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SARS-CoV-2 has caused over 100,000,000 cases and almost 2,500,000 deaths globally. Comprehensive assessment of the multifaceted antiviral Ab response is critical for diagnosis, differentiation of severity, and characterization of long-term immunity, especially as COVID-19 vaccines become available. Severe disease is associated with early, massive plasmablast responses. We developed a multiplex immunoassay from serum/plasma of acutely infected and convalescent COVID-19 patients and prepandemic and postpandemic healthy adults. We measured IgA, IgG, and/or IgM against SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N), spike domain 1 (S1), S1–receptor binding domain (RBD) and S1–N-terminal domain. For diagnosis, the combined [IgA + IgG + IgM] or IgG levels measured for N, S1, and S1-RBD yielded area under the curve values ≥0.90. Virus-specific Ig levels were higher in patients with severe/critical compared with mild/moderate infections. A strong prozone effect was observed in sera from severe/critical patients—a possible source of underestimated Ab concentrations in previous studies. Mild/moderate patients displayed a slower rise and lower peak in anti-N and anti-S1 IgG levels compared with severe/critical patients, but anti-RBD IgG and neutralization responses reached similar levels at 2–4 mo after symptom onset. Measurement of the Ab responses in sera from 18 COVID-19–vaccinated patients revealed specific responses for the S1-RBD Ag and none against the N protein. This highly sensitive, SARS-CoV-2–specific, multiplex immunoassay measures the magnitude, complexity, and kinetics of the Ab response and can distinguish serum Ab responses from natural SARS-CoV-2 infections (mild or severe) and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

Soft wearable robots are a promising new design paradigm for rehabilitation and active assistance applications. Their compliant nature makes them ideal for complex joints like the shoulder, but intuitive control of these robots require robust and compliant sensing mechanisms. In this work, we introduce the sensing framework for a multi-DoF shoulder exosuit capable of sensing the kinematics of the shoulder joint. The proposed tendon-based sensing system is inspired by the concept of muscle synergies, the body's sense of proprioception, and finds its basis in the organization of the muscles responsible for shoulder movements. A motion-capture-based evaluation of the developed sensing system showed conformance to the behaviour exhibited by the muscles that inspired its routing and validates the hypothesis of the tendon-routing to be extended to the actuation framework of the exosuit in the future. The mapping from multi-sensor space to joint space is a multivariate multiple regression problem and was derived using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The sensing framework was tested with a motion-tracking system and achieved performance with root mean square error (RMSE) of approximately 5.43 degrees and 3.65 degrees for the azimuth and elevation joint angles, respectively, measured over 29000 frames (4+ minutes) of motion-capture data., 8 pages, 7 figures, 1 table

Greenhouse gases are the cause of global warming. These problems can be overcome if renewable energy becomes easily adaptable and is utilized on a larger scale. Solar PV power generation is growing day by day due to technological advancements. The variability in solar PV power generation can be forecasted using an artificial intelligence-based technique, which can help in proper load scheduling and make the system less dependent on grid power. In this paper, solar PV power forecasting is done using a hybrid of harmony search algorithm and genetic algorithm. The major focus is on short-term hourly forecasting and reducing the time of execution. The ANN is developed using Bayesian regulation and the weights and bias are tuned using the hybrid algorithm to reduce the error between actual and forecasted value. The ANN tuned using the hybrid algorithm is executed and results are verified using MATLAB.

Global warming is one of the major issues of current time. This can be overcome by using renewable energy in electricity production. Wind energy is an alternative to reduce greenhouse gas emission in electricity production. A comparison is done between Horizontal and Vertical Axis turbine-based WECS for better performance in low wind speed regions. Advanced Hill Climb Search MPPT and Fuzzy Logic Controller together help the WECS to extract maximum power with changes in wind velocity. WECS is studied for a standalone application in a location where rated speed of turbine cannot be reached. The fuzzy logic rules are developed to regulate the duty ratio of the switch used in boost converter. Simulation study and results comparison has been carried out to validate the superiority of wind turbines for low wind speed regions. The proposed system is developed and tested using MATLAB/Simulink.

