Market efficiency of gold exchange-traded funds in India

Background: Gold exchange-traded funds, since introduction, are primarily aimed at tracking the price of physical gold in the financial market. This, a category of exchange-traded funds, whose units represent physical gold, is traded on exchanges like any other financial instrument. In the Indian financial market, gold exchange traded funds were introduced a decade ago to facilitate ordinary households' participation in the bullion market. They were also designed to assist in the price discovery mechanism of the bullion market. Presentation of the hypothesis: In this paper, it is attempted to check if one of the constituents of price discovery mechanism, informational efficiency, has been achieved in gold exchange-traded funds' market. Information efficiency becomes evident only when all available information is reflected in the market price of the instrument. Testing the hypothesis: Therefore, in order to assess the weak-form efficiency of the gold exchange-traded funds market, the daily returns of five gold exchange-traded funds traded on the Indian Stock Exchange over the period March 22, 2010, to August 28, 2015, were used. The non-parametric runs test, the parametric serial correlation test, and the augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root test are employed. Implications of the hypothesis: The test results provide evidence that the efficient market hypothesis does not hold for the gold exchange-traded funds' market in India. Further, the test results address several underlying issues with respect to price discovery in the market under study and suggest that the Indian market for this derivative is not weak-form efficient. Hence, the factors affecting gold exchange traded-funds' market warrant the attention of the country's regulatory bodies, as appropriate legislation in support of market efficiency is needed

Screening of catharanthus roseus stem extract for anti-ulcer potential in wistar rat

This study aims to evaluate the anti-ulcer effect of Catharanthus roseus Stem extract on gastric ulcers caused by forced swimming. It was investigated that Catharanthus roseus having many kinds of phytochemical constituents so it is responsible for different pharmacological actions. The ethanolic extract of Catharanthus roseus stem at 250 and 500 mg/kg orally (PO) significantly reduces the incidence of ulcers. In this investigation albino wistar rats induced by forced swimming, an increase in the rate of ulcers was observed compared to the control group. The ethanol extract of Catharanthus roseus stem showed a significant decrease in the previous index at a dose of 500 mg/kg; it was comparable to the standard preparation ranitidine (5 mg/kg). The protection index of Catharanthus roseus stem extract was 65.4%, while the protection index of the standard preparation ranitidine was 76.8%

Selection of sensitive bands for assessing Alernaria blight diseased severity grades in mustard crops using hyperspectral reflectance

Recent development in remote sensing technology using hyperspectral reflectance or spectroscopic data was enabled the rapid and ongoing progression of monitoring, mapping, and surveillance/detection of insects tools for better crop management. This study describes a spectroscopic based methodology to escalation the efficiency of present surveillance practices (insect traps and human examinations) for detection pest infestation (e.g., Alternaria blight in mustard crop). The methodology uses ground based hyperspectral data across the spectral bands 350-2500nm at 1 nm interval. Three different statistical procedures such as correlation (between reflectance, 1st and 2nd derivatives with diseased severity grades), continuum removal analysis was implemented for selection of sensitive bands. In this method, we explore the combinations of different selected sensitive spectral bands and regions to separate diseased crops. The objectives of this research is to develop a novel methodology for selection of sensitive bands to Alternaria blight diseased crops. The development of such methodology would provide researchers, Agronomist, and remote sensing practitioners reliable and stable method to achieve faster technique with higher accuracy to mapping of Alternaria blight diseased crops

Oxaliplatin combined with infusional 5-fluorouracil and concomitant radiotherapy in inoperable and metastatic rectal cancer: a phase I trial

The aim of this study was to define the recommended dose of oxaliplatin when combined with infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and concurrent pelvic radiotherapy. Eligible patients had inoperable rectal cancer, or symptomatic primary rectal cancer with metastasis. Oxaliplatin was given on day 1 of weeks 1, 3 and 5 of radiotherapy. Dose level 1 was oxaliplatin 70 mg m(−2) with 5-FU 200 mg m(−2) day(−1) continuous infusion 96 h week(−1). On dose level 2, the oxaliplatin dose was increased to 85 mg m(−2). On dose level 3, the duration of the 5-FU was increased to 168 h per week. Pelvic radiotherapy was 45 Gray (Gy) in 25 fractions over 5 weeks with a boost of 5.4 Gy. Fluorine-18 fluoro deoxyglucose and Fluorine-18 fluoro misonidazole positron emission tomography (FDG-PET and FMISO-PET) were used to assess metabolic tumour response and hypoxia. In all, 16 patients were accrued. Dose-limiting toxicities occurred in one patient at level 2 (grade 3 chest infection), and two patients at level 3 (grade 3 diarrhoea). Dose level 2 was declared the recommended dose level. FDG-PET imaging showed metabolic responses in 11 of the 12 primary tumours assessed. Four of six tumours had detectable hypoxia on FMISO-PET scans. The addition of oxaliplatin to infusional 5-FU chemoradiotherapy was feasible and generally well tolerated. For future trials, oxaliplatin 85 mg m(−2) and 5-FU 200 mg m(−2) day(−1) continuous infusion 96 h week(−1) is the recommended dose when combined with 50.4 Gy of pelvic radiotherapy