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To compare the efficacy of the sublabial and modified Denker's procedure in clearance of fungal disease from the anterior wall of maxilla and the pre-maxillary area i.e. the difficult areas of maxillary sinus. A prospective observational study was conducted over a period of 2 months (April 21-June 21) in the ENT department of Sawai Man Singh hospital, Jaipur. All the patients with clinical involvement of the premaxilla or the cheek abutting the anterior wall of maxilla were included in the study population. Cases matched in both groups were subjected to debridement either by the sublabial or the modified denker's approach. Outcomes were measured by assessing the daily CRP values, post-operative DNE every 3 days after pack removal, and imaging at the end of 1 month. Repeat biopsies were performed in patients that still had persistent symptoms after getting operated on. 16 of the 60 patients (26.6%) operated on by the endoscopic approach showed evidence of residual disease on follow-up whereas only 5 patients (9.6%) in the other category had a similar outcome. Most of the recidivism was seen in the anterior maxilla. Lower rates of complications were found following debridement by the sublabial approach. Since the sublabial approach is the most direct approach for the key areas of fungal involvement of maxillary sinus, it is recommended over the modified Denker's procedure for disease clearance from pre maxilla and the anterior wall of maxillary sinus. This view is also supported by the lower rates of complications encountered following the former.

Bridges are a vital part of the road transportation system used to overcome obstacles like rivers, canals, and roads. Among all the world bridges, the percentage of simple reinforced concrete (R.C.) girders is above eighty percent. In this investigation, the effectiveness of strengthening a simple R.C. girder of a bridge near Pusa Muzaffarpur, Bihar, has been discussed. In this study, a finite element model of a rectangular R.C. beam girder has been addressed on various parameters with and without fiber wrapping. This study covers the potency of different layers of fiber wrapping analyzed with ANSYS′s help, and other results are discussed before and after strengthening the girder. Finally, the strengthening of a delaminated bridge girder near Pusa Bihar using the prescribed fiber wrapping with varying layers has been performed. Static and dynamic load testing of the girder before and after strengthening was executed at the site. Deflection and natural frequency produced at different loading conditions using a loaded truck is discussed. The bridge girder's plasticity has been calculated in terms of deflection recovered when the load was removed.

The survival of low rise unconfined masonry structure against earthquakes is very rare even due to low or moderate intensity events. To understand the failure mechanism and cracking pattern of unconfined masonry, a scaled specimen of four unconfined brick was analyzed using finite element software in conjunction with experimental verification. This study started by developing 3D finite element model of unconfined masonry subjected to in-plane loading. Bricks and joints were modeled discretely in the model, allowing for nonlinear deformation characteristics of the both materials. This model exhibits the local effect and is capable of displaying the behavior of masonry walls in which high local stresses and stress gradients are presented in the color contour diagram. The overall result of stress is presented using the von Mises (distortion energy method). The analysis of the model concluded that the unconfined brick masonry specimen structure generally fails along the brick joints, although in-plane shear stresses can cause cracks through the brick in the translation to tensile stress zone.

Explorations into the photonic analogs of topological materials have garnered significant research interest due to their application potential. Particularly in planar systems, the prospects of engendering extinguishable topological states can have wide-ranging implications. With an objective of employing these concepts for thermal emission engineering, here, we design and numerically investigate a quasi-monochromatic highly directional mid-infrared source elicited from inversion symmetry-protected topological interface states. Notably, by relying on the architecture of electro-optic effect-induced topological phase transitions, we introduce the possibility of ultrafast switching of thermal radiation. These reversible phase transitions, being free from carrier transport are inherently fast and evoke thermal emission modulation with a modulation depth upto 0.99. Specifically, our platform exhibits a near-perfect extinguishable spectral emission peak at $$4~\mu$$ 4 μ m with a quality factor of over 18500, displaying negligible parasitic emissions. Furthermore, the optimized interface state manifests itself for only one of the polarization modes, resulting in polarized emission under resonance conditions. To establish a methodical approach to parameter optimization, we also model our platform as a leaky mode resonator using the framework of temporal coupled-mode theory. We believe, our findings can provide a way forward in establishing complete control over the optical characteristics of the infrared thermal emitters.

