Executive Knowledge Lines - May 2012

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Editor’s Desk We walk into supermarkets to buy some urgent things and often come out with a few additional items not in our shopping list. These secondary items for which there were no immediate requirements, could be called ‘solutions looking for problems.’

Buying an electric drill for home use was a case in point. The advertisement was so enticing that a mail order was placed and the beautifully packed drill arrived promptly. On the first day, the person went around the house looking for places to put holes. From the third day onwards, the drill kit is sleeping in its carrying case, as there are no more drilling needs. Would it not have been wise to borrow the drill from a friend, already in this situation? He would be happy that the solution lying unused for months with him is finding some use elsewhere.

There are simple ways of doing many activities, without resorting to new, high-tech ways. Often an ordinary, sharp nail will do the job of a drill or if there is no urgency, the work could be got done when the technician with his tool kit is called in next time.

But there are stories of the other kind too. When laser with its ability to generate an intense, very narrow beam of light, was invented in 1960, it was rated as "a solution looking for a problem."

But before long, its unique qualities were harnessed for use in science, technology, medicine... Today, lasers are doing wonders in research laboratories, medical clinics, supermarket checkouts, telephone networks, to name a few.

We are bombarded often by marketing personnel with solutions and it is very difficult to stay away from the trap. On such occasions, we can do an introspection - six months hence or next year this time, what will be the fate of the solution we are acquiring today? Is it really addressing a problem we are constantly facing in everyday life and whether the money could be gainfully used elsewhere for solving a real problem, nagging us for quite some time?

People not affluent enough to spend on such coaxing by smart marketers, may not become easy targets. But the other kind are plenty in society and the solution providers walk to the bank, laughing. ntnair@gmail.com

Trivandrum, 1 May ’12 May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines3

General

Avocado

The Butter Fruit The avocado is a dense, evergreen and fast growing tree which can reach up to 80 feet, and generally branches to form a broad cover.

There are three main species namely Guatemalan, Mexican, and West Indian. Hybrid varieties of over twenty exist between the three types.

Currently Avocado grows well in the mild-winter areas of California, Florida, Hawaii and the Gulf Coast. West Indian varieties thrive in humid, tropical climates. Guatemalan types are native to cool, highaltitude tropics. Mexican types are native to dry subtropical plateaus and thrive in a Mediterranean climate. There are dwarf forms of avocado suitable for growing in containers.

Avocado is believed to have originated in Mexico and Central America. The oldest evidence of avocado use was found in a cave located in Coxcatlán, Puebla, Mexico, that dates to around 10,000 BC. The earliest known written account of the avocado in Europe appeared in the beginning of the 16th century. The plant was introduced in Indonesia in 1750 AD, and in Brazil, South Africa and Australia in the late 19th century. However, today, avocados are planted and harvested in countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, USA, Sri Lanka, Brazil, India, China, Japan, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina,

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Bolivia, Chile, Ethiopia, Spain, Palestine, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Hawaii.

Avocado leaves are alternate, glossy, elliptic and dark green with paler veins. They normally remain on the tree for 2 to 3 years. The leaves of West Indian varieties are scentless, while Guatemalan types are rarely anise-scented and have medicinal use. The leaves of Mexican types have a pronounced anise scent when crushed. The leaves are high in oils. Roots are coarse and greedy and will raise pavement with age. Grafted plants normally produce fruit within one to two years compared to 8 - 20 years for seedlings. Avocado flowers appear in terminal panicles of 200 - 300 small yellow-green blooms. Each panicle will produce only one to three fruits.

The word "avocado" comes from the Spanish aguacate which in turn comes from the Nahuatl word ahuĂĄcatl (a reference to the shape of testicle, of the fruit). Avocados were known by the Aztecs as 'the fertility fruit'. The fruit is sometimes called an avocado pear or alligator pear (due to its shape and the rough green skin). The earliest known written use in English is attested from 1697 as "Avogato Pear", a term which was later corrupted as "alligator pear". It is known as "butter fruit" in some parts of India. The fruit of horticultural cultivars has a markedly higher fat content than most other fruits, mostly monosaturated fat, and as such serves as an important staple in the diet of various groups where access to other fatty foods like high-fat meats and fish, dairy, etc. is limited.

The fruit of the tree with the same name Avocado, varies in size with weight of 200 to 800 g depending on the varieties. The flesh of avocado is deep green near the skin, becoming yellowish nearer the single large, inedible ovoid seed. The flesh is hard when harvested but softens to a buttery texture. High in monosaturates, the oil content of avocado is second only to olives among fruits, and sometimes greater.

Food, Nutritional and Medicinal Value Avocados are sold for human consumption in the form of fresh fruit or processed paste and preserved food. The fruit is not sweet, but fatty, and distinctly yet subtly flavored, and of smooth, almost creamy texture. It is used in both savory and sweet dishes, though in many countries not for both. The avocado is very popular in vegetarian cuisine, as a substitute for meat in sandwiches and salads because of its high fat content.

About 75% of an avocado's calories come from fat, mostly monosaturated fat. Avocados have 35% more potassium than in bananas.

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Avocados have a high content of 75% insoluble and 25% soluble fibre.

Nutritional value per 100 g of edible part of raw avocado provides Energy 160 kcal, Carbohydrates 8.53 g - Sugars 0.66 g – Dietary fibre 6.7 g, Fat 14.66 g – saturated 2.13 g - monosaturated 9.80 g – polysaturated 1.82 g, Protein 2 g, Thiamine 0.067 mg (6%), Riboflavin 0.130 mg (11%), Niacin 1.738 mg (12%), Vitamin B5 1.389 mg (28%), Vitamin B6 0.257 mg (20%), Vitamin B9 81 μg (20%), Vitamin C 10 mg (12%), Calcium 12 mg (1%), Iron 0.55 mg (4%), Magnesium 29 mg (8%), Phosphorus 52 mg (7%), Potassium 485 mg (10%), Zinc 0.64 mg (7%).

In South India and some South East Asian countries, avocados are frequently used for milkshakes and occasionally added to ice cream and other desserts. They are also used to make dessert drink with sugar, milk or water added. It is also very common to serve layered multiple fruit juices in a glass, made of avocados, mangoes, bananas, guavas and papayas. Avocados are also used to make salads and are commonly served in sandwiches, sushis, on toast, or with chicken, or consumed with cassava or regular bread for breakfast. Compared to other fruits or vegetables such as carrots and spinach, a few slices of avocado in salad, adds a rich, creamy flavor, and greatly increases the body's ability to absorb the health-promoting carotenoids.

Avocados, due to their mono and polyunsaturated fat content, form an ideal food rich in saturated fat. Avocado is recommended as a food for bodybuilding and medicine for cholesterol-related heart diseases. Creamy rich avocado is considered one of the world's healthiest fruits, because of its nutrient contents such as vitamin K, dietary fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, and reasonable calories in it. Some information states that a toxin found in avocado can kill cancer cells. However, the toxin mentioned here is not identified completely. Scientists believe that the toxin has a great effect on the myocardium (heart muscle tissue) as well as on tissues of the lactating mammary gland. Avocados are good for pregnant women since the high folate content in them helps in the development of brain and other tissues of the baby. The B6 vitamin in these fruits may help in reducing nausea that is associated with pregnancy.

Avocado is considered a good source of potassium which helps regulate blood pressure. Adequate intake of potassium can help guard against circulatory diseases, like high blood pressure, heart disease, or stroke. Avocado also has a notable level of folate, a nutrient that reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke.

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Avocados contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help lower cholesterol. Clinical feeding studies in humans have shown that avocado oil can reduce blood cholesterol. Leaf and seed extracts have been used for a variety of medical application, including treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery and as an antibiotic.

Being rich in antioxidants, avocado is believed to be helpful in preventing aging symptoms. The glutathione in avocado boosts immune systems, slows the aging process, and encourages a healthy nervous system.

The current world production of Avocado of ten major producers countrywise in tonnes is: Mexico 1,040,390, Indonesia 263,575, United States of America 214,000, Colombia 185,811, Brazil 175,000, Chile 163,000, Dominican Republic 140,000, Peru 102,000, China 85,000, and Ethiopia 81,500.

[CGS]

Tech News

The Alluring World of Browsing Making us Smarter?

