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Purpose: This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)-based English textbooks and question papers in developing second-language higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). Design/methodology/approach: Descriptive analysis establishes a causal relationship between learning objectives and second language (L2) writing proficiency. Content analysis is used to compare and analyze tabulated data for textbooks and question papers for the English language by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and CBSE. This method categorizes the materials and their assessments under HOTS and lower-order thinking skills to ascertain the relationship between learning objectives and L2 writing proficiency. Findings: The study highlights teaching material and assessment shortcomings and their alignment with learning outcomes to enhance students' writing skills. It underscores the need for HOTS-focused materials, discussing their impact on writing skills. The study also explores how textbook-question paper mismatch hampers Bloom's taxonomy-based cognitive skills. Practical implications: This research illuminates the efficacy of teaching and learning English as a second language (ESL) writing skills to improve the quality of education, which has real-world implications. The study highlights flaws in the educational system in India and suggests curricular and pedagogical changes. Originality/value: The research examines NCERT and CBSE ESL textbooks and question papers to align teaching and assessment methods. The results aim to improve education through ESL writers' HOTS.

Background: Health care providers worldwide are rapidly adopting electronic medical record (EMR) systems, replacing paper record-keeping systems. Despite numerous benefits to EMRs, the environmental emissions associated with medical record-keeping are unknown. Given the need for urgent climate action, understanding the carbon footprint of EMRs will assist in decarbonizing their adoption and use., Objective: We aimed to estimate and compare the environmental emissions associated with paper medical record-keeping and its replacement EMR system at a high-volume eye care facility in southern India., Methods: We conducted the life cycle assessment methodology per the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 14040 standard, with primary data supplied by the eye care facility. Data on the paper record-keeping system include the production, use, and disposal of paper and writing utensils in 2016. The EMR system was adopted at this location in 2018. Data on the EMR system include the allocated production and disposal of capital equipment (such as computers and routers); the production, use, and disposal of consumable goods like paper and writing utensils; and the electricity required to run the EMR system. We excluded built infrastructure and cooling loads (eg. buildings and ventilation) from both systems. We used sensitivity analyses to model the effects of practice variation and data uncertainty and Monte Carlo assessments to statistically compare the 2 systems, with and without renewable electricity sources., Results: This location's EMR system was found to emit substantially more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than their paper medical record system (195,000 kg carbon dioxide equivalents [CO 2 e] per year or 0.361 kg CO 2 e per patient visit compared with 20,800 kg CO 2 e per year or 0.037 kg CO 2 e per patient). However, sensitivity analyses show that the effect of electricity sources is a major factor in determining which record-keeping system emits fewer GHGs. If the study hospital sourced all electricity from renewable sources such as solar or wind power rather than the Indian electric grid, their EMR emissions would drop to 24,900 kg CO 2 e (0.046 kg CO 2 e per patient), a level comparable to the paper record-keeping system. Energy-efficient EMR equipment (such as computers and monitors) is the next largest factor impacting emissions, followed by equipment life spans. Multimedia Appendix 1 includes other emissions impact categories., Conclusions: The climate-changing emissions associated with an EMR system are heavily dependent on the sources of electricity. With a decarbonized electricity source, the EMR system's GHG emissions are on par with paper medical record-keeping, and decarbonized grids would likely have a much broader benefit to society. Though we found that the EMR system produced more emissions than a paper record-keeping system, this study does not account for potential expanded environmental gains from EMRs, including expanding access to care while reducing patient travel and operational efficiencies that can reduce unnecessary or redundant care., (©Cordelia Kwon, Lernik Essayei, Michael Spencer, Tom Etheridge, Rengaraj Venkatesh, Natrajan Vengadesan, Cassandra L Thiel. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 06.02.2024.)

Background and Aims: Highly cited papers (HCPs) can influence both research and clinical practice. They help to identify core literature and important advances in a field. This study aimed to assess the current status and prospects of South Asia COVID-19 research from the HCPs using bibliometric indicators. Methodology: COVID-19 literature from South Asia published between December 2019 and 29 November 2023 in the Scopus database was analysed. The top HCPs, having more than 200 citations, were evaluated. Information about citation counts, authors and organisations and their affiliations, year of publication, source journal, geographical origin, subject, article type, funding details, etc. were retrieved and analysed. Data and visualisation analysis was undertaken using Microsoft Excel and other bibliometric software. Results: The 298 South Asia HCPs were published from 2020 to 2023 and were cited 200–3,596 times, with a mean average of 413.9 citations per paper (CPP). Around 24.5% and 51.3% of HCPs received external funding support and were involved in international collaboration, respectively. The most productive organisations were the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, and the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, while the most impactful organisations were Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children, Mumbai, and Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital & Medical Research Institute, Mumbai. The most productive journals were Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews. Conclusions: This study has identified core and significant authors, organisations, journals, subject fields and significant keywords, collaborators and funding agencies involved in South Asia's COVID-19 research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of any research, regardless of its domain such as health, technology, psychology, or any other subject, is to enhance the overall well-being of individuals. Rigorous processes are involved in conducting research ethically and in communicating its outcomes to society. However, as publishing research has become a mandatory requirement for career advancement and appointments, academics are resorting to several unethical practices to get substandard work published quickly. Consequently, predatory publishing markets have emerged, which publish data that is falsified and fabricated, along with plagiarised textual matter. The emergence of "paper mills" is a further step in the corruption of research, where a group of persons or automated systems generate papers for publication. Anyone desirous of publishing a paper can purchase one, akin to any desired fast-moving consumer product, with the added guarantee of publication in indexed journals. Therefore, paper mills and their unethical modus operandi are discussed in this paper in detail, with relevant examples. The article unfolds the consequences of publishing such fraudulent research papers and concludes with the challenges in combating paper mills.

