Ethics and Spirituality of Sustainability: What Can We All Do?

This article approaches the topic of sustainability in a broad, interdisciplinary fashion − in the manner of our total footprint on the planet, not just our carbon footprint. It proposes to bring together the two allied areas of sustainability and spirituality in a dialectical manner, with ethics as a balancing force and spirituality playing the role of the proverbial invisible hand guiding our quest for sustainability. It takes the view that, in essence, spirituality and sustainability are vitally interlinked. When the spiritual dimension of our being is underdeveloped, we turn into pleasure-seeking automatons, plundering the planet in a mindless race called progress. This makes us self-centered and greedy for material wealth which leads to social disharmony and over-exploitation of natural resources. When we live a life of greater self-awareness, we tend to consume less and, more so, less mindlessly. With this understanding comes the liberating realization that there is no sustainability without spirituality. For material development to be sustainable, spiritual advancement must be seen as an integral part of the human development algorithm. Our societies are human nature writ at large; therefore, we believe that the solution to society’s current chaos lies in the spiritual transformation of each one of us. The choice we face is between conscious change and chaotic annihilation. We believe that the most important eco-spirituality struggles will be won or lost during this decade. While policymakers and governments can play their respective roles, each one of us has to do our part by consciously adopting spirituality and sustainability as a way of life. Only an individual life rooted in the continuous harmony with nature − a life based on moral and spiritual awareness − can preserve the sanctity of the planet

Celebrating Diversity through Spirituality in the Workplace: Transforming Organizations Holistically

Managing diversity effectively is the key to attract and retain a productive workforce. Research demonstrates that celebrating diversity leads to greater productivity, increased creativity, and heightened morale and motivation. Organizations often benefit from the differing perspectives and rich experiences a diverse workforce provides. Similarly, organizations can enhance their creativity by encouraging diverse perspectives and opinions. Thus, issues of managing diversity, valuing diversity, and celebrating diversity have assumed added importance. This paper suggests that diversity is not a problem, but rather a solution to most of the challenges organizations face such as employee engagement and participation. Managing workforce diversity effectively transcends meeting a company’s legal requirements and complying with equal opportunity and non-discrimination regulation. Leaders need to understand and deal constructively with their own biases and prejudices that hinder diversity. Celebrating diversity is the extension of healthy spirituality that leads us to celebrate our differences and view diversity as different manifestations of the underlying Unity that permeates every phenomenon. This paper discusses key advantages of celebrating diversity, pinpoints barriers to organizational diversity, and offers some perspectives to overcome barriers to inclusiveness

Anti-tumour effects of bisphosphonates in breast cancer

Breast cancer very commonly metastasizes to bone, often with devastating consequences, including pain, pathological fractures, hypercalcaemia and nerve compression syndromes. Bisphosphonates are very effective in the management of bone secondaries from breast cancer. Recent clinical studies have also suggested that adjuvant oral clodronate in patients with primary breast cancer may confer a survival benefit thereby raising the possibility that bisphosphonates have an anti-tumour effect. The aim of this PhD was to determine whether bisphosphonates have an anti-tumour effect on human breast cancer cells. The potent third generation bisphosphonate, zoledronic acid, was found to reduce cell number and increase apoptosis, mediated by inhibition of the mevalonate pathway, in human breast cancer cells in vitro. The effects on cell apoptosis were shown to be synergistic when zoledronic acid was combined with a chemotherapeutic agent, paclitaxel. To extend the investigation to the in vivo setting, we developed a dual fluorescence labelling technique to isolate apoptotic breast cancer cells from the bone marrow of patients with breast cancer undergoing treatment with intravenous pamidronate or zoledronic acid. The technique was effective at detecting breast cancer cells but studies were inconclusive in determining the effect of intravenous bisphosphonate treatment on breast cancer cell apoptosis in vivo. These studies are ongoing. Bisphosphonates may also alter the bone microenvironment by inhibiting 1 osteoclast-mediated bone resorption and interfering with the release of cytokines and growth factors. To complete these studies, we measured the levels of a panel of cytokines and growth factors in patient serum and bone marrow before and three days after intravenous bisphosphonate treatment and also compared pretreatment levels with those in a baseline group with primary breast cancer. TGFj3-1 was significantly elevated in bone marrow plasma from patients with advanced breast cancer than in patients with primary breast cancer, along with serum IL-6 and sIL-6R. In the advanced breast cancer group, bisphosphonate treatment resulted in significantly lowered levels of serum FGF-2 and bone marrow VEGF. The work presented in this thesis demonstrates that the bisphosphonate zoledronic acid does have anti-tumour effects on breast cancer cells in vitro, both alone and in synergy with paclitaxel, to induce apoptosis. This raises the possibility of in vivo anti-tumour effects in breast cancer. The dual fluorescence labelling technique made it possible to detect breast cancer cells in human bone marrow but the studies regarding the in vivo induction of apoptosis in breast cancer cells following intravenous bisphosphonate treatment were inconclusive. There were significant differences in bone-derived growth factors between patients with primary breast cancer and secondary bone metastases. There was also a significant reduction in certain cytokines and growth factors in the bone marrow and serum after intravenous bisphosphonate treatment, suggesting that bisphosphonates may also exert an indirect effect on the bone marrow microenvironment. Further in vivo studies in patients with breast cancer are required to confirm both the direct anti-tumour effects and indirect effects

