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Development and Validation of the Multidimensional Psychosocial Risk Screen (MPRS): An Approach towards Primary Prevention
Background: The prevalence of mental health problems in adolescents has been identified as a global concern. Early screening and identification can offer benefits in terms of primary prevention and reduced healthcare costs. This study aimed to develop a tool to assess the risk of developing mental health problems in adolescents. Methods: The study followed an exploratory sequential design and was divided into five phases. The Multidimensional Psychosocial Risk Screen (MPRS) is a newly developed self-report measure. The various steps in its development and validation have been elaborated. The MPRS was evaluated with a sample of 934 adolescents aged 12-18, spread across the 8th-12th grade. Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a robust factor structure. The extracted five factors were named as Parent-Child Relationship (PCR), Self-Concept (SC), Teacher-Student Dynamics (TSD), Social Media Use (SMU), and Peer Interaction (PI). The reliability of the subscales ranged from 0.60 to 0.80. The overall reliability of the scale was good (a = 0.87). Convergent validity of the scale was established using standard measures of risk factors and emotional and behavioural problems. Conclusions: The MPRS can be considered an effective tool with an adequate factor structure and good psychometric properties. It can be beneficial in the early detection of vulnerabilities to mental health problems in adolescents and, therefore, seen as a key element in primary prevention and fostering individualized interventions. 2023 The Author(s). -
Exploring perspectives on risks to mental health problems in adolescents: A dual method approach
This study explores different perspectives on the risk factors of mental health problems among adolescents using a dual method approach. 12 mental health professionals were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Nine Focus Group Discussions were conducted with parents, teachers and school going adolescents (aged 12-18). Data were transcribed and analysed using content analysis. Common codes and categories were extracted from both the methodologies thus, representing triangulation and trustworthiness of findings. The results show seven major coding categories including self concept, coping mechanisms, parenting principles and family dynamics, teacher-student dynamics, peer interaction and media. Participants across the groups described the relevance of these categories in the mental health of adolescents. The findings were illustrated using Bronfenbrenners ecological systems theory framework. The findings have important implications in terms of identification and management of mental health difficulties in adolescents especially from a preventive perspective. The findings conclude that risk factors exist within the individual as well the contextual systems which make an adolescent vulnerable to a number of mental health problems. The findings can be included in the primary prevention framework by identifying and modifying these risk factors and therefore, delaying the progression of mental health difficulties into a major disorder. 2022 RESTORATIVE JUSTICE FOR ALL. -
PUNCHING UP IN STAND-UP COMEDY: Speaking Truth to Power
Punching Up in Stand-Up Comedy explores the new forms, voices and venues of stand-up comedy in different parts of the world and its potential role as a counterhegemonic tool for satire, commentary and expression of identity especially for the disempowered or marginalised. The title brings together essays and perspectives on stand-up and satire from different cultural and political contexts across the world which raise pertinent issues regarding its role in contemporary times, especially with the increased presence of OTT platforms and internet penetration that allows for easy access to this art form. It examines the theoretical understanding of the different aspects of the humour, aesthetics and politics of stand-up comedy, as well as the exploration of race, gender, politics and conflicts, urban culture and LGBTQ+ identities in countries such as Indonesia, Finland, France, Iran, Italy, Morocco, India and the USA. It also asks the question whether, along with contesting and destabilising existing discursive frameworks and identities, a stand-up comic can open up a space for envisaging a new social, cultural and political order? This book will appeal to people interested in performance studies, media, popular culture, digital culture, sociology, digital sociology and anthropology, and English literature. Chapter 9 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at https://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons (CC-BY) 4.0 license. Funded by the University of Helsinki. 2023 selection and editorial matter, Rashi Bhargava and Richa Chilana; individual chapters, the contributors. -
INTRODUCTION
[No abstract available] -
Stand-Up: The Comic Public Sphere in India
Comic performances might take a subversive form, especially in an autocratic regime where used as an instrument of expression by the oppressed, the silenced, the unseen, and the unheard, thereby offering a political critique of the state, economy, and systemic failures. This article discusses the ability of contemporary Indian stand-up comic performances to undermine hegemony. The article begins with a theoretical evaluation of the comic in the public sphere, moves to a brief survey of South Asian forms of comic performances, and links these concerns to performances by two contemporary comedy collectives, Aisi Taisi Democracy (ATD) and East India Comedy (EIC). The article then concludes with the possible complications of ATD and EICs contribution to a robust public sphere. Copyright 2023 (Rashi Bhargava and Samarth Singhal). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd). Available at http://ijoc.org. -
