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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are heterogeneous disorders, and heterogeneity lies both at genetic and phenotypic levels. To better understand the etiology and pathway that may contribute to autism symptomatology, it is important to study milder expressions of autism characteristics – autistic traits or milder expressions of autism phenotype, especially in intergenerational context. This study aims to see the trend of association, if any, between child autism symptom and mothers’ autism phenotype as well as mothers’ theory of mind and to see if mothers’ theory of mind was associated with their own autistic traits.

Data were collected from 96 mothers of children with varying symptom severity of autism (mild, moderate and severe) using Autism Spectrum Quotient and faux pas recognition test. Analysis of variance, trend analysis and t-test were done.

Results showed a linear trend of relationship between mothers’ autism phenotype and child symptom severity. However, the groups did not have significant differences in theory of mind. Only a few components of theory of mind were found to be associated with autistic traits. These findings question the prevailing idea that theory of mind can be a reliable endophenotype of autism.

There has been a lack of research assessing the possible link between parents’ autism phenotype and symptom severity of ASD children. This study is a preliminary step towards that direction. This study indicates a probability of shared genetic liability between mothers and offspring, which would have important consequences for understanding the mechanisms that lead to autism.

This study offers implications for treatment planning of those with clinical ASD. An awareness of parental factors is critical for any holistic intervention plan when a family seeks treatment for their child. This study suggests that while individualising interventions, clinicians may consider possible presence of high levels of autistic traits and related cognitive features present in the probands’ parents.

There has been lack of research assessing the possible link between parents’ autism phenotype and symptom severity of ASD children. This study, even though preliminary, is a step towards that direction. This study suggests that autism traits might be influenced by common genetic variation and indicates a probability of shared genetic liability between mothers and offspring, which would have important consequences for understanding the mechanisms that lead to autism.

The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is a widely used tool to quantify autistic traits in the general population. This study aims to report the distribution, group differences and factor structure of autistic traits in Indian general population. The work also assesses the criterion validity of AQ across three patient group samples – autism spectrum disorder (ASD), obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety disorder.

In this study, psychometric properties of the adapted AQ were assessed among 450 neurotypical university students matched for age. Confirmatory factor analysis was done to see if the adapted AQ fits the original factor structure. Test–retest, internal consistency reliability and criterion validity were found out. Group differences (gender and field of study) in AQ were also assessed.

Autistic traits were found to be continuously distributed in the population, and patterns of group differences were consistent with previous studies. The adapted AQ had five factors resembling the original factor structure with a good fit, and 38 items instead of the original 50 items. Acceptable reliability coefficients were demonstrated along with criterion validity across clinical groups.

This work is the first to present the pattern of distribution and factor structure of autistic traits among neurotypical adults from Eastern India, a culturally different population, as well as a reliable and valid tool to assess autistic traits in Bengali, a language with 300 million speakers. The findings add to the growing literature on AQ measurement and the concept of autism as a quantitative trait, examined outside of the western samples.

This study was conducted to analyse the socio-ecological problems faced by the Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary and understand its potential and challenges for developing ecotourism following Triple Bottom Line (TBL) principles. The study also benchmarked best ecotourism practices across the globe to create an ecotourism plan that would provide alternative livelihood and help in sustainable management of the area by reducing poverty, dependency on forests and biodiversity protection.

Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary was chosen because this area has several socio-ecological crises with limited livelihood options, and there is an urgent need for alternative livelihood opportunities in the form of ecotourism. The study followed an ethnographic approach through observation, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews. Content and thematic analysis was conducted through Atlas Ti9.0 software for data analysis. Subsequently, benchmarking best ecotourism practices through a literature review was done to develop an ecotourism action plan.

The First finding was related to the study area divided into three themes: problems, potential for ecotourism development, and challenges for ecotourism development. The second finding was related to benchmarking best practices and suggesting an action plan.

This work studied an area not sufficiently acknowledged by academicians and policymakers concerning ecotourism development. The work also benchmarks the best practices for ecotourism and proposes a sight-specific ecotourism action plan in accordance with TBL.

In order to reduce avoidably lengthy duration required to test highly reliable products under usage stress, accelerated life test sampling plans (ALTSPs) are employed. This paper aims to build a decision model for obtaining optimal sampling plan under accelerated life test setting using Type-I hybrid censoring scheme for products covered under warranty.

The primary decision model proposed in this paper determines ALTSP by minimizing the relevant costs involved. To arrive at the decision model, the Fisher information matrix for Type-I hybrid censoring scheme under accelerated life test setting is derived. The optimal solution is attained by utilizing appropriate techniques following a nonlinear constrained optimization approach. As a special case, ALTSP for Type-I censoring is obtained using the same approach. ALTSP under Type-I hybrid censoring using the variance minimization approach is also derived.

