Appropriating the Public Realm: Overlapping Placemaking Practices in Avenues and Roundabouts of Chandigarh

The paper characterises the persisting interplay between two worlds: the heroic of modern planners; and the prosaic of the poor city practitioners that revolves around their everyday life. It is about conlicting and dual(istic) placemaking practices: irst, that are motivated professionally, normatively, politically and are instutionalised (formal); second, the self-initiated of the marginal migrants seeking ‘right to the city’. The engagement between the two varies across places and times. Observations on Chandigarh’s avenues, afterthought roundabouts and migrants’ insertions in them and the accounts of the actors were acquired by the author between June 2006 and February 2007. They uncovered the techniques and tactics that the migrants deployed to sustain their objectionable commercial ventures in the city’s abovementioned forbidden territories

Growth, Characterization, Vortex Pinning and Vortex Flow Properties of Single Crystals of Iron Chalcogenide Superconductor FeCr0.02_{0.02}Se

We report the growth and characterization of single crystals of iron chalcogenide superconductor FeCr$_{0.02}$Se. There is an enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature (T$_{\rm c}$) as compared to the T$_{\rm c}$ of the single crystals of the parent compound Fe$_{1+x}$Se by about 25%. The superconducting parameters such as the critical fields, coherence length, penetration depth and the Ginzburg-Landau parameter have been estimated for these single crystals. Analysis of the critical current data suggests a fluctuation in electronic mean free path induced ($\delta l$) pinning mechanism in this material. Thermally activated transport across the superconducting transition in the presence of external magnetic fields suggests a crossover from a single vortex pinning regime at low fields to a collective flux creep regime at higher magnetic fields. The nature of charge carriers in the normal state estimated from the Hall effect and thermal transport measurements could provide crucial information on the mechanism of superconductivity in Fe-based materials.Comment: 2 additional figures, additional discussion on nature of charge carrier

Resource efficiency impact on marble waste recycling towards sustainable green construction materials

India is one of the biggest marble producing country in the world (∼10%). State of Rajasthan has nearly 85% of marble production capacity. Recently, the massive quantity of marble waste fine particulates generated in marble industry has become a major environmental hazard issue. Major minerals present in marble waste are calcite (CaCO3) and dolomite (CaMg (CO3)2). The particle sizes of marble waste particulates has been found to be 200 μm (D90). The chemical composition of marble wastes reveals oxides of calcium (CaO), silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and alkaline oxides (Na2O, K2O). Apart from that, iron oxide, mica, fluorine, chlorite and organic matter have also been noticed. Marble waste has been explored for possible utilization in industries, thereby it helps in preventing the environmental problems such as dumping and pollution. This article addresses the efficiency of marble wastes for materials development, leading to create some sustainable green composite materials for construction applications

Tunnelling Characteristics of Stone-Wales Defects in Monolayers of Sn and Group-V Elements

Topological defects in ultrathin layers are often formed during synthesis and processing, thereby, strongly influencing their electronic properties . In this paper, we investigate the role of Stone-Wales (SW) defects in modifying the electronic properties of the monolayers of Sn and group-V elements. The calculated results find the electronic properties of stanene (monolayer of Sn atoms) to be strongly dependent on the concentration of SW-defects e.g., defective stanene has nearly zero band gap (~ 0.03 eV) for the defect concentration of 2.2 x 10^13 cm^-2 which opens up to 0.2 eV for the defect concentration of 3.7 x 10^13 cm^-2. In contrast, SW-defects appear to induce conduction states in the semiconducting monolayers of group-V elements. These conduction states act as channels for electron tunnelling, and the calculated tunnelling characteristics show the highest differential conductance for the negative bias with the asymmetric current-voltage characteristics. On the other hand, the highest differential conductance was found for the positive bias in stanene. Simulated STM topographical images of stanene and group-V monolayers show distinctly different features in terms of their cross-sectional views and distance-height profiles which can serve as fingerprints to identify the topological defects in the monolayers of group-IV and group-V elements in experiments.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Role of intrauterine instillation of levobupivacaine as a local anaesthetic for outpatient gynaecological procedures: a randomized controlled study

Background: Procedures such as intrauterine device (IUD) insertion and endometrial biopsy, are routinely performed in the outpatient setting for various indications. Satisfactory pain control for women undergoing outpatient gynecological procedures is critical for both patient comfort and procedure success. The perception of pain during gynecological procedures originates from manipulation of the cervix and/or uterus.Methods: This study evaluated the role of intrauterine instillation of 0.5% levobupivacaine as local anesthetic in terms of pain score during and post outpatient gynecological procedures (endometrial aspiration biopsy and IUD insertion), reduction in need for post procedural analgesia and allowance of early return to normal activity. The trial medication was intrauterine anesthesia, either 5 mL 0.5% levobupivacaine or 5 mL 0.9% saline (control group) on 100 patients. Primary outcome was self-reported pain scores on numerical pain scale at various points of procedure, point (0) was a grade for as no pain and the worst pain was graded as ten point (10) in this scale. During the procedure, degree of pain was specified by study subjects at 4 steps. These steps were 1) immediately after tenaculum application, 2) during the solution instillation and 3) IUD insertion or EB and 4) 15 minutes after the procedure and 24 hours later.Results: Pain scores of the intrauterine levobupivacaine groups were found to be significantly lower than the control group also there was reduced need for additional analgesia and also, they had early return to normal activity.Conclusions: Study sought to reduce pain during OPD procedures which might lead to better patient experience, reduce anxiety and produce an overall better outcome

