The metaphysics of self in Praśastapāda's differential naturalism

In A Compendium of the Characteristics of Categories (Padārthadharmasaṃgraha) the classical Vaiśeṣika philosopher Praśastapāda (6th c. CE) presents an innovative metaphysics of the self. This article examines the defining metaphysical and axiological features of this conception of self and the dualist categorial schema in which it is located. It shows how this idea of the self, as a reflexive and ethical being, grounds a multinaturalist view of natural order and offers a conception of agency that claims to account for all the reflexive features of human mental and bodily life. Finally, it discusses the ends of self’s reflexivity and of human life as a return to the true self. It argues that at the heart of Praśastapāda’s metaphysics of self is the idea that ethics is metaphysics, and that epistemic practice is ethical practice

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: a case report

Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES) is a clinic radiological entity, characterized by variable associations of seizure activity, consciousness impairment, headache, visual abnormalities, nausea and vomiting and focal neurological signs. The global incidence of PRES is not known. It can develop in association with conditions like exposure to toxic agents, hypertension, infection and eclampsia was present in 7%. So, here I am presenting a case of our patient of 22 years primigravida, who presented with ante partum eclampsia at 28 weeks of gestation and delivered vaginally by induction of labor. Post-delivery she developed PRES which was diagnosed by MRI

A case report on caesarean myomectomy

Routine myomectomy at the time of caesarean section has been condemned in the past due to fear of uncontrolled haemorrhage and peripartum hysterectomy. It is still a topic of debate worldwide. However, in recent years, many case studies of caesarean myomectomy have been published validating its safety without any significant complications like excessive blood loss. We describe the case of a 23-year-old nulliparous women at 38 weeks of pregnancy with history of previous abortion. Her ultrasound was suggestive of singleton live intrauterine pregnancy with multiple intramurals and subserosal uterine fibroids seen in fundus, body region, posterior and anterior myometrium with largest fibroid of size 9×6.1 cm. The patient was taken up for elective caesarean section along with caesarean myomectomy. Live baby was delivered and successful myomectomy was done. Prophylactically oxytocin drip was given and intra myometrial carboprost was given to avoid blood loss. Patient was discharged on post-operative day 12 without any complications. Routine myomectomy at the time of caesarean section is not a standard procedure. However, it may be considered a safe option in carefully selected cases in the hands of an experienced obstetrician

Macroeconomic risk and firms financing decision: An empirical panel data investigation using system GMM

This paper investigates the effect of macroeconomic risk on the capital structure decisions of the non-financial Indian firms over a period of 2002-2014, using a panel robust two-step system-GMM estimator as given in Blundell and Bond (1998) to address the problem of endogeneity. Macroeconomic risk (conditional volatility) is estimated by fitting EGARCH (1, 1) model to India’s real exchange rate, and inflation rate. The results indicate that foreign exchange risk and inflation risk have the sizable and statistically significant negative impact on firms’ leverage decision. Profitability of firms has negative relation with the leverage decision hence proving pecking order theory in Indian markets. Further, firms are divided into two groups based on their sensitivities to foreign exchange and inflation. It is found that there is significant difference in leverage ratio of the firms that are affected by foreign exchange or inflation risk and those which are not affected by foreign exchange or inflation risk. The firms sensitive to foreign exchange and inflation risk have a lower percentage of total assets financed by debt. This study will be useful to managers in designing their financing strategy and derivative usage strategy

Investigating impact of volatility persistence, market asymmetry and information inflow on volatility of stock indices using bivariate GJR-GARCH

Joint dynamics of market index returns, volume traded and volatility of stock market returns can unveil different dimensions of market microstructure. It can be useful for precise volatility estimation and understanding liquidity of the financial market. In this study, the joint dynamics is investigated with the help of bivariate GJR-GARCH methodology given by Bollerslev (1990), as this method helps in jointly estimating volatility equation of return and volume in one step estimation procedure and it also eliminates the regressor problem (Pagan ,1984).Three indices of different market capitalization have been considered where, S&P BSE Sensex represent large capitalization firms, BSE mid-cap represents mid-capitalization firms and BSE small-cap index represents small capitalization firms. The study finds that there exist negative conditional correlation between volume traded and return of large cap index. There is unidirectional relation between index returns and volume traded since change in volume can be explained by lags of index returns. The relation between volume traded and volatility is found to be positive in case of large-cap index but it is negative in the case of mid-cap and small-cap indices. It is observed that there exist bidirectional causality between volatility and volume traded in all the three indices considered. Volatility is affected by pronounced persistence in volatility, mean-reversion of returns and asymmetry in market. The rate of information arrival measured by IDV(Intra-day volatility) is found to be a significant source of the conditional heteroskedasticity in Indian markets since the presence of volume (proxy for information flow) in volatility equation, as an independent variable, marginally reduces the volatility persistence, whereas presence of IDV, as a proxy for information flow, completely vanishes the GARCH effect. Finally, it is observed that volume traded spills over from large cap to mid-cap index, from large-cap to small-cap index and from mid-cap to small-cap index, in response to new information arrival