On comparing the optimal results obtained using the above mentioned approaches, it is found that the cost minimization approach does better in reducing the total cost incurred. Results also show that the proposed ALTSP model under cost function setting has considerably lower expected testing time. Interesting findings from the sensitivity analysis conducted using a newly introduced failure dataset pertaining to locomotive controls are highlighted.

The research introduces a model to design optimum ALTSP for Type-I hybrid censoring scheme. The practical viability of the model makes it valuable for real-life situations. The practical application of the proposed model is exemplified using a real-life case.

The purpose of this paper is to study the perceived relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate effectiveness (CE) amongst undergraduate and post-graduate students in India and Mauritius. The paper explores the differences in perception of CSR and CE w.r.t profitability, long-term success and short-term success between the different student groups.

This paper explores past studies done by researchers and practitioners and uses a survey method for data collection amongst students in India and Mauritius.

Set in the context of current ethical and business challenges facing business leaders, the paper provides insights and recommendations on the perceived relationship between CSR and CE. Recommendations have been provided for leveraging the perception of CSR amongst students as they aspire to become future business leaders.

Researchers and practitioners are encouraged to explore and test the proposals further in different contexts and countries.

The paper suggests that the research reinforces the relationship between CSR and CE in the context of business and current student perception globally.

Management students are future managers and the study of their perception towards social responsibility has a lot of bearing on their future decision making with respect to these issues.

This paper highlights the different student views on CSR and CE in India and Mauritius and will encourage future researchers and organizations to further expand on this perception.

The purpose of this paper is to design an optimal reliability acceptance sampling plan (RASP) using the Type-I generalized hybrid censoring scheme (GHCS) for non-repairable products sold under the general rebate warranty. A cost function approach is proposed for products having Weibull distributed lifetimes incorporating relevant costs.

For Weibull distributed product lifetimes, acceptance criterion introduced by Lieberman and Resnikoff (1955) is derived for Type-I GHCS. A cost function is formulated using expected warranty cost and other relevant cost components incorporating the acceptance criterion. The cost function is optimized following a constrained optimization approach to arrive at the optimum RASP. The constraint ensures that the producer's and the consumer's risks are maintained at agreed-upon levels.

Optimal solution using the above approach is obtained for Type-I GHCS. As a special case of Type-I GHCS, the proposed approach is also used to arrive at the optimal design for Type-I hybrid censoring scheme as shown in Chakrabarty et al. (2019). Observations regarding the change in optimal design and computational times between the two censoring schemes are noted. An extensive simulation study is performed to validate the model for finite sample sizes and the results obtained are found to be in strong agreement. In order to analyze the sensitivity of the optimal solution due to misspecification of parameter values and cost components, a well-designed sensitivity analysis is carried out using a real-life failure data set from Lawless (2003). Interesting observations are made regarding the change in optimal cost due to change in parameter values, the impact of warranty cost in optimal design and change in optimal design due to change in lot sizes.

The research presents an approach for designing optimal RASPs using Type-I generalized hybrid censoring. The study formulates optimum life test sampling plans by minimizing the average aggregate costs involved, which makes it valuable in dealing with real-life problems pertaining to product quality management.

This paper aims to explore patient to care provider reverse exchanges to improve the care processes and service supply chain using an online feedback platform. This paper demonstrates how a better understanding of timely and unsolicited feedback (“voice of the patient as a customer”) stimulates local interventions to improve service delivery and enact the essential characteristics of highly reliable organisations (HRO).

A realist approach involving an exploratory hospital case study using user feedback from an IT patient feedback platform. The methodology included interviews, secondary data and access to thousands of patient feedback narratives.

The findings show that a systems approach to the supply chain, using real-time feedback to enact process improvement is beneficial and a fruitful source of innovation for professional services staff. The setting of the improvement focusses on a true “voice of the customer” rather than attempting to improve arbitrarily internal process efficiency has major benefits for staff and their engagement with the right interventions to support higher performance.

The findings show major positive benefits for the adaptation and constant reflection of staff on the service provided to patients. The approach provides a means of reflecting as to whether the current supply chain and service provision are fit for purpose, as well as reliable, efficient and of value to the consumer.

This study is one of a few that adopt the consumer orientation needed to fully exploit the concepts of patient-centric improvement by including dynamic feedback in the supply chain and systems approach to care.

Using the case of women home-based workers in India and the aspirations they have for their children, this chapter argues that aspirations across generations can reveal constraints and conflicts of current social positions. As workers in the informal economy, women’s work experiences are shaped by a matrix of oppression shaped by gender, class, caste, and religion. Yet, resistance to this work only became apparent when discussing hopes for their children’s future. It was in these articulations of aspirations that women stressed the exploitative characteristics of their work and their wish for their children to avoid these same experiences.