Online Brand Communities and their Impact on Brand Equity of Indian Telecommunication Industry

Telecommunication space in India has become highly competitive and hence organizations are looking for newer value propositions and innovative ways to compete. With the advent of digital media, physical spaces are now being complimented with virtual spaces by organizations as a means of competitive advantage. Online brand communities (OBC’s) is one such source by which Telecom companies can achieve value creation and enhanced online customer engagement with customers.Hence this study is primarily an attempt to examine the impact of Online Brand Communities on selected brand equity dimensions of loyalty, awareness, association and perceived brand quality of telecom service providers. The purpose of this paper is to come up with a conceptual model which can explain the effects of the Online Brand Communities on value of the brand (brand equity) of telecommunication service providers.Primary data was collected from a sample of 120 respondents with the help of a questionnaire. For data analysis, statistical methods like factor analysis and regression analysis have been used to group inter related variables and predict the relationship between correlated variables respectively.Very few studies on OBC’s have been conducted in the telecommunication space hence the study will add to the academic literature and help telecom managers to determine how brand generated content and community participation can drive business to next level through engaged online customer experience. It will help the telecom companies in analysing brand equity building through online space, in turn enhancing the purchase decision, customer engagement and create competitive advantage

Effect of Mycorrhiza on Vegetative Growth of Mandarin’s (Citrus reticulata Blanco) Seedlings

Citrus is among the top fruits which are cultivated around the world, and among citrus, Mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) comes first and belongs to the family Rutaceae. A field experiment was conducted in Gorkha, Nepal, from April 2021 to July 2022, to study the effect of different doses of Mycorrhiza in the vegetative growth seedlings. The experiment was set up in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with five treatments and four replications. The treatments were named T1: Control, T2: 3g/seedling, T3: 6g/seedling, T4: 9g/seedling, and T5: 11g/seedling, respectively. Eighteen months old seedlings of local Mandarin were uprooted and transplanted in finely pulverized and prepared seedbeds, and Mycorrhiza was added subsequently. Data was collected for plant height, number of leaves, and stem diameter. Data analysis was done through Microsoft- Excel, RStudio, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results of the study showed that plants treated with 9g of Mycorrhiza produced the highest number of measured parameters compared to plants treated with other doses. Control treatment (0g) produces the least number of plant leaves, Height, and stem diameter, and it can be concluded that a mycorrhizal dose of 9g is the best for the vegetative growth of Mandarin

Surgical gown fabrics in infection control and comfort measures at hospitals

Emerging illnesses like Ebola hemorrhagic fever, hepatitis B and C, SARS and, most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic have underlined the importance of wearing personal protective equipment. Aprons, gowns, coveralls, masks or respirators, and goggles are examples of personal protective equipment. Surgical gowns, which are worn in the surgery room by doctors and nurses to prevent the transfer of germs and bodily fluids from surgical staff to patients and from patients to staff, are an important part of personal protective equipment in healthcare. Surgical gowns are originally constructed of cotton fibres, but modern gowns are made of a range of woven and nonwoven textiles, which may be reusable or disposable. Surgical gowns must control the spread of infections, while simultaneously allowing appropriate comfort, mobility without rubbing and chafing, resisting ripping and linting. A proper understanding of the parameters that affect the barrier properties is needed to design a surgical gown for desired use. This paper discusses various types of surgical gowns, their classification, parameters affecting the properties and the test methods used in surgical gown testing

Surgical gown fabrics in infection control and comfort measures at hospitals

96-104Emerging illnesses like Ebola hemorrhagic fever, hepatitis B and C, SARS and, most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic have underlined the importance of wearing personal protective equipment. Aprons, gowns, coveralls, masks or respirators, and goggles are examples of personal protective equipment. Surgical gowns, which are worn in the surgery room by doctors and nurses to prevent the transfer of germs and bodily fluids from surgical staff to patients and from patients to staff, are an important part of personal protective equipment in healthcare. Surgical gowns are originally constructed of cotton fibres, but modern gowns are made of a range of woven and nonwoven textiles, which may be reusable or disposable. Surgical gowns must control the spread of infections, while simultaneously allowing appropriate comfort, mobility without rubbing and chafing, resisting ripping and linting. A proper understanding of the parameters that affect the barrier properties is needed to design a surgical gown for desired use. This paper discusses various types of surgical gowns, their classification, parameters affecting the properties and the test methods used in surgical gown testing

Energy Aware Channel Allocation with Spectrum Sensing in Pilot Contamination Analysis for Cognitive Radio Networks

Cognitive radio (CR) is an innovative and contemporary technology that has been making an effort to overcome the problems of bandwidth reduction by rising the usage of mobile cellular bandwidth connections. The reallocation and distribution of channels is a fundamental characteristic of cellular mobile networks (CMN) to exploit the consumption of CMS. Meanwhile, throughput maximization might lead to higher power utilization, the spectrum sensing system must tackle the energy throughput tradeoff. The spectrum sensing time should be defined by the residual battery energy of secondary user (SU). In that context, energy effective algorithm for spectrum sensing should be developed for meeting the energy constraint of CRN. This study designs a new quantum particle swarm optimization-based energy aware spectrum sensing scheme (QPSO-EASSS) for CRNs. Here, the presented QPSO-EASSS technique dynamically estimates the sensing time depending upon the battery energy level of SUs and the transmission power can be computed based on the battery energy level and PU signal of the SUs. In addition, in this work, the QPSO-EASSS technique applies the QPSO algorithm for throughput maximization with energy constraints in the CRN. The detailed set of experimentations take place and reported the improvements of the QPSO-EASSS technique compared to existing models