The mom next door believes that her school going son has become smarter these days, thanks to the sleek laptop and latest tablet which have been gifted to him on his birthday by his dad. These days her son hardly has any time for anything else as he is busy working on his laptop all the time! The poor mom may not have any clue as to what her son is doing with or how he is using his prized possessions. This is a typical scenario one encounters everywhere. Like most of the average moms (and dads too!), are we confusing computer/ internet literacy with that of smartness?

Research and surveys: Whether internet browsing is making the user smart or stupid is a hot topic of debate the world over. There are any number of contradictory views and findings on this topic. The views expressed and the results of various studies in this regard can be categorised into May 2012ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď Ž7

(i) Opinion polls and surveys conducted by professional agencies, (ii) Sponsored studies, opinion polls and surveys conducted by those who have a stake in the continued success of internet technology and business or by commercial agencies, (iii) Independent and impartial scientific research and investigations, and, (iv) Speculations and subjective views of writers, scholars, and, celebrities. Of these (ii) and to some extent (iv) are the most vociferous and pervasive and have the power and influence to sway the public opinion. Whereas (i) and specifically (iii) generally go unnoticed by the common man. The results emanating out of (iii) can only be authentic; however there could be some truth in the views and opinions originating from others, which can be sorted out from the midst of misleading and irrelevant information only by experts.

The Findings: The following are the excerpts from the findings of various studies and also some of the views expressed by scholars. The list is very brief and is not at all exhaustive, but contains the more critical views and important discoveries. · Dr Garry Small M.D., Professor of Psychiatry at University of California, Los Angeles, in 2007 through studies of MRI scans of volunteers – of both experienced web surfers and novices proved that ‘five hours on the Internet and the naive subjects had already rewired their brains, in ways very similar with that of experienced surfers’. It looked as if with lots of brain cells buzzing with activity internet is making people smarter. But Garry Small was careful to point out, more brain activity is not necessarily better brain activity. In his book co-authored with Gigi Vorgan, ‘iBRAIN: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind ’ (Harper Collins, 2008), Garry Small tells us that the modern shift in how we gather information and communicate with one another has touched off an era of rapid evolution that may ultimately even change the human brain. · The findings suggest that tech-savvy people: (i) Possess greater working memory – they can store and retrieve more bits of information in the short term, (ii) Are more adept at perceptual learning – adjusting their perception of the world in response to changing information, and, (iii) Have better motor skills.

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· Dozens of studies by psychologists, neurobiologists, and educators point to the same conclusion: When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning. Even as the Internet grants us easy access to vast amounts of information, it is turning us into shallower thinkers, literally changing the structure of our brain[1]. · Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use of computers and the internet. These tend to involve more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye coordination, reflex response, and the processing of visual cues. One much-cited study of videogaming, published in Nature 2003, revealed that after just 10 days of playing action games on computers, a group of young people had significantly boosted the speed with which they could shift their visual focus between various images and tasks. But perhaps it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making us smarter. In an article published in Science, 2009, Patricia Greenfield, Distinguished Professor, Developmental Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, reviewed more than 40 studies of the effects of various types of media on intelligence and learning ability. She concluded that ‘every medium develops some cognitive skills at the expense of others’. Our growing use of the internet and other screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the ‘widespread and sophisticated development of visual-spatial skills’.

But those gains go hand in hand with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of ‘deep processing’ that underpins ‘mindful knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical thinking, imagination, and reflection’. · It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens brain functions related to fast-paced problem-solving, particularly when it requires spotting patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the way women search for medical information on – line indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds. The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more adept our brain becomes at those tasks. Other academics, like Clay Shirky (Writer, Consultant and Teacher,New Technology and Social media), maintain that the Web provides us with a valuable outlet for a growing ‘cognitive surplus’. [2] · ‘There is no doubt that the Internet is making much more information available, instantly, in more formats to more people, thus this tool is May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines9

seen as definitely enhancing the intelligence of those who are fortunate enough to be able to go online’, says Janna Anderson, Director, Imagining, the Internet Center at Elon University. This is more relevant to the technology users. · ‘We know that the human brain is highly plastic; neurons and synapses change as circumstances change. When we adapt to a new cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new medium, we end up with a different brain’, says Michael Merzenich, Professor Emeritus Neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco and a pioneer of the field of neuroplasticity. ‘That means our online habits continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming and multitasking while ignoring those used for reading and thinking deeply’. · The ability to scan and browse is as important as the ability to read deeply and think attentively. The problem is that skimming is becoming our dominant mode of thought. Once a means to an end, a way to identify information for further study, it’s becoming an end in itself - our preferred method of both learning and analysis.

Dazzled by the internet’s treasures, we are blind to the damage we may be doing to our intellectual lives and even our culture.What we’re experiencing is, in a metaphorical sense, a reversal of the early trajectory of civilization – We are evolving from cultivators of personal knowledge into hunters and gatherers in the electronic data forest. In the process, we seem fated to sacrifice much of what makes our minds so interesting [1].

[1] The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr., 2010, W.W. Norton and Company [2] Cognitive Surplus – Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age, Clark Shirky, 2010, Penguin Press (To be concluded in the next issue of EKL) [Dr H. Ganesh] How many seemingly impossible things have been accomplished by resolute men because they had to do, or die.

- Napoleon Bonaparte

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Tech News

e-waste Disposal An Overview

Electronic waste or e-waste is a term used to describe end of life or discarded appliances using electricity. It consists of obsolete electronic devices and includes computers, consumer electronics, mobile phones, air conditioners, digital diaries etc. Some electronic scrap components such as CRTs contain contaminants like lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury and brominated flame retardants. In fact, e-waste contains toxic substances such as lead and cadmium in circuit boards, lead oxide and cadmium in monitor CRTs, mercury in switches and flat screen monitors, cadmium in computer batteries, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in older capacitors and transformers etc. Land filling of e-wastes can lead to leaching of lead into the ground water. The cadmium from one mobile phone battery is enough to pollute 600m3 of water.

Solid waste management which is already a mammoth task in India is becoming more complicated by the invasion of e-waste particularly computer waste. Increasing number of electronic products and reduced product life are leading to increase in e-waste. Both the volume of e-waste being generated and the content of toxic materials in them complicate the situation.

E-waste from developed countries find an easy way into developing countries in the name of free trade and this is further complicating the problems associated with waste management.

There is no separate collection of e-waste in India. Hence there is no clear data on the quantity generated and the resulting extent of environmental risk. The preferred practice to get rid of obsolete electronic items in India is to get them in exchange from retailers when purchasing a new item. Obsolete computers from the business sector are sold by auctions. Some times educational or charitable institutions receive old computers for reuse. According to a report of Confederation of Indian Industries, the total waste generated by obsolete or broken down electronic and electrical equipment in India has been estimated to be 1,46,000 tons per year.

Despite a wide range of environment legislation in India, there are no specific laws or guidelines for electronic waste or computer waste.

As per the Hazardous Waste Rules (1989), e-waste is not treated May 2012ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď Ž11

as hazardous unless proved to have higher concentration of certain substances. Though PCBs and CRTs would always exceed these parameters, there are several grey areas that need to be addressed.

But e-waste is included under list A and List B of Schedule 3 of the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules 1989 as amended in 2000 and 2003. The import of this waste therefore requires specific permission of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

However, draft rules on e- waste have been framed which are proposed to be called the e-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2010. They shall apply to producers, dealers, collection centres, refurbishers, dismantlers, recyclers, auctioneers, consumers or bulk consumers involved in the manufacture, processing, sale or purchase of electrical and electronic equipment or components as specified in Schedule - I. But they shall not apply to radioactive wastes (as covered under provision of the Atomic Energy Act 1962), ozone depleting substances (as covered under Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000) and batteries (as covered under the Batteries (M&H) Rules, 2001).

In the international framework, circuit boards, CRTs and other electronic boards or components and assemblies containing lead based solders and copper beryllium alloys are indeed hazardous wastes according to Basel Convention. Likewise whole, used, discarded computers, printers and monitors that contain such circuit boards or CRTs that are not to be reused directly are hazardous waste and subject to Basel Convention.

As collection and recycling of electronic wastes is being done by the informal sector in the country at present, the Government has taken the following steps to enhance awareness about environmentally sound management of electronic waste: a. Several workshops on Electronic Waste Management Action by CPCB for rapid assessment of the e-waste generated in major cities of the country. b. A national Working Group has been constituted for formulating a strategy for e-waste management. c. A comprehensive technical guide on "Environmental Management for Information Technology Industry in India" has been published and circulated by DIT. d. Demonstration projects have been set up by DIT at the Indian Telephone Industries for recovery of copper from Printed Circuit Boards.

