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Perceived Morbidity, Health Seeking Behaviour and Healthcare Utilisation among Inter-State Women Migrant Workers in Kerala
Internal migrants in India are estimated to be 37% of the total population with Kerala estimated to host over 25 lakhs of internal migrants. Migration, both internal and international can influence a country or region s socio-economic development. The interrelation between health and migration is highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goals where health is determined as an indicator of people-centred, rights-based, inclusive, and equitable development . Though migrants as such are a vulnerable population, the gender experience of migration differs, as women migrants often face triple discrimination of being a woman, unprotected worker and a migrant making them the most vulnerable within the migrant community. They are often overlooked while formulating schemes and policies depriving them of health and social security benefits. The present newlinestudy aims to understand the perceived morbidity, health seeking behaviours and healthcare utilization among Interstate Women Migrant Workers in Kerala. The sequential exploratory research design was employed to newlinecollect data from workers in the seafood processing and textile manufacturing sectors. The qualitative phase had two focus group discussions with 8 participants each and four in-depth interviews while the quantitative newlinephase had cross-sectional surveys with 300 respondents. The focus group discussion and in-depth interview paved the way for understanding the issues and concerns of the respondents regarding their health seeking newlinebehaviours and healthcare utilization as well as hinting at their attitude towards health in general. Themes were able to provide insight into the factors underlying healthcare utilization as well as provided suggestions from the respondents which could have policy implications. The quantitative data was elaborate and was able to address the various dimensions of health seeking and determine the factors influencing healthcare utilization among interstate women migrants in Kerala. -
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Cultural Politics of sports and nationalism in indian popular cinema
The idea of India does not naturally happen. Like Benedict Anderson points out in his Imagined Communities, the media plays a huge role in ensuring that the public upholds certain notions of the nation. So, the imagining of a nation into existence as well as the sustenance of the collective are media-enabled. If print media had influenced people to envisage a nation by narrativizing a cultural commonality within members of a particular political setup in a particular geography (as in the case of 19th century Europe), the part played by popular cinema in independent India in feeding the imagining of Indianness cannot be considered less significant. Cinema texts based on war, terrorism, partition, etc. lend themselves for a nationalist treatment. Sports-themed Indian popular cinema too chooses to establish a marriage of convenience with nationalism. While sports and nationalism right from the first decade of the 20th century have had a history of helping each other thrive, - owing to nationality-based participation in Olympics and a similar format adopted by most other global events - it is in the 21st century that Indian Popular Cinema started exploiting the sports-nationalism relationship for its own progress. This research studies the discourse on Indian nationalism that three sports-themed texts of Indian popular cinema offer. Apart from proving to be huge box office hits, Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, Chak De! India, and M S Dhoni: The Untold Story offer a lot for culture and nation theorists to ponder upon. -
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Forcing Parameters and Propagation Time of Certain Graph Classes
A branch of mathematics that treats vertices and edges of a graph is called graph theory. This theory is used to replicate many real-life situations and physical problems. Graph coloring problem is one of the prominent studies in extremal graph theory. Suppose information has to be communicated in a network or some product has to be marketed to all the people in a cluster then there are two types of cost that needs to be encountered, one the cost of selecting the initial set of vertices in a network and the second is, time it takes to propagate the information through the entire network. The sum of these two parameters is known as the total cost. Optimizing the total cost, which is the sum of vertices and the time it takes to propagate information through the entire network, is a challenging problem for any newlinegraph. Such an interesting and well-studied problem is called the dynamic coloring newlineproblem. The forcing problem also known as infecting or spreading problem is one newlinesuch dynamic coloring problem where two colors- white and black are used. Assume that a fxed set of vertices in a graph G are initially black and that the remaining vertices are considered white vertices. The aim of the forcing process is to obtain, fully black-colored vertices of the graph G by progressively applying the color change law, making sure that at least one white vertex is forced black in every discrete time interval. The forcing index is the minimum cardinality of the forcing sets. Diand#64256;erent types of forcing, such as one forcing, connected one forcing, k-forcing connected k-forcing etc., are defned based on the color change law. The one forcing is the basic form of forcing. A generalised form of one forcing is known as k-forcing where k lt V (G). The time taken by a forcing set to force the entire vertices of the graph G black is the propagation time or iteration index. The subject of study aims to fnd the one forcing number and k-forcing number of diand#64256;erent types of graph classes and derived graph classes. -
