bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Eliciting Preferences in Dentistry with Multiattribute Stated Preference Methods: A Systematic Review
Authors: Barber S. , Pavitt S. , Khambay B. , Bekker H. , Meads D.
Published: June 2018

Background:

Preference experiments are used to understand how patients and stakeholders value aspects of health care. These methods are gaining popularity in dentistry, but quality and breadth of use have not been evaluated.

Objectives:

To describe multiattribute stated preference experiment use in dentistry through illustration and critique of existing studies.

Data Sources:

Systematic literature search of PubMed, Econlit and Ovid for Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, PsychARTICLES, and All EBM Reviews, as well as gray literature.

Study Eligibility:

Multiattribute stated preference experiments eliciting preferences for dental service delivery, treatments, and oral health states from the perspective of patients, the public, and dental professionals. Outcomes of interest were preference weights and marginal rates of substitution. Study selection was independently performed by 2 reviewers.

Appraisal:

Ten-point checklist published by the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research was used for quality assessment.

Synthesis:

Descriptive analysis.

Results:

Searches identified 12 records published between 1999 and 2015, mostly in nondental academic journals. Studies were undertaken in high-income countries in Europe and the United States. The studies aimed to elicit preference for service delivery, treatment, or oral health states from the perspective of the patients, dentists, or the public via discrete choice experiment methods. The quality scores for the studies ranged from 53% to 100%.

Limitations:

A detailed description and critique of stated preference methods are provided, but it was not possible to provide synthesized preference data.

Conclusions:

Multiattribute stated preference experiments are increasingly popular, but understanding the methods and outputs is essential for designing and interpreting preference studies to improve patient care. Patient preferences highlight important considerations for decision making during treatment planning. Valuation of health states and estimation of willingness-to-pay are important for resource planning and allocation and economic evaluation. Preference estimates and relative value of attributes for interventions and service delivery inform development and selection of treatments and services (PROSPERO 21.3.17: CRD42017059859).

Knowledge Transfer Statement:

Understanding patient, professional, and public preferences is fundamental for evidence-based decision making and treatment delivery. Preference elicitation methods can be used to estimate the value given to health states, service delivery, individual treatments, and health outcomes. By describing and appraising the methodology and application of multiattribute stated preference experiments in dentistry, this review provides an essential first step to wider use of well-designed, high-quality preference elicitation methods.
Ownership of Co-creation Assets: Driving B2B Value Propositions in the Service Economy
Authors: Ehret Michael , Wirtz Jochen
Published: June 2018

The benefits of specialization have been driving the rise of the service economy and pushing capability frontiers and economic growth. In service economies, almost any activity, asset, and skill can be bought on competitive markets, making it harder to build competitive advantage on any of those inputs. Against that background, the question emerges what constitutes sustainable value propositions of service providers. Drawing on an emerging stream of research on the non-ownership value of services, we argue that service providers create value by taking on ownership of service assets and thereby transform uncertainty of value creation into economic opportunities. In our view, service providers offer the essential value proposition of transforming their clients’ uncertainty downsides into opportunities related to assets such as vehicles, real estate, equipment and computing platforms. Clients benefit by delegating ownership of assets to the domain of a service provider. In turn, clients can focus their investment on their most promising assets. Service providers create sustainable competitive advantage by assuming ownership and excelling at the management of (a) unique physical assets, (b) unique intangible assets and (c) maintaining an appropriate architecture of social capital through customer relationships and business ecosystems.
Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty With Proximal Humeral Replacement for the Management of Massive Proximal Humeral Bone Loss
Authors: Shukla Dave R , Lee Julia , Mangold Devin , Cofield Robert H , Sanchez-Sotelo Joaquin , Sperling John W
Published: June 2018

Background

Substantial proximal humeral bone loss may compromise reverse shoulder arthroplasty secondary to limited implant support, insufficient soft tissue tension due to shortening, lack of attachment sites for the posterosuperior cuff when present, and lack of lateral offset of the deltoid. In these circumstances, use of a proximal humeral replacement may be considered.

Patients/Methods

Between 2012 and 2014, 34 consecutive reverse shoulder arthroplasties were performed using a proximal humeral replacement system. The indications were failed shoulder arthroplasty (15), oncology reconstruction (9), humeral malunion/nonunion (7), prior resection arthroplasty (2), and intraoperative fracture (1). All patients were included in the survival analysis. Twenty-two patients with minimum 2-year follow-up were included in analysis of clinical results.

Results

Among the cohort of 34 patients, there were 8 additional reoperations: humeral loosening (3), periprosthetic fracture (2), irrigation and debridement (2), and glenoid loosening (1). Humeral component loosening occurred exclusively in patients undergoing revision shoulder arthroplasty. The 4 patients had an average 3.75 prior procedures before the proximal humeral replacement. Two of the revisions were from cemented to uncemented stems. Among the 23 patients with minimum 2-year follow-up, there was significant improvement in pain scores (4.1 vs 0.6), forward elevation (31 vs 109) degrees, and 81% were satisfied.

