• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.175-181
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• 2023

Competition assures improved products and services to meet customers' needs. The soundness of a firm's financial health is crucial for the country's economic well-being. Distressed companies cause investor panic, which has a knock-on effect on the economy and leads to a deterioration in the image and value of the companies. This paper aims to empirically investigate the influence of competition on financial distress (FD) in the healthcare industry using the Altman Zscore values as the proxy for FD. This study uses secondary data from ten healthcare companies operating in India between 2016 and 2020. The study's findings indicate a significant negative relation with the exogenous variables of the study, implying that a higher level of competition enhances a firm's FD or adversely affects financial health. The main implication of the study is two-pronged. Firstly, the firms' managers and decision-makers need not worry about competition as a deterrent to stability. Secondly, the policymakers need not be concerned that high competition may lead to financial stress for the firms. Therefore, this paper concludes that competition is good for firms operating in India.

• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2022

The activated carbon is a very good choice for using as supercapacitor electrode materials. Herein, the flower of Shorea robusta, a bio-waste material was successfully used to synthesize the activated carbons for application as supercapacitor electrode materials. The activated carbon was synthesized through chemical activation process followed by thermal treatment at 700℃ in presence of N₂ atmosphere using KOH, ZnCl₂ and H₃PO₄ as the activating agents. The physicochemical analyses demonstrate that the obtained activated carbons are graphitic in nature and the degree of disorder of the graphitic carbons is changed with the activating agents. The activated carbon obtained from Shorea robusta flower (ACSF-K) electrode shows the specific capacitance of ~610 F g^-1 at 2 A g^-1 current density, which is higher than ACSF-Z (560 F g^-1) and ACSF-H (470 F g^-1) electrode material under the identical current density. The synthesized graphitic carbons also demonstrated good rate capability and high electrochemical stability as supercapacitor electrode.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.345-349
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• 2021

The continued environmental pollution caused by fossil fuel consumption has prompted researchers around the world to develop environmentally friendly energy technologies. Electrochemical energy storage is the significant area of research in this development process, and the research significance of supercapacitors in this field is increasing. Herein, a simple electrodeposition synthetic route was explored to develop the MoP layered cathode material. The layered structure provided a highly ion-accessible surface for smooth and faster ion adsorption/desorption. After Fe was doped into MoP, the morphology of MoP changes and the electrochemical performance was significantly improved. Specific capacitance value of the binder-free FeMoP electrode was found to be 269 F g^-1 at 2 A g^-1 current density in 6 M aqueous KOH electrolyte. After adding Fe to MoP, an additional redox contribution was observed in the redox conversion from Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺ redox pair, and the charge transfer kinetics of MoP was effectively improved. This research can provide guidance for the development of supercapacitor electrode materials through simple electrodeposition technology.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1051-1066
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• 2018

This study presents a novel step-up switched capacitor multilevel inverter (SCMLI) structure. The proposed structure comprises 2 unequal DC voltage sources, 4 capacitors, and 14 unidirectional power switches. It can synthesize 21 output voltage levels. The important features of the proposed topology are its self-voltage boosting and inherent capacitor voltage balancing capabilities. Furthermore, a cascaded structure of the proposed SCMLI with an asymmetric DC voltage source configuration is presented. The proposed topology and its cascaded structure are compared with conventional and other recently developed topologies in terms of different aspects, such as the required components to produce a specific number of output voltage levels, the total standing voltage (TSV) and peak inverse voltage of the structure, and the maximum number of switches in the conducting path. Furthermore, a cost function is developed to verify the cost-effectiveness of the proposed topology with respect to other topologies. The TSV of the proposed topology is significantly lower than those of other topologies. Moreover, the developed topology is cost-effective compared with other topologies. A detailed operating principle, power loss analysis, and selection procedure for switched capacitors are presented for the proposed SCMLI structure. Extensive simulation and experimental studies of a 21-level inverter structure prove the effectiveness and merits of the proposed SCMLI.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.179-185
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• 2016

A self-charging supercapacitor is constructed through simple integration of the energy storage and photo exited materials at the photo electrode. The large band gap of $NiO/Fe_3O_4$ heterostructure generates photo electron at the photo electrode and store the charges through redox mechanism at the counter electrode. Sulfanilic acid azocromotrop/reduced graphene oxide layer at the photo electrode trapped the photo generated hole and store the charge by forming double layer. The solar supercapacitor device is charged within 400 s up to 0.5 V and exhibited a high specific capacitance of ~908 F/g against 1.5 A/g load. The solar illuminated supercapacitor shows a high energy and power density of 33.4 Wh/kg and 385 W/kg along with a very low relaxation time of ~15 ms ensuring the utility of the self charging device in the various field of energy storage and optoelectronic application.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.167-172
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• 2016

