MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES OF SMALL MANUFACTURERS OF INDIA: PUNJAB EXPERIENCE

The aim of the paper is to study the product planning and positioning, factors influencing their price decision, selection of distribution and media channels by the Small-Scale manufactures in the leading industrial state of Punjab. In the era of globalization Small manufacturers are facing lot of problems in areas of marketing mix such as product planning and positioning, pricing and distribution issues. The entrepreneur’s perception relating to these various issues have been highlighted in this paper. Total 173 units manufacturing textiles, bicycle and bicycle parts, food products and beverages and leather and leather products have been surveyed. A number of statements indicating the marketing mix issues have been developed and the respondents were asked to express their level of agreement/disagreement with these statements on five-point Likert scale. Kruskal-Wallis test has been applied to know the significant differences among the respondents relating to different industries, age and turnover groups with respect to these statements. The test has been applied at assumed p-value =0.05. The statements with less than 0.05 p-value are considered significant and those with p-value more than the assumed value are considered to be insignificant. The major finding reveals that small manufacturers are not using well versed with the marketing mix techniques and do not use latest marketing tool such as e-marketing or web marketing. The promotion of the products by advertising is not prevalent among these units.Small manufacturers, product planning, pricing, distribution channels, promotional strategies

Pm-EEMRP: Postural Movement Based Energy Efficient Multi-hop Routing Protocol for Intra Wireless Body Sensor Network (Intra-WBSN)

Intra-WBSN plays an important role in health monitoring, military and consumer electronics. It iscomposed of wireless bio-sensor nodes which are strategically placed on the body. Due to body posture movement, network topology of Intra-WBSN changes continuously. It plays a significant role in Intra-WBSN. In proposed Pm-EEMRP, network stability, energy efficiency and high throughput are the prime parametersfor body posture movement in which sensing informations from bio-sensor nodes are forwarded to relay nodes. Relay nodesare deployed in cloths, which aggregate these data and forward it to body network controller (BNC). It provides reliable and comfortable health monitoring. Through simulation, the proposed routing protocol provides better network stability, improved energy efficiency and high throughput in comparison to conventional routing schemes

GASTRIC ANTIULCER AND ULCER HEALING EFFECTS OF PUNICA GRANATUM L. PEEL EXTRACT IN RATS: ROLE OF OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE MUCOSAL FACTORS AND OXIDATIVE STRESS

Objective: The present work incorporates the study of gastric antiulcer and ulcer healing effects of dried Punica granatum (PG) peel 50% ethanol extract (PGE) in rats.Methods: PGE (100 mg/kg) was administered orally once daily to rats either before or after induction of gastric ulcers (GU) for 7 d. Antiulcer effects of PGE were seen against acute GU, induced by pylorus ligation (PL), cold restraint stress (CRS), aspirin and ethanol while, ulcer healing in acetic acid (AA)-induced chronic GU in rats. Ulcer index (UI), gastric juice volume, acid-pepsin and mucin secretions and gastric mucosal glycoproteins, free radicals (LPO and NO) and antioxidants (SOD and GSH) were estimated.Results: PGE showed a decrease in UI in all GU models (45.6 to 79.7%, P<0.05 to P<0.001) indicating both protective and healing effects. PGE showed little or no effects on volume, acid-pepsin concentration and output but increased mucin secretion (55.1%, P<0.05) and mucosal glycoproteins (35.7%, P<0.05) in PL rats. CRS rats showed an increase in LPO and NO (48.4 to 58.3%, P<0.01) and SOD (21.8%, P<0.01) but decrease in GSH and CAT (33.1 to 44.8%, P<0.01 to P<0.001) compared with unstressed rats. PGE-treated CRS rats showed a decrease in LPO and NO (44.1 to 61.2, P<0.01 to P<0.001) and SOD (13.2%, P<0.01) and increase in GSH and CAT (43.8 to 48.7%, P<0.01 to P<0.001) compared with CRS rats.Conclusion: PGE seemed to have ulcer cytoprotective effects due to enhanced mucosal resistance and reduction in oxidative mucosal damage possibly via high antioxidant activity

MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES OF SMALL MANUFACTURERS OF INDIA: PUNJAB EXPERIENCE

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Development of transgenic cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) resistant gerbera plants expressing CMV coat protein gene