An empirical model based on machine learning is developed for predicting the variation of the laminar burning velocities of H2/CO/CH4/CO2/N2/air mixtures with volumetric fractions as the independent variables at different elevated mixture temperatures and pressures. The proposed model is derived partly based on the measured burning velocities of syngas-air mixtures at elevated temperatures and pressures using diverging channel method, and partly established from the predictions using the FFCM-1 detailed kinetic model. The experiments at elevated pressures and temperature strongly agree with the predictions of the FFCM-1 kinetic model for PG1 (H2/CO/CO2/N2 = 15/15/15/55) syngas composition. Based on the detailed analysis of the experimental results, a power-law correlation considering the α, β variations is proposed: Su = Su,o * (Tu/Tu,o)α0+α1 (1−Pu/Pu,o) * (Pu/Pu,o)β0+β1 (1−Tu/Tu,o). Machine learning model (multiple linear-regression) was trained for the variables (Su,o, αo, α1, β0, β1) in the power-law correlation to enable the prediction of laminar burning velocity at various pressure and temperature conditions. The empirical model was developed with mole fractions of various components (H2/CO/CH4/CO2/N2) in the syngas composition and equivalence ratio as independent variables. The developed model was intended for low-calorific value syngas mixtures, and it performs exceedingly well without solving detailed governing equations, detailed chemistry, and transport equations. The proposed model is accurate for a wide range of syngas-air mixtures reported in the literature. A detailed comparison showed that the empirical model accurately predicts the laminar burning velocity with error X H 2 0.70 , 0.25 X C H 4 X C O 2 X N 2

Globalization has pressurized the developing nations to open their health sector for profit-driven private investors—both domestic and foreign. In a private sector dominant unregulated healthcare market like India, the service providers are free to determine the fee for services. In the present policy context of the role of central government shifting to strategic purchasing of services from the private sector (National Health Policy, 2017) and discussions on regulation of prices in private healthcare markets, an understanding of the cost of services and its relationship to prices is essential. Very few attempts have been made to estimate the cost of advanced diagnostic services; those done have most often used the traditional costing methods. Bottom-up micro-costing method which is considered as the gold standard in hospital costing is used in this study to estimate the cost of three services: CT scan, MRI scan and Cath-Lab in three districts of Kerala. A comparison with the per capita income of the population is also attempted to analyse the contextual differences in costs and prices. Using the bottom-up micro-costing method, the lowest estimated cost of service for a brain CT scan in Kerala is ₹667, for MRI scan of the brain is ₹1,177, for angiogram is ₹4,344 and for Angioplasty is ₹11,291. The costs of services are higher in locations of lower per capita income. However, the price for services is higher in locations of higher per capita income. The market prices appear to be driven by commercial interests that decide on what prices the market can bear, rather than on competition or costs of producing the services. The presence of public facilities offering the selected services at a certain fixed rate influences market prices by influencing private players to limit their prices at a level very close to the public co-players—but prices in public sector are itself significant—and could be exclusionary.

Objectives To identify risk factors associated with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a Tertiary care cancer hospital-based cluster and recommend control measures. Methods We conducted tracing and confirmation among hospital and community contacts. We telephonically interviewed and abstracted information from hospital records and registers. We described the cluster by time, place and person. We conducted unmatched case-control study to compare risk factors and computed Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval. Results We confirmed COVID-19 in 21 of 1478 tested (1.4%). Secondary attack (%) of COVID-19 among 824 contacts was higher among in-patients of block A (18), household contacts (3.4), housekeeping staff (3.3) and nurses (1.7). The cluster started on April 22 with two successive peaks five days apart and lasted until May 8. Being male, patients aged >33 years [OR = 30·7; 95% CI = 3·6 to 264], having hypertension [OR = 4·3; 95% CI = 1·1 to 16·7] or diabetes [OR = 3·8; 95% CI = 1·0 to 14·1] were associated with COVID-19. Mask compliance was poor (20%) among hospital workers. Discussion We recommended screening of all patients for diabetes and hypertension and isolation/testing of anyone with influenza-like illness for preventing COVID-19 clusters in hospital settings.

How best to attach exoskeletons to human limbs is an open and understudied problem. In the case of upperbody exoskeletons, cylindrical handles are commonly used attachments due to ease of use and cost effectiveness. However, handles require active grip strength from the user and may result in undesirable flexion synergy stimulation, thus limiting the robot’s effectiveness. This paper presents a new design, the Eminence Grip, for attaching an exoskeleton to the hand while avoiding the undesirable consequences of using a handle. The ergonomic design uses inverse impedance matching and does not require active effort from the user to remain interfaced with the exoskeleton. We compare the performance of the Eminence Grip to the handle design in a healthy subject target reaching experiment. The results show that the Eminence Grip achieves similar performance to a handle in terms of relative motion between the user and the exoskeleton while eliminating the requirement of grip force to transfer loads to/from the exoskeleton and avoiding stimulation of the flexion synergy. Taken together, the kinematic equivalence and improvement in ergonomics suggest that the Eminence Grip is a promising exoskeleton-hand attachment interface supporting further experiments with impaired populations.