Reducing the burden of Tuberculosis: an emphasis on improving awareness among caregivers

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the common communicable disease affecting human beings since ancient times. Though effective chemotherapy emerged during 20th century had raised hope towards eliminating TB burden, it still remains as a distant goal. Awareness about TB among close contacts of active disease is of paramount importance in preventing its spread and promoting early diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to assess the knowledge about tuberculosis among caregivers of tuberculosis patients.Methods: This was a cross sectional study that enrolled 300 subjects who were then caregivers of tuberculosis patients admitted in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine. Subjects were interviewed according to a predesigned panel of questions meant to assess their basic knowledge and perceptions about tuberculosis symptomatology, diagnostic modalities, treatment and prevention.Results: About 90.3% (n=271) of subjects had heard about TB previously and about 37.7% (n=113) considered themselves to be well aware of it. Most of them believed TB to be communicable (90.3%, n=271). Majority believed that TB affects lungs only (n=206, 68.7%), with most commonly perceived symptom being cough (n=285, 95%). Knowledge regarding disposal of sputum was poor (n=110, 36.7%). About 168 (56%) subjects considered usage of face mask by the patient as an effective tool for TB prevention.Conclusions: Caregivers of tuberculosis patients lack proper knowledge about major aspects of the disease. Public awareness and care giver education programs needs to be implemented along with standard TB care to reduce transmission of TB among close contacts

Influenza B virus: Need for heightened surveillance and epidemiologic case studies

Recent report of increased influenza B virus infection, particularly theclinical profiles and treatment challenges imposed like that of influenza A,underscores the importance of continuing influenza B virus surveillance.This is, especially in resource limited country, early detection of influenzavirus, its clinical presentation and complications would be vital in minimizingthe public heath burden imposed by this virus.Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, influenza B, severe acutepulmonary infection

Human palatine tonsil: a new potential tissue source of multipotent mesenchymal progenitor cells

INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) are multipotent progenitor cells in adult tissues, for example, bone marrow (BM). Current challenges of clinical application of BM-derived MPCs include donor site morbidity and pain as well as low cell yields associated with an age-related decrease in cell number and differentiation potential, underscoring the need to identify alternative sources of MPCs. Recently, MPC sources have diversified; examples include adipose, placenta, umbilicus, trabecular bone, cartilage, and synovial tissue. In the present work, we report the presence of MPCs in human tonsillar tissue. ----- METHODS: We performed comparative and quantitative analyses of BM-MPCs with a subpopulation of adherent cells isolated from this lymphoid tissue, termed tonsil-derived MPCs (T-MPCs). The expression of surface markers was assessed by fluorescent-activated cell sorting analysis. Differentiation potential of T-MPCs was analyzed histochemically and by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for the expression of lineage-related marker genes. The immunosuppressive properties of MPCs were determined in vitro in mixed lymphocyte reactions. ----- RESULTS: Surface epitope analysis revealed that T-MPCs were negative for CD14, CD31, CD34, and CD45 expression and positive for CD29, CD44, CD90, and CD105 expression, a characteristic phenotype of BM-MPCs. Similar to BM-MPCs, T-MPCs could be induced to undergo adipogenic differentiation and, to a lesser extent, osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation. T-MPCs did not express class II major histocompatibility (MHC) antigens, and in a similar but less pronounced manner compared with BM-MPCs, T-MPCs were immunosuppressive, inhibiting the proliferation of T cells stimulated by allogeneic T cells or by non-specific mitogenic stimuli via an indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-dependent mechanism. ----- CONCLUSION: Human palatine T-MPCs represent a new source of progenitor cells, potentially applicable for cell-based therapies

Summary of the International Patient Safety Conference, June 28-29, 2019, Kathmandu, Nepal

Globally, medical errors are associated with an estimated $42 billion in costs to healthcare systems. A variety of errors in the delivery of healthcare have been identified by the World Health Organization and it is believed that about 50% of all errors are preventable. Initiatives to improve patient safety are now garnering increased attention across a range of countries in all regions of the world. From June 28--29, 2019, the first International Patient Safety Conference (IPSC) was held in Kathmandu, Nepal and attended by over 200 healthcare professionals as well as hospital, government, and non-governmental organization leaders. During the conference, presentations describing the experience with errors in healthcare and solutions to minimize future occurrence of adverse events were presented. Examples of systems implemented to prevent future errors in patient care were also described. A key outcome of this conference was the initiation of conversations and communication among important stakeholders for patient safety. In addition, attendees and dignitaries in attendance all reaffirmed their commitment to furthering actions in hospitals and other healthcare facilities that focus on reducing the risk of harm to patients who receive care in the Nepali healthcare system. This conference provides an important springboard for the development of patient-centered strategies to improve patient safety across a range of patient care environments in public and private sector healthcare institutions