ANTIOXIDANT AND HEPATOPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF SWERTIA CHIRATA ON HYPOXIA-INDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS IN WISTAR RATS

Objective: Swertia chirata has been used in traditional and folklore medicine to treat several ailments such as hepatic disorders. However, the mechanistic and experimental justification to its traditional use is lacking. The present study was aimed to investigate the hepatoprotective potential of S. chirata during hypoxia (HYP)-induced hepatic damage in Wistar rats and to determine the underlying mechanism.Methods: Hydroalcoholic extract of S. chirata was prepared using Soxhlet extraction. Animals were divided into six groups (n=5). Animals in the HYP groups were subjected to HYP for 3 days (10% O2) to induce oxidative stress and hepatic damage. 50 and 100 mg/kg extract treatments were provided orally once daily for 7 days after which animals were sacrificed, and biochemical investigations for oxidative stress, liver function tests, and hepatic histopathology were performed.Results: HYP-induced marked oxidative stress as indicated by the significantly elevated mitochondrial ROS generation, lipid peroxidation, glutathione, and depleted catalase levels. Liver function test indicated hepatic damage as the levels of serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, and aspartate transaminase were significantly elevated in HYP animals. S. chirata treatment alleviated oxidative stress and improved liver functions in a dose-dependent manner. Liver histopathology confirmed the marked hepatic damage induced by HYP and revealed that S. chirata efficiently rescued liver from hypoxic damage.Conclusion: Hydroalcoholic extract of S. chirata is a potent hepatoprotective intervention which was associated with its potential to alleviate oxidative stress and improve liver functions. Moreover, it could find clinical application as a safer and alternative remedy for liver ailments

A comparative study of endotracheal intubation as per intubation difficulty score, using Airtraq and McCoy laryngoscopes with manual-in-line axial stabilization of cervical spine in adult patients

Background: The different types of laryngoscopes have been invented to improve the laryngoscopic view of the glottis in normal and difficult airway which helps anaesthesiologists to safeguard the airway during anaesthesia. Patients with cervical spine injury have deleterious compression forces on the spinal cord and that should be avoided by taking protective measures which include application of rigid collar, a forehead tape and manual-in-line axial stabilisation (MILAS). The objective of the study was to evaluate the ease of intubation with Airtraq and McCoy laryngoscope as per intubation difficulty score (IDS) with manual-in-line axial stabilization of cervical spine.Methods: In this prospective observational study, 100 adults of ASA I-II, aged 18 to 60 years, with Mallampati classification I and II, undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia with oral endotracheal intubation were included. Fifty patients were intubated using Airtraq (Group A). Another fifty patients were intubated using McCoy laryngoscope (Group B). During intubation with both devices, neck was immobilized using MILAS. Ease of intubation as per IDS, insertion of device as per Likert scale, duration of laryngoscopy and intubation, number of attempts, haemodynamic changes and complications were compared for both devices.Results: Demographic characteristics were comparable in both groups. There is no significant difference observed in the heart rate,  systolic and diastolic blood pressure during device insertion, intubation and up to 10 minutes after intubation in Airtraq and McCoy group. There is statistically significant difference in number of intubation attempts, duration of laryngoscopy and intubation in both groups. As per Likert scale, ease of insertion of device was statistically insignificant between two groups. McCoy group had statistically significant higher intubation difficulty scores (2.9±0.68) compared to Airtraq group (0.56±0.54) (p=0.000). All patients in Airtraq group showed Cormack and Lehane grade 1, while 30% patients in McCoy group had Cormack and Lehane grade more than 1.Conclusions: The Airtraq facilitates the ease of intubation by providing a better view of the larynx as compared to McCoy laryngoscope in patients with manual-in-line axial stabilization of cervical spine.

Bibliometric Analysis of Publications of University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Panjab University, Chandigarh

Panjab University in pharmacy discipline ranked 2nd in NIRF-2019 rankings. The University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS) of Panjab University Chandigarh is a premier institute of pharmaceutical education and research in India. The present study attempts to analyze research output and publication trends of authors of the UIPS during 2009-2018. The study is based on the data extracted from Scopus database and mainly examines the year-wise research output, major subject-wise contributions, national and international collaborations, most preferred journals, types of publications, authorship pattern, highly cited paper, most prolific authors, keywords and citations pattern of the UIPS during the period of ten years. The study revealed that total 978 research publications have been published by the authors of the UIPS which received 15318 citations during the above said period. The highest collaborative publications (5.32%) were published with United States of America. O.P. Katare is the most prolific author publishing 145 research publications having 2057 citations. Total 88.65% research papers of the institute have been cited by other authors and 14 papers received more than 100 citations