An Empirical Investigation of Retail Investors’ Sentiments: Role of Demographics

Purpose: This paper is an explicit effort to explore the various tenets of Investors’ sentiments in Indian context. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Investors’ Sentiments and to know how investors sentiments affects the choices made by retail investors and to know how demographic characteristics drive investment decisions of individuals.   Methodology: In carrying out this research study a descriptive design is used. A sample of 683 respondents (retail investors) were selected as part of a sample utilizing the snowball (chain referral) method of sampling. The instrument used for collecting primary data is a well-structured questionnaire and it consists of demographic profiles of respondents.   Findings: The attitude of investors’ towards investment decision is influenced by perceived returns, price sensitive information, perceived economic indicators, investors’ confidence and herd behavior. These results emphasize the significance of individual propensities in determining a person’s level of sentiments.   Implications: This study will help financial advisors to better understand the attitudes and behaviors of their clients and also be significant for financial institutions, given to positive economic effects of development of financial sector

REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND REGISTRATION PROCESS FOR DRUG APPROVAL OF FIXED DOSE COMBINATIONS (FDC S ) IN INDIA: A REVIEW

ABSTRACT The article reveals the data required for fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) in Indian market occupies a higher pedestal when the efficacy of a finished product is under question. Although these have advantages that make them appear a good therapy option, In the Indian market, FDCs occupies a huge share; therefore the rational approval of FDCs is important for the development of public health perspectives in India. Some of the data required for market authorization balancing of advantages, disadvantages and Pharmacovigilance. Bioavailability (BA)/Bioequivalence (BE) studies are the basis for regulatory considerations of FDC product discussed according to India. Therefore, before getting an FDC approval, a manufacturer has to make available information to the health authority on quality, safety, efficacy and post-marketing surveillance studies (PMS). we shall briefly see the data required to be made available to the Central Drug Standard Control Organization (as per relevant guidelines) to get an FDC approved and the registration process

Segmentation of Fingerprint Impressions and Signatures

Organizations like banks, post office, passport office, civil registrations get hundreds of applications daily for enrollment into their systems. Some of the most common data they require for enrollment are photographs, signatures, fingerprint impressions etc. These data require scanning by using a desktop scanner and subsequent precise cropping to remove unnecessary white spaces. A significant amount of labor is incurred when the amount of data is in the order of hundreds. In this project the aforementioned enrollment process has been automated by using simple image processing algorithms. The boundaries of each fingerprint impression are determined by using the scan-lines followed by the region of interests for segmenting the fingerprints. In another work, different morphological operations are used to identify the fingerprint impressions. Segmentation becomes complex when the impressions do not follow any particular order. To counter such problems connected components of a pixel are used for segmenting the impressions

A comparison of toxicity profile of gemcitabine monotherapy versus etoposide/cisplatin in the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths globally in which about 40% patients reporting in advanced stage disease. Both platinum and non platinumcombinations have been shown to be equally efficacious as initial first-line treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), however because of the toxicity of cisplatin, combination treatment can only be administered to a minority of patients in good general health. Gemcitabine could be combined with one of the other new agents to create novel non-platinum-doublet combinations with efficacy and/or toxicity profile superior to that of standard platinum based combinations. Hence, this study was conducted to compare the toxicity profiles of gemcitabine monotherapy and the cisplatin/etoposide combination therapy.Methods: This was a randomized prospective study, which included 96 patients selected on the basis of histologically or cytologically confirmed Stage III B or IV of NSCLC. Study was divided into two arms-Arm A received gemcitabine monotherapy in a dose of 1000 mg/m2 on day 1 and 5 of the cycle andrepeated after every 3 weeks while Arm B received cisplatin (25 mg/m2 on day 1, 2 and 3) + etoposide (100 mg/m2). Patient were evaluated for adverse events by following World Health Organization grading of toxicity.Results: Out of the 96 patients enrolled in the study, 74 (77.0%) patients were eligible and were analyzed. Of these, 36 (37.5%) patients belonged to Arm A and 38 (39.5%) to Arm B. Transient vomiting (45.8% vs. 37.5%), leukopenia (33.3% vs. 8.3%) were seen more in Arm A, while thrombocytopenia (33.3% vs. 12.5%), patchy hair loss (68.4% vs. 16.6%) was seen more in Arm B. Nephrotoxicity was seen almost similarly in both the groups.Conclusions: Single-agent gemcitabine appears to have a safer toxicity profile than the combination cisplatin-etoposide in the first-line chemotherapy of advanced NSCLC. With less toxic anticancer drugs like gemcitabine, the physician now has greater choice in choosing treatment, which can have better effect on the patients concerned

