Traditional use of organic additives (bamboo foliage, flax fibre and millet grains) in 16th century lime plaster of Solapur Fort, India

106-116This paper reports the characterization of organic and inorganic additives from the 16th century Western Indian Fort of Solapur. The analytical investigations were performed employing a petrographic thin section, granulometric analysis, XRF, XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDX, and DTA/TGA. The studies indicated the occurrence of the calcite polymorphs and inclusion of clay minerals i.e., illite and vermiculite in one sample of the plasters. Calcite rich air-lime showed the presence of essential minerals like quartz, feldspar, biotite and lime component. Observations under SEM, light microscopy and polarized microscopy revealed inclusions of bamboo foliage, millet grains enclosed in lemma and palea and Flax fibres as organic additives in the plaster as reinforcement. Although the use of bamboo culm in construction has adequately been reported, for the first instance bamboo foliage was evidenced in plasterworks of Solapur fort. The high silica content of bamboo foliage probably helped in providing strength to the plaster. The inclusion of millet grains has provided thermal, gelatinization and hydration properties to the plasters. The stronger, crisper and stiffer flax fibres gave thermal and elastic properties to the Solapur fort plasterworks

A Computational Model of the Ionic Currents, Ca2+ Dynamics and Action Potentials Underlying Contraction of Isolated Uterine Smooth Muscle

Uterine contractions during labor are discretely regulated by rhythmic action potentials (AP) of varying duration and form that serve to determine calcium-dependent force production. We have employed a computational biology approach to develop a fuller understanding of the complexity of excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling of uterine smooth muscle cells (USMC). Our overall aim is to establish a mathematical platform of sufficient biophysical detail to quantitatively describe known uterine E-C coupling parameters and thereby inform future empirical investigations of physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms governing normal and dysfunctional labors. From published and unpublished data we construct mathematical models for fourteen ionic currents of USMCs: currents (L- and T-type), current, an hyperpolarization-activated current, three voltage-gated currents, two -activated current, -activated current, non-specific cation current, - exchanger, - pump and background current. The magnitudes and kinetics of each current system in a spindle shaped single cell with a specified surface area∶volume ratio is described by differential equations, in terms of maximal conductances, electrochemical gradient, voltage-dependent activation/inactivation gating variables and temporal changes in intracellular computed from known fluxes. These quantifications are validated by the reconstruction of the individual experimental ionic currents obtained under voltage-clamp. Phasic contraction is modeled in relation to the time constant of changing . This integrated model is validated by its reconstruction of the different USMC AP configurations (spikes, plateau and bursts of spikes), the change from bursting to plateau type AP produced by estradiol and of simultaneous experimental recordings of spontaneous AP, and phasic force. In summary, our advanced mathematical model provides a powerful tool to investigate the physiological ionic mechanisms underlying the genesis of uterine electrical E-C coupling of labor and parturition. This will furnish the evolution of descriptive and predictive quantitative models of myometrial electrogenesis at the whole cell and tissue levels

In book: Sustainable Management of Land Resources – An Indian Perspective

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