Search

Duffing equation can describe many important nonlinear physical systems. In this paper a coupled approach based on quasilinearization and Bessel polynomial collocation method has been suggested to solve nonlinear duffing oscillator equation. The nonlinearity in duffing oscillator can be of various variety. This approach is very efficient, stable and reliable to deal with any kind of nonlinearity. Numerical examples demonstrate the validity and applicability of the approach on various types of nonlinear duffing oscillator equation.

Over decades, the total wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production of the country has been able to meet the domestic consumption and export considerable amount of it. APEDA reports the export of 2.26 lakh MT of wheat for the worth of `424.94 crores/60.55 USD Millions during 2018–19. Further increase in production is only possible through varietal replacement with varieties having higher productivity potential in the existing production area through horizontal spread. Two reputed wheat varieties of ICAR-IARI, viz. HD 2967 and HD 3086 with good nutrient content and resistance as well as tolerance to major fungal diseases were distributed among 572 farmers of two villages of Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh respectively, with predominant rice-wheat cropping cycle to assess their acceptance level over space and time among villagers through assessment trials from winter (rabi) season 2014–15 to 2019–20. In selected, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh villages the relative yield advantage of HD 2967 was 21.7% and 19.9%, respectively and of HD 3086 was 17.5% and 14.3%, respectively over the local check. HD 3086 additionally reported bold grain, less lodging and less quality loss in the situation of repeated rainfall in maturity stage. The popularity and acceptance of the varieties were evident by the horizontal spread for HD 2967 i.e. 468.2 ha (Haryana) and 383.2 ha (Uttar Pradesh) from 6 and 6.4 ha, respectively from the winter (rabi) season of 2014–15 to 2019–20. The study re-affirms the philosophy of Farmer-to-Farmers spread of modern technologies including the HYV seeds.

In India, teaching, research and extension are the three pillars of National Agricultural Research and Education System (NARES) in which agricultural extension connects agricultural research and farmers. Teaching in agricultural extension discipline across agricultural universities at postgraduate level prepares extension professionals to conduct need based research and transfer relevant technologies to farming community. The present study primarily focuses on assessing the overall teaching effectiveness of agricultural universities with respect to extension education discipline in order to understand the competence level of extension graduates from Indian agricultural universities. The investigation is based on primary data compiled from 66 teachers engaged in teaching of extension education discipline and 210 postgraduate (M Sc and Ph D) students across 10 agricultural universities of Northern India. It was found that majority of the students (64.29%) perceived that overall acquisition of essential extension competencies is low, while only 10.94 percent of students perceived it to be high. Out of the 10 universities examined for teaching effectiveness, six had medium teaching effectiveness, while two universities had high and two universities had low teaching effectiveness. The overall teaching effectiveness index of all 10 universities was 0.607 indicating a teaching effectiveness of above average. The present study therefore identified those essential extension competencies which need emphasis in the extension education teaching-learning scenario. The teaching effectiveness index developed can be used by agricultural universities to assess teaching effectiveness of extension education teachers.

This paper presents a coupled approach to solve the Kuramoto-Shivashinsky equations. This approach isa combination of modified variation iteration method and a rational approximation by mathematical software MATHEMATICA. Numerical examples illustrate that this combination of two techniques improves accuracy.

Weeding activity in vegetable cultivation carried out by women is one of the drudgery prone activities. Women are regularly adopting poor and static posture while doing weeding for long hours by traditional equipment, resulting in various physical load on spine or lumbo-sacral region leads to drudgery coupled with work related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The research paper aims to assess and quantify the drudgery with weeding activity by rural women in which physiological ergonomics evaluation was done for traditional method and with improved technological support with three replications of fifteen minutes work cycle without rest pause. Ergonomic parameters namely Heart Rate, Energy Expenditure Rate, Total Cardiac Cost of Work, Physiological Cost of Work, VO2 Max were measured during the experiments. Observations were recorded on farm women worker with normal health, without any major illness, regularly involved in farm operations and were in the age group of 25 to 45 years. Weeding activity of farm women was quantified and a sample of 10 physically fit rural women having permissible limit of physiological parameters were selected for the study. It was found from investigation that there was reduction in human physiological parameters, viz. heart rate, energy expenditure rate, Total Cardiac Cost of Work, Physiological Cost of work, Blood pressure and Oxygen Saturation.

The study assessed the energy use efficiency and economics of low input-intensive hill crops under the valley farming system in Indian central Himalaya. It was conducted in the Uttarakhand state by using sample survey techniques. A total eleven crops viz. paddy, finger millet, barnyard millet, soybean, horse gram, wheat, lentil, barley, mustard, potato and pea were studied along with seven prevalent cropping system of the valley farming system viz. rice–pea, pulses pea, pulses–potato, rice–wheat, pulses–mustard, barnyard millet–wheat, finger millet–fallow. It was found among all inputs the different operations, seed consumed the bulk of energy for all crops except field pea. The total input energy consumption was found highest for pea (16.89 GJ/ha) followed by potato (8.89 GJ/ha) and rice (3.83 GJ/ha) whereas lowest for mustard (0.84 GJ/ha). The pea followed by potato is giving a maximum yield in terms of rice equivalent yield. Comparing the economic and energy efficiency together the most remunerative crop sequences were estimated as pulses–pea, followed by rice–pea as output per rupee investment is higher than other sequences although as far as energy profitability is concerned, finger millet–fallow followed by rice–wheat and barnyard millet–wheat are better options for valley farming system in Indian central Himalaya.

