Holistic Development of Adolescents for Social Intelligence, Emotional Maturity and Spiritual Personality for Nation Building

Over 225 million adolescents reside in India which is greater than the total population of Germany, United Kingdom, and Canada put together. It is imperative that this immense human potential be given an enabled environment, empowered and effectively mobilized for the holistic development of adolescents and consequently the nation. To understand the complexities of young people, most of which arise from their very state of transition, this study assesses the relationship between emotional maturity (EM), social intelligence (SI) and spiritual personality (SP) among 100 randomly selected adolescent students from Jodhpur district (50 boys and 50 girls) and aged between 16 and 19. Data was collected using the Emotional Maturity Scale (EMS), Social Intelligence Scale (SIS) and Spiritual Personality Inventory (SPI) and analyzed using t-test, product moment correlation coefficient and multiple regression tools. Results obtained indicated that there is a significant difference in the three groups of adolescents -higher, middle and lower groups, based on SI, EM and SP scores and gender differences in relation to their emotional maturity, social intelligence and the spiritual personality. Regression analysis showed a contribution of SI and EM to SP, suggesting that individuals with more SI, EM, and SP, can holistically contribute to national development.Keywords: Holistic Development, Adolescent, Social intelligence, Emotional Maturity, Spiritual Personalit

Self-Dual Yang-Mills and Vector-Spinor Fields, Nilpotent Fermionic Symmetry, and Supersymmetric Integrable Systems

We present a system of a self-dual Yang-Mills field and a self-dual vector-spinor field with nilpotent fermionic symmetry (but not supersymmetry) in 2+2 dimensions, that generates supersymmetric integrable systems in lower dimensions. Our field content is (A_\mu{}^I, \psi_\mu{}^I, \chi^{I J}), where I and J are the adjoint indices of arbitrary gauge group. The \chi^{I J} is a Stueckelberg field for consistency. The system has local nilpotent fermionic symmetry with the algebra \{N_\alpha{}^I, N_\beta{}^J \} = 0. This system generates supersymmetric Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equations in D=2+1, and supersymmetric Korteweg-de Vries equations in D=1+1 after appropriate dimensional reductions. We also show that a similar self-dual system in seven dimensions generates self-dual system in four dimensions. Based on our results we conjecture that lower-dimensional supersymmetric integral models can be generated by non-supersymmetric self-dual systems in higher dimensions only with nilpotent fermionic symmetries.Comment: 15 pages, no figure

In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni Leaves

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate antimicrobial activity of the various extracts of Stevia rebaudiana leaves. Method: Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni leaves were extracted in water, methanol, ethyl acetate and hexane and their antimicrobial activities were examined against few selected microorganisms including B. subtilis, S. aureus, M. luteus, S. marcenscens, P. aeruginosa, B. megaterium, E. coli, P. vulgaris, Yeast, A. niger and R. oligoporus using cup plate method. Results: Water extract of Stevia leaf showed activity against B. subtilis and S. aureus only. Methanol extract gave the highest zone of inhibition against P. aeruginosa whereas minimum zone of inhibition was found against S. aureus and yeast. B. megaterium and yeast were found to be highly susceptible towards ethyl acetate and hexane extracts, respectively whereas A. niger and B. subtilis were found to be least susceptible against ethyl acetate and hexane extracts, respectively. Hexane extract showed the highest activity against yeast among the tested microorganisms. Conclusion: The study confirms the possible antimicrobial potentiality of the leaf extract of Stevia rebaudiana. Keywords: Stevia rebaudiana, antimicrobial activity, leaf extracts > Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research Vol. 5 (1) 2006: pp. 557-56

ANTIDEPRESSANT LIKE EFFECT OF NEWLY SYNTHESIZED COMPOUND 2[(N- BENZYLACETAMIDO) MERCAPTO] BENZIMIDAZOLE (VS 25) AND ITS POSSIBLE MECHANISM BY INHIBITION OF MONOAMINE OXIDASE ENZYME IN MICE

