Corporate finance & investments: corporate finance issues prevailing in India at present

The subject of corporate finance has assumed tremendous significance in light of the ongoing economic uncertainty across the world. Apart from the three most important decisions of fundraising, fund deployment, and generation of returns, greater emphasis has been laid down upon creating a long-term value through Economic value addition (EVA). The role of assets in the generation of cash flows has become even more pronounced in modern-day changing dynamics. More than the external factors, India has certain homegrown structural problems which seriously needs to be addressed at this juncture; the prominent ones being ensuring a high ICOR and addressing the supply side bottlenecks in the economy. Indian companies will have to address the financial problems in the light of the current macroeconomic turmoil of high inflation and revised growth projection of 5%. This has to be done despite having a sound corporate financial framework. This paper attempts to address these problems and tries to suggest some solution to overcome the period of uncertainty

Fermentation process for alcoholic beverage production from mahua (Madhuca indica J. F. Mel.) flowers

Mahua flowers are rich in sugar (68-72%), in addition to a number of minerals and one of the most important raw materials for alcohol fermentation. The present investigation was for the development of a non-distilled alcoholic beverage from Mahua flowers. Eighteen (18) treatment combinations consisting of two temperatures (25 and 30°C), three pH (4.0, 4.5 and 5.0) and three period of fermentation (7, 14 and 21 days) were used in the fermentation conditions. The maximum yield of ethanol (9.51 %) occurred at 25°C with pH 4.5 after 14 days of  fermentation of Mahua flower juice. The fermented non-distilled alcoholic beverage contained total sugar (8.83 mg/ml), reducing sugar (0.82 mg/ml), total soluble solids (6.37°Brix) titrable acidity (0.65 %), and volatile acidity (0.086%). Methanol was not detected at any stage of fermentation. The developed fermented alcoholic beverage had characteristic flavor and aroma of Mahua flowers with about 7 to 9% alcohol.Keywords: Madhuca indica, ethanol, reducing sugar, fermentation.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(39), pp. 5771-577

Global, regional, and national under-5 mortality, adult mortality, age-specific mortality, and life expectancy, 1970–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

BACKGROUND: Detailed assessments of mortality patterns, particularly age-specific mortality, represent a crucial input that enables health systems to target interventions to specific populations. Understanding how all-cause mortality has changed with respect to development status can identify exemplars for best practice. To accomplish this, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) estimated age-specific and sex-specific all-cause mortality between 1970 and 2016 for 195 countries and territories and at the subnational level for the five countries with a population greater than 200 million in 2016. METHODS: We have evaluated how well civil registration systems captured deaths using a set of demographic methods called death distribution methods for adults and from consideration of survey and census data for children younger than 5 years. We generated an overall assessment of completeness of registration of deaths by dividing registered deaths in each location-year by our estimate of all-age deaths generated from our overall estimation process. For 163 locations, including subnational units in countries with a population greater than 200 million with complete vital registration (VR) systems, our estimates were largely driven by the observed data, with corrections for small fluctuations in numbers and estimation for recent years where there were lags in data reporting (lags were variable by location, generally between 1 year and 6 years). For other locations, we took advantage of different data sources available to measure under-5 mortality rates (U5MR) using complete birth histories, summary birth histories, and incomplete VR with adjustments; we measured adult mortality rate (the probability of death in individuals aged 15-60 years) using adjusted incomplete VR, sibling histories, and household death recall. We used the U5MR and adult mortality rate, together with crude death rate due to HIV in the GBD model life table system, to estimate age-specific and sex-specific death rates for each location-year. Using various international databases, we identified fatal discontinuities, which we defined as increases in the death rate of more than one death per million, resulting from conflict and terrorism, natural disasters, major transport or technological accidents, and a subset of epidemic infectious diseases; these were added to estimates in the relevant years. In 47 countries with an identified peak adult prevalence for HIV/AIDS of more than 0·5% and where VR systems were less than 65% complete, we informed our estimates of age-sex-specific mortality using the Estimation and Projection Package (EPP)-Spectrum model fitted to national HIV/AIDS prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance systems. We estimated stillbirths, early neonatal, late neonatal, and childhood mortality using both survey and VR data in spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression models. We estimated abridged life tables for all location-years using age-specific death rates. We grouped locations into development quintiles based on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and analysed mortality trends by quintile. Using spline regression, we estimated the expected mortality rate for each age-sex group as a function of SDI. We identified countries with higher life expectancy than expected by comparing observed life expectancy to anticipated life expectancy on the basis of development status alone. FINDINGS: Completeness in the registration of deaths increased from 28% in 1970 to a peak of 45% in 2013; completeness was lower after 2013 because of lags in reporting. Total deaths in children younger than 5 years decreased from 1970 to 2016, and slower decreases occurred at ages 5-24 years. By contrast, numbers of adult deaths increased in each 5-year age bracket above the age of 25 years. The distribution of annualised rates of change in age-specific mortality rate differed over the period 2000 to 2016 compared with earlier decades: increasing annualised rates of change were less frequent, although rising annualised rates of change still occurred in some locations, particularly for adolescent and younger adult age groups. Rates of stillbirths and under-5 mortality both decreased globally from 1970. Evidence for global convergence of death rates was mixed; although the absolute difference between age-standardised death rates narrowed between countries at the lowest and highest levels of SDI, the ratio of these death rates-a measure of relative inequality-increased slightly. There was a strong shift between 1970 and 2016 toward higher life expectancy, most noticeably at higher levels of SDI. Among countries with populations greater than 1 million in 2016, life expectancy at birth was highest for women in Japan, at 86·9 years (95% UI 86·7-87·2), and for men in Singapore, at 81·3 years (78·8-83·7) in 2016. Male life expectancy was generally lower than female life expectancy between 1970 and 2016, an

