Assessment of user preference to information resources in agricultural libraries in north India

Through a survey, this study assesses the preference of users with regard to print and electronic information resources in agricultural libraries of north India and to identify the preferred mode of access thereof. The required data were collected, employing questionnaires and through telephonic surveys. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for analysing the data. The level of association between the user preference and the corresponding variable was derived throughChi Squared (χ2) Test. It is found that the users of agricultural libraries in north India use information resources almost equally both in print and electronic forms, although online resources are favored over print as they are ‘easy to search and retrieve’, ‘easy and quick to access’ and ‘more up-to-date’ than their print counterparts

RELAXIN: A MAGICAL THERAPY FOR HEALTHY HEART

Relaxin (a peptide hormone) has emerged as a cardioprotective agent and plays a vital role in normal cardiac function. By activation a complex network of signaling cascade, relaxin is responsible for creating a healthy environment for heart functioning. Under pathological conditions, such as cardiomyopathy and heart failure, expression level of relaxin is increased dramatically to protect heart. By promoting angiogenesis, vasodilatation, improving ischemia/reperfusion injury and remodeling, relaxin has emerged as a magical agent to address cardiac abnormalities. Over the past 3 decades, various cardioprotection strategies are in use to deal with cardiac diseases, however till date no effective therapy is in clinical practice. Relaxin has emerged as a novel therapeutic agent to have beneficial action during various pathological conditions. In this review, we have discussed different cardioprotective roles of relaxin that marks it, as an effective agent to tackle heart related diseases.Â

Randomized, Standard Controlled Study Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of Habb-e-Waja‘al-Mafāṣil in Managing Cervical Spondylosis

Background and Objectives Cervical Spondylosis is a degenerative disease of intervertebral discs and adjacent vertebral bodies of the cervical region due to wear and tear changes. Neck pain, with radiculopathy, and stiffness comprises the prime features of cervical spondylosis demanding the immediate attention and respite. Despite the advancement in pharmacological, nonpharmacological and surgical interventions, the management remains unsatisfactory due to high cost, adverse effects and unusual eventualities. Hence a clinical trial was done to evaluate the efficacy of herbal formulation, Habb-e-Waja‘al-Mafāṣil (HWM), in managing cervical spondylosis (Waja‘al-‘Unuq). Methods The study is an open-labeled, randomized and standard controlled trial. Sixty diagnosed patients of age group 20 to 70 years were randomly allocated, using a computer generated chart, in test group (n=30) receiving HWM (3gm), and the control group (n=30) receiving ibuprofen 1200mg/day, orally in divided doses. The severity score of clinical symptoms and signs; pain, stiffness, swelling, restriction of movement and radiological findings were analyzed at baseline and at 30 days. Results Both HWM and ibuprofen significantly reduced the severity score of pain, stiffness, swelling, and restriction of movement (p=<0.001) associated with cervical spondylosis after completion of treatment protocol. However, no change was observed in radiological findings in either group (p=1). Comparison to control group no significant result was noticed in test group statistically (p=>0.05), except for “restriction of movement” (p=<0.05). Conclusion The herbal formulation, HWM, is equally effective to conventional treatment in managing cervical spondylosis. Therefore, HWM can be prescribed as safe and cost effective alternative treatment for cervical spondylosis

Web Based Services Provided by University Libraries of BRICS Nations: A Comparative Study

The developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) and their subsequent absorption in library and information science (LIS) have forced information professionals to change the way they are functioning at present. Because of their popularity with the users, an overwhelming attention is being given to the web-based information services in libraries .The web 2.0 technologies have rapidly gained huge popularity and as such, the university libraries, being the heart of the highest seats of learning, need to equip themselves with all the possible web based, i.e. web 2.0 and allied services. The present study made an endeavour to study the various web 2.0 and allied web based services offered by select university libraries of BRICS nations. This study shows that the web based services in the university libraries of BRICS nations are quite better. The findings show that India and china universities are far behind as compared to Brazil, Russia and South Africa in employability of web 2.0 tools in librarie

TARGETING HIF-1 PATHWAY: A THERAPEUTIC APPROACH TO KILL CANCER CELLS

Tumorous growth often faces hypoxic (low oxygen tension) conditions and the adaptations of these cells to hypoxic conditions determine their survival. The cancer cells respond to hypoxia by altering the expression of different genes and Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF)-1 is one of it. HIF-1 is a transcriptional factor that response to hypoxia (low oxygen tension) conditions quickly. Expression of HIF-1 gene is essential for increase in vascularization of hypoxic region such as tumor and thus aid in proliferation and survival of cancerous cells. Moreover, HIF-1 signaling in cancer cells has a diverse influence on the metastatic cascade. Targeting HIF-1 is therefore one of the most promising approach to treat cancer. In this review, we have focused on the potential of targeting HIF-1 pathway as therapeutic intervention to treat cancer. Key words: HIF-1 Pathway, Cancer, Hypoxia-Inducibl

