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Stories constitute a significant part of the Indian preschool curriculum due to their various benefits in preschool child development. However, the teachers' practice of stories and their perception regarding the influence of stories on preschool child development are vital determining factors in the benefit preschoolers receive from stories. The global concern for providing quality education for preschool children necessitates the exploration of teachers' practices and perceptions; however, such studies in the Indian context, where education is shaped by its multicultural and linguistic diversities, are limited. The present study provides an original contribution to exploring the Indian preschool teachers' practice of stories and perception of the influence of stories on preschool child development using a developed questionnaire, Teachers' Practice and Perception of Stories (TPPS). Ninety-six preschool teachers from English medium schools in Mangalore, India, participated in the study. The findings indicated that irrespective of teachers' demographic variables, they played an active role in telling stories to children and positively believed that stories facilitate speech and language, cognition, literacy, and socio-pragmatic development in preschoolers. The findings broadly apply stories for preschool child development in clinical and school settings.

Background: Considering the importance of exploring the development of reasoning skills during preschool period and the suitability of using a culturally linguistically relevant story-based approach for the same, the present research intended to profile the reasoning skills in typically developing Indian preschool children between 36 and 72 months using a story-based approach. The specific objectives were to develop explanation, prediction, and inference based reasoning tasks around a story and assess the reasoning skills in typically developing Indian preschool children using the same. Method: Reasoning tasks across explanation, prediction, and inference domains were developed based on a story and evaluated for its psychometric properties. The developed tasks were then administered to 63 typically developing Indian preschool children attending English medium schools in Mangalore. The preschoolers were equally divided into three age groups, and the responses obtained across the age groups were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results: The developed tasks were confirmed to have good psychometric properties like content validity and reliability. The age comparisons of reasoning abilities using one-way ANOVA suggested an increase in reasoning abilities with age during the preschool period. The qualitative analysis further suggested that with increasing age, the nature of reasoning changed from content-based reasoning to reasoning based on prior knowledge which was integrated with the story content. Conclusion: The study describes reasoning skill development using a story-based task in Indian preschoolers. The study findings further provide clinical and educational implications to assess and foster reasoning abilities among preschoolers.

Background: Pretend play is a form of play that involves nonliteral actions. There are limited studies reporting the developmental trends of pretend play behaviours of typically developing pre-schoolers. This knowledge would be beneficial in the early identification of deviations in pre-schoolers who have or are at risk of developing developmental disabilities. Aim: The present study aimed to describe the developmental trends in pretend play skills across different age groups of pre-schoolers. The study also aimed to understand the differential patterns in pretend play observed across the Free Play and Structured Toy Play scenarios. Setting: This study was conducted on pre-schoolers in a classroom of the school. Method: The study followed a cross-sectional study design. Forty-eight participants were recruited for the study and were divided into four groups. A video recording of the child's pretend play skills was recorded using a Sony-HDRCX405 camcorder in Free Play and Structured Toy Play scenarios. The recorded video was coded and analysed for the occurrence of pretend play skills using the Play in Early Childhood Evaluation System (PIECES) coding scheme. Results: The study results depict a developmental trend in the occurrences of pretend play skills in pre-schoolers. It also emphasises the importance of amalgamation of Structured Toy Play and Free Play scenarios for the child's holistic development because of the unique benefits of each scenario. Conclusion: The study findings could help in the formulation of Individualised Education Programme objectives for typically developing children and children with developmental disabilities involving play, thus enabling these children experience normalised, contextually pertinent experiences like their peers.

