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Representation of moral crisis and social order across cultures An analysis of three texts goldings lord of the flies camus s the plague and U R Ananthamurthy s samskara
The growth of human civilization has always been accompanied by unexpected turns and twists caused by individuals and communities exhibiting inexplicable behavior. For every effort of greatness, there has been an equal amount of meanness and debauchery making the humankind more and more inscrutable. Human beings have defied all definitions about themselves and still go about with a perplexing image of both noble and brutal. They create a social order to ensure a newlinecohesive existence but end up breaking it, unable to face the moral crisis caused by the extreme turn of events. This study attempts to see the staging of human recovery from such situations through the fictional narratives of three writers belonging to three cultures and the crises faced by those societies, through a study of The Plague (1947 ) by the French writer, Albert Camus (1913 -1960 ), Lord of the Flies (1954) by the English writer, William Golding (1911 1993) newlineand Samskara (1965) by the Indian writer, U. R. Ananthamurthy (1932 - newline2014). newlineNo society or culture has escaped the throes of crisis be it moral, social, political or otherwise. The crisis that may be surmountable in one culture may shake the foundation of another. Of all the crises prevalent in society, one of the major causes for concern in the eyes of the participants newlineof the New Dialogue is moral crisis . Studies undertaken across the globe have thrown up the alarming fact that this is a crisis which could jolt the social order with its amoral way of thinking. America s moral integrity has been eroded by an anything goes culture abetted by the moral permissiveness of contemporary liberalism. The concern that the waning of tradition is giving way to moral confusion and anarchy is shared the world over including China and India despite their strong traditions. The reasons could be aplenty-ranging from the outbreak of wars, outbreak of epidemics and even crumbling of societies under the burden of orthodoxy of religion and caste. -
Rayleigh bernard convection in couple stress fluid with maxwell cattaneo law
The onset of thermal instability in horizontal layers of fluid heated from below illustrates many physical and mathematical features of the general theory of hydrodynamic stability. The effect of non-Fourier heat transfer in couple stress in a Rayleigh Benard configuration is analyzed theoretically in this thesis. Broad range of applications of couple stress fluid and the need for its characterization at a relatively small scale of time and length act as a motivation for the study of buoyancy driven convection in such fluids under the influence of magnetic field and under various modulations such as temperature, gravity, rotation and magnetic field by employing Maxwell Cattaneo law. newlineLinear and non linear magneto convection in couple stress fluid with Maxwell Cattaneo law newlineThe interesting facets brought about by the interactions between convection and magnetic fields in a Rayleigh Benard configuration for free free boundaries are analyzed in this chapter. Linear and weakly non linear stability analysis are carried out to study the system. It is proved that the oscillatory mode is not the preferred mode of instability. The couple stresses in the fluid and magnetic field are found to enhance the stability of the system whereas non-Fourier effects destabilized the system. newlineEffect of temperature modulation on the onset of Rayleigh Benard convection in a couple stress fluid with Maxwell Cattaneo law newlineThe effect of externally imposed time-periodic boundary temperature on the setting in of convection is examined using linear stability analysis. The Venezian approach is applied to deduce the critical Rayleigh number and critical wave number. The stability of the system is characterized by a correction Rayleigh number and is obtained as a function of the Cattaneo number couple stress parameter Prandtl number and the frequency of modulation. The study analyzes three types of temperature modulations viz. in phase, out of phase and only lower wall modulation. -
Energy efficient routing protocols for wireless sensor networks
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have gained universal attention now a day s owing to the advancements made in the fields of information and communication technologies and the electronics field. This innovative sensing technology incorporate an immense number of sensor nodes or motes set up in newlinean area to perceive any continuously fluctuating physical phenomena. These newlinetiny sensor nodes sense and process the sensed data and transfer this information to a base station or sink via radio frequency (RF) channel. newlineThe small size of these sensors is an advantage as it can be easily embedded within any device or in any environment. This feature has attracted the use of WSNs in immense applications especially in monitoring and tracking; the most prominent being the surveillance applications. But this tiny size of sensor nodes restricts the resource capabilities. Usually the WSNs are installed in application areas where the human intervention is quite risky or difficult. The sensed information might be needed to take critical decisions in emergency applications. So