Radio is one of the most powerful mass media for the dissemination of agricultural information and its effectiveness has been well established by many researchers. Krishi Samriddhi radio programme is a farm radio programme which is being sponsored by ICAR-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora and broadcasted through All India Radio, Akashvani, Almora since July 2009 with the prime objective to disseminate modern agricultural information amongst the local hill farmers as per their need. The present study was conducted to analyze the talks broadcasted in Krishi Samriddhi farm radio programme in a year and its effectiveness as perceived by the farmer listeners. The analysis showed that a total of 53 radio talks were broadcasted during this period mostly on the topics related to crop production (30.19%) followed by crop improvement (24.53%), social science (20.75%), crop protection (15.09%), animal husbandry (7.55%) and horticulture (1.89%). Majority of the farmer listeners perceived that presentation of the radio talks is appealing (96.67%), credible information is shared through this program (96.67%), duration of the programme is sufficient (95%), broadcast timing of the topics is as per with local agricultural practices (95%), time of broadcasting of the programme is very conducive for farmers to listen regularly (93.33%), program is increasing the knowledge of farmers regarding improved farm practices (93.33%), language used in the talks is easily understandable (91.67%), topics are of diverse nature and cover every sphere of agriculture (91.67%), broadcasted topics are very much relevant (90%) and frequency of broadcasting of the programme is adequate (90%). Findings of this study suggest that radio should be utilized with all its possible applications to communicate agricultural information in local dialect in rural areas.

Soybean [Glycine max. (L.) Merr.] serve as one of the most valuable crop in the world; not only for oil purpose italso feed for livestock and aquaculture. A simple laboratory grease belt method for soybean planter was developed fortesting and calibrating the seed metering mechanism. The study was conducted in the year 2017, in the Departmentof Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Allahabad. The main frame consists of variable speed drive, and greasecoated belt that are fitted with necessary provisions. The second frame consists of seed hopper and seed metering unit.The field and laboratory methods have been developed and used for evaluation of planter performance, each methodhaving its own advantages and shortcomings. In the present study, grease belt was used for laboratory evaluation ofwheel type seed-metering device and investigated the feeding quality, missing index, seed rate, and uniformity ofseeds in the row at various speed of grease belt. The results from grease belt methods were in good agreement andanalysis of variances showed that seed-metering device with 18 cells in 50 rpm performed better than seed-meteringdevice with 32 cells and in other speeds. Calibration of the manually operated seed-cum-fertilizer soybean planterhas been done in the laboratory. During calibration of planter, it found that there was less missing of soybean due tocircular shape of seed. Due to full hopper the pressure was high at the bottom and due to this force on seed of soybeaneasily reaches at the metering device.

The multifaceted challenges concerning women's health in hills of Uttarakhand is associated with increasing malnutrition in the State, which ultimately affect the nutritional dividend of the nation. Sub-Himalayan range of the northern Indian subcontinent include regions where an overwhelming number of rural women have always been a part of the active work force in agriculture and allied sector. Present study is an attempt to document the nutritional status of farm women emphasizing their food consumption pattern, dietary intakes and diversification, energy and nutrient balance in Uttarakhand State in the year 2019-20. Collected field level data were analyzed with the help of suitable statistical techniques. It was found that 48 % women in foot hills and 40% women in mid hills had low dietary diversity. The findings also suggest that the prevalence of Chronic Energy Deficiency was high among farm women and energy balances in the respondents (from 171.97 kcal to 415.32 kcal) are corresponding to different grades of BMI. Multivariate regression analysis were employed to drive relationships between high dietary diversity (≥5 food groups) and other independent variables as age, BMI, MUAC, CC, skinfold measurements, body density (D), % body fat, fat mass, fat free mass (kg) . It was found that MDD-W is positively correlated with independent variables (R2=0.702, Adjusted R2=0.721, Standard Error of Estimate=0.0312).

The use of mobile applications and decision support system for agriculture is important in today's era. To enrich agriculture various mobile applications have been developed by different research institutes in NARES which are helping the farmers in their cultivation practices. In the present study, a mobile application named "HPDI Ergon" has been developed with intent to mapping of drudgery in physiological and psychological components and biomechanical evaluation of agricultural activities. In this respect the app named "HPDI Ergon" was developed during 2019-20 in computer application at ICAR-ISARI, New Delhi to assesses the drudgery involved in the work and give recommendation to mitigate it. In this app farmers are assessed based on different physiological and postural ergonomics parameters which includes heart rate, energy expenditure rate, total cardiac cost of work, physiological cost of work, human physical drudgery index variable etc. and conclusion is drawn on physiological and drudgery limitations. The app is developed using Android Studio and Java programming language. Individual registered farmers are selected to undergo different ergonomics and drudgery analysis. The data generated by different analysis is stored in the database which is implemented using SQLite database. Based on the results of all the ergonomic analysis and drudgery analysis using HPDI conclusion is drawn regarding whether there is any need of changing or improving the working condition or not. Accordingly, different suggestions and various improved tools are provided to the farmers for reducing their both physiological stress and drudgery in their working environment.

