In COVID-19 crisis, the real warriors were the Biomedical Engineers. They played an important role in medical technology in patient care. They involved themselves in making ventilators and PPE (personal protection equipment) kits to help the COVID patients.Biomedical engineers focus on inventing new devices and develop modern technologies which help in improving human health care system. With the help of the doctors and researchers, Biomedical Engineers are developing equipments to solve clinical problems.
Electing biomedical engineering as métier is extremely rewarding. Biomedical Engineers has the ability to save lives through innovation and modern technology. That’s why experts from Human Resource Department’s planning team suggest that every doctor along with medical studies should be accustomed with biomedical engineering studies.
Biomedical engineering, also known as medical engineering, is a form of engineering associated with the study in the fields of biology and health care system.
The following qualities are required for Biomedical Engineers:
Analytical skills
Communication skills
Listening skills
Math skills
Apart from these skills, they should have idea of all disciplines ranging from material science to electronics, life science to biomechanics and mathematics to computation. Because of these, Biomedical Engineering is completely interdisciplinary in nature and the Biomedical Engineers possess vast knowledge across of all domains.
Augmented and virtual reality add a new dimension to technology-enabled teaching and learning.
Through the use of augmented reality, we have the opportunity to see fragments of virtually inserted visuals, video, music, or GPS data and information superimposed over a view of the real environment. The GPS location on your smartphone is probably the most well-known example of augmented reality. In addition, you can have an experience of augmented reality by using other apps such as:
Froggipedia
Augment
Jigspace
View
Quiver
A complete submersion into the world of computer-generated reality is what is meant by the term “virtual reality.” Although it is not always attainable at the moment, the ideal form of virtual reality will comprise the simultaneous stimulation of all five senses, namely sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. However, this is not always the case at the moment. The utilisation of virtual reality simulations can be beneficial to industries such as tourism, shopping, education, healthcare, and Industry 4.0. There are a plethora of virtual reality (VR) products currently available, including:
Oculus Go
HTC Vive
Virtual Reality for the PlayStation®
The Hololens from Microsoft
Google Cardboard/daydream view
A combination of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality is known as Mixed Reality (MR). Virtual reality (MR) is a technology that combines your vision of the real world with computer-generated or digitally-created images. In addition to this, it makes it easier to anchor and interact with things that have been virtually inserted into the area that you are in. Because MR and AR are now located in such close proximity to one another, this proximity may lead to some confusion. A form of augmented reality that is both more engaging and more interactive is called mixed reality (MR). The items found in Hybrid Reality are more accurate representations of their respective real-world applications. Take for example the Hololens app, which is considered a hybrid or mixed reality.
Microsoft has designed the Hololens HMD (Head Mounted Display) with advanced sensors that detect your interaction within a mixed environment. It analyses how you interact with the digital data present in your actual view environment. The Hololens is an example of a holographic device used for mixed reality. Other Immersive devices include the Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset and the HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset Developer Edition.
Figure: AR image
The Hololens is also considered as holographic device. Other Immersive devices include the Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset and the HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset Developer Edition. These HMDs are opaque and completely block out the outside world. In addition, they use a camera for tracking and surveillance purposes.
Hybrid Reality can be utilized for educational purposes, such as in the fields of mechanics, medicine, Biotechnology etc. It aids in worker assistance by providing clear instructions.
Figure: Mixed reality in Microsoft hololens
It interacts appropriately with the real-world scenario and generates superior solutions and practises.
AI and Metaverse: An Important Integration of Technology!
AI and Metaverse have the intention of driving and integrating various virtual transformation technologies. In addition, the future of the Metaverse is a hot issue of discussion among specialists in the field of technology. The Metaverse is a universe of virtual reality that enables user interactions by making use of a wide range of technologies, such as AI, augmented reality, virtual reality, and so on.
In addition, users are able to interact with three-dimensional digital items as well as virtual avatars by making use of a variety of technologies and solutions. AI and the Metaverse collaborate to bring out breakthroughs and advancements that herald the beginning of a new era of reality. Bloomberg predicts that the market for the Metaverse will reach $783.30 billion by the year 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.10 percent. According to the findings obtained by McKinsey, fifty percent of respondents stated that their organisations had already incorporated AI in at least one aspect of company operations. According to a study conducted by Deloitte, forty percent of employees report that their companies have a comprehensive AI strategy. Artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), fifth-generation wireless (5G) networks, and blockchain are all expected to work together to create a virtual reality within the Metaverse, which is a primary component of Industry 5.0.
The term “Metaverse” is derived from the combination of two words: “Meta,” which refers to transcendence or virtuality, and “verse,” which is a contraction of the word “Universe.” To put it another way, the Metaverse is a digital reality that, by employing a wide range of technological methods, recreates the conditions of the physical world. In addition to this, it creates a virtual space for users by utilising various technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and so on. In addition to this, it brings together the digital and real worlds in order to provide users with the ability to purchase and sell solutions, produce things, engage with people and locations, and so on. As a consequence, the following is a list of the primary Metaverse levels:
Infrastructure: The data centres, central processing units, graphics processing units, cloud computing, and other technologies are used to build the infrastructure and environment of the metaverse.
Human Interface: Human Interface also encourages people to interact with the virtual world by utilising cutting-edge technologies in their experience. The experience can be improved, for example, by using mobile phones, smartwatches, smart glasses, and other types of wearable technology.
