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The COVID 19 pandemic has shaken the world with rising deleterious effects. It triggered some fundamental changes to several population segments sand multiple sectors of the economy. The education system is no exception. With the educational institutions being closed due to lockdown for extended duration, delivery of education has been impacted. This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on education services and proposes an outlook regarding the future of online learning. Given the acceptance by participants (learners and teachers) and advantages (in terms of spread and volume) of online learning over traditional learning, the online learning would continue to exist.

Background: Speech-language pathologists are often involved in the assessment and management of communication, cognition and swallowing deficits in people with Parkinson's. However, speech-language pathologists' self-perceived competency levels in serving people with Parkinson's remain elusive, especially in the Indian context where there is an increasing disability burden due to Parkinson's disease. Additionally, the challenges faced by speech-language pathologists in India to provide efficient services to this population are unidentified. Aims: To determine speech-language pathologists' self-perceived competence and challenges faced when providing services to people with Parkinson's in India. Methods & Procedures: A survey questionnaire was sent to speech-language pathologists through emails and social media asking them questions to evaluate self-perceived competency in serving people with Parkinson's and to identify the challenges to their service delivery. A total of 69 speech-language pathologists responded to the survey. Outcomes & Results: The majority of respondents reported to be competent in dealing with various domains of assessment and management of people with Parkinson's. Although competent, they reportedly faced a few challenges during their service delivery. Conclusions & Implications: This study provides an insight into the speech-language pathologists' self-perceived competency in serving people with Parkinson's in India, and also identifies the challenges related to interprofessional service delivery. The findings of the study have educational and clinical implications.

The families of children with hearing impairments are more focused on early detection and intervention. Transition to school is a stressful experience to the parents as they miss out on understanding the importance of transition process and the information required for a successful, efficient and effective transition to school. The current study was aimed to evaluate the needs of parents on transition of their children with hearing impairment from preschool to inclusive school. Thirty five mothers of children with hearing impairment using cochlear implants in the range of 4-6 years participated in the study. "Scale of parental needs in transition to school" (Kargin, Baydik & Akcamete, 2004) was modified, adapted and administered on the mothers. Percentage analysis indicated that 75% of parents expressed need for information on most of the areas of transition to school. Correlation between groups was found to be significant with respect to educational status, age of the mothers and socioeconomic status of the families. Parents are the most influential yet significantly underrated factors in children's education and hence their information needs should be determined for successful transition process. (Contains 4 figures and 5 tables.)

Hearing impairment is an exceptional circumstance that restricts the child's ability to communicate verbally. Depression is a common stress-related response for hearing parents of children with hearing loss. Evidence suggests that mothers are more inclined than fathers to experience depression in response to their child's hearing loss (Mavrolas, 1990; Meadow-Orleans, 1995; Prior, Glazner, Sanson & Debelle, 1988) and mothers with depression have been found to be less effective at nurturing language and psychosocial development in their children. The aim of the study was to compare the levels of stress and depression in mothers of children using hearing aids and children who had cochlear implants. 50 mothers of children with bilateral profound hearing loss were divided into two groups according to the rehabilitation option used. Two self reporting scales Parental Stress Index (PSI) & Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) duly translated into Telugu were used for the study. The results revealed that mothers in both the groups have high stress levels. On comparison the mothers of children who had cochlear implant obtained significantly higher scores than mothers of children using hearing aid on PSI. The results on CESD revealed high depression levels in both groups with no significant difference in the mean scores between groups. Hence, the present study highlights the need for the rehabilitative professionals to focus on family-based intervention for children with hearing impairment. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)