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Unfortunately, the accrued electronic and electric waste in India is still dismantled and sorted manually to fractions. It is a livelihood for unorganized recyclers who are risking their health and the environment. Working in poorly ventilated enclosed areas without masks and technical expertise results in exposure to dangerous and slow poisoning chemicals. PCBs and brominated flame retardants for instance can release highly toxic dioxins and furans when burned to retrieve copper from the wires.

[Dr Raju Narayana Swamy I.A.S., Ph.D.]

How Words Originated...

Stow High In Transit

In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by ship, and it was also before the invention of commercial fertilizers, so large shipments of manure were quite common. It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, not only did it become heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is methane gas of course. As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles, you can see what could (and did) happen. Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM! Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined just what was happening. After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the instruction 'Stow high in transit' on them, which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane.

Thus evolved the term 'S.H.I.T', (Stow High In Transit) which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.

[Sourced by: Susy Mathew]

Difficulties are things that show what men are.

- Epictetus May 2012ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď Ž13

Management

Understanding Diversity

Key to Absorb Culture Shock Vishal, an Indian IT professional was on his first on-site assignment in the U.S. One day he completed his work around 7 PM and returned to his apartment complex. He got into the elevator and pressed the button for the 14th floor where he was staying. At the second floor, the elevator stopped and a girl entered. She was going to the 11th floor.

Vishal had kept his eyes down and did not lift his eyes up until the girl got out of the elevator on the 11th floor. On reaching his apartment, he received a complaint accusing him of sexual harassment. His friends and supervisors were shocked because they knew him as an extremely shy person. He pleaded that he did not even look at her and never spoke to her. That indeed was the subject of the complaint. The accusation was that he totally ignored her and behaved as if she did not exist. He was expected to smile and say “Hi”, thus registering her presence and say “Bye. Have a good day” when she left the elevator.

Vishal is a fast learner. Three months after his return to India, he was posted at Hyderabad. He was staying in the company’s flat on a highrise apartment. One day, he met a girl in the elevator and greeted her with “Hi”. Similarly he bid her goodbye when she got off the elevator.

Lo and behold! On reaching his apartment, he received a complaint accusing him of sexual harassment. The accusation this time was that he volunteered to greet and speak to a stranger of the opposite sex. The reason for the embarrassment on both the occasions is ignorance of social behavioral norms which are part of a region’s culture.

A Western business house was scouting for an Indian IT company to outsource its IT needs. Everywhere the representatives of the company went, they heard very similar presentations about hiring policies, training programs, quality certifications, infrastructure and client testimonials. They were confused. Even the pricing was more or less uniform. All of them had adequate H1B visa holders too. Suddenly a spark struck one of the members of the assessment team. He had noticed that in only one of the companies, they had offered decaffeinated coffee in addition to the other normal beverages. He argued that this is the only company that has understood the culture of the prospective client and behaved accordingly. That company was chosen as the outsourcing partner.

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Globalization Globalization does not mean larger export revenues or mere presence in multiple geographies. Globalization involves getting fully embedded in multiple societies. It means the ability to be globally competitive, leverage global assets & opportunities and exploit the diversity in human resources for the benefit of global customers. In the globalized economy an enterprise has the freedom to source raw materials from Malaysia, hire designers from India, raise capital from Singapore, establish the manufacturing unit in China and market the goods in Europe. In such a scenario the enterprise needs to know and acknowledge the subtle cultural nuances among its global stakeholders.

By “culture” we mean the aggregate of beliefs, habits and practices characterizing a group of people in a geographical region and / or belonging to a particular time period. The cultural traits do have a bearing on the smooth flow of the business chain, because they influence attitudes and reinforce professional behavior. However the enterprise should not attempt to homogenize the behavioral pattern of its global workforce into one set of uniform codes. The broad parameters of the company’s Vision, Mission and Values have to be interpreted depending on the local culture. Words such as “Globalization” and phrases such as “Global process and local implementation” are being increasingly heard today.

More importantly, the enterprise should not attempt to pass value judgments on the diverse cultural practices. There is nothing like a good practice or bad practice. Diversity management should limit itself to taking cognizance of the diverse behavioral patterns with the sole aim of minimizing misunderstandings. Trompenaars and Hofstede have spent several years researching diverse cultural traits by interviewing several thousands of employees. They have classified the behavior patterns into a few abstract headings. We shall take a look at some of these.

Generic or specific Generic (or universal) cultures are predominantly rule-based.

Workflow processes are rigidly defined and deviation is made extremely difficult. What we call bureaucratic behavior refers to a kind of generic culture. Generic cultures will easily qualify for certifications such as ISO. They spend enormous time in documenting and committing themselves to tight legal contracts. Specific (or particular) cultures, on the other hand, allow freedom for making context-specific decisions May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines15

under the overall envelope of the organization’s value system.

Specificity based cultures place informal relationships ahead of formal contracts. Sometimes such behavior is likely to be misunderstood as arbitrary and unpredictable.

Suppose that an electronic chip is manufactured at two quality levels – one with relaxed specifications for normal commercial use and another with stringent specifications for mission critical space applications. Assume that a customer has placed orders for the high specification device and the manufacturer knows that the customer is not in mission critical business. If the device fails to meet the stringent specification, the universal culture will reject the device and not supply it; the end use of the device is immaterial. The particular culture will waive the deviation because the end use does not call for stringent specifications.

Individual or Community Individualist cultures encourage risk taking and provide allowance for failures in truly creative endeavors. They are also known for practicing meritocracy. In such a culture, an individual is self reliant and rises or drowns on his own. Children are made to believe that they are responsible for their progress. There is no place for a family or societal protective umbrella. Community (or team) cultures believe in team performance. It is possible for a non-performer to hide behind a competent team. The members are loyal to the team and are rewarded by getting protection and support in return. In the societal context, wherever joint family system is practiced, extended family members make decisions on behalf of junior members. Even purely personal decisions such as the choice of higher studies, choice of career and choice of life partner are made by others. If a teenager chooses to leave home and live independently, it will be considered blasphemy in a community culture. On the other hand, in an individualist culture, a teenager continuing to live with family will be considered abnormal.

Democratic governments practice community culture when they speak about collective responsibility of the cabinet; cynics from individual culture will interpret it as diffused responsibility or no responsibility.

In a loose sense we can say that an individual culture promotes capitalism and community culture promotes socialism.

Equal or unequal Some cultures have institutionalized inequalities in power and position among its members. Thus one is always subservient to 16Executive Knowledge LinesMay 2012

somebody else – to elder siblings and parents, teachers, bosses and so on. Because individual initiative is not encouraged without prior permission, this transforms into dependence on team / community described above. Let us consider a scenario where a customer from the ‘equal’ culture discusses a change in requirements with the on-site consultant from an ‘unequal’ culture. He invariably receives a response ‘Let me talk to my off-shore Project Manager and get back to you’. The behavior is clearly an indicator of coming from an unequal culture.

This is not to be interpreted as lack of competency on the part of the consultant to take a decision but as a cultural habit of taking counsel from a person hierarchically “above” oneself. The author was once telling a guest that “he is working under Prof. X”. The professor who happened to overhear the conversation told the author that the correct usage would be “working with Prof. X”. This is a case of “equal” trait making its appearance amidst an “unequal” environment. (.......To be continued) [R Narayanan]

Looking Back at EKL • Computer - The Persons Behind - EKL Nov. 2009 • Plants for Water Purification - Sustainable Alternatives for Survival - EKL Mar. 2010 • Vestigial Organs of our Body - Yet to Unravel their Roles - EKL May 2010 • Carver’s Economics - Economics of Peanuts - EKL Dec. 2010 • The Hot Button - A Necessary Evil - EKL Feb. 2011

Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.

- Marcus Aelius Aurelius

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General

At the Crossroads

At the busy junction near my house I espy the bitch – that mutt Who used to be the clandestine lover Of my Tommy, gone, two years hence.

She was never a pretty dog, black and mangy Her swollen teats sweeping the street Her rough coat coated with dirt – Yet - she was my Tommy’s lover.

The dog has turned quite old – She limps and is skinny Her face has turned grey And fur fallen off in patches.

