LAND TRANSFORMATION: A THREAT ON BANGALORE’S ECOLOGY - A CHALLENGE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Land constitutes the most important character for sustainable development in a region. Rapid urbanization has become an area of crucial concern against the bonanza of urban ecology. The land use pattern of any urban area hints not only its immediate current space requirements of the inheriting community but rather the cumulative requirements over a period of year. Thus, the way a land use changes into, reveals a physical transformation of its economic use that indirectly unveils the demand for built-up space and as a result, the urban ecology is in imbroglio. For much of human existence, the available land for human use has appeared limitless. Wherever population densities have risen too high, there is a decline noticed in resource base. People moved on to occupy new lands by extending the urban area into rural fringe. Land transformation as the word suggests, traces the change of form in the land use. Land use change is an inevitable phenomenon in an urban space. How the use of land changed from one to another is a problem that has interconnections with various entities and the interaction between them in spatio-temporal environment. Bangalore over the years has grown as a robust technology hub, and has been ever- growing in terms of urban space with its inhabits. How this growth has affected its ecological space is the thrust of the study. The ecology of this urban land constitutes of agricultural plantation, forest area and lakes which comprise the green and blue spots. The objectives are accomplished through Geoinformatics which is able to apprehend statistics of ecological to the urban environment.Environmental Degradation, GIS, Remote Sensing, Digital Image Processing, Urban Land Transformation Analysis.

Development of a tool for automatic segmentation of the cerebellum in MR images of children

The human cerebellar cortex is a highly foliated structure that supports both motor and complex cognitive functions in humans. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is commonly used to explore structural alterations in patients with psychiatric and neurological diseases. The ability to detect regional structural differences in cerebellar lobules may provide valuable insights into disease biology, progression and response to treatment, but has been hampered by the lack of appropriate tools for performing automated structural cerebellar segmentation and morphometry. In this thesis, time intensive manual tracings by an expert neuroanatomist of 16 cerebellar regions on high-resolution T1-weighted MR images of 18 children aged 9-13 years were used to generate the Cape Town Pediatric Cerebellar Atlas (CAPCA18) in the age-appropriate National Institute of Health Pediatric Database (NIHPD) asymmetric template space. An automated pipeline was developed to process the MR images and generate lobule-wise segmentations, as well as a measure of the uncertainty of the label assignments. Validation in an independent group of children with ages similar to those of the children used in the construction of the atlas, yielded spatial overlaps with manual segmentations greater than 70% in all lobules, except lobules VIIb and X. Average spatial overlap of the whole cerebellar cortex was 86%, compared to 78% using the alternative Spatially Unbiased Infra-tentorial Template (SUIT), which was developed using adult images

Is Screening for Genuine Leather Possible?

Content: The value chain of leather is complex and originates from the animal husbandry system to meat processing, pre tanning, tanning, post tanning and product manufacturing processing. The imbibed properties of the material gained from the environmental conditions under which the animal grew to the range of human skills and processing chemicals determines how best the leather products meet the customer desires. The customer desire for feel and handle is ultimately traced back to the origin of the animal itself. Leather thus is a unique product whose properties such as visco-elasticity, breathability etc. remained unmatched by synthetics. Industrialization activities, reduced farming, the vegan culture all have contributed to reduced availability of hides and skins for meeting the quantity of leather required for various end products. This in essence contributed to the growth of a new market for synthetics, wherein the manmade fabrics tried to reproduce all the features of leather, synthetically. Commercially, these products came to be known through various names such as leatherette, faux leather, vegan leather, PU leather, pleather etc. Advancement in material science led to a range of products and manufacturing methods has today ensured that conventional identification techniques such as rough edges, imperfect surfaces, wrinkle test, water absorption, burnability, uneven stitch holes, structure retention, smell, grain pattern can no longer be used to distinguish between leather and similar artificial products. Advancement in technology for the manufacture of various types of leather like materials has made it difficult to identify genuine leather from other leather like materials. With leather like materials meeting most of the conventional methods of identifying genuine leather there is today a need for a new methodology for identifying genuine leather. This paper addresses to a study of a statistically relevant number of samples of leather and non-leather materials through a range of iterative instrumental techniques leading to the establishment of a protocol for identification of genuine leather. The methodology starts with the FTIR-ATR based (non-destructive) identification of signature bands of collagen – the amide I, II and III. After the first level screening, iterative analysis of samples that have the amide bands matching with that of collagen would be screened through techniques such as hydroxyproline estimation, thermogravimetric analysis, fibre structure assessment etc. The paper would report the results, the positives and negatives associated with the first level screening for genuine leather using FTIR. Take-Away: 1. A method for identifying genuine leather. 2. Value addition to leather by way of facile identification. 3. Customer satisfaction

