Impact of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program on Rural Poor - A Simple Theoretical Discourse

The basic objective of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program (MGNREGP) is to provide safety net for the rural poor and to stabilize agricultural production through creating productive assets via employing labourers. Two important linked aspects are worth noting in respect of implementation of the program. Implementation of MGNREGP in multiple cropping areas can increase the employment opportunities among the landless agricultural labourers and thus has inevitably raised their bargaining power particularly during the time of second crop i.e. post rainy season cultivation. Besides this, Government of India has persistently been hiking per man-day MGNREGP wage. Both these instances undoubtedly increase the reservation wage in agricultural labour market which in turn may have an adverse effect on the farm income in the multi-cropping areas. In this paper, maximum possible per man-day MGNREGP wage is determined at which the corresponding agricultural wage can help the marginal farmers to sustain their net farm income at least at subsistence level. This paper also establishes the fact that as a result of the hike of MGNREGP wage, sustenance of subsistence net farm income may lead to price hike in agricultural sector. The study also attempts to analyze the results in respect of aggregate net pecuniary benefits of the rural poor in the light of MGNREGP considering different agricultural frameworks

Bungarus fasciatus venom from eastern and north-east India: venom variation and immune cross-reactivity with Indian polyvalent antivenoms

Bungarus fasciatus is one of the medically important elapid snakes of South and South-eastern Asia and is responsible for several snakebite incidents some of which were fatal. In this study, the venom compositional variation of Bungarus fasciatus from three different geographical locations in eastern and north-east India: two adjacent villages of Hooghly (West Bengal), Aizawl (Mizoram) and Guwahati (Assam) are reported. In vitro biochemical assays exhibit variation in phospholipase A2 activity, fibrinogenolytic activity, caseinolytic activity and anti-coagulation activity. The immunoreactivity of three Indian polyvalent antivenoms against the venoms revealed incomplete recognition. Bharat Serums antivenom demonstrated that at a venom–antivenom ratio of 1:16, the antivenom exhibited different immunocapturing abilities for all the venom samples. The percentage of non-retained fractions was highest for Guwahati (60.00%) and lowest for Hooghly 1 (18.91%). The study demonstrates intra-population (or inter-individual) variation of B. fasciatus venom from two nearby locations of Hooghly (West Bengal), intra-specific variation of B. fasciatus from three geographical locations and also inter-specific venom variation with B. caeruleus from Tamil Nadu. Thus, the venom variation leads to partial immune cross-reactivity by Indian polyvalent antivenoms. Inclusion of non-recognized venom proteins in the immunization mixture during antivenom production would help to improve the efficacy of the antivenom. Further study of the neutralizing ability of Indian polyvalent antivenoms against medically important snakes from different geographical regions would help to understand the effectiveness of the antivenoms and would invariably assist in the designing and development of safe and effective antivenoms

Biocompatible Nanomaterials for Sustainable Biomedical Applications

We explore the many ways biocompatible nanomaterials may be used in sustainable biomedical settings. Quantum dots are 10 nm in size, carbon nanotubes are 50 nm, iron oxide nanoparticles are 25 nm, gold nanoparticles are 20 nm, and silver nanoparticles are 30 nm. The physicochemical features of these nanomaterials are different from one another. These nanomaterials may encapsulate therapeutic substances, according to drug loading evaluations; for example, gold nanoparticles can hold 15 mg/g of iron oxide, 12 mg/g of silver, 18 mg/g of carbon nanotubes, 20 mg/g of carbon, and 10 mg/g of quantum dots. Nanoparticles of gold (95% vitality after 24 hours), silver (93% viability), iron oxide (97% viability), carbon nanotubes (92% viability), and quantum dots (90% viability) highlight the biocompatibility of these materials. Fluorescence intensities of 1000 AU for gold nanoparticles, 980 AU for silver nanoparticles, 1050 AU for iron oxide nanoparticles, 900 AU for carbon nanotubes, and 1100 AU for quantum dots were observed in in vivo imaging investigations, further demonstrating the potential of these nanomaterials as contrast agents. By conducting thorough assessments and analyses, this study reveals how biocompatible nanomaterials can be used to create long-term biomedical applications, such as molecular imaging and targeted drug delivery, which will improve healthcare solutions and patient outcomes

Assessing the Environmental Impact of Advanced Energy Storage Solutions: A Comparative Lifecycle Analysis