Aim and Objectives: Although inclusive education of children with intellectual disability is currently an accepted practice, it is often challenged by negative attitude of schoolteachers. We undertook two surveillance studies aimed at Study A - identifying knowledge and teachers' attitudes towards children with intellectual disability and practices of inclusive education in a semi-urban school of South India. Study B -Determining the effect of educational intervention towards attitudes on inclusive education. Method: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice surveillance questionnaires (KAP and ATPD) were given to ninety-six consenting schoolteachers in Study A and twenty schoolteachers in Study B and analyzed. Results: In Study A, the overall attitude mean indicated a favorable attitude towards the children with intellectual disability. The mean overall attitude score was 77.1 (SD: 9.58), with a normal distribution. Forty to fifty percent were aware of intellectual disability and attributed them to biological causes. Ninety-two percent agreed on the need for education and stepwise training for a child with an intellectual disability. In real-life practice, results of classroom management were inaccurate. In Study B, knowledge, attitudes and practices towards inclusive education improved with educational intervention with a positive change of 7.19% on the ATDP scale. Conclusion: These findings suggest a generally positive attitude towards intellectual disability and inclusive education. Comprehensive training programs improve knowledge and attitudes towards inclusive education.

The pulp and paper industry is critical to global industrial and economic development. Recently, India's pulp and paper industries have been facing severe competitive challenges. The challenges have impaired the environmental performance and resulted in the closure of several operations. Assessment and prediction of the performance of the Indian pulp and paper industry using various parameters is a critical task for researchers. This study proposes a framework for performance assessment and prediction based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Artificial Neural Networks, and Deep Learning (DL) to assist industry administration and decision-making. We presented a case study based on eight industries to demonstrate the methodology's applicability. This study analyses and predicts industry performance based on sample data observations over 30 years. The result suggests the DEA-DL-based efficiency prediction has an overall MSE of 0.08 compared with the actual efficiency. Furthermore, the efficiency rankings are compared between the three techniques. The results suggest that the integrated DEA-DL method is primarily accurate in most scenarios with the actual values. The findings of this study provide a comprehensive analysis of environmental performance for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to recommend the university authorities to build better teaching-learning environment for its students to use variables and multiple note-taking methods in class for best results fundamental in each method. Design/methodology/approach: The study is a case study that follows a 'problem-driven' approach concerned specifically with providing practical solutions to real-world problems. A sample size of 320 respondents was obtained, in which 300 were university students selected from the first, second and third years of study and 20 were professors. Findings: This case study made it very obvious to all that mobile phone note-taking is a regular practice among students at Bankura University. At the same time, the study also reveals that the practice does not significantly differ based on students' sex. Research limitations/implications: Based on the findings, the study recommends for the need to educate students on the importance of paper and pencil note-taking method so that they do not fall prey to such risks. A befitting environment should be created so that students can use various methods of note-taking in classrooms avoiding their negative impacts. Practical implications: It has a wide implication in the modern age where cutting-edge technologies are shaping our course actions every day. We cannot keep ourselves from this technological association and our mobile phones have become our friend, philosopher and guide. In this scenario, this study bears a big implication in itself. Originality/value: This study is based on the authors' ground study and is purely original and unique in the true sense.

Aim: This paper highlights the difficulties and lacunae in the Mental Health Care Act 2017 that hinder its implementation and use for the care and treatment of persons with mental illness in India. Methods: An online nationwide survey, involving structured questions as well as open-ended questions, to elicit the level of implementation, experience in complying with the provisions of the Act, and level of satisfaction, of practicing psychiatrists was carried out. Responses were analyzed using appropriate statistics. Results: 600 respondents answered the online questionnaire. A majority of psychiatrists were senior practitioners with over 10 years of experience. 92.5% respondents were dissatisfied with the MHCA, wherein 73.3% wanted it amended, and 19.2% asked for repeal. Procedural issues were deterrent for 66.5% from taking medically necessary or helpful decisions for patients. Non-implementation of the Act was a major finding. Major dissatisfaction was expressed regarding judicial over reach in admission and discharge procedures, inclusion of general hospital psychiatry units in the definition of mental health establishment, non-applicability of provisions like advance directive and nominated representative in Indian setting, and that all treatment should be covered under insurance. Conclusion: The Act in its present form defies the spirit of its own objectives and is unimplementable. It needs major revisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Conflict is an inevitable fact existing in any organization and it is understood as disagreement between two parties. Conflicts in simple terms may occur when severe issues arise and fury is invoked in the communication process. Conflict arises because of misunderstanding one's words or intentions. Objectives: To analyse and interpret the most preferred and rejected management styles to deal with the industrial conflict. - To explore different conflict management approaches in the study. - To study and analyse the conflict management styles adopted by the management in JK paper mills limited. Hypothesis: - The conflict variables are not varying over the classifications of the Demographic variables of the respondents. - The conflict variables are not varying over the classifications of the Employment variables of the respondents. Need: The production deficit and supply mismatch has made this industry import dependent for finished paper. The demand for paper in India is high and increasing. The supply shortfall for this industry is estimated at 20 million tonnes by 2021. The contribution of the paper industry to the GDP is high. Hence, the researcher felt the need to conduct a study on Conflict management approaches in paper industry with reference to JK Paper Limited, one of the prime organisations in the industry in Visakhapatnam. Methodology: Sample size is 544, Convenient sampling technique is employed for sample collection. To measure the conflict variables over designation, nature of work and classification of departments, ANOVA test is employed to measure its association among variables. Findings: The categorical variables are determinants of the situation in a manufacturing organisation and form a part of internal environment. Therefore, the study concludes the conflict variables determine the style of conflict management. Conclusion: The research study is confined to the employees of select JK Paper Mills Ltd only and it can be extended to other states or cities of India where paper mills industries are situated. It could be further extended to private and public sector paper mills industry of India identifying the conflict management styles adopted in these industries and the effectiveness of conflict management in these industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a system for automatic evaluation of the quality of a question paper. Question paper plays a major role in educational assessment. The quality of a question paper is crucial to fulfilling the purpose of the assessment. In many education sectors, question papers are prepared manually. A prior analysis of a question paper might help in finding the errors in the question paper, and better achieving the goals of the assessment. In this experiment, we focus on higher education in the technical domain. First, we conducted a student survey to identify the key factors that affect the quality of a question paper. The top factors we identified are question relevance, question difficulty, and time requirement. We explored the strategies to handle these factors and implemented them. We employ various concepts and techniques for the implementation. The system finally assigns a numerical quality score against these factors. The system is evaluated using a set of question papers collected from various sources. The experimental results show that the proposed system is quite promising.

