Papers by Ravindra Nath Singh
Environmental Research Letters, 2020
Since gender is an undisputed driver of HIV infection, teachers concerned with HIV prevention edu... more Since gender is an undisputed driver of HIV infection, teachers concerned with HIV prevention education should ideally encourage critical awareness of and culturally sensitive practices around gender inequalities. Many interventions and programmes have been developed for teachers to enable them to do this, however most have met with limited success. This article proceeds from the viewpoint that for HIV-prevention interventions to be sustainable and effective, teachers should be actively engaged in their design, implementation and evaluation. It outlines how teachers in an HIV prevention programme utilised an action research design to explore their own gender constructs as a necessary first step to the creation of more gender-sensitive school climates and teaching practices. This values-based self-enquiry moved the teachers to action on two levels: first, to adopt a more gendersensitive approach in their own personal and professional lives and second, to take action to challenge gender inequalities within their particular educational contexts. Evidence is presented to justify the claim that action research of this genre helps teachers to generate indigenous epistemologies and practices that not only are effective in creating sustainable and empowering learning environments for HIV prevention education, but also for teaching and learning in general.
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Cambridge University Press, 2024
Dates from recently excavated Gangetic site of Sakas in Bihar, India, place it at ca.1800–1100 BC... more Dates from recently excavated Gangetic site of Sakas in Bihar, India, place it at ca.1800–1100 BC. The ceramic
and lithic chronologies have been interpreted as Early Farming, Transitional and Chalcolithic/Developed
Farming in date. However, depending on where in the Ganges Plains is studied, the time frame of Early,
Developed and Advanced Farming periods varies widely, from 7th millennium to 2nd millennium BC and
beyond, making the chronological framing of absolute dates within a regional scheme highly complex. In this
paper we report the new radiocarbon results from Sakas and note how while these are critical for cementing the
absolute dating of the site, until such time as a more stable periodization linked not only to relative and absolute
dates but also human lifeways within the different zones of the Ganges plains is created, there remains difficulties
in understanding how Sakas and other sites of similar date fit into the changing social, cultural and economic
systems in this region.
The purpose of the present paper is to offer a systematic geographical and archaeological outline... more The purpose of the present paper is to offer a systematic geographical and archaeological outline of the routes that linked the ancient Ganga-Yamuna plain, beginning with Magadha or modern south Bihar, with the eastern and western sections of the Deccan plateau, respectively Andhra and Maharashtra. The fieldwork on which this study is based was done in 1999-2002 and rooted in our concern with the archaeological geography of the Ganga plain {cf. Chakrabarti 2001). All categories of geographical and archaeological information cited in this paper are based on our personal familiarity with the sites and areas concerned.
Indian Journal of Archaeology, 2018
This article examine the settlement pattern on the margin of Thar Desert. The role of Palaeo-Chan... more This article examine the settlement pattern on the margin of Thar Desert. The role of Palaeo-Channels to flourished the Harappan settlement in such a desert climate. How these Palaeo-Channel played a significant role to flourished Harappan settlements.