Volunteered Geographic Information System and Its Contribution in Service Sector Employment

The potential of identifying the position of the observer in the geographical system in relation with neighbouring details and the instantaneous communication to the web server has created big data in geographic information, which has evolved in web Geographical Information System (GIS). Web GIS server provides the most reliable information in real-time. The technology is in its newbie has fascinated every age group to become the member of Web GIS. The use of technology and services are so user-friendly that even a layperson can handle without errors. The technology is finding its way in many service sectors like E-Commerce, vigilance, security and real-time tracking. The scope of expansion of this technology regarding the user community and knowledge utilisation awaits its versatility. The augmentation of techniques with its unique combinations has resulted in the building blocks of innovation and citizen-friendly apps. The growing user community is, in turn, encouraging the amateurs and professional to contribute to it. The web GIS facilitated service sector employment, which provides service at doorsteps, hence creating a scope of opportunities for young entrepreneurs

Use of Pregnant Cow Urine for Androgenic Alopecia in Medieval India

Methodology: A detailed and in-depth semantic analysis of (i) the name Indralupta, used around 2500 years ago by Suśṟuta to denote a type of alopecia and, (ii) the medications prescribed in two Maṇipravāḷam (medieval Malayāḷam which is admixed with Sanskrit) medical poems, dated to early 1300s CE, was done so as to identify whether the meanings are pertinent to the underlying character of the disease and principle of management. This was done as part of a project aimed at identifying any system of nomenclature of organs, diseases, drugs, etc., the link between these and areas where principles of Āyurvēda correlate with those of Modern medicine Results: The analysis shows that semantically, Indralupta is same as AGA and that the medieval Āyurvēdics had used pregnant cow urine for its treatment. Conclusion: The findings indubitably establish that Āyurvēdic physicians had the clear concept that: (i). A virilising substance in the body caused Indralupta, (ii). Pregnant women have antagonists to this which is excreted through urine, and (iii). Local application of these would be effective in antagonising the virilising one. These are the same as the modern concepts of AGA and its management, thereby underscoring the scientific nature of Āyurvēda, even as per the standards of modern science. It is also concluded that that the method of semantic analysis used here is a feasible and appropriate method to bring out hidden knowledge in Āyurvēda DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11668.6080

Quantum phase properties of photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states

Quantum phase properties of photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states (and a set of quantum states which can be obtained as the limiting cases of these states) are investigated from a number of perspectives, and it is shown that the quantum phase properties are dependent on the quantum state engineering operations performed. Specifically, the analytic expressions for quantum phase distributions and angular $Q$ distribution as well as measures of quantum phase fluctuation and phase dispersion are obtained. The uniform phase distribution of the initial Fock states is observed to be transformed by the unitary operation (i.e., displacement operator) into non-Gaussian shape, except for the initial vacuum state. It is observed that the phase distribution is symmetric with respect to the phase of the displacement parameter and becomes progressively narrower as its amplitude increases. The non-unitary (photon addition/subtraction) operations make it even narrower in contrast to the Fock parameter, which leads to broadness. The photon subtraction is observed to be a more powerful quantum state engineering tool in comparison to the photon addition. Further, one of the quantum phase fluctuation parameters is found to reveal the existence of antibunching in both the engineered quantum states under consideration. Finally, the relevance of the engineered quantum states in the quantum phase estimation is also discussed, and photon added displaced Fock state is shown to be preferable for the task.Comment: Quantum phase properties of an engineered quantum state has been studied from various perspective

Lower- and higher-order nonclassical properties of photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states