In India, cow dung is widely utilized to create formulations that serve as effective plant growth enhancers with antimicrobial properties. The cow dung-derived handmade paper manufacturing process produces two waste-liquor streams, a Raw Liquor (RL) produced through the dewatering of the cow-dung slurry and a Black Liquor (BL) produced during the soda pulping of dewatered cow dung. The present study explored the potential of these waste streams to be used as plant biofertilizers for germination and cultivation of Vigna radiata seeds (mung bean, IPM-02-03 variety). An in vitro assay for seed germination efficiency and a pot study for plant growth promotion (PGP) activity were used to assess this potential. The in vitro assay demonstrated that nutrient-rich RL, with its 100% seed germination efficiency (better than the 85.7% of tap water) was an effective biofertilizer for seed germination. In contrast, BL yielded poor seed germination efficiency. The pot study showed that water irrigation led to good seed germination, survival, plant rooting and shooting, but it was probably deprived of nutrients for inducing good grain yields. When water was replaced with RL, it was able to replicate the results, but with good grain yields. In contrast, BL produced poorer germination, seed survival and PGP results. The poor biofertilization efficiency of BL was most probably due to the nutrient losses and toxic chemicals produced in the harsh pulping process. The results showed that RL, though considered a waste stream, is sufficiently nutrient-rich to act as an effective biofertilizer for germinating mung bean seeds and promoting plant growth and grain yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally perceived that a substantial number of engineering faculty are still unaware of alternative educational methods, and many who are aware of them choose not to incorporate them into their approach to teaching. There are several likely reasons for this inertia, aside from the inevitable human resistance to change. The primary focus of imparting information is restricted to fulfilling the course requirements and, the upcoming term end examination. It is imperative to adopt a change from teaching to learning paradigm engaging the students in Higher Order Thinking Skills. Knowledge and technological advancements are changing the role of engineering and engineering faculty in the society. Engineering Education reforms need to focus on inductive teaching and stimulated learning. Students should be taught critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills to keep pace with the rapidly changing engineering profession. This paper reports the study done to test and explore the faculty awareness of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in the cognitive domain and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and to evaluate question papers set by engineering faculty with respect to HOTS as proposed by Bloom's Taxonomy. Various active learning strategies to enhance critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills of the students are recommended for use by the faculty in their interactions with the students.

Over the years, survival of children with chronic diseases has significantly improved and a large proportion of them now are entering into adulthood. Transition of Care (ToC) of such patients with having childhood onset of chronic diseases to the adult health care system is well organized in developed countries, although it is an emerging concept in India. In situations where the systems for ToC are not in place, such cases are fraught with unsatisfactory health outcomes. With proper ToC in place, these patients are likely to receive uninterrupted care by the adult care physicians and hence reach their full potential. This document highlights the need, rationale and way forward for ToC of youth with special health care needs (YSHCN) across the country. It also describes the standard operating procedures to develop the ToC at a hospital level for clinicians and administrators.

Farhat Hasan, Paper, Performance, and the State: Social Change and Political Culture in Mughal India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021, xv+155 pp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)-based English textbooks and question papers in developing second-language higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). Design/methodology/approach: Descriptive analysis establishes a causal relationship between learning objectives and second language (L2) writing proficiency. Content analysis is used to compare and analyze tabulated data for textbooks and question papers for the English language by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and CBSE. This method categorizes the materials and their assessments under HOTS and lower-order thinking skills to ascertain the relationship between learning objectives and L2 writing proficiency. Findings: The study highlights teaching material and assessment shortcomings and their alignment with learning outcomes to enhance students' writing skills. It underscores the need for HOTS-focused materials, discussing their impact on writing skills. The study also explores how textbook–question paper mismatch hampers Bloom's taxonomy-based cognitive skills. Practical implications: This research illuminates the efficacy of teaching and learning English as a second language (ESL) writing skills to improve the quality of education, which has real-world implications. The study highlights flaws in the educational system in India and suggests curricular and pedagogical changes. Originality/value: The research examines NCERT and CBSE ESL textbooks and question papers to align teaching and assessment methods. The results aim to improve education through ESL writers' HOTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Productivity improvement is key to sustainability performance improvements of organizations. In a real-world scenario, the nature of inputs and outputs is likely to be imprecise and vague, leading to complexity in comparing firms' efficiency measurements. Implementation of fuzzy-logic based measurement systems is a method for dealing with such cases. This paper presents a fuzzy weight objective function to solve Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) CCR model for measuring paper mills' performance in India for 15 years. Design/methodology/approach: An integrated methodology is proposed to solve DEA models having fuzzy weights. The fuzzy DEA methodology is an extended version of the DEA approach that researchers have used for performance measurement purposes in imprecise and vague scenarios. The ecological performance of the paper industry is evaluated, considering some desirable and undesirable outputs. The effect of non-discretionary input on the performance of a paper mill is also analyzed. Findings: Analysis suggests that the productivity of the paper industry is improving consistently throughout the period. The comparative evaluation of methods suggests that a diverse cluster of DMUs and integration of DEA with the fuzzy logic increases the diversity in the efficiency score while DEA-DE imitates the results of CCR DEA. Originality/value: Proposed a fuzzy DEA-based analytical framework for measuring the paper industry's ecological performance in an imprecise and vague scenario. The model is tested on data from the paper industry in a developing country context and comparative performance analysis using DEA, fuzzy DEA and DE algorithm is done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation is one of the most difficult areas of educational pursuits. The most common type of evaluation and assessment is through a written examination. The majority of the time, questions is drafted right before the examination without going through a quality control process, which might cause confusion or incorrect interpretation of the questions by the students. Students' self-confidence and self-esteem grow as a result of their increased understanding of the question paper's structure, and they then affirm their ability to complete the task. The design of the question paper is prepared, with consideration given to the objectives, the various forms and types of questions, and the various content areas, a projected time, Level of difficulty anticipated. In order to enhance the standard of student evaluation and assessment, this article focuses on offering instructions and a scientific technique