Decentralization: In addition, the Metaverse manages massive data collections, which necessitates the use of a decentralised approach to problem solving. Edge computing, blockchain, microservices, and other similar technologies all offer options for the processing and examination of data.
Computing in Three Dimensions: Three-dimensional computing makes it easier to digitalize Metaverse products, services, and solutions. In addition to this, it makes Metaverse interactions and activities much simpler and more effective.
The Creator Economy: As the popularity of the Metaverse continues to rise, it drives creators, developers, and service providers to provide improved virtual solutions.
Experience: Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, and extended reality, as well as other technologies, are used to design the functionalities of the Metaverse in order to offer its users a one-of-a-kind experience.
What role does AI play in the Metaverse?
The purpose of artificial intelligence is to facilitate a wide range of Metaverse functions. In addition to this, it makes it easier for users to access a variety of virtual world environments. In addition to this, it helps users create content and promotes human engagement with other users while also providing support virtually.
Integrations of many types of reality, including augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality, are what AI and the Metaverse are all about. AI also broadens the possibilities of the Metaverse by enabling users and businesses to produce, purchase, and sell a wide variety of products, services, and solutions. This, in turn, creates new opportunities. In addition to this, it would encourage users to work together with both other users and businesses in order to broaden their scope of available prospects.
AI not only enables the virtual world to deploy a variety of services but also enables the Metaverse to do so by combining the virtual world with NLP, computer vision, and neural interface. Because of this, artificial intelligence plays a significant part in the Metaverse, which provides dependability and enhances performance for a more satisfying experience.
In addition to this, the building of translation systems for new AI models and virtual assistants is a necessary step in the process of developing AI for the Metaverse. In order for the Metaverse to be realized, it is necessary for AI to reach its full potential and become reliable in people’s everyday lives. In addition to this, it claims to give pictures, sounds, and sensations that are extremely lifelike.
Are you an avid lover of biology? Are you naturally inclined to apply the principles of biology to create an impact on people’s lives? Well, then the Biotechnology sector is where you may find your dream job.
With the world still reeking of over 520 million deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is undeniable that the figure could have been in billions or even more had it not been for the Biotechnology sector. Almost everything starting from the diagnosis and immediate treatment to the development of vaccines brought to light the promise that Biotechnology holds as a leading technology in the modern world. To know more about the potential of Biotechnology and the facets of human lives that it is able to impact upon, read further down.
What is Biotechnology?
Biotechnology is an industrial sector that deals with the manipulation of living organisms to create commercial products. For instance, the wealth of knowledge accumulated by cell biologists, botanists, zoologists, molecular biologists, and geneticists have been implemented by genetic engineers to manipulate information carried by the DNA in order to create transgenic animals and plants of commercial importance. Quite undoubtedly, the deepest penetrations of the biotechnology sector has been in the healthcare and agricultural markets. However, there are several other important areas where Biotechnology is making inroads with sustainable solutions. This blog highlights some fields wherein Biotechnological interventions are working wonders.
Vaccine development
Within a few months of the detection of coronavirus, scientists mapped the entire genome of the virus and it helped to understand how the virus operates. Genome mapping being an important technique in Biotechnology, the Biotechnology sector can boast of its towering presence in global markets across the map. Also, the highly effective mRNA-based vaccine for COVID-19 was first tested in cells inside the laboratory which entails practising some basic techniques of Biotechnology. Weighing the outcomes, government organizations and pharmaceutical giants have entered into strong public-private partnerships to pool resources and fund research in the domain of vaccine development.
Next-generation computing-aided drug discovery
Advanced computing technology such as artificial intelligence and machine learning have enabled Biotech companies to automate their processes and scale up operations. This handholding of technologies have enabled to reduce the cost and time required to take new drugs from bench to bedside. The ability to analyze large data sets helps medicine manufacturers to identify treatments based on the root cause of a disease. This holds immense potential to reduce the usual 90 percent failure rate for developing new drugs. Data mining from current clinical trials can also help to predict the effectiveness of treatments down to a molecular level and even predict new or different uses for an existing drug thereby reducing cost and effort of establishing new drugs.
Genome editing
Techniques for manipulating the information present in the DNA, known as gene editing in technical jargon, has come a long way since they were first used to make edits such as addition, deletion, silencing, or replacement of a specific gene. Precise gene editing has been made possible by the advancement of technologies such as the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 systems. Engineered nucleases called CRISPRs acting as molecular scissors have unfurled a plethora of applications in gene therapy for the treatment of many conditions including rare genetic disorders and even fatal cancers. Furthermore, gene editing has also allowed the development of improved transgenic plants and animals capable of synthesizing a variety of medically important recombinant human proteins such as Insulin.
Precision medicine
Sequencing the entire human genome, an initiative known as the Human Genome Project, began in 1990 and was completed by 2003. This was another hallmarking achievement of Biotechnology that now allows extensive screening of patients and targeting of interventions. Improvisation of sequencing technologies have reduced the cost of genetic sequencing drastically ever since thereby making personalized gene sequencing affordable. This, in turn, has enabled the development of personalized treatment plans and targeted therapies, which are more effective than less-specific therapies because they focus on a patient’s genetic constitution. Furthermore, the falling cost of sequencing technologies has fostered the development of rapid and inexpensive methods to detect pathogens from clinical samples as well as soil samples.
