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Impact of corporate governance attributes on cost of equity: Evidence from an emerging economy
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to construct a comprehensive Indian corporate governance index in light of the recently introduced Companies Act, 2013, which is further validated by analyzing its impact on the cost of equity of a firm. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the hand-collected data from firms listed on S&P BSE 500 from 2001 to 2016, this index comprises seven equally weighted sub-indices, comprising a total of 43 corporate governance attributes. This index and the sub-indices have further been regressed with the cost of equity of a firm. Findings: The results suggest a negative significant relationship between the overall corporate governance and the cost of equity. The study also suggests that among all the sub-indices, board composition predicts the cost of equity to a greater extent. Other than this, the audit committee sub-index has a negative significant association with the cost of equity. The findings imply that a well-governed firm enjoys ease of access to equity finance from the market. Originality/value: The corporate governance index is based on the recent regulatory reforms introduced in India. The index, with certain changes suitable to the local context, can be applied to similar emerging economies as well. The causal relationship tested using this method is the first one done in India. This study adds to the domain of corporate governance literature with special focus on the construction of an index for an emerging economy. 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. -
Enhancement of mechanical properties of epoxy/halloysite nanotube (HNT) nanocomposites
The particulate filled epoxy composites show lower mechanical properties than neat composites due to lack strength of uniform dispersion of particles leading to poor in interfacial strength between matrix and fillers. In this study, ultrasonification dispersion technique is employed to achieve a homogenous dispersion of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) in epoxy resin. The nanocomposites are fabricated by solution casting method and specimens are prepared as per ASTM standards. The various test has been conducted as per ASTM procedure to evaluate the mechanical properties viz. density, hardness, tensile, flexural, ILSS and impact strength of the nanocomposites consisting of different weight (wt)% of HNTs varying in the range of 04 with the interval of 1. As per the experimental investigation, the selected dispersion techniques enhances the mechanical properties of the nanocomposite by the loading of HNT. Further, the study revealed that the 3wt% of HNT with ultrasonic homogenized nanocomposite shows superior mechanical strength as compared to other nanocomposites. Hence it is evident that the properties of the nanocomposite depends on the quantity of filler present and dispersion condition. The dispersion condition and fractured surfaces are analyzed through the SEM micrographs. 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. -
Investigation on the phase transformation and lattice parameters of Sn 2+ , Cu 2+ , La 3+ and Ce 4+ ions doped titania: characterization and solar light activity study
Nanocrystalline titania and metal ion doped titania systems were prepared by combustion method. Titania exhibited bicrystalline phase consisting of both anatase and rutile. The bicrystalline framework in TiO 2 powders can be conveniently altered by the incorporation of various bivalent/trivalent/tetravalent metal ions like Sn 2+ , Cu 2+ , La 3+ and Ce 4+ . The microstructure development and the influence of small amount of dopants on the resulting structural change have been investigated. p-XRD results confirms the stabilization of anatase phase in the case of Cu 2+ and Sn 2+ doped titania, while the polymorphic interfaces were retained in La 3+ and Ce 4+ doped titania samples. The efficacy of the modified titania was studied on the degradation of Congo Red dye by harvesting solar light. Sn 2+ /TiO 2 shows almost same photodegradation ability as that of pristine TiO 2. Subsistence of catalytic hot spots at the interface of anatase-rutile and the synergistic effect of polymorphic phases explains the enhanced activity of La 3+ /TiO 2 and Ce 4+ /TiO 2 . But the activity of Cu 2+ /TiO 2 was found to be less due to high electron-hole recombination rate. 2019 Elsevier GmbH -
Smartphones in churches: An affective negotiation around digital disruptions and opportunities in Delhi Christian Churches
Interpersonal relations in a world of digital ubiquity have brought religious institutions into personal digital networks. The development of personal-religious networks has affected individual faith practices and altered religious responses. This article explores patterns of behaviour emerging from a collective sense of belonging and affective responses in online church networks where smartphones acts as an extension of self. It analyses the relationship between faith and visual practices/aesthetics impacting today's religious experience. It also explains affective loops that are consciously constructed by church authorities to shape collective action. The function of these loops is to create a deeper sense of connectedness between practitioners and the church through harnessing technology and its affective power. 2019 Journal of Content, Community & Communication. -
