Performance Analysis of Banks in India - Pre and Post World Trade Organization (General Agreement on Trade in Services)

Under World Trade Organization (WTO), the opening of the Indian banking sector fully to the foreign players will pose a keen competition for the banks in India. Under Commercial presence (Mode 3) of General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), foreign banks with branch presence were allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in private sector banks in 2005. These developments have a tremendous impact on overall functioning of Indian banks and enhancement of competition . The objective of the study was to assign ranks to different bank groups on the basis of their overall performance scores. The study concludes that although foreign banks and new private sector banks (modern) were significantly better  than the public sector banks and old private banks (traditional)but the  traditional banks had improved their performance post WTO. This study will hopefully claim the attention of our policy makers, bankers, corporate executives and other interested parties. Keywords: GATS, WTO, Indian banking sector, Productivity, Profitability, Efficiency, Composite Index, Intergroup variatio

Electron Impact Excitation Cross Sections for Hydrogen-Like Ions

We present cross sections for electron-impact-induced transitions n --> n' in hydrogen-like ions C 5+, Ne 9+, Al 12+, and Ar 17+. The cross sections are computed by Coulomb-Born with exchange and normalization (CBE) method for all transitions with n < n' < 7 and by convergent close-coupling (CCC) method for transitions with n 2s and 1s --> 2p are presented as well. The CCC and CBE cross sections agree to better than 10% with each other and with earlier close-coupling results (available for transition 1 --> 2 only). Analytical expression for n --> n' cross sections and semiempirical formulae are discussed.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 13 PostScript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Mechanisms of vascular smooth muscle contraction and the basis for pharmacologic treatment of smooth muscle disorders

The smooth muscle cell directly drives the contraction of the vascular wall and hence regulates the size of the blood vessel lumen. We review here the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which agonists, therapeutics, and diseases regulate contractility of the vascular smooth muscle cell and we place this within the context of whole body function. We also discuss the implications for personalized medicine and highlight specific potential target molecules that may provide opportunities for the future development of new therapeutics to regulate vascular function.Accepted manuscrip

Energy levels and radiative rates for transitions in Cr-like Co IV and Ni V

We report calculations of energy levels and radiative rates ($A$-values) for transitions in Cr-like Co IV and Ni V. The quasi-relativistic Hartree-Fock (QRHF) code is adopted for calculating the data although GRASP (general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package) and flexible atomic code (FAC) have also been employed for comparison purposes. No radiative rates are available in the literature to compare with our results, but our calculated energies are in close agreement with those compiled by NIST for a majority of the levels. However, there are discrepancies for a few levels of up to 3\%. The $A$-values are listed for all significantly contributing E1, E2 and M1 transitions, and the corresponding lifetimes reported, although unfortunately no previous theoretical or experimental results exist to compare with our data.Comment: The paper will appear in ADNDT (2016) and in October 2015 on the we

COMPARATIVE MUCOPENETRATION ABILITY OF METRONIDAZOLE LOADED CHITOSAN AND PEGYLATED CHITOSAN NANOPARTICLES

Objective: The objective of this study is to compare the mucopenetration ability of metronidazole loaded chitosan (CS) and pegylated CS nanoparticles.Methods: Nanoparticles were prepared by ionic gelation technique using negatively charged pH sensitive polymer, hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose phthalate with positively charged CS and methoxy polyethylene glycol-grafted-CS (mPEG-g-CS). mPEG-g-CS was synthesized by formaldehyde linkage method and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The optimized formulations were compared for morphology, particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), entrapment efficiency, bioadhesion detachment force, in vitro and in vivo mucopenetration for CS-mPEG-g-CS nanoparticles.Results: The morphological assessment revealed smooth spherical particles with uniform dispersions. The optimized formulations particle size was found to be 202.7±27 nm and 294.1±46 nm, zeta potential 26.94±2.4 mV and 6.0±1.3 mV. PDI 0.231 and 0.268, entrapment efficiency 79.8±5.4% and 83.6±9.7%, bio-adhesion detachment force 14.98*103 dyne/cm2 and 10.67*103 dynes/cm2, in vitro mucopenetration 78% and 98% for CS-mPEG-g-CS, respectively. The qualitative in vivo mucopenetration result confirms retention of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) labeled mPEG-g-CS nanoparticles till 24 hrs.Conclusion: Nanoparticles with lesser zeta potential and mucoadhesion showed higher mucosal penetration which is evident from FITC labeled histopathological mucus penetration test. Studies thus provided evidence that planned pharmaceutical strategies open new vistas for effective treatment of mucosal infections

Quantification of yield gaps in rain-fed rice, wheat, cotton and mustard in India

Rainfed farming / Crop yield / Simulation / Rice / Wheat / Cotton / Mustard / India

Radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for H-like Fe XXVI

Aims. In this paper we report on calculations for energy levels, radiative rates, collision strengths, and effective collision strengths for transitions among the lowest 25 levels of the n $\le$ 5 configurations of H-like Fe XXVI.Methods. The general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package (GRASP) and Dirac atomic R-matrix code (DARC) are adopted for the calculations. Results. Radiative rates, oscillator strengths, and line strengths are reported for all electric dipole (E1), magnetic dipole (M1), electric quadrupole (E2), and magnetic quadrupole (M2) transitions among the 25 levels. Furthermore, collision strengths and effective collision strengths are reported for all the 300 transitions among the above 25 levels over a wide energy (temperature) range up to 1500 Ryd (107.7 K). Comparisons are made with earlier available results and the accuracy of the data is assessed

Degradation kinetics of metronidazole and its mutual prodrug with ciprofloxacin: a calorimetric analysis

Calorimetric technique has aroused considerable interest as a versatile tool in pharmaceutical industry and academia to provide useful information about thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of drug molecules. The present paper utilizes this technique to monitor the hydrolytic degradation of metronidazole and its prodrug with ciprofloxacin, i.e. 2-(2-methyl-5-nitroimidazol-1-yl)ethyl-1-cyclopropyl-6-fluoro-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-7-(1-piperazinyl)-quinoline-3-carboxylate. The synthesis of the present mutual prodrug was envisaged to combine the antiprotozoal and anaerobic antibacterial effects of metronidazole with antibacterial effects of ciprofloxacin. Heat flux microcalorimeter was used to determine the rate of heat evolved during the degradation of the drug and prodrug as a function of concentration, pH and temperature. In terms of enthalpy of hydrolysis the response is exothermic both for drug and prodrug. However, the absolute value of the enthalpy of reaction (&#916;rH0) is low for the prodrug. The degradation followed pseudo first order kinetics, showed marked stability at pH 3-7 followed by accelerated hydrolysis at higher pH, characteristic of general acid-base catalysis. The catalytic rate constant for hydrogen ion (kH) and hydroxyl ion (kOH) were found to be 0.413 and 526.1 M-1h-1, respectively, at 318.15 K. The hydrolysis of the prodrug was found to be approximately 50-60 times faster than that of the drug. This may be attributed to the fact that hydrolysis of ester group in prodrug is assisted by keto group on the ciprofloxacin. However, there is no effect of protonation of nitrogen in piperazine ring in ciprofloxacin on the hydrolysis due to the distance from the ester moiety. Keywords: Calorimetry, stability studies, degradation kinetics, ciprofloxacin, metronidazole. International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences Vol. 1 (3) 2007: pp.197-21

Radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for H-like Fe XXVI

Aims. In this paper we report on calculations for energy levels, radiative rates, collision strengths, and effective collision strengths for transitions among the lowest 25 levels of the n ≤ 5 configurations of H-like Fe XXV

The Physics of Supernova Remnant Blast Waves. I. Kinematics of DEM L71 in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We present the results from Fabry-Perot imaging spectroscopy of the Balmer-dominated supernova remnant DEM L71 (0505-67.9) in the LMC. Spectra extracted from the entire circumference of the blast wave reveal the broad and narrow component H-alpha line emission characteristic of non-radiative shocks in partially neutral gas. The new spectra of DEM L71 include portions of the rim that have not been previously observed. We find that the broad component width varies azimuthally along the edge of DEM L71, ranging from 450+/-60 km/s along the eastern edge to values as high as 985 (+210)(-165) km/s along the faint western edge. In part of the faint northern rim the broad component is not detected, possibly indicating a lower density in these regions and/or a broad component width in excess of 1000 km/s. Between the limits of zero and full electron-ion temperature equilibration at the shock front, the allowed range of shock velocities is 430-560 km/s along the east rim and 700-1250 km/s along other parts of the blast wave. The H-alpha broad-to-narrow flux ratios vary considerably around the remnant, ranging from 0.4 to 0.8. These ratios lie below the values predicted by our shock models. We find that narrow component H-alpha emission from a cosmic ray precursor may be the cause of the discrepancy. The least decelerated portions of the blast wave (i.e., regions excluding the brightest filaments) are well characterized by Sedov models with a kinetic energy E_51= (0.37+/-0.06)*D_50**(5/2), where D_50 is the LMC distance in units of 50 kpc. The corresponding age for DEM L71 is (4360+/-290)*D_50 yr. This is the first time that velocity information from the entire blast wave has been utilized to study the global kinematics of a non-radiative SNR at a known distance.Comment: 21 pages, including 8 postscript figures and 4 tables, LaTeX, accepted to ApJ; see companion pape