for creating effective question papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bacterial diversity in terms of structure and community profile, with special reference to water quality in the wastewater treatment plant of Indian paper industries, is poorly understood. In the present work, characterization of bacterial diversity using 16S (V3-V4 region) rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data with reference to physicochemical parameters in the wastewater treatment plant of two paper industries has been carried out. Amplicon data analysis revealed the presence of bacterial taxa belonging to the phylum such as Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Patescibacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, etc. Further, taxonomic classification upto genus level and functional analysis data indicated that genera such as Cloacibacterium, Aerococcus, Chryseobacterium, Microbacterium, Acinetobacter, Sphingobium, etc., were involved in the predicted metabolic pathways like carbohydrate metabolism, fatty acid and aromatic compounds biosynthesis as well as degradation. Canonical correspondence analysis confirmed a significant correlation between the microbial pollutions loads and physicochemical parameters. Further, the chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids exceeded the acceptable limits prescribed by Central Pollution Control Board New Delhi, Government of India, for discharge of wastewater. This study finds the correlation between the bacterial community residing in the polluted water of wastewater treatment plant and their environmental preferences. The presence of these bacterial diversity in the wastewater treatment plant of paper industries may affect the maintenance as well as paper quality. In future, it will provide a benchmark for the better understanding and management of wastewater treatment plant in paper industries across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Indian pulp and paper industry is one of the fastest emerging business sector of the country which has shown tremendous growth in last few years. Governments policies are creating sustain pressure on paper industries to preserve the clean and pollution free environment at any price. As a result industries are pondering to replace the chemical bleaching processes with facile bio-based cost effective technologies. Eco-friendly bleaching enzymes like xylanases and laccases have the potential for biobleaching of wood and agro-based pulps at industrial scale. In India, enzymatic prebleaching of pulp is widely being investigated and has achieved favorable outcomes but at laboratory scales only and commercial application of enzymes for the delignification of pulp is still at budding stage. This article tends to draw the attention on significant efforts which have been continually attributed by indigenous research laboratories and industries to replace the chemical bleaching with enzymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retracted articles by Indian scholars have received significant attention in recent times. However, no comprehensive study has been conducted to analyse the citations of retracted papers authored by Indian researchers. This study aimed to assess the citations to retracted works published between 2001 and 2020 pre‐ and post‐retraction. The study found that there was an increase in retractions over time, with empirical data suggesting that the number of retractions has increased significantly, from 72 papers between 2001 and 2010 to 365 papers between 2011 and 2020. Duplication (n = 128) and plagiarism (n = 119) were the primary reasons for retraction. Notably, 90% of the retracted articles continued to receive citations after retraction. Among the retracted papers, eight received more than 50 post‐retraction citations, 39 received 20 to 50 citations, 347 received one to 19 citations, and 43 were not cited at all post‐retraction. There was an overall 8% decrease in citations after retraction. Retractions were observed across journals of varying impact factor, with a higher number of retractions observed in journals with an impact factor of less than 5 (n = 286; 65%). Furthermore, smaller research teams of two to five authors accounted for 72% of the total retractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources (IJNPR) is a publication of the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR). This study makes a bibliometric assessment of the papers published in the journal from 2010 to 2020. The data was collected from the website of the journal and was analysed using MS Excel. The bibliometric assessment examines the nature and distribution of documents by their types, the geographical distribution of the papers by countries, Indian states, institutions, and authors and the impact of their productivity as reflected by the citation indicators. In addition, the trend in authorship, citations and national and international collaboration was also examined. A total of 587 documents were published during the study period, of which the majority were original research articles. Analysis revealed that during the study period, contributions from 35 countries including India were published in the journal. Maximum contributions from India were from the state of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The study also found that only a small number of papers didn’t receive any citations but a substantial number of papers (17.7%) received 6-10 citations and about 1.7% of papers received 100 or more citations. Most of the highly cited papers were reviews. The multi-authored articles were predominant, whereas the least contribution was by single authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extended frozen semen (EFS) batches produced from infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) sero-positive cattle and buffalo bulls housed in various semen stations in India are transported to the testing laboratory in liquid nitrogen (LN 2 ) for screening bovine herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1). This procedure is laborious and poses LN 2 related hazards. An alternative logistics for transportation of samples was investigated. Use of Flinders Technology Associates (FTA ® ) elute card was evaluated for transportation of extended bovine semen to screen BoHV-1 DNA by real-time PCR targeting gB gene and the method was compared with the OIE approved Chelex resin based method. A protocol for extraction of BoHV-1 DNA from FTA ® card spotted with extended semen was optimized. The viral DNA was found to be stable on FTA ® card for at least 28 days when the cards are stored at 4°-37 °C. The analytical sensitivity for the assay was determined using variable dilutions of BoHV-1 spiked semen and positive plasmid harbouring gB gene (97bp) spotted onto FTA ® card and it was found to be 10 0.8 TCID 50 /ml or 100 copies respectively in real-time PCR. The test could detect as low as 10 0.008 TCID 50 /ml or 1 copy of positive plasmid when more number of replicates (n = 6) of the same sample were tested. This sensitivity was found to be comparable to Chelex method and both the methods demonstrated a very strong correlation (r = 0.9774; 95% CI: 0.9620-0.9860) in terms of Ct value (p < 0.0001). The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the FTA method in comparison to the Chelex method was 83.08% (95% CI: 71.73%-91.24%) and 93.23% (95% CI: 89.38%-96.01%) respectively when 316 samples were screened by both the methods. The degree of agreement between these two tests was good (Kappa value: 0.738; 95% CI: 0.646-0.829). The method was found to be robust and highly repeatable in inter-assay and intra-assay precision testing. The result suggests that the FTA ® card holds promise as an alternative system for transportation of EFS for downstream screening of BoHV-1 DNA., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: This study aimed to assess the current status of India's COVID-19 research from the top 100 most cited papers, using bibliometrics methods and indicators and suggest strengths and weaknesses., Methodology: Publications on COVID-19 research from India between December 2019 and 22 August 2023 were retrieved from the Scopus database. From 37101 studies retrieved, the first top 100 Highly Cited Papers (HCPs) having received 270 to 2931 citations, were identified., Results: The top 100 most cited Indian papers were published from 2020 to 2023, with the majority (75) in the year 2021, followed by 24 in 2022. They were cited a total of 56661 times (average - 566.61 times). The 242 authors of these HCPs were from 159 Indian organizations, and the articles were published in 60 journals. 