The problem of chemical fertilizers and pesticides can be solved by the action of plant growth promoting fungi (PGPF). The indigenous fungal isolates obtained from the rhizosphere soil can be used as they are said to solubilize the insoluble zinc, phosphorous, potassium etc. They are known to control the different fungal pathogens and thus promoting the plant growth and health. In the present study, attempt was made to isolate soil beneficial fungi from the rhizosphere soil samples of important medicinal plants such as Aegle marmelos, Azardirachta indica and Citrus limon. A total of 22 fungal isolates was isolated and screened for their efficacy on phosphate and zinc solubilization and antagonistic potential against selected plant pathogenic fungi under in vitro condition and the isolates were identified up to species level.
Natural products the most significant source for pharmaceutical development have been investigated and utilized to alleviate diseases since early human history. Natural compounds from both terrestrial and marine organisms have been extensively used for the treatment of many diseases either in their natural form or as a template for synthetic modification. A variety of new chemical entities from natural resources at present are undergoing clinical trials. The government sector, industries and academic institutions also play an important role in the natural drug development for human health enhancement.
Purpose: To assess incidence of demodex species, correlate ocular symptomatology, evaluate efficacy of coconut oil as treatment method in all types of blepharitis. Materials and Methods: 30 patients with anterior & mixed blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction & non-specific irritation were enrolled for study. History taken & examined clinically. 2 lashes/lid were sampled & mounted on slides with normal saline & observed under light microscope. Number of mites counted. Patients positive for demodex were treated with coconut oil application over lid margins & reviewed after 3 weeks. Results: Incidence of demodex was 40% & it increased with age. Demodex was commonly associated with meibomian gland dysfunction, non-specific irritation, madarosis, cloudy & toothpaste like meibum quality. Burning sensation and itching were common complaints. At 3rd week, all patients were symptom-free. Mite count dropped by 52.8% but were not eliminated. Conclusion: Demodex infestation is often overlooked but it is associated with about half of blepharitis cases. Hence further evaluation should be considered. Coconut oil is an easily available mode of treatment & helps reduce symptoms and mite counts.
Poor water quality and lack of access to improved sanitation continue to pose a significant threat to human health. The burden of disease analysis suggests that lack of access to safe water supply, sanitation and hygiene is the third most significant risk factor for poor health in developing countries with high mortality rates. Diarrhoea is the leading disease associated with unsafe water supply, sanitation and hygiene and is responsible for the deaths. The study observed that out of the 150 respondents, 37% are 31-40 years, followed by 20-30 years with 32%. 130 (86.7%) respondents have got married, and 61% of the respondents are female. 85% adopted the nuclear family system, and 50% of respondents are illiterates in the study areas. 85% of respondents are daily wage earners, 37%are earnings rupees between 2000-2500 per month. 27% of respondents are landless labours, and 37% of households possess below 2 acres of land. 40% of respondents suffer from health problems, and 44% consume rice as their staple food. 62% of respondents have debts, and 33% got from money lenders. 62% of respondents do not have toilet facilities and go open defecation. 92% of respondents stated that toilet makes dignity, saves time and energy, saves their children school days, makes adolescent girls privacy, save wage loss, and toilet makes quality life.
This study aims at classifing hotels in Jordan into groups based on their Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation. Using a survey methodology, the TQM questionnaire was designed to measure the level of TQM implementation throughout Critical Success Factors (CSFs) which are necessary for TQM implementation. A total of 345 TQM questionnaires were distributed to managers, working in 17 four- and five-star Jordanian hotels. The researcher obtained 227 usable TQM questionnaires. The results classified Jordanian hotels based on the CSFs for TQM implementation. More specifically, using cluster analysis on the CSFs of TQM resulted in two groups of hotels: ‘low TQM adopters’ and ‘high TQM adopters’. These two groups showed significant differences across the TQM CSFs
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The disease mainly affects lungs and causes pulmonary tuberculosis. It can also affect intestine, meninges, skin, bones and other tissues of the body. Although the drugs alone can cure TB, it still remains a major public health problem worldwide. The aim of the study was to assess the quality of life and medication adherence in TB patients. The Quality of life was assessed using SF-36 in patients receiving DOTS treatment in initial or continuous phase while the medication adherence was analyzed using Morisky Green Levine Scale. Subjects were also counselled about their disease during their first visit and a follow up was done after a month. A total of 152 subjects were enrolled in the study of which majority of the subjects had Pulmonary TB (55.26%). Diabetes was found to be the most common comorbidity followed by HTN. The average Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental component summary (MCS) were found to be 44.34 and 39.60 respectively. Females had a better quality of life scores compared to males. High adherence was seen in 32.24% of patients while 28.29% had low adherence. Follow up was done for 135 subjects. 15 subjects defaulted and 2 of them died. There was a significant increase in the QoL scores and medication adherence after one month. A significant association was found between the Physical functioning (p=0.001) and emotional wellbeing (p=0.01) with Duration of treatment indicating that subjects who had completed more than one month of their treatment had marked improvement in Physical functioning and emotional well-being scores
It is the goal of every company to gain the most from investment in advertising. Contrary to conventional wisdom that sustained spending in advertising is needed to maintain high levels of sales, the concept of marketing persistence suggests that short term advertising campaigns can have long-lasting impacts on sales. This study offers impact of TV advertising on choice of consumer durable goods in Coimbatore District through the use of a marketing. Significant marketing persistence was found in sales of consumer durables. Based on the findings, implications for long-term marketing resource deployment are suggested.
