Browse Items (5511 total)
Sort by:
-
Announcement effect of tender offer share buyback around turmoil period evidence from India
The announcement of a buyback informs the market about the companys decision to repurchase its own shares. This announcement highlights the companys price valuation and the inefficiencies that exist in the market. This study examines the share buyback announcement effect during the COVID-19 period. The study considered the stocks listed in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) that offered share buyback under tender offer mode during the pre-pandemic period between April 2016 and February 2020 and the post-pandemic period between March 2020 and March 2022. 75 firms in the pre-pandemic period and 43 in the post-pandemic period that announced share buyback under the tender offer method were analyzed. The event study methodology using a market model was employed to determine the presence of abnormal returns during the event period, which consisted of 21 days and +21 days. The findings of the study revealed the existence of abnormal returns in and around the announcement date. Besides, statistically significant cumulative abnormal average returns (CAAR) were also found on the event day, i.e., on Day 0. The study found that the impact of buyback announcements on stock returns significantly differed before and after COVID-19 for 10 and 21-day periods, with no significant differences for shorter periods. These insights can help traders and fund managers make informed portfolio adjustments during turbulent market periods surrounding buyback announcements. The author(s) 2024. -
Evaluation of hydroxyapatite filler loading on dynamic mechanical properties of combined silk and basalt fabric reinforced epoxy nanocomposites
The boosting of electrical and microelectronic goods causes the continuous increase in the amount of power per unit volume of these gadgets, leading to unavoidable overheating problems that diminish their functional performance as well as life span. One of the primary aims of materials science is the creation of high-performance materials that are made from renewable resources. Multi-phase composites were recognised as an effective route to achieve a new portfolio of advanced materials with superior performance. Some of the functional fillers in polymer-based composite materials exhibit outstanding electrical insulation, chemical resistance, mechanical and processing properties, and therefore are considered to be the most promising candidates to solve the heat dissipation problem. In this research article, the thermal behavior, namely Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction Analysis (XRD), and Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of hybrid nano-sized hydroxyapatite filled hybrid fiber reinforced epoxy nanocomposites are investigated. Three important parameters were examined at 1 Hz frequency: storage modulus, loss modulus, and damping, all from room temperature to 160 C. The influence of the nHAP loading on the dynamic mechanical properties are discussed and explained with the highly relevant works from the available literature. In particular, the dependence of the hybrid composite damping on the nHAP loading was explained with regard to damping due to particleparticle and polymer-fiber interaction. The presence of nHAP is confirmed by a wider XRD curve, and the incorporation of nHAP results in the removal of the hydroxy group from the fibers as shown by FTIR. The inclusion of nHAP in a hybrid (S + B/Ep) composite enhances the synergetic effect, which raises the storage and loss modulus, decreases the damping factor, and increases the Tg of the nHAP filled hybrid nanocomposites. 2021 -
Nexus between ownership structure and firm performance - Evidence from Indian service sector
Shareholding pattern of an organization determines the management control and decision making climate. Empirical researches have proved relationship among the type of shareholdings, managerial efficiency and stock returns in manufacturing sectors. This study investigates the relationship between the organizational shareholding pattern and financial performance of select services sector companies taking sample from listed financial services and Information technology firms from CNX500 Index for a period of five years. The study emphasizes on the significance of categorical distinctions among ownership and evaluating its influence on firm performance for investment decisions. Both accounting and market based approach of Firm performance has been considered using Tobin Q ratio and Return on Capital Employed as proxy. The results show that there is Insider owners dominance in services sector. A higher percentage of aggregate promoter and promoters group holdings are documented in services sector. The study also documents a positive and significant relationship between the firm performance as measured by market model and the percentage of shares held by promoters and Institutional bodies. In contrast, there is negative and insignificant influence of promoters holdings on the firm performance. However, Institutional shareholdings have a positive and significant influence. Dominant insiders ownership enhances management efficiency through excessive control for wealth maximization. IAEME Publication. -
