A Comparative analysis on the Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on consumer purchase intentions of Fashion brands in India and Spain

Treballs Finals del Màster de Recerca en Empresa, Facultat d'Economia i Empresa, Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2020-2021, Tutor: Rubén Huertas–GarcíaIn 20th century, there has been a change in customer’s attitude towards lifestyle. Consumers give a lot of importance to brands. This is because consumers have become more selective and are much more aware about the products, thanks to the noise created by certain advertisement medium such as radio, newspaper, magazines, hoardings and websites. To attain a competitive edge, marketers use celebrity endorsement as an effective marketing strategy in order to fit their products in consumer’s mind. The central aim of this research article is to understand certain parameters of celebrity endorsement that affect the consumer’s purchase intension in the fashion industry. In order to compare the influence of cultural differences, the study focuses on two countries: India and Spain. The Indian sample consists of 249 respondents, while Spanish sample consists of 237 respondents. An online questionnaire was circulated containing two sections. The response was collected and processed with a statistical tool called STATA 16.1 using simultaneous equation (OLS). The results show a clear cultural influence on these two countries with respect to celebrity endorsement in fashion industry. The contributions of this research will help marketers to frame appropriate theory using celebrity endorsements, which will be fruitful for the brand on long-term basis

Bending moment and efficient fatigue assessment in a Subsea Shuttle Tanker under the effect of waves

The subsea shuttle tanker (SST) is the next-generation autonomous submarine designed to transport liquid CO2 from land/offshore facilities to the smaller fields for injection. Unlike normal shuttle tankers, which are highly weather dependent, the SST can carry out freight operations in all weather conditions because it travels underwater between 40 m and 70 m water depth. The first part of the thesis proposes a fast, efficient and reliable multi-body approach to determine the bending moment response of the SST hull at 40 m and 70 m water depth. The chosen approach is based on the discrete-module-beam bending-based hydroelasticity principle. The flexible hull of the vessel is divided into several multi-body rigid modules. All the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic forces are applied to the center of gravity of each rigid module. The parametric models, like the state-space model system, are used to compute the free-surface memory effect more effectively. The multi-body equation of motion is solved to determines the bending moment response of an interconnected multi-body rigid module. The numerical model is prepared using Matlab Simulink to study the dynamics of the vessel. A convergence study is conducted to select the optimal number of bodies needed to perform this study. The result shows that the lower number of bodies (i.e., three and five bodies) does not have enough points to capture all the wave encounter frequencies, thus underestimating the bending moment. Therefore, seven-body SST is used to carry out a further assessment. The bending moment standard deviation is reduced by approximately 50 % when SST travels at 70 m water depth instead of 40 m. The second part of the thesis presents the fatigue assessment of the SST hull, considering the stiffeners' local details. Two FE models (2D axisymmetric and 3D shell element models) representing the local detail of the flooded-mid body of the SST are prepared to determine the stress concentration factor (SCF). The resultant SCF can be given using the superposition concept by taking the product of the SCF for the individual models. The Rainflow counting method and Palmgren-Miner rule are used to calculate the accumulated fatigue damage and fatigue life. The numerical results show that the impact of long waves has contributed to the most damage to the vessel. The minimum fatigue life at the flooded-mid section is 13 and 19 years for the 40 m and 70 m water depths, respectively. The results also shows that fatigue life due to the change in hydrostatic pressure during dive-in and dive-out is five years

Identification of chalcone derivatives as putative non-steroidal aromatase inhibitors potentially useful against breast cancer by molecular docking and ADME prediction

Aromatase is an influential target to overcome estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, as the enzyme is responsible for conversion of androstenedione to estrone, a promising drug target for therapeutic management of breast cancer. Chalcones are prominent biosynthetic compounds and parent candidate for the synthesis of heterocycles with diversified biological activities. The prime objective of the present study is to evaluate the binding interaction of 2-hydroxyphenyl- prop-2-en-1-one (1A-1X), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl- prop-2-en-1-one (3A-3X), 2,4-dihydroxyphenyl- prop-2-en-1-one (9A-9X) and 1-hydroxynaphthalen-2-yl-prop-2-en-1-one (5A-5X) derivatives with aromatase enzyme by molecular docking study and also check their ADME properties by maestro suit. The designed chalcones derivatives have been docked against our target protein with PDB id 3S7S retrieved from the protein data bank, whereas exemestane has been taken as the positive control. As docking data revealed that docking score of 1K, 1U, 1B 3K 3N, 5K, 5U, 9S, 9K, 9N and 9F compounds found less than exemestane and all of these compounds with appropriate ADME properties have proven their excellent absorption as well as solubility characteristics. The present findings provided valuable information about binding interactions of chalcones derivatives to the active site of aromatase. These compounds may serve as potential lead compound for developing new aromatase inhibitors in breast cancer treatment

Identification of chalcone derivatives as putative non-steroidal aromatase inhibitors potentially useful against breast cancer by molecular docking and ADME prediction

283-293Aromatase is an influential target to overcome estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, as the enzyme is responsible for conversion of androstenedione to estrone, a promising drug target for therapeutic management of breast cancer. Chalcones are prominent biosynthetic compounds and parent candidate for the synthesis of heterocycles with diversified biological activities. The prime objective of the present study is to evaluate the binding interaction of 2-hydroxyphenyl- prop-2-en-1-one (1A-1X), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl- prop-2-en-1-one (3A-3X), 2,4-dihydroxyphenyl- prop-2-en-1-one (9A-9X) and 1-hydroxynaphthalen-2-yl-prop-2-en-1-one (5A-5X) derivatives with aromatase enzyme by molecular docking study and also check their ADME properties by maestro suit. The designed chalcones derivatives have been docked against our target protein with PDB id 3S7S retrieved from the protein data bank, whereas exemestane has been taken as the positive control. As docking data revealed that docking score of 1K, 1U, 1B 3K 3N, 5K, 5U, 9S, 9K, 9N and 9F compounds found less than exemestane and all of these compounds with appropriate ADME properties have proven their excellent absorption as well as solubility characteristics. The present findings provided valuable information about binding interactions of chalcones derivatives to the active site of aromatase. These compounds may serve as potential lead compound for developing new aromatase inhibitors in breast cancer treatment

