How is functional specificity achieved through disordered regions of proteins?Rahul K. Das,AnuradhaMittal &Rohit V. Pappu -2013 -Bioessays 35 (1):17-22.detailsN‐type inactivation of potassium channels is controlled by cytosolic loops that are intrinsically disordered. Recent experiments have shown that the mechanism of N‐type inactivation through disordered regions can be stereospecific and vary depending on the channel type. Variations in mechanism occur despite shared coarse grain features such as the length and amino acid compositions of the cytosolic disordered regions. We have adapted a phenomenological model designed to explain how specificity in molecular recognition is achieved through disordered regions. We propose that (...) the channel‐specific observations for N‐type inactivation represent distinct mechanistic choices for achieving function through conformational selection versus induced fit. It follows that the dominant mechanism for binding and specificity can be modulated through subtle changes in the amino acid sequences of disordered regions, which is interesting given that specificity in function is realized in the absence of autonomous folding. (shrink)
Śūnyavāda, the Mādhyamika Thought.Kewal KrishanMittal -1993detailsContributed papers presented at all India seminar.
Encountering ethics through design: a workshop with nonhuman participants.Anuradha Reddy,Iohanna Nicenboim,James Pierce &Elisa Giaccardi -2021 -AI and Society 36 (3):853-861.detailsWhat if we began to speculate that intelligent things have an ethical agenda? Could we then imagine ways to move past the moral divide ‘human vs. nonhuman’ in those contexts, where things act on our behalf? Would this help us better address matters of agency and responsibility in the design and use of intelligent systems? In this article, we argue that if we fail to address intelligent things as objects that deserve moral consideration by their relations within a broad social (...) context, we will lack a grip on the distinct ethical rules governing our interaction with intelligent things, and how to design for it. We report insights from a workshop, where we take seriously the perspectives offered by intelligent things, by allowing unforeseen ethical situations to emerge in an improvisatory manner. By giving intelligent things an active role in interaction, our participants seemed to be activated by the artifacts, provoked to act and respond to things beyond the artifact itself—its direct functionality and user experience. The workshop helped to consider autonomous behavior not as a simplistic exercise of anthropomorphization, but within the more significant ecosystems of relations, practices and values of which intelligent things are a part. (shrink)
Biotechnological Creations, Life and the State of Indistinction.Anuradha Nayak -2017 -Balkan Journal of Philosophy 9 (2):91-100.detailsHumanity is at crossroads of evolution. Modernity has established its omnipresence through science and technology. The impact is so significant that now it has penetrated our genetic structure through biotechnological creations. This brings into question the very foundation of the ideological life on which the edifice of the social structure is built. These new modalities raise unprecedented issues, such as: what is our understanding of life in relation to biotechnological creations, where is the original biological life positioned in such circumstances, (...) why is life in a “state of indistinction” (as identified by Giorgio Agamben in the homo sacer), and is it a compromise at “being human”? (shrink)
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Ethical, Legal, and Clinical Considerations when Disclosing a High‐Risk Syndrome for Psychosis.Vijay A.Mittal,Derek J. Dean,JyotiMittal &Elyn R. Saks -2015 -Bioethics 29 (8):543-556.detailsThere are complex considerations when planning to disclose an attenuated psychosis syndrome diagnosis. In this review, we evaluate ethical, legal, and clinical perspectives as well as caveats related to full, non- and partial disclosure strategies, discuss societal implications, and provide clinical suggestions. Each of the disclosure strategies is associated with benefits as well as costs/considerations. Full disclosure promotes autonomy, allows for the clearest psychoeducation about additional risk factors, helps to clarify and/or correct previous diagnoses/treatments, facilitates early intervention and bolsters communication (...) between providers but there are important considerations involving heritability, comorbidity, culture, and stigma. Non-disclosure advances nonmaleficence by limiting stigma and stress, and confusion in a sensitive developmental period but is complicated by varying patient preferences and the possibility that, as new treatments without adverse effects become available, the risk with false positives no longer justifies the accompanying loss of autonomy. Partial disclosure balances ethical considerations by focusing on symptoms instead of labels, but evidence that laypersons may interpret this information as a pseudo-diagnosis and that symptoms alone also contribute to stigma limits the efficacy of this approach. In addition, there are notable societal considerations relating to disclosure involving conservatorship, the reach of insurance companies, and discrimination. We advocate a hybrid approach to disclosure and recommend future research aimed at understanding the effects of stigma on clinical course and a renewed focus on those help-seeking cases that do not transition but remain clinically relevant. (shrink)
