Application of theory U to assess the implementation possibilities of a co-existence agenda at Panna Tiger Reserve, India.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.This thesis develops understanding on the prospects of successfully implementing a co-existence buffer zone agenda around the Panna Tiger Reserve by its management. Fostering co-existence of humans and wildlife in the buffer zones and multi-use forests around tiger reserves is suggested as a way forward by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) of India for ensuring the long term survival of the tiger species in India. The proposed shift involves change from managing tigers in national parks with minimum human interference to the managing tigers at larger land units promoting co-existence. While successful implementation of the proposed change may have potential benefits for tigers and people, the failure to implement the proposed co-existence agenda will be an opportunity lost to revive the tiger species in India. To provide understanding on the above described situation, the main research objective of this study was to use Theory U lenses to assess the potential of key stakeholders to engage in transformational change towards co-existence. The second research objective was to identify the barriers, as perceived by the stakeholders seeking transformational change, to co-existence. To gain insights into the study objectives, stakeholders from the five groups were interviewed using structured questions, subjected to group meetings and were also observed as they performed in daily life. The collected information allowed an assessment of prospects of implementing change to co-existence. The study findings suggest that the concept of co-existence buffer zone is not well supported by majority of the stakeholder groups at Panna. Stakeholder interrelationships leading to lack of trust, existing conflicts, leadership deficiencies, fear of economic repercussion and poor communication created barriers between various stakeholder groups. Some of the barriers, for example, lack of trust and existing conflicts between stakeholder groups distanced the groups from each other and reduced mutual cooperation, vital for co-existence to succeed. Study findings also revealed that some stakeholder groups viewed the co-existence concept positively. Findings suggest that some stakeholder’s placed importance on issues such as, aesthetics, ethics and moral principles, spiritual values, customs and cultural beliefs and economic incentives. These issues perceived within the context of co-existence in the buffer zone may have incited positive feelings towards the co-existence concept. When stakeholders were assessed through the mental lenses of Theory U the study findings suggest that stakeholder groups differed in their ability to change and also support the proposed change to co-existence at Panna Tiger Reserve. Study findings suggest that members of the Landlord and Villager stakeholder groups may be most receptive to change. Members of these stakeholder groups, through their thinking and actions, demonstrated ability to support the proposed change to co-existence in the buffer zone of the Panna Tiger Reserve. The Politician and Tourist lodge groups demonstrated levels of openness to change their thinking towards co-existence but did not show enough evidence during the study to suggest that they could undertake actions and contribute towards transformational change at Panna. This means that though members could mentally think along the lines of the proposed change their ability to directly take actions to achieve change, was at the time of the study, limited. The Panna Tiger Reserve management group members revealed least ability to shift their thinking from their existing mind set towards co-existence scenarios. Their ability to take actions that led towards achieving change to co-existence was also restricted. Based on the study findings it may be suggested that Panna Tiger Reserve Management ability to directly contribute to successful implementation of the proposed co-existence buffer zone agenda at Panna Tiger Reserve may be the lowest amongst the five stakeholder groups

IDENTIFICATION OF NITRIC-OXIDE DEGRADATION PRODUCTS OF ASCORBIC ACID

Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to possess many Anti-inflammatory effects. Ascorbic acid which is naturally present in human body is known to react with S-nitrosothiols (RSNO) directly to reduce RSNO to NO and produce free thiol groups, if present in more than millimolar concentration. Higher concentration of ascorbic acid is required because the reduction of RSNO is not caused by ascorbate instead, but instead a decomposed product of ascorbic acid. S-Nitroso-N-Acetylpenicillamine is used as an NO donor. An HPLC method is used for determination of the degradation product of ascorbic acid and simultaneously identifying the compound responsible for NO production from RSNO by running the compound through Nitric Oxide Analyzer. Once the compound is identified it has a potential medical use for NO production. For example, it could provide a means that initiates RSNO decomposition in polymeric biomaterials. Thus, increasing the functionality of the medical device coated with such materials and preventing thrombus formation

Two player game variant of the Erdos-Szekeres problem

The classical Erdos-Szekeres theorem states that a convex $k$-gon exists in every sufficiently large point set. This problem has been well studied and finding tight asymptotic bounds is considered a challenging open problem. Several variants of the Erdos-Szekeres problem have been posed and studied in the last two decades. The well studied variants include the empty convex $k$-gon problem, convex $k$-gon with specified number of interior points and the chromatic variant. In this paper, we introduce the following two player game variant of the Erdos-Szekeres problem: Consider a two player game where each player playing in alternate turns, place points in the plane. The objective of the game is to avoid the formation of the convex k-gon among the placed points. The game ends when a convex k-gon is formed and the player who placed the last point loses the game. In our paper we show a winning strategy for the player who plays second in the convex 5-gon game and the empty convex 5-gon game by considering convex layer configurations at each step. We prove that the game always ends in the 9th step by showing that the game reaches a specific set of configurations

