Present Article Research Articles

Agrarian Distress in Indian Agriculture: Causes, Socio-economic Consequences and Coping Strategies

Agrarian distress is the economic, political and social challenges faced by the farmers and rural communities due to factors such as low crop yields, fluctuating prices of agricultural produce, high input costs, indebtedness, and lack of access to credit, markets, and infrastructure. Over 8,00,000 individuals are dies by suicide each year because of various reasons. More over the suicides are happening in the families whose own land is less than 1-2 hectares, who are in debt, have been identified the most at risk for suicide. The present article aims at better understanding of the causes, consequences and possible coping strategies for the agrarian distress in India. Causes such as fluctuations in crop sales, weather and climate conditions, dependent on natural resources, etc. are discussed in detail. Consequences of agrarian stress are suicides of farmers, rural migration, food insecurity, environmental impacts and so on. Solutions such as strengthening the forward markets, comprehensive crop insurance schemes for the framers where the non-MSP (Minimum Support Price) crops also may be covered, assured price to the farmers are discussed. Many researchers argued that farmers suicides are increasing but the research is limited in the specialised area of interest. In addition to that, researchers are focussing only on the socio-economic variables rather than the psychological variables. In order to mitigate the risks out of agrarian distress, farmers should be encouraged by the government and extension service providers to take up the subsidiary occupations and secondary agricultural occupations which helps them in getting profits in the situations where the crop damages due to the extreme weather patterns. As rightly pointed out by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), distress of the framers should have a long-term potential solution such as major reforms in the existing agricultural laws rather than farm loan waivers which acts as the short-term relief to the farmers.

Disposable (Textual) Bodies

The present article compares two coeval authors, Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) and Jane Barker (1652–1732), who stand on opposite sides of the political and religious spectrum, to analyse the ways in which they engage with popular prostitute stories in Moll Flanders (1722) and the Patch-Work narratives (1723, 1726), respectively. This contribution, then, offers novel insights into these writers’ work, exploring the ways in which Defoe rewrites this form of popular fiction to conform to his middle-class fantasy of personal development, and how Barker responds both to Defoe’s tales of prostitute ascent and the general taste for this fiction from her own ideological perspective. It will also expose their similarities, as they construct composite literary bodies of many different prostitute narratives, and emphasize the need to understand the novel as an assemblage of voices, genres and sociomaterial aspects.

Identification of eupneic breathing using machine learning.

The diaphragm muscle (DIAm) is the primary inspiratory muscle in mammals. In awake animals, considerable heterogeneity in the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the DIAm reflects varied ventilatory and nonventilatory behaviors. Experiments in awake animals are an essential component to understanding the neuromotor control of breathing, which has especially begun to be appreciated within the last decade. However, insofar as the intent is to study the control of breathing, it is paramount to identify DIAm EMG activity that in fact reflects breathing. Current strategies for doing so in a reproducible, reliable, and efficient fashion are lacking. In the present article, we evaluated DIAm EMG from awake animals using hierarchical clustering across four-dimensional feature space to classify eupneic breathing. Our model, which can be implemented with automated threshold of the clustering dendrogram, successfully identified eupneic breathing with high F1 score (0.92), specificity (0.70), and accuracy (0.88), suggesting that it is a robust and reliable tool for investigating the neural control of breathing.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The heterogeneity of diaphragm muscle (DIAm) activity in awake animals reflects real motor behavior diversity but makes assessments of eupneic breathing challenging. The present article uses an unsupervised machine learning model to identify eupneic breathing amidst a deluge of different DIAm electromyography (EMG) burst patterns in awake rats. This technique offers a scalable and reliable tool that improves efficiency of DIAm EMG analysis and minimizes potential sources of bias.

Recent Developments and Challenges in the Application of Fungal Laccase for the Biodegradation of Textile Dye Pollutants

