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This paper used Hobfoll’s conservation of resources (COR) theory to investigate the extent to which interpersonal and financial resources predict the well-being of salaried employees in the United States. Data were collected from a nationally representative survey of adults in the United States conducted by the RAND Corporation . Two measures of well-being (depressive symptoms and life satisfaction), along with an actual loss of financial resources and a perceived lack of interpersonal and financial resources, were examined. The role of perceived control as a moderator in the relationship between resource deficit perceptions and well-being was also examined. The results of the regression analysis indicate that the perceived lack of resources was associated with a decline in well-being. Perceived control was found to buffer the negative effects of resource deficit perceptions. Employees with high levels of perceived control showed less of a reduction in well-being than those with low levels of perceived control as the perceived deficit of resources increased. The study also revealed that actual loss of resources, measured as a decrease in wages, is associated with a decrease in life satisfaction but is not associated with depressive symptoms. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our research on the relationship between resource deficits and well-being during a public health crisis.

Occurrences of short-duration extreme rainfall have significantly increased over India, leading to frequent flash floods. Growing incidences of urban floods pose a challenge to rainfall forecasting agencies and disaster mitigation authorities. Advancement in the numerical weather prediction (NWP) models has resulted in improved skills of rainfall forecast for longer lead times. However, in recent years, there is a growing emphasis on developing an impact-based approach to communicate the probable impacts of the forecast and reduce the socio-economic losses. In this study, we aim to generate Impact-Based Forecasts (IBFs) in response to the growing incidences of urban flash floods in metropolitan cities of India such as Mumbai. IBFs will provide warnings about the potential impacts as well as communicate protective responses based on the category of impact, i.e., high, moderate, and low. To this end, an inventory of several urban floods over the city of Mumbai during the past decades is prepared, and the relationship between past extreme hazards and related impacts is investigated. Various available Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts (QPFs) from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), UK Met Office (UKMO), and National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) will be used in the study. Moreover, several observation datasets, such as from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), and from Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG), will be used to validate the forecast information. The raw precipitation forecasts will be post-processed using a Bayesian joint probability (BJP) model-based rainfall post-processing approach to improve reliability and accuracy. With this study, decision-makers are expected to gain crucial insights regarding the probable impacts arising due to multiple realistic flash floods in Mumbai scenarios. The analysis is underway, and the results will be presented at the conference.

Each year India witnesses numerous casualties, economic losses and vast displacement of people due to extreme rainfall events (EREs). One of the reasons for such losses is that the weather warnings associated with the EREs are not properly communicated to the general public. It is essential that the expected impacts are communicated well in advance so that appropriate remedial actions can be taken and losses can be minimized. Several national and regional rainfall forecasting agencies have started issuing risk-based warnings which includes the potential impacts arising due to the EREs. This framework of providing forecast information based on the potential impacts of a hazard is called Impact-Based Forecasting (IBF). In this study, we develop a framework for generating the impact-based forecasts and associated warning matrices for the districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, India, by integrating the rainfall forecasts and the socio-economic characteristics of the region. The region is densely populated, has relatively poor socio-economic conditions and is prone to frequent EREs. We take into account various sectors such as population, economy and agriculture where maximum impacts are expected to take place. Moreover, we identify the vulnerable districts based on the frequency of the number of extreme rainfall forecasts in the past four years (2017-2020) and the nature of socio-economic conditions. The vulnerable districts are categorized in three categories (low, medium and high) based on the expected impacts. For each of the vulnerable districts, sample IBFs and warning matrices are generated. IBFs inform about the possible impacts different sectors in each district may face on a given day due to the forecasted ERE. On the other hand, warning matrices provide updated information regarding the category of risk for the district a few days in advance. The study is significant since it follows a methodological framework to generate impact-based forecasts and warnings which includes analysis of rainfall forecasts, identification of possible impacts and suggestion of appropriate mitigation actions.

This study evaluates the deterministic and ensemble quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs) obtained from four Numerical Weather Prediction (NWPs) models over the Indian region during the monsoon period (June to September) for the years 2011 to 2020. We considered 18 river basins and 14 Agro climatic zones to compare the skill of the forecasts with the observation data. From The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment Interactive Grand Global Ensemble (TIGGE) archives, we obtained QPFs from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Korea Meteorological Agency (KMA), and National Centres for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) with 1 to 5 day lead time at a spatial resolution of 0.50. The Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) data for the same time period is used as observation data. Deterministic (RMSE, NSE, and CC) and dichotomous (POD and FAR) assessment have been performed to evaluate the skill of the QPF(s). Our result shows that overall the performance of ECMWF ensembles mean is better than the other NWPs model, as the NSE and CC value is more close to 1. The river basins in the southern part of the country (Godavari, Krishna and Cauveri River Basins) have the higher error (RMSE more than 100 and NSE close to 0) compared to Brahmputra, Ganga, and Barak River basins. The errors are less in those agro-climatic zones which has high elevation where the rainfall is less. The detailed result of the ongoing research will be presented at the conference.

