Impact On Small Farmers and Fishermen Through Use Of Mobiles in India

Telecommunication and more specially mobile phones have the potential to provide solution to the existing information asymmetry in various lagging sectors like Agriculture. India’s agricultural sector suffers from low growth rates and low productivity. Issues in access to information is a week point at every stage of the agrisupply chain. For small farmers base economy like India, access to information can possible enable better incomes and productivity to the farmers. This paper through focus group discussions and in-depth interview with farmers in villages of India, has tried to find answers to the use and impact of mobile and mobile enabled services on agricultural productivity. The answers to these questions are of relevance to develop better policy environment conducive for the small and medium farmers and has implications for mobile operators, for information service providers, and for policy-makers. The results show that although, mobiles can act as catalyst to improving productivity and rural incomes, the quality of the information, the timeliness of the information and trustworthiness of the information are the three important aspects that has to be delivered to the farmers, to meet there needs and expectations. There exist critical binding constraints that restricts the ability of the farming community to realise gains at full potential and this is more for the small than to large farmers.Mobile and Agriculture, India, Productivity, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Marketing, Production Economics, Q13, Q16, Q18,

A Review of Research Methodologies Linking Green Supply Chain Practices and Green Supply Chain Performance

The objective of this paper is to explore the peer-reviewed literature on green supply chain practices and green supply chain performance with the intention of characterizing the research methodologies used in these areas of research. In line with this objective, the constructs Green Supply Chain Practices and Green Supply Chain Performance were identified. As indicated by the literature already published there seems to be certain set of methodologies which have mostly been used and that too frequently. Accordingly, there is a need to do a more detailed study that can pinpoint particular research methodologies that are usually used in research related to green supply chain practices and green supply chain performance. This paper attempts to achieve the aim by using a keyword search for identifying papers related to green supply chain practices and green supply chain performance. Finally the methodologies used are summarized in order of their usage in order to characterize the research methodologies used in linking green supply chain practices and green supply chain performance. This will help newer research work to flow in the right direction without reinventing the wheel and also it will act as a ready reference for newer research work to practicing managers

Intravenous ibutilide versus intravenous amiodarone for post-operative management of atrial fibrillation following coronary artery bypass grafting: a prospective randomized controlled double blinded trial

Background: Increased incidence of post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is responsible for more post-operative complications, length of hospital stay and subsequent higher costs of hospitalization. This study was done to compare the efficacy and safety of ibutilide versus amiodarone for treatment of POAF following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).Methods: In this prospective, randomized, double blind controlled study, 60 patients posted for CABG developing POAF, divided randomly into 30 patients each in groups A and group I. Group A received IV amiodarone at 3 mg/kg over 20 minutes and group I received IV ibutilide at 0.01 mg/kg over 10 minutes (weight 60 kg). Patients underwent standard anesthetic technique and monitoring for CABG. All the demographic data, hemodynamic data were recorded in a structured manner.Results: Ibutilide showed significantly faster resolution of AF at 12.47±5.3 versus 22.9±7.68 minutes by amiodarone (p=0.000). Ibutilide was found to have significantly higher incidences of recurrence at 23.3% versus 0% by amiodarone (p=0.0048). Ibutilide showed significantly lesser hypotension 0% versus 26.67% with amiodarone (p=0.002).Conclusions: This study concluded that ibutilide was found to be better suited to treat POAF patients, who underwent CABG; due to its early and efficient resolution and reduced risk of hypotension

Management of dyslipidemia in children

Dyslipidemia is an important etiologic factor in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is a leading cause of death worldwide As CVD begins in childhood, and as dyslipidemia is an important risk factor for CVD, screening and treatment of dyslipidemia in adolescents and children becomes an important health matter. This review deals with issues related to screening, diagnosis and treatment of dyslipidemia in children and adolescents

A comparative study of phase evolution in YSZ powders, pellets and free-standing air plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings

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Dimetrodon: Processor-level Preventive Thermal Management via Idle Cycle Injection