Boosting agricultural yields
The global population is set to increase by 25% from 7.9 billion in 2022 to 9.7 billion in 2050. The basic need for a growing population is food, and hence its demand for feeding both people and livestock is about to increase proportionately. This automatically necessitates the use of increasing hectares of land for farming while practically cultivable land will keep on reducing as the expanding population of humans keep encroaching onto such lands. Biotechnology offers a solution to this alarming problem through the approach of gene editing. For example, crops such as wheat or corn may be engineered through the transgenic technology to grow in harsher conditions or produce more grain in a smaller area than other crop varieties while providing the same nutritional value. From another perspective, the development of biopesticides can enable protection of crops without the use of harmful chemicals thereby averting environmental damage.
Bioprinting and tissue engineering
Another promising futuristic application of Biotechnology in the medical field is 3D bioprinting, wherein bioprinters are used to develop cell-based scaffolds using a ‘bio-ink’ comprising cells and biomaterials. This empowers one to develop skin, bone, and vascular grafts from the patient’s own cells for personalized medicine. The bioprinting technology has added a major thrust to the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine by enabling the creation of autologous tissue grafts for wound healing and organ transplantation.
Conclusion
These trends clearly show that the demand for biotechnology is on the rise. The fact that this particular sector is being able to solve real-life problems related to human health and nutrition has catapulted it to fame. It is also quite evident that biotechnologists need more than just a background in biology, chemistry, or pharmaceutical science to build their careers upon. With innovative solutions rooted to the genetic level, biotechnology is here to stay and offer myriad career opportunities to the brightest minds!
Operations research is an experimental and applied science devoted to observing, understanding, and predicting the behaviour of purposeful man-machine systems; and operations-research workers are actively engaged in applying this knowledge to practical problems in business, government, and society. – OR Society of America
Source of figure: https://images.app.goo.gl/gGkCaRsLc99RXPD98
Most of the students in our education system might wonder whether they will ever use the mathematics which they learn from the studied courses. Students frequently asked a core question, such as, is any of the analysis, algebra, calculus, combinatorics, math programming, etc. really going to be of value in our daily life?
One exciting area of applied mathematics called Operations Research (OR) may give the answer of the above question. OR integrates the knowledge of numerous disciplines, like mathematics, statistics, computer science, engineering, economics, and social sciences to solve real-world problems. The notion of OR is applied from inventory to manufacturing; finance to marketing; routing to queuing; distribution to scheduling; data storage management to service measurement and reliability to artificial intelligence; agriculture to defence and among others using innovative and mathematical theories (analysis, algebra, calculus, probability, etc).
OR can be defined as the decision-making science. It is also known as Operational Research or Management Science or Industrial Engineering. There is no general process in OR to solve all the mathematical models related to real-world problems. One of the most prominent methods is linear programming which is useful to design a model with linear objective function and constraints. The techniques for solving linear programming problem (LPP) was developed by George Dantzig in the early 1950s and this is led to increasing interest of OR applications in business.
More than Mathematics:
Since the OR models are mathematical nature, people think that an OR study is always rooted in mathematical observations. But an OR technique should not be biased to start with a specific mathematical model before its proper justification of use (H.A.Taha, Operations research; an introduction, Pearson Education). For an example, since linear programming is a successful process, people tend to use it as the tool of choice for modelling any kind of situations. Such an approach leads to mathematical model which may be take away from real situation. Thus, it is imperative that we first analyse the available data using simple processes whenever possible (e.g., aggregation, histograms, charts, etc.). Actually, most of the cases solutions are rooted in people but not in technology. Consequently, any solution that does not consider human behaviour may not be an appropriate solution.
OR with software library: There are numerous commercial software packages to solve the OR models. A few examples of such software are LINGO, AMPL, CPLEX Optimization Studio, MPL Modeling System, Gurobi. NEOS, COIN-OR, Matlab, R, Mathematica and Python, etc.
Scope of OR: OR has wide range applications in industry, government sectors, business hubs and many other organisations. Some important fields are:
In industry-manufacturing (production planning, assembly line, inventory control, quality control), production management (location and size of warehouse, retails outlet, logistics, transportation problem), airline industry, health-care systems, telecommunications, etc.
In Agriculture– Farm economics (optimal allocations of crop production, efficient production pattern), farm management (allocations of limited resources like as labour, water supply, working capital, seeds, etc).
In Defence-Selection of weapon system against enemy, ensuring minimum use of aviation gasoline, optimal strategy to win the battle.
In Marketing-Selection of product-mix, export planning, advertising and media selection, travelling salesman, sales effort allocation and assignment.
In Finance and accounting– Investment and portfolio management, public accounting, capital budgeting, financial planning
In personnel management– allocation of optimal manpower, determination of equitable salaries, skill development and retention.
In Government-Urban and housing problems, military, energy, economic planning, utilization of natural resources.