Conclusion

Use of a proximal humeral replacement when performing a reverse shoulder arthroplasty in the complex setting of substantial proximal humerus bone loss provides good clinical results and a particularly low dislocation rate. However, the rate of loosening of the humeral component in the revision setting suggests that proximal humeral replacement components should be cemented when revising a previously cemented stem.

IRB

16-006966.
TQuest, A Web-Based Platform to Enable Precision Medicine by Linking a Tumor’s Genetic Defects to Therapeutic Options
Authors: Gershkovich Peter , Platt James , Knopf Joshua , Tasoulis Marios K. , Shi Weiwei , Pusztai Lajos , Hatzis Christos
Published: June 2018

Purpose

Currently, there are only a few software tools designed to assist physicians to translate molecular abnormalities in the cancer genome into potential treatment options. There is a pressing need to develop software to reliably identify known targeted therapies and experimental treatments for patients on the basis of the results of tumor DNA sequencing.

Methods

The TQuest platform includes a data layer, data acquisition layer, search engine, and user interface. It identifies associations between one or more molecular targets and therapeutic options. The data layer consists of indexed interventional clinical trials and an expert-curated database of clinically or experimentally validated associations between mutations and drug response. The data acquisition layer includes an information-harvesting module that keeps an up-to-date full-text index of clinical trials by crawling clinicaltrials.gov and combining it with US Food and Drug Administration label data. The user interface is a Web-based module that allows users to upload genomic variants, tumor morphology, and diagnosis. The search results are qualified and ranked by a relevance score.

Results

We have manually curated information for 368 distinct genomic variants of 162 gene targets corresponding to 863 drug and target interactions. The platform currently contains a full-text index of approximately 80,000 interventional clinical trials. We applied TQuest to molecular data from 73 metastatic breast cancers. TQuest identified a total of 276 drugs as potential therapeutic options, ranging from one to 103 per patient.

Conclusion

TQuest correctly identified all US Food and Drug Administration–approved drugs and routine indications for all cases and also identified many additional drugs that were used in the context of a given molecular abnormality in various clinical trials. The prototype Web application is available at www.tquest.us , and the source code is open and available on GitHub.
Immunochemotherapy With Obinutuzumab or Rituximab for Previously Untreated Follicular Lymphoma in the GALLIUM Study: Influence of Chemotherapy on Efficacy and Safety
Authors: Hiddemann Wolfgang , Barbui Anna Maria , Canales Miguel A. , Cannell Paul K. , Collins Graham P. , Dürig Jan , Forstpointner Roswitha , Herold Michael , Hertzberg Mark , Klanova Magdalena , Radford John , Seymour John F. , Tobinai Kensei , Trotman Judith , Burciu Alis , Fingerle-Rowson Günter , Wolbers Marcel , Nielsen Tina , Marcus Robert E.
Published: June 2018

Purpose

The GALLIUM study ( ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01332968) showed that obinutuzumab (GA101; G) significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) in previously untreated patients with follicular lymphoma relative to rituximab (R) when combined with cyclophosphamide (C), doxorubicin, vincristine (V), and prednisone (P; CHOP); CVP; or bendamustine. This report focuses on the impact of chemotherapy backbone on efficacy and safety.

Patients and Methods

A total of 1,202 patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma (grades 1 to 3a), advanced disease (stage III or IV, or stage II with tumor diameter ≥ 7 cm), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0 to 2, and requiring treatment were randomly assigned 1:1 to G 1,000 mg on days 1, 8, and 15 of cycle 1 and day 1 of subsequent cycles or R 375 mg/m2 on day 1 of each cycle, for six to eight cycles, depending on chemotherapy (allocated nonrandomly by center). Responding patients received G or R for 2 years or until disease progression.

Results

Baseline Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index risk, bulky disease, and comorbidities differed by chemotherapy. After 41.1 months median follow-up, PFS (primary end point) was superior for G plus chemotherapy (overall hazard ratio [HR], 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.87; P = .0016), with consistent results across chemotherapy backbones (bendamustine: HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.46 to 0.88; CHOP: HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.48 to 1.10; CVP: HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.42 to 1.47). Grade 3 to 5 adverse events, notably cytopenias, were most frequent with CHOP. Grade 3 to 5 infections and second neoplasms were most frequent with bendamustine, which was associated with marked and prolonged reductions in T-cell counts. Fatal events were more frequent in patients treated with bendamustine, possibly reflecting differences in patient risk profiles.