Dopad pandemie covid-19 na každodenní práci IT zaměstnanci v Praze

Účel: Poskytnout přehled o vlivu náhlé změny pracovních okolností o IT pracovnících v Praze. Metodika, design a přístup: - Více než 500 IT pracovníků z Prahy, kteří jsou v současné době pracující z domova byli vyslýcháni, aby zjistili, jak probíhá uzamčení ovlivnily jejich každodenní rutiny. S použitím dat z předchozí studie vědci porovnávají stávající pracovní podmínky (CWC) na staré pracovní podmínky (OWC). Zjištění: Více než polovina všech pracovníků se domnívá, že OWC je třeba přehodnotit; A většina dotázaných uvedla, že dávají přednost flexibilnějším pracovním rozvrhům CWC OWC. Podle velké většiny respondentů nejvíce tradiční zaměstnání funkce, jako je plat a výhody, se buď nezměnily, nebo byly vylepšeny celkově dobrým způsobem. V důsledku toho značný počet pracovníků uvedl, že ano byli schopni splnit alespoň 80 procent jejich pracovních očekávání, pokud by jim to bylo nabídnuto možnost pracovat na dálku a zároveň na místě. Pokud jde o okolnosti po COVID-19, očekávání pracovníků se mění. Důsledky výzkumu: Tato studie mohla být vylepšena, pokud by byly přístupy odlišné byly použity ke sběru dat, jako je virtuální crowdsourcing, k administraci průzkumu. v Kromě toho mohla být pro přidání a. použita rozsáhlejší fenomenologická technika kvalitativní metoda ke studiu. To by osvobodilo zjištění od účinků omezení odezvy a zaujatost způsobená předchozí profesní zkušeností. I když jsou k dispozici kvantitativní a kvalitativní údaje, je dobré zahrnout obojí. Jako poslední bod, budoucí studie by mohly těžit z větší velikosti vzorku, aby získaly lepší obrázek. Pro tvůrce politik bude tato studie poskytovat pohled na to, jak se jejich počáteční strategie týká implementaci práce na dálku lze zlepšit.Purpose: To provide insight on the effect of the sudden shift in working circumstances on IT workers in Prague. Methodology, design, and approach: - More than 500 IT workers from Prague who are presently working from home were questioned to find out how the lockdown has affected their daily routines. Using data from a previous study, the researchers compare the current working circumstances (CWC) to the old working conditions (OWC). Findings: More than half of all workers believe OWC needs to be re-evaluated; a majority of those polled said they preferred CWC's more flexible work schedules to OWC's. According to a large majority of respondents, most traditional employment features, such as pay and benefits, were either unchanged or had been improved upon in an overall good way. As a result, a significant number of workers stated that they were able to meet at least 80 percent of their job expectations if they were offered the choice of working remotely and on-site at the same time. When it comes to postCOVID-19 circumstances, workers' expectations are shifting. Research implications: This study may have been improved if different approaches were used to collect data, such as virtual crowdsourcing, to administer the survey. In addition, a more extensive phenomenological technique may have been used to add a qualitative method to the study. This would have liberated the findings from the effects of response restriction and the bias caused by prior professional experience. Even when quantitative and qualitative data are available, it's a good idea to include both. As the last point, future studies might benefit from a larger sample size to get a better picture. For policymakers, this study will provide a look at how their initial strategy for implementing remote work may be improved upon

