Evaluation of Traditional Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Varieties of Southern Kerala

Investigations were carried out at the Department of Pomology and Floriculture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, to characterize traditional mango varieties of southern Kerala, based on utility of fruits. Wide publicity was made about the proposed study and an extensive survey was conducted. Fifty traditional mango types could be located from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts. On evaluation three utility groups were identified, viz., pickling, table and dual purpose types, based on the survey. Variability could be observed for floral, fruit and quality attributes. Flowering round the year was observed in Vellari Type-1, Thali, Kizhakkan Thali and Ambalathara Local. Karpoora Varikka with carotenoid content higher than most leading, superior varieties was identified. Varieties with high content of total sugars were Nedungolan, Vellari Type-2, Perakka manga, Inamanga, Neenda Karpooram, Velutha Muvandan, Karpoora Varikka and Ambalathara Local. Pickling type mangoes gave highest average ascorbic acid content (46.02mg/ 100g). Average titrable acidity (%) and crude fibre content were also the highest in pickling types (1.22% and 1.18%, respectively). In organoleptic evaluation, Perakka manga, Nedungolan, Karpooram manga, Vellari Type-2, Neenda Karpooram, Muthalamookan, Inamanga, Ambalathara Local, Kotookonam Varikka and Velutha Muvandan ranked on top in overall acceptability. These traditional varieties with desirable traits can be used for developing molecular markers to identify particular genes of interest and transfer them to desirable cultivars through genetic engineering

Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction of ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru- A Conceptual Study

Customer satisfaction measures the extent of happiness and contentment of the customers after the use of the product or service. The origin of marketing starts from identifying customer needs and wants and goes beyond fulfilling these needs to achieve customer satisfaction. The main objective of this study is to determine and measure the satisfaction of the ITC Gardenia consumers using SERVQUAL scale’s dimensions. The key areas of the study is to identify what are the key factors influencing the level of satisfaction derived by the ITC customers and frame a conceptual model. The future scope of this study pertains to adding more dimensions of customer satisfaction in order to cover a complete measure of it in the hotel industry. Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, service quality, SERVQUAL, ITC Gardeni

Depression, anxiety and stress among COVID positive pregnant women

Background: Impact of the news that patient is covid positive may increase the risk of depression and anxiety among the vulnerable population such as pregnant women. Aims of the study were to estimate the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among covid positive pregnant women. To evaluate the demographic and obstetric factors contributing to the psychological manifestations in covid positive pregnant women.Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted at a tertiary hospital of North Kerala from July to August 2020. The demographic and factors were recorded and DASS 21 self-reported questionnaire was used to assess depression, anxiety and stress.Results: We found that using the DASS 21 scoring system, 37.5% out of the 120 study subjects were having psychological symptoms either of depression, anxiety or stress. Depression was seen in 32 (26.7%), anxiety in 29 (24.2%) and stress in 14 (11.7%) of the study participants. The psychological symptoms of depression and anxiety were more pronounced in those with low education, unemployed and in the first and third trimester of pregnancy.Conclusions: The current study shows that COVID-19 positive pregnant women have a high prevalence of depression and anxiety. Our findings can be used to formulate psychological interventions to improve mental health and psychological resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Learning Disabilities and Delinquent Behaviors among Adolescents: A Comparison of Those with and without Comorbidity

Research is inconclusive on whether adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) engage in more delinquency than adolescents without such deficits. Mixed results may result from a failure to account for the effects of co-occurring disabilities. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examines delinquency among adolescents without disabilities to youth with LD, Attention Disorder Symptoms (ADS), and comorbid LD/ADS. Results indicate no significant differences in property offenses, or alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use; however, youth with LD reported significantly more violence than non-disabled youth. Findings illustrate the heterogeneous effects various disabilities have on delinquent behavior. Future research and policy implications will be discussed

Quinolinium Dichromate Oxidation of Aliphatic Aldehydes: A Kinetic Study

Kinetic data on the rates of quinolinium dichromate oxidation of a series of aliphatic aldehydes have been determined and discussed with reference to aldehyde hydration equilibria. Kinetic results support a pathway proceeding via a rate-determining oxidative decomposition of a chromate ester of an aldehyde hydrate. A cyclic transition state is suggested; being a Hückel-type system (4n + 2), this would be an allowed process. The deuterium isotope effect for the oxidation of acetaldehyde (kH / kD = 6.4) indicated a carbon-hydrogen cleavage rather than a carbon-carbon cleavage

Archimedes' law and its corrections for an active particle in a granular sea

We study the origin of buoyancy forces acting on a larger particle moving in a granular medium subject to horizontal shaking and its corrections before fluidization. In the fluid limit Archimedes' law is verified; before the limit memory effects counteract buoyancy, as also found experimentally. The origin of the friction is an excluded volume effect between active particles, which we study more exactly for a random walker in a random environment. The same excluded volume effect is also responsible for the mutual attraction between bodies moving in the granular medium. Our theoretical modeling proceeds via an asymmetric exclusion process, i.e., via a dissipative lattice gas dynamics simulating the position degrees of freedom of a low density granular sea.Comment: 22 pages,5 figure

Findings and Implications from a Project on White Supremacist Entry and Exit Pathways

This Research Note provides an overview of the main findings from a project on white supremacist pathways - or why some individuals join and leave white supremacist groups - with a specific focus on elucidating common themes, theoretical applications, main takeaways, and providing recommendations for academics and policymakers. One key lesson is that identity is central to entry and exit pathways

In vitro Cortical Network Firing is Homeostatically Regulated: A Model for Sleep Regulation.

Prolonged wakefulness leads to a homeostatic response manifested in increased amplitude and number of electroencephalogram (EEG) slow waves during recovery sleep. Cortical networks show a slow oscillation when the excitatory inputs are reduced (during slow wave sleep, anesthesia), or absent (in vitro preparations). It was recently shown that a homeostatic response to electrical stimulation can be induced in cortical cultures. Here we used cortical cultures grown on microelectrode arrays and stimulated them with a cocktail of waking neuromodulators. We found that recovery from stimulation resulted in a dose-dependent homeostatic response. Specifically, the inter-burst intervals decreased, the burst duration increased, the network showed higher cross-correlation and strong phasic synchronized burst activity. Spectral power below <1.75 Hz significantly increased and the increase was related to steeper slopes of bursts. Computer simulation suggested that a small number of clustered neurons could potently drive the behavior of the network both at baseline and during recovery. Thus, this in vitro model appears valuable for dissecting network mechanisms of sleep homeostasis

Sleep and Delinquency: Does the Amount of Sleep Matter?

Sleep, a key indicator of health, has been linked to a variety of indicators of well-being such that people who get an adequate amount generally experience greater well-being. Further, a lack of sleep has been linked to a wide range of negative developmental outcomes, yet sleep has been largely overlooked among researchers interested in adolescent delinquency. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between hours of sleep and delinquent behavior among adolescents by using data from Wave 1 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 14,382; 50.2% female, 63.5% white). A series of negative binomial regressions showed that youth who typically sleep seven or fewer hours per night reported significantly more property delinquency than youth who sleep the recommended 8–10 h. Further, youth who reported sleeping 5 or fewer hours per night reported significantly more violent delinquency than youth who reported sleeping the recommended number of hours per night. The findings suggest that sleep is an important, and overlooked, dimension of delinquent behavior and studies that focus on adolescent health should further investigate the effects of insufficient sleep. Finally, the authors recommend that sleep and other relevant health behaviors be considered in the context of more comprehensive approaches to delinquency prevention and intervention