Government of India

About: Government of India is a government organization based out in New Delhi, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Government. The organization has 2945 authors who have published 2999 publications receiving 44942 citations. The organization is also known as: Union Government & Central Government.

Graphic Contraction Mappings via Graphical b-Metric Spaces with Applications

Abstract: In this paper, we introduce graphic contraction mappings in b-metric spaces and establish some fixed point theorems in the aforesaid space. Appropriate graphs are presented to visualize related definitions and concepts. On the other hand, some examples are presented to verify the authenticity and effectiveness of the established results. Our results generalize and extend some pioneer results existing in the literature. Moreover, applications to existence of solution for ordinary differential equations and for integral equations are also established to show the adequacy of our results.

Are persons living with HIV timely accessing ART services in India

Abstract: CD4+ T-cell level is one of the important criteria for categorising HIV-related clinical conditions to determine initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) The present study is undertaken to analyse baseline CD4 count at which persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) were getting registered for ART in India It also examines the profile of the PLHA with baseline CD4 count over a period of time Data of 1,10,974 registered PLHAs at ART centres were analysed for the last three years (April 2005 to March 2008) in the computerised management information system It was revealed that 85 per cent of PLHA were registered when their baseline CD4 count was less than 250 cells/mm3 and thus were eligible for initiation of ART No significant change in the proportion of PLHA by CD4 categories was observed in the last three years These findings suggest that registration for ART at early stages of infection is still uncommon Significant decline in the proportion of PLHA in the age group of 21-30 years, literate and employed was noticed The proportion of PLHA referred by counselling and testing centres has increased from 626% in 2005-06 to 713% in 2007-08 Sexual transmission, followed by mother to child transmission has been reported as two major modes of HIV transmission by PLHA registered at ART centres in the last three years Though the number of ART centres has increased in India which in turn has increased the number of PLHAs registered and on ART, it is evident from this study that the programme is still far behind to achieve the goal of early detection for timely ART

Higher-Order-Statistics-Based Direction-of-Arrival Estimation of Multiple Wideband Sources With Single Acoustic Vector Sensor

Abstract: Acoustic vector sensor (AVS) measures acoustic pressure as well as the acoustic particle velocity to estimate the acoustic intensity. The acoustic intensity, which is a vector quantity, represents the magnitude and direction of the active or propagating part of an acoustic field, thus indicating the direction-of-arrival (DOA) of the received signal. This article proposes higher order statistics (HOS)-based DOA estimation with a single acoustic vector sensor in the underdetermined case where the number of sources is more than the number of sensors constituting a single vector sensor. The use of HOS allows the increase in the number of degrees of freedom, thereby resulting in increase in uniquely identifiable sources. It has been established that in an ideal condition, a single AVS using fourth-order statistics is capable of uniquely identifying eight sources with not more than four sources in a single plane. The number of sources can be further increased by working with HOS. Additional advantages of the proposed algorithm, such as robustness against the presence of nonidentical Gaussian noise or spatially correlated Gaussian noise at each constituent sensor of a single AVS, improved performance over second-order statistics-based algorithm, and ability to identify multiple wideband sources, have also been demonstrated.

Effect of Anti-Tobacco Audiovisual Messages on Knowledge and Attitude towards Tobacco Use in North India.

Abstract: Context: Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of death globally. Mass media plays a significant role in initiation as well as in control of tobacco use. Aims: To assess the effect of viewing anti-tobacco audiovisual messages on knowledge and attitudinal change towards tobacco use. Settings and Design: Interventional community-based study. Materials and Methods: A total of 1999 cinema attendees (age 10 years and above), irrespective of their smoking or tobacco using status, were selected from four cinema halls (two urban, one semi-urban, and one rural site). In pre-exposure phase 1000 subjects and in post-exposure phase 999 subjects were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire. After collecting baseline information, the other days were chosen for screening the audiovisual spots that were shown twice per show. After the show, subjects were interviewed to assess its effect. Statistical Analysis Used: Proportions of two independent groups were compared and statistically significance using chi-square test was accepted if error was less than 0.05%. Results: Overall 784 (39.2%) subjects were tobacco users, 52.6% were non-tobacco users and 8.2% were former tobacco users. Important factors for initiation of tobacco use were peer pressure (62%), imitating elders (53.4%) and imitating celebrity (63.5%). Tobacco users were significantly less likely than non-tobacco users to recall watching the spots during movie (72.1% vs. 79.1%). Anti-tobacco advertisement gave inspiration to 37% of subjects not to use tobacco. The celebrity in advertisement influenced the people's attention. There was significant improvement in knowledge and attitudes towards anti-tobacco legal and public health measures in post exposure group. Conclusions: The anti-tobacco advertisements have been found to be effective in enhancing knowledge as well as in transforming to positive attitude of the people about tobacco use.

Solar-light-active mesoporous Cr–TiO2 for photodegradation of spent wash: an in-depth study using QTOF LC-MS

Abstract: A dark-coloured effluent called “spent wash” is generated as an unwanted product in sugarcane-based alcohol distilleries. Most distilleries discharge this effluent into soil or water without any treatment, causing water and soil pollution. Herein, we report chromium-doped TiO2 (Cr–TiO2) as a photocatalyst for the degradation of spent wash colour under natural sunlight. Cr-doped TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared using an aqueous titanium peroxide-based sol–gel method with titanium isopropoxide as the Ti precursor and chromium nitrate as the Cr precursor. To observe the effect of dopant on sol–gel behaviour and physicochemical properties, the Cr concentration was varied in the range 0.5–5 wt%. The crystallization temperature and time were optimized to obtain the required phase of Cr–TiO2. The physicochemical characteristics of the Cr-doped TiO2 catalyst were determined using X-ray diffraction, FE-SEM, FETEM, TG, XPS, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method, FT-IR, Raman, PL, ICP-MS, and UV visible spectroscopy. A shift in the absorption edge of TiO2 by doping with chromium suggested an increase in visible light absorption due to a decrease in the effective band gap. The application potential of the Cr–TiO2 catalyst was studied in the degradation of sugar-based alcohol distillery waste under natural sunlight, and the results were compared with those of undoped TiO2 and Degussa P25 TiO2. Degradation of the spent wash solution was monitored using UV-visible, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and QTOF LC-MS. GPC and LC-MS showed significant changes in the molecular weight of spent wash colour-forming compounds due to the degradation reaction. QTOF LC-MS analysis suggested that acids, alcohols, glucosides, ketones, lipids, peptides, and metabolites were oxidized to low-molecular-weight counterparts. From the results, 5% Cr–TiO2 showed the highest degradation rate among all Cr–TiO2 samples, undoped TiO2, and Degussa P25 TiO2 under identical reaction conditions, with nearly 68–70% degradation achieved in 5 h.