Nexus Between Tax Buoyancy and Economic Growth Evidence from India1
This paper examines the trends in fiscal revenue collections and the relationship between tax buoyancy and economic growth. In recent years, the responsiveness of revenue growth in relation to economic growth is a growing concern as we witness staggered tax revenue growth with the convergence of percentage contribution of direct taxes to the aggregate revenue with indirect taxes. Using the Log OLS model, for the period between 2000-2018 the variability in tax revenue due to the change in economic growth as measured by GDP was verified. We confirm the test results using M-estimation Robust Log-OLS. We critically appraise the policy interventions and administrative initiatives taken up to improve the buoyancy rate and suggest ways to enhance the voluntary tax compliance rate in the country. The studys findings show a significant relationship between tax revenue and economic growth, but it does not necessarily improve the tax buoyancy rate. Indian Institute of Finance. -
The impact of ESG inclusion on price, liquidity and financial performance of Indian stocks: Evidence from stocks listed in BSE and NSE ESG indices
In recent years, investors have perceived that Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices significantly increase the value of companies' stocks. This study investigates the impact of ESG inclusion on the price, liquidity and financial performance of stocks listed in the Indian ESG indices. Two major Indian benchmark ESG Indices, the BSE100 ESG and Nifty 100 ESG, were considered for the study. A total sample of 64 firms from the BSE100 ESG index and 86 firms from the Nifty100 ESG index were selected. The market model of the event study methodology was employed to measure AAR and CAAR and to demonstrate the effect before and after the inclusion of the stocks in the ESG indices. The empirical results show a highly significant negative AAR on the announcement day, i.e., on (day = 0) for BSE100 ESG index stocks and an insignificant positive AAR for Nifty100 ESG index stocks. In addition, the results also document a significant negative CAAR for BSE 100 ESG stocks and a positive insignificant CAAR for Nifty100 ESG stocks. Moreover, the liquidity test results revealed a considerable liquidity enhancement in the stocks posts their inclusion in the BSE100 ESG. At the same time, there were no significant changes in the liquidity ratio of stocks after being included in the Nifty100 ESG index. This study concludes that there will be a substantial improvement in the companies' financial performance as indicated by EPS and market capitalization after their inclusion in the ESG indices. Suresha B., Srinidhi V. R., Dippi Verma, Manu K. S., Krishna T. A., 2022. -
Effective fraud detection in healthcare domain using popular classification modeling techniques
Fraud is any activity with malicious intentions resulting in personal gain. In the Present Day scenario, every sector is polluted by such fraudulent activities to fetch unauthorized benefits. In HealthCare, an increase in fraudulent insurance claims has been observed over the years which may constitute around 3-5% of the total cost. Increasing healthcare costs along with the hike in fraud cases have made it difficult for people to approach these services when required. To avoid such situations, we must understand and identify such illegal acts and prepare our systems to combat such cases. Thus, there is a need to have a powerful mechanism to detect and avoid fraudulent activities. Many Data mining approaches are applied to identify, analyze and categorized fraud claims from the genuine ones. In this paper, various frauds existing in the Health Care sector have been discussed along with analyzing the effect of frauds in the health care domain with existing data mining models. Furthermost, a comparative analysis is performed on two existing approaches to extract relevant patterns related to fraudulent claims. BEIESP. -
Laser Scribing Turns Plastic Waste into a Biosensor via the Restructuration of Nanocarbon Composites for Noninvasive Dopamine Detection
