Search

The study examines the temporal trend in the gender gap in working hours in the US economy and analyses the possible reasons underlying the gender gap. The study uses American Time Use data for the period 2003–2021. It estimates truncated and quantile regression models to estimate the gender gap. The gender gap is decomposed into two components capturing the effect of characteristics and coefficients. The study finds evidence that gender differential in working hours across gender is stable in the current millennium. The gap is particularly high in highly remunerative jobs involving extended working hours, reflecting a glass ceiling for women. Further, differences in characteristics contribute only a minor proportion of the gender gap, indicating the possible influence of social attitudes and norms, and discriminatory organisational practices. The study argues in favor of policies to transform institutions, organisational work culture, and social norms about work-home balance. Incentivising firms to continue with flexible work schedules and work-from-home policies, extending family support and childcare arrangements, regulating work hours, and substituting overtime with part-time jobs are other ways to reduce the gender gap in work hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Thchit42 constitutive expression for fungal resistance showed synchronisation with leaf augmentation and transcriptome analysis revealed the Longifolia and Zinc finger RICESLEEPER gene is responsible for plant growth and development. Pelargonium graveolens essential oil possesses significant attributes, known for perfumery and aromatherapy. However, optimal yield and propagation are predominantly hindered by biotic stress. All biotechnological approaches have yet to prove effective in addressing fungal resistance. The current study developed transgenic geranium bridging molecular mechanism of fungal resistance and plant growth by introducing cassette 35S::Thchit42. Furthermore, 120 independently putative transformed explants were regenerated on kanamycin fortified medium. Primarily transgenic lines were demonstrated peak pathogenicity and antifungal activity against formidable Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Fusarium oxysporum. Additionally, phenotypic analysis revealed ~ 2fold increase in leaf size and ~ 2.1fold enhanced oil content. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms for genotypic cause, de novo transcriptional profiles were analyzed to indicate that the auxin-regulated longifolia gene is accountable for augmentation in leaf size, and zinc finger (ZF) RICESLEEPER attributes growth upregulation. Collectively, data provides valuable insights into unravelling the mechanism of Thchit42-mediated crosstalk between morphological and chemical alteration in transgenic plants. This knowledge might create novel opportunities to cultivate fungal-resistant geranium throughout all seasons to fulfil demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bergenialigulata, commonly known as 'Pashanbheda' or Indian rhubarb, is a perennial herb that has been recognized for its diverse medicinal properties. The indiscriminate use of B. ligulata has brought the species to the brink of becoming threatened. This research aims to establish a robust tissue culture protocol that can be utilized for the rapid micropropagation of B. ligulata. This protocol is essential for ensuring the sustainable production of this valuable plant species and preventing the depletion of its natural populations. The study successfully demonstrated an efficient in vitro regeneration in B. ligulata, using leaf and petiole explants. The most effective combination for achieving the highest number of shoots on either explant (leaf or petiole) involved using Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.9 µM and 1.8 µM 6-benzylamino purine (BAP) with 0.5 µM 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Moreover, multiple shoots were also produced on MS medium fortified with 8.8 µM BAP and 2.3 µM kinetin (Kn). To achieve optimal rooting, the 45-d-old shoot was carefully isolated and placed in a half-strength MS medium. PCR-based molecular analysis using inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) confirmed the genetically clonal nature of regenerated plantlets. About 80% of the well-developed in vitro regenerated plants were acclimatized in the glasshouse, thereby showing the robustness of the developed protocol. Based on the present study, a reproducible in vitro technique was utilized to achieve direct regeneration of approximately 3597 plants from a single explant over a 1-yr period. This approach involved molecular fidelity analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses to ensure reliable results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gymnemic acids (a group of triterpenoid saponins) found in Gymnema sylvestre (Retz.) R.Br. ex Sm. works as the main hypoglycaemic active components. These can be the potential active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to be used by pharmaceutical industries in modern medicines against diabetes. The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) treatment for enhancement of cell suspension culture biomass and to quantify the