Data Pertains Research Articles

Community Value Co-Creation as a Catalyst for Village Tourism Sustainability: A New Paradigm

The purpose of this study is to propose a new conceptual model for tourism marketing management science, focusing on the perspective of the head of the tourist village manager to achieve village tourism sustainability. This study employs a quantitative approach and includes data from 140 respondents. The data pertains to the green environment mindset, local wisdom, community co-creation, and sustainable tourist villages. A quantitative research method was utilized in this study, with the head of the tourist village manager representing Indonesia. Data collected from 140 tourist village managers were analyzed using Smart PLS-4. This study's main findings emerged from the mediation hypothesis test results. Increasing community value co-creation, supported by the green environment mindset and local wisdom, contributed to sustainable tourist villages. This study adopts the perspective of service-dominant logic.

Turn-Taking als Merkmal interaktionaler Kompetenz in einem Virtual Exchange – Konversationsanalyse von videogestützter Online-Interaktion zwischen israelischen und deutschen Englischstudierenden

This article investigates turn-taking as a feature of Second Language Interactional Competence (L2 IC) within a Virtual Exchange (VE) project involving undergraduate English Foreign Language (EFL) students. Through Conversation Analysis (CA), a German-Israeli focus group (n = 4) is monitored over seven online meetings. VE, or Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), is a telecollaboration method involving participants from different cultures or geographical regions. The study refers to the Extended Telecollaboration Practice Project, with English as the target language serving as a Lingua Franca. Turn-taking processes within the focus group are considered and discussed, utilizing GAT2 transcription excerpts. Since the data pertains to a group of participants over the course of a semester, aspects of longitudinal conversation analysis are also incorporated.

Study on Venture Capital Investments and its ability to stimulate Innovation and spur Economic Growth in India

Objective: This paper examines the impact of Venture Capital Investments (VCI) on Innovation and Economic Growth in India. Venture Capital has emerged as a critical source of funding for startups, enabling them to develop innovative ideas, scale their operations, and contribute to economic growth. India, with its vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, has witnessed a significant increase in venture capital investments over the past decade. Research Design and Methods used: This paper gathers key information from the market, varying from various reports and relevant data published by private players like E&Y, Bain & Company, Hurun, Venture Intelligence, Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA); besides, governmental reports of SIDBI, SEBI, Economic Surveys, MSME Annual Reports and ‘Intellectual Property India’ report published by the Controller General of Patents, Design, Trademarks and Geographical Indications, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. This is qualitative research. For the purpose of this research, the data pertains to last ten years. Using Python language, data analysis has been done by finding Correlation and Regression Analysis. The model has been run on Jupyter Notebook for Python. Findings: There is, visible upsurge in the VC investments in the last few years, much credited to the pro-active approach of the Government in creating the right ambience and the infrastructure. The flagship programs of the Government, like, Startup Mission and Make in India have yielded positive results. Pandemic did its own damage, but, post Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a considerable upward shift in the VC investments as they venture into new terrains, seeding new technologies and nurturing Startups. AS a result of this, there has been a significant jump in the number of Unicorns. There has been a quantum jump in number of VCs that have invested in India and also the deal size is consistently on the rise. Implications and Recommendations: By studying the existing research and data available, it is observed that there is asymmetry between the literature and the industry. The venture capital industry is inward cautious and there is dearth of exact deal data because of the secrecy and privacy issue, coupled with demographic and geographical shortcoming to collect the data. The role played by IVCA and other private players is, undoubtedly, worth a praise. It is recommended that further research should alienate with industry and be more methodical. Contribution and Value Added: This study will benefit, immensely, to both researchers, intending to do further research in this area, and, also to the industry in building a nexus with academia. This research has taken one step forward in building the bridge between the two. This paper fills the gap by identifying the relationship between key variables and apply statistical tools like Correlation and Regression analysis to assess the trends and contribution of venture capital investments in terms of key variables innovation and economic growth. The outcomes of this study will offer a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental elements of venture capital investments (VCI) and their influence on both innovation and the growth of the Indian economy.

