A Study to Analyze the Impact of Privatization on LIC of India

The Indian insurance sector has come a full circle, from being an open competitive market to complete nationalization and then back to a liberalized market since independence. The setting up of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) ended the monopoly of LIC in the insurance sector. It has become imperative for LIC to face the competition post by the entry of new private players. If under this pressure, Life Insurance Corporation of India improves its performance, the whole economy will be benefitted. The LIC- A public sector giant, which never faced competition earlier, now has to complete with the private players, who boast of the rich and long experience of their partners from the developed countries of the world. The Study will highlight, the changes in the insurance environment of India by showing whether, the life insurance industry has been benefitted by government reforms and the impact of privatization on the business, market share and performance of LIC. Keywords: Insurance, Privatization, nationalization, monopoly

An existence result for pp-Laplace equation with gradient nonlinearity in RN\mathbb{R}^N

We prove the existence of a weak solution to the problem \begin{equation*} \begin{split} -\Delta_{p}u+V(x)|u|^{p-2}u & =f(u,|\nabla u|^{p-2}\nabla u), \ \ \ \\ u(x) & >0\ \ \forall x\in\mathbb{R}^{N}, \end{split} \end{equation*} where $\Delta_{p}u=\hbox{div}(|\nabla u|^{p-2}\nabla u)$ is the $p$-Laplace operator, $1<p<N$ and the nonlinearity $f:\mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{R}^{N}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ is continuous and it depends on gradient of the solution. We use an iterative technique based on the Mountain pass theorem to prove our existence result.Comment: 10 pages, 0 figure

Induction of labor in women with unfavourable cervix: comparison of efficacy of intracervical Foley catheter with PGE2 gel

Background: The aim of our study was to compare the efficacy, safety and patient’s satisfaction of intracervical Foley catheter with intracervical dinoprostone gel (PGE2 gel) for cervical ripening for successful induction of labor.Methods: Prospective study was conducted in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, M P Shah Medical College, Jamnagar, Gujarat. 317 women with term pregnancy with bishop score of less than 4 with various indications for induction were included. Intracervical foley catheter was kept in 162 women for cervical ripening (group A) while intracervical PGE2 gel was kept in rest 155 women (group B).  The change in the bishop score, progress of labor, adverse effects and outcome of labor along with the patient’s satisfaction were assessed.Results: With regard to the obstetrical parameters, the two groups were comparable with respect to maternal age, gestational age, parity, indication for induction and initial bishop score. At 12 hours, both the groups showed significant improvement in bishop score, 5.2±1.81 and 4.8±1.76 in Foley catheter and PGE2 gel respectively. Mean induction to delivery interval was 18.8±5.5 in group A and 17.9±5.3 in group B, which was statistically insignificant.  No significant differences in side effects, mode of delivery and APGAR score were noted in both the groups. However, the incidence of hyperstimulation and tachysystole was higher in PGE2 gel group.Conclusions: This study shows that both Foley catheter and dinoprostone gel appear to be equally effective agents for cervical ripening. Infect foley catheter is cheap, causes less fetal distress and is safer than PGE2 gel

Vaginal birth after cesarean

Background: A heightened awareness must be present among the clinicians while taking the decision to perform the first cesarean section, as it decides the future obstetric career of the women. Because of the rise in cesarean section rate in recent decades, the question of how to manage the subsequent deliveries becomes important. Vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) has long been proposed as an alternative measure to reduce repeat cesarean rate. Our present study aims to assess the predictive factors of successful VBAC and study the risks and benefits involved.Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted to assess the success of VBAC and its outcome in GMERS Medical College and Hospital, Ahmedabad. A total of 100 pregnant women with history of previous one cesarean section who fulfilled the criteria for vaginal delivery were recruited for study and the outcome was analyzed.Results: The success rate of VBAC was 58% while failed TOLAC which ended up in emergency repeat cesarean section was 42%. Vaginal delivery either before or after the history of previous cesarean section, neonatal birth weight between 2.5-3kg, and admission during active phase of  labour were associated with successful VBAC. There were 2 cases of partial scar rupture diagnosed peroperatively. The commonest indication of repeat cesarean section was non progress of labour (45.2%) followed by fetal distress (16.7%). The neonatal morbidity rate was similar in both groups due to limited prolonged unsuccessful trial in our study. There was no maternal and neonatal mortality.Conclusions: To reduce the escalating rate of total cesarean section worldwide, VBAC is an alternative option which should be encouraged in carefully selected patients. However, it should be carried out in a well equipped institute with close fetal monitoring and availability of blood and trained personnel. Thus “once a cesarean section, always a hospital delivery” and not, “once a cesarean section, always a cesarean section”