$Co_9S_8/reduced$ graphene (CSRG) has been prepared by a facile two step hydrothermal method and used as a supercapacitor electrode material. It is anticipated that the $Co_9S_8$ and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) would serve as a spacer material to each other to stop the agglomeration and simultaneous contribution of electrical double layer capacitance (RGO) and pseudocapacitance ($Co_9S_8$) would provide high electrochemical properties. The chemical analysis has been done by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the morphology is characterised by field emission scanning electron microscopy. CSRG shows a high electrical conductivity of $98S\;m^{-1}$. The symmetric supercapacitor shows a specific capacitance of ${\sim}728F\;g^{-1}$ with a current density of $2A\;g^{-1}$. CSRG also showed an energy density of $25.2Wh\;kg^{-1}$ with a power density of $1000W\;kg^{-1}$.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.153-161
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• 2023

This study's principal goal is to find the interrelation between transparency & disclosure (TD) and the healthcare sector's firm valuation (FV). The paper uses the market-to-book (MTB) ratio and market capitalization as proxies, where sales measure act as a control variable. Dynamic panel data regression (PD) is the method applied for analyzing data. Data pertains to 10 healthcare companies gathered over five years (2016-2020). Results imply that TD has a negative and significant influence on the FV, where market capitalization acts as a proxy for valuation. This association indicates that a greater degree of TD diminishes FV. TD is also reported to have a negative and insignificant association with MTB. Therefore, TD does not influence FV. The findings of this paper have significant practical implications. Results can help policymakers determine mandatory disclosure levels that are not detrimental to the healthcare sector. Managers and analysts must also analyze the dimensions of disclosure that can negatively impact the firm's valuation and make decisions regarding TD accordingly. This is the first study to assess the influence of TD on the FV of the Indian healthcare sector, which makes it unique. This study is limited to the healthcare sector, which is its shortcoming.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.11.1-11.7
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• 2017

Background: Use of prebiotics in companion animal nutrition is often considered advantageous over probiotics because of the ease of handling, ability to withstand processing and storage etc. While most of the studies on prebiotic use in dogs have been done with processed food as basal diet, the response in relation to homemade diet feeding is not very well explored. Methods: The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary mannanoligosaccharide (MOS) supplementation on nutrient digestibility, hindgut fermentation, immune response and antioxidant indices in dogs. Ten Spitz pups were divided into two groups: control (CON) with no supplementation, and experimental (MOS) wherein the basal diet was supplemented with MOS at 15 g/kg diet. All dogs were fed on a home-prepared diet for a period of 150 days. The study protocol included a digestion trial, periodic blood collection and analysis for lipid profile and erythrocytic antioxidants. Immune response of the animals was assessed towards the end of the feeding period. Results: Results revealed no significant (P > 0.05) variations in palatability score, intake and apparent digestibility of nutrients between the groups. Faecal score, faeces voided, faecal pH, concentrations of ammonia, lactate and short-chain fatty acids were comparable (P > 0.05) between the two groups. Cell-mediated immune response, assessed as delayed-type of hypersensitivity response, was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the MOS group. The percent of lymphocyte sub-populations CD4+ and ratio of CD4+:CD8+ were also significantly (P < 0.05) higher in MOS group. The serum IgG levels were similar (P > 0.05) in both the groups. Supplementation of MOS lowered (P < 0.05) serum total- and LDL- cholesterol levels, when compared with the control group. The erythrocytic antioxidant indices were similar (P > 0.05) between the two groups. Conclusions: The results indicated that supplementation of MOS at the rate of 15 g/kg in the diet of dog augmented the cell-mediated immune response and serum lipid profile without any influences on digestibility of nutrients, hindgut fermentation and antioxidants indices.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.223-228
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• 2012

This study was designed to adopt two estrus synchronization protocols in zebu and crossbred heifers and their effects on pregnancy rate after timed artificial insemination (TAI). A number of 120 cyclic heifers were allotted for two different treatment groups and one control group. Heifers under protocol A were injected with GnRH at first day followed by a single dose of $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ at Day 11 and injection of GnRH at the day of AI; and heifers belonged to protocol B were treated with GnRH, two $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ injections at 11 days apart and injection of GnRH at AI. AI was done at fixed time (within 72~96 hours after $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ injection) in both protocols and pregnancy was confirmed by rectal palpation on 80~120 days of post AI. In control group; local heifers were conceived higher (30%) proportion than that of crossbred heifers (25%; p<0.05). In protocol A, the local breed were conceived higher (38.9%) proportion compared with crossbred (25%; p<0.05). In protocol B, local breed heifers were conceived higher (38.9%) proportion compared with crossbred heifers (33.3%; p<0.05). The overall pregnancy rate in protocol A and protocol B was 33.3% and 36.6%, respectively. The proportion of pregnancy rate of local heifers (38.9%; Protocol A) was significant (p<0.05) in comparison with local heifers (30%) in control group (p<0.05). The overall pregnancy rate between pooled control group (28.3%) and treatment group (35%) was significantly (p<0.05) differ from each other's. Results of present study concluded that estrus synchronization followed by fixed time AI could be applied for higher pregnancy rate in zebu and crossbred heifers.