Job prospects: There are plenty of jobs after completion of specific programme with OR. Few of them are
Operations Research Analyst
Project Manager
Teaching Assistant
Research Assistant
Consultant
Software Engineer
Security Review Operations Analyst
Production manager
Optimal designer
Controller of network routing, transportation
Covid-19 impact:
From the last two years, Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted all our lives, causing havoc to our health-care systems, education sectors, industries and especially economical systems. As with the early days of OR, presently multi-disciplinary and multi-locational teams of OR scientists have responded to the challenge, developing new models and methods for forecasting and tracing the spread of the epidemic, for vaccine allocation and distribution, etc. as part of the global effort to control the pandemic. (Janny Leung, IFORS News, Vol 17, No. 1, 2022).
Recently, Bueno et al. (Luís Felipe Bueno, Antonio Augusto Chaves , Luiz Leduino Salles-Neto, Francisco Nogueira Calmon Sobral, Horacio Hideki Yanasse, IFORS News, Vol 17, No. 1, 2022) developed a web app for helping managements to plan classrooms considering social distancing by using mixed-integer and nonlinear optimization approaches.
Why should be in course curriculum:
OR successfully provides a systematic and scientific approach to all kinds of service operations, defence, manufacturing, government. It is a splendid area for under graduate and post graduate students of mathematics to use their knowledge and skills to solve complex real-world problems in creative ways. It has an impact on them to take critical decisions. Numerous companies in industry require OR analysts to apply mathematical techniques to a wide range of challenging questions in the said domain.
In 1959, Professor Richard Feynman in a public lecturer at California Institute of Technology shared his thought about the strange behaviour of small particles. His lecturer was entitles as: “There’s plenty of room at the bottom”. Professor Feynman actually gave us the idea to enter into a new field of Physics, today it is known as Nanoscience. ProfessorFeynman in his lecture also talked about “How do we write small”, “Information on a small scale” and the importance of developing better electron microscope. All his novel ideas have created breakthroughs in the field of nanoscience.
Nanoscience enables us to study the properties of system at nanoscale and Nanotecgnology enables us to organize and manipulate the properties and behaviour of a system in atomic or molecular level. Nanoscience has wide prospect and finds application in various different fields. Here I describes application of nanoscience and the scope and prospect in this field.
What is nanoparticle?
A particle has dimension of nanometer size. The question is how small one nonometer is. The 1 nm (1 nm = 10-9 meter) is one billionth of a meter or equivalent to 10 Å (1 Å = 10-8 cm). Nanosized particles of a substance exhibit different properties and behaviours than larger particles of the same substance. Carbon is very common also very abundant material in nature. We are aware of its two different forms; graphite and diamond. During 1985 to 2004, scientists have discovered three new allotropes of carbon. They are known as fullerene (known as Buckminsterfullerene: C60), carbon nanotube and graphene.
Fullerene: In 1985 a group of scientists lead by Prof. Harry Kroto had discovered a small structure in which 60 Carbon atoms are joined together in one unit. The structure is quite similar like a football. In this fullerene structure we could see hexagon + pentagon pattern. Prof. Kroto and his collaborators were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. With the advancement of technology various different structures like fullerenes with larger number of carbon atoms (C70, C76, C80, etc.) were synthesized.
Graphene: Graphene is 2-dimensional nano-structure. It is a 2D sheet of single layered carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal lattice. Graphite is actually made of millions of layers of graphene. In 2004 at the University of Manchester, Andre Geim and K. Novoselov produce graphene from graphite using a scotch tape in laboratory. Professor Geim and his co-workers were awarded Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010. Graphene is the most useful and thinnest 2D nanomaterial due to its extremely high electrical conductivity, transparency and tensile strength.
Carbon nanotube (CNT): CNTs are cylindrical nanostructure consists of one or more layer of graphene sheet. Diameter of single-wall CNT (SWCNT) and multi-wall CNTs (MWCNT) may vary from 0.8 to 2 nm and 5 to 20 nm respectively.A single-wall CNTs can be realize as cut-outs from a 2D hexagonal graphene sheet rolled up along one of the Bravais lattice vectors and thereby form a hollow cylinder. CNTs exhibit remarkable electrical conductivity. Single-wall CNTs are metallic but multi-wall CNTs are having small band-gap. CNTs exhibit exceptionally high tensile strength and thermal conductivity. These properties of CNT make them valuable and are used in electronics, optics, biological and biomedical research.
Exciting Properties of Nanoparticles
Super surface activity: Nanoparticles exhibit strong reactivity due to much higher surface to volume ratio. With decrease of particle size the number of particles at the surface increases. This leads to a significant energy contribution to the system from the unsatisfied bonds of the surface atoms. Hence, the surface becomes extremely ‘active’ due to the high available surface energy. This effect finds applications in: adsorption of toxic gases, catalysis, etc.
Superparamagnetism: A ferromagnetic particle behaves like a paramagnet when particle size is made very small. Ferromagnetic solid consists of small magnetic domains and spins are aligned inside the domain. If particle size is reduced to very small size (typically < 20 nm) the entire particle becomes a single domain. With further reduction in particle size (< 5 nm) ferromagnetic property is lost. Therefore in the absence of external field the particle behaves like a paramagnet and in the presence of a field spins are getting aligned leading to a large magnetization, also known as super-paramagnetic behavior.
Super-hydrophobicity: If surfaces are highly hydrophobic (super-hydrophobic) then they are difficult to wet. The contact angle of water droplet may exceed 150o on a super-hydrophobic surface. Surface roughness is increased at nano-scale therefore actual contact area of the surface decreases and hence the surface becomes non-wetting. The super-hydrophobic coating is used in vehicle windshields and maritime industry.
