A study on Social Maturity, School Adjustment and Academic achievement among residential school girls

The present study is aimed at studying the relationship between Social Maturity, School Adjustment and levels of Academic achievement among residential school girl students. The study was conducted on a sample of 347 girls from class ix –xii at an all girls residential school of North India. Dr. Nalini Rao’s Social Maturity Scale (RSMS) was used to measure social maturity, Sinha & Singh’s Adjustment Inventory for School Students (AISS) was used to measure school adjustment and   aggregate score of the students in the year end final examination was taken to assess level of their academic achievement. The results indicated a significant relationship between social maturity and school adjustment. Also, significant difference existed between the school adjustments of the three groups i.e. low, high and average levels of academic achievement. Key words: Residential school, Social maturity, School Adjustment, Academic achievement

Promoting Anti-Racism and Critical Consciousness through a Critical Counseling Theories Course

Racism is alive and well in the United States. To promote critical consciousness and anti-racism in counselors-in-training, the counseling theories course, typically a student’s introduction to the profession, requires revision. Thus, we propose a critical counseling theories course. In this course we argue critical theories (multicultural theory, social constructivism, feminist theory, and critical race theory) and neurocounseling theory should be centered; introducing theories that are relevant to our current sociopolitical reality and that promote the values of anti-racism in the counseling profession. In this article we describe the critical counseling theories course structure, instructional approach, and assignments. Data from student evaluations, instructor reflections, and student focus groups add to the justification that a critical counseling theories course could successfully instill critical consciousness in counselors-in-training and in turn promote anti-racism in counseling theory and practice

Identification of suitable soils for cultivation of pomegranate (Punica granatum) cv Ganesh

An experiment was conducted during 2008-13 to study the performance of pomegranate (Punica granatum L) cv. Ganesh with respect to changes in soil properties, plant growth, fruit yield and disease incidence on the plants grown under different soil types. After five years of experimentation, soil pH and organic carbon was increased while calcium carbonate content decrease in most of the soils. Plants grown on heavy textured soil have better macro-nutrient uptake, leaf chlorophyll content and vigorous plant growth compared to light textured soil. Fruit yield was highest in the plants grown on clayey soils having 30 cm depth. Plant growth and fruit yield were drastically reduced with the increase in depth of clayey soil (90 and 120 cm). Better quality fruits were produced on the plants grown in gravelly, sandy loam texture soil having depth of 60 cm and even in the plants grown on weathered rock only. Incidence and severity of bacterial blight and wilt disease was higher in the plants grown on clay textured soils compared to light textured soils

Clinical profile of patients with pancytopenia in a tertiary care centre

Background: Pancytopenia is a condition in which all three cell lines i.e. erythroid, myeloid and megakaryocytic are affected resulting in anaemia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. It can be a manifestation of a wide variety of disorders which primarily or secondarily affect the bone marrow. Early diagnosis of these conditions will help in implementing the appropriate treatment. The objective of the study was to know the clinical presentation and etiology of patients presenting with pancytopenia.Methods: A one year study from April 2016 to March 2017 was conducted in the department of medicine at a tertiary care centre. Total 32 patients with pancytopenia were studied to determine their clinical features and etiology through relevant investigations.Results: Our study revealed megaloblastic anaemia (46.87%) as the most common cause of pancytopenia, followed by malaria (12.5%). Other causes included hypothyroidism (6.2%), hypersplenism (6.2%), drugs (12.5%) and miscellaneous (9.43%).Conclusions: Megaloblastic anaemia was found to be the major cause of pancytopenia in patients. Other causes of pancytopenia were malaria, drugs, hypersplenism and hypothyroidism. These should be kept in mind while evaluating patients with pancytopenia

Corn Starch Incorporated Gomatofu: Textural and Sensory Quality

Gomatofu is a traditional Japanese food and is one of the mixed gels consisting of kudzu (arrowroot) starch and sesame. In this study, an attempt has been made to replace the kudzu starch with corn starch. Central composite rotatable design (CCRD) of response surface methodology was used to optimize the level of independent variables viz., sesame oil (1.5-3.5g/100 ml sesame milk), corn starch (90–110g/100g defatted sesame flour) and water content (330-350 ml/100g defatted sesame flour). Five responses, i.e. hardness, springiness, gumminess, chewiness and overall acceptability were evaluated. Hardness of gomatofu ranged between 0.85 to 3.62 N, springiness, 0.45 -1.82 mm, gumminess 0.26 -2.48 N and chewiness from 0.16 to 4.52 Nmm. Overall acceptability of gomatofu samples ranged between 5.3- 8.5. The effect of all the independent factors was significant on all the responses. Both oil and water content inversely correlated with all the responses while, the effect of corn starch was positive. The interaction effect of oil and corn starch was positive on hardness and overall acceptability, while negative on springiness, gumminess and chewiness. The optimized formulation contained sesame oil 2.2 ml/100 ml sesame milk, corn starch 99.9 g/100g defatted sesame flour and water 1001.3 ml/ 100g defatted sesame flour. Corn starch incorporated optimized gomatofu had protein 7.5, fat 10.9, ash 1.1 and carbohydrate 80.53 % (db)

Standardization of organic manure application in pomegranate (Punica granatum) orchards grown in semi-arid regions

