Understanding the Role of Stigma and Misconceptions in the Experience of Epilepsy in India: Findings From a Mixed-Methods Study.

It is surprising that although 12 million people in India suffer from epilepsy this remains a thoroughly under-researched area in the sociology of health and practice. We address this intellectual and policy neglect by reviewing the social, psychological and legal challenges governing the lives of people living with epilepsy (PWE) by paying particular attention to negotiations in arranged marriages and employment. Drawing on the analytical frameworks of the sociological study of stigma, critical race theory and paying attention to the cultural models of health and suffering, this study utilized a combination of (online) survey data ( = 100) and in-depth qualitative interviews ( = 10) with PWE and their families.

Loneliness in Older Indian Dyads.

Background: Loneliness has been recognised as a major public health concern in older adults in developed nations, with little focus on low- and middle-income countries such as India. While the protective nature of social relationships on loneliness has been explored in the context of marriage, typically these benefits are examined in individual spouses rather than within the marital dyad.

Methods: A sample of 398 opposite-sex married Indian couples (mean age 54.

What Makes Indian Management Students Thrive? Role of Decision-Making Discretion, Broad Information Sharing, and Climate of Trust.

Thriving is a psychological state in which individuals experience a sense of vitality and a sense of learning. Thriving come from relational connections with others, and is deeply rooted in social systems. Theoretical literature suggests that thriving occurs in the presence of decision-making discretion, broad information sharing, and a climate of trust.

: Gerontological Reflections on the Life Course Perspective's Missing Plot.

Gyllenhaal's with its deeply troubling, turbulent and yet unwavering chaos allows us to rethink how the past is never really lost. It is in the uneasy dialectic between individual lives, social structures, and emotional states that finds an unexpected gerontological articulation. Specifically, this article utilizes one of the assured tools of gerontology- the life course perspective- to argue that the persisting effects of social-psychological states (e.

Comparison of Child Undernutrition Anthropometric Indicators Across 56 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Importance: The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal Target 2.2 seeks to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030 by meeting targets, including the elimination of stunting and wasting in all children younger than 5 years. Such indicators are used to monitor childhood undernutrition but may not provide a complete picture at a population level.

Can Anganwadi services strengthening improve the association between maternal and child dietary diversity? Evidence from Project Spotlight implemented in tribal dominated Gadchiroli and Chandrapur districts of Maharashtra, India.

Dietary intake is a fundamental determinant of maternal and child nutrition. This paper presents evidence on whether maternal and child dietary diversity can be improved with systemic improvements focused on strengthening training, capacity building, and behavior change communication among frontline workers to encourage improved nutritional practices among mothers and children in the intervention area. The evidence is derived from Project Spotlight intervention that was jointly implemented by Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Maharashtra and Tata Trusts in tribal dominated Gadchiroli and Chandrapur districts in Maharashtra.

A sentiment-based modeling and analysis of stock price during the COVID-19: U- and Swoosh-shaped recovery.

In the aftermath of stock market crash due to COVID-19, not all sectors recovered in the same way. Recently, a stock price model is proposed by Mahata et al. (2021) that describes V- and L-shaped recovery of the stocks and indices, but fails to simulate the U- and Swoosh-shaped recovery that arises due to sharp fall, continuation at the low price and followed by quick recovery, slow recovery for longer period, respectively.

Systematic mapping on the importance of vultures in the Indian public health discourse.

Vultures are of immense ecological significance to forest and urban ecosystems. These birds play a major role in curbing environmental contamination through scavenging on carcasses. Prevention of spread of diseases is pivotal for public health and is an inexorable economic burden for any country.

Maternal dietary diversity during lactation and associated factors in Palghar district, Maharashtra, India.

Dietary adequacy and diversity during the lactation period are necessary to ensure good health and nutrition among women and children. Behavioral interventions pertaining to health and nutrition counselling during pregnancy and lactation are critical for awareness about dietary diversity. The issue assumes salience for marginalized communities because of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated economic and societal disruptions.