Abstract: According to the European Environment Agency, the textile industry is responsible for 20% of global water pollution due to dyeing and finishing products, thus facing severe environmental challenges. It is essential to design more biocompatible and sustainable treatment processes capable of removing dyes from industrial wastewater to fight this environmental hazard. Chemical industries must change traditional chemical-based concepts to more environmentally friendly and greener processes to remove pollutants, including dyes. Enzymatic bioremediation is a smart tool and a promising alternative for environmental pollutant degradation. The use of enzymes in dye decolourization makes the process a green and clean alternative to conventional chemical treatments. Moreover, enzymemediated biocatalysis decreases the formation of toxic by-products compared to chemical reactions. The most used enzyme for the decolourization of dyes is laccase. Laccase is a multicopper oxidase found in diverse organisms such as fungi. It promotes the oxidation of phenolic compounds and has a wide range of substrate specificity, making it a promising enzyme for removing different dyes used by the textile industry, including recalcitrant aromatic dyes. The present article gives a comprehensive revision of textile dye decolourization, its types, recent developments in laccase-mediated dye bioremediation technologies, the mechanism of biocatalysis, and their limitations and challenges. Emphasis on the chemical pathways of laccase reaction mechanisms for dye bioremediation processes is also provided. In addition, a brief overview of textile industries and the respective traditional treatment processes for textile wastewater is presented.

Natural STAT3 Inhibitors for Cancer Treatment: A Comprehensive Literature Review.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide, affecting millions of people physically and financially every year. Over time, many anticancer treatments have been proposed and studied, including synthetic compound consumption, surgical procedures, or grueling chemotherapy. Although these treatments have improved the daily life quality of patients and increased their survival rate and life expectancy, they have also shown significant drawbacks, including staggering costs, multiple side effects, and difficulty in compliance and adherence to treatment. Therefore, natural compounds have been considered a possible key to overcoming these problems in recent years, and thorough research has been done to assess their effectiveness. In these studies, scientists have discovered a meaningful interaction between several natural materials and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 molecules. STAT3 is a transcriptional protein that is vital for cell growth and survival. Mechanistic studies have established that activated STAT3 can increase cancer cell proliferation and invasion while reducing anticancer immunity. Thus, inhibiting STAT3 signaling by natural compounds has become one of the favorite research topics and an attractive target for developing novel cancer treatments. In the present article, we intend to comprehensively review the latest knowledge about the effects of various organic compounds on inhibiting the STAT3 signaling pathway to cure different cancer diseases.

Was Margaret Thatcher a conservative? Thatcherism and society

ABSTRACT There is a long-lasting political debate on Thatcher’s ideological affiliations. Was Thatcherism more connected to conservative or old (neo)liberal ideas? While some commentators have highlighted Thatcher’s individualism, free-market ideas and radicalism as proof that her ideology was undoubtedly neoliberal, others have emphasized her moral and authoritarian views as typically conservative. The present article analyses Thatcherite views on human nature, civil society institutions and tradition, as well as radical Thatcherite approaches to traditional British institutions. Through a qualitative approach that focuses on Thatcher’s speeches and interviews but which also pays attention to the material produced by her allies, and governmental plans and policies, the article concludes that while Thatcherism resonated with new and old conservative arguments on these issues and held a broad conservative worldview, it also followed a rare but not unconservative radical approach to what its proponents believed were ‘corrupted’ institutions.

Causal Modeling and Thermodynamics: Towards a New Convergence of the Two Fields

In 1824, Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot paid for the publication of his first book. Unfortunately, it sparked little interest, and the young engineer never published another. In quick succession, Carnot served in the military, suffered from scarlet fever, mania, and cholera, passing away in obscurity at age 36. Two centuries have passed since Carnot published his only book. Recognition has come later. In particular, Carnot’s reasoning spearheaded the development of the first and second laws of Thermodynamics. The new science that has emerged around these physical laws is nothing short of breathtaking, providing a stunning testimony to human creativity. Yet success and growth have also brought critical attention and doubts. In 1924, Louis de Broglie lauded the first law of Thermodynamics more than the second. The first law builds on a long history rooted in Causal Modeling, the second does less so. Today, physicists such as Adrian Bejan specialize in Thermodynamics but contend that some formulations of the second law may have attracted broken science. The present article revisits this history in an attempt to cut through some of the fog. As outcome of this re-evaluation, the article outlines a new convergence of Thermodynamics and Causal Modeling.

Improved, Efficient, and Simple Methodology for the Resolution of Racemic Benoxaprofen: A Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID).

The present article discloses an improved, efficient, and simple resolution methodology for the preparation of (S)-benoxaprofen which is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). The resolution of racemic benoxaprofen uses an easily available, efficient, recoverable, and cost-effective chiral reagent, namely, (1R,2S)-(+)-cis-1-amino-2-indanol. This novel resolution process is having a very high purity of (S)-benoxaprofen, greater than 99%, substantially free from (R)-benoxaprofen (less than 1%).