Conclusion

Improved PFS was observed for G plus chemotherapy for all three chemotherapy backbones. Safety profiles differed, although comparisons are confounded by nonrandom chemotherapy allocation.
Genomic and Proteomic Alterations in Desmoplastic Small Round Blue-Cell Tumors
Authors: Bulbul Ajaz , Shen John Paul , Xiu Joanne , Tamayo Pablo , Husain Hatim
Published: June 2018

Purpose

Desmoplastic small round blue-cell tumors (DSRCTs) are sarcomas that contain the t(11;22) (p13;q12) translocation EWS-WT1 fusion protein. Because this is a rare tumor type, prospective clinical trials in DSRCT are challenging. Patients are treated in a manner similar to those with Ewing sarcoma; however, differences in prognosis and clinical presentation suggest fundamental differences in biology and potentially different therapeutic implications. This study aimed to characterize the molecular characteristics of DSRCT tumors to explore unique therapeutic options for this extremely rare and aggressive cancer type.

Methods

Thirty-five DSRCT tumors were assessed using next-generation sequencing, protein expression (immunohistochemistry), and gene amplification (chromogenic in situ hybridization or fluorescence in situ hybridization). Three patients had tumor mutational load, which was calculated as somatic nonsynonymous missense mutations sequenced with a 592-gene panel. Gene expression data were obtained for an additional seven DSRCT tumors. Molecular alterations were compared with 88 Ewing sarcomas.

Results

The most common alterations that distinguished DSRCTs from Ewing sarcoma included higher androgen receptor (AR), TUBB3, epidermal growth factor receptor, and TOPO2A expression. Independent analysis by RNA sequencing confirmed higher AR expression from an independent data set of EWS-WT1 fusion–positive DSRCTs compared with Ewing sarcoma and a pan-cancer analysis. DSRCTs had somatic mutations that were identified in TP53 and FOXO3, averaged five mutations per megabase, and no programmed death-ligand 1 expression was detected in any DSRCT samples.

Conclusion

The current analysis provides the first comparative analysis, to our knowledge, of molecular aberrations that distinguish DSRCT from Ewing sarcoma. High AR expression seems to be a defining event in these malignancies, and additional investigation of the responsiveness of AR inhibitors in this disease is encouraged.
Assessment of Medical Decision-making Capacity in Patients With Dementia
Authors: Rodgers Joshua J. , Kass Joseph S.
Published: June 2018

Medical decision-making capacity, the patient’s ability to exercise autonomy reasonably, is an essential component of both informed consent and informed refusal. The assessment of medical decision-making capacity is thus fundamental to the ethical practice of medicine. Medical decision-making capacity is not all or nothing but rather exists on a continuum and should be assessed on a decision-by-decision basis. Alzheimer disease and other neurocognitive disorders can affect a patient’s medical decision-making capacity and may pose special challenges to capacity assessment. To illustrate some of these challenges, this article presents a case of a patient with Alzheimer disease who refused a recommended operation and discusses the components of capacity, a useful mnemonic and tools, the variability of state laws, and the roles neurologists and psychiatrists play in the assessment of capacity.
Recent advances in field cancerization and management of multiple cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas
Authors: Christensen Sean R.
Published: June 2018

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is among the most common cancers in humans, and many patients with SCC will develop multiple tumors within their lifetime. The field cancerization concept, originally proposed over 60 years ago, hypothesized that multiple primary cancers may arise simultaneously and coexist with subclinical precursor lesions within a defined field. Genetic sequencing of SCC and precursor lesions has identified what may be the earliest clonal proliferations in SCC development and confirmed that field cancerization in the skin is mediated by ultraviolet radiation. For patients with multiple SCCs and severe actinic damage, treatment of precursor lesions within a cancerized field can decrease the risk of subsequent cancer development. Sunblock is an effective intervention for field cancerization, even in patients with established disease. There is now direct evidence that field therapy with topical 5-fluorouracil is effective in reducing the incidence of subsequent SCC, and there is indirect evidence suggesting that topical imiquimod, topical ingenol mebutate, and photodynamic therapy are similarly effective. There is limited direct evidence to show that systemic acitretin or nicotinamide can decrease incident SCC in patients with field cancerization. In this review, an approach to the management of patients with multiple SCCs and field cancerization is presented along with the rationale to support field-directed therapy.
Using different methods to process forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) data can impact on the interpretation of FEV1 as an outcome measure to understand the performance of an adult cystic fibrosis centre: A retrospective chart review
Authors: Hoo Zhe Hui , El-Gheryani Muhaned S.A. , Curley Rachael , Wildman Martin J.
Published: June 2018

Background: Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) is an important cystic fibrosis (CF) prognostic marker and an established endpoint for CF clinical trials. FEV1 is also used in observation studies, e.g. to compare different centre’s outcomes. We wished to evaluate whether different methods of processing FEV1 data can impact on a centre’s outcome.

Methods: This is a single-centre retrospective analysis of routinely collected data from 2013-2016 which included 208 adults with CF. Year-to-year %FEV1 change was calculated by subtracting best %FEV1 at Year 1 from Year 2 (i.e. negative values indicate %FEV1 decline), and compared using Friedman test. Three methods were used to process %FEV1 data. First, %FEV1 calculated with Knudson equation was extracted directly from spirometer machines. Second, FEV1 volume were extracted then converted to %FEV1 using clean height data and Knudson equation. Third, FEV1 volume were extracted then converted to %FEV1 using clean height data and GLI equation. In addition, %FEV1 decline calculated using GLI equation was adjusted for baseline %FEV1 to understand the impact of case-mix adjustment.

