The Challenge of Change-Management Strategies for Transformative Times

Reviewing the current status of the Discipline of Management, this paper raises questions about the relevance of theories and models in management, developed on the basis of western experience, to the realities of developing societies. Management as a discipline has to have a new paradigm that would provide adequate explanatory and conceptual strength to relate management to the social power structure and social relations within which they exist in a given society. A realistic approach to management pre-supposes the study of organisational behaviour not in isolation of its socio-cultural matrix but as shaped and cpnditioned by it. Unfortunately management studies and research have failed to resolve the crisis. India today finds itself in a historical transition that is not meaningfully understood and tackled through conventional organisational analysis. The present paper is primarily devoted to the discussions of certain broad structural changes taking place in the context of globalisation and provides a conceptual framework for management of organisations in the changing economic environment

ALTERATION IN CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM BY SUB-ACUTE LEAD EXPOSURE: A DOSE-DEPENDENT STUDY

Objective: The study was conducted to evaluate the dose-dependent effects of sub-acute lead exposure on certain aspects of carbohydrate metabolism.Methods: Swiss albino male mice (weighing 30-35 g) were selected for the present study and divided into five groups; one control group and others lead-treated groups i.e. Group A (5 mg/kg body weight), Group B (10 mg/kg body weight), Group C (15 mg/kg body weight) and Group D (20 mg/kg body weight). Parameters like blood and liver glucose, glycogen and pyruvic acid contents were determined in liver tissue. The enzyme activities like pyruvate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase and glucose 6-phosphatase were recorded in that tissue. Additionally, free amino acid nitrogen content and transaminase enzyme activities were also evaluated in liver tissue of mice.Results: The study reveals that lead caused a significant diminution of blood and hepatic glucose levels and fall in liver glycogen content in a dose-dependent manner, the highest effect was observed in animals treated with lead at a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight. Glucose 6-phosphatase activity was decreased significantly in all the treated groups. There was a dose-dependent increase in pyruvic acid content whereas pyruvate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase and transaminase enzyme activities were significantly depressed in a dose-dependent fashion in all the treated animals. Additionally, lead treatment significantly (p<0.001) enhanced free amino acid nitrogen in the liver to provide a substrate for gluconeogenesis.Conclusion: It is suggested that an adaptive mechanism is initiated by stimulating and retarding glycogenolytic and glycolytic activity and also by rising in the content of free amino acid nitrogen to recover from the lead stressed toxic manifestatio

Dynamics of COVID-19 transmission with comorbidity: a data driven modelling based approach

An outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is a major public health disease as well as a challenging task to people with comorbidity worldwide. According to a report, comorbidity enhances the risk factors with complications of COVID-19. Here, we propose and explore a mathematical framework to study the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 with comorbidity. Within this framework, the model is calibrated by using new daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in India. The qualitative properties of the model and the stability of feasible equilibrium are studied. The model experiences the scenario of backward bifurcation by parameter regime accounting for progress in susceptibility to acquire infection by comorbidity individuals. The endemic equilibrium is asymptotically stable if recruitment of comorbidity becomes higher without acquiring the infection. Moreover, a larger backward bifurcation regime indicates the possibility of more infection in susceptible individuals. A dynamics in the mean fluctuation of the force of infection is investigated with different parameter regimes. A significant correlation is established between the force of infection and corresponding Shannon entropy under the same parameters, which provides evidence that infection reaches a significant proportion of the susceptible

Safe and effective use of lithium

Lithium has proven efficacy in the treatment of bipolar disorder, both for acute mania and long-term mood stabilisation and prophylaxis. It is also useful in combating treatment-resistant depression. Compared to other mood stabilisers, lithium has a favourable efficacy-tolerability balance. Lithium is underused due to active marketing of alternatives and concerns regarding adverse effects, tolerability, and the perception that regular monitoring is difficult

A Systematic Review of Mobile Apps for Child Sexual Abuse Education: Limitations and Design Guidelines

