A Study of Relationship among General Anxiety, Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement of Higher Secondary Students

In the present study an attempt was made to find out the relationship between anxiety and academic achievement of Higher secondary school students. This area of research has been of considerable interest to teachers who have observed that some children appear to perform below their best in situations characterized by a high degree of stress. It was expected that students with high anxiety would be more likely to perform less adequately throughout their studies than would non-anxious students. The Higher secondary level is a turning point in the life of the adolescents. The students and their parents take the decisions of their career selection during this transition period. Adolescents of our schools have many disturbing problems that often interfere with their academic achievement. Anxiety and anxiety related problems are very common during adolescence. The investigator randomly selected a total number of 12 schools for the study that included Government, Private aided and Private unaided schools. Sample comprised 180 students for the study. The findings of the study are: 1)There is a positive high correlation between general anxiety and test anxiety. 2) There is a negative low correlation between general anxiety and academic achievement. 3) There is a negative low correlation (-0.222) between test anxiety and academic achievement of higher secondary students.   Key words: General Anxiety, Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement, Higher Secondary student

Effects of Constructivist Approach on Students' Perception of Nature of Science at Secondary Level

A quasi-experimental study was conducted to seewhether constructivist approach to science instructioncould promote perception of nature of science amongeighth grade students. Purposive sampling was employedto select the schools for the study. Perception of nature ofscience test was developed by the researcher and wasadministered before and after the treatment. Analysis ofCovariance test was performed to control the initialvariance. The results showed that Constructivist teachingis more effective than conventional teaching in terms ofperception of nature of Science among 8 standardstudents. It was also found that constructivist approachwas equally effective for both boys and girls in improvingachievement and attitude towards science. Aconstructivist environment was preferred to a traditionalclassroom by the students. The results confirm researchsupporting the positive effect of constructivist learningpractices and view that constructivist approach to teachscience is a viable alternative to traditional modes of teaching

Art and craft of episiotomy

Background: Episiotomy is the most common obstetric surgical procedure performed in labor room. Mediolateral and Midline episiotomies are the most common types. Post-delivery suture angle is the most important determinant factor which predicts the risk of anal sphincter injuries. Mediolateral episiotomy has a significantly lower risk of OASIS rate when compared to midline episiotomies. Aim of the study was to know whether mediolateral episiotomies are actually mediolateral and does the angle of episiotomy influences the risk of anal sphincter injuries, maternal/fetal complications in the perinatal period.Methods: An observational study was conducted on 250 postpartum patients admitted to our hospital. Details of episiotomy in relation to incision angle, length, depth and post suturing angle were noted within two days of delivery.Results: Among the subjects included there were 40.8 % incisions were RMLE, average length was 3.32cms, average suture angle is 28.69 degree. OASIS was seen in 19.5% cases more so with midline episiotomies.Conclusions: Episiotomy is an essential, must to know skill. Compulsory ssupervised clinical teaching and use of skill lab training can prevent potential detrimental consequences

ENHANCED PHOTOLUMINESCENCE OF ZnS NANOPARTICLES DOPED WITH TRANSITION AND RARE EARTH METALLIC IONS

Pure and doped ZnS nanocrystalline phosphors were prepared at room temperature using a chemical synthesis method. Transmission electron microscopy observation shows that the size of the ZnS crystals is in the 2-3 nm range and SAED pattern confirms the cubic and crystalline nature of the observed samples, which are in agreement with X-Ray analysis. Interesting luminescence characteristics such as strong and stable visible-light emissions were observed from the doped ZnS nanocrystals at room temperature whereas dominant UV emissions were observed for pure ZnS. These results strongly suggest that impurities, especially transition metals and rare-earth metals-activated ZnS nanocrystals are useful in the field of optoelectronics

Statistical analysis of spinal cord injury severity detection on high dimensional MRI data

Staggered Segmenting on the programmed spinal rope form is a vital advance for evaluating spinal line decay in different infections. Outlining dark issue (GM) and white issue (WM) is additionally helpful for measuring GM decay or for extricating multiparametric MRI measurements into WMs tracts. Spinal line division in clinical research isn't as created as cerebrum division, anyway with the considerable change of MR groupings adjusted to spinal line MR examinations, the field of spinal rope MR division has progressed extraordinarily inside the most recent decade. Division strategies with variable exactness and level of multifaceted nature have been produced. In this paper, we talked about a portion of the current strategies for line and WM/GM division, including power based, surface-based, and picture based and staggered based techniques. We likewise give suggestions to approving spinal rope division systems, as it is essential to comprehend the inborn qualities of the strategies and to assess their execution and constraints. In conclusion, we represent a few applications in the solid and neurotic spinal string. In this task, an Automatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is identified utilizing a staggered division technique