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the antidepressant activity of a newly synthesized compound 2 [(N-benzylacetamido) mercapto] benzimidazole (VS 25) by forced swimming test in mouse and to explore the mechanism of action by its effect on monoamine oxidase enzyme in mouse brain.Methods: Swiss albino mice were randomly divided into 4 groups, each containing 6 animals. Group one was controlled and received 1 % cmc, p. o., Group II received moclobemide (50 mg/kg) p. o., group three and four received VS25 (30mg/kg and 60 mg/kg) once a day for 14 days.Results: In the forced swim test the decrease in immobility was 38.10% in moclobemide treated mice compared to 34.66% in VS25 (30 mg/kg) and 28.77% in VS 25 (60 mg/kg) treated mice. The percentage inhibition of the monoamine oxidase enzyme in mouse brain mitochondria was in moclobemide treated animals was 75.19% compared to 66.94% in VS 25 (30mg/kg) and 55.52% in VS 25 (60 mg/kg) treated animals. Moclobemide did not inhibit MAO B enzyme while VS25 (30 mg/kg) showed 6.48% and VS 25 (60 mg/kg) showed 4.75% inhibition.Conclusion: It is concluded that both moclobemide (50 mg/kg) and VS25 (30 mg/kg) showed antidepressant activity in mice. Moclobemide selectively inhibited MAO A enzyme in mouse brain. VS 25 (30 mg/kg) was equipotent as MAO A inhibitor but differed from moclobemide with respect to weak inhibition of MAO B activity also.Â

Evaluating the effectiveness of the Emergency Neurological Life Support educational framework in low-income countries.

BackgroundThe Emergency Neurological Life Support (ENLS) is an educational initiative designed to improve the acute management of neurological injuries. However, the applicability of the course in low-income countries in unknown. We evaluated the impact of the course on knowledge, decision-making skills and preparedness to manage neurological emergencies in a resource-limited country.MethodsA prospective cohort study design was implemented for the first ENLS course held in Asia. Knowledge and decision-making skills for neurological emergencies were assessed at baseline, post-course and at 6 months following course completion. To determine perceived knowledge and preparedness, data were collected using surveys administered immediately post-course and 6 months later.ResultsA total of 34 acute care physicians from across Nepal attended the course. Knowledge and decision-making skills significantly improved following the course (p=0.0008). Knowledge and decision-making skills remained significantly improved after 6 months, compared with before the course (p=0.02), with no significant loss of skills immediately following the course to the 6-month follow-up (p=0.16). At 6 months, the willingness to participate in continuing medical education activities remained evident, with 77% (10/13) of participants reporting a change in their clinical practice and decision-making, with the repeated use of ENLS protocols as the main driver of change.ConclusionsUsing the ENLS framework, neurocritical care education can be delivered in low-income countries to improve knowledge uptake, with evidence of knowledge retention up to 6 months

Investigation of Combustion Characteristics of a Cottonseed Biodiesel Fuelled Diesel Engine

AbstractDiesel engines are very well known for their high torque and high thermal efficiency. But, the increase in demand of energy, rapid depletion of fossil fuels and meeting the stringent emission regulations, the researchers take interest to derive the alternative fuels from renewable resources. Among from all the different alternative fuels, vegetable oil has potential to substitute the traditional diesel fuels. The well-established transesterification process is generally used for the production of biodiesel from vegetable oil. In transesterification process the tri-glycerides are converted into mono glycerides with the help of alcohol and catalyst under certain temperature. In the present research work cottonseed vegetable oil is used to produce biodiesel by transesterification process using methanol and KOH as catalyst. As diesel engine combustion is heterogeneous spray combustion, it is very complex phenomenon. The physico-chemical properties of biodiesel are slightly different from diesel fuel. It is very interesting to study the combustion characteristics of a cottonseed based biodiesel fuelled diesel engine. This was the main motivation to take up this study to understand and analyze the combustion characteristics of a cottonseed biodiesel fuelled diesel engine. The experiment was carried out on a single cylinder diesel engine for base diesel and cottonseed biodiesel blends (B5, B10, B15, and B20) as a fuel. The combustion characteristics such as ignition delay, start of combustion, premixed, diffusion and after burning combustion phases, end of combustion and combustion duration were analyzed and compared with base diesel. It was observed that ignition delay and maximum rate of pressure rise decreased with biodiesel as compared to base diesel due to higher cetane number of biodiesel blends which confirms the smooth running of the engine. Ignition delay decreased from 11°CA with base diesel to 6.5°CA with B20 biodiesel. The start of combustion was advanced with all biodiesel blends due to higher bulk modulus results in automatic advance in dynamic injection timing and lesser ignition delay. The combustion duration was longer with all biodiesel blends as compared to base diesel due to longer injection duration results in poor performance of the engine with biodiesel blends