Merging Fiction and Reality: Hardy’s Portrayal of a Fallen Woman in Tess of the D’ Urbervilles

My paper attempts to simultaneously discuss the reality of the ‘fallen woman’ in the Victorian era and the fiction based on this reality. The narrator of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’urbervilles has long been accused of being the third pursuer of Tess along with Alec and Angel. He has been held guilty of continuously fawning over Tess’s lips and tongue, of rendering her ‘passive’ during the most crucial moments in her life, of holding her body responsible for her violation. My paper attempts to refute such arguments. In order to do so, this paper not only analyses certain important episodes from the novel as described by the narrator but also seeks to make a comparative study between the narrator and the people who were directly involved in the ‘rescue’ of the ‘fallen women’ by setting up penitentiaries for them. The fact that ‘fallen women’ were treated as patients in the homes called ‘penitentiaries’ raises two crucial questions. Why did the Victorian society not consider debauchery and predatory nature of the males as a disease? What did the ‘fallen women’ have to seek penance for? Obviously the self proclaimed harbingers of morality of the Victorian era deliberately avoided answering these questions as that would reveal the hideous selves of those men who were the causes of the ‘fall’ of the women. My paper concludes by showing how the foundation of the narrator’s understanding of ‘fallen women’, unlike the larger section of the society, was not based on hypocrisy

Recombinant Hormones: Applications And Challenges

Recombinant DNA technology has brought about a revolutionary transformation in the production of medical hormones. This comprehensive review paper presents an overview of the fundamental principles underlying recombinant DNA technology and its significant applications in hormone production. The discussion encompasses the production of various recombinant hormones, including human growth hormone, infertility treatment hormones, menopause and osteoporosis control hormones, and insulin. The paper delves into the challenges associated with recombinant hormone production, emphasizing the importance of meticulous optimization of expression systems and addressing potential contamination concerns. Furthermore, the review explores the utilization of recombinant hormones in medical research, contributing to the development of diagnostic and therapeutic protocols. Ethical considerations and safety concerns related to the use of recombinant hormones are also addressed, emphasizing the imperative need for stringent regulation in this rapidly advancing field. This paper provides a comprehensive and plagiarism-free exploration of the multifaceted aspects of recombinant DNA technology and its pivotal role in advancing hormone production for medical application

Spousal Violence in Karnataka, India: An Analysis of NHFS-5 Data

Spousal violence is a severe public health concern. Despite the expanding scholarship, many concerns remain unresolved about the prevalence of this violence, the risk factors, the repercussions, and how to address the problem. This paper sets out a simple study recognizing the sharp increase of spousal violence in the state of Karnataka, with an overall decrease in the rest of South India. Using India’s National Family Health Survey data, we isolate the effect of spousal violence on female autonomy. The findings have substantial policy implications suggesting that it will take more than an improvement in women’s empowerment options to address the problem of spousal violence

A BERT based Ensemble Approach for Sentiment Classification of Customer Reviews and its Application to Nudge Marketing in e-Commerce

According to the literature, Product reviews are an important source of information for customers to support their buying decision. Product reviews improve customer trust and loyalty. Reviews help customers in understanding what other customers think about a particular product and helps in driving purchase decisions. Therefore, for an e-commerce platform it is important to understand the sentiments in customer reviews to understand their products and services, and it also allows them to potentially create positive consumer interaction as well as long lasting relationships. Reviews also provide innovative ways to market the products for an ecommerce company. One such approach is Nudge Marketing. Nudge marketing is a subtle way for an ecommerce company to help their customers make better decisions without hesitation.Comment: Submitted to a Journal for revie

Efficacy of antioxidant in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic oxido-inflammatory disorder of the lung. Oxidative stress is widely recognized as a central feature of IPF. Antioxidant therapy has been proposed as an effective treatment for IPF. An array of clinical trials describing the therapeutic impact of these drugs have been reporting albeit with conflicting evidence points. We performed a meta-analysis of trials in which efficacy of antioxidant therapy was compared with control in IPF. Systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, CPCI-S (Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science), ICTRP (International Clinical Trials Registry Platform), and Google Scholar till June 2016 by two independent researchers. Various outcomes such as changes in pulmonary function tests (change in vital capacity [ΔVC], change in forced vital capacity [ΔFVC], change in percentage of predicted vital capacity [Δ%VC], and change in percentage of predicted carbon monoxide diffusing capacity [Δ%DLco]), changes in 6 minutes walking test distance (Δ6MWT), rates of adverse events, and rates of death, were included. All statistical analyses were performed using RevMan V.5.3.Twelve studies (n = 1062) were identified that used antioxidants (N-acetylcysteine and lecithinized superoxide dismutase) as a treatment for IPF. Overall, there was no association of antioxidant therapy with ΔFVC (SMD = 0.27, 95% CI:-0.07 to 0.61; P = 0.12), ΔFVC (%) (SMD = -0.10, 95% CI:-0.56 to 0.36; P = 0.66) and 6MWT (SMD = -0.04, 95% CI:-0.11 to 0.20; P = 0.59) in IPF patients. However, combined antioxidant therapy was found to be associated with %VC (SMD = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.09 to 0.64; P = 0.008) and Δ%DLco (SMD = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.00 to 0.29; P = 0.05) in IPF patients. Strong evidence was obtained that the antioxidants increased adverse effects adverse events (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 0.75 to 3.24; P = 0.23) but it did not associate mortality (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.44 to 2.11; P = 0.92). The use of significant clinical heterogeneity, low statistical power, high dropout rates, duration of follow-ups, and dosing regimens of antioxidant agents. Combined antioxidant therapy seems to be a safe and effective therapy for IPF patients which provides a more beneficial effect in terms of VC, and DLco rather than monotherapy. Further randomized controlled trials with homogeneous outcome measures are needed

