44,644 research outputs found
Health Care Regulation and the Operating Efficiency of Hospitals: Evidence from Taiwan
No full text[[abstract]]Using data from the Annual Survey of Hospitals compiled by the Department of Health in Taiwan for years 1994 through 1997, we employed Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate the impact of a National Health Insurance (NHI) Program on the operating efficiency of district hospitals in Taiwan. We find that, on average, efficiency of district hospitals in Taiwan decreased following the implementation of the NHI Program. Our results are robust to the inclusion of control variables that have been shown to affect hospital operating performance in prior research, and alternative efficiency measurements
Shoreline changes and its impact on the mangrove ecosystems of some islands of Indian Sundarbans, North-East coast of India
No full textThis study aims to analyse the shoreline oscillations of three estuarine Islands in Sundarban delta and its impact on mangrove forests around the Islands. Six multi-temporal Landsat images spanning 42 years (1975–2017) have been used in the study. Band ratio was computed to discriminate the water line from the land, which was later digitized. Digital shoreline analysis system (DSAS) was employed for estimation and analysis of the shorelines changes by End point rate (EPR) model and Linear regression rate (LRR) model after laying transects offshore of the baseline. Sea level and topography of the islands have also been analyzed. To assess the mangrove health, time series Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis has been performed using the Mann Kendall Tau statistics and Sen's slope. Mangrove degradation maps were produced from the data and combined with evidences collected from field works. The results point to a very dynamic shoreline ensuing in erosion of mangrove forests while some areas do show encouraging trends due to sustained accretion especially in the southern and eastern parts. Overall erosion is higher than accretion in the Islands. Results show that NDVI has been decreasing along patches that are near to erosion hotspots irrespective of climatic trends. Thus it can be concluded that mangrove forests are under severe stress due to shoreline ingression and sea level rise and not climatic alterations. Going forward this work could provide significant information on the nature of shoreline changes and could assist in sustainable development for Sundarban biodiversity niche management.</p
Seminário sobre aquacultura 14 a 16 de dezembro de 1983
No full textA necessidade de desenvolver a aquacultura em Portugal obriga à escolha das espécies mais indicadas para tal finalidade. A propósito o autor chama a atenção para as graves consequências que podem advir das introduções e/ou transferências de animais aquáticos, quer para as espécies locais e meio ambiente, como para a para a saúde pública.Concerning the need to choose the most convenient species to cultivate in order to implement aquaculture in Portugal, the author draws the attention to the deleterious consequences of introductions and transfers of aquatic animals.Caixa Geral de Depósito
Indicating saturation limits of multi-sensor satellite data in estimating aboveground biomass of a mangrove forest
No full textCarbon sequestration in aboveground biomass remains understudied because of the difficulties in conducting field observations and saturation of remote sensing datasets. This study aimed to address the challenges associated with estimating forest AGB using remote sensing data from a dense mangrove ecosystem that has reached saturation limits. A mangrove ecosystem can reach saturation limits when the vegetation density and AGB are so high that remote sensing instruments, such as radar and lidar, cannot accurately measure further increases in biomass because of the sensors' limited penetration and resolution capabilities. This study evaluated the potential and limitations of using dual-polarised microwave data from Sentinel-1A and PALSAR-2, as well as spectral reflectance data from Sentinel-2, to estimate the AGB of the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS), which is the second largest mangrove site in India. Using stratified random sampling, 314 elementary sampling units of 20 m × 20 m (0.04 ha) were used to record the diameter at breast height, tree height, and stand density for estimating AGB. Different band combinations of multisensor datasets were utilised to identify the best predictor variables for estimating the AGB and their corresponding saturation limits. Sentinel-1A demonstrated saturation at 123 Mg/ha (R
2 = 0.17) for AGB using VV polarisation, followed by 93 Mg/ha (R
2 = 0.55), 91 Mg/ha (R
2 = 0.26), and 96 Mg/ha (R
2 = 0.17) for the three red-edge bands at wavelengths of 705, 749, and 783 nm, respectively, of Sentinel-2 data. Red-edge bands are sensitive to chlorophyll and vegetation structure, and therefore, S2REP and REIP attained the maximum saturation limit at an AGB of 80 Mg/ha (R
