Factors influencing organizational commitment of banking sector employees

Organizational Commitment has been conceptualised & measured in different ways. This study is an attempt to identify the factors influencing organizational commitment of banking sector employees in Chennai. It is also important as suggestions can be given to the banking sector in order to bring an awareness of the commitment level of employees. Gaining awareness of commitment level and the respective influencing factor will help concentrate on increasing the commitment of employees. Using the measures developed by Mowday; Steers and Porter, the researchers have exploited Factor analysis by Principle Component Method to identify the factors influencing the organizational commitment of employees of PSBs and NPSBs

SoC Estimation and Monitoring of Li-ion Cell using Kalman-Filter Algorithm

With the rise in an energy crisis, electric vehicles have become a necessity. An integral part of the electric/hybrid vehicle is batteries. Out of many types, Li-ion batteries are providing features like high power as well as energy density. The features make Li-ion is an excellent choice for multiple applications from electronic appliances to electric vehicles. Li-ion batteries have their limitations while using in electric vehicles, and battery parameter monitoring like temperature, voltage, current, State of Charge (SoC), etc. is very much essential. The monitoring is dependent on actual physical measurements, which are subject to error contributing factors such as measurement noise, errors etc. With the estimation of SOC and State of Health (SoH) of the battery model, the lifetime of the battery will be calculated out, and along these lines sparing significant cost. In this paper, a study on SoH estimation and Li-ion battery SoC is estimated using a Kalman Filter (KF) algorithm estimation and results are presented to validate the Li-ion operating performanc

Influence of maternal and child factors on the dental service utilization among preschool children in Bangalore urban district: a cross-sectional study

Background: Dental visit is considered primary marker of oral care. Maternal characteristics, attitudes and psychosocial factors and the child’s oral health may influence dental visits of preschool children. This study aimed to determine the influence of maternal and child factors on dental services utilization among preschool children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 600 preschool children and mothers visiting Anganwadis and Primary Health Centres in Bangalore Urban District. Mothers answered questions on socio-demographic characteristics and dental attendance. Maternal dental anxiety and child’s oral health-related quality of life were assessed using modified dental anxiety scale and early childhood oral health impact scale respectively. Oral health of children and mothers were assessed using WHO oral health assessment form 2013 for children and adults respectively. Descriptive statistics, Poisson’s regression with robust variance and mediation analysis were performed and p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: The proportion of dental visit among preschool children was 13.5%. Majority of the mothers had high dental anxiety (76.2%) and perceived their children’s oral health-related quality of life to be good (71.2%). The caries experience in mothers and children were 63.5% and 54.2% respectively. Mothers with higher education (PR=2.05, p=0.037), caries experience (PR=3.17, p<0.001) and poor perception of child’s oral health-related quality of life (PR=5.88, p<0.001), and children with pain experience (PR=1.62, p=0.003) and decayed teeth (PR=1.81, p=0.017) influenced children’s dental visit. Maternal perception on child’s oral health-related quality of life mediates the relationship between child’s oral health and dental visit. Conclusions: The utilization of dental services among preschool children was low. Maternal and child oral health factors influenced the child’s dental service utilization. Hence, oral health promotion approaches towards mothers and children is the need for the hour

Effect of socio-economic differentials on growth and development of children in five metropolitan cities of India

Background: Children’s growth and development depend on their parents’ socio-economic status. Adequate nutrition of children influence their anthropometric measures proper growth and development and reduces morbidity and mortality among children. Objective: To understand the growth and development pattern of children dwelling in the slum environment and to compare some of their growth parameters with non-slum children. Methods: This was a record review of National Family Health Survey-3 (NFHS-3) data, freely available from Measure DHS USA. Data for five major metropolitan cities, namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad were used for this study. The households classified as slum and non-slum by two agencies, viz., NFHS and census of India were considered for analysis. Variables more relevant as an indicator for the growth and development of children, viz., height, weight, hemoglobin, standard of living index (SLI), age (in months), and place of residence were selected for this study. Place of residence (slum or non-slum) and SLI, which is proxy to socio-economic status, were considered to understand their influence on height, weight, and hemoglobin values of the children. Results: About 75% of the slum dwellers were in low SLI category, and 69% of non-slum residents were in high SLI category. There is a significant difference (p=0.001) between slum and non-slum residence on the proportions of SLI. Multivariate analysis showed that all the variables significantly differ by SLI except age of the children. Conclusion: It is concluded that the observed difference between slum and non-slum children’s height, weight, and hemoglobin are due to differences in SLI. Growth and development of children dwelling in slum or non-slum area depend on the socio-economic status of their parents and not by their place where they are growing

Astaxanthin from shrimp efficiently modulates oxidative stress and allied cell death progression in MCF-7 cells treated synergistically with β-carotene and lutein from greens

