Working capital management of trading houses in India

Capital formation is of crucial importance in the process of economic development. Experience of development in other countries suggests that a high rate of capital formation was achieved to trigger rapid economic growth. The Indian planning commission puts this idea correctly when it states: "The level of production and the material well-being a community can attain depends, in the main, on the stock of capital and its disposal, i.e., on the amount of land per capital and of productive equipment in the shape of machinery, buildings, tools and implements factories, locomotives, engines, irrigation facilities, power installations and communications. The large stock of capital, the greater trend to be the productivity of labour and therefore, the volume of commodities and services that can be turned out with same effort." The investment in the working capital is decisive to any financial manager as it is important as the investment in the fixed capital. The management of current assets is similar to that of fixed assets in a sense that in both cases the firm analyses their effects on its return and risk. Working capital management focuses on firm's investment in current assets and current liabilities. Excessive investment in current assets impairs firm's profitability, as idle investment earns nothing while inadequate amount of working capital can threaten the solvency of the firm, if it fails to meet its current obligations

Impact of Selected Banking System on Small Scale Industries with Special Reference to Gujarat

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Modeling the impact of battery degradation within lifecycle cost based design optimization of heavy-duty hybrid electric vehicles

The optimal design of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) powertrains from a systems perspective is critical to realize the maximum benefits for a given application. This is particularly true in the heavy-duty vehicle space where the major challenges are: (i) greater emphasis on economic viability, (ii) reluctance to take on risk associated with new technologies, and (iii) numerous diverse applications that preclude a one-size-fits-all approach to hybrid-electric powertrain design. Past studies on HEV powertrain design have either ignored battery degradation, or failed to holistically capture its impact from a lifecycle cost perspective. The focus of this effort is the development of a model-based framework that enables parametric optimization of the design and control of hybrid electric vehicles while accounting for the degradation of the lithium-ion battery and its impact on the total cost-of-ownership of the vehicle. Two different implementations of such a framework are described. The first implementation explores a very high-fidelity approach to enable engineering design optimization across a small parameter space. It captures the impact of battery degradation on fuel consumption and battery replacements over the vehicle life by incorporating a high-fidelity electrochemical battery model capable of predicting degradation, and degraded performance, into the powertrain simulation. An electric motor and battery size optimization problem is studied for a parallel HEV transit bus application. Results show that different optimal component sizes are obtained when different optimization objectives, such as net present value, payback period, internal rate of return, or simply the day 1 fuel consumption, are considered. Accounting for the battery degradation in the powertrain simulations shows fuel consumption increasing by up to 10% from day 1 to end-of-life of the battery. These results highlight the utility of the proposed implementation in enabling better design decisions as compared to methods that do not capture the evolution of vehicle performance and fuel consumption as the battery degrades. However, the high-fidelity electrochemical battery degradation model and the interval-by-interval simulation approach used in this implementation are computationally too expensive for a large-scale design study. In contrast, the second implementation uses a simpler empirical battery model to enable a large-scale study over a 10-parameter design space, over multiple architectures and vehicle applications. This implementation is designed to aid heavy-duty vehicle and powertrain component manufacturers in identifying market opportunities and planning future products. The design space explored in this work includes three powertrain component sizing parameters, four control strategy parameters and three vehicle uncertainty parameters. Multiple drive cycles were simulated across the Class 5-7 medium-duty truck and Class 7-8 transit bus applications for both parallel and series plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) powertrain architectures with charge depleting and charge sustaining modes of operation. These simulation results were then evaluated for real-world economic viability under different economic assumptions corresponding to the 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030 time frames. Sensitivity of the economic viability of solutions was also studied with respect to the vehicle uncertainty parameters, economic assumptions and vehicle utilization assumptions. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.

Chirality Dependence of the KK-Momentum Dark Excitons in Carbon Nanotubes

Using a collection of twelve semiconducting carbon nanotube samples, each highly enriched in a single chirality, we study the chirality dependence of the $K$-momentum dark singlet exciton using phonon sideband optical spectroscopy. Measurements of bright absorptive and emissive sidebands of this finite momentum exciton identify its energy as 20 - 38 meV above the bright singlet exciton, a separation that exhibits systematic dependencies on tube diameter, $2n+m$ family, and semiconducting type. We present calculations that explain how chiral angle dependence in this energy separation relates to the Coulomb exchange interaction, and elaborate the dominance of the $K_{A_1'}$ phonon sidebands over the zone-center phonon sidebands over a wide range of chiralities. The Kataura plot arising from these data is qualitatively well described by theory, but the energy separation between the sidebands shows a larger chiral dependence than predicted. This latter observation may indicate a larger dispersion for the associated phonon near the $K$ point than expected from finite distance force modeling.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures, 1 table; slight title change, Figures 1 and 11 added, reference added, presentation improved throughout documen

Communication interventions to promote the public's awareness of antibiotics: a systematic review.

