Ecology and Proletarianisation: Increasing Need for Attention

This brief article argues three points with an illustrative case study: a) proletarianisation is  increasingly also caused by ecological reasons; b) this is significant for India from regions such as Telangana, Bundelkhand, to Vidarbha and many other parts ; c) this phenomenon of ecology induced proletarianisation is however indirectly owing to accumulation of capital  on global scale. The article also argues that this phenomenon affects agriculture in the global South far more adversely

Dual statistical approach for correlation of shear wave velocity with the SCPTu parameters

Over 30 years of research in the field of shear wave velocity (Vₛ) estimation, scores of researchers were successful in modeling Vs using the Seismic Cone Penetration Test (SCPT) parameters. Through this research work, by utilizing two different statistical approaches in modeling Vₛ from SCPT mechanical parameters, high performing models were produced. This work was done for predicting Vₛ for Kirkland Series soil using the different statistical approaches. One statistical approach was based on stepwise model selection functioning whereas the other one was emulating the Kolmogorov-Gabor polynomial series. The SCPT data was obtained from a standalone Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) funded project which spanned from February to August 2021. The parameters used for modeling Vₛ were depth, effective overburden stress, sleeve friction and uncorrected cone – tip resistance. The data processing of SCPT parameters consisted of 29 Vₛ profiles of datasets along with datasets of selected parameters, which were averaged to set up modeling process for averaged datasets of all parameters. All four variables were found to be positively correlated to one another. Sleeve friction was noted to be most positive correlated to Vₛ. After the extensive modeling process, models M15 as well as stepwise model yielded R² values of 0.9911 and 0.9621. These models were found to be optimal models produced statistically following the modeling process and were compared with select literary model functions. Additionally, the models of literature resulted in higher RMSE values whereas RMSE values as well as residual error plot showed lower values and variance

Myomectomy for uterine preservation and fertility

Background: Leiomyomas are benign monoclonal smooth muscle tumors that are characterized by cellular mutations, growth factor dysfunction, and abnormalities in the extracellular matrix. The objective of this study was to analyse the patient selection, feasibility, complications and the outcomes of myomectomies done for uterine preservation and fertility.Methods: Out of 606 myomectomies performed over 23 years at a tertiary care endoscopy centre, retrospective analysis of 358 cases of laparoscopic myomectomy (LM) and 96 cases of abdominal myomectomy (AM) was done.Results: Myomectomies were done for symptomatic women who wanted to preserve their uterus either to improve fertility or pregnancy outcome. Sizes of myomas tackled by myomectomy ranged from 1 cm to 20 cms. The largest number removed by laparoscopy was 19. 9 out of 358 cases scheduled for LM were converted to AM. 6 patients had repeat myomectomy of myomas. About 0.44% had STUMP and 0.44% had leiomyosarcoma on HPE. Only 10/199 or 5% of patients who wanted to preserve their uterus had subsequent hysterectomies. 95% were satisfied with good symptom relief. 40.1% in LM and 37% in AM group conceived.Conclusions: Majority of the cases were successfully done by laparoscopy. With increasing experience more cases with bigger and multiple myomas could be tackled by laparoscopy. 10.3% in LM and 45.9% in AM were 10 cms-20 cms. The main method of retrieval was morcellation. There were no major complications. Both the methods were found to be safe, feasible and provided good result. With increasing experience bigger and multiple myomas could be tacked by LM, which has several advantages over AM

High Electromechanical Response of Ionic Polymer Actuators with Controlled-Morphology Aligned Carbon Nanotube/Nafion Nanocomposite Electrodes

Author Manuscript 2011 October 8Recent advances in fabricating controlled-morphology vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VA-CNTs) with ultrahigh volume fraction create unique opportunities for markedly improving the electromechanical performance of ionic polymer conductor network composite (IPCNC) actuators. Continuous paths through inter-VA-CNT channels allow fast ion transport, and high electrical conduction of the aligned CNTs in the composite electrodes lead to fast device actuation speed (>10% strain/second). One critical issue in developing advanced actuator materials is how to suppress the strain that does not contribute to the actuation (unwanted strain) thereby reducing actuation efficiency. Here, experiments demonstrate that the VA-CNTs give an anisotropic elastic response in the composite electrodes, which suppresses the unwanted strain and markedly enhances the actuation strain (>8% strain under 4 V). The results reported here suggest pathways for optimizing the electrode morphology in IPCNCs using ultrahigh volume fraction VA-CNTs to further enhanced performance.United States. Army Research Office (Grant W911NF-07-1-0452)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01-EY018387-02)United States. Multidisciplinary University Research Initiativ

Growth and structure analysis of tungsten oxide nanorods using environmental TEM

WO3 nanorods targeted for applications in electric devices were grown from a tungsten wire heated in an oxygen atmosphere inside an environmental transmission electron microscope, which allowed the growth process to be observed to reveal the growth mechanism of the WO3 nanorods. The initial growth of the nanorods did not consist of tungsten oxide but rather crystal tungsten. The formed crystal tungsten nanorods were then oxidized, resulting in the formation of the tungsten oxide nanorods. Furthermore, it is expected that the nanorods grew through cracks in the natural surface oxide layer on the tungsten wire

Probing Nucleation Mechanism of Self-Catalyzed InN Nanostructures

The nucleation and evolution of InN nanowires in a self-catalyzed growth process have been investigated to probe the microscopic growth mechanism of the self-catalysis and a model is proposed for high pressure growth window at ~760 Torr. In the initial stage of the growth, amorphous InNx microparticles of cone shape in liquid phase form with assistance of an InNx wetting layer on the substrate. InN crystallites form inside the cone and serve as the seeds for one-dimensional growth along the favorable [0001] orientation, resulting in single-crystalline InN nanowire bundles protruding out from the cones. An amorphous InNx sheath around the faucet tip serves as the interface between growing InN nanowires and the incoming vapors of indium and nitrogen and supports continuous growth of InN nanowires in a similar way to the oxide sheath in the oxide-assisted growth of other semiconductor nanowires. Other InN 1D nanostructures, such as belts and tubes, can be obtained by varying the InN crystallites nucleation and initiation process

Ultrafast Carrier Relaxation in InN Nanowires Grown by Reactive Vapor Transport

We have studied femtosecond carrier dynamics in InN nanowires grown by reactive vapor transport. Transient differential absorption measurements have been employed to investigate the relaxation dynamics of photogenerated carriers near and above the optical absorption edge of InN NWs where an interplay of state filling, photoinduced absorption, and band-gap renormalization have been observed. The interface between states filled by free carriers intrinsic to the InN NWs and empty states has been determined to be at 1.35 eV using CW optical transmission measurements. Transient absorption measurements determined the absorption edge at higher energy due to the additional injected photogenerated carriers following femtosecond pulse excitation. The non-degenerate white light pump-probe measurements revealed that relaxation of the photogenerated carriers occurs on a single picosecond timescale which appears to be carrier density dependent. This fast relaxation is attributed to the capture of the photogenerated carriers by defect/surface related states. Furthermore, intensity dependent measurements revealed fast energy transfer from the hot photogenerated carriers to the lattice with the onset of increased temperature occurring at approximately 2 ps after pulse excitation

Continuous glucose monitoring systems for the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis-related diabetes

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Diagnostic test accuracy). The objectives are as follows: Primary objective - To assess the evidence on the accuracy of CGMS in detecting abnormalities of glycaemic control in children and adults with CF