maintaining the connectivity of the network is of utmost newlineimportance. The efficient use of the available resources to the maximum extend newlineis a necessity to prolong the network lifetime. If any node runs out of power, the newlineentire network connectivity collapses and intend of the deployment might become futile. Because of this reason most of the research in the area of WSNs has concentrated on energy efficiency where the design of energy efficient routing protocols plays a major role. newlineThis research work titled Energy Efficient Routing Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks proposes to develop energy efficient routing protocol strategies so as to enhance the lifetime of the WSNs. A thorough study of the existing literature serves as the back bone for attaining acquaintance concerning the pertinent scenario, the problems faced and the application of the WSNs. newlineThe use of clustering and sink mobility to enhance the energy utilisation is explored in this research. -
Interplay of illustration narration and metaphor in kolam art with reference to South Indian traditions
The goal of this research was to understand Kolam, from a three layer perspectives: illustration, narration and metaphor, which is practiced for centuries by women in Tamil Nadu, India. The elements of Kolam are dots and lines made with rice flour at the labyrinth of a house every morning. Although the art appears simple in structure when analyzed layer after layer it unfolds unfathomable encoded meanings of a living culture. Previous studies undertaken overlooked the correlation of illustration, narration and metaphor in Kolam which is argued in this study to be the heart of this art. The study used qualitative multimethod approach throughout the research process. Data was collected from multiple sources of selected rural and urban areas of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with multiple methods. The description, analysis and interpretations lead to the conclusion that a Kolam narrates deep seated legends and living experiences passed over from generation to generation through an art form. Kolam is not just an art practiced in society, but an art that binds together the life of a society. An insider lives and continues the culture through it; an outsider learns to appreciate and respect the culture by it. -
Impact of Social Network Sites on Perception of Sociability and Academic Performance of College Students in Bangalore
The Revolution in ICT has transformed the life and life style, outlook and approach, conditions and quality of life. No sphere of social life is spared from the all pervasive impact and influence of ICT, more so in case of young generation, especially in urban setting owing to their access to internet and online communication and interaction, influencing the patterns of interaction, transactions, exchange and participation. Since the transformation has been overwhelming, swift and all pervasive empirical understanding of the social realities and implications of this development for the social milieu and institutional fabric is rather imperative and indispensable in gaining insights into the intricate and complex aspects of contemporary society. newlineThe thesis probe empirically into the impact of SNS on the perception and performance of youth in pre-university education in an urban setting has contemporary, sociological and applied relevance. The manuscript provides empirical insights into institutional bonds and synergies, circuits and networks that bind the people, especially the youth of today and shape their identity as well as ideologies. newlineThe Thesis organization divided into five major sections. Chapter one introduces the concept, origin, theoretical framework and other related essence of the topic. The second chapter presents a review of literature against the concepts addressed. The third chapter focuses methods, tools and techniques adopted in the study. The fourth chapter presents analysis and presentation of primary data. The fifth chapter gives summery and conclusion to the whole study. Thus, the impact of social network sites and its effect on pre-university student, especially, social and academic activities is indeed worth the research for the future relevance. -
A study on sexual harassment of women garment workers
Sexual harassment at work place is a manifestation of deep rooted patriarchy prevailing in the larger society encouraging power based discriminatory practices and in turn creating hostile work environments where women workers are vulnerable to experience harassment and abuse. In Karnataka, majority of the garment factories are located in Bangalore and they employ around five lakh women . Economic dependence on the job for their livelihood, social perception of obeying the superiors, job insecurity and spilt over patriarchal biases into the work environment make the women garment workers more vulnerable to become victims of sexual harassment. There is a lack of empirical studies which measures the working conditions and how it is related to the concept of sexual harassment and coping behaviours of the victims in the garment factories in India. The aim of the current research study is to analyze the nature and frequency of sexual harassment experienced by the victim, organizational mechanisms to deal with sexual harassment, and consequences of sexual harassment on the victim-vocational, psychological, interpersonal and physical strain, the strategies (whether external or internal coping strategies) used by the victim to cope with sexual harassment and develop a training manual based on the findings of the study to help victims effectively deal with sexual harassment at workplace. The research study has adopted a descriptive and quantitative research design. Data has been collected from a sample of 312 victims of sexual harassment (women garment workers) who have approached two unions for support through structured interview method using structured, close ended, standardized interview schedules. -