It is midday; I wipe my bald head I limp; my knees hurt lately I sweat, I palpitate In the glass windows of a shop I glimpse An old man, dragging his feet.

The dog passes by me, turns right; I turn left and head home.

[Balachandran V] May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines19

In Forthcoming Issues w New manufacturing tool: A temperature-controlled microbe w Vaccine to treat Alzheimer’s disease w Noise Cancelling Headphones: Boon or Bane? w Audio fingerprint: Every phone call has an acoustic fingerprint which information can be used to restore trust to the telephone network and help identify phone fraudsters. w Home Heliostats: Motorized mirrored devices for home use that move to compensate for the changing angle of the Sun, reflecting its rays onto fixed targets like a window, photovoltaic panel, or solar oven.

EKL Sudoku 66 [Hard]

Improve your concentration.

Use reasoning and fill each row, column and 3 x 3 grid in bold borders with each of the digits from 1 to 9.

Solution on page 45.

[BNN]

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3

8

7

6

9 2

1 8 7 9 4 1 3 4 3 2 6 7 5 1 8 2 2 5 4 9 7

Info Scan

Information Explosion A Challenge - Part VII

In 2010, CISCO, San Jose, California conducted a survey involving University students on the usage of mobile phones and laptops.

Surprisingly, it turned out that all the participants were willing to forgo their breakfast and other commitments, however serious they might be, to log in to their social networking sites/internet first thing in the morning and to keep engaged with it for prolonged periods at a stretch, even if it demanded skipping their lunch! During the survey they emphatically stated that mobile phones and laptops were their most prized possessions, which they would not like to part with at any time.

A research team led by Dr Catriona Morrison of the Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, U.K. carried out a large scale study to consider the relationship between internet addiction and depression. The results of their work was published in the Journal of Psychopathology, Vol. 43, No. 2, February 2010. The study concluded that people who spend a lot of time browsing the net are more likely to show depressive symptoms. Researchers found striking evidence that some users have developed a compulsive internet habit, whereby they replace real-life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites. The results suggest that this type of addictive surfing can have a serious impact on mental health. ‘The internet now plays a huge part in modern life, but its benefits are accompanied by a darker side. The addicted users also had a higher incidence of moderate to severe depression than non-addicted users. What is clear, is that for a small subset of people, excessive use of the internet could be a warning signal for depressive tendencies. This study reinforces the public speculation that over-engaging in websites that serve to replace normal social function might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction.

We now need to consider the wider societal implications of this relationship and establish clearly the effects of excessive internet use on mental health’, says Dr Morrison. ‘Our research indicates that excessive internet use is associated with depression, but what we don't know is which comes first - are depressed people drawn to the internet or does the internet cause May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines21

depression?’, added Dr Morrison. In the Leeds study, it was found that young people were more likely to be internet addicted than middleaged users, with the average age of the addicted group standing at 21 years.

IT gadgets and applications wield a mesmerising influence on children and teenagers. As such the chances of their misuse, abuse and overuse increases enormously with devastating consequences.

‘Ears plugged to the music and forever glued to gadgets such as a mobile phone, a game console or a notebook – that is the modern youth for you.

Owning a smartphone is a status symbol and social networking is the in – thing. ….Modern gadgets have enveloped the minds of the young like a thick fog. Many a times they find it difficult to come out of it.

So much so their behavior starts affecting their mental health. Drop in scholastic levels, poor attendance in schools, irritable behavior and lack of real time social interactions are the direct consequences of high use of such gadgets’ observes Dr. C.J. John, Consultant Psychiatrist , Medical Trust Hospital, Cochin [1]. The recent survey of ‘Most Exciting Youth Brands’ conducted by Nielson Company is an eye opener into how the technology is transforming the minds of modern youth. Nokia bags the first place dethroning the traditional soft drink brands! The results published in Economic Times starts with the prologue, ‘They were born this way. Surgically attached to their mobiles they spend their days (and nights) living and thriving in virtual lands…..’

K. Sreejith, a child counsellor, drawing on his experience working with children at a prestigious school in Kottayam District, Kerala, points out ‘Parents take pride about their children playing games on computer, but there are dangerous traps on-line and the way continued exposure to computer gaming will impact psychological profile of the children calls for serious attention. Computer games cause high pressure and tension in young minds. This is bound to have an impact on the behaviour and character of the young adult and grown up person later, something that should worry every upward mobile family out there grooming a little one into the adulthood’ [2].

Dr Varghese Punnoose, Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Alappuzha Medical College, Kerala, points out that, ‘WHO is likely to consider revising its list of behavior addictions to include addictions to internet, mobile phones, computer games and television, besides gambling and substance abuse’[1].

‘The power of the addictive influence of mobiles, internet and social 22Executive Knowledge LinesMay 2012

media should not be underestimated’, caution the medical profession.

The lurking danger is that of late a significant portion of young people getting affected were in general normal and energetic individuals to begin with who would not have even dreamt that they may fall a prey to the negative impact of the technology in their life time. An individual may sometimes accidentally stray into the virtual world of internet and get addicted – the possible causative factors could be a life style or occupation devoid of purpose and meaning, peer pressure (specifically in the case of children, teenagers and young adults), distressing turn of events in life, and the like, all of which have the potential to create a predisposing condition. ‘The specialists estimate that 6 percent to 10 percent of the approximately 189 million Internet users in this country (USA) have a dependency that can be as destructive as alcoholism and drug addiction.’ [3] A study conducted by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India has shown that excessive internet browsing can cause insomnia, depression, anxiety and obesity. The study has also revealed that the children of working parents are found to be more internet addictive. This may be due to the absence of parental control. The purpose of the study was to obtain the effects of too much internet use by children between eight to eighteen years.

Fifty percent of the children interviewed said that they surfed on internet for more than five hours a day.

It is to be pointed out here that a selected few of the findings from among the large number of original and independent research investigations carried out till recently and also some of the views expressed by scholars, writers and professionals only are cited in this article. There are any number of contradictory views, results of opinion polls, surveys and sponsored studies and speculative assertions made by writers and celebrities which appear regularly in the journals, magazines and other media, particularly in the western world. Most of these are there either for the sake of only challenging and countering the genuine discoveries or to gain popularity. Generally the sponsored studies are promoted by commercial agencies and by those who have high stakes in the continued success of computer/internet applications and products business and therefore it is likely that such studies are biased. However it is important to note that sometimes the observations of the above mentioned studies do reveal certain facts which are not covered by the authentic research studies thus opening up new directions for investiMay 2012Executive Knowledge Lines23

gations and /or do become supplementary and complementary to the latter. Many of the speculative predictions of the scholars are futuristic and who knows, may turn out to be the ultimate truth in course of time! In short all the investigations are in their infancies and the final word is yet come.

[1] How gadgets impact behavior patterns, The Hindu, December 21, 2011 [2] Child’s play: sowing a few seeds of concern, The Hindu, March 3, 2012 [3] Hooked on the web: Help is on the way, NYT [Dr H. Ganesh]

Volume 7 Issue 10 May 2012 Chief Editor N T Nair

Cover Design S Premkumar

Technical Editor Dr B N Nair

Advertising and Subscriptions S N Nair

Editorial Board Prof. V K Damodaran P R Chandran Prof. Harimohan Bhattathiri

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Editorial Office Knowledge House, Mathrubhumi Road, Trivandrum 695 035, India.

Contact: Senior Knowledge Executive, Tel. 91 471 247 2928 email: eklines@gmail.com www.knowledgelines.com

A Taste of EKL Please visit the EKL website below to read selected contents from back issues:

www.knowledgelines.com

24Executive Knowledge LinesMay 2012

Science in Perspective

Infinitely Extendable But Non-repetitive!

When Daniel Shechtman announced his discovery of “quasicrystals” in 1989, the scientific world was highly critical. According to Shechtman, quasicrystals had infinitely extendable structures, but they lacked periodicity! They were aperiodic. They did not show any repeating pattern. This presented a difficulty. Crystallographers were quite familiar with periodic and repetitive patterns. Most crystals were known to be composed of three-dimensional arrangements of atoms, that repeat in an orderly pattern. All the well-known and well-studied crystals had such repetitive patterns. For example, a copper crystal could be represented by a unit cell which repeated itself, with a facecentred cubic lattice.

But a non-repetitive pattern? It amounted almost to a “contradiction in terms”! The scientific orthodoxy could not conceive such a situation. Even great scientists like Nobel Laureate Professor Linus Pauling ridiculed Shechtman. Pauling famously chided Shechtman and said: “There simply are no quasi-crystals; we may have quasi-scientists”!

