EFFECT OF LENGTH OF STAY ON GUEST SATISFACTION-AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF INDIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY

The unpredictable and dynamic changes experienced by the corporate world have transformed the business environment. Now the key for remaining successful is in retaining customers rather than in acquiring customers. Customer satisfaction is considered the essence of success in today's highly competitive world of business, and it has become the corporate goal as more and more companies strive for quality in their product. The purpose of this article is to examine the influence of ‘length of stay’of a guest in a hotel, on satisfaction, revisit intention and making favorable referrals. This paper considers the reaction of ‘international travelers’ who have boarded their flight from Chennai, India. Outcome of this research indicates that one of the critical challenges faced by the hoteliers is to create opportunities to their guests to experience (all) the facilities available in the hotel, especially for those who stay for a shorter period. Results shows that length of stay positively influences the satisfaction level but not revisit attitude and positive referrals. However satisfied guests tends to revisit the same hotel in future and likely to refer to their friends and relatives.’ Satisfaction is the nucleus and everything revolves around it and duration of stay is one of the major determinants of hotel factors which is a major predictor of satisfactionHotel industry, Guest satisfaction, Length of stay, purpose of visit, revisit, recommendation

Carnitine metabolism to trimethylamine by an unusual Rieske-type oxygenase from human microbiota

Dietary intake of L-carnitine can promote cardiovascular diseases in humans through microbial production of trimethylamine (TMA) and its subsequent oxidation to trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) by hepatic flavin-containing monooxygenases. Although our microbiota are responsible for TMA formation from carnitine, the underpinning molecular and biochemical mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, using bioinformatics approaches, we first identified a two-component Rieske-type oxygenase/reductase (CntAB) and associated gene cluster proposed to be involved in carnitine metabolism in representative genomes of the human microbiota. CntA belongs to a group of previously uncharacterized Rieske-type proteins and has an unusual "bridging" glutamate but not the aspartate residue, which is believed to facilitate inter-subunit electron transfer between the Rieske centre and the catalytic mononuclear iron centre. Using Acinetobacter baumannii as the model, we then demonstrate that cntAB is essential in carnitine degradation to TMA. Heterologous overexpression of cntAB enables Escherichia coli to produce TMA, confirming that these genes are sufficient in TMA formation. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments have confirmed that this unusual "bridging glutamate" residue in CntA is essential in catalysis and neither mutant (E205D, E205A) is able to produce TMA. Together, our study reveals the molecular and biochemical mechanisms underpinning carnitine metabolism to TMA in human microbiota and assigns the role of this novel group of Rieske-type proteins in microbial carnitine metabolism

Cytological and transcript analyses reveal fat and lazy persister-like bacilli in tuberculous sputum

As nonreplicating tubercle bacilli are tolerant to the cidal action of antibiotics and resistant to multiple stresses, identification of this persister-like population of tubercle bacilli in sputum presents exciting and tractable new opportunities to investigate both responses to chemotherapy and the transmission of tuberculosis

A study of different routes of hysterectomies and its outcome in benign gynaecological conditions in tertiary care centre in Tamil Nadu

Background: Hysterectomy is the most frequently performed major surgical procedure in gynaecology. It is an efficacious treatment option for numerous gynaecological conditions. This study aimed to investigate the different routes of hysterectomies, such as abdominal, vaginal, and laparoscopic, and their outcomes in benign gynaecological diseases in a tertiary care centre in Tamil Nadu. Methods: This retrospective observational study included 200 patients who were admitted to the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu, India underwent hysterectomy between January 2021 and January 2023, and were collected from the MRD. Patient history included age, parity, indication for surgery, duration of surgery, route of hysterectomy, intraoperative or postoperative complications, duration of hospital stay were collected. Results: This study analysed 200 patients who underwent hysterectomy, with the majority aged between 40-50 years (60%) and multiparous women (85%). The most common indications were abnormal uterine bleeding (80%), uterine prolapse (12%), benign ovarian cyst (5%) and post-menopausal bleeding (3%). Total abdominal hysterectomy (49%) was the most common approach, followed by vaginal/non-descent hysterectomy (19.5%), total laparoscopic hysterectomy (16.5%), and laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (15%). Complications included wound infections (3.5%), excessive bleeding (3%), bladder injuries (1%) and ureter injury (0.5%). The procedure duration and hospital stay were shorter for vaginal and laparoscopic approaches than for open abdominal hysterectomy. The laparoscopic approach had the lowest rates of complications such as bladder injuries and excessive bleeding. Conclusions: Vaginal hysterectomy is preferred for uterine prolapse, whereas laparoscopic techniques offer benefits such as reduced blood loss and lesser hospital stay and morbidities. Although rare, complications emphasize the need for careful postoperative monitoring to optimize patient care