Background: Considering the importance of exploring the development of reasoning skills during preschool period and the suitability of using a culturally linguistically relevant story-based approach for the same, the present research intended to profile the reasoning skills in typically developing Indian preschool children between 36 and 72 months using a story-based approach. The specific objectives were to determine the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of reasoning tasks within an existing story-based cognitive-communicative assessment tool and to use this tool to assess the reasoning skills of typically developing Indian preschool children. Method: Reasoning tasks across explanation, prediction and inference domains were evaluated for its psychometric properties and administered to 63 typically developing Indian preschool children attending English medium schools in Mangalore. The preschoolers were equally divided into three age groups. The responses obtained across the age groups were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results: The developed tasks were confirmed to have good psychometric properties like test-retest and inter-rater reliability. The age comparisons of reasoning abilities using one-way ANOVA suggested an increase in reasoning abilities with age during the preschool period. The qualitative analysis further suggested that with increasing age, the nature of reasoning changed from content-based reasoning to reasoning based on prior knowledge which was integrated with the story content. Conclusion: The study describes reasoning skill development using a story-based task in Indian preschoolers. The study findings further provide clinical and educational implications to assess and foster reasoning abilities among preschoolers.

ABSTRACT Purpose The aim of the present study was to conceptualize and develop a novel context-based working memory (WM) task which would possess the potential to assess the context-based WM in an Indian scenario and incorporate a task-linked metacognitive facet to understand an individual's self-perception of performance. Methods Employing the ADDIE instructional design model, comprising Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation phases, the present study focused on the initial four phases. In the Analysis-phase, the needs and objectives for creating a context-based WM task were identified. Design-phase included task conceptualization and content validation of the conceptualized context-based WM task. In the Develop-phase, the designed context-based WM task was developed in an animated video format. Five content experts and fifteen lay experts were involved in the content validation process. In the Implementation-phase, a pilot study was done on ten adults to assess the feasibility of the novel context-based WM task. Results The task obtained good content validation index and understandability scores on the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool. Preliminary data trends from the implementation-phase revealed the task's potential to detect age-related WM differences. Significantly correlated with established WM tasks, the novel Activity Ordering Task (AOT) effectively measured WM-spans. Observed discrepancies between performance and prediction/postdiction spans during metacognitive facet administration highlighted the AOT's utility in evaluating metacognition. Conclusion Addressing the limitations of context in traditional tasks, the AOT appears to be a promising tool that not only measures WM but also assesses metacognition, thereby enhancing its utility beyond an everyday WM assessment.

Background: Considering the importance of exploring the development of reasoning skills during preschool period and the suitability of using a culturally linguistically relevant story-based approach for the same, the present research intended to profile the reasoning skills in typically developing Indian preschool children between 36 and 72 months using a story-based approach. The specific objectives were to develop explanation, prediction, and inference based reasoning tasks around a story and assess the reasoning skills in typically developing Indian preschool children using the same. Method: Reasoning tasks across explanation, prediction, and inference domains were developed based on a story and evaluated for its psychometric properties. The developed tasks were then administered to 63 typically developing Indian preschool children attending English medium schools in Mangalore. The preschoolers were equally divided into three age groups, and the responses obtained across the age groups were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results: The developed tasks were confirmed to have good psychometric properties like content validity and reliability. The age comparisons of reasoning abilities using one-way ANOVA suggested an increase in reasoning abilities with age during the preschool period. The qualitative analysis further suggested that with increasing age, the nature of reasoning changed from content-based reasoning to reasoning based on prior knowledge which was integrated with the story content. Conclusion: The study describes reasoning skill development using a story-based task in Indian preschoolers. The study findings further provide clinical and educational implications to assess and foster reasoning abilities among preschoolers.

The lack of research exploring the influence of dynamic visual narratives on inference skills prompted the present study with an aim to profile the inference skills in school children between the ages of 6 years and 9 years 11 months using dynamic visual narratives. A total of 80 participants were considered for the study. An animated story was designed as the dynamic visual narrative stimuli based on which an "inference task" was formulated, which included forced-choice questions and free-response questions. The responses of the forced-choice questions were analyzed quantitatively using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), while the responses from the free-response questions were analyzed qualitatively. The results revealed an increase in inference skills with age, with children using less seductive details, beginning to display inductive inference, and providing multiple inferences. The inference profiles obtained from the study can serve as evidence for the development of bridging inference skills from dynamic visual narratives in children.