29 % and 59 % of these HCPs received external funding support and were involved in international collaborations, respectively. There was poor collaboration among Indian research institutions and a dearth of funding from India. None of the Indian HCPs figured in the global 100 HCPs., Conclusions: Although citations of research papers published from India increased during COVID-19, limited collaboration, inadequate funding, and subpar publications hindered Indian scientists. To enhance India's research landscape, we propose dismantling barriers, nurturing collaboration, and encouraging knowledge exchange among domestic institutions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All the authors hereby declare that there is conflict of interest regarding this manuscript & no funding was received from any source. We declare that this manuscript has been solely submitted to this journal and is not under consideration by any other journal. All the research presented in this paper is original., (Copyright © 2023 Research Trust of DiabetesIndia (DiabetesIndia) and National Diabetes Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation (N-DOC). Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The technological advancements and emergence of new kinds of communication mediums, especially social media and networks, have brought an era of unprecedented connectivity, which can be leveraged for better science communication. This paper explores social media activity around Indian research papers with the objective of evaluating if the quantum of activity is sufficient enough to indicate that social media can be an effective medium of science communication in India. In the absence of any existing survey of social media usage by scientists in India, the paper uses altmetrics as a proxy measure to capture; science communication activities around two major classes, namely, science-science connect and science-society connect. Results indicate that social media activity around Indian research papers is relatively low as compared to the developed countries and also the world average. There is a higher activity in science-science connect (Mendeley) whereas science-society connect is less pronounced (other social media and news). The paper argues that there is a need to expose Indian research community to the opportunities that social media presents and that an appropriate use can be helpful for improved science-science and science-society connects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Reserve Bank of India, not to be left behind, played its part in this transformational journey, by issuing regulations and recommendations on banking mechanization and computerization. Financial sector in general and banking industry in Particular is the largest spender and beneficiary from information technology. According to John Finnerty, "Financial Innovation involves the design, the development, and the implementation of innovative financial instruments and processes, and the formulation of creative solutions to problems in finance". The various innovations in banking and financial sector are ECS, RTGS, EFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years in India, fly ash-lime-gypsum (FaL-G) brick production has been adversely affected by the scarcity of fly ash and lime. Consequently, the current study aims to mitigate this problem. It delves into leveraging incinerated paper mill sludge ash (IPMSA) as a supplement to fly ash and lime in FaL-G brick production, aiming to present an eco-conscious alternative to conventional burnt clay bricks. It focuses on two blends: blend 1, replacing fly ash with IPMSA (2.5–30 wt%), and blend 2 substituting lime entirely with IPMSA (2.5–15 wt%). A thorough material analysis preceded brick manufacturing, involving techniques like energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry differential thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. Subsequent tests evaluated compressive strength, water absorption, weight density, percentage of voids, initial rate of suction and chemical resistance of the resulting bricks. According to the XRD results, the higher IPMSA levels didn't induce any phase transformation. Remarkably, bricks incorporating IPMSA in blend 1 (2.5–20 wt%) and blend 2 (2.5–7.5 wt%) met the mechanical properties specified for 'class 10' bricks according to Indian and ASTM standards. Incorporating IPMSA increases the porosity of bricks, making them lighter. This aids in minimizing construction expenses by reducing labour and transportation costs as well as lowering expenditure on foundation construction. This sustainable approach efficiently uses resources, reduces landfill wastes, shows potential for industrial-scale production, making eco-friendly bricks a promising alternative to traditional methods and promoting greener construction practices. • Ecofriendly FaL-G bricks were developed using incinerated paper mill sludge ash (IPMSA). • Reusability of IPMSA in FaL-G brick production poses both economic and environmental benefits. • Use of IPMSA in FaL-G brick production reduces landfill waste and addresses waste management issues. • IPMSA is suitable for up to 20 wt% for fly ash and 7.5 wt% for lime in FaL-G brick production, meeting relevant standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper exploits the information obtained in Annual Survey of Industries during 1999–2010 to gauge the degree of value-added owing to the use of traditional inputs (capital, labor, energy, indigenous materials, and imported materials) and advanced industrial production technology (services, information and communications technology, and pollution control equipment) in two main sub-sectors of the Pulp and Paper (P&P) industry in India categorized according to use of different types of raw material. The panel data econometric exercise confirms that the use of traditional inputs and advanced industrial technologies, and industry level determinants of the two sub-sectors have varied effects on value-added within them. These findings are important for promoting higher value-added production in different sectors within the resource-based industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The pulp and paper industry has been the focus of government policies ever since independence. This is the only industry where government plays a multi-dimensional role – not only as the regulator but also as the supplier of raw material and as the buyer. Despite the government's omnipotent role, there is evidence that industry is not very competitive, as it has very high energy and water intensity and poor productivity. A potent factor identified in the literature for the underperformance of the industry or for that matter any economy is the kind of technology used by the firms in the sector. This paper aims to look into the role of government policy in affecting the growth of the industry and what role embodied technology has played in influencing the efficiency of firms in Indian pulp and paper industry. Design/methodology/approach: For the first question, the study uses 66 years of production data of the industry from 1951 to 2016 and tests for the structural break. For the second question, the study uses cross-section plant-level data for the year 2011-2012 of 160 paper manufacturing units to first estimate the stochastic production frontier (stochastic frontier analysis [SFA]) and then uses the output of SFA to find an association between embodied technology gap (TG) and technical efficiency. A methodological problem in earlier literature is the use of the productivity gap as a proxy for embodied TG. The present study uses technical parameters of papermaking – machine deckle and operating speed – to construct an index of TG. Findings: The results show a structural break in the production trend occurring in 1999 with the delicensing in July 1997 as the possible cause. The SFA results show that the average technical inefficiency (TE) of the firms in the sector is 74 per cent with half of the firms having TE higher than 76 per cent. The study, however, does not find any impact of embodied TG on technical efficiency; rather it is the age, size, ownership and location that have an impact on it. Originality/value: This is an original