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Study of the diffuse ultraviolet background radiation at high galactic latitudes
The diffuse background radiation is observed throughout the whole sky and across every wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum. The study of this background is of great importance as it contains photons coming from a variety of astrophysical environments, traveling over the time scales of a few hundred light years to the age of the universe itself. After the discover of the cosmic microwave background, the diffuse sky in all the other wavelengths was studied with great interest as the could provide useful insights into the formation history of the universe. -
Polyvinyl alcohol and epoxy based composites for radiation shielding applications
Extensive use of radioactive isotopes in medical fields, industries, and radiations in research and nuclear reactor establishments has increased the risk of exposure to directly and indirectly ionizing radiations. While charged particles such as beta, proton, alpha and heavy ions are directly ionizing radiations, X-rays and γ-rays are indirectly ionizing radiations. X-rays are often used to sterilize medical equipment and to treat cancer, while X-rays are used to provide static images of parts of the body such as teeth, bones, foreign substances within body, and are also used in industries to find fracture defects. According to the report by National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP, 2009), the use of ionizing radiations in medical field has drastically increased from 15% to 48% during 1980-2006. These radiations having sufficient energy interact with human body causing damage to living tissues. Though beneficial, prolonged exposure to these radiations can cause both somatic as well as genetic damage depending on time, distance and the type of radiation exposure. Hence, precautionary measures against the hazardous effects caused by these radiations have become a major concern in modern times. While exposure to radiations is inevitable, the radiation effects can be reduced by limiting the time of exposure, increasing the distance from radioactive source and using suitable shielding material. -
Polyvinyl alcohol and epoxy based composites for radition shielding applications
The present study has been focused towards designing efficient, non-toxic and cost-effective shielding materials with good mechanical strength for protection against radiations encountered in various environments like aerospace, hospitals, research and nuclear reactor establishments. From this perspective, to impart desired shielding properties, high Z filler dispersed polymer matrices such as Bi/WO3-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), Ta2O5-epoxy, Ta2O5-Bi2O3-epoxy, micro Bi2O3-epoxy and nano Bi2O3-epoxy with varying filler contents have been synthesized. Structural characterizations were carried out using X-ray diffraction newline(XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to reveal the interactions newlinebetween filler and polymer matrix. The morphological analyses were performed using newlinescanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The AC conductivity measurements and newlineoptical studies revealed low conductivity property of the composites. The thermo newlinegravimetric analysis (TGA) and mechanical studies were conducted to ascertain thermal newlinestability and mechanical properties of the composites. With increase in filler concentration mechanical properties of Bi/WO3-PVA composites were found to be weakening. The TGA studies of Bi/WO3-PVA composites showed decrease in peak degradation temperature with increase in filler content. This prompted us to further design epoxy composites as epoxy matrix has good thermal stability and mechanical strength. Compared to neat epoxy, dispersion of varying wt% of Ta2O5 and Bi2O3 into epoxy matrix led to significant improvement in stiffness, storage modulus, glass transition temperature and thermal stability of the composites. Epoxy composites with 5 wt% of Ta2O5 and 30 wt% of Bi2O3 revealed better thermal and tensile properties when compared to same wt% Bi2O3 filled epoxy composites. The synergistic influence of micro and nano Bi2O3 filler on epoxy matrix composites showed similar thermal behaviour. -
Foreign policy of China under Deng Xiaoping and its contemporary relevance
Political leadership plays an important role in foreign policy decision making in general. Studying leadership traits, styles, beliefs and world view is one of the common methods to comprehend political leaders and their influence on foreign policy. When it comes to authoritarian countries like China, its foreign policy decision making has several layers of which political leaders play all the more crucial role. Irrespective of the period – Imperial, Nationalist or Communist – the political leaders of China are guided by its history, philosophy and the then existing domestic and global circumstances, in formulating and implementing the country’s foreign policy. -
Foreign Policy of China a Under Deng Xiaoping and its Contemporary Relevance