Weather forecasting which is a key player in everyday life is a remarkable advantage of science and technology. Weather prediction can support people as protecting the assets and lives of them. The persons involved in outdoor occupations can be benefited by the weather prediction as they needed to know the weather previously. In the paper, the concept of supervised learning is used, which is one of the learning techniques in machine learning. The paper presents the algorithm, which applies the concept of linear regression and artificial neural network, to predict the variation of temperatures such as high and low values as features in a linear combination. The main features focus on maximum or minimum temperature, mean values of humidity, and atmospheric pressures considering the previous two days. The paper focuses on prediction and analysis of weather forecasting which further entirely applies the concept of machine learning.

In Indian content of National Agricultural Research and Education System (NARES), agricultural extension connects agricultural research and farmers. Post-graduate teaching in Extension discipline across all agricultural universities prepares students to transfer relevant technologies to farming community and to conduct need-based research by inculcating desired competencies among students. The present study primarily focuses on assessing the overall competency fulfilment level of postgraduate extension students with respect to veterinary extension. The acquisition level of core competencies among students was compared with importance level of respective competencies associated by Livestock Extension professionals. The investigation was based on primary data compiled from 30 livestock extension professionals working in Uttarakhand and 210 postgraduates (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) students across ten agricultural universities of northern India. It was found that ten core competencies related to veterinary extension which were perceived as highly important by Livestock Extension professionals had low acquisition level among students. Out of the ten universities examined for competency fulfilment, only two universities had high level of competency fulfilment while four universities had low level of competency fulfilment. The overall competency fulfilment index of all ten universities was 0.522 indicating a competency fulfilment of just above average with respect to identified 24 competencies. The competency fulfilment index developed can be utilized by agricultural universities for competency mapping of livestock extension professionals and students for further investigations.

For appropriate technology dissemination to farmers, social sciences in agriculture especially Extension Education act as a bridge connecting researchers and farmers therefore, the aim of post graduate courses at agricultural universities is to develop suitable human resource with desired competencies to enable effective extension work. As teaching effectiveness is crucial for achieving academic excellence and to inculcate desired competencies among students, the attributes of teachers contributing towards teaching effectiveness need to be analysed. This study was conducted during 2019 and examines the perception of 210 postgraduate (M Sc and Ph D) students across 10 agricultural universities of Northern India. Teachers were categorized based on scores of attributes obtained through student ratings. The association between teacher attributes and overall teaching effectiveness was calculated and finally a teaching effectiveness framework was designed based on those attributes, which were significantly associated with teaching effectiveness. It was also found that majority of students rated overall teaching effectiveness under medium category (48.09%) followed by high category (34.76%). In addition, all attributes were found to be positively correlated with overall teaching effectiveness. Out of 32 items under all attributes, 27 items which were significantly associated with teaching effectiveness were included in teaching effectiveness framework. In light of the findings, suggestions were also formulated for teachers regarding their teaching attributes as perceived by students.

In this paper, Improved Iteration Method (IIM) is proposed for the thermal analysis of some fin problems. Fin is the extended surface that helps to transfer heat from hot body to the external environment. Thermal efficiency of fin can be analyzed with the help of temperature distribution of fin, which can be modelled by nonlinear differential equation. The efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method is demonstrated by solving few nonlinear fin problems with different values of thermal conductivity parameter. The numerical results obtained by the proposed method show the excellent agreement with exact solution as well as with the solutions obtained by some recently developed methods. Convergence analysis of the proposed method has also been discussed.

This paper propose an idea and implementation of the power optimization for the solar operated IoT sensor node for the data uploading on cloud. We have used Wemos D1 Mini board for the data recording, uploading data on cloud and power consumption optimization. The whole system is working on rechargeable 4000 mAh Li-ion battery which is charging through TP 4056 Charging Board. We have used BME280 sensor. The BME280 is a combined digital humidity, pressure and temperature sensor, we have sensed only humidity and temperature. For charging the battery we have used mini solar panel. The system is fully autonomous and working on solar power only. We have prepared one casing for the system so that all the circuit and components can placed inside the case for environmental protection.

