Search

Human beings have certain uniqueness in their voices that helps determine their individuality. The most important characteristic of voice is the Pitch. The average vocal range for masculine voice ranges from 90-150 Hz and for feminine voice, it ranges from 190-240 Hz. This pitch is decided by the development of the vocal tract during puberty by the effect of testosterone hormone i.e. Longer the tract, lower the pitch and vice versa. However, for people belonging to the intersex community, the low production of testosterone causes the vocal tract to develop differently than males and females. Because of this reason, their pitch has its own individual range and hoarseness of quality. This study was aimed to evaluate the difference in intersex population voice characteristics as compared to normal adult males and females. It was found that intersex voice has a distinctive Pitch range of 150-190 Hz with the mean frequency being 167 Hz. It was also discovered that due the peculiar dialect practiced by the intersex community, especially in the western part of the Indian subcontinent, there is a noticeable difference in the time duration for pronouncing various vowels from the time duration taken by males and females to pronounce the same vowels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic ballistics a core field of forensic science, and focuses on locating the point and time of firing as well as matching the bullet to a specific firearm. The paper proposes a model for legally authorized firearms and bullets that enables instant determination of location and time of firing. This facilitates the identification of the bullet to the questioned firearm, eliminating the conduction of conventional methods of examination. This is achieved by the implementation of an in-built positioning system in the firearm utilizing a Global Positioning System (GPS) together with a means of identification of the projectile to the suspected firearm, employing Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID). A protective aspect of reducing the crime rate and more accurate method of analysing and examining the fired bullets from suspected firearms, this technique if used can also strengthen the judgements taken by law enforcement agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study evaluates the acute effects of deltamethrin type II synthetic pyrethroid insecticide in zebrafish in terms of oxidative stress. Animals were exposed to sub-lethal concentration of deltamethrin (0.5 ppm) for 24 hours (acute). Levels of malionaldehyde, glutathione and antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase) were determined in liver, kidney and brain. Exposure to deltamethrin caused enhanced lipid peroxidation and glutathione content. Further an induction in superoxide dismutase activity in liver, kidney and brain was observed. Catalase and glutathione peroxidase enzymatic activity were elevated in liver and kidney. However, no change in activity of catalase and glutathione peroxidase was observed in brain. Study concludes that deltamethrin causes oxidative stress and alter the activity of antioxidant enzymes leading to oxidative damage in the fish. The various parameters studied in this work may be used as biomarkers in case of sub-lethal acute deltamethrin exposure. Present data also suggest that appropriate ecotoxicological risk assessment should be made in the areas where deltamethrin is used for pest control activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide is an act of death resulting from the force against oneself. Suicide is considered as sin in all the religions. There are social (history of family suicide, stressful life events etc.) and psychological (Mental illness, previous suicide attempts etc.) factors influencing individuals to commit suicide. There are many methods of committing suicide such as, pesticide poisoning, hanging, firearms, drug overdose, fatal injuries, exsanguinations, suffocation, drowning etc. This current study is conducted to analyze suicide stories of celebrities. The celebrities who commit suicide may have various reasons like, family problems, failed relationships, pressure of career, disturbed married life etc. As they are unable to cope up or face the pressure of their personal lives being telecasted openly they try to hide and suppress their relationship out of public glare. It has been noticed that, the celebrities who had failed in their love relations are more likely to commit suicide and the most common method of suicide has been by hanging. It is also seen that in all the celebrities suicide cases their male partners were accused of abetting them for committing suicide, but when investigated they were found innocent and released. The police reports also have declared all these deaths as "suicide". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to understand the relationship between, altruistic behavior, life satisfaction and coping in geriatric population and compare with those living with families and old age homes. 60 elderly persons (30 elderly were living with families and 30 were living in old age homes) with age 60 years or above were selected randomly in this study. Altruistic Personality Scale', Satisfaction with Life Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and Spirituality Scale (Delaney, 2003) were administered on them individually. The correlations between the scores of different scales, were calculated to bring out the relationship of altruism with life satisfaction and spirituality. Mann Whitney test was used to compare the two groups of elderly living in different settings. The findings of this study revealed that, altruism (p=0.01) and spirituality (p=0.001) were positively related to life satisfaction in the elderly living in with their families. On the other hand spirituality (p=0.001) and subjective happiness (p=0.001) were significantly better in the elderly inmates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glasses with compositions x(2NiO.V2O5).