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Introduction: The Oropharyngeal Seal Pressure (OSP) achieved by the supraglottic device holds significant importance as it indicates the feasibility of positive pressure ventilation, the degree of airway protection from supra cuff soiling, and also relates to postoperative morbidity. Supraglottic Airway Devices (SADs) have been increasingly used to mitigate the complications of endotracheal intubation. Aim: To compare the OSP in Ambu AuraGain versus I-gel SADs used in young children under general anaesthesia. Materials and Methods: The present randomised, singleblinded, interventional study included 88 patients aged between 1-5 years, weighing 10-30 kg, with American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) Grade-I and II, undergoing elective inguinal and urology procedures under general anaesthesia. The children were randomly allocated to two groups of 44 each. In Group A, Ambu AuraGain was used, while in Group B, I-gel was inserted to secure the airway. The OSP was determined at the time of insertion and 30 minutes after insertion as the primary objective. The secondary objectives included the first attempt success rate, ease of SAD insertion, ease of gastric tube insertion, fiberoptic visibility of the glottic aperture, intraoperative vitals, and any adverse effects. Unpaired t-test was used to compare clinical indicators for quantitative data between the two independent groups. The Chi-square test was used for qualitative data when comparing two or more groups. The level of significance was set at a p-value

A novel series of 1,2,4-triazole analogues of caffeic acid was designed, synthesized, characterized, and assessed for their capacity to inhibit DHFR, as well as their anticancer and antimicrobial properties. A molecular docking analysis was conducted on DHFR, utilizing PDB IDs 1U72 and 2W9S, aiming to design anticancer and antimicrobial drugs, respectively. Among all the synthesized derivatives, compound CTh7 demonstrated the highest potency as a DHFR inhibitor, with an IC50 value of 0.15 μM. Additionally, it exhibited significant cytotoxic properties, with an IC50 value of 8.53 µM. The molecular docking analysis of the CTh7 compound revealed that it forms strong interactions with key residues of homo sapiens DHFR such as Glu30, Phe34, Tyr121, Ile16, Val115, and Phe31 within the target protein binding site and displayed excellent docking scores and binding energy (−9.9; −70.38 kcal/mol). Additionally, synthesized compounds were screened for antimicrobial properties, revealing significant antimicrobial potential against bacterial strains and moderate effects against fungal strains. Specifically, compound CTh3 exhibited notable antibacterial efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC = 5 µM). Similarly, compound CTh4 demonstrated significant antibacterial activity against both Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with MIC values of 5 µM for each. A docking analysis of the most active antimicrobial compound CTh3 revealed that it forms hydrogen bonds with Thr121 and Asn18, a π–cation bond with Phe92, and a salt bridge with the polar residue Asp27.

We evaluated the effects of select herbal extracts (Tinospora cordifolia [TC], Tinospora cordifolia with Piper longum [TC + PL], Withania somnifera [WS], Glycyrrhiza glabra [GG], AYUSH–64 [AY-64], and Saroglitazar [S]) on various parameters in a diet-induced obesity mouse model. After 12 weeks of oral administration of the herbal extracts in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed C57BL/6J mice, we analyzed plasma biochemical parameters, insulin resistance (IR), liver histology, and the expression of inflammatory and fibrosis markers, along with hepatic lipidome. We also used a 3D hepatic spheroid model to assess their impact on profibrotic gene expression. Among the extracts, TC + PL showed a significant reduction in IR, liver weight, TNF-α, IL4, IL10 expression, and hepatic lipid levels (saturated triglycerides, ceramides, lysophosphocholines, acylcarnitines, diglycerides, and phosphatidylinositol levels). Saroglitazar reversed changes in body weight, IR, plasma triglycerides, glucose, insulin, and various hepatic lipid species (fatty acids, phospholipids, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, and triglycerides). With the exception of GG, Saroglitazar, and other extracts protected against palmitic acid-induced fibrosis marker gene expression in the 3D spheroids. TC + PL and Saroglitazar also effectively prevented HFD-induced insulin resistance, inflammation, and specific harmful lipid species in the liver.

Higher global prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with obesity, steatosis, and insulin resistance (IR), and often progresses to steatohepatitis (NASH). Even after more than twenty years of research, there is still no FDA approved therapy for the treatment of fatty liver disease/NASH though, Saroglitazar - a dual PPAR α/γ agonist has been recently approved as a therapeutic option for the fatty liver disease in India. Hepatoprotective Ayurvedic formulations are widely used and are considered safe. In the present study, C57BL/6 male mice on HFHF diet for four weeks were treated with vehicle, Saroglitazar (3 mg/kg/po), and Hepano - a formulation of five herbs (200 mg/kg/po), at the human equivalent therapeutic doses for additional eight weeks. These animals were evaluated after 12 weeks for obesity, body mass index (BMI), systemic insulin resistance, hyperglycaemia, dyslipidaemia, and hepatic lipid accumulation. Differential liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) based lipidomics analysis demonstrated significant changes in the different class of lipids [phospholipids, sphingolipids, diglycerides and triglycerides (TG)] in HFHF fed group. The protective effects of both Saroglitazar and Hepano were evident against IR, obesity and in the modulation of different class of lipids in the circulation and hepatic tissue. Saroglitazar reduced TG as well as modulated phospholipids levels, while Hepano modulated only phospholipids, ceramides, oxidised lipids, and had no effect on hepatic or circulating TG levels in HFHF fed mice. In addition, in vitro studies using HepG2, THP1 and LX2 cells demonstrated safety of both the test substances where Hepano possess better anti-inflammatory as well as anti-fibrotic potential. Overall, Saroglitazar seems to be more efficacious than Hepano in the regimen used against HFHF induced IR, obesity, and dyslipidaemia.