Results: There was a trend of reduction in %FEV1 decline with all three data processing methods but the magnitude of %FEV1 decline differed. Median change in %FEV1 for 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 was –2.0, –1.0 and 0.0 respectively using %FEV1 in Knudson equation whereas the median change was –1.1, –0.9 and –0.3 respectively using %FEV1 in the GLI equation. A statistically significant p-value (0.016) was only obtained when using %FEV1 in Knudson equation extracted directly from spirometer machines.

Conclusions: Although the trend of reduction in %FEV1 decline was robust, different data processing methods yielded varying results when %FEV1 decline was compared using a standard related group non-parametric statistical test. Observational studies with %FEV1 decline as an outcome measure should carefully consider and clearly specify the data processing methods used.
'Manashi' or 'Manushi'- Satyajit Ray's Treatment of Women
Authors: Saumitra Chakravarty
Published: June 2018

This paper attempts to analyse the de-mythologisation of Indian and particularly Bengali womanhood, that in the author's opinion, is to be found in Satyajit Ray's movies. These myths have been erected by the male ego, the male conscience and the male gaze. Diverse factors have contributed to the build-up of these stereotypes in pre- and post-Independence periods. These factors have been studied during the course of this paper.
Comments
Authors: Ramkumar Dr.Usha
Published: June 2018

Comments
Reflected Glory
Authors: Iyer Swarnalatha
Published: June 2018

God created man and woman as complementary beings to each other.But man decided otherwise and enslaved woman for satisfaction of his own desires. The roles of men and women have undergone little or no change over the ages. A woman's identity has always been with reference to others. She does not have an identity of her own as an individual. Even successful women have had to incorporate masculine characteristics to achieve this The roles of men have also not undergone any change. They continue to be comfortably cocooned in their permanent roles as lord and master. In this scenario our objectives should be to empower women so that they realize their potential and power. A nation which has its women empowered will be the most powerful and strongest nation in the world.
"Health Care Access in Developing Nations: A Macro Analysis of the Problems and Policy Suggestions for India "
Authors: Kesavan Unni Ajith , Varghese Nisha Sara
Published: June 2018

"Health Care Access in Developing Nations: A Macro Analysis of the Problems and Policy Suggestions for India "
"Depression among Late Adolescent College Students "
Authors: Jasmine Elizabeth
Published: June 2018

The purpose of the present study is to examine the presence of Depressve symptoms among the late adolescet college students(N=296) . Studies have found depression to be one of the leading causes for suicide among all age groups. Hence the present study aims to analyse the possible causal factors in depression and propose adequate intervention strategies based on the existing literature . This can be used for giving valuable suggestions/guidence to individuals who deal with this age group, by enabling them to meet the psychological needs of this group and thus prevent the occurrence of depression, or help in coping with depression.
"Will Development Ever Come Their Way? Indian Rural towards Inclusive Growth "
Authors: D. C. Nanjunda
Published: June 2018

The urban-rural divide has to be bridged and rural areas have to be integrated with the economic processes to ensure equitable and inclusive growth of marginalized sections. Government. and NGOs have to play an important role in enhancing employment opportunities in farm and non-farm enterprises in rural areas, and should provide the necessary expertise to these areas. There are many sectors in which private players can participate to bridge this gap including providing micro finance, contract farming, setting up storage facili-ties for agro¬prod uce.Local folk could also develop heritage sites and tourist spots and encourage the promotion of traditional arts and crafts in joint ventures with rural enterprises. The next revolution that is waiting 'reaping the benefits'. We need to learn about participatory strategies, about organizing and mediating conflicting goals and needs, about technological transfer and social justice.
"Social Work Skills in Working with Survivors of Earthquake "
Authors: Iravani Mohammad Reza
Published: June 2018

An earthquake with continuing aftershocks occurred in Iran, causing massive physical destruction, loss of life, and social and psychological disturbances. Iran is situated on one of the active earthquake zones; bearing the most risk, both of loss of life and of damage. In the last century, Iran experienced more than 100 quakes and suffered their effects. Disasters create profound changes in humans and their environments. People face various events and react to them differently. According to Hodgkinson and Stewart (1998), reactions to disaster, complex as they are, can be understood essentially as the reactions of normal human beings to sudden, unexpected and terrifying events in their lives. In disasters, generally, people lose loved ones, relatives and property. Above all, in psychological terms, they lose faith in the fact that life has a certain consistency and meaning. The fabric of everyday existence is torn away to reveal death and precarious survival. For the survivor, the encounter involves a violation of tranquillity. Erol and Oner (1999) indicated that once a disaster has happened to individuals, they believe that life cannot ever be the same again; that they cannot go safely to bed at night and that they must have done something to deserve it. Thus they deal with the question of self-esteem and anxiety.
"Computerized Multimedia Package in Teaching and Learning Process of Social Sciences at Secondary School Level- An Experimental Study "
Authors: N Girija , S Vijayalakshmi
Published: June 2018

