Enable and Manifest Scientific Temper in Tangible Development-oriented Outcomes: Go Beyond Rhetoric

198-206Three facets of scientific temper are highlighted with respect to the scale and nature of impacts that can be expected through their expression in real-life contexts. These are aligned with a call to prioritize efforts targeting correlates of sustainable development and quality of life to enable and enhance scientific temper with the centrality of common good. Importantly, these could be useful entry points for larger scale sensitization because the benefits of well-informed action will be evident and mutually reinforce transformations. Some simple citizen-centred participatory models are also suggested to help realize the goals of infusing scientific temper

Science Culture: Where Canada Stands

Science Culture: Where Canada Stands, Ottawa (ON), Expert Panel on the State of Canada’s Science Culture, p. 222, Council of Canadian Academies 2014 This publication is a valuable treatise on the subject of science culture and related aspects of citizen engagement with science. It contains several insights about the forms and functional dynamics of science culture and its impacts across individuals, democracy/public policy and economy firmly embedded in a well-defined logical framework. Inferences drawn are communicated in a simple straight forward manner. Although Canada and its citizens provide the setting, this creates a learning context for countries engaged in similar investigations to draw useful leads about related approaches, tools/techniques and indicators

Enable and Manifest Scientific Temper in Tangible Development-oriented Outcomes: Go Beyond Rhetoric

Three facets of scientific temper are highlighted with respect to the scale and nature of impacts that can be expected through their expression in real-life contexts. These are aligned with a call to prioritize efforts targeting correlates of sustainable development and quality of life to enable and enhance scientific temper with the centrality of common good. Importantly, these could be useful entry points for larger scale sensitization because the benefits of well-informed action will be evident and mutually reinforce transformations. Some simple citizen-centred participatory models are also suggested to help realize the goals of infusing scientific temper

Influence of chemical profiles of host plants on the infestation diversity of Retithrips syriacus

The onset of biotic stress in the host plants as a result of increased insect population size leads to enhanced levels of secondary metabolites and associated phenolic enzyme activity. Of the three host plants examined, viz.Ricinus communis (castor),Eucalyptus globulus (eucalyptus) andManihot utilissima (tapioca), castor was the host most preferred byRetithrips syriacus. Despite the fact that tapioca had the highest levels of secondary compounds, thrips infestation persisted. However, fecundity and growth were reduced because of the relatively high levels of primary metabolites. Gallic acid was found to be the most toxic of the phenolic acids, followed by pyrogallol, resorcinol, phloroglucinol and vanillic acid. The less toxic phenolic acids and flavanoids were detected in leaves that harboured thrips, while the preponderance of gallic acid was found in uninfested hosts. Thus the interaction ofRetithrips syriacus with the hosts is governed essentially by the biochemical profiles of its hosts, which tend to be altered subsequent to infestation, thus manifesting induced resistance through enhanced production of phenolics

Artificial intelligence for smart patient care: transforming future of nursing practice

Artificial intelligence (AI) in today’s era has been described as “the new electricity” as it continually transforms today’s world by affecting our way of living in many different spheres. Extensive government programs in most countries and enhanced technology investments thereof are set to rapidly advance AI. Consequently, healthcare teams will be majorly affected by intelligent tools and systems to be launched into healthcare and patient homecare settings. AI represents a variety of functions under an umbrella of terms like machine learning (ML), deep learning, computer vision, natural language processing (NLP) and automated speech recognition (ASR) technologies. Each of these when used individually or in combination has the potential to add intelligence to applications. Understanding of AI in medical field is crucial for nurses. Utilization of AI in nursing will accelerate innovation and fasten up decision making for them thus saving their time and improving patient outcome plus satisfaction with nursing care provided. Of utmost importance while partnering with AI is the requirement for AI to be safe and effective. A major concern for AI practitioners in the current scenario is managing bias. To realize the full potential of AI, stakeholders (AI developers and users) need to be confident about two aspects: (1) reliability and validity of the datasets used and (2) transparency of AI based system. Issues encompassing AI are novel yet complex, and there is still much to be learnt about it. Nursing experience, knowledge, and skills will transit into new ways of thinking and processing information. This will give new roles to nurses-like information integrators, data managers, informatics specialists, health coaches and above all deliverers of compassionate caring-not replaced by AI technologies yet supported by them

