A study to assess the effectiveness of bibliotherapy in reducing the level of anxiety among hospitalized children in selected hospital at Kanyakumari District

INTRODUCTION: Anxiety refers to uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or worry about something that is happening or might happen in the future. STATEMENT: “A study to assess the effectiveness of bibliotherapy in reducing the level of anxiety among hospitalized children in selected hospital at Kanyakumari District.” Objectives 1. To assess the pre and post test level of anxiety among hospitalized children in experimental group and control group. 2. To compare the post test level of anxiety among hospitalized children between experimental group and control group. 3. To find out the association between the pre test level of anxiety among hospitalized children with their selected demographic variables such as age, gender, mother education, education of child, previous hospitalization, area of living and birth order. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: The research design adopted for this study was quasi experimental design .The sample size was 60 and was drawn through purposive sampling technique. The feasibility of the study and the refinement of the tool were assessed through pilot study. The level of anxiety was assessed by using Modified Spence Children Anxiety scale. The data collection for the main study was done from 1-4-2016 to 30-4-2016. Bibliotherapy given for experimental group. Post test was done after intervention. The data gathered were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistical method. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY: The mean score on level of anxiety in Experimental group was 1.37 in pre test and 0.5 in post test. The paired„t‟ value was 13.71 which is significant at p >0.05. It shows that bibliotherapy was effective in improving the level of anxiety among hospitalized children. The mean post test score on level of anxiety in experimental group and control group was 0.5 and 1.6 respectively. The estimated unpaired "t" value was 8.46 which is significant at p > 0.05. It shows that bibliotherapy was effective in improving the level of anxiety. Hence the research hypothesis (H1) is accepted. CONCLUSION: This study inference revealed that regular practice of bibliotherapy could bring about desired reduction of anxiety among hospitalized children

Appraisal of the socio-economic status of fishers among the different sectors in Kerala, south-west coast of India

The present study assessed the levels of literacy, health, income and livelihood security of fisher households across different fisheries sectors in Kerala. Primary data collected across 567 households during January to December, 2011were used for the study. The general trend in Kerala shows that majority of the fisherfolk were of the age group 36-55, with a small family norm and high literacy rate. The marine capture sector has the highest annual income in comparison with other sectors but registered higher indebtedness. While the highest income from non-fishery activity was from labour  followed by business, other sectors and agriculture. The study revealed that the fishers spend their major share of income towards food expenditure. Inspite of the income from various sources, majority of the households are swamped with debts which make them to rely on private money lenders for sustaining their living standards. The study is a cross sectoral analysis of the fisher households in Kerala and provides a base for implementing developmental plans for the betterment of the fishing community

SHELF-LIFE ASSESSMENT OF DANTASHODHANA PASTE (A POLYHERBAL TOOTHPASTE): A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Objective: Shelf life is the period during which the potency (Virya) of a drug remains unaffected due to environmental factors or from microbial contamination. Considering the growing popularity of Ayurveda products, it becomes important to maintain the quality of all such products. Shelf life is one of the essential components under quality and needs to be evaluated for all products. Dantashodhana paste (DP) is a polyherbal toothpaste containing Vyosha (Zingiber officinale Roxb., Piper nigrum Linn., and Piper longum Linn.), Trijata (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume., Elettaria cardamomum Maton., Cinnamomum tamala (Buch.-Ham.) T.Nees and Eberm.), Tejovati (Zanthoxylum armatum DC.), Saindhava (rock salt), and other excipients. Methods: DP was prepared with the following standard guidelines. The samples were subjected to accelerated stability study by maintaining temperature and humidity 40±2°C and 75±5%, respectively. Relevant analytical parameters were analyzed at an interval of 0, 1, 3, and 6 months to check the degradation levels in the formulation. Results: DP was found to be free from microbial contamination. Heavy metals were within the prescribed limits for toothpaste complying the official standards. There were insignificant changes in physicochemical profiles at different intervals. On extrapolation of the observations, the shelf life of DP was found to be 12.16 years. Conclusion: Shelf life of DP is found to be much longer than the standards specified in the D and C act. This prolonged shelf life may be contributed to care taken during drug preparation, storage, and properties of herbal drugs used in the formulation

STUDY ON AGE RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (DRY TYPE) IN CONTEXT TO PITTA VIDAGDHA DRISHTI AND ITS AYURVEDIC MANAGEMENT

Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is the leading cause of the vision loss and blindness in people above 50 years of age. ARMD is characterised by central vision loss, distorted or blurred vision, decreased visual acuity, Central or para-central blind spot (scotoma). An almost similar clinical condition to ARMD is seen in Pitta Vidagdha Dristi. Dry ARMD is more prevalent (90%) and slower in progress than Wet ARMD. The Ayurvedic management of Pitta Vidagdha Drishti is similar to Pittaja Abhishyanda. With this background a specific line of treatment for the Pitta Vidagdha Drisht in Sushruta Samhita is adopted. In this study, total 22 patients, 12 in group A (Triphala Ghrita, Saptamrita Lauha, Rasayana Churna and Shatavari etc.) & 10 in Group B (Control) were registered. The duration of therapy was of 3 months in both the groups. Group A showed better results on ARMD when compared with that of Group B especially on perception of flashes of light (72.23%) & dim light adaptation problem (45.23%). So ARMD (Dry type) can be better managed by Ayurvedic treatment group than the Modern multivitamin group