Fatty liver is one of the most common metabolic syndrome affecting the global population. Presently, limited treatment modalities with symptomatic approach are available for alleviating fatty liver. Traditional and herbal treatment modalities have shown evidence to improve the disease pathology. In the present research work, evaluation of a selected medicinal plant Lysimachia candida Lindl. was carried out to investigate its beneficial effects on fatty liver disease in rats. Male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were fed with high-fat high-fructose diet to induce fatty liver phenotypes. After induction for 15 weeks, methanolic extract of Lysimachia candida Lindl. (250 mg/kg b. w. p. o.) was administrated to the rats daily for the next 17 weeks. Blood samples were collected at different time points to analyze fasting blood glucose levels and relevant biochemical parameters important for the assessment of metabolic disease phenotypes. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based metabolomics was done to study the dynamics of metabolic changes in the serum during disease progression and how the medicinally important plant extract treatment reversed the metabolic diseases. Multivariate data analysis approaches have been employed to understand the metabolome changes and disease pathology. This study has identified the interplay of some metabolic pathways that alter the disease progression and their reversal after administration of the plant extract. Different group of metabolites mainly bile acids, fatty acids, carnitines, and their derivatives were found to be altered in the diseased rats. However, all the metabolites identified between control and disease groups are mainly related to lipid metabolism. The results depict that the treatment with the above-mentioned plant extract improves the regulation of aberrant lipid metabolism, and reverses the metabolic syndrome phenotype. Therefore, the present study reveals the potential mechanism of the herbal extract to prevent metabolic syndrome in rats.

Using time series data from 1980 to 2014, this study examines the relationship between trade, investment and economic growth in India and China. The present study attempts to assess the contributions of not only foreign direct investment and exports as done by the previous studies but also incorporates domestic direct investment and imports. The study uses more comprehensive and recent autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing approach to examine the existence of short-run and long-run relationships. The main advantage of this approach is that it can be used regardless of the stationarity properties of the variables in the sample. The study gives different results for both countries. In case of China, exports, FDI and domestic investment have positive impact on economic growth whereas for India only the variable of domestic investment has been found to be significant. China is a world leader in merchandise exports and its services exports have complemented its goods exports. The main weakness of Indian economy is the poor performance of manufacturing sector as a result of which India’s merchandise exports are concentrated around a few categories. Though India is a leader in IT related services exports but these exports are unable to compensate for poor performance of merchandise exports.

This paper presents a new hybrid method based on Gravity Search Algorithm (GSA) and Recursive Least Square (RLS), known as GSA-RLS, to solve the harmonic estimation problems in the case of time varying power signals in presence of different noises. GSA is based on the Newton’s law of gravity and mass interactions. In the proposed method, the searcher agents are a collection of masses that interact with each other using Newton’s laws of gravity and motion. The basic GSA algorithm strategy is combined with RLS algorithm sequentially in an adaptive way to update the unknown parameters (weights) of the harmonic signal. Simulation and practical validation are made with the experimentation of the proposed algorithm with real time data obtained from a heavy paper industry. A comparative performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated with other recently reported algorithms like, Differential Evolution (DE), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Bacteria Foraging Optimization (BFO), Fuzzy-BFO (F-BFO) hybridized with Least Square (LS) and BFO hybridized with RLS algorithm, which reveals that the proposed GSA-RLS algorithm is the best in terms of accuracy, convergence and computational time.

East Asian Economies are considered to be most successful economies in the world. Following the footsteps of other East Asian economies such as Japan and South Korea, China also shifted towards export-led growth strategy in 80s. This study analyzes the effect of export performance on economic growth of three major East Asian economies i.e. Japan, South Korea, and China. This study has conducted the econometric analysis of macro data under multivariate framework for the period 1980-2012. In order to examine the causal relationship between exports and economic growth, the study has applied time series techniques such as Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and PhillipsPerron (PP) unit root tests to check stationarity of variables, Johansen cointegration test for long run relationship, vector error correction model (VECM) for short run dynamics and for estimating speed of adjustment towards long run equilibrium. The analysis also made use of techniques Impulse Response Function (IRF) and Variance Decomposition Analysis (VDA) to investigate the interrelationships within the system. The estimated results suggested that all variables were cointegrated for East Asian economies. The study concluded that export-led growth (ELG) was only long run phenomenon in China and South Korea. The results for Japan supported growth led exports (GLE) particularly for short run.