Impact of Covid-19 on Mental Health among Healthcare Workers in India: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review

Healthcare workers (HCWs) experienced significant mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This review aimed comprehensively assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of HCWs in India. A mixed-methods review adopted a results-based convergent approach incorporating quantitative and qualitative data. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in relevant databases: PubMed-MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and ProQuest. All available full-text studies in the English language that assessed the mental health outcomes (anxiety, stress, depression) of HCWs during the pandemic and published till February 28, 2022, were included. A total of 31 studies were included in this review (27 quantitative studies, three qualitative studies, and one mixed-method study). The pooled prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was 32.96%, 29.49%, and 33.47 %, respectively among the HCWs in India. The qualitative analysis resulted in the themes: challenges faced, and coping strategies used during the COVID-19 pandemic. Integration of quantitative and qualitative findings using social determinants of health framework resulted in various contributing factors and coping strategies. There is a need for a supportive work environment, mental health support, and mental health policies for HCWs in India

In vitro production of bovine embryos derived from individual donors in the Corral® dish

Background: Since the identity of the embryo is of outmost importance during commercial in vitro embryo production, bovine oocytes and embryos have to be cultured strictly per donor. Due to the rather low yield of oocytes collected after ovum pick-up (OPU) per individual cow, oocyte maturation and embryo culture take place in small groups, which is often associated with inferior embryo development. The objective of this study was to improve embryonic development in small donor groups by using the Corral (R) dish. This commercial dish is designed for human embryo production. It contains two central wells that are divided into quadrants by a semi-permeable wall. In human embryo culture, one embryo is placed per quadrant, allowing individual follow-up while embryos are exposed to a common medium. In our study, small groups of oocytes and subsequently embryos of different bovine donors were placed in the Corral (R) dish, each donor group in a separate quadrant. Results: In two experiments, the Corral (R) dish was evaluated during in vitro maturation (IVM) and/or in vitro culture (IVC) by grouping oocytes and embryos of individual bovine donors per quadrant. At day 7, a significantly higher blastocyst rate was noted in the Corral (R) dish used during IVM and IVC than when only used during IVM (12.9% +/- 2.10 versus 22.8% +/- 2.67) (P < 0.05). However, no significant differences in blastocyst yield were observed anymore between treatment groups at day 8 post insemination. Conclusions: In the present study, the Corral (R) dish was used for in vitro embryo production (IVP) in cattle; allowing to allocate oocytes and/or embryos per donor. As fresh embryo transfers on day 7 have higher pregnancy outcomes, the Corral (R) dish offers an added value for commercial OPU/IVP, since a higher blastocyst development at day 7 is obtained when the Corral (R) dish is used during IVM and IVC

A Bayesian view of murine seminal cytokine networks

It has long been established that active agents in seminal fluid are key to initiating and coordinating mating-induced immunomodulation. This is in part governed by the actions of a network of cytokine interactions which, to date, remain largely undefined, and whose interspecific evolutionary conservation is unknown. This study applied Bayesian methods to illustrate the interrelationships between seminal profiles of interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12 (p70), IL-13, IL-17, eotaxin, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interferon (IFN)-gamma, keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC), monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP-1) alpha, MIP-1beta, regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, leptin, inducible protein (IP)-10 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in a rat model. IL-2, IL-9, IL-12 (p70), IL-13, IL-18, eotaxin, IFN-gamma, IP-10, KC, leptin, MCP-1, MIP-1alpha and TNF-alpha were significantly higher in serum, whilst IL-1beta, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, G-CSF and GM-CSF were significantly higher in seminal fluid. When compared to mouse profiles, only G-CSF was present at significantly higher levels in the seminal fluid in both species. Bayesian modelling highlighted key shared features across mouse and rat networks, namely TNF-alpha as the terminal node in both serum and seminal plasma, and MCP-1 as a central coordinator of seminal cytokine networks through the intermediary of KC and RANTES. These findings reveal a marked interspecific conservation of seminal cytokine networks