The Audi Spare‐Parts Case (CJEU): A closer look at critical opinions

AbstractThe present article is confined to the legal examination of the ‘critical opinions’ and the ‘misconceptions’ rendered or drawn with regard to a recent judgement of ‘Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)’ in a case, commonly known as ‘Audi Spare Parts Case’ (C‐334/22), whereby the CJEU has disallowed the use of a registered mark/sign (or a shape which is identical or similar to a registered mark/sign) on the spare parts of the car (or any complex product or machine for that matter) which interferes with the ‘essential functions’ of a mark/sign. The article summarily notes the involved facts and the legal context of the aforesaid case and then proceeds to analyse the congruity and the legal validity of the noted ‘critical opinions’, with the support of established legal principles, precedents, and statutory frameworks. The article also addresses and clarifies some misconceptions drawn with regard to the relevant legal concepts (of the Trade Marks Law), and concludes, in the wake of the findings of the legal analysis, that the Hon'ble Court has rightly upheld the intent and purport of ‘The Trade Marks Regulation’. At the end, the implications of the aforesaid judgement are also mentioned within a broader perspective, explaining their significance beyond the immediate context.

Recent advancement in microplastic removal process from wastewater - A critical review

Microplastics, small sized plastic particles having size <5 mm are formed through primary process including production of beauty products, microbeads and microfibres as well as secondary process including mechanical weathering, friction, aberration and fragmentation of large plastics. The major sources of microplastics are land-based and ocean-based sources. Microplastic pollution is a serious concern due to the persistent, low biodegradability and bio-accumulative behaviour. Microplastics can bioaccumulate in the food chain and can cause ecological and human health risk. Hence, it is important to remove from the aquatic ecosystems. Microplastics are removed from aquatic systems and wastewater through a series of processes such as physical, chemical and biological treatments. In the present articles, >250 articles are reviewed to collect the information regarding the various physical, chemical and biological methods for the removal of microplastics. Also, the probable control strategies to combat with plastic pollution were assessed. It was concluded that recent water treatment methods are efficient in removing microplastic pollution. The efficiencies to remove microplastic from the water ranged between 74 %-99.2 %, 65 %-99.20 % and 77 %-100 % for physical, chemical and biological treatment methods, respectively. Among the three treatment methods, physical methods especially the filtration of water from biochar is the most efficient way (efficiency up to 100 %) to remove microplastics. It was also concluded that creating public awareness, promoting reusing, recycling and reducing, and application of bioplastics can control the production of microplastics from plastic wastes. This review will be useful to add current knowledge regarding the abatement of microplastic pollution, and finding novel solution to control microplastics. This review will also help the policymakers to implement most effective and cost-efficient method to remove microplastics, and to find out new methods to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic wastes.

Use of Buzz Buttons to Illustrate Taste Perception Principles in a Sensation and Perception Laboratory Exercise

The buzz button is an edible flower that induces a tingling, electric sensation in the mouth and alters the perception of different flavors. The buzz button’s taste-altering effect is thought to be caused by the bioactive compound spilanthol. The present article details a laboratory exercise that explores taste perception principles using the buzz button in an undergraduate Sensation and Perception course. A detailed step-by-step guide for the laboratory exercise is included along with analyzed student results. Students first sampled various food items that spanned the different taste sensations (i.e., salty, sweet, sour and bitter) and then rated their perceived taste intensity on a scale from one (not intense) to ten (very intense). Next, students consumed a buzz button and resampled each food item as well as re-rated their perceived taste intensities. It was found that students’ perceived taste intensities for sour items and sweet items were decreased after consuming the buzz buttons. Additionally, students also completed a post-activity survey in which they indicated that this was an interesting and enjoyable exercise. This highlights the value of this particular hands-on demonstration in teaching about the connection between taste and tactile perception.

Violence Against Children in the Arab Sector and the Place of the Child in the Family Structure in Arab Society-Situation Picture and Suggestions for Possible Solutions

