis, and management of life-threatening malignant lesions. However, standalone transfer learning (TL) models failed to deliver optimal performance. In this study, we present an attention-enabled ensemble-based deep learning technique, a powerful, novel, and generalized method for extracting features for the classification of skin lesions. This technique holds significant promise in enhancing diagnostic accuracy by using seven pre-trained TL models for classification. Six ensemble-based DL (EBDL) models were created using stacking, softmax voting, and weighted average techniques. Furthermore, we investigated the attention mechanism as an effective paradigm and created seven attention-enabled transfer learning (aeTL) models before branching out to construct three attention-enabled ensemble-based DL (aeEBDL) models to create a reliable, adaptive, and generalized paradigm. The mean accuracy of the TL models is 95.30%, and the use of an ensemble-based paradigm increased it by 4.22%, to 99.52%. The aeTL models' performance was superior to the TL models in accuracy by 3.01%, and aeEBDL models outperformed aeTL models by 1.29%. Statistical tests show significant p-value and Kappa coefficient along with a 99.6% reliability index for the aeEBDL models. The approach is highly effective and generalized for the classification of skin lesions

Effect of potential bioinoculants and organic manures on root-rot and wilt, growth, yield and quality of organically grown Coleus forskohlii in a semiarid tropical region of Bangalore (India)

Based on earlier results obtained in pot experiments, 2-year field experiments were conducted with five bioinoculants and neem cake under organic field conditions (with vermicompost as a nutritional supplement) to evaluate their potential to control root-rot and wilt (a complex problem involving Fusarium chlamydosporum and Ralstonia solanacearum) of the medicinal plant Coleus forskohlii. Plants treated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Glomus fasciculatum), neem cake or Pseudomonas fluorescens showed significantly increased plant height (15-31%), plant spread (25-33%), number of branches (63-67%) and dry root (129-200%) yields, and reduced disease incidence (47-50%) compared to controls. Increases in yields were reflected by increases in N (51-81%), P (17-76%) and K (44-74%) uptake. The forskolin content of the roots was found not to be affected by any of the bioinoculants, but forskolin yield (calculated) was increased significantly by treatment with G. fasciculatum (227%), neem cake (222%) or P. fluorescens (159%)