Enculturing innovation : Indian engagements with nanotechnology

This thesis tries to understand the ‘Culture(s) of innovation’ in nanoscience and technology (NS&T) research for development in India. It tries to understand the character of techno-scientific knowledge practices within five NS&T labs and their own location within the broad political, social, cultural and developmental contexts of contemporary India. It describes and interprets how people, their technical and social institutions and their combined practices influence and negotiate a particular technology in understanding it, and using it to meet the ends they seek to meet. It is an account of a ‘culture of innovation’ that links the macro with the micro, and the inside of the lab with the world outside - a world that is a much bigger influence than is generally believed. Using the learnings from the empirical material and the diversity it points to, the thesis concludes with a set of six inter-related steps of how and why innovation is encultured

Developing Terra Nullius: colonialism, nationalism, and indigeneity in the Andaman Islands

This article explores in detail the legal structures and discursive framings informing the governance of one particular ‘backward’ region of India, the Andaman Islands. It traces the shifting patterns of occupation and development of the Islands in the colonial and post colonial periods, with a special focus on the changes wrought by independence in 1947 and the eventual history of planned development. It demonstrates how intersecting discourses of indigenous savagery/primitivism and the geographical emptiness was repeatedly mobilised in colonial era surveys and post-colonial policy documents. Post colonial visions of developing the Andaman Islands ushered in a settler-colonial governmentality, infused with genocidal fantasies of the ‘dying savage’. Laws professing to protect aboriginal Jarawas actually worked to unilaterally extend Indian sovereignty over the lands and bodies of a community clearly hostile to such incorporation. It questions the current exclusion of India from the global geographies of settler-colonialism and argues that the violent and continuing history of indigenous marginalisation in the Andaman Islands represents a de facto operation of a logic of terra nullius

Assessment of pediatric asthma drug use in three European countries; a TEDDY study.

Asthma drugs are amongst the most frequently used drugs in childhood, but international comparisons on type and indication of use are lacking. The aim of this study was to describe asthma drug use in children with and without asthma in the Netherlands (NL), Italy (IT), and the United Kingdom (UK). We conducted a retrospective analysis of outpatient medical records of children 0-18 years from 1 January 2000 until 31 December 2005. For all children, prescription rates of asthma drugs were studied by country, age, asthma diagnosis, and off-label status. One-year prevalence rates were calculated per 100 children per patient-year (PY). The cohort consisted of 671,831 children of whom 49,442 had been diagnosed with asthma at any time during follow-up. ß2-mimetics and inhaled steroids were the most frequently prescribed asthma drug classes in NL (4.9 and 4.1/100 PY), the UK (8.7 and 5.3/100 PY) and IT (7.2 and 16.2/100 PY), respectively. Xanthines, anticholinergics, leukotriene receptor antagonists, and anti-allergics were prescribed in less than one child per 100 per year. In patients without asthma, ß2-mimetics were used most frequently. Country differences were highest for steroids, (Italy highest), and for ß2-mimetics (the UK highest). Off-label use was low, and most pronounced for ß2-mimetics in children <18 months (IT) and combined ß2-mimetics + anticholinergics in children <6 years (NL). CONCLUSION: This study shows that among all asthma drugs, ß2-mimetics and inhaled steroids are most often used, also in children without asthma, and with large variability between countries. Linking multi-country databases allows us to study country specific pediatric drug use in a systematic manner without being hampered by methodological differences. This study underlines the potency of healthcare databases in rapidly providing data on pediatric drug use and possibly safety

Population Recovery of Nicobar Long-Tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis umbrosus following a Tsunami in the Nicobar Islands, India

Natural disasters pose a threat to isolated populations of species with restricted distributions, especially those inhabiting islands. The Nicobar long tailed macaque.Macaca fascicularis umbrosus, is one such species found in the three southernmost islands (viz. Great Nicobar, Little Nicobar and Katchal) of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, India. These islands were hit by a massive tsunami (Indian Ocean tsunami, 26 December 2004) after a 9.2 magnitude earthquake. Earlier studies [Umapathy et al. 2003; Sivakumar, 2004] reported a sharp decline in the population of M. f. umbrosus after thetsunami. We studied the distribution and population status of M. f. umbrosus on thethree Nicobar Islands and compared our results with those of the previous studies. We carried out trail surveys on existing paths and trails on three islands to get encounter rate as measure of abundance. We also checked the degree of inundation due to tsunami by using Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) on landsat imageries of the study area before and after tsunami. Theencounter rate of groups per kilometre of M. f. umbrosus in Great Nicobar, Little Nicobar and Katchal was 0.30, 0.35 and 0.48 respectively with the mean group size of 39 in Great Nicobar and 43 in Katchal following the tsunami. This was higher than that reported in the two earlier studies conducted before and after the tsunami. Post tsunami, there was a significant change in the proportion of adult males, adult females and immatures, but mean group size did not differ as compared to pre tsunami. The results show that population has recovered from a drastic decline caused by tsunami, but it cannot be ascertained whether it has reached stability because of the altered group structure. This study demonstrates the effect of natural disasters on island occurring species

Let’s Start with Forever: Counterintuitive effects of writing and reading own and others’ memories

This thesis aims to investigate the effects of creating and reading memory jars – virtual or physical jars filled with memories, moments, and experiences in a person’s life – on affect, loneliness, and psychological well being. While previous research ties reminiscence to a variety of benefits such as increased happiness and social connection, research about narrative reminiscence and reminiscence using non-autobiographical memories, particularly those belonging to unknown others, remains limited. Study 1 shows that creating jars for the self and then reading either one’s own or an unknown classmate’s memory jar a month later makes Princeton University seniors feel happier. Study 2 replicates Study 1 with senior citizens in assisted living and shows that creating jars for oneself and then reading either one’s own or an unknown resident’s memory jar a week later makes residents feel happier, less lonely, more in control of their environment, and as though their lives are more meaningful with more positive relations. Implications for using unknown others’ memories and stories as a tool for reminiscence, including strategies for a business focused on memory jars, are discussed

How Hindu Spiritual Practices Can Help Manage Your COVID-19 Anxiety

This article discusses coping with the COVID-19 pandemic through Hindu doctrine and practices. The article covers the dharma principles of ahimsa, aparigraha, satya, and karuna, along with the practice of Puja. The article references the Bhagavad Gita