A pragmatic methodology for studying international practices

Practice turn marks an important advancement in International Relations theorizing. In challenging abstract meta-theoretical debates, practice theorizing in International Relations aims to get close to the lifeworld(s) of the actual practitioners of politics. Scholars from different positions such as constructivism, critical theory, and post-structuralism have critically interrogated the analytical framework of practices in international politics. Building upon these works, we are concerned with a question of how to examine the context of international practices that unfolds in multiple ways in practitioners’ performances. Our central thesis is that a distinct pragmatic methodology offers an opportunity to keep with the practice turn and avoid the problematic foundational moves of mainstream practice theorizing. This involves foregrounding three interrelated processes in examining practices: the role of exceptions in the normal stream of performances, normative uptake of the analysts, and the semantic field that actors navigate in political performances. We argue that this methodology is predicated on its usefulness to interpret practices through reflective social-science inquiry

Evidence for Involvement of Th17 Type Responses in Post Kala Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL)

Post kala azar dermal leishamniasis (PKDL), an unusual dermatosis, develops in 5–15% of apparently cured visceral leishmaniasis cases in India and in about 60% of cases in Sudan. PKDL cases assume importance since they constitute an important human reservoir for the parasite. Host immunological responses, considered as major factors in PKDL development, are poorly understood. Limited studies have been performed to explore the host immune responses and that too, restricted to a few immune parameters. The present study employed cDNA array technique that identified various host immuno-determinants including cytokines, chemokines, apoptotic and signaling molecules which were not reported previously in PKDL. In addition, we showed for the first time that Th17 responses are present during L. donovani infection in PKDL which possibly contributes significantly to disease pathogenesis by inducing TNF-α and nitric oxide production. Our findings lead to improved understanding of the host parasite interaction in terms of immune responses and pathology in tissue lesions of PKDL

p53 Activation following Rift Valley Fever Virus Infection Contributes to Cell Death and Viral Production

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an emerging viral zoonosis that is responsible for devastating outbreaks among livestock and is capable of causing potentially fatal disease in humans. Studies have shown that upon infection, certain viruses have the capability of utilizing particular cellular signaling pathways to propagate viral infection. Activation of p53 is important for the DNA damage signaling cascade, initiation of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and transcriptional regulation of multiple genes. The current study focuses on the role of p53 signaling in RVFV infection and viral replication. These results show an up-regulation of p53 phosphorylation at several serine sites after RVFV MP-12 infection that is highly dependent on the viral protein NSs. qRT-PCR data showed a transcriptional up-regulation of several p53 targeted genes involved in cell cycle and apoptosis regulation following RVFV infection. Cell viability assays demonstrate that loss of p53 results in less RVFV induced cell death. Furthermore, decreased viral titers in p53 null cells indicate that RVFV utilizes p53 to enhance viral production. Collectively, these experiments indicate that the p53 signaling pathway is utilized during RVFV infection to induce cell death and increase viral production

Experimental investigation of droplet velocity fields from elliptic injectors in subsonic cross flow

The flow field associated with a liquid jet injected transversely into a crossflow, also referred as transverse jet has numerous applications in industrial, environmental and natural systems. Examples of these applications include air-breathing engines (gas turbine afterburners, ramjet and scramjet combustors), rocket engines, environmental control systems and natural flows. Earliest research of a jet in a crossflow has been motivated by applications related to environmental problems such as plume dispersal from exhaust or pipe stacks or liquid effluent dispersal in streams. This method of liquid fuel/air mixture preparation enhances flame stabilization, fuel conversion efficiency, and reduction in emissions. In gas turbine applications because of the very limited residence time available for effective fuel air mixing, detailed investigations into spray characteristics of different injector configurations in a crossflow environment is desirable for identifying promising configurations with measurements in the near field to acquire reliable spray data for development of CFD models. The velocity field of a liquid jet in the near field ejecting out from an elliptic injector into a crossflow of air were investigated experimentally at conditions relevant to gas turbine applications. A rig was set up to investigate the injection of liquid jet in subsonic cross flow with a rectangular test section of cross section measuring 100 mm by 140 mm. Experiments were done with a two injector configurations a circular 0.8mm diameter plain orifice injector and a elliptic injector with an equivalent effective area of 0.7 mm (minor axis) by 0.95 mm (major axis) which was flush mounted on the bottom plate of test section. PIV technique was used to measure droplet velocity field and distributions in the near field of the spray. Measurements were performed at a distance of 5 mm from the bottom wall in the span wise plane and the results were compared with a circular injector. It was seen that no significant differences were observed in the u and v velocity components for the elliptic and circular injectors where the geometry changes are small suggesting that parameters like velocity are not significantly affected by small changes in injector exit geometry. Further for elliptic jets it was observed that increasing the crossflow velocity and maintaining the same liquid flow rate lead to an increase in the lateral spread of the spray with no significant change in the mean vorticity values

Development of an integrated haptic system for simulating upper gastrointestinal endoscopy

Virtual reality together with haptics offers immersive and flexible platforms for training doctors in medical procedures. In this paper, we present mechanical design, control, integration, and user-studies of a virtual reality-based haptic simulator for Upper Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. The design overcomes some of the limitations of the existing systems. First, there is an extra degree of freedom for simulating junctions controlled by sphincter muscles in addition to translational and rotational degrees of freedom along and about the axis of the endoscope-tube. Second, the force-feedback is continuous over a longer range in all three degrees of freedom. Third, multiple insertions and removals of the tube are made possible with a magnetically actuated snap-fit mechanism. A Dynamics based feed-forward control algorithm is developed and characterized for fidelity and transparency. The system provides continuous force up to 11 N in the axial direction and continuous torque up to 255 mN.m about the axial direction. The haptic device is integrated with a physics-based Virtual Reality (VR) interface. Furthermore, an immersion study was conducted using the integrated system with a cohort of novice and experienced clinicians. The haptic response and virtual model were rated high and improvements were suggested for graphical visualization and physical arrangement