Paediatric tuberculosis: A decade-long experience in a tertiary care centre

Background: The World Health Organization estimates in 2013 revealed that up to 80,000 children die from tuberculosis (TB) each year and children account for over half a million new cases annually. The incidence of extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) is also on the rise. Aims: To study and note the total pediatric TB cases reported over a decade. Analysis of EPTB at the center was also attempted. Methods: Retrospective analysis of TB cases diagnosed during the past decade was attempted, through information registered in the hospital TB registry. Cases aged <18 years were identified as pediatric TB. Pulmonary TB and EPTB cases were analyzed. Results: All of 289 pediatric TB cases were identified from a total of 1389 TB cases in general. Pediatric TB comprised 20% of the diagnosed. Among these, 176 patients were pulmonary TB, amounting to 60% of all cases of TB. The remaining 113 cases were identified to be that of extrapulmonary TB constituting 40% of the total study populace. Among EPTB, lymph node TB was the most common subtype amounting for 42% of all cases of EPTB. This was followed by skeletal TB (23%), pleural TB (12%), gastrointestinal TB (11.5%), nervous system TB (5%), and cutaneous and genitourinary TB accounted for 2.6% each. Conclusion: Childhood TB is an underdiagnosed entity in India. EPTB is alarmingly on the rise, and clinicians need to be wary of the presentations and pitfalls in diagnosis. Awareness of the same is quintessential

Online Purchase Intention: A Study on Consumer Behaviour in Indian Digital Environment

With a potent market like India and the preference being given to a convenient lifestyle and the now happening digital revolution, Indian marketers and purchasers have started to understand the importance and the advantages of utilizing the online shopping platforms. Digital marketing is what affects the purchasing tendency and intentions of people. The motivation behind this research is to recognize the factors influencing Indian customers' frame of mind towards shopping on the internet along the lines of digital marketing to use it for the benefit of both, the marketer and the consumer. Based on Theory of Planned Behavior, constructs/variables like Perceived Behavioral Control, Subjective Norms, Attitude and India-specific factor (covers several socio-economic factors) were examined and analyzed. Two factors, online buying intention, and online purchase were created to extend the research.  The result shows that online purchase intention has the most significance in converting a buyer to actually make an online purchase. Out of the other factors, subjective norms positively affect the online buying intentions the most and perceived behavior negatively affects the same. The study highly reflects that digital marketing and targeting the right audience positively influence the purchase intention of an individual such that it converts into actual purchase

Digital gender divide and adoption of open educational resources

This study aimed to understand the differences in the perception of male and female students in adopting Open Educational Resources based on the Technology Acceptance Model. A quantitative survey method was adopted to collect data from 322 students enrolled in a private university in Karnataka, India. Except for registering and enrolling on OER sites, the study did not find any digital gender differences in terms of usefulness, ease of use, and behavioral intention in adopting OERs among students

Policy of foreign direct investment liberalisation in India: implications for retail sector

This study has analysed the impact of liberalisation of Indian economy and FDI policy on the retail sector since its implementation in the 1990s. It also further analyses sub-categories by investigating its impact on the unorganised retail sector and the flow of FDI in single-brand retail and multi-brand retail sectors. A comprehensive and critical review of the existing evidence on the subject was carried out, and descriptive statistical analysis of data from 1991 to 2013 was performed which leads to conclude that the policy of FDI liberalisation has proved to provide diversification and sustainable development to the Indian economy and specifically retail sector which is considered to be one of the significant pillars of economy. Furthermore, for continuous growth of the economy, it seems vital to encourage more investment in other sectors by liberalising the restrictive policies

Post-AGB stars in the SMC as tracers of stellar evolution: the extreme s-process enrichment of the 21 micrometer star J004441.04-732136.4

