Relationship Between Self Efficacy and Academic Performance: an Empirical Study

This paper examines the relationship between the self-efficacy and academic performance in Graduation level students. The data were collected from 130 students (42 females and 88 males) selected from different semesters of undergraduate studies. To analyze data correlation and t-test analysis was used. The results of the study showed that there is a significant relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance of the students. In addition, we found that there is no significant relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance among students varied by age of course. From the findings, it was recommended that teachers, Counsellors, and educators should give continuous advice and develop techniques that help lower anxiety and reduce stress, to increase a student's self-efficacy

Departmental Efficiency of Panjab University: An Analysis Using Dea and Tobit Model

The purpose of this paper is to assess the efficiency of teaching departments in Panjab University, Chandighar. The Data envelopment analysis and Tobit analysis is used to assess the teaching and research efficiency of a set of departments. Six models are proposed based on different parameters to cover various drivers of efficiency. We used both Charnes-Cooper-Rhodes (CCR) and Banker, Charnes and Cooper (BCC) output oriented model with three inputs and three outputs. Next, we present some important differences in efficiency of these departments. We also define benchmarks for inefficient departments and quantify the gaps to be fulfilled by them in order to become efficient. Further the robustness of DEA results was tested with help of Sensitivity analysis. The paper provides evidence that among teaching performance, the majority of teaching efficient departments were from the Social Sciences group and over the years, the teaching efficiency of Sciences departments improved and that of the Languages departments decreased. It is further observed that the majority of research efficient departments were from Sciences group, indicating that these departments are good performers for research activities like publications, research projects and paper presented

Immobilization Parameters Statistically Optimized for Whole Cells of Pseudomonas Putida G7 to Enhance Limonin Biotransformation

This study was aimed for optimizing the immobilization parameters for Pseudomonas putida G7 in Ca-alginate beads, in order to establish a debittering strategy for citrus juices, by biotransforming the bitter principle - Limonin. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with Central Composite Design (CCD) was employed to model the significant parameters for an enhanced response. An enhanced limonin bioconversion and immobilized bead stability was obtained with alginate concentration (2%), cell load (47.2g/l), and a bead diameter (2.1mm); which had significant effects (p <0.001) on limonin biotransformation. The R2 values of 0.9 showed good agreement between experimental and predicted response. Validation experiments under optimized parameters showed good association between experimental (limonin biotransformation and stability response of 65.8% and 0.97 OD respectively) and predicted responses (limonin biotransformation and stability of 65.1% and 0.094 respectively). Thus, the approach is promising to develop a strategy for debittering citrus juices by biotransforming limonin at a faster rate

Profile of accidental injuries and poisoning in children and analysis of the predisposing factors

Background: Accidents continue to be the leading cause of death and disability between 1 year and 15year age group. Trauma lurks both developed and developing nations but in different guises. The aim is to determine the epidemiology, clinical profile and outcome of children with accidental injuries and poisoning and to analyse the factors predisposing to accidents in children.Methods: This was a prospective cohort study done at Institute of Social Pediatrics, Govt. Stanley Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India between September 2006 to August 2007.Results: Most common age group for occurrence of accident is less than 3 years n=68 (37.8%).  Male children 108 (60%) outnumbered female children 72 (40%). Among the accidents falls accounted for 32.8% cases which were the commonest followed by Road Traffic Accident (RTA) 22.2%, poisoning 21.1%, Foreign body 7.8%, Burns 6.1%, Drowning 1.7 % in decreasing order of frequency. In and around Home n=114 (63.3%) was the commonest place of occurrence of accident followed by 26.7% in streets, 3.9% in schools and 3.3% in playground. Sunday contributes to more accidents (20%) than any other day. Accidents were common between 3PM to 6 PM (36.1%). Among RTA and fall, skeletal injuries accounted for 49.9% followed by head injury 27.4%, and soft tissue injuries 25.6%. Among burns, the most common site involved was limbs and deep burns were more common than superficial burns. 86.7% of cases recovered completely, 5% had permanent residual deformity and death in 1.1% of cases. The various social factors were analyzed as risk factors for accidents using multivariate logistic regression analysis and was found that nuclear family had ODD’s ratio of 2.232 (95% C.I 1.004 -4.961), age of the mother <25years with ODD’s ratio 1.252 (95% C.I 1.085-3.025) and socio-economic class III and IV together with ODD’s ratio 1.603 (95% C.I 1.064 - 3.379).Conclusions: Accidents and poisoning lead to significant morbidity in children in this study. Comprehensive prevention strategies need to be implemented to bring down the rate of accidents

MALIGNANT PERSISTENT PULMONARY HYPERTENSION – A CASE REPORT

Persistent pulmonary hypertension is a phenomenon with 2 in 1,000 live births. Persistent pulmonary hypertension involves defective lung parenchymal development, heart valvular defects, or may also be syndromic. It can also be idiopathic. The most common factor is improper clamping of the umbilical cord on parturition. This case report discusses the condition of a male neonate with severe tachypnea and hypoxia due to PPTH at birth. A male neonate born to anon consanguineous parents on the day of birth presented with severe tachypnea. It was normal vaginal delivery conducted in the ambulance. There was a delay in clamping the umbilical cord, it was clamped with an elastic rope. The neonate and the mother were rushed to the obstetric ward within the time duration of 20 min. The neonate presented with hypoxia, hypocalcemia, and severe tachypnea. The neonate was shifted to the intensive care unit and was supported with high flow oxygen 2 L/min. 2D echo was performed; there was no significant anomaly noted except tricuspid valvular regurgitation. The pulmonary pressure was recorded to be 76 mm/hg which gradually reduced to 26 mm/ hg on the 6th day after birth. Improper or impaired fall in pulmonary vasculature resistance that occurs after birth and increase of systemic vascular resistance is due to the removal of the placenta from circulation. Increased pulmonary vasculature with decreased or reversal of shut at the foramen ovale or ductus arteriosus leads to PPHTN. Proper clamping of the umbilical cord within 60 s becomes crucial. Delayed or improper clamping can lead to severe PPHTN