A blacksmith is a person who forges, or shapes, metal by first heating it until it is red-hot, then uses tools like chisels and hammers to force the metal into the shape he desires. Blacksmiths usually work standing up and have to bend over to work on pieces of metal. The work can involve heavy lifting, use of power tools such as power hammers, drills, air chisels and hydraulic presses. However, use of such power tools and poor body posture lead to MSDs. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common health problem throughout the world and a major cause of disability in the workplace. MSDs are found due to Inappropriate and poor working postures, lack of task variation, poor ergonomic design of work places, and poor design of plant layout, long working hours, low salaries and awkward schedules are all areas where relatively simple intervention can significantly reduce the rate of exposure to MSDs. They also deal with extremely hot objects and face a constant worry about fire and heat. The blacksmiths perform repetitive hammering jobs that give shape to the instruments. This type of job not only requires skill but is also time consuming. Hammering jobs are responsible for most of the incidents. In Iron & Steel and other manufacturing industries, foundries and forges produce a lots of pollutants in the environment – both working and ambient environment. In these processes, metals are extracted and produced from ores by various metallurgical processes and processes for moulding, melting and castings etc. are accompanied by evolution of heat, noise, dust fines, fly-ash, oxides of Nitrogen, Sulphur and metals. Particulate matters are generated in large quantities when preparing mould core sands and moulds melting metals, pouring metal, knocking out poured moulds and loading and unloading raw materials. Here metals are given a specific shape by metal castings for various engineering purposes. Gaseous matters like gases, vapours, fumes and smoke are produced during melting and pouring operations. The major pollutants are emitted from various work areas in Foundry i.e. Pattern shop, Sand preparation, moulding and core making, mould drying and ladle heating, cupola, electric arc furnace, pouring and mould cooling, knockout, fettling, heat treatment etc. In addition, various air pollutants and noise pollutants (Davis, 2002) are produced from forge shops and other manufacturing industrial units. So keeping all these factors in mind, a study was conducted to assess the risks involved among forging workers of Uttrakhand state of India. For this purpose 120 workers were taken through snowball technique. The data revealed that the most common problem faced by the workers was improper working posture and inappropriate working environment. Due to poorly designed work place, working environment, and working tools, workers physiological and psychological cost of work was high they reported to have health problems like back ache, shoulder ache and difficulty in movement of hands while in operation. Workers were also observed to be found irritated and restless.

Women have long occupied a central place in agriculture production in developing countries, ensuring food security for their household and communities, but this role is not performed without adverse consequences for health. The major consequences include health risks owing due to women’s use and exposure to hazardous agro-chemicals/pesticides, farm-related accidents or physical injuries and exposure to hazardous solid fuel in the interior house. Developing countries like India have many polluting sources that produce high level of human exposure. Indoor air pollution in developing countries from biomass smoke is considered to be a significant source of public health hazard, particularly to the poor and vulnerable women and children. Women and children face the greatest exposure to the harmful health effects of pollution. Women traditionally carry out most household chores and spend a considerable part of their time indoors. The pollution also affects young children under their mothers’ care. Another source of high risk of ill health in rural India is exposure to spray of pesticides in the fields. In India, 70% of the population is farmers and they are the target group to be affected by the hazards of pesticide applications. In India, 70% of the population is farmers and they are the target group to be affected by the hazards of pesticide applications. Moreover, in developing countries the users are rather careless in handling pesticides. The high risk groups exposed to pesticides include the production workers, formulators, sprayers, mixers, loaders and agricultural farm workers. During manufacture and formulation, the possibility of hazards may be more because the processes involved are not risk free. In India, 70% of the population is farmers and they are the target group to be affected by the hazards of pesticide applications. Moreover, in developing countries the users are rather careless in handling pesticides. All pesticides in a given chemical group generally affect the human body in the same way; however, severity of the effects varies depending on the formulation, concentration, toxicity and route of exposure of the pesticide. Descriptive cum experimental research design was chosen for the study. The study was carried out in two districts Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital. Purposive cum Random sampling design was used to select the study area. Total sample size was comprised of 240 women from rural areas of Uttarakhand state in India. Experimental data was recorded through various scientific instruments and descriptive data was collected through interview schedule, awareness scales, and observation sheet. On the basis of anthropometric measurements the 5th, 50th and 95th percentile was calculated for the designing of personal protective equipments (gloves and coverall) through CAD for reducing the hazards of pesticide spraying and designing of chimney for minimizing the hazards of smoke originated by traditional cooking source. It was found from investigation that indoor air pollution and pesticide hazards were almost same for the families of hill region but sufferings related to indoor air pollution and pesticide hazards were more in the plain region as compare to hill region. The healthy and natural environmental conditions in the hill region and less dense housing of this region were the cause of less suffering from cooking smoke and pesticide spraying conditions. Taking the above fact into account the chances of diseases, risks and hazards were less for families of hill region.

Women in India are facing several health-related issues, which ultimately affect the economic output of the nation. The health of Indian women is intrinsically linked to their status in society. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are some of the few states in India which belong to Indo-Gangetic Plains where an overwhelming number of rural women have always been a part of the active work force in agriculture, forest protection, cattle care, and dairying. Present study is an attempt to know the food consumption and dietary intakes of farm women in rural sector of the UP and Haryana. Collected data were analyzed with the help of suitable statistical techniques. Education, energy consumption and protein consumption have significantly positive relationship with nutritional status of respondents, whereas family size has significantly negative relationship with nutritional status. It was found that the diets were inadequate in energy, protein, iron, β-carotene and ascorbic acid contents to the tune of 16.71 and 15.91; 7 and 10.58; 14.33 and 21.63; 25.66 and 34.33; 16.71 and 18.05 percent, respectively in selected villages of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. These comparisons were made with recommended dietary allowances (ICMR 2010). Iron intake in the daily diet of women in both villages was found to be 19.7 mg and 20.54 mg, which is 34.33 and 31.53 per cent less than recommended level (30 mg). Prevalence of Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) was found to be higher among the farm women of both the states.