Sensitivity of Value at Risk estimation to NonNormality of returns and Market capitalization

This paper investigates sensitivity of the VaR models when return series of stocks and stock indices are not normally distributed. It also studies the effect of market capitalization of stocks and stock indices on their Value at risk and Conditional VaR estimation. Three different market capitalized indices S&P BSE Sensex, BSE Mid cap and BSE Small cap indices have been considered for the recession and post-recession periods. It is observed that VaR violations are increasing with decreasing market capitalization in both the periods considered. The same effect is also observed on other different market capitalized stock portfolios. Further, we study the relationship of liquidity represented by volume traded of stocks and the market risk calculated by VaR of the firms. It confirms that the decrease in liquidity increases the value at risk of the firms

Sensitivity of Value at Risk estimation to NonNormality of returns and Market capitalization

This paper investigates sensitivity of the VaR models when return series of stocks and stock indices are not normally distributed. It also studies the effect of market capitalization of stocks and stock indices on their Value at risk and Conditional VaR estimation. Three different market capitalized indices S&P BSE Sensex, BSE Mid cap and BSE Small cap indices have been considered for the recession and post-recession periods. It is observed that VaR violations are increasing with decreasing market capitalization in both the periods considered. The same effect is also observed on other different market capitalized stock portfolios. Further, we study the relationship of liquidity represented by volume traded of stocks and the market risk calculated by VaR of the firms. It confirms that the decrease in liquidity increases the value at risk of the firms

Macroeconomic risk and firms financing decision: An empirical panel data investigation using system GMM

This paper investigates the effect of macroeconomic risk on the capital structure decisions of the non-financial Indian firms over a period of 2002-2014, using a panel robust two-step system-GMM estimator as given in Blundell and Bond (1998) to address the problem of endogeneity. Macroeconomic risk (conditional volatility) is estimated by fitting EGARCH (1, 1) model to India’s real exchange rate, and inflation rate. The results indicate that foreign exchange risk and inflation risk have the sizable and statistically significant negative impact on firms’ leverage decision. Profitability of firms has negative relation with the leverage decision hence proving pecking order theory in Indian markets. Further, firms are divided into two groups based on their sensitivities to foreign exchange and inflation. It is found that there is significant difference in leverage ratio of the firms that are affected by foreign exchange or inflation risk and those which are not affected by foreign exchange or inflation risk. The firms sensitive to foreign exchange and inflation risk have a lower percentage of total assets financed by debt. This study will be useful to managers in designing their financing strategy and derivative usage strategy

Investigating impact of volatility persistence, market asymmetry and information inflow on volatility of stock indices using bivariate GJR-GARCH

Joint dynamics of market index returns, volume traded and volatility of stock market returns can unveil different dimensions of market microstructure. It can be useful for precise volatility estimation and understanding liquidity of the financial market. In this study, the joint dynamics is investigated with the help of bivariate GJR-GARCH methodology given by Bollerslev (1990), as this method helps in jointly estimating volatility equation of return and volume in one step estimation procedure and it also eliminates the regressor problem (Pagan ,1984).Three indices of different market capitalization have been considered where, S&P BSE Sensex represent large capitalization firms, BSE mid-cap represents mid-capitalization firms and BSE small-cap index represents small capitalization firms. The study finds that there exist negative conditional correlation between volume traded and return of large cap index. There is unidirectional relation between index returns and volume traded since change in volume can be explained by lags of index returns. The relation between volume traded and volatility is found to be positive in case of large-cap index but it is negative in the case of mid-cap and small-cap indices. It is observed that there exist bidirectional causality between volatility and volume traded in all the three indices considered. Volatility is affected by pronounced persistence in volatility, mean-reversion of returns and asymmetry in market. The rate of information arrival measured by IDV(Intra-day volatility) is found to be a significant source of the conditional heteroskedasticity in Indian markets since the presence of volume (proxy for information flow) in volatility equation, as an independent variable, marginally reduces the volatility persistence, whereas presence of IDV, as a proxy for information flow, completely vanishes the GARCH effect. Finally, it is observed that volume traded spills over from large cap to mid-cap index, from large-cap to small-cap index and from mid-cap to small-cap index, in response to new information arrival