Even Shechtman’s university (the Technion in Israel) almost asked him to leave the university, without bringing more bad reputation to the institution. But Shechtman single-mindedly struggled on. Soon, other scientists made observations which supported Schechtman.

Quasicrystals were made in different research labs across the world.

And Professor Shechtman received the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2011 in recognition of his discovery of quasi-crystals!

In this context, it is interesting to note that mathematicians had no such difficulty in accepting the idea of non-repeatability. For example, π (the ratio of the length of the circumference of a circle to the length of its diameter) is an irrational and infinitely extendable number.

Archimedes (287-212 B.C) considered the value of π to lie between 22/7 and 223/71. Aryabhata calculated π correct to 4 decimals (around 500 A.D). His value is 3.1416………., Madhava of Sangamagrama in 1400 A,D calculated π as equal to 3.14159265359… (11 decimals).

May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines25

Using modern supercomputers, π has been calculated up to more than 8 billion decimal places. But the infinite series goes on, without any repeating pattern!

The cases of the famous numbers “e” (base of natural logarithms) and Φ (the golden ratio) are similar.

Thus e = 2.71828182845904... and Φ = 1.6180339887...; both are never-ending series!

No wonder that mathematics is praised as the “crest of the peacock” (mayuranam sikha) in the ancient Indian Vedas!

[Dr C.G. Ramachandran Nair]

Energy

Nuclear Power

The Lesser Evil ?

It is not the intention here to put any elaborate statistics, but only to appeal to your common sense. Yes, Fukushima was a serious setback.

Before that, there were Chernobyl and Three Mile Island (TMI) accidents. But if you look at all major industries, it has taken time for technology to evolve. With a record of just three accidents in the first 56 years of operation, nuclear power generation is one of the safest industries around. To emphasize, first, every technology goes through a period during which it takes time to mature, in terms of safety. Earlier, there used to be numerous ship wrecks, plane crashes, oil leaks etc. Yes, there still are, but the frequency has fallen dramatically. It is in this context that we should see the nuclear power sector: three accidents in the first 56 years, out of which only one, Chernobyl, has caused public deaths. This is an exemplary safety record unmatched by any industry, not even when the level of complexity is lower.

This brings us to another aspect; that the nuclear industry is learning from its mistakes, like every other technology. Deaths were caused in Chernobyl due to poor dissemination of accident-related information. But in Fukushima, even though the severity of accident was much larger, there has been not even a single radiation-related death, thanks to efficient information-sharing. One by one, all the 26Executive Knowledge LinesMay 2012

causes of accidents are being tackled. There are dozens of instances every year in earthquake prone countries, when the reactors shut down by themselves in case of an earthquake. This happened in Fukushima as well, though the tsunami which arrived later wrecked havoc. But it has to be noticed that the reactor did exactly what it was designed to do. It was designed for a 5 m tsunami. What it was not designed for was a 13 m high tsunami. So the error was in anticipating the severity of the tsunami, not in the reactor design per se. This is a very important point since the blame for this has to be shared by everyone from the meteorological department to other independent agencies, not just the nuclear power industry. In fact, basic probability analysis suggested that Fukushima should be expecting a tsunami of such severity once in 30 years. Assuming an average reactor lifetime of 60 years, this means that every reactor in that region should expect two such tsunamis during its operation. Even in this scenario, if the reactor was not designed accordingly, it points to the lax attitude of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan (it hardly reflects the famed Japanese efficiency), and definitely not the soundness of the reactor design.

Yes, it’s a fact that nuclear power can be disastrous. But that is only in case of an accident. Compare this with coal, which is killing hundreds of miners every year. Or to the electricity generated from fossil fuels, natural gas and coal, which will kill hundreds of thousands in the future through their contribution to global warming, accident or not. So do we choose sure death of our children due to global warming, or death only in case of a nuclear accident, the already low frequency of which is decreasing even further every decade? What right do we have to destroy the lives of future generations by saturating our atmosphere with CO2 by the time they arrive in this world? It is clear that we cannot improve our standards of living, which is abysmally low,

May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines27

without an increase in per capita electricity consumption. Do we want to go about implementing this increase with absolute disregard for the future generations, or by supporting nuclear power, without which Japan would not have had the Sonys, the Nikons and the Canons, without which France would not have been a net electricity exporter, and without which the US would not have been the power it is today (the US has 104 reactors)? It is all very well for organizations like PMANE and Greenpeace to say that we don’t want nuclear power.

The question is, what else?

[Sreeyuth Lal, M.Sc. Nuclear Engg. Student, ETH Zurich, Switzerland ] Note: Readers are welcome to send in their comments to: eklines@gmail.com

HealthScape

Let’s Talk, Doctor

Connecting Patients with Doctors A unique healthcare initiative was launched little over a year ago

by Dr Jyotsna Codaty as a website www.letstalkdoc.com, to connect patients with doctors who go by the principles of Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician, known as the father of modern medicine.

28Executive Knowledge LinesMay 2012

This forum encourages easy, informal and authentic information on all health and healthcare related matters between patients and doctors of various specialties. It also hopes to propagate the idea of the friendly doctor for whom no question is too small. Since its launch the site has grown with repeat visitors who say they have formed a bond with it and trust in it. It has over a hundred doctors aboard who will answer questions related to their specialty and is non commercial with the sole aim of answering patients / consumers concerns, however complex or trivial they may seem to be.

Many say that the internet is a treasure trove of information; do we need one more site? Dr Jyotsna replies, “Dealing with people and their health is complex and contextual. It is also personal. If it were that simple, by now, there would be an ‘app’ for it! Also reliability is a problem on the internet apart from overload of information.

Who has the time and the comprehension to sift through 50000 hits that might come up when you Google any subject? Letstalkdoc.com connects patients with doctors by leveraging a social media platform.

This allows consumers/readers/patients to read blogs, view videos and share information on a site that is moderated by a senior physician.

Questions on the website range from fairly simple questions like Vitamin deficiencies, skin issues and hair fall, questions pertaining to dietetics to hardcore medical queries pertaining to heart failure, cancer, and thyroid problems. Life style diseases like hypertension, diabetes and arthritis constitute a large percentage of questions. “Our most gratifying moments were when we were able to guide a terminal case to a hospice where she spent her last weeks of life, point a gentleman from semi urban UP to a proper specialist in the capital city of that state and to guide another for an emergency surgery.” The website also contains a section on several blogs by different doctors giving information in a simple style that is easily understood- no medical jargon is the USP of the site.

The blogs offer short informative articles on a wide range of subjects and readers sometimes ask for information on a particular subject. www.letstalkdoc.com is a uni-que site with features of a web magazine with an interactive component styled on a social networking template which gives the reader an easy level of comfort while interacting with doctors. “We hope that it will become their friendly neighborhood doctor whom they will use to clarify all their medical queries.”

[For more details: Dr Jyotsna Codaty] drjcodaty@gmail.com May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines29

Technologies in Horizon

Cemetery Headstones Going High-tech

For the past 5,000 years, cemetery headstones have not undergone any significant change. As years passby, what is available for memorialization is just the writings on the tomb stones. Now an innovative approach, “Living Headstone" memorials making use of advanced technologies like QR codes (EKL May'11), will help+ preserve salient aspects of one's life for future generations.

While technology has allowed for more mobility, it has also increased the separation of families worldwide. What hasn’t changed is our desire to keep memories of loved ones alive for future generations. A new type of headstone has been devised that blends the timeless tradition of granite headstones with advanced technologies, connecting families regardless of where they live. It is an interactive "living” memorial that is a legacy for future generations.

Similar to a personal Facebook page, a Living Headstones® archive website contains information we and friends add about our loved one, say, an obituary, family heritage and history, photos, comments by friends and relatives and even links to social sites like Facebook or Twitter.

Here, a link is added to the granite memorial which enables users of smart phones to connect to a personalized website. It can be viewed on the phone as visitors wander through the cemetery or on a computer by using the unique web address.

Although others may view the information, only visitors authorized by the family administrator can post information on the web page.

Adding this facility to existing memorials like cemetery headstones 30Executive Knowledge LinesMay 2012

is also possible, in the form of a miniature memorial plaque with the digital link, to be displayed in the home or garden or even on a field stone in a Green Burial Cemetery.