An experiment was conducted at ICAR - National Research Centre on Pomegranate during 2011-12 and 2012-13 on pomegranate (Punica granatum L) cv. Bhagwa plants. The experiment comprises of application of raw and well decomposed farmyard manure in the form of slurry (liquid form, manures mixed with water in 1:10 ratio and kept for 10 to 15 days with intermittent stirring) as a sole or in combination with micronutrients and/or various microbial inoculants. It was compared with normally practiced method of organic manure application in the soil. The results revealed that application of farmyard manure in slurry form decreased electrical conductivity (0.94 to 0.72 dS/m) and increased organic carbon content (0.55 to 1.45 %) in the soil. Combined application of FYM in the form of slurry along with micronutrients and microbial inoculants significantly increased available N (339.7 kg/ha) and P (34.8 kg/ha) and micronutrients content in the soil. Substantially increased plant height (20.8%), plant spread (22.8 %) and produced maximum number of fruits (39.0/ plant). Population of soil microbes, viz. Aspergillus niger, Pseudomonas fluorescence and potash solubilising organisms were significantly highest with the combined application of FYM in slurry form and microbial inoculants. While, Azotobacter population was more in raw FYM slurry along with microbial inoculants. It is recommended that on light textured soils, farmyard manures should be applied in the form of slurry. It reaches in the active root zone of the plants along with percolating water

Accuracy of noncycloplegic photorefraction using Spot photoscreener in detecting amblyopia risk factors in preschool children in an Indian eye clinic.

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of Spot photoscreener (PS) as a noncycloplegic photorefractor in detecting amblyopia risk factors (ARFs) in preschool children in an Indian eye clinic setting. Also, to derive appropriate cutoff values for screening to obtain maximum sensitivity and specificity of the device in detecting ARF. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the outpatient pediatric eye clinic at a tertiary eye care institute. A Spot PS was used to screen all the children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years that presented to the eye clinic from August 2018 to October 2018. This screening was followed by a complete eye examination, including cycloplegic refraction by a masked examiner. The 2013 American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) guidelines were considered the standard cutoff values for clinically significant refractive error in children younger than 5 years of age. Results: The study comprised of 219 children. The Spot PS diagnosed 135 (61.64%) children with ARF as compared with 124 (56.62%) children detected by clinic examination. For ARF detection, the Spot photoscreeneer had 85.48% sensitivity, 69.47% specificity, 78.52% positive predictive value and 78.57% negative predictive value. The sensitivity for detection of strabismus and hypermetropia was very low (42% and 36%, respectively). The 95% limits of agreement ranged from -5.48 to +5.59 diopters (D) with a bias of 0.06 D for spherical equivalent between noncycloplegic photorefraction and cycloplegic refraction. Conclusion: The Spot PS may be used as a screening tool to detect ARF in children younger than 5 years of age keeping its limitations in consideration. However, the performance can be improved by modifying the cutoff values for the referral

Meningioma 1 is indispensable for mixed lineage leukemia-rearranged acute myeloid leukemia

Mixed lineage leukemia (MLL/KMT2A) rearrangements (MLL-r) are one of the most frequent chromosomal aberrations in acute myeloid leukemia. We evaluated the function of Meningioma 1 (MN1), a co-factor of HOXA9 and MEIS1, in human and murine MLL-rearranged leukemia by CRISPR-Cas9 mediated deletion of MN1. MN1 was required for in vivo leukemogenicity of MLL positive murine and human leukemia cells. Loss of MN1 inhibited cell cycle and proliferation, promoted apoptosis and induced differentiation of MLL-rearranged cells. Expression analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing from previously reported data sets demonstrated that MN1 primarily maintains active transcription of HOXA9 and HOXA10, which are critical downstream genes of MLL, and their target genes like BCL2, MCL1 and Survivin. Treatment of MLL-rearranged primary leukemia cells with anti-MN1 siRNA significantly reduced their clonogenic potential in contrast to normal CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells, suggesting a therapeutic window for MN1 targeting. In summary, our findings demonstrate that MN1 plays an essential role in MLL fusion leukemias and serve as a therapeutic target in MLL-rearranged acute myeloid leukemia

Bio-hardening of in-vitro raised plants of Bhagwa pomegranate (Punica granatum)

A pot culture experiment on bio-hardening of the in-vitro raised plants of Bhagwa pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) was conducted to find out the effect of two commercially available bio-formulations containing Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) and Aspergillus niger strain AN-27. Observations on root colonization, population dynamics of microbes in rhizospheric soil, growth, physiological and biochemical parameters of biohardened plants were recorded at 180 days after inoculation. Results revealed that AMF colonization in roots of in-vitro raised pomegranate plants was found at par in plants inoculated with AMF (71.12%) and AMF + Asp (65.00%) the root colonization in these two treatments was significantly higher than Contral (10.00%). Population of Aspergillus niger in the rhizospheric soil was found significantly higher in soil inoculated with Aspergillus niger strain AN-27 (6 × 104 cfu/g of soil) as compared to non-inoculated control (2 × 104 cfu/g of soil). Significant improvement in plant height (27.0% increase), shoot fresh weight (24.8% increase), root fresh (23.3% increase) and dry weight (15.7% increase) was observed in bio-hardened plants than untreated ones. Physiological processes were also significantly improved by bio-hardening as AMF and AMF + Asp treated plants registered significantly better RWC (92.34 and 91.74 %, respectively) and photosynthesis (12.69 and 12.78 µmol CO2m-2s-1, respectively) as compared to control (87.76 % and 9.07 µmol CO2m-2s-1, respectively) and only Asp treated plants (89.99% and 9.70 µmol CO2m-2s-1, respectively). AMF inoculated and AMF + Asp treated plants registered significantly higher total leaf chlorophyll (2.97 and 3.14 mg/g fresh weight, respectively) and total phenolic content (53.00 and 52.50 mg catechol equivalent/ 100 g fresh wt., respectively) than the control and only Asp treated plants