Assessing the level of household Quality of Living (QoL) of Berhampore Town (City) in Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India

La qualitat de vida és un concepte multidimensional d’un individu o d’una societat. Ha estat influenciada per diferents factors com ara les condicions de l’habitatge, les condicions de salut, l’educació, els actius i altres serveis bàsics. Aquesta investigació tracta d’avaluar el nivell de qualitat de vida (QoL) de la llar de Berhampore Town (ciutat) al districte de Murshidabad a Bengala Occidental, Índia. La qualitat de vida de les llars es mesura a partir de vint indicadors. Aquests indicadors s’utilitzen com a dominis diferents com l’índex de capital humà, l’índex d’actius, l’índex de serveis bàsics i l’índex d’habitatge. La qualitat de les condicions de vida es determina a partir de puntuacions compostes. El resultat demostra que les condicions de vida difereixen en diferents punts d’aquesta població. Les condicions de vida de la part central són millors que les d’altres parts d’aquesta ciutat.Quality of living is a multidimensional concept of an individual or a society. It has been influenced by different factors such as housing conditions, health conditions, education, assets, and other basic amenities. This research deals with assessing the level of household Quality of Living (QoL) of Berhampore Town (city) in Murshidabad district in West Bengal, India. Household Quality of Living is measured based on twenty indicators. These indicators are used as different domains like Human Capital Index, Assets Index, Basic Amenities Index, and Housing Index. Quality of living conditions is determined based on composite scores. The result shows that living conditions differ in different parts of this town. The living condition of the central part is better than other parts of this city.La calidad de vida es un concepto multidimensional de un individuo o una sociedad. Ha sido influenciado por diferentes factores, como las condiciones de vivienda, las condiciones de salud, la educación, los bienes y otras comodidades básicas. Esta investigación trata de evaluar el nivel de calidad de vida (QoL) de los hogares de Berhampore Town (ciudad) en el distrito de Murshidabad en Bengala Occidental, India. La Calidad de Vida de los Hogares se mide a partir de veinte indicadores. Estos indicadores se utilizan como diferentes dominios como el índice de capital humano, el índice de activos, el índice de servicios básicos y el índice de vivienda. La calidad de las condiciones de vida se determina en base a puntuaciones compuestas. El resultado muestra que las condiciones de vida difieren en diferentes partes de esta localidad. La condición de vida de la parte central es mejor que otras partes de esta ciudad.Quality of living is a multidimensional concept of an individual or a society. It has been influenced by different factors such as housing conditions, health conditions, education, assets, and other basic amenities. This research deals with assessing the level of household Quality of Living (QoL) of Berhampore Town (city) in Murshidabad district in West Bengal, India. Household Quality of Living is measured based on twenty indicators. These indicators are used as different domains like Human Capital Index, Assets Index, Basic Amenities Index, and Housing Index. Quality of living conditions is determined based on composite scores. The result shows that living conditions differ in different parts of this town. The living condition of the central part is better than other parts of this city.Quality of living is a multidimensional concept of an individual or a society. It has been influenced by different factors such as housing conditions, health conditions, education, assets, and other basic amenities. This research deals with assessing the level of household Quality of Living (QoL) of Berhampore Town (city) in Murshidabad district in West Bengal, India. Household Quality of Living is measured based on twenty indicators. These indicators are used as different domains like Human Capital Index, Assets Index, Basic Amenities Index, and Housing Index. Quality of living conditions is determined based on composite scores. The result shows that living conditions differ in different parts of this town. The living condition of the central part is better than other parts of this city.Quality of living is a multidimensional concept of an individual or a society. It has been influenced by different factors such as housing conditions, health conditions, education, assets, and other basic amenities. This research deals with assessing the level of household Quality of Living (QoL) of Berhampore Town (city) in Murshidabad district in West Bengal, India. Household Quality of Living is measured based on twenty indicators. These indicators are used as different domains like Human Capital Index, Assets Index, Basic Amenities Index, and Housing Index. Quality of living conditions is determined based on composite scores. The result shows that living conditions differ in different parts of this town. The living condition of the central part is better than other parts of this city

Does Contingent Reward Leadership Enhance or Diminish Team Creativity?