The development of affordable and compact noninvasive point-of-care (POC) dopamine biosensors for the next generation is currently a major and challenging problem. In this context, a highly sensitive, selective, and low-cost sensing probe is developed by a simple one-step laser-scribing process of plastic waste. A flexible POC device is developed as a prototype and shows a highly specific response to dopamine in the real sample (urine) as low as 100 pmol/L in a broad linear range of 10?1010?4 mol/L. The 3D topological feature, carrier kinetics, and surface chemistry are found to improve with the formation of high-density metal-embedded graphene-foam composite driven by laser irradiation on the plastic-waste surface. The development of various kinds of flexible and tunable biosensors by plastic waste is now possible thanks to the success of this simple, but effective, laser-scribing technique, which is capable of modifying the matrixs electronic and chemical composition. 2023 by the authors. -
Precise surface molecular engineering of 2D-Bi2S3 enables the ultrasensitive simultaneous detection of dopamine, epinephrine, serotonin and uric acid
Multiple biomolecule detection at a single read is an emerging and highly desirable technology in point-of-care diagnostics. Thus, functional nanoscale materials with high precision and stability at an affordable cost are required to fabricate adaptable multiplex biosensing devices with exceptional performance. Herein, an ultrasensitive molecularly engineered 2D-Bi2S3 biosensor is developed via a two-step synthetic approach. Simultaneous detection of dopamine (DA), epinephrine (EP), serotonin (ST), and uric acid (UA) is achieved at the nanomolar level. The surface molecular engineered 2D-Bi2S3 by 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA) exhibits a well crystalline nature and consists of 36 stacked layers with creased-paper-like morphology after an MBA molecule has been precisely linked at the basal plane of Bi2S3. Bi2S3-MBA's surface/vibrational spectroscopic and scanning tunneling microscopic studies demonstrate the Bi2S3-MBA electronic nature and the linked molecule present on the Bi2S3 surface with a comparatively large random distribution of MBA molecules at the basal plane than the edge plane. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation verifies the proposed molecular interaction mechanism. The success of this unique surface molecular engineering strategy, which effectively modified the electronic and surface configuration of the 2D-Bi2S3, offers an exciting possibility for building different variants of the versatile biosensor for real-world diagnostic device applications. 2024 -
Cryptic species and taxonomic troubles: A rebuttal of the systematic treatment of the Asian ladies' tresses orchids (Spiranthes species; Orchidaceae) by Pace et al. (2019)
In a recent research article by Pace et al. (2019), the authors claimed to have used information from phenology, morphology and molecular phylogenetics in their nomenclatural review of the Spiranthes sinensis complex. However, there are several scientific and botanical nomenclature issues with the Pace et al. (2019) paper in addition to its many errors and misinformation, which can be severely misleading and have the potential to affect our understanding of the highly complex Asian Spiranthes group. Here, we compare and critique their study in light of our study published prior to the article in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. We suggest that the authors should have resorted to improved and new molecular data and a truly integrative analysis to support: (1) re-circumscription of the S. sinensis species complex for each of the six species they recognized, and the treatment of S. hongkongensis as a hybrid; and (2) all the new synonymies they proposed for Asian Spiranthes. 2020 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2020, 194, 375-381 -
Origin and diversification of Indian Ceropegieae (Apocynaceae) and its possible relation to the Indian monsoon
The Indian subcontinent has experienced a major shift in climatic regime from a wet tropical regime to increased seasonal rainfall, since the late Miocene. This shift has been attributed to the intensification of monsoons, which led to opening up of dry habitats in humid forests and formation of deciduous forests. We explored the role of this climatic shift in the origin and diversification of dry-adapted plant genera Ceropegia and Brachystelma (Ceropegiae, Asclepiadoideae, Apocynaceae). We sampled Ceropegia and Brachystelma from across India and used five markers (two nuclear and three plastid regions) to reconstruct a global phylogeny of this group. Indian members of the tribe Ceropegiae were derived from Africa through at least four independent dispersal events. All dispersal events occurred in late Miocene after establishment of a monsoon climate. One of these early dispersing lineages underwent rapid radiation in peninsular India, giving rise to around 50 species. Thus, both dispersal and diversification events coincided with the intensification of monsoons and concomitant aridification. The role of environment in the evolution of floral characteristics and root type in the Indian radiation is also discussed. This is one of the first reports on a dry-adapted endemic radiation of plants in India. 2020 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences -
Molecular phylogenetics and character evolution in Haplanthodes (Acanthaceae), an endemic genus from peninsular India
Haplanthodes (Acanthaceae) is an Indian endemic genus with four species. It is closely related to Andrographis which is also mainly distributed in India. Haplanthodes differs from Andrographis by the presence of cladodes in the inflorescences, subactinomorphic flowers, stamens included within the corolla tube, pouched stamens and oblate pollen grains. To understand the phylogenetic relationship of Haplanthodes, Andrographis and Haplanthus, which are putatively closely related taxa, we used four plastid markers, matK, rbcL, psbA-trnH and trnGRto construct a molecular phylogeny. Our results established the monophyly of Haplanthodes and revealed a sister relationship to Andrographis and Haplanthus. Further, to understand the historical biogeography of the genus, we inferred the divergence time and performed an ancestral area reconstruction. Our analyses suggest that Haplanthodes evolved during Late Miocene 5.85 Ma (95%HPD: 2.1810.34 Ma) in peninsular India where it might have shared a common ancestor with Andrographis. To understand character evolution, the ancestral states of important morphological characters were inferred and discussed based on the equal rate model. The generic status of Haplanthus was not resolved due to incomplete sampling. 2022 Nordic Society Oikos. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. -
Maximal matching cover pebbling number for variants of hypercube
An edge pebbling move is defined as the removal of two pebbles from one edge and placing one on the adjacent edge. The maximal matching cover pebbling number, fmmcp(G), of a graph G, is the minimum number of pebbles that must be placed on E(G), such that after a sequence of pebbling moves the set of edges with pebbles forms a maximal matching regardless of the initial configuration. In this paper, we find the maximal matching cover pebbling number for variants of hypercube. (2023), (SciELO-Scientific Electronic Library Online). All Rights Reserved. -
In-silico validation of novel therapeutic activities of withaferin a using molecular docking and dynamics studies
Withaferin A is a bioactive molecule of W. somnifera. We access its efficacy against various target proteins associated with Cancer, Type-II Diabetes and hypercholesterolemia using molecular docking. Although its efficacy against some of these targets have been reported earlier, we validate each mechanism in order to report the most appropriate mechanism of action. We explain the anti-cancer activity of Withaferin A by inhibition of Mortalin (mtHsp70) and Nrf2 protein with binding energies ?8.85 kcal/mol and ?12.59 kcal/mol respectively. Similarly, the anti-diabetic activity could be explained by inhibition of alpha and bet?-glucosidase with binding energies ?6.44 and ?4.43 kcal/mol respectively and the cholesterol reduction could be explained by its ability to inhibition of NPC1 and SRB1 with binding energies ?5.73 and ?7.16 kcal/mol respectively. The molecular dynamics of the apoprotein and the protein-ligand complex simulated for the best targets of each activity namely Nrf2 protein for anti-cancer, ?-glucosidase for anti-diabetic and SR-B1 for anti-hypercholesterolemia activity indicated the formation of stable complexes due to low RMSD deviations, low RMSF fluctuations and low RG values after the docking simulation. Finally, an ADME + T (Adsorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity) prediction on Withaferin A showed that it obeyed all the Lipinskys rules and qualified the drug-like criteria. All these results validate that Withaferin A possess potential anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and cholesterol reducing properties. This is the first report that indicates the possibility of Withaferin A binding and inhibiting SR-B1 as a mechanism of its anti-hypercholesterolemia activity. 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
A review of alternative proteins for vegan diets: Sources, physico-chemical properties, nutritional equivalency, and consumer acceptance
