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Acacia auriculiformisDerived Bimodal Porous Nanocarbons via Self-Activation for High-Performance Supercapacitors
Carbon nanomaterials derived from Acacia auriculiformis pods as electrodes for the electrochemical double-layer capacitors were explored. Four pyrolysis temperatures were set (400, 600, 800, and 1,000C) to understand the role of temperature in biomass pyrolysis via a possible self-activation mechanism for the synthesis of carbon materials. The carbon materials synthesized at 800C (AAC800) were found to exhibit a well-organized hierarchical porous structure, quantified further from N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms with a maximum specific surface area of 736.6m2/g. Micropores were found to be contributing toward enhancing the specific surface area. AAC800 exhibited a maximum specific capacitance of 176.7F/g at 0.5A/g in 6.0M KOH electrolyte in a three-electrode setup. A symmetric supercapacitor was fabricated using AAC800 as an active material in an organic electrolyte composed of 1.0M tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate (TEABF4) as a conducting salt in the acetonitrile (ACN) solvent. The self-discharge of the cell/device was analyzed from fitting two different mathematical models; the cell also exhibited a remarkable coulombic efficiency of 100% over 10,000 charge/discharge cycles, retaining ?93% capacitance at 2.3V. Copyright 2021 Bhat, Jayeoye, Rujiralai, Sirimahachai, Chong and Hegde. -
A pair of kinematically related space curves
We investigate the relation between two types of space curves, the Mannheim curves and constant-pitch curves and primarily explicate a method of deriving Mannheim curves and constant-pitch curves from each other by means of a suitable deformation of a space curve. We define a "radius" function and a "pitch" function for any arbitrary regular space curve and use these to characterize the two classes of curves. A few non-trivial examples of both Mannheim and constant pitch curves are discussed. The geometric nature of Mannheim curves is established by using the notion of osculating helices. The Frenet-Serret motion of a rigid body in theoretical kinematics is studied for the special case of a Mannheim curve and the axodes in this case are deduced. In particular, we show that the fixed axode is developable if and only if the motion trajectory is a Mannheim curve. 2018 World Scientific Publishing Company. -
Trade in renewable energy technologies: A comparison of India and China
[No abstract available] -
Pollution Haven Hypothesis and the Bilateral Trade Between India and China
The pollution haven hypothesis is studied from a bilateral trade perspective in this study, taking the reference of two Asian giants, namely, India and China. For this purpose, trade in pollution-intensive industries is analysed using data collected from the United Nations Comtrade dataset based on Standard Industrial Trade Classification codes for 19922019. The analysis helps us argue that between the two, China's demand is more pollution-intensive and India is the major supplier of pollution-intensive products. From an environmental perspective, this implies that China seems to be gaining from trade, and India is becoming a pollution haven in its trade with China. The Author(s) 2023. -
Psychological distress among college students of coastal district of Karnataka: A community-based cross-sectional survey
Background: Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) are frequent among adolescents and early adults. National Mental Health Survey of India 20152016 shows alarming results, especially for depression. This study explored the prevalence of psychological distress among college students. Additionally, the relationship between gender, living arrangement with psychological distress in various educational streams were explored. Materials and Methods: Through a cross-sectional community-based survey a total of 4839 college going students of various educational streams in Mangalore, Karnataka were assessed for psychological distress with Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). Results: Participants had median age of 19 (range = 9) years and the majority (59.5%) were females. The median SRQ score was 4 (range 20) and about 28.5% of students were found to be psychologically stressed. The suicidal ideation was reported by 13.6% of the students. Engineering and Arts/science/commerce students had significantly higher psychological distress scores as compared to health and allied sciences (k = 47.7; p < 0.001) and those who were staying with families (U = 2,687,648.5; p = 0.004) reported higher levels of psychological distress in comparison to those who were staying away from their families. Conclusion: Prevalence of psychological distress was high among students, especially non-medical students, students who were staying with their families, and those who were younger in age. A significant proportion of students had suicidal ideation, which needs early mental health interventions at the college level. 2018 -
The Lives behind the Luxurious Threads: Beleaguered Sustainability of Kashmirs Pashmina Artisans
Kashmir pashmina, sometimes referred to as "cashmere, in the West, is one of the most valuable cultural artifacts Kashmir has offered for centuries, and continues to be sought after. The fine pure pashmina has maintained its luxury status for centuries and is still a symbol of elegance in the international markets. The pashmina shawl is not just popular for its fiber, but also for the elegant embroidery stitched in myriad colors by skilled artisans. Despite this international acclaim, the pashmina artisans dwell in impoverished conditions and face the ever-growing challenges of power looms. This research article is a study of the social and economic barriers that contribute to the dire living conditions of the active Kashmiri pashmina artisans. Along with examining the deteriorating work condition of the artisans, this paper also looks at how these circumstances have a long-lasting impact on the pashmina shawl industry, thus leading to the degradation of an art form altogether. Finally, this paper studies the declining living conditions of the pashmina artisans by analyzing the data collected through a qualitative study incorporating cultural mapping tools like interviews, personal narratives, and literature review. The sample for the study was collected from Kashmir Haat, Srinagar, Kashmir by the researcher through interviews and discussions. 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
