Emerging investigator series: Modeling of Wastewater Treatment Bioprocesses: Current Development and Future Opportunities

For more than a half-century, modelers have developed various modeling strategies to facilitate the transition of wastewater treatment bioprocesses from lab-scale demonstration to full-scale applications. This review presents the mathematical...

Development Trends in Automation

This chapter analyzes current development trends in automation. The chapter begins by discussing the history of automation in the 21st century, beginning with Honda's creation of ASIMO. Next, the chapter analyzes how automation gave rise to the relocating of many Western manufacturing centers to Asia, particularly those in the United States. The chapter then analyzes trends in the development of autonomous vehicles. This section includes a detailed projection of likely developments over the next several decades, such as the impact of autonomous vehicles on private vehicle ownership. The chapter concludes with a brief summary of these trends.

Thallium based heavy inorganic scintillators: Recent developments and future perspective

The current development status and future perspective of Tl-based inorganic scintillators are the subjects of this highlights. Thallium (Tl) ion is known to have very efficient luminescence in the widely...

How is FOLIO different from its predecessors?

FOLIO is a future-oriented library service platform. Enlightened by the results of the 2021 International Survey of Library Automation, the author shared thoughts on how FOLIO meets librarians’ expectations, why it’s a good time to get involved in the FOLIO project and what challenges FOLIO is facing at the current development stage.

Sacred Water Pools of Hindu Sacredscapes in North India

The basic metaphysical frame of life in ancient India, that of sacred water (paviṭra jala) and the notion that “Water itself is life” (jala hī jivan hai), can be illustrated with case studies of two cities. Settled continuously since 1000 BCE, the cities of Varanasi and Ayodhya have been eulogized as the salvific holy-heritage cities in India known for their ritualscapes associated with sacred waters and pools. According to the ancient treatises and tales, there were fifty-four sacred tanks (kunds) and wells (kūpas) in each of these cities, and they became important sites for purification rituals, pilgrimage, healing and festive celebration by devout Hindus. After providing descriptions of the sacred water pools, this essay in part explores traditions associated with a water-pool sacred to the Sun god in both the cities. More broadly, using ancient texts, present participatory surveys, and ethnological narration, the essay considers the long-lived sacrality of water pools in these holy cities and current development strategies involving them.