Giant intra-abdominal hydatid cysts with multivisceral locations

The disseminated intra-peritoneal hydatid disease is a very rare finding. A case of disseminated intra abdominal hydatid disease is presented along with a review of literature and various therapeutic modalitie

Cryo-EM: Spinning the Micelles Away

Structural characterization of integral membrane proteins (MPs) demands that the samples be pure, monodisperse, and stable. Detergents are required to extract MPs from the lipid bilayer in which they reside and to stabilize them for downstream biophysical analyses. Some of the best MP-stabilizing detergents pose problems for cryo-EM studies, but in this issue of Structure, Hauer et al. (2015) now offer a solution called GraDeR

Celebrating Diversity through Spirituality in the Workplace: Transforming Organizations Holistically

Managing diversity effectively is the key to attract and retain a productive workforce. Research demonstrates that celebrating diversity leads to greater productivity, increased creativity, and heightened morale and motivation. Organizations often benefit from the differing perspectives and rich experiences a diverse workforce provides. Similarly, organizations can enhance their creativity by encouraging diverse perspectives and opinions. Thus, issues of managing diversity, valuing diversity, and celebrating diversity have assumed added importance. This paper suggests that diversity is not a problem, but rather a solution to most of the challenges organizations face such as employee engagement and participation. Managing workforce diversity effectively transcends meeting a company’s legal requirements and complying with equal opportunity and non-discrimination regulation. Leaders need to understand and deal constructively with their own biases and prejudices that hinder diversity. Celebrating diversity is the extension of healthy spirituality that leads us to celebrate our differences and view diversity as different manifestations of the underlying Unity that permeates every phenomenon. This paper discusses key advantages of celebrating diversity, pinpoints barriers to organizational diversity, and offers some perspectives to overcome barriers to inclusiveness

Comparative Assessment of Soil Quality at the Defence Establishments

The present study was carried out to adjudge the soil quality of two sites at the defence establishments in India. Various soil samples were collected from the surface and up to 20 cm depth (subsurface) as per apportioned gridding method. These samples were subjected to air drying for 15 days and were characterised for various parameters. The soil is clayey and loamy with granular blocky structure on both the sites.  The pH ranged from 7.1 to 7.72 0.1 for site I and from 5.5 to 8.0 f 0.1 for site 11; salinity and bulk density ranged from 0.1 per cent to 8 per cent and from 1.2 glcm3 to 1.5 g/cm3, respectively and soil moisture was about 0.4 f 1 per cent for both the sites. Similarly, total Kjeldahl nitrogen ranged from 1100 mg kg-' to 1900 mg kg-' for site I and 1700 mg kg-' to 9000 mg kg ' for site I1 and total organic carbon ranged from 18 mg g-' to 75 mg g ' for both the sites. A good correlation between nitrate concentration and various explosive process activities has been observed which gives substantial evidence in terms of contamination of the soil. High performance liquid chromatography analysis, which shows varied concentrations of RDX-HMX, NB, DNB, DNT, and TNT in the respective ranges 0.003-2.300 rng g-1, 0.002-0.350 mg g~1, 0.002-0.550 mg g-1, 0.004-0.041 mg g-1 and 0.010- 0.050 mg g-1 for site 1 and 0.002 - 0.013 mg g-1, 0.005 - 0.350 mg g-1, 0.003 - 0.080 mg g-1, 0.001- 0.100 mg g-1, 0.0001- 0.044 mg g ~a1n d 6*10-6- 0.080 mg g-1 for sites I1 has also indicated the contamination of soil by nitro-organics. These results serve as a valuable database for an ongoing project on the development of phytoremediation technology to detoxify such sites

