Estimating the Intertemporal Risk-Return Tradeoff Using the Implied Cost of Capital

We reexamine the time-series relation between the conditional mean and variance of stock market returns. To proxy for the conditional mean return, we use the implied cost of capital, computed using analyst forecasts. The usefulness of this proxy is shown in simulations. In empirical analysis, we construct the time series of the implied cost of capital for the G-7 countries. We find strong support for a positive intertemporal mean-variance relation at both the country level and the world market level. Some of our evidence is consistent with international integration of the G-7 financial markets.

Correlation of MCQ subtypes with grading of performance among undergraduate students in a preclinical discipline

Background: Multiple choice questions (MCQs) remain an important tool for objective assessment in medical students wherein different types of MCQs reflect students’ performance towards various aspects of cognitive domain. Thus, all students may not perform with similar ability across all different types of MCQs. In this context, the current study aim to investigate whether performance of medical students in MCQ based assessment relates to the performance in different subtypes of MCQs in Physiology.Methods: Marks obtained in 65 MCQ during formative assessment by 145 first year MBBS students were segregated into four different types of standard MCQs attempted (i.e. Single Response-SRQ, Multiple Response-MRQ, Reason-Assertion-RAQ and Problem based-PBQ) while students were grouped into High, Medium and Low achievers (HA, MA and LA respectively) in relation to their total score.Results: Result showed highest scores in SRQ (69.00±11.6%, 57.34±11.12% and 40.11±13.03%) and PBQ (71.04±11.68%, 59.38±15.36% and 42.35±15.72%) but lowest in MRQ (49.16±11.58%, 41.39±12.42% and 30.78±14.10%) and RAQ (48.82±12.48%, 44.17±14.25% and 31.80±13.05%) for HA, MA and LA respectively with significant differences among all groups. However, total MCQ marks were significantly correlated with MRQ and PBQ for HA; with SRQ and MRQ for MA; and SRQ, MRQ and PBQ for LA.Conclusions: MRQ might have significant influence on the outcome of MCQ based assessment in differentiating between high and medium achievers, whereas both MRQ and PBQ shows potential to differentiate between high and low achieving students. This may be utilized for effective screening in summative assessments or progress of learning in formative assessment

Association of mid sleep time and social jetlag with psychosocial behaviour of Indian population during COVID-19 lockdown

Background: India, being the third worst affected country from COVID-19 pandemic at the time of study, faced complete lockdown to minimize community transmission that confined people to social isolation for extended durations. Design and Methods: Therefore, we conducted an online questionnaire-based survey for the Indian population after 37 days of complete lockdown to assess the integrative effects of such home restriction and social isolation on mid-sleep time, social jetlag, and their associated psychosocial behaviour. From the reports of sleep onset and waking-up times before and during lockdown as obtained from a total of 1511 respondents of ≥18 years, mid-sleep time (MST) and social jetlag (SJL) were calculated. Participants also rated their psychosocial behaviour related variables on a Likert scale.  Results: Significantly delayed MST was noted during the lockdown. The majority showed reduced social jetlag; however, younger people and female subjects exhibited more SJL with delay in MST. Also, delayed MST and elevated SJL problems were more clearly demonstrated in people exhibiting more disturbances in sleep quality and daily routine, lower general mood status, irregular feeding habits (snacking frequency), worsened personal relationship, quality of life, and increased daydreaming events.Conclusion: The study emphasizes the importance of maintaining a regular daily routine with respect to sleep-wake patterns and eating habits to minimize the impact of such a crisis situation on sleep behaviour, social jetlag, and associated psychosocial wellbeing

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on sleep-wake schedule and associated lifestyle related behavior: A national survey

Background: Lockdowns to prevent the community transmission of COVID-19 pandemic has confined the people at home and imposed social restrictions, which is expected to cause alterations in circadian driven sleep-wake schedule and its associated lifestyle behaviors. Design and Methods: An online questionnaire-based survey was conducted to assess the impact of lockdown on the sleep-wake pattern, meal timings and digital media exposure time on the Indian population during lockdown. Responses of 1511 participants (age ≥18 years) were analyzed to assess the effect of gender and age on these parameters before and during lockdown.Results: The sleep onset-wakeup times and meals’ time was significantly delayed during lockdown, which was more pronounced in younger subjects. However, young individuals reported increased sleep duration at this time. Increased digital media duration was evident in all age groups, mainly in males. However, females reported more delay in sleep onset-waking time and first meal timing with longer sleep duration during lockdown.Conclusions: Discord with social and natural cues due to complete lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic leads to a state of social jetlag with delayed sleep-wake, meal timings and excessive digital media exposure among Indians, which has differential impact on males and females as well as across different age groups. These findings have applied implications in sleep health and related behavior during longer social isolation conditions such as current COVID-19 or similar situations and may help to prepare better for any such future events

