Estimating Intra Country and Cross Country Purchasing Power Parities from Household Expenditure Data Using Single Equation and Complete Demand Systems Approach: India and Vietnam

This study departs from the previous literature on purchasing power parity (PPP) by proposing a demand system based methodology for calculating the PPP that takes account of consumer preferences and allows for the substitution effect of price changes. The methodology is applied to provide evidence on PPP between the Indian Rupee and the Vietnamese Dong. The study is conducted within a framework that allows for regional variation in preferences and price changes both inside the country and between countries and proposes and applies a methodology for constructing prices from unit values after adjusting them for quality and demographic effects. Using these prices the intra-country PPPs for India and Vietnam are calculated using the single equation (Engel curve based) procedure of Coondoo, Majumder and Chattopadhyay (2011). The cross country PPPs are calculated between sectors and across expenditure classes, apart from PPP at aggregate country to country level, using both the single equation and system based procedures. The paper contains evidence that the incorporation of price effects leads to a significant change in the PPP rates obtained from using cross section data (single equation procedure) ignoring price changes. The demand system based methodology yields PPP rates that are consistent with those obtained from conventional procedures such as the CPD method, yields standard errors of the PPPs and has the additional advantage of testing for invariance of inter-country PPP across expenditure classes. The disaggregated PPP rates question the conventional practice of using a single economy wide PPP in inequality and poverty comparisons.Purchasing Power Parity, QAIDS, CPD method, Spatial Prices, TCLI.

The Calculation of Rural Urban Food Price Differentials from Unit Values in Household Expenditure Surveys: A new procedure and comparison with existing methods

While national and international statistical agencies spend much resource on calculating purchasing power parity (PPP) between countries, relatively little attention is given to PPP calculations within countries. Yet, for large and heterogeneous countries, such as the US and India, intra country PPP is as important as cross-country PPP. This is particularly true of the rural urban divide in such countries where the idea that one unit of currency has the same purchasing power in both sectors is clearly false. This paper addresses this limitation by proposing a demand system based methodology for calculating rural urban PPP that incorporates rural urban differences in preferences and applies it to India. The methodology is compared with conventional procedures, such as the Laspeyre’s price index and the CPD model, and shown to have several advantages over them. The result on significant rural urban price difference in India underlines the need to extend the cross-country PPP calculations to incorporate spatial differences in large, heterogeneous countries with a diverse set of preferences and prices.Rural Urban PPP, Unit Values, Quality Adjustment, CPD Model

In Vivo Bioavailability and Therapeutic Assessment of Host-Guest Inclusion Phenomena for the Hydrophobic Molecule Etodolac: Pharmacodynamic and Pharmacokinetic Evaluation

The aim of present investigation was 1) to evaluate the in vivo bioavailability of an Etodolac (ETD)-β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) inclusion complex system prepared by kneading and spray drying techniques in rats, 2) to study the pharmacodynamic parameters in various animal models for analyzing the therapeutic response and, 3) to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profile of the drug administered. Inclusion complexation with β-CD enhanced the solubility of the drug, improved bioavailability and reduced ulcerogenicity of ETD in rats. Pharmacodynamic studies were carried out in normal LACA mice and pharmacokinetic evaluation was done in male Wistar rats. Pharmacokinetic parameters evaluated for the inclusion complexes revealed good correlation. The minimum dose necessary to produce analgesic or anti-arthritic activity was also decreased, indicating that the host-guest strategy that uses β-CD and ETD was very effective and could be successfully employed in the preparation of pharmaceutical formulations of anti-arthritics and analgesics

Sighting of Red-headed Vultures (Sarcogyps calvus) in a group

Asian vultures are endangered birds included in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. From the nine species of vultures found in India, five are reported from the Bundelkhand region in central India. An exhaustive survey was done in the Panna Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, from January to June 2016. Red-headed Vultures (Sarcogyps calvus) are solitary in nature but during the survey we collectively sighted a total of 12 Red-headed Vultures in Panna Tiger Reserve, whilst eight were recorded in the region between Hinauta and Dhudhua Seha in one group. Red-headed Vultures are facing serious threats of habitat loss and lack of food availability along with diclofenac poisoning, and they require various conservation measures to maintain their population

ESTIMATION OF FLAVONOID CONTENT, POLYPHENOLIC CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF ABRUS PRECATORIUS (L.)