Why nano-scale become so Important?
Nanoparticles exhibits some unique mechanical, optical, magnetic, and electrical properties that are distinctly different from that of bulk materials. It was found that nanoparticles exhibits enhanced activity when subjected to similar applications. A few are discussed below.
Nano-crystals have lower melting point and has reduced lattice constant (difference can be as large as 1000oC).
Due to high surface to volume ratio nano-crystals are used for catalysis, drug delivery and energy storage.
Semiconductor nanocrystals have larger band gap than that of bulk semiconductors.
Ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials lost their ferroelectricity and ferromagnetic property at the nano scale.
A system composed of nano-particles can conducts electricity better.
Applications:
Use of nanotechnology includes sports equipment, vehicle parts, storage of power in batteries, cosmetics, drug delivery and many more. Scientists are working with nonomaterials with a hoped that nanoscience will control our health-care system in future. We all use sunscreens; it contains ZnO or TiO2 nano powder to avert sunburns. Nano-science is combined with bio-science naturally because in general the bio-molecules that we are dealing with (e.g; DNA, RNA, proteins, enzymes) are all within the nanoscale range from 1-100 nm. In November 2012, Scientists at NIST (American National Institute of Standard and Technology) demonstrate that SW-CNTs can protect DNA molecules from oxidation. Here I illustrate some more applications of CNTs in bio-medical research.
CNTs are bio-compatible and having low-level of toxicity.
CNTs are elastic cylindrical tubes with both ends open and therefore can be used in intracellular delivery.
Due to high tensile strength, CNTs filled with calcium and grouped in the structure of bone can act as a bone substitute.
For biomedical application, functionalization is required and it is possible for CNTs. Functionalization may improve biocompatibility and also reduce the toxicity level.
CNTs can enter into cells by binding their tips to the cell membrane receptors. This actually helps in drug delivery.
“Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible.”- Javier Pascual Salcedo
Bureaucracy in modern India started its journey with the handholding of the British. Since, it’s initial days it is a fascination among Indians both fear and desire. During the British empire used to function through its bureaucratic setup. It connects the metros with the outpost of the empire. After the breakup of the empire, bureaucracy setup has been adopted by the former colonies.
Bureaucrats are the office holders who serve the executive functions of the government in India. The bureaucrats are responsible for implementing the policies of the government. People working as bureaucrats face lots of challenges in their career too. Also, they enjoy various benefits from the government. Combining these pros and cons, millions of aspirants every year try their luck in respective exams with the hope of getting selected as a bureaucrat.
The following points enlist the reasons behind the craze among the people for being bureaucrats.
1) Secure life with a decent salary: In this competitive world, money is the most essential instrument for leading a happy and a peaceful life. The job of a bureaucrat offers a handsome starting salary with high increments along with promotions. The office holders can lead a standard life with their families. This makes the job so attractive among the people.
2) Facilities: The government provides lots of facilities to the bureaucrats including electricity allowance, travelling allowance, telephone, internet, and so on. They get residential apartments too from the government. All these factors add security to their life and make it smooth.
3) Attracted by the position: The volume of immense authority and power given to the bureaucrats, make the position very demanding. The bureaucrats are in the charge of complete control over an area allotted to them. They are respected and saluted by the entire population of that area. This image about the bureaucrats is created in the minds of the people who aspire for the jobs. This particular image is passed from one person to another which increases the number of aspirants every year.
4) Willing to control the policies and administration: The society runs as per the government’s policies and interventions. So, in order to control the good and bad happenings in the society, one has to stay in touch with the respective organs of the government.The civil servants can directly stay in touch with the leaders who frame the policies and run the administration. So, they can directly influence the society through their actions and decisions. The bureaucrats can alter any malpractices rife in the society. People who are willing to take that role have craze for being bureaucrats.
5) Influenced by the social media. The social media these days play a significant role in generating new civil service aspirants each day. The coaching institutes offering courses for preparation for civil service examinations site examples of some successful aspirants who got selected as bureaucrats.
They add audio and visual effects to the images and videos of those bureaucrats to charge the viewers for being civil service aspirants. Then they advertise about their coaching institutes and enlist the courses offered and facilities given. All these activities generate new craze among the people for becoming bureaucrats.
These are some of the major factors that makes people desire to become bureaucrats. Not only this field has positive sides, but also it involves many challenges, the initial challenge being the selection as a bureaucrat. So, one must choose their career option wisely and not get influenced by any external lures from friends, relatives or the people involved in the business with the aspirants.
The tide of liberal arts is now sweeping the differences between various academic disciplines all across the world demolishing the demarcations between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects and NON-STEM subjects. As a result it is also trying to break the stereotypes that are tagged with this demarcation of disciplines that are automatically getting responded as just constructed and imposed shadow lines. It also reminds us of the days of polymaths who existed in different civilization across the globe in various time periods.
Today we all live in an application based world, where knowledge has to be applied, and to solve this purpose we are all trying to make paths towards the practice of liberal arts in the field of education and India is not an exception in this regard. When we talk about the application of knowledge we must remember that this appliedness of knowledge is only possible if we can take education outside the boundaries of an educational institute.