Due to unavailability of observation data in the north-western Himalayas, reanalysis data is used as an alternative. The reanalysis dataset generally have bias compared to observation data. Hence, different bias correction approaches are used to post-process the data before using it for any hydro-climatic study. Although distribution parameters in the bias correction approaches are adjusted according to observation data, it can modify or misrepresent dependence structure between variables and sites. Ignoring the observed inter-site dependencies in the correction procedure can result in obtaining corrected outputs with mismatched spatial dependence. Hence a multi-site bias correction approach is used with Schaake shuffle approach to reconstruct the inter-site correlation with rank reordering. In this study, we apply multivariate bias correction with schaake shuffle approach on 12 observatory stations of north-western Himalayas. The approach is applied on the variables mean temperature, precipitation, downward longwave radiation, downward shortwave radiation, and wind speed obtained from High Asia Reanalysis dataset at 0.25° horizontal resolution. The bias correction is applied using the observation data availed from the Princeton University global meteorological forcings for a time period of 2001 to 2011. The Leave-One-Out-Cross-Validation approach is used to apply the bias correction by leaving one year data for validation on each loop.The multi-site bias correction applied to all the variables in different seasons shows that it is reducing the inter-station bias considerably for monsoon, winter, and summer seasons. For Post-monsoon season the improvement is not significant. For monsoon season the RMSE, MAE, and Bias percentage is decreasing for all the variables except precipitation. The inter-site correlation is improved after application of multi-site bias correction.

Evaluation of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) can be challenging, with the etiology often being unrecognized. We report a case of CVST occurring secondary to anti-cancer medication abuse in a young bodybuilder. A 20-year-old male athlete with history of regular gym exercise presented with acute onset behavioral abnormalities and cognitive deficits. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed signal abnormalities in bilateral thalami, with venography showing venous thrombosis. A detailed history highlighted an unusual cause for CVST. Our report suggests that unsupervised drug abuse amongst young athletes is an overlooked and preventable cause of CVST. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such report.

In this paper we discuss software programs used for teaching business courses and used in business research. The software programs used are MATLAB, R Studio, Microsoft Excel, SPSS, SAS and Python. This paper goes into details about the functions of each software program and how each program is proficient and programmed for different areas of research. Using tables and figures, we discuss the ease of use per program, the difficulty based on a scale for beginner uses, the storage capacity of each programming language, the availability to business students and researchers and how applicable each program is with a basic knowledge of how to use it. The cost of each statically programing package is also covered. The detailed functions of the various programs are covered in Figures throughout and tables through the paper as well. It is a well-known fact that MATLAB, R, Python, Excel, SPSS and SAS are the most important five languages to be learned for data analysis.

PurposeExtant research suggests that managing strategic change has become a key managerial function and this duty encompasses changes in organizational product-market boundaries and organizational structure among many related organizational activities. The need to achieve strategic change arises because of major shifts in the external environment and the subsequent need for the organization to remain viable and competitive in the changed environment. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate if middle managers are likely to adopt authoritative style while implementing strategic change when they sense organizational survival.Design/methodology/approach“Sensemaking” literature led to development of the authors’ hypotheses and these were tested using the responses of 117 middle managers. The authors used survey-based instrument to collect data and used regression analysis to explicate the responses of the middle managers.FindingsResults indicate that when middle managers sense that the survival of the organization is at stake, they are likely to choose an authoritative style. The authors also investigated the moderating role of organizational commitment, strategic posture of the top management team, and hostile business environment on the relationship between perception of survival urgency and the choice of authoritative implementation style. Only organizational commitment moderates this relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ data collection was survey based and the authors used a single source for each questionnaire and this process may lead to possibilities of mono-method bias. However, steps were taken to reduce the resultant mono-method bias. The respondents are from a variety of industries and future research may focus on one specific industry.Practical implicationsThe first implication of this study allows us to expand research focus on the adoption of authoritative style, a research area that is not explored very much. The second implication of the study is that middle managers tend to focus on their emotions when it comes to implementing strategic changes. Using arguments from sensemaking the authors show that the perception of need for survival or the perception that business environment is hostile will determine how strategic change could be implemented. Middle managers must be treated as more than just the implementers of the directives/fiats/orders/edicts that originate from the top.Social implicationsRole of middle managers in strategic change management is critical and the authors suggest that the perception of organizational survival at risk leads to choice managerial style by middle managers