Zeolite H-ZSM-5: an Efficient and Reusable Catalyst for One-Pot Synthesis of Amidoalkyl Naphthols under Solvent-Free Conditions

Zeolites have been used as an excellent and highly efficient catalyst for one-pot synthesis of amidoalkyl naphthols. This route involves multicomponent reaction of 2-napthol, various aromatic aldhydes and amide in presence of catalyst Zeolite H-ZSM-5 under solvent free condition. The synthesized Zeolite was characterized by XRD, FTIR and SEM. The products were characterized by FTIR and 1H-NMR. The method involves shorter reaction time, simple procedure, easy workup and the products are obtained in excellent yield

READING HABITS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS OF JAMMU & KASHMIR: A CASE STUDY OF DISTRICT ANANTNAG

Abstract: Reading is an innate capacity of a person to relish the moral, cultural, social and political aspects of the life. It is the process where from one develops from being a child to a perfect man. The study sought to assess the reading habits of college students in district Anantnag. A questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection. The data collected was analyzed quantitatively and results are presented in tables and figures. From total copies of questionnaire distributed among the students of Science and Commerce departments, 303 were filled and were returned. The findings showed that majority of the respondents take reading seriously with 56.7% of the respondents reading for personality development. The paper also revealed that homes are the preferred destinations for study among students instead of libraries, advising us to create an attractive atmosphere and collection in libraries. The study revealed that newspapers and web pages are high in demand among college students. The study also revealed that parents are the main promoters of reading habits among college students

Impact of Inter-Wall Distance on Physical Properties of Metal-Semiconducting Double Walled Carbon Nanotube Quantum Dot

Here we report the effect of inter-wall distance of CNT on transmission probabilities of electrons and holes as well as their binding energies. The binding energies were calculated using the variational method within the effective mass approximation and confinement potential. The barrier transmission probabilities of electrons and holes were also calculated using varying potential barrier height and quantum mechanical tunnelling. The binding energy is found to be decreasing with inter-wall distance. We find the presence of outer wall causes a decrease in the transmission probability. For a given core radius, the transmission probability of hole increases linearly with increasing hole energy. CNT QDs of inter-wall distance 3 nm resembles to type II core-shell quantum dot (CSQD). The observed results were compared with the previous investigations. The inter-wall distance causes a decrease in the transmission probability

Prevalence and clinical correlates of psychiatric morbidity among caregivers of patients attending a psychiatric hospital in North India

Background: Consequent to the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in present day world, their caregivers form an important group in the public health. Research on the physical and psychological well-being of caregivers is being carried worldwide with varied results. Psychological health of these caregivers is usually ignored both by these persons themselves and the health-care providers. The objective of the study was to screen for psychiatric morbidity among caregivers of patients attending a psychiatric hospital in North India, and to study the clinical correlates of the same.Methods: A total of 205 patients and their caregivers were consecutively recruited over a one month period. Sociodemographic and clinical information of patients was obtained either from the hospital records or from the caregiver. Scoring of the patient’s global assessment of functioning (GAF) was done by clinicians. The caregivers were administered a sociodemographic questionnaire, general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Zarit Burden interview. The presence of psychiatric morbidity was confirmed by a consultant psychiatrist.Results: Among the caregivers, 32.2% had GHQ scores of 3 and above. Majority of caregivers in this study were females (59.0%) while as majority of the patients were males (61.9%). Factors associated with psychiatric morbidity among caregivers include the high level of subjective burden of care, low level of functioning, and comorbid medical and psychiatric conditions.Conclusions: The study reveals a high level of psychiatric morbidity among the caregivers of patients with mental health problems

Removal of Arsenic - “A Silent Killer” in the Environment by Adsorption Methods

Water is one of the most essential requirements for living being to survive because 70–80% of the mass of most living bodies consists of water and various mineral and organic salts. Water is also most important component of our environment. Large amount of water is used in various industries or commercial level or domestic level and finally effluent water is loaded with large amount of pollutants such as organic chemicals (surfactants, dyes, phenols etc.), inorganic hazardous heavy metals (As in present case) microbes (bacteria, fungi etc.) pollutants particulate etc. Arsenic is a natural metalloid chemical that may be present in groundwater and surface water gets polluted, hence, aquatic life of plants and animals is disturbed and cause abnormal growth and various diseases, hence, short term or long term changes occurs in ecosystem. Hence, treatment of wastewater is essentially required before discharge effluent wastewater into ponds or lagoons, drains and rivers. Arsenic is one such element that contaminates the environment as reported in several countries. The largest population at risk is in Bangladesh followed by India (West Bengal). Arsenic is familiar as silent killer because dissolved in water, it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, yet consumption of relatively small doses of this element in its most toxic forms can cause rapid and violent death. It is a human carcinogen in water over a wide range of pH values, having harmful effects on both human health and environment, even at low concentration. Because of this effect, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) set the arsenic standard for drinking water at .010 ppm to protect consumers served by public water systems. Ingestion only poses health problems if a dangerous amount of arsenic enters the body. Then, it can lead to cancer, liver disease, coma, and death. There is no effective treatment for arsenic toxicity. Only the removal of arsenic from aqueous system can prevent the toxicity. A great deal of research over recent decades has been done to lower the concentration of arsenic in drinking water and still there is a need to develop ecofriendly techniques. Existing major arsenic removal technologies include oxidation, adsorption, precipitation, coagulation and membrane separation. This book chapter presents a systematic description of current status of research in the area of arsenic removal from contaminated water and comparison of all technologies available with more emphasis on adsorption

