Value Added: Technique for Corporate Performance Measurement Under Social Perspective

Financial Analysts consider as profit the most important measure of business performance. Profit may be expressed in terms of money value and measured as sales margin percentage or be calculated as return of investment. These, in any form, are used as basis for measure of business performance. In recent years, considerable interest have been shown in the use of value added as an alternative or additional approach to measure the operational efficiency and profitability of a business. A lot of discussion have been going on about reporting the performance of an organization in terms of value added rather than conventional profit or loss. The information disclosed by the Statement of Value Added, based on Value Added Accounting and reporting is considered to be much more useful than that disclosed by the conventional profit and loss account in providing a realistic basis for measuring the economic performance of an organization. The concept has received great attention in accounting practices with the emergence of large corporations having significant bearing on the society and finally on the economy for multi-dimensional impact over and above the owners. Value added system is a very useful measure of judging the performance of an enterprise for managerial decision-making and for inter-firm comparison

PVP2004-3094 Computational Analysis of Heat Transfer Enhancement Due to Rectangular Ribs in a Turbulent Duct Flow

ABSTRACT A computational analysis of heat transfer enhancement due to artificial roughness in the form of rectangular ribs has been carried out. A turbulence model is selected by comparing the predictions of different turbulence models with experimental results available in the literature. A detailed analysis of heat transfer variation within inter rib region is done by using the selected turbulence model. The analysis shows that peak in local heat transfer coefficient occurs at the point of reattachment of the separated flow as observed experimentally. The results predict a significant enhancement of heat transfer in comparison to that for a smooth surface. There is a good matching between the predictions by SST k-w and experimental results

Comparative study between pre- and post- operative clinical and electrophysiological parameters in determining the recovery of carpal tunnel syndrome

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a neuropathy caused by entrapment of the median nerve at the wrist. CTS is the most well-known and frequent form of median nerve entrapment and accounts for 90% of all entrapment neuropathies. CTS, in the form of median nerve entrapment, remains a perplexing and debilitating disorder. We report a comparative study between the Boston questionnaire (BQ) and median nerve conduction study parameters in patients with CTS treated by division of the flexor retinaculum through a short incision at the palm.Methods: The prospective cross-sectional, hospital-based study was conducted in department of burns, plastic and reconstructive surgery at SCB Medical College, Cuttack.Results: The average age was 44.49 years (SD=10.51; range=24-70), and the average symptom duration was 19.9 months (range=6-36). There are 36 hands in the severe group, 22 with the moderate group, and 12 with the mild category. The mean symptom severity scale score for severe group A was 40.92 (SD=5.84) and for moderate group B was 31.67 (SD=5.72), and for the mild group, C was 26.0 and SD=3.82). We found significant correlation between symptomatic recovery and Boston severity scales.Conclusions: Clinical correlation of pre- and post-op symptoms is the only full proof way to predict recovery after surgery in CTS‑affected, patients

Modulation of Host miRNAs Transcriptome in Lung and Spleen of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus Infected Sheep and Goats

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is one of the highly contagious viral disease, characterized by fever, sore mouth, conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis, and pneumonia, primarily affecting sheep and goats. Reports suggested variable host response in goats and sheep and this host response vis-a-vis the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has not been investigated. Here, miRNAs were sequenced and proteomics data were generated to identify the role of differentially expressed miRNA (DEmiRNA) in PPR virus (PPRV) infected lung and spleen tissues of sheep and goats. In lungs, 67 and 37 DEmiRNAs have been identified in goats and sheep, respectively. Similarly, in spleen, 50 and 56 DEmiRNAs were identified in goats and sheep, respectively. A total of 20 and 11 miRNAs were found to be common differentially expressed in both the species in PPRV infected spleen and lung, respectively. Six DEmiRNAs—miR-21-3p, miR-1246, miR-27a-5p, miR-760-3p, miR-320a, and miR-363 were selected based on their role in viral infections, apoptosis, and fold change. The target prediction analysis of these six selected DEmiRNAs from the proteome data generated, revealed involvement of more number of genes in lung and spleen of goats than in sheep. On gene ontology analysis of host target genes these DEmiRNAs were found to regulate several immune response signaling pathways. It was observed that the pathways viz. T cell receptor signaling, Rap1 signaling, Toll-like receptor signaling, and B cell receptor signaling governed by DEmiRNAs were more perturbed in goats than in sheep. The data suggests that PPRV-induced miR-21-3p, miR-320a, and miR-363 might act cooperatively to enhance viral pathogenesis in the lung and spleen of sheep by downregulating several immune response genes. The study gives an important insight into the molecular pathogenesis of PPR by identifying that the PPRV—Izatnagar/94 isolate elicits a strong host response in goats than in sheep