Objective: Abrus precatorius (L.) is a tropical plant and is used in traditional medicine for treatment of a wide range of ailments. Lately, plants with medicinal properties have gained importance for their potential therapeutic use in diseases caused due free radicals. Hence, the present investigation was carried out to estimate the total phenolic and flavonoid content and free radical scavenging activity of fresh and dry parts of Abrus precatorius.Methods: Plant material was collected from Karnala forest of Maharashtra. Extracts of leaves, stem, root and seed (fresh and dry) were prepared using four different solvents i.e. Distilled water, Ethanol, Methanol and Acetone. Each extract was tested for total phenolic content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity (by FRAP, DPPHË™ and ABTSË™+assays), while phenolic compounds like Gallic acid, Catechol, Vanillin, Caffeic acid, p-Coumaric acid and Ferulic acid were detected and quantified using RP-HPLC.Results: Seeds showed highest phenolic content (8.99±0.27 mg GAE/g) and DPPHË™ radical scavenging activity (88.34±0.08 %) in methanolic extracts. The leaves had the highest flavonoid content (145.68±0.99 mg RE/g). The antioxidant potential was found to be the highest in seeds followed by root, leaves and stem. Methanol proved to be the best solvent for extraction of phenolics, flavonoid and antioxidants.Conclusion: This study substantiates the high antioxidant activity of different plant parts of A. precatorius. Therefore, it can be used as a source of natural antioxidants and used in drug formulations for treatment of diseases resulting from oxidative stress.Â

Communal roosting of Egyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus in Uttar Pradesh, India

The behaviour of birds to settle or rest at a place at specific times of day and night is called roosting. Some birds prefer solitary roosting while others roost communally. The Communal roosting behaviour of Egyptian vulture was studied in five districts (Sambhal, Lakhimpur Kheri, Aligarh, Bareilly and Faizabad) of Uttar Pradesh, India from January 2014- December 2017. Total count was conducted at roosting sites in all the seasons (summer, winter and monsoon). The maximum number of individuals counted at the roost site was in Sambhal followed by Lakhimpur Kheri, Aligarh, Bareilly, Faizabad. Four different roost substrates were identified: Ground, tree, building, and electric pylon. A maximum (63%) of Egyptian vultures were observed roosting on the ground, followed by electric pylon (19%), tree (10%) and minimum on building (8%). The present study confirmed that Egyptian vultures are communal roosters and a number of roosting individuals most probably depended on the availability of food of the area. Egyptian vultures are globally endangered species and so far no work has been done on their roosting behaviour in India; therefore the present study will prove beneficial to plan for their conservation strategies

INVESTIGATING THE POTENTIAL OF AN ANTIDEPRESSANT INTRANASAL MUCOADHESIVE MICROEMULSION

Objective: The main aim of this study was to formulate, develop and optimized a duloxetine hydrochloride (dlx-hcl) loaded mucoadhesive microemulsion intended for intranasal administration.Methods: Established on solubility studies capmul mcm, transcutol-p, labrasol were used as oil, co-surfactant and surfactant respectively. The optimized mucoadhesive microemulsion prepared using water titration method was further characterized for particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential and conductivity measurements followed by drug content, nasal cilio toxicity and biochemical estimation of the selected formulation.Results: All physicochemical parameters conducted, proved that dlx-hcl microemulsion was appropriate for nasal delivery. Chitosan, used as mucoadhesive polymer demonstrated enhanced retention time of the microemulsion in nasal mucosa with no signs of toxicity and epithelial damage. The particle size and zeta potential were found to be of 200 nm and-15 mV respectively considering the formulation safe for nasal delivery.Conclusion: This formulation strategy can be used as an effective targeting technique for the drugs having low bioavailability and poor brain penetration along with an effective method for the treatment long-term disease like depression

Functional analysis of mce4A gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv using antisense approach

Antisense strategy is an attractive substitute for knockout mutations created for gene silencing. mce genes have been shown to be involved in mycobacterial uptake and intracellular survival. Here we report reduced expression of mce4A and mce1A genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using antisense technology. For this, 1.1 kb region of mce4A and mce1A was cloned in reverse orientation in pSD5 shuttle vector, resulting into antisense constructs pSD5-4AS and pSD5-1AS, respectively. In M. tuberculosis H37Rv approximately 60% reduction in Mce4A and 66% reduction in expression of Mce1A protein were observed. We also observed significantly reduced intracellular survival ability of both antisense strains in comparison to M. tuberculosis containing pSD5 alone. RT-PCR analysis showed antisense did not alter the transcription of upstream and downstream of mceA genes of the respective operon. The colony morphology, in vitro growth characteristics and drug susceptibility profile of the antisense construct remained unchanged. These results demonstrate that antisense can be a promising approach to assign function of a gene in a multiunit operon and could be suitably applied as a strategy