The Merton Problem with a Drawdown Constraint on Consumption

In this paper, we work in the framework of the Merton problem but we impose a drawdown constraint on the consumption process. This means that consumption can never fall below a fixed proportion of the running maximum of past consumption. In terms of economic motivation, this constraint represents a type of habit formation where the investor is reluctant to let his standard of living fall too far from the maximum standard achieved to date. We use techniques from stochastic optimal control and duality theory to obtain our candidate value function and optimal controls, which are then verified

How the brain represents the reward value of fat in the mouth.

The palatability and pleasantness of the sensory properties of foods drive food selection and intake and may contribute to overeating and obesity. Oral fat texture can make food palatable and pleasant. To analyze its neural basis, we correlated humans’ subjective reports of the pleasantness of the texture and flavor of a high- and low-fat food with a vanilla or strawberry flavor, with neural activations measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Activity in the midorbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex was correlated with the pleasantness of oral fat texture and in nearby locations with the pleasantness of flavor. The pregenual cingulate cortex showed a supralinear response to the combination of high fat and pleasant, sweet flavor, implicating it in the convergence of fat texture and flavor to produce a representation of highly pleasant stimuli. The subjective reports of oral fattiness were correlated with activations in the midorbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum. The lateral hypothalamus and amygdala were more strongly activated by high- versus low-fat stimuli. This discovery of which brain regions track the subjective hedonic experience of fat texture will help to unravel possible differences in the neural responses in obese versus lean people to oral fat, a driver of food intake

A Study on Fournier’s Gangrene

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Fournier’s gangrene was first described by Fournier in 1764 as necrotizing fascitis involving the perineal region. It also involves areas like lower urinary tract, anus, rectum, and colon. It is a fulminating, rapidly spreading infection which cause thrombosis of blood vessels which results in gangrene of skin. It affects all age groups and has been reported in both males and females and various etiological factors have been described. It is more commonly seen in middle age groups with immunocompromise status like diabetes mellitus, malignancy, alcoholism, chronic renal disease. The objective of this study mainly includes study of age distribution and risk factors of fournier’s gangrene, as its relevant to check which age group is more prone to develop this condition. Another objective is to find the most common organisms associated with fournier’s gangrene, As it helps in the mode of treatment. This also include a study about the outcome in management of fournier’s gangrene. METHODS: 35 cases of fournier’s gangrene were analyzed. Patient’s history and clinical examination was done to arrive at a diagnosis. Age, etiology, predisposing factors, extent of involvement, Pus culture and sensitivity , lab investigations and surgical outcome were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean age in this study is 55.3yrs, Its found that major predisposing factors are diabetics mellitus and alcoholism, about 15% of the patients where having chronic kidney disease. Only in 17% of cases where there for which no causes could be found out. Pseudomonas where the causative organism for about 40% of the case and e coil was identified in almost 23% of cases, the first culture was found to be sterile In 26% of cases. All patients are treated with appropriate antibiotics and early debridement, among which 3 of them achieved spontaneous healing.15 patients that is around 51% needed delayed suturing and 14 patients needed skin grafting. Adequate resuscitation, transfusion of blood and blood products, early administration of broad spectrum antibiotics with early extensive thorough wound debridement improves the out come. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: Fournier’s gangrene is a dare emergency disorder that needs early diagnosis and treatment. So even minor infection to perineal region should be give due attentions negligence may lead to life threatening complication So in Fournier’s gangrene early resuscitation of vitals with transfusion of blood and blood products if needed, the adequate antibiotic care and early extensive thorough wound debridment will certainly improve the outcome

An accurate formula for the period of a simple pendulum oscillating beyond the small-angle regime

A simple approximation formula is derived here for the dependence of the period of a simple pendulum on amplitude that only requires a pocket calculator and furnishes an error of less than 0.25% with respect to the exact period. It is shown that this formula describes the increase of the pendulum period with amplitude better than other simple formulas found in literature. A good agreement with experimental data for a low air-resistance pendulum is also verified and it suggests, together with the current availability/precision of timers and detectors, that the proposed formula is useful for extending the pendulum experiment beyond the usual small-angle oscillations.Comment: 15 pages and 4 figures. to appear in American Journal of Physic

Generic bounds on dipolar gravitational radiation from inspiralling compact binaries

Various alternative theories of gravity predict dipolar gravitational radiation in addition to quadrupolar radiation. We show that gravitational wave (GW) observations of inspiralling compact binaries can put interesting constraints on the strengths of the dipole modes of GW polarizations. We put forward a physically motivated gravitational waveform for dipole modes, in the Fourier domain, in terms of two parameters: one which captures the relative amplitude of the dipole mode with respect to the quadrupole mode ($\alpha$) and the other a dipole term in the phase ($\beta$). We then use this two parameter representation to discuss typical bounds on their values using GW measurements. We obtain the expected bounds on the amplitude parameter $\alpha$ and the phase parameter $\beta$ for Advanced LIGO (AdvLIGO) and Einstein Telescope (ET) noise power spectral densities using Fisher information matrix. AdvLIGO and ET may at best bound $\alpha$ to an accuracy of $\sim10^{-2}$ and $\sim10^{-3}$ and $\beta$ to an accuracy of $\sim10^{-5}$ and $\sim10^{-6}$ respectively.Comment: Matches with the published versio

Quality Management in Systems Development: An Organizational System Perspective

We identify top management leadership, a sophisticated management infrastructure, process management efficacy, and stakeholder participation as important elements of a quality-oriented organizational system for software development. A model interrelating these constructs and quality performance is proposed. Data collected through a national survey of IS executives in Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies was used to test the model using a Partial Least Squares analysis methodology. Our results suggest that software quality goals are best attained when top management creates a management infrastructure that promotes improvements in process design and encourages stakeholders to evolve the design of the development processes. Our results also suggest that all elements of the organizational system need to be developed in order to attain quality goals and that piecemeal adoption of select quality management practices are unlikely to be effective. Implications of this research for IS theory and practice are discussed

Propensity Score Matching and a Difference in Difference Approach to Assess ESG’s Influence on Indian Acquirer Performance

This research involves an in-depth analysis of the intricate relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance scores and the financial and operational performance of Indian acquirers. The research methodology employed herein entails a meticulously crafted design, incorporating a blend of the Propensity Score Matching and Difference-in-Differences model. This strategic amalgamation serves to rigorously assess the impact of ESG factors on the performance outcomes of Indian acquirers involved in M&As. The empirical findings of this study reveal a robust and statistically significant correlation between M&A endeavours and ESG considerations. Notably, the research discerns that M&A activities tend to exert an adverse influence on ESG performance metrics within the Indian corporate landscape. This nuanced insight underscores the multifaceted interplay between strategic corporate actions and the broader sustainability and governance landscape, thereby offering valuable implications for scholars and practitioners in finance and corporate strategy