The rise of plastics in the 20th century revolutionized modern life but inadvertently exacerbated the marine litter crisis. The proliferation of wastes such as single-use plastics has escalated pollution along the coastline, demanding coordinated, decisive, and unified action. While the absence of specific national marine litter policies is concerning, there is growing recognition of urgency to address this issue. A group of experts and stakeholders was involved through a multi-staged workshop to assess the generated information based on scientific evidence and formulate a framework for the National Marine Litter Policy (NMLP). This paper proposes policy options (4 targets & 20 strategies) to address marine litter pollution, especially plastics, and aims to elucidate the urgency and significance of implementing an NMLP as a comprehensive strategy to combat plastics pollution. Implementing dedicated policies and action plans tailored to the unique challenges faced by each country is a vital step towards sustainable oceans. [Display omitted] • This paper explores and evaluates policy options for tackling marine litter pollution. • The proposed NMLP framework features 4 key targets and 20 strategic initiatives. • Science-Policy-based tailored solutions designed for the Indian context • Source and sector-specific measures are the focal points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical Council of India, introduced the Post Graduate (PG) curriculum as 'Competency Based Medical Education' (CBME). Feedback from the end users is a vital step in curriculum evaluation. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to develop and validate a Structured Feedback Questionnaire (SFQ) for postgraduates, encompassing all the components of the PG-CBME curriculum. SFQ was developed with 23 Likert based questions and four open ended questions. Content validation was done by Lawshe method. After getting institutional ethics clearance and informed consent, SFQ was administered to 121 final year PGs (response rate 100%). We performed Principal component analysis (PCA), Structural equation modeling (SEM), Chi squared test (χ2/df); goodness-of-fit index (GFI); adjusted GFI; comparative fit index (CFI) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Cronbach's alpha was done for estimating the internal consistency. The validation resulted in a three-factor model comprising of "curriculum" (42.1%), "assessment" (28%), and "support" (18.5%). Chi squared test (χ2/df ratio) < 2, CFI (0.78), GFI (0.72) and RMSEA (0.09) indicated superior goodness of fit for the three-factor model for the sample data. All the extracted factors had good internal consistency of ≥0.9. We believe that this 23 item SFQ is a valid and reliable tool which can be utilized for curriculum evaluation and thereby formulating recommendations to modify the existing curriculum wherever required, facilitating enriched program outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online reviews from the web are rich data sources that promote tourism analytics. Restaurants make a significant contribution to the growth of tourism in India. The literature studies on restaurant selection show that most decision frameworks do not handle uncertainty effectively and pay subtle attention to heterogeneous sources. Additionally, the extant models (i) cannot accept missing entries and its imputation; (ii) reliability of data source agents are not methodically determined; (iii) attributes' interactions are not properly considered; and (iv) personalized restaurant ranking is unavailable. The research problem considered in this study is the rational selection of restaurants based on online reviews from heterogeneous sources to support travelers in the tourism process. The main objective of this study is to circumvent the challenge in the literatures by proposing a novel integrated decision framework that collects data from heterogeneous rating sources and transforms them into 'probabilistic linguistic information (PLI)', which effectively handles uncertainty by relating occurrence probability to each linguistic term. Due to the uncertain nature of online reviews, missing data are inevitable. For rational imputation of data, a case-based method is proposed. Later, the relative significance of each attribute and the reliability of each rating source are determined using 'criteria importance through intercriteria correlation (CRITIC)' and Dempster–Shafer-based Bayesian approximation methods. Furthermore, the PLIs from each source are aggregated by using the newly proposed discriminative weighted Muirhead mean operator. Personalized prioritization of restaurants is achieved by using the newly proposed probabilistic linguistic comprehensive (PLC) method that acquires expectation queries from customers. Lastly, the practicality of the developed framework is testified by a real-case example of restaurant selection based on the data collected from online sources via web crawlers. Results infer that (i) the proposed framework is innovative/original, personalized, significant, and mitigates human intervention compared to the extant models, (ii) robust in terms of ranking of restaurants even after adequate weight alterations, and (iii) finally, supports stakeholders to effectively plan their tourism process and attain win-win conditions for effective growth of hospitality sector. • Web crawlers are used to extract data from online sources. • Web source data are transformed to probabilistic linguistic data. • Weights of experts and criteria are methodically calculated. • Missing values are imputed methodically via case-based approach. • Query-based ranking of restaurants is obtain via comprehensive method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study evaluates the Pan-India beach litter density (items/m2), weight (kg/m2), composition (%), and probable sources based on the citizen science approach. A total of 33 beaches in 2019 and 30 beaches in 2021 were studied. Based on density, the national beach litter average was 0.475± 0.51 and 0.3 ± 0.4 items/m2 in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Plastic was the dominant litter type (65 % in 2019; 74 % in 2021) and Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) were predominant. Based on Clean-Coast Index, six beaches in 2019 and three beaches in 2021 are classified as "extremely dirty". The principal (∼60 %) sources of litter were tourism and public littering. Improving solid waste management, stringent implementation of environmental legislation, leveraging the polluter pays principle, monitoring the effectiveness of SUPs ban, generating awareness, and beach clean-up at regular intervals by engaging the public, educational, and non-governmental organizations will improve and sustain the cleanliness of beaches. [Display omitted] • Beach litter density on Indian beaches is less than the world average. • Litter categories vary and gradually declining over the past three years. • Single-Use Plastics are predominant over other litter. • Citizen science approach is fairly effective in raising awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To study the usage of anti-asthmatic dugs and enumerate the patients'' non-compliance. Methods: The study was conducted from 5th Feb, 2006 to 5th Mar, 2006. The samples were from the general medicine ward. All patients with respiratory tract infection who received anti–asthmatic drugs were included in the study. Data were collected from clinical notes and structured patient''s data, and patient interview utilizing a piloted questionnaire data collection form. The questionnaire included patient demographics, anti–asthmatics prescribed, dose, frequency and previous treatment if any and its duration, concomitant medications etc. Results: 26.31% of patients were 61–70 years old. Among 57 patients, 91.23% of patients received multi–therapy, 8.77% of patients received mono–therapy, 59.65% of patients took over the counter (OTC) drugs and 57.89% of patients were non compliant. Anti–asthmatic drugs were prescribed to asthmatic patients as oral, inhalation and others (injections), and more than one route were used for administration of drugs. Conclusion: The anti-asthmatics are used to treat breathing difficulties such as allergy. Poor compliance to treatment is common among the patients, which makes it difficult to manage asthma and increases both morbidity and mortality. It is suggested that interventions have to be done by providing counseling and improving the current prescribing trend for better and rational utilization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article examines the regulation of intellectual property (IP) rights by the Indian competition law Competition Act 2002 which was implemented for protection of consumers by preventing practices that have an adverse effect on competition and ensuring the economic development.

