Rajinder Kaur

Psychological Correlates of Entrepreneurial Performance among Women

This paper presents the results of an investigation into entrepreneurship among women by emphasising the psychological correlates, especially values and locus of control. The study has been conducted on a sample of 100 middle-class women entrepreneurs. The results clearly indicate that women take up business ventures for a variety of reasons. The more successful among them were found to score high on ability utilisation, achievement, advancement, economic rewards, personal development and prestige. However, no significant differences in locus of control were observed among women with varying degrees of success.

Theoretical study on O⋯Br and O⋯Cl halogen bonds in some small model molecular systems

AbstractHalogen bonding interactions of type X⋯O=C are important in various fields including biological systems. In this work, theoretical calculations were carried out using B3LYP/6-31 ++G**, MP2/6-31 ++G** and MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ methods on a series of O⋯X halogen bonds between CH2O and CH3CHO as halogen bond acceptor with X-Y (X = Cl, Br; Y = CF3, CF2H, CFH2, CN, CCH, CCCN) as halogen bond donors. The strength of interaction energy for O⋯Br halogen-bonded complexes varies from −2.16 to −5.26 kcal/mol while for O⋯Cl complexes, it is between −1.65 to −3.67 kcal/mol, which indicate the O⋯Br bond to be stronger in comparison to O⋯Cl bond. SAPT analysis suggests that the strength of halogen bonding arises from the electrostatic and induction forces while dispersion is playing a comparatively smaller role. The halogen-bonded interaction energies were found to correlate well with positive electrostatic potential VS,max, halogen bonded distances, and the change in s-character of C-X bond. The halogen-bonded interaction energies were also evaluated for O⋯I bonded complexes and thus these complexes were found to be stronger than O⋯Br and O⋯Cl bonded complexes. Graphical AbstractTheoretical calculations were carried out on halogen bonded complexes CH2O⋯X-Y and CH3CHO⋯X-Y (X = Cl, Br, I; Y = CF3, CF2H, CFH2, CN, CCH, CCCN). The interaction energies increase in the order O⋯Cl < O⋯Br < O⋯I. The interaction energies were found to be correlate well with the VS,max, halogen bonded distances, and the change in s-character of C-X bond.

Theoretical Characterization of Hydrogen Bonding Interactions between RCHO (R = H, CN, CF3, OCH3, NH2) and HOR′(R′ = H, Cl, CH3, NH2, C(O)H, C6H5)

AbstractIn this work, density functional theory and ab initio molecular orbital calculations were used to investigate the hydrogen bonded complexes of type RCHO ⋯HOR′ (R = H, CN, CF 3, OCH 3, NH 2, R′ H, Cl, CH 3, NH 2, C(O)H, C 6H 5) employing 6-31 ++g** and cc-pVTZ basis sets. Thus, the present work considers how the substituents at both the hydrogen bond donor and acceptor affect the hydrogen bond strength. From the analysis, it is reflected that presence of –OCH 3 and –NH 2 substituents at RCHO greatly strengthen the stabilization energies, while –CN and –CF 3 decrease the same with respect to HCHO as hydrogen bond acceptor. The highest stabilization results in case of (H 2N)CHO as hydrogen bond acceptor. The variation of the substituents at –OH functional group also influences the strength of hydrogen bond; nearly all the substituents increase the stabilization energy relative to HOH. The analysis of geometrical parameters; proton affinities, charge transfer, electron delocalization studies have been carried out. Graphical AbstractTheoretical calculations were carried out on the RCHO•••HOR’ (R = H, CN, CF3, OCH3, NH2; R’ = H, Cl, CH3, NH2, C(O)H, C6H5) hydrogen bonded complexes. The role of substituents on hydrogen donor and acceptor ability has been explored on the basis of analysis of geometrical data, proton affinities, NBO, AIM, SAPT, MESP and stabilization energies.

