Customer Satisfaction with Domestic Water Supply in India – A Study in Hubli city

Severe water crisis prevailed in twin Cities of Hubli-Dharwad in South India for a long time. During the last ten years, there has been considerable improvement in the water service. While most parts of the city is having intermittent supply system, a pilot 24/7 water service was implemented in a Demonstration Zone through the World Bank assistance, and State Government of Karnataka. The 24x7 project covers about 12 % of the total population of the city.  The objective of this paper is to study the customer satisfaction in both intermittent and 24/7 water service areas in Hubli city.  Stratified sampling method was adopted for four groups namely, low, medium, high income and backward classes namely the Scheduled Cast/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) groups.  The results of the study revealed that most customers in 24/7 demo zone were highly satisfied with water quality, continuity, quantity, and pressure; whereas there was slight dissatisfaction (12%) with regard to redressal of customer complaints. In contrast, there was considerable dissatisfaction with water quality, continuity and pressure in intermittent supply areas. There was universal opinion from both 24/7 demo zone and intermittent service areas supporting 24/7 water service scale up project in the city. Keywords: Intermittent Water Service, 24/7 Water Service, Customer Satisfactio

'Cashew Apple' Juice Blend with Mango, Pineapple and Sapota for Improving Quality of RTS Beverages and Economic Feasibility Thereof

The present study on value-addition in cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale L.) juice by blending it with mango, pineapple and sapota juices for preparation of RTS beverage was conducted during the year 2012-2013 at Horticultural College and Research Institute, Dr. YSR Horticultural University, Andhra Pradesh, in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 3 replications and 10 treatments. In the present investigation, 'cashew apple' juice extracted from the fruit was blended with fruit juices of mango, pineapple and sapota in various proportions. RTS beverages prepared from different blends of cashew apple juice were evaluated for physico-chemical and organoleptic properties at 0, 30 and 60 days of storage, and significant differences were observed. RTS beverage prepared from a blend of 25% cashew apple juice + 75% mango juice (T3) recorded a gradual decrease in pH, titrable acidity and ascorbic acid content from 0 to 60 days after storage, whereas, density of the blended juice increased gradually at 0 to 30 days of storage; thereafter it decreased. Total soluble solids, reducing sugars and TSS/Acid ratio gradually increased from 0 to 60 days of storage, followed by 25% cashew apple juice + 75% pineapple juice (T6). Organoleptic score for RTS prepared from 25% cashew apple juice + 75% mango juice blend (T3), followed by 50% cashew apple juice + 50% mango juice blend (T2), 25% cashew apple juice + 75% pineapple juice blend (T6) and 50% cashew apple juice + 50% pineapple juice blend (T5), were found to be high on quality, viz., colour, taste and overall acceptability, up to 60 days of storage, and were economical for RTS preparation

Case report-baboon syndrome with paracetamol

Adverse drug reaction (ADR) is defined as “any response to drug which is noxious or unintended and occurs at a dose normally used in man for prophylaxis, diagnosis or treatment of diseases or for modification of physiological function”. Among the ADRs reported, cutaneous drug reactions are most common. Symmetrical drug-related intertriginous and flexural exanthema (SDRIFE), also known as baboon syndrome (BS), is included in the spectrum of systemically induced allergic contact dermatitis. Characteristics of SDRIFE include a sharply defined symmetric erythema in the gluteal area and in the flexural or intertriginous folds without any systemic symptoms or signs. We present a case of 30-year-old female with baboon syndrome after taking the combination of paracetamol and diclofenac. Awareness of SDRIFE (BS) as an unusual drug reaction is especially important since the connection between skin eruption and drug exposure may easily be overlooked or misdiagnosed

First-Time Investigation of Bombax ceiba Stem Crude Extract’s Role for Autoclave-assisted Silver Nanoparticle Synthesis from Silver Sulphate and Silver Nitrate: Multifaceted Characterization, Catalytic and Antibacterial Investigations