The price of a Living Headstones® code link and a lifetime subscription to the specific personal web page is $75.00, while for an existing headstone or memorial, adding this feature would cost $150.00.

[For details: http://www.monuments.com]

News Scan

Action for Road Safety

U.N. Initiative for 2011-2020 Nearly 1.3 million people in the world die each year of road crashes, 90% of them in low and middle-income countries. Another 20 to 50 million people suffer serious injuries. Road traffic injuries are also the leading cause of death for people from 10 to 24 years of age. Significant numbers of road traffic fatalities and injuries can be prevented by addressing the leading causes, which include excess speed, lack of seat-belt and child restraint use, drinking and driving, lack of helmet use by riders on two-wheel and three-wheel motorized vehicles, poorly designed and inadequately maintained roads, unsafe infrastructure and vehicles, and inadequate trauma care.

Concerned about the enormity of losses - personal and economical - WHO, the United Nations regional commissions and other stakeholders have developed a Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. On 11 May 2011, the Decade was launched in at least 110 countries around the world. This was followed by a new resolution set to improve global road safety adopted on 19 April 2012 by the UN General Assembly.

The vision is a world in which mobility is safe for all those who use the world’s roads. The alternative is grim: if no action is taken to address the current crisis, road traffic fatalities are forecast to rise from the current 1.3 million deaths annually to more than 1.9 million by 2020. The goal of the Decade is to stabilize and then reduce the predicted number of lives that could be lost.

[For details: http://www.who.int/roadsafety/] May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines31

General

Two Wishes A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him.

The waitress asks for their orders. The man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke," and turns to the ostrich, "What's yours"?

"I'll have the same," says the ostrich.

A short time later, the waitress returns with the order. "That will be $9.40 please," she says and the man reaches into his pocket and pulls out the exact change for payment.

The next day, the man and the ostrich come again and the man says, "A hamburger, fries, and a coke."

The ostrich says, "I'll have the same."

Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.

This becomes routine until the two enter again later in the week.

"The usual"? asks the waitress.

"No, this is Friday night, so I will have a steak, baked potato and salad," says the man.

"Same," says the ostrich.

Shortly, the waitress brings the order and says, "That will be $32.62."

Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and places it on the table.

The waitress can't hold back her curiosity any longer.

"Excuse me, sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change out of your pocket every time"?

"Well," says the man, "several years ago, I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it, a genie appeared and offered me two wishes. My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money would always be there."

"That's brilliant!" says the waitress. "Most people would wish for a million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want for as long as you live!"

"That's right. Whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there," says the man.

The waitress asks, "But what's with the ostrich"?

The man sighs and answers, "My second wish was for a tall chick with long legs who agrees with everything I say."

[Sourced by: Susy Mathew] 32ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď ŽMay 2012

EKL Back Issues Print and e-copies available We are proud and happy that by now EKL has become a collectors' item for many readers. Requests for back issues (both print and e-copies) are reaching us regularly and we are now in a position to supply copies of yesteryears, in both versions.

Here are the details: Printed Version: Organised on an yearly basis starting from 2006 to 2011. Cost of 12 issues of any one year: Rs 500 (inclusive of packing and courier charges) Electronic Copies: Cost of a CD containing electronic copies of EKL (pdfs) of 12 months of any one year of your choice: Rs 250 (inclusive of packing and courier charges) Orders can be sent to the following address with payment*: Manager Executive Knowledge Lines Knowledge House, Mathrubhumi Road Trivandrum 695 035 * Payment details: As DD or local(Trivandrum) or at par cheque, in the name 'EKL' payable at Trivandrum. Money Order option may also be used, but please make sure that the address, phone and year selected etc. are clearly written on the MO form.

Alternatively, for NEFT transfer of funds: IFS code: PUNB0362400, A/c No.: 362400 21000 11040, Punjab National Bank, Medical College, Trivandrum 695 011.

Special Note: Printed version is available in limited quantities only. Hence we may be excused if we return your payment, due to prior ordering.

May 2012ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď Ž33

Technology in Perspective

Technology

Through the Ages - Part 12 As the world of Physics was recovering from the shock waves triggered by Einstein, yet another revolution was triggered by Quantum Mechanics, which adapted Planck’s ideas to explain the phenomena in the subatomic world. This new knowledge took the self-assured, deterministic Classical Physics by storm. Whereas Relativity proved Newtonian concepts deficient when dealing with speeds comparable to that of light, or the world of large scales, Quantum Mechanics replaced Classical Physics in tackling problems in the subatomic microcosm. In the microscopic scale of sizes, determinism gave way to probability (likelihood or chance). One had also to reconcile with the wave-particle duality, which allows a wave or a particle (like light or electron respectively) to impersonate as the other under appropriate conditions.

Above all, Quantum Mechanics forced a revision of our concepts of reality. “Is there an ‘objective reality’ out there?” became a most nagging question, and it continues to be debated in intellectual circles. The ‘hero’ of Quantum Mechanics, however, is the “Uncertainty Principle” enunciated by Werner Heisenberg, which states that there are certain pairs of physical quantities like the position and momentum (product of mass and speed) of an object whose values can never be determined both simultaneously and accurately. More the accuracy achieved in one, the more the inaccuracy in the other!

It is an acknowledged fact that Einstein holds the sole credit for the formulation of Relativity. On the contrary, Quantum Mechanics was collectively developed by geniuses such as Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrodinger, PAM Dirac and Werner Heisenberg. Incidentally, Einstein stubbornly refused to reconcile himself with the role of probability and uncertainty in Physics so much so he is quoted as saying “God does not play dice with the world”. Be that as it may, Quantum Mechanics continues to be the most powerful single tool to study the microscopic world. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics are the twin pillars of Modern Physics.

Just in case anyone harbors a view that Relativity and Quantum Physics are merely esoteric branches of Physics, nothing is further from 34Executive Knowledge LinesMay 2012

truth! Without the help from these theories, we would not have had at our disposal today the Global Positioning System (GPS) or the countless electronic devices including laser (without which, no CD).

One of the most famous understatements in science is the remark, “This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest”, made by two scientists reporting a discovery of theirs in 1953.

The scientists were James D Watson and Francis Crick who proposed the Double Helix structure of DNA that was to revolutionize Biology by erecting it on a solid, quantitative foundation. Molecular Biology and Genetics drew a fresh vigor from this new knowledge. This led to an unprecedented insight into not just how offsprings inherit their physical characteristics from their parents but also how individual cells in an organism survive from instant to instant in the manner in which natural selection has shaped them. The secret of life is no longer hidden and the floodgates have been opened. Genetic engineering, cloning, developing organs from stem cells and gene therapy have almost become household words. The day may not be far remote when we conquer disease, or who knows, the desirability apart, of even death!

Most of what we take for granted in our lifestyle – communication, transportation, health care – is unthinkable without science. Science is a massive problem solving and information processing enterprise.

It deals with facts about the world in which we live, gained as hard evidence by means of experiment and analysis, and it represents proven knowledge rather than opinion. One of the responsibilities of science is to distinguish meaningful statements from merely emotionally gratifying noises. Science is about deciphering nature. Nature herself being “a riddle wrapped in a mystery shrouded in an enigma” (stealing words from the inimitable Winston Churchill) keeps continually teasing us.

The result is an endless search that would probably go on forever. Or else, science would come to a standstill!

“The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible!” – said Einstein. No one appreciated this better than Albert Einstein, the Man of the 20th Century, who is widely acknowledged as the intellectual heir to Isaac Newton. The third in the line of succession is yet to be discovered!

We shall leave aside pure science and take a look at certain game changing inventions of the 20th century.

[P Radhakrishnan] May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines35

Readers Say

Some Thoughts on Aircraft Landing When I read the note in the April '12 issue of EKL (page 7) on recovering the energy lost in an aircraft landing and using it to propel it on the ground while taxiing, I was reminded about my own research into regenerative braking. I got interested in the subject of regenerative braking while working on a hybrid bus project some ten years back. We realized that the key to making the hybrid idea viable would involve an efficient regenerative braking system, to recover the energy which is wasted in braking, and so make a significant dent in the fuel consumption figures.

A 15 tonne bus traveling at 50 km/h has a kinetic energy of over 1.4 MJ (one kilowatt hour, the common unit of electrical energy is 3.6 MJ).

