Democratic decentralization & development: a perspective from the state of Karnataka

The state of Karnataka concentrated long back towards providing social justice, equality, uniform education to its people even before independence and in late 70s. The state of Karnataka has to make a number of provisions for the development of its people, through the establishment of panchayatraj Institutions. The important acts are the Mysore local bodies Act of 19 02, the Madras District Act of 1920, Bombay Village panchayat Act of 1920. Under these Acts provisions were made for taking up developmental programmes in the local areas. After Independence, the development of panchayat raj institutions in Karnataka has taken place in different phases. The recommendations of Balwantroy Mehta committee and the implementation of its reports provided a new impetus and a new rationale for panchayat raj. Based on the recommendations of the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, the government of Mysore enacted a new legislation in 1959 called as the Mysore Panchayatraj Body Act" the act facilitated for the three tier system of panchayat raj institutions in karnataka. The development, began through the political participation of people from local areas in panchayat raj institutions i.e. in Zilla panchayats, Taluk Panchayats and Village Panchayats. In the state of Karnataka the Two major panchayat raj Acts (1983 & 1993) were designed in accordance of rural development and for the involvement of weaker sections including women in the institutions of panchayat raj. Thus the concept of decentralization is evolved with the perspective of development of the people. Even today there are problems to the people such as Poverty, 111 health, Illiteracy and Backwardness particularly in rural India. As part of India's federal system the Central Government has to look after the National and other important aspects. And the State Governments are not concentrating on local problems. The Decentralised governments have taken up the responsibility of rural development with the people's participation. Therefore, development is a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of the people. A large number of important functions assigned to panchayats in Karnataka under Karnataka Panchayatraj Act of 1993. Sche3duled 1 assigns 29 subjects to Zilla Panchayats, Sche3duled II assignes 28 subjects to TPs. The functions delegated to PRIs include almost all the functions enumerated under 248 ( G) of the Eleventh Sche3duled of the constitution. The focus of the paper will be on the provision for development in the institutions of panchayatraj in Karnataka. It examines powers and functions of different institutions of panchayatraj for preparing, implementation and execution of developmental programmes and its impact on the development. Finally, the paper intends to analise the development through the democratic decentralization, involvement of weaker sections i.e SCs, STs, OBCs and Women in development process

EFFECT OF BENZOIN RESIN ON THE SERUM BILIRUBIN LEVELS IN TEMPORARY JAUNDICE INDUCED BY PHENYLHYDRAZINE: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Bilirubin is the degradation product of heme, thebulk of which is derived from hemoglobin of senescenterythrocytes and hepatic hemoproteins. Bilirubin ispotentially toxic, but is normally rendered harmless bybinding to plasma albumin, and efficient hepatic clearance.Jaundice, (also known as icterus) is a yellowishpigmentation of the skin, the conjunctival membranes overthe sclerae (whites of the eyes), and other mucousmembranes caused by hyperbilirubinemia (increased levelsof bilirubin in the blood). Complications of jaundiceinclude sepsis especially cholangitis, biliary cirrhosis,pancreatitis, coagulopathy, renal and liver failure.Treatment of rats with Phenylhydrazine 5 mg/ kg bodyweight for five days resulted in the development ofjaundice as BR level was found to be higher than 2 mg/dL.Bilirubin lowering potential of Benzoin ethyl alcoholextract was evaluated in temporarily jaundiced adultwistar rats. Treatment of these rats with Benzoin extractfor seven days reduced the BR level significantly to thenormal value. Whereas smaller dose (10mg/kg bodyweight) resulted in the reduction in BR level from 2.51 ±0.02 to 0.90 ± 0.01 mg/dL, higher doses of 20 and 40mg/kg body weight were found to be more effective inreducing the bilirubin level from 2.54 ± 0.01 to 0.82 ±0.01 mg/dL and from 2.49±0.02 to 0.66±0.01 mg/dL,respectively. Therefore, Benzoin ethyl alcohol extract canbe used to reduce bilirubin concentration to a normal levelin jaundiced subjects

Fast-Response Micro-Phototransistor Based on MoS2/Organic Molecule Heterojunction