In the year 1964 Sturart Hall and Richard Hoggart founded the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) at the University of Birmingham with the objectives of taking education outside the university campus and encouraging the students to have a firsthand experience with the community, so that they can develop a better understanding of their respective community as a whole.
In other words this was an important step to implement the idea of Academic Social Responsibility. This new teaching and learning pedagogy once again may help us to bring science and humanities together to give shape to the academicians with the understanding of their responsibilities towards society. This also opens up the possibilities of collaborative curriculum designing, for outreach activities and also accommodates our eternal ‘quest for relevance’ as per the time and space we belong to. This may remind us of the Kenyan author Ngugi Wa Thoing o ‘, who engaged in a protest against Eurocentricism in the field of education while discussing ‘quest for relevance’. In the process he encouraged the academicians across the world to have this quest while designing the curriculum.
Thus from the above discussion it is clear that the current educational scenario is ready to welcome an interdisciplinary approach towards education. We have to remember that comparative literature has long been accommodating this interdisciplinary approach and thus giving the platform to study literatures from across the world in an interdisciplinary manner and thus may play a key role in the development of liberal arts.
Comparative literature encourages the study of literature using a comparative framework. Students under such a frame work are encouraged to study many literatures together. Thus it creates the room to read and to critically engage with the literatures produced in various languages from different parts of the world.
Boundaries of such comparative approach is absolutely fluid, it can thus make teaching learning pedagogy multimodal in nature, further breaking the barriers between various existing disciplines. According to Susan Basnett comparative approach gives us the scope to study texts in relation to one another. Thus, comparative approach is the key to practice liberal arts.
Singular perspective focuses on a particular issue, whereas a comparative approach gives a broader spectrum of understanding. Comparative approach in a way reproaches the singular independent existence of disciplines. It sees the existence of all disciplines not in an independent fashion but in an interdependent fashion, thus provides a platform for the practice of liberal arts.
Liberal arts thus with a comparative approach makes all barriers fluid. It makes all geo political boundaries and linguistic boundaries blurred in its attempt to connect with everyone. This reminds us of the German author, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Rabindranath Thakur, who also referred to this idea of connectivity among the people across the world through the exercise of a comparative approach.
Liberal arts and comparative literature both widens our spectrum of reading texts. At this juncture we must remember that texts are not only printed books, every incident that happens around us and among us is a text. Liberal arts focus on training its students in reading these texts of which they themselves are a part. This process serves a twofold objective – firstly the students get the opportunity of a firsthand engagement with the society and secondly they go through a reality check regarding their ability to apply the knowledge that they have acquired in their educational institute.
Both liberal arts and comparative literature together investigates and questions whatever is given. Both jointly vehemently discourage a blind belief in anything given. Liberal arts is probably the only sect of knowledge that dares to question the formulation of knowledge itself. Being a part of an institution liberal arts tries to question the process of institutionalization.
Comparative approach helps liberal arts to get a wholesome, inclusive and comprehensive understanding of our society. Connection is the key component of liberal arts. This connection that we are referring to is the connection of our work and knowledge with the humanity and human concerns.
It is not just the imagination of certain authors but different historical eras have witnessed that whenever knowledge has lost its contact with humanity and human concerns, hell was let loose on mankind, be it the violent process of colonization or be it the transformation of nuclear power into a destructive bomb.
In today’s world we are all connected at different levels, sometimes we realize and sometime we do not. We cannot exist independently anymore. Thus the academic disciplines designed by us too cannot exist and have never existed independently.
The mission of liberal arts is to break science and humanities stereotyped binaries, that are imposed on both, by showcasing the connectivity that has existed between the two since the time immoral, at the same time liberal arts has the objective to connect both the dimension of knowledge systems with the human concerns. Liberal arts with a comparative approach reminds us that human beings with their knowledge need to serve human concerns.
Artificial Intelligence has the great impact in health care. It can assist doctors to detect or diagnosis a disease at early stages. In developing countries like India has very low patient and doctor ratio. As a consequence, the performance of the manual detection of the disease often degrades i.e., doctors may overlook the early sign of the disease and patients can suffer death. In order to decrease the mortality rate of several diseases, Computer aided detection or diagnosis may be a potential solution. It is a computer-based program which analyse different radiological image modalities and predict the presence of the disease. Consequently, it can be said that these types of technology can provide some treatment facility to the patients where minimum treatment facility is available. In early 1980’s, based on the symptoms of the patient researchers have proposed several algorithms to predict the presence of the disease. However, these methodologies were not acceptable to the medical community. In 2005, International association of Computer Aided Diagnosis established and they first approved the prediction of breast cancer from mammography in clinical practice. After that several researchers have proposed several CAD methodologies for early diagnosis. They give emphasis mostly on early detection of different types of cancer from different organs. The basic challenges of implementing such system are present of sufficient amount of annotated patient data. The collection of patient data from different hospital is a tedious job.