In the present context of world peace, there is a great need of strengthening the Teaching of Social, Economical, Cultural, Religious and Technological Values in the society. Since Social Sciences a wonderful treasure house of information and values, teaching of Social Sciences should be made more interesting to the students to learn at all the levels. In this regard Instructional Media has stimulated Social Sciences teachers to seek innovative strategies in teaching learning process. These strategies are concerned with the systematic application of various media and skills to the requirements of educating the syllabus of Social Sciences.Based on instructional design, a Multimedia Package is prepared with the combination of text, graphics, sound, animation and video elements and presentation delivered by the computer. It is an individualized learning Package with Multimeda techniques which has built in self-evaluation process also. This was validated by different groups of experts at different levels and was also field tested. Finally the achievement test was administered to the learners.Thus the effectiveness of Multimedia package (SLM) on achievement was studied and analyzed statistically with the help of scores obtained.
"Lack of Popularity of Newspapers in Lakshadweep "
Authors: Menon Lakshmi
Published: June 2018

We live in an information age where the media has transformed the world into a global village. However it would come as a surprise to many that even in this twenty first century there are isolated pockets in India such as Lakshadweep without adequate newspaper reach, lacking timely newspaper coverage of local issues. The social implications of such glaring inequalities are striking.This study seeks to shed new light on a hitherto sidelined issue which has a lot of significance. The specific objectives of the study are to analyse the lack of popularity of newspapers in Lakshadweep, to study the media habits and media preferences of the islanders and to study the coverage given to local Lakshadweep issues in newspapers.The survey method was utilized to collect data required for the study. It was conducted only in the Kavaratti islands, the capital of Lakshadweep The following reasons are noted for the lack of popularity of newspapers in Lakshadweep. Delay in getting newspaper in time, Lakshadweep local news do not get adequate coverage in newspapers, Regular newspaper readers are less in number, subscribers of newspaper are less in number, few people depend on newspaper for breaking news, After the arrival of electronic media, the natives gradually shifted to electronic media for news. Very few people (4%) prefer newspapers for information purposes, while the vast majority depend on Television. In a region populated by scheduled tribes there is a pressing need to enhance their public awareness, to strengthen democracy at the grassroots and gain a better understanding of media habits in such isolated areas. This exploratory study has thrown fresh light on media coverage and media habits of such marginalised communities. The study is confined to only one island Kavaratti, the capital of Lakshadweep. Perhaps in future more detailed studies on such topics need to be undertaken keeping in mind their social relevance.
Resilience in Child Sexual Abuse:Role of Protective Factors
Authors: Ravindran Divya , N Janardhana , V Indiramma
Published: June 2018

Child sexual abuse is a major public health problem with significant psychosocial consequences (Afifi & Macmillan, 2011). All child sexual abuse victims do not depict adverse consequences in later life. The variability of impact in a potentially traumatic experience like child sexual abuse is explained by the construct of resilience and it being the outcome of the influence of certain protective factors (Henley, 2010). The present article conceptualizes resilience in the area of child sexual abuse where individual, familial and community level factors are identified as predictors to fostering resilience. Formulation and development of effective interventions to reduce the impairment following child sexual abuse and to foster resilience in children, adolescents and survivors are recommended.
Care Giver’s Needs in the Process of Cancer Recovery
Authors: Thomas Bino , Nympha Marie M
Published: June 2018

Goals of work: The aim of the study is to explore the psychosocial needs of persons taking care of family members suffering from cancer.

Materials & Methods: An Sixty care-givers participated in the cross sectional study. An interview schedule was used. The care recipients had heterogeneous cancer diagnosis and were hospitalized for at least a month.

Main Result: Their Financial needs were the highest followed by informational needs, family needs, personal needs, social needs, psychological needs and spiritual needs. It is in contrast to their studies from the west where psychological need was supreme.

Conclusions: The findings pave way for the development of comprehensive psychosocial care programs for the care-givers.

Keywords: Cancer-oncology, caregiver
Occupational Stress among Team Leaders Working in IT Companies in Bangalore
Authors: K Hemalatha , Sundaresh Noopura
Published: June 2018

The research aims to measure occupational stress of team leaders working at IT companies in Bangalore. The study also focuses on assessing the levels of occupational stress on four socio demographic factors i.e. age, gender, marital status and working hours. A sample of 100 team leaders working in three different IT companies were studied using occupational stress index by AP Singh and AK Srivastava. The results showed that 52% of the respondents have low occupational stress and 48% of the respondents have high occupational stress. There is no significant difference between male and female executions with respect to occupational stress. The team leaders who are above the age of 30 years tend to experience higher occupational stress than the team leaders who are under the age of 30 years. Team leaders who are divorced have higher occupational stress than the others .Team leaders who work more than 10 hours per day experience higher occupational stress than team leaders who work less than ten hours.