The diffusion of agricultural technologies is influenced by a number of factors, including the farm-, household- and location-specific characteristics, institutions, infrastructures, and agri-food policies. The empirical literature, however, focuses largely on the household-level factors, ignoring the higher-level factors that simultaneously may influence the technology diffusion process. Employing a multilevel modeling approach this paper analyzes the mutually reinforcing and reciprocal relationships between people (compositional effects) and places (contextual effects) to know the relative importance of different geographical or administrative levels in the diffusion of modern crop varieties in India. The findings show strong contextual effects of states (i.e., policies) and also equally strong compositional effects of the between household differences. These findings suggest the need for a greater policy emphasis on agricultural research and dissemination of its outputs, and redressal of the constraints that farmers face in switching over to new technologies and innovations. Further, the findings also suggest that relaxing credit and information constraints will accelerate the spread of technology diffusion. The contextual effects of the intermediate geographical levels are small, and point towards strengthening coordination between different geographical levels for faster dissemination of technologies and subsequent realization of their economic and social outcomes.

This paper discusses the outcome of a study on the transition of cyanobacterial biofertilizer technology from laboratory to small-scale production to large-scale commercial use. The nitrogen-fixing ability of cyanobacteria helps to reduce the dose of chemical nitrogen fertilizer (urea) needed, so they are immensely important for paddy crops, especially in Southeast Asian nations, where soil quality is deteriorating and where large groups of farmers cannot afford the use of more costly chemical fertilizers. Inundated water is required for this technology to be effective in paddy crops and is also imperative for good paddy crop; fortunately, this is exactly how paddy is grown on the Indian subcontinent. This study elaborates the whole cyanobacterial biofertilizer technology chain and its development process, the triggering role played by industry partners, and industry’s dissemination of the technology to farmers’ doorsteps.

To be inclusive, economic development in India must focus on eastern India, which has a high population growth rate, population pressure, high incidence of poverty, small landholding size in agriculture, and underdeveloped rural infrastructure. Employment diversification towards the non-farm sector in eastern India from 1993–1994 to 2011–2012 shows considerable variation by income group and farm-size. The effects of diversification—whether driven by pursuit of higher income or distress—are stratified. Estimates based on instrumental variable regressions suggest that all types of non-farm employment improve the economic well-being of households.

Fiber-reinforced polymer has eventually become a popular choice for retrofitting and strengthening of structural entities. Hence, a need arises to know the quantitative as well as qualitative effect of these techniques on the original integrity of the concerned structural entity. In the present study, the effect of change in width to depth ratio, percentage of steel and loading intensity in a simply supported reinforced concrete (RC) beam on the maximum deflection, stress, strain energy, natural frequencies and deflections of various modes of free vibration is obtained with the help of ANSYS Workbench 19.0 software till the failure of RC beam and a comparison is sought between the original beam and a failed beam retrofitted with one, two and three layers of GFRP sheets (Epoxy S-Glass UD). A standard beam of fixed dimensions and a two point loading was first simulated in the software while comparing the results with the manual calculations of maximum deflections to ascertain the most appropriate settings of the simulation in the three dimensional analysis environment of the software. Various beams were then analyzed altering the width to depth ratio, the percentage of tension steel and the loading intensity over the beam and the results of the static as well as modal (frequency) analysis were noted including the deflections, stresses, strains, strain energies, natural frequencies of first 5 modes of free vibrations and their respective displacements. The same beams were then retrofitted with layers of GFRP sheets with their principal axis inclined at an angle of 45° with the span of the beam. The same analysis was done on the beams and the results were noted. These results are compared, and a multivariate regression analysis is performed over the results to obtain equations to testify the observations and the trends. This whole process gives a conclusion that the effect of retrofitting is insignificant for single layer GFRP while the most effective results were obtained for the case of triple layer GFRP. Deflections, stress and strain energy with their relative change across various cases are accurately related to the varying parameters through regression analysis. Frequency is also accurately related but the relative change in frequency is not well established.