THE WARBURG EFFECT: A POSSIBLE ROLE OF CAP INDEPENDENT TRANSLATION

Cancer is a complex multistep process involving tremendous changes at molecular and cellular properties of a cancerous cell. One of the main characteristics associated with the tumor cells include preferential use of glycolysis over oxidative phosphorylation to meet the high energy needs. This process is observed even in the presence of ample oxygen to fuel mitochondrial respiration and is considered to be the root cause of tumor growth and a potential hallmark of cancer. It has been found that tumor cells shows increased glycolytic capacity than normal cells and produce lactate rather than pyruvate in the process. During cancers, the expression levels of glycolytic enzymes are increased and different mechanisms like increased transcription or altered post-translational regulation has been proposed. Since hypoxia is a well known model in cancers and therefore role of capindependent translation cannot be ignored. Furthermore, elucidation of the underlying reasons behind the increased expression of glycolytic enzymes in cancer will help us to better understand and cure cancer. This review focuses on the possible role of cap independent translation in mediating increased expression of glycolytic enzymes in cancers. Key word: Cancer, Warburg Effect, glycolytic enzymes, Cap independent translation, hypoxi

Status of collection in agricultural libraries of Northern India with an overview of the trend in acquisition

Purpose – This paper of this study is to attempt to explore the status of collection in agricultural libraries of Northern India and assess the magnitude of impact of the advent of electronic information resources (EIRs) on the contemporary acquisition. Design/methodology/approach – While adhering to the survey method, the questionnaire was used as a data collection tool to collect data from university librarians. Telephonic interaction and e-mail correspondence were also used to clear doubts, remove ambiguities and obtain data of higher significance from the respondents. Findings – The majority of the agricultural libraries in Northern India have a sound collection of information resources in the print form, which may continue to act as a source of attraction for users in the future for a long time to come. Yet, the acquisition of information resources in the print form across the studied libraries continues at routine pace, and as such the advent of e-resources seems to have not yet laid any prominent impact on acquisition of resources in print form. E-Books have not yet been fully incorporated into the library collection and that e-journal collection “CeRA” (Consortium for Electronic Resources in Agriculture) seems to gratify the needs of users of these libraries, as no additional e-journals are seen to be subscribed to at present. Research limitations/implications – Only seven agricultural libraries have been taken as a sample. Moreover, the work is confined to only two aspects, i.e. current status and the impact of EIRs on acquisition of information resources. Other aspects like those of collection development, storage and accommodation, preservation, library functionality and library services need to also be studied. Originality/value – This is first work of its nature in Northern India with agricultural libraries as their domain. The findings will help the librarians and the library advisory committees decide on logical grounds about the proportion at which the print and electronic forms of information resources need to be acquired

Impact of Availability of E-Resources on User Satisfaction in Agricultural Libraries of Northern India

The main objectives of the study were to assess the level of user satisfaction with regard to the following types of Electronic Information Resources (EIRs) relevant to agriculture and allied disciplines, viz. Indexing and Abstracting (I&A) Databases; e-Journals; e-Books; and e-Theses. Seven universities were surveyed using a questionnaire for collecting data. The investigator used telephonic and e-mail communication and had a face-to-face interaction with respondents to substantiate the responses and remove ambiguities. The level of users’ satisfaction has been measured using a five point Likert scale. A great majority of respondents are satisfied about the availability of e-abstract databases (87.92%) and e-journals (89.67%). Despite the fact that only three of the surveyed libraries are found to subscribe to a single e-book collection of 600 titles, surprisingly a good percentage of the library users (69.08%) are satisfied with the availability of e-books. Same is the case with e-theses, whereof the majority of respondents (60.33%) are satisfied, despite the fact that only one e-theses database that too only of Indian coverage i.e., KrishiPrabha is made available to users

One Dimensional Steady Flow Analysis Using HECRAS – A case of River Jhelum, Jammu and Kashmir

Floods have been recurrent phenomena in the study area. A heavy precipitation, usually coming during the end months of the summer season in association with sudden cloudburst, leads to severe flooding in the study area. By now the catchment area of the river is already saturated and the high run-off swells the rivers beyond their capacity. The present study describes the application of HEC RAS Model for flood studies in the river Jhelum Kashmir valley. The peak flood records were used as inputs into HEC RAS model to find out the resultant expected flood levels. The resultant output generated by the model shows an overflow at maximum locations of the river under study for 50 years and above return period. This purpose is to give a hand to policy makers, planners and insurers, to develop a robust strategy for the development of flood mitigation measures and plans to minimise the losses associated with the disaster in the study area