Healthcare Quality Management: A Study on Quality Awareness among Employees of Indian Hospitals

ABSTRACT The study has made an attempt to measure the effectiveness of hospital quality management practices to meet quality performance. Keeping this as an objective, the study dealt with quality awareness which may affect the quality performance of hospitals. The study was conducted among network hospitals accredited for Tamilnadu Government Employees New Health Insurance Scheme in India. Among 514 hospitals, 490 hospitals located in Tamilnadu were taken as population size and a sample of 245 hospitals were chosen for the study using systematic sampling method. The data were collected from top and middle level executives of network hospitals. The study adopted descriptive statistics, factor analysis and one-way ANOVA for its analytical process. From the findings of the study it was observed that, larger share of the respondents profile is from clinical and non-clinical departments and mostly heads of the departments represented for the survey. The study observed that the level of quality awareness among executives were moderate in nature. The study observed that the level of quality awareness among executives were moderate in nature. Further the variable, quality awareness were reduced to two factors. These factors were used for further investigation and found that respondents profile like designation, no. of years of experience and the departments are associated with many of the Quality practices. Keywords: Quality management, healthcare management, quality awareness, Indian Hospital

Population genetic structure of Garcinia imberti Bourd. an endangered endemic tree of southern Western Ghats, India

Assessing the genetic diversity of endemic plants is of great importance in future conservation programmes. The genetic diversity in Garcinia imberti from Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve of southern Western Ghats was assessed through ISSR markers by molecular characterization with 15 primers. A total of 157 accessions from six populations were used for the study. They generated 102 amplified products, out of which 89 were polymorphic (87.25%). It produced an average of 6.8 bands per primer and 5.93% polymorphism per primer. The present study revealed that G. imberti has moderate level of genetic diversity at species level but differs at population level. The dendrogram constructed following UPGMA exhibited that all accessions were clustered together except Poonkulam population. The genetic diversity analysis of G. imberti showed that even though the populations are closely associated, every population have their own characteristic diversity and should be conserved. Among the populations, Chemunji is the largest one with more genetic diversity and may conserve as the potential source of gene pool of this species

Report on a stranded sea cow, Dugong dugon in the Gulf of Mannar coast

On 31 March 2019, an adult dead female sea cow (Dugong dugon) measuring more than three meters of total length got stranded along the Gulf of Mannar coast at Gandhi Nagar, Mandapam, Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu (09º 27' 6658'' N; 79º 15' 0459'' E). The morphometric details of the female whale that was weighing approximately 350 kg is given in Table 1. The specimen had relatively robust body with loss of almost one third of the ventral skin along with blubber from the thoracic and abdominal region of the body. There were significant cut wounds present on the dorsal as well as lateral sides of the body. The internal organs did not reveal any significant abnormalities for the cause of death. Based on the body condition and external injuries it can be concluded that the cause of death might be due to attempted hunting. Dugongs fall in schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act whose hunting is banned and poachers are liable for punishment

Feature level fusion of vibration and acoustic emission signals in tool condition monitoring using machine learning classifiers

To implement the tool condition monitoring system in a metal cutting process, it is necessary to have sensors which will be able to detect the tool conditions to initiate remedial action. There are different signals for monitoring the cutting process which may require different sensors and signal processing techniques. Each of these signals is capable of providing information about the process at different reliability level. To arrive a good, reliable and robust decision, it is necessary to integrate the features of the different signals captured by the sensors. In this paper, an attempt is made to fuse the features of acoustic emission and vibration signals captured in a precision high speed machining center for monitoring the tool conditions. Tool conditions are classified using machine learning classifiers. The classification efficiency of machine learning algorithms are studied in time-domain, frequencydomain and time-frequency domain by feature level fusion of features extracted from vibration and acoustic emission signature

Fishers livelihood improvement through seaweed farming - A success story

The Mandapam Regional Centre of ICAR-CMFRI selected Puthukudi village, Thondi in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu for implementation of Scheduled Caste Sub- Plan (SCSP) a programme fully funded by Government of India. This village has 97 per cent of SC families in the total village population and majority of them are involved in fishing. Moreover, this village is located near to the sea shore and mariculture activities like cage farming, marine ornamental fish seed rearing and seaweed farming can be easily adopted by them

Ophiorrhiza, a promising herbaceous source of the anticancer compound camptothecin

Camptothecin is an important source for the synthesis of some of the major anti-cancer agents such as irinotecan and topotecan. Traditional source of camptothecin are prominently woody plants such as Camptotheca acuminata Decne. and Nothopodytes nimmoniana (Graham) Mabb., and the increasing demand for camptothecin leads to the level of threatening their existence. Ophiorrhiza species composed of herbaceous plants with quick growth characteristics which are reported as alternative source of camptothecin. The present review focus on taxonomical status, traditional uses, biological activities and phytochemical constituents with a special attention in bioproduction of camptothecin from Ophiorrhiza species and its future prospects

Studies on structural, optical nonlinearity and antibacterial activity of Piperazine (bis) p-toluenesulfonate single crystal for optical limiting and biological applications

Piperazine (bis) p-toluenesulfonate (PPTSA), an organic single crystal was synthesized and grown at environmental temperature by slow evaporation process using methanol as the solvent. The grown PPTSA crystal is from the triclinic system and belongs to the space group P1-. Powder X-ray diffraction was performed to ensure lattice parameters. Analysis and confirmation of functional groups and bonds were carried out through FT-IR spectral study. The optical characteristics were investigated using the UV-Vis spectrum such as the optical absorption, cut-off wavelength were calculated. The photoluminescence investigation was conducted to assess the luminous characteristics of grown crystal. The calculated NLO parameters like β, n2, and χ(3) were found to be 0.0495×10-4 (cm/W), 8.705×10-10 (cm2/W), 5.316×10-7 (esu) and Optical Limiting threshold value was found to be 3.074×10-3 (Wcm-2). Antibacterial studies were carried out to investigate the biological significance against selected foodborne germs

Investigation of Bioactive Compounds of Capsicum Frutescence and Annona Muricata by Chromatographic Techniques

Botanicals and herbal preparations for medicinal usage contain various types of bioactive compounds. The focus of this paper is on the analytical methodologies, which include the extraction, characterization of active ingredients in Capsicum frutescens fruits and Annona muricata L. leaves. Capsicum frutescens used for various problems with digestion including upset for conditions of the heart and blood vessels including poor circulation, excessive blood clotting, high cholesterol, and preventing heart disease. Whereas Annona muricata L. leaves are traditionally used to treat diabetes. People have been consuming raw leaves of Annona muricata L. to control blood glucose levels. The present investigation was designed to study the phytochemical profiling and bioactive component principles of Capsicum frutescens and Annona muricata by Thin layer Chromatography. Bio autography agar overlay test was done to detect the antimicrobial activity of the extracts. The results of this study confirmed the presence of various bioactive compounds in the acetone and methanol extracts of both the plants. The chromatographic analysis revealed that Capsicum frutescens fruit extract and Annona muricata leaf extract are composed of various Alkaloids, Terpenoids, Saponins, and Phenolics which are accountable for many biological activities. Bio autography assays shows that Capsicum frutescens shows growth inhibition against bacteria, but Annona muricata does not shown any significant activity. The findings of present study implies that both extracts are potent source for some medicinally important phytochemicals with antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Keywords: Phytochemicals; Thin Layer Chromatography; Bio autography