Alternate proteins are gaining popularity as a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to animal-based proteins. These proteins are often considered healthier and are suitable for people following a vegetarian or vegan diet. Alternative proteins can be recovered from natural sources like legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds, while single cell proteins (mycoproteins), and algal proteins are being developed using cutting-edge technology to grow fungus, yeast and algal cells in a controlled environment, creating a more sustainable source of protein. Although, the demand for alternative protein products is increasing, there still happens to be a large gap in use among the general consumers mainly stemming from its lower bioavailability, lack of nutritional equivalency and reduced digestibility compared to animal proteins. The focus of the review is to emphasize on various sources and technologies for recovering alternative proteins for vegan diets. The review discusses physicochemical properties of alternative proteins and emphasise on the role of various processing technologies that can change the digestibility and bioavailability of these proteins. It further accentuates the nutritional equivalency and environmental sustainability of alternative protein against the conventional proteins from animals. The food laws surrounding alternative proteins as well as the commercial potential and consumer acceptance of alternative protein products are also highlighted. Finally, key challenges to improve the consumer acceptability and market value of plant-based proteins would be in achieving nutrient equivalency and enhance bioavailability and digestibility while maintaining the same physicochemical properties, taste, texture, as animal proteins, has also been highlighted. 2023 The Authors -
Designing Bifunctional Electrocatalysts Based on Complex Cobalt-Sulfo-Boride Compound for High-Current-Density Alkaline Water Electrolysis
In the quest to harness renewable energy sources for green hydrogen production, alkaline water electrolysis has emerged as a pivotal technology. Enhancing the reaction rates of overall water electrolysis and streamlining electrode manufacturing necessitate the development of bifunctional and cost-effective electrocatalysts. With this aim, a complex compound electrocatalyst in the form of cobalt-sulfo-boride (Co-S-B) was fabricated using a simple chemical reduction method and tested for overall alkaline water electrolysis. A nanocrystalline form of Co-S-B displayed a combination of porous and nanoflake-like morphology with a high surface area. In comparison to Co-B and Co-S, the Co-S-B electrocatalyst exhibits better bifunctional characteristics requiring lower overpotentials of 144 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction and 280 mV for oxygen evolution reaction to achieve 10 mA/cm2 in an alkaline electrolyte. The improved Co-S-B performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of sulfur and boron on cobalt, which was experimentally confirmed through various material characterization tools. Tafel slope, electrochemical surface area, turnover frequency, and charge transfer resistance further endorse the active nature of the Co-S-B electrocatalyst. The robustness of the developed electrocatalyst was validated through a 50 h chronoamperometric stability test, along with a recyclability test involving 10,000 cycles of linear sweep voltammetry. Furthermore, Co-S-B was tested in an alkaline zero-gap water electrolyzer, reaching 1 A/cm2 at 2.06 V and 60 C. The significant activity and stability demonstrated by the cobalt-sulfo-boride compound render it as a promising and cost-effective electrode material for commercial alkaline water electrolyzers. 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. -
Comparison of TDD and PAIR programming for improving software quality
These days, programming improvement groups utilizing coordinated procedures have started widely adopting Test-driven development and Pair Programming. Test-driven development (TDD) is a transformative way to deal with improvement, which joins test-first improvement where you compose a test before you compose simple enough creation code to satisfy that test and refactoring. Pair Programming is a sort of communitarian programming where two individuals are working at the same time on a similar programming task. In this paper the TDD and Pair Programming is applied for a dataset, collected from a group of users and compared. For our research, we executed structured experiments with five set of pair programmers and ten individual programmers. Both groups developed programs in Java. The outcome acquired demonstrates the strategy helps in expanding the software quality. IAEME Publication. -
Supermarkets and Rural Inequality in India: A Case Study of Reliance Fresh