Agricultural innovations for sustainability? Diverse pathways and plural perspectives on rice seeds in Odisha, India.Saurabh Arora,Bhuvana Narayanarao,NimishaMittal &Rasheed Sulaiman Vadekkal -forthcoming -Agriculture and Human Values:1-18.detailsWe focus on alternative innovation pathways for addressing agricultural sustainability challenges in Odisha, India. The first pathway that we term as industrial, is focused on breeding new seed varieties in modern laboratories and test fields, ostensibly for climate resilience. It is driven by public scientific institutions and private corporations. The second pathway that we call agroecological, is grounded in saving and sharing of diverse local varieties, largely by Indigenous (Adivasi) smallholders and their allies in civil society. Using the pathways’ descriptions (...) as bases, we present perspectives of different professional groups who appraise how effectively each pathway addresses a range of sustainability issues. While all participants appraise the agroecological pathway to be clearly better performing for addressing agricultural biodiversity and cultural uses of rice, appraisals for issues of the economy, seed accessibility, stress tolerance, and nutrition diverged from each other. An overall picture in support of one pathway did not emerge. Embracing such ambiguities and uncertainties associated with appraisals, we argue for balancing political support between diverse pathways. Greater support for structurally marginalised agroecological pathways may be crucial to meet sustainability goals. This support can include the restitution of lands and other socio-ecological resources for marginalised pathways as well as guaranteeing autonomy of Adivasi (Indigenous) communities among whom the pathways thrive. (shrink)
Materialism in Indian thought.Kewal KrishanMittal -1974 - [New Delhi]: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.detailsDescription: This is a unique research work of distinctive quality based on original Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit sources. The book not only highlights the neglected features of Indian thought of the early pre-systematic period but also presents a careful, critical and constructive survey of well-developed concepts and doctrines of the full-fledged Indian philosophy. The book also exposes some of the established misconceptions about Indian philosophy that, It is essentially spiritualistic and the like, made current by some 'great' orientalists with ulterior (...) motives and accepted uncritically by the historians of Indian philosophy. Thus, the book maintains, that like life and culture, the Indian thought is equally rich and variegated decrying the tendency to consider all other schools of thought as so many steps towards Vedanta. The book upholds that even for Materialism we need not seek inspiration elsewhere, as we not only have a system of materialism of our own in the Carvaka (Lokayata) system but it also plays a role of considerable importance in the other thought-system. (shrink)
Sex and Population Drive Interindividual Variations in a Cognitive Task Across Three Populations of Wild Zebrafish.Danita K. Daniel &Anuradha Bhat -2022 -Frontiers in Psychology 13.detailsAnimal personality refers to the consistency of variation in behavior among individuals which may be the driving force behind variations in complex behaviors as well. Individual personality could predict how well an organism would perform in behavior and cognition related tasks, as well as survive and thrive in its environment. Therefore, we would expect inter-individual variations in many behaviors, which would persist even if habituation to the experimental setup occurs, which generally results in convergence of behavior. Our study used wild-caught (...) zebrafish from three natural habitats with differing ecological regimes, to understand how consistency and repeatability in specific traits such as boldness, exploration, and spatial ability varies across and within populations even when habituation causes change in behavior. We found that the extent of individual variation differs between populations, with dynamic habitats showing similar repeatability. This indicates that habitat conditions are important drivers of individual variation in addition to other factors, such as sex or size of individuals within populations. Although we found that sex and size played an important role within some populations for some behaviors, in others, the variation was likely caused by other factors, for which we have not accounted. This study underlines the importance of studying inter-individual differences as the phenomenon that underpins multiple behavioral traits and explains the possible role of environmental and inherent factors that drive these differences. (shrink)
Quest for truth: a felicitation volume in honour of Prof. S.P. Kanal =[Satyānveshaṇa].Satewan Parsram Kanal &Kewal KrishanMittal (eds.) -1976 - Delhi: Prof. S. P. Kanal Abhinandan Samiti.detailsContributed articles, chiefly on Indic philosophy; festschrift honoring the Indian philosopher and educator Satewan Parsram Kanal.