BackgroundInappropriate antibiotic use is implicated in antibiotic resistance and resultant morbidity and mortality. Overuse is particularly prevalent for outpatient respiratory infections, and perceived patient expectations likely contribute. Thus, various educational programs have been implemented to educate the public.MethodsWe systematically identified public-directed interventions to promote antibiotic awareness in the United States. PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, CINAHL, and Scopus were queried for articles published from January 1996 through January 2016. Two investigators independently assessed titles and abstracts of retrieved articles for subsequent full-text review. References of selected articles and three review articles were likewise screened for inclusion. Identified educational interventions were coded for target audience, content, distribution site, communication method, and major outcomes.ResultsOur search yielded 1,106 articles; 34 met inclusion criteria. Due to overlap in interventions studied, 29 distinct educational interventions were identified. Messages were primarily delivered in outpatient clinics (N = 24, 83%) and community sites (N = 12, 41%). The majority included clinician education. Antibiotic prescription rates were assessed for 22 interventions (76%). Patient knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs (KAB) were assessed for 10 interventions (34%). Similar rates of success between antibiotic prescription rates and patient KAB were reported (73 and 70%, respectively). Patient interventions that did not include clinician education were successful to increase KAB but were not shown to decrease antibiotic prescribing. Three interventions targeted reductions in Streptococcus pneumoniae resistance; none were successful.ConclusionsMessaging programs varied in their designs, and many were multifaceted in their approach. These interventions can change patient perspectives regarding antibiotic use, though it is unclear if clinician education is also necessary to reduce antibiotic prescribing. Further investigations are needed to determine the relative influence of interventions focusing on patients and physicians and to determine whether these changes can influence rates of antibiotic resistance long-term

Renoprotection with SGLT2 inhibitors in type 2 diabetes over a spectrum of cardiovascular and renal risk

Approximately half of all patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) develop a certain degree of renal impairment. In many of them, chronic kidney disease (CKD) progresses over time, eventually leading to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) requiring dialysis and conveying a substantially increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Even with widespread use of renin–angiotensin system blockers and tight glycemic control, a substantial residual risk of nephropathy progression remains. Recent cardiovascular outcomes trials investigating sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have suggested that these therapies have renoprotective effects distinct from their glucose-lowering action, including the potential to reduce the rates of ESKD and acute kidney injury. Although patients in most cardiovascular outcomes trials had higher prevalence of existing cardiovascular disease compared with those normally seen in clinical practice, the proportion of patients with renal impairment was similar to that observed in a real-world context. Patient cardiovascular risk profiles did not relevantly impact the renoprotective benefits observed in these studies. Benefits were observed in patients across a spectrum of renal risk, but were evident also in those without renal damage, suggesting a role for SGLT2 inhibition in the prevention of CKD in people with T2D. In addition, recent studies such as CREDENCE and DAPA-CKD offer a greater insight into the renoprotective effects of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with moderate-to-severe CKD. This review outlines the evidence that SGLT2 inhibitors may prevent the development of CKD and prevent and delay the worsening of CKD in people with T2D at different levels of renal risk

Cardiovascular protection with sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors in type 2 diabetes: Does it apply to all patients?

Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiovascular risk in these patients should be considered as a continuum, and comprehensive treatment strategies should aim to target multiple disease risk factors. Large-scale clinical trials of sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have shown an impact on cardiovascular outcomes, including heart failure hospitalization and cardiovascular death, which appears to be independent of their glucose-lowering efficacy. Reductions in major cardiovascular events appear to be greatest in patients with established CVD, particularly those with prior myocardial infarction, but are independent of heart failure or renal risk. Most large-scale trials of SGLT2 inhibitors predominantly include patients with T2D with pre-existing CVD and high cardiovascular risk at baseline, limiting their applicability to patients typically observed in clinical practice. Real-world evidence from observational studies suggests that there might also be beneficial effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on heart failure hospitalization and all-cause mortality in various cohorts of lower risk patients. The most common adverse events reported in clinical and observational studies are genital infections; however, the overall risk of these events appears to be low and easily managed. Similar safety profiles have been reported for elderly and younger patients. There is still some debate regarding the safety of canagliflozin in patients at high risk of fracture and amputation. Outstanding questions include specific patterns of cardiovascular protection according to baseline risk

An isolated pisiform fracture: a case report

With overall prevalence between 2% to 3%, carpal bone fractures are not encountered frequently in clinical practice. Amongst these, pisiform fractures have very low incidence of <0.2%, in which, more than half are associated with other carpal injuries, and sometimes ulnar styloid and ligamentous injuries. Thus, diagnosis of isolated pisiform fracture requires a very high index of suspicion. Hereby, authors report an isolated pisiform fracture in a 27 year old dentist who sustained an injury due to fall on outstretched hand. After radiographic confirmation in multiple views and CT scan, isolated-minimally displaced pisiform fracture was found. A below-elbow cast with slight palmar flexion was given for 4 weeks. He returned to normal pre-injury activities at 12 weeks

Customised Alloy Blends for In-Situ Al339 Alloy Formation Using Anchorless Selective Laser Melting

The additive manufacturing process Selective Laser Melting (SLM) can generate large thermal gradients during the processing of metallic powder; this can in turn lead to increased residual stress formation within a component. Metal anchors or support structures are required to be built during the process and forcibly hold SLM components to a substrate plate and minimise geometric distortion/warpage due to the process induced thermal residual stress. The requirement for support structures can limit the geometric freedom of the SLM process and increase post-processing operations. A novel method known as Anchorless Selective Laser Melting (ASLM) maintains processed material within a stress relieved state throughout the duration of a build. As a result, metal components formed using ASLM do not develop signification residual stresses within the process, thus, the conventional support structures or anchors used are not required to prevent geometric distortion. ASLM locally melts two or more compositionally distinct powdered materials that alloy under the action of the laser, forming into various combinations of hypo/hyper eutectic alloys with a new reduced solidification temperature. This new alloy is maintained in a semi-solid or stress reduced state for a prolonged period during the build with the assistance of elevated powder bed pre-heating. In this paper, custom blends of alloys are designed, manufactured and processed using ASLM. The purpose of this work is to create an Al339 alloy from compositionally distinct powder blends. The in-situ alloying of this material and ASLM processing conditions allowed components to be built in a stress-relieved state, enabling the manufacture of overhanging and unsupported features