PERIODICAL DEVELOPMENT OF TRADITIONAL FERMENTED AYURVEDA FORMULATION LOHASAVA

Ayurveda comprises of a range of medicines including the fermented forms specifically Arishtas (fermented decoctions) and Asavas (fermented infusions). Lohasava are derivatives of primitive form of processing of iron i.e. Ayaskriti. The resemblance between the constituents of Lohasava shows the progressive development of Lauhakalpa basing upon fundamental principles of Rasashastra. In this paper details about Lohasava, their different pharmaceutical variations apart from other relevant information have been highlighted. This paper covers all the essential details of Asavarista (classification of Sandhana kalpana, Indication of Sandhana prakriya, S.O.P. For form of Iron to be used etc.) physicians to prescribe and a teacher to educate his pupils about Lohasava

METHODOLOGICAL INSIGHTS IN THE PREPARATION OF NAGA BHASMA

In the present research paper an attempt has been made to introduce standard operating procedure (SOP) for preparation of Naga Bhasma described in Ayurvedic formulary of India (AFI) using traditional Puta method. A total 60 Putas were given, out which first 50 Puta were Ardha gajaputa, followed by last 10 Puta as Gajaputa. In this method Manahshila and Kanji were taken as media. Arddha Gaja Puta (burnt with 4 kg Cow dung cake) was given for first 50 puta and the last ten Putas was given Gajaputa (burnt with 8 kg cow dung cake). The percentage increase in the Naga bhasma prepared after 60 Puta was 12%. Upto 50 Puta the increase in weight of Naga was 208%, while in last 10 Putas the percentage of decrease in weight was 63.66%. The average percentage purity of Naga decreased from 93.18% to 81.44% after Shodhana. The percentage of (Pb) Lead in Naga Bhasma 50 Puta and 60 Puta were 14.118% and 14.872 % respectively. Chemically Naga Bhasma was found in the form of PbS form

A Study of Foreign Exchange Exposure in the Indian IT Sector

Foreign exchange exposure measures the extent of fluctuation of a firm’s future cash flows with respect to exchange rate movements. In particular, such fluctuation can have an adverse impact on firms which are already under tight liquidity constraints, often leading to financial distress. Thus, firms must evaluate their foreign exchange exposure in order to effectively hedge their foreign exchange risk. This study examines the issue of foreign exchange rate exposure in the Indian information technology (IT) sector. Foreign exchange exposure is particularly important for firms in the Indian IT sector, as a major part of their revenue is derived from exports. Dash and Madhava (2009) found positive foreign exchange exposure for the sector in the period 2005-07, and alarmingly high level of exposure for some small-cap IT companies.  Since then, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the nature of the IT sector has dramatically changed, with lower dependence on the US market in particular. The present study assesses whether there is still significant positive foreign exchange exposure in the Indian IT sector, and whether there is still a significant difference in foreign exchange exposur

Using Fuzzy Delphi and Generalized Fuzzy TOPSIS to Evaluate Technological Service Flexibility Dimensions of Internet Malls

The expanding development of technology and availability of the internet is leading a consumer shift from offline to online activity. This shifting behavior shows positive signs for the growth of the e-commerce market but also increases the challenges for the online service provider to provide satisfaction and loyalty to consumers when there is no personal interaction between buyer and seller. In these circumstances, quality, in terms of technology services i.e. web/transaction, can play a significant role for the service provider, especially for internet shopping malls. But there is little material available in current literature to build a theoretical model for web/transaction flexibility dimensions and to rank internet shopping malls on their provision of services to customers. The vagueness of the available information can be tackled by fuzzy theory by employing a Fuzzy Delphi method to finalize technological service dimensions and lead to development of a research model. The final ranking of internet malls has been achieved by utilizing Generalized Fuzzy TOPSIS. The findings of this study can be useful for internet shopping malls in devising strategies to provide a better quality of web/transaction service to customers.N/

PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATION OF LAUHA BHASMA

In the present research paper, the pharmaceutical preparation of Lauha bhasma (calcined iron) is being presented. The various procedures adopted in the preparation of Lauha bhasma includes Samanya Shodhana (common purification process for iron) and Vishesha Shodhana (specific purification process for iron), Lauha marana by Bhanupaka (Heating of iron under sunrays) Sthalipaka (Heating of iron in a vessel) and Puta paka (Incineration of iron). Lauha was finally subjected to the process of Amriikaran (nectarization). The process of Puta paka was undergone in electric muffle furnace (EMF) and was repeated for sixty times each under identical conditions, at the temperature of 7500 C till 35th Puta and thereafter at 7000 C till the end of the Marana process i.e. 60 Puta. During the processing of iron, Triphala kwatha (decoction of three myrobalan) has been used as liquid media for Vishesha Shodhana, Bhanupaka, Sthalipaka and Puta paka. The study showed an increase in weight of Lauha after Bhanupaka and Stahlipaka i.e.,, 216% and 105.3%, respectively. It may be due to addition of solid content of Triphala kwatha. After Puta paka, 63%weight gain was observed in final product which may be attributed to addition of ash from Triphala kwatha. The Bhasma obtained fulfils all criteria and was found safe for oral administration

Performance Efficiency Measurement of Airports: A Comparative Analysis of Airports Authority of India and Public Private Partnership

