ABSTRACT
This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of select equity linked savings scheme (ELSS) funds in India for two different time periods namely June 2019 (before COVID-19) and June 2021 (after COVID-19) using risk, return and market perception based criteria. We use a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework of level based weight assessment (LBWA) and measurement of alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution (MARCOS). We test the group harmony using Kendall's concordance coefficient. We find that the result is validated and shows stability in the sensitivity analysis. To the best of our knowledge, the present work is the first of its kind that assesses the impact of COVID-19 on asset management companies (AMC) of ELSS funds from multiple perspectives. We observe that AMCs are unable to maintain their performance and ranks which suggests a highly competitive and fragmented nature of India's growing ELSS funds.
ABSTRACT
The aim of the study was to validate the performance of the Optomed Aurora® handheld fundus camera in diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening. Patients who were affected by diabetes mellitus and referred to the local DR screening service underwent fundus photography using a standard table-top fundus camera and the Optomed Aurora® handheld fundus camera. All photos were taken by a single, previously unexperienced operator. Among 423 enrolled eyes, we found a prevalence of 3.55% and 3.31% referable cases with the Aurora® and with the standard table-top fundus camera, respectively. The Aurora® obtained a sensitivity of 96.9% and a specificity of 94.8% in recognizing the presence of any degree of DR, a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 99.8% for any degree of diabetic maculopathy (DM) and a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 99.8% for referable cases. The overall concordance coefficient k (95% CI) was 0.889 (0.828-0.949) and 0.831 (0.658-1.004) with linear weighting for DR and DM, respectively. The presence of hypertensive retinopathy (HR) was recognized by the Aurora® with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. The Optomed Aurora® handheld fundus camera proved to be effective in recognizing referable cases in a real-life DR screening setting. It showed comparable results to a standard table-top fundus camera in DR, DM and HR detection and grading. The Aurora® can be integrated into telemedicine solutions and artificial intelligence services which, in addition to its portability and ease of use, make it particularly suitable for DR screening.
ABSTRACT
The authors of the article supply calculations of the aggregate of criteria of quantitative assessment of the factors of impact of macro and microenvironment on the conjuncture of the essential commodities market. The research determines the main factors of impact of microenvironment on the conjuncture of the essential commodities market, particularly pandemic, climatic conditions, volume of export and impact of products, legal support for sales of the products, tax policy, state system of standardization, protection of consumers rights, level of income of consumers and producers, available markets for sale, range of products at the market, competitiveness of the products, inflation, increase of the number intermediaries, information supply at the market, scientific and technical progress. It is substantiated that the greatest impact among the macro-factors of permanent effect on the conjuncture of the essential commodities market is made by pandemic, inflation, competitiveness of the products. It should be noted, the COVID-19 pandemic has made its own adjustments to the functioning of the essential commodities market. In particular, at the beginning of the crisis, there was an increase in demand for essential commodities, however, consumers quickly adapted their behavior model to the new requirements. Among the microenvironment factors of impact on the conjuncture of the essential commodities market, the authors specify the following, particularly consumer characteristics of the product, available competitors, application of innovative technologies, ecological properties of goods, logistical support, quality of products, volume of consumption by population, and marketing ones. However, the greatest attention should be paid to consumer characteristics of the product, volume of consumption by population, available competitors, and quality of products. The research results are justified basing on the calculations of the concordance coefficient. Considering the conducted researches, one can notice a paradox in the current conditions of the legal support of product sales. In particular, on one hand, it is imperfect, on the other hand the essential commodities market still perform, demonstrating quite positive results.