This study investigated the synergistic efficacy of keto-carotenoid astaxanthin (AST, from shrimp) plus hydrocarbon (β-carotene, BC) and hydroxyl (lutein, L) carotenoids (from greens) on molecular events in MCF-7 cells. MCF-7 cells were treated with either of carotenoid (20 μM, AST or BC or L) separately or the mixture of them (an equimolar concentration of carotenoids mixture, CM) or saponified carotenoid extract from shrimp (SSCE) for 48 h and analyzed cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, and apoptosis. The IC50 and combination-index values of AST co-treatment with a lower concentration of BC and L (5 μM) exhibited enhanced cytotoxicity and oxidative stress as compared with individual carotenoids or SSCE. Further, higher cellular uptake/accumulation of AST along with BC and L found to synergistically induce apoptosis through modulation of cyclin D1, p53, Bax and Bcl-2 expressions by arresting cell cycle at G0/G1 phase. Further, CM or SSCE treatments are unlikely to affect proliferation of normal breast epithelial cells (MCF-10A). The results of selective killing of MCF-7 cells demonstrated a greater insight on the synergistic effect of shrimp AST plus BC and L. It is concluded that consumption of shrimp along with green leafy vegetables helps in combating cancer chemoprevention. © 2017 Elsevier Lt

Modified biophysical profile in antepartum fetal surveillance of high risk pregnancies

Background: Fetal biophysical profile is a well-established method of antepartum surveillance in high risk pregnancy. Classical biophysical profile with all parameters (fetal breathing movements, fetal tone, fetal gross body movements, amniotic fluid volume and non-stress test) needs two phase testing by ultrasound and external Doppler monitor to record fetal heart rate, is more cumbersome, time consuming and expensive.Methods: This study was a prospective clinical study which consisted of 70 patients having pregnancy with high risk factors. The patients were evaluated with the modified biophysical profile consisting of NST recording for 20mins, followed ultrasound assessment of amniotic fluid volume, using four quadrant technique.Results: When the Modified biophysical profile is normal, it gives reassurance that the fetal status is good with good perinatal outcome. When the MBPP is abnormal there is increased incidence of perinatal morbidity as well as mortality.Conclusions: Modified biophysical profile is an effective primary antepartum fetal surveillance test in high risk pregnancies in predicting perinatal outcome

Metabolomics of carotenoids: The challenges and prospects – A review

Considerable progress in carotenoids research has been made to understand the carotenoid metabolism in animals including human. Epidemiological and clinical studies have correlated with dietary intake of carotenoids on reduction of vitamin A deficiency, age-related macular degeneration, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Recent findings demonstrate the existence of carotenoid metabolites in vivo and their efficacy have made greater insight on prospecting carotenoid metabolites. Owing to their biological activity, exploration of analytical methods for the characterization of carotenoid metabolites is considered to be important before addressing the stability and bioactivity. Although few studies are available on carotenoid metabolites, their structural characterization in biological samples require a substantial refining of analytical protocols like isolation, purification, prerequisite of equipment parameters and robustness in hyphenated techniques. Recently, researchers have focused on biotransformation of carotenoids and made an attempt to screen their metabolites by high-throughput analytical strategies. However, till date there is no detailed analytical techniques available to fingerprint carotenoid metabolites, due to interference with complex biological matrices. This review highlights the carotenoid metabolism, possible bioconversion and available bio-analytical techniques to characterize metabolites in vivo. Further, advancement in sensitivity, mode of ionization and fragmentation patterns of metabolites were also discussed. The identification of carotenoid metabolites in system specific will have further insight in the emerging field of nutritional metabolomics

PHARMACOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF POLYHERBAL AYURVEDIC FORMULATIONS – A REVIEW

Ayurveda is an ancient traditional medical care system. The major aim of Ayurveda is to prevent unnecessary suffering and aiding healthy long life. Ayurveda incorporates natural constituents to make potential medicines that are believed to eliminate the root cause of the diseases. Forty-five thousand plant species are found in the subcontinent of India making it one of the largest biodiversity centers. In India alone, 15,000 medicinal plant species have been reported out of which 7500 species are used by the communities to cure different diseases. Ayurveda uses single or polyherbal for treatment. In these traditional medicine systems, various formulations are prepared one of which is fermented formulations, namely, arishtas and asavas. These formulations are prepared using a decoction of herbal drugs and contain self-generated alcohol. Fermented formulations are known for their stability and efficacy. Indian traditional literature states the usage of these formulations regularly with scientific validation strengthens one immunity and well-being. The current review focuses on Vidangarishta. Punarnavasava, Chandanasava, their preparations, therapeutics uses, and their toxic effects. A thorough understating of these formulations aids in standardizing Ayurveda as a marginalized medicine

Fetal kidney length as a parameter for determination of gestational age in pregnancy

Background: Establishing the gestational age of the fetus, especially in late trimester is a challenge to aptly treat the pregnant woman. Ultrasound parameters like BPD, HC, AC & FL in second and third trimesters are not very reliable for dating the pregnancy. Fetal kidney length has been studied and shown to strongly correlate with the gestational age in late trimesters even in IUGR fetuses.Methods: The present study evaluated the role of kidney length in determining the gestation age with the study population of 60 pregnant women between 24 - 36 weeks of gestation whose pregnancies were dated accurately by early dating scan. Length of the nearer kidney was measured in centimeters, 4 weekly in the longitudinal axis along with other biometric indices.Results: According to the observations, the mean deviation from the gestational age at all the weeks is least for KL. The result indicates that the kidney length in the present study correlated well with the assigned gestational age and found almost same as all the ultrasound biometric parameters put together.  Conclusions: Kidney length can be used as an individual parameter in estimating gestational age, especially in later trimesters, where biometric indices may not be much reliable