Separable Reversible Data Hiding in an Encrypted Image

Since times immemorial, security of data to maintain its confidentiality, proper access control, integrity and availability has been a major issue in data communication. Today images and data transfer in mobile phone communication, e-commerce, Pay-TV, sending private e-mails, transmitting financial information and touches on many aspects of daily lives. We wanted to develop a scheme in which the data embedded in an image and the image itself would be secured from any unauthorized access. This scheme would also be a merit in military and medical services.This paper proposed a scheme for separable reversible data hiding technique in an encrypted image. The original image was encrypted using an encryption key. Then, a data-hider hides the data using the data-hiding key. With an encrypted image containing additional data, if a receiver has the data-hiding key, it can extract the additional data though it does not know the image content and if it has the encryption key, it can decrypt the received data to obtain an image similar to the original one, but cannot extract the additional data. If the receiver has both the key it can extract the additional data and recover the original content without any error by exploiting. This results in the security of data and image privacy

Recognition of Vehicle Number Plate Using Image Processing Technique

The video surveillance system is preferred for security monitoring, however, the detection of moving object is a challenging part. In areas where parking space is allotted to a particular vehicle, the wrongly parked vehicle can be recognized. It is noted that the number plates of the vehicle are found in different shape, size and also they are different in color. This makes the detection of the vehicle by their number plates, the most interesting and challenging research topic. Number plate detection is helpful in finding stolen cars, car parking management system and identification of the vehicle in traffic. This paper presents an approach for Number Plate Recognition (NPR) using morphological operation and Sobel edge detection method. In this approach, all the letters and numbers used in the number plate are segmented by using bounding box method. After segmentation, template matching approach is used to recognize numbers and characters. The number plate decoded can be used further for identification, matching and documentation purpose of vehicle details

Ultrasensitive Quantification of Cytokine Proteins in Single Lymphocytes From Human Blood Following ex-vivo Stimulation

In this study we demonstrate the feasibility of direct, quantitative measurement of cytokine proteins in single human CD8 lymphocytes from fresh peripheral blood of healthy donors following a brief ex vivo stimulation. Cytokine-secreting cells were identified using cell surface “catch” reagents and single cell data were obtained by sorting of individual cytokine-secreting cells into 96 well plates containing lysis buffer followed by analysis using ultrasensitive immunoassays for interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). CD8 cells negative for cytokine production, as determined by the cell surface catch reagents were used as negative controls. Furthermore, studies were undertaken to compare the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) values of cytokine staining by flow cytometry with the quantification of cytokines using the current method. This study demonstrates that it is feasible to quantify cytokines from individual primary cells. A shift from qualitative to quantitative determinations of cytokine protein levels in single cells will permit more precise and reproducible studies of heterogeneity in the immune system and can be accomplished with readily available instrumentation

Strength Evaluation of Functionalized MWCNT-Reinforced Polymer Nanocomposites Synthesized Using a 3D Mixing Approach

