Ashok Kumar

An innovative move to arrest landslides through soil-nailing and hydro-seeding has been implemented in The Nilgiris for the last couple of years and it has yielded the desired results. Apart from...

After commencing a discussion on Multi Cap Funds in the last column, let us now turn the Torchlight on some randomly selected funds from this category. These include HDFC Multi Cap Fund, HSBC Multi Cap Fund, ICICI Prudential Multi Cap Fund, SBI Multi Cap Fund, Sundaram Multi Cap Fund and ITI Multi Cap Fund.

Long-term indwelling urinary catheters can lead to various health problems among patients resulting in impaired quality of life. Nurses are vital in providing access to resources, education, and support services, such as catheter care training, family support groups, and psychological counselling. They can empower patients with long-term indwelling urinary catheters to manage their condition effectively and enhance their quality of life. The objective of the study was to develop and implement booklet-based nurse-led intervention on patients with long-term indwelling urinary catheters and to assess the effectiveness of the urinary catheter care package (UCCP) on catheter care practices among caregivers and quality of life among patients. A randomised controlled trial was conducted at a tertiary care centre in Northern India. After obtaining informed consent from each participant, a total enumeration sampling technique was used for sampling ensuring the inclusion of all eligible participants followed by computer-generated day-wise randomization. Fifty participants (patient and caregiver dyad) in each group were selected. Participants in the intervention group were given booklet-based nurse-led intervention while standard care was given to participants in the control group. Data were collected using a validated semi-structured interview schedule consisting of (a) a socio-demographic profile of patients and their caregivers, (b) a clinical profile of patients, (c) an ICIQ-LTCQOL (Quality of life questionnaire) to assess the quality of life among patients, and (d) observation checklist to assess catheter care practices among caregivers. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 22.0 employing descriptive and inferential methods. The mean age of patients was 54.88 ± 20.14 years and 53.56 ± 18.93 years in the control and intervention group, respectively. Majority of patients were male, with 86.0% in the control group vs. 80.0% in the intervention group (

Electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as the best alternative to conventional fossil fuel-based vehicles due to their lower emission rate and operating cost. The escalating growth of EVs has increased the necessity for distributed charging stations. On the other hand, the fast charging of EVs can be improved by the use of efficient converters. Hence, the fractional order proportional resonant (FOPR) controller-based current-fed bidirectional DC-DC converter is proposed in this work for EV charging applications. The output capacitance of the switches is utilized to achieve the resonance condition for zero voltage switching (ZVS) and zero current switching (ZCS). The proposed converter topology is implemented using the MATLAB Simulink tool. The result analysis verified that the proposed converter topology provides better switching characteristics for different operating modes, which is necessary for a high-voltage EV charger. Hence, it is proved that the proposed converter is more efficient for battery charging in EVs.

In this case, the message is conveyed that after ruling out sinister causes of hypotension, endocrine causes should also be considered, particularly in the light of a relatively long history, absence of any sepsis and organ dysfunction, preserved urine output, euvolemic status, and with no significant response to intravenous fluid. In our case, a patient with hypotension with relatively stable other clinical parameters has been evaluated to reveal pituitary macroadenoma as an underlying diagnosis.

Crime dramas and books have long held a special place in the entertainment world, with gripping plots, complex characters, and suspenseful storytelling.

After a three-year lull, three lives were lost in elephant attacks in 2024. Officials of the forest department dreamt of maintaining a clean record this year too, but that was shattered by the ‘accidental encounters'

As a result of geo-political tensions, scheduled general elections in India during the mid-year and in the USA towards the end of the year as well as valuations

Two kumkis from Theppakadu Elephant Camp were also deployed to patrol vulnerable spots to discourage the wild tusker from venturing out of the forest area.