Implications of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 on the Rights of Women with Mental Illnesses in India

The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 aims to provide for mental health care and services for persons with mental illness in India and to protect, promote and fulfill the rights of such persons during delivery of mental health care and services. Chapter V of the Act enumerates the rights of persons with mental illness, including the right to equality, right to confidentiality, the right to protection from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in any mental health establishment (which includes the right to proper clothing so as to protect such person from exposure of his/her body to maintain his/her dignity, and the right to be protected from all forms of physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse), right to community living, etc. This paper analyses the provisions of the Act from the perspective of rights of women with mental illness in need of mental health care, and draws a comparison with the relevant provisions of the United Nation Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Comparison is also made with the existent reality reported in legal literature, the media and the field work undertaken by the author in India

The Effect of Natural Extracts on Border Cell and Centripetal Cell Migration in the Developing Drosophila melanogaster Egg Chamber

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Although targeted therapies that specifically inhibit pathways that are activated in cancer cells are becoming more common, often times the specific cancer-causing pathways are not known, or a treatment targeting that pathway has not been developed. In the absence of a targeted therapy, most common cancer treatments target proliferating cells, which can cause many unwanted adverse side effects. Therefore, researchers are testing whether natural extracts or dietary supplements could reduce the growth or metastasis of cancer cells without as many negative side effects. This study uses the Drosophila melanogaster egg chamber as a model system to test the effect of two natural extracts (walnut extract and green tea extract) on invasive cell migration. During normal egg formation, two groups of cells - the border cells and the centripetal cells - migrate from the outer epithelial layer into the germ cell cluster. Because cancer cell metastasis involves invasive cell migratory behavior, these normal cellular behaviors can be used as a model for metastasis. To monitor these invasive migratory behaviors, the border cells and centripetal cells were marked with a green fluorescent protein (GFP), and the extent of migration was monitored using fluorescence microscopy. Data collected from these experiments suggest that walnut extract and green tea extract treatment could cause a modest defect in centripetal cell migration, without significantly affecting border cell migration. Future experiments will assess effect of walnut or green tea extract on specific pathways implicated in centripetal cell migration, as well as extend this model to test other natural extracts

Rural Infrastructure ant Its Impact on Agricultural Growth in India: An Empirical Analysis

The present paper attempts to find the impact of the rural infrastructural facilities on agricultural growth in India. It analyzes the trends in rural infrastructure variables and value of output from agriculture sector over the study period 1990-19 to 2017-18. Compound annual growth rates (CAGR) have been worked out to find the changes in area, production and yield of agriculture output. To investigate the relationship between infrastructure variables and value of agricultural output the regression analysis has been used. In present study the rural infrastructure includes irrigation facilities, fertilizer consumption, primary agricultural credit societies, electric supply, agricultural markets, and road network in rural areas. Study finds that there is significant impact of irrigation, fertilizer consumption, credit, regulated agricultural markets and road infrastructure on agricultural output. The impact of electric pump, tractors and village electrification has not found statistically significant. It implies that infrastructure facility like roads, irrigation and electricity have a more direct effect on agriculture growth than personal infrastructure like electrical pumps and tractors. This finding validates the conclusion regarding positive and significant relationship between rural infrastructure and agriculture growth in India

Rural Infrastructure ant Its Impact on Agricultural Growth in India: An Empirical Analysis

The present paper attempts to find the impact of the rural infrastructural facilities on agricultural growth in India. It analyzes the trends in rural infrastructure variables and value of output from agriculture sector over the study period 1990-19 to 2017-18. Compound annual growth rates (CAGR) have been worked out to find the changes in area, production and yield of agriculture output. To investigate the relationship between infrastructure variables and value of agricultural output the regression analysis has been used. In present study the rural infrastructure includes irrigation facilities, fertilizer consumption, primary agricultural credit societies, electric supply, agricultural markets, and road network in rural areas. Study finds that there is significant impact of irrigation, fertilizer consumption, credit, regulated agricultural markets and road infrastructure on agricultural output. The impact of electric pump, tractors and village electrification has not found statistically significant. It implies that infrastructure facility like roads, irrigation and electricity have a more direct effect on agriculture growth than personal infrastructure like electrical pumps and tractors. This finding validates the conclusion regarding positive and significant relationship between rural infrastructure and agriculture growth in India

STUDIES ON β-CYCLODEXTRIN PRODUCTION FROM CGTase PRODUCING BACTERIA AND ITS EFFECT ON DRUG SOLUBILITY

Objective: To produce cyclodextrin (CD) from Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) producing bacteria isolated from various samples and to study its effect on drug solubility. Methods: CGTase producing bacteria were isolated from various samples viz. Soil, rotten potatoes, and stale corn flour dough using Horikoshi - phenolphthalein agar. All the isolates were screened for CGTase activity. Isolate showing highest CGTase activity was characterized morphologically and biochemically. CD was produced using CGTase which was further used for drug solubility studies. Results: A total of fifty samples were studied of which 20 bacterial isolates showed the presence of halo around them. Upon further screening, the culture supernatant of 12 isolates showed cyclization activity, of which CD 18 strain produced highest amount of CGTase. Morphological and biochemical characterization revealed that the isolate belonged to Bacillus sp. The isolate showed maximum growth, reducing sugars 0.724 mg/ml and maximum enzymatic activity for dextrinisation as well as cyclisation viz. 9.45 U/ml and 7.41 U/ml respectively after 48 hrs of incubation. Thus, Bacillus sp. CD 18 was used to produce CGTase, which was further used for the production of CD. CD increased the solubility of acclofenac and paracetamol. Conclusion: Bacteria are regarded as important sources of CGTases. New strains might suit better for industrial production of CGTase after optimizing the various cultures and process parameters