research, as the author has not come across any study in Indian context or elsewhere using technical parameters to construct TG variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advancements in technology-based payment methods have prompted central banks all over the world to consider the possible advantages and hazards of issuing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) in order to keep up with the current innovation trend. The Indian payment system is no exception to this fintech innovation trend. As a result, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must begin considering related patterns and develop a phased implementation plan that progresses gradually through the pilot project. The present research is proposing a Pilot project on the issuance of retail e-rupee first. The research is primarily based on the normative method presenting a qualitative analysis of the creation of a digital rupee possibly like paper money and its smooth implementation. The study examines the potential effects of retail e-rupee implementation on the banking industry, monetary policy, technology architecture options, potential retail e-rupee applications, issuance methods, etc., as well as privacy issues. Thus, it will assist RBI in making policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actinomycetes are a suitable microbial group for the synthesis of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes. Enzymes that may degrade organic material, including cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, are released by actinomycetes. The aim of this research was to isolate actinomycetes from Rajkot, Gujarat, India’s soil and evaluate the activity of their cellulase and Xylanase enzymes. Starch Casein Agar (SCA) was used to identify a total of 30 isolates of actinomycetes. A qualitative plate assay (CMC-Na, Congo red) revealed that the highest zone of catalysis for MMD1 was 36 mm. Five strains were discovered to be effective for quantitative quantification of endoglucanase utilising filter paper and CMC as substrates: MMD1, MMD2, MMD3, MMD4, and MMD8. Following MMD 1 (endoglucanase 5.4 IU; FPase 4.4 IU), MMD 2 (endoglucanase 4.5 IU; FPase 3.4 IU) has demonstrated considerable endoglucanase and FPase activity. Beechwood xylan was used to treat sugarcane bagasse in order to test Xylanase, and 45% of the xylan (hemicellulose) fraction was obtained. MMD1 and MMD2 measured the xylanase enzyme activity (4.8IU and 4.2IU) in quantitative and qualitative assays (34 mm and 22 mm for BWX and 32 mm and 14 mm for agro-waste xylan). The strain MMD1 was identified as Streptomyces chartreusis through morphological, biochemical, and finally molecular characterization by 16S rRNA sequencing. It was then submitted to NCBI GenBank with the accession number MT254830. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herpes zoster (HZ) is a debilitating viral infection causing a dermatomal vesicular rash. Many known risk factors exist in India and adults >50 years of age may be especially susceptible to HZ. However, HZ is not a notifiable disease in India and data on incidence and disease burden is lacking. An Expert Consensus Group meeting was conducted with experts from relevant specialties to discuss HZ disease, its local epidemiology, and suggestions for implementing HZ vaccination in the Indian healthcare system. Currently, there is lack of patient awareness, poor reporting practices and general negligence in the treatment of the disease. HZ patients generally approach their general physicians or specialists for diagnosis, which is usually based on patient history and clinical symptoms. Recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) has >90% efficacy and is recommended in adults ≥50 years of age to prevent HZ in the United States. Despite RZV being approved for use, it is not yet available in India. India has a growing elderly population with known risk factors for HZ like immunosuppression, and co-morbidities like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This indicates the need for a targeted immunization program in India. Meeting also emphasized adult vaccine availability and accessibility in the country.

Organ donation following circulatory determination of death (DCDD) has contributed significantly to the donor pool in several countries, without compromising the outcomes of transplantation or the number of donations following brain death (BD). In India, majority of deceased donations happen following BD. While existing legislation allows for DCDD, there have been only a few reports of kidney transplantation following DCDD from the country. This document, prepared by a multi-disciplinary group of experts, reviews the international best practices in DCDD and outlines the path for furthering the same in India. The ethical, medical, legal, economic, procedural, and logistic challenges unique to India for all types of DCDD based on the Modified Maastricht Criteria have been addressed. India follows an opt-in system for organ donation that does not allow much scope for uncontrolled DCDD categories I and II. The practice of withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (WLST) in India is in its infancy. The process of WLST, laid down by the Supreme Court of India, is considered time-consuming, possible only in patients in a permanent vegetative state, and considered too cumbersome for day-to-day practice. In patients where continued medical care is determined to be futile following detailed and repeated assessment, the procedure for WLST, as laid down and published by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy in conjunction with leading medical experts is described. In controlled DCDD (category-III), the decision for WLST is independent of and delinked from the subsequent possibility of organ donation. Once families are inclined toward organ donation, they are explained the procedure including the timing and location of WLST, consent for antemortem measures, no-touch period, and the possibility of stand down and return to the intensive care unit without donation. While donation following neurologic determination of death (DNDD) is being increasingly practiced in the country, there are instances where the cardiac arrest occurs during the process of declaration of BD, before organ retrieval has been done. Protocol for DCDD category-IV deals with such situations and is described in detail. In DCDD category V, organ donation may be possible following unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation of cardiac arrest in the intensive care. An outline of organ-specific requisites for kidney, liver, heart, and lung transplantation following DCDD and the use of techniques such as normothermic regional perfusion and ex vivo machine perfusion has been provided. With increasing experience, the outcomes of transplantation following DCDD are comparable to those following DBDD or living donor transplantation. Documents and checklists necessary for the successful execution of DCDD in India are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we have collected the data about the 507 high-cited (citations ≥ 25) papers on Covid 19 published by India using Scopus database. Within small span of time many papers have received considerable number of citations. Further we have analyzed in terms of types of papers, major funding agencies, major collaborating countries, prolific authors, productive organizations and cluster analysis of author supplied keywords. Most of the papers were research articles. Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India has funded considerable numbers of papers on Covid 19 and K. Dhama form Indian Veterinary Research Institute has contributed highest numbers papers and USA was major collaborating country and PGIMER-Chandigarh was most contributing organization. This study will be useful to the scientist/researchers to know the characteristics of high cited papers on Covid-19 from India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs about three distinct topics in pathology it discusses about the development of a lab-developed test (LDT) for multiplex HR-HPV genotyping in cervical precursor lesions, offering a cost-effective and sensitive screening test. Topic include it presents a comparative study of a rapid, economic acetic acid, Papanicolaou stain (REAP) over conventional Papanicolaou stain in oral cytology, demonstrating the efficacy of REAP as a cost-effective and rapid alternative.

