A Study of Relationship between Metacognition, Self-Confidence and Family Environment of 10+1 Students

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The present study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between metacognition, self-confidence and family environment of 10+1 students. The sample of the present study consisted of 800 students selected randomly from four districts of Haryana (India). Metacognition Inventory by Govil (2003), Self-confidence inventory by Agnihotri (1987) and Family Environment scale by Bhatia and Chadha (1993) were used. The findings indicate that there exists significant and positive relationship between metacognition, family environment and dimensions of family environment. On the other hand, significant but negative correlation between self-confidence and metacognition; self- confidence, family environment and dimensions of family environment is found.

Institutional Performance of Irrigation System in Spatial Dimensions in Semi-Arid Region Timor Island East Nusa Tenggara

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Thirty-four percent (34.40%) of irrigation areas in Indonesia are under the authority of the central government, 17.89% under the authority of the provincial government and 47.71% are under the authority of the District/Municipality government. Various efforts have been made by the government to improve the performance of surface water irrigation systems that cover 78% of the total irrigation area, however, the performance did not improve significantly. One of the cause is due to the damage of national surface water canals that affect the performance of the irrigation system. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors that influence the institutional performance of the irrigation system in the spatial dimension in the semi-arid region of Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara. The spatial approach of the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) method was chosen as an alternative approach in the analysis of irrigation system performance because it considers the variability of hydrogeological characteristics and the performance of different irrigation systems in each irrigation area based on their authority. The results of this study indicated that the total cropping intensity had a significant effectand decreased the performance of the irrigation system. The higher rice productivity and the maintenance frequency of the main system (headworks and canals) would improve the performance of the irrigation system. Meanwhile, the lower damage rate of the main system would improve the performance of the irrigation system. Irrigation area under the authority of district/municipality had a lower/worse irrigation system performance than those under the authority of provincial and central governments.

The Relationship between Social Connectedness and Perceived Stress during COVID-19 Lockdown in High School Students in Pathumwan District, Bangkok

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The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed hefty tolls upon humanity. Aside from tremendous fatalities and indelible damage inflicted upon the bodies of many recovered afflicted, lockdown and quarantine orders that it instigated have been shown by previous studies to have a psychological impact on humans. Ostensibly, gregarious animals like humans would lose the sense of belonging to society when occluded from the outside world, which is the case of lockdown and quarantine, and the loss thereof would precipitate negative mentalities. Measuring the former can be executed through the social connectedness scale, whereas one of the ways to gauge the latter is through the perceived stress scale. By conventional notion, perceived stress would have an inverted relationship with social connectedness, as suggested by previous studies. However, a long time has passed since they were conducted and sundry technologies have come to life ever since. People today, especially younger ones, are inclined to use these technologies for entertainment, and past research unveiled their efficacy in alleviating stress. This study was, therefore, commenced on the premise that low social connectedness during COVID-19 lockdown does not necessarily entail high stress among high school students in Thai schools in the Pathumwan district of Bangkok, who were of young ages and whose average household income exceeds that of many of their geographical counterparts. According to responses from the participants (n=374), there is no correlation between social connectedness and perceived stress, which supported the premise. While a conclusion can be drawn that technology use helps reduce the stress that would otherwise rise amidst the lockdown and would be responsible for the noncorrelation, more research is required to identify the clear cause of this astonishing outcome.

Comparative Study of Synthesis of Polypyrrole Using Chemical Polymerization Technique and Plasmapolymerization

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Polypyrrole (PPy) was synthesized using the Chemical polymerization technique using Ammonium per sulphate (APS), as an oxidant and Plasma Polymerization technique. The polypyrrole synthesized by the chemical oxidation method was in black amorphous powder form. In Plasma polymerization, thin films were created on a glass plate. Structural and morphological properties of the polymer were studied by FTIR, SEM and. X-ray diffraction. The electrical conductivity of chemically prepared PPy was measured by two probe method and was found to be in the range of 10−3 to 10−2 S/cm for chemical oxidative method, while that of Plasma polymerization it was around 10−3 S/cm. Other characterization also shows that Chemical polymerization has an edge over plasma polymerization, but plasma polymerization is more impurity-free than chemical polymerization.

Sources of Information Utilized for Job Placement at Nangarhar, Laghman, and Kunar Universities

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The present investigation was carried out at, Nangarhar, Laghman and Kunar Universities Eastern zone of Afghanistan during 2019. Data were collected from 120 final year students from B.Sc. Agriculture Faculty. Studying with the help of structured presented interview schedule to know the Sources of information utilized for job placement. The study revealed that most of the students in general used mass media sources to a maximum extent followed by informal and formal Sources. Among the mass media sources, most of the students used website followed by Newspaper and Journals. Among informal sources and University, placement cell followed by Agricultural majority of the students utilized officers and consultants among formal sources in general. Most of the students used formal source of information (website) in Nangarhar, kunar and laghman (72.50 %), (62.50%) and (70.00 %) respectively. where in the informal source of information which is used by the students in Kunar, Laghman and Nangarhar Universities were friends 75%,70% and 55% respectively.

Prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and Selected Risk Factors of CHD, Among People Aged 30-64 Years in the District of Gampaha, Sri Lanka

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Background- Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of hospital deaths in Sri Lanka. The underlying risk factors include; tobacco smoking, unhealthy diet, harmful alcohol use, physical inactivity, and medical conditions; hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, dyslipidaemia. Objective of this study was to determine prevalence of CHD and risk factors among people aged 30-64 in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka.
Methods- A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1192 people aged 30-64 years in district of Gampaha, recruited by probability proportionate to the population size, cluster sampling. Data were collected using a pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire on prevalence of CHD, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia, obesity, harmful alcohol use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and tobacco smoking and anthropometric measurements by trained data collectors. Twelve-lead ECG, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and lipid levels were done for previously undiagnosed. Data were analyzed using SPSS-21.
Results- The estimated prevalence of CHD based on already diagnosed cases and Rose positive angina 6.9% (95% CI 5.4% – 8.4%), CHD based on already diagnosed cases and ECG 6.4 (95% CI 4.9% – 7.8%), hypertension 37.5% (95% CI 34.7% to 40.3%), diabetes mellitus 17.4% (95% CI 15.2% to 19.6%), dyslipidaemia 66.5% (95% CI 63.8% – 69.2%). The estimated prevalence of other modifiable risk factors of generalized obesity (BMI≥25.0) (44.0%, 95%CI41.1-46.9), sub-optimal quality diet (71.9%, 95%CI 69.3-74.5), low level of physical activity (21.7%, 95%CI 19.3-24.1), heavy or high-risk drinking 11.4% (95%CI 9.56-13.2), smoking 14.2% (95%CI 12.2-16.2).
Conclusions- Estimated prevalence of CHD and selected risk factors were high in Gampaha District with a large proportion of previously undiagnosed disease. Immediate public health action is needed including training programs for healthcare workers on detection of risk factors and awareness among the public for screening for risk factors.

A Study on Effects of Social Media on Physical and Psychological Health in Thai Teenagers

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Social media is now a part of people’s daily life, with an estimated 3 billion social media users worldwide. The relationship between heavy use of social media and mental and emotional health-disorders has long been established. The purpose of this study is to examine the negative effects of the social media on physical and psychological health. Cross-sectional data were collected via an online questionnaire. Two hundred participants completed an anonymous online questionnaire that queried physical symptoms, psychological distress and technology and social media usage. In conclusion, the social media has a greater positive effect on females’ psychological distress than on male. Physical symptoms are positively affected by the average time spent on social media. In addition, the result also shows the positive relationship between the physical symptoms and psychological distress.

Assessing Impacts of Payment for Forest Environmental Service Policy in Hoa Binh Province, Vietnam

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The policy of payment for forest environmental services (PFES) has been implemented in Vietnam since 2011 and in Hoa Binh province since 2013. This policy has had certain impacts on improvement of local people living standard as well as on forest protection and development. Based on secondary and primary information collected in Mai Chau district, Da Bac district and Hoa Binh city, this paper analyzes the economic, social and environmental impacts of PFES on the forestry sector in general and forest owners in particular. The study showed that although money that was received from PFES by households was very small in their overall income, revenue of Commune People’s Committees communities was so large that it could help them to purchase equipment for forest protection and development. Thanks to PFES, forest area and forest cover rate of Hoa Binh province have been markedly increased.

Consumer Preference towards Choosing EBO vs. MBO with Special Reference to Apparel Retailing

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This article has been written with a primary question: ‘With so many choices available in the apparel industry, what drives customers to a particular branded store?’ Although there are various reasons, the store format remains to be an important one, according to extant literature. When brands select their distribution channels, they face the dilemma of choosing a retail format. The study aims to find out which store format (Exclusive brand store or Multi-brand store) is preferable by the consumers and the factors affecting this choice. A survey of 155 people from Bangalore, who have access to branded stores, was conducted and various tests were performed. The results showed that most of the consumers prefer MBO over EBO. The 12 factors identified were reduced into two groups using factor analysis, out of which the attributes relating to the store have more impact on the consumer’s decision than attributes relating to the merchandise.

Developing Vietnamese Agricultural Exports to the United States

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The study aimed at analyzing the current status of Vietnam’s agricultural exports to the United States by focusing on some key agricultural products like coffee, vegetables, cashew, and rice. The Vietnamese export value of these items is relatively high, but in the period 2017-2020, export scale and value tend to decrease. Based on that study, the author has offered some solutions to develop Vietnam’s agricultural exports to the United States.