Background: The outbreak of new SARS-CoV-2 infection has spread all over the world. Globally, there have been 624,235,272 confirmed cases of COVID-19 including 6,555,270 deaths as on October 24, 2022, as declared by World Health Organization. Unlike the countries earlier affected with this pandemic, which have undergone epidemiologic transition, India still faces the dual burden of infectious and chronic disease challenges. Objectives: The objective of this study was to study the demographic and clinical characteristics of deceased COVID-19 cases. To compare clinical parameters between deceased comorbid and noncomorbid COVID-19 cases and to perform a time audit of deceased COVID-19 cases from the onset of symptom to the time of hospitalization and death. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based retrospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary care medical college hospital, Bengaluru. The study was conducted by review of clinical data of 142 COVID-19 deaths which occurred during the second COVID-19 wave. Details including age, gender, the period of the illness before to and/or during hospitalizations, symptoms, comorbidities, and reason of death were all noted. Results: According to the present study, 68.3% of deaths were with comorbidities and 31.7% were without comorbidities. Of the total deaths, 64.8% were males and 35.2% were females. Majority of the deceased were between 51 and 70 years. At the time of arrival to the hospital, 50.7% recorded SPO2

ABSTRACT Purpose Prospective memory (PM) questionnaires are frequently used to evaluate perceptions of PM skills in daily life. This study aimed to systematically investigate communication-specific attributes using pre-existing PM self-rating questionnaires to inform clinicians and researchers about the role of PM in cognitive communicative evaluations. Methods PM-related items from three questionnaires (i.e., Prospective Memory Questionnaire, Comprehensive Assessment of Prospective Memory, and Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire) were compiled and embedded in Google Forms and distributed to 70 Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) with expertise in Cognitive Communicative Disorders across India. Participants first identified items related to communication, and were then contacted to rate the communication-related PM items using a Likert scale for their degree of appropriateness. Responses from 40 SLPs were obtained and subjected to item-content validity index (i-CVI) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Results Of the 114 PM items, 28 received ratings over 50% for their relevance to communication. Of the 28 items, 21 had an i-CVI score greater than 0.8. After the removal of overlapping content, 14 items were finalized and subjected to EFA, which resulted in four factors: PM failure due to loss of communicative content, PM failure due to loss of communicative intent, PM cost due to ongoing interference, and PM failure linked to the priority of communicative intent. Conclusion This study highlights communication-related aspects of PM that can be used as a framework for SLPs to assess and research PM skills.

Abstract Objectives Health literacy (HL) about healthy cognitive aging is essential in preventing cognitive decline and promoting cognitive well‐being. It is important that one such HL module should be scientifically designed, delivered in a technically sound manner to the audience, and specific to the context. The present study thus aimed at developing and validating educational multimedia about cognitive health. Methods The study followed a methodological framework and was carried out across three phases, that is, identification of themes, development and validation of educational script and design, and validation of educational multimedia. The module was scripted based on the Integrated HL framework and the recommendations made during the modified nominal group technique among the research team. Seven speech‐language pathologists (SLPs), with expertise in the field of cognitive sciences, and 15 representatives of the general public validated the module using the Educational Content Validation Instrument in Health and the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials questionnaire. Results The scientific content of the educational script received satisfactory agreements among the experts (content validity index [CVI]: 0.93) and representatives of the general public (CVI: 0.86). The technical aspects of the educational multimedia were rated to have high understandability (experts: 92.8%; representatives of general public: 98.8%) and actionability (experts and representatives of general public 100%). Conclusion Overall, the developed educational multimedia scored optimally with respect to the objective, structure, relevance of the content, actionability and understandability of the multimedia. The developed module holds the potential to be used at community and national level health educational programs or awareness campaigns to enhance public knowledge and beliefs pertaining to cognitive health. Patient or Public Contribution SLPs with expertise in the field of cognitive science and representatives from the general public were included to validate and obtain feedback on the developed educational multimedia.