Progress in reaching unvaccinated (zero-dose) children in India, 1992-2016: a multilevel, geospatial analysis of repeated cross-sectional surveys.

Background: Reaching zero-dose children (infants who receive no routine vaccinations) is a global strategic priority. We studied zero-dose children in India over 24 years to clarify aggregate trends and the contribution of large-scale social, economic, and geographical inequalities to these.

Methods: We did a multilevel, geospatial analysis of repeated cross-sectional surveys of all four rounds (1992-2016) of India's National Family Health Survey to study the prevalence, distribution, and drivers of zero-dose (no first dose of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) vaccination status.

The Omic Insights on Unfolding Saga of COVID-19.

The year 2019 has seen an emergence of the novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). Since the onset of the pandemic, biological and interdisciplinary research is being carried out across the world at a rapid pace to beat the pandemic. There is an increased need to comprehensively understand various aspects of the virus from detection to treatment options including drugs and vaccines for effective global management of the disease.

Support vector machine-based prediction of pore-forming toxins (PFT) using distributed representation of reduced alphabets.

Bacterial virulence can be attributed to a wide variety of factors including toxins that harm the host. Pore-forming toxins are one class of toxins that confer virulence to the bacteria and are one of the promising targets for therapeutic intervention. In this work, we develop a sequence-based machine learning framework for the prediction of pore-forming toxins.

Exogenous addition of silicon alleviates metsulfuron methyl induced stress in wheat seedlings.

Uncontrolled application of herbicides in the agricultural field poses a severe risk to crops by affecting their yields. Therefore, methods are required to reduce the toxic effects of herbicides in plants. Studies indicate that silicon (Si) provides tolerance and enhances defence mechanism of the plant against abiotic stress.

The impact of COVID-19 and non-pharmaceutical interventions on energy returns worldwide.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented global economic and social crisis, triggering various interventions by governments across geographic regions. The pandemic is significantly affecting all aspects of life, including the energy sector. In this paper, we investigate the bearing of COVID-19 and non-pharmaceutical interventions on the energy returns across 104 global energy indices in 34 countries over the period 1 January to 1 November 2020.

Aging, housing markets and social inclusion: Insights from India.

In this piece, I draw attention on how the booming real estate market in India is patterned around the axes of social inequality. Specifically, it argues that in a socio-economic context of depressed later life incomes with declining familial support, a singular focus on (upper) middle class niche senior living market is both exclusionary and misguided. The empirical basis for this argument comes from a range of press coverage on the inviting market for seniors as well as the recently released Government of India report (Model Guidelines for Development and Regulation of Retirement Homes, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 2019) on the regulatory framework for privately managed 'retirement homes' for the 'urban upper and middle income elderly'.

Hymen interrupted: Negotiating body, markets, and consumerist modernity in India.

In this commentary, I contend that in a context marked by a slow but steady rise in sexual liberalism around the ideals of female sexuality and desire, the pressure to remain virginal is manifested through a potent nexus of markets and moral economies associated with gender and intimacy. Drawing on qualitative interviews with surgeons specialising in female genital aesthetic surgeries, particularly hymenoplasty, in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore, I show how restorative cosmetic surgeries on healthy bodies are proffered through the language of duty, autonomous choice, and the (neoliberal) market. Further, building on the sociological concepts of "moral consumption" and "progress through pleasure", I show how consumerism-led modernity makes pleasure a 'biopolitical burden', and the cosmetic industry, a regulatory vehicle, disciplining female sexuality to conform with male honour codes.

Living solo at midlife: Can the pandemic de-stigmatize living alone in India?