This article describes how to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the aviation sector and also to source extra funding, the Government of India has paved the way for private investors through to a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model since the 1980s. This liberalization step in the Indian aviation market has minimized the institutional barriers which have hindered the freedom and flexibility of air transport operations among private investors. Now, competition within the aviation sector has become fiercer; the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Indian airports are not only providing varied services, but also attracting consumers with new infrastructure and full modern facilities. The importance of this article is because after privatization, no studies have been conducted to examine the efficiency of Indian airports by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). An output-oriented DEA model is employed to determine the efficiency score of airports by taking a sample of 15 airports, including airports run by PPP, for comparison. Output-oriented DEA calculates the efficiency by maximizing the outputs for a given level of inputs. Therefore, this article contributes to the existing literature on Indian airports. Based on available data, three variables - length of runways, terminal size and number of check-in counters, are used as inputs and two variables - passenger movement and aircraft movement, are used as outputs.N

Using entropy and AHP-TOPSIS for comprehensive evaluation of internet shopping malls and solution optimality

Consumers are switching from offline to online to buy everything due to this reason nowadays Internet shopping malls (ISMs) are setting up a very crucial role in the economy. For assessment and ranking are basically a critical work which could be exploitation of Internet shopping malls information resources when consider in a scientific way, there are many methods for the evaluation and ranking of e-commerce sites. Taking into consideration Traffic Rank, Inbound Links, Competition, Speed, and Keyword Statistics, in literature Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods are rarely used by the researchers to find the rank of Internet Shopping Malls (ISMs) on the basis of primary/secondary data of these influencing factors. This study, therefore, is unique to narrow down the gap in literature by employing MCDM methods i.e. Entropy and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to collect the weight of influencing factors and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal (TOPSIS) to find the rank of Internet Shopping Malls (ISMs). After finding out the rank of selected criteria, solution optimality needs to be done to find the average ideal solution matrix. Conclusion and managerial implications of the study are also discussed.N/

Yoga Reduces Symptoms of Distress in Tsunami Survivors in the Andaman Islands

A month after the December 2004 tsunami the effect of a 1 week yoga program was evaluated on self rated fear, anxiety, sadness and disturbed sleep in 47 survivors in the Andaman Islands. Polygraph recordings of the heart rate, breath rate and skin resistance were also made. Among the 47 people, 31 were settlers from the mainland (i.e. India, ML group) and 16 were endogenous people (EP group). There was a significant decrease in self rated fear, anxiety, sadness and disturbed sleep in both groups, and in the heart and breath rate in the ML group, and in the breath rate alone in the EP group, following yoga (P < 0.05, t-test). This suggests that yoga practice may be useful in the management of stress following a natural disaster in people with widely differing social, cultural and spiritual beliefs

ROLE OF KANA KAJJALI IN THE MANAGEMENT OF AJEERNA (INDIGESTION): AN OPEN CLINICAL STUDY

Ajeerna (Indigestion) is the state of unfinished process of digestion of ingested food. Kana Kajjali is a classical formulation indicated in the treatment of Ajeerna. It is prepared by Kana (Piper longum)- a herbal drug and herbomineral preparation Kajjali (Black sulphide of mercury). In the present study, an effort has been made to assess the effect of herbomineral formulation Samaguna (Hg:S=1:1) Kana Kajjali and Shadadguna (Hg:S=1:6) Kana Kajjali (Black sulphide of Mercury with Piper longum)on indigestion. Materials and methods: The study was carried out on 83 patients of indigestion. Patients were divided into three groups with simple random sampling method: Group A was treated with Samaguna Kana Kajjali tablet at the dose of 125 mg; Group B was treated with Kana tablet 250 mg; while group C was treated Shadaguna Kana Kajjali tablet at the dose of 125 mg; twice a day after meal. Duration of the treatment was 10 days. Assessment was done on the basis grading of classical signs and symptoms of the disease with application of paired t- test. Results: Highly significant (p&lt;0.001) effect was seen in Samaguna Kana Kajjali group on symptoms like Angamarda, Tiktoamlodgara and Shadguna Kana Kajjali on one Vataja symptom viz. Pravahanam and three Kaphaja symptom viz. Utlesha, Arochaka and Avipaka with best result with Shadguna Kana Kajjali especially on Kaphaja symptoms. Conclusion: Above study confirms that an increase in the concentration of Gandhaka in Parada enhances the therapeutic efficacy of the later drug

Titania coated silica nanocomposite prepared via encapsulation method for the degradation of Safranin-O dye from aqueous solution: Optimization using statistical design

AbstractTitania coated silica nanoparticles, which were synthesized via nanoparticle encapsulation route, are employed to degrade safranin-O dye from aqueous solution under UV light irradiation and were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, FESEM, N2 adsorption-desorption method and Zeta potential measurement. The results showed that the nanoparticles have a core-shell structure composed of about 100nm of diameter of silica with several TiO2 fine particles in shell. After the degradation, this process is optimized through the response surface methodology (RSM). In this response study, photodegradation efficiency was evaluated by three main independent parameters such as catalyst dose, initial dye concentration and reaction time. Parameter sensitivity studies of the degradation efficiency of titania coated silica nanoparticles have shown 93.29% degraded under the optimal conditions of catalyst dose of 89.80mg/g, initial dye concentration of 17.61mg/L and reaction time of 12min. We cross-checked the predicted values of degradation efficiency with the experimental values and were found to be in good agreement (R2=0.9983 and adj-R2=0.9967)