Innovating Against Odds: A Medical Student's Research Journey in a Resource-Constrained Environment

"You need not know the R in Research to embark on the journey; a strong motivation is enough to set things in motion and let the journey unfold naturally." In this article, I share my journey as a medical student starting research in a Resource-Constrained Environment. I talk about the learning curve, milestones, setbacks, and presenting my research work. I've created a simple guide for fellow students in similar situations to do impactful research. Beyond studies, the shared journey with my research partner formed a lasting bond, showing how teamwork fosters understanding and innovation. I also discuss institutional barriers, especially the toxic research culture not talked about much. I stress the importance of raising awareness about these challenges for medical students and the need for a supportive and ethical research environment. It's crucial to create a space where aspiring researchers can thrive without unethical practices, emphasizing the value of knowledge pursuit over personal ambitions

Design and Development of an Efficient Branch Predictor for an In-order RISC-V Processor

Conditional branches are a serious issue in the pipelined processor. The branch direction and branch target address are determined and calculated by the processor after several cycles of the instruction decode, which results in the pipeline stall. Pipeline stall leads to control hazards in the processor and results in performance degradation. To increase the rate of the instruction flow in modern processors, branch prediction is used. Branch prediction provides an ideal speedup in performance of the processor. The processor predicts the direction in the branch prediction and determines instructions in accordance with the predicted path. The processor tests any prediction for the branch when the branch condition is calculated. If the prediction is incorrect, the processor will automatically abort all instructions taken along the wrong path and return the state to the address of the determined branch. An inaccurate branch predictor results in increased program run-time and leads to higher power consumption. Once the position of a branch is known, the actual target address of the next instruction must also be determined along the expected path. If the branch is expected not to be taken, the destination address is simply the address of the current branch plus the size of the command word. Unless the branch is to be taken, then the target depends on the branch type. The branch target buffer (BTB) can reduce branch efficiency by predicting the branch path and storing information used by branch. There are no stalls if the branch entry is found in BTB, and the calculation is accurate, or the penalty shall be two cycles or more. This paper focuses on the design and development of branch predictor with BTB for the fetch unit, which further integrates to an in-order pipelined RISC-V processor. The performance of the RISC-V core in terms of clock cycle latency, instruction per cycle (IPC), was measured and analyzed

Predictors of vitamin D status and its association with parathyroid hormone in young New Zealand children.

BACKGROUND: Despite increased awareness of the adverse health effects of low vitamin D status, few studies have evaluated 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] status in young children. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess vitamin D status on the basis of 25(OH)D and its relation with parathyroid hormone (PTH) and to identify possible predictors of 25(OH)D status in young children living in a country with minimal vitamin D fortification. DESIGN: Serum 25(OH)D and PTH concentrations were measured in a cross-sectional sample of children aged 12-22 mo [n = 193 for 25(OH)D, n = 144 for PTH] living in Dunedin, New Zealand (latitude: 45 degrees S). Anthropometric, dietary, and sociodemographic data were collected. RESULTS: The majority of children sampled in the summer (94%; 47 of 50) had 25(OH)D >50 nmol/L; however, nearly 80% of children sampled in the winter (43 of 55) had serum concentrations 60-65 nmol/L, a plateau in PTH was evident. CONCLUSIONS: Seasonal variation in 25(OH)D concentration implies that postsummer vitamin D stores were insufficient to maintain status >50 nmol/L year-round. Examination of the predictors of 25(OH)D in our model shows few modifiable risk factors, and thus effective dietary strategies may be required if future research determines that children with 25(OH)D concentrations <50 nmol/L are at significant health risk. This trial was registered at www.actr.org.au as ACTRN12605000487617