However, several researchers have proposed different medical image datasets by collaborating with different hospitals. In order to predict lung cancer at early stages, LIDC-IRDI dataset is introduced which consisted of 1081 Lung CT images and these data are taken from 7 different hospitals of United States of America. This dataset has been released in 2008 and the CT scans are taken from a 32 slice CT scanner i.e., the images are taken from the old CT scanner machine. In present context, most of the hospitals use a 64 slice CT scanner machines and the implemented models are not provided satisfactory results if researchers have considered this dataset. Moreover, this dataset only provides the information about the presence of the abnormalities but not confirm the presence of cancer in it. These necessitates a new benchmarking dataset that consists of the CT scan of a 64 slice CT scanner and also have the information about the disease. The researchers of University of Calcutta have introduced a new public dataset “Swash” for the lung cancer researchers which consisted of 289 CT scan machines and all the data are biopsy proven. Like lung cancer, researchers have also introduced BRAST datasets for Brain tumor detection, MIAS dataset for breast cancer detection and diagnosis from digital mammography, DRIVE dataset and DRISTI dataset for diabetic retinopathy detection from FUNDUS images. These aforementioned datasets have been used for implementing several CAD methodologies for early detection of the disease by considering the different algorithms of machine learning (ML) and deep learning. The researchers of United states of America, have designed a ML-based methodology that is capable of detecting breast lump from digital mammography, after that the computer-based technique is also capable of grading the stage of cancer. The researchers of Redbound University and University of Calcutta proposed a fully automated software tool that is capable of predicting lung cancer from Computed tomography images. Instead of having higher accuracy in brain tumor detection from MRI images, the Machine Intelligence Unit of Indian Statistical Institute have proposed a novel methodology that can assist clinicians about the post-surgery survival of brain tumor patients. Apart from cancer detection, the researchers also tried to propose several CAD methodologies of other diseases. At the middle of the pandemic era, researchers have proposed several methodologies that are capable of detecting COVID-19, after analysing the digital chest X-ray and thoracic CT images. The published literature also reveals that their exist several ML and DL-based algorithms that are capable of detecting Alzheimer, Parkinson’s, Strokes, fractures, cysts from different modalities of medical images. Furthermore, the researchers are also capable of measuring the changes of abnormalities after several drugs are induced on the patients. However, the accuracy of these methods is quite satisfactory, but these models are implemented by considering several data which are taken from old scanning technology. As the precision of the scanning technology has been improved, the characteristics of the data has been changed and this requires advancement in existing algorithms or implementation of new model that can provide higher accuracy and these methodologies can use in clinical practice.
Out of some of the hottest trends that have been on the top lists for quite a while are choosing an entrepreneur as the primary occupation and doing an eco-friendly business.
The need of renewable energy is increasing in the world due to rapidly growing human population, urbanization and huge consumption of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel reserve is very limited, and the reserve is getting depleted day by day. The primary sources of energy that can be used as the alternative of fossil fuels are wind, water, solar and biomass-based energy.
Currently biomass as a feedstock for biofuel production is gaining importance. Biomass energy is supplying about 10-15% of total energy demand of the present world. Biomass feedstocks include organic material such as wood, wood-based energy crops, grass, lignucellulosic materials like wheat straw, rice straw, sugarcane baggase, corn, microalgae, agricultural residues, municipal wastes, forest product wastes, paper, cardboard and food waste. Biomass can be converted into biofuels by thermochemical and biochemical conversion. Based on the types of feedstocks or biomass the biofuels derived are divided into different groups i.e. 1st generation, 2nd generation, 3rd generation. 1st generation biofuels mainly extracted from the food crop-based feedstocks like wheat, barley, sugar and used for biodiesel and by fermentation to produce bioethanol. But first-generation biofuels face the “fuel vs food” debate and also the net energy gain is negative. 1st generation biofuels production systems also have some economic and environmental limitations. To overcome the drawbacks of 1st generation biofuels 2nd generation biofuels have been generated from the non-food crops-based feedstocks like organic wastes, lignocellulosic biomass etc. For biofuel production from these sources rigorous pretreatments are required to make the feedstocks suitable for biodiesel production. This is the major drawback of 2nd generation biofuel production. Then the attention of the world has been shifted towards 3rd generation biofuel production entails “algae-to biofuels”. Microalgae is easy to cultivate, has higher photosynthetic rate and growth rate than other plants and there is no food vs. feed dilemma present of using microalgae as feedstock for biofuel production. Presently the attention is also given towards fourth generation biofuel. The former concept of third generation of biofuel deals with the conversion process itself from the microalgae to biofuel. The fourth generation of biofuel concept deals with development of microalgal biotechnology via metabolic engineering to maximize biofuel yield. Fourth generation biofuel uses genetically modified (GM) algae to enhance biofuel production. In comparison with third generation in which the principal focus is in fact processing an algae biomass to produce biofuel, the main superior properties of the fourth are introducing modified photosynthetic microorganisms which in turn are the consequence of directed metabolic engineering, through which it is possible to continuously produce biofuel in various types of special bioreactors, such as photobioreactors.
Biomass has the highest potential for small scale business development and mass employment. Characterized by low-cost technologies and freely available raw materials, it is still one of the leading sources of primary energy for most countries. With better technology transfer and adaptation to local needs, biomass is not only environmentally benign, but also an economically sound choice. Bio-based energy can be expected to grow at a faster pace in the years to come.
On the Biomass Energy sector, the India government committed to increasing the share of non-fossils fuel in total capacity to 40% by 2030. India produces about 450-500 million tonnes of biomass per year. Biomass provides 32% of all the primary energy use in the country at present. A total capacity of 10145 MW has been installed in the Biomass Power and Cogeneration Sector. The Installed Capacity of Biomass IPP is 1826 MW together with the Installed Capacity of Bagasse Cogeneration is 7547 MW and the Installed Capacity of Non-Bagasse Cogeneration is 772 MW.