Analysis of research papers published in the Journal of Marine Biological Association of India during 1959 - 2008

In 50 years, 1961 research papers have been published in the Journal of Marine Biological Association of India. The number of pages per paper decreased from 10.4 during 1974 - 1978 to 5.6 during 2004 - 2008. On the other hand, the number of references quoted per paper increased from 9.2 during 1959 - 1963, to 17.2 during 2004 - 2008. The number of authors in a paper increased from 1.3 (1959 - 1963) to 2.8 (2004 - 2008). During 1959 - 1963, the women authors were only 1.3% which increased to 28.1% during 2004-2008. A total of 3789 authors affiliated to 356 institutions contributed papers. Of this, 162 are from international institutions and 194 are from India. Among the 194 institutions in India, which contributed research papers to JMBAI, 60 were from Tamil Nadu (including the Union Territory of Puducherry) followed by Kerala (36) and Maharashtra (32). Among 19 major subjects covered by the JMBAI, a large number of papers were published on biology such as food and feeding, life history, morphology, developmental biology etc (556 papers; 27.1%). The maximum research concentration was on the Infraclass Teleostii (560 papers; 33.8%), Class Crustacea (424 papers; 25.6%) and Class Bivalvia (119 papers; 7.2%)

Department of Pathology, Government Medical College and Cancer Hospital, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India

Background: The intrauterine existence of fetus is dependent on one vital organ 'the placenta’. The placenta reflects the status of maternal hypertension as it is the mirror of maternal and fetal health. The hypertensive disorders complicate 5-10% of all pregnancies and form a dangerous triad with haemorrhage and infection that contributes greatly to maternal morbidity and mortality. The fetus is dependent on placenta for growth and development. Many disorders of pregnancy like hypertension are accompanied by gross and histological changes in placenta. Aim of the study was to study the various morphological lesions of placenta in pregnancy induced hypertension and compare them with normal pregnanciesMethods: Gross and microscopic examination was conducted on 70 placentas. These included 15 normal placentas and 55 placentas from pregnancy induced hypertension.Results: In PIH, on gross the placenta showed areas of infarction, perivillous fibrin deposition and basal decidual haematoma, while microscopically showed increased syncytial knotting, cytotrophoblasitc proliferation, basement membrane thickening, vasculosyncytial membrane deficiency, infarction and fibrinoid necrosis.Conclusions: Maternal disorders affect the placental histology and can be detected by morphological examination of such placentae. The placenta from hypertensive pregnant women show significant morphological changes as compared to control, which may alter the perinatal outcome

Dose optimization, frequency and spectrum of Gamma-ray induced chlorophyll mutations in acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia) cv. Agamalai

Citrus, one of the most popular fruit crops grown worldwide, has high nutritional, medicinal and commercial value. This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of gamma radiation with various doses, including 0 Gy, 5Gy, 10 Gy, 15 Gy, 20 Gy, 25Gy, 30 Gy, 35 Gy, 40 Gy and 45 Gy of cobalt 60 sources on acid lime variety Agamalai citrus, (Citrus aurantifolia). The  study was carried out at the Horticulture College and Research Institute in Periyakulam.The mutagenic efficiency and effectiveness were evaluated using the frequency of chlorophyll mutations and the biological damage in M1 plants. The stomatal index reduces (19.62 %– 13.99%) with increasing treatment dose, compared to control (20.39%), although guard cell dimensions, such as length (6.09 µm) in 15 Gy and breadth (4.56 µm) in 5 Gy increase with higher dose treatment than untreated (3.71 µm,3.54 µm). Identifying the mutagenic efficiency and effectiveness of the mutagen and maximising the lethal dosage is the first stage in any mutagenesis research. This work will serve as a foundation for subsequent gamma-irradiation studies in acidlime to generate desirable mutants.

Seasonal variations in the diet of the Indian oilsardine, Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes off Cochin, Kerala

Seasonal fluctuations in the food of the oilsardine Sardinella longiceps landed by ring seines from the inshore waters off Cochin were studied during 2010. S. longiceps is chiefly a plankton feeder with diatoms, dinoflagellates and zooplankton appearing in the diet in decreasing order of abundance. During pre-monsoon (February-May), Pleurosigma was present in 70% of the stomachs analysed followed by Thalassiosira, Biddulphia and Coscinodiscus. During monsoon season (June-September), 87.5% of the stomachs contained Coscinodiscus followed by Thalassiosira and Pyrophacus. During post-monsoon (October- January) again, the frequency of occurrence of Pleurosigma (74.2%) was higher followed by Biddulphia and Thalassiosira. Zooplankton, represented by tintinnids and copepods, were present in the diet throughout the year, but in relatively less number of stomachs. Higher feeding activity was observed during monsoon (June-September), which coincided with maximum spawning activity

Creativity Training

Global competition and the ever more rapid emergence of new products and services means the ability to innovate and solve problems has become critical for organisational survival and prosperity (Anderson, Potočnik and Zhou, 2014). Many strategies have been adopted by organisations to enhance their innovativeness and one of the most popular is in terms of conducting creativity training for employees. Within this chapter, I discuss how widespread the use of creativity training is, the main types of interventions used in organisations, review the literature for evidence of their effectiveness and then offer some personal reflections on developing and implementing a new creativity training model (CLEAR IDEAS) for organisations. The chapter will finish off with some practical guidelines on what make for more effective creativity training interventions