Background: In Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM), the insulin secretion is not adequate enough to compensate for the severity of hyperglycaemia and pregnancy is also a state of high insulin resistance which leads to ineffective glycaemic control. Aim and Objectives: To compare the efficacy of metformin and insulin in management of GDM; and to assess neonatal and maternal outcomes in the study group. Material and Methods: One hundred pregnant women visiting the Outpatient Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, JSS Hospital, Mysuru were screened for GDM at first antenatal visit. If the first test results were negative, then second test was done at 24 - 28 weeks of gestation. One hundred pregnant women diagnosed as GDM after 20 weeks of gestation by Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group of India (DIPSI) method were included for the study. They were randomly assigned into two groups with 50 patients each and were subjected to pharmacological treatment with either insulin or metformin. Optimum glycemic control between the two groups was studied along with the maternal and fetal outcome. Results: Our study showed no significant difference in GDM with the use of metformin or insulin. All patients (100%) from the insulin group achieved good glycemic control whereas in the metformin group, 98% achieved good glycemic control. Maternal and fetal outcomes were also not significant between the two groups. Conclusion: Our study showed no significant difference in the use of metformin or insulin and suggests that metformin is effective in controlling GDM without associated higher risk of maternal or neonatal complications compared with insulin.

Lecture capture videos were explored as beyond the classroom course materials in upper-level descriptive inorganic chemistry courses during Fall 2017, Fall 2018, and Fall 2020 semesters. Page views data from the learning management system (LMS) Canvas site served as a proxy for course content usage materials such as lecture capture videos. There was a significant increase in page views on the LMS site since lecture capture videos were introduced in the course. On the basis of the page views data, students were categorized as high-end users (HEU) and low-end users (LEU). Students in the HEU category used more resources in the course than the students in the LEU category. Also, students in the HEU category performed significantly better than students in the LEU category on the cumulative final exam in the course. The information processing model and cognitive load theory suggest that reviewing content helps in minimizing learning losses, thus promoting student learning. This study suggests that usage of course content materials such as lecture capture videos promoted self-paced learning and helped students with reviewing/learning content through auditory and visual channels as suggested by the cognitive theory of multimedia. Lessons learned from the current study prompted the author to explore makeshift HyFlex classrooms during the Fall 2021 semester, especially toward the later part of the semester. HyFlex classrooms enabled students to attend online classes via Zoom while the other students from the course attended in-person classes. This endeavor particularly helped those students who missed lectures due to a variety of unforeseen reasons.

Little is explored regarding the modality-specific differences in recall abilities of preschool children. Understanding modality-specific differences in the recall at an early age might give an insight into age-linked trends, which can lay a foundation for later development. The current study used a cross-sectional design to investigate the modality-specific differences in recall abilities of preschool children using a story and story stimulus. A total of 20 typically developing children between the ages of 3.6 to 5.5 years were presented with a story followed by a story recall task across auditory, visual, and auditory-visual modalities to determine modality-specific recall abilities. The results were analyzed using mixed ANOVA, which revealed higher recall ability in the auditory-visual modality than in other modalities. The findings are explained based on Dual coding theory, Multimedia effect, Mental imagery skills, Visual superiority effect, Attentional behavior, and Comprehension skill. The study implies the importance of Auditory-Visual modality in facilitating better recall in story-based tasks among preschool children.

ABSTRACT Purpose To address the need for a standardized assessment tool for assessing cognitive-communication abilities among Indian preschoolers, the current study aimed at describing a Delphi based development and validation process for developing one such tool. The objectives of the research were to conceptualize and construct the tool, validate its content, and assess its feasibility through pilot testing. Methods The study followed a Delphi approach to develop and validate the tool across four phases i.e. conceptualization; construction; content validation; and pilot testing. The first three phases were performed with a panel of six experts including speech-language pathologists and preschool teachers while the pilot testing was done with 20 typically developing preschoolers. A literature review was also conducted with the Delphi rounds to support the developmental process. Results The first two rounds of the Delphi aided in the construction of a culturally and linguistically suitable story-based cognitive-communication assessment tool with the memory (free recall, recognition, and literary recall) and executive function (reasoning, inhibition, and switching) related tasks relevant for preschoolers. The content validation of the tool was continued with the experts till the revisions were satisfactory and yielded an optimum Content Validity Index. The pilot test of the finalized version confirmed its feasibility and appropriateness to assess developmental changes in the cognitive-communication abilities of preschoolers. Conclusion The study describes the Delphi-based conceptualization, construction, content validation, and feasibility check of a tool to assess cognitive-communication skills in preschool children.

