Indo-U.S. FTA - Prospects for Audiovisual Services

Many WTO (World Trade Organization) member countries, including India, are defensive about opening up of the audiovisual sector in the Doha Round due to reasons of cultural sensitivity. On the other hand, the United States is pushing for liberalizing trade in this sector both in the WTO and in its bilateral FTAs (Free Trade Agreements). With the slow progress of the Doha Round, India and the United States are exploring the possibilities of entering into FTAs with like-minded trading partners. In this context, the present paper discusses the prospects of liberalizing audiovisual services under a possible Indo-U.S. FTA. The study found that India and the United States have significant trade complementarities in this sector which can be further enhanced under an FTA. It identifies areas such as co-production of films, digital content creation and broadband infrastructure in which companies from India and the United States can enter into mutually beneficial collaborations. It argues that India should enter into a media cooperation agreement with the U.S. to facilitate the inflow of technical know, finance and best management practices. It discusses regulatory and other reforms which would not only improve the productivity and global competitiveness of the Indian audiovisual sector but also enable it to gain from the FTA.Indo-U.S. FTA, GATS, bilateral agreements, audiovisual, Services

Indo-U.S. FTA: Prospects for Audiovisual Services

Many WTO (World Trade Organization) member countries, including India, are defensive about opening up of the audiovisual sector in the Doha Round due to reasons of cultural sensitivity. On the other hand, the United States is pushing for liberalizing trade in this sector - both in the WTO and in its bilateral FTAs (Free Trade Agreements). With the slow progress of the Doha Round, India and the United States are exploring the possibilities of entering into FTAs with like-minded trading partners. In this context, the present paper discusses the prospects of liberalizing audiovisual services under a possible Indo-U.S. FTA. The study found that India and the United States have significant trade complementarities in this sector which can be further enhanced under an FTA. It identifies areas such as co-production of films, digital content creation and broadband infrastructure in which companies from India and the United States can enter into mutually beneficial collaborations. It argues that India should enter into a media cooperation agreement with the U.S. to facilitate the inflow of technical know, finance and best management practices. It discusses regulatory and other reforms which would not only improve the productivity and global competitiveness of the Indian audiovisual sector but also enable it to gain from the FTA.Indo-U.S. FTA, GATS, bilateral agreements, audiovisual, services

Zrównoważona podróż papieru czerpanego od przeszłości do dziś

Paper is an excellent medium of expression and knowledge preservation and communication because of its writing, printing, and packaging abilities. It is a thin sheet or web-like structure made by a dilute suspension of cellulosic fibres. Handmade papermaking technology was mass accepted and considered a precious commodity before development of an industrialised wood- pulp based paper industry. This modern papermaking practice harms the environment as it uses enhanced natural resources (ample amount of water, trees as a primary source for wood pulp) and generates pollution due to release of harsh chemicals. This paper reviews the history and process of handmade paper manufacturing from past to present. Along with that, all the pillars of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social) in relation to the handmade paper industry are deep rooted since ancient times and very much relevant for the present era of sustainable development. Various kinds of cellulosic raw materials from plants (Paper mulberry, Kazo, Gampy, hemp, bamboo, banana, etc.) and other used materials (old rags, ropes, nets, newspapers etc.) with the chemical-free production process and products make this industry eco-friendly. Craft based, small scale and labour-intensive guild art gives it social strength; whereas an  infinite product range having functional and decorative uses, as well as strong export potential of the industry gives it an economic strength. Due to the present need of sustainable production, waste minimisation, and circular economy, the handmade paper seems to very potential industry to recycle various kind of waste like weedy battles, textiles, tetra packs, currency, plastic etc. This paper is an attempt to review the journey of handmade papers, its recycling potential, various production processes, products, advantages and disadvantages of the industry from past to present.Papier jest doskonałym środkiem zachowania wiedzy oraz komunikacji ze względu na jego zdolności do pisania, drukowania i pakowania. Jest to cienka struktura przypominająca arkusz lub wstęgę wykonana z rozcieńczonej zawiesiny włókien celulozowych. Technologia ręcznego wytwarzania papieru była powszechnie przed rozwojem przemysłu papierniczego na bazie masy drzewnej. Ta nowoczesna praktyka papiernicza szkodzi jednak środowisku, ponieważ wykorzystuje ulepszone zasoby naturalne (duże ilości wody, drewno jako główne źródło miazgi drzewnej) i generuje zanieczyszczenie z powodu uwalniania agresywnych chemikaliów. W artykule dokonano przeglądu historii i procesu produkcji papieru czerpanego od przeszłości do współczesności. Wszystkie filary zrównoważonego rozwoju (środowiskowy, ekonomiczny i społeczny) w odniesieniu do przemysłu papieru czerpanego występowały już od czasów starożytnych i mają bardzo duże znaczenie dla obecnej epoki. Różne rodzaje surowców celulozowych z roślin (morwa papierowa, kazo, babka, konopie, bambus, banany itp.) i innych używanych materiałów (stare szmaty, liny, siatki, gazety itp.) z bezchemicznym procesem produkcyjnym czynią tę branżę przyjazną dla środowiska. Oparta na rzemiośle, drobna i pracochłonna sztuka cechowa daje jej siłę społeczną; mając na uwadze, że nieskończona jest gama produktów o funkcjonalnych i dekoracyjnych zastosowaniach, a także silny potencjał eksportowy przemysłu, zapewnia jej także mu siłę ekonomiczną. Ze względu na obecną potrzebę zrównoważonej produkcji, minimalizacji odpadów i gospodarki o obiegu zamkniętym, papier czerpany wydaje się bardzo idealny do recyklingu różnego rodzaju odpadów, takich tekstylia, opakowania tetra, plastik itp. Ten artykuł jest próbą opisania historii papieru czerpanego, jego potencjału w zakresie recyklingu, a także omówienia różnych procesy produkcyjnych, produktów oraz zalet i wad tej branży

Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect on Oral Hygiene and Nutrition in North Indian School Students: A Cohort Study

This study investigated the relationship between dental hygiene and child maltreatment, malnutrition, and overall development. The researchers examined 900 students aged 5-15 years from government schools in Lucknow district, Uttar Pradesh. The study observed nutritional status by assessment of the physiological status of the body based on its height and weight and signs of abuse/neglect. The results showed that 260 abused students had poor dental hygiene, and 236 of them were mild to moderately malnourished. In comparison, 362 non-abused students had dental neglect, and 232 were moderately malnourished. These findings highlight a significant association between dental care neglect, child maltreatment, and malnutrition. It is crucial to address the social stigma surrounding this issue, normalize discussions, and encourage dentists to identify signs of abuse and inform relevant authorities about potential discrepancies

Goal-Oriented Next Best Activity Recommendation using Reinforcement Learning

Recommending a sequence of activities for an ongoing case requires that the recommendations conform to the underlying business process and meet the performance goal of either completion time or process outcome. Existing work on next activity prediction can predict the future activity but cannot provide guarantees of the prediction being conformant or meeting the goal. Hence, we propose a goal-oriented next best activity recommendation. Our proposed framework uses a deep learning model to predict the next best activity and an estimated value of a goal given the activity. A reinforcement learning method explores the sequence of activities based on the estimates likely to meet one or more goals. We further address a real-world problem of multiple goals by introducing an additional reward function to balance the outcome of a recommended activity and satisfy the goal. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method on four real-world datasets with different characteristics. The results show that the recommendations from our proposed approach outperform in goal satisfaction and conformance compared to the existing state-of-the-art next best activity recommendation techniques

Polyhydramnios: ultrasonographic detection, associated risk factors and perinatal outcome

ABSTRACT Objectives: Detection of polyhydramnios by ultrasonography and studying its associated risk factors and following up for its perinatal outcome were the objectives of this study. Methods: It was an observational study in which 70 antenatal cases of polyhydramnios from 20-42 weeks of gestation were taken into consideration, irrespective of age and parity. Results: Out of total 70 patients in the study, 42.8% were diagnosed at gestational age of 33-37 weeks. Forty (57.14%) cases were having mild polyhydramnios. Thirty eight (54.28%) cases had no associated risk factors. In rest of cases congenital malformation 24.27% and diabetes 7.14% were associated as the risk factors. Forty (57.1%) pregnancies had no complication but 10% developed preterm labor. Thirty six (51.42%) cases had normal vaginal delivery and 31.42% had caesarean section. Fifty three (75.71%) of newborns were alive but 17.14% had neonatal death. Conclusion: Most cases were diagnosed after 28weeks and most had idiopathic and mild polyhydramnios. Diabetes and congenital malformation were the most frequent associated risk factors. Preterm labor represented the most frequent complication. Caesarean section as a mode of delivery was higher

On Rate of Approximation by Modified Beta Operators

We establish the rate of convergence for the modified Beta operators (,), for functions having derivatives of bounded variation

KSHV Genome Replication and Maintenance

Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) is a major etiological agent for multiple severe malignancies in immunocompromised patients. KSHV establishes lifetime persistence in the infected individuals and displays two distinct life cycles, generally a prolonged passive latent, and a short productive or lytic cycle. During latent phase, the viral episome is tethered to the host chromosome and replicates once during every cell division. Latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) is a predominant multifunctional nuclear protein expressed during latency, which plays a central role in episome tethering, replication and perpetual segregation of the episomes during cell division. LANA binds cooperatively to LANA binding sites (LBS) within the terminal repeat (TR) region of the viral episome as well as to the cellular nucleosomal proteins to tether viral episome to the host chromosome. LANA has been shown to modulate multiple cellular signaling pathways and recruits various cellular proteins such as chromatin modifying enzymes, replication factors, transcription factors and cellular mitotic framework to maintain a successful latent infection. Although many other regions within the KSHV genome can initiate replication, KSHV TR is important for latent DNA replication and possible segregation of the replicated episomes. Binding of LANA to LBS favors the recruitment of various replication factors to initiate LANA dependent DNA replication. In this review, we discuss the molecular mechanisms relevant to KSHV genome replication, segregation, and maintenance of latency