Political leadership plays an important role in foreign policy decision making in general. Studying leadership traits, styles, beliefs and world view is one of the common methods to comprehend political leaders and their influence on foreign policy. When it comes to authoritarian countries like China, its foreign policy decision making has several layers of which political leaders play all the more crucial role. Irrespective of the period Imperial, Nationalist or Communist the political leaders of China are guided by its history, philosophy and the then existing domestic and global circumstances, in formulating and implementing the country s foreign policy. Political leadership plays an important role in foreign policy decision making in general. Studying leadership traits, styles, beliefs and world view is one of the common methods to comprehend political leaders and their influence on foreign policy. When it comes to authoritarian countries like China, its foreign policy decision making has several layers of which political leaders play all the more crucial role. Irrespective of the period Imperial, Nationalist or Communist the political leaders of China are guided by its history, philosophy and the then existing domestic and global circumstances, in formulating and implementing the country s foreign policy. The central enquiry of the study is to assess contemporary relevance of Deng s foreign newlinepolicy paradigm. Through field visits and rigorous analysis of primary sources, the newlinestudy establishes that relevance of Deng s policy continues in the present context except on China s pro-activeness towards issues pertaining to its territorial integrity and sovereignty. Using China s case, the study advances the framework of understanding pertaining to the role of political leadership in foreign policy making. The study also makes certain broad policy recommendations to various stakeholders for consideration. -
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Biomarkers of Autistic Study : Biochemical, Genomics, Epigenetics and Cytogenetic Signatures
Autism is a complex disorder characterized by social issues, impaired communication, newlineand repetitive behavior. The prevalence of autism has increased significantly over the past two decades, with an estimated incidence of 1 in 150 children in 2000. Cytogenetic investigations are essential for confirming clinical diagnoses, as the disorder has high phenotypic variability and genetic heterogeneity. A study aims to confirm behavioral phenotypes of autistic subjects newlinein South India using DSM IV and ATEC open questionnaires. The study found that metabolic factors, including hormones, neurotransmitters, and oxidative ions, play crucial roles in the progression of symptoms. The study also revealed the roles of two major causative genes (NRXN1 and CNTNAP2) in a spectrum of genotypes imparting severity and heterogeneity. -
Pharmaceutical Tablet Uniformity Prediction Using Spectroscopy-Based Data Fusion and Machine Learning Approaches
The pharmaceutical industry is highly regulated, and every manufacturer must demonstrate the drug product's quality, safety, and efficacy before market release. Quality control plays a vital role in ensuring drug products' consistency, purity, and potency through rigorous testing of raw materials in the process and the finished stages of manufacturing. Quality risk management and process understanding are critical to maintaining quality throughout manufacturing. Quality by Design (QbD) offers a structured approach, while Process Analytical Technology (PAT) facilitates real-time monitoring to control risk of product quality. Process analyzers, multivariate methods, process control, and continuous improvement tools are part of the PAT framework that enhances process understanding and aids risk mitigation strategies. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a commonly used analytical technique in PAT environments for both qualitative and quantitative measurements; these are real-time and non-destructive process analyzers. Chemometrics helps extract information from this chemical data using mathematical and statistical methods. With the advent of Industry 4.0, machine learning models have gained popularity in spectroscopy due to their ability to handle complex, high-dimensional data and adapt to various applications. This research introduces a systematic approach to implementing machine learning models as an alternative to traditional chemical testing in predicting the content uniformity of pharmaceutical tablets. The objective is to improve the quality of data analysis and its predictive performance. This study also outlines the importance of using manufacturing information as stratified variables in predictive modeling and spectroscopic data, or sensor fusion data. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach, a real-world NIR dataset developed based on various characteristics such as manufacturing scale, tablet strength, dose proportion, and coating is utilized. This real-world application of the research makes the content more relatable and interesting to the reader. This allows the seamless use of the model across different known environments as the model is trained using sensor data fusion. A comparison of Partial Least Squares regression models and machine learning Neural Network models is evaluated for the model predictability. The work also delves into selecting and optimizing appropriate hyperparameters for a chosen optimal model. It explores the impact of model performance to ensure successful implementation in the production environment and discusses various approaches in monitoring during life cycle management. -
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Job Involvement of secondary school teachers of bangalore in relation to their work ethics organisational culture and leader behaviour of heads of institutions
