Open Source Technologies that improve Librarianship: The finest option at low-cost-no-cost

Personal productivity or office management is very important for professional development in libraries. Technologies are becoming more useful for the improvement of productivity in the day-to-day library operation and make the functions smoother. It has been observed that some of the public libraries are underperforming their duties due to financial crisis. Sometimes, it happens that librarians are not able to accomplish certain library operations due to unavailability of technologies in the library. It is not that the librarians are not techno savvy, they have good command over technology operations in library, but due to low budget; school or public libraries are not able to procure licensed copies of library software and other office technologies. Here, I have listed various Free and Open Source technologies that can help smoothen library operations at NO COST!

Design and synthesis of new quinoline hybrid derivatives and their antimicrobial, antimalarial and antitubercular activities

986-998All the molecules have been designed on the basis of previously reported active pharmacophores via molecular hybridization. A convenient protocol for the preparation of N-((2-(piperazin-1-yl) quinolin-3-yl)methyl)aniline derivatives via mutli-step synthesis has been described. Spectral analysis using Mass, 1H and 13C NMR spectral techniques have been studied in order to confirm the structure of synthesized end molecules. All synthesized compounds have been screened for in vitro antimicrobial, antimalarial and antitubercular activities. Structural activity relationship study (SAR) have also been discussed. Interestingly, target molecules are found to show good to excellent antibacterial, antifungal and antimalarial potency

An efficient regioselective synthesis of N-alkylated purine-triazole analogues

1225-1233Nitrogen rich purine adduct (2) was prepared by reaction of 2,6-dichloro purine (1) with hydrazine hydrate was converted to hybrid purine-triazole ring (4) by a simple cyclisation process (con. HCl & methanol) on reaction with 3-phenoxy benzaldehyde. The regioselectivity of synthesized adducts was carried out by simple spectroscopic techniques i.e. IR, 1H NMR & 13C NMR spectra. These studies gave an idea regarding replacement of chlorine out of C-2 or C-6 position. Novelty was introduced by alkyl substation at N-9 position of imidazole ring and at –NH of triazole ring and a series of 4-chloro-5a,6-dihydro-1,6-dialkylated-8-(3-phenoxyphenyl)-1H-[1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-e]purine (5a-5g) hybrids were synthesized

An efficient regioselective synthesis of N-alkylated purine-triazole analogues

Nitrogen rich purine adduct (2) was prepared by reaction of 2,6-dichloro purine (1) with hydrazine hydrate was converted to hybrid purine-triazole ring (4) by a simple cyclisation process (con. HCl & methanol) on reaction with 3-phenoxy benzaldehyde. The regioselectivity of synthesized adducts was carried out by simple spectroscopic techniques i.e. IR, 1H NMR & 13C NMR spectra. These studies gave an idea regarding replacement of chlorine out of C-2 or C-6 position. Novelty was introduced by alkyl substation at N-9 position of imidazole ring and at –NH of triazole ring and a series of 4-chloro-5a,6-dihydro-1,6-dialkylated-8-(3-phenoxyphenyl)-1H-[1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-e]purine (5a-5g) hybrids were synthesized

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING FRAUDELENT TRANSACTIONS AT MERCHANT LEVEL IN REAL TIME PAYMENT

Disclosed herein is a method and system providing Merchants direct access to the powerful issuer authorization rules engine to evaluate and block card payment transaction in real-time from potential fraud at checkout. The access to the intelligent rules can be made by enabling a secure connection to the Risk Manager (RM). The real-time data will empower the Merchant to not forward the fraudulent transaction onto the acquirer for further processing, saving the transaction processing fees as eliminating back-office overheads on failed payments

The Effect of State Medicaid Pay-for-Performance on Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Quality of Care and Financial Performance in Nursing Homes