Introduction: Saliva is a crucial diagnostic tool to evaluate oral health. Chewing sugar-free gum is an effective method to increase salivary flow and can also be employed a medium for the administration of medicinal ingredients. Aim: To evaluate and compare the effect of chewing xylitol, herbal and probiotic chewing gums on salivary acidogenicity levels. Materials and Methods: A single centre, randomised, doubleblind, multiple arm parallel clinical trial was conducted on 60 children aged between 6-11 years. Baseline salivary pH was recorded with the pH meter and then the participants were asked to consume chocolate and salivary pH was recorded at an interval of 5, 30, and 60 minutes. Then children were randomly allocated to Group A-Xylitol chewing gum (control group, n=20), Group B-Herbal chewing gum (n=20), and Group C-Probiotic chewing gum (n=20) and instructed to chew gum according to their assigned group and salivary pH was again recorded at an interval of 5, 30, and 60 minutes. The change in salivary pH was evaluated using one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Post-hoc Bonferroni’s test. Results: The mean age of the study population was 9.23±1.38 years. Statistically significant (p<0.001) increase in pH was recorded post consumption of probiotic, xylitol and herbal chewing gums and the mean salivary pH values recorded at 60 minutes were 7.20±0.21, 7.01±0.23 and 6.43±0.22, respectively. Conclusion: The observations of the study showed that xylitol, herbal and probiotic chewing gums reversed the fall in salivary pH, after an acidogenic challenge with probiotic being better among the three groups.
PHYSICO-CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF RHIZOSPHERIC SOIL OF MAIZE (Zea mays L.) AND ITS EFFECTS ON MAIZE DISEASE INCIDENCE (IN VIVO) IN KARNATAKA
Marketing refers to the actions that elevate customer value by motivating them to purchase the organisation's products or services (Kusumadewi, 2019). An organisation with strong capabilities must exhibit strong marketing capacities to effectively introduce its offerings to new markets (Lee and Falahat, 2019). Marketing strategies are part of an organisation's corporate strategy, which refers to the set of choices an organisation makes to develop and capture value across its business over time. As corporate strategy essentially drives financial performance (Sull et al., 2018), effective marketing strategies must be selected to ensure the organisation's attainment of objectives and long-term success.
Human resource management is critical for hospitals but is frequently disturbed by employee retention issues. This research aims to determine the influence of compensation, organizational commitment, and work motivation on employee retention at Malahayati Medan. The research method applied is quantitative research by collecting data through questionnaires distributed from July to October 2022. The sampling method used is purposive sampling, with 78 employees as the sample. The data analysis method used is descriptive statistics, coefficient determination, multiple linear regression analysis, and hypothesis testing with t-test and F-test. The results of the t-test are compensation, organizational commitment, and work motivation partially influence employee retention. The results of the F test showed that all independent variables simultaneously influence employee retention and 61.1% of employee retention is influenced by compensation, organizational commitment, and work motivation. It is recommended for companies in similar industries pay attention to the results of this research.