Biodiesel manufacturing from waste cooking oil has emerged as a potential alternative in the search of sustainable energy. This process helps mitigate environmental pollution and reduces reliance on fossil fuels. This research examines the catalytic efficiency of environmentally friendly catalysts in this process, with a specific emphasis on catalysts based on enzymes. It assesses their effectiveness in terms of the production of biodiesel, the rate of the chemical reactions, cost efficiency, and their influence on the environment. Experimental evidence demonstrates that enzyme-based catalysts have enhanced catalytic activity, leading to an average biodiesel production of 90%, outperforming traditional catalysts such as solid acids, bases, and heterogeneous metal catalysts. Moreover, enzyme catalysts exhibit enhanced reaction rates due to their unique enzymatic activity and gentle reaction conditions. The cost study shows that the manufacturing costs for enzyme catalysts are competitive, with an average total cost of $800, which is equivalent to traditional catalysts. Environmental impact evaluation emphasizes the sustainability of enzyme catalysts by demonstrating their lower energy consumption, waste production, and greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional alternatives. The results highlight the capacity of green catalysts, namely enzyme- based catalysts, to enhance sustainable biodiesel production methods, hence promoting a more eco-friendly and robust energy framework

Physiochemical response of papaya genotypes exposed to low temperature regimes

Susceptibility to low temperature stress is the major threat to papaya cultivation. Here, we studied a low temperature stress tolerance in papaya plant. We have investigated the effect of different low temperature regimes, 28°/18°C (day/night) to 16°/06°C (day/night) with a gradual decrease of 2°C on every two days and one set with direct exposure to the low temperature of 18°/08°C (day/night), called the acclimatized plant, in five diverse papaya genotypes (Pusa Nanha, Red Lady P-7-2, P-7-9, and P-7-14) and cold tolerant wild relative of cultivated papaya genotype (Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis V.M. Badillo) under controlled regulated conditions. It was observed that there were significant variations in the physiological and biochemical parameters like photosynthetic gas exchange parameters, chlorophyll content, fluorescence parameters, relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI), total sugars content, total soluble proteins content, lipid peroxidation, and proline accumulation in leaf tissues. Maximum stomatal conductance, chlorophyll fluorescence, RWC, MSI, total sugars, total soluble proteins, proline and lowest MDA contents were observed in Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis followed by inbred P-7-9 as compared to other genotypes under low temperature stress. Among all the papaya genotypes, P-7-9 showed more adaptability to low temperature stress and it further give new insights for developing low temperature tolerant papaya genotypes, especially under changing climate situations

Employment Generation among Women in NREGS: A Synthesis on the basis of Micro Level Field Investigation

Abstract. Government of India has initiated the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) or N REGS in 2006 where the basic objective is to provide 100 full man-days of employment to each willing rural household. The adjoining act (NREG Act of 2005) that guarantees employment of every rural household for 100 days has different provisions to incentivize participation of women in the programme. The programme indeed has both direct and indirect aspects towards favoring the participation of women in order to fulfill a larger objective of women empowerment. Thus it becomes imperative to focus on the extent to which the programme is inclusive of women. Official data suggest that 47% of all NREGS workers are women. However, in this regard, there is substantial variation not only across states but also across different regions within a state. The present paper based on a primary survey made in Birbhum district of West Bengal, attempts to investigate whether expansion of NREGS has been able to help the female job-card holders to get employment through NREGS where we have considered ratio of female man days to total man days of a household as the outcome variable. It is observed that the heterogeneity in the value of the stated outcome variable is significantly caused by nature of works the female job card holders have to carry out under NREGS and family parameters faced by them which somehow emanate from socio-cultural factor(s) in general and binding in particular. Apart from this, although there is inevitability of the influence of total number of NREGS man- days received in the entire reference period by the household to which the female member(s) belongs, yet, there seems no one to one correspondence between the outcome variable and the same.Keywords. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Female employment generation in NREGS, Nature of works, Family parameters, Type II Tobit model with endogenous regressor.JEL. C34, C36, D10, J16

Spontaneous hemothorax: primary pleural epithelioid angiosarcoma

Spontaneous hemothorax is a rare condition seen in coagulation and vascular disorders. Uncommonly, malignant neoplasms may cause spontaneous hemothorax. Primary pleural epithelioid angiosarcomas (excluding the cases with pleuropulmonary or chest wall involvement) are extremely rare pleural tumors, which may be mistaken for mesothelioma or adenocarcinoma, and only 19 cases (one of them from India) have been reported in the English literature, to date. It commonly occurs in older men, has a nonspecific clinicoradiological presentation, and carries a poor prognosis with no survivors beyond a year of establishing the diagnosis. We report a case of primary pleural epithelioid angiosarcoma presenting as a life-threatening spontaneous hemothorax. We also present a brief literature review on pleural angiosarcoma

Mesenchymal stem cells show functional defect and decreased anti-cancer effect after exposure to chemotherapeutic drugs