Comparison of Leg Strength Gripstrength and Back Strength among the Wrestlers Weightlifters and Jodokas of College Students

The purpose of the study was to compare the leg strength, grip strength and back strength among the Wrestlers’, Weightlifters and judokas of college students. The subjects were selected from the Wrestlers’ Weightlifters and Judokas of different degree colleges in Jharkhand for this study. Ten (10) male athletes from each group namely Wrestling, Weightlifting and Judo were selected as the subject for the study. Variables such as leg strength, grip strength and back strength were presented to compare the student athlete belonging to Wrestling, Weightlifting and Judo. To see the significant difference of leg strength, grip strength and back strength among the student athletes belonging to Wrestling, Weightlifting and Judo the analysis of variance “F-ratio” was applied at.05 level of significance. For further analysis “Post-Hoc Test” (LSD Test) was applied. There is a significant difference in leg strength among Wrestlers, Weightlifters and Judokas as calculated F (4.04) is greater than Tabulated F (3.35).The Weightlifters shown significantly different level of leg strength (192.5) in comparison to Wrestlers (165.8) and Judokas (163.5). However, the Wrestlers and Judokas had shown more or less same level of leg strength. In case of back and grip strength there was no significant differences among Wrestlers, Weightlifters and Judokas as their calculated F (1.89) and (1.73) is lower than tabulated F (3.35) respectively. However, there were small ranges of variations as Weightlifters had the greater mean value (141.5) than Wrestlers (128.3) and Judokas (132.9) and Judokas had the greater mean value (52.7) than the Wrestlers (51.1) and Weightlifters (49.3) in relation to back strength and grip strength respectively

Abiotic Stress Management in Vegetable Crops

Vegetables are highly sensitive in nature thus affected by various biotic and abiotic stress. Any adverse effect of non-living elements on living things in a particular habitat is known as abiotic stress. The production and productivity of vegetable crops got highly effected by the extreme event of climate change i.e, heat stress, water stress, drought, heavy rainfall, salinity etc. Vegetables are full of various nutrients which help in lowering the risk of various diseases such as cancer, heart disease, blood pressure, diabetes etc. Most of the vegetables contain more than 90% of water thus highly sensitive to climate change. Sudden change in climatic factors like in temperature affects all stages of plant growth, pollination, flowering and fruiting which directly reduces the yields and quality of major vegetables. Vegetable crops like beans or tomatoes may lose some of their blossoms at such high temperatures, especially in dry or windy conditions, which will lead to a poor fruit set. High temperatures may harm sweet corn pollination and result in inadequately filled ears of corn. Few fruits are produced because cucurbits (the family that includes pumpkins and squash) typically develop mostly male flowers when temperatures are high

Serous effusions in Burkitt lymphomas: a report of two paediatric cases with review of literature

The serosal cavity can be involved in many diseases, both benign and malignant. Such involvement is secondary to occurrence of disease at other sites. Lymphoma, although not a very common cause for serous effusion, is one of the most important one. The reason for serosal involvement in lymphomas has not been fully elucidated. These two cases highlight the importance of pleural and peritoneal fluid examination in the diagnosis of lymphoma. There is correlation between fluid examination and subsequent cytological and histopathological studies, with immunohistochemical confirmation. A comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of serosal involvement in lymphomas may lead to early diagnosis, better patient management and also development of newer treatment modalities for the same

MANGIFERIN PROTECTS RENAL IMPAIRMENT AGAINST BENZO(A)PYRENE INDUCED TOXICITY BY REGULATING MITOCHONDRIAL AND DNA INTEGRITY

