Influence of Financial and Policy Environments on the Business Strategy of Biotechnology Companies in India

The biotechnology industry thrives on innovation and new knowledge creation, but is also capital intensive with a complex regulatory environment (Hine and Kapeleris 2007). It is seen as a sunrise industry by the Indian government (Natesh and Bhan 2009). Current literature on the business strategy of Indian biotechnology companies and the influence from external factors is very limited. The objective of this research was to qualitatively test the applicability of the Miles and Snow (1978) theory of organizational behavior which describes four strategy choices: prospector, analyzer, defender and reactor, in the context of the Indian biotechnology sector. Research on Western biotechnology companies (Wiesenfeld-Schenk 1994) indicates these companies are likely to follow prospector strategies since they operate in a rapidly changing business environment (Hynes and Mollenkopf 2006). India has also undergone many policy changes starting with trade liberalization in the early 1990’s (Kumar 2006), the formalization of a venture capital industry in 1988 (Mitra 2000), and a patent regime change in 2005 (Mueller 2008). This research looked at the impact of the financial and policy environments in India on the business strategy of small-to-medium sized, privately held, indigenous biotechnology companies. These companies were classified within the M-S framework based on the following parameters: innovativeness of their product offering, value proposition, marketing strategy, extent of professional networking, financing strategy, and intellectual property creation. Based on a series of semistructured interviews conducted in India and the United States, this research found firms pursuing the analyzer strategy comprised the largest group (45%) in the survey sample of 20 firms. There were only six prospectors (30%) and four defenders (20%). Although this was contrary to general expectations that most biotechnology companies should be prospectors, research showed the Miles and Snow theoretical framework was applicable in the case of the Indian biotechnology sector. The implications of this research are to provide a structural framework for managers in biotechnology or other emerging industries to analyze product development and marketing decisions. The researcher has attempted to formulate policy recommendations, including a qualitative model for interorganizational collaboration, for the promotion of this sector in India or other developing countries

Effect of PEM on thyroid status, serum total protein and A/G ratio in pre-school going children

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate and compare serum total protein, serum albumin and thyroid hormones in children with Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) and in healthy controls.Methods: Present study was a cross sectional hospital based case control study, total 75 children of age group 1-5 years were included in this study. Triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was estimated by electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay method, serum total protein by biuret method, albumin by BCG method and plasma hemoglobin by CMG method. Result: In malnourished children, there is significant decrease in serum total protein (4.76 gm %), albumin (2.24 gm %) and Hb (10.57 gm %) as compared to normal healthy children. Serum T3 (0.51 ng/ml), and T4 (3.93 µg/ml) levels were significantly decreased and non-significant changes in TSH (4.26 µUI/ml) levels in children with PEM was observed as compared to healthy controls. Conclusion: The reduction in protein is due to decreased intake of proteins and reduced biosynthesis. The decreased in T3 and T4 levels in malnourished children is probably due to a decrease in circulating plasma proteins

Role of Osteopontin in Hypothyroid Anemic Woman and Their Association with Oxidative Stress

Background: Hypothyroidism is frequently associated with anemia and oxidative stress, necessitating exploration of biomarkers like Osteopontin to better understand disease mechanisms.Objective: To explore the association between Osteopontin, oxidative stress, and antioxidant capacity in hypothyroid woman with or without anemia.Methods: The study was conducted at the Santosh Medical College Department of Biochemistry in Ghaziabad, India, from September 2019 to October 2021. This study was cross-sectional and recruited 360 female subjects, divided into three groups: hypothyroidism with anemia, hypothyroidism without anemia, and normal healthy controls. Osteopontin, thyroid profile, malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity were measured.Results: Osteopontin, T3, T4, and total antioxidant capacity levels were significantly lower (p<0.001), and the TSH and MDA levels significantly increased (p<0.001) in female subjects experiencing hypothyroidism, with or without anemia, as compared to normal healthy female control groups. Osteopontin demonstrated significant negative relationship with TSH and MDA, while showing a significant positive relationship with T3, T4, and total antioxidant status in both studied groups.Conclusion: Osteopontin and oxidative stress/antioxidant status significantly correlate in female subjects experiencing hypothyroidism, with or without anemia. In these patients, Osteopontin might be a useful biomarker for evaluating antioxidant levels and oxidative stress

