Inequality, Elections, and Communal Riots in India

How does inequality within and between ethno-religious groups influence the likelihood andfrequencyofcommunalriots?UsingevidencefromIndia,this article findsthat low within-group and high between-group inequality dampens the likelihood and frequency of communal riots. Theoretically, the article suggests that the instrumental logic, which posits that ethno-nationalist politicians use violence to stoke ethnic cleavages and mobilize support, best accounts for this finding. We argue thattobe politically competitive, ethno-nationalist politicians need theirsupporters to identify foremost with their ethnic identity. When inequality within groups is high and/or inequality between groups is low, citizens are less likely to focus on ethnicity as their primary identity. In such contexts, politicians may use communal riots to improve their electoral prospects by reinforcing the salience of ethnicity. Empirically, the article relies on a time-series cross-district analysis of inequality and Hindu-Muslim riotsin India to test the instrumental argument against theoretical alternatives. To illustrate the causal logic, the article also uses the analysis of a communal riot that occurred in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Analyzing three aspects of the riot—background conditions, timing, targets of propaganda—we evaluate the different predictions of the instrumental argument. The article concludes with the suggestion that communal riots are distinct from cases of mass violence—such as civil wars, genocide, and ethnic cleansing—and could be conceptualized, along with other types of small-scale political violence, as a separate class of events with their own internal logic

Erosion wear of materials

Wear is damage to a surface as a result of relative motion with respect to another substance. One key point is that wear is damage and it is not limited to loss of material from the surface. However, loss of material is definitely one way in which a part can experience wear. Another way included in this definition is by movement of material without loss of mass. An example of this would be the change of geometry or dimension of a part as a result of plastic deformation (e.g., from repeated hammering). There is also a third mode implied, which is damage to a surface that does not result in mass loss or dimensional changes. An example of this third mode might be development of network of cracks in a surface. This might be of significance in applications where maintaining optical transparency is a prime engineering concern. Lens and aircraft windows are examples where this is an appropriate definition of wear. In the older definitions of wear there used to be a greater stress on the “loss of material”, however now-a-days the newer and more general definitions of wear is very natural to the design or device engineer , who thinks of wear in terms of a change to a part that effects its performance. The focus is on the change which may be translated to damage. The implication of this generalization will be further explored in the discussion of wear measures. Previously wear was defined as damaged to a surface. The most common form of that damage is loss or displacement of material and volume can be used as a measure of wear—volume of material removed or volume of material displaced. For scientific purposes this is frequently the measure used to quantify wear. In many studies, particularly material investigations, mass loss is frequently the measure used instead of volume. This is done because of the relative ease of performing a weight loss measurement. However there are some problems in using mass as primary measure of wear. Direct comparison of materials can only be done if their densities are same. For bulk material this is not a major obstacle, since the density is either known or easily determined. In the case of coatings however, this can be a major problem. The other problems are more intrinsic ones. A mass measurement does not measure displaced materials. In addition it is sensitive to wear debris and transferred material that becomes attached to the surface and can not be removed. This material does not necessarily have to be from the same surface; it can from the counter face as well. From the above it can be seen that volume is the fundamental measure for wear when wear is calculated with loss or displacement of material. However, in engineering applications, is generally with the loss of a dimension, the increase in clearance or change in contour not the volume loss. Volume, mass loss and a dimension are not the only measures for wear that are used in engineering. Life, vibration level, roughness, appearance, friction level, and degree of surface crack or crazing are some of the operational measures that are encountered

Stem Cell Antigen CD34 In Native And Engineered Form Alter Its Binding Ability To Stromal Cells And Ligands: A Classical Example Of Clinical Benefits Of Therapeutic Genetic Engineering Of Stem Cells In Transplantation

CD34 is a highly glycosylated surface-expressed sialomucin and, because it is present on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), has demonstrated immense clinical utility in their enumeration in aphaeresis products, immunoaffinity purification for transplantation, and disease monitoring. The success of CD34 based reagents in identifying hematopoietic progenitors led to the assumption that CD34 is expressed on cells with regenerative potential and is sufficient for hematopoietic reconstitution in marrow-ablated recipients. However, its role has not been identified in substantial detail. 

With the advent of the fact that CD34 binds adapter protein like CRK-L in cytosol and CD34 knock out studies identified a a signaling role, CD34 antigen has been proposed to play a signaling function. Since it is a sialomucin, a member of the group adhesion molecules, we attempted to identify a role by over-expreesing its gene in cell lines. We report here that CD34 and engineered forms (Ser306 & Tyr318) significantly regulates adhesion to stromal cells, like mesenchymal stem cells and bone marrow ligands. These enhance binding of cells overexpressing CD34 by upregulating integrins and we therefore propose that such cells may effectively potentiate the success of transplantation through greater homing if they are used for transfusion

Materanal and neonatal outcomes of triplet gestation in a tertiary care centre: a retrospective study