Spectroscopic study of Be-shell stars: 4 Her and 88 Her
We present an optical spectroscopic study based on 41 spectra of 4 Her and 32 spectra of 88 Her, obtained over a period of 6 months. We estimate the rotational velocity of these stars from HeI lines in the blue spectral region (4000-4500 . We find that these stars are likely to be rotating at a fractional critical rotation of ?0.80. We measure the average I p/I c ratio to quantify the strength of the H? line and obtain 1.63 for 4 Her and 2.06 for 88 Her. The radius of the H? emission region is estimated to be Rd/R? ?5.0, assuming a Keplerian disk. These stars are thus found to be fast rotators with a relatively small H? emission region. We detect V/R variation of the H? spectral line during the observed period. We re-estimate the periods for both stars and obtain a period of ?46 d and its harmonic of 23.095 d for 4 Her, and a period of ?86 d for 88 Her. As these two cases are shell stars with binaries and have low H? EW with the emission region closer to the central star, the V/R variation and a change in period may be an effect of the binary on the circumstellar disk. 2016 National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences and IOP Publishing Ltd. -
Oil Price Volatility and Its Impact on Industry Stock Return Bi Variate Analysis
Oil price volatility impacts industries differently depending on a countrys status as a net oil importer or exporter. In oil-importing nations like India, sectors such as banking, energy, materials, retailing, transportation, and manufacturing are adversely affected by price fluctuations, while industries like food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals tend to be more resilient. Conversely, oil-exporting countries experience milder effects, with the oil and gas sector bearing the brunt of supply disruptions while other industries remain insulated. Over time, the correlation between oil prices and stock market performance has strengthened, making oil price volatility a systemic risk factor. The source of oil price shocks, whether from demand changes or supply disruptions, significantly influences their impact on stock returns. Notably, there are substantial volatility spillovers between oil and stock markets. This study aims to explore the relationship between oil shocks and industry returns using various multivariate models, highlighting the importance of considering oil as a relevant risk factor in portfolio management. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024. -
Lean Six Sigma competitiveness for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME): an action research in the Indian context
Purpose: The aim of the article is to ascertain the challenges, lessons learned and managerial implications in the deployment of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) competitiveness to micro, small and medium Enterprises (MSME) in India and to establish doctrines to strengthen the initiatives of the government. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopts the Action Research methodology to develop a case study, which is carried out in the printing industry in a Tier III city using the LSS DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) approach. It utilizes LSS tools to deploy the strategy and to unearth the challenges and success factors in improving the printing process of a specific batch of a product. Findings: The root cause for the critical to quality (CTQ) characteristic, turn-around-time (TAT) is determined and the solutions are deployed through the scientifically proven data-based approach. As a result of this study, the TAT reduced from an average of 1541.21303.36min, which in turn, improved the sigma level from 0.55 to 2.96, a noteworthy triumph for this MSME. The company realizes an annual savings of USD 12,000 per year due to the success of this project. Top Management Leadership, Data-Based Validation, Technical Know-how and Industrial Engineering Knowledge Base are identified as critical success factors (CSFs), while profitability and on-time delivery are the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the MSME. Eventually, the lessons learned and implications indicate that LSS competitiveness can be treated as quality management standards (QMS) and quality tools and techniques (QTT) to ensure competitive advantage, sustainable green practices and growth. Research limitations/implications: Even though the findings and recommendations of this research are based on a single case study, it is worth noting that the case study is executed in a Tier III city along with novice users of LSS tools and techniques. This indicates the applicability of LSS in MSME and thus, the modality adopted can be further refined to suit the socio-cultural aspects of India. Originality/value: This article illustrates the deployment of LSS from the perspective of novice users, to assist MSME and policymakers to reinforce competitiveness through LSS. Moreover, the government can initiate a scheme in line with LSS competitiveness to complement the existing schemes based on the findings of the case study. 2020, 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 -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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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. -
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. -
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.