Menstrual Hygiene, Management, and Waste Disposal: Practices and Challenges Faced by Girls/Women of Developing Countries

Menstruation and menstrual practices still face many social, cultural, and religious restrictions which are a big barrier in the path of menstrual hygiene management. In many parts of the country especially in rural areas girls are not prepared and aware about menstruation so they face many difficulties and challenges at home, schools, and work places. While reviewing literature, we found that little, inaccurate, or incomplete knowledge about menstruation is a great hindrance in the path of personal and menstrual hygiene management. Girls and women have very less or no knowledge about reproductive tract infections caused due to ignorance of personal hygiene during menstruation time. In rural areas, women do not have access to sanitary products or they know very little about the types and method of using them or are unable to afford such products due to high cost. So, they mostly rely on reusable cloth pads which they wash and use again. Needs and requirements of the adolescent girls and women are ignored despite the fact that there are major developments in the area of water and sanitation. Women manage menstruation differently when they are at home or outside; at homes, they dispose of menstrual products in domestic wastes and in public toilets and they flush them in the toilets without knowing the consequences of choking. So, there should be a need to educate and make them aware about the environmental pollution and health hazards associated with them. Implementation of modern techniques like incineration can help to reduce the waste. Also, awareness should be created to emphasize the use of reusable sanitary products or the natural sanitary products made from materials like banana fibre, bamboo fibre, sea sponges, water hyacinth, and so on.

Comparison of hydrogen- and halogen-bonding interactions in the complexes of the substituted carbonyl compounds with hypohalous acids and monohaloamines

An ab initio study of the complexes formed by hypohalous acids and monohaloamines (designated as HAX where A = O or NH and X = Cl, Br, or I) with RCHO (R = H, CH3, OCH3, and NH2) carbonyl compounds has been carried out at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ computational level for comparative study on hydrogen bonds with halogen bonds. Two types of complexes are formed by their combination –RCHO···HAX and RCHO···XAH (A = O or NH) named as hydrogen-bonded and halogen-bonded, respectively, although other weak interactions also coexist in both types of complexes. Analysis of the BSSE-corrected interaction energies reveals that hydrogen bond strength decreases with an increase in size of X atom (i.e., HACl > HABr > HAI) while reverse trend is indicated for halogen-bonded complexes (HACl < HABr < HAI). For the carbonyl compounds, the interaction energies for both hydrogen- and halogen-bonded complexes follow the same order of HCHO < CH3CHO < (CH3O)CHO < (H2N)CHO. Vibrational frequency analysis suggests that both the H-O and H-N bonds are red-shifted while C–H bonds are blue-shifted in hydrogen-bonded complexes. Similarly, the X-O/X-N and C-H bonds are red- and blue-shifted respectively in halogen-bonded; however, the magnitude of red shift for X-O and X-N bonds in halogen-bonded complexes is much smaller than that of H-O and H-N bonds in hydrogen-bonded complexes. The MEP, NBO, and AIMALL methods have been utilized to understand structure, properties, and nature of the interaction stabilizing these two types of the complexes. Relationship of the interaction energies with MEP, charge transfer (CT), and change in % s character obtained from NBO analysis is also drawn for both complexes.

Multi-residue pesticides analysis in water samples using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC)

Graphical abstract

Insights into fluoride-induced oxidative stress and antioxidant defences in plants

Fluoride is a common pollutant which occurs in various environmental matrices considered as one of the most phytotoxic pollutants. It is essential to the living organisms in trace quantities but at its higher concentration it becomes poisonous. Excess amount of fluoride in environment not only exerts its toxic effects on human beings and animals but also on plants. Toxicological impacts of fluoride on plants have been largely debated due to reduction of growth parameters, inhibition of metabolic activities and decreased photosynthetic activity. The signs of fluoride impacts on plants may be severe, acute or chronic and toxicity of fluoride depends on dose, frequency of exposure, duration and genotype of plant. This article overviews understanding of transport, uptake and fluoride accumulation in plants and provide insights into the fluoride-induced oxidative stress and regulatory mechanisms to cope up with it. The main objective of this article is to prospect new research avenues to unravel the mechanisms explaining fluoride toxicity in various plant species.

Family Fabaceae: A Boon for Cancer Therapy

Cancer is a deadliest disease which has been a challenging prorogue for human health and civilization. Legumes or plants of family Fabaceae have been part of our diet since times immemorial. Plants of this family are rich in phytoconstituents which make them effective therapeutic agents for various diseases. The synergistic effects of different phytoconstituents are far more than the effect of individual compounds. Studies have revealed that those parts of the world which consume legumes as a staple diet have less mortality due to cancer as compared to other parts of the world. Also, it has been reported that phytochemical components of plants of this family inhibit carcinogenesis at various stages. The use of phytoconstituents derived from these plants along with traditional chemotherapy can have synergistic effects which help in fighting cancer. This review focuses on various compounds present in plants of family Fabaceae and their anticarcinogenic potential.