OPENCV BASED VIRTUAL TOUCH SCREEN FOR ROBOTIC NAVIGATION

Touch-screens have emerged as a very popular technology. The major advantage of virtual touch screens is its low cost as compared to its counterparts and their up gradation also involves minimal changes to hardware. In areas where there is no necessity of slim touch-screens, image processing touch screens are of a great asset. This paper presents very new and innovative method of robotic Navigation. In this paper we attempt to address the various problems, by focusing on achieving a high level of Accuracy at low costs, utilizing GUI techniques, all the while keeping the process simple and fast. By using web camera at PC side we have controlled robot and the communication range is also increased as the very new technology i.e. Zigbee have been introduced here

Obesity in pregnancy: maternal and perinatal outcome

Background: The objective of this study was to find out the spectrum of complications during pregnancy due to maternal obesity with incidence and to assess the neonatal outcome.Methods: Retrospective study of antenatal patients was done in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (SVPIMSR), Ahmedabad from June 2019 to December 2019. Antenatal patients were categorized into 3 classes based on body mass index (BMI): class I=30-34.9 kg/m2, class II=35-39.9 kg/m2, and class III ≥40 kg/m2. The maternal and perinatal outcome of the patients was evaluated in relation to BMI.Results: A total of 61 women were included in the study, with 44 belonging to class I, 15 women to class II and 2 women to class III. In class I, 27% women had pre-eclampsia and its incidence increased with class II (69.2%) and class III (100%). The incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increases with increase in BMI (class I=5.4%, class II=7.6% and class III=50%). Incidence of fetal growth restriction (FGR) (7.6% and 2.7%) and post term pregnancy (38% and 16.2%) more in class II compared to class I respectively. Lower segment caesarean section (LSCS) rates are seen to be highest in class III (100%) as compared to class II (53%) and class I (50%). Class III (50%) women were more likely to have macrosomic babies than class II (40%) and class I (34.1%).Conclusions: Interventions directed towards weight loss and prevention of excessive weight gain must begin in the preconceptional period. Obese mothers must be counselled regarding risk and complications of obesity and importance of weight loss

Oseltamivir induced sinus bradycardia: an area of potential concern

Oseltamivir was approved for the prevention and treatment of influenza in 1999 by the USFDA (US Food and Drug Administration). The use of Oseltamivir is increasing rapidly all over the world, especially after the 2009 “Swine Flu” pandemic. Less data is published as far as the cardiovascular side effects of Oseltamivir are concerned, but it could be associated with some serious cardiovascular side effects. This study presented a case series of 5 cases suspected to be suffering from seasonal influenza H1N1 (“Swine Flu”), who developed sinus bradycardia while they were on Oseltamivir therapy

Automating Team Formation Using Machine Learning

Collaborative teams are the primary vehicle for coordinating experts with diverse skills for a particular project in academia, manufacturing, freelancing, and the healthcare sector. Forming a successful team whose members can effectively collaborate and deliver the outcomes within the specified constraints, such as planned budget and timeline, is challenging due to the immense number of candidates with various backgrounds, skills, and personality traits, as well as unknown synergistic balance among them; not all teams with best experts are necessarily successful. Historically, teams have been formed by relying on experience and instinct, resulting in suboptimal team composition due to the incomprehensive knowledge of candidates and hidden cognitive biases, among others. To automate forming optimum teams, current methods perform an exhaustive search over subgraphs of expert collaboration networks. They are not, however, scalable for large networks. In our research group, we propose machine learning models that learn relationships among experts and their social attributes through neural architectures. We aimed at bringing efficiency while maintaining efficacy by employing inherently iterative and online learning procedures in neural architectures. We also aimed at utilizing unsuccessful teams to convey complementary negative signals to neural models. Based on the closed-world assumption, we assume no currently known team of experts for the required skills is to be unsuccessful. Our experiments on two large-scale benchmark datasets, computer science research publications (DBLP) and movies (IMDB), show that neural models that take unsuccessful teams into account are faster and more accurate in forming collaborative teams

A rare case of salt wasting type of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia with Turner Syndrome

Combination of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) with Turner Syndrome (TS) is rare. We report a 20-days old new born, born from second degree consanguineous marriage presented with refusal of feeds, vomiting and loose stools. On examination, ambiguous genitalia with presence of a 2.6 cm phallus, incomplete labial fusion, gonads not palpable and hyperpigmentation were noted. Laboratory findings revealed a classical type of CAH caused by 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Karyotyping showed a 45 X0[4] / 46 XX[16] pattern concluding mosaic TS. She was given hydrocortisone at a dose of 5 mg/m2/day, fludrocortisone acetate in dose of 0.1mg/day, along with oral salt of 1 gm/day. At 8 months follow-up, the patient appeared to be in good health; her height was 69.3 cm [> 50th percentile] and her weight was 8.3 kg (> 50th percentile). System examinations turned out to be normal. The patient’s electrolyte levels were normal and she was in good metabolic control. The findings of this particular patient show that routine karyotyping during investigation of patients with disorders of sexual differentiation (DSD) can help us to reveal TS. Additionally, signs of virilism have to be investigated at the time of diagnosis or during physical examinations for proper follow-up of TS cases