Will the Big Five Personality Factor Stand-up: An Analysis of NEO Personality Inventory-Revised

The aim of the present study was to examine the factorial invariance of a major instrument i.e., NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised-Form S (NEO PI-R)1, tapping broad five factor of personality such as: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. It also aimed to study the replication of broad five factors in Indian population. To achieve these objectives, the NEO PI-R was administered on a sample of 375 subjects (age range from 18 yrs to 22 yrs) randomly selected from various academic institutes in Indian. The statistical analysis such as descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and factor analysis were performed on collected data. The higher mean score on neuroticism in present data indicates a cultural variation across the country. Reliability analysis was confirmed test-retest reliability ranging from 0.70 to 0.78 (n = 108, gap of over 60 days) and strikingly high internal consistency ranging from 0.98 to 0.99 for the big five factor in India. Bivariate correlation analyses demonstrate positive significant correlations among the facets scale of NEO-PI-R and their corresponding factor except few correlations. The significant correlations among the five factors question their independence in the measurement of personality structure. In factor analysis, the three personality dimension such as conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness were clearly replicates and the other two factors such as extraversion and openness to experience were partially replicate to define the personality structure in Indian population. These findings are in line with existing literature and have strong implications to define the personality structure in Indian populatio

A comparative prospective study to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of pantoprazole monotherapy versus pantoprazole and itopride dual therapy in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common chronic, relapsing condition that carries a risk of significant morbidity and potential mortality from resultant complications. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) remained as the main stay in the therapy of GERD but they do not have any role in increasing the tone of lower esophageal sphincter which is the main pathophysiology of GERD. In this regard addition of prokinetic agent like Itopride may be beneficial in improving the symptoms associated with GERD. So the present study has been taken to compare the healing rates of esophagitis and reduction in symptom scores associated with GERD between Pantoprazole monotherapy and Pantoprazole plus Itopride combination.Methods: 100 patients diagnosed with GERD were randomly assigned into two groups, Group A and Group B. Group A received tablet Pantoprazole 40 mg twice daily alone and group B received tablet Pantoprazole 40 mg twice daily and tablet Itopride 50 mg thrice daily 30 minutes before food for 4 weeks. The patients were followed up at the end of 4 weeks and were given the questionnaire to assess the FSSG scores. Endoscopy and FSSG scores were recorded and then the percentage of responders in both groups was compared.Results: Endoscopic evidence of healing of esophagitis was similar in both the groups, 72% in Group A and 74% in Group B. The symptom relief was significantly more in Pantaprozole plus Itopride group 74.5% (4.2±1.6) than Pantaprozole alone 62.5% (6.4±1.1) after 4 weeks (p < 0.001).The occurrence of side effects was less in group B compared to group A (22% vs 30%, p= 0.172).Conclusions: Pantoprazole and combination of Pantoprazole plus Itopride provide more effective endoscopic healing of esophagitis. Pantoprazole and Itopride combination is more efficacious in ameliorating the symptoms of GERD than Pantoprazole alone

Mosaicism of 50,XX/51,XX in a Murrah buffalo Bubalus bubalis

International audienc

Probing ultrafast carrier dynamics and nonlinear absorption and refraction in core-shell silicon nanowires

We investigate the relaxation dynamics of photogenerated carriers in silicon nanowires consisting of a crystalline core and a surrounding amorphous shell, using femtosecond time-resolved differential reflectivity and transmission spectroscopy at photon energies of 3.15 eV and 1.57 eV. The complex behavior of the differential transmission and reflectivity transients is the mixed contributions from the crystalline core and the amorphous silicon on the nanowire surface and the substrate where competing effects of state filling and photoinduced absorption govern the carrier dynamics. Faster relaxation rates are observed on increasing the photo-generated carrier density. Independent experimental results on crystalline silicon-on-sapphire help us in separating the contributions from the carrier dynamics in crystalline core and the amorphous regions in the nanowire samples. Further, single beam z-scan nonlinear transmission experiments at 1.57 eV in both open and close aperture configurations yield two-photon absorption coefficient \$beta$ (~3 cm/GW) and nonlinear refraction coefficient \$gamma$ (-2.5x10^-4 cm2/GW).Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

The relevance of outsourcing and leagile strategies in performance optimization of an integrated process planning and scheduling

Over the past few years growing global competition has forced the manufacturing industries to upgrade their old production strategies with the modern day approaches. As a result, recent interest has been developed towards finding an appropriate policy that could enable them to compete with others, and facilitate them to emerge as a market winner. Keeping in mind the abovementioned facts, in this paper the authors have proposed an integrated process planning and scheduling model inheriting the salient features of outsourcing, and leagile principles to compete in the existing market scenario. The paper also proposes a model based on leagile principles, where the integrated planning management has been practiced. In the present work a scheduling problem has been considered and overall minimization of makespan has been aimed. The paper shows the relevance of both the strategies in performance enhancement of the industries, in terms of their reduced makespan. The authors have also proposed a new hybrid Enhanced Swift Converging Simulated Annealing (ESCSA) algorithm, to solve the complex real-time scheduling problems. The proposed algorithm inherits the prominent features of the Genetic Algorithm (GA), Simulated Annealing (SA), and the Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC). The ESCSA algorithm reduces the makespan significantly in less computational time and number of iterations. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm has been shown by comparing the results with GA, SA, Tabu, and hybrid Tabu-SA optimization methods

