Nursing Students’ Perception of Online Learning Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: The declaration of COVID-19 pandemic on 11th March 2020 by World Health Organization forced many countries including Nepal to choose online mode of nursing education. Hence, it is essential for the educators to find out students’ perception that ensures their readiness to learn in this new environment. This study sought to examine the perception of online learning among nursing students. Methods: After obtaining ethical clearance, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 211 nursing students using enumerative sampling method. Self-administered structured online questionnaire was used. Calculated Cronbach's alpha value was 0.828. Descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean etc.) and inferential statistics (Chi-square test) were used to analyze data. Results: The mean age of the participants was 19.80±1.87 years. All (100%) had mobile phone. Most (93.8%) had internet facility at home. More than half (59.7%) strongly agreed that face-to-face learning was more effective. Less than half (44.6%) strongly agreed that interrupted internet connection was an obstacle. More than half (56.9%) participants had positive perception of online learning. Age, enrolled nursing program and device used were statistically significant with perception of online learning. Conclusion: The perception of nursing students towards online learning is positive. Students are satisfied with their learning opportunities amidst COVID-19 through online education. However, interrupted internet connection, unfeasible practical natured courses, load-shedding etc. were perceived as obstacles to online learning. Age, enrolled nursing program, academic year, and devices used had an impact on positive perception

Job Stress in Software Companies: A Case Study of HCL Bangalore, India

In India software industry has become one of the fastest growing industries. The reason for choosing a particular software industry and its employees is that the level of stress these employees face is comparatively higher than employees in other private companies. Any kind of a job has targets and an employee becomes stressed when he or she is allotted with unachievable targets and are unable to manage the given situation. Thus the main aim of this article is to bring to lime light the level of stress with software employees in HCL and the total sample size for the study is 100 chosen by random sampling method in HCL. When the employees were asked how often they feel stressed while working while working at the company, 98 out 100 said they feel stressed about daily physically, mentally or emotionally. In a sample space of 100 employees, 16% of employees work for 4-6 hours a day, 32% works for 6-8 hours, 30% works for 8-10 hours while 22% works for 10-12 hours daily. When asked about the overtime they have to do, 28% said employees saying always were mainly from age group 20-29. 54% of employees said often while 18% of employees said they worked overtimes rarely. The other few aspects have also been studied about job satisfaction

Pneumatosis intestinalis in an adult: a report of an unusual case

Pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) is a rare condition affecting 0.03-0.37% of general population. This entity has varied presentation which ranges from asymptomatic to surgical emergency in the form of acute abdomen. The acute abdomen presentation can be bowel necrosis, perforation or persistent bowel obstruction. We present a case of PI of small intestine in an adult patient admitted in emergency department who presented with acute abdomen and pneumo-peritoneum

Satisfaction Level of Patients Visiting Outpatient Department in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Delhi - A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Patient satisfaction is considered to be one of the important parameters in the assessment of quality of healthcare and overall performance of a healthcare facility.Objectives: To assess the utilization of health services and patient satisfaction for services provided by this tertiary care center.Material and Methods: The present study was a hospital-based, cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary care center situated in South Delhi from March 9 to June 8, 2016 (3 months). Patients of age >18 years visiting the OPD who gave their informed written consent were interviewed by using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. The responses of patients were divided into three categories-satisfied, uncertain and dissatisfied.Statistical Analysis: The surveyed questionnaires were collected and coded in an MS Excel database and analyzed by using the SPSS statistical package, version 21.0. Descriptive statistics were performed on the sociodemographic data.Results: A total of 313 patients had participated in the present study. Most (53.4%) of the patients were of age group 21-40 years. Majority (60.1%) of them were male. Nearly 80% were literate. It was found that 89.9% patients were satisfied with the overall behavior of hospital staff. It was revealed that 87.4% of the patients were satisfied with the good healthcare services provided by the hospital. 7.1% patients were dissatisfied with the healthcare services. They found insufficient healthcare facilities in this hospital. 5.2% patients were uncertain.Conclusion: Dissatisfaction among some patients triggers an alarm for hospital management to work on those components so that quality health services can be provided to all patients to make them satisfied. Periodic patient satisfaction survey should be institutionalized to provide feedback for continuous quality improvement