Utilization and distribution of foodgrain always remain as an un-ending riddle to the policy makers and administrators despite surplus in foodgrain production in an agriculture dominated economy. At one hand, glut in market leads to distress sale by the debt-ridden farmers and consequent disinterest in farming among village youth in long run; on the other hand rural societies in difficult terrain faces regular cycle of seasonal hunger due to climate, crop and infrastructure related reasons. The time has come to think beyond the overburdened public distribution system to channelize the surplus produce properly since more than 20 million tonnes of grains produced are destroyed annually due to improper transport, inadequate storage facilities both in institutionalized sector as well as farmers' home. Grain banking is a remedy to the food loss and food insecurity, is mostly applied for tribal areas and difficult terrain with high seasonality of agriculture and harsh climate. It has been successfully applied in Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, where community managed grain banks with set rules and norms provide the needy with grain, who in turn returns it through cash or kind. Clusters all over the country could be conceptualized with grain banks in glut region and the nearest starved region exchanging food and that may be hoped to reduce distress sale, wastage and hunger. Present paper is an attempt to review the grain bank concept implemented in India, its pros and cons along with the strategies for scaling up.

Often when we imagine the kind of workers who get workplace injuries, we think of those who need to exert a lot of physical energy on the job. It is true that employees in these work environments may be at greater risk for injury, but office workers are also at risk. Front Office work is rapidly changing, as new developments in computer technology come along which can make our jobs easier, but which also can present new problems for both management and employees. There is enough information contained here to allow a single employee to set up their own workstation to suit the way they work. This paper provides with the information and tools necessary to analyze office jobs related health problems. A descriptive research enumerates the existing conditions in which the researcher has no control over the variables and can report only actual conditions. The interview schedule was found to be an appropriate tool, which would adequately gather information pertaining to research work. Considering the objective of the study, research was carried out at Pancham Hotel of Bareilly. A sample size is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. Total sample sizes of 30 were selected. Many office injuries are caused by the repetitive tasks that put strain on our muscles and joints. There are several health related problems faced by office workers which affect their daily working schedule such as chronic back pain, gastric bronchial, asthma, diabetes, depression, arthritis, anaemia and headache. Sixty percent respondents quite seldom suffered from digestion difficulties whereas 12 percent respondents quite often and only 16 percent respondent almost always suffered from digestion difficulties. Several research studies reveals that gastrointestinal complaints of gastric upset, gas, constipation, poor eating etc. are strongly correlated with front office work.

Nursing, the profession of caring for the sick and the convalescent, the disabled and the helpless, is one of the noblest professions throughout the world. From the general ward to the operation theatre in the hospital, nursing is the most important component of patient care. The process of restoring patients to normal health depends as much, if not more, on nurses as on doctors or surgeons. In fact, the availability of effective nursing services is an indicator of the health of a country's medicare system. Stress in the nursing profession is an ongoing worldwide problem. Of all health care professionals, nurses have been found to have especially high levels of stress. A study among a large sample of Swedish nurses revealed that more than 80 per cent of the nurses reported high or very high job strain. Job stress in the nursing profession has been associated with decreased job satisfaction, increased psychological and physical complaints and absenteeism. Work conditions that have been associated with stress outcomes are inappropriate levels of formalization of work procedures (too much or too little formalization of work procedures), lack of adequate communication within the organization, and organizational politic. On the whole, it was observed that 40 per cent of nurses were suffering from headache and few nurses i.e. 17.5 per cent having back pain. The individual observation of government nurses (27.14 per cent) reported headache from the job which were temporary in nature. However, skin rashes and allergy was reported by 17.14 per cent. Further, 17.14 per cent government nurses suffered from temporary cough and cold due to other sources then their work. Occurrence of common illness among private nurses reveals that maximum of 42 per cent nurses were suffering from temporary back pain from job and only 8 per cent reported skin rashes and allergy which was due to their job. Temporary cough, cold and fever were reported by 24 per cent of private nurses from other sources. Most prevalent chronic illness was anemia among 19.17 per cent nurses. A very few of 1.67 per cent of nurses were having thyroid problem. The prevalence of chronic illness among government nurses indicates that 8.57 per cent nurses suffering from temporary respiratory disease. Anemia due to other sources (apart from job) which was temporary in nature was reported by 15.17 per cent nurses. Continuous problem of blood pressure was prevalent among 17.14 per cent government nurses which were originated due to long hours of job. Again a few proportion of government nurses (15.71 per cent) reported problem of diabetes mellitus. In case of private nurses, each of 12 percent nurses reported problems of anemia and gastrointestinal disorder. Only, 4 per cent nurses were suffered from temporary respiratory diseases. However, 8 per cent nurses reported continuous problem of diabetes mellitus and blood pressure.