How Asian slum emissions impact local microclimates in polluted air masses

Urban sprawl comprising densely populated slums over South Asian cities yields copious amounts of soot and black carbon from archaic cooking methods involving cow dung cakes and firewood, which remain afloat for over 10–12 h, enabling them to age in a sulphur rich environment. Not only are there toxicological concerns arising out of improper ventilation mechanisms, but there are also other concerns impacting the local microclimate. These emissions mix with other aerosol particles and, when conditions are favourable, are rendered partially soluble, enabling them to activate into cloud condensation nuclei. This study first yields a quantification of the soluble mass fraction and subsequently shows how aerosols from this local area source mix with background aerosol modes to perturb the local cloud microphysics over Chennai, a megacity in Southern India. On-site sampling was undertaken to find the mass concentrations of the collected deposits separately from cow dung and firewood fuel. Additional micro-physical attributes, including the morphological indentations that served as a receptacle to contain the accreted sulphate along with the particle size distribution were ascertained through Scanning Electron Microscopy. It is shown that accreted sulphate on carbonaceous particles facilitates CCN activation over the city. We show through large-eddy simulations (LES) that extensive slum emissions over the study region contribute to the observed local cloud cover and enhanced rain amounts over a densely built-up area housing the city's most vulnerable citizens

Caspase-2 is upregulated after sciatic nerve transection and its inhibition protects dorsal root ganglion neurons from Apoptosis after serum withdrawal

Sciatic nerve (SN) transection-induced apoptosis of dorsal root ganglion neurons (DRGN) is one factor determining the efficacy of peripheral axonal regeneration and the return of sensation. Here, we tested the hypothesis that caspase-2(CASP2) orchestrates apoptosis of axotomised DRGN both in vivo and in vitro by disrupting the local neurotrophic supply to DRGN. We observed significantly elevated levels of cleaved CASP2 (C-CASP2), compared to cleaved caspase-3 (C-CASP3), within TUNEL+DRGN and DRG glia (satellite and Schwann cells) after SN transection. A serum withdrawal cell culture model, which induced 40% apoptotic death in DRGN and 60% in glia, was used to model DRGN loss after neurotrophic factor withdrawal. Elevated C-CASP2 and TUNEL were observed in both DRGN and DRG glia, with C-CASP2 localisation shifting from the cytosol to the nucleus, a required step for induction of direct CASP2-mediated apoptosis. Furthermore, siRNAmediated downregulation of CASP2 protected 50% of DRGN from apoptosis after serum withdrawal, while downregulation of CASP3 had no effect on DRGN or DRG glia survival. We conclude that CASP2 orchestrates the death of SN-axotomised DRGN directly and also indirectly through loss of DRG glia and their local neurotrophic factor support. Accordingly, inhibiting CASP2 expression is a potential therapy for improving both the SN regeneration response and peripheral sensory recovery

Extension of Yeast Chronological Lifespan by Methylamine

Background: Chronological aging of yeast cells is commonly used as a model for aging of human post-mitotic cells. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae grown on glucose in the presence of ammonium sulphate is mainly used in yeast aging research. We have analyzed chronological aging of the yeast Hansenula polymorpha grown at conditions that require primary peroxisome metabolism for growth. Methodology/Principal Findings: The chronological lifespan of H. polymorpha is strongly enhanced when cells are grown on methanol or ethanol, metabolized by peroxisome enzymes, relative to growth on glucose that does not require peroxisomes. The short lifespan of H. polymorpha on glucose is mainly due to medium acidification, whereas most likely ROS do not play an important role. Growth of cells on methanol/methylamine instead of methanol/ammonium sulphate resulted in further lifespan enhancement. This was unrelated to medium acidification. We show that oxidation of methylamine by peroxisomal amine oxidase at carbon starvation conditions is responsible for lifespan extension. The methylamine oxidation product formaldehyde is further oxidized resulting in NADH generation, which contributes to increased ATP generation and reduction of ROS levels in the stationary phase. Conclusion/Significance: We conclude that primary peroxisome metabolism enhanced chronological lifespan of H. polymorpha. Moreover, the possibility to generate NADH at carbon starvation conditions by an organic nitrogen source supports further extension of the lifespan of the cell. Consequently, the interpretation of CLS analyses in yeast should include possible effects on the energy status of the cell.

Electron quantum metamaterials in van der Waals heterostructures

In recent decades, scientists have developed the means to engineer synthetic periodic arrays with feature sizes below the wavelength of light. When such features are appropriately structured, electromagnetic radiation can be manipulated in unusual ways, resulting in optical metamaterials whose function is directly controlled through nanoscale structure. Nature, too, has adopted such techniques -- for example in the unique coloring of butterfly wings -- to manipulate photons as they propagate through nanoscale periodic assemblies. In this Perspective, we highlight the intriguing potential of designer sub-electron wavelength (as well as wavelength-scale) structuring of electronic matter, which affords a new range of synthetic quantum metamaterials with unconventional responses. Driven by experimental developments in stacking atomically layered heterostructures -- e.g., mechanical pick-up/transfer assembly -- atomic scale registrations and structures can be readily tuned over distances smaller than characteristic electronic length-scales (such as electron wavelength, screening length, and electron mean free path). Yet electronic metamaterials promise far richer categories of behavior than those found in conventional optical metamaterial technologies. This is because unlike photons that scarcely interact with each other, electrons in subwavelength structured metamaterials are charged, and strongly interact. As a result, an enormous variety of emergent phenomena can be expected, and radically new classes of interacting quantum metamaterials designed