Abstract Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are used for several therapeutic applications to improve the functions of bone, cardiac, nervous tissue as well as to facilitate the repopulation of hematopoietic stem cells. MSC give rise to the non-hematopoietic stromal cells of the bone marrow and are important for the maintenance of normal hematopoiesis. Chemotherapeutic drugs used for treatment of leukemia extensively damage the stromal cells and alter their gene expression profiles. Methods We determined the changes in adipogenic, osteogenic differentiation, phenotypic and gene expression in MSC during treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs cytarabine, daunorubicin and vincristine. We also tested anti-cancer effects of drug treated MSC on leukemia cells. Results Treatment with the chemotherapeutic drugs resulted in functional defects in MSC, leading to reduced proliferation, osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation. The drug treated MSC also showed decreased expression of cell surface receptors, and the changes in proliferation, phenotype and differentiation defect was partially reversible after withdrawing the drugs from the cells. The drug treated MSC showed increased expression of cytokines, IL6, FGF2 and TNFA but reduced levels of differentiation markers SOX9 and ACTC1. Drug treated MSC also contributed to reduced anti-cancer effects in leukemia cells. Conclusions Chemotherapeutic drug treatment altered the phenotype, osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential of MSC and modified the gene expression profile of the cells to render them more chemoprotective of the leukemic cells. Thus, additional therapeutic efforts to target the stromal cell population will help in preventing chemoresistance, disease relapse in leukemia and to maintain a healthy bone marrow stroma

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Not AvailableXanthones are well recognized as chemotaxonomic markers for the plants belonging to the genus Garcinia. Xanthones have many interesting pharmacological properties. Efficient extraction and rapid liquid chromatography methods are essentially required for qualitative and quantitative determination of xanthones in their natural sources. In the present investigation, fruit rinds extracts of 8 Garcinia species from India, were prepared with solvents of varying polarity. Identification and quantification of 3 xanthones, namely, α-mangostin, β-mangostin, and γ-mangostin in these extracts were carried out using a rapid and validated ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography– photodiode array detection (UHPLC–PDA) method at 254 nm. γ-Mangostin (3.97 ± 0.05 min) was first eluted, and it was followed by α-mangostin (4.68 ± 0.03 min) and β-mangostin (5.60 ± 0.04 min). The calibration curve for α-mangostin, β-mangostin, and γ- mangostin was linear in the concentration range 0.781–100 μg/mL. α-Mangostin was quantified in all 4 extracts of Garcinia mangostana. Its content (%) in hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol extracts of G. mangostana was 10.36 ± 0.10, 4.88 ± 0.01, 3.98 ± 0.004, and 0.044 ± 0.002, respectively. However, the content of α-mangostin was below the limit of detection or limit of quantification in the extracts of other Garcinia species. Similarly, β-mangostin was quantified only in hexane (1.17 ± 0.01%), chloroform (0.39 ± 0.07%), and ethyl acetate (0.28 ± 0.03%) extracts of G. mangostana. γ-Mangostin was quantified in all 4 extracts of G. mangostana. Its content (%) in hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol extracts of G. mangostana was 0.84 ± 0.01, 1.04 ± 0.01, 0.63 ± 0.04, and 0.15 ± 0.01, respectively. γ-Mangostin was also quantified in hexane (0.09 ± 0.01), chloroform (0.05 ± 0.01), and ethyl acetate (0.03 ± 0.01) extracts of G. cowa, ethyl acetate extract of G. cambogia (0.02 ± 0.01), G. indica (0.03 ± 0.01), and G. loniceroides (0.07 ± 0.01). Similarly, γ-mangostin was quantified in 3 extracts of G. morella, namely, hexane (0.03 ± 0.01), chloroform (0.04 ± 0.01), and methanol (0.03 ± 0.01). In the case of G. xanthochymus, γ-mangostin was quantified in chloroform (0.03 ± 0.001) extract only. α-Mangostin and β-mangostin were not detected in any of 4 extracts of G. pedunculata.Not Availabl

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Mesenchymal stem cells show functional defect and decreased anti-cancer effect after exposure to chemotherapeutic drugs

Dose response curve and chemoprotection of leukemia cells by MSC. a-c Dose response curve showing percentage of live cells after treatment with indicated concentrations of CYT, DAU and VIN after 48 h. d THP1 leukemia cells were cultured for 48 h in the absence of MSC (CON) or in the presence of MSC (+MSC) or in the presence of drug pre-treated MSC (+PRE-TR MSC). The cells were treated with CYT (10mM), DAU (0.1mM) for 48 h and apoptosis percentage was analyzed flow cytometrically. Values are mean+SD, n=3 samples. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.005. (DOCX 12 kb