Computational study of charge transfer iso-surface in first three excited states, electron-hole transition effects, chemical nature and bond order analysis investigations of chrysogine
This work presents the theoretical DFT (Density Functional Theory) studies and the biological application of chrysogine, a marine alkaloid. Energy minimisation and additional DFT evaluations were performed for vacuum and solvent media. It has been observed that solvation with polar solvents has resulted in a slight variation in the molecule's properties. The Multiwfn software was employed to carry out various topological analyses. Among these, the charge transfer studies show that the second and third excited states are the most significant. From the reactivity analysis, the least energy gap (4.9624 eV) is obtained in water, indicating that chrysogine is most reactive in aqueous media. Theoretical UV studies show that the trends in ?max values correspond to n >?* and n >?* electronic transitions within the molecule. An increase in medium polarity has demonstrated in the MEP (Molecular Electrostatic Potential) maps an increase in the potential range from ?6.619 10?2 a.u. to 6.619 10?2 a.u. in the gas phase, to a sharp rise to ?8.036 10?2 a.u. to 8.036 10?2 a.u. in ethanol, ?8.098 10?2 a.u. to 8.098 10?2 a.u. in methanol, ?8.130 10?2 a.u. to 8.130 10?2 a.u. in DMSO, and ?8.127 10-2 a.u. to 8.127 10?2 a.u. in water. The most significant transition contributing to molecular stability from NBO (Natural Bond Orbital) analysis is: (O2-C9) ?* ? ?* (C7-C8) with the energy of 258.13 kcal mol?1. The ADMET profile for the molecule was assimilated with the help of online servers. The molecule was docked against lung cancer target proteins (PDB ID: 1NTK, 3QFB) using software such as AutoDock Tools and PyMOL. The respective illustrations and data were visualised using Discovery Studio Visualizer. Good binding affinities (?5.69 kcal mol?1 for 1NTK and ?6.64 kcal mol?1 for 3QFB proteins) and interactions were achieved with the selected targets. 2024 Elsevier B.V. -
Blockchain and Its Integration in IoT
IoT devices have become an integral part of our lives. The world has witnessed an exponential growth in the number of IoT devices. Managing these devices and the data generated by them has become very crucial. Data security and users privacy are becoming more difficult as the number of devices grows. Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, is known for data security and managing and efficiently maintaining huge amounts of data. Blockchain stores data in a chronological manner and in an immutable way. Integration of blockchain in IoT infrastructure has many advantages. This paper discusses various applications and challenges in blockchain. It highlights the adoption of blockchain in IoT infrastructure and reviews recent papers in this field. 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. -
Sentiment analysis of impact of social platforms on the market share of a company
Sentimental analysis is also known as opinion mining or emotion AI. It refers to the use of natural language processing, text analysis, computational linguistics and biometrics to systematically identify, extract, and study affective states and subjective information. In this paper, Amazon reviews and blogs are analyzed to detect the sentiment using linguistic feature utility. Evaluation of the usefulness of existing lexical resources as well as capturing information about the informal and creative language used in online service platform is done. The goal of this research is to show the impact on the market-share of Vivo in comparison with that of Oppo and highlight the reason for the impact. BEIESP. -
UV-C and gamma radiation mediated L-DOPA production from in-vitro cultures of Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC
This is the first report on UV-C and gamma rays mediated in-vitro elicitation of L-DOPA from Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. cell suspension cultures. Gamma and ultraviolet rays are used on plants to induce mutations which results in activation of defence cascades and production of secondary metabolites due to this abiotic stress. The in-vitro callus developed from 0.5mg/L picloram was suspended into liquid medium and exposed to different time intervals (0, 15, 30, 45 and 60min) of UV-C radiations. On the other hand, the seeds were directly exposed to different doses (25, 50, 100, 150 and 200Gy) of gamma radiations and these irradiated seeds were grown in-vitro from which callus and cell cultures were established. From all these in-vitro cultures, the anti-Parkinsons drug L-DOPA was quantified using HPLC. 60 and 30-minute exposure of UV-C radiations resulted in highest biomass (193.27g/L FW) and L-DOPA production (5.13mg/g DW) respectively both showing a 1.5-fold increase than the control. In gamma radiation studies, 100Gy (Gy) dose showed the highest (83%) seed germination rate, 150Gy increased the in-vitro root and shoot length, while 100Gy increased the biomass of the cell cultures. Also, 150Gy dose showed a 6.1, 2.6 and 2.4-fold increase in L-DOPA production in the in-vitro roots, in-vitro shoots, and cell suspension culture respectively when compared to the control. UV light exposure of 30min and 150Gy doses of gamma radiation showed a significant increase in L-DOPA production. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Society for Plant Research 2024. -
Biotic elicitors: a boon for the in-vitro production of plant secondary metabolites
