Student psychological well-being in higher education: The role of internal team environment, institutional, friends and family support and academic engagement.

Psychological well-being of students is an area of concern in higher education institutes across the world. Although several studies have explored the factors associated with students' psychological well-being, limited research has focused on the relation between the overall support for students and psychological well-being. Students of higher education may get formal support, in the form of team environment and institutional support; and informal support, in the form of family and friends' support. The purpose of this study is to examine the relation of these four kinds of support with psychological well-being of management students. We also examine the intervening role of academic engagement in this relationship. Analysis using structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression on data collected from 309 management students from Indian universities, shows that positive internal team environment, and institutional and family support positively relate to students' psychological well-being. Academic engagement partially mediates the relation between positive internal team environment and psychological well-being, and family support and psychological well-being. Also, academic engagement fully mediates the relation between institutional support and psychological well-being. The study highlights the significance of internal team environment and institutional support for students' academic engagement and psychological well-being, and the role of academic engagement in determining well-being. Based on these findings, we suggest interventions that can be undertaken by educational institutions to enhance psychological well-being of students. Theoretical implications and research avenues are discussed.

Enhancing psychological well-being of school teachers in India: role of energy management, thriving, and stress.

Purpose: The psychological well-being of school teachers is a growing concern in the post-pandemic era. Many initiatives are undertaken by individual school authorities and government agencies to address this issue. In this study, we examine the impact of energy management, thriving, and stress on the psychological well-being of school teachers in India. Method: Data was collected from 356 school teachers in Rajasthan, India, through a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. These teachers were working both in rural and urban areas. The relationship among energy management, thriving, stress, and psychological well-being was analyzed using hierarchical regression. Results: The findings suggest that energy management positively impacts psychological well-being. A mediating effect of thriving and stress on the relationship between energy management and psychological well-being was also found. The results support that psychological well-being can be enhanced by investing in managing school teachers' energy levels. Discussion: These results contribute to our theoretical and practical understanding of factors that can enhance the psychological well-being of school teachers and improve the quality of education. Institutes may design and implement interventions on energy management to enhance the psychological well-being of school teachers.

What Makes Indian Management Students Thrive? Role of Decision-Making Discretion, Broad Information Sharing, and Climate of Trust.

Thriving is a psychological state in which individuals experience a sense of vitality and a sense of learning. Thriving come from relational connections with others, and is deeply rooted in social systems. Theoretical literature suggests that thriving occurs in the presence of decision-making discretion, broad information sharing, and a climate of trust. However, no study has investigated these environmental factors empirically. Using a multiple-studies approach, we (a) established valid and reliable scale for each of these environmental factors using experimental vignettes, (b) confirmed the association of decision-making discretion, broad information sharing and climate of trust with thriving, and (c) identified the role of self-determination theory in determining these relationships. Our analysis was based on data collected from 512 Indian management students across five studies. The results indicate significant difference in thriving for high vs. low level for decision-making discretion, broad information sharing and climate of trust. The relationship of these environmental factors with thriving is mainly due to the fulfillment of the need for competence. Competence partially mediates the relationship of decision-making discretion with thriving, and fully mediates the relationship of broad information sharing and climate of trust with thriving. Autonomy, although positively related with the environmental factors, does not lead to thriving. Practical implications, limitations and research avenues are discussed.

Climate change regulated abiotic stress mechanisms in plants: a comprehensive review.

Global climate change is identified as a major threat to survival of natural ecosystems. Climate change is a dynamic, multifaceted system of alterations in environmental conditions that affect abiotic and biotic components of the world. It results in alteration in environmental conditions such as heat waves, intensity of rainfall, CO2 concentration and temperature that lead to rise in new pests, weeds and pathogens. Climate change is one of the major constraints limiting plant growth and development worldwide. It impairs growth, disturbs photosynthesis, and reduces physiological responses in plants. The variations in global climate have gained the attention of researchers worldwide, as these changes negatively affect the agriculture by reducing crop productivity and food security. With this background, this review focuses on the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration, temperature, drought and salinity on the morphology, physiology and biochemistry of plants. Furthermore, this paper outlines an overview on the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and their impact on the biochemical and molecular status of plants with increased climatic variations. Also additionally, different tolerance strategies adopted by plants to combat environmental adversities have been discussed.

Rapid-in-house composting of organic solid wastes with fly ash supplementation: Performance evaluation at thermophilic exposures.

The present work was envisaged to design, fabricate, and evaluate the performance of rapid in-house composters (RICs) for composting of organic wastes comprising kitchen waste and brown waste with fly ash supplementation in the fixed combination. The prime objective of the present study was to evaluate the ideal operating temperature suitable for rapid action of pro-composting microorganisms in indigenously developed RIC. Four identical RICs were exposed to temperatures of 40 â„ƒ, 45  â„ƒ, 55 â„ƒ, and 65 â„ƒ, respectively. The factors governing the composting process were regulated through specifically designed components. Qualitative parameters like pH, moisture content (MC), C/N ratio and heavy metals were analyzed at regular intervals. Principal component analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between the obtained results. The RIC with 55 â„ƒ temperature exposure, 70% MC for nine days and aeration at 4 L per minute exhibited the best results with 15.13C/N ratios of compost.

Ambient air quality changes after stubble burning in rice-wheat system in an agricultural state of India.

