An Analytical Study of Micro Finance and Women Empowerment

Self Help Groups enhance the equality of status of women as participants and decision makers in the democratic, economic, social and cultural sphere of life. The basic principles of SHG are group approach, mutual trust, organization of small and manageable groups, group cohesion, Thrift spirit, demand-based lending, collateral free loans, peer group pressure, skill training, capacity building and empowerment. At present, 1.40 lakh groups are functioning with 23.83 lakh members. It was found that Self Help Groups suffer due to lack of management skills, training, marketing, obtaining financial assistance, government support. Keeping this in mind, the present study is conducted to examine the efficacy of Self-Help Groups in the study area. It is found that 85 (34%) respondents have completed only primary education. It is found that 140 (56%) respondents have monthly income between Rs 10,001 to Rs 15,000. Therefore, it is suggested that informal groups can be formed on their own to create a reliable and potential source of income, increasing the earning capacity of SC women in Self Help Groups. It is concluded that formation of Self-Help Groups is part of the empowerment process and a micro-credit project

Trend in Infant and Young Child Feeding practices during 2005 – 2015 in India

Background: Optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices during first 2 years of life is the key to ensuring optimal growth and development of the infant. Improving IYCF practices have an important role in reducing morbidity and mortality amongst under 5 children in India. Material & Methods: The secondary data from National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3 and NFHS- 4 was analyzed. Objective: To assess the trend in IYCF practices during 2005 – 2015 for 13 selected states of India. Results: It was found that over a decade, there has been an improvement in early initiation of breast feeding and exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months amongst infant in 11 out of 13 states. However, a reduction in the timely initiation of complementary feeding amongst children in the age group of 6-8 months has been observed in 9 out of 13 states. Conclusion: There is a need to strengthen the efforts to further improve the IYCF practices in India for reducing high rates of undernutrition in the country

Assessment of nutritional status of elderly population living at high altitude regions of India utilizing Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) methodology

Background: Malnutrition is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality amongst elderly population. There is lack of scientific evidence on the staus of malnutrition amongst elderly population residing at high altitude regions of Uttarakhand, India. Background: Malnutrition is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality amongst elderly population. Lack of scientific evidence exists on the status of malnutrition amongst elderly population residing at high altitude regions of Uttarakhand, India. Materials and methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in high altitude regions of District Nainital. A total of 980 elderly subjects were selected from 30 clusters identified using population proportionate to size sampling method. Nutritional status of the elderly population was assessed using Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) tool. Data was entered in MS Excel 2007 and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: The results of MNA revealed that 14.3% of the elderly subjects were malnourished. High prevalence of malnutrition was found among subjects who were illiterate (74.5%), financially dependent (75.2%), belonged to low monthly income (43.3%) had poor appetite (71.6%) and chewing problems (63.1%); (p<0.0001). Conclusions: High prevalence of malnutrition was present amongst the elderly population in India. There is a need for timely assessment of malnutrition for maintenance of nutritional status and prevention of chronic diseases. Materials and methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in high altitude regions of District Nainital. A total of 980 elderly subjects were selected from 30 clusters identified using population proportionate to size sampling method. Nutritional status of the elderly population was assessed using Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) tool. Data was entered in MS Excel 2007 and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0.   Results: The results of MNA revealed that 14.3% of the elderly subjects were malnourished. High prevalence of malnutrition was found among subjects who were illiterate (74.5%), financially dependent (75.2%), belonged to low monthly income (43.3%) had poor appetite (71.6%) and chewing problems (63.1%); (p<0.0001).   Conclusions: High prevalence of malnutrition was present amongst the elderly population in India. There is a need for timely assessment of malnutrition for maintenance of nutritional status and prevention of chronic diseases

Alive Human Detection Robot for Rescue Operation

In the current technological world, the technologies are evolving day by day. In the modern world, there is continuous development of skyscraper buildings & dwellings, which increases the risk of losing life by natural calamities and man-made disasters. During earthquakes, landslides, and building collapse, a lot of times, humans are trapped under debris and it becomes impossible to detect their presence by the rescue team. There are some cases where it is impossible for rescue teams to reach certain locations in affected areas. The Proposed system is a raspberry pi based human detection robot, which is used to detect live human beings trapped under debris in a affected environment. The robot navigates through the zigzag path and it is controlled by an android application. The set of sensors assembled to the raspberry pi are Microwave radar sensor, Ultrasonic sensor, Temperature sensor and Gas sensor. The Microwave radar sensor is also used to detect the human being behind the obstacle. The Temperature sensor is used to detect the temperature and Gas sensor is used for gas leakage respectively. And the camera module is used to analyze the current scenario

Correlation of serum calcium levels with severity and functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients

Background: The objective of the study was to study the role of serum calcium levels in accessing the severity and functional outcome in the patients of acute ischemic stroke.Methods: The study included a total of 50 patients of acute ischemic stroke in the age group of 20 to 80 years. The patients were divided into four quartiles as per their serum albumin corrected levels measured during 24 ton 48 hours of incidence of ischemic stroke. The stroke severity was accessed by using National Institutes of Health (NIH) stroke scale and the functional outcome at the time of discharge and after three months of follow up by using modified Rankin scale (mRS). The results were analyzed by using appropriate statistical test.Results: We found that the patients those in higher calcium quartiles (Q3,Q4) had significantly lesser 24-48 hrs stroke severity as compared to those in lower calcium quartiles (Q1,Q2) i.e. in 72.73% in Q3, and 42.86% in Q4 were in mild NIH scale group as compared to 7.69% in Q2 and 0% in Q1. At the time of discharge and at three months follow up functional outcome was significantly better in higher calcium quartile group when compared to lower quartile (>3 mRS score suggestive of poor outcome in 91.66% of Q1, 76.93% in Q2, 27.27% in Q3 and 7.14% in Q4 at the time of discharge and 83.32% in Q1, 76.93 in Q2, 27.27% in Q3 and 7.14% in Q4 at three months of follow up). The correlation analysis showed that this association was statistically significant (p-value <0.01).Conclusions: we conclude that 24 -48 hours calcium levels have strong correlation with severity and functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients and hence it can be taken as a marker of severity and prognostic factor in these patients.

COMMIPHORA MUKUL EXTRACT AND GUGGULSTERONE EXHIBIT ANTITUMOUR ACTIVITY THROUGH INHIBITION OF CYCLIN D1, NF-Κß AND INDUCTION OF APOPTOSIS IN ORAL CANCER CELLS

ABSTRACTComiphora mukul, a promising medicinal plant and its constituent Guggulsterone (GS) is used in Ayurveda since decades. This study was aimed toinvestigate the anticancer potential of C. mukul and GS on oral cancer cell lines (SCC-4, KB). MTT assay was used to determine tumour cell proliferation,propidium iodide labeling and annexin V- binding, followed by flow cytometry was used to determine cell cycle and apoptosis of tumor cells aftertreatment. Expression of regulatory proteins such as NF-κß, cyclin D1, p53 and vascular endothelial growth factor was determined by western blot.C. mukul and GS significantly inhibited tumor cell growth, caused cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in both tumor cells. Such activities appeared to bedue to inhibition of NF-κß, cyclin D1and restoration of p53. Overall our data suggests that C. mukul and GS may be developed as chemopreventive andchemotherapeutic drug for oral cancer.Keywords: Commiphora mukul, Oral cancer, Antitumor, Cell cycle, Apoptosis, NF-κß, Cyclin D1, P53