Keywords: Occupational stress, team leaders, IT sector
Ethical Leadership Behaviour of Principals in Relation to Organizational Commitment of BEd College Teachers
Authors: Puri Savita
Published: June 2018

The present study is an attempt to investigate the ethical leadership behaviour of principals in relation to organizational commitment of BEd college teachers. A sample of 200 BEd College teachers was selected by stratified random sampling technique. Due representation was given to male and female teachers and type of management namely private aided and private unaided colleges. Appropriate tools were administered and the data collected was analyzed by using’-test and co-efficient of co- relation. It was found that there was a significant positive correlation between ethical leadership behaviour of college principals and organizational commitment of BEd college teachers also revealed that teachers working under principals with high and moderate ethical leadership behaviour had higher levels of commitment than teachers working under principals with low ethical behaviour. Teachers working in private aided colleges, teachers on permanent basis and more experienced teachers had higher levels of organizational commitment. The study implies the need for principals to practice ethical behaviour. 

Keywords: Organization, commitment, ethical, leadership behaviour of principals
Performance of Regional Rural Banks after Amalgamation in India: Progress and Prospects
Authors: Jorum Tasleema M , Mali Sujata S
Published: June 2018

For the past three decades India's banking system has several outstanding achievements to its credit. The most striking is its extensive reach. It is no longer confined to only metropolitans or cosmopolitans in India. In fact, Indian banking system has reached even to the remote corners of the country. This is one of the main reasons for India's growth process. The government's regular policy for Indian banks since 1969 has paid rich dividends with the nationalization of 14 major private banks of India. Regional Rural Banks started their development process on 2 October 1975 with the formation of a single bank—Prathama Grameen Bank. The RRBs mobilize financial resources from rural/semi-urban areas and grant loans and advances mostly to small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers and rural artisans. The area of operation of RRBs is limited to the area as notified by GoI covering one or more districts in the State. In this context, the present study is an attempt to examine the impact of amalgamation on physical performance of RRBs during post-amalgamation period.Keywords: Banking; Regional rural banks; Amalgamation; Profit and loss and economic development; NPAs and deposits.
Some Observations on the Middle Palaeolithic Culture in North-Western Karnataka with Special Reference to the Site of Kovalli
Authors: Mathew Sony J , Deo Sushama G
Published: June 2018

The Middle Palaeolithic culture has been widely distributed in the Ghataprabha basin, obtained from 113 sites. The majority of the sites are concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the river Ghataprabha and the assemblage is comprised of scrapers of various types, points, borers and scraper cum borer and borer cum points. The studies conducted at the site Kovalli which lies in the lower reaches of Ghataprabha suggest that the Kovalli assemblage can be categorized as mixture of Middle Palaeolithic and late Middle Palaeolithic. It can be categorized as “advanced” Middle Palaeolithic.Keywords: Assemblage; Middle palaeolithic, Naturally backed knife; Palaeolithic
Running Head: Reading Comprehension: Reviving the Sentence Verification Technique
Authors: Nisha Vidyasagar , Sudha Bhogle
Published: June 2018

Reading success is largely determined by readingcomprehension. Thus accurate assessment of readingcomprehension is necessary to identify those who requireremediation and to plan future instructions in classrooms.Sentence verification technique (SVT) is one of themethods of assessing comprehension and can function asa diagnostic tool in reading assessment. The aim of thecurrent study was to determine whether the SVT coulddetect gender and grade differences in readingcomprehension. The study targeted 1091 elementarygrade students comprising both boys and girls who wereassessed using the SVT. The students read two textpassages selected according to their grade level andresponded to four sentence types - original, paraphrase,meaning change and distracter sentences. Independentsample t test highlighted that girls were significantlybetter than boys with regard to reading comprehensionability. One way analysis of variance to analyse gradedifferences indicated that there were significantimprovements in reading comprehension ability withhigher grades, thus highlighting the sensitivity of SVTs indetecting developmental changes in readingcomprehension. The findings of this study emphasize thediagnostic potential of the SVTs with regard toidentifying children with reading comprehensio.
Movements across Borders: South Asian / Indian Diaspora Youth in Scandinavia
Authors: Singla Rashmi
Published: June 2018

