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This book illustrates approaches for implementing ICT in primary education. Through different initiatives and case studies, the book shows different approaches for successful implementation of ICT. While it gives details of theoretical concepts related to ICT, it also provides live examples from different initiatives as to how literacy can be achieved through customized implementation strategy. The book illustrates different ICT policies that have been implemented with varying degree of success. It also demonstrates different approaches that would be of interest to practitioners. About the Authors Subrata Sarkar has a Masters in Political Science with a specialization in Political Sociology and an additional specialization in International Relations including Defense and Strategic Studies. He also has a Bachelors in Law. His research interests are in the field of application of technology in education. He has more than 21 years of experience in education, action research and development field. He is currently heading the Digital Equalizer Program in Odisha as Operations Director with American India Foundation. Dr. Sanjay Mohapatra has done B.E. from NIT Rourkela, M. Tech from IIT Madras, PGDBM XIMB, India and has finished his Ph. D. from Utkal University, India under Management Department. At present, he is an Associate Professor in Information Systems in XIMB, India. Professor Mohapatra has more than 21 years of industry experience. He has worked in various capacities in organizations like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Larsen & Toubro, PricewaterHouse, Infosys, Polaris & J & B Software. His teaching interests are in IT Strategy and Management Information Systems and research interests are in the area of IT enabled processes. He has authored/co-authored nine books and more than twenty papers in peer reviewed international journals. J Sundarakrishnan has an MSc in Electronics, University of Delhi and also holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi. He has worked extensively in the development field. His work is aligned with Millennium Development Goals in increasing literacy rate in India. He is currently working in the capacity of Country Director, Digital Equalizer (DE), American India Foundation.

Purpose Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a standard clinical procedure that uses the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters of the drug in the body to determine the optimal dose. The pharmacokinetic variability of the drug(s) is a significant contributor to poor treatment outcomes, including the development of acquired drug resistance. TDM aids in dose optimization and improves outcomes while lessening drug toxicity. TDM is used to manage patients with tuberculosis (TB) who exhibit a slow response to therapy, despite good compliance and drug-susceptible organisms. Additional indications include patients at risk of malabsorption or delayed absorption of TB drugs and patients with drug-drug interaction and drug toxicity, which confirm compliance with therapy. TDM usually requires two blood samples: the 2 h and the 6 h post-dose. This narrative review will discuss the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of TB drugs, determinants of poor response to therapy, indications of TDM, methods of performing TDM, and its interpretations. Methods This is a narrative review. We searched PubMed, Embase, and the CINAHL from inception to April 2024. We used the following search terms: tuberculosis, therapeutic drug monitoring, anti-TB drugs, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, limited sample strategies, diabetes and TB, HIV and TB, and multidrug-resistant TB. All types of articles were selected. Results TDM is beneficial in managing TB, especially in patients with slow responses, drug-resistance TB, recurrent TB, and comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus and human immunodeficiency virus infection. Conclusion TDM is beneficial for improving outcomes, reducing the risk of acquired drug resistance, and avoiding side effects.

Talbot length, the distance between two consecutive self-image planes along the propagation axis for a periodic diffraction object (grating) illuminated by a plane wave, depends on the period of the object and the wavelength of illumination. This property makes the Talbot effect a straightforward technique for measuring the period of a periodic object (grating) by accurately determining the Talbot length for a given illumination wavelength. However, since the Talbot length scale is proportional to the square of the grating period, traditional Talbot techniques face challenges when dealing with smaller grating periods and minor changes in the grating period. Recently, we demonstrated a Fourier transform technique-based Talbot imaging method that allows for controlled Talbot lengths of a periodic object with a constant period and illumination wavelength. Using this method, we successfully measured periods as small as a few micrometers and detected sub-micrometer changes in the periodic object. Furthermore, by measuring the Talbot length of gratings with varying periods imaged through the combination of a thick lens of short focal length and a thin lens of long focal length and large aperture, we determined the effective focal length of the thick lens in close agreement with the theoretical effective focal length of a thick lens in the presence of spherical aberration. These findings establish the Talbot effect as an effective and simple technique for various sensing applications in optics and photonics through the measurement of any physical parameter influencing the Talbot length of a periodic object.