Renal Parameters in Mild, Moderate, and Chronic Cigarette Smokers

Objective: To explore the link between cigarette smoking and kidney function through renal parameter assessment.Methods: The present study was performed at the Department of Biochemistry Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, India, from September 2019 to April 2021. In this study, 140 subjects were included, out of which 35 were non-smokers, 35 smoked  <5 cigarette per day, 35 smoked 5-10 cigarette per day, and the remaining 35 smoked more than 10 cigarettes per day.Results: Blood urea, serum creatinine, urinary albumin, and uACR levels were found to increase significantly (p<0.001) in smokers as compared to non-smokers. These increases were higher among chronic cigarette smokers (p<0.001) as opposed to mild and moderate smokers. In contrast, serum uric acid, e-GFR, and urinary creatinine levels decreased significantly (p<0.001) in smokers when compared to non-smokers, with a higher decrease observed in chronic cigarette smokers (p<0.001) as opposed to the mild and moderate cigarette smokers.Conclusion: Alterations in urinary albumin, serum urea, serum creatinine, urinary creatinine, and e-GFR are associated with the risk of renal dysfunction

Paraoxonase 1 Activities and Lipid Parameters in Hypertension and Their Association with Chronic Alcoholism

Objective: To determine lipid profile, antioxidant vitamin (E and C), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels and paraoxonase 1 (PON 1) activities in alcoholic hypertensive patients.Methods: Five hundred subjects were selected for this study consisting of 250 normal healthy individuals and 250 alcoholic hypertensive subjects. Total cholesterol, triglyceride, and HDL levels were measured using the enzymatic method while the LDL and VLDL levels were calculated by Friedwald equation. The MDA level were measured using thiobarbiturate (TBA) and the Vitamin E and C were measured using the enzymatic method. The SOD and PON 1 activities were measured using phenyl acetate as the substrate.Results: Total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, VLDL, and MDA levels were found to be significantly high while the HDL and Vitamin E and C levels decreased among the alcoholic hypertensive subjects when compared to the control. Furthermore, significant decreases in SOD and PON 1 activities were also found among the alcoholic hypertensive subjects as compared to control.Conclusion: Alterations in lipid parameters, antioxidant vitamin levels, MDA level, SOD activities, and PON 1 activities are associated with hypertension that may be enhanced by alcohol intake, which may lead to the development cardiovascular disease.

Paraoxonase 1 Activities and Lipid Parameters in Hypertension and Their Association with Chronic Alcoholism

Objective: To determine lipid profile, antioxidant vitamin (E and C), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels and paraoxonase 1 (PON 1) activities in alcoholic hypertensive patients.Methods: Five hundred subjects were selected for this study consisting of 250 normal healthy individuals and 250 alcoholic hypertensive subjects. Total cholesterol, triglyceride, and HDL levels were measured using the enzymatic method while the LDL and VLDL levels were calculated by Friedwald equation. The MDA level were measured using thiobarbiturate (TBA) and the Vitamin E and C were measured using the enzymatic method. The SOD and PON 1 activities were measured using phenyl acetate as the substrate.Results: Total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, VLDL, and MDA levels were found to be significantly high while the HDL and Vitamin E and C levels decreased among the alcoholic hypertensive subjects when compared to the control. Furthermore, significant decreases in SOD and PON 1 activities were also found among the alcoholic hypertensive subjects as compared to control.Conclusion: Alterations in lipid parameters, antioxidant vitamin levels, MDA level, SOD activities, and PON 1 activities are associated with hypertension that may be enhanced by alcohol intake, which may lead to the development cardiovascular disease.

