Symmetry and shape issues in nanostructure growth

Symmetry plays a key role in dictating the equilibrium morphology of crystals. However, several growth morphologies that deviate from the point group symmetry are routinely observed under several different growth conditions. In this article, we present a summary of symmetry-breaking mechanisms that are operative for crystals grown from the vapour phase as well as those formed as a result of wet chemical synthesis. This understanding is crucial for rationalizing the variety of morphologies observed during nanocrystal synthesis and also providesa rational framework for the synthesis of anisotropic nanostructures.

Issues in Achievement of Haptic Realism

This paper deals with haptic realism related to Kinematic capabilities of the devices used in manipulation of virtual objects in virtual assembly environments and its effect on achieving haptic realism. Haptic realism implies realistic touch sensation. In virtual world all the operations are to be performed in the same way and with same level of accuracy as in the real world .In order to achieve realism there should be a complete mapping of real and virtual world dimensions. Experiments are conducted to know the kinematic capabilities of the device by comparing the dimensions of the object in the real and virtual world. Registered dimensions in the virtual world are found to be approximately 1.5 times that of the real world. Dimensional variations observed were discrepancy due to exoskeleton and discrepancy due to real and virtual hands. Experiments are conducted to know the discrepancy due to exoskeleton and this discrepancy can be taken care of by either at the hardware or software level. A Mathematical model is proposed to know the discrepancy between real and virtual hands. This could not give a fixed value and can not be taken care of by calibration. Experiments are conducted to figure out how much compensation can be given to achieve haptic realism.

Volume conservation issues in incompressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics

A divergence-free velocity field is usually sought in numerical simulations of incompressible fluids. We show that the particle methods that compute a divergence-free velocity field to achieve incompressibility suffer from a volume conservation issue when a finite time-step position update scheme is used. Further, we propose a deformation gradient based approach to arrive at a velocity field that reduces the volume conservation issues in free surface flows and maintains density uniformity in internal flows while retaining the simplicity of first order time updates. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of priority issues in the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems in India

We report on the results of a country-wide survey of people's perceptions of issues relating to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems in India. Our survey, mainly conducted online, yielded 572 respondents, mostly among educated, urban and sub-urban citizens interested in ecological and environmental issues. 3160 ``raw'' questions generated by the survey were iteratively processed by a group of ecologists, environmental and conservation scientists to produce the primary result of this study: a summarized list of 152 priority questions for the conservation of India's biodiversity and ecosystems, which range across 17 broad thematic classes. Of these, three thematic classes-''Policy and Governance'', ``Biodiversity and Endangered Species'' and ``Protection and Conservation''-accounted for the largest number of questions. A comparative analysis of the results of this study with those from similar studies in other regions brought out interesting regional differences in the thematic classes of questions that were emphasized and suggest that local context plays a large role in determining emergent themes. We believe that the ready list of priority issues generated by this study can be a useful guiding framework for conservation practitioners, researchers, citizens, policy makers and funders to focus their resources and efforts in India's conservation research, action and funding landscape. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The question of ethical decision in marketing and ethics

Resumen: Mientras que el marketing está asociado con prácticas negativas que involucran la explotación y la deshonestidad, Anton Jamnik afirma la necesidad de crear una teoría ética para éste. El artículo intenta brindar, por un lado, un breve bosquejo de las principales corrientes de la literatura de la ética del marketing y, por otro, participar de su desarrollo. El autor analiza los desafíos éticos que sur girán en el futuro, provenientes de tres fuentes distintas: las innovaciones tecnológicas, la influencia de la competencia global y la expansión de las actividades de mercado en áreas no tradicionales. Esto requerirá el desarrollo de una ética normativa realista. Para concluir, explica que la ética del marketing debería analizar hasta qué punto ha sido exitosa a la hora de resolver los desafíos éticos del mundo actual.

Fishing community issues in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve: a case study

The study focuses on fishing community issues in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR). It provides an overview of the legal framework, and design and implementation of fishing regulations, and documents and analyzes the experiences of local fishing communities. It explores ways in which livelihood concerns can be appropriately balanced with conservation. The report builds upon a study titled ‘Traditional Fishers in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve’ (DISHA 2008) and draws upon secondary review of literature and field visits conducted in September 2008. The report is structured in six parts. The first part provides the legal background and the second sketches the status of fisheries and fishing communities. The third part focuses on livelihood issues within the STR, and community concerns regarding implementation of tiger protection measures. Part four explores the initiatives undertaken in the domain of alternative livelihoods. Part five offers a conclusion. The final sixth part, recognizing the initiatives that have been taken to address alternative livelihood options, lists the study's recommendations. (PDF contains 32 pages)

Addressing and adapting to contemporary coastal management issues in the central Philippines

With arguably the world’s most decentralized coastal governance regime, the Philippines has implemented integrated coastal management (ICM) for over 30 years as one of the most successful frameworks for coastal resource management in the country. Anthropogenic drivers continue to threaten the food security and livelihood of coastal residents; contributing to the destruction of critical marine habitats, which are heavily relied upon for the goods and services they provide. ICM initiatives in the Philippines have utilized a variety of tools, particularly marine protected areas (MPAs), to promote poverty alleviation through food security and sustainable forms of development. From the time marine reserves were first shown to effectively address habitat degradation and decline in reef fishery production (Alcala et al., 2001) over 1,100 locally managed MPAs have been established in the Philippines; yet only 10-20% of these are effectively managed (White et al., 2006; PhilReefs, 2008). In order to increase management effectiveness, biophysical, legal, institutional and social linkages need to be strengthened and “scaled up” to accommodate a more holistic systems approach (Lowry et al., 2009). This summary paper incorporates the preliminary results of five independently conducted studies. Subject areas covered are the social and institutional elements of MPA networks, ecosystem-based management applicability, financial sustainability and the social vulnerability of coastal residents to climate change in the Central Philippines. Each section will provide insight into these focal areas and suggest how management strategies may be adapted to holistically address these contemporary issues. (PDF contains 4 pages)