Objectives: To identify risk factors associated with COVID-19 in a hospital-based cluster and to recommend control measures. Methods: We conducted contact-tracing and testing in the hospital and community. We collected information through telephone interviews, abstraction of patient’s clinical records and registers. We described the cluster by time, place and person. We conducted an unmatched case-control study. We computed Odds Ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval(CI) by comparing attack rates among those exposed and unexposed to the risk factors. Results: The secondary attack rate of COVID-19 was high among in-patients of block A, household contacts and housekeeping staff. The cluster started on 22nd April, had 2 peaks on 26th April and 1st may and lasted till 8th May. Males, older patients (OR-30·7, 95% CI;3·6-264), hypertensives (OR-4·3,95% CI;1·1-16·7) and diabetics (OR-3·8, 95%CI;1·0-14·1) were more likely to be COVID-19 positive. Mask compliance was poor (20%) among hospital workers. Discussion: We suggest screening of all patients for diabetes and hypertension and isolation/testing of anyone with influenza-like illness. Strict adherence to infection control practices will prevent such clusters in hospital settings. Funding Statement: Indian Council of Medical Research. Declaration of Interests: None to declare. Ethics Approval Statement: The study protocol was approved by the institutional human ethics committee of Hospital A. Informed consent was obtained from the participants before commencing the telephone interview.

BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 has caused over 36,000,000 cases and 1,000,000 deaths globally. Comprehensive assessment of the multifaceted anti-viral antibody response is critical for diagnosis, differentiation of severe disease, and characterization of long-term immunity. Initial observations suggest that severe disease is associated with higher antibody levels and greater B cell/plasmablast responses. A multi-antigen immunoassay to define the complex serological landscape and clinical associations is essential.MethodsWe developed a multiplex immunoassay and evaluated serum/plasma from adults with RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections during acute illness (N=52) and convalescence (N=69); and pre-pandemic (N=106) and post-pandemic (N=137) healthy adults. We measured IgA, IgG, and/or IgM against SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid (N), Spike domain 1 (S1), receptor binding domain (S1-RBD) and S1-N-terminal domain (S1-NTD).ResultsTo diagnose infection, the combined [IgA+IgG+IgM] or IgG for N, S1, and S1-RBD yielded AUC values −0.90 by ROC curves. From days 6-30 post-symptom onset, the levels of antigen-specific IgG, IgA or [IgA+IgG+IgM] were higher in patients with severe/critical compared to mild/moderate infections. Consistent with excessive concentrations of antibodies, a strong prozone effect was observed in sera from severe/critical patients. Notably, mild/moderate patients displayed a slower rise and lower peak in anti-N and anti-S1 IgG levels compared to severe/critical patients, but anti-RBD IgG and neutralization responses reached similar levels at 2-4 months.ConclusionThis SARS-CoV-2 multiplex immunoassay measures the magnitude, complexity and kinetics of the antibody response against multiple viral antigens. The IgG and combined-isotype SARS-CoV-2 multiplex assay is highly diagnostic of acute and convalescent disease and may prognosticate severity early in illness.One Sentence SummaryIn contrast to patients with moderate infections, those with severe COVID-19 develop prominent, early antibody responses to S1 and N proteins.

The COVID-19 pandemic is imposing enormous global challenges in managing the spread of the virus. A key pillar to mitigation is contact tracing, which complements testing and isolation. Digital apps for contact tracing using Bluetooth technology available in smartphones have gained prevalence globally. In this article, we discuss various capabilities of such digital contact tracing, and its implication on community safety and individual privacy, among others. We further describe the GoCoronaGo institutional contact tracing app that we have developed, and the conscious and sometimes contrarian design choices we have made. We offer a detailed overview of the app, backend platform and analytics, and our early experiences with deploying the app to over 1000 users within the Indian Institute of Science campus in Bangalore. We also highlight research opportunities and open challenges for digital contact tracing and analytics over temporal networks constructed from them., Pre-print of article to appear in the Journal of the Indian Institute of Science