N- and C-Terminal Domains of the Calcium Binding Protein EhCaBP1 of the Parasite Entamoeba histolytica Display Distinct Functions

Entamoeba histolytica, a protozoan parasite, is the causative agent of amoebiasis, and calcium signaling is thought to be involved in amoebic pathogenesis. EhCaBP1, a Ca2+ binding protein of E. histolytica, is essential for parasite growth. High resolution crystal structure of EhCaBP1 suggested an unusual arrangement of the EF-hand domains in the N-terminal part of the structure, while C-terminal part of the protein was not traced. The structure revealed a trimer with amino terminal domains of the three molecules interacting in a head-to-tail manner forming an assembled domain at the interface with EF1 and EF2 motifs of different molecules coming close to each other. In order to understand the specific roles of the two domains of EhCaBP1, the molecule was divided into two halves, and each half was separately expressed. The domains were characterized with respect to their structure, as well as specific functional features, such as ability to activate kinase and bind actin. The domains were also expressed in E. histolytica cells along with green fluorescent protein. The results suggest that the N-terminal domain retains some of the properties, such as localization in phagocytic cups and activation of kinase. Crystal structure of EhCaBP1 with Phenylalanine revealed that the assembled domains, which are similar to Calmodulin N-terminal domain, bind to Phenylalanine revealing the binding mode to the target proteins. The C-terminal domain did not show any of the activities tested. However, over-expression in amebic cells led to a dominant negative phenotype. The results suggest that the two domains of EhCaBP1 are functionally and structurally different from each other. Both the domains are required for structural stability and full range of functional diversity

Terrestrial biosphere models need better representation of vegetation phenology: results from the North American Carbon Program Site Synthesis

Phenology, by controlling the seasonal activity of vegetation on the land surface, plays a fundamental role in regulating photosynthesis and other ecosystem processes, as well as competitive interactions and feedbacks to the climate system. We conducted an analysis to evaluate the representation of phenology, and the associated seasonality of ecosystem-scale CO2 exchange, in 14 models participating in the North American Carbon Program Site Synthesis. Model predictions were evaluated using long-term measurements (emphasizing the period 2000-2006) from 10 forested sites within the AmeriFlux and Fluxnet-Canada networks. In deciduous forests, almost all models consistently predicted that the growing season started earlier, and ended later, than was actually observed; biases of 2 weeks or more were typical. For these sites, most models were also unable to explain more than a small fraction of the observed interannual variability in phenological transition dates. Finally, for deciduous forests, misrepresentation of the seasonal cycle resulted in over-prediction of gross ecosystem photosynthesis by +160 ± 145 g C m-2 y-1 during the spring transition period, and +75 ± 130 g C m-2 y-1 during the autumn transition period (13% and 8% annual productivity, respectively) compensating for the tendency of most models to under-predict the magnitude of peak summertime photosynthetic rates. Models did a better job of predicting the seasonality of CO2 exchange for evergreen forests. These results highlight the need for improved understanding of the environmental controls on vegetation phenology, and incorporation of this knowledge into better phenological models. Existing models are unlikely to predict future responses of phenology to climate change accurately, and therefore will misrepresent the seasonality and interannual variability of key biosphere-atmosphere feedbacks and interactions in coupled global climate models.Engineering and Applied SciencesOrganismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Bs0−Bˉs0B_s^0-\bar B_s^0 mixing in a family non-universal Z′Z^{\prime} model revisited

Motivated by the very recent measurements performed at the LHCb and the Tevatron of the $B_s^0-\bar B_s^0$ mixing, in this paper we revisit it in a family non-universal $Z^{\prime}$ model, to check if a simultaneous explanation for all the mixing observables, especially for the like-sign dimuon charge asymmetry observed by the D0 collaboration, could be made in such a specific model. In the first scenario where the $Z^\prime$ boson contributes only to the off-diagonal element $M_{12}^s$, it is found that, once the combined constraints from $\Delta M_s$, $\phi_s$ and $\Delta \Gamma_s$ are imposed, the model could not explain the measured flavour-specific CP asymmetry $a_{fs}^s$, at least within its $1\sigma$ ranges. In the second scenario where the NP contributes also to the absorptive part $\Gamma_{12}^s$ via tree-level $Z^\prime$-induced $b\to c\bar{c}s$ operators, we find that, with the constraints from $\Delta M_s$, $\phi_s$ and the indirect CP asymmetry in $\bar{B}_d\to J/\psi K_S$ taken into account, the present measured $1\sigma$ experimental ranges for $a_{fs}^s$ could not be reproduced too. Thus, such a specific $Z^\prime$ model with our specific assumptions could not simultaneously reconcile all the present data on $B_s^0-\bar B_s^0$ mixing. Future improved measurements from the LHCb and the proposed superB experiments, especially of the flavour-specific CP asymmetries, are expected to shed light on the issue.Comment: 30 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, pdflatex; accepted by JHE