A cryogenic thermal imaging technique that uses a superconducting quantum interference device fabricated on the tip of a sharp pipette can be used to image the thermal signature of extremely low power nanometre-scale dissipation processes. Feeling the heat in quantum systems The details of how and where energy is dissipated are fundamental to the microscopic behaviour of quantum systems. Dorri Halbertal et al . have developed a cryogenic thermal imaging technique that promises to help to elucidate these details. The key component of their method is a superconducting quantum interference device mounted on the tip of a sharp pipette, which they show can be used to image the thermal signature of extremely low-energy nanoscale dissipation processes. The potential of the system is demonstrated in preliminary studies of systems including nanotubes and grapheme; future investigations will target more exotic states of matter, such as those associated with quantum Hall systems. Energy dissipation is a fundamental process governing the dynamics of physical, chemical and biological systems. It is also one of the main characteristics that distinguish quantum from classical phenomena. In particular, in condensed matter physics, scattering mechanisms, loss of quantum information or breakdown of topological protection are deeply rooted in the intricate details of how and where the dissipation occurs. Yet the microscopic behaviour of a system is usually not formulated in terms of dissipation because energy dissipation is not a readily measurable quantity on the micrometre scale. Although nanoscale thermometry has gained much recent interest 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , existing thermal imaging methods are not sensitive enough for the study of quantum systems and are also unsuitable for the low-temperature operation that is required. Here we report a nano-thermometer based on a superconducting quantum interference device with a diameter of less than 50 nanometres that resides at the apex of a sharp pipette: it provides scanning cryogenic thermal sensing that is four orders of magnitude more sensitive than previous devices—below 1 μK Hz −1/2 . This non-contact, non-invasive thermometry allows thermal imaging of very low intensity, nanoscale energy dissipation down to the fundamental Landauer limit 16 , 17 , 18 of 40 femtowatts for continuous readout of a single qubit at one gigahertz at 4.2 kelvin. These advances enable the observation of changes in dissipation due to single-electron charging of individual quantum dots in carbon nanotubes. They also reveal a dissipation mechanism attributable to resonant localized states in graphene encapsulated within hexagonal boron nitride, opening the door to direct thermal imaging of nanoscale dissipation processes in quantum matter.

The theoretical investigation of shocks and solitary structures in a dense quantum plasma containing electrons at finite temperature, nondegenerate cold electrons, and stationary ions has been carried out. A linear dispersion relation is derived for the corresponding electron acoustic waves. The solitary structures of small nonlinearity have been studied by using the standard reductive perturbation method. We have considered collisions to be absent, and the shocks arise out of viscous force. Furthermore, with the help of a standard reductive perturbation technique, a KdV–Burger equation has been derived and analyzed numerically. Under limiting cases, we have also obtained the KdV solitary profiles and studied the parametric dependence. The results are important in explaining the many phenomena of the laser–plasma interaction of dense plasma showing quantum effects.

Abstract The thermodynamic analyses and comparison of three natural-refrigerants-based vapour compression refrigeration cycles (ammonia, isobutane, and propane) are presented in this article using a constant pressure mixing ejector as an expansion device. Optimization of the area ratio of the ejector is done based on maximum cooling coefficient of performance (COP) and performance improvement for different operating conditions. The effect of using an internal heat exchanger is studied as well. Results show that optimum area ratio and cooling COP increases with a decrease in cycle temperature lift, whereas the COP improvement over basic expansion cycle increases with the increase in cycle temperature lift. Study shows that the optimum parameters, as well as performance using the ejector as an expansion device, are strongly dependent on the refrigerant properties as well as the operating conditions. The optimum area ratio is maximum for ammonia and minimum for propane, whereas maximum cooling COPs are similar. Using the ejector as an expansion device, propane yields a maximum COP improvement of 26.1 per cent followed by isobutane (22.8 per cent) and ammonia (11.7 per cent) for studies ranges. The effect of using an internal heat exchanger in the ejector expansion refrigeration cycle is found to be not profitable.

This article is focused on exploring finite order transcendental entire solutions of some non-linear homogeneous differential equations involving q-c-shift. Our findings are improvements and extensions of some existing results in this area, supported by examples. In the last section we are concerned with the solutions of the q-c-shift difference equation. We have elucidated that our generalized structured q-c-shift difference equations allow the existence of higher order solutions which provides the practical implications of the structure and thus significantly extend some earlier results in the literature.

Coconut shell and husk are two biomasses wastes abundant in most of the coastal countries. However, despite their enormous potential as energy sources, they are hardly studied and their thermal characteristics are still not well known. In this study, both biomasses are thermally degraded through thermogravimetry (TG-DTA) and their pyrolysis product yield such as char, tar and gases are analyzed. The TG-DTA results show that pyrolysis of biomass consists of three stages. Three stages can be out- lined as: (1) dehydration process for temperatures below 122°C, (2) pyrolytic cracking from 122°C to 400°C, stage consist of two exothermic simultaneous processes where hemicelluloses, cellulose and lignin are decomposed and a high amount of volatile matter formation occurs and (3) the last endother- mic decomposition of the lignin at temperatures above 400°C. From the pyrolytic results, it is showed that the char and gases yields were increased with the decrement tar. The gas-evolving profiles from pyrolyzing the coconut shell and husk components in a packed bed, monitored by a GC-TCD and a GC-FID, showed similar behavior. H2 was released out at a higher temperature (>450°C) and it got the maximum rate at 700°C then it decreased. CO2 was released out at 130°C–750°C and got the maximum releasing value at 300°C–400°C. The released CO showed almost similar pattern with that of CO2. However, the release rate was lower than CO2 and the maximum release rate of CO was found at 300°C –400°C. CH4 was released out at the temperature between 200°C –850°C, and it got the maximum rate at 550°C. The releasing of hydrocarbon was generally very low.