MUCOADHESIVE MICROSPHERES: A REVIEW

Carrier technology provides an interesting as well as an intelligent approach for the delivery of drug. It offers delivery of drug by coupling the drug to a carrier particle such as microspheres, mucoadhesive microspheres  nanoparticles, liposomes, etc. Mucoadhesive microspheres constitute an important part of this particulate drug delivery system because of their small size and other efficient properties. Mucoadhesive microspheres plays a vital role in the novel drug delivery system. Some drug delivery problems  are overcome by producing controlled drug delivery system which enhances the therapeutic efficacy of a drug.  From various approaches one approach is to using mucoadhesive microsphere as a carrier system for drug delivery. Mucoadhesive microspheres exhibit a prolonged residence time at the site of application or absorption and facilitate an intimate contact with the underlying absorption surface and thus contribute to improved and better therapeutic performance of drugs and also mucoadhesive microspheres have advantages like efficient absorption and enhanced bioavailability of the drugs due to a high surface to volume ratio, a much more intimate contact with the mucus layer,controlled and sustained release of drug from dosage form and specific targeting of drugs to the absorption site. Mucoadhesive microspheres have been developed for oral, buccal, nasal, ocular, rectal and vaginal for either systemic or local effects. It is an ideal targeting system with high safty profile. This review article gives the information about mucoadhesion and theories of mucoadhesion. It also contains a number of available methods of preparation of mucoadhesive microspheres. Keywords: Mucoadhesion, mucoadhesive microspheres,mucoadhesive polymers,application

Nutrient uptake, sugarcane yield and economics of high sugar early genotypes of sugarcane (Saccharum sp hybrid complex) under various planting seasons and fertility levels in Bihar

A field experiment was conducted for 3 consecutive years (2006-2010) in two seasons (autumn and spring) on sandy loam soil of Bihar, Pusa (Samastipur), to find out the impact of early maturing high sugar genotypes and level of N-P and K fertilization on performance of sugarcane (Saccharum sp hybrid complex). The performance indicated significant superiority of CoSe 95422 to CoP 9301 in terms of germination (35.5 and 34.4 %), tillers (152 700 and 141 400/ha), cane length (204 and 201 cm) and cane diameter (2.32 and 2.25 cm) in autumn and spring season, respectively. CoSe 95422 exhibited significantly higher dry matter accumulation and leaf area index at all the growth stages during both the cropping seasons. Net assimilation rate increased substantially at the initial crop growth stages and declined thereafter. Genotype CoP 9301 achieved higher NAR (6.34 and 5.66 g/m2/day) during June- August, though it was failed to reach the level of significance during August-October. Number of millable canes exhibited marked variation among the genotypes in both the seasons. CoSe 95422 produced significantly highest cane yield during autumn (81.0 tonnes/ha) and spring season (73.2 tonnes/ha) respectively. The percentage increase in mean cane and sugar yield by autumn planted sugarcane over spring planted sugarcane was 9.7 and 11.27 %, respectively. However, maximum sugar yield was obtained by CoSe 95422. Further, it showed significantly higher N (206.8 and 176.5 kg/ha), P (18.5 and 16.9 kg/ha), K uptake (239.4 and 204.0 kg/ha), net return (` 55 430 and ` 46 500) and benefit: cost ratio (1.86 and 1.75) during autumn and spring season, respectively. Fertility level had significant impact on drymatter accumulation and leaf area index across the season as well as stages of growth. Significantly higher tillers (140 300 and 131 000/ha), cane length (208 and 204 cm), cane diameter (2.34 and 2.26 cm), millable cane (102 100 and 100 300/ha) and cane yield (85.2 and 77.6 tonnes/ha) were obtained with the application of 187.5 N + 46.4 P + 62.3 K kg/ha in autumn and spring season, respectively. Though all of these parameters except cane diameter in spring season were statistically similar to 150 N + 37.1 P + 49.8 K kg/ha. A significant increase in cane and sugar yield was observed up to 150 N + 37.1 P + 49.8 K kg/ha. The magnitude of increase in cane yield at 187.5 N + 46.4 P + 62.3 K, 150 N + 37.1 P + 49.8 K kg/ha over 112.5 N + 27.8 P + 37.4 K kg/ha were 37.6 and 30.9%, respectively, during autumn season. Whereas, these increased 35.7 and 28.0% respectively during spring season. Though, significant variation in sugar yield up to 150 N + 37.1 P + 49.8 K kg/ha was noticed during both the season. There was a significant increase in net return by increasing level of N+P+K/ha during both the season. Though, marked variation in benefit: cost ratio (1.87 and 1.75) was observed only up to 150 N + 37.1 P + 49.8 K kg/ha during autumn and spring season, respectively