Phytogenic CeO2-Sm2O3 nanocomposites with enhanced catalytic activity for reduction of 4-nitrophenol
The phytogenic synthesized CeO2-Sm2O3 is a green, efficient and cost-effective catalyst. The CeO2-Sm2O3 composite was characterized using XRD, FTIR, Raman, TGA, UV-DRS, TEM, FE-SEM and EDAX. The synthesized CeO2-Sm2O3 shows a high catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol in the presence of the sodium borohydride under ambient conditions. This CeO2-Sm2O3 nanocomposite catalyst shows good stability and reusability without much loss in conversion efficiency. CeO2-Sm2O3 possess great prospects in the reduction of nitro organic pollutants in water. 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd. -
Heat transfer enhancement in the boundary layer flow of hybrid nanofluids due to variable viscosity and natural convection
The aim of the current work is to explore how heat transfer can be enhanced by variations in the basic properties of fluids in the presence of free convection with the aid of suspended hybrid nanofluids. Also, the influence of the Laurentz force on the flow is considered. The mathematical equations are converted into a pair of self-similarity equations by applying appropriate transformations. The reduced similarity equivalences are then solved numerically by Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg 45 th -order method. To gain better perception of the problem, the flow and energy transfer characteristics are explored for distinct values of significant factors such as variable viscosity, convection, magnetic field, and volume fraction. The results acquired are in good agreement with previously published results. The noteworthy finding is that the thermal conductivity is greater in hybrid nanofluid than that of a regular nanofluid in the presence of specified factors. The boundary layer thickness of both hybrid nanofluid and normal nanofluid diminishes due to decrease in variable viscosity. The fluid flow and temperature of the hybrid nanofluid and normal nanofluid increases as there is a rise in volume fraction. 2019 -
The role of business development management consultants in construction industry in India
The Indian construction industry is in boom in terms of the growth and development taking place in the field of infrastructure and the service sector and subsequently many public owned design, architecture, construction and engineering companies were set up in India. The current study emphasises on the role of business development management consultants in the overall performance of construction companies and the existing review of literature focuses on the various factors which affects the overall business performance of the construction companies which includes different variables considering all the existing studies this study identified the gap in terms of intervention of BDMC in the construction field. The methodology adopted for the study is quantitative exploratory research and the results of the study was very positive that the promoters believe that the business development management consultants contribute a lot in the overall performance of the construction company with their expertise in the field and professional way of dealing with the other stake holders of the company helps them to perform very effectively and efficiently. This study helped in getting the practical exposure to the working of construction companies and understanding the role of business development management consultants. The Author(s) 2019. -
Structural investigation of discrete solvent protonated vanadium and other transition metal complexes of N-[(E)-(3-ethoxy-2-hydroxyphenyl)methylidene]benzohydrazide, synthetic, spectroscopic and cytotoxicity studies
A new ligand 3-ethoxysalicylaldehyde benzoic hydrazone (H2ESB) and its copper(II), nickel(II), cobalt(II), zinc(II), and dioxidovanadium(V) complexes have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UVVis and EPR studies. Copper(II) complex (2) contains 2,2?-bipyridine as a coligand. Aroyl hydrazone and its copper and vanadium complexes were characterised by single crystal XRD. The vanadium compound crystallized in triclinic space group P1- and copper compound in orthorhombic space group P212121. The solvent molecule DMF protonates to form ammonium ion in vanadium complex which neutralises the charge on the vanadium ion. Both complexes copper and vanadium show distorted square pyramidal geometry. From EPR results, spin Hamiltonian and bonding parameters were calculated. The g values in copper complexes indicate the presence of the unpaired electron in the dx?y orbital. In vitro cytotoxicity studies of aroylhydrazone and its complexes showed that copper, cobalt and vanadium complexes are more cytotoxic than hydrazone and other complexes against Dalton's lymphoma ascites cells (DLA). 2019 Elsevier B.V. -