Plant secondary metabolites are produced naturally in the plant system as a defense mechanism to combat environmental stress factors. These metabolites are extensively used in food, cosmetics, agrochemicals and pharmaceutical sectors. With the applications of plant tissue culture, any particular organ which is the major site for secondary metabolite production can be targeted and cultured. Recently, a new strategy to increase the metabolite production in plants has been employed with the use of elicitors. These elicitors are the chemical substances that trigger the biosynthetic pathways by activating certain transcriptional factors and upregulating the genes. Hence the secondary metabolite production increases in the plant system due to the stress developed by the introduction of the elicitors. Generally, elicitors may be abiotically derived from non-living sources or biotically derived from the living sources. In the present review, the mechanism of biotic elicitation and the applications of biotic elicitors like bacterial, fungal, algal elicitors and other polysaccharides extracted from them has been discussed extensively. It has been noted that the addition of bacterial elicitors like Rhizobiumrhizogenes showed a 94% increase in genistein production while Escherichia coli showed a 9.1-fold increase in diosgenin production. Similarly, fungal elicitors like Aspergillus niger increased thiophene production by 85% and a 26-fold increase in sanguinarine production was seen when the cultures were treated with Botrytis sps. Algal extracts like Haematococcus pluvialis increased the betalain production by 2.28 folds while Botryococcus braunii elicited Vanillin, Vanillylamine and Capsaicin by 3-fold, 6-fold and 2.3-fold respectively. 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. -
Teaching Data Journalism: A Systematic Review
Data Journalism has attracted considerable academic attention as an innovative journalism practice in the recent past. It has resulted in a steady increase in academic research on data journalism. A subset of these studies deals with imparting training in data journalism. This study attempts to systematically review the peer-reviewed academic literature on data journalism training in order to ascertain the present status of academic research on the subject. By examining the studies, it brings together insights about the prevalent methods used in data journalism training, the challenges faced by the instructors, the recommended best practices and the students perception about data journalism training. The study finds that accommodating a new programme in the existing tight schedule of journalism curricula, alleviating the math-fear in students and adequately addressing the interdisciplinary nature of the practice through consistent up-skilling are some of the challenges faced by data journalism educators. It also finds that the academic literature on data journalism training is less concerned about imparting ethical awareness related to the practice. 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
Linkage Between Brand Value and Firm Performance: An Empirical Examination Using Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis
This study is designed with the data of Interbrand for ranking top 100 global brands. In this study, the linkage between brand values and financial performance was estimated using different performance measures that include both stock market and operating performance using Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) technique. The study investigates the effect of brand value on profitability and shareholder. It is observed that the firms that have superior operating performance result in greater brand valuation. Performance of firms measured through profitability is found to be a significant factor in brand valuation. Brand valuation is also found to be significant determinant of profitability. Thus, higher brand quality improves the likelihood of repurchases and in turn improved cash flows. Firms with high agency conflicts tend to have lower brand value. Higher market valuation positively impacts brand valuation in the context of lower leverage and agency costs. The linkage of brand value to firm performance is the justification for marketers investments toward branding initiatives as a mechanism that creates value. This study is the first of its kind to examine the impact of agency costs on brand value using fsQCA technique to understand valuation impact of brands. To measure the effect of branding and marketing initiatives of the firms on financial performance, this study integrated both econometric and financial modeling. The Author(s) 2023. -
Corporate social initiatives and wealth creation for firms-an empirical examination
Purpose: This study aims to examine whether social initiatives adopted by firms lead to improved financial performance. The authors analyse the impact of different elements of social initiatives on wealth creation for firms in terms of operating and market performance. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on the social initiative scores of over 4,500 firms collected from Thomson Reuters' ESG database. The study uses two-stage least squares (2SLS) to analyse the relationship between social initiatives and firm performance. Findings: Profitable, mature, capital intensive and firms with high sales growth rate tend to invest more in social initiatives. Firms with high agency costs invest in social initiatives for workforce efficiency, maintaining human rights and product responsibility. The study documents evidence that social investments are value creating mechanism for firms which leads to improved financial performance in terms of operating and stock market performance. Firms with high dividend intensity invest in social initiatives for workforce welfare and human rights initiatives. Investment in employee well-being and community initiatives results in intangible benefits such as improved stock market valuation. Practical implications: The research model has not considered the impact of intervening variables to understand the relationship between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance. Social implications: Firms ought to recognize that social investment is beneficial in terms of value creation of firms as stock market perceive such investments favourably. Firms must focus more on community development initiatives and workforce initiatives for the value creation of firms compared to investments directed towards human rights initiatives and product responsibility initiatives. Originality/value: This study focusses exclusively on the social dimension of the CSR activities. The authors examine the impact of social welfare scores on firm performance by analysing the valuation effects on scores representing workforce, human rights, community and product responsibility. Moreover, the paper also examines the impact of a new dimension of product responsibility on firm performance. They also focus on both aspects of financial performance in terms of operating performance (proxied by ROE) and the joint impact of both operating and market performance (proxied by Tobins Q). This paper contributes to the research on the linkage of social performance to financial performance by observing that firms with high agency cost characteristics tend to invest in social initiatives for work force efficiency, maintaining human rights and product responsibility. 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited. -