Role of blood transfusion in saving mothers

Background: Blood transfusion is recognised as one of the eight essential components of the comprehensive emergency obstetric care module which has been designed to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality rates after major obstetric hemorrhage and anemia.Methods: This is a prospective observational study conducted between April1, 2016 to September 30, 2018 in department of obstetrics and gynecology, Government Medical College, Patiala. The MNM cases given transfusion were analysed in respect of number of antenatal visits, type of admission, distance of place of first referral unit from tertiary health care facility, amount of blood transfused, indications of blood transfusion, causes of haemorrhage and intervention performed.Results: During this period, there were 123 cases of MNM, 90 patients required blood transfusion and were considered in this study. Maximum number of cases (94.45%) were between 20-35 years of age. Majority of cases were primipara (52.22%). 47.77% cases were in 3rd trimester, 33.33% postnatal cases and 16.66% cases were in first trimester. 88.88% cases requiring transfusion belong to low socioeconomic status. There was no antenatal visit in 80% cases who required blood transfusion. 78.8% patients required more than 4packed red cell transfusions. Haemorrhage was the indication in 60% cases for blood transfusion and anaemia in 40% cases. Postpartum haemorrhage (28.4%) was most common indication for blood transfusion followed by ruptured ectopic pregnancy (27.77%), antepartum haemorrhage (11.11%), rupture uterus (7.4%), rectus sheath hematoma (5.55%), placenta accreta (5.55%) and inversion uterus (3.7%).  Surgical interventions were performed in 51 cases.Conclusions: Prevention and timely treatment of anaemia must receive attention by more active participation in term of antenatal check-ups. Skilled management of patients at the first referral units is advocated. There should be familiarity with the local protocol of relevant members of staff for management of massive hemorrhage. All major hemorrhages should be reviewed to ensure that there is no delay in provision of blood products

Ultrasonographic evaluation of antenatal umbilical cord coiling index (aUCI) in second trimester of gestation and pregnancy outcome

Background: To evaluate the role of antenatal umbilical cord coiling index (aUCI) obtained during routine second trimester ultrasound as a predictor of perinatal outcome.Methods: Fetal ultrasound of 100 pregnant women was done between 18-24 weeks of gestation. Antenatal UCI was calculated as a reciprocal value of the distance between a pair of coils. Patients were followed up till delivery for perinatal outcome. UCI was correlated with: (1) gestational age (2) mode of delivery, (3) presence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid, (4) APGAR scores and (5) birth weight.Results: aUCI was categorized as hypocoiled, normocoiled or hypercoiled. Hypocoiled cord was associated with LBW (1%), preterm delivery (1%) while hypercoiled cord was associated with LBW (4%). No statistical difference was found for birth weight, gestational age, APGAR scores and MSAF between the groups with normal and abnormal aUCI.Conclusions: In present study, no association was found between abnormal aUCI with higher prevalence of interventional delivery, presence of MSAF, preterm and LBW. Therefore, more specific parameters need to be developed as promising prognostic marker for predicting adverse perinatal outcome and further studies are needed to test this hypothesis

Impact of single nucleotide polymorphism in chemical metabolizing genes and exposure to wood smoke on risk of cervical cancer in north-indian women

Aim: In the present study, we investigated the hypothesis whether exposure to wood smoke increases the risk of cervical cancer (CC) in North-Indian women who inherit different polymorphic forms of chemical metabolizing genes (GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTP1 and CYP1A1). Materials and Methods: One hundred fifty histologically confirmed CC patients and equal number of cancer-free age and ethnicity matched controls were genotyped for genetic polymorphism in chemical metabolizing genes by using polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The association of the different genotypes and exposure to wood smoke with the risk of CC in North-Indian women was estimated by doing statistical analysis using Statistical Package for the Social Science. Results: It was observed that the variant genotypes of GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTP1 and CYP1A1 did not significantly increase the risk of CC. However, statistically significant increased risk (odds ratio 3.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.34–9.78; p = 0.008) was observed for women who used wood for cooking and had GSTM1 (null) genotype. Conclusions: The present study suggests that genetic differences in the metabolism of wood smoke carcinogens, particularly by GSTM1, may increase the risk of CC