Enhancing Farmer’s Income and Farmer Producer Organizations’ (FPOs) in India

The agriculture sector in India has spent the last few decades primarily focusing on expanding agricultural output and enhancing food security. This approach included the following steps: first is, enhancing production through the use of high-quality seeds, agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, and irrigation. Second is, providing subsidies for farm inputs and paying fair prices for crops. Third is, Public investments in agriculture, and last is institutions that facilitate trade. Mid through the 1960s, the nation experienced a food shortage. In India, the green revolution overcome the path to address the food crisis that had persisted for the previous fifty years. India's population increased by 2.55 times while production of food increased by 3.7 times, which has made India a self-sufficient country in the food industry and able to export the net food to other countries. The strategy had no impact on the rise of farmers' income and had no provisions for their welfare. Several studies demonstrate that an increase in output should increase a farmer's income, but this was not always true. The Government of India (GoI) has announced in the union budget to double the income of farmers by 2022. Various grass root institutions are existing in India such as self-help groups, farmer's groups, farmer's interest groups, cooperatives, common interest groups, and Farmer Producer Organization (FPO). The GOI has suggested FPO as a tool, In order to mobilize the farmers and bring them under one umbrella to achieve the goal and double the farmers' income. Farmer Producer Organizations offer small and marginal farmers institutional support, assure a stable income for their agricultural output, and ultimately improve their standard of living. The main objective of this paper is to examine the structure of farmers' income in the country and how Farmer producer organizations empower the farmer's income to assess the possibility of enhancing the farmers’ income and discuss the FPO's tools for increasing the farmers’ incomes. The study is based on secondary data and the study is primarily exploratory. This paper addresses the issue of farmers' income and FPOs. This paper is based on 70th and 77th round NSSO Situation Assessment Surveys. The data pertains to the years 2012 and 2018-19. The information was gathered from different secondary sources, such as data on policies and other government sources, including NGOs, National and international management journals, and online sources are included. The study concludes that although boosting farmers' real earnings in six years is a challenging challenge, it may not be entirely unachievable if appropriate techniques are used. The study finds that increases over five to six years in nominal terms are already occurring. The instruments should be multifaceted and focus on increasing returns, lowering costs, and creating sustainable incomes while taking into account the dwindling natural resource base. For tracking the development, we should periodically have access to trustworthy income statistics. The income described in this paper is the gross cost of production. It can be concluded that FPOs form a core part of the strategy to sustain the life of small and marginal farmers out of poverty and enhance their income and competitiveness in agricultural markets. The expected result of this effort is to provide a single window for farmers to increase their income from farm produce through direct marketing and to gain collective bargaining power. So, the purpose of this study is to illustrate how smallholder farmers might raise their income through FPOs, which may help the farmers in doubling their income and empower them.

An ensemble of artificial neural network models to forecast hourly energy demand

We propose an ensemble artificial neural network (EANN) methodology for predicting the day ahead energy demand of a district heating operator (DHO). Specifically, at the end of one day, we forecast the energy demand for each of the 24 h of the next day. Our methodology combines three artificial neural network (ANN) models, each capturing a different aspect of the predicted time series. In particular, the outcomes of the three ANN models are combined into a single forecast. This is done using a sequential ordered optimization procedure that establishes the weights of three models in the final output. We validate our EANN methodology using data obtained from a A2A, which is one of the major DHOs in Italy. The data pertains to a major metropolitan area in Northern Italy. We compared the performance of our EANN with the method currently used by the DHO, which is based on multiple linear regression requiring expert intervention. Furthermore, we compared our EANN with the state-of-the-art seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average and Echo State Network models. The results show that our EANN achieves better performance than the other three methods, both in terms of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and maximum absolute percentage error. Moreover, we demonstrate that the EANN produces good quality results for longer forecasting horizons. Finally, we note that the EANN is characterised by simplicity, as it requires little tuning of a handful of parameters. This simplicity facilitates its replicability in other cases.