Indian Journal of Archaeology, 2021
This paper reviews the archaeo-botanical remains from the 2008 excavations at Alamgirpur (29 o 00... more This paper reviews the archaeo-botanical remains from the 2008 excavations at Alamgirpur (29 o 00.206'N; 77 o 29.057'E), which were carried out by Banaras Hindu University. Alamgirpur is the eastern most settlement of the Indus Civilisation thus far excavated, and represents an important site in relation to understanding how the Indus interacted with populations in the Yamuna-Ganges doab, and as a site that has later period occupation, how the transition between the Indus period and Painted Grey Ware (PGW) period occurred in this region. A preliminary report on the archaeobotanical remains have been published previously 1 , and there has been detailed analysis of charcoal and phytolith remains explored in relation to fuel resources 2. The macrobotanical remains Cereal Grains and Grain Pulses: reassessing the archaeo-botany of the Indus Civilisation and Painted Grey Ware period occupation at Alamgirpur 496 have not been systematically reported, however, and the previous discussions have presented a partial taxa list from only a selection of the contexts that were sampled and the data were compiled by a number of analysts 3. This approach resulted in the disaggregation of the sample assemblage, and this paper brings together the samples and the results of the various analyses to outline a systematic review of the datasets to present a more comprehensive analysis of the Harappan and PGW assemblages from the site. 2. Location and Archaeology at Alamgirpur The archaeological site of Alamgirpur is situated in the modern Meerut District of Uttar Pradesh, India (Fig. 01), about 3km to the east of the present course, but on the edge of the palaeo-channel of the Hindon River, which is a tributary of the Yamuna River 4. Known locally as Parasuram-ka-Khera, the mound sits on a consolidated sand dune that rises approximately 1.5 m above the surrounding flood plain. What remains of the archaeological mound measure roughly 60m eastwest and 50m north-south, rising to a maximum height of 6m above the surrounding plain. The natural landscape around the site has been heavily modified for sugar cane and wheat agriculture, and the site is currently topped with a small shrine and primarily used for the storage of dung fuel. Alamgirpur was first excavated in 1958 by Regional Camp Committee of Bharat Sewak Samaj 5 , and more extensive excavations were undertaken by Sharma in 1959 6 who confirmed the Indus Civilisation affiliation of the site through ceramic typologies. Sharma 7 suggested a four-fold cultural sequence, with breaks between each period. However this chronology, particularly the cultural breaks between periods and the relative nature of the dating, was highly debated. In 2008, researchers from Banaras Hindu University undertook new excavations at the site. The excavations involved members of the Land, Water, Settlement project (LWS), which is a collaborative endeavour lead by Banaras Hindu University and the University of Cambridge, that also included collaborators from a range of other academic institutions and authorities, including Deccan College, Pune, and the Birbal Sahni Institute, Lucknow. These renewed excavations aimed to confirm the cultural sequence, provide absolute dates, collect material for faunal, botanical and palynological analyses, and explore human-climate interactions 8 .
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2021
Geosciences, 2018
A range of data sources are now used to support the process of archaeological prospection, includ... more A range of data sources are now used to support the process of archaeological prospection, including remote sensed imagery, spy satellite photographs and aerial photographs. This paper advocates the value and importance of a hitherto under-utilised historical mapping resource—the Survey of India 1” to 1-mile map series, which was based on surveys started in the mid–late nineteenth century, and published progressively from the early twentieth century AD. These maps present a systematic documentation of the topography of the British dominions in the South Asian Subcontinent. Incidentally, they also documented the locations, the height and area of thousands of elevated mounds that were visible in the landscape at the time that the surveys were carried out, but have typically since been either damaged or destroyed by the expansion of irrigation agriculture and urbanism. Subsequent reanalysis has revealed that many of these mounds were actually the remains of ancient settlements. The dig...
Quaternary International, 2017
This preliminary report presents an overview of the survey and excavation work at Lohari Ragho I ... more This preliminary report presents an overview of the survey and excavation work at Lohari Ragho I in 2015 and 2017 that was carried out jointly by the Banaras Hindu University and University of Cambridge under the auspices of the TwoRains project. The site of Lohari Ragho I is situated c.9km to the west of Rakhigarhi, and based on surface collections appears to have been occupied in the Early, Mature and Late Harappan periods, as well as in the Early Historic period. The investigations that have been carried out include detailed surface mapping, systematic surface collection, excavation of vertical soundings and horizontal trenches, local-scale surface and subsurface landscape survey, and large-scale settlement location survey.
Quaternary Research, 2019
This article presents a geomorphological and micromorphological study of the locational context o... more This article presents a geomorphological and micromorphological study of the locational context of four Indus civilisation archaeological sites—Alamgirpur, Masudpur I and VII, and Burj—all situated on the Sutlej-Yamuna interfluve in northwest India. The analysis indicates a strong correlation between settlement foundation and particular landscape positions on an extensive alluvial floodplain. Each of the analysed sites was located on sandy levees and/or riverbank deposits associated with former channels. These landscape positions would have situated settlements above the level of seasonal floodwater resulting from the Indian summer monsoon. In addition, the sandy soils on the margins of these elevated landscape positions would have been seasonally replenished with water, silt, clay, and fine organic matter, considerably enhancing their capacity for water retention and fertility and making them particularly suitable for agriculture. These former landscapes are obscured by recent modi...