Education has been the mainstay of our culture, right from the time of the Gurukul to the present day. Even today, the single most important factor in our education system is the teacher and his qualities. The issue of teacher motivation and Job Involvement is an essential factor for classroom newlineeffectiveness and improvement of educational institutions. Though many studies have been conducted in the area of Job Satisfaction of teachers in India, Job Involvement of teachers has received comparatively little attention. Literature review indicates that Work Ethics, Organizational Culture, Leader Behaviour of Heads of Institutions do newlineinfluence Job Involvement along with other variables. In this area, few independent studies are available, but a study related to all these variables is not available. Moreover, most of these studies related to Job Involvement are overseas studies. Hence the investigator felt the need to take up the present study titled Job Involvement of secondary school teachers of Bangalore in relation to their Work Ethics, Organizational newlineCulture and Leader Behaviour of Heads of Institutions. The main objectives of the study were: 1) To find out the relationship between Job Involvement of secondary school teachers their work ethics, organizational culture and Leader Behaviour of Heads of newlineInstitutions. 2) To find out whether differences in background variables like Gender, Subject specialization etc would account for significant difference in Job Involvement. 3) To find out whether any differences in levels of Work Ethics, Organizational Culture, and Leader Behaviour of Heads of Institutions results in any significant difference in Job Involvement of secondary school teachers 4) To find out the interactionxvi effect of the independent variables on Job Involvement 5) To find out newlinewhether the independent variables selected by the researcher are significant predictors of Job Involvement of secondary school teachers. Based on these objectives, researcher formulated 30 hypotheses. -
Development and validation of analytical methods for the determination of anti-fungal drug in active pharmaceutical ingredient and other dosage forms
A simple and sensitive extractive spectrophotometric method is proposed for the determination of fluconazole drug, in pure form and in the available dosage forms. The method (A) is based on ion-pair formation between the fluconazole and Mo(V)-thiocyanate inorganic complex in the acidic medium and method (B) is based on ion-pair formation between the fluconazole and Co(II)-tetrathiocyanate inorganic complex in the acidic medium. For method (A), the formed coloured ion-pair is extracted with dichloromethane and absorbance is measured quantitatively with maximum absorption at 470nm. The molar absorptivity and Sandells sensitivity of the coloured species are 0.38x104 L mol-1 cm-1 and 0.8 ng cm-2 respectively. Beers law is obeyed between 4.0 -50.0 ?g mL-1 of fluconazole concentration. For method (B) the formed coloured ion-pair is extracted by using a mixture of (3.5:6.5) n-butanol : dichloromethane and the absorbance is measured quantitatively with maximum absorption at 620nm. The molar absorptivity and Sandells sensitivity of the coloured species are 0.268x104 L mol-1 cm-1 and 0.114 ng cm-2 respectively. Beers law is obeyed between 5.5.0-80 ?g mL-1 of fluconazole concentration. The first order derivative spectrophotometric method is also proposed for the determination of fluconazole in pharmaceutical formulations. The proposed methods are successfully applied for the assay of the fluconazole drug in different dosage forms without any interference from common excipients. The results are in good agreement with those obtained by the official pharmacopeial method. Keywords: Spectrophotometry, fluconazole, ion-pair complex, pharmaceutical preparation, molybdenum thiocyanate, cobalt thiocyanate. -
Sensitivity Analysis of Heat Transport in Nanofluids with Marangoni Convection
Crystal growth, soap flm stabilization, coating processes, and growth of silicon newlinewafers involve Marangoni convective and#64258;ows. In microgravity situations, Marangoni effect is more prominent than gravity-induced buoyancy forces. In such situations, the convective and#64258;ows in the and#64258;uids will be driven by surface tension gradients. Moreover, the control of heat transport in the hydromagnetic semiconductor crystals involves Marangoni convection. Therefore, the heat transport rate in Marangoni convective and#64258;ow of nanoand#64258;uids is optimized in this research work. The thermal, thermo-solutal, mixed thermo-solutal Marangoni convection problems are explored in the presence of an external magnetic feld. The thermal phenomenon is scrutinized by including thermal radiation. Diand#64256;erent external eand#64256;ects are included in the problems and a detailed parametric analysis is carried out by using graphical visualizations. The newlinegoverning equations are constructed by utilizing the conservation equations of mass, newlinemomentum, energy and concentration. Realistic nanoand#64258;uid models are chosen which are validated with experimental data. Finite-diand#64256;erence-based and Runge-Kuttabased solving methodologies are adopted. The optimization of the heat (and mass) transport is carried out using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The facecentered central composite design is used for optimization. The quadratic empirical models obtained are further explored by estimating the sensitivity. The problem studied in each chapter is given below: Thermal Marangoni and#64258;ow of a nanoand#64258;uid with nanoparticle aggregation newlineA study of magnetohydrodynamic thermal Marangoni convection of ethylene glycol (EG) based titania (TiO2) nanoand#64258;uid is carried out by considering the eand#64256;ect of nanoparticle aggregation. The heat transport phenomenon is scrutinized with thermal radiation. The eand#64256;ective thermal conductivity and viscosity with aggregation are modeled by using the Maxwell-Bruggeman and Krieger-Dougherty models. -
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Audience perception on movies related to social issues: A case study on Ranjith movies /
Film alludes to an arrangement of pictures moving constantly, in a steady progression which makes an illusionary impact of development. Ranjith is a Malayalam screenwriter, filmmaker, producer and actor. The researcher here aims to analyse four films by Director Ranjith and study the audience perception or understanding on films related social issues.