The objectives of this study are understanding the requirements of a CSA education app, identifying the limitations of existing apps, and providing a guideline for better app design. An electronic search across three major app stores(Google Play, Apple, and Microsoft) is conducted and the selected apps are rated by three independent raters. Total 191 apps are found and finally, 14 apps are selected for review based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. An app rating scale for CSA education apps is devised by modifying existing scales and used to evaluate the selected 14 apps. Our rating scale evaluates essential features, criteria, and software quality characteristics that are necessary for CSA education apps, and determined their effectiveness for potential use as CSA education programs for children. The internal consistency of the rating scale and the inter and intra-rater reliability among the raters are also calculated. User comments from the app stores are collected and analyzed to understand their expectations and views. After analyzing the feasibility of reviewed apps, CSA app design considerations are proposed that highlight game-based teaching approaches. Evaluation results showed that most of the reviewed apps are not suitable for being used as CSA education programs. While a few may be able to teach children and parents individually, only the apps "Child Abuse Prevention" (rate 3.89 out of 5) and "Orbit Rescue" (rate 3.92 out of 5) could be deemed suitable for a school-based CSA education program. However, all those apps need to be improved both their software qualities and CSA-specific features for being considered as potential CSA education programs. This study provides the necessary knowledge to developers and individuals regarding essential features and software quality characteristics for designing and developing CSA education apps

Diversity and distribution of wild mushrooms in different forest areas of Bankura district, WB, India

Mushrooms are macroscopic fruit bodies of fungi; one of the most diverse groups of living organisms distributed all over the world. In recent past, they have gained significant scientific attention for their profound nutraceutical potentiality. The objective of the present study was to explore the diversity and ecological distribution of mushrooms in different forest areas of Bankura district. The study area includes intermittent dense forest and flood plains from middle-east to eastern part of Bankura district. However, this area received very little attention from a conservation perspective, and there is no such documentation on mushrooms of this area. The survey was conducted from August 2019 to October 2020 including vivid field surveys in the forest depots. The study has revealed a total of 53 identified mushroom species belonging to 40 genera and 30 families. The study has also identified 25 edible, 18 inedible and 15 medicinally potential mushrooms. The genus Russula and the family Russulaceae dominates the myco-population. The finding shows that this region is rich in macrofungal diversity complicatedly linked to the functioning of the local ecosystem. The present study opens new possibilities regarding the exploration and utilization of wild mushrooms in India

A critical assessment of technical advances in pharmaceutical removal from wastewater – A critical review

Use of pharmaceutical products has seen a tremendous increase in the recent decades. It has been observed that more than thirty million tons of pharmaceuticals are consumed worldwide. The used pharmaceutical products are not completely metabolized in human and animal body. Therefore, they are excreted to the environment and remain there as persistent organic chemicals. These compounds emerge as toxic contaminants in water and affect the human metabolism directly or indirectly. This literature review is an endeavour to understand the origin, applications and current advancement in the removal of pharmaceuticals from the environment. It discusses about the pharmaceuticals used in medical applications such diagnosis and disease treatment. In addition, it discusses about the recent approaches applied in pharmaceutical removal including microbial fuel cells, biofiltration, and bio nanotechnology approaches. Moreover, the challenges associated with pharmaceutical removal are presented considering biological and environmental factors. The review suggest the potential recommendations on pharmaceutical removal.The corresponding author Prof. Vinay Kumar is thankful to all the co-authors for their collaborative efforts in writing this paper. This work was supported by Department of Community Medicine, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Chennai, India.Peer reviewe

ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITIES INDEX FORMULATION IN FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM OF THE INDIAN SUNDARBANS

Human Development Index (HDI) defined by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) involves health, education and life standard. HDI as a measurement of development for a community is realistic as it takes into account the condition of common people’s livelihood. Here, we study the development of Sundarbans in South and North 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal. Existing data indicates poor infrastructure as well as horrifying poverty, but livelihood, education and health indices for all 19 blocks of Sundarbans do not depict the exact developmental scenario. Climatic shocks reinforce risks and environmental vulnerabilities (EV) leading to long term setback for the human development. EV affects the developmental status and thus modifies HDI. In this work, we propose to take into account the EV. We present through review of existing data and literature related to human development, HDI, show anomalies in the available data and discuss factors of EV. Finally, we propose a model to formulate Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) for Sundarban using model of 4 dimensions with 24 indicators expressed in terms of 120 variables given below. We demonstrate here how to collect EVI using values of variables through house hold survey as well as available secondary data