The ever-increasing need for power in today's environment calls for a secure and effective energy supply network. Distributed renewable options such as Diesel Generator (DG), wind turbine (WT) and photovoltaic (PV) solar energy may be integrated inside a micro grid (MG) to supply electricity to customers in a sensible manner. In order to provide a more efficient and affordable source of electricity, the battery storage device is built into the micro grid. This article identifies the cost-based approach to calculate the optimum size of the Battery energy storage (BES) for MG operations. Some constraints, i.e., the power output of the Distributed Generators (DGs), the power and energy capacity of BES, the charging/discharge performance of BES, the working reserve and the fulfilment of the load requirement, should also be considered. In this article the Spider Monkey (SM) algorithm is a modern evolutionary technology that is used to build correction policies and to execute less costly dispatch. Four different cases have been studied. The results are compared with recently developed Fire Fly (FF) algorithm to corroborate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The results show that the proposed algorithm has low power loss and the operating cost of the proposed SM technique is 0.0129% less than existing FF algorithm based micro-grid system. Here, IEEE 33 bus system performed to prove the effectiveness of the proposed SM algorithm over the FF algorithm.

Background: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a multiplex risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. It is proven that genetic and certain modifiable factors are responsible for the syndrome. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of MetS in the high-risk urban slum population of Pune city and its association with various risk factors. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among high-risk people for type 2 diabetes mellitus in the field practice area of the Urban Health Training Centre of a private medical college, Pune, India. Variables like age, waist circumference, and blood pressure (BP) and fasting parameters like triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and blood glucose after 12 h overnight fast were tested. Results: Prevalence of MetS was 26.6%. It was maximum in the higher age group (53%), housewives (36.7%), subjects with secondary education (36.7%), and in the socioeconomic lower class (36%). Abdominal obesity, high TGs, low HDL, high BP, and raised blood glucose significantly contributed to an increased risk of MetS. Conclusion: The study shows that identification of even a single component of MetS should be considered and accordingly subject should be counseled to prevent further progression of the disease.

Background: Nurses among the health care providers play a vital role in the success of the health care system. Their continuous hours of working and the existing lacunae in regard to their mental health in the current study setting, this study was conducted to elicit if the nurses are posed to any such mental health risks and perceive any stress? Objectives: To determine the prevalence of psychological distress and the perceived stress among the study subjects. To assess the factors associated with psychological distress and perceived stress. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among all the nursing staffs at our tertiary care centre for 2 months. A predesigned and pretested semi-structured self-administered questionnaire including general health questionnaire (GHQ)-12 and perceived stress scale (PSS)-10 were used to collect the data and to asses psychological distress and perceived stress considering the cut-off scores of a minimum of 12 and 19, respectively. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel 2010 and analyzed using the SPSS software version 20.0, Armonk, NY, USA: IBM Corp. Results: The mean age of the participants was 24.4 ± 3.7 years. Mean GHQ-12 score was 11. As per the scores, the cutoff of at least 12 was found in 35% of the respondents indicating the prevalence of psychological distress among 35.0% and as per the screening tool PSS-10 used, majority of the study subjects (93.0%) perceived moderate level of stress with a median score of 19. Conclusion: Nearly one-third of the nursing personnel were under psychological distress and almost the entire nursing faculty perceived moderate level of stress.