Activity recognition using machine learning techniques for smart home assisted living
The statistical survey by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division says, quotglobally the number of persons aged 60 and above is expected to be more than double by 2050 newlineand more than triple by 2100quot. Especially in India, 9.5 percent of the population comprises of elders above 60 years. This may reach 22.2 percent in 2050 and 44.4 percent in 2100. On one side, the population of newlineelders are gradually increasing and on the other side there is a challenge to take care of the wellbeing of the elders when they are living alone. Smart home assisted living system can address these problems. Smart newlineHome Assisted living System is one among the growing research areas in smart computing. Advances in sensing, communication and ambientintelligence technologies created tremendous change in smart living newlineenvironment. The development in technology made smart home to support elders, disabled persons and the needy person. newlineActivity recognition is a growing technology in recent research and it plays a vital role in smart home assisted living system. Activity Recognition is a more dynamic, interesting, and challenging research newlinetopic in different areas like Ubiquitous Computing, Smart Home Assisted Living, Human Computer Interaction (HIC) etc. It provides solution to various real-time, human-oriented problems like elder care and health newlinecare. newlineIn order to address the issue on providing support on elder care this research proposes a machine learning based activity recognition model and an enhanced communication protocol for a smart home system, which are collaborated for designing the architecture of a smart home assisted living system. This system consists of three sub phases viz., data acquisition, monitoring system, and tracking system. -
Post trumatic growth in women with breast cancer
Cancer survivors have the potential for personal growth, demonstrating positive changes in personal, interpersonal and socio-cultural functioning.vA diagnosis of cancer, which is perceived as life-threatening and seismic, demands an individual to accommodate changes in all areas of life, often leading to positive adaptive changes known as posttraumatic growth (Tedeschi and Calhoun, 2008). The aim of the present study was to explore what constitutes the experience of posttraumatic growth among women survivors of breast cancer with the objectives of understanding how they make sense of their diagnosis, exploring the strategies through which they negotiate the illness identity, exploring positive and negative changes in newlinethem as a result of the illness experience, and investigating the individual and socio-cultural factors that contribute to the experience of posttraumatic growth in the Indian context. This study employed a newlinequalitative approach using the phenomenological paradigm. Purposive newlinesampling was used to identity thirteen women who were diagnosed with early stage breast cancer (stage one or two) during their reproductive years and had completed cancer treatment i.e. surgery, chemotherapy and newlineradiation therapy at least one year prior to participating in this study. A short form of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (2010) was used to screen for positive changes, and Kuppuswamy s scale for socioeconomic status (2015) enabled selection of women belonging to middle class population, to ensure homogeneity within the sample. Semi structured interviews were used to collect data which was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Interview guide validation, member check, inter-coder reliability and an audit trail ensured newlinevalidity of findings. One negative case in the sample displayed a positive attitude and approach, however did not report these changes due to cancer. It may be inferred that spiritual/ philosophical beliefs of the newlineparticipant shaped her worldview to accommodate and accept cancer. -
Efficient data mining techniques for medical data