In this paper, a modified iteration method (MIM) has been proposed to solve nonlinear second-order ODEs. Convergence analysis and error estimate of the proposed method are also discussed. Computational efficiency of this method is illustrated through numerical examples.

Lane–Emden type equations have been interesting since long time due to their wide applications in mathematical physics and astrophysics. In this paper, a coupled approach has been proposed for the solution of nonlinear singular value problems of Lane–Emden type.

In this paper, a coupled approach based on an integral operator and polynomial least square method is introduced to solve a singular initial value problem: Lane–Emden equation. In this approach first, using an integral operator, Lane–Emden equation is converted into nonlinear Volterra integral equation which is further solved using polynomial least square method. The accuracy and validity of the method are demonstrated using many numerical examples.

Structures such as buildings and bridges consist of a number of components such as beams, columns, and foundations, all of which act together to ensure that the loadings that the structure carries is safely transmitted to the supporting ground below. The study of the design and deflection of the beam under load play an important role in the strength analysis of a structure. In the present paper, we have applied high-order compact finite difference scheme using MATLAB to approximate the solution of Euler–Bernoulli beam equation which determines the deflection of the beam under the load acting on the beam.

There is a huge influx of computer workstation designing and related health and safety issues of users. An increased number of ergonomically designed computer workstation in the work areas has lime...

Indian Agricultural Research Institute is known for developing improved varieties of rice (Oryza sativa L.) which have spread to different corners of India. However, understanding farmers' preferences is important for successful adoption of improved varieties. The objective of this study was to find out the preferences of farmers for IARI developed varieties in the western Indo Gangetic Plains of India. For this data were collected from 69 respondent farmers sampled from four adopted villages under IARI transfer of technology programme. Nineteen important traits of crop varieties were identified by interviewing experts, extension scientists and identified farmers. The weighted score of all the nineteen traits was determined with the help of focused group discussion with the farmers. The preferences of the farmers were measured by using ‘rice preference index (RPI)’. The farmers ranked improved varieties, in following order: i) Pusa Basmati 1509, ii) Pusa Basmati 1121, iii) Pusa Basmati 1, iv) Pusa 2511 and v) Pusa Rice Hybrid 10. Incorporation of farmers’ preferences in development of rice varieties in breeding process would increase likelihood of adoption of the varieties.

In this paperwe have considered an integro-differential equation which describes the charged particle motion for certain configurations of oscillating magnetic fields. This equation contains variable coefficients with large expressions which complicate the application of any numerical method. We have used variational iteration method to find its numerical solution by developing MATHEMATICA modulae and solved a number of numerical examples. The results show high accuracy and efficiency ofour approach.

Prosperity of nation depends on status of its women, as they not only constitute nearly half of its population, but also positively influence growth of remaining half of population. Hence, a study was conducted to study personal profile of women farmers, performance of women in tea cu ltivation, pota to cultivation a nd livestock activities. Physiological assessment was done in terms of RPE and REBA. By simple random sampling, 30 women were selected in Nilgiri district. Seventy percent were 30 years of age and educated up to high school. About 67 percent were dependent on tea cultivation for livelihood. Sixty three percent women had income in the range of Rs 5,000 to 10,000/-. All women performed bed preparation activity, whereas sowing was done by 20 percent women. Weeding activity was actually done by 63.33 percent respondents. Regarding harvesting of potato crops, 76.67 percent women performed it. Mean rating of perceived exertion was in the range of 1 to 1.27. REBA results showed that 40 percent women respondents were in AL3 category which means that they were in high risk level.

Many engineering applications require information about temperature distribution in multilayer thin films. Steady state heat conduction in multilayer structures can be modelled by elliptic interface problems. In this paper, computer simulations of some thin film elliptic interface problems have been performed by applying decomposed immersed interface method on MATLAB.

Many physical phenomena can be modeled by partial differential equations with singularities and interfaces. The standard finite difference and finite element methods may not be successful in giving satisfactory numerical results for such problems. Hence, many new methods have been developed. Some of them are developed with the modifications in the standard methods, so that they can deal with the discontinuities and the singularities. In this article, a survey has been done on some recent efficient techniques to solve elliptic interface problems. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 28: 94-114, 2012

This study evaluated the effect of phenytoin (sodium diphenylhydantoin) on skin wound healing in a rat model. The study was divided into two parts. In part I, 20 mul of phenytoin (10 mg/ml) was subcutaneously injected into the 3-cm dorsal full-thickness incisional wounds of 14 rats on postoperative days 0, 3, and 6. Twelve rats that received saline injections were used as the controls. The skin samples were harvested and tested for tensile strength and histology. An additional 12 rats with the same incisional wounds were tested for chemokine gene expressions. In part II, 20 mul of phenytoin (10 mg/ml) was applied topically once a day on a 4 x 4 cm area of the open dorsal wounds of 10 rats. Saline was applied to the wounds of the 10 control group rats. The wounds were measured weekly. The results showed that the average tensile strength of the phenytoin-treated wound was 0.49 +/- 0.08 MPa compared with the control group at 0.02 +/- 0.01 MPa (p < 0.05). The density ratio of chemokine monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP-1) to beta-actin in the phenytoin-treated group was also significantly higher than in the control group (p < 0.05). Histologic analysis of the phenytoin group showed a large amount of fibroblast proliferation, collagen synthesis, and neovascularization. Phenytoin-treated wounds were also smaller at 1 to 6 weeks postoperatively than the control group wounds. The authors conclude that the administration of phenytoin can promote wound healing and significantly increase MCP-1 expression. Phenytoin-treated wounds showed significant increase in collagen deposition and neovascularization, which resulted in an increased wound tensile strength and accelerated healing of both open and closed wounds.