Uncovering the Synergy: Karnataka Government's Collaboration with Third Sector Organizations (TSOs) for Rural Development and Support during Covid-19

Aims: Third sector organisations comprises of charities, social enterprises, and voluntary groups supporting communities at local level. The study has focused on the relationship between the State and Third Sector Organizations (TSOs) in delivering services to impoverished rural community. Study Design: Mention the design of the study here. Place and Duration of Study: Thirty TSOs were chosen from Kolar, Chikkaballapur, and Tumakuru districts, encompassing a variety of entities including NGOs, SHGs, and primary-level cooperatives, which collectively constitute the third sector comprising charities, social enterprises, and voluntary groups supporting local communities. The data pertains to the year 2021-22. Methodology: To achieve the specific objectives of the study, descriptive statistics were employed to assess the service delivery dynamics between the State and TSOs. Results: The findings revealed that during the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, Third Sector Organizations (TSOs) have played a crucial role in extending support to communities in various spheres. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, TSOs extended educational support to 1,687 individuals, representing 2.06 per cent of the total beneficiaries. A significant majority (83.33%) of these organisations actively participated in implementation of Government-supported projects, maintaining a two-way relationship with the government (73.33%). The organisations had also taken financial help from Government in the form of funds (70 %), grants (33.33 %), and subsidies (33.33 %). The study also revealed that majority (66.67 %) of the organizations were having political interference in TSO. Furthermore, a substantial majority (90%) of the organizations anticipated timely financial support from the Government. Conclusion: The study underscores the indispensable role of Third Sector Organizations (TSOs) in bolstering impoverished rural communities, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite challenges, TSOs actively engage in government-supported projects, fostering a symbiotic relationship. However, concerns persist regarding political interference within TSOs, highlighting the need for safeguarding their autonomy. Overall, the findings emphasize the necessity of consistent and timely financial support from the government to sustain TSO initiatives effectively. The study recommended the necessity of providing punctual financial support from the government to encourage TSOs in enhancing their service delivery to the rural poor.

Parameters Estimation of a Proposed Non-Homogeneous Poisson Process and Estimation of the Reliability Function Using the Gompertz Process: A Comparative Analysis of Artificially Intelligent and Traditional Methods

This work presents a novel approach to enhancing the rate of occurrence of non-homogeneousPoisson processes (NHPP) by utilizing the Gompertz distribution as the rate of occurrence. The primary objectiveof this study is to determine the parameters of the new process using both traditional methods and intelligenttechnology, specifically particle swarm optimization (PSO). Additionally, the study aims to estimate the reliabilityfunction of the process. The suggested model is simulated to achieve these goals, and the results are comparedamong various estimation techniques to identify the most accurate estimator. The study demonstrates that whenpredicting the time rate of occurrence of the proposed Gompertz process and its reliability function, the PSOalgorithm outperforms other approaches. Furthermore, this research showcases a practical application utilizing realdata from the Mosul power facility. Specifically, the data pertains to the stoppage times of two consecutive units ofthe Mosul Dam power stations from January 1st, 2021 to January 1st, 2022. Overall, this study introduces a novelprocess based on the Gompertz distribution to improve the rate of occurrence of NHPP. It employs particle swarmoptimization to calculate the process parameters and estimate the reliability function. The superiority of the PSOalgorithm is demonstrated through comprehensive comparisons. The practical application using data from theMosul power facility further validates the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

The health and economic burden of dust pollution in the textile industry of Faisalabad, Pakistan

