An action plan to assess the current situation of maternal & newborn care at government health facilities in Jharkhand, India

Maternal and child health care especially safe motherhood services are an important factor in the primary health care and are the responsibility of the government and ministry of health. Consolidating and strengthening health network and quality of primary health care is one of the priority issues of the state and the health department for providing good health care and protection to the population. Since, long government health facilities, in spite of being the main source of health care services for majority of people, especially for those having low income; has very poor condition. Therefore, it’s important to improve the quality of services in the government facility, which can be achieved by stressing on the context of care provided. Situational analyses or facility audit are tools which use various approaches to identify the gaps in the structure and Process of the facility, in order to determine the best intervention to improve the performance. This study proposes an ‘Action Plan’ to assess the current quality of care in Govt health facilities in Ranchi, Jharkhand concerning Maternal and newborn care. By using Qualitative and quantitative study Methods like Site assessment, exit interview and focused group discussion. The method aims to identify together with major gaps; the entire minor gaps in the health system responsible for maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity that could be solved at the local level without the involvement of additional resources. The results obtained could be used to frame interventions to strengthen Maternal and newborn care system of Jharkhand.Jharkhand Health Policy Development Economics Adivasi Tribal Ranchi Santali Munda Oraon

Quantitative Assessment of TV White Space in India

Licensed but unutilized television (TV) band spectrum is called as TV white space in the literature. Ultra high frequency (UHF) TV band spectrum has very good wireless radio propagation characteristics. The amount of TV white space in the UHF TV band in India is of interest. Comprehensive quantitative assessment and estimates for the TV white space in the 470-590MHz band for four zones of India (all except north) are presented in this work. This is the first effort in India to estimate TV white spaces in a comprehensive manner. The average available TV white space per unit area in these four zones is calculated using two methods: (i) the primary (licensed) user and secondary (unlicensed) user point of view; and, (ii) the regulations of Federal Communications Commission in the United States. By both methods, the average available TV white space in the UHF TV band is shown to be more than 100MHz! A TV transmitter frequency-reassignment algorithm is also described. Based on spatial-reuse ideas, a TV channel allocation scheme is presented which results in insignicant interference to the TV receivers while using the least number of TV channels for transmission across the four zones. Based on this reassignment, it is found that four TV band channels (or 32MHz) are sufficient to provide the existing UHF TV band coverage in India

Encapsulation of catechin and epicatechin on BSA NPS improved their stability and antioxidant potential

Nanoencapsulation of antioxidant molecules on protein nanoparticles (NPs) could be an advanced approach for providing stable, better food nutraceuticals and anticancer drugs. The bioavailability and stability of catechin (CAT) and epicatechin (ECAT) were very poor. In the present study, the CAT and ECAT were loaded on bovine serum albumin (BSA) NPs following desolvation method. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) recorded size of CAT-BSA NPs and ECAT-BSA NPs were 45 ± 5 nm and 48 ± 5 nm respectively. The encapsulation efficiency of CAT and ECAT on BSA NPs was found to be 60.5 and 54.5 % respectively. CAT-BSA NPs and ECAT-BSA NPs show slow and sustained in vitro release. The CAT-BSA NPs and ECAT-BSA NPs were stable in solution at various temperatures 37°C, 47°C and 57°C. DPPH assay revealed that CAT and ECAT maintained their functional activity even after encapsulation on BSA NPs. Furthermore, the efficacy of CAT-BSA NPs and ECAT-BSA NPs determined against A549 cell lines was found to be improved. CAT and ECAT aptly encapsulated in BSA NPs, showed satisfactory sustained release, maintained antioxidant potential and found improved efficacy. This has thus suggested their more effective use in food and nutraceuticals as well as in medical field

CeMnNi4: A soft ferromagnet with a high degree of transport spin polarization

In this letter we introduce a new soft ferromagnetic compound, i.e. CeMnNi4, which exhibits a large moment (~4.95mu_B/Mn) and high degree of spin polarization. The system has a ferromagnetic transition temperature of 148K. Isothermal magnetization measurements at 5K reveal that the material is a soft ferromagnet with a magnetization saturating at about 500Oe and a coercive field of < 5 Oe. We determine the transport spin polarization of this material from Point Contact Andreev Reflection measurements to be 66% thereby making this material potentially important for spintronic applications.Comment: pdf file with figures Revised Version submitted to AP

Effect of planting techniques and weed control treatments on growth and yield of wheat