The heated diverging channel technique for the measurement of laminar burning velocities was extended to incorporate measurements at elevated pressures. The evaluation of the combined influence of pressure and temperature on the fundamental combustion characteristics of CH4-air flames is realized through the new experimental facility. The laminar burning velocities of CH4-air mixtures at different equivalence ratios are reported for a pressure range (1–5 atm), and elevated temperatures of 350–650 K. The temperature exponent, α presents with the lowest value for marginally rich mixtures (ϕ = 1:1). The non-monotonic behavior of α is replicated at elevated pressures (2–5 atm). PREMIX calculations with commonly employed kinetic models (Aramco 2, GRI Mech 3.0) were compared with the present experiments. The predictions of Aramco 2 mechanism were in excellent agreement with the present measurements at high temperature and pressure conditions.

Strongylodiasis is an intestinal parasitic infection which can cause cataclysmic hyper infection syndrome in immunocompromised. Here we report an interesting and rare case of gastroduodenal strongyloidiasis presenting as protein losing enteropathy which was promptly diagnosed and dramatically reversed with antihelminthic therapy. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2020; 10(4): 237-239.

Today, Technology have remarkable charm in the area of Computer Graphics and Vision. Producing absolute images from the poor hand-drawn sketches is a very demanding and laborious task in this area. Hand-drawn sketch recognition is widely used in sketch based image and video retrieval, manipulations and reorganizations. In S ketch to image synthesis, the sketches are translated to realistic images with the use of a generative model. An image is put forward to image translation network that involves in producing a synthesized image from the input sketch via an adversarial process. A novel Conditional Generative Adversarial Network (cGANs) which is an extension of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) is used to produce the images with some sort of conditions or attributes. In this work, the implementation of cGANs for synthesizing the images from hand-drawn sketches gives a remarkable output. The performance of the proposed sketch to image translation network was excellent and appreciable.

Syngas is a promising alternative fuel due to clean combustion with lower greenhouse gas emissions. The multi-component fuel mixture primarily consists of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and traces of moisture. The composition of syngas strongly depends on the feedstock and the choice of production method. The wide compositional variability of syngas poses hurdles in developing appliances such as burners and combustion chambers. This review summarizes the recent research on syngas' fundamental combustion characteristics, such as laminar and turbulent burning velocity. The burning velocity prediction capabilities of various reaction mechanisms were analyzed. Comparing the laminar burning velocity predictions using different kinetic schemes with available experimental data in the literature establishes the validity of kinetic schemes. A considerable discrepancy is observed between the experimental data and the present numerical predictions for elevated temperatures at different equivalence ratios. The recent developments in syngas burners, stability regimes, and the need for laminar/turbulent burning velocity data at high temperatures and pressure to improve computational modeling of industrial syngas burners are emphasized. The existing research gap in burners to accommodate syngas with the higher mole fraction of hydrogen is also explored.

For assistive devices to seamlessly and promptly assist users with activities of daily living (ADL), it is important to understand the user’s intention. Current assistive systems are mostly driven by unimodal sensory input which hinders their accuracy and responses. In this paper, we propose a context-aware sensor fusion framework to detect intention for assistive robotic devices which fuses information from a wearable video camera and wearable inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors. A Naive Bayes classifier is used to predict the intent to move from IMU data and the object classification results from the video data. The proposed approach can achieve an accuracy of 85.2% in detecting movement intention.

A significant fraction of the world population is plagued by neuromuscular disorders which have no cure other than symptomatic management. An increasingly aging world population would inevitably lead to a further rise in these numbers. The management of the manifestations of many neuromuscular diseases ranging from Parkinson’s disease to stroke has been an active research topic in robotics since the 1960s. Pivotal advances in sensing, actuation, energy sources, and computing technologies have facilitated an increased penetration of wearable robotics into patient rehabilitation and assistance. Furthermore, breakthroughs in research areas including material sciences and new actuation schemes are further accelerating the development of wearable robotics. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a review of robotic devices for upper-limb rehabilitation and assistance. A discussion of the state-of-the-art in design, actuation, and intention-sensing technologies is presented. The chapter also outlines challenges hindering the clinical translation of these technologies and highlights future research opportunities.