Strengthening of prestressed girder using FRP has rarely been performed because prestressed girder has excellent strength under service load in both tension and compression. In this study, retrofitting of a 59-year-old prestressed bridge of Indian railway at Ratlam has been executed in which multiple vertical cracks visualized in tension zone and surface deterioration were observed. Due to this, deterioration speed of the trains over the bridge was restricted up to 20 km/h. The PSC girders of the bridge were strengthened by using prestressed carbon fiber. Serviceability of the structure was monitored before strengthening and after strengthening of the bridge girder. Deflections and natural frequencies after strengthening of girder were monitored for 481 days to ascertain the improvement and consistency in behavior of girder. After strengthening, the considerable decrement in deflection was noted by dint of the speed limit of the train which is recommended to increase up to 100 km/h.

Tonsillectomy is still surrounded by controversy, especially regarding choice of surgical technique. Despite numerous surgical techniques are present, post-operative pain remains significant postoperative morbidities. An ideal method would lessen complications and minimize operative time and costs. This is a randomized double blinded interventional study. We enrolled 70 subjects and divided into two groups of 35 subjects in each. One group underwent traditional tonsillectomy and another underwent coblation tonsillectomy. We compared operating time, intraoperative blood loss, post-operative pain, return to normal activities and diet and post-operative hemorrhage. Mean operating time in coblation group was 18.24 ± 5.37 min and in traditional group 30.04 ± 7.08 min. The mean blood loss in coblation tonsillectomy group was 82.79 ± 21.13 ml and in traditional tonsillectomy 150.4 ± 37.91 ml. The mean of post-operative pain score in coblation tonsillectomy group was 3.2 ± 1.47 and in traditional tonsillectomy group 6.11 ± 1.61. The mean day of regaining activity in coblation tonsillectomy group was 6.26 ± 0.92 days and in traditional tonsillectomy group 8.26 ± 1.09 days. Mean time by which patients of coblation tonsillectomy group regained their diet was 4.11 ± 0.87 days whereas in traditional tonsillectomy group it was 6.14 ± 1.14 days. There was no case observed with episode of primary or secondary hemorrhage. We conclude from this study that coblation tonsillectomy takes less operating time with less blood loss, also associated with less post-operative pain, less time taken to achieve normal diet and activities.

The widespread prevalence of nutrient deficiency and poor nutritional outcomes has been a significant concern in developing and emerging countries like Nepal. The level of diversity in household diets is an indirect measure of diet quality and the extent to which nutritional needs of households are being met. However, there is a limited understanding on the trends, patterns and determinants of the dietary diversity in Nepal. This study is an attempt to enrich the literature on this issue. Based on unit level data from three rounds (1995, 2004, and 2011) of the Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS), we used multilevel modeling, quantile regression, and the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method to decipher the trends, determinants and drivers of dietary diversity in Nepal. Our study finds that the changes in household socio-demographic and agricultural characteristics are very important in explaining the improvement in dietary quality. Changes in household characteristics account for at least 37% of the observed improvement and agriculture-related changes explain at least 16% of the observed improvement. Our findings are highly robust across the different model specifications and concludes by bringing a focus on multi-sectoral approach to tackle nutrition issues in Nepal.

Oxide dispersion strengthening is an effective method to improve the high-temperature mechanical properties of the alloys in which various reinforcements are added in the alloy matrix by mechanical milling and consolidating the mixture by different techniques like hot pressing, hot isostatic pressing and spark plasma sintering. This work presents the development of IN 718 ODS alloy by dispersing yttria in IN 718, which has improved mechanical properties at high temperatures. Yttria powder was added to IN 718 alloy powder in different weight fractions of 0.25, 0.5 and 1% and mechanically milled. The composite powders were consolidated by hot pressing and hot isostatic pressing (HIP). A small fraction of isolated porosities in the matrix was observed in hot-pressed samples which caused degradation of the mechanical properties. Percentage of porosities increased with the increase in yttria content. The hot-pressed samples were HIPed to heal the porosities. 0.5 wt% yttria-dispersed Inconel 718 hot-pressed compact exhibited better properties at 850 °C and showed 50 MPa improvement in ultimate compressive strength compared to Inconel 718 alloy.