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different planting techniques (conventional drill sowing at 16, 18 and 20 cm row spacing and bed planting with two and three rows in main plots) and weed control treatments (pinoxaden 50 g/ha, ready-mix (RM) of carfentrazone and metsulfuron 25 g/ha and pinoxaden 50 g/ha + RM of carfentrazone and metsulfuron 25 g/ha in subplots) on growth and productivity of wheat. The grain yield under row spacing 18 cm (53.30 q/ha), and 20 cm (52.02 q/ha), and three rows bed planting (51.96 q/ha) were recorded statistically at par with each other and significantly higher than 16 cm (49.37 q/ha) row spacing and two row bed planting (48.53 q/ha). Gross returns (Rs. 95637/ha) and net returns (Rs. 43929/ha) and B:C ratio (1.85) were record-ed higher under 18 cm row spacing compared to other planting techniques. Tank mixed application of pinoxaden 50 g/ha + RM of carfentrazone and metsulfuron 25 g/ha applied at 35 days after sowing (DAS) controlled both grassy and broad leaved weeds effectively with lower values of weed dry matter accumulation (7.67 g/ha) and produced growth parameters, yield attributes and yield (53.16 q/ha) at par with weed free treatment. In light of the results to maximise productivity, 18 cm row spacing may be practiced and tank mix application of pinoxaden (50 g/ha) + RM of carfentrazone and metsulfuron (25 g/ha) is recommended to reduce losses due to complex weed flora in wheat

Simultaneous Adsorption and Photocatalytic Degradation of Malachite Green Using Electrospun P(3HB)-TiO2 Nanocomposite Fibers and Films

This paper demonstrated the applicability of electrospun P(3HB) film as a dye adsorbent agent.Malachite green (MG) was used as the model dye in this study. Interestingly, the electrospun P(3HB) film exhibited excellent dye adsorption capacity whereby 78% of dye was adsorbed from a 30 μMsolution ofMG. The film was further improvised by incorporating titanium dioxide photocatalysts to form a dual dye treatment system employing adsorption and photocatalytic degradation techniques. The resultant electrospun P(3HB)-50wt% TiO2 was capable of completely decolorizingMGin 45 min under solar irradiation, which corresponded to 58.7% COD removal. The fully decolorizedMG solution also proved to be nontoxic against A. aegypti mosquito larvae. The reapplicability of this film was possible as it induced a decolorization rate of 98% or more at every usage for ten consequent usages. EDX analysis suggested that there were no significant changes in the concentration of titanium (Ti) in the film before and after ten times of usage. The concentration of Ti in cast P(3HB)-50wt%TiO2 film was found to decrease significantly during the repeated usage. The electrospun P(3HB)-50wt%TiO2 film has high potency as an efficient and inexpensive yet simple method for the dye effluent decolorization, degradation, and detoxification

Nanoencapsulation for drug delivery

Nanoencapsulation of drug/small molecules in nanocarriers (NCs) is a very promising approach for development of nanomedicine. Modern drug encapsulation methods allow efficient loading of drug molecules inside the NCs thereby reducing systemic toxicity associated with drugs. Targeting of NCs can enhance the accumulation of nanonencapsulated drug at the diseased site. This article focussed on the synthesis methods, drug loading, drug release mechanism and cellular response of nanoencapsulated drugs on liposomes, micelles, carbon nanotubes, dendrimers, and magnetic NCs. Also the uses of these various NCs have been highlighted in the field of nanotechnology

Effect of microwave pretreatment on the properties of particleboard made from para rubber wood sawdust with the addition of polyhydroxyalkanoates

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of microwave pretreatment on the properties of particleboard made from para rubber wood sawdust with the addition of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). Para wood sawdust was pretreated with microwaves at different wattages (400, 600 and 800 W) and pretreatment times (5, 10 and 15 min) before being mixed with 10 wt. % of pure PHAs and 10 wt. % freeze-dried cells which contained 46.90% wt. % PHA, in order to make particleboard. The physical and mechanical properties of the particleboard panels obtained were also tested based on the Japanese Industrial Standards A 5098 for particleboard (JIS A5908) including modulus of rupture (MOR), internal bonding (IB), water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS). The results showed that only panel made from 10 wt. % freeze-dried cells and treated with 400 watts for 5 min passed the minimum requirement of IB (1.62 ± 0.06 MPa) and nearly passed that of MOR (7.86 ± 0.67 MPa) but not passed that of WA (40.09 ± 6.53%) and TS (34.69 ± 5.43%). The panels without the addition of PHA cannot test WA and TS values because the panels dispersed immediately when submerged in water. The MOR of panels decreased with increasing wattages and pretreatment time. The wattage and pretreatment time of microwave had little effect on the WA and TS. Based on this study, microwave treatment is an appropriate method for the pretreatment of materials and PHAs can be promoted as potential additives for making particleboard