In this piece I argue that the pandemic with its emphasis on social distancing as a desirable civic norm can reconfigure popular understanding of mature female singlehood in India- a condition that is often described in the language of lacks and social failures. The pandemic, I argue, has reaffirmed the everyday practices of upper middle-class professional women (ages 50-60 years) lending them as positive agentic subjects who are invested in self-actualization and an appreciation of intimate solitude. Overall, by specifically focusing on subjectivities and social aspirations of my interlocutors during the pandemic, I illuminate ways in which middle aged selfhood is lived in all its fragility, ambivalence and emergent possibilities.

(In)Visible illness: A photovoice study of the lived experience of self-managing rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Chronic illnesses, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), are a growing burden on health care systems worldwide. Self-management emphasises the patient's central role in managing their illness. This is pertinent given the majority of care is provided by the individual themselves; yet how individuals make sense of self-management in everyday life is largely unseen.

A review of caregiver distress in epilepsy in India: Current issues and future directions for research.

India is home to a large number of individuals with epilepsy, with many of these patients having high care needs. Owing to limited infrastructural support and prevalent cultural attitudes, most of these individuals are cared for by their families. Such informal caregiving is often associated with poor physical and psychological outcomes, but the state of caregivers of people with epilepsy in India remains largely ignored.

Panic During COVID-19 Pandemic! A Qualitative Investigation Into the Psychosocial Experiences of a Sample of Indian People.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has spread to the entire world and is severely affecting social psychology. We conducted semi-structured interviews on 59 subjects from India to investigate the impact of information, misinfodemics (spread of wrong information), and isolation on their psychology. We perform qualitative analysis on the data.

Stakeholder engagement for innovation management and entrepreneurial development: A meta-analysis.

This paper reviews contemporary studies in entrepreneurship literature related to innovation management (IM), stakeholder engagement (SE), and entrepreneurial development (ED), using bibliometric techniques and longitudinal statistical analysis of 1059 articles published in the (JBR) and other relevant business and management journals indexed in Scopus from 1974 until July 2020. We have employed a structured literature review and meta-analysis to explore the emerging research patterns in prospective observational studies encompassing the field of ED, SE, and IM. Our findings suggest that dynamics of the interaction of SE, IM, and ED are shaping the scholarship of academic research in entrepreneurship.

Renegotiating dimensions of the self: A systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis of the lived experience of self-managing rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: As chronic illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), place an increased burden on health-care systems, the ability of individuals to self-manage these diseases is crucial.

Objective: To identify and synthesize the lived experience of self-management described by adults living with RA.

Design: A systematic search of five electronic databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO and ASSIA) was undertaken to identify relevant studies.

Synergistic Biophysical Techniques Reveal Structural Mechanisms of Engineered Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides in Lipid Model Membranes.

In the quest for new antibiotics, two novel engineered cationic antimicrobial peptides (eCAPs) have been rationally designed. WLBU2 and D8 (all 8 valines are the d-enantiomer) efficiently kill both Gram-negative and -positive bacteria, but WLBU2 is toxic and D8 nontoxic to eukaryotic cells. We explore protein secondary structure, location of peptides in six lipid model membranes, changes in membrane structure and pore evidence.

Loneliness and sleep in older adults.

Purpose: The present analysis aims to examine if loneliness is associated with sleep problems and duration over a 4-year period in a sample of older adults aged 50 years and over.

Methods: Data on loneliness, sleep duration, sleep problems and covariates were obtained from 5698 participants from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing at baseline (wave 4) and follow up (wave 6).

Results: Following adjustment for covariates, baseline loneliness was associated with an increase in the odds of reporting short sleep, and more sleep problems at follow up.

Valuing health damages due to groundwater arsenic contamination in Bihar, India.

This paper estimates the health damages due to arsenicosis among people residing in two districts of Bihar, India. A primary survey of 388 households' comprises 3469 individuals from two arsenic-contaminated districts namely Patna and Bhojpur from Bihar was conducted to collect the data. Arsenic field test kits was used to test the arsenic level in drinking water of the sample households.