Healthy decision making for the well being is a challenge in the current era with abundant information everywhere. Data mining, machine newlinelearning and computational statistics are the leading fields of study that are supporting the empowered individual to take valuable decisions to optimize the outcome of any working domain. High demand for data newlinehandling exists in healthcare, as the rate of increase in patients is proportional to the rate of population growth and life style changes. Techniques for early diagnosis and prognosis prediction of diseases are the need of the hour to provide better treatment for the human community. Data mining techniques are a boon for building a quality and newlineefficient model for health prediction applications. As cancer explodes everywhere in recent years, the data sets from cancer newlineregistries have been focused as the medical data in this research. The main aim of thesis is to build a constructive and efficient classifier model for cancer prognosis prediction. Most of the existing system develops a diagnosis prediction models from the screening or survey data, as the data newlineset is widely available and are easy to collect due the insensitive nature of newlinethe factors involved in such research. Whereas the prognosis prediction requires a sensitive details of the patients those who are under treatment for a diagnosed disease. Hospitals and the community registries newlinemaintained by the government are the main source for data collection. Well maintained electronic hospital records with histopathology information is not public in India for the researchers. Hence cancer data newlinefrom a US based open access data center has been used in this research for all experimentation. This research work is a progressive model that gradually improves the newlineprediction accuracy by selecting appropriate data mining techniques in each phase. -
Role of online visual merchandising and personality attributes on purchase intention of customers in the apparel industry
The visual merchandising sector on the online platform has considerably impacted the sales as online visual merchandising (OVM) strategies have become a relatively new concept. The tremendous growth of electronic retailing has led to the adoption of new visual merchandising concepts which are digital. A web space which is visible and aesthetically not appealing distracts the customers across all the generations, which makes them switch to other websites. Online retailing is a competitive and dynamic area, which is created based on the artificial brick and motor concept. This artificial brick and motor concept has to be created on an online shopping platform in terms of attracting the end consumers. Moreover, to do this there needs to be a trigger, or in other words a stimulus which causes an action which leads to a response (reaction). Based on the past theories by psychologists the stimulus and response is not the only factor that serves as a basis for decision making, there is a third essential and integral dimension, organism. Organism simply means a system consisting of interdependent parts which are interlinked. Therefore, personality attributes considered the organism is said to be vital in attracting prospective customers. Current research aims at analysing such prospects on an equal sample size of 400 newlineeach from generation X, Y, Z who have engaged in the online purchase of apparel. Responses newlinewere obtained equally from male and female respondents based on a web survey. Structural newlineequation modelling (SEM) was used for analyses of data. The study proposes a research framework of Stimulus-Organism-Response(SOR) model. Results of the study suggest different personality characteristics of generations considered as organisms mediate the relationship between online visual merchandising cues and play a vital role in purchase intention. Therefore, it is imperative to distinguish between ages and generations to cater to the needs of generation X, Y and Z segmented as customers. -
Exploring character strength in the functioning and well beings of religious leaders
Positive psychology is the scientific study of optimal functioning, flourishing and well-being of individuals and organizations. The backbone of positive psychology, the character strengths are significant in effective leadership functioning. The current study explored the character strengths development and character strengths utilization in the functioning and well-being of religious leaders (consecrated nuns and priests). There were 17 participants, nine female and eight male consecrated Catholic religious leaders. The study used the mixed design. The Values in Action Tests was administrated to identify leaders top strengths and a phenomenological approach was used to explore character strengths development as well as the usage of character strengths in the functioning of the religious leaders. The findings illustrated that the most prevalent character strengths of leaders are honesty, gratitude, teamwork, fairness, and kindness. The least prevalent strengths are love of learning, humour, appreciation of excellence, zest, judgement and creativity. Results showed that the influencing factors of character strengths development are family influences, experiences at school, formative programmes in the religious formation, critical events and factors enhancing strength. The strength of wisdom and knowledge were used mainly at organizational and administrative level of leadership functioning. Strengths of courage manifested at the implementation level. The strength of humanity is identified as the most striking character strength in leader-member exchange. The strength of temperance has the role of controller in leadership functioning. The strength of justice is seen as a catalyst in promoting cohesion in the community. The leaders pivotal manifestation of the strengths of transcendence is in their intimacy with God that gives higher purpose and meaning in leadership, that is, do the Will of God. Character strengths were found in promoting wellness through achievements, facilitating total engagement, giving a great purpose in leader life and in promoting better leader-follower interactions. The highlighted character strengths that promote well-being were gratitude and appreciation. The study has brought out an ongoing leadership training programme for religious leaders that can be completed in three phases. -