BackgroundExposure to dust in textile mills adversely affects workers’ health. We collected epidemiological data on textile workers suffering from respiratory diseases and assessed work absence associated with illnesses in Faisalabad, Pakistan.MethodsWe recruited 206 workers using multistage sampling from 11 spinning mills in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The data were collected using 2-week health diaries and face-to-face interviews. The data pertains to socio-demographics, occupational exposures, the state of the workers’ health, and other attributes. A theoretical framework of the health production function was used to estimate the relationship between cotton dust exposure and respiratory illnesses. We also estimated functional limitations (e.g., work absence) associated with dust exposure. STATA 12 was used to calculate descriptive statistics, an ordered probit for byssinosis, a probit model for chronic cough, and three complementary log-log models for blood phlegm, bronchitis, and asthma to measure dose–response functions. A Tobit model was used to measure the sickness absence function.ResultsWe found that cotton dust exposure causes a significant health burden to workers, such as cough (35%), bronchitis (17%), and different grades of byssinosis symptoms (22%). The regression analysis showed that smoking cigarettes and working in dusty sections were the main determinants of respiratory diseases. Dusty work sections also cause illness-related work absences. However, the probability of work absence decreases with the increased use of face masks.ConclusionThe study’s findings imply the significance of promoting occupational safety and health culture through training and awareness among workers or implementing the use of safety gadgets. Promulgating appropriate dust standards in textile mills is also a need of the hour.

P1067 Pan-enteric mucosal inflammation in CD patients treated with vedolizumab assessed by capsule endoscopy– interim results of a prospective observational study

Abstract Background Mucosal healing (MH) is a paramount treatment goal in Crohn’s disease (CD). The vast majority of data pertains to MH in the colon and terminal ileum; nonetheless, proximal small-bowel involvement can be detected in up to 50% of CD patients assessed by capsule endoscopy (CE). Data regarding pan-enteric MH among patients with active CD who were treated with vedolizumab (VDZ) are lacking. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of VDZ for achieving pan-enteric MH using pan-enteric CE. Methods This was a prospective open-label observational study. Patients with CD who have started on VDZ, were included. Patients underwent small-bowel patency-assessment using patency capsule (PC) and were followed by CE (PillCam Crohn’s, Medtronic, USA) before /within 40 days of treatment onset and after 14 and 52 weeks. In patients with exclusive small-bowel involvement, colonic preparation was not performed and colon was not assessed in subsequent CE. Accordingly, Lewis score (LS) and Pan-enteric Pillcam score (PS) were calculated, when available. The primary outcome was pan-enteric MH defined as LS<135 and LS<135 & PS<4 for CE confined to the SB/SB &colon, respectively. The main secondary outcomes were small-bowel MH (LS<135) and colonic-MH (colonic PS<4). Results 57 patients were recruited, 41 patients were enrolled (median age: 28 [23-45] years, male-44%) and 16 patients were excluded (6- retained PC, 1- technical reason, 2 -did not start VDZ, 7-withdrew consent). Of them, six patients (1- retained PC, 1- multiple strictures, 1- lost to follow-up, 3- clinical flare) and eight patients (4- discontinued VDZ, 2- capsule adverse events, 1- lost to follow-up, 1- clinical flare) were dropped-out before week 14 and week 52, respectively. Pan-enteric MH was observed in 7/39 (18%) patients at week 14, and in 7/30 (23%) patients at week 52 (two patients and 11 patients have not yet reached 14/52-week, respectively). We observed higher rates of both small-bowel MH and colonic-MH during follow-up compared to baseline (Figure 1), and it was consistent with significant improvement at week 14 in both LS (900 [225-900] vs. 450 [0-900], p<0.001) and PS (12 [2-18] vs. 6 [0-14], p=0.001) compared to baseline. Improvement was even more prominent at week 52 (LS- 0 [0-300] PS- 2 [2-6]). No cases of retained capsule were observed during follow-up. Conclusion VDZ induces MH in both the small-bowel and the colon among patients with CD, and this effect may persist up to 52 weeks of treatment.