Existence of sign-changing solutions to a Hamiltonian elliptic system in RN

In this paper, we consider the Hamiltonian elliptic system −ΔU+U=|V|p−1V,−ΔV+V=|U|q−1Uin RN, where N≥4 and the non-linearities p,q are superlinear and lies below the critical hyperbola. We shall prove the existence of nonradial sign-changing solutions. We shall work with the space of ϕ-equivariant functions where ϕ:Γ→{1,−1} and Γ⊂O(N), a closed subgroup of O(N). Depending on the size of the fixed point set Fix(Γ), we shall establish our result in two different ways. © 2022 Elsevier Inc

Long-term global evapotranspiration from remote sensing

Deriving overland evapotranspiration (ET) estimates is an important part of the larger effort to develop long-term Earth System Data Records (ESDRs) for the major components (storages and fluxes) of the terrestrial water cycle. In the current study, global estimates of sensible heat and evaporative fluxes are developed for 1984-2006 using three process-based models forced by two remote sensing based data sets. The models are surface energy balance system (SEBS), a modified Penman-Monteith approach, and a Priestley-Taylor approach. The models are driven by radiation inputs from the ISCCP and SRB data sets, with the meteorological forcing data from ISCCP, and vegetation characteristics from AVHRR. Estimates are made using the three models. Comparisons among the data sets show large differences in magnitude and long-term variability, due mainly to uncertainties in the forcing radiation. Comparisons with independent data sets from inferred evaporation estimates [(P-Q)climatology], off-line land surface model (VIC) data, previously developed remote sensing products and estimates derived from tower data, reveals consistency at large scales, but large differences in some regions, most notably in the northern hemisphere

Evaluation of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) for assessment of large-scale meteorological drought

This study analyzes the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) precipitation products for assessment of meteorological drought. Two versions of the TMPA research datasets (3B42V6 and 3B42V7) and one real-time dataset (3B42RTV7) are considered. The TMPA datasets are evaluated against a merged precipitation product which is estimated by merging four non-TMPA global satellite-gauge based datasets (non-TMPA merged). Comparisons are made over global land areas between 50° S and 50° N at monthly and 0.25° spatial resolution from 2000 to 2009 (ten years). All the TMPA precipitation datasets show similar spatial patterns; however quantitatively they disagree considerably, especially over tropical regions. 3B42V7 and 3B42RTV7 show the lowest and highest differences with the non-TMPA merged product, respectively. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at various time scales (1. month to 12. months) is calculated for each dataset for detecting drought events, with drought defined as when monthly SPI. &lt;. -. 1.0 and severe drought when monthly SPI. &lt;. -. 1.5. The SPI results complement the spatial patterns found in the precipitation statistics. The non-TMPA merged and the 3B42V7 precipitation datasets simultaneously identify months under drought more frequently than any other pair (i.e., non-TMPA merged - 3B42V6 and non-TMPA merged - 3B42RTV7) of precipitation datasets. We consider four severe drought events: (a) 2007 southeastern US drought, (b) 2003 western European heat wave and drought, (c) 2005 Amazon drought and (d) 2006 Kenyan drought as case studies. All precipitation products are able to identify the drought events in time and space except a few cases. The spatial correlation of drought area is the highest (&gt;. 0.8) for the 2007 southeastern US drought and the lowest (&lt;. 0.62) for the 2006 Kenyan drought. For severe drought (SPI. &lt;. -. 1.5), all three TMPA products and the non-TMPA merged product show more than 50% area under severe drought for the four drought events with few exceptions.Our results show that major differences among datasets are found over many sparse gauge density regions which suggests that the skill of the datasets primarily depends on the differential performance of the respective processing algorithms in different geographic and climatic regions, density of the underlying rain-gauge station networks and the quality of the input data used from non-gauge data sources. Even though the 3B42V7 product performs the best, the 3B42V6 product also performs reasonably well during our study period and domain. The 3B42RTV7 real-time data perform the worst and are not comparable with the two TMPA research products, due to lack of corrections from gauge observations. Therefore, caution should be applied when using this product for real-time monitoring of the drought conditions. Our evaluation of the TMPA research products indicates that they can provide useful information for drought monitoring and as input to hydrological modeling applications for assessment of land surface conditions.</p