Wood Type Identification via Neural Networks and Spectral Analysis: An Advanced Algorithmic Solution
Forestry management, woodworking, and manufacturing need wood type identification. This study introduces a neural network-spectral analysis technique for accurate and automatic wood type detection. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to extract features from a heterogeneous collection of wood spectral signatures after training a neural network. The algorithm's 94.2% accuracy on a testing dataset shows its ability to distinguish wood kinds.The model's confusion matrix shows it can recognise closely related wood species with few misclassifications. The neural network's precision, recall, and F1 score prove its wood classification accuracy. With PCA highlighting classification characteristics, spectral analysis helps the algorithm succeed.The method is useful for forestry management and woodworking quality control. The non-destructive technology provides in-situ wood type detection, addressing environmental and conservation issues. The study explores ramifications, constraints, and future algorithm modification and application in real-world contexts.Neural networks and spectral analysis provide a strong, efficient, and non-destructive wood type detection solution. The hopeful results represent a major advance in wood science and current computer methods, with applicability across sectors. 2023 IEEE. -
SARIMA Techniques for Predictive Resource Provisioning in Cloud Environments
Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) models for dynamic cloud resource provisioning are introduced and evaluated in this work. Various cloud-based apps provided historical data to train and evaluate SARIMA models. The SARIMA(1,1,1)(0,1,1)12 model has an MAE of 0.056 and an RMSE of 0.082, indicating excellent prediction ability. This model projected resource needs better than other SARIMA settings. Sample prediction vs. real study showed close congruence between projected and observed resource consumption. MAE improved with hyperparameter adjustment, according to sensitivity analysis. Moreover, SARIMA-based resource allocation improved CPU usage by 12.5%, RAM utilization by 20%, and storage utilization by 21.4%. These data demonstrate SARIMA's ability to forecast cloud resource needs. SARIMA-based resource management might change dynamic cloud resource management systems due to cost reductions and resource usage efficiency. This research helps industry practitioners improve cloud-based service performance and cost. 2023 IEEE. -
Cloud Computing with Machine Learning Could Help Us in the Early Diagnosis of Breast Cancer
The purpose of this study is to develop tools which could help the clinicians in the primary care hospitals with the early diagnosis of breast cancer diagnosis. Breast cancer is one of the leading forms of cancer in developing countries and often gets detected at the lateral stages. The detection of cancer at later stages results not only in pain and in agony to the patients but also puts lot of financial burden on the caregivers. In this work, we are presenting the preliminary results of the project code named BCDM (Breast Cancer Diagnosis using Machine Learning) developed using Mat lab. The algorithm developed in this research cancer work based on adaptive resonance theory. In this research work, we concluded how Art 1 network will help in classification of breast. The aim of the project is to eventually run the algorithm on a cloud computer and a clinician at a primary healthcare can use the system for the early diagnosis of the patients using web based interface from anywhere in the world. 2015 IEEE. -
Revisiting the trade opennessunemployment nexus: anapplication of the novel JKS panel causality test with static anddynamic panel models
Purpose: This paper documents a robust empirical regularity: higher trade openness is associated with a lower unemployment rate. This paper also examines whether or not the effects of trade liberalisation depend on countries' income levels. Further, the dynamic causation between trade openness and unemployment is also examined. Design/methodology/approach: In order to obtain insight into the opennessunemployment nexus, following empirical methods were utilised - static panel models, dynamic panel models and a novel panel Granger causality approach proposed by Juodis etal. (2021). Findings: Results suggest that openness negatively affects unemployment; the extent to which trade liberalisation affects unemployment depends on the income level of each country. The Juodis, Karavias, and Sarafidis (JKS) test confirmed that the past values of trade openness, inflation, foreign direct investment and gross domestic product per capita contain information that helps to predict unemployment in a more robust manner. To simply put, opening upto trade may eventually become a requirement for creating more job opportunities, but this alone may not be enough. The extent to which nations benefit from trade liberalisation is largely dependent on the overall economic conditions and their capability to move up the income scale. Originality/value: A major difference between this study and those performed previously is that this study does not only examine the impact of trade openness on unemployment, but also investigates whether the unemployment effect of liberalisation is affected by countries' income levels an issue that has received little attention in the past. Additionally, the unique panel non-causality approach put forth by Juodis etal. (2021) is used in the first instance to look into the causal link between trade openness and unemployment. This method has advantages in that the method enables capturing Granger-causality in homogeneous or heterogeneous panels amongst multiple variables. 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited. -