2 = 0.26, 0.3, respectively). The highest correlation (R
2 = 0.9) and the maximum AGB of 326.06 Mg/ha was captured by the variable HH × HV of the L-band of the PALSAR-2 due to its penetration and interaction capacity with biomass components and less susceptible to interference from surface conditions and atmospheric effects. This study confirmed the advantages of longer-wavelength L-band data over C-band and multispectral optical bands for AGB estimation and identified the best predictor variables. This approach highlights the efficacy of different predictor variables for AGB estimation and the complementary strengths of multisensor datasets for navigating saturation limits. This framework could offer a practical guide for variable selection based on forest density and canopy structure from upcoming SAR missions, including NISAR.</p
MICROBIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF STREET FOODS OF DIFFERENT LOCATION AT PANSKURA BLOCK, WEST BENGAL, INDIA
No full textSomenath Dutta, *Somnath De, Dulal Chandra Das and Monalisha Da
Redox-Responsive Nanocapsules for the Spatiotemporal Release of Miltefosine in Lysosome: Protection against Leishmania
No full textLeishmaniasis, a vector-borne disease, is caused by intracellular parasite Leishmania donovani. Unlike most intracellular pathogens, Leishmania donovani are lodged in parasitophorous vacuoles and replicate within the phagolysosomes in macrophages. Effective vaccines against this disease are still under development, while the efficacy of the available drugs is being questioned owing to the toxicity for nonspecific distribution in human physiology and the reported drug-resistance developed by Leishmania donovani. Thus, a stimuli-responsive nanocarrier that allows specific localization and release of the drug in the lysosome has been highly sought after for addressing two crucial issues, lower drug toxicity and a higher drug efficacy. We report here a unique lysosome targeting polymeric nanocapsules, formed via inverse mini-emulsion technique, for stimuli-responsive release of the drug miltefosine in the lysosome of macrophage RAW 264.7 cell line. A benign polymeric backbone, with a disulfide bonding susceptible to an oxidative cleavage, is utilized for the organelle-specific release of miltefosine. Oxidative rupture of the disulfide bond is induced by intracellular glutathione (GSH) as an endogenous stimulus. Such a stimuli-responsive release of the drug miltefosine in the lysosome of macrophage RAW 264.7 cell line over a few hours helped in achieving an improved drug efficacy by 200 times as compared to pure miltefosine. Such a drug formulation could contribute to a new line of treatment for leishmaniasis.A. Das acknowledges SERB (India) Grants (CRG/2020/000492 and JCB/2017/000004) and DBT Grant (BT/PR22251/NNT/28/1274/2017) for supporting this research. N. Mukherjee acknowledges SERB (India) Grant PDF/2016/001437 and K. Das acknowledges the grant EMR/2015/001674 for supporting this research. Financial support from DST (DST/INSPIRE/03/2017/002477) is acknowledged by R.T. This manuscript bears CSMCRI registration no 7/2021.Pramanik, SK (corresponding author), CSIR Cent Salt & Marine Chem Res Inst, Bhavnagar 364002, Gujarat, India.
Mukherjee, N (corresponding author), CSIR Indian Inst Chem Biol, Canc Biol & Inflammatory Disorder Div, Kolkata 700032, India.
Chattopadhy, S (corresponding author), BITS Pilani, Pilani 403726, Goa, India.
Das, A (corresponding author), Indian Inst Sci Educ & Res Kolkata, Mohanpur 741246, W Bengal, India.
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Interview with Indra Das
Get PDFIndra Das is most well-recognized as the author of The Devourers (2015), a novel that won the Lambda Literary Award for straddling the genres of sci-fi, speculative, and fantasy fiction alongside LGBT themes. Das’s short fiction is widely published is horror and sci-fi anthologies, as well as magazines like Tor.com, Strange Horizons, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. He spoke candidly with Alok Amatya over email about the current literary landscape, the work of writing transgressive genre fiction, and his own experiences as an upcoming global author
"PULS." - Ein Blog als Online-Magazin für Medizinstudierende der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
No full textIm Herbst 2009 forderten Studierende im Rahmen landesweiter Proteste auch am Fachbereich Medizin/Zahnmedizin der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt mehr Transparenz und Kommunikation zu Angelegenheiten ihres Studiums. Einen innovativen Lösungsansatz, um diesen Forderungen nachzukommen, bietet eines der Web 2.0 Werkzeuge: ein auf einer Blog-Software basierendes Online-Magazin für Studierende und andere Mitglieder des Fachbereichs.