Contaminated food and water ingestion and inhalation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon are the main sources of human exposure to benzo(a)pyrene leading to cause renal injury and provoking a nephropathic response. Mangiferin is a highly potent antioxidant present in mango and known for several medicinal properties. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the renoprotective effect of mangiferin against benzo(a)pyrene induced toxicity. Benzo(a)pyrene was administered at a dose of 120.0 mg/kg once alone or in combination with mangiferin at 10.0 and 20.0 mg/kg for seven days in Swiss albino mice. Exposure to benzo(a)pyrene decreased the activities of glutathione peroxidase and increased glutathione-S-transferase level in the kidneys of mice. Moreover, DNA alkaline unwinding assay exhibit a significant decrease in F-value for the toxic control group in comparison to the normal mice, which is a marker for alteration in DNA integrity. Benzo(a)pyrene treatment also revealed an increased number of micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes in comparison with the control group indicating chromosomal damage in erythrocytes of bone marrow. Mangiferin pretreatment significantly improved the renal mitochondrial antioxidant status and restored the renal DNA integrity, thus demonstrating the protective effect in benzo(a)pyrene-treated mice. Dietary inclusion of mangiferin could exert protective effects against renal toxicity resulting from benzo(a)pyrene exposure.Keywords: Benzo(a)pyrene, GPx, GST, Mangiferin, Micronucleus Â

Effect of Chronic Illnesses on Length of Stay and Mortality of Community Acquired Pneumonia in a Community Hospital

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of demographics, substance abuse, and chronic illnesses on length of hospitalization and mortality of pneumonia. 866 patients admitted to a community hospital with diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia were studied. Linear and logistic regression analyses were performed for the effect of chronic illnesses on length of stay and mortality. Age (p=0.064), coronary artery disease (p=0.017), congestive heart failure (p=0.011), history of neoplasm (p=0.079) and chronic kidney disease (p[less than]0.001) were associated with increased length of stay. Age (p[less than]0.001), history of stroke (p=0.013), history of neoplasm (p=0.028), and chronic kidney disease (p=0.005) were associated with higher mortality from community-acquired pneumonia. Asthma was associated with decreased length of stay (p=0.006) but no difference in mortality. Respiratory failure and congestive heart failure exacerbation were associated with longer length of stay (p[less than]0.001) but no difference in mortality. ICU admission was associated with longer hospital stay and higher mortality (p[less than]0.001). Septic shock secondary to pneumonia was associated with longer length of stay and higher mortality (p[less than]0.0001). Age (p=0.04), alcohol abuse (p=0.03), coronary artery disease (p=0.05), congestive heart failure (p=0.009) and chronic kidney disease (p=0.011) were predictors of higher level of care needed during hospital stay for community acquired pneumonia.Saurabh Dwivedi (1), Rajni Madaan (1), Saurav Pokharel (2), Bikash Bhattarai (3), Abhishek Sinha Ray (4), Meenakshi Ghosh (4) ; 1. Internal Medicine, Latrobe Hospital, Excela Health. 2. Pulmonary Disease, Frye Regional Medical Center. 3. Pulmonary Disease, Amita Health. 4. Nephrology, Good Samaritan Hospital.Includes bibliographical reference

Underwater Acoustic Sensor Network Data Optimization with Enhanced Void Avoidance and Routing Protocol

Deployment of a multi-hop underwater acoustic sensor network (UASN) in a larger region presents innovative challenges in reliable data communications and survivability of network because of the limited underwater interaction range or bandwidth and the limited energy of underwater sensor nodes. UASNs are becoming very significant in ocean exploration applications, like underwater device maintenance, ocean monitoring, ocean resource management, pollution detection, and so on. To overcome those difficulties and attains the purpose of maximizing data delivery ratio and minimizing energy consumption of underwater SNs, routing becomes necessary. In UASN, as the routing protocol will guarantee effective and reliable data communication from the source node to the destination, routing protocol model was an alluring topic for researchers. There were several routing techniques devised recently. This manuscript presents an underwater acoustic sensor network data optimization with enhanced void avoidance and routing (UASN-DAEVAR) protocol. The presented UASN-DAEVAR technique aims to present an effective data transmission process using proficient routing protocols. In the presented UASN-DAEVAR technique, a red deer algorithm (RDA) is employed in this study. In addition, the UASN-DAEVAR technique computes optimal routes in the UASN. To exhibit the effectual results of the UASN-DAEVAR technique, a wide spread experimental analysis is made. The experimental outcomes represented the enhancements of the UASN-DAEVAR model