The quality of software systems may be seriously impacted by specific types of source code anomalies. For example, poor programming practices result in Code Smells (CSs), which are a specific type of source code anomalies. They lead to architectural problems that consequently impact some significant software quality attributes, such as maintainability, portability, and reuse. To reduce the risk of introducing CSs and alleviate their consequences, the knowledge and skills of developers and architects is essential. On the other hand, ontologies, which are an artificial intelligence technique, have been used as a solution to deal with different software engineering challenges. Hence, the aim of this paper is to describe an ontological approach to representing and analyzing code smells. Since ontologies are a formal language based on description logics, this approach may contribute to formally analyzing the information about code smells, for example, to detect inconsistencies or infer new knowledge with the support of a reasoner. In addition, this proposal may support the training of software developers by providing the most relevant information on code smells. This ontology can also be a means of representing the knowledge on CSs from different sources (documents in natural language, relational databases, HTML documents, etc.). Therefore, it could be a valuable knowledge base to support the struggle of software developers and architects either to avoid CSs or to detect and remove them. The ontology was developed following a sound methodology. The well-known tool Protégé was used to manage the ontology and it was validated by using different techniques. An experiment was conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the ontology and evaluate its impact on speeding up the analysis of CSs.
Supply chain management, especially in manufacturing companies, is very important as the companies rely on the raw materials needed for production. Moreover, the success of a company is also determined by how it could gain competitive advantage to compete in the industry. It is proven that a company with effective supply chain management and competitive advantage would perform better. The purpose of this research is to see the effect of supply chain management and competitive advantage on company performance conducted at PT Ahlindo Perkasa Alam. This research uses quantitative method with Census sampling of 32 employees working in the company. The test results show that Supply Chain Management and Competitive Advantage have a positive significant effect on Company Performance at PT Ahlindo Perkasa Alam as much as 76.1%.
Human resource management refers to the process of employing people, training them, compensating, and developing policies and strategies to keep them (Storey, 2016). Personnel management is an administrative specialisation that focuses on hiring and developing employees to become valuable to the organisation (Bondarouk, Trullen, and Valverde, 2016). Management of personnel can be characterised as a satisfied workforce being achieved, used, and maintained (Sheehan, Garavan & Carbery, 2014). It constitutes an essential aspect of the management of employees in the organisation and their connection. According to Schroeder (2012, p.4), personnel management is achieved to help organisational, individual, and social goals, as the planning, organisation, offsetting, and maintaining of people. Vargas et al. (2018, p. 3052) add that personnel management is the element that primarily deals with human organisational resources. Management of personnel covers job, development, and compensation functions. In consultation with other departments, the personnel management performs these functions principally (Vargas et al., 2018, p. 3053)
Social competence is often seen as a desirable trait during adolescence as it is considered as a protective factor in resilient individuals. It promotes personal and interpersonal effectiveness by enhancing skills needed for dealing with environmental challenges in daily life situations. Poor social competence has been associated with a number of psychosocial troubles during adolescence, including mental disorders, emotional and behavioral problems. Of the many skill building programs used to enhance adolescent social competence, Life Skills Education and Training have been significant ones. The present study investigates the utility of life skills training in enhancing social competency during adolescence. A pre- and post-test experimental design was used in the study to analyze the stated objectives. Adolescent Social Competency Scale was used to select the study sample. 160 adolescent students (mean age=16.44) who scored low on social competence participated in the study. These were randomly divided into the experimental and control group (n=80), consisting of equal number of male and female adolescents (n=40). Participants in the experimental group were trained on six of the ten core life skills, based on the module prepared by the researcher. The training lasted for 10 sessions following which post-test assessments were done. Data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics including independent sample t-test and repeated measures of ANOVA. The results of the study indicate a significant effect of life skills training in enhancing adolescent social competence, irrespective of gender.
Geotextiles have been successfully used for reinforcement of soils to improve the bearing capacity. In this study geotextile as a tensional material have been used for reinforcement of granular soils. Laboratory California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests were performed to investigate the load-penetration behavior of reinforced soils with geotextile. Samples of granular soil are selected and tested without reinforcement. Then CBR tests were performed by placing geotextile in one or two layers at various depths in soil sample. The effect of the number of geotextile on the increase in bearing capacity of reinforced granular soil is discussed.
Since 2006, multiple outbreaks of avian influenza (AI) have been reported in Nigeria involving different subtypes. Surveillance and molecular epidemiology have revealed the vital role of live bird markets (LBMs) in the dissemination of AI virus to commercial poultry farms. To better understand the ecology and epidemiology of AI in Nigeria, we performed whole-genome sequencing of nineteen H9N2 viruses recovered, from apparently healthy poultry species, during active surveillance conducted in nine LBMs across Nigeria in 2019. Analyses of the HA gene segment of these viruses showed that the H9N2 strains belong to the G1 lineage, which has zoonotic potential, and are clustered with contemporary H9N2 identified in Africa between 2016 and 2020. We observed two distinct clusters of H9N2 viruses in Nigeria, suggesting different introductions into the country. In view of the zoonotic potential of H9N2 and the co-circulation of multiple subtypes of AI virus in Nigeria, continuous monitoring of the LBMs across the country and molecular characterization of AIVs identified is advocated to mitigate economic losses and public health threats.
