Predicting the Effects of News Sentiments on the Stock Market

Stock market forecasting is very important in the planning of business activities. Stock price prediction has attracted many researchers in multiple disciplines including computer science, statistics, economics, finance, and operations research. Recent studies have shown that the vast amount of online information in the public domain such as Wikipedia usage pattern, news stories from the mainstream media, and social media discussions can have an observable effect on investors opinions towards financial markets. The reliability of the computational models on stock market prediction is important as it is very sensitive to the economy and can directly lead to financial loss. In this paper, we retrieved, extracted, and analyzed the effects of news sentiments on the stock market. Our main contributions include the development of a sentiment analysis dictionary for the financial sector, the development of a dictionary-based sentiment analysis model, and the evaluation of the model for gauging the effects of news sentiments on stocks for the pharmaceutical market. Using only news sentiments, we achieved a directional accuracy of 70.59% in predicting the trends in short-term stock price movement.Comment: 4 page

The Impact of Medical Students' Metacognitive Awareness Level on Their Academic Performance

Background: Metacognition influences the academic performance of medical students. The objective of our study was to determine the metacognitive awareness level of medical students in different academic groups in physiology course and develop a guideline on that basis to provide academic support.Methods: A 52-items metacognitive awareness inventory (MAI) devised by Schraw and Dennison was used to assess the metacognition level of low (85%) students in a physiology course at Trinity Medical Sciences University (TMSU).Results: Sixty-four students participated in the study. A significant positive correlation (rs=0.462) was found between the total MAI score and the final score in the physiology course. High performing students reported significantly higher score on declarative knowledge (p=0.001); procedural knowledge (p=0.048); implementation of strategies (p=0.003); correction (p=0.000) and evaluation of effectiveness (p=0.000) subscale than their low performing counterparts. Compared to average performing students, high performers were found significantly superior in terms of declarative knowledge (p=0.006), better planning (p=0.047), monitoring (p=0.008) and evaluation of effectiveness (0.004) of the learning process.Conclusions: Metacognitive awareness level has a significant impact on the academic performance of medical students in the physiology course. Low performers need to improve both declarative and procedural knowledge while average performers should augment their declarative knowledge. In terms of regulation of cognition, low performers should develop better implementation, correction, and evaluation skills while average performers should make better planning other than improving their monitoring and evaluating skills

Advanced technologies in the modern era for augmented patient health care and drug delivery

The objective of the work is to recognize the recent advancements in the modern health care and drug delivery systems. The article describes few recent developments in technology like artificial intelligence, personalized medicines, customized medicines, 3D printing, bioelectronic devices and tele pharmacy, which have the potential to augment health care and drug delivery in coming times. Personalized medication ensures precise health care as per the individual genetic makeup of the patients. The 3D printing technology enables to deliver tailor made solutions to fulfil individual patient requirements. Bioelectronic medicines and devices are new technology where the patient wears a device and its electrical signal cures certain ailments. Tele pharmacy ensures that the technological advances of telecommunications are also passed on to the patient health care sector. Moreover, it can be said that all these modern developments ensure that the quality of life improves and there comes a better control on the health care costs. Keywords: artificial intelligence, personalized medicines, customized medicines, 3D printing, bioelectronic devices and tele pharmac

Role of nutritional supplements in the management of tendinopathies: focus on combination of type 1 collagen, vitamin C and mucopolysaccharides

Tendinopathy is a common disease that is difficult to manage due to its recurrent nature. It is associated with increased healthcare costs and significantly impacts quality of life of patients. Also, according to recent studies patients with high cholesterol and diabetes are at a higher risk of developing tendinopathy. There has been rise in the incidence of tendinopathies due to increase in sport activities, life expectancy and some other factors (environment, diet and some drug therapies). Approximately 30% of visits for musculoskeletal pain in general practice are related to tendon injury. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and corticosteroids remain the mainstay of treatment. Despite the use of current therapies, there is need of a supportive therapy that can help in the healing process towards development of physiologically normal tendons. Nutraceuticals have been used as supportive therapy for management of tendinopathies. This review focuses on the management of tendinopathy with special attention on role of nutraceuticals such as type I collagen, mucopolysaccharides and vitamin C in the management of tendinopathy. Clinical data suggests that this combination (type I collagen, mucopolysaccharides and vitamin C) promotes the endogenous synthesis of collagen type I, avoiding the accumulation of collagen type III and aggrecan, thus interfering with the degeneration of tendon tissue. Based on the available clinical data, combination of type I collagen, mucopolysaccharides and vitamin C not only reduce the clinical symptoms but also improve structural evolution of different types of tendinopathies as well as plantar fascitis

Food insecurity during COVID-19 pandemic: A genuine concern for people from disadvantaged community and low-income families in Province 2 of Nepal.