The incorporation of carboxyl functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT- COOH) into a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) has been investigated. The resultant tensile and flexural mechanical properties have been determined. In this paper, a novel synthesis process for a MWCNT-reinforced polymer nanocomposite is proposed. The proposed method significantly eliminates the most challenging issues of the nano-dispersed phase, including agglomeration and non-homogeneous mixing within a given matrix material, and also resolves the issues occurring in conventional mixing processes. The results of scanning electron microscopy support these claims. This 3D-mixing process is followed by an extrusion process, using a twin-screw extruder for pristine MWCNT, and a compression molding process for COOH-MWCNT, to prepare test specimens for experimentally determining the mechanical properties. The test specimens are fabricated using 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 wt.% MWCNT, with a remaining PMMA phase. The testing is conducted according to ASTM D3039 and ASTM D7264 standards. Significant improvements of 25.41%, 35.85%, and 31.75% in tensile properties and 18.27%, 48%, and 33.33% in flexural properties for 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 wt.% COOH-MWCNT in PMMA, respectively, compared to non-functionalized MWCNTs, were demonstrated. The highest strength was recorded for the nanocomposite with 0.5 wt.% f-MWCNT content, indicating the best doping effect at a lower concentration of f-MWCNT. The proposed CNT-PMMA nanocomposite may be found suitable for use as a scaffold material in the domain of bone tissue engineering research. This type of research possesses a high strength requirement, which may be fulfilled using MWCNT. Furthermore, this analysis also shows a significant amount of enhancement in flexural strength, which is clinically required for fabricating denture bases.This research was funded by a grant from the Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digitalization, project number PFE 26/30.12.2021, PERFORM-CDI@UPT100—The increasing of the performance of the Polytechnic University of Timis, oara by strengthening the research, development, and technology transfer capacity in the field of “Energy, Environment and Climate Change” at the beginning of the second century of its existence, within Program 1—Development of the national system of Research and Development, Subprogram 1.2—Institutional Performance-Institutional Development Projects—Excellence Funding Projects in RDI, PNCDI III.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Steroid Induced Cushing’s Syndrome in an Asthmatic patient: a Case Report

Glucocorticoid therapies are used widely in arrange of medical conditions including respiratory, allergic, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. All forms of glucocorticoid delivery, even at therapeutic doses, have the potential to cause Cushing’s syndrome. Here, we present a case of exogenous Cushing’s syndrome resulting from recurrent use of intermittent high dose oral prednisone to treat asthma exacerbation

ACCURACY OF ORAL MUCOSAL MEASUREMENTS USING CBCT AND BARIUM EMBEDDED DENTURE BASE

Objective The dimensions and relationships of the periodontal structures are vital in various dental specialties. Paper describes a simple, novel, noninvasive and a promising technique which illustrates and validates the possibility of radiographically visualizing and metrically assessing oral hard and soft tissues of the periodontium. Materials and Methods A total of 14 periodontally healthy, dentate subjects with no severe crowding, rotation, or spacing in the maxilla, and no history of palatal disease or surgery participated in this study. Maxillary impression of the patient made using additional polyvinyl impression material. Maxillary CBCT images of the patients with the barium incorporated denture base in place were obtained using Carestream CS 3D 9300 C machine with the FOV of 5X10 cm at 90 Kvp, 6.3 mA, scanning time 8 secs and angle of rotation 270 degrees. Analysis was done using CS 3D Dental Imaging Software. Results A strong correlation in the measurements of thickness of the palatal masticatory mucosa by both methods (r=0.90; p<0.01). Mean palatal masticatory mucosa thickness was 2.74 mm (range: 2.0 to 6.03 mm) on CBCT and on physical measurements it was found to be 2.6 mm (range: 2.0 to 5.03 mm). Conclusion Barium sulphate dry, white, chalky powder, appears white (radio-opaque) on the X-ray film. Its applications in medicine include barium meal a diagnostic test used to detect abnormalities of the esophagus, stomach and small bowel using X-ray imaging. This coherent property of radio opacity of barium helped us visualize and analyse the oral hard and soft tissues on maxillary CBCT images as well