LIPID AND PROTEIN CONTENT IN RAINBOW TROUT IN RELATION TO GONADAL GROWTH

Svrha ovog istraživanja bila je istražiti različite tipove lipida kao i sadržaj proteina u jajnicima kalifornijske pastrve. Ukupno 80 uzoraka Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum 1792) prikupljeno je iz mrijestilišta Kokernag i Verinag (Jammu i Kashmir, Indija) između 2017. i 2019. godine. Zreli stadij gonada kod ženki imao je najviši gonadosomatski indeks (GSI) i minimalni GSI u potrošenom stadiju. Veći sadržaj lipida u jajniku zabilježen je tijekom zrele faze (36%) u usporedbi s drugim fazama prije parenja. Slično, klase lipida također su pokazale fluktuacije tijekom razvoja jajnika. Klase lipida, tj. glikolipidi, slobodne masne kiseline, kolesterol i trigliceridi, imale su veći sadržaj u zrelom stadiju, dok je sadržaj fosfolipida bio veći u zrelom stadiju. Sadržaj proteina također je bio veći u zrelom jajniku, nego u drugim razvojnim fazama. Studija daje referentne vrijednosti za različite biokemijske parametre kalifornijske pastrve koji bi mogli biti korisni za programe praćenja populacije i za razvoj prehrane i metoda upravljanja u kontroliranim uvjetima.The purpose of this study was to examine various lipid classes as well as the protein content in rainbow trout ovaries. A total of 80 samples of Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum 1792) were collected from Kokernag and Verinag hatcheries (Jammu and Kashmir, India) between 2017 and 2019. The mature stage in female fish had the highest gonadosomatic index (GSI) and minimal GSI in the spent stage. Higher lipid content of the ovary was reported during the mature stage (36%), as compared to other pre-breeding stages. Similarly, lipid classes also showed fluctuation during the development of the ovary. The lipid classes, i.e. glycolipids, free fatty acids, cholesterol and triglycerides, had a higher content in the mature stage, while the phospholipid content was higher in the mature stage. The protein content was also higher in the mature ovary than in the other developmental stages. The study provides reference values for various biochemical parameters in rainbow trout that could be useful for population monitoring programs and for the development of diets and management methods for fish production under controlled conditions

READING HABITS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS OF JAMMU & KASHMIR: A CASE STUDY OF DISTRICT ANANTNAG

Abstract: Reading is an innate capacity of a person to relish the moral, cultural, social and political aspects of the life. It is the process where from one develops from being a child to a perfect man. The study sought to assess the reading habits of college students in district Anantnag. A questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection. The data collected was analyzed quantitatively and results are presented in tables and figures. From total copies of questionnaire distributed among the students of Science and Commerce departments, 303 were filled and were returned. The findings showed that majority of the respondents take reading seriously with 56.7% of the respondents reading for personality development. The paper also revealed that homes are the preferred destinations for study among students instead of libraries, advising us to create an attractive atmosphere and collection in libraries. The study revealed that newspapers and web pages are high in demand among college students. The study also revealed that parents are the main promoters of reading habits among college students

INCIDENCE AND PREDICTORS OF SURGICAL SITE INFECTION IN MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERIES AT A TERTIARY CARE CENTER IN DELHI

Objective: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the third commonly stated nosocomial infections, with the prevalence rate of 14–16%. In India, the prevalence of SSIs in elective surgeries ranged from 3.83% to 39% and in cases of emergency surgeries, the prevalence ranged from 12.41% to 26.4%. This study was aimed to measure the occurrence of SSIs amid subjects experiencing major abdominal surgeries at tertiary care center in Delhi and to assess the predictors related to occurrence of SSIs in these subjects. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected over a period of 1 year at the Department of Surgery, Super Specialty Hospital in New Delhi. The, from January 2017 to January 2018. All major gastrointestinal surgeries were considered. Sociodemographic details, clinical history, and surgical details were taken. Results: Out of total 626 patients, 42 (6.7%) developed SSIs. The positive predictors of SSIs in our study were male gender, American Society of Anesthesiology grade of 2 and above, wound class of two and above, longer duration of surgery, emergency surgery, open surgery, laparoscopic converted to open surgery, presence of comorbidities, presence of hypoalbuminemia, and hypoproteinemia. Conclusion: SSIs seems to be a common source of perioperative morbidity and mortality, leading to increased hospital stay and cost of treatment. Proper planning and accordingly managing such case by case scenarios can lead to decreased incidence of SSIs and help reducing burden to the health system

Study of nanosized copper-doped ZnO dilute magnetic semiconductor thick films for spintronic device applications

Screen-printed pure and copper-doped ZnO dilute magnetic semiconductor thick films were casted from chemically co-precipitated zinc oxide and copper-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles followed by sintering at 550 degrees C to obtain desired stoichiometry in spintronic device applications. These thick films were characterized by different analytical techniques to reveal their structure, surface morphology, optical, magnetic and electrical characteristics. The diffraction peaks pertaining to wurtzite structure are observed in XRD patterns of these films, while SEM images show smooth and dense morphology. Infrared transmission and Raman spectra exhibit vibrational bands pertaining to Zn-O-stretching modes and E-2 (high) phonon mode, respectively, in 4000-100 cm(-1) region. The direct bandgap energy of these films derived from diffused reflectance spectroscopy varies in 3.21-3.13 eV range and is supported by PL spectroscopy study. The semiconducting behaviour and activation energy of these thick films has been confirmed by DC conductivity measurements. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra showed derivative signal of g value 2.0018 in pure ZnO due to oxygen vacancies produced during synthesis and 2.0704 in copper-doped ZnO dilute magnetic semiconductor films