(30-x)Li2O.20Bi2O3.50B2O3, where x=0, 2, 5 and 7 (LBB, NVLBB1, NVLBB2 and NVLBB3, respectively), 7NiO.23Li2O.20Bi2O3.50B2O3 (NLBB) and 7NiO.23Li2O.20Bi2O3.50B2O3 (VLBB) are prepared by melt-quenching. The as-prepared samples have been analysed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) over the temperature range 200-900°C, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) over the wave number range 400-1600 cm-1 and UV-Vis-NIR spectra over the wavelength range 300-2600 nm. The trends of these properties are attributed to changes in the glass network structure. Thermal studies using DSC curves reveal that the glass transition temperature (Tg) of all the glass samples increases with increasing transition metal oxide content in pure lithium bismuth borate glass (LBB). A single peak crystallization temperature (Tx) is observed when individual transition metal ions, i.e. Ni2+ or VO2+ is added to the base glass (LBB), whereas two crystallization temperatures are obtained when 2NiO.V2O5 as a whole is introduced into LBB glass. FTIR studies reveal that Ni2+ and VO2+ ions lead to structural rearrangements and bismuth exists in [BiO6] octahedral units only, whereas boroxol rings are absent in the glass network. Optical studies of NLBB and NVLBB glasses indicate that the Ni2+ ions occupy only octahedral positions in the glass network, whereas no optical transition was found in the VLBB system. Ligand field theory has been applied for analysis of the optical absorption results. The Racah parameter B (inter-electronic repulsion) and crystal field strength (Δoct) are calculated for these transitions in the absorption spectra. Nephelauxetic ratio (β), and optical band gap (Eg) are also evaluated. The infrared spectroscopic results are corroborated by the optical absorption analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bismuth borate glasses with composition 20Bi2O3.80B2O3 containing 2·0 mol% of transition metal ions having magnetic character (Cu2+, Co2+, Ni2+, and Fe3+) prepared by the melt-quench technique have been investigated for their structural, thermal and optical properties. Glass formation is confirmed by x-ray diffraction (XRD). The density (D) and molar volume (Vm) of prepared have been measured and correlated with the structural changes. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are carried out in the temperature range of 200-1000°C. The glass transition temperature (Tg) and glass melting temperature (Tm) are found to increase on adding transition metal ions (TMIs) to the bismuth borate glass matrix indicating the decreased glass fragility. The absence of weight loss observed from the TGA thermographs shows that the synthesized compositions are non-volatile. Study of infrared (IR) spectroscopy in mid-IR range (400-4000 cm-1) reveals an increase in tetrahedrally coordinated boron atoms and hence formation of nonbridging oxygens (NBOs). The optical band gap (Eopt), band tailing parameter (B) and Urbach energy (DE) are calculated and reported from the optical absorption results. A decrease in optical band gap is observed on adding transition metal ions to pure bismuth borate glass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major goal of prison system is to aid in safety and security of inmates. Implicitly the prison guards work towards extending rehabilitation and preventing recidivism rates. The organizational structure and the hierarchical relationship between inmates and staff can cause stress and job dissatisfaction. Therefore, assessment of individual differences, development of aggressive tendencies due to stressful ambience and inherent coping mechanism might provide the tools to assess occupation induced stress in prison staff This study fills the gap in the current literature with the central aim of probing and expanding the existing understanding of the factors affecting prison guard's source and effect of stress in indigenous sample. Correlational and regression analysis revealed that overall aggression syndrome level in prison service employees (N=65) have turned out to be considerably high in the group of respondents. Pertaining to sources of work stress, the computed results depicted negative correlation between sources of work stress and personality in prison guards. The results highlighted the importance of personal and professional variables in the explanation of the participants' professional experiences and the usefulness of the transactional model in studying occupational stress. Given that the organizational structure and job pressure was significantly associated with prison guard's stress and burnout, organizational interventions should aim to improve the communication between management, prison inmates and prison guards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criminal investigation always involves the identification of individuals involved in any incidence that is under question. Identification of individual is based on the available physical evidences. The most conventional method of identification of individuals is based on the fingerprints. There are certain instances wherein the identity of individual would be done based on certain anthropometric data such as measurements of various body parts although the complete identification is possible with fingerprints, DNA and patterns still the primary characteristic of identification such as stature and sex can be determined. In this study, an attempt has been made to establish the possible correlation between the palm length with the stature of individual. To get scrupulous results, the study has been done on the young adult population in the age