Acculturation and adaptation experiences of third generation adolescent migrants of andaman and nicobar islands
Andaman and Nicobar Islands saw movement from 1857 amid the reformatory settlement design of the British Government followed by Independent relocation after 1947. The relocation makes a heritage of acculturation and adaptation experiences of the migrants and their descendants. The administration stretched out certain facilities to the migrants like job reservation, simple access to government jobs in the Islands, reservation for higher education and so forth amid the 50's, 60's and 70's. The number of inhabitants in the Islands has now come to a disturbing level and the facilities and opportunities have contracted down, yet individuals have not changed their outlook rather and for them, everything stays in and around the Islands. This study aims to understand the acculturation and adaptation experiences of the third generation adolescent migrants of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The study proposes to follow the methodology based on grounded theory. Using Theoretical sampling method, third generation adolescent migrants of the Islands were recruited for the study. The average age of the participants recruited for this study is 18.6 years with 83% of them are male and the remaining 17% are female. Individual interview sessions, lasting approximately 45 to 90 minutes were conducted with the participants to know how their acculturation and adaptation experiences. The transcripts of the interviews were thematically analyzed with the help of Nvivo 10. The transcripts were dissected and 1950 codes from 7903 text segments which became the main foundation for the analysis of data. The codes were further reduced into 54 basic themes, again into 21 organizing themes and finally into 05 global themes. The process of acculturation, psychological adaptation, socio-cultural adaptation, influencing factors and academic aspiration were the global themes which became the building block for five thematic networks addressing the main and specific objectives of the study. The findings showed that the adolescent migrants of the islands settled in the islands by adopting the integration or assimilation technique. The migrants who initially opted for the integration strategy later moved to the assimilation strategy in the adaptation process. The migrants through social incorporation look for a social identity in the islands and furthermore mirrors a feeling of confidence in the islands setting making them all the more psychologically adjusted contrasted with sociocultural adjustment. Parental impact and the acquisition of the dialect Hindustani encourage their expectation to remain in the islands itself for higher education and job. The findings on the relationship between acculturation and adaptation, academic aspiration and career self-efficacy reveal that lack of educational facilities and the incompetence in the existing educational facilities takes the migrants in a state of confusion. The expectations of the migrants are seen to be in conflict, which makes them hesitant to leave the islands for higher education or employment. The interconnectedness between all these leads the adolescent migrants to assert their identity in relation with their attachment to the islands and prefers to be confined to the islands. Findings highlight the pattern and influencing factors of acculturation and adaptation experiences of the third generation adolescent migrants of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and its impact on their academic aspiration and career self-efficacy. The findings have implications for professionals and scholars who work with migrant adolescents, stakeholders of the islands for framing policies benefitting the adolescent migrants, especially in higher education policy. Suggestions for future research are also included. -
Influence of positive psychological capacities emotional intelligence and subjective well being of nurses in healthcare sector
The aim of this research is to address the insufficient empirical investigation of newlinepositive psychological variables among the nurses in the healthcare sector in India. Here we explore positive psychological capacities proposed by Luthan and team 2007), newlinecomprising of self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience their influence on emotional newlineintelligence; a concept of empirical interest among the nursing population (Freshwater newlineand Stickley 2004) and subjective well-being. Gill (2011) has mentioned that the health newlineworker determines the quality and nature of services offered in any healthcare system. newlineAdhering to the conceptual framework of positive psychology, psychological capital, newlineconservation of resource and broaden-and-build theory, this study is an exploration of newline(a) the positive psychological capacities, (b) its influence on emotional intelligence, and (c) subjective well-being of nurses (n=302) across government, private and trust newlinehospitals in Bangalore. The hospitals were chosen based on stratified sampling with the nursing respondents identified through random sampling and judgemental sampling. A pilot newlinestudy was carried out (n=100) to validate the standardized scales used for measuring the newlinevariables. An explanatory sequential mixed method design was proposed through which newlinethe quantitative analysis using a detailed descriptive statistics and regression analysis suggested that efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience influenced emotional newlineintelligence. While resilience and optimism influenced subjective well-being of nurses newlinethere was no influence of emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and hope. A qualitative follow-up interview was executed (n=15) to understand the reason for no influence. The findings substantiated that most of the nurses viewed themselves as happy individuals despite their work-related dissatisfactions as almost all saw their profession as service to mankind. The implications of these findings are traced along with the suggestions for future research. -
Product knowledge attitude and motivation on purchase intention towards organic food products
India is credited to have the largest area under organic food cultivation. The size of the area earmarked with organic food cultivation is akin to countries like newlineArgentina, Brazil, China and Uruguay. newlineDelhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune are four cities in India that are experiencing increased consumer interest towards organic food products. This increased consumer interest has led to the emergence of many retailers to sell organic food products that have their presence across the above mentioned four cities. Conscious Foods, Eco Farms, Morarka Organic Foods, Navdanya, Organic India, Sresta etc are some of the retailers doing business in the organic food market segment. The consumer demand for food products that are cultivated organically in India for the period between 2012 and 2017 was predicted to increase at a CAGR of approximately 19%. In India, consumer demand for organically produced food products between the period 2015 and 2020 is expected to increase at a CAGR above 25% (India Organic Food market, 2020). Domestic demand towards organically produced food products for the Indian market presently is approximated at 40,000 million Indian Rupees. This figure is poised to increase by 100,000 million to 120,000 million Indian Rupees for the year 2020 with an identical increase in exports business towards organic food products ( Big Basket keen on collaborating with organic farmers in Karnataka, 2017). Although India is a developing economy, the market for organic food products is immature. Country specific research undertaken by AC Nielsen in the year 2006 revealed that despite Indians being one of the top ten buyers of food fortified with additives for general well-being; do not have access to organic food products. Poor infra-structure conditions in the country such as transportation facilities, storage, warehousing, etc leads to low volume of the newlineproducts for transaction which further increases selling price of organic food newlineproducts. -
Influence of e-service quality on customer retention in commercial banks
Keeping in mind the dynamic changes that have been taking place in the Indian banking scenario, since the introduction of technology and the advancement of the internet even into the remote regions of the country, the proposed study is designed to determine the impact of e-service quality newlineon the retention of banking customers in the city of Bangalore. Most of the existing studies are based on conceptual understanding and are not based on model testing. The proposed study is relevant to Bangalore as it is a tier one city with a dynamic and fast-paced lifestyle having the best newlinetechnological facilities among the tier one cities in India. The literature review initiates an exhaustive discussion of various newlineconstructs that are outcomes of e-service quality and determinants of customer retention. Based on references from the literature review,constructs identified for e-service quality are customer satisfaction, newlinecustomer commitment and customer retention. The constructs that are outcomes of customer satisfaction were identified as customer trust, commitment and loyalty, which in turn influences customer retention. Thus, commitment, loyalty, commitment and e-service quality were concluded to be influencers of customer retention, with commitment being newlinea construct that mediates the relationship between e-service quality and customer retention. Through extensive literature review, hypotheses were derived and the proposed conceptual model is developed. newlineObjectives of the proposed study are to empirically validate a model to establish the relationship between e-service quality and customer retention, linking customer satisfaction, commitment, trust and loyalty with select antecedents. Research methodology gives an explanation of the population newlinefrom which the samples are collected, the justification for using the particular sampling technique and also the tool employed for data collection. Detailed explanations have also been given for checking the newlinereliability and validity of the tool and pilot data. -
Synthesis and characterization of heterocyclic derivatives and studies on their photophysical properties