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Rochester. School of Medicine & Dentistry. Dept. of Health Services Research and Policy, 2016.Objectives: The well documented deficiencies in nursing home (NH) quality of care raised pressing concerns on the value of care received by residents and led to mandated resident-level assessments, care planning, and regulatory controls. These regulatory and enforcement strategies resulted in improvement in quality, but significant problems still persists. While quality of care remains a significant issue in all nursing homes in the U.S., studies also highlight the variations in quality which may disproportionately affect NHs that serve predominantly racial/ethnic minority residents in such a way that result in racial/ethnic disparities in quality of care. Limited success of regulatory efforts in improving quality of care has resulted in shift of focus to policy tools like pay-for-performance (P4P).The principle behind P4P is that it financially rewards quality of care improvement, thus shifting the emphasis of nursing homes towards the quality rather than just the quantity of care. Studies evaluating the P4P programs reported small improvements in some measures of NH quality of care resulting from these programs, but significant quality problems still persist. Experts have expressed concern about the unintended consequences of P4P that may worsen racial/ethnic disparities in quality of care in NHs. The incentives may lead to quality of care improvement in facilities that are already well financed and provide higher quality, whereas lower-quality facilities (which predominantly serve racial/ethnic minority and poor patient population) may improve at a slower rate or remain unchanged because of lack of resources to invest in quality initiatives (QI) efforts. Using the evidence from Medicaid’s existing P4P programs, the first objective of this dissertation is to evaluate the effect of the P4P program on the racial/ethnic disparities in quality of care in nursing homes. Pay-for-performance programs might also affect the disparities by widening the resource gap that exits between the NHs that serve relatively large number of minority residents and those that do not. The program may inadvertently lead to increase in racial/ethnic disparities in financial performance of NHs since most QI efforts require significant financial investments and awards incentives to the top performing NHs. The second objective of the dissertation is to evaluate the effect of P4P program on the racial/ethnic disparities in financial performance of nursing homes Methods: The analysis is performed on 2004-2010 panel data of nursing homes obtained from Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR), Nursing Home Compare Website data, Medicare Cost Reports (MCR), LTCFocUS.org website, and Area Health Resource File (AHRF). The study sample consists of Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing homes in the treatment states of Ohio (OH), Oklahoma (OK) and Georgia (GA), all of which implemented the P4P program in 2007 and control states of Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Tennessee which did not implement the program. The effect P4P program on racial/ethnic disparities in quality of care in NHs is obtained by estimating the changes in structural quality measures like registered nurse hours per resident day (RNHPRD), licensed nurse practitioner hours per resident day (LPNHPRD) and certified nurse aide hours per resident day (CNAHPRD), process quality measures like catheter use and prevalence of flu vaccination and overall/outcomes quality measures including total number of deficiency citations, actual harm citations and prevalence of high/low-risk pressure ulcers. The effect P4P program on racial/ethnic disparities in financial performance of NHs is obtained by estimating the changes in total margin, operating profit margin, operating revenue per patient day and operating cost per patient day between racial/ethnic minority- and majority-serving NHs following implementation of P4P program. Difference-in-differences models with facility- and time- fixed-effects is implemented to estimate the changes in quality of care and financial performance in racial/ethnic minority-serving NHs and majority-serving NHs as well as disparities between these two groups following implementation of P4P program. Results: Quality improvement under the P4P program is inconsistent in racial/ethnic minority- and majority-serving NHs in the P4P states compared to controls. Moreover, the effect of program on racial/ethnic disparities is also mixed. Following P4P implementation, compared to respective control states, racial/ethnic disparities increased for RNHPRD in OH and flu vaccination in OK while it decreased for catheter use and LPNHPRD in GA, and total deficiency citations in OH. There was no significant policy impact on disparities of other quality measures included in the study. Similarly, there was no significant impact of the policy on racial/ethnic disparities in financial performance of NHs in the states that implemented it except for reduction in disparities in total margin in the state of OK compared to that of AR. Conclusions: In summary, I find heterogeneous effect of the P4P policy on improvement of quality and financial performance in predominantly racial/ethnic minority- and majority- serving NHs, but we find limited evidence to support concerns about the effect of policy on racial/ethnic disparities between the two groups of nursing homes

Design and synthesis of new quinoline hybrid derivatives and their antimicrobial, antimalarial and antitubercular activities

All the molecules have been designed on the basis of previously reported active pharmacophores via molecular hybridization. A convenient protocol for the preparation of N-((2-(piperazin-1-yl) quinolin-3-yl)methyl)aniline derivatives via mutli-step synthesis has been described. Spectral analysis using Mass, 1H and 13C NMR spectral techniques have been studied in order to confirm the structure of synthesized end molecules. All synthesized compounds have been screened for in vitro antimicrobial, antimalarial and antitubercular activities. Structural activity relationship study (SAR) have also been discussed. Interestingly, target molecules are found to show good to excellent antibacterial, antifungal and antimalarial potency.