Women in North Western Himalayan hilly regions carry out most of the agricultural and off-farm activities and are therefore subjected to extra harsh conditions of work that leads to both physical and psychological stress. The work amenities are poor of essential facilities, static postures, dependence on muscular force and strength that make the work too much laborious. Women getting subjected to such work load everyday results in various kinds of disorders and health hazards in them. Considering therefore, the importance of the role played by the women in agriculture, this study was conducted to examine the drudgery involve in farm operations in hill agricultural system. Various field operations were evaluated for analysis of drudgery prone activities. A total of 50 farm women (in the age group of 30-35 years) with random sampling technique were taken for data collection. Data on weeding, fodder cutting and harvesting operations were collected with the help of structured interview schedule. The activities were carried out with 3 replications and time bound for 30 min without rest break for analysis of various research parameters. Human Physical Drudgery Index (HPDI) was calculated for finger millet threshing activity. Results of the investigation show the perceived exertion after agricultural activities ranged from 3.77 to 5.8 on the basis of verbal expression of fatigue and moderate to severe pain in all body parts reported by farm women and also demanded the angle of deviation of normal spinal curve by the activity which are the high risk factor for muscular stresses. HPDI reduced with Millet thresher as compared to manual beating with significant reduction of drudgery with the introduction of mechanized VL millet thresher. The percent increase in heart rate by manual beating of finger millet was 8.78 which were reduced upto 3.64 with Vivek millet thresher cum pearler. The Total Cardiac Cost of Work (TCCW) and Physiological Cost of Work (PCW) were also reduced from 2017.5 to 1517.1 and 134.5 to 101.14 respectively from millet thresher. Millet thresher was developed with optimal design parameters and found ergonomically suitable for reduction of drudgery by reducing physiological ergonomic parameters as TCCW (Total Cardiac Cost of Work), CCW (Cardiac Cost of Work), EER (Energy Expenditure Rate), HR (Heart Rate), Pulse Rate and Blood Lactate Concentrations.

Pulses though extremely important from a food security and nutrition perspective in India have lagged behind cereals and have been moved increasingly to marginal environments. The persistent demand supply gap in pulses poses several challenges including technological ones that stem from movement of pulses to difficult environments and its place in relation to the competing crops. Technologies in pulses have evolved in line with the needs such as short duration to meet intercropping requirements. Given the long history of technology development that lags behind principal crops marked by near absence of private sector in R&D in pulses, it may be time to rethink and try demand pull systems of research with Advance Marketing Commitments along the lines suggested for vaccines.

The extraction and carrier-facilitated transport of amino acids (leucine, valine and glycine) was studied through chloroform bulk liquid membrane system using a series of non-cyclic receptors such as diethylene glycol (1), diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (2), diethylene glycol dibutyl ether (3), diethylene glycol dibenzoate (4), triethylene glycol (5) and tetraethylene glycol (6). The amount of amino acid extracted and transported depends mainly upon the structure and the concentration of the receptors and also on the concentration of amino acid. The receptors 1 to 4, having small chain length and flexible end groups, formed stable complexes with amino acids, and the flexibility of receptors in different conformational forms was responsible for their carrier ability, while the receptors 5 and 6, having larger chain length showed poor carrier ability. Hydrophobicity of amino acids also play an important role in the extraction as well as transport process.