Parental socialization of positive affect, adolescent positive affect regulation, and adolescent girls depression in India
An emerging body of research shows that parental socialization of positive affect (PA) is implicated in youth functioning, although most evidence comes from Western countries. In this study, focusing on adolescent girls in India, we examined associations among reports of parents responses to adolescent PA, adolescent PA regulation, and adolescent depression. A total of 238 adolescent girls (1318years) and one of their parents (54% mothers) were recruited. Participants completed questionnaires at the beginning of the school year (time 1) and five months later (time 2). At the bivariate level, parents dampening and adolescent girls dampening responses were each associated concurrently with adolescent depression at time 1. However, there were no significant direct associations between time 1 parents dampening or enhancing responses and time 2 adolescent girls depression (after controlling for time 1 depression). Using half-longitudinal models, a significant indirect effect was found from parental dampening of PA to increased adolescent depression via adolescent girls own increased dampening. No indirect effect was found from parental enhancing to adolescent depression via adolescent girls increased positive rumination. These findings are the first to demonstrate the relevance of PA socialization for girls in a non-Western culture. 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd -
High gain ultra wideband fractal antenna
A high gain Compact Octagonal Ultra-wideband Fractal Antenna (COUFA) using the Dual Layer Meta Frequency Selective Surface Reflector (DLMFSSR) is presented in this manuscript. The proposed Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) provides a suitable reflection phase to act as a reflector and is capable of enhancing the gain of the antenna in its wide operating bandwidth. The proposed antenna design provides better impedance bandwidth of 2-10.37 GHz with significant increase in the gain of 0.41-11.83 dB at various resonance frequencies in comparison with the antenna without reflector. The complete antenna with DLMFSSR is designed and simulated using High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS). The Proposed antenna, FSS are fabricated and the numerical results for return loss S11, VSWR and gain are demonstrated. Simulation and fabrication results are found to be worthy, which suites the design malleable enough for several modern UWB wireless applications. Copyright 2019 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved. -
Analysis of students' preferences for teachers based on performance attributes in higher education
Faculty evaluation is widely used not only for the appraisal of their performance, but also for curriculum innovation and development. There are many techniques to perform faculty evaluation. But these techniques do not address all the factors essential for evaluating a faculty. These evaluations are subjective in nature and found to be controversial as students' expectations vary. This hinders the main motive of faculty evaluation. To overcome this problem, there is a need to identify a suitable method to perform faculty evaluation. In this paper, the Conjoint Analysis, a mathematical statistics technique is used to analyze the major aspects that the students are expecting from their faculty. This technique increases the fairness in the appraisal process so that teaching can be made fun and effective. This research is a novel attempt that applies conjoint analysis to identify the major aspects of teaching in students' perspective. The proposed idea can be adapted to any domain where the customers' choice is valued particularly in Cloud computing services. 2019 Mithula G P, Arokia Paul Rajan R. -
GASP. XV. A MUSE view of extreme ram-pressure stripping along the line of sight: Physical properties of the jellyfish galaxy JO201
We present a study of the physical properties of JO201, a unique disc galaxy with extended tails undergoing extreme ram-pressure stripping (RPS) as it moves through the massive cluster Abell 85 at supersonic speeds mostly along the line of sight. JO201 was observed with multi-unit spectroscopic explorer as part of the GASP programme. In a previous paper (GASP II) we studied the stellar and gas kinematics. In this paper we present emission-line ratios, gas-phase metallicities, and ages of the stellar populations across the galaxy disc and tails. We find that while the emission at the core of the galaxy is dominated by an active galactic nucleus (AGN), the disc is composed of star-forming knots surrounded by excited diffuse gas. The collection of star-forming knots presents a metallicity gradient steadily decreasing from the centre of the galaxy outwards, and the ages of the stars across the galaxy show that the tails formed ? 109 yr ago. This result is consistent with an estimate of the stripping time-scale (?1 Gyr), obtained from a toy orbital model. Overall, our results independently and consistently support a scenario in which a recent or ongoing event of intense RPS acting from the outer disc inwards, causes removal and compression of gas, thus altering the AGN and star formation activity within and around the galaxy. 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. -