Enhancing Orthodontic Pain Management: A vision for Improved Patient Comfort

Pain is a common concern in orthodontic treatment, resulting from inflammatory responses triggered by force application. This review explores the characteristics, mechanisms, causes, and management strategies for orthodontic pain. Patient-specific factors, including age, gender, and anxiety, contribute to pain perception. Pain typically peaks shortly after orthodontic procedures and diminishes gradually. Orthodontic Pain management encompasses pharmacological interventions (NSAIDs, analgesics), mechanical methods (chewing gum, laser therapy), and behavioral approaches (CBT, physical activity). Modifications in orthodontic procedures, such as using Ni-Ti wires and alternatives to traditional appliances, have been introduced to alleviate pain. These advances have transformed the orthodontic experience, making it more tolerable and enhancing treatment outcomes. Overall, this review provides insights into orthodontic pain and its management, benefiting both patients and practitioners in achieving successful orthodontic treatmen

Recent Advancements in Molecular Therapeutics for Corneal Scar Treatment

The process of corneal wound healing is complex and induces scar formation. Corneal scarring is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. The fibrotic healing of a major ocular wound disrupts the highly organized fibrillar collagen arrangement of the corneal stroma, rendering it opaque. The process of regaining this organized extracellular matrix (ECM) arrangement of the stromal layer to restore corneal transparency is complicated. The surface retention capacity of ocular drugs is poor, and there is a large gap between suitable corneal donors and clinical requirements. Therefore, a more efficient way of treating corneal scarring is needed. The eight major classes of interventions targeted as therapeutic tools for healing scarred corneas include those based on exosomes, targeted gene therapy, microRNAs, recombinant viral vectors, histone deacetylase inhibitors, bioactive molecules, growth factors, and nanotechnology. This review highlights the recent advancements in molecular therapeutics to restore a cornea without scarring. It also provides a scope to overcome the limitations of present studies and perform robust clinical research using these strategies. © 2022 by the authors

Thermodynamic and kinetic studies on novel Platinum(II) Complex containing bidentate N,N-donor ligands in ethanol-water medium

760-767Kinetic and mechanistic investigations have been made on the displacement of the two aqua molecules from the complex 1 i.e., [Pt(2,2′-bipyridine)(H2O)2]2+ represented as {Pt(bpy)} (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) at pH 4.0. All the substitution reactions have been monitored at 264, 284 & 317 nm, where the spectral difference between the reactant and product is maximum. Two consecutive reaction steps have been observed for the substitution of aqua molecules with some bidentate N,N-donor ligands namely, dimethylglyoxime (L1H), 1, 2-cyclohexanedionedioxime (L2H) and α-furildioxime (L3H) in ethanol-water medium using variable-temperature and stopped-flow spectrophotometry. Among the two steps, the former is ligand dependent and the later is ligand independent, where chelation is observed. All rate and activation parameters are consistent with associative substitution mechanisms. The thermodynamic parameters have been also calculated, which gives a negative DG0 value at all temperatures studied, supporting the spontaneous formation of an outer sphere association complex. The products of the reaction have been characterized with the help of IR and ESI-MS spectroscopic analysis

Diversity and Distribution of Archaea in the Mangrove Sediment of Sundarbans

Mangroves are among the most diverse and productive coastal ecosystems in the tropical and subtropical regions. Environmental conditions particular to this biome make mangroves hotspots for microbial diversity, and the resident microbial communities play essential roles in maintenance of the ecosystem. Recently, there has been increasing interest to understand the composition and contribution of microorganisms in mangroves. In the present study, we have analyzed the diversity and distribution of archaea in the tropical mangrove sediments of Sundarbans using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The extraction of DNA from sediment samples and the direct application of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing resulted in approximately 142 Mb of data from three distinct mangrove areas (Godkhali, Bonnie camp, and Dhulibhashani). The taxonomic analysis revealed the dominance of phyla Euryarchaeota and Thaumarchaeota (Marine Group I) within our dataset. The distribution of different archaeal taxa and respective statistical analysis (SIMPER, NMDS) revealed a clear community shift along the sampling stations. The sampling stations (Godkhali and Bonnie camp) with history of higher hydrocarbon/oil pollution showed different archaeal community pattern (dominated by haloarchaea) compared to station (Dhulibhashani) with nearly pristine environment (dominated by methanogens). It is indicated that sediment archaeal community patterns were influenced by environmental conditions