Comparative evaluation and performance of large language models on expert level critical care questions:a benchmark study

Background: Large language models (LLMs) show increasing potential for their use in healthcare for administrative support and clinical decision making. However, reports on their performance in critical care medicine is lacking. Methods: This study evaluated five LLMs (GPT-4o, GPT-4o-mini, GPT-3.5-turbo, Mistral Large 2407 and Llama 3.1 70B) on 1181 multiple choice questions (MCQs) from the gotheextramile.com database, a comprehensive database of critical care questions at European Diploma in Intensive Care examination level. Their performance was compared to random guessing and 350 human physicians on a 77-MCQ practice test. Metrics included accuracy, consistency, and domain-specific performance. Costs, as a proxy for energy consumption, were also analyzed. Results: GPT-4o achieved the highest accuracy at 93.3%, followed by Llama 3.1 70B (87.5%), Mistral Large 2407 (87.9%), GPT-4o-mini (83.0%), and GPT-3.5-turbo (72.7%). Random guessing yielded 41.5% (p &lt; 0.001). On the practice test, all models surpassed human physicians, scoring 89.0%, 80.9%, 84.4%, 80.3%, and 66.5%, respectively, compared to 42.7% for random guessing (p &lt; 0.001) and 61.9% for the human physicians. However, in contrast to the other evaluated LLMs (p &lt; 0.001), GPT-3.5-turbo’s performance did not significantly outperform physicians (p = 0.196). Despite high overall consistency, all models gave consistently incorrect answers. The most expensive model was GPT-4o, costing over 25 times more than the least expensive model, GPT-4o-mini. Conclusions: LLMs exhibit exceptional accuracy and consistency, with four outperforming human physicians on a European-level practice exam. GPT-4o led in performance but raised concerns about energy consumption. Despite their potential in critical care, all models produced consistently incorrect answers, highlighting the need for more thorough and ongoing evaluations to guide responsible implementation in clinical settings.</p

Thyroid Profile and Serum Lipid Level in Women with Normal Pregnancy

Objective: To evaluate the changes in thyroid profile and serum lipid level in normal pregnancy. Methods: This observational study was conducted at the Department of Biochemistry of Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, UP, India, from June 2021 to February 2022. In this study, 200 average pregnant women were enrolled. The thyroid profile was estimated using the ELISA method, and the lipid profile was measured using the enzymatic kit method. All data were expressed as means and standard deviations, and SPSS version 17 was used for statistical analysis. Results: This observational study observed that the mean T3, T4, and TSH levels increased significantly in the second trimester compared to the first trimester. In contrast, the mean value of T3, T4, and TSH decreased in the third trimester as compared to the second trimester. The mean levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-cholesterol increased significantly, while the mean value of HDL-cholesterol decreased significantly in the second and third trimesters when compared to the first trimester. Conclusion: This study demonstrated abnormal lipid and thyroid metabolism. Changes in thyroid profile may be associated with adverse obstetric outcomes. The altered lipid parameters, mainly High TG and low HDL-C concentrations, may promote vascular dysfunction and oxidative stress

Environmental Degradation of High Tc Superconductors

The recent discovery of high temperature ceramic superconductors sparked off tremendous research efforts all over the world and brought along promises of wide spread use in magnetically levitated trains and ultrafast computers. Prior to 1986, superconductors had to be cooled to liquid helium temperature (4 Kelvin), but recently isolated cases of transition temperatures (Tc) as high as 240 Kelvin have been reported for the newly discovered ceramic compounds. Thin films of high Tc superconductors have promising applications in semiconductor and microelectronics industry since they have high critical current density (Jc)· They also lend themselves to the study of materials parameters responsible for superconduction. However, an inherent problem with high Tc superconducting material is its rapid degradation upon exposure to moisture and water and the subsequent breakdown of superconductivity. In an effort to characterize the degradation pattern of superconductors, a series of controlled tests were run in an in-house fabricated humidity chamber. Bulk material and RF sputter deposited thin films on various substrates were exposed to desired levels of relative humidity for various lengths of time. Comparative studies of the surface and bulk characteristics were performed before and after exposure using i) magnetic susceptibility, ii) Tc measurements, iii) scanning Auger microscopy, iv) x-ray diffraction, v) scanning electron microscopy, vi) energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and vii) optical microscopy. Each one of these techniques provided information on certain aspects of the corrosion phenomena of superconductors and a correlation between the data was used for comprehensive understanding of the degradation process