Photophysical properties such as absorption, fluorescence, quantum yields and lifetime of fluorescent heterocyclic compounds have been a subject of extensive research interest. Absorption and fluorescence emission of fluorescent molecules results in electronic transitions between ground and singlet excited state. The bathochromic or hypsochromic spectral shift brings a considerable change in dipole moment of both the electronic states through solute-solvent interactions. We have synthesized some heterocyclic compounds and studied thier photophysical properties. Different derivatives such as Schiff base, chalcone, maleimide and pyranopyrazole were synthesized and characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. Photophysical properties of synthesized compounds have been studied through absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and DFT calculations. We have used solvatochromic approaches such as Bilot-Kawski, LippertMataga, Bakhshiev, Kawski-Chamma-Viallet and Reichardt's solvent polarity parameters to evaluate dipole moments of ground state and singlet excited state of the synthesized heterocyclic compounds. The influence of specific and non-specific interactions on spectral properties was also investigated by using Kamlet-Abboud-Taft and Catalan multiple linear regression equations. X-ray diffraction analysis of hydroxyl Schiff base derivative has been carried out due to the presence of strong inter and intra molecular hydrogen bonding. Solvatochromic analyses of synthesized compounds were done using Bilot-Kawski, Lippert-Mataga, Bakhshiev, Kawski- Chamma-Viallet and Reichardt methods. All Solvatochromic graphs have been plotted for spectral parameters against solvent polarity parameters using Origin 8 software. The obtained experimental results from all methods were compared with theoretical results. The correlation coefficient between microscopic solvent polarity parameter and spectral Stokes-shifts were higher in comparison to bulk solvent polarity functions. Graphs for each molecule provided good correlation based on least square analysis. Dipole moment values of ground and excited states were calculated using slopes of different solvatochromic methods. Higher value of singlet excited state dipole moment indicated that the molecules were more polarised in the singlet excited state. Kamlet-Abboud-Taft and Catalan multiple linear regression (MLR) analyses were used to analyse the solvent effects on absorption, emission and difference in spectral energies of the synthesized molecules. Single point method was used to calculate the quantum yields of the synthesized compounds in ethanol using an ethanolic solution of anthracene as a reference compound. Edwards atomic increment method was applied to calculate the Onsager cavity radii of all the molecules using van der Waals volume. DFT/TD-DFT was used for quantum mechanical calculations of all the molecules. The geometrical structures of the synthesized molecules were optimized using B3LYP/6-311G(d, p) basis set. The positions of HOMO-LUMO orbitals were identified and the band gaps for all the molecules were calculated. Mulliken atomic charges and electrostatic potential surface (MEP) have also been evaluated for all the molecules to identify the ICT pathway and evaluate electrophilic and nucleophilic reactive sites around the molecules . The fluorescence quenching studies of a chalcone derivative by aniline in n-butanol and 1,4-dioxane was performed at 25 ? C which indicated that quenching reactions are diffusion limited. -
A Study on the impact of e-service quality perceived customer value and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty in online travel agencies
As the markets have become more competitive in every business sector especially in online, many companies have recognized the importance of developing a strong loyal customer base. The benefits associated with newlinecustomer loyalty include lower costs of retaining existing customers as compare to acquiring new customers, repeat business, word of mouth marketing, cross selling opportunities and so on. However, in case of newlineonline business, customers could effortlessly cover the globe at the click of a mouse in search of the lowest price and that results in break in customer loyalty. Hence, it is necessary to conduct research on newlineidentifying the drivers of customer loyalty and their influence on customer loyalty. newlineThis research explored the impact of e-service quality, perceived customer value, customer satisfaction on customer loyalty in online travel agencies. A conceptual model is proposed based on previous studies and newlinetested using structural equation modeling technique, bootstrapping estimates and multi group SEM (MSEM) analysis. The study employed newlinepurposeful sampling technique and was conducted on a sample size of 405 respondents working in information and communication technology organizations set up in Bengaluru. The study also tested the mediating effect of perceived customer value and customer satisfaction on the relationship between e-service quality and customer loyalty. The study also made an attempt to test the moderating effect of switching cost on newlinerelationship between e-service quality and customer loyalty, perceived customer value and customer loyalty as well as customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Results indicated that e-service quality, perceived newlinecustomer value and customer satisfaction has a significant and positive impact on customer loyalty.Results of the study also indicated that perceived customer value and customer satisfaction partially mediate the newlinerelationship between the antecedent and outcome variables. -