Das öffentlich zugängliche Online-Magazin "PULS." (https://newsmagazin.puls.med.uni-frankfurt.de/wp/) wird mit einer freien Blog-Software (wordpress Version 3.1.3.) realisiert und von einer Online-Redakteurin konzipiert und geschrieben. Die Beiträge entstehen nach eigenen Recherchen sowie aus Anregungen und Gesprächen mit verschiedenen Personengruppen des Fachbereichs. Die datenschutzkonforme Auswertung der Zugriffe erfolgt über eine open-source Webanalyse-Software (Piwik). Zusätzlich werden jährlich mit dem Online-Umfrage-Tool Survey Monkey die Nutzer anonym befragt.
"PULS." ist seit dem 14.02.2010 ununterbrochen online und hat seitdem 806 Beiträge (Stand: 27.11.2012) publiziert und wird von ca. 2400 Besuchern monatlich gelesen. Das Themenspektrum ist zentriert auf die Anliegen der Frankfurter Medizin- und Zahnmedizinstudierenden. Die enge Zusammenarbeit mit verschiedenen Gruppierungen des Fachbereichs – Dekanat, Studierende und Lehrende – garantiert darüber hinaus ein fachbereichs-relevantes Themenspektrum. Das Online-Magazin begleitet komplexe Projekte und Entscheidungen mit Hintergrundinformationen und kommuniziert sie verständlich. Eine jährliche Nutzer-Evaluierung zeigt eine wachsende Leserzahl und eine sehr hohe Zustimmung für das Online-Magazin, seine Inhalte und seinen Stil. Das Web 2.0-Medium "Blog" und seine web-typische Sprache entsprechen dem Medienverhalten der Zielgruppe, d.h. den Studierenden des Fachbereichs Medizin.
"PULS." hat sich als ein geeignetes und strategisches Instrument erwiesen, um größere Transparenz, mehr Kommunikation und letztendlich eine stärkere Identifikation der Studierenden mit ihrem Fachbereich voranzutreiben
Die Türkei und das andere Europa : Phantasmen der Identität im Beitrittsdiskurs /
No full textDiese Studie analysiert das dialogische Zusammenspiel zwischen den europäischen und türkischen Diskursen um den möglichen EU-Beitritt der Türkei. Die Differenzen stellen in der Perspektive postkolonialer Theorien ein ambivalentes und formatives Moment für die Bildung einer europäischen Identität dar: Die Europäer nehmen die Beitrittsverhandlungen zum Anlass, über ihr Selbstverständnis zu reflektieren, wobei diverse Ost-West-Repräsentationen kommuniziert und strukturiert werden. Die muslimischen Migranten in Europa und die Minderheiten in der Türkei fungieren dabei als interne Symptome, die die Unvollständigkeit der europäischen bzw. türkischen Identitäten sichtbar machen.Diese Studie analysiert das dialogische Zusammenspiel zwischen den europäischen und türkischen Diskursen um den möglichen EU-Beitritt der Türkei. Die Differenzen stellen in der Perspektive postkolonialer Theorien ein ambivalentes und formatives Moment für die Bildung einer europäischen Identität dar: Die Europäer nehmen die Beitrittsverhandlungen zum Anlass, über ihr Selbstverständnis zu reflektieren, wobei diverse Ost-West-Repräsentationen kommuniziert und strukturiert werden. Die muslimischen Migranten in Europa und die Minderheiten in der Türkei fungieren dabei als interne Symptome, die die Unvollständigkeit der europäischen bzw. türkischen Identitäten sichtbar machen.Bülent Küçük (Dr. phil.) ist Soziologe und arbeitet im Forschungsprojekt "Eurosphere" an der Sabancà Universität in Istanbul. Seine Forschungsschwerpunkte sind Öffentlichkeits-, Diskurs- und Postkoloniale Theorien.Online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed October 7 2015).Includes bibliographical references.JSTO
- …
