Positive Psychology Progress in India: Accomplishments and Pathways Ahead

The aim of this study is to summarize the developments in the field of positive psychology in India by focusing on research and applications. Since the emergence of the positive psychology movement in the West in 1998, researchers worldwide including India have been influenced by its strength-based approach. Over time, positive psychology in India has garnered an empirical base. This paper attempts to trace the development of the field within India. Various databases such as PsycINFO, Science Direct, PubMed, EBSCO and Shodhganga were searched along with the gray literature according to a set of criteria. Relevant researches were categorized under study characteristics, variables studied and assessment of positive psychology variables. Findings show that well-being is the most widely studied topic in positive psychology in India. Other topics including character strengths and posttraumatic growth also seem to be gaining popularity. Future directions on investigating topics that have not received adequate attention, making efforts to bridge the gap between Indian psychology and positive psychology, addressing cultural issues in positive psychology research, focusing on interdisciplinary and multi-method approach and finally making positive psychology available to the non-scientific community, have been provided. It is hoped that these efforts will enable us to build a positive psychology community. On the basis of this analysis, it may be derived that psychology research in India has started focusing on prevention along with cure

Conductivity noise study of the insulator-metal transition and phase co-existence in epitaxial samarium nickelate thin films

Interaction between the lattice and the orbital degrees of freedom not only makes rare-earth nickelates unusually "bad metal", but also introduces a temperature driven insulator-metal phase transition. Here we investigate this insulator-metal phase transition in thin films of $\mathrm{SmNiO_3}$ using the slow time dependent fluctuations (noise) in resistivity. The normalized magnitude of noise is found to be extremely large, being nearly eight orders of magnitude higher than thin films of common disordered metallic systems, and indicates electrical conduction via classical percolation in a spatially inhomogeneous medium. The higher order statistics of the fluctuations indicate a strong non-Gaussian component of noise close to the transition, attributing the inhomogeneity to co-existence of the metallic and insulating phases. Our experiment offers a new insight on the impact of lattice-orbital coupling on the microscopic mechanism of electron transport in the rare-earth nickelates.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Positive Psychology Interventions for Chronic Physical Illnesses: A Systematic Review

Positive health focuses on enhancing health along with curing illness to bring about well-being. Treatment for physical illness generally involves drug therapy, while the psycho-social aspects, specifically the positive psychology perspectives, are largely ignored; nevertheless, a growing number of investigations are now studying the effects of positive psychology interventions on health outcomes. The objective of this paper is to systematically review positive psychology interventions in chronic physical illness. A literature search through the databases of EBSCO, PubMed and PsycINFO, reference lists of significant papers and grey literature was conducted following four criteria set for this review. The number of studies selected finally that acceded to the criteria was 14. These studies were analysed by focusing on the study characteristics, kinds of intervention and outcomes of positive psychology interventions. Overall findings reveal that different intervention programmes have been devised by combining various exercises, writing is the most commonly used method for administration and positive psychology interventions are considered feasible and acceptable by patients, but findings about their usefulness are inconclusive. Suggestions for future research, clinical practice and application in communities have been provided which may be useful for clinicians, practitioners and caregivers

Physiology: Morphological characteristics of preimplantation stage endometrium in the rhesus monkey

The morphological characteristics of endometrium on day 6 after ovulation of conception (group 1) and non-fecund, menstrual (group 2) cycles have been studied in the rhesus monkey (n = 30). A conception cycle was distinguished by the presence of a developmentally normal, age—stage-synchronized embryo. Thus, 78% of the mated cycles (n = 18) yielding synchronous embryos (12 zona-encased and two zona-free blastocysts) were used for this study. On day 6 after ovulation, no significant changes in the serum concentrations of oestrogen and progesterone were seen in conception cycles (n = 14) compared with the non-mated, normal ovulatory cycles (n = 12). Morphometric analyses revealed that on day 6 of gestation (n = 8), endometrium differed from the corresponding non-mated luteal phase (n = 7) with significant increases in epithelial mitosis (P < 0.01), height of glandular epithelium (P < 0.05), volume ratio of gland cell to gland (P < 0.03), degree of pseudostratification (P < 0.02), and higher frequency of supranuclear, adluminal accumulation of vacuoles in gland cells (P < 0.05). The degree of stromal oedema was higher (P < 0.02) in fecund cycles but there was no change in venular diameter. In a separate set of experiments, estimates of tissue vascular response revealed a higher (P < 0.02) endometrial extravascular albumin space on the same day of gestation; there were no differences, however, in endometrial blood volume, or in the number of von Willebrand antigen-positive capillaries and small vessels between the two groups (group 1, n = 6; group 2, n = 5). The overall results of the present study together with our earlier reports support the hypothesis that differential changes occur in luteal phase endometrium functionalis in the presence of preimplantation stage blastocyst in the rhesus monke