Poverty in India has been declining consistently over the years, yet it is home to 172 million poor people. Most of India’s poor are concentrated in rural areas and are dependent on agriculture. This poses a serious challenge to the exploration of potential pathways that could effectively eradicate poverty and accomplish the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We estimate the effects of various types of investment in rural areas in accelerating agricultural productivity and reducing rural poverty, and find differential impacts of investments and subsidies across low-, middle-, and high-income states. Private investment in minor irrigation, public investments in agricultural research and development, and subsidies on irrigation and electricity have the highest marginal returns in low-income states. Further, the payoffs from additional spending in promoting agricultural income are also higher in low-income states, suggesting targeting these locations with strategic investments and subsidies to improve agricultural productivity and reduce poverty.

Potassium (K)-fractions, thresholds of K release and fixation, quantity-intensity (Q/I) parameters of K, K-release kinetics, and K-fixation capacity were compared for their effectiveness in differentiating the effect of various nutrient management practices on K supplying capacity of an Aeric Endoaquept soil after 45 years of puddled rice cultivation. Soil samples (0–15 cm) were collected after the completion of 45 rice-rice cycles from an on-going long-term fertilizer experiment located in ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, India. The treatments involved control (unfertilized), N (nitrogen fertilizer), NP (N+ phosphorus fertilizer), NK (N+ potassium fertilizer), NPK (N + P + K fertilizer), FYM (farmyard manure), N + FYM, NP + FYM, NK + FYM, and NPK + FYM. Rice cultivation without K fertilizer application resulted in lower values of soil K parameters than the K-fertilized treatments. Treatment effects were most prominent on release threshold concentration (RTC), followed by cumulative K release, K-release rate constants, and K-fixation capacity. Parameters of K-release kinetics and Q/I relationships showed better correlation with rice grain yields than soil-K fractions. Soil K thresholds were closely related with exchangeable (Kex) and non-exchangeable K (Knx), but not clay minerals. Among the soil K parameters, RTC, cumulative K release (Kf) with 0.01 M CaCl2, release rate constants (b R and b S ) of parabolic diffusion equation, and K-fixation capacity were most effective in revealing the nutrient management induced variations in soil K fertility. In the studied soil, K-thresholds were significantly related to Kex and Knx.

Eleven pigmented rice genotypes were evaluated to estimate genetic parameters, heritability and association. The results indicated that, genotypic variation was high among the lines. The distinct seasonal effect on plant performance for antioxidant capacity, anthocyanin, flavonoids, head rice recovery and test weights was also observed. Wet season favoured the crop performance in all genotypes as compared to drought conditions. The differential accumulation of different quality traits such as AOA, anthocyanin content, flavonoids content, etc showed high heritability, which would be transfer to high yeilding popular rice cultivars through conventional or geneticaly modification techniques. The line Mamihunger was chosen as donor of the high-quality rice grain and Annapurna for high yield. Further, Mamihunger are foreseen to be good in nutritional quality and industry use.

Governance of food distribution systems as part of social safety net programs continues to be a major concern for policy makers in developing countries. In this paper we assess how successful recent initiatives in governance of public food distribution (PDS) in the Indian state of Odisha have been in dealing with inefficiencies that have long plagued it. Analysis, based on data from the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) and micro-level evidence obtained from Village Level Studies (VLS), indicate a marked revival in governance of food distribution in the state with several positive outcomes. These include much wider coverage of PDS from 6.4% of households in 1993–1994 to 58.3% in 2011–2012, notable improvements in cereal consumption at the household level across both rural and urban areas and improved nutrition of a large segment of the socially and economically weaker sections of society.