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Introduction: Summative assessments play a major role in shaping the student's learning. There is little literature available on validity of summative assessment question papers in Forensic Medicine & Toxicology. This study analyses 30 question papers from 6 reputed universities for content validity. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional record-based observational study was conducted where 30 university summative question papers in Forensic Medicine & Toxicology from 6 universities across India were evaluated for content validity. The learning domain assessed, the type of questions asked, and sampling of the content was compared and presented in the results. Results: From the results of the study, it was noted that 80% weightage was allotted to recall in most papers and only one paper tested for application. 70 to 80% of the marks were allotted to Forensic Pathology leading to disproportionate sampling. Core areas in Toxicology and Medical Jurisprudence were sparsely assessed. Conclusion: The content validity of the summative question papers in Forensic Medicine and Toxicology was unsatisfactory, emphasising the need for evaluation of the clarity and efficacy of the blueprints being used by the universities. Faculty training to motivate and influence a change in the mindset is necessary to bring about a course correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study aims at to make a heuristic analysis of energy efficiency performance of Indian paper industry in a non-parametric production theoretic approach. Using the data for 2004–05 to 2013–14, radial and non-radial variants of DEA were employed to estimate energy saving potential and identify the relative position of paper industry across the states. Preliminary analysis in terms of energy intensity scores showed declining trends of energy intensity over the period of analysis for most of the states except states like Assam, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Punjab where it does not decline much. Assuming a variable returns to scale (VRS) technology under the conditions of inherent heterogeneity and market imperfection, the slack-based measure (SBM) reported a much higher energy saving potential than reported by other measures in the study. Further by taking scale efficiency into account, the study documented the higher contribution of pure energy inefficiency in explaining the total energy inefficiency within the paper industry relative to scale inefficiency. Finally, the study recommends the propagation of energy efficiency program through a market-based and regulatory mechanism along with consolidation and technological advancement of individual units, in order to tap vast energy saving potential and thereby ensure the growth and environmental sustainability. Highlights • The paper examined the energy efficiency performance of Indian paper industry. • Both radial (BCC) and the non-radial (SBM) measures of energy efficiency, were applied. • BCC measure reported an energy saving potential of 16%. • SBM measure reported an energy saving potential of 24%, higher than BCC measure. • Scale efficiency implied the relatively higher contribution of pure energy inefficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major cause of chronic liver disease globally and in India. The already high burden of NAFLD in India is expected to further increase in the future in parallel with the ongoing epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Given the high prevalence of NAFLD in the community, it is crucial to identify those at risk of progressive liver disease to streamline referral and guide proper management. Existing guidelines on NAFLD by various international societies fail to capture the entire landscape of NAFLD in India and are often difficult to incorporate in clinical practice due to fundamental differences in sociocultural aspects and health infrastructure available in India. A lot of progress has been made in the field of NAFLD in the 7 years since the initial position paper by the Indian National Association for the Study of Liver on NAFLD in 2015. Further, the ongoing debate on the nomenclature of NAFLD is creating undue confusion among clinical practitioners. The ensuing comprehensive review provides consensus-based, guidance statements on the nomenclature, diagnosis, and treatment of NAFLD that are practically implementable in the Indian setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Screening of hemoglobin (Hb) before blood donation is one among the vital tests. It is performed to select a blood donor to prevent the collection of blood from an anemic person. However, no accurate, cost-effective, reliable, and standardized method is available to estimate Hb. OBJECTIVE: The aim is to evaluate the efficacy of filter paper cyanmethemoglobin (FPCH) method with the automated hematology analyzer in the estimation of Hb concentration for screening of a suitable donor. METHODOLOGY: This was a cross-sectional study in which the blood samples of 2000 patients visiting KLE's Dr. Prabhakar Kore Charitable Hospital, Belagavi, were collected in vials and directly estimated for Hb using automated hematology analyzer. To evaluate the efficacy of FPCH, 20 μL of blood sample was transferred onto Whatman filter paper and dried at room temperature. After drying, it was placed in 5 mL of Drabkin's solution for 30 min. Optical density was estimated by measuring the absorbance. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The correlation coefficient, paired t-test, and difference between the means of both the methods were calculated. RESULTS: The mean Hb estimated by FPCH was 11.25 g/dL and automated hematology analyzer gave 11.35 g/dL. The difference in the means of both the methods was 0.1 g/dL. Paired t-test was done to test the level of significance and the result was 8.151 (95% confidence interval: 0.08–0.13 g/dL, P < 0.001). The correlation coefficient was found to be 0.976 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: FPCH is an efficient method, which is comparable to the automated hematology analyzers for Hb estimation. It could be used as an alternative screening tool for detection of Hb in a blood donation camp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrarian investment behavior on paper or Demat gold by private investors, India as a country cherishes the status of holding a large number of private investors in gold. Gold as a common term usually takes to the picture of multiple shaped ornaments made up of shiny yellow metal carrying huge value in society since ages to explore the search bit wider gives the option of Gold available in paper or Demat format. The concept of paper gold which has value without physical existence is quite a new concept to the current existing trend. The study focuses on such contrarian investment and their behavioral science on financial investment in the Indian Market amidst COVID-19 Pandemic. The objective of the study is to identify independent factors influence on contrarian investment on paper gold and investor's psychological behavior on decision making when rejecting the current trends over new instrument or investment pattern. This paper also identifies the role of gender in gold investment pattern and knowledge on gold being private investors who care higher rate of risk. The study has been conducted with the sample of 110 individuals through structured questionnaire and with the help of statistical tools "two way anova and correlation" has been carried. The study concluded how the contrarian investment was not based on the age of a private investor but qualification makes much difference on their behaviorin the Indian Market amidst COVID-19 Pandemic and the same type of influence on gender over preference of gold is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Every year the scientific sessions of Annual National Conference of Indian Psychiatric Society (ANCIPS) are marked by presentation of free papers, posters, and award paper sessions, which are usually meant for presentation of new research which is not yet published. Hence, it is expected that these papers will be