The fluorosis problem along with endemicity characterised by high degree of industries releasing fluorides into the environment was studied to quantify the fluoride levels in the different water sources. The analysis showed that out of 17 tube wells monitored, three (17.65%) showed higher fluoride levels. Among the open well monitored, 17 (58.54%) had higher fluoride content out of 41. The samples collected at open ponds showed that nine (47.37%) samples had higher fluoride content. The comparisons were made with the control samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inventton of computer as well as information and communication technology has brought in many changes all over the world in all the fields. It has not left the medical field; there is a big revolution in the health care profession. Many new concepts have evolved in health care profession like telemedicine, electronic health record, health management information system, open access system, new publishing models etc. The clinicians and the scientists are not well informed about this development in India and the infrastructure is also not fully equipped in India. The librarians also find it very difficult to cope up with this situation. This paper deals with the challenges faced by the medical librarians. It also gives few resources that provide health science information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A widespread occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) is reported in all the environmental matrices. Thus, the present study investigated the prevalence of these emerging contaminants in the wastewater from Vichoor village, Tamil Nadu, India. Among the 14 investigated PPCPs, caffeine (CAF), triclosan (TCS), bisphenol A (BPA), and diethyl phthalate (DEP) were the most frequently detected compounds in the concentration range of 5 ng/L to 250.14 µg/L. A seasonal variation (p < 0.05) in the concentration of selected PPCPs was observed, except for BPA, DEP, and carbamazepine (CBZ), due to the difference in the consumption pattern among the households of the community. The fate of selected pollutants was investigated in each component of vertical flow constructed wetland (VFCW). The overall removal efficiencies of COD, ammonia, phosphate, and pathogens were more than 93.34 ± 1.94%, 85.25 ± 1.51, 79.81 ± 1.15%, and 99.9 ± 0.81%, respectively. Also, VFCW exhibited substantial removal of the selected pollutants in the range of 81–97.7%. Microbial degradation (74.9–93.8%) followed by sorption over the substrate materials (0.54–12.56%) seem to be the predominant mechanism for the removal of target PPCPs. The environmental risk assessment witnessed that PPCPs concentration in the treated effluent contributed lower risk to human and aquatic organisms. [Display omitted] • Seasonal variations of PPCPs in the rural wastewater were observed. • Consumption and usage patterns of PPCPs were assessed in the study area • Attenuation of PPCPs in VFCW was consistent without any seasonal impact. • Major removal of PPCPs occurred through microbial degradation • Reclaimed water has PPCPs at a safe level of human exposure for the reuse activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deterioration of water and soil quality, poor infrastructure facilities and improper maintenance are the major factors that govern aquaculture growth and production in major part of India. In the present study aims to identify the suitable land for aquaculture growth and suggest the sustainable practice to improvise the growth of aquaculture in study region. With use of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) the various significant parameters such as geology, pH, salinity, soil media, slope, geomorphology, land use land cover, distance to water, settlement and road networks were analyzed and based on these characteristics, thematic maps were prepared. The results are revealed that, that 882.13 km2 area was most suitable, 1264.88 km2 area was suitable and 14.00 km2 area was unsuitable for aquaculture in the study region. The study results will helpful to decision makers and to make a design plan for aquaculture growth in the study region. • An integrated technique of GIS-AHP was used to determine suitable sites for aquaculture farms in coastal region. • Ten criteria were evaluated for site selection of the aquaculture. • In present study, 2147.01 km2 area was suitable for aquaculture farms. • The GIS-AHP technique is significant method for assessing suitable site with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes briefly a survey conducted at Anna University Library, Chennai (Tamil Nadu) to find out the use of different types of electronic resources and services and the impact of these resources on the academic development of faculty members. Also described are the problems faced in using the electronic resources and success rate of satisfaction in getting the required information on electronic resource/services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wellness industry, which is considered a sunrise sector, has annual estimated revenues totaling Rs.10,000 crores (approximately $2.5 billion US) in India. Wellness industry is considered a sunrise sector. Hence, streamlining the sector and identifying key customer inputs will pave the road map for its growth and progress. Understanding consumers' service expectations, considered one of the inputs, can increase quality and growth in this service sector. This study aims to understand the wellness consumer's attitude, expectation, and usage occasion. To achieve study objectives, data were collected through structured questionnaires from five wellness centers located in the city of Bangalore, India. A factor analysis of 310 responses reduced 24 explanatory variables to six distinct factors. Cluster and discriminant analyses revealed three wellness consumer segments based on consumer attitudes, expectations, and usage occasions. Various demographic factors also influenced which clusters the wellness customers belonged to. Results indicate a need for varying positioning approaches, segmentation, and marketing strategies suited for identified segments. In order to assist managers of wellness centers, researchers created three distinct packages that can be marketed to the three consumer segments identified through cluster analysis. Details of these packages are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article essentially aims to present the results of a major study carried out in the Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu during 2000-2001. The study covered five ecological zones in the rural areas of the district. The study covered economic aspects and the environmental issues of drinking water and this article presents the results pertaining to environment, gender, demographic and institutional aspects of provision of potable water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two critical components of patient support systems for people with TB are regular counseling and locally managed nutritional support. As part of an ongoing differentiated TB care initiative called Tamil Nadu Kasanoi Erappila Thittam (meaning TB death-free initiative in Tamil, TN-KET) to reduce TB deaths, adults with TB with very severe undernutrition, respiratory insufficiency, or poor performance status are identified at diagnosis (triage-positive) and prioritized for referral, comprehensive clinical assessment, and inpatient care. Between January and June 2023, in 6 districts, a pilot exercise was conducted in which trained TB survivors, known as TB champions, provided baseline counseling and additional counseling (if required) to triage-positive people with TB at diagnosis. Additionally, people with TB with severe undernutrition were prioritized for nutritional supplementation for at least 3 months. Among 652 people with TB who were triage-positive at diagnosis, the program staff shared details of 145 (22%), and all were counseled by TB champions (baseline counseling). Program staff identified 74 (11%) triage-positive people with TB who required additional counseling (i.e., those refusing referral or admission or continued admission), and 71 (96%) were counseled by TB champions. Among these, 54 (76%) were admitted or readmitted and successfully discharged. In addition, among 1,042 people with TB with severe undernutrition, program staff shared details of 390 (38%), of which 60% received nutritional supplementation through the efforts of TB champions. We conclude that TB champions were able to provide quality and timely peer support through direct counseling and by mobilizing local resources for nutritional support. The engagement of TB champions can be further strengthened by establishing robust coordination mechanisms with the TB program. Lessons from this pilot will contribute to the Tamil Nadu State TB Cell's plans to expand the role of TB champions and enhance community participation to end TB in India., (© Shewade et al.)