121-130Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii L.) has its immense importance to the floriculture industry worldwide. The gerbera flower production has been hampered by various viruses, among them cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) has shown considerable damage.As natural resistance to CMV is absent in gerbera, here, we have made an attempt to develop transgenic gerbera plants expressing coat protein (CP) gene of CMV via Agrobacterium mediated transformation of base petiole explants for genetic resistance to CMV infection. Among the 44 putative transgenic gerbera plant acclimatized, 39 were found positive for integration of CP gene by polymerase chain reaction and southern hybridization assay using their specific primer and probe respectively. Northern hybridization assay using CP gene specific probe confirmed the transcription of transgene in all 39 transgenic plants. These plants showed translation of CP during DAS-ELISA when tested with antiserum specific to CP of CMV. These 39 plants when challenged by mechanical inoculations with CMV gerbera isolate showed virus resistance in 53% (21 out of 39) plants, virus tolerance (delayed mild symptom) in 33% (13/39) plants, while rest 12.8% (5/39) plants showed severe disease symptoms. The CP mediated resistance of CMV in transgenic gerbera is being reported for the first time from India

On-farm Diversity Assessment and Evaluation of Finger Millet Genotypes in the Mid Hills of Nepal

The objective of the study is to assess the phenotypic diversity among the finger millet genotypes and evaluate overall performance for the recommendation of genotypes to the farming community of mid hills of Nepal. The overall performance of 8 candidate genotypes selected  from diversity block of 46 varieties in 2015, were assessed in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates under on-farm conditions in Lamjung district during 2016. Highly significant (p?0.01) variability among the selected 8 genotypes for agro-morphological traits viz., plant height, number of fingers per head, grain yield, 1000 grain weight, straw yield, days to heading and maturity was revealed. Strong inter-correlation among grain yield, plant height, time to flowering and straw yield was detected. The traits viz., plant height, grain yield, straw yield, days to heading and days to maturity were the most important traits contributing to the overall variability and thus, provide options for selection

Hypovitaminosis D among Blood Samples of Patients Presenting to the Department of Biochemistry of a Tertiary Care Center

Introduction: Hypovitaminosis D is a global public health problem affecting approximately one billion people, with a particularly high prevalence in South Asia. Several hospital-based studies from Nepal show a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D. However, large-scale community-based studies are lacking. The aim of the study was to find out the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D among blood samples of patients presenting to the Department of Biochemistry of a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among blood samples of patients presenting to the Department of Biochemistry of a tertiary care centre from 3 November 2022 to 30 April 2023 after obtaining ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 136/22). Patients of all age groups and genders who were sent for the evaluation of Vitamin D at the laboratory were included. A convenience sampling technique was used. The point estimate was calculated at a 95% Confidence Interval. Results: Out of 376 patients, hypovitaminosis was seen in 274 (72.87%) (68.38-77.36, 95% Confidence Interval). Vitamin D insufficiency was present in 252 (91.97%) and vitamin D deficiency was present in 22 (8.03%) participants. Conclusions: The prevalence of hypovitaminosis D was found to be higher than other studies done in similar settings.

Participatory on-farm evaluation of wheat genotypes

In wheat development programs, the evaluation and identification of superior genotypes  is the first and leading step in a crop improvement program. Coordinated Farmer’s Field Trial (CFFT) was conducted during the three successive wheat growing season of 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13. In CFFT six different wheat genotypes were planted in different outreach sites of research stations of Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) at varying geographical regions. CFFT was conducted according to standard recommended practices of wheat at farmers’ field with different sets of genotypes for Terai and hill. In CFFT for Terai Tar and Lower valley (TTL) under timely sown irrigated (TSI) condition wheat genotype NL 1073 produced the grain yield of 3695 kg/ha and under the timely sown rainfed (TSR) that was 2738 kg/ha in 2010/11. In 2011/12, wheat genotype NL 1073 had the highest recorded grain yield of 3691 kg/ha in mid western region which was followed by check variety Vijay in CFFT-TTL in 2011/12 in the same region. Similarly in 2012/13, check variety Vijay showed the highest grain yield of 3818 kg/ha and 3044 kg/ha followed by NL 1094 (2938 kg/ha and 3468 kg/ha) in TSR and TSI environments, respectively. In CFFT for Mid and High Hill (MHH) WK 1204 had the highest grain yield of 3967 kg/ha in TSI which was followed by NL 1008 with the yield of 3890 in 2010/11. In 2011/12 the highest mean grain yield was observed in WK 1204 (4242 kg/ha) followed by BL 3872 (3922 kg/ha). Similarly, in 2012/13 NL 1008 was the best genotypes on the basis of grain yield (3297 kg/ha) followed by NL 1055 (3131 kg/ha) under CFFT-MHH