Drawing upon insights from growing strand of value chain literature, this article examines primary data collected from farmers supplying cauliflower and spinach to Reliance Fresh in the outskirts of Jaipur to understand the implication for farmer households of emergence of supermarket in a smallholder-dominated setting. The article finds that as a lead firm, Reliance Fresh is adopting flexible models of sourcing, devoid of any resource provision, to procure fresh produce of required quality and standards. In such a context, the barrier to participation of smallholders in supermarket-driven agri-food system varies across crops, depending on resource intensity of crops. Participation of smallholders, poorly endowed with human and physical capital, is limited in resource-intensive crop, such as cauliflower, because of high entry barrier in terms of requirement of assets. In contrast, entry barrier is low for smallholders in labour-intensive crop such as spinach, but competition among them, endowed with family labour, bid the rent down to the minimum. Gini decomposition exercise indicates that the emergence of supermarket-driven agri-food system has adverse distributional consequence in rural agrarian setting. Promotion of wholesale market with better infrastructure and encouragement of farmer federation as institutional innovations are suggested for inclusive agri-food marketing system. 2020 Institute of Rural Management. -
Thermal Enhancement of Radiating Magneto-Nanoliquid with Nanoparticles Aggregation and Joule Heating: A Three-Dimensional Flow
This article studies the effect of nanoparticle aggregation on the 3D flow of titanium nanoliquid based on ethylene glycol (C 2H 6O 2- TiO 2) due to an exponentially elongated surface. Thermal analysis is carried out considering linear thermal radiation, Joule heating, and mechanisms of the heat source/sink, while the aspect of the homogeneous single-order chemical reaction is included in the analysis of the solute. The variable magnetic field is also accounted. The modified Maxwell model (MaxwellBruggeman) is implemented to estimate the effective conductivity of the nanoliquid. The displayed equations are moderated in quantities without dimensions. The 2-point nonlinear boundary value problem (BVP) is solved by the shooting procedure. The importance of effective parameters is described through graphs. Numerical data are presented to study the friction factor, the heat transfer rate, and the mass transfer rate. It has been established that the aggregation of nanoparticles significantly improves the thermal field. Furthermore, the effect of magnetism is more in ordinary fluid than in nanofluid. 2020, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. -
Heat transport and stagnation-point flow of magnetized nanoliquid with variable thermal conductivity, Brownian moment, and thermophoresis aspects
The improvement of heat transport is a very important phenomenon in nuclear reactors, solar collectors, heat exchangers, and coolers, which can be achieved by choosing the nanofluid as the functional fluid. Nanofluids improve thermophysical properties; as a result, they have made great progress in engineering, biomedical, and industrial applications. Therefore, a numerical study has been proposed to analyze the flow and heat transport of nanoliquids over an extendable surface near a stagnation point with variable thermal conductivity under the influence of the magnetic field, due to their importance in the engineering field. Nanoliquid attributes explain the Brownian motion and the diffusion of thermophoresis. The effects of the chemical reaction and the uniform internal heat source/heat sink are also considered. The Nachtsheim-Swigert shooting procedure based on the Runge-Kutta scheme is used for numerical calculation. The impact of effective parameters on velocity, temperature, and volume fraction of the nanoparticles is shown in the graphs and reported in detail. The surface criteria are also estimated with respect to the shear stress and the rate of heat and mass transfer. The aspects of the Brownian moment and Lorentz force are positively correlated to the thermal field of the nanoliquid. Also, the variable thermal conductivity aspect favors the growth of the thermal boundary layer. 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC -
Beyond brick and mortar: determinants of retail investors investment intention in indirect real estate through REITs in India
Purpose: This research aims to identify the factors that influence the investment intention of retail investors in Indian REITs. The study incorporates the theory of planned behavior and innovation diffusion theory as the research framework, with perceived risk and mass media influence as additional constructs. Design/methodology/approach: Primary data were collected using self-administered questionnaires from 534 potential investors in India. The data were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling. Findings: The study showed that factors such as relative advantage, compatibility, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and mass media significantly and positively influence investment intention in Indian REITs. However, perceived risk was found to have a negative and significant influence, while complexity did not affect investment intention. Originality/value: This is the first quantitative investigation into determining the factors influencing the investment intention of Indian retail investors on Indian REITs. 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited.