Abstract: Nigella sativa L. is an aromatic plant belonging to the
family Ranunculaceae. It has been used traditionally, especially in the
middle East and India, for the treatment of asthma, cough, bronchitis,
headache, rheumatism, fever, influenza and eczema. Several
biological activities have been reported in Nigella sativa seeds,
including antioxidant. In this context we tried to estimate the
antioxidant activity of various extracts prepared from Nigella sativa
seeds, methanolic extract (ME), chloroformic extract (CE), hexanic
extract (HE : fixed oil), ethyl acetate extract (EAE) water extract
(WE). The Folin-Ciocalteu assay showed that CE and EAE contained
high level of phenolic compounds 81.31 and 72.43μg GAE/mg of
extract respectively. Similarly, the CE and EAE exhibited the highest
DPPH radical scavenging activity, with IC50 values of 106.56μg/ml
and 121.62μg/ml respectively. In addition, CE and HE showed the
most scavenging activity against superoxide radical generated in the
PMS-NADH-NBT system with respective IC50 values of 361.86
μg/ml and 371.80 μg/ml, which is comparable to the activity of the
standard antioxidant BHT (344.59 μg/ml). Ferrous ion chelating
capacity assay showed that WE, EAE and ME are the most active
with 40.57, 39.70 and 22.02 mg EDTA-E/g of extract. The inhibition
of linoleic acid/ß-carotene coupled oxidation was estimated by ßcarotene
bleaching assay, this showed a highest relative antioxidant
activity with CE and EAE (69.82% of inhibition). The antioxidant
activities of the methanolic extract and the fixed oil are confirmed by
an in vivo assay in mice, the daily oral administration of methanolic
extract (500 and 800 mg/kg/day) and fixed oil (2 and 4 ml/kg/day)
during 21 days, resulted in a significant enhancement of the blood
total antioxidant capacity (measured by KRL test) and the plasmatic
antioxidant capacity towards DPPH radical.
Abstract: MMR vaccine failure had been reported globally and
here we report that it occurs now in India. Samples were collected from clinically suspected mumps cases were subjected for anti
mumps antibodies, virus isolation, RT-PCR, sequencing and
phylogenetic tree analysis. 56 samples collected from men and women belonging to various age groups. 30 had been vaccinated and
the status of 26 patients was unknown. 28 out of 30 samples were
found to be symptomatic and positive for Mumps IgM, indicating
active mumps infection in 93.4% of the vaccinated population. A
phylogenetic tree comparison of the clinical isolate is shown to be genotype C which is distinct from vaccine strain. Our study clearly sending warning signs that MMR vaccine is a failure and it needs to be revamped for the human use by increasing its efficacy and efficiency.
Abstract: This paper makes a contribution to the on-going
debate on conceptualization and lexicalization of cutting and
breaking (C&B) verbs by discussing data from Telugu, a language of
India belonging to the Dravidian family. Five Telugu native speakers-
verbalizations of agentive actions depicted in 43 short video-clips
were analyzed. It was noted that verbalization of C&B events in
Telugu requires formal units such as simple lexical verbs, explicator
compound verbs, and other complex verb forms. The properties of
the objects involved, the kind of instruments used, and the manner of
action had differential influence on the lexicalization patterns.
Further, it was noted that all the complex verb forms encode 'result'
and 'cause' sub-events in that order. Due to the polysemy associated
with some of the verb forms, our data does not support the
straightforward bipartition of this semantic domain.
Abstract: This paper presents the first reflexions about Margaret Mascarenhas-s novel, “Skin", based on post-colonial critic perception of History and its agents. By doing so, this study will put light on a literary corpus of Indian Literatures: the Goan Literature whose cultural basis creates an unique historiographic metafiction conducted by different characters that one by one plays the narrator role.
Abstract: Construction cost in India is increasing at around 50
per cent over the average inflation levels. It have registered increase
of up to 15 per cent every year, primarily due to cost of basic
building materials such as steel, cement, bricks, timber and other
inputs as well as cost of labour. As a result, the cost of construction
using conventional building materials and construction is becoming
beyond the affordable limits particularly for low-income groups of
population as well as a large cross section of the middle - income
groups. Therefore, there is a need to adopt cost-effective construction
methods either by up-gradation of traditional technologies using local
resources or applying modern construction materials and techniques
with efficient inputs leading to economic solutions. This has become
the most relevant aspect in the context of the large volume of housing
to be constructed in both rural and urban areas and the consideration
of limitations in the availability of resources such as building
materials and finance. This paper makes an overview of the housing
status in India and adoption of appropriate and cost effective
technologies in the country.
Abstract: Accurate loss minimization is the critical component
for efficient electrical distribution power flow .The contribution of
this work presents loss minimization in power distribution system
through feeder restructuring, incorporating DG and placement of
capacitor. The study of this work was conducted on IEEE
distribution network and India Electricity Board benchmark
distribution system. The executed experimental result of Indian
system is recommended to board and implement practically for
regulated stable output.
Abstract: Using a methodology grounded in business process
change theory, we investigate the critical success factors that affect
ERP implementation success in United States and India.
Specifically, we examine the ERP implementation at two case study
companies, one in each country. Our findings suggest that certain
factors that affect the success of ERP implementations are not
culturally bound, whereas some critical success factors depend on the
national culture of the country in which the system is being
implemented. We believe that the understanding of these critical
success factors will deepen the understanding of ERP
implementations and will help avoid implementation mistakes,
thereby increasing the rate of success in culturally different contexts.
Implications of the findings and future research directions for both
academicians and practitioners are also discussed.
Abstract: Brand name plays a vital role for in-shop buying
behavior of consumers and mutated brand name may affect the
selling of leading branded products. In Indian market, there are many
products with mutated brand names which are either orthographically
or phonologically similar. Due to presence of such products, Indian
consumers very often fall under confusion when buying some
regularly used stuff. Authors of the present paper have attempted to
demonstrate relationship between less attention and false recognition
of mutated brand names during a product selection process. To
achieve this goal, visual attention study was conducted on 15 male
college students using eye-tracker against a mutated brand name and
errors in recognition were noted using questionnaire. Statistical
analysis of the acquired data revealed that there was more false
recognition of mutated brand name when less attention was paid
during selection of favorite product. Moreover, it was perceived that
eye tracking is an effective tool for analyzing false recognition of
brand name mutation.
Abstract: Rapid urbanization, industrialization and population
growth have led to an increase in number of automobiles that cause
air pollution. It is estimated that road traffic contributes 60% of air
pollution in urban areas. A case by case assessment is required to
predict the air quality in urban situations, so as to evolve certain
traffic management measures to maintain the air quality levels with
in the tolerable limits. Calicut city in the state of Kerala, India has
been chosen as the study area. Carbon Monoxide (CO) concentration
was monitored at 15 links in Calicut city and air quality performance
was evaluated over each link. The CO pollutant concentration values
were compared with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS), and the CO values were predicted by using CALINE4 and
IITLS and Linear regression models. The study has revealed that
linear regression model performs better than the CALINE4 and
IITLS models. The possible association between CO pollutant
concentration and traffic parameters like traffic flow, type of vehicle,
and traffic stream speed was also evaluated.
Abstract: In India, the quarrel between the budding human
populace and the planet-s unchanging supply of freshwater and
falling water tables has strained attention the reuse of gray water as
an alternative water resource in rural development. This paper
present the finest design of laboratory scale gray water treatment
plant, which is a combination of natural and physical operations such
as primary settling with cascaded water flow, aeration, agitation and
filtration, hence called as hybrid treatment process. The economical
performance of the plant for treatment of bathrooms, basins and
laundries gray water showed in terms of deduction competency of
water pollutants such as COD (83%), TDS (70%), TSS (83%), total
hardness (50%), oil and grease (97%), anions (46%) and cations
(49%). Hence, this technology could be a good alternative to treat
gray water in residential rural area.
Abstract: There is a acute water problem especially in the dry
season in and around Perundurai (Erode district, Tamil Nadu, India)
where there are more number of tannery units. Hence an attempt was
made to use the waste water from tannery industry for construction
purpose. The mechanical properties such as compressive strength,
tensile strength, flexural strength etc were studied by casting various
concrete specimens in form of cube, cylinders and beams etc and
were found to be satisfactory. Hence some special properties such as
chloride attack, sulphate attack and chemical attack are considered
and comparatively studied with the conventional potable water. In
this experimental study the results of specimens prepared by using
treated and untreated tannery effluent were compared with the
concrete specimens prepared by using potable water. It was observed
that the concrete had some reduction in strength while subjected to
chloride attack, sulphate attack and chemical attack. So admixtures
were selected and optimized in suitable proportion to counter act the
adverse effects and the results were found to be satisfactory.
Abstract: Speech corpus is one of the major components in a
Speech Processing System where one of the primary requirements
is to recognize an input sample. The quality and details captured
in speech corpus directly affects the precision of recognition. The
current work proposes a platform for speech corpus generation using
an adaptive LMS filter and LPC cepstrum, as a part of an ANN
based Speech Recognition System which is exclusively designed to
recognize isolated numerals of Assamese language- a major language
in the North Eastern part of India. The work focuses on designing an
optimal feature extraction block and a few ANN based cooperative
architectures so that the performance of the Speech Recognition
System can be improved.
Abstract: Over 90% of the world trade is carried by the
international shipping industry. As most of the countries are
developing, seaborne trade continues to expand to bring benefits for
consumers across the world. Studies show that world trade will
increase 70-80% through shipping in the next 15-20 years. Present
global fleet of 70000 commercial ships consumes approximately 200
million tonnes of diesel fuel a year and it is expected that it will be
around 350 million tonnes a year by 2020. It will increase the
demand for fuel and also increase the concentration of CO2 in the
atmosphere. So, it-s essential to control this massive fuel
consumption and CO2 emission. The idea is to utilize a diesel-wind
hybrid system for ship propulsion. Use of wind energy by installing
modern wing-sails in ships can drastically reduce the consumption of
diesel fuel. A huge amount of wind energy is available in oceans.
Whenever wind is available the wing-sails would be deployed and
the diesel engine would be throttled down and still the same forward
speed would be maintained. Wind direction in a particular shipping
route is not same throughout; it changes depending upon the global
wind pattern which depends on the latitude. So, the wing-sail
orientation should be such that it optimizes the use of wind energy.
We have made a computer programme in which by feeding the data
regarding wind velocity, wind direction, ship-motion direction; we
can find out the best wing-sail position and fuel saving for
commercial ships. We have calculated net fuel saving in certain
international shipping routes, for instance, from Mumbai in India to
Durban in South Africa. Our estimates show that about 8.3% diesel
fuel can be saved by utilizing the wind. We are also developing an
experimental model of the ship employing airfoils (small scale wingsail)
and going to test it in National Wind Tunnel Facility in IIT
Kanpur in order to develop a control mechanism for a system of
airfoils.
Abstract: A research program is conducted to evaluate the
mechanical properties of Ultra High Performance Concrete, target
compressive strength at the age of 28 days being more than 150 MPa.
The methodology to develop such mix has been explained. The
material properties, mix design and curing regime are determined.
The material attributes are understood by studying the stress strain
behaviour of UHPC cylinders under uniaxial compressive loading.
The load –crack mouth opening displacement (cmod) of UHPC
beams, flexural strength and fracture energy was evaluated using
third point loading test. Compressive strength and Split tensile
strength results are determined to find out the compressive and tensile
behaviour. Residual strength parameters are presented vividly
explaining the flexural performance, toughness of concrete.Durability
studies were also done to compare the effect of fibre to that of a
control mix For all the studies the Mechanical properties were
evaluated by varying the percentage and aspect ratio of steel fibres
The results reflected that higher aspect ratio and fibre volume
produced drastic changes in the cube strength, cylinder strength, post
peak response, load-cmod, fracture energy flexural strength, split
tensile strength, residual strength and durability. In regards to null
application of UHPC in India, an initiative is undertaken to
comprehend the mechanical behaviour of UHPC, which will be vital
for longer run in commercialization for structural applications.
Abstract: In the national and professional music of oral tradition
of many people in the East there is the metric formula called “ussuli",
that is to say rhythmic constructions of different character and a
composition. Ussuli in translation from Arabic means the law. The
cultural contacts of the ancient and medieval inhabitants of the
Central Asia, India, China, East Turkestan, Iraq, Afghanistan,
Turkey, and Iran have played a certain role in formation of both
musical and dancing heritage of each of these people. During
theatrical shows many dances were performed under the
accompaniment of percussion instruments as nagra, dayulpaz, doll.
The abovementioned tools are used as the obligatory accompanying
tool in an orchestra and at support of dancing acts as the solo tool.
Dynamics of development of a dancing composition, at times
execution of technique of movement depends on various
combinations of ussuli and their receptions of execution.
Abstract: Two short sediment cores collected from mangrove
areas of Manori and Thane creeks along Mumbai coast were analysed
for sediment composition and metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Co, Ni, Zn, Cr
and V). The statistical analysis of Pearson correlation matrix proved
that there is a significant relationship between metal concentration
and finer grain size in Manori creek while poor correlation was
observed in Thane creek. Based on the enrichment factor, the present
metal to background metal ratios clearly reflected maximum
enrichment of Cu and Pb in Manori creek and Mn in Thane creek.
Geoaccumulation index calculated indicate that the study area is
unpolluted with respect to Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn and Cr in both the
cores while moderately polluted with Cu and Pb in Manori creek.
Based on contamination degree, both the core sediments were found
to be considerably contaminated with metals.
Abstract: In this study spatial-temporal speckle correlation techniques have been applied for the quality evaluation of three different Indian fruits namely apple, pear and tomato for the first time. The method is based on the analysis of variations of laser light scattered from biological samples. The results showed that crosscorrelation coefficients of biospeckle patterns change subject to their freshness and the storage conditions. The biospeckle activity was determined by means of the cross-correlation functions of the intensity fluctuations. Significant changes in biospeckle activity were observed during their shelf lives. From the study, it is found that the biospeckle activity decreases with the shelf-life storage time. Further it has been shown that biospeckle activity changes according to their respiration rates.
Abstract: Musculoskeletal problems are common in high
performance dance population. This study attempts to identify lower
extremity muscle flexibility parameters prevailing among
bharatanatyam dancers and analyze if there is any significant
difference exist between normal and injured dancers in flexibility
parameters. Four hundred and one female dancers and 17 male
dancers were participated in this study. Flexibility parameters
(hamstring tightness, hip internal and external rotation and
tendoachilles in supine and sitting posture) were measured using
goniometer. Results of our study it is evident that injured female
bharathnatyam dancers had significantly (p < 0.05) high hamstring
tightness on left side lower extremity compared to normal female
dancers. The range of motion for left tendoachilles was significantly
(p < 0.05) high for the normal female group when compared to
injured dancers during supine lying posture. Majority of the injured
dancers had high hamstring tightness that could be a possible reason
for pain and MSDs.