The Information Content of Directors’ Trades: Empirical Analysis of the Australian Market

We examine the trading activities of directors in shares of their own companies on the Australian Stock Exchange during the July-December 2005 period. We find that directors of small companies in particular earn abnormal return after both their ‘Purchase’ and as well as their ‘Sale’ trade. Directors of these companies have an uncanny ability to time the market by trading when mispricing is greatest, and are able to predict the future performance of their firms in short run. For directors of medium and large companies, we find evidence that ‘Sale’ trades are the ones which work as loss avoiders. Outsiders recognise to some extent that directors’ trades are informative, however they are slow to incorporate the new information into prices, refuting much of the market efficiency literature.

Compilation of registered clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19 infection

The Wuhan city, the capital of Hubei province in China became the focal point for origin of virulent disease which later named as COVID-19. This paper aims to analyze the on-going clinical trials for drugs/interventions used for treatment of COVID-19 infection in open domain. The data on ongoing clinical trials on COVID-19 was retrieved from database clinicaltrials.gov. The data extracted includes national clinical trial registry number, title of study, recruitment status, results availability, intervention, outcome measure, sponsorship, study types, study design, start and completion dates, and location. All the extracted data was analyzed. As on 10th August 2020, a total of 2935 trials were registered in different countries. Of which 1115 trials are being conducted in Europe and 640 in United States of America (USA). Majority of COVID-19 clinical trials (95%) were enrolling all age groups including children and older adults. Similarly, majority of trials were including both genders (97%). Among all these clinical trials ongoing on COVID-19, 1645 were interventional, 1266 were observational studies. In interventional study 876 trials used drug intervention. Among all these trials 390 different drug interventions are being tried. Among these hydroxychloroquine, antiretrovirals and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors were top three drug groups. The conduct of clinical trials in time of pandemic have so many tenacious issues that need to be addressed. It is very important to utilize the resources efficiently such as following a standard protocol then one can easily pool the data of various trials conducted at various places. Given the smaller sample sizes, long completion period, high risk of bias and imprecise information, it will take quite a long time to obtain high quality clinical evidence for the treatment of COVID-19 infection

Evaluation and comparison of knowledge, attitude and practice about iron deficiency anemia amongst medical students of rural and urban background

Background: Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) is most prevalent anemia worldwide. Women have additional iron requirement from puberty to menopause. This arises from physiological needs of menstruation, pregnancy and lactation. Iron is required for oxygen transport, cellular oxidation, phagocytosis and immune functions. The magnitude of anemia as health problem is huge and can be tackled with increasing awareness, promotion of correct attitudes and practices.Methods: Cross sectional study consisting of 50 medical students of age group 18-22 years divided in two groups coming from rural (Group I) and urban background (Group II). A structured questionnaire of 26 questions, out of which 18 questions based on knowledge. 4 on attitude and 4 on practice. Response was assessed using Percentage analysis and Chi square test.Results: All students defined anemia as Hb <11 g/dl, RBC <4.5 million/cu.mm with pallor. 80% students having knowledge that anemia is more common in rural area. Most common sources of information were books and teachers (76% in Group I and 56% in Group II). The practice of eating green vegetables and taking tea after meals was more in Group I.Conclusions: The results of our study showed that though Group II had better knowledge regarding IDA  Group I followed more favourable practices. Our study, though small in size gives a glimpse of the greater picture. The attitude and practice of students and society in general needs to be improved with intensive media campaigns. Greater awareness about causes, prevention and treatment will go a long way in combating IDA.

Self medicated Combiflam induced acute dermatological drug reaction

A 30 year old female  took a single tablet of Combiflam (ibuprofen 400mg + paracetamol 325mg) for backache following which she noticed maculopapular rashes with generalized facial and lip swelling with generalized itching. Subsequently patient was treated with antihistaminic and steroids and she responded well. The causality assessment according to Naranjo casualty assessment scale come under “Probable” category of adverse drug reaction. According to World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Centre causality assessment scale it falls under “Probable/Likely” category. According to Hartweig and Siegel severity assessment scale it was level 3 and moderate adverse drug reaction.  This is a rare adverse effect of combiflam with the incidence less than 0.1%. The awareness of the health care personnel to this widely used drug on its rare adverse effect is necessary

Why Isn’t Digital Infrastructure Being Updated?: The Case of IPv6

While the transition from Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) to version 6 (IPv6) promises significant advantages and is critical given the exhaustion of IP addresses, surprisingly few studies have examined the reasons for its poor organizational adoption. Moreover, most existing studies have focused on the technical issues surrounding IPv6 adoption. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the determinants of and barriers to IPv6 adoption by organizations. More broadly, the study will identify the processes by which components of digital infrastructure, such as IPv6, are assimilated. Drawing upon institutional and process theories, an IPv6 technology adoption model is developed. A positivist case study research approach was used to provide a richer understanding of digital infrastructure adoption and assimilation. We are currently in the midst of our data collection and have collected data from four organizations on their IPv6 adoption experiences. These organizations are in the tertiary education industry in New Zealand, and are at different stages of their IPv6 adoption process. We present the preliminary findings and discuss their fit with our initial model