production of deacylgymnemic acid, gymnemagenin, gymnemic acid IV and gymnemic acid XVII contents. Callus was obtained from in vitro derived leaves of G. sylvestre on MS medium fortified with 3.0 mg/L 2, 4-d (2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and 2.0 mg/L Kn (Kinetin), and the same were used further to produce cell suspension cultures. Cell suspensions were exposed to different concentrations of SNP (5, 10, 20 and 40 μM) and data were collected at 20, 30 and 40 days. Out of the tested concentrations, 20 μM SNP had the highest level of cell culture growth (398.94 ± 8.32 g/L Fresh cell weight (FCW) and 40.00 ± 0.75 g/L Dry cell weight (DCW) on 40-day as compared to control (MS with 3.0 mg/L 2, 4-d + 2.0 mg/L Kn). High-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that maximum accumulation of deacylgymnemic acid (5.51 mg/g DCW), gymnemagenin (2.80 mg/g DCW) and gymnemic acid XVII (2.08 mg/g DCW) in 20 μM SNP treatment which is (13.43, 13.86 and17.33 folds) higher than the respective control at 40 days exposure. This research suggests that G. sylvestre cell suspension culture with optimal SNP elicitation treatment could be used as a good strategy for the large-scale production of these secondary metabolites at the industrial level. Key message: This research suggests that Gymnema sylvestre cell suspension culture with SNP elicitation treatment could be used as a good strategy for the large-scale production of these secondary metabolites at the industrial level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to determine whether health (measured by life expectancy at birth) contributes to economic growth and the functional form in which it influences per capita income. This links our study to the debate between neo-classical and endogenous growth theorists on whether investment in human capital can sustain growth indefinitely. Data on 216 countries for the period 1980-2009 has been obtained from World Development Indicators dataset. This enables us to focus on a period characterized by globalization and demographic transition manifested in the form of population graying. Our findings confirm the importance of investment in human capital. But, in contrast to conclusions of endogenous growth models, we find evidence that benefit from increasing longevity tapers off. We conclude by pointing out that it is necessary to extend this study further by incorporating other dimensions of health that are not captured by life expectancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attempt is made to remove certain omissions and inconsistencies in the recent work of Mishra and Lai (European J. Oper. Res., 178:20-26, ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers in demography, the labour market and health have observed that North Indian women face greater discrimination than women in other zones. This study examines whether a similar pattern is replicated with respect to completion of school education. We find that gender disparities are higher in northern states in rural areas. In urban areas, however, eastern states display greater disparities. This is also confirmed if we control for household traits, community characteristics and the regional context. However, when we decompose the differences in probability of completing school education across gender, the contribution of the control variables is found to be insignificant, relative to that of the coefficient effect (which is sometimes put forward as a measure of discrimination) in both rural and urban areas of Eastern India. The divergence in regional pattern of gender disparity from patterns observed for demographic and health indicators shows that gender discrimination is a complex multilayered phenomenon and the interaction between these layers may assume unexpected forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on educational attainments have tended to focus on attainments at a specific level of education. The change in disparities in attainment over the educational life cycle, however, has been neglected in literature-in India, for instance, the only exceptions are Vaid () and Desai and Kulkarni (). This paper uses unit level National Sample Survey data (2004-2005) to examine gender disparities at different educational levels up to the high school level. Bi-variate analysis of gender disparities computed using the Sopher-Kundu index indicates that although there are substantial gender disparities at lower levels of education, this gets reversed at higher levels in several states. At the all-India level, too, in recent years, a reversal of disparity may be observed in urban areas. Econometric analysis using the variable parameter variant of the generalized ordered logit model reveals that robustness of females increase over the educational life cycle, though disparity remains, after controlling for socio-economic traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Correction to: Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) (2021) 146:161-170 https://doi.or... An incorrect concentration of Kn (Kinetin) was specified in the initial online publication. Correction to: Sodium nitroprusside enhances biomass and gymnemic acids production in cell suspension of Gymnema sylvestre (Retz.). [Extracted from the article]