Varsity Medical Ethics Debate 2019: is authoritarian government the route to good health outcomes?Azmaeen Zarif,RheaMittal,Ben Popham,Imogen C. Vorley,Jessy Jindal &Emily C. Morris -2023 -Journal of Medical Ethics 49 (11):791-796.detailsAuthoritarian governments are characterised by political systems with concentrated and centralised power. Healthcare is a critical component of any state. Given the powers of an authoritarian regime, we consider the opportunities they possess to derive good health outcomes. The 2019 Varsity Medical Ethics Debate convened on the motion: ‘This house believes authoritarian government is the route to good health outcomes’ with Oxford as the Proposition and Cambridge as the Opposition. This article summarises and extends key arguments made during the 11th (...) annual debate between medical students from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. By contrasting the principles underlying authoritarianism and democracy, it enables a discussion into how they translate into healthcare provision and the outcomes derived. Based on the foundation of said principles, an exploration of select cases represents examples of applications and the results. We analyse the past, present and future implications on the basis of fundamental patient-centred care. (shrink)
Character of National University- A Conceptual Framework.L. N.Mittal -2018 -Tattva - Journal of Philosophy 10 (2):31-36.detailsThe paper situates India’s global position with respect to its R&D and patent development and then highlights the current status of university system in India as a causative factor since majority of universities are busy in teaching merely how to qualify a paper-pencil test without much impetus on Research and Development. The paper also presents the perceived scenario of a national university and its characteristics. It also suggests ways in which universities can prioritize to produce researchers and innovators.
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Financial Incentives for Improving Maternal Health: A Review of Ethical Considerations. [REVIEW]Roshni Jegan,Anuradha Rose &Kris Dierickx -forthcoming -Public Health Ethics.detailsMaternal health is considered a key global priority by the World Health Organization, and several strategies are used to promote it. Especially in lower- and lower-middle-income countries, one widely used strategy employs financial incentives to motivate pregnant women to access available healthcare. While such interventions have been extensively empirically evaluated, their normative aspects appear to have received less attention. To address this gap, we systematically searched and reviewed normative and qualitative literature to map and analyze the ethical considerations of using (...) financial incentives to promote maternal health. Twenty-three articles (four normative and 19 qualitative) were included in the review. We grouped ethical considerations under six categories, namely the program structure, promoting institutional births, of the ethical significance of cash, justifying conditionalities for maternal health, effects on individuals’ decision-making and the experiences of vulnerable groups. While incentives could be used for beneficent goals, we show how they may emphasize global rather than local solutions, impose unfamiliar sociocultural values, unfairly expect behavior change and disempower individuals and groups. We argue that future maternal health policy, especially those targeting vulnerable groups and minorities, would benefit from taking these normative considerations into account. (shrink)
Disgusted or Happy, It is not so Bad: Emotional Mini-Max in Unethical Judgments.Karen Page Winterich,Andrea C. Morales &VikasMittal -2015 -Journal of Business Ethics 130 (2):343-360.detailsAlthough prior work on ethical decision-making has examined the direct impact of magnitude of consequences as well as the direct impact of emotions on ethical judgments, the current research examines the interaction of these two constructs. Building on previous research finding disgust to have a varying impact on ethical judgments depending on the specific behavior being evaluated, we investigate how disgust, as well as happiness and sadness, moderates the effect of magnitude of consequences on an individual’s judgments of another person’s (...) unethical behavior. Specifically, we propose and find that because disgust and happiness are both associated with more heuristic-based processing, they both lead to a stronger reliance on the magnitude of consequences when forming ethical judgments. In contrast, because sad and neutral emotional states are associated with more systematic processing, they both result in a weaker reliance on the magnitude of consequences. As such, the effect of magnitude of consequences on judgments of unethical behaviors is stronger when individuals making the judgments are experiencing disgust or happiness versus sadness or a neutral state. This research shows that ethical judgment severity is contingent on individual-level factors, particularly the current emotional state being experienced by the individual, interacting with magnitude of consequences to impact the ethical decision-making process. (shrink)