range of 21-25 years. A total number of 500 subjects were considered for the study that includes 200 boys and 300 girls. Significant results were obtained. It was possible to deduce the correlation coefficient and multiplication factor for estimation of stature from palm length. The multiplication factor so deduced has been applied and regression analysis was done and was found to be significant and reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A suburban train (electric motor unit, EMU) was allegedly hijacked by a young man from Chennai central railway station on 29th April 2009 at 5am in the morning. He had started the train from the Chennai central railway station which was stationed at that time. He accelerated its speed and had driven the train in a wrong track i.e. the track which is meant for the downward (returning) trains. But within a distance of about 3 kilometers the train had collided with another goods train which was stationed in the same track of the Vyasarpadi ( next station for stoppage from the central station railway station). The alleged hijacker lost his life with multiple injuries while attempting to escape from that train just before the collision with the goods train. The case was resolved on the basis of the external findings of the victim's body and other circumstantial evidences. Though the victims' body was intact the identity of the victim is still unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aldrin (ALD), a persistent-organic-pollutant (POP), an organochlorine-cyclodiene-pesticide is highly toxic in nature. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TNP) are widely used for various industrial applications. Despite the remarkable research on pesticide toxicity, the work with impact of nanoparticles on POP has been dealt with marginally. Chemicals co-exist in the environment and exhibit interactive effects. An investigation was carried out to evaluate the individual and combined effects of ALD (6 ppm) and TNP (60 ppm) exposure at sub-lethal concentration for 24 h in zebrafish. Significant reversal of lipid peroxidation level in liver and brain tissues and restoration in enhanced catalase activity in all examined tissues were observed in combined group. For other parameters, combined exposure of ALD and TNP does not show significant reversal action on ALD toxicity. Further studies are inline to understand combined effects of both to achieve significant reversal of ALD toxicity by TNP nanoparticles with threshold concentration of aldrin., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The greatest challenge in environmental toxicology is to understand the effects of mixture toxicity as environmental pollutants co-exist and exhibit combined effects. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the mixture toxicity associated with two or more co-existing compounds. Pesticides are widely used to control pest, they are ubiquitous in nature and present in all environmental components. Pesticide residue can be detected in almost all components of environment and food samples. Imidacloprid (IMD) (neonicotinoid), dichlorvos (DIC) (organophosphate) and atrazine (ATZ) are three widely used pesticides for commercial uses. Present work includes the assessment of effects of individual exposure of IMD (27.5 mg/L), DIC (15 mg/L), and ATZ (03 mg/L) and in combination of three (CMD) (13.75 + 7.5 + 1.5 mg/L IMD, DIC & ATZ, respectively) in terms of LPO, GSH content and antioxidant enzymes activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase) in zebrafish ( Danio rerio ), exposed for 24 h. CMD group exhibits highest lipid peroxidation than other individually exposed groups. Similarly, the activities of antioxidant enzymes were highest in CMD group with reduced GSH content. Results indicate that exposure to mixture of pesticides develops synergistic effects which were more toxic in compare to individual exposure and also produce toxicity in all examined tissues rather than selective organ toxicity.

Materials and Methods: The genetic diversity and forensic parameters based on 15 autosomal short tandem repeats (STR) loci; D8S1179,D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317,D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51,D5S818, and FGA in AmpFLSTR® Identifiler™ kit from Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA were evaluated in saliva samples of 297 unrelated individuals from the Bhil Tribe population of Gujarat state, India to study genetic diversities and relatedness of this population with other national and international populations., Results: Statistical analysis of the data revealed all loci were within Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium expectations with the exception of the locus vWA (0.019) and locus D18S51 (0.016). The neighbour joining phylogeny tree and Principal Co-ordinate Analysis plot constructed based on Fst distances from autosomal STRs allele frequencies of the present study and other national as well as international populations show clustering of all the South Asian populations in one branch of the tree, while Middle Eastern and African populations cluster in a separate branch., Conclusion: Our findings reveal strong genetic affinities seen between the Indo-European (IE) speaking Bhil Tribe of Gujarat and Dravidian groups of South India.

Seven different tissues of the fish, Rasbora daniconius are analysed chromatographically for their free amino acid contents. Alanine and Cystine followed by Glycine and Glutamic acid are the most common amino acids found in the tissues. On the basis of sex, no apparent difference in amino acid pattern in various tissues is found. Up to 70% of the amino acids of the pools fall in the range of pH from 4.5-6.5. Thus it appears that the pools have some bearing on the maintenance of the tissue pH.