We report a refractive index sensor consisting of a gold-coated nanoporous anodic alumina membrane on aluminium substrate that can distinguish between different kinds of alcohols such as methanol and ethanol due to their different refractive indices. The nanoporous volume allows the loading of liquids with low surface energy into its nanopores. Upon dipping one end of the membrane into the alcohol, the entire nanoporous surface experiences wetting. The wavelength shift of the Fabry–Perot resonating modes formed between the gold-coated nanoporous alumina surface and aluminium on the other side due to the changed effective refractive index form the basis of the sensor. The sensitivity of the nanosensor to the refractive index of the loaded liquid is sufficient to distinguish between different alcohols such as methanol, ethanol and isopropanol, and to detect about 5–10% of methanol in a methanol–ethanol mixture.

This study was conducted to understand the adoption of improved technologies and cultivation practices in rice production in Bihar. The study is based on the high-frequency field-level data being collected under ICAR-ICRISAT project on village dynamics studies in South Asia. The findings of the study show that the adoption of modern technology is directly related to the size of holding. The inverse relationship between productivity and farm size has ceased to operate in recent years. This study reaffirms this trend. The study suggests for designing appropriate and implementable agrarian policies with strong monitoring and evaluation framework to accelerate the speed of adoption of modern technologies to enhance rice productivity in eastern India in general and Bihar in particular.

The present paper reports the comparative study of density of defect states (DOS) between bulk samples and thin films of glassy Se90Sb10. These glasses have been prepared by the quenching technique. Thin films of these glasses have been prepared by vacuum evaporation technique. Space-charge-limited conduction (SCLC) has been measured at different temperatures. The density of localized states near Fermi level is calculated by fitting the data to the theory of SCLC for the case of uniform distribution of localized states for bulk as well as for thin films. A comparison has been made between the density of states calculated in these two cases.

This study examines the changing employment and livelihood patterns of rural labour households in Bihar. The study is based on the high-frequency panel data being collected under the ICAR-ICRISAT project on Village Dynamics Studies in eastern India. The findings of the study indicate that there has been a decline in the proportion of labour households in the total number of rural households, but the transition of the labour force from the farm to the non-farm sector is clearly evident. However, the number of land-owning households among the labour households has increased. The study shows that employment opportunities for males in both the farm and non-farm sectors have increased with a higher magnitude in the non-farm sector than in the farm sector. By contrast, women’s employment in the farm sector has declined, though their employment in the non-farm sector has increased. Both the farm and non-farm sectors have witnessed an increase in the wages of labourers during the past four years, but the increase has been much higher in the non-farm sector (65 %) than in the farm sector (15 %). The study further indicates that male labourers are employed at higher wages than women labourers in both the farm and non-farm sectors. The wage determinant analysis reveals that a healthy, educated and land-owning adult male labourer is likely to get higher wages than others. The study also shows that labour households face several constraints and their access to institutional credit is abysmally low in Bihar. They primarily depend on non-institutional sources for meeting their credit needs. It has been observed that about one-third of the labour households borrow mainly to meet consumption and medical expenses. Various programmes for the welfare and development of the weaker sections are being implemented by different government departments. However, the erstwhile flagship development schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and Self-help Group (SHG) schemes have virtually ceased to operate in the villages under study. Hence, there is a need to revive these projects by laying greater emphasis on the upliftment of the weaker sections of society.

The focus of the current study is to assess the impact of blue green algae (BGA) technology on farming practices and economic conditions of farming households. The states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana considered as major rice-growing states of India were chosen for the primary survey. It was observed that use of BGA resulted in 25.2% of urea reduction with an overall 3.8% increase in the yield and a marginal decrease in per acre cultivation cost. Tobit model has been used to identify the determinants of increasing cropping area under BGA. Factors such as age, education, operated land holdings and leased-in land have a positive and significant impact on area under BGA. The study also provided the comparative analysis on yield of paddy, urea consumption and income with and without BGA application. It was observed that farmers earned about 3% greater income along with 41.1% reduction in dosage of urea while reaping 1% higher yield of paddy.