Background: Food insecurity is a serious social and public health problem which is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic especially in resource-poor countries such as Nepal. However, there is a paucity of evidence at local levels. This study aims to explore food insecurity among people from the disadvantaged community and low-income families during the COVID-19 pandemic in Province-2 of Nepal. Methods: The semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted virtually among purposively selected participants (n = 41) from both urban and rural areas in eight districts of Province 2 in Nepal. All the interviews were conducted in the local language between July and August 2020. The data analysis was performed using thematic network analysis in Nvivo 12 Pro software.ResultsThe results of this study are grouped into four global themes: i) Impact of COVID-19 on food security; ii) Food insecurity and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, iii) Food relief and emergency support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and iv) Impact of COVID-19 and food insecurity on health and wellbeing. Most participants in the study expressed that families from low socioeconomic backgrounds and disadvantaged communities such as those working on daily wages and who rely on remittance had experienced increased food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants used different forms of coping strategies to meet their food requirements during the pandemic. Community members experienced favouritism, nepotism, and partiality from local politicians and authorities during the distribution of food relief. The food insecurity among low-income and disadvantaged families has affected their health and wellbeing making them increasingly vulnerable to the COVID-19 infection.ConclusionFood insecurity among low-income and disadvantaged families was found to be a serious problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study suggests that the relief support plan and policies should be focused on the implementation of immediate sustainable food security strategies to prevent hunger, malnutrition, and mental health problems among the most vulnerable groups in the community

Cultural Competency of Clinical Students in a Caribbean Medical School

We aimed to find out the clinical students’ scores on cultural competencies and its different components (awareness and sensitivity, behavior, patient-centered communication, practice orientation, and self-assessment); to check the correlation between different components of cultural competency; and to examine the influence of students’ demographic characteristics on their cultural competency. A 48-item Schwarz’s Healthcare Provider Cultural Competence Instrument (HPCCI) comprising five scales was used to measure the cultural competency of Trinity Medical Sciences University students in clinical years. The descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, and multivariable regression analysis were done using SPSS. The students obtained 81.8% in overall cultural competency, 83.3% in awareness and sensitivity towards cultural competency, 75.8% in behavior, 82.6% in patient-centered communication, 83.3% in practice orientation, and 92% in self-assessment of cultural competency. A significant positive correlation was found among different scales of HPCCI with some exceptions. Age, gender, race, school semester of study, and birth country of students and their fathers were found as independent predictors for different components of cultural competency measured. The medical students’ awareness/sensitivity toward cultural competence, concerning behavior, their patient-centered communication, and practice orientation skills need attention and have to be a driving point in the planning, developing, and implementing focused effective cross-culture curricula to better prepare the medical students for the benefit of diverse patients and communities they will serve

A non-interventional, prospective, multicentric real life Indian study to assess safety and effectiveness of un-denatured type 2 collagen in management of osteoarthritis

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common musculoskeletal condition affecting the quality of life. Undenatured collagen type II has emerged as one of the promising treatment options in treatment of OA. Despite being available in India, clinical safety and efficacy have not been evaluated. We performed a non-interventional, real-life study to determine its safety and efficacy in Indian population.Methods: A non-interventional, real-life study was performed in patients with OA of knee by 18 orthopaedicians in India. Patients enrolled were followed-up at day 30 (visit 2), day 60 (visit 3) and day 90 (visit 4). Efficacy was assessed by Western Ontario McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and Visual Analogue scale (VAS) on each visit. Safety was assessed by incidence of suspected adverse events (AEs), and abnormal laboratory parameters.Results: Among 291 enrolled patients 226 patients completed the study. Mean age of the population was 56.2±8.7 years and 53.3% of them were females. In 291 patients included in safety analysis, at least one treatment emergent adverse event (TEAE) was seen in 4.47% patients. None of the AEs were serious or resulted in termination of patient from the study. Nausea (1.37%) and headache (1.03%) were the common AEs. Treatment with undenatured collagen type II was associated with significant reduction in WOMAC score (p<0.0001) and VAS scores (p<0.0001) from baseline to day 90.Conclusions: Undenatured collagen type II is safe and efficacious in Indian patients with OA. This can be considered early in the initial management of OA