Processor-level dynamic thermal management techniques have long targeted worst-case thermal margins. We examine the thermal-performance trade-offs in average-case, preventive thermal management by actively degrading application performance to achieve long-term thermal control. We propose Dimetrodon, the use of idle cycle injection, a flexible, per-thread technique, as a preventive thermal management mechanism and demonstrate its efficiency compared to hardware techniques in a commodity operating system on real hardware under throughput and latency-sensitive real-world workloads. Compared to hardware techniques that also lack flexibility, Dimetrodon achieves favorable trade-offs for temperature reductions up to 30% due to rapid heat dissipation during short idle intervals.Engineering and Applied Science

Cost-effectiveness of rosuvastatin in comparison with generic atorvastatin and simvastatin in a Swedish population at high risk of cardiovascular events

Background: To assess the long-term cost-effectiveness of rosuvastatin therapy compared with generic simvastatin and generic atorvastatin in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular events and mortality in a Swedish population with Framingham risk ≥20%. Methods: A probabilistic Monte Carlo simulation model based on data from JUPITER (the Justification for the Use of statins in Prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin) was used to estimate the long-term cost-effectiveness of rosuvastatin 20 mg daily versus simvastatin or atorvastatin 40 mg for the prevention of cardiovascular death and morbidity. The three-stage model included cardiovascular event prevention simulating the 4 years of JUPITER, initial prevention beyond the trial, and subsequent cardiovascular event prevention. A Swedish health care payer perspective (direct costs only) was modeled for a lifetime horizon, with 2008/2009 as the costing period. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. Results: The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained with rosuvastatin 20 mg over simvastatin or atorvastatin 40 mg ranged from SEK88,113 (rosuvastatin 20 mg versus simvastatin 40 mg; Framingham risk ≥30%; net avoidance of 34 events/1000 patients) to SEK497,542 (versus atorvastatin 40 mg: Framingham risk ≥20%; net avoidance of 11 events/1000 patients) over a lifetime horizon. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses indicated that at a willingness-to-pay threshold of SEK500,000/QALY, rosuvastatin 20 mg would be cost-effective for approximately 75%–85% of simulations relative to atorvastatin or simvastatin 40 mg. Sensitivity analyses indicated the findings to be robust. Conclusion: Rosuvastatin 20 mg is cost-effective over a lifetime horizon compared with generic simvastatin or atorvastatin 40 mg in patients at high cardiovascular risk in Sweden

3-Year Comparison of Drug-Eluting Versus Bare-Metal Stents

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to compare 3-year cumulative outcomes to landmark second- and third-year outcomes with the routine use of drug-eluting stents (DES) (>75% “off-label”) with a comparable group treated with bare-metal stents (BMS).BackgroundLong-term safety concerns after “off-label” DES use persist, despite recent 2-year data showing comparable safety to BMS use.MethodsClinical outcomes (nonfatal myocardial infarction, all-cause mortality) were assessed in 1,147 consecutive patients who received a BMS in the year before the introduction of DES at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and 1,246 consecutive patients that received a DES after it became our routine choice with equivalent complete 3-year follow-up.ResultsStents were used for “off-label” indications in 80% of DES patients. At 3 years, the hazard ratio for DES compared with BMS for cumulative target vessel revascularization was 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.51 to 0.82), nonfatal myocardial infarction or death was 0.85 (95% CI: 0.71 to 1.03), and all-cause mortality 0.80 (95% CI: 0.64 to 1.01). The DES clinical benefits occurred entirely within the first year, with similar rates of these clinical end points in the second and third year. The cumulative hazard ratio of stent thrombosis DES compared with BMS was 1.07 (95% CI: 0.57 to 2.01), with similar rates of stent thrombosis in the third year (p = 0.70).ConclusionsThe routine clinical use of DES for “off-label” indications was associated with lower clinical end points at 3 years than treatment with BMS in a comparable group of patients, with similar cumulative rates of stent thrombosis. There was no evidence of late “catch-up” of adverse DES events