The Bombax ceiba plant stem extract is selected for the first time in synthesis of silver nanoparticles from silver sulphate and silver nitrate. The pH 6.5 and autoclave conditions facilitated the synthesis of low sized stable SBAN-AgNP and SBAS-AgNP in presence of 3% and 2% v/v SB (Stem extract of Bombax) from silver nitrate (AN) and silver sulphate (AS) at 0.6 and 0.4mM concentrations respectively. The formation and characterization of nanoparticles are performed by employing UV-Vis spec, XRD, FTIR, DLS and FESEM-EDS. These studies revealed that the nanoparticles are crystalline in nature with capping of functional groups from plant crude extract. The FESEM results ensured that the nanoparticles formed are spherical in shape with average particle size of obtained using silver nitrate (SBAN-AgNP) and silver sulphate (SBAS-AgNP) salts are 20.6 nm and 19.4 nm respectively. Both the SBAN-AgNP and SBAS-AgNP showed 94.6% and 87.3% catalytic reduction efficiency of 4-nitrophenol within 11 and 12 mins and are completely eliminated the synthetic dye methylene blue from water in presence of NaBH4 as reducing agent within 10 and 12 mins respectively. The synthesized SBAS-AgNP showed significant MIC, MBC, anti-biofilm and TKK activities with 31.27 ± 2.04 µg/ml MIC value against Bacillus megaterium

Light Curves of Rapidly Rotating Neutron Stars

We consider the effect of rapid rotation on the light curves of neutron stars with hot polar caps. For $P \approx 3$ms spin periods, the pulse fractions can be as much as an order of magnitude larger than with simple slowly-rotating (Schwarzschild) estimates. Doppler boosting, in particular, leads to characteristic distortion and ``soft lags'' in the pulse profiles, which are easily measurable in light curves with moderate energy resolution. With $\sim 10^5$ photons it should also be possible to isolate the more subtle distortions of light travel time variations and frame dragging. Detailed analysis of high quality millisecond pulsar data from upcoming X-ray missions must include these effects

Non-minimal coupling for the gravitational and electromagnetic fields: A general system of equations

We establish a new self-consistent system of equations for the gravitational and electromagnetic fields. The procedure is based on a non-minimal non-linear extension of the standard Einstein-Hilbert-Maxwell action. General properties of a three-parameter family of non-minimal linear models are discussed. In addition, we show explicitly, that a static spherically symmetric charged object can be described by a non-minimal model, second order in the derivatives of the metric, when the susceptibility tensor is proportional to the double-dual Riemann tensorComment: 15 page

Body Image Perception among Undergraduate Female Medical Students in Mangalore: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Body image is the dynamic perception of one’s body. Body image perception depends on anthropometric and psychological factors. Body dissatisfaction is influenced by the socio-cultural environment and is associated with eating disorders and low self-esteem.Ojectives: To study the body image perception among undergraduate female students in a medical college.Materials And Methods: It is a cross-sectional study conducted among 239 undergraduate female medical students. It was conducted during December 2015-January 2016 in one of the medical colleges in Mangalore. A 34 item Body Shape Questionnaire(BSQ) along with the details on socio-demography was collected using a validated questionnaire. The 34-item BSQ measures body image concern through a 6-point Likertscale. The scores are classified into 4 categories: satisfied (not worried) about body shape (140). The data so obtained was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0.Results: Median age of the students was 20 years.64% of them were in the age group of 20-26 years.50% of them were from Karnataka. According to the BSQ it was seen that up to 32.6% were dissatisfied with themselves. No association was noted between the body image perception and place of origin or agegroups of the subjects. But a significant association was noted between body image perception and subjects avoiding communal changing rooms and self consciousness.Conclusion: With adequate health education people can be made aware that being dissatisfied with their body images could lead to adverse health events like anorexia nervosa and bulimia. A number of potential factors that may help to protect against negative body image or prevent negative body image exist

LIFESTYLE FACTORS AND OBESITY AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN RURAL SOUTH INDIA

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of obesity among adolescents of thestudy area and to study the association of physical activity, dietary habitswith obesity.Methods: This was a school based cross sectional study conducted among 2963 adolescents in Udupi. They were interviewed using pre-testedquestionnaire, followed by body mass index measurement and classification using World Health Organization criteria. Statistical analysis was doneusing Mann–Whitney U-test, Kruskal–Wallis test, and Chi-square tests.Results: The prevalence of overweight was 2.4% and obesity 1.4% and they were higher among the adolescents belonging to higher socio-economicstatus, among those using motorized transport. Furthermore, 93.2% of the subjects consumed readymade food items apart from homemade ones,28.8% of them had the habit of eating in between the regular meals, and 59.6% of the subjects had the habit of consuming carbonated beveragesregularly.Conclusions: Current levels of obesity and lifestyle factors among the adolescents in the study area can significantly predispose them to the risk ofnon-communicable diseases, which needs to be considered while making policies for non-communicable diseases.Keywords: Adolescents, Obesity, Overweight, Lifestyle, Diet, World Health Organization