Ground-based ambient air monitoring was conducted to assess the contribution of crop residue burning of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and rice (Oriza sativa) at different locations in three districts (Kaithal, Kurukshetra, and Karnal) of the agricultural state of Haryana in India for two successive years (2016 and 2017). The Air Quality Index (AQI) and concentration of primary pollutants (SOx, NOx, and PM2.5) were determined in rice and wheat crop season, for burning and non-burning periods. During crop residue burning periods, concentrations of SOx, NOx, and PM2.5 were exceeded the NAAQS values by 78%, 71%, and 53%, respectively. A significant increase in SOx (4.5 times), NOx (3.8 times), and PM2.5 concentration (3.5 times) was observed in stubble burning periods as compared to pre-burning (p < 0.05). A positive and significant correlation among the three pollutant concentrations was observed (p < 0.01). The AQI of KA site in Karnal district fell in severely polluted category during 2016 for rice as well as wheat residue burning period, and of KK site in Kaithal during wheat residue burning in year 2017. Results of present study indicate a remarkable increase in pollutant concentration (SOx, NOx, and PM2.5) during the crop residue burning periods. To the best of our knowledge, the outcomes of present study in this region have not been reported in earlier reports. Hence, there is an urgent need to curb air pollution by adopting sustainable harvesting technologies and management of residues.

Analysis of biological factors for determination of air pollution tolerance index of selected plants in Yamuna Nagar, India.

Air pollution tolerance index (APTI) calculated for various plant species growing in vicinity of three different industrial areas (Paper mill, Sugar mill, Thermal Power Plant) and Yamuna River belt of Yamuna Nagar. Studies were carried out to determine the physiological response of ten plant species. The leaf samples collected from these plant species were used to determine their plant APTI by calculating the ascorbic acid, total chlorophyll, pH, and relative water content for all selected sites. Highest pH, relative water content, ascorbic acid and total chlorophyll was observed in Castor (9.86), Parthenium (96.99%), Ficus benghalensis (14.90 mg g(-1)) and Amaranthus (7.08 mg g(-1)) at Yamuna river, Thermal power plant, Yamuna river and paper mill respectively. It was concluded that out of ten species studied only one species (Ficus benghalensis) showed moderately tolerant response in all selected sites, while other species showed sensitive response. According to observed APTI values, Ficus benghalensis showed the highest value (21.65) at sugar mill followed by thermal power plant (19.38), Paper mill (17.65) and Yamuna River (17.61). The lowest APTI values were reported in Oxalis corniculata (6.42) at Yamuna River belt followed by Malvestrum at sugar mill (7.71).

Novel application of fungal Phanerochaete sp. and xylanase for reduction in pollution load of paper mill effluent.

Four different strategies of pulping and bleaching were carried out to develop alternative mechanistic ecoenvironmental friendly approaches and generated effluent was characterised. Strategy-I included Phanerochaete sp. fungal pretreatment followed by conventional bleaching, whereas in strategy-II, fungal pretreatment was followed by enzyme xylanase aided bleaching. Strategy-III also included xylanase supplement but without prior fungal pretreatment. Chemically driven pulping and bleaching was the IV strategy. Conventional C(D)E(OP)D1D2 sequence of bleaching was used for strategy-I and IV whereas XC(D)E(OP)D1D2 sequence was applied to strategy-I and III. Strategy-II was responsible for 27.5% reduction in Kappa no. whereas the maximum (27.5%) reduction in refining energy was observed with strategy-II. Biobleaching strategies-II and III were helpful in saving 37.3 and 20.3% of elemental chlorine (Cl2) and 30.8 and 23.1% of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) respectively. In comparison to control (strategy-IV), strategy II resulted in maximum pollution load reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), color and adsorbable organic halides (AOX) up to 57, 60, 30 and 43.6%, respectively.

Deciphering the traits associated with PAH degradation by a novel Serratia marcesencs L-11 strain.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are wide spread industrial pollutants that are released into the environment from burning of coal, distillation of wood, operation of gas works, oil refineries, vehicular emission, and combustion process. In this study a lipolytic bacterium was isolated from mixed stover compost of Saccharum munja and Brassica campestris. This strain was identified by both classical and 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing method and designated as Serratia marcesencs L-11. HPLC-based quantitation revealed 39- 100% degradation of PAH compounds within seven days. Further its ability to produce catechol 1, 2-dioxygenase (1.118 µM mL(-1) h(-1)) and biosurfactants (0.88 g L(-1)) during growth in PAH containing medium may be responsible for its PAH-degradation potential. This novel bacterium with an ability to produce lipases, biosurfactant and ring cleavage enzyme can prove to be useful for in-situ degradation of PAH compounds.

Impact of PAH on biological health parameters of soils of an Indian refinery and adjoining agricultural area--a case study.

The present study is aimed at analysing and comparing different soil enzymes in soil samples of native contaminated sites of a Mathura refinery and adjoining agricultural land. Enzyme activities are considered as indicators of soil quality and changes in biogeochemical function due to management or perturbations. Soil samples were collected from the premises and nearby area of Mathura refinery, India. Biological health parameters (dehydrogenase, aryl esterase, aryl sulphatase, [Formula: see text]-glucosidase, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, lipase, laccase and catalase activity) were estimated in the soil samples. Among all the samples, sewage sludge soil showed maximum activity of enzymes, microbial biomass carbon and most probable number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) degraders in soils spiked with three- to four-ring PAHs at 50 ppm. Available phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen was also exceptionally high in this sample, indicating maximum microbial bioconversion due to presence of nutrients stimulating potent PAH-degrading microorganisms.