A Model for storage optimization of brain MRI images for tumor detection using image processing technique
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a major non-invasive method for Brain tumor detection. The anatomical assessment of brain newlinetumor can be carried out using brain MRI image analysis. MRI is widely used in brain tumor identification and classification. Images generated during the diagnosis purpose are unattended after the specified diagnosis. newlineBrain MRI images in Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) format require large amount of storage space. newlineAccumulation of the MRI images put forward the requirement of more storage space. To store large number of images, existing storage models has to be handled wisely. Research associated with storage, process and newlinemanipulation of medical image data using modern technologies with a minimal human intervention is the need of the time. Image processing deals with the study and development of innovative technologies for newlineanalysis,representation and interpretation of the image data. In this research, the need of an efficient storage model that can help in storing the brain MRI images is studied with the help of image processing technique. To store the brain MRI images with a reduced storage space, a matrix-based method is proposed. In this model brain MRI images in newlineDICOM format are converted into matrix format. In the DICOM images, the image data and header information together hold the details of the patient and image data. These data are converted and stored in the matrix. newlineThe stored matrix is accessed as the input to the proposed model. The proposed model follows different image processing steps.The process starts with pre-processing of brain MRI images followed by clustering of newlinewhite matter (WM), gray matter (GM) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), segmentation of tumor and classification of tumor and finally it handles the storage of the MRI images. In the pre-processing step, filtering algorithms are applied on MRI to remove the noise and text artifacts. The newlinewhite matter, gray matter and CSF are separated using the K-means newlineclustering method. -
Determinants of profitability of private sector banks in india
Indian banking sector has undergone a sea change after the advent of Liberalisation,Privatization and Globalization polices of Government of India, newlineduring the beginning of nineties. This has resulted inthe implementation of banking sector reforms which rationalized banking system by opening of new generation commercial banks,entry of foreign banks,prudential norms for quality of asset,deregulation of interest rates and launching of banking tribunals. During newlinethe last two decades private sector banks in India have played a significant role in newlinebanking sector in terms of business, profit, network, channels and digital banking. newlineInorder to make use of technology and improve customer service banks have implemented CBS. Banking reforms, competition, growing NPA due to economic slowdown, high investments in technology, Basel Risk Management have affected the profitability of all banks in India. But private sector continues to perform well. Present study analyses the determinants of profitability of private sector banks in India and Impact of profitability after implementation of CBS. Since private sector new and old banks are the two groups in private sector banks in India their profitability and determinants are analyzed. The study focuses on select four banks each from private sector new and old banks in India for fourteen years, 2000-2001 to 2014-2015.The Global banking benchmarkon profitability of commercial newlineBanks,ROA is considered as dependent variable and Bank specific, Industry level and Macro level Independent variables are analyzed in the data analysis to find out variations, relationships andfundamental variables influencing profitability of private commercial banks in India during the period under study. -
A Study of popular gujarati films using agenda setting
Indian cinema is an umbrella term used to refer to films made in different languages in India. Gujarati cinema is one of those lesser popular film industries which began in early twentieth century but today has lost its glory, popularity and grandeur. A dying film industry today, Gujarati films have been quiet popular among Gujaratis since its inception, yet there has been little or no study done to understand how these films have newlinerepresented and framed the culture of Gujarat. This thesis tries to investigate Gujarati cinema and explore some of the newlinedominant films of the golden era to see how it frames Gujarati culture through its history, folk lore, tales, and people in terms of their dress, dialect, celebrations, and other significant codes through select fifty films. The study makes an attempt to connect mise-en-scene of these films with newlineframing analysis to interrogate the way visuals have been prioritized in the films to accommodate/ideas depict any specific agenda/ideology. It is important to note that Gujarati cinema subtly but consistently shared the responsibility of restoring cultural symbols and stories within the film newlinenarrative especially post integration in 1960 to remind every Gujarati about his/her roots and work towards Gujarati asmita.