The article explores social psychological aspects concerned with diasporic relationships among the South Asian diaspora in Denmark and is a follow up of a project conducted in the mid-nineties. The first wave focussed on the intergenerational relations within the double challenge perspective dealing with age transition and ethnic belonging while the second wave focuses at the relationships across the borders within a theoretical framework of life course perspectives combined with diaspora conceptualisations. In-depth interviews were conducted and analysed through meaning condensation. The gendered experiences of the young adults perceived as active actors indicate reinterpretation of the self, others and home. The results depict that the young adults‘ relationships involve both the country of origin and the Danish welfare society, though refutes the myth of return, in spite of Denmark turning increasingly restrictive in migration policies in the past years. How does moving across the geographical borders affect the relationships of diaspora members both here– in the country of residence and there- in the country of origin? The article delineates some of the processes through gendered experiences of the young adults perceived as active actors based on an empirical longitudinal study. The results indicate transformations in belongings and longings indicating reinterpretation of the self, others and home in context of exclusion processes at various levels.
Paddy Cultivation in Kerala – Trends, Determinants and Effects on Food Security
Authors: Karunakaran N
Published: June 2018

The statistical profile of Kerala agriculture since 1960, clearly established the decrease in the area under paddy cultivation in the state. Time series analysis of acreage, production and productivity data of rice in Kerala during the five decades from 1960-61 to 2009-10 revealed the performance of this crop in terms of growth of area, production and productivity. The production of major food crop, rice, reached negative growth rates due to the declining trend of their area. The diversification of crops in terms of variation in acreage allocation has taken place due to price and non-price factors like agro-climatic conditions, labour availability, irrigation facilities, soil fertility, cost of cultivation, price levels, profitability, mechanisation etc. The change has taken place largely in favour of non-food crops and recently it is towards rubber. The real growth of agricultural crop output has declined continuously since 1960-61 compared to monetary growth, i. e, the growth in the value of agricultural crop output. Food security, particularly rice security is the vital issue for Kerala today. The data reveals that during 1960-61 Kerala had a shortage of rice of about 40.12 percent, which increased to 83.45 percent in 2009-10. The study clearly revealed the increasing demand for rice in Kerala in the coming years compared to the existing supply. This will enlarge the supply demand gap of rice in Kerala in the future years indicating a threat to food security bringing out a need for further increase in rice production in a sustainable way.Keywords: Kerala, Paddy cultivation, Growth trend, Overall growth, Determinants.
Understanding the Stability of Early Iron Age folks of South India with Special Reference to Krishna-Tungabhadra- Kaveri, Karnataka; Their Past-Present-Future
Authors: R Arjun
Published: June 2018

There are about 1933 Early Iron Age Megalithic sites spread across South India. The Early Iron Age of South India is implicit either in the form of burial sites, habitation sites, habitation cum burial sites, Iron Age rock art sites, and isolated iron smelting localities near a habitation or burials. This paper is an attempt to take a rough computation of the potentiality of the labour, technology and quantity of artifact output that this cultural phase might have once had, in micro or in macro level. Considering the emergence of technology and its enormous output in Ceramics, Agriculture, Metallurgy and Building up Burials as industries by themselves, that has economic, ethnographic and socio-technique archaeological imprints. This helps in understanding two aspects: one, whether they were nomadic, semi settled or settled at one location; two, the Diffusion versus Indigenous development. A continuity of late Neolithic phase is seen into Early Iron Age and amalgamation of Early Iron Age with the Early Historic Period as evident in the sites like Maski, Brahmagiri, Sanganakallu, Tekkalakota, T-Narasipur. In few cases, Iron Age folks migrated from one location to the other and settled on the river banks in large scale like that in Hallur and Koppa. In rare cases, they preferred to climb up the hill and stay on the rocky flat surface for example Aihole and Hiere Bekal– sites which are located close to or on the banks of the river or its tributaries of Krishna-Tungabhadra- Kaveri.Keywords: Labour, Industry, Production, Megaliths, Nomadic, Semi Settled, Early Iron Age.
Effectiveness of Concept Mapping Strategy on Understanding and Retention among Secondary School Students
Authors: Talanki Ramyasmruthi S
Published: June 2018

Concept mapping is a tool used for representing knowledge in an organized format. It consists of concepts that are encircled and a connecting line with linking words or phrases represents the relationships between the different sub-concepts. Joseph D. Novak developed the concept maps in the 1970s. Mendia et al., 2008 have used this tool that promotes meaningful learning in math with secondary school students. Sharma, 2014 has used this tool for student’s achievement and concept retention for higher secondary student. This paper is regarding effectiveness of concept maps in concept retention among secondary school students. It is an action research conducted with ten students. The concept map was prepared using software called as Cmap. The institute that has developed this software is Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. The concept of structure of DNA was taken to teach the students using concept map. A pretest, posttest, and delayed test were conducted to observe the students understanding and retention of the concept. The results were analyzed using SPSS software. It was observed that the understanding and retention of the concept among the students was visible after using the concept mapping strategy
Mouna Vratha: An Effective Traditional Method of Self-Regulation
Authors: C Roshni , Benedict J Nicolas
Published: June 2018