Isolation, identification, and structure elucidation of Beta-sitosterol from Iraqi Plantago major using GC-MS, HPTLC, NMR, and FTIR

Background: Plantago major, a plant well recognized for its therapeutic features, has been widely adopted in several cultural instances and conventionally used due to its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and wound-healing characteristics. Recent research efforts have been focused on the identification and validation of the phytochemical elements of P. major in order to establish their association with their corresponding pharmacological effects. The main aim of this study is to precisely define, isolate, purify, and completely analyse the chemical composition of beta-sitosterol, a phytosterol obtained from the Plantago major plant native to Iraq. Methods: In November 2021, P. major samples were procured from the Al-Salihiya Neighbourhood in Baghdad. These samples were afterward verified for authenticity by the Iraqi local Herbarium, located at the Al-Razi institute for alternative medicine. The desiccated botanical matter was subjected to a hexane-based defatting process inside a Soxhlet device, followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis in order to ascertain the presence of bioactive compounds. The evaluation of beta-sitosterol’s presence was afterwards conducted via the use of conventional and preparative thin layer chromatography (TLC) methodologies and high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). The identification of the molecule was further validated by the use of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques. Results: The findings revealed that Compound No. 5 had notable attributes that were consistent with those of Beta-Sitosterol. The provided data pertains to mass spectrometry (MS), especially the observation of a molecular ion peak at 414. This finding is consistent with the previously documented characteristics of beta-sitosterol. This finding provides further evidence supporting its classification as a prominent organic component originating from P. major. Conclusions: We effectively determined beta-sitosterol as the primary bioactive component in the P. major samples collected. The compound’s existence highlights the plant’s longstanding therapeutic standing, ascribing it several advantageous pharmacological benefits.

Comparative Analysis of CNN, LSTM And Random Forest for Multivariate Agricultural Price Forecasting

Time series forecasting is an important research topic among agriculture economics. Especially, multivariate, multi-step and multiple output prediction tasks pose a challenge in research as their nature requires the investigation of intra- and inter-series correlation. The common statistical methods like ARIMA and SARIMA fall short in this kind of tasks. Deep learning architectures like Convolutional Neural Networks and Long Short-Term Memory networks are quite good at modelling the structures of complex data relations. In this study, a new dataset is composed through manual collection of data from the Ministry of Commerce of Turkish Republic. The dataset contains daily trade volumes and prices of potato, onion and garlic, which are most commonly consumed products in Turkish cuisine. The data pertains to the period between January 1, 2018 and November 26, 2022 (1791 days). A simple CNN and LSTM architectures as well Random Forest machine learning method are used to predict the next 10-day prices of the products. Accordingly, three models provided acceptable results in the prediction tasks, while CNN yielded by far the best result (MAE: 0.047, RMSE: 0.070).

Impact of Groundnut Seed Subsidy on Farm Efficiency in Ananthapuramu District of Andhra Pradesh, India

Governments used seed subsidy as an incentive to encourage crop diversification and use of high yielding varieties. In present study, an attempt has been made to study farm efficiency of groundnut seed subsidy in Ananthapuramu district of Andhra Pradesh. For this purpose, two mandals (Kanaganapalli, Gudibanda) were selected based on highest number of subsidy benefited farmers. The data pertains for the year 2021 kharif season for 64 seed subsidy beneficiary and 136 non-beneficiary farmers. The data was collected from each respondent through personal interviews with the help of structured schedules. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was employed to analyze technical efficiency and scale efficiency of the farmers. For better comparison, all the farmers were divided into two categories viz. subsidized and non-subsidized and propensity score matching is also used. The empirical results observed that the overall mean Variable Returns to Scale (VRS) efficiency was 0.760, Constant Returns to Scale (CRS) efficiency was 0.70. The positive impact of seed subsidy is visible, as seed subsidy beneficiary farmers mean VRS efficiency was 0.916 which is greater than non-subsidized farmer’s i.e. 0.716. The variation is because of high input costs incurred to the non-subsidized farmers. The regression results also indicates that seed subsidy is positive influence on efficiency (VRS), efficiency (CRS) and scale efficiency to the extent of up to 20% increase in efficiency. Yet it has also been noticed that farmers still rely on non-subsidized sources for their seed requirement, because they could not meet the conditions of availing seed subsidy from the Andhra Pradesh state government.