Petroleum-Based Plastics Versus Bio-Based Plastics: A Review

Plastic needs have expanded along with population growth, industrialization, and urbanization. Plastic is unrivaled due to its useful properties and is used to prepare numerous important goods daily. This paper encloses the different kinds and applications of petroleum-based plastic and the drawbacks related to their use, i.e., its nonbiodegradability which leads to their stay in the environment for a very long time. Additionally, there are not enough effective disposal techniques for the large volume of plastic waste produced; thus, plastic garbage builds up in the environment and endangers it. Limiting the usage of plastic is necessary to protect the environment. This can be done with the help of bioplastic, which is an excellent substitute for plastic. The different kinds of bioplastic and their biodegradability in different mediums, viz., soil compost and aquatic systems, are addressed in this paper. Along this, the different areas of application of bioplastic have been explored. The present study also addresses the underlying mechanism of plastic polymerization and biodegradation and the current status of bioplastics in the global market

Studies on Health Problems of Software People: A Case Study of SAP Lab Gurgaon in India

Abstract-In the present paper, the various health problems of the employees working in SAP LAB Gurgaon has been studied on the basis of answers received from the employees for the given questionnaire . All employees frequently use laptop at home. Also some of employees use desktop / workstation as alternative to laptop. Almost all employees use laptop at their workplace, as all the responses indicate the use of laptop. It can be concluded seeing the responses that still today there is a need for wide advertisement in media about various problems generated from working on computers and the companies must do something for the better health of their employees

Pongamol from the seeds of Tephrosia purpurea exert anti-cancer activity against cervical cancer cell line

Tephrosia purpurea belongs to the family Fabaceae, is used for the treatment of inflammation, diabetes, cancer, elephantitis, haemmaroids, anaemia, dysmenorrhea, chronic fever, boils, gingivitis etc. In the present study, three compounds (TP-1, TP-3 and TP-5) were isolated from EETP. Quantity of TP-3 (6.05 %) in EETP was determined by HPLC. In-vitro anti-cancer activity of EETP and isolated compound TP-3 on SiHa cells (cervical cancer cell lines) as well as PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) were evaluated by MTT (3-(4,5- di methyl thiazol -2-yl)-2,5-di phenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay. Spectroscopic analysis and physical properties, structure of isolated compounds TP-1, TP-3 and TP-5 were characterized as teclenone, pongamol and β-sitosterol respectively. Isolated compound TP-3 showed cytotoxicity against SiHa cells with the IC50 33.06 µgmL-1. TP-3 showed cytotoxicity at all the concentrations but significant activity was observed at the concentration range from 20-50 µgmL-1 as compared to control. Maximum cytotoxicity (72.75%) was observed at the concentration of 50 µgmL-1. TP-3 showed non-significant cytotoxicity against PBMCs cells at all the concentrations except at 50 µgmL-1 (cytotoxicity 24.19%). EETP showed significant cytotoxic activity (IC50 value 113.63 µgmL-1) against SiHa cells at the concentration range from 75-150 µgmL-1 as compared to control. Maximum cytotoxicity (75.34%) was observed at the concentration of 150 µgmL-1