Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the energy markets

Economic Change and Restructuring - This article aims to uncover the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the energy markets in terms of energy stock indexes, energy futures, ETFs, and implied...     

Who Needs Identity? Dalit Studies and the Politics of Recognition

The essay reviews three recent contributions to the study of dalits (former untouchables) in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and situates the monographs in the context of two important events. Firstly, the books are seen as crucial interventions to the emerging field of Dalit Studies. The books help us understand how marginalized groups construct identities, inhabit subjectivities, and articulate their worldviews. Secondly, the field itself is situated against the backdrop of significant social and political transformations in India namely the political ascendance of subordinate castes and the changing notions of what it means to be a dalit in the twenty first century. The essay suggests that Dalit Studies could complicate, nuance, and challenge entrenched shibboleths of historical change in South Asia.     

Failure of thumbtacks used in control of presacral hemorrhage.

We report a case of failure of thumbtacks used in achieving last-resort hemostasis in a gunshot injury to the presacral venous plexus/sacrum. Four of five thumbtacks used detached. The exact mechanism of failure is not known. To our knowledge, there are no reports of failure of these hemostatic devices in the literature. This finding suggests to us that thumbtack hemostasis is not without complication. It is not known whether injury to internal viscera and organs occurred secondary to the loose thumbtacks. We suggest that surgeons as well as pathologists use caution when exploring pelvic or abdominal cavities following pelvic vascular trauma due to the considerable danger posed by these sharp objects.     

Stability of Palatal Rugae as a Forensic Marker in Orthodontically Treated Cases

The palatal rugae have been used as a reference landmark and identification marker by orthodontists and forensic analysts. However, the reliability of palatal rugae as a forensic marker remains questionable once an individual is subjected to orthodontic treatment. This study aimed at evaluating the changes in the rugae pattern after nonextraction, extraction, and maxillary expansion orthodontic treatment. The lengths and shapes of palatal rugae were evaluated on the pretreatment and post‐treatment dental casts of 168 subjects using the Thomas and Kotze classification. Extraction treatment significantly reduced the second and third rugae lengths (p < 0.05), whereas the third rugae length was significantly increased after palatal expansion (p < 0.05). The shape of rugae remained consistent in all the study groups which may be used as a reliable forensic marker in subjects undergoing orthodontic treatment. However, the use of the lengths of palatal rugae in forensic odontology must be made with caution.     

Democracy and the Recasting of Caste in India

The three books under review offer a fascinating account of how the processes of democracy and the practices of the modern Indian state have refashioned caste as an important feature of social stratification and self-definition. But the implication of the recasting of caste varies in the three accounts. According to Zoya Hasan, caste is an important marker of socio-economic backwardness and the policies of affirmative action that are based on this disadvantage should be extended to minorities. For Lucia Michelutti, electoral politics has refashioned caste into ethnic groups. The ethnicization of caste is premised on the horizontal solidarities of fictive kin groups. For Anupama Rao, the politics of dalit emacipation from caste atrocities has paradoxically exposed dalits to further acts of violence. Together, these books offer a compelling account of the formation of political subjects in modern India.     

The forecasting performance of implied volatility index: evidence from India VIX

In this paper, we investigate the forecasting performance of ex-post an ex-ante volatility forecasts against realized return volatility of various time horizon. The competing volatility forecasts are implied volatility, RiskMetrics and GJR-GARCH; the empirical results uncover that implied volatility dominates the other volatility forecast in the prediction of future realized return volatility. The in-sample forecast suggests that ex-ante volatility best explains the future market volatility. The non-overlapping sampling procedure gives the more robust estimate of volatility forecasts, the results reveals that implied volatility forecasts of all horizon appears positive unbiased forecaster of realized volatility. Moreover, the instrumental variable estimation in the presence of error-in-variable clears that implied volatility is free from measurement error; OLS estimates remains more consistent than the 2SLS estimates. The information content of implied volatility encourages the exchanges to construct the implied volatility indices and volatility products on underlying volatility index.     

Effect of Enabling Resources and Risk Factors on the Relationship between Intimate Partner Violence and Anxiety in Ever-Married Women in Minya,Egypt

The effect of intimate partner violence (IPV) on mental health remains understudied in the Arab world. Using data from 608 ever-married women in rural Minya, Egypt who took part in the 2005 Egypt Demographic Health Survey (EDHS) and a 2012 follow-up survey, we assessed how a woman’s enabling resources and risk factors influenced the association of her exposure to IPV with her generalized anxiety. Results from multivariate regression models showed that proximity to natal kin, prior schooling, and engagement in market work 12 months before marriage had protective effects on generalized anxiety associated with IPV. Childhood abuse from mother also had a protective effect on this relationship. Similar abuse from the brother exacerbated the effects of anxiety when a woman was exposed to IPV. Empowerment programs can encourage women to attend school and engage in market or subsistence work, while suggesting strategies to improve the relationship of women with natal kin.     

Obama's AfPak Strategy: Will it succeed in Afghanistan?

Written on 17^th January 2010, the article argues that there will not be support for a continued American and Western military presence in Afghanistan for very long, and that building an effective ethnically balanced Afghan Security Forces, improving the quality of governance, redressing the balance of power between different ethnic groups, eliminating corruption, providing better governance, bringing under control the clandestine financing received by the Taliban from donors who view America as an enemy of Islam and a blind supporter of Israel, reducing the financing provided by the opium cultivation and trafficking will take more time than is available. It advocates that the enunciated American Counter terrorism doctrine—15% kinetic, 20% diplomatic and 65% economic—should be applied in practice with money being spent on creation of employment opportunities in proportion to the $100 billion budgeted for the military effort after the troop increase of 30,000 announced by President Obama. Reconciliation with the Taliban and offering them a share of power after having reduced their support base by providing employment and economic opportunities to the Taliban foot soldiers offers the only solution within the available time frame. Welcoming the emphasis on protecting the population as the basic thrust of military activity it suggests that this must be accompanied by military action to clear and hold selected areas traditionally regarded as Taliban strongholds and that in such areas good governance must be quickly established to further the winning of “hearts and minds” among a people who have over the centuries survived by picking the winning side.     

Facial Soft Tissue Thickness Among Three Skeletal Classes in Adult Pakistani Subjects

Different facial reconstruction methods rely on the average facial soft tissue thickness values provided in previous studies. Facial soft tissue thickness is influenced by the age, sex, and ethnicity of the individual. The aim of the present study was to determine facial soft tissue thickness of adult Pakistani subjects with different facial morphology. A total of 166 subjects were categorized into three skeletal classes (based on convex, straight, or concave facial profile) employing the classification system used in orthodontics. Facial soft tissue thickness was determined at ten midline points on lateral cephalograms. Significant differences in facial soft tissue thickness were present at glabella, labrale superius, stomion, and labiomentale in males and at labrale superius, labrale inferius, labiomentale, and pogonion in females among different skeletal classes. The current study suggests that the skull morphology-related variations in facial soft tissue thickness should be considered during facial reconstruction to achieve accurate results.