Advances in optical imaging, and probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (pCLE) in particular, offer real-time cellular level information for in-vivo tissue characterization. However for large area coverage, the limited field-of-view necessitates the use of a technique known as mosaicking to generate usable information from the incoming image stream. Mosaicking also needs a continuous stream of good quality images, but this is challenging as the probe needs to be maintained within an optimal working range and the contact force controlled to minimize tissue deformation. Robotic manipulation presents a potential solution to these challenges, but the lack of haptic feedback in current surgical robot systems hinders the technology's clinical adoption. This paper proposes a sensorless alternative based on processing the incoming image stream and deriving a quantitative measure representative of the image quality. This measure is then used by a controller, designed using model-free reinforcement learning techniques, to maintain optimal contact autonomously. The developed controller has shown near real-time performance in overcoming typical loss-of-contact and excess-deformation scenarios experienced during endomicroscopy scanning procedures.

Financial regulation is a much debated topic for some time. The history of financial instruments started at a time when people started giving value to physical objects over and above its inherent utility. Right from the very beginning of their existence, it has been acknowledged that financial instruments are risky. There have been several legislative and regulatory attempts to regulate financial instruments. But every time the human ingenuity ensured that financial instruments remain afloat. Financial derivatives are a sub species of financial instruments No internationally accepted principles for regulation of financial instruments, especially financial derivatives exist. This article makes a comparative study of the approach taken by judiciary regarding the regulation of financial instruments in general and financial derivatives in particular. The US, UK and India are taken as sample countries, but major context is the Indian regulatory scenario.

Upasana is a non-invasive medical diagnostic toolkit designed to be used by ASHA workers so that they can measure the vital parameters of the patients in rural areas and transfer the data to the doctors at the hospital for diagnosis.

Objective: Internationally there has been an increase in the prescriptions of stimulant medication. The aim of this study was to examine longitudinal national trends of stimulant dispensing in Australia between 2002 and 2009. Method: Government databases were retrospectively reviewed for all dispensed stimulant prescriptions between 2002 and 2009. Prescriptions were converted to defined daily dose (DDD)/1000 population/day using census data. Utilization of dexamphetamine and methylphenidate were analysed by source (subsidized or non-subsidized), prescriber (general practitioner, psychiatrist or other specialists), gender and age of patient. Results: Between 2002 and 2009, dispensing of stimulants in Australia increased 87% from 2.93 to 5.47 DDD/1000 population/day. Dexamphetamine remained the most commonly dispensed stimulant, with rates of dispensing falling 13% from 2.02 to 1.75 DDD/1000 population/day. Dispensed prescriptions of methylphenidate increased 300% from 0.45 in 2002 to 1.81 DDD/1000 population/day in 2009, attributable to the availability of long-acting preparations. Dispensing of stimulants to males was four-fold greater than to females. There was substantial dispensing of dexamphetamine to those older than 25 years. Conclusions: Stimulant dispensing in Australia increased between 2002 and 2009 as a result of increased dispensing of long-acting preparations of methylphenidate. Further research is required to determine if the increase in stimulant dispensing in Australia is clinically appropriate.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), two regulators in India have locked horns over Unit Linked Insurance Products (ULIP). This product which was regulated by IRDA hitherto was claimed by SEBI to be a collective investment scheme defined in SEBI Act, and SEBI banned 14 insurance companies from issuing fresh products in ULIP scheme without the insurance companies issuing these products obtaining a registration from SEBI for marketing collective investment products. IRDA on the other hand issued directive to the insurance companies to ignore SEBI directive. The wrangle got so murky that the Central Government had to intervene and ask both regulators to maintain status quo till a final binding legal decision comes from a competent legal forum. IRDA and the insurance companies have approached various courts and the matter is pending a final decision. This article examines the legal position with regard to ULIP products and the disputed regulatory claims in the light of various statutory provisions and settled judicial decisions. Subsequent to this article, President Pratibha Patil, by the Securities and Insurance Laws (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance 2010, amended the four laws to clarify that life insurance business shall include ULIPs or scrips or any such instruments. The ordinance inserted an explanation to section 2 of the Insurance Act 1938 declaring “life insurance business shall include any unit linked insurance policy or scrips or any such instrument or unit, by whatever name called, which provides a component of investment and a component of insurance issued by an insurer . . .” In order to remove any ambiguity, the ordinance inserted an explanation to section 2 of the Securities Contract (Regulation) Act declaring “securities shall not include any unit linked insurance policy or scrips or any such instrument or unit, by whatever name called, which provides a combined benefit risk on life of the persons and investment by such persons and issued by an insurer referred to in clause (9) of section 2 of the Insurance Act 1938″. In the SEBI Act, an explanation to section 12 has been inserted to the effect that collective investment scheme or mutual fund shall not include any ULIP or scrips or any such instrument or unit, by whatever name called, which provides a component of investment besides the component of insurance issued by an insurer. Nullifying the SEBI’s order of April 9, the ordinance categorically declared that the amendments made in the four acts “. . . shall have and shall be deemed to always have effect for all purposes as if the provisions of the said acts, as amended by this ordinance, had been in force at all material times...” In order to sort out the jurisdictional issues regarding hybrid products - like insurance and mutual fund - a high level committee under the chairmanship of finance minister has been constituted. The other members of the committee are the union finance secretary, secretary, the department of financial services and the chiefs of four financial regulators - RBI, IRDA, SEBI and the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority. Thus the observations in the article have been accepted by the Government of India.