An ordinary truck battery can easily store this amount of energy. But the problem was that all this has to be done in a few seconds, and that comes to a couple of hundred kilowatts of power. Dumping this sort of power into a battery is not viable; not at least if it has to be light enough to be carried in a bus. A battery requires hours to charge; so the battery will have to have a capacity to store a 1000 MJ if it is to accept 1.4 MJ in seconds.

And that is a very big battery, weighing more than the bus ! Now I would hazard a guess that an Airbus 320 would have a mass of some 150 metric tons (ten times as massive as our bus) and would touch down at about 180 km/h. If so; the energy we are considering is over 187 MJ (134 times that of the bus case above). And the power mentioned is three megawatts. I wonder how they hope to harvest this for use while taxiing.

Another point to be taken into consideration is that it most of the braking force is obtained not from the wheel brakes but from the reverse thrust of the engines in current practice. In fact the wheel brakes are applied only after the aircraft has lost half its momentum. I suspect that the undercarriage would have to be much tougher and heavier if the wheels have to do all the braking and recover the landing energy. And that is over and above the extra weight of the motor-generators required to be added to the wheels to extract the energy and drive the plane when taxiing.

The runway might have to be longer too to reduce the braking load on the landing gear.

When an airliner lands you may have seen the smoke from the burning rubber on touching down. This is because the wheels are not spinning when in the air and they skid on touching the runway as they have to suddenly accelerate from zero rotation to the speed of the 36ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď ŽMay 2012

touchdown; not because of braking. It takes about 10 meters to get the wheels to roll in synch with the aircraft’s speed. The touch down points on runways always have these black charred rubber marks. Due to this; these costly tires do not last even one tenth as much as your car tires. Now it would definitely help if the wheels had motors in them to spin them up to match the right ground speed before they touch the tarmac. This will be one advantage if the wheels can be powered.

I have often fancied adding some vanes on the wheels to make them spin up using the slipstream to achieve the same advantage.

The big jet engines on airliners are the most efficient engines on earth, but they are designed to fly at ten thousand meters altitude, in the thin air at high speed and are indeed very inefficient while pushing the aircraft at slow speed in the dense air at sea level. But it would not be acceptable to add more than the weight of potential fuel saved to provide drives to the wheel for taxiing. Perhaps they should consider a fleet of tractors to move the aircraft along taxiways. Some day may be, linear induction motors laid along taxiways will propel future hydrogen powered aircraft while taxiing.

[D Krishna Warrier]

Info Bits

Memory Decline

Faster in Years Close to Death New research by Robert S. Wilson, PhD, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and team finds that a person's memory declines at a faster rate in the last two-and-a-half years before death than at any other time after memory problems first begin. Another study by them shows that indulging in mentally stimulating activities is the best way to preserve memory during late life, say, through board games such as chess or checkers or reading the newspaper, writing letters, visiting a library etc.

Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done.

- Amelia Earhart May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines37

A Quick Look In this column we take a quick look at some books and articles in magazines which we consider as worth noting. As another item, we also give some expressions in English language which we come across during our journey through various publications of repute. The selection is based on brevity, simplicity and power of words in daily use (not requiring dictionary reference), style etc.

Readers are also encouraged to send similar items to be included in future issues for the benefit of other readers. (eklines@gmail.com) - Editorial Team C lassy Ex p re ssi o n s • There are true believers in technology’s transformative power.

• The exercise was to find the real operating details of entrepreneurial genius of successful people.

• It is a riveting narrative that interweaves compelling stories from education, the military and business, and a wide range of groundbreaking new research.

• The idea was audacious in its simplicity and herculean in execution.

• He is not an overnight sensation; he achieved success the oldfashioned way, working hard, but staying humble.

Books  Succeeding When You're Supposed to Fail The 6 Enduring Principles of High Achievement Book by: Rom Brafman Published by: Crown Publishing Group, 2011 The book takes us from the experiences of children raised in poverty, to prisoners of war, to business executives struggling with a failing business etc., to the psychological forces that enable individuals to overcome seemingly insurmountable adversity. Brafman identifies the six hidden drivers behind unlikely success.

For example: • Our ability to redirect the focus of our lives to the result of our own efforts, as opposed to external forces 38Executive Knowledge LinesMay 2012

• People who are able to tunnel through life’s obstacles don’t allow the bumps in the road to unsettle them  The Undead: Organ Harvesting, the Ice-Water Test, Beating-Heart Cadavers—How Medicine Is Blurring the Line Between Life and Death Book by: Dick Teresi, Medical Journalist Published by: Pantheon The Undead presents the history of death, medical ethics, hot-button topics such as organ transplants, a section on near-death experiences, with the long tunnel and the blinding white light etc. It examines why even with the tools of advanced technology, what we think of as life and death, consciousness and nonconsciousness, is not exactly clear and how this problem has been further complicated by the business of organ harvesting.

Articles  Frozen

Assets America is the largest exporter of human sperm to some 60 countries, through its 675 and odd sperm banks. A donor with a Ph.D can make upto $60,000 in two years.

Magazine: TIME, April 16, 2012  A New Path to Longevity Researchers have uncovered an ancient mechanism that retards aging. Drugs that tweaked it could well postpone cancer, diabetes and other diseases of old age.

Magazine: Scientific American (U.S. Edition), January 2012 Before you speak, listen.

Before you write, think.

Before you spend, earn.

Before you invest, investigate.

Before you criticize, wait.

Before you pray, forgive.

Before you quit, try.

Before you retire, save.

Before you die, give.

- William Arthur Ward May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines39

Books Scan The Power of Habit Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business Book by: Charles Duhigg, NYT Journalist Published by: Random House Most people, when they hear about the field of research pertaining to the science of habits, want to know the secret formula for quickly changing any habit. Charles Duhigg If scientists have discovered how these patterns work, then it stands to reason that they must have also found a recipe for rapid change. But it is not that easy.

Definitely, formulas do exist but the problem is that there is not just one formula for changing habits. There are many. Individuals and habits are all different, and so the specifics of diagnosing and changing the patterns in our lives differ from person to person and behavior to behavior. Giving up smoking is different than controlling overeating, which is different from changing how you communicate with your spouse, that is different from how you prioritize tasks at work. What’s more, each person’s habits are driven by different cravings.

Charles Duhigg, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, presents in this book, some ingredients for success. People succeed, when they identify patterns that shape their lives - and learn how to change them, says the author. He draws on the latest research in academic and applied psychology to examine the neurological loops that cause habits, the use of cues, cravings and rewards by manufacturers, retailers, addiction therapists and the like, to exploit or modify behavior, and the role of social habits in movements for political change.

Contents: ¾¾ Part One: The Habits of Individuals 1. The Habit Loop - How habits work 2. The Craving Brain - How to create new habits 3. The Golden Rule of Habit Change - Why transformation occurs ¾¾ Part Two: The Habits of Successful Organizations 4. Keystone Habits, or the Ballad of Paul O’Neill- Which habits matter most 5. Starbucks and the Habit of Success - When willpower becomes automatic 40Executive Knowledge LinesMay 2012

6. The Power of a Crisis - How leaders create habits through accident and design 7. How Target Knows What You Want Before You Do- When Companies predict (and manipulate) habits ¾¾ Part Three: The Habits of Societies 8. Saddleback Church and the Montgomery Bus Boycott- How movements happen 9. The Neurology of Free Will - Are we responsible for our habits?

Appendix: A Reader’s Guide to using These Ideas

Books Scan Agile Manufacturing: Globally Customized Green Products Book by: Dr M.P. Chowdiah, Hon. Director, Centre for Agile Manufacturing Research and Development, Bangalore University Published by: IK International Publishing House, 2012 The Industrial Revolution brought in its wake mass production processes which involved (a) managing inventories of raw materials and finished products and (b) standardizing components and subsystems. The customers had little choice and had to select a product from the few variants offered to them. The employees’ loyalty and discipline for complying with processes were taken for granted in a command-control management style. The management was inward looking, trying to cut costs and squeeze productivity from its labor force.

Globalization changed all that. The market became customerdriven. Customers wished to be active partners in co-designing the product. They would like for example some features from model “A”, some from model “B” and so on. Remember that Dell offered us the facility of configuring our own personal computer. It is possible that manufacturers would be required to produce one item each of 100 different types instead of producing 100 items of one type. This meant that management, employee mindset and technology had to be responsive to change in quick time. Process sequences cannot be etched in stone but continually evolved and customized. All these have to happen in an orderly manner without creating chaos.

