Detection of recognizing events in lower atmospheric temperature time series (1941-2010) of Midnapore Weather Observatory, West Bengal, India

In this study, trends of mean monthly surface temperature time series of each month were examined for Midnapore station, West Bengal, India for the period 1941-2010. The data-set has the observations of two variables: the mean monthly maximum and mean monthly minimum temperature. Major changes in the mean monthly temperature trends over the period considered, have been detected using the Sequential version of Mann-Kendall rank statistic. The plots of the values of sequential statistic and backward sequential statistic intersect each other at points each of which indicates a change in the trend of considered data-set. The analyses of the mean monthly temperature signify warming of the winter temperature. Statistically significant (p?0.05) abrupt changes has been detected in 1985, 1992 and 1995 in the temperature time series for February, October and November, respectively. Keywords: sequential Mann-Kendall test statistic, change point detection, climate change

Hierarchical Monitoring and School Supervision for Quality Assurance in Jangalmahal, West Bengal: A Development Agenda through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

Hierarchical Monitoring and Quality Assurance in education are the major issues for the nations of the developing world Consequently a spurt is seen in endeavors to promote quality in education through differed means and mechanism School supervision is seen as an effective mechanism for quality assurance in the schools as is evident from the roles assigned to the supervising officers However the supervisory functions to be performed by the education officers are found to be impeded by several factors that should be redressed to make school supervision contributory to quality improvement endeavors The present paper discusses the variegated roles of school supervisors to establish the complexity of their roles Consequently it presents a review of the major impediments that prevents school supervision from achieving its goal of enhancing school performance in Jangalmahal West Benga

COPING TRENDS OF PARENTS HAVING CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Having to take care of children with developmental disabilities can affect parents not only in their psychological well-being but also affect physical well-being. Taking care of a child with special needs can be a growing experience or it can become stressful depending on how a parent perceives the event. Depending on the cognitive appraisal and the person-environment interaction, parents can either engage in positive behaviours of dealing with the disability or indulge in poor coping behaviour which will have adverse impact physically as well as psychologically. The present article attempts to highlight the various ways of coping used by parents to deal with their children’s disabilities. Review of research papers suggests some clear differences between affected parents and non-affected parents on use of different types of coping strategies along with various moderating factors like education, income, social support available, socio-economic conditions, and type of coping used. There were also findings on how mothers differ from the fathers in their coping behaviours when dealing with disabilities.  Article visualizations

Mathematical Modeling and Review of Pine Wilt Disease

Pine Wilt Disease (PWD), caused by the pinewood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, causes significant losses in coniferous forests in eastern Asia, including Japan, China, and South Korea, as well as western Europe, including Portugal. The results of the research papers given at the International Symposium on Pine Wilt Disease (IUFRO Working Party Meeting 4.04.03) in Nanjing, China, in July 2009 are summarized in this article. The basic themes discussed included pine wilt disease (PWD), the pinewood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, and other PWN-associated microorganisms that play a significant role in PWD, such as bacteria (e.g., Pseudomonas fluorescens). The majority of the papers are based on PWD-PWN research in East Asia and Russia. The following are some of the specific topics covered: 1) fundamental concepts of PWD development, 2) pathogenicity, 3) host-parasite relationships, including histopathology of diseased conifers and the role of toxins from bacteria-nematode ecto-symbionts, 4) PWN life cycle and transmission, 5) B. xylophilus dissemination models, 6) associations (with other nematodes), 7) diagnostics, 8) quarantine and control of the PWN and 9) biocontrol of the PWN

Factors Leading to an Unexpected Early Control of Covid-19 in Pakistan

Introduction Different types of planning and strategies have been formulated following the up rise of Covid-19 in an attempt to limit the spread and to minimize both the crisis but the situation is still getting worse even in the developed states. Unexpectedly the rate of rise of Covid-19 declined after June 2020 in Pakistan and the slope decreased to 8,884 active cases out of 313,984 confirmed cases till September 2020. In addition to this unexpected decline, number of covid-19 related deaths. The fall in the covid-19 was unforeseen in this area and it led to the curiosity regarding the factors that were responsible for this scenario Methodology A country based research project was carried out in the Northwest School of Medicine for a period of 6 months. A sample group of 877 individuals of both the genders, age range from 15 to 80 years, belonging to various occupations, educational and socioeconomic backgrounds were included. Questionnaire on probable responsible factors for early control and shared with the participants. Results Most of the participants had an adequate level of knowledge and positive attitude towards Covid-19. The most prominent factor identified was the lack of stress and optimistic attitude. Conclusion  The optimistic attitude and low stress levels not only decreased the disease spread but also reduced its morbidity level. Key words; Covid-19, unexpected control, morbidity, factor

Problems in Physician-Patient Communication: What do our Students See and Hear? A Qualitative Study with a Pragmatic Approach

Background: Efficient communication with patients is an indispensable necessity for physicians of the 21st century. Over the past decades, much work has been done nationally and internationally to instill this essential skill in undergraduate students and medical graduates are now formally trained to become better communicators. However, deficiencies persist and medical students of today still observe various issues when they observe physician-patient communication interactions in their training.Objective: To understand perceptions of undergraduate medical students about the difficulties in Physician-Patient communication (PPC) & take suggestions on how to overcome them.Methods: A qualitative study design was employed, with data collection through three focus group discussions with medical students studying in Wah medical college, Pakistan in October 2019. Thematic data analysis was done using Atlas-ti 8 software. A pragmatic approach was used to understand student perceptions about difficulties in PPC.Results: After open and selective coding of data, six major themes were identified. Five of these were in relation to students' perceptions about major difficulties with PPC. These included gap between teaching & practice; doctor patient ratio; lack of counselling; lack of empathy and no informational care. The last theme, Effective teaching of behavioral sciences was related to student suggestions for overcoming problems in PPC.Conclusion: The various issues regarding the problems in physician patient communication portray a realistic picture of our current communication practices. Various factors have been identified in this study and, the most practical solution to these problems lies in the effective teaching of behavioral sciences