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Measuring consciousness in the clinic
No full textWe don’t doubt for a moment that we are conscious, but what is ‘Consciousness’?
Understanding consciousness, its nature, and characteristics has remained a hard
problem for several centuries. While philosophers, neuroscientists, physicists,
psychologists, and psychiatrists grapple with this hard problem, clinicians are in
need of a practical way to ‘measure’ consciousness (or its surrogate). Determining
whether a patient is conscious or not, and measuring the degree of consciousness,
could be critical and potentially life-saving in a clinical scenario. In this chapter, we
will review recent scientific approaches for modelling and measuring consciousness,
and their clinical applications with an emphasis on a host of issues (theoretical,
philosophical, methodological, technological, & clinical) and challenges that need
to be satisfactorily and convincingly addressed going forward
An Integrated Framework for Energy-Economy-Emissions Modeling: A Case Study of India
No full textThis book combines three different energy-economy-emissions modeling methodologies into one Integrated Modeling Framework (IMF) in an attempt to fill gaps in current modeling research as it applies to developing countries. Through the analysis of existing mathematical models, including large macro-economic models and technology-explicit energy models, the work proposes planning methodologies for developing countries that face challenges on their economy and infrastructure due to climate change. The three modeling methodologies discussed in the chapters are a decomposition analysis of trends in emissions intensity of GDP, linear programming techniques to determine optimum energy supply pathways given various resource and emissions constraints, and an input-output analysis to evaluate the impact of energy policies on income and equity. After a brief introduction to the history of the development of energy studies and the linkages between energy, economic, and environmental systems, the book delves into the component methodologies of the IMF and their intended outcomes. The decomposition analysis is intended to gauge the energy intensity of GDP and the structural composition of the economy to provide a basis on which scenarios are constructed in the following two methodologies. The linear programs are meant to develop a methodology to determine energy options under a variety of scenarios that capture the technical and economic characteristics of the power sector of developing countries. Lastly, the input-output analysis aims to build a methodology through which energy policy decisions can be understood and quantified to ensure the best possible impacts on developing economies and societies. Those who will be interested in this book include policy makers, academics, and students and professionals working on energy studies and energy-economy modeling
Nonhuman Lifeworlds in Urban India
Get PDFUrbanisation is at the forefront of the challenges that India and several other nations of the Global South confront in the 21st century. Urban poverty is on the rise and rapid urbanisation is seriously outstripping most cities’ capacities to provide adequate dwelling, staples and infrastructure for their growing populations. A rather neglected, albeit pivotal, dimension of Indian urban life pertains to its nonhuman denizens. These range from the cultivated species – with their upkeep constituting an important means through which the poor deal with urban precarity – to the commensal – living and ranging freely but intimately associated with human-provisioned food sources. The ubiquitous urban macaques, which live integrally in virtually every city and town of the Indian subcontinent, cohabiting comfortably with people but also unsettling the rhythms of the everyday and posing serious public health and governance concerns, constitute an example of a commensal species par excellence
Hydropower Projects in Tawang: Concerns and Flood Proximity Estimation Using GIS Analysis
No full textIn 2016, when the National Green Tribunal suspended the environmental clearance for the mega-hydropower projects on Nyamjang Chu and Tawang Chu, it became one of the most important judgments won by the Monpas. The judgment took into consideration the concerns of the local population. However, beyond the socio-religious importance, this chapter attempts to address the major concern of flooding that is deemed to be caused by the building of dam projects on the Nyamjang Chu and Tawang Chu rivers in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. Estimation of the proximity of the inhabited places from the proposed dam site was carried out. The altitude has been observed to see if any natural and regular conditions can raise the water levels of the rivers up to these villages and towns, causing floods. The chapter has then sought to provide visual interpretation and inference analysis using standard geospatial methods of digitisation to gauge the extent of the human–environment impact that the dam projects would incur. Cross-sectional maps were generated to identify and analyse certain relevant aspects of topography and its suitability for building of dams while carrying out the analysis in the chapter. The chapter is an attempt to support the comprehensive ethnographic study carried out for the project, but it has limitations due to the constraints of resources and methodology. It is a preliminary level assessment which has vast scope to be augmented with detailed study
Novel Dimension Scaling for Optimal Mass Flow Rate Estimation in Low Temperature Flat Plate Solar Collector based on Thermal Performance Parameters