Development and validation of an instrument to measure physician awareness of bioethics and medical law in Oman.Abdullah S. Al-Mujaini,Mohammed Al-Alawi,Nadiya S. Al-Kharousi,Nusaiba A. Al-Mawali,Maryam K. Al-Rawahi,Yahya M. Al-Farsi,Samir Al-Adawi,Anuradha Ganesh &Ahmed S. Al-Busaidi -2021 -BMC Medical Ethics 22 (1):1-11.detailsBackgroundA different ethos with respect to the perception of medical ethics prevails in societies in transition such as those in the Arabian Peninsula, which makes it difficult to apply international principles of bioethics in medical practice. This study aimed to develop and psychometrically test an instrument that measures physicians’ awareness of bioethics and medical law and their attitudes towards the practice of medical ethics. Additionally, it examined physician correlates influencing the awareness of bioethics.MethodsFollowing a rigorous review of relevant literature by (...) a panel of experts, a 13-item instrument, the Omani physicians’ bioethics and medical law awareness (OBMLA) questionnaire was developed with the aim of assessing physicians’ awareness of bioethics and medical law. The study tool’s construct validity and internal consistency reliability were examined by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach’s alpha. In a cross-sectional study, the questionnaire was distributed among a random sample of 200 physicians at a tertiary hospital in Muscat, Oman. Participant characteristics that may influence awareness of bioethics and medical law were explored.ResultsThe EFA of the OBMLA questionnaire resulted in three well-loading factors: (1) Physicians’ bioethics practice subscale (2) incentive related bioethics subscale and (3) medical law awareness subscale. Internal consistency reliability ranged between Cronbach’s α: 0.73–0.8. Of the total 200 participants, 52% reported that teaching medical ethics during medical school was inadequate. The overall mean (standard deviation, SD) of the bioethics awareness score and Omani medical law awareness were 27.6 (3.5) and 10.1 (2.1) respectively. The majority of physicians (73%) reported that they frequently encountered ethical dilemmas in their practice and 24.5% endorsed the view that unethical decisions tended to occur in their practice.ConclusionThe study provides an insight into the practice of bioethics, and the awareness of bioethics and medical law among physicians in a teaching hospital in Oman. The OBMLA questionnaire appears to be a valid and reliable tool to assess a physician’s awareness of bioethics and medical law. In this preliminary study, it appears that participants have suboptimal scores on the indices which measure practice and awareness of bioethics and medical law. (shrink)
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Interpreting academic integrity transgressions among learning communities.Chris Scogings,Meena Jha,Sanjay Mathrani,Binglan Han &Anuradha Mathrani -2021 -International Journal for Educational Integrity 17 (1).detailsEducational institutions rely on academic citizenship behaviors to construct knowledge in a responsible manner. However, they often struggle to contain the unlawful reuse of knowledge by some learning communities. This study draws upon secondary data from two televised episodes describing contract cheating practices prevalent among international student communities. Against this background, we have investigated emergent teaching and learning structures that have been extended to formal and informal spaces with the use of mediating technologies. Learners’ interactions in formal spaces are influenced (...) by ongoing informal social experiences within a shared cultural context to influence learners’ agency. Building upon existing theories, we have developed an analytical lens to understand the rationale behind cheating behaviors. Citizenship behaviors are based on individual and collective perceptions of what constitutes as acceptable or unacceptable behavior. That is, learners who are low in motivation and are less engaged with learning may collude; more so, if cheating is not condemned by members belonging to their informal social spaces. Our analytical lens describes institutional, cultural, technological, social and behavioral contexts that influence learner agency. (shrink)
