The Changing Roles Of Trade Unions In India: A Case Study Of National Thermal Power Corporation (Ntpc), Unchahar

Trade unions are a major component of the system of modern industrial relations in any nation, each having, in their constitution, their own set of objectives or goals to achieve. Change in the political, social and educational environment has seen them rechristened as a forum that protects and furthers workers' interests and improves the quality of life of workers, enlarging their traditional roles of establishing terms and conditions of employment. This paper focuses on plant level trade unions, particularly those of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Unchahar plant, one of the largest and best Public Sector Undertakings of India. This exploratory study of the different trade unions operational at the Unchahar plant will also highlight their ideologies, objectives and structures. We aim to capture the changing paradigms in the roles of plant-level unions: from maintaining good industrial relations, once considered their primary role, they now work actively to improve the quality of life of workers, a role earlier considered to be secondary

Role of Androgens in Cardiovascular Diseases in Men: A Comprehensive Review

The present knowledge on the androgens role in cardiovascular physiology is not fully completed. It remains unclear whether low serum testosterone concentrations in men are an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) or a marker of the presence of CVD. However, we demonstrated that endogenous testosterone levels may be implicated in CVDs. Androgens role in modulating cardiovascular function is one of the highest importances, given that its deficiency is strongly associated with hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity, and cardiac hypertrophy. Although significant and independent association between testosterone levels and cardiovascular events in elderly men have not been confirmed in large prospective studies, cross-sectional studies, however, suggested that low testosterone levels in elderly men are associated with CVDs. The results of androgen therapy are not also conclusive. Perhaps, the effects of testosterone treatment of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity have not been extensively examined in control studies. Data on male animal experimentation of the effect of testosterone replacement therapy are either neutral or beneficial on the development of atherosclerosis. Since circulatory androgen levels modulation is expected to cause many other side effects, it seems to be essential to develop a strategy to target androgen receptor for better treating the CVDs

Antifungal Activity of the Crude Extracts and Extracted Phenols from Gametophytes and Sporophytes of Two Species of Adiantum

The water extracts and extracted phenols from gametophytes and different parts of sporophytes of the two ferns, Adiantum capillus-veneris L. and Adiantum lunulatum Burm. f., used as folkloric medicines in India, China, Tibet, America, Philippines and Italy, were investigated for their antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus stolonifer. Both crude extracts and extracted phenols of gametophytes and different parts of sporophytes of both fern species were found to be bioactive against the fungal strains. Antifungal activity was found to be higher in gametophytes than different parts of sporophytes. Among the different parts of sporophyte, immature pinnule possesses highest fungistatic property. Adiantum capillus-veneris was found a better antifungal agent than Adiantum lunulatum

Modelling of anisotropic compact stars of embedding class one

In the present article, we have constructed static anisotropic compact star models of Einstein field equations for the spherical symmetric metric of embedding class one. By assuming the particular form of the metric function $\nu$, we have solved the Einstein field equations for anisotropic matter distribution. The anisotropic models represent the realistic compact objects such as SAX J 1808.4-3658 (SS1), Her X-1, Vela X-12, PSR J1614-2230 and Cen X-3. We have reported our results in details for the compact star Her X-1 on the ground of physical properties such as pressure, density, velocity of sound, energy conditions, TOV equation and red-shift etc. Along with these, we have also discussed about the stability of the compact star models. Finally we made a comparison between our anisotropic stars with the realistic objects on the key aspects as central density, central pressure, compactness and surface red-shift

1,3-Dipolar cycloadditions: Part VIII¹ - Microwave irradiation assisted synthesis of <i>N</i>-methyl-<i>C</i>-aryl nitrones

880-881N-Methyl-C-arylnitrones have been synthesized in very high yields within a few minutes from N-methyl-hydroxylamine hydrochloride and aryl aldehydes in presence of sodium hydrogen carbonate in methylene chloride using the microwave irradiation technique

MicroRNAs: New Players in the Pathobiology of Preeclampsia

Our understanding of how microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene networks and affect different molecular pathways leading to various human pathologies has significantly improved over the years. In contrary, the role of miRNAs in pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders such as preeclampsia (PE) is only beginning to emerge. Recent papers highlight that adverse pregnancy outcomes are associated with aberrant expression of several miRNAs. Presently, efforts are underway to determine the biologic function of these placental miRNAs which can shed light on their contribution to these pregnancy-related disease conditions. The discovery that miRNAs are stable in circulation coupled with the fact that the placenta is capable of releasing them to the circulation in exosomes generates a lot of enthusiasm to use them as biomarkers. In this review, we will summarize the recent findings of our understanding of miRNA regulation in relation to PE, a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. Particular emphasis will be given to the role of key miRNA molecules such as miR-210 and miR-155 that are known to be consistently dysregulated in women with PE