The eco-friendly business has lots of benefits, by going green with your business you’re promoting the Earth’s safety from potential environmental catastrophe, you support innovation and concomitantly producing green energy.
The Government of India has been constantly bound on increasing the use of clean energy sources. This does increase a better future and at the same time creates employment opportunities too. According to The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), India’s total installed capacity of renewable energy is 90 GW excluding hydropower. Also, it states that 27.41 GW will be added. Renewable Energy in India is a great asset to Energy Contribution, yet India still needs to work a lot in Renewable Energy Sectors.
Branding have been evolved hundreds of years, may be more than this. The meaning and prospect of this brand came into use over a decade. The meaning and narratives of brand communication has been progressed and it is not limited to a particular products and services but the horizon of branding widens its spectrum in a larger array. Here, will reconnoitres the concept of branding which have been advanced to a new paradigm, and would venture on what’s coming next.
The word Brand is etymologically derived from the word “Brandr”, a term from Ancient Norse meaning “to burn”. Around 950 A.D. the term “brand” denotes to a burning piece of wood. By 1300s this word was used to mean a torch, a factor which burns a piece of wood. This term brand further adds to denote to scorch the cattle of ownership by the year 1500s. The ownership status quo been conferred if their cattle got misplaced, ranched or lost. So, the development of using some similar trait of identifying their respective cattle were used. They had very simple, familiar identification and quick remembrance which lead and pave the way for ‘logo’ which is indispensable for brand identity and image.
Brand communicates to inform, persuade, guide, teach, evoke, enlighten, remind and gives a new insight about a product, service, company, organization to its stakeholders and persuades to pursue the positive perception of the products, service and companies’ strength and core values.
For the drive of easier comprehension, let us put some of those changes in the form of pointers:
The Preponderance of Digital Media: with the advent of digital media, the traditional form of paid media push marketing strategy is no longer valid and lost its conventional power to hold and influence consumers.
Personal Branding: the role of Influencer’s which is in the rise of social media platforms has changed the phenomenon of the conventional definition of personal branding. Social media and branding also the future of branding in a positive room which enables every company and organization to maintain and update their social media pages of triggering and disseminating useful information (Facebook. Instagram and Twitter).
Brand Extension: it creates credibility and consumers gets varied scope of opportunity if the brand positively follows up for further extension.
Brand Association: the top of the mind awareness (recall) and aided awareness (recognition) seems credible in digital age with the help of niche marketing strategy and native advertising.
Co-Branding: this creates the blurred boundaries between global market products and services. So, no matter what, there is a prospect avenue for business collaborations both nationally and internationally. With the rapid changes in the pattern of brand communication, definitely this also need to be focussed international + local products collaboration (because generally the known businesses allies with the established brands).
Brand Equity: Simply, the brand awareness, positioning and loyalty leads to brand equity and paved the way for understanding these three factors in a more diligent manner (recognition/recall/ aided awareness/ TOMA etc).
Naming of the Brand: this gone beyond the graphics but the interactive media content spuriously based on the art, aesthetics, idea and creativity proves to be right in contemporary times. It more emphasizes the ideation blended with virtual reality and augmented reality.
Viral Marketing: this strategy is a new norm to reach out to potential consumers through snowballing and e word of mouth.
SEO: it enhances the website traffic to update the page of the website and searches through hashtags and keywords. It aims to unpaid traffic rather than paid traffic.
Outsourced Delivery: there are few companies and creative bunch of groups who takes this up on behalf of reputed and established brands. The young professionals who is proficiency of digital media marketing, search engine optimization and algorithms related to augmented reality and virtual reality can be put forth for positive brand image.
The rise of the usage and availability of internet across geographic boundaries with economic viability, enhances the platforms of social media which is a driving factor for the next stage of the progression of branding. Point to be noted that the definition of conventional consumer or customers have changed drastically, there is a bent towards the coexistence and participatory. They do not want to consume the products or content anymore, rather tries to participate and so as the future of brand communication not to communicate anymore but to act, feel and intermittence. The power of influencers of social media brands like Instagram, YouTube and Facebook frequently depend on their users to aid and to create their value and how they should be perceived by the public. It further gives them their identity and positive image and enhances the brand durability. Various content sites like Buzzfeed, Amazon, The Huffington post and Yelp be contingent on reviewers to deliver their utmost convincing content. In this regard, many web-based companies and organizations handles their respective brand image and gets loyalty and revenue through active consumers which is unmatched and some thing interesting in these recent times. On the other hand, viral marketing, search engine optimization, and outsourced delivery permits their companies and organizations to have expansion visibility which reduces the cost of products delivery and saves millions of bucks and investment on advertising and infrastructure.
Basically, to conclude, if there is a brand admiration established by the consumers and they would like to see the advancement of prospect category of a specific product, then they must go ahead. This improvement on positive branding and effective brand communication may bring various advantages to one’s business, for example, good growth, profit and a prospect to meet their clients’ who might need to know the advancement of companies’ brand image. If an excellent inkling or creativity for new product is there to experiment that certainly the consumers/customers may accept or like, then probably yes, the companies must give it a try!