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Comparison of group counseling with individual counseling in the comprehension of informed consent: a randomized controlled trial.Rajiv Sarkar,Thuppal V. Sowmyanarayanan,Prasanna Samuel,Azara S. Singh,Anuradha Bose,Jayaprakash Muliyil &Gagandeep Kang -2010 -BMC Medical Ethics 11 (1):8-.detailsBackgroundStudies on different methods to supplement the traditional informed consent process have generated conflicting results. This study was designed to evaluate whether participants who received group counseling prior to administration of informed consent understood the key components of the study and the consent better than those who received individual counseling, based on the hypothesis that group counseling would foster discussion among potential participants and enhance their understanding of the informed consent.MethodsParents of children participating in a trial of nutritional supplementation were (...) randomized to receive either group counseling or individual counseling prior to administration of the informed consent. To assess the participant's comprehension, a structured questionnaire was administered approximately 48-72 hours afterwards by interviewers who were blinded to the allocation group of the respondents.ResultsA total of 128 parents were recruited and follow up was established with 118 (90.2%) for the study. All respondents were aware of their child's participation in a research study and the details of sample collection. However, their understanding of study purpose, randomization and withdrawal was poor. There was no difference in comprehension of key elements of the informed consent between the intervention and control arm.ConclusionsThe results suggest that the group counseling might not influence the overall comprehension of the informed consent process. Further research is required to devise better ways of improving participants' understanding of randomization in clinical trials.Trial RegistrationClinical Trial Registry - India (CTRI): CTRI/2009/091/000612. (shrink)
Examining the Evolution of Digital Innovation and Its Impact on Organizational Growth.Vinay Kumar Sadolalu Boregowda,Amit Kansal,Axita Thakkar,Manish Nagpal,Dr Amit Kumar Shrivastav,Dr Varsha Agarwal &SachinMittal -forthcoming -Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture:844-854.detailsOrganizational operations have been modified by using the rise of digital innovation, which has increased consumer interaction, accelerated efficiency, and stimulated overall growth. But obstacles like converting organizational adoption charges and a quickly evolving era would possibly make it more difficult to generalize effects across of different sectors and ancient intervals. To overcome these constraints, a thorough examination of the impact of digital innovation on organizational growth is carried out in this study. This study investigates the connection among Digital infrastructure (...) (DI), Digital Innovation practices (DIP), Adoption of advanced digital technologies (ADT), Leadership support (LS), Organizational growth (OG), and Employee digital capabilities (EDS) utilizing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and CFA test. SEM is used to evaluate the causal pathways between constructs and the connections between latent variables and their indicators. CFA is a method used to validate the dimension model by examining the relationships between observed indicators and their underlying constructs. A systematic questionnaire with a Likert scale rating was used to collect data from 600 populations. The measurement model assessed the validity and reliability of latent constructs, while the structural model analyzed the relationship between constructs based on the proposed hypotheses. The structural model revealed that DI, LS, and ADT are positively connected to the DTP, and OG, between digital innovations on organizational growth. (β = 0.58,0.54,0.60 and 0.62,p< 0.05), providing well support for hypotheses 1, 2, 4, and 5. The SEM and CFA confirm the robustness of these relationships. The findings underscore the critical role of digital infrastructure and leadership in driving effective digital practices and fostering growth. (shrink)
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