S311 Following Through on Positive Fecal Immunochemical Testing via FIT Navigation and a Direct-to-Colonoscopy Pathway: Preparing for the Next Wave

S311 Following Through on Positive Fecal Immunochemical Testing via FIT Navigation and a Direct-to-Colonoscopy Pathway: Preparing for the Next Wave

Commercial and social activities of Indonesian Islamic banks: do they relate?

Purpose — This study investigates the relationship between commercial and social activities in Indonesian Islamic banks.Method — This study employed a Panel Vector Error Correction Model (PVAR) model with Impulse Response Function (I.R.F), Variance Decomposition (V.D.C), and Granger Causality. Observations were conducted from 2010 to 2020 on eight Islamic banks in Indonesia, representing 72.72 percent of the total Islamic banking population in Indonesia. The collecting of data pertains to the yearly financial report. Social activities are based on the amount of zakat fund distribution (ZKT) and benevolence fund distribution (DKB). Commercial activities are based on Islamic banking financial ratios that are proxied by Return on Assets (ROA), Financing to Deposit Ratio (FDR), and Non-Performing Financing (NPF).Result — The results showed that social activities in Indonesian Islamic banks are influenced by their commercial activities, but it does not apply vice versa. In other words, there is a one-way relationship between commercial and social activities in Indonesian Islamic banks.Contribution — This study contributes by studying the relationship between commercial and social activities by using the PVAR model with the analysis of Impulse Response Function (I.R.F), Variance Decomposition (V.D.C), and Granger Causality which so far have not been explored.

Determining operational efficiency and capacity building of vegetable growers installed drip irrigation systems

Drip Irrigation System is the most efficient irrigation water saving initiative. Technical know-how, capacity building of beneficiaries is prerequisite for sustainable adoption, mitigating minor repair and efficient running of the system. The data pertains to the year ending Dec 2018 of vegetable growers installed Drip Irrigation System in Rawalpindi district Punjab Pakistan. The district having in total 27 sites have taken up for study. The data collected through validated questionnaires in person from 135 acres vegetable grown, 108 acres 4 acres from each 27 sites under drip irrigation and 27 acres, 1 acre with conventional irrigation system, and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Descriptive analysis summarized by applying Student’s t-Test. The research concludes that 100% vegetable growers preferred to go for Drip Irrigation System. The ultimate objective, water productivity increased by 15.55 kg/m3. As regards operational efficiency 38.5% facing problem in filtration unit, 31.1% in distribution unit and 5.2% in pumping unit. Repair is being carried out 59.25% by companies. It is assessed, for capacity building only one day training was organized for 77.78% and none for 22.22% pathetically. Crop production plan was provided by the companies to 85% beneficiaries, substance wise 52.17% growers considered good, 3.48% very good, only 4.55% found the best and 44% placed the backup services as poor. Majority 52% suggested to hold 3-5 days session. 8% proposed for upscaling the existing DIS with computerized one, 7% demanded for enhanced warranty period covering 5 years and 15% for provision of electricity. Keywords: Capacity building; Drip irrigation system; Operational efficiency; Operation and Maintenance; Punjab; Pakistan; Rawalpindi http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2021.100136

Student Response Systems in a Technology Enhanced Flipped Classroom: A Qualitative Investigation in Higher Education

Disruptive technology and a generation with an increased interest in using that technology to aid their learning has caused a need to change the current educational landscape. Student Response Systems are a contemporary means to integrate digital technology in the modern classroom. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the perspectives that impact students' engagement when using Student Response Systems in a technology enhanced classroom environment. The study was guided by qualitative methods of inquiry through non-participant observations, examination of the course material, and semi-structured interviews. The in-depth interviews (n = 14) were conducted with graduate students who participated in the technology enhanced flipped classroom (TEFC) during their STEM degree studies in southern Sweden. The collected data were analyzed through the means of content analysis. The results of the study show that Student Response Systems are an effective and innovative method to increase students’ engagement in the classroom and embrace a modern learning environment. The participants expressed a positive impact on their willingness to participate in classroom discussions and share their respective views. A drawback that was mentioned is the dissatisfaction to invest more time in preparation ahead of the discussion, compared to lecture-based learning. The Student Response Systems increased the graduate students’ esteem to comfortably engage in classroom discussions and offers educators an additional tool to enhance their current pedagogical methods. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by closing an identified research gap that lacks perceptions from graduate students in a STEM program in southern Sweden. There are a few limitations that the reader should consider. The collected data pertains to graduate-level studies in a STEM degree program. Further, ample data were collected through multiple sources; however, the reflections are limited to 14 interview participants and are, therefore, not generalizable to other populations than those examined in the context.