Background: A significant rise in triplet pregnancy rate has occurred recently. This rise is of concern, as these infants are frequently reported as a risk factor of adverse outcome. The aim of this study was to retrospectively study the outcomes of triplet births.Methods: A retrospective study was undertaken to analyze the clinical data of all patients with triplet gestation admitted to the labour room of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Delhi to study the maternal and fetal outcomes. Authors retrospectively observed and analyzed the database to examine triplet gestations delivered between January 2014 and December 2018.Results: Over the five-year study period, there were total 44,011 deliveries. Out of these, there were 35 (0.079%) triplet pregnancies. Of all the triplet pregnancies studied 80% resulted from ovulation induction and assisted reproductive technology. The mean gestational age at delivery was 31.6±3.0 weeks, and the mean birth weight was 1,594±460 gm. The most common maternal complications were Preterm labour in 32 pregnancies (92%), anemia in 17 (49%), pre-eclampsia in 11 (31%), post-partum hemorrhage in 8 (22%). Of the total deliveries neonatal complications included Respiratory distress syndrome in 44 (42.2%), Hyperbilirubinemia in 41 (39%), Intrauterine growth restriction in 19 (18.1%). The perinatal mortality rate was 10.5%.Conclusions: Higher order pregnancies are associated with maternal and neonatal complications. These high risk women need more care and the neonates require intensive care and monitoring after birth, most commonly due to prematurity and low birth weight

Oxidative Cleavage of Alpha Amino Acids ℓ–Glycine and ℓ–Valine By1,3-Dichloro-5,5-Dimethylhydantoin in Medium of Aqueous Acetic Acid Medium

Abstract: 1,3-dichloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (DCDMH) hydrolysed of this compounds leads to the formation of active positive halogen species like HOCl and H2O+Cl. The H2O+Cl in non-polar or less polar media, extensively used as a chlorinating and oxidizing agents in organic substrate. The rate of reaction is enhanced by the increasing [H+] and percentage of acetic acid. The main product of the oxidation is corresponding aldehydes. The thermodynamic parameters for the oxidation have been computed in the show step mechanism. The observed rate law was in good conformity with the mechanism

VHDL implementation of 32 bit interlock collapsing ALU

An important area in computer architecture is parallel processing. Machines employing parallel processing are called parallel machines. A parallel machine executes multiple instructions in one cycle. However, parallel machines have a limitation, they cannot execute interlocked instructions. They are executed in serial like any serial machine. It takes more than one cycle to execute multiple instructions causing performance degradation. In addition there is hardware underutilization as a result of serial execution in parallel machine. The solution requires a special kind of device called “Interlock collapsing ALU”. The Interlock Collapsing ALU, unlike conventional 2-1 ALU’s is a 3-1 ALU. The proposed device executes the interlocked instructions in a single instruction cycle, unlike other parallel machines, resulting in high performance. The resulting implementation demonstrates that the proposed 3-1 Interlock Collapsing ALU can be designed to outperform existing schemes for ICALU, by a factor of at least two. The ICALU is implemented in VHDL. Its functionality is verified through simulation

A cross-sectional study about socio-demographic factors and clinical characteristics of male patients with alcohol dependence syndrome

Background: Alcohol abuse is one of the major causes of death and disability globally; and a key risk factor for health, social, and economic problems in the communities. Consumption of alcohol by Indians has increased drastically due to various factors and in an unrestricted manner; and the age of initiation of drinking is progressively coming down. Objective: To determine the socio-demographic and clinical profile of the patients coming for treatment of alcohol dependence syndrome in the psychiatry department. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 male outpatients of alcohol dependence syndrome attending the department of psychiatry at a tertiary care hospital. Sociodemographic data and clinical details were recorded with the help of a pre-designed questionnaire. Results: Nuclear family, family history of alcoholism, unmarried status, higher educational level, unemployment, and peer pressure are the factors significantly associated with early age at first drink and age of dependence on alcohol (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Adolescents having a family history of alcoholism are a high-risk group for developing alcohol dependence and should be targeted for intervention strategies. Community based-longitudinal studies are needed to understand multiple factors influencing alcohol use and recommend targeted preventive measures. Keywords: Alcohol, Alcohol dependence syndrome, Peer pressure, Intoxication, Socio-demographic factor

Effect of Oxidant 1, 3-Dichloro-5-5-Dimethylhydantoin and 5, 5-Dimethylhydantoin with Different Substrates: The Kinetic Measurements

The kinetic measurement with different concentration of oxidant 1,3-dichloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin and 5,5-dimethylhydantoin with ℓ–alanine,  ℓ-glycine and ℓ–valine. The catalytic effect of acid in the reaction rate reveal an interaction between oxidants species H2O+Cl and substrates. The observed order of reactivity of ℓ-amino acids (ℓ-glycine > ℓ–alanine > ℓ-valine) was explained on the basis of hydrolysis of reacting species

A cross-sectional study about socio-demographic factors and clinical characteristics of male patients with alcohol dependence syndrome

Background: Alcohol abuse is one of the major causes of death and disability globally; and a key risk factor for health, social, and economic problems in the communities. Consumption of alcohol by Indians has increased drastically due to various factors and in an unrestricted manner; and the age of initiation of drinking is progressively coming down. Objective: To determine the socio-demographic and clinical profile of the patients coming for treatment of alcohol dependence syndrome in the psychiatry department. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 male outpatients of alcohol dependence syndrome attending the department of psychiatry at a tertiary care hospital. Sociodemographic data and clinical details were recorded with the help of a pre-designed questionnaire. Results: Nuclear family, family history of alcoholism, unmarried status, higher educational level, unemployment, and peer pressure are the factors significantly associated with early age at first drink and age of dependence on alcohol (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Adolescents having a family history of alcoholism are a high-risk group for developing alcohol dependence and should be targeted for intervention strategies. Community based-longitudinal studies are needed to understand multiple factors influencing alcohol use and recommend targeted preventive measures. Keywords: Alcohol, Alcohol dependence syndrome, Peer pressure, Intoxication, Socio-demographic factor