No full textUncomplicated configuration, efficient collection of incident solar radiation and less frequent maintenance issues compared to the other prevalent alternatives enable the flat plate solar collectors to remain relevant in the present age of continuously evolving cutting-edge technologies. However, the quest for energy-efficient and sustainable solutions necessitates resizing of the flat plate collectors to achieve enhanced efficiency. Detailed performance analysis of the collector requires a prohibitively higher number of experimental trials and computationally expensive numerical models. Hence, in this study, a simplified energy equations-based dynamic model is used to develop working relationships for calculating the collector dimensions and the optimum heat transfer fluid (HTF) mass flow rate for achieving a predefined thermal efficiency. The developed formulae can predict the geometrical and operating parameters very accurately, with maximum deviation in estimating the collector channel dimensions being 12.5%. Hence, the formulae can be used as an initial guideline for the design of the collector. The computational results for the geometrical configuration corresponding to an average DNI, calculated from actual solar radiation data, indicate that to achieve a fixed temperature and a collector efficiency, the required HTF mass flow rate increases with increasing level of solar radiation
People’s Movement under a Revolutionary Brand: Understanding The Maoist Movement in Odisha
No full textA dominant narrative understands the Maoist movement in Odisha as a spillover effect from the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh. On the contrary, the Maoist movement in Odisha can be well understood through the resistance
movements led by the communists, tribals, peasants and the labourers. Along with these movements, the Maoists in Odisha have evolved through many forms and shades. While the Maoist movement in Odisha, in its present form, claims to have brought together multiple people’s movements under its brand fold, many of these movements continue to be functioning without any link with the Maoists.
Despite their independence in nature, these people’s movements are mostly
engaged with and understood through the prism of the Maoists. The process of
linking the people’s movements with the Maoists converts the ‘social’ aspects of
the issues, grievances and demands to ‘security’ centric. Drawing from such
understandings of the people’s movements and their interactions with the
Maoists, the article critically engages with the Maoist movement in Odisha. A
major objective of the article is to identify issues and contenders around people’s
movements and the process through which they interact with the Maoists
Geospatial Analysis of Historical Cartographic Data of Kollam Fort
No full textThe port of Kollam (Quilon) in Kerala had been an important trading centre for many centuries. Its significance as a
landing point for traders is evident from its colonial history when there were repeated attempts to take over possession of
this location. Being an important site, Kollam was frequently mapped by Europeans from the sixteenth to nineteenth
centuries. The historical maps and views of Kollam contain vital information about the history, archaeology and geography
of the area. Remote sensing and GIS can provide a real-world spatial context to these archived geographical documents of
varied scales and types, drawn at different times spanning more than four centuries. The present study harnesses the
potential of RS and GIS in integrating information present in the maps of such heterogeneous nature to advance the
historical and archaeological knowledge of the Kollam fort. The integration of the maps of the different time, scale and
style with the help of RS and GIS yielded information that was previously unknown. The present study has discovered the
extant remains of the Portuguese and the Dutch fort that were not identified before and contributed to the scholarship on the
construction, restoration, the extent and usage of the fort during its occupation by various European powers
Saturation indices of aqueous mineral phases as proxies of seasonal dynamics of a transitional water ecosystem using a geochemical modeling approach
No full textThe geochemistry and saturation indices (SI) of carbonate and non-carbonate mineral phases under standard thermodynamic
conditions in an aqueous environment are largely infuenced by the dynamic physico-chemical parameters. Based on the
known feedback mechanisms of environmental parameters on the rates of mineralisation, the changes in environmental
parameters such as pH, dissolved ionic concentrations and salinity were modelled as a function of their spatial and temporal distributions (dry and wet seasons) in a transitional aquatic ecosystem in South India, Pulicat lagoon. The investigation revealed the strong seasonal infuence of these parameters on the magnitude and values of the SIs signalling dissolution or mineralisation. Hydroxyapatite and Talc were found to have higher positive SIs. Co-precipitation of calcite and aragonite were
evident and found to be constrained by high salinities. Among the carbonates, dolomites and magnesium-calcites showed high
SIs compared to calcite and aragonite, indicating that magnesium ions were incorporated into the mineral phases possibly due to the availability of nucleation sites through heterotrophic reactions. The formation of apatite was strongly infuenced by pH changes, corresponding to low calcite precipitation in the wet season. High SI of hydroxyapatite, talc and silicate minerals indicate the low bioavailability of dissolved phosphate and silicates in the water during both the seasons. Strong evidences of seasonal control of pH, salinity and Total Dissolved Solids on the dissolution and mineralisation characteristics further infuence nutrient bioavailability over varied spatio-temporal scales. The present study supports the potential application of the saturation indices as proxies to understand the complex biogeochemical dynamics of transitional water ecosystems