Effect of Coriolis force on Rayleigh-Bard convection with internal heat generation
The objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of the Coriolis force and internal heat source on Rayleigh-Bard convection in a Boussinesquian fluid of depth d. A linear theory which is oriented towards the normal mode analysis technique is used for this mono-diffusive convection in order to find the criteria for the onset of Rayleigh-Bard convection. The eigenvalue of the said problem was obtained by the use of the Galerkin method in the cases of rigid-rigid, rigid-free, and free-free velocity boundary combinations considering the isothermal and adiabatic temperature boundaries that determine the stability of the system. The effects of various parameters, Taylor number and the internal Rayleigh number are put under consideration only for stationary convection. Treating Taylor number as a critical parameter, shown that it plays a major role in stabilization of the system in case of any particular infinitesimal disturbance. The destabilization of the system has been possible with rotation by treating internal Rayleigh numbers as a critical parameter since the increase in values of the internal Rayleigh number advances the onset of convection. Oscillatory convection seems highly improbable as the scaled frequency of oscillation remains less than 0 for all combinations of Prandtl number, internal Rayleigh number, and Taylor number. 2019, Accent Social and Welfare Society. All rights reserved. -
Locating Indian universities in knowledge societies: A critique
Knowledge societies characterize a defining feature of the present era. Veering away from their initial connotation of scientific temper and reasoning, today, they assume a new meaning in which the basis of economy, polity, and social action is knowledge. In the post-capitalist, post-industrial societies, knowledge has become the foundation of industrial productivity and social wellbeing. The crux of knowledge production has been shifting from the traditional disciplinary contexts promoted by academic interests in the universities to its applications for better productivity and wellbeing. Nevertheless, productivity and usefulness are accorded an epistemological appeal in defining what counts as knowledge. In this context, the present paper discusses the changes in knowledge production and dissemination processes in knowledge societies and their implications for universities in India. 2019 Journal of Dharma: Dharmaram Journal of Religions and Philosophies (DVK, Bangalore). -
Us and India: Emerging offshore balancing in Asia
The US and India have become closer in recent times. Compared with the last century, the relationship between the two countries is in steady growth. Under both the Bush and Obama administrations, and now the Trump administration too, India is receiving significant importance in US strategic policy toward the IndoPacific. Indias emergence as a credible power in the Indian Ocean region has brought both countries much closer. The relationship has also steadily progressed as result of Chinas emergence as a potential hegemon in Asia. The US faces difficulty in maintaining its preponderant position across the IndoPacific and requires strong allies in the region to help share the burden. In this regard, India could be the offshore balancer in Asia to counter Chinas emergence as a potential hegemon in the region. 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. -
Prediction of Answer Keywords using Char-RNN
Generating sequences of characters using a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) is a tried and tested method for creating unique and context aware words, and is fundamental in Natural Language Processing tasks. These type of Neural Networks can also be used a question-answering system. The main drawback of most of these systems is that they work from a factoid database of information, and when queried about new and current information, the responses are usually bleak. In this paper, the author proposes a novel approach to finding answer keywords from a given body of news text or headline, based on the query that was asked, where the query would be of the nature of current affairs or recent news, with the use of Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) variant of RNNs. Thus, this ensures that the answers provided are relevant to the content of query that was put forth. Copyright 2019 Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved. -
RADON in GROUNDWATER of MAGADI TALUK, RAMANAGARA DISTRICT in KARNATAKA