Over the past years, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been the most extensively studied two-dimensional (2D) semiconductormaterial. With unique electrical and optical properties, 2DMoS2 is considered to be a promising candidate for future nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, charge trapping leads to a persistent photoconductance (PPC), hindering its use for optoelectronic applications. To overcome these drawbacks and improve the optoelectronic performance, organic semiconductors (OSCs) are selected to passivate surface defects, tune the optical characteristics, and modify the doping polarity of 2D MoS2. Here, we demonstrate a fast photoresponse in multilayer (ML) MoS2 by addressing a heterojunction interface with vanadylphthalocyanine (VOPc) molecules. The MoS2/VOPc van der Waals interaction that has been established encourages the PPC effect in MoS2 by rapidly segregating photo-generated holes, which move away from the traps of MoS2 toward the VOPc molecules. The MoS2/VOPc phototransistor exhibits a fast photo response of less than 15 ms for decay and rise, which is enhanced by 3ordersof magnitude in comparison to that of a pristine MoS2-based phototransistor (seconds to tens of seconds). This work offers a means to realize high-performance transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD)-based photodetection with a fast response speed

Performance Analysis of Electrical Vehicles Batteries using Kalman Filter

The lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery plays a crucial role in the performance of electric vehicles, owing to its unique properties and compact size. To ensure the prolonged lifespan of these batteries, it is imperative for users to exercise additional precautions. The variable load torque applied to the Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) drive, influenced by diverse road conditions, adds complexity to the scenario. Assessing the State of Charge (SoC) of the Li-ion battery proves to be a significant challenge, given the multitude of electrical sensors and mechanical components involved in the operation of electric vehicles (EVs). In such instances, the SoC may be subject to noisy measurements, leading to performance degradation of the battery over time. This paper proposes the utilization of the Kalman filter to estimate the actual SoC from the noisy measurements, relying on indirect measurements as a basis for improved accuracy

Selective Out‐of‐Plane Optical Coupling between Vertical and Planar Microrings in a 3D Configuration

3D photonic integrated circuits are expected to play a key role in future optoelectronics with efficient signal transfer between photonic layers. Here, the optical coupling of tubular microcavities, supporting resonances in a vertical plane, with planar microrings, accommodating in‐plane resonances, is explored. In such a 3D coupled composite system with largely mismatched cavity sizes, periodic mode splitting and resonant mode shifts are observed due to mode‐selective interactions. The axial direction of the microtube cavity provides additional design freedom for selective mode coupling, which is achieved by carefully adjusting the axial displacement between the microtube and the microring. The spectral anticrossing behavior is caused by strong coupling in this composite optical system and is excellently reproduced by numerical modeling. Interfacing tubular microcavities with planar microrings is a promising approach toward interlayer light transfer with added optical functionality in 3D photonic systems

Experimental observation of Berry phases in optical Möbius-strip microcavities

The Möbius strip, a fascinating loop structure with one-sided topology, provides a rich playground for manipulating the non-trivial topological behaviour of spinning particles, such as electrons, polaritons and photons, in both real and parameter spaces. For photons resonating in a Möbius-strip cavity, the occurrence of an extra phase—known as the Berry phase—with purely topological origin is expected due to its non-trivial evolution in parameter space. However, despite numerous theoretical investigations, characterizing the optical Berry phase in a Möbius-strip cavity has remained elusive. Here we report the experimental observation of the Berry phase generated in optical Möbius-strip microcavities. In contrast to theoretical predictions in optical, electronic and magnetic Möbius-topology systems where only Berry phase π occurs, we demonstrate that a variable Berry phase smaller than π can be acquired by generating elliptical polarization of resonating light. Möbius-strip microcavities as integrable and Berry-phase-programmable optical systems are of great interest in topological physics and emerging classical or quantum photonic applications

Purification and characterization of prophenoloxidase from cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera

Phenoloxidases are oxidative enzymes, which play an important role in both cell mediated and humoral immunity. Purification and biochemical characterization of prophenoloxidase from cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) were carried out to study its biochemical properties. Prophenoloxidase consists of a single polypeptide chain with a relative molecular weight of 85 kDa as determined by SDS–PAGE, MALDI–TOF MS and LC–ESI MS. After the final step, the enzyme showed 71.7 fold of purification with a recovery of 49.2%. Purified prophenoloxidase showed high specific activity and homology with phenoloxidase subunit-1 of Bombyx mori and the conserved regions of copper binding (B) site of phenoloxidase. Purified prophenoloxidase has pH optima of 6.8 and has high catalytic efficiency towards the dopamine as a substrate in comparison to catechol and L-Dopa. The PO activity was strongly inhibited by phenylthiourea, thiourea, dithiothreitol and kojic acid

Symmetry‐Induced Selective Excitation of Topological States in Su–Schrieffer–Heeger Waveguide Arrays

The investigation of topological state transition in carefully designed photonic lattices is of high interest for fundamental research, as well as for applied studies such as manipulating light flow in on-chip photonic systems. Herein, the topological phase transition between symmetric topological zero modes (TZM) and antisymmetric TZMs in Su–Schrieffer–Heeger mirror symmetric waveguides is reported. The transition of TZMs is realized by adjusting the coupling ratio between neighboring waveguide pairs, which is enabled by selective modulation of the refractive index in the waveguide gaps. Bidirectional topological transitions between symmetric and antisymmetric TZMs can be achieved with proposed switching strategy. Selective excitation of topological edge mode is demonstrated owing to the symmetry characteristics of the TZMs. The flexible manipulation of topological states is promising for on-chip light flow control and may spark further investigations on symmetric/antisymmetric TZM transitions in other photonic topological frameworks

Symmetry induced selective excitation of topological states in SSH waveguide arrays

The investigation of topological state transition in carefully designed photonic lattices is of high interest for fundamental research, as well as for applied studies such as manipulating light flow in on-chip photonic systems. Here, we report on topological phase transition between symmetric topological zero modes (TZM) and antisymmetric TZMs in Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) mirror symmetric waveguides. The transition of TZMs is realized by adjusting the coupling ratio between neighboring waveguide pairs, which is enabled by selective modulation of the refractive index in the waveguide gaps. Bi-directional topological transitions between symmetric and antisymmetric TZMs can be achieved with our proposed switching strategy. Selective excitation of topological edge mode is demonstrated owing to the symmetry characteristics of the TZMs. The flexible manipulation of topological states is promising for on-chip light flow control and may spark further investigations on symmetric/antisymmetric TZM transitions in other photonic topological frameworks

Systems analysis of bioenergetics and growth of the extreme halophile Halobacterium salinarum

Halobacterium salinarum is a bioenergetically flexible, halophilic microorganism that can generate energy by respiration, photosynthesis, and the fermentation of arginine. In a previous study, using a genome-scale metabolic model, we have shown that the archaeon unexpectedly degrades essential amino acids under aerobic conditions, a behavior that can lead to the termination of growth earlier than necessary. Here, we further integratively investigate energy generation, nutrient utilization, and biomass production using an extended methodology that accounts for dynamically changing transport patterns, including those that arise from interactions among the supplied metabolites. Moreover, we widen the scope of our analysis to include phototrophic conditions to explore the interplay between different bioenergetic modes. Surprisingly, we found that cells also degrade essential amino acids even during phototropy, when energy should already be abundant. We also found that under both conditions considerable amounts of nutrients that were taken up were neither incorporated into the biomass nor used as respiratory substrates, implying the considerable production and accumulation of several metabolites in the medium. Some of these are likely the products of forms of overflow metabolism. In addition, our results also show that arginine fermentation, contrary to what is typically assumed, occurs simultaneously with respiration and photosynthesis and can contribute energy in levels that are comparable to the primary bioenergetic modes, if not more. These findings portray a picture that the organism takes an approach toward growth that favors the here and now, even at the cost of longer-term concerns. We believe that the seemingly "greedy" behavior exhibited actually consists of adaptations by the organism to its natural environments, where nutrients are not only irregularly available but may altogether be absent for extended periods that may span several years. Such a setting probably predisposed the cells to grow as much as possible when the conditions become favorable