Background: Scabies is characterized by the presence of burrows, erythematous papules, and generalized pruritus which is usually worse at night. Recently an upsurge in the incidence of scabies has been reported in many settings, including the area of the study. The study aimed to determine if there is a nexus between scabies and climate change as a risk factor. Methods: This was a case-control study carried out in a Cottage Hospital. Case files of 18, 000 patients who attended the hospital between 2016 and 2019 were reviewed. The diagnosis was mainly clinical, i.e. based on the presence of itching in the typical scabies locations, presence of scabies burrows and history of similar itching in the other members of the patient’s household. 112 cases of scabies were diagnosed within this period. Results: From 2016 to 2019, the incidence of scabies rose from 3 to 50. Prevalence among males was 59.8%, and in females 40.2%, although the difference was not significant (p=0.0.53). Compared to other age groups, prevalence was highest in the 6-17 years age group (37.5%), but the difference among the age groups was also not significant (p=0.84). Conclusions: Within four years (2016-2019), the incidence of scabies had risen from 3 to 50 in the area of the study, being higher in males (59.8%) than females (40.2%), and in children less than 18 years (37.5%). Community survey, prompt diagnosis, adequate treatment and avoidance of overcrowding might help to stem the observed rising incidence of the disease.
Children's vaccinations play a significant role in public health efforts, particularly in reducing morbidity and mortality rates among children worldwide. However, challenges such as the accessibility of healthcare facilities, misinformation, and perceptions continue to affect the achievement of immunization goals in Tanzania and other developing countries. Based on the need to protect the community from diseases that can be prevented by vaccination, this study aimed to assess vaccination coverage and timeliness among children aged 12-23 months who attended postnatal immunization clinics in the Kongwa district located in the Dodoma region, Tanzania. A quantitative cross-sectional study was employed, involving 200 children who visited vaccination clinics along with their caregivers. Data were obtained through a questionnaire prepared and vaccination cards. This current study revealed that 96.0% were fully vaccinated, with 4.0% partially vaccinated, while no children were found to be totally unvaccinated. Timeliness varied across vaccines assed vaccines: 75.0% of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccinated on time, four doses of Oral Polio Vaccine ranged from 74.0-87.0% of on time vaccination. Three doses of the Pentavalent Vaccine and Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine had on-time vaccination rates ranging from 79.5% to 86.0%. Two doses of the Rotavirus Vaccine reached on-time rates of 84.5% to 86.0%. 60.5% of people received the Measles and Rubella vaccine, with 35.5% experiencing delays and 4.0% remaining unvaccinated. This study revealed that, despite the national efforts to improve vaccination rates for children, issues such as delays and incomplete immunizations persist. Strategies like community engagement, continuous training for healthcare professionals, and improving healthcare accessibility in remote areas should be reinforced to improve vaccination uptake in Tanzania.
Mediterranean journal of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences
Adolescents’ scholastic and social life has become increasingly reliant on the internet and mobile technology in recent years. Problematic Internet Use (PIU) is a growing problem in Indian adolescents. However, in many cases, this use has become obsessive, causing them to neglect other elements of their lives. Adolescents account for over 35% of internet users in India. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychosomatic problems related to internet overuse among school going adolescent students. This cross-sectional survey was conducted among 348 students in selected schools of Aspur block in Dungarpur-district, Rajasthan, India in the month of February 2016. Problematic internet use (PIU) was assessed by Young’s twenty question internet addiction test. The Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-42) and self structured questionnaire check list was used to measure psychosomatic problems among adolescents. Approximately 5.17% adolescents showed Problematic internet use (PIU). Adolescents with PIU were associated with age between 14-16 year, males,10th class of study, using internet since more than 3 years, being at home, mobile as a source of internet use, purpose of internet use with online gaming. Compared with normal internet users, there were significant correlation between Problematic Internet Use and Somatic Complaints r=0.3660, p<0.05, Depression r=0.3982, p<0.05. Anxiety r=0.2512, p<0.05 and Stress r=0.2886, p<0.05. Problematic internet use (PIU) is an increasing problem among teenagers and it has been linked to psychosomatic issues. Timely Effective measures are needed to prevent the spread of this problem