Purpose The purpose of the paper is to explore the relationship between workplace empowerment and employee commitment with quality of work life (QWL) as a mediator in the case of private healthcare employees in India. Design/methodology/approach The study used a structured questionnaire to collect primary data from 279 employees of private healthcare units in India. AMOS 20 was used to analyse the data. Findings Results of data analysis confirm that the proposed hypotheses of the study were significant. Structural equation modelling revealed a best-fit model that demonstrated QWL to be a significant partial mediator between workplace empowerment and employee commitment. Practical implications This work provides a pragmatic view about the action mechanism through which workplace empowerment can aid in generating commitment among healthcare employees. The paper also offers insights for healthcare managers, administrators and practitioners. Originality/value The research is an attempt to integrate the employees as the core long-term assets of the healthcare system. The study establishes the triadic and symbiotic alliance of workplace empowerment, QWL and employee commitment in the novel context of healthcare.

Breast cancer is the second highest prevalent cancer globally after lung cancer with 2.09 million cases during 2018. Adults about 1.9 billion were overweight and over 650 million out of these were obese during 2016. There is a significant relationship between breast cancer risk and obesity. Premature menopause and premenopausal obesity diminish the risk whereas postmenopausal obesity amplifies the risk, because adipose tissue acts as the major reservoir for estrogen biosynthesis after menopause. Lofty estrogen levels in serum along with enhanced peripheral site production of estrogen have been viewed as major reasons of developing breast cancer in overweight postmenopausal women. This review explains body fat as a peripheral site for estrogen biosynthesis, estrogen exposure affecting body fat distribution, and the mechanism of estrogen production from body fats.

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Though sickle-cell-gene protects against falciparum infections, the hematological parameters and sub-phenotypes of severe malaria remain unchanged when the infection progresses to a severe form in patients with HbAA and HbAS. Presence of hemolytic anemia in patients with HbSS shows diverse hematological and clinical phenotypes as compared to others. High mortality in patients with HbSS emphasizes the need for a better preventive approach to save valuable lives.

The effect of waterborne zinc on survival, growth, and feed intake of Indian major carp, Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton), advanced fry was studied under laboratory condition. Survival rates of C. mrigala advanced fry (2.71±0.49 g) after 30 days exposure to control (0.01), 0.03, 0.06, 0.10, and 0.15 mg/L zinc using the static renewal method in freshwater at pH 7.3±0.2, temperature 26±2°C, and total hardness 114±16 mg/L as CaCO 3 were 100%. Growth of the fish exposed to 0.10 and 0.15 mg/L of zinc was significantly lower (P<0.05) than in control (0.01), 0.03, and 0.06 mg/L of zinc after 30 days of exposure. However, there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in fish growth between 0.03 and 0.06 mg/L zinc concentrations. Feed intake rates were significantly (P<0.05) reduced in the fish exposed to 0.10 mg/L and higher levels of zinc. The zinc accumulation in the whole body of the fish increased with increasing concentrations of the metal.

The effect of copper on survival, growth and feed intake of Indian major carp, Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton) fry (0.92 +/- 0.28 g) was studied for 60 days. Survival rates of the fish exposed to control (0.02), 0.10, 0.15 and 0.23 mg L(-1) copper were 100%, 83 +/- 3%, 58 +/- 6%, and 50 +/- 4%, respectively. Average daily growth was significantly (p < 0.05) lower at 0.15 and 0.23 mg L(-1) of copper. There was almost no growth at 0.23 mg L(-1) of copper. Feed intake rates reduced significantly (p < 0.05) at all the copper treatments. The copper accumulation in the fish increased with increasing concentrations of the metal.

The evolutionary conserved, less-polymorphic, nonclassical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules: Qa-1 and its human homologue human leukocyte antigen-E (HLA-E) along with HLA-F, G and H cross-talk with the T-cell receptors and also interact with natural killer T-cells and other lymphocytes. Moreover, these nonclassical MHC molecules are known to interact with CD94/NKG2 heterodimeric receptors to induce immune responses and immune regulations. This dual role of Qa-1/HLA-E in terms of innate and adaptive immunity makes them more interesting. This review highlights the new updates of the mammalian nonclassical MHC-I molecules in terms of their gene organization, evolutionary perspective and their role in immunity.

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