Integrating Temporal Fluctuations in Crop Growth with Stacked Bidirectional LSTM and 3D CNN Fusion for Enhanced Crop Yield Prediction

Optimizing farming methods and guaranteeing a steady supply of food depend critically on accurate predictions of crop yields. The dynamic temporal changes that occur during crop growth are generally ignored by conventional crop growth models, resulting in less precise projections. Using a stacked bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) structure and a 3D Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) fusion, we offer a novel neural network model that accounts for temporal oscillations in the crop growth process. The 3D CNN efficiently recovers spatial and temporal features from the crop development data, while the bidirectional LSTM cells capture the sequential dependencies and allow the model to learn from both past and future temporal information. Our model's prediction accuracy is improved by combining the LSTM and 3D CNN layers at the top, which better captures temporal and spatial patterns. We also provide a novel label-related loss function that is optimized for agricultural yield forecasting. Because of the relevance of temporal oscillations in crop development and the dynamic character of crop growth, a new loss function has been developed. This loss function encourages our model to learn and take advantage of the temporal trends, which improves our ability to estimate crop yield. We perform comprehensive experiments on real-world crop growth datasets to verify the efficacy of our suggested approach. The outcomes prove that our unified strategy performs far better than both baseline crop growth prediction algorithms and cutting-edge applications of deep learning. Improved crop yield prediction accuracy is achieved with the integration of temporal variations via the merging of bidirectional LSTM and 3D CNN and a unique loss function. This study helps move the science of estimating crop yields forward, which is important for informing agricultural policy and ensuring a steady supply of food

Crop Yield Prediction using Machine Learning and Deep Learning Techniques

Crop yield prediction has been designated as a major predictive analysis technique that increases the potential of the agricultural industry. The utilisation of such a measure has been important for the farmers to understand the yields of crops during the particular season from a data analytical point of view. Such an aspect has fallen under the concept of predictive analysis which allows the farmers, agricultures, and farming businessmen to make strategic decisions in terms of cultivation. The application of predictive analysis has been useful for understanding the specific set of crops to be sown during the season, and the types of fertilisers to be applied to the crops for an increased output. Risk analysis with the help of predictive modelling of crops helps in the improvement of the overall agriculture business and increases the potential of the farmers to improve their revenue collection. Once they have the potential of understanding the specific parameters of agriculture, the decision making for reducing the risks, increasing the overall gain from the crops, and such other aspects can be easily known. Predictive analysis allows the farmers to gain an expansive amount of knowledge regarding the weather conditions in the future, the quality of the soil for growing the crops, the nutrients required which are to be replenished for increasing the crop field, and several such parameters. Machine Learning or ML and Deep Learning or DL methods have been seen to be extremely important for data analysis and predictions. Several kinds of tools and techniques such as neural networking, Bi GRU, Maxout classifiers, and others have been applied within the agricultural industry. The study would lead to an extensive analysis of the different kinds of Machine Learning and Deep Learning techniques used for increasing the crop yields by prediction analysis. Such a measure would prove to be extremely important to make significant decisions regarding the importing and exporting of crops, and the pricing structure for the grains to be sold in the market. The distribution of crops and also making fruitful decisions regarding future crop plantations can also be inspected with the help of the ML and DL tools

Can tigers survive in human-dominated landscapes?

S.S. Kolipaka’s thesis questions and investigates the survival prospects of reintroduced tigers and their offspring’s in the human dominated landscape of Panna tiger reserve in India. This thesis recognises the importance of both the sociological (human) and biological (tiger) aspects to address tiger survival in human dominated landscapes. The study describes the factors that allow local people in the Panna tiger reserve area to co-existence with tigers such as, people avoiding the forest at night and allowing unwanted surplus cattle to roam the forests. People’s behaviours are a result of their age old beliefs on tigers, good knowledge on wild animals and traditional practices. Tigers show adaptation to people’s activity and practices and also prey on free-roaming cattle. They did not target villages or become problem animals. These insights show how people’s practices in a landscape shape human and carnivore coexistence. Such understanding also provides insights for improving local practices and emphasise the need for in-depth understanding of local cultures. The study also describes the behaviour of tigers. It shows how the originally released animals and their offspring use their environment vis-à-vis their spatial movements and choice of prey. Tigers exhibit high adaptability and also avoid areas of high human activity. These findings demonstrate how an expanding tiger population could co-exist alongside humans. Understanding these processes is essential to guide the reintroduction of large carnivores like tigers and their successful management in human dominated landscapes.S.S Kolipakas study was part funded by; 1.Louwes Fund for Research in Food and Water, The Netherlands. 2.De-Fries BajPai Foundation, USA 3.Madhya Pradesh Biodiversity Board, IndiaGlobal Challenges (FSW