By virtue of their spectral types, favourable bolometric corrections as well as their constrained distances, post-AGB stars in external galaxies offer unprecedented tests to AGB nucleosynthesis and dredge-up predictions. We focus here on one object J004441.04-732136.4, which is the only known 21 micrometer source of the SMC. Spectral abundance results reveal J004441.04-732136.4 to be one of the most s-process enriched objects found up to date, while the photospheric C/O ratio of 1.9 +- 0.7, shows the star is only modestly C-rich. J004441.04-732136.4 also displays a low [Fe/H] = -1.34 +- 0.32, which is significantly lower than the mean metallicity of the SMC. From the SED, a luminosity of 7600 +- 200 solar luminosities is found, together with E(B-V) = 0.64 +- 0.02. According to evolutionary post-AGB tracks, the initial mass should be approximately 1.3 solar masses. The photometric variability shows a clear period of 97.6 +- 0.3 days. The detected C/O as well as the high s-process overabundances (e.g. [Y/Fe] = 2.15, [La/Fe] = 2.84) are hard to reconcile with the predictions. The chemical models also predict a high Pb abundance, which is not compatible with the detected spectrum, and a very high 12C/13C, which is not yet constrained by observations. The predictions are only marginally dependent on the evolution codes used. We show that our theoretical predictions match the s-process distribution, but fail in reproducing the detected high overabundances and predict a high Pb abundance which is not detected. Additionally, there remain serious problems in explaining the observed pulsational properties of this source.Comment: 15 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Main Journa

A Participatory Systems Mapping (PSM) based approach towards analysis of business sustainability of rural Indian milk dairies

Drawing from the theories of Participatory Systems Mapping (PSM) this study presents an approach to analysing the business sustainability of entrepreneurial dairy ventures in India. The article begins with a general introduction to the small and medium scale dairy ventures in rural India, highlighting the prominent issues and challenges faced by the stakeholders. The second part demonstrates the use of the PSM framework in developing the Stock and flow diagram (SFD). Further, data from a local milk dairy is collected, and simulations are carried out between 2017–2025 using Vensim®. The outputs are analysed, and inferences are made. This study is expected to enable the policy makers towards the development of sustainable strategies for dairy businesses in general and enable the entrepreneur to analyse the future trends of the potential strategies under his consideration

LibQUAL+® based importance-performance matrix analysis for assessing library service quality: A case study

269-276The main purpose of this study was to measure the strengths and weaknesses of library services using Importance- Performance Matrix Analysis (IPMA). It also intends to identify the critical areas of the library within the three dimensions of LibQUAL+® based on student feedback. Data were collected from students at a private engineering institute in India, using a structured questionnaire to achieve these objectives. Respondents rated the importance and performance of library services on the three dimensions of LibQUAL+®: affect of service (AOS), information control (IC), and library as a place (LP) on a 7-point Likert scale. Analysis was carried out using IPMA to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the library services. The findings suggest that LP was the most essential and well-performing dimension in the library context. IC is the most important, but poorly performing dimension. Therefore, strategies are recommended to ensure the effectiveness of the service. The findings of this study would help library administrators, and policymakers formulate appropriate fund allocation/reallocation based on user requirements. The integration of IPMA and LibQUAL+® in measuring library service quality is a significant contribution of this study to LibQUAL+® literature

LibQUAL+® based Importance-Performance Matrix Analysis for assessing library service quality: A case study of private engineering institute in India

The main purpose of this study was to measure the strengths and weaknesses of library services using Importance-Performance Matrix Analysis (IPMA). It also intends to identify the critical areas of the library within the three dimensions of LibQUAL+® based on student feedback. Data were collected from students at a private engineering institute in India, using a structured questionnaire to achieve these objectives. Respondents rated the importance and performance of library services on the three dimensions of LibQUAL+®: affect of service (AOS), information control (IC), and library as a place (LP) on a 7-point Likert scale. It is then analysed using IPMA to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the library services. The findings suggest that LP was the most essential and well-performing dimension in the library context. IC is the most important, but poorly performing dimension; therefore, strategies are recommended to ensure the effectiveness of the service. The findings of this study would help library administrators, and policymakers formulate appropriate fund allocation/reallocation based on user requirements. The integration of IPMA and LibQUAL+® in measuring library service quality is a significant contribution of this study to LibQUAL+® literatur