Building Language Proficiency at the Secondary Level

This portfolio is a collection of work submitted for the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. The author outlines his teaching philosophy as it pertains to the secondary classroom. Also included in this work are three artifacts which serve to strengthen and elaborate on the teaching philosophy. The artifacts are manifestations of the author’s beliefs on how culture, literacy, and language can be addressed in the L2 classroom. The final section of the portfolio is an annotated bibliography in which the author summarizes and reacts to the most influential books and articles that he read during the course of The Master’s program

Job stress among nurses in tertiary care hospital: identifying risk factor of poor mental health

Background: Occupational stress may have a negative effect on an employee's health when workplace stresses outweigh the capacity of an employee to exercise some control over their job or cope in those other ways. Nurses experience stress and health difficulties as a result of the nature of their employment, their interaction with patients, and their exposure to mortality. Given that emotions may influence job results, emotional intelligence (EI) may help explain why individuals respond differently to work stress. Methods: The approach adopted for this study is quantitative research approach. A descriptive research design was taken to identify the study sample which were 105 staff nurses selected by non-probability purposive sampling technique. Occupational stress assessment was measured using the Srivastava and Singh (1984) occupational stress index. Results: It was seen that occupational stress level among staff nurses. 60% participants showed the moderate stress level score (116-161) followed 36.2% in high level (more than 161) and 3.8% depicted low stress (71-115). No one expressed that there is no stress. Type of hospital administration showed a significant association with occupational stress.Conclusions: The study concluded that the present study emphasis that majority of the nurses working in hospital at Pune city are affected with occupational stress and don’t bear good psychological wellbeing. Occupational Stress has become the most important factor influencing individual efficacy and satisfaction in modern day work environment. Nursing profession is increasingly characterized by high occupational stress

COMPARATIVE PHARMACOGNOSTIC AND PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF OCIMUM TENUIFLORUM L. AND ITS SUBSTITUTE VITEX NEGUNDO L.

India is endowed with a rich wealth of medicinal plants which have been a valuable source of natural products for maintaining human health. A large number of these medicinal plants are used in various formulations for the treatment of several disease caused by microbes. Medicinal plants constitute an effective source of traditional and modern medicines. Ayurveda a system of Indian traditional form of alternative medicines. A major aspect of conservation of medicinal plants is their considerable economic and social value. Natural source of medicinal plants are often unable to meet demand for popular herbal products. Populations of many species have limited distribution in their natural habitats, led to genuine or arbitrary substitution by other plants. Unavailability of such medicinal plants has led to arbitrary substitution and adulteration in the raw drug market. Aromatic plants are prime economic importance because of the continuous increased demands for their products by local foreign markets. At present the adulteration and substitution of herbal drugs is the burning problem in herbal industry and it has caused a major advancement in the research on commercial natural products. The article throws light on preliminary pharmocognostic and phytochemical investigation of one pair of Abhava Pratinidhi Dravya viz. Tulasi and Nirgundi.

Antibacterial Effects of Leaf Extracts of Four Mangrove Plant Species on Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae

Antibiotic resistance is a significant global health concern, with bacteria developing resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Evaluating anti bacterial properties of natural extracts may offer alternative treatments to combat resistant bacterial strains. In this current investigation, the antibacterial activity of leaves of Avicennia marina, Avicennia officinalis, Bruguiera cylindrica and Rhizophora apiculata was evaluated against human pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Ethanol extracts of mature leaves of these mangrove plants were prepared and tested for antibacterial activity using agar disc diffusion method. Streptococcus aureus was inhibited by leaf extracts of A.marina, A.officinalis and B.cylindrica. In this study, the effectiveness of charcoal treated and charcoal untreated leaf extracts were also compared.  Charcoal treated leaf extracts of Avicennia marina, Avicennia officinalis, Bruguiera cylindrica and Rhizophora apiculata were able to inhibit the growth of both tested pathogenic bacteria more than that of untreated leaf extracts. The leaf extract of Avicennia marina exhibited the highest antibacterial activity against S.pneumoniae and S.aureus compared to other extracts. The results suggested that these extracts offer enormous promise for producing novel antibiotics and could be used as an alternative source for treatment of infections caused by these tested pathogenic bacteria

A Temperature Insensitive Strain Sensor using Long Period Grating Photonic Crystal Fiber.

We present a study of strain and temperature sensitivities of long period gratings written on photonic crystal fiber. The role of dispersion factor ? into the sensitivities is elaborated. The polarity of the dispersion factor determines the polarity of the sensitivity. The effect of variation in the waveguide properties due to the structure of photonic crystal fibers to the sensitivities is explained. By selecting a proper LPG period and mode order a temperature insensitive strain sensor is realized. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.150510

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Psychosocial Interventions for Empty Nest Syndrome: A Systematic Review

Background: Empty nest syndrome is a psychological condition that affects parents when their children leave home and it leads to feelings of loneliness and depression. Although several psychological therapies have been created to lessen these consequences, their effect remains unknown. Objective: The objective of this systematic review is to assess and compare the efficacy of various psychosocial therapies in reducing empty nest symptoms in the elderly. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted for research articles, using the terms “empty nest syndrome," “empty nesters”, “elderly”, “older adults”, "psychosocial interventions," “therapies”, "cognitive-behavioral therapy," “group therapy” and "social support”. Database includes PubMed, Psyc INFO, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases. Results: Seven empirical studies were discovered to be relevant to our research. The effect of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Group Psychological Intervention, Path-Oriented Psychological Self-Help Interventions, Self-Mutual- Group Model (SMG Model), and Group Based Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) on empty nest syndrome is evaluated. It has been discovered that these interventions have a positive impact on the mental health, quality of life, social interactions, and well-being of elderly empty nesters. Conclusion: As this review indicates, empowering empty nest syndrome in older people with psychosocial therapies may significantly alleviate symptoms and enhance their overall well-being. Empty nesters' quality of life and mental health can be improved by implementing various empowering methods, which will help minimize the negative impacts of empty nest syndrome

Clinical perspective: caesarean hysterectomy for placenta accreta spectrum and role of pelvic packing

Caesarean hysterectomy (CH) is considered the gold standard for management of morbidly adherent placenta, now termed as placenta accreta spectrum (PAS). If bleeding is not controlled following removal of uterus, it is sometimes necessary to pack the pelvis and continue monitoring with correction of bleeding and physiological parameters in operating room and intensive care unit. This now comes under the damage control approach, being driven primarily by abnormal physiology rather than anatomical reconstruction. The pelvic packs are removed after about 48 hours. This retrospective study was done in patients with antenatal diagnosis of PAS who required CH, comparing those who required pelvic packing with those who did not. The variables compared were pre-operative (clinical and radiological), intra-operative (duration of surgery, blood loss and transfusion requirements of whole blood and blood products), and the final histopathological diagnosis. Outcome variables in terms of duration of hospital stay, re-admissions, re-laparotomy and complications were also compared. Over two years, three of eight patients with PAS required pelvic packing following CH. There were no differences between the two patient groups with any of the predictor variables or outcomes other than requirement of blood products. This suggests pelvic packing is a safe and efficacious procedure in intractable haemorrhage following CH for PAS. Pelvic packing needs greater awareness amongst obstetricians as the incidence of PAS is likely to increase