Although prior research has shown that contingent reward transactional leadership is, on average, nearly as highly related to team outcomes as is transformational leadership, few studies have examined the mechanisms whereby and the conditions under which contingent reward leadership is related to team creativity. Drawing on social exchange theory, we argue that contingent reward leadership can enhance team knowledge sharing and, in turn, team creative performance because it specifies effort-reward contingencies for knowledge sharing and because it motivates team members to reciprocate for consistence and transparent treatment their leader exhibits towards them. Moreover, we propose that this relationship is moderated by leader unpredictability, which can undermine the otherwise positive effects of contingent reward leadership. In a two-source, lagged design (three-wave) field study with data from 70 organizational teams, we found a conditional indirect (moderated mediation) effect of contingent reward leadership on team creative performance through team knowledge sharing. This conditional indirect effect was positive when leader unpredictability was low, and negative when leader unpredictability was high. Our research suggests that consistent and predictable contingent reward leadership can be an effective tool for leaders to foster creativity in teams

Modulation of macrophage mannose receptor affects the uptake of virulent and avirulent Leishmania donovani promastigotes

The effect of oxidants and the anti-inflammatory steroid dexamethasone on the attachment and internalization of virulent and avirulent Leishmania donovani promastigotes by the macrophage mannosyl fucosyl receptor was examined. Oxidants and dexamethasone are known to down- and upregulate the expression of the mannose receptor. Macrophages, when treated with 500 μM H2O2 at 37 C for 30 min, stimulate about 45% inhibition in uptake of an avirulent strain (UR6), and 30 and 25% inhibition for virulent strains AG-83 and GE-I, respectively. Treatment of macrophages with dexamethasone for 20 hr resulted in a stimulation in uptake of the parasite. When UR6 was used, a 3-fold increase in uptake was observed compared with the controls. Parasite uptake was also inhibited by the H2O2-generating system, glucose/glucose oxidase; inhibition was blocked by catalase. Treatment of macrophages either with H2O2 or dexamethasone did not affect the binding of the advanced glycosylation end product-bovine serum albumin (AGE-BSA), the ligand for AGE receptor of macrophages. Similarly, indirect evidence also shows that both types 1 and 3 complement receptors (CR1, CR3) are not affected by these treatments, indicating that, besides the mannosyl fucosyl receptor, other receptors are minimally altered in the identified condition. These results suggest that the up- and downregulation of the mannose receptor of macrophages may play a role in affecting L. donovani infection

Dokazi o energijskoj ovisnosti sličnih sljedova emitiranih piona u nuklearnim sudarima

This paper presents a study on energy dependence of self-similar cascading rate of produced pions in nuclear collision in the entire accelerator energy 2.1A GeV-200A GeV using the results of F-moments methodology and Levy stable index in both pseudorapidity (η) space and azimuthal angle (ϕ) space. This analysis reveals a positive dependence of self-similar cascading rate on beam energy.Predstavljamo proučavanje energijske ovisnosti sličnih sljedova piona proizvedenih u nuklearnim sudarima u širokom području energije od 2.1 A GeV do 200A GeV 16O-AgBr sudari na 2.1A GeV i 60A GeV, Pb-Pb sudari na 158A GeV, te 32SAgBr sudari na 200A GeV. Primjenjujemo metodologiju F momenata i Levyjeve stabilne indekse za prostor pseudorapiditeta (η) i prostor azimutalnog kuta (φ). Analize pokazuju pozitivnu ovisnost sličnih sljedova piona o energiji sudara

An insight into the molecular basis of salt tolerance of L-myo-inositol 1-P synthase (PcINO1) from porteresia coarctata (Roxb.) tateoka, a halophytic wild rice1