Physical abuse and violence against children are often defined differently by researchers and writers in the academic literature. The difference and diversity in definitions is mainly due to the academic discipline in which the research was conducted and/or the direction of the research and the subjects of the research. Mainly, broad definitions of physical abuse of children can be identified in the literature (for example: pushing, slapping or beating). On the other hand, there is a minority of &amp;quot;narrow&amp;quot; and specific definitions (such as: beating with an object, confinement in a closed room, etc.). The reason lies, mainly, in the methodological context and the frequency of the phenomena it is easier to define cases under a comprehensive definition (such as beating) and it is also difficult to find enough cases for cases with a &amp;quot;narrow&amp;quot; definition, to create validity for the findings. Also the methods of reporting parental aggression or abuse towards children (for example: Welfare reports, police reports, self-reports, etc.) also affect the definitions due to the focus of the phenomenon (for example: in the context of police reports, the level of attribution and definition is the criminal level), subjective feelings (feelings of the person reporting or answering the research questions) or determination of the researcher and the context of the research article (for example: focus on sexual violence). In the present article, I chose to use the following definition: violence against children is the control of one over another in the family relationship and includes one or more of the following types of violence: sexual, physical, emotional-psychological, economic and neglect.

Unraveling the treasure trove of phytochemicals in mitigating the Salmonella enterica infection.

Foodborne diseases triggered by various infectious micro-organisms are contributing significantly to the global disease burden as well as to increasing mortality rates. Salmonella enterica belongs to the most prevalent form of bacteria accountable for significant burden of foodborne illness across the globe. The conventional therapeutic approach to cater to Salmonella enterica-based infections relies on antibiotic therapy, but the rapid emergence of the antibiotic resistance strains of Salmonella sp. necessitates the development of alternative treatment and prevention strategies. In light of this growing concern, the scientific community is rigorously exploring novel phytochemicals harnessed from medicinally important plants as a promising approach to curb Salmonella enterica infections. A variety of phytochemicals belonging to alkaloids, phenols, flavonoid, and terpene classes are reported to exhibit their inhibitory activity against bacterial cell communication, membrane proteins, efflux pumps, and biofilm formation among drug resistant Salmonella strains. The present review article delves to discuss the emergence of antibiotic resistance among Salmonella enterica strains, various plant sources, identification of phytochemicals, and the current state of research on the use of phytochemicals as antimicrobial agents against Salmonella enterica, shedding light on the promising potential of phytochemicals in the fight against this pathogen.

Two models for wave propagation in polymer/halloysite nanotube nanocomposites: network phenomena/generalized continuum mechanics

In the modeling of polymer/halloysite nanotube nanocomposites, it is essential to include the influences of halloysite nanotube/interphase network because this type of reinforcement creates networks after percolation onset. Besides, it has been proven by experimental tests and theoretical simulations that classical continuum theories are unable to study some nano-sized problems. In the present paper, considering the above facts, new research is done on wave propagation in the polymer/halloysite nanotube nanocomposites while considering the halloysite nanotube/interphase network and generalized continuum mechanics instead of classical continuum theories. In this article, two different models are used to study the effects of halloysite nanotube/interphase network and the length scale parameters on wave behaviors. The results for several different cases are compared and validated with experimental and theoretical results. As far as the authors of the present article know, this is the first time that the combination of these two interesting topics is studied, which can have its points.

Elif Shafak and Amine Maalouf: Rerouting the Silk Road or Remapping the World Cartography

The present article juxtaposes the fictional world of two major contemporary literary figures, namely Elif Shafak and Amin Maalouf through two bestselling opuses, The Forty Rules of Love and Leo the African respectively. It investigates how the two texts’rereading of Arab Muslim history operates a discursive manipulation, which not only remaps the world cartography but more importantly designs textualities as ‘contact zones’, thus rehabilitating the ascendency of Oriental space and celebrating its multicultural essence, its civilizational stakes, and its unique spirituality.

Right to information and ambiguities generated by classification of documents

The right to information is one of the pillars of support for democracy, centered on individuals as citizens and their opportunity to be actively involved in the political life of a modern state. The right to information involves aspects such as transparency in governance and the possibility of the governed to access relevant information about how the decision-making process is carried out. In this article, we will approach the legislative perspective on the right to information both in Romania and in Europe, ruling on practices in the field and current challenges. Approaching the right to information from a legislative, doctrinal and jurisprudential point of view, confers to the academic space possible solutions in building a pertinent point of view on how some information of public interest can end up being sealed. The present article focuses on how document classification is carried out in contrast to citizens' rights to information, access to justice, and fairness in the process. Promoting transparency in the democratic system and protecting classified information in a non-compliant manner can lead to a series of ambiguities. In the light of the provisions of the Constitution of Romania, of the legislation of the European Union and of a broad doctrinal perspective, related to various jurisprudential aspects, we emphasize that the classification of information of public interest presents several implications, starting potential impacts on the right to information, culminating in the destabilization of the trust relationship between the state and its citizens.