Corporate finance & investments: corporate finance issues prevailing in India at present

The subject of corporate finance has assumed tremendous significance in light of the ongoing economic uncertainty across the world. Apart from the three most important decisions of fundraising, fund deployment, and generation of returns, greater emphasis has been laid down upon creating a long-term value through Economic value addition (EVA). The role of assets in the generation of cash flows has become even more pronounced in modern-day changing dynamics. More than the external factors, India has certain homegrown structural problems which seriously needs to be addressed at this juncture; the prominent ones being ensuring a high ICOR and addressing the supply side bottlenecks in the economy. Indian companies will have to address the financial problems in the light of the current macroeconomic turmoil of high inflation and revised growth projection of 5%. This has to be done despite having a sound corporate financial framework. This paper attempts to address these problems and tries to suggest some solution to overcome the period of uncertainty

Corporate finance & investments: corporate finance issues prevailing in India at present

The subject of corporate finance has assumed tremendous significance in light of the ongoing economic uncertainty across the world. Apart from the three most important decisions of fundraising, fund deployment, and generation of returns, greater emphasis has been laid down upon creating a long-term value through Economic value addition (EVA). The role of assets in the generation of cash flows has become even more pronounced in modern-day changing dynamics. More than the external factors, India has certain homegrown structural problems which seriously needs to be addressed at this juncture; the prominent ones being ensuring a high ICOR and addressing the supply side bottlenecks in the economy. Indian companies will have to address the financial problems in the light of the current macroeconomic turmoil of high inflation and revised growth projection of 5%. This has to be done despite having a sound corporate financial framework. This paper attempts to address these problems and tries to suggest some solution to overcome the period of uncertainty

Assessment of spatial-temporal changes in Wetlands (2013-2022): A case study of Madhubani district

Abstract: Wetlands are one of the richest ecosystems on the Earth. It is rich in many species of amphibians, small mammals, fishes, birds and aquatic plants. According to the Ramsar Convention, “Wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peatland, or water whether formed naturally or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish, or salt, including areas of marine water which at low tide does not exceed 6m.” They provide important services such as water supply, recreational opportunities, flood control and climate regulation. These are more likely to be eroded due to climate change processes. This study is to evaluate the impact of climate change on the wetlands of Madhubani district. The study area is characterized by high environmental and agricultural pressure. In this paper, two important indices NDVI and NDWI have been used to assess the current status of wetlands. Also, the Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator have been used to assess the main component of climate, namely rainfall. Using both these methods, an attempt has been made to explain the status of wetlands and the trend of average annual rainfall in this region during the last decade (2013-2022). Through this paper, it can be understood that what is the impact of climate change and human activities on wetlands. Based on the importance of wetlands and their characteristics, it is essential for their future to have a quick assessment and adopt remedial measures without any delay

A comparative analysis between Mannheim peritonitis score and acute physiological and chronic health evaluation II score in predicting prognosis of patients of perforation peritonitis

Background: The early assessment and recognition of peritonitis patient is required in surgical emergency. Various scoring system have been designed successfully to assess the prognosis and outcome of peritonitis. The present study was carried out with an aim to evaluate the usefulness and severity of Mannheim peritonitis (MPI) score in comparison to acute physiological and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) scoring system for prediction of the outcome in patients with perforation peritonitis and thus decision making in perforation peritonitis.Methods: A prospective observational study was carried out at Department of Surgery, King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow for a period of one year from July 2018 to June 2019. A total of 100 patients were enrolled in the study.Results: Majority of patients were males compared to females. Maximum number of patients (40%) was aged 51-60 years. Maximum number of patients (42%) had duodenal perforation. A significant association between higher MPI scores and mortality was seen (p<0.001). Statistically, the association between APACHE II scores and mortality was significant (p<0.001).Conclusions: APACHE II had a slightly higher sensitivity as well as specificity as compared to MPI. MPI is easy to calculate but accuracy of APACHE II is more, compared to MPI

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