Background: Considering the importance of exploring the development of reasoning skills during preschool period and the suitability of using a culturally linguistically relevant story-based approach for the same, the present research intended to profile the reasoning skills in typically developing Indian preschool children between 36 and 72 months using a story-based approach. The specific objectives were to develop explanation, prediction, and inference based reasoning tasks around a story and assess the reasoning skills in typically developing Indian preschool children using the same. Method: Reasoning tasks across explanation, prediction, and inference domains were developed based on a story and evaluated for its psychometric properties. The developed tasks were then administered to 63 typically developing Indian preschool children attending English medium schools in Mangalore. The preschoolers were equally divided into three age groups, and the responses obtained across the age groups were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results: The developed tasks were confirmed to have good psychometric properties like content validity and reliability. The age comparisons of reasoning abilities using one-way ANOVA suggested an increase in reasoning abilities with age during the preschool period. The qualitative analysis further suggested that with increasing age, the nature of reasoning changed from content-based reasoning to reasoning based on prior knowledge which was integrated with the story content. Conclusion: The study describes reasoning skill development using a story-based task in Indian preschoolers. The study findings further provide clinical and educational implications to assess and foster reasoning abilities among preschoolers.

Inositol pyrophosphates (PP-InsPs) are a sub-family of water soluble inositol phosphates that possess one or more diphosphate groups. PP-InsPs can transfer their β-phosphate group to a phosphorylated Ser residue to generate pyrophosphorylated Ser. This unique post-translational modification occurs on Ser residues that lie in acidic stretches within an intrinsically disordered protein sequence. Serine pyrophosphorylation is dependent on the presence of Mg2+ ions, but does not require an enzyme for catalysis. The mechanisms by which cells regulate PP-InsP-mediated pyrophosphorylation are still unknown. We performed mass spectrometry to identify interactors of IP6K1, an enzyme responsible for the synthesis of the PP-InsP 5-InsP7. Interestingly, IP6K1 interacted with several proteins that are known to undergo 5-InsP7-mediated pyrophosphorylation, including the nucleolar proteins NOLC1, TCOF and UBF1, and AP3B1, the β subunit of the AP3 adaptor protein complex. The IP6K1 interactome also included CK2, a protein kinase that phosphorylates Ser residues prior to pyrophosphorylation. We observe the formation of a protein complex between IP6K1, AP3B1, and the catalytic α-subunit of CK2, and show that disrupting IP6K1 binding to AP3B1 lowers its in vivo pyrophosphorylation. We propose that assembly of a substrate-CK2-IP6K complex would allow for coordinated pre-phosphorylation and py-rophosphorylation of the target serine residue, and provide a mechanism to regulate this enzyme-independent modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inositol pyrophosphates (PP-InsPs) are a sub-family of water soluble inositol phosphates that possess one or more diphosphate groups. PP-InsPs can transfer their β-phosphate group to a phosphorylated Ser residue to generate pyrophosphorylated Ser. This unique post-translational modification occurs on Ser residues that lie in acidic stretches within an intrinsically disordered protein sequence. Serine pyrophosphorylation is dependent on the presence of Mg2+ ions, but does not require an enzyme for catalysis. The mechanisms by which cells regulate PP-InsP-mediated pyrophosphorylation are still unknown. We performed mass spectrometry to identify interactors of IP6K1, an enzyme responsible for the synthesis of the PP-InsP 5-InsP7. Interestingly, IP6K1 interacted with several proteins that are known to undergo 5-InsP7-mediated pyrophosphorylation, including the nucleolar proteins NOLC1, TCOF and UBF1, and AP3B1, the β subunit of the AP3 adaptor protein complex. The IP6K1 interactome also included CK2, a protein kinase that phosphorylates Ser residues prior to pyrophosphorylation. We observe the formation of a protein complex between IP6K1, AP3B1, and the catalytic α-subunit of CK2, and show that disrupting IP6K1 binding to AP3B1 lowers its in vivo pyrophosphorylation. We propose that assembly of a substrate-CK2-IP6K complex would allow for coordinated pre-phosphorylation and py-rophosphorylation of the target serine residue, and provide a mechanism to regulate this enzyme-independent modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]