Male Genitoplasty for Intersex Disorders

Aim. To evaluate surgical procedures adopted for male genitoplasty in intersex disorders. Patients and Methods. Case records of intersex patients undergoing male genitoplasty from Pediatric Intersex clinic were studied. Results. Of 356 intersex cases undergoing urethroplasty from 1989–2007, the hypospadias was penoscrotal (68%), scrotal (17%) and perineal (15%). 351 patients underwent chordee correction for mild: moderate: severe chordee in 24 : 136 : 191 cases. Byars flaps were fixed upto the corona in 267 cases. Urethroplasty performed was Theirsch duplay in 335 cases, Snodgrass in 16 cases and Ducketts onlay graft in 5 cases that did not require chordee correction. Age at urethroplasty was 2.5 years—22 years (mean 11.5 years, median—5.6 years). Penoscrotal transposition correction and testicular prosthesis insertion were performed independently. Complications included fistula (45), recurrent fistula (11), stricture (12), baggy urethra (8) and recurrent infection due to persistent vaginal pouch (5). Additional distal urethroplasty was required in 15 patients for previous urethroplasty done upto the corona 5–15 years earlier. Conclusion. Hypospadias in intersex disorders is associated with severe chordee in most cases and requires an early chordee correction to allow phallic growth, staged urethroplasty and multiple surgeries to achieve good cosmetic and functional results

Influence of Bi Concentration on Major Physical Parameters of Ge14BixSe76-xTe10 Based Chalcogenide Glasses

The investigation of some useful properties of chalcogenide glasses with respect to composition has been increased in recent years for characterization and improvement of the properties of chalcogenide glasses and the materials exhibiting particularly the switching phenomenon ever since reversible switching phenomenon in certain types of chalcogenide glasses was first reported. In the present article, the influence of varying the bismuth content on the physical parameters has been studied theoretically for Ge14 Bix Se76-x Te10 (x = 1.5, 4.5, 7.5, 10.5, 13.5, 16.5, 19.5, 22.5 at. %) based chalcogenide glasses. The variation in glass transition temperature has been studied using two approaches, namely the Tichy – Ticha approach and Lankhorst approaches. The smooth variation of almost all parameters, studied here, indicates the suitability of this combination for phase change optical recording and finds valuable applications in rewritable optical recording

Mifepristone and misoprostol versus misoprostol alone in management of late intrauterine fetal death

Background: The objective was to assess the efficacy and safety of pretreatment with Mifepristone in induction of late intrauterine fetal death in combination with misoprostol.Methods: A prospective study was carried out in GMERS Medical College, Sola, Ahmedabad between October 2014 to April 2016. Data from 72 women with intrauterine fetal death between the gestational age of 24 to 42 weeks were analyzed. Group A women received single oral dose of 200 mg Mifepristone followed 36 to 48 hours later with Misoprostol (200-50 microgram) every 4 hour to a maximum of 5 doses. The first dose was kept vaginally in the posterior fornix and the rest were given orally. The dose of Misoprostol depended upon the gestational age and the parity. Group B women received only Misoprostol. If the first cycle failed, then after a break of 24 hour, a second course of Misoprostol was started. Outcomes were measured in terms of induction to delivery interval and number of Misoprostol doses needed. Results: Maternal age, parity, gestational age and pre-induction bishop score were comparable in both the groups. Induction to delivery interval was shorter in the combination regimen. Total dose of Misoprostol needed was also less in the Group pretreated with Mifepristone. In group A 93.3% women delivered within 24 hours of first dose of misoprostol while in group B it was 80.5%. More women in group B required oxytocin. Regarding the complications during labor and delivery the two groups did not have major differences. Conclusions: Both regimens are safe for the induction of labour in late IUFD. However, the induction delivery interval and the dose of misoprostol needed was decreased by the pretreatment with Mifepristone

Sipuleucel-T for therapy of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic, castrate-refractory prostate cancer: an update and perspective among other treatments

Sipuleucel-T is an autologous cell immunotherapy for castrate-refractory prostate cancer, with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic prostate cancer. In this review we address the background of prostate cancer incidence and other available therapy onto which sipuleucel-T treatment has been added, with discussion of hormone-therapy, chemotherapy, and other investigational immunotherapies. The sipuleucel-T manufacturing process, toxicity and clinical benefit are reviewed, along with an examination of the issue of clinical benefit to survival, independent of apparent changes of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. Sipuleucel-T therapy is appraised from clinician, patient and immunotherapeutic perspectives, with reference to the clinical data from the pivotal trial, the mechanism of action, and the treatment process

Leveraging Explainable AI to Analyze Researchers' Aspect-Based Sentiment about ChatGPT

The groundbreaking invention of ChatGPT has triggered enormous discussion among users across all fields and domains. Among celebration around its various advantages, questions have been raised with regards to its correctness and ethics of its use. Efforts are already underway towards capturing user sentiments around it. But it begs the question as to how the research community is analyzing ChatGPT with regards to various aspects of its usage. It is this sentiment of the researchers that we analyze in our work. Since Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis has usually only been applied on a few datasets, it gives limited success and that too only on short text data. We propose a methodology that uses Explainable AI to facilitate such analysis on research data. Our technique presents valuable insights into extending the state of the art of Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis on newer datasets, where such analysis is not hampered by the length of the text data

REACTIVE POWER CONTROL USING FC-TCR

This paper will discuss and demonstrate how Static Var Compensator (SVC) has successfully been applied to control transmission systems dynamic performance for system disturbance and effectively regulate system voltage.SVC is basically a shunt connected static var generator whose output is adjusted to exchange capacitive or inductive current so as to maintain or control specific power variable. For this a Single Machine Infinite Bus (SMIB) system is modeled. In this paper, simple circuit model of Thyristor Controlled Reactor is modeled and simulated using MATLAB. The simulation results are presented. The current drawn by the TCR varies with the variation in the firing angle. The simulation results are compared with the theoretical results