Optimization and experimental investigation of 3D printed micro wind turbine blade made of PLA material

This paper presents the design, development, and optimization of a 3D printed micro horizontal axis wind turbine blade made of PLA material. The objective of the study was to produce 100 watts of power for low-wind-speed applications. The design process involved the selection of SD7080 airfoil and the determination of the material properties of PLA and ABS. A structural analysis of the blade was carried out using ANSYS software under different wind speeds, and Taguchi’s L16 orthogonal array was used for the experiments. The deformation and equivalent stress of the PLA material were identified, and the infill percentage and wind speed velocity were optimized using the moth-flame optimization (MFO) algorithm. The results demonstrate that PLA material has better structural characteristics compared to ABS material. The optimized parameters were used to fabricate the turbine blades using the fusion deposition modeling (FDM) technique, and they were tested in a wind tunnel.Web of Science166art. no. 250

A Retrospective Cross Sectional Study To Validate Tops Score In Outborn Neonates Referred To Tertiary Care Centre

Background-One of the Sustainable Development Goals aims to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1000 live births by 2030. In India, 63% all deaths among children under the age of 5 occurs in the neonatal period, of which 75% deaths occur in their first week of birth. Intrauterine transport to a centre with the necessary resources is considered ideal to deliver a high risk neonate. A further fall in Neonatal Mortality Rate can be achieved by improving Neonatal Transport Facilities with special emphasis on monitoring parameters like temperature, oxygen saturation, skin perfusion, and blood sugar (acronym TOPS) that can significantly affect neonatal physiology and outcome. This retrospective study aims to validate the TOPS score as a predictor of severity and mortality in outborn neonates.Materials And Methodology - A retrospective diagnostic accuracy cross sectional study was conducted in Department of Paediatrics in a Tertiary care hospital for a duration of 12 months to validate the use of TOPS score to predict severity and outcome in out born neonates referred to Tertiary care hospital.Results - The present study showed increase in mortality with increase in TOPS score.A score of ≥2 has got the maximum discrimination for prediction of mortality. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of derangements of two or more TOPS parameters in predicting mortality were 37.5%, 98.9% 75% and 94.7% respectively. Conclusion-Our study showed that an increase in the TOPS score correlates with higher mortality, making it an excellent tool for predicting severity and mortality in transported outborn neonates. It is simple, inexpensive, and requires minimal expertise, making it practical for healthcare professionals

ArrayOme: a program for estimating the sizes of microarray-visualized bacterial genomes

ArrayOme is a new program that calculates the size of genomes represented by microarray-based probes and facilitates recognition of key bacterial strains carrying large numbers of novel genes. Protein-coding sequences (CDS) that are contiguous on annotated reference templates and classified as ‘Present’ in the test strain by hybridization to microarrays are merged into ICs (ICs). These ICs are then extended to account for flanking intergenic sequences. Finally, the lengths of all extended ICs are summated to yield the ‘microarray-visualized genome (MVG)’ size. We tested and validated ArrayOme using both experimental and in silico-generated genomic hybridization data. MVG sizing of five sequenced Escherichia coli and Shigella strains resulted in an accuracy of 97–99%, as compared to true genome sizes, when the comprehensive ShE.coli meta-array gene sequences (6239 CDS) were used for in silico hybridization analysis. However, the E.coli CFT073 genome size was underestimated by 14% as this meta-array lacked probes for many CFT073 CDS. ArrayOme permits rapid recognition of discordances between PFGE-measured genome and MVG sizes, thereby enabling high-throughput identification of strains rich in novel genes. Gene discovery studies focused on these strains will greatly facilitate characterization of the global gene pool accessible to individual bacterial species