published in near future so that the scientific literature is distributed and shared with wider audience. Aim: This paper aims to evaluate the abstract to publication rate of papers presented during ANCIPS in the years 2012–2014. Materials and Methods: For this study, all the free papers, posters, and award papers presented during the ANCIPS of 2012–2014 were listed, and electronic searches were carried out to search for published articles. In addition, one of the authors of papers not found in the electronic searches were contacted through E-mail. Results: A total of 1081 papers were presented during the ANCIPS in the 3 year period under study. Of these, 64 were award papers, 622 were free papers, and 395 were posters. Majority (n = 807; 74.6%) of these could be categorized as research data-based presentations; this was followed by case reports/series (203; 18.8%), review of literature (n = 35; 3.3%), and others (n = 36; 3.3%). Overall, only 27% of the papers were published after at least 5 years of the presentation. Of all the award papers, 69.6% of papers were published, whereas only 26.8% of free oral papers and 22.5% of free posters were published. About half (45.6%) of the papers were published in national journals. In terms of indexing, among those which were published, 62.8% were published in Medline-indexed (PubMed-listed) Journals with a mean impact factor of 1. Conclusion: The present study shows that only 27% of the abstracts presented during the ANCIPS are ultimately published as full text articles in the next 5 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crypto currency has become the buzzword these days. Accounting is yet another field where cryptocurrency has occupied its space. In India, the status of accounting for cryptocurrency still remains unclear even though few of the additions have been made in IAS. A list of varied elements exists in the accounting process, where accountants deal in the real world as there is presently no accounting standard regulated for them; one such example is crypto currency. The U.S. GAAP (General Accepted Accounting Principles) and international financial reporting standards (IFRS) has recognized Crypto currency in the present times for public firms as an account for a digital currency as an intangible asset with an unlimited life. Companies will first record crypto on the balance sheet at their cost basis in both scenarios. The goal of this research paper is to assess if there are adequate justifications for the establishment of IFRS accounting rules for crypto-assets (liabilities) and to make suggestions for possible directions in which they may go. A clear insight into the accounting and taxation is attempted in the present research paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to bring out the contributions, funding and un-funding publications in the field of Mechatronics in global scenario. The study focuses on country-wise distribution, funding and un-funding in the field of Mechatronics paper publications, type of documents, top funding agencies and top funding journals. Compared to other subjects of science and technology the field of Mechatronics has seen considerably less number of papers being published. Statistics shows that approximately 1% of publications are done in the world as compared to 30 to 35 percent in other fields. The total number of published papers in the said field is3,359 with 46,043 citations. USA shares the highest portion with a total of 413 (12.27%) published papers and 7,157 (15.55%) citations, India stands twenty-fifth with total paper publications of 53 (1.58%) and 693 (1.51%) citations during a period of 20 years from 2001 to 2020. Out of 3,359 papers with 46,034 citations, 1,446 (43.05%) papers with 17,972 (39.04%) citations received funding and the remaining 1,913 (56.95%) papers with 28,062 (60.96%) citations received un-funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nutrient deficiency after malabsorptive bariatric procedure is a common phenomenon. The study aims to determine the prevalence of nutritional insufficiencies (specific with Ascorbic acid, Cobalamin, calciferol and calcium) in obese population opting for One Ananstomosis Gastric Bypass surgery (OAGB), and also to understand the association of these nutrients with change in Body Mass Index (BMI) after the surgery. Methods: One hundred fifty subjects comprising males and females aged 20-60 years were randomly selected at a bariatric center in India. Subjects belonged to both grade III and grade II obesity. Plasma aa, serum vitB12, serum VitD3 and serum calcium concentrations were prospectively assessed at 0m, 3m, and 6m of surgery through high-performance liquid chromatography. Result: The values of nutrients beyond the standard levels are considered as deficiency. Both follow up values showed a significant increase in cobalamin, Calciferol, and ascorbic acid levels compared to baseline data. Conclusion: Nutrition depletion and deficiency are often seen in post bariatric cases. The contributing factors included high BMI, food intolerance, and non-adherence to supplements and correct dietary regimens. With the correction of weight and comorbidities, the levels also showed a stable and positive level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Containing expenditure and efficient resource use is essential to limit the increasing costs of health research. Electronic data collection (EDC) is thought to reduce the costs compared to paper-based data collection (PDC)., Objectives: As economic evidence in this area is scanty, especially in low- and middle-income countries, the objectives of the study are to perform an economic evaluation and compare the cost between EDC and PDC., Methods: A cost-comparison study was conducted to compare between EDC and PDC from the institutional perspective for the year 2018, based on a community-based survey. Step-down cost accounting was adopted with a bottom-up approach for cost estimation. Total and unit costs were estimated with the base case comparison between EDC and PDC while using SPSS software (e-SPSS and p-SPSS, respectively). We conducted scenario analyses based on the usage of different software, R and STATA for both EDC and PDC (e-R, p-R, e-STATA, and p-STATA, respectively). One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) was performed to examine the robustness of the observed results., Results: In the base-case analysis, total costs of EDC and PDC were ₹72,617 ($1060.9) and 87,717 ($1281.5), respectively, with estimated cost reduction of ₹15,100 ($220.6). In other scenarios, the estimated cost reduction for e-R, e-STATA, p-R, p-STATA was ₹-274 ($4.0), 98 ($1.4), 14826 ($216.6), and 15,002 ($219.2), respectively, when compared to EDC-SPSS. On one-way and PSA, the results of the cost-comparison analysis were robust., Conclusion: EDC minimizes institutional cost for conducting health research. This finding will help researchers in efficiently planning for the budget for their research.

Competing Interests: None

In today's scenario of India most of the youth is preparing for some competitive exam. If we think behind 15–20 years the number of candidates appearing for competitive exams were in thousands but as the population is increasing exponentially in India day by day the number of candidates is increasing in lacks. We can observe by daily newspapers that most of the competitive exams are facing paper leak problems. Although online examination systems are more effective and secure as compared to offline examination systems because it's not easy to open the question paper before the time starts. On the other hand there are also various consequences where the examination process can be hacked online. But the main issue with online examination process is to lack of resources to conduct parallel examination of millions of candidates, lack of techno enabled exam centers in small cities etc. Our focus is to propose a system in which offline examination can be conducted at most of the govt. and private centers in metro cities as well as small techno backward cities with reduced possibility to leak the paper before commencement of examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]