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2018
SN Applied Sciences, 2019
The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of five different analytical columns for the... more The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of five different analytical columns for the analysis of seven carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons namely Benz[a]anthracene, Chrysene, Benzo[j]fluoranthene, Benzo[e]Pyrene, Benzo[k]fluoranthene, Benzo[a]Pyrene, Dibenzo[a,h]anthracene and select the best column in terms of separation, peak shape and analysis time and to use the selected column under optimized analytical condition for the detection and estimation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in light cycle oil; one of aromatic rich petroleum stream. The performance of five different analytical columns with different lengths, particle sizes and make were compared for analysis of above PAHs using HPLC with PDA detector and monitoring the HPLC-UV signals at 254 nm wavelength. Chromatographic parameters including retention time (t R), resolution (R), limit of detection, limit of quantification, number of theoretical plates (N), height equivalent to theoretical plate (HETP) and reduced plate height (h) were evaluated and compared on mentioned columns for analysis of PAHs under study. The mobile phase acetonitrile (95%):water (5%) was used at flow rate of 1.5 mL/min and the injection volume in all the case was 20.0 µL. The best results w.r.t time and acceptable resolution were obtained when these PAHs were analyzed using the shorter Agilent Eclipse PAH column having 1.8 µm, 100 mm × 4.6 mm id.
Journal of Chromatography & Separation Techniques, 2018
In the present study a new method has been developed for the separation and estimation of common ... more In the present study a new method has been developed for the separation and estimation of common metal cations (Li + , Na + , K +), Methyl diethanolamine (MDEA) (and types of alkyl amines) and their degradation products including ammonium ion used in amine processing solution. The acid treating amines such as dimethyl amine (DMA), Diethyl amine (DEA), Dipropylamine (DPA), Diisopropyl amine (DPA) and Dibutyl amine (DBA) in amine processing solution have been separated by Ion Chromatography (IC) using conductivity detector in single column mode. Desired separation was achieved within 20 min using mixture of 3 mM CH 3 SO 3 H+CH 3 CN (90:10) as mobile phase on Dionex Ion Pac SCS1 column at temperature of 30°C. Calibration curve for all the cations (Li + , Na + , K + , NH 4 +) in the concentration range of 2.5-20 ppm and 3-100 ppm for dialkyl amine were plotted and it was observed that the correlation coefficient (R 2) list in between 0.9980 and 1.0. Relative Standard Deviation (RSD) observed for all the abovementioned cations were in the range of 0.81-2.33%. Recovery of all the cations at different concentrations of amine processing matrix was in the range of 80-120%. The lower Limit of Detection (LOD) for Li + , Na + , K + , NH 4 + was 0.5 ppm, and for MDEA and all above alkyl amines was 1.0 ppm. The operational simplicity of this method in terms of accuracy and precision can be a good alternative for the estimation of above ions in amine processing solution.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease, 2013
Humans have two nearly identical copies of survival motor neuron gene: SMN1 and SMN2. Deletion or... more Humans have two nearly identical copies of survival motor neuron gene: SMN1 and SMN2. Deletion or mutation of SMN1 combined with the inability of SMN2 to compensate for the loss of SMN1 results in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a leading genetic cause of infant mortality. SMA affects 1 in~6000 live births, a frequency much higher than in several genetic diseases. The major known defect of SMN2 is the predominant exon 7 skipping that leads to production of a truncated protein (SMNΔ7), which is unstable. Therefore, SMA has emerged as a model genetic disorder in which almost the entire disease population could be linked to the aberrant splicing of a single exon (i.e. SMN2 exon 7). Diverse treatment strategies aimed at improving the function of SMN2 have been envisioned. These strategies include, but are not limited to, manipulation of transcription, correction of aberrant splicing and stabilization of mRNA, SMN and SMNΔ7. This review summarizes up to date progress and promise of various in vivo studies reported for the treatment of SMA.
Applied Thermal Engineering, 2013
The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in b... more The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in blue are added to the original document and are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately.
Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, 2010
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a primary cause of cellular damage that leads to cell death. In... more Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a primary cause of cellular damage that leads to cell death. In cells, protection from ROS-induced damage and maintenance of the redox balance is mediated to a large extent by selenoproteins, a distinct family of proteins that contain selenium in form of selenocysteine (Sec) within their active site. Incorporation of Sec requires the Sec-insertion sequence element (SECIS) in the 3'-untranslated region of selenoproteins mRNAs and the SECIS-binding protein 2 (SBP2). Previous studies have shown that SBP2 is required for the Sec-incorporation mechanism; however, additional roles of SBP2 in the cell have remained undefined. We herein show that depletion of SBP2 by using antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) causes oxidative stress and induction of caspase- and cytochrome c-dependent apoptosis. Cells depleted of SBP2 have increased levels of ROS, which lead to cellular stress manifested as 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxo-dG) DNA lesions, stress granules, and lipid peroxidation. Small-molecule antioxidants N-acetylcysteine, glutathione, and alpha-tocopherol only marginally reduced ROS and were unable to rescue cells fully from apoptosis, indicating that apoptosis might be directly mediated by selenoproteins. Our results demonstrate that SBP2 is required for protection against ROS-induced cellular damage and cell survival.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 1995
Highly insoluble proteins, which are probably cross-linked, are common in the cuticle and epicuti... more Highly insoluble proteins, which are probably cross-linked, are common in the cuticle and epicuticle of filarial parasites and other nematode species. We have investigated the possible involvement of transglutaminase (TGase)-catalyzed reactions in the development of Onchocerca volvulus fourth-stage larvae (L4) by testing the effects of TGase inhibitors on the survival of third-stage larvae (L3) and the molting of L3 to L4 in vitro. The larvae were cultured in the presence of three specific TGase inhibitors: monodansylcadaverine, cystamine, and N-benzyloxycarbonyl-D,L--(3-bromo-4,5-dihydroisoxazol-5-yl)-alanine benzylamide. None of the inhibitors reduced the viability of either L3 or L4. However, the inhibitors reduced, in a time-and dose-dependent manner, the number of L3 that molted to L4 in vitro. Molting was completely inhibited in the presence of 100 to 200 M inhibitors. Ultrastructural examination of L3 that did not molt in the presence of monodansylcadaverine or cystamine indicated that the new L4 cuticle was synthesized, but there was an incomplete separation between the L3 cuticle and the L4 epicuticle. The product of the TGase-catalyzed reaction was localized in molting L3 to cuticle regions where the separation between the old and new cuticles occurs and in the amphids of L3 by a monoclonal antibody that reacts specifically with the isopeptide -(␥-glutamyl)lysine. These studies suggest that molting and successful development of L4 also depends on TGase-catalyzed reactions.
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Papers by Ravindra Nath Singh
and lithic chronologies have been interpreted as Early Farming, Transitional and Chalcolithic/Developed
Farming in date. However, depending on where in the Ganges Plains is studied, the time frame of Early,
Developed and Advanced Farming periods varies widely, from 7th millennium to 2nd millennium BC and
beyond, making the chronological framing of absolute dates within a regional scheme highly complex. In this
paper we report the new radiocarbon results from Sakas and note how while these are critical for cementing the
absolute dating of the site, until such time as a more stable periodization linked not only to relative and absolute
dates but also human lifeways within the different zones of the Ganges plains is created, there remains difficulties
in understanding how Sakas and other sites of similar date fit into the changing social, cultural and economic
systems in this region.
and lithic chronologies have been interpreted as Early Farming, Transitional and Chalcolithic/Developed
Farming in date. However, depending on where in the Ganges Plains is studied, the time frame of Early,
Developed and Advanced Farming periods varies widely, from 7th millennium to 2nd millennium BC and
beyond, making the chronological framing of absolute dates within a regional scheme highly complex. In this
paper we report the new radiocarbon results from Sakas and note how while these are critical for cementing the
absolute dating of the site, until such time as a more stable periodization linked not only to relative and absolute
dates but also human lifeways within the different zones of the Ganges plains is created, there remains difficulties
in understanding how Sakas and other sites of similar date fit into the changing social, cultural and economic
systems in this region.