Towards Tighter Space Bounds for Counting Triangles and Other Substructures in Graph Streams

We revisit the much-studied problem of space-efficiently estimating the number of triangles in a graph stream, and extensions of this problem to counting fixed-sized cliques and cycles. For the important special case of counting triangles, we give a 4-pass, (1 +/- epsilon)-approximate, randomized algorithm using O-tilde(epsilon^(-2) m^(3/2) / T) space, where m is the number of edges and T is a promised lower bound on the number of triangles. This matches the space bound of a recent algorithm (McGregor et al., PODS 2016), with an arguably simpler and more general technique. We give an improved multi-pass lower bound of Omega(min{m^(3/2)/

Village Forums or Development Councils: People’s participation in decision-making in rural West Bengal, India

The policy shift towards decentralisation promises important social change in rural India, providing as it does a three-tier system of local self-governments, the Panchayats: at the village level, the district level, and an intermediate level between the two, called the Block Panchayat. There is evidence of far-reaching social change in rural West Bengal, a state in eastern India, after the Left Front government came into power, particularly because of revitalisation of the three-tier Panchayat system. The initial years of Left Front rule saw the village poor enthusiastically attending Panchayat meetings and taking part in decision-making at the village council, the Gram Sabha, the general body of villagers of voting age covering 10-12 villages, and the Gram Sansad, the forum of local democracy at the ward level. However, today, relatively few people in the villages are taking part in government-sponsored initiatives. Panchayat meetings are scarcely attended and almost always exclude certain classes and members of the community. In order to combat the problem, the Government of West Bengal has recently tried to further devolve the power and responsibilities of local government and has established Gram Unnayan Samiti (GUSs) or Village Development Councils, consisting of political members from both elected and the opposition parties and certain nominated members. The GUSs are supposed to bring in more participation at the grassroots level. In this paper, we study the formal policies regarding decentralisation and people’s participation in West Bengal, and analyse the dynamics of political processes regarding decision-making at operational level after the introduction of GUS. We have analysed audio recordings of meetings of the Gram Sabhas and the dynamics of the newly formed GUSs to uncover the actual rate of people’s participation, actual meeting procedures and reasons behind people’s reluctance to participate. We argue that solutions lie in having a strong third-tier in order to address issues of lack of transparency and accountability in decision-making, and make recommendations as to how that might be achieved

Relationship between iron metabolism and thyroid hormone profile in hypothyroidism

Background: Iron and thyroid hormone metabolism are closely related with each other. Iron plays an important role for both the synthesis as well as metabolism of thyroid hormones acting as a component of many enzymes including thyroid peroxidase (TPO). So, iron deficiency can lead to abnormal functioning of thyroid gland. Ferritin is storage form of iron in our body. Several studies in showed that nutritional iron deficiency can significantly decrease the circulating levels of both T4 and T3 and it can also reduce peripheral conversion of T4 to T3. So, the aim of the study is to find out whether there is any relationship between hypothyroidism and iron metabolism.Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Deben Mahata Government Medical College and Hospital, Purulia on 50 hypothyroid patients and 50 age and sex matched controls after imposing inclusion and exclusion criterias. Blood samples were collected and estimation of Serum TSH, fT4 and fT3, iron, ferritin and TIBC levels were done. Then the data obtained were analysed by proper statistical methods.Results: Out of 100 subjects 68 were male and rest were female. The mean serum TSH level in study population was significantly higher than that of comparison group. While serum fT3 and fT4 level in study group were lower than the control group and both were statistically significant. In the other hand, the mean serum ferritin and iron levels in cases were lower than that in controls and the mean TIBS was higher in study group and all the differences were statistically significant. There were significant correlation between Serum ferritin and serum iron (positive correlation), Serum ferritin and TSH (negative correlation), Serum TSH and fT4 (negative correlation) but there was no significant relationship between serum TSH and iron.Conclusions: The iron metabolism is disturbed in hypothyroidism reflected by low serum ferritin and iron

Local Governments in Rural West Bengal, India and their Coordination with Line Departments

In India, the 73rd constitutional amendment of 1992 decentralises agriculture, irrigation, health, education along with 23 other items to the Panchayats, the village level self-government body. It is envisaged that the three-tier Panchayat system at the District, Block and the Village level would coordinate with different ‘line departments’ of the government for planning various schemes and their implementation. In West Bengal, a state in eastern India, where the Panchayats were revitalised before the constitutional amendment, the initial years were marked by strong coordination between the Panchayats and other departments, especially land and agriculture, making West Bengal a ‘model’ case for the Panchayats. However, where service delivery through the Panchayats has been criticised in recent years, the disjuncture between Panchayats and the line departments is a cause for alarm. In this paper, we search for the causes behind the low level of coordination between government departments and the Panchayat at each tier. We analyse the complex process of organisational coordination that characterises decentralisation, and show how decision making in local governments is nested within various levels of hierarchy. The study focuses on the formal structures of coordination and control with regard to decision-making between the Panchayats and the line departments. We show how these processes work out in practice. These involve lack of role definition, problems of accountability, and politics over access to resources and relations of power within, as well as outside, the Panchayat