The immune environment of human soft-tissue injury is unstudied. We studied fracture soft-tissue hematomas (FxSTH) in 56 patients with high-energy bony fractures. FxSTH serum and mononuclear cells (MNC) as well as fracture patient plasma and blood MNC were studied. Twenty healthy controls donated plasma and MNC. Soluble tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL-1 beta, IL-2, 6, 8, 10, 12, and interferon-gamma were studied by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Cells were studied by flow cytometry after cell-membrane stains for CD-14, TNF-alpha (mTNF), and human leukocyte antigen-DR, or intracellular stains for TNF (icTNF) and IL-10. Thirty-six patients with Injury Severity Score15 were analyzed further to evaluate the effects of isolated fracture on systemic immunity. Cytokines were rarely detectable in control plasma. TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-2, and interferon-gamma were rarely found in FxSTH serum or fracture patient plasma. All FxSTH sera were rich in IL-6, peaking before 48 hours (12,538 +/- 4,153 vs. 3,494 +/- 909 pg/mL, p = 0.02, U test). In Injury Severity Score15, IL-6 was not detectable in most early fracture patient plasma, but rose after 48 hours (p = 0.028). FxSTH serum IL-8 peaked after 48 hours (440 +/- 289 vs. 4,542 +/- 1,219 pg/mL, p = 0.006) and circulating IL-8 appeared after 72 hours. IL-6 and IL-8 showed gradients from FxSTH serum to paired PtS (p0.05, Wilcoxon). IL-10 was abundant (884 +/- 229 pg/mL) in FxSTH serum24 hours old. FxSTH serum IL-12 peaked late (3,323 +/- 799 pg/mL, day 4-7) then fell (p0.001, analysis of variance). Only IL-12 was higher in fracture patient plasma (1,279 +/- 602 pg/mL) than FxSTH serum (591 +/- 327 pg/mL) during the first 48 hours (p = 0.032, U test). On flow cytometry, control monocytes expressed 201 +/- 31 mTNF sites/cell, but icTNF was absent. mTNF was up-regulated after injury more in FxSTH monocytes (3,202 +/- 870 sites/cell) than peripheral blood monocytes (584 +/- 186 sites/cell) (p0.05 vs. peripheral blood monocytes by Wilcoxon, p0.001 vs. control monocytes by U test). Intracellular IL-10 was abundant in all MNC, but varied widely after injury. Fracture and peripheral blood monocytes expressed far less human leukocyte antigen-DR than control monocytes. Fractures create an inflammatory local environment. Proximal mediators are cell-associated and relatively confined to the wound, but soluble IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 are abundant and probably exported. Systemic MNC have complex responses to local injuries. These may reflect the combined impact of multiple soluble cytokines initially generated within the wound. FxSTH appear to be a potentially important source of immunomodulatory cytokines in trauma.

The study of heat conduction in multilayered composite bodies is of great interest because of their importance in many engineering applications. Steady state heat conduction in bodies made of different material layers which have different thermal conductivities is governed by elliptic boundary value problem with interfaces. Solution of the corresponding problem is often difficult because of the discontinuity across the interface. In this paper, a mathematical model of such problems has been described and computer simulation of two such problems has been presented using decomposed immersed interface method using MATLAB.

Clinical trauma suppresses immunity and experimental wound fluids have been shown to be immunosuppressive. To ascertain whether human wounds contain immunosuppressive cytokines, we assayed serum from fracture/soft-tissue hematomas (FSTH) of 22 patients for interleukin (IL)-10, transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1, and IL-4. Results were correlated to concurrent plasma cytokine concentrations in the same patients and in volunteer plasma. IL-10 was present in high concentration (1376 +/- 539 pg/mL) in all (7/7) FSTH24 h old. In FSTH24 h old, IL-10 was found intermittently and at lower levels (239 +/- 106 pg/mL, p = .011 vs. FSTH24 h old). IL-10 was rarely detectable in fracture patient plasma and never detectable (20 pg/mL) in normal plasma. No significant variations of IL-4 or total TGF-beta 1 were found in FSTH or plasma. FSTH are significant potential sources of IL-10 activity in trauma patients, which may be overlooked when only plasma is assayed. The potential for a relationship between cytokines found locally at sites of injury and clinical immune modulation in trauma requires further study.

Alcohol abuse impairs pulmonary innate immunity rendering individuals susceptible to pneumonia. We have previously shown that alcohol abuse causes oxidative stress in the lung and increases TGFβ1 expression. TGFβ1 downregulates GM-CSF receptors resulting in the alveolar macrophage and epithelial cell dysfunction. However, the exact mechanism of alcohol-mediated activation of TGFβ1 in vivo is still under investigation. We examined TGFβ1 expression on alveolar macrophages and epithelial cells from control- and alcohol-fed rats by real time PCR and flow cytometry. TGFβ1 gene expression was significantly higher in alcoholic macrophages and TGFβ1 protein was predominantly membrane bound in macrophages. In addition, as compared to control, alveolar epithelial cells from alcohol-fed rats had significantly higher expression of alpha5 integrin chain that is implicated in TGFβ1 activation. Therefore, we hypothesized that alcohol-induced increase in epithelial alpha5 would activate membrane TGFβ1 on macrophages. To examine this, macrophage (NR8383) and epithelial (L2) cell lines were co-cultured on transwell membranes to assess the changes in paracellular permeability. Only alcohol primed co-cultures showed a decrease in epithelial barrier function that was reversed by anti-TGFβ1 treatment. Taken together, these results suggest that cellular contact between alveolar macrophages and epithelial cells is essential for alcohol mediated activation of TGFβ1 in the lung.

Lymphocyte inhibitory factor (LyIF) and lymphocyte chemotactic factor (LCF) were produced by sensitized thymic (T) and bursal (B) cells and thymic (T) cells, respectively. The passage of sensitized T and B cells through a Sephadex G-10 column abrogated the ability of T cells to produce LyIF and LCF while B cells remained capable of producing LyIF. The return of macrophages to the adherent cell depleted population reconstituted the T cells' ability to produce LyIF and LCF. These data suggest a greater macrophage dependency of thymic cells than bursal cells in the production of lymphokines.