The molecular basis of salt tolerance of L-myo-inositol 1-P synthase (MIPS; EC 5.5.1.4) from Porteresia coarctata (Roxb.) Tateoka (PcINO1, AF412340) earlier reported from this laboratory, has been analyzed by in vitro mutant and hybrid generation and subsequent biochemical and biophysical studies of the recombinant proteins. A 37-amino acid stretch between Trp-174 and Ser-210 has been confirmed as the salt-tolerance determinant domain in PcINO1 both by loss or gain of salt tolerance by either deletion or by addition to salt-sensitive MIPS(s) of Oryza (OsINO1) and Brassica juncea (BjINO1). This was further verified by growth analysis under salt environment of Schizosaccharomyces pombe transformed with the various gene constructs and studies on the differential behavior of mutant and wild proteins by Trp fluorescence, aggregation, and circular dichroism spectra in the presence of salt. 4,4'-Dianilino-1,1'-binaphthyl-5,5-disulfonic acid binding experiments revealed a lower hydrophobic surface on PcINO1 than OsINO1, contributed by this 37-amino acid stretch explaining the differential behavior of OsINO1 and PcINO1 both with respect to their enzymatic functions and thermodynamic stability in high salt environment. Detailed amino acid sequence comparison and modeling studies revealed the interposition of polar and charged residues and a well-connected hydrogen-bonding network formed by Ser and Thr in this stretch of PcINO1. On the contrary, hydrophobic residues clustered in two continuous stretches in the corresponding region of OsINO1 form a strong hydrophobic patch on the surface. It is conceivable that salt-tolerant MIPS proteins may be designed out of the salt-sensitive plant MIPS proteins by replacement of the corresponding amino acid stretch by the designated 37-amino acid stretch of PcINO1

Resilience of Healthcare Providers during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Rapid Assessment using Digital Platform

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic exposed the health workforce to an unprecedented occupational hazard. While taking care of patients they always had to be conscious simultaneously for safeguarding themselves and their family members against the highly infectious virus. In West Bengal, cases were first reported in the last week of March-2020 and reached the peak around October-2020 in the first wave, once the lockdown was lifted. During the initial months, the staggering number of cases, prevailing uncertainty over case management, and untimely demise of colleagues and relatives, took their toll on the physical and mental health of doctors, paramedics, or support staff, both in the government and private sectors. Aim: To measure perceived stress, resilience and psychological well-being of healthcare providers using standard psychometric tools. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study carried out among healthcare workers in hospitals located in West Bengal, India. A self-administered questionnaire was circulated through a digital platform between June-November 2020. The questionnaire was designed using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Kessler-6 (K6), and Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) to assess perceived stress, psychiatric morbidity, and resilience of the person. It had three parts, one to capture socio-demographic details of the participants including age, sex, marital status, occupation, family history of psychiatric morbidity, place of stay etc. Second part consisted of psychometric scales and third was designed to capture the views of participants on the coping strategies. Calculated sample size was 189. Results: Based on standard cut-off values, it was found that 65.6% subjects were under moderate or severe stress; 56.6% had compromised mental well-being and 64% were not coping well with the pandemic situation. PSS were significantly poor for females (p-value <0.001), single (p-value <0.001) and those without history of psychiatric morbidity (p-value <0.001) and low resilient copers (p<0.0001). Mental well-being was compromised more among married (p-value=0.01), doctors (p-value=0.008), aged <40 years (p-value=0.003), high resilient copers (p-value=0.02). Popular means of stress reliever were music and yoga/exercise. Correct and updated knowledge on disease transmission, availability of personal protective equipment, pursuing hobbies like music and gardening were few suggested measures to improve coping with stress associated with patient care. Conclusion: The study revealed that majority of the health workers experienced moderate to heavy degree of stress and compromised psychological well-being during the first wave of pandemic. Relationship of stress and psychological well-being with resilience and socio-demographic variables was not always linear