Nonclassical properties of photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states have been studied using various witnesses of lower- and higher-order nonclassicality. Compact analytic expressions are obtained for the nonclassicality witnesses. Using those expressions, it is established that these states and the states that can be obtained as their limiting cases (except coherent states) are highly nonclassical as they show the existence of lower- and higher-order antibunching and sub-Poissonian photon statistics, in addition to the nonclassical features revealed through the Mandel $Q_M$ parameter, zeros of Q function, Klyshko's criterion, and Agarwal-Tara criterion. Further, some comparison between the nonclassicality of photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states have been performed using witnesses of nonclassicality. This has established that between the two types of non-Gaussianity inducing operations (i.e., photon addition and subtraction) used here, photon addition influences the nonclassical properties more strongly. Further, optical designs for the generation of photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states from squeezed vacuum state have also been proposed.Comment: A comparative study of the nonclassicality present in photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states shows photon addition is generally preferable nonclassicality inducing operation, while subtraction also has advantage in some cases over additio

Antenatal umbilical cord parameters and perinatal outcome

Background: The objective of the study was to study the association between antenatally determined umbilical cord thickness and coiling index at/after 34 weeks of gestation and the measures of perinatal outcome.Methods: Umbilical cord thickness and coiling index were determined sonographically at or after 34 weeks of gestation in 100 singleton pregnancies. The influence of the antenatal cord findings was analyzed for their associations with measures of perinatal outcome in high and low risk pregnancies. Intrapartum fetal heart rate abnormalities, meconium staining of liquor, birth weight, Apgar score and the need for neonatal intensive care (NICU) admission were considered as measures of perinatal outcome.Results: Mean cord thickness was 1.62 ± 0.26 cm and the coiling index was 0.42 ± 0.08 in the present observation of 100 cord sonographies. There were 39 pregnancies with high risk attributes. High risk pregnancies were found to have higher proportion of cases with lean (<1.3 cm; p = 0.04) and hypercoiled cord (>0.5; p = 0.00). Among individual associations thicker cord (>1.9 cm) and macrosomia (p = 0.01), hypercoiled cord and polyhydramnios (p = 0.02) were significant. More number of primigravidas were seen to have hypercoiled cord (p = 0.04). Association between cord parameters and meconium stained amniotic fluid, low Apgar score or NICU requirement could not be established.Conclusions: No association between antenatal umbilical cord characteristics and perinatal outcome was found in pregnancies at high risk for poor perinatal outcome

Screening of cetirizine for analgesic activity in mice

Background: Pain is the most common symptom for which patients approach doctors. We have multitude of drugs for pain relief, but they have serious side effects ranging from peptic ulcer (e.g. NSAIDs) to renal failure. The other group, opioids have well known side effects ranging from sedation to drug dependence. So a search for a drug for analgesia with high therapeutic effect and fewer side effects will be a boon for the patients. The objective of this study was to find whether cetirizine, a second generation antihistaminic drug, has got any analgesic activity in mice.Methods: Ten adult albino mice weighing 20-30 grams of either sex were randomized to two groups (n=5). Group I: control group (Treated with solvent 0.1 ml/kg), Group II: Test group (Cetirizine 1mg/kg). All drugs were given orally. The analgesic activity was evaluated by using tail flick, tail immersion and tail clip methods. Reaction time of animals to pain sensation before and after Cetirizine administration were noted at 0, 15, 30, 60 and 90 minutes time intervals respectively on Day 1, 3, 5, 7, 10.Results: Mean reaction time was expressed as Mean±SEM, and one way ANOVA was used to assess statistical significance. Cetirizine was found to have statistically significant analgesic effect in mice and time dependent increase in analgesic effect were observed in all three pain models and maximum analgesic activity was observed at 60 minutes (p<0.001) after drug administration.Conclusions: Through this study, Cetirizine, a second generation antihistamine, is found to have significant analgesic activity in mice. This effect has to be studied further elaborately in animals as well as in humans

Rosai Dorfman Disease of the Orbit

 Introduction: Rosai-Dorfman disease or Sinus Histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (SHML) is a rare, benign and self-limited histiocytic proliferative disorder which affects mainly lymph nodes and very rarely extranodal sites.Presentation of case: A 60 year old lady with SHML of orbit is described. She underwent excision of the mass, received steroids for 6 weeks and is in remission at 2 years.Conclusion: Though the orbit is a rare site for SHML, the disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of orbital swellings.