Legal Education has traditionally been a neglected area in India. It is one area where there has not been any fundamental change during the last 150 years. Except for the duration of the courses and addition of some fundamental subjects, there has not been innovation in legal education scenario during all these years. Since the past few years the roles of lawyers in the society have changed drastically. As a result a new genre of globalised legal professionals has evolved who while having a firm understanding of local legal scenario, was able to extend its principles to a global context. If the law schools across the world are feeling that they can longer train graduates according to their whims, but will have to face the market and will have to provide output in accordance with the demands of the market, Indian law schools cannot remain as an exception. Indian legal education has a multitude of issues that prevent them from globalizing its content - multitude of regulation, class structure in legal education sector, and the problems ranging from inappropriate work load to dismal attendance in classes. However, India which is an emerging economy has to tide over these issues and produce a uniform class of legal professionals suited for global competition. For this the article puts forth a number of suggestions, including adopting skills education, with a proper mixture of class room, simulation and experiential learning, academic autonomy to law schools to enable such training, allowing law teachers to take up law practice, setting up of free/paid clinics in law schools, apprentice ship system, formal training programme for law teachers etc, all aimed to the ultimate aim for producing law graduates worthy of competition in the globalised scenario.

Policing is one of the most important of the functions undertaken by the every sovereign government. For the state machinery, police is an inevitable organ which would ensure maintenance of law and order, and also the first link in the criminal justice system. On the other hand, for common man, police force is a symbol of brute force of authority and at the same time, the protector from crime. Police men get a corporate identity from the uniform they wear; the common man identifies, distinguishes and awes him on account of the same uniform. The police systems across the world have developed on a socio cultural background, and for this reason alone huge differences exist between these police systems. From the singular coordinated centralised system of police in Saudi Arabia organised under the Ministry of Interior to the 42000 odd police forces that exist in USA, policing mainly rests on either of the two broad principles: (1) Policing by consent and (2) Policing by law.This paper tries to examine the various police systems that exist in the world, taking Saudi Arabia, China, France, Spain, United Kingdom, the United States of America and India, as examples of various types of policing models. The paper takes cue from these systems, their positives and negatives, and tries to find out how the Indian System, can be understood in the light of these policing models.

Many clinical reports suggest that deciduous teeth exhibit a greater susceptibility to resorption than permanent ones. To examine the difference between deciduous and permanent dentine in their susceptibility to osteoclastic resorption, osteoclast-like cells (OCLs) were cultured on deciduous and permanent dentine slices. The number, area, depth, and volume of resorption pits were then measured, using image-analyzing systems. We measured the level of degraded collagen (cross-linked N-telopeptide of type I collagen; NTx) in culture medium using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The levels of cathepsin K, matrix metallo proteinase (MMP)-9, and MMP-13 mRNAs in the cells attached to dentine were also analyzed by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Deciduous dentine slices exhibited a significant (twofold) increase in resorbed area compared with the permanent slices. Three-dimensional analysis revealed that the volume of pits in deciduous dentine differed significantly (fourfold) compared to that in the permanent dentine. The depth of pits also followed the same trend. However, there was no significant difference in the number of pits or osteoclasts on the dentine slices. The NTx level in deciduous media was significantly more than that in permanent media. The mRNA levels also followed the same trend. These results suggest that deciduous dentine is more susceptible to resorption than permanent dentine and signals from the substrate play an important role in physiological resorption.