Radon is a water-soluble radioactive noble gas produced from the alpha decay of 226Ra in uranium series. Its presence in drinking water and open air increases the risk of lung and intestinal cancers in human beings. In view of this, radon concentration in groundwater and its dose due to inhalation and ingestion to the population of Magadi taluk of Ramanagara district in Karnataka state, India was studied. The groundwater samples were analyzed for radon concentration using emanometry technique. The study showed that the radon concentration in this area varied from 27.4 1.0 to 167.5 3.9 Bq/L and the effective dose ranged from 104.2 2.7 to 636.2 11.0 ?Sv/a. The study also revealed that 95% of the 37 samples studied showed higher radon concentration compared to the UNSCEAR recommendation (40 Bq/L) and all the samples showed higher than the USEPA recommendation (11.1 Bq/L). Ten samples have concentration above the maximum permissible level prescribed by WHO (100 Bq/L). The groundwater samples are found to be slightly alkaline within the permissible limit of Indian Standards. 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. -
Facile synthesis of novel antimony selenide nanocrystals with hierarchical architecture by physical vapor deposition technique
Stoichiometric antimony selenide (Sb 2 Se 3 ) nanocrystals have been successfully engineered by a facile physical vapor deposition method, employing a single precursor of polycrystalline Sb 2 Se 3 charge in a closed quartz ampoule under high vacuum without any foreign seed or extraneous chemical elements. This work underscores the efficacy of the vapor deposition process and provides synthetic strategies to scale down bulk Sb 2 Se 3 into novel nanostructures. The morphological evolution of the tailored architecture was examined on micro and nano size scales by scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The intrinsic mechanism governing the nanostructure formation is revealed as layer-by-layer growth, related to the unique layered structure of Sb 2 Se 3 . The optical properties of the grown crystals were probed by UVvisNIR and photoluminescence tools. The band-gap values of the microfibers, nanorods, nanooctahedra and nanospheres estimated from UVvisNIR analysis are found to be 1.25, 1.47, 1.51 and 1.75 eV, respectively. Powder X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive analysis by X-rays, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence studies confirmed the quality, phase purity and homogeneity of the as-grown nanostructures. The adopted physical vapor deposition method is thus shown to be a simple and elegant route which resulted in the enhancement of the band gap for the Sb 2 Se 3 samples compared with their counterparts grown by chemical methods. This approach has great potential for further applications in optoelectronics. International Union of Crystallography, 2019 -
Lattice thermal conduction in suspended molybdenum disulfide monolayers with defects
In this study, we investigated the effect of lattice defects comprising vacancies and boundaries on the lattice thermal conductivity (LTC), ? p , of suspended molybdenum disulfide monolayers (MLs) over a wide temperature range (1 < T < 500 K). Using the phonon Boltzmann formalism, the acoustic phonons were considered to be scattered by the sample and grain boundaries, isotopic impurities, vacancies, and other phonons via Umklapp and normal (N-) processes. ? p was evaluated using a modified Callaway model by considering the in-plane longitudinal acoustic and transverse acoustic phonons, and out-of-plane flexural acoustic phonon modes. We demonstrated the need to include the often neglected non-resistive N-processes when evaluating the LTC. Numerical calculations of the temperature dependence of the LTC for crystalline and polycrystalline MoS 2 MLs showed the dominance of sample-dependent scattering mechanisms at low temperatures (T < 100 K) and of phonon-phonon scattering at higher temperatures, where the N-processes played an important role. The effects of vacancies and boundaries were to alter the behavior and suppress the magnitude of the LTC. The suppression due to vacancies was greater in crystalline MLs with specular surfaces and in polycrystalline MLs with larger grain sizes. The calculations compared well with recent thermal conductivity data obtained for polycrystalline samples. The need for further investigations is suggested. 2018 Elsevier Ltd -
Handwritten tibetan character recognition using hidden markov model
The Tibetan language which is one of the four oldest and most original languages of Asia is elemental to Tibetan identity, culture and religion and it convey very specific social and cultural behaviors, and ways of thinking. The annihilation of the Tibetan language will have tremendous consequences for the Tibetan culture and hence it is important to preserve it. Tibetan language is mainly used in Tibet, Bhutan, and also in parts of Nepal and India. Tibetan script is devised based on the Devanagari model and Sanskrit based grammars. In this paper, a method for Tibetan handwritten character recognition based on density and distance feature detection is presents. To get a better classification result, images are converted into binary and noise removal is done by using Otzsos method. Features are extracted by normalizing the image based on distance and density of the pixel in the image. Finally, Hidden Markov Model is used for character classification. BEIESP.