Self-regulation is an important psychological skill that aims at self-realization and better self-actualization. Self-regulation directed towards behaviour is called behavioural self-regulation; directed towards emotions, inner states and cognitive function is known as emotional self- regulation. Most of the relationship or social issue in the western tradition is due to either of the two types of self-regulation failure-inadequate or misguided self-regulation. Mouna Vratha, the religious practice of vow of silence emphasizes that self-control is very important to be observed by a person. The use of Mouna vratha as a technique of self-regulation in counselling and psychotherapy will help an individual to explore themselves in the realm of silence. The present paper discusses the effectiveness of self-regulation and how it can be implemented through the practice of mouna vratha.
Who Debarred "you‟?
Authors: Krishnan Vineetha
Published: June 2018

The paper examines the idea of „unqualified public‟ in International Film Festival of Kerala, IFFK.  The general notions about the public in IFFK will be described by narrating incidents and tales of hindrances people faced while entering into the above-mentioned space. The criticisms leveled against cinema in the discussions, outside the space, always contributed to number of censures of the Film Festival too, spurring debates centering around who should watch a movie or who should participate in IFFK. A paper that aims to understand the notion of public, in an international festival on films in Kerala, cannot possibly neglect the typical perspectives and publicnotions about movies, especially among a select group of people in Kerala. While unpacking the notions of who these public individuals are and what their opinions on films are, the paper will also raise questions such as: Do films really imagine a homogeneous public, an idea of public without differences? What is the film‟s conception of public sphere? Do films create a new kind of public sphere? Then, what about cinema kottakas and film festivals? The paper takes note of one of the burning controversies in 2014 in the history of IFFK, that each delegate should submit a note on his/her ideas about cinema. Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Malayalam film director had suggested that only those who know English can enjoy all the movies as the Festival includes movies in other languages with subtitles (Ramnath 2014). So I here look at how specifically, language becomes a key factor to determine a „qualified public‟ in IFFK, among other factors that aid in the manufacturing of the „qualified public‟. For this study on IFFK the aim would be to focus on  the description and analysis of (unqualified) public in IFFK in relation to the recent controversies, to reveal the multi-layered construction of the „qualified public‟.
China’s Footprints in Maldives: Concern for India?
Authors: Surendra Kumar S Y
Published: June 2018

China has, in the recent decades, has consolidated its interests in the South Asian region. This change in China’s foreign policy, from a focus on the North-East and South-East Asia, hints at an attempt to sustain China’s own peaceful rise. India, on the other hand, has emphasised on a ‘Look East’ foreign policy in the recent times. Both India and China share an important diplomatic relationship with Maldives. However, China’s growing influence in Maldives might be a serious strategic concern to India. This article is an exploratory study of the relationship that China shares with Maldives and its implications to India.
Dynamism in Area, Production and Productivity of Arecanut in Kerala
Authors: Karunakaran N
Published: June 2018

Arecanut is an important commercial crop in Kerala. It finds a place in all religious, social and cultural functions of the people of Kerala. Kerala accounts for 22.47 percentage of the area under arecanut in India contributing to 13.70 percentage of national production. During the past five decades, arecanut cultivation has underwent expansion in the area under cultivation associated with increase in production. The analysis of inter-district performance supports this finding. A comparison of the compound growth rates of arecanut productivity during the five periods reveals slight increase in the growth of arecanut productivity and supporting it. The period since the middle of 1980, with regard to area and production the coefficient of variation was higher as compared to 1960’s and 1970’s. A significant increase in production had occurred consequent to increase in area; however, the productivity of arecanut remains almost stagnant. Nonetheless, for the period since 1985, change in production was mainly due to yield effect. An analysis of the growth of output of arecanut crop in Kerala reveals that the growth is mainly monetary in nature rather than real growth.
Fabric-Rendered Identity: A Study of Dalit Representation in Pa. Ranjith’s Attakathi, Madras and Kabali
Authors: Rajan Benson , Venkatraman Shreya
Published: June 2018

Cinema has played a role in caste politics in India. Its role ranges from special arrangement to consume the film to working in films based on caste based demarcated jobs. Films have always been in a constant struggle to eradicate eas well as to maintain the boundaries between the dominant and the dominated. Clothing is one such element which acts to represent the formation of a community’s image in people’s minds. The representation politics with the fabric worn in films becomes the clash between dress codes. These are symbolic conflicts played on the screen between social and cultural norms that possess the potential to alter identity and its structures of reality. This paper will be dealing with the analysis of three films by Pa. Ranjith: Attakathi (Cardboard Knife)(2012), Madras(2014) and Kabali(2016); to understand the representational politics involving the Dalit community with the help of costumes that the characters adorn in the films. Semiotics as an approach has been applied to understand the representation of Dalit identity reflected through clothing practices.
Indian's in Silicon Valley: Networks and Opportunities
Authors: Mathew P A
Published: June 2018

The emigration of Indians to foreign countries especially U.S. was made possible because of the availability of talented and brainy students and professionals in India and the favourable immigration laws. The networking structure part of the silicon valley provided the Indians with ample opportunities for wealth creation and to start new enterprises. It took some time for Indians to seize the opportunity. The hindrances encountered by the technocrats mainly emerged from the bureaucracy and the protectionism of the Indian market.