Background: Alcoholism is considered as a major health as well as a social problem. Often the family members of alcoholics suffer intense psychological, physical and social trauma due to the core drinking problem of the family member. Most deeply affected are the wives of alcoholics. Aim: The present descriptive study aimed to investigate the problems faced and coping strategies used by the wives of alcoholics. Methodology: A total of 30 wives of alcoholic clients seeking treatment in De-addiction Centre were interviewed for the same. The problems were identified using a non standardized 17 item structured questionnaire while coping in wives of alcoholics was assessed using standardized tool. Results: The findings revealed the problems faced by alcoholics wives were in multiple domains viz. physical, psychological and social. While most highly reported were the emotional problems and least reported were the problems of physical violence. Coping strategies used by wives of alcoholics were reported in three major styles: engaged, tolerant and withdrawal. Conclusion and Recommendations: The problems faced by alcoholics have often wedged the attention in society yet finding and applying effective interventions to reduce the pain and suffering of being a partner of alcoholic is still a challenge.

Microbes are widespread and have been much more studied in recent years. In this review, we describe detailed information on airborne microbes that commonly originate from soil and water through liquid–air and soil–air interface. The common bacteria and fungi in the atmosphere are the phyla of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroides, Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Rozellomycota that include most pathogens leading to several health problems. In addition, the stability of microbial community structure in bioaerosols could be affected by many factors and some special weather conditions like dust events even can transport foreign pathogens to other regions, affecting human health. Such environments are common for a particular place and affect the nature and interaction of airborne microbes with them. For instance, meteorological factors, haze and foggy days greatly influence the concentration and abundance of airborne microbes. However, as microorganisms in the atmosphere are attached on particulate matters (PM), the high concentration of chemical pollutants in PM tends to restrain the growth of microbes, especially gathering atmospheric pollutants in heavy haze days. Moreover, moderate haze concentration and/or common chemical components could provide suitable microenvironments and nutrition for airborne microorganism survival. In summary, the study reviews much information and characteristics of airborne microbes for further study.

In this paper, I examine the understanding of agency among the tribal young women attending college in Pratapgarh (Rajasthan), India. Particularly in light of this shift in their living and academic spaces, I look at how they interpret and perform their agency when it comes to being in a romantic relationship and getting married. It is not uncommon for tribal members to engage in romantic relationships and to seek love marriages. The number of young women migrating for education is increasing. As a result of educational migration, the practice of live-in relationships, romantic relationships, and love marriages has also increased over time among tribal youths. The data for this study were collected over nine months from interviews, group decisions, and participant observation of tribal young women in places they frequent, such as college campuses, hostels, homes, markets, and parks. In addition, the narratives of their parents and other family members are also analyzed to explore this aspect of agency, space, and marriage. In various domains encompassing academic and domestic spheres, my investigation has revealed that tribal young women exhibit agency concerning their involvement in romantic relationships and their preferences for either love or arranged marriages. Notably, a prevailing pattern emerges among most of my participants, regardless of their current romantic status or chosen marital arrangement, which centers around their post-wedding aspirations to pursue their education and attain government employment, thereby fostering financial independence. For these participants, marriage serves as a conduit through which they can sustain their educational pursuits even after entering into matrimony, facilitated by the support and assistance from their partner and in-laws. In addition to providing emotional and moral encouragement, these marital arrangements offer financial assistance, further reinforcing the participants' willingness to embrace matrimony while pursuing their education. Keywords: Educational migration, Gender, Agency, Marriage, Romantic relationships, India., Introduction Many sociologists and anthropologists have studied agency in their work as it is understood together with structuralism, practice theory, gender, and migration (Ortner, 1984; Wharton, 1991; Ahearn, 2001). However, [...]

Purpose: In today's dynamic situation, innumerable challenges are posited in the education sector because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher educational institutes (HEIs) are compelled to adopt digital technologies and technology-mediated learning in the teaching-learning processes. The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors affecting learning effectiveness, learning satisfaction and the mediating role of prerecorded videos from the learners' perspective. Design/methodology/approach: A self-designed structured questionnaire based on previous similar studies is adopted as a survey instrument. It consists of 22 questions to address the five constructs of the proposed hypothesized conceptual model, developed for the study. Data of 311 students from HEIs of Maharashtra state in India were collected. Confirmatory factor analysis is carried out to test the model fitness, reliability and validity, and structural equation modeling is applied to conduct path analysis and hypotheses testing of the model. Findings: Hypotheses testing reveals that perceived usefulness (PU) significantly affects the perceived learning effectiveness, which again affects the learning satisfaction of the students. In addition, perceived ease of use affects the PU as suggested in the technology acceptance model. The prerecorded videos have a moderating role to play in the computer self-efficacy and the perceived learning effectiveness of the students. This research will provide meaningful acumen to enhance the overall learning process among students in urban as well as rural India. Originality/value: This study explores the technology-mediated learning during the unexpected and dynamic situations of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of higher education in India. For sustainable use of technology-assisted learning, educators must understand the key factors that influence students' learning effectiveness and satisfaction. The research outcomes will lead toward developing the human capacities, as the prerecorded videos at the HEIs of India will provide new approaches for effectively adopting digital technologies and technology-mediated learning.