Healthcare Optimization, Medication Management and Preparedness in Retail Pharmacy Industry during the Covid-19 Pandemic in India

BODY: Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a health crisis,which has almost impacted every industry, causing steep inroadsinto the global economy, and the pharmaceutical industryis no exception. Retail pharmacists are the most approachableand immediate healthcare aid to the general public. Pharmacistscan implement guidance and best practices in responseto the rapidly changing COVID-19 pandemic to ensure patientand staff safety and the approaches pharmacy teams acrossthe country. Social distancing and lockdown measures taken bythe Indian government have been greatly affected by the retailpharmacy industry, leading to disruption in the supply chainof medicines and other precautionary equipment. Medicationmanagement, necessary safety equipment, and preparednessfor handling drug shortages are the focus points for the retailpharmacy industry in these times of the pandemic. As the retailpharmacy comes under essential services and is operatingcontinuously during the lockdown period, there is a need tohighlight and gauge the preparedness and preventive measuresundertaken by pharmacists in India during this medicalemergency.AIM: This research aims to analyze the retail pharmacy administrationin India towards essential medication, to check adherenceto key preventative measures and activities performed ininpatient counseling for self-management and safe dispensingof medicines in COVID-19 & lockdown period and the barriersfaced/concerns towards these measures.METHODOLOGY: This study is based on methods of quantitativeanalysis from retail pharmacies in India. The survey questionnairewas drafted on Google forms and sent to various retailpharmacy outlets. The data pertains to various medications’storage and consumption pattern, concerns over day-to-dayactivities in the pharmacy, and preventive measures implementedby pharmacists towards COVID-19 preparedness.RESULT: 167 pharmacists addressed the questionnaire acrossvarious regions of the country by different types of pharmacy:community pharmacy (66.5%), retail pharmacy section in a private(14.4%) and public hospital (11.4%), and clinical pharmacy(7.8%). The statements developed for the study are closely related,and a good Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.881 was achieved.One-way ANOVA testing determined that out of 12 statementson the preparedness of pharmacy, nine statements showed asignificant difference concerning the types of pharmacy implementingthe preventive measures.

Resource use and economic potential of pigeonpea cultivation in Haryana

Pigeonpea is one of the protein-rich legumes of the semi-arid tropics grown throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.India is the largest producer of pigeonpea sharing for 66 percent of total production and the other major pigeonpea producing countries are Myanmar, Malawi, Kenya and Tanzania. The crop is cultivated on marginal land by resourcepoor farmers, who commonly grow traditional medium and long-duration landraces. Conventionally, the use of inputs such as chemical fertilizers, irrigation and pesticides is minimal as cultivated in rainfed areas. Greater attention is being given to raise productivity to meet growing demand in India. The data pertains to various aspects of pigeonpea cultivation was collected from 60 cultivators of Haryana during 2019-20. Simple budgeting technique was employed to draw practical implications and Cobb- Douglas production function was used for measure the extent of resourceuse in pigeonpea cultivation for taking policy decisions to encourage its cultivation in Haryana. The positive growth rate of area, production and yield of pigeonpea was estimated in India during last two decades (1998-2018). But negative growth of area and production of pigeonpea was observed in Haryana in same period owing large replacement of area towards cotton, sugarcane and pushing cultivation on marginal land.The gross and net returns of pigeonpea cultivation in Haryana worked out were Rs. 54487 ha-1 and Rs. 7073 ha-1. The MVP of human labour, machine hour, seed, chemical fertilizers, plant protection chemicals and irrigation was greater than unity revealing the lower utilization of these resources.

A Juvenile Specimen of Archaeorhynchus Sheds New Light on the Ontogeny of Basal Euornithines

The ontogenetic development of extant birds is characterized by rapid growth, bone fusion and an early onset of flight ability. In contrast, little is known about how these ontogenetic traits evolved in the bird stem lineage, and the available data pertains primarily to Enantiornithes. Here, we describe an almost complete skeleton of a juvenile euornithine bird (LNTU-WLMP-18) from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation (Aptian), which was discovered near Lamadong Town (Jianchang County, Liaoning, China). Despite its completeness, bone preservation is rather poor. Thus, to increase the contrast between bone tissue and matrix, we used cyan-red-based autofluorescence photography. The specimen is more or less articulated and exposed in ventral aspect. The jaws are edentulous, the coracoid bears a procoracoid process, and the ischium lacks a proximodorsal process. The pedal unguals are short and barely curved, indicating a ground-dwelling lifestyle. Feathers, including long primaries, are present as carbonized traces. Several characters indicate that LNTU-WLMP-18 is a juvenile: the bone surface has a coarsely striated texture and no fusion is evident between the carpals and metacarpals, between the tibia and the astragalus and calcaneum, or among the metatarsals. Although juvenile characters have the potential to impede accurate identification of the specimen, morphological comparisons and cladistic analysis identify LNTU-WLMP-18 as most likely referable to the basal euornithineArchaeorhynchus, which would make the specimen the first juvenile bird from the Jehol Group that could be assigned to a specific taxon. Based on its size and the incomplete ossification of the bone surface, LNTU-WLMP-18 represents the smallest and therefore youngest known individual of this genus. A statistical comparison of limb proportions shows that the forelimbs of LNTU-WLMP-18 are significantly shorter than the hindlimbs, while the forelimbs are longer than the hindlimbs in subadult and adult individuals. This is different from the situation in some Enantiornithes, in which the forelimbs exceed the length of the hindlimbs even in hatchlings. Similar to Enantiornithes,Archaeorhynchusprobably exhibit an early onset of flight ability, as indicated by the extensive wing plumage in LNTU-WLMP-18. Finally, the lack of gastroliths in the visceral cavity might indicate a dietary shift inArchaeorhynchusduring ontogeny. As a small-bodied, ground-dwelling, seed-eating bird with a precocial ontogeny,Archaeorhynchusfilled an ecological niche that later allowed early crown birds to survive the K-Pg mass extinction.

Disaster Management Preparedness in the Education Sector in Kenya – A Case of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study examined the disaster management preparedness in the education sector in Kenya, with a focus on the COVID-19 pandemic period. The study adopted destktop literature review for data collection. The collected data pertains e-learning in Kenya and in other countries during the time of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Notably, the education sector, like in many other countries, seeks to actualise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in line with the United Nations and the Education for All (EFA) movement lead by UNESCO (MacEwen, et al., 2011). Examples of these events are; accidents such as the one evident in Kakamega Primary School where the school closed for about two weeks (Daily Nation, 2020), attack by militia groups as was the case of Garissa University in 2015, intercommunity wars that lead to displacements, famine, and fires. These disasters and events, whenever they strike, have led to the closure of affected institutions of learning to pave the way for interventions. Garissa University is a leading example since it had to close for about nine months in 2015-2016 (BBC, 2016). In Kenya, disasters and other events disrupt the progress towards achieving MDGs and EFA time to time, and that was the inspiration for this study. The study concludes that disasters like nature patterns, militia groups, electricity faults, and those instigated by learners can derail learning in education and cause loss of lives. As such, online learning comes in handy to lessen such disasters. The possibility of such learning model has been tested and proved during COVID-19 pandemic and it has been successful in many institutions of higher learning and middle level colleges.