Estimation of polarity of slope of instantaneous current increment for power swing immune protection of series compensated line

Existing protection schemes for series-compensated transmission line (SCTL) lack either in reliability or speed during power swing (PS). A new ultra-fast reliable method is proposed in the present article using the slope of instantaneous current increment (SICI). The peaks of SICI (denoted by PKS) of a modal component of currents above a dynamic threshold are obtained to detect the sudden jump in SICI, which occurs after a transient disturbance. PKS of two terminal-currents are of same polarity for a fault within SCTL but they are of opposite polarity for any external event. This unique characteristic is mathematically verified and exploited to discern internal faults from external events during PS. Proposed method is found unaffected for high level of series compensation, position of compensation, close-in fault, fault inception point, high fault resistance, synchronization error and CT saturation. The results are finally compared to the incremental quantity-based methods to justify its merit.

The Kurdish Translation of English Collocations in Shakespeare’s the Tempest

Collocations have always been an area of interest for linguists. They study this phenomenon in both translation and language dimensions. The way of using collocations in a source text and the way of translating them are important keys to indicate a text’s linguistic, stylistic and cultural features. It is beyond doubt that collocations are essential word combinations that enhance the pragmatic appeal of a text. More specifically, literary authors use collocations to make the language of their literary works more figurative. Therefore, translators need to be careful enough during their translation process in order to preserve the uniqueness of a language. The present article aims to study those English collocations in literary texts that are translated into Kurdish. To achieve the objective of the study, the researcher takes account of William Shakespeare’s famous play (The Tempest) that is translated into Kurdish by Dr.Azad Hama Sharif who is a famous Kurdish translator. For the same purpose 59 collocations that are used in that literary work are chosen to be the data of the study. Then the selected collocations are classified according to the strategies that are used to translate them. Moreover, the frequency of using each strategy is also presented. The article explores an explicit analysis of translating those collocations from the source into the target language by using Vinay and Darblen’s model of translation. It also delineates that claque is the most used translation strategy and modulation is the least used strategy.

Estimation of surface quality for turning operations using machine learning approach

The present article examines the effects of machining parameters on machined surfaces to determine optimum turning parameters for AISI-316 under dry machining environment. L27-OA with different levels of Cutting Speed (CS), Feed Rate (FR) and Depth-of-Cut (DOC) is used for experimentation. Surface Roughness (Ra) and Material Removal Rate (MRR) are considered as the response parameters. Among three Machine Learning (ML) models viz. Support Vector Regression (SVR), Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) and Gradient Boosting Regression (GBR), GBR yielded the best results, with significantly higher R2 scores and lower RMSE values. An integration of GBR-PSO algorithms is used to determine 50 sets of, Pareto solutions and desirability analysis rendered the most suitable input parameter values as 111.66 m/min for CS, 0.15 mm/rev for FR and 1.23 mm DOC. At validation stage, Ra and MRR predicted by ML have a nominal difference of 15.19% and 0.115% compared to measured values.

Comparison of Parabolic Troughs and Solar Photovoltaic as Solar Field Technology in Dispatchable Solar Power Plants

The use of thermal energy storage (TES) technologies, as means to provide dispatchability to thermally driven solar power production, has long stood as the main argument for the interest and potential competitiveness of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) when compared to other non-dispatchable alternatives. Whereas reductions of the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) are observed for CSP in recent years, the notable LCOE reduction observed along this decade in large-scale solar photovoltaics (PV) plants is set to break the taboo of "power-to-heat-to-power" approaches, as its potential economic performance outcasts the associated thermodynamic inefficiency. The possibility of using available resistive heating technologies and components in PV-TES combinations, renders the configuration of a conventional CSP plant suitable for the replacement of a thermal conversion solar field by a photovoltaic field presenting further the possibility of delocalization and/or spatial distribution of the solar field (e.g. on a Carnot Battery configuration). As dispatchability no longer stands as an exclusive argument in favor of CSP over PV, the present article addresses the boundary conditions for the competitiveness of each technology as the champion of dispatchable solar power fields. The impact of both land and electrical heater costs variation in the variation of LCOE for PV-TES plants is much more modest than that observed for the impact of CSP solar field cost variations in the variation of LCOE for CSP plants, which leans for the latter and at present costs, towards better competitiveness for plant designs with a storage capacity in excess of 10.0 FLH (for GHI values in excess of 2100-2200 kWh∙m-2∙year-1).