Trade Integration and Export Aspiration: Evidence from India's Trade in Goods with BRICS Countries
The purpose of this study was to examine the dynamics of trade between India and the BRICS countries as well as to gauge the relative strength of Indian exports to those nations. The trade integration patterns among BRICS countries were also analyzed. To quantify the extent to which India's exports correspond to the needs of its BRICS counterparts, a novel export aspiration index was constructed. The index of trade integration patterns has also been employed to quantify India's trade integration pattern with other BRICS members. Further, the gravity model of trade has been employed to analyze the fundamentals of India-BRICS trade. The export aspiration in individual BRICS countries shows a diverse pattern. However, India's export aspiration in these countries has improved, although marginally in the long run. Such empirical evidence substantiates that the relative strength of India's exports within its BRICS counterparts has marginally improved over time. Moreover, the trade integration index indicates a similar trade integration pattern among the BRICS countries and corroborates the presence of inter-industry trade. Added to the conventional variables of the gravity model, India's outward multilateral trade resistance and BRICS inward multilateral trade resistance significantly promote India-BRICS trade. Hence, the relative strength of Indian exports will increase substantially if India's commodity composition is diversified by including more commodities in its export baskets that correspond to the needs and changing conditions of the BRICS economies. Copyright 2022 Mudaser Ahad Bhat, Aamir Jamal, Mirza Nazrana Beg. -
COVID-19 pandemic and trade flows: empirical evidence from selected Asian Pacific countries
Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on trade flows in Asia Pacific countries and explores the causality between COVID-19-related shocks and trade. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used two novel techniques, namely, two-stage instrumental-variables (2SIV) approach and Juodis, Karavias and Sarafids (JKS) causality test, to examine trade dynamics in the Asia Pacific region during the pandemic. Findings: Using the monthly trade data of 17 Asia Pacific countries between January 2020 and December 2021, the results were threefold. Firstly, the empirical analysis showed that during the COVID-19 crisis, the flow of exports tended to persist idiosyncratically in comparison to the flow of imports. In particular, a specific finding was that the persistence level in exports was about 20%25% higher than that in imports. Secondly, the authors found that the past values of COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 deaths contain information that helps to predict exports/imports over and above the information contained in the past values of exports/imports alone. Finally, the study established that the government response and stringency indexes have a Granger-causal relationship with exports and imports. Research limitations/implications: For the foreseeable future, these findings have significant policy ramifications. Firstly, if a COVID-19 crisis-like situation emerges in the future, it will be critical for countries to maintain their competitiveness throughout the crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, while also rebuilding trade relationships wherever possible. Secondly, because information about government responses and measures can also be used to predict future trade flows, prudent management of government responses and stringent measures will be necessary in a crisis like COVID-19 to achieve the optimum level of exports and imports. At the same time, the trading partners should give up the idea of trade protection and focus on finding a way to balance the conflicting needs of imports and exports. Originality/value: To the best of the authors knowledge, the authors, for the first time, used a 2SIV approach and JKS causality test to examine trade dynamics in the Asia Pacific region during the pandemic. In addition, the authors present the first comprehensive analysis of the evolving relationships between export and import flows and governmental policy responses under COVID-19. As a result, it contributes uniquely to both public and international economics. 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited. -
A Comparative Analysis of Competition Law Regimes with the Increase of E-Commerce in India and U.S.A
The growth in analytics and cloud technologies has provided an interface where it is more interactive and approachable for the consumer to decide about purchases and varieties. The authors in this paper will be addressing the existence of anti-competitive practices in India, US and provide a comparative study of the enforceability of Competition laws in these countries respectively. India is primarily considered as one of the lucrative markets with highest usage of mobile phones and data and growing demand for the same, the new entrants in the market are finding it difficult with the anti-competitive aspects for instance unfair practices by gate keepers. The authors will research on the need to promote economic growth post pandemic and the necessary steps to be incorporated in such promotions so as to increase the demand and supply but at the same time maintain the competition. The Electrochemical Society