Knowledge and attitude towards antimicrobial self medication usage: a cross sectional study among medical and nursing students

Background: Antimicrobial drug resistance is a fast mounting universal crisis. Many factors like self medication, inappropriate use and unregulated sale of medicines and self medication have been attributed to this problem. The objective was to determine extend and causes of antimicrobial self medication and to compare the knowledge attitude of senior and junior medical/nursing students. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on randomly selected 410 students from Baba Farid University of Health Sciences Faridkot, Punjab. A total sample of 220 medical students were enrolled from GGS Medical College, Faridkot (1st year students 50 and 170 above 1st year senior medical students ) and 190 nursing students were enrolled from University College of Nursing, Faridkot. Results: prevalence of antimicrobial self medication came out to be around 74%. The most common cause for seeking antimicrobial (self therapy) was upper respiratory tract infection. A statistical significant knowledge/attitude gap was found between senior and fresher medical/nursing students. Conclusions: High prevalence of antimicrobial self medication among medical/nursing students is a matter of concern and it should be discouraged at appropriate level to safeguard students from preventable adversary exposure.

Studies of alternaria black spot disease of pomegranate caused by Alternaria alternata in Punjab

Alternaria black spot of pomegranate caused by Alternaria alternata pose significant economic losses in India as it reduce the crop yield. Farm survey was undertaken at Punjab Agricultural University, Pomegranate Research Block, Fruit Research Station, Jallowal- Lesriwal Jalandhar during 2015. Among all the five cultivars highest disease incidence (70%) and severity (30%) was registered in cultivar Bhagwa. Twenty two isolates of A. alternata were recovered from infected fruits and clustered using UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages) on the basis of disease score produced in five cultivars (Ganesh, Ruby, Bhagwa, Jyoti and Mridula). It was revealed that five isolates namely AL14, AL15, AL20, AL21 and AL22 were highly virulent on almost all the pomegranate cultivars. Two cultivars viz. Bhagwa and Mridula were found to be most susceptible as 45.45 % isolates were found to be highly virulent on them.Thein vitro antifungal effects of the six fungicides on mycelial growth were investigated. Based on the inhibition of mycelial growth, all the fungicides showed most toxic reaction with 50% effective concentrations (EC50) of &lt; 1 ppm. However, they varied in EC90 values. 10 ppm cocentration of Tilt (azole group) showed 90% effective concentration (EC90). Folicur also showed approximately same results as Tilt while EC90 value of Natio and SAAF was &lt;25 ppm and &gt; 20 ppm. However, two fungicides namely Dithane Z-78 and Bavistin showed less toxicity against Alternaria alternata as compared to other with EC90 value at concentrations &lt;50 ppm and &gt; 25 ppm. Azole group fungicides (Tilt and Folicur) were found most effective to inhibit the pathogen growth

Alternative control of littleseed canary grass using eucalypt oil

Globally, huge amounts of synthetic herbicides are used to manage weeds in arable lands. However, their widespread use has resulted in various toxicological effects on the environment and human health, besides resulting in the emergence of herbicide-resistant weed biotypes. To overcome these problems, there is an urgent need to search for novel compounds, particularly natural plant products, with potential herbicidal activity. In this area, we studied the phytotoxic effect of volatile oil from lemon-scented eucalypt on littleseed canary grass, a noxious weed of wheat fields. Our findings show that under laboratory conditions the emergence and earlier growth of the weed decreased and completely ceased using a very low concentration of eucalypt oil (0.0714%, v/v). Treatment with eucalypt oil of the 4-week-old pot-raised weeds caused visible damage such as chlorosis and necrosis, wilting and even plant death. The effect was concentration-dependent. At low concentrations, 2.5 and 5%, v/v of eucalypt oil, plants were damaged but recovered later, whereas at concentrations higher than 5%, v/v, of eucalypt oil plants showed severe injury with little or no sign of recovery, and death. There was a severe effect on the photosynthetic and respiratory ability of treated plants 7 and 21 days after treatment. Eucalypt oil treatment caused a rapid electrolyte leakage in the P. minor leaf tissues, indicating a loss of membrane integrity. The study concludes that lemon-scented eucalypt oil offers a good option for control of littleseed canary grass and could be included as a viable component of integrated weed management under sustainable agricultural practices