May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines41

Agile manufacturing addresses the problem by building the requisite body of knowledge to accomplish the above. The only inventory at any time would be those items that are traveling toward customer destinations. In a top-down manufacturing cycle, people play blame games and try to find scapegoats. In an agile environment, design and production teams are empowered to accommodate changes in real time and this requires not only new hard skills but a whole lot of soft skills in terms of team work and owning accountability. Traditional customer facing personnel such as marketing, sales and support have to work in tandem with production staff. The enabling systems such as IT have to be on open platforms. This creates an aligned ecosystem that includes suppliers, manufacturers and customers. Concurrent engineering processes have to be established since sequential planning would badly affect time-to-deliver. In a mass production system, allowance is given for a small percentage of rejects, but in agile mode where one-of-a-kind products are made, 100% quality becomes not an option but a necessity.

Agile manufacturing is a paradigm; flexible manufacturing, justin-time manufacturing, lean manufacturing and similar practices are different avatars of the agile philosophy based on subsets of attributes of agility. Flexibility, for example, is necessary for being agile but by no means sufficient. Leanness focused only on reducing inventory. Agility is a synthesized philosophy incorporating these and many more. The agility applies as much to management as to technological changes and workforce behavior. Mass production and concepts such as economy of scale are replaced by low-volume, high quality and customized specific products in the presence of short lead times and product development cycles. Variety is not abhorred as leading to complexity, but welcomed as a means of retaining customer loyalty. Employees’ roles and responsibilities are not guaranteed for life but keep changing often.

The book under review addresses the multiple issues of going agile.

The text is rich with several real-life case studies from Indian companies as well as those elsewhere. Quantitative benefit achieved in terms of competitiveness and performance is also presented, thus emphasizing the fact that agility has to be viewed as a business driver. Though the book is written from a manufacturing perspective, the ideas apply equally well for the service industry. We are already experiencing it when banks, insurance companies, telecom, travel and hospitality service providers offer us customized services.

[R Narayanan] 42ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď ŽMay 2012

Journals Scan Traffic Technology International February/March 2012 There's a growing recognition of the need to consider specifically the interaction between the roads infrastructure - in particular road markings and signs - and the vehicles that use them. A major step forward came in June 2011 with the coming together of the two leading European road and car safety organizations, EuroRAP and Euro NCAP. This link-up was specifically to launch the landmark Roads That Cars Can Read consultation paper, with a call to the motor industry and highways sector to work together to ensure that technologies now available in new vehicles are able to achieve their full potential to save thousands of lives. It is observed that the performance of cameras and sensors deployed in vehicles when reading the road ahead and assisting drivers in reacting to potential dangers is being curtailed by faded road markings and obscured signs. To move forward, the report recommends that the road and motor industries should collaborate more, assisting drivers with two key technologies - lane support and speed alert.

John Dawson, chairman of the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP), feels that the focus should initially be on rural roads. Huge sums have been spent developing technology that is revolutionizing the safety of our vehicles but little attention has been given to the quality of basic signing and markings that drivers have to cope with, he says. A detailed discussion of this topic appears in this issue.

Highlights of Contents: Motion Picture: Cover story - Investigating the electrification of road networks Dividing Opinions: Safety and security challenges faced by today’s road bridges Where Minds Merge: What can be achieved when advanced computing collides with human ingenuity Made for India? Are the traffic police and city planning authorities across India ignoring the basics of traffic engineering?

Smart Cars: With autonomous driving, could the smart car turn into a smart transportation system?

Age Concern: How vehicles in an aging fleet could still benefit from future Intelligent Transportation System(ITS) innovations.

[Source: EKL Info Library] May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines43

Journals Scan Scientific American (U.S. Edition) February 2012 When public health officials fret about the soaring incidence of diabetes in the U.S. and worldwide, they are generally referring to type 2 diabetes. About 90% of the nearly 350 million people around the world who have diabetes suffer from the type 2 form of the illness, which mostly starts causing problems in the 40s and 50s and is tied to the stress that extra pounds place on the body’s ability to regulate blood glucose.

For reasons that are completely mysterious, the incidence of type 1 diabetes has been increasing throughout the globe at rates that range from 3 to 5 % a year.

No one knows exactly why type 1 diabetes is rising. Solving that mystery - and, if possible, reducing or reversing the trend - has become an urgent problem for public health researchers everywhere.

However, increases such as the ones above cannot be explained by a change in genes in such a short period. So, environmental factors are probably major players in this increase, say researchers.

This topic is discussed in detail in this issue.

Highlights of Contents: Is Space Digital? - A team of scientists are trying to discover the true nature of information, matter and space.

The Greatest Prostate Cancer Debate - Evidence shows that screening does more harm than good.

Swept from Africa to the Amazon - The journey of a handful of dust speaks volumes about our fragile planet.

Sleeping with the Enemy - Can science halt the march of the bed bugs?

All Hands on Deck The Future of Chocolate The Collision Syndrome Fetal Armor - The placenta does more than nourish offspring in the womb; it actively shapes brain development.

The Brittle Star’s Apprentice- To fine exotic new materials with sought-after properties, chemist looks to odd sea creatures such as brittle stars and sponges.

[Courtesy: Dr S V Nair, Phoenix, U.S.A.] 44Executive Knowledge LinesMay 2012

HealthScape

Black Pepper A Fat Fighter

Black pepper and the black pepper plant have been used for centuries in traditional Eastern medicine to treat gastrointestinal distress, pain, inflammation etc.

Despite that long medicinal history, scientists know little about how piperine works on the innermost molecular level. A recent study provides an insight into the beneficial fat-fighting effects of black pepper, showing that piperine — the pungent-tasting substance that gives black pepper its characteristic taste - can block the formation of new fat cells.

Researchers' laboratory studies and computer models have shown that piperine interferes with the activity of genes that control the formation of new fat cells. In doing so, piperine may also set off a metabolic chain reaction that helps keep fat in check in other ways.

The group suggests that the finding may lead to wider use of piperine or black-pepper extracts for its anti-fat effects.

[Source: American Chemical Society]

EKL Sudoku 66 Solution

4 3 5 2 6 1 9 7 8

9 1 7 3 8 4 5 6 2

8 2 6 9 7 5 1 3 4

5 8 1 7 9 3 4 2 6

6 4 3 1 5 2 7 8 9

2 7 9 8 4 6 3 5 1

3 5 2 6 1 9 8 4 7

1 6 8 4 3 7 2 9 5

7 9 4 5 2 8 6 1 3

May 2012Executive Knowledge Lines45

Energy

Power from Wind At Low Speeds

One of the biggest problems with typical horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) currently in use world over, is that they are inefficient at low wind speeds. But locations where wind speeds are higher and adequate for power generation, are often remote, far from where the power is needed. Now OrganoWorld, Montreal, Canada, has developed a low wind turbine (patented) that can improve the wind farm yield through power production at wind speeds of only 4 m/sec.

Called Winga E-Generator, it is a new generation of augmented wind turbine that can produce up to 5.4 MW of power at low velocities.

The Winga has a cut-in speed (where the turbine first begins to generate power) of just 2 meters per second (about 4.5 mph) wind speed and reaches full power at a wind speed of 4 meters per second (about 9 mph). A typical HAWT has a cut-in speed of 4 meters per second, and doesn't reach full power until the winds reach 10 meters per second (about 22 mph).

It has a tower height of 35 meters, and measures 36.5 meters in length, with a scoop opening measuring 9 meters by 12 meters. All of the moving parts are contained within the enclosure, so it would not have the dynamic, moving appearance that some find bothersome with conventional turbines. The developers of the Winga have a new approach by using wings to shroud both the inlet and the outlet to the turbine, making it possible to generate power with lower wind speeds.

The Winga turbine could be located closer to the ground, so that it would be less visually obtrusive, and also makes maintenance easier to carry out. The Winga can also be lowered to the ground in the event of excessive winds that can cause damage.

[For details: http://www.rganoworld.com]

46ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď ŽMay 2012

The Last Word

Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.

- Sally Koch Owned, Edited, Printed, and Published by N T Nair, 186, PTP Nagar, Trivandrum 695 038 Printed by Akshara Offset, TC 25/ 3230(1), Vanchiyoor, Trivandrum 695 035 Published at Trivandrum. Editor: N T Nair May 2012ď ŽExecutive Knowledge Linesď Ž47

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