Model simulation of tide-induced currents in Gauthami-Godavari estuary

Predictive spatial distribution of flow field has been simulated from the time series data on currents and tides during dry season (11-19, February, 2009) in the Gauthami-Godavari Estuary utilizing TIDAL model. A 2D-Tidal Estuarine model has been considered (instead of 3D model) due to well-mixed type system and its circulation is dominated by tides during the observational period. The model forcing functions consist of wind and tidal elevations along the open boundaries and no fresh water inflow from the main stream and no land flood in river system. The bathymetry data of the river basin has been collected and supplemented to the model as one of the rigid boundary conditions to evaluate integration. The bottom roughness length (K) was adjusted to achieve model calibration and verification in model simulations of flow field. The model simulation results are in qualitative agreement with the observational data with calibrated bottom roughness length which is about 0.085 m. Model results reveal that the majority of flow was found to be along the channel axis (i.e. high iso-bath contour). During flood time, flow is south-west direction and it is changed to northeast direction during ebb period which is indicating that the model results resemble flow in the real eastern system

Variability in stratification and flushing times of the Gautami–Godavari estuary, India

In order to examine the influence of forcing (river flow and tides) and anthropogenic activities (dredging and dam regulation) on stratification, a study was conducted over a period of 19 months (June 2008–December 2009) in the Gautami–Godavari estuary (G–GE) during spring and neap tide periods covering entire spectrum of discharge over a distance of 36 km from the mouth. The bathymetry of the estuary was recently changed due to dredging of ∼20 km of the estuary from the mouth for transportation of barges. This significantly changed the mean depth and salinity of the estuary from its earlier state. The variations in the distribution of salinity in the Godavari estuary are driven by river discharge during wet period (June–November) and tides during dry period (December–May). The weak stratification was observed during high discharge (July–August) and no discharge (January–June) periods associated with dominant fresh water and marine water respectively. The strong stratification was developed associated with decrease in discharge during moderate discharge period (October–December). Relatively stronger stratification was noticed during neap than spring tides. The 15 psu isohaline was observed to have migrated ∼2–3 km more towards upper estuary during spring than neap tide suggesting more salt enters during former than latter period. Total salt content was inversely correlated with river discharge and higher salt of about 400×106 m3 psu was observed during spring than neap tide. Flushing times varied between less than a day and more than a month during peak and no discharge periods respectively with lower times during spring than neap tide. The flushing times are controlled by river discharge during high discharge period, tides during dry period and both (river discharge and tides) under moderate discharge period. This study suggests that modification of discharge, either natural due to weak monsoon or artificial such as dam constructions and re-routing the river flow, may have significant impact on the stratification and biogeochemistry of the Godavari estuary

Pre-seismic, co-seismic and post-seismic displacements associated with the Bhuj 2001 earthquake derived from recent and historic geodetic data

The 26th January 2001 Bhuj earthquake occurred in the Kachchh Rift Basin which has a long history of major earthquakes. Great Triangulation Survey points (GTS) were first installed in the area in 1856-60 and some of these were measured using Global Positioning System (GPS) in the months of February and July 2001. Despite uncertainties associated with repairs and possible reconstruction of points in the past century, the re-measurements reveal pre-seismic, co-seismic and post-seismic deformation related to Bhuj earthquake. More than 25 M-strain contraction north of the epicenter appears to have occurred in the past 140 years corresponding to a linear convergence rate of approximately 10 mm/yr across the Rann of Kachchh. Motion of a single point at Jamnagar 150 km south of the epicenter in the 4 years prior to the earthquake, and GTS-GPS displacements in Kathiawar suggests that pre-seismic strain south of the epicenter was small and differs insignificantly from that measured elsewhere in India. Of the 20 points measured within 150 km of the epicenter, 12 were made at existing GTS points which revealed epicentral displacements of up to 1 m, and strain changes exceeding 30 M-strain. Observed displacements are consistent with reverse co-seismic slip. Re-measurements in July 2001 of one GTS point (Hathria) and eight new points established in February reveal post-seismic deformation consistent with continued slip on the Bhuj rupture zone

Health systems performance for hypertension control using a cascade of care approach in South Africa, 2011–2017

Hypertension is a major contributor to global morbidity and mortality. In South Africa, the government has employed a whole systems approach to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases. We used a novel incident care cascade approach to measure changes in the South African health system's ability to manage hypertension between 2011 and 2017. We used data from Waves 1-5 of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) to estimate trends in the hypertension care cascade and unmet treatment need across four successive cohorts with incident hypertension. We used a negative binomial regression to identify factors that may predict higher rates of hypertension control, controlling for socio-demographic and healthcare factors. In 2011, 19.6% (95%CI 14.2, 26.2) of individuals with incident hypertension were diagnosed, 15.4% (95%CI 10.8, 21.4) were on treatment and 7.1% had controlled blood pressure. By 2017, the proportion of individuals with diagnosed incident hypertension had increased to 24.4% (95%CI 15.9, 35.4). Increases in treatment (23.3%, 95%CI 15.0, 34.3) and control (22.1%, 95%CI 14.1, 33.0) were also observed, translating to a decrease in unmet need for hypertension care from 92.9% in 2011 to 77.9% in 2017. Multivariable regression showed that participants with incident hypertension in 2017 were 3.01 (95%CI 1.77, 5.13) times more likely to have a controlled blood pressure compared to those in 2011. Our data show that while substantial improvements in the hypertension care cascade occurred between 2011 and 2017, a large burden of unmet need remains. The greatest losses in the incident hypertension care cascades came before diagnosis. Nevertheless, whole system programming will be needed to sufficiently address significant morbidity and mortality related to having an elevated blood pressure