Where do free-ranging dogs rest? A population level study reveals hidden patterns in resting site choice

Free-ranging dogs (FRDs) in human-dominated areas encounter obstacles such as noise, pollution, limited food sources, and anthropogenic disturbance while resting. Since FRDs have survived as a population in India, as in many other parts of the Global South for centuries, they provide a unique opportunity to study adaptation of animals to the human-dominated urban landscape. We documented factors impacting resting behaviour and site preferences in three states of India, for 284 dogs, leading to 6047 observations over 3 years. 7 physical parameters of the resting sites, along with the biological factors like mating and pup-rearing and time of day affected their choice of resting sites. The frequency-rank distribution of the unique combinations in which the parameters were selected followed a Power law distribution, which suggests underlying biological reasons for the observed preferences. Further, 3 of these parameters showed maximum consistency of choice in terms of the sub-parameters selected, explaining 30% of the observations. FRDs prefer to rest close to their resource sites within the territory, at a place that enabled maximum visibility of the surroundings. They chose such sites in the core of the territory for sleeping. At other times, they chose such sites away from the core, and were less restive, thus allowing for immediate response in case of intrusion or threat. They generally avoided anthropogenic disturbance for sleeping, and preferred areas with shade.Incorporating these aspects into urban management plans can promote human-dog cooperation and reduce situations of conflict. We envisage more inclusive urban areas in the future, that can allow for co-existence of the humans and their oldest companions in the commensal relationship that has been maintained for hundreds of generations of dogs in this part of the world.Comment: 2 figures, 2 tables, ES

ANALYSIS OF TIME-DELAYED NON-LINEAR EQUATIONS USING HF FUNCTIONS

The paper deals with the analysis of non-linear time delayed differential equations solved using HF functions. The analysis is first performed on Mackey-Glass Equation, which is a standard model for quantitative characterization of chaotic dynamics. The procedure is then performed on a generalized Human respiratory control model, where for different simulation parameters the analysis of Cheyne-Stokes Breathing is done. Both models are simulated in MATLAB. The graphs thus generated are used to provide suitable conclusions

[3+2] Cycloadditions. Part XXXIII. Selective cycloadditions of C-(1-naphthyl)-N-methyl nitrone and C-phenyl-N-benzyl nitrone to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds1,2

488-501[3+2] Cycloadditions [32CA] involving nitrones as 1,3-dipolar species to alkenes yield isoxazolidines, which on further transformations can be converted to naturally occurring bioactive compounds. Thus the 32CA route provides conversion of simple natural products to more complex natural occurring bioactive nitrogen heterocycles, and close analogues. The present work deals with 32CA between the nitrones C-(1-naphthyl)-N-methyl nitrone and C-phenyl-N-benzyl nitrone to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds as dipolarophiles, viz. arylidene malonate esters, methyl cinnamate and benzylidene acetophenone (chalcone). Methyl cinnamate is a naturally occurring compound, while the chalcone scaffold is present in several natural products. Structure elucidation of the generated cycloadducts have been achieved by means of detailed spectroscopic and XRD studies. All the cycloadditions investigated occurr regioselectively to yield tetra/penta-substituted isoxazolidines, where the carbonyl group(s) are situated at the 4-position of the isoxazolidine ring. DFT computations including optimised geometries, FMO energies, electronic chemical potentials, chemical hardness, chemical softness and reactivity indices of a number of the reactants have been calculated at DFT/B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level of theory. The calculated reactivity indices have been used to analyse the 32CAs studied and to predict the regioselectivities; the predictions are in excellent accord with the experimental results