A clinico - microbiological study in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in a tertiary care hospital

Background:Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is an important and common complication of mechanically ventilated patients. It is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Intensive Care Units (ICU) worldwide. Objective of the study was to isolate and identify the organisms causing VAP and to know their resistance pattern.Methods: A prospective study was carried out over a period of one year in the ICU of a tertiary care hospital. All patients on mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours were included in the study. The pathogens were identified based on standard procedures including Gram’s stain, colony morphology on Blood agar, Mac Conkey agar and SDA and biochemical reactions.Results: The incidence of VAP in our study was 32% and was more common in males compared to females (65.62%) Gram negative organisms were most commonly isolated. Among them Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter were the commonest organisms. Gram positive bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase negative staphylococci and Pneumococci. In 2% of cases Candida spp were isolated.Conclusions: Gram negative bacteria were the major pathogenic organisms of VAP in our ICU. Culture of endotracheal aspirates for early diagnosis and its antibiogram will guide for an approach to targeted treatment

Segmentation of Non-viable Myocardium in Delayed Enhancement Magnetic Resonance Images

Purpose: To evaluate six algorithms for segmenting non-viable left ventricular (LV) myocardium in delayed enhancement (DE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: Twenty-three patients with known chronic ischemic heart disease underwent DE-MRI. DE images were first manually thresholded using an interactive region-filling tool to isolate non-viable myocardium. Then, six thresholding algorithms, based on the image intensity characteristics of either LV blood pool (BP), viable LV myocardium, or both, were applied to each image. For the Mean−2SDBP algorithm, thresholds were equal to the mean BP intensity minus twice its standard deviation. For the Mean+2SDSemi, Mean+3SDSemi, Mean+2SDAuto, and Mean+3SDAuto algorithms, thresholds equaled the mean intensity of viable myocardium plus twice (or thrice, as denoted by the name) the standard deviation of intensity (subscripts denote how these values were determined: automatic or semi-automatic). For the Minimum Intensity algorithm, the threshold equaled the minimum intensity between the BP and LV myocardium mean intensities. Percent Scar was defined as the ratio of non-viable to total myocardial pixels in each image. Agreement between each algorithm and manual thresholding was assessed using Bland–Altman analysis. Results: Mean Percent Scar was 25 ± 16% by manual thresholding. Five of the six algorithms demonstrated mean bias within ±3% (all except Mean+2SDAuto); however, limits of agreement (LoA) were large in general (range 12–36%). The best overall agreement was demonstrated by the Mean+2SDSemi (bias, 0%; LoA, 12%) and Mean+3SDSemi(bias, −3%; LoA, 14%) algorithms. Conclusion: On average, five of the six algorithms proved satisfactory for clinical implementation; however, in some images, manual correction of automatic results was necessary

Relationship between the extent of non-viable myocardium and regional left ventricular function in chronic ischemic heart disease

Purpose. To define the relationship between left ventricular (LV) regional contractile function and the extent of myocardial scar in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease and multi-vessel coronary artery disease. Methods. Twenty-three patients with chronic ischemic heart disease and 5 healthy volunteers underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In patients, the relative area ( Percent Scar) and transmural extent (Transmurality) of myocardial infarction were computed from short-axis delayed enhancement images. In each image, myocardial segments were categorized based on the extent of infarction they contained, with 6 categories each for Percent Scar and Transmurality: normal, from healthy volunteers; and 0%; 1–25%, 26–50%, 51–75%, and \u3e 76% from patients. In patients and volunteers, regional LV function was quantified by absolute systolic wall thickening from cine images and midwall circumferential strain using tagged images. Results. Compared to normal segments, regional LV function in patients was significantly diminished in all scar extent intervals, with wall thickening=-8% for all categories. Systolic wall thickening was reduced significantly in all categories above 50% Percent Scar and above 25% Transmurality in patients, relative to corresponding 0% categories. Circumferential strain was significantly reduced above 25% Percent Scar and above 25% Transmurality. Conclusions. In patients with chronic ischemic heart disease and multivessel coronary artery disease, wall thickening was more sensitive to changes in scar Transmurality than to changes in Percent Scar. However, circumferential strain was equally sensitive to both indices. In general, circumferential strain was more sensitive than wall thickening to increases in scar extent