Background: India has been implementing active case-finding (ACF) for TB among marginalised and vulnerable (high-risk) populations since 2017. The effectiveness of ACF cycle(s) is dependent on the use of appropriate screening and diagnostic tools and meeting quality indicators., Objectives: To determine the number of ACF cycles implemented in 2021 at national, state ( n  = 36) and district ( n  = 768) level and quality indicators for the first ACF cycle., Methods: In this descriptive study, aggregate TB program data for each ACF activity that was extracted was further aggregated against each ACF cycle at the district level in 2021. One ACF cycle was the period identified to cover all the high-risk populations in the district. Three TB ACF quality indicators were calculated: percentage population screened (≥10%), percentage tested among screened (≥4.8%) and percentage diagnosed among tested (≥5%). We also calculated the number needed to screen (NNS) for diagnosing one person with TB (≤1538)., Results: Of 768 TB districts, ACF data for 111 were not available. Of the remaining 657 districts, 642 (98%) implemented one, and 15 implemented two to three ACF cycles. None of the districts or states met all three TB ACF quality indicators' cut-offs. At the national level, for the first ACF cycle, 9.3% of the population were screened, 1% of the screened were tested and 3.7% of the tested were diagnosed. The NNS was 2824: acceptable (≤1538) in institutional facilities and poor for population-based groups. Data were not consistently available to calculate the percentage of i) high-risk population covered, ii) presumptive TB among screened and iii) tested among presumptive., Conclusion: In 2021, India implemented one ACF cycle with sub-optimal ACF quality indicators. Reducing the losses between screening and testing, improving data quality and sensitising stakeholders regarding the importance of meeting all ACF quality indicators are recommended.

For several years, mud crabs of genus Scylla have been misidentified owing to their high morphological plasticity and the absence of distinct morphological diagnostic characters. The taxonomic confusion of genus Scylla de Haan is considered to be a primary constraint to the development of aquaculture. Although genus Scylla was revised using morphological and genetic characteristics, taxonomy of Scylla species occurring in India is still not clear. In this study, partial sequences of two mitochondrial genes, 16S rRNA and CO1 (Cytochrome C oxidase subunit I) in populations of Scylla spp. obtained from eleven locations along the Indian coast were used to differentiate and resolve taxonomical ambiguity of the mud crab species in India. The sequences were compared with previously published sequences of Scylla spp. Both trees generated based on 16S rRNA and CO1 indicated that all S. tranquebarica morphotypes obtained during this study and S. tranquebarica sequences submitted previously from Indian waters reciprocally monophyletic with reference sequence of S. serrata. Both sequence data and morphological characters revealed that the species S. serrata (Forskal) is the most abundant followed by S. olivacea. Further, the 16S rRNA and COI haplotypes of Indian S. tranquebarica obtained in the study significantly differed with the known S. tranquebarica by 6.7% and 10.6% respectively whereas it differed with known S. serrata by 0.0-0.7% only, a difference that was not statistically significant. From these studies it is clear that "S. tranquebarica" commonly reported from India should be S. serrata (Forskal).

Transcriptome sequencing using Illumina RNA-seq was performed on populations of black tiger shrimp from India. Samples were collected from (i) four landing centres around the east coastline (EC) of India, (ii) survivors of a severe WSSV infection during pond culture (SUR) and (iii) the Andaman Islands (AI) in the Bay of Bengal. Equal quantities of purified total RNA from homogenates of hepatopancreas, muscle, nervous tissue, intestinal tract, heart, gonad, gills, pleopod and lymphoid organs were combined to create AI, EC and SUR pools for RNA sequencing. De novo transcriptome assembly resulted in 136,223 contigs (minimum size 100 base pairs, bp) with a total length 61 Mb, an average length of 446 bp and an average coverage of 163× across all pools. Approximately 16% of contigs were annotated with BLAST hit information and gene ontology annotations. A total of 473,620 putative SNPs/indels were identified. An Illumina iSelect genotyping array containing 6,000 SNPs was developed and used to genotype 1024 offspring belonging to seven full-sibling families. A total of 3959 SNPs were mapped to 44 linkage groups. The linkage groups consisted of between 16-129 and 13-130 markers, of length between 139-10.8 and 109.1-10.5 cM and with intervals averaging between 1.2 and 0.9 cM for the female and male maps respectively. The female map was 28% longer than the male map (4060 and 2917 cM respectively) with a 1.6 higher recombination rate observed for female compared to male meioses. This approach has substantially increased expressed sequence and DNA marker resources for tiger shrimp and is a useful resource for QTL mapping and association studies for evolutionarily and commercially important traits.

Larvae (15 to 21 d post hatch, dph) of the Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer (Bloch) suffered heavy mortalities (60 to 90%) during the hatchery-rearing phase. Darkened and moribund larvae showed no evidence of bacterial or parasitic infections. Tissue sections of brain and spinal cord showed clear necrotic vacuolation. Electron microscopy revealed membrane-bound viral particles in the cytoplasm of the nerve cells. The viral particles measured 28 to 30 nm in diameter. Primer sets, designed for the amplification of the RNA2 segment of the piscine nodavirus coat protein gene, were used in the RT-PCR analysis of moribund larvae of 20 and 21 dph which produced the amplified product of 430 bp. The clinical manifestations, pathology and electron microscopy observations supported by the RT-PCR analysis suggest that the nerve necrosis was due to nodavirus infection in the larvae. This is the first report of piscine nodavirus infection from the Indian sub-continent.

Delinquency among children is not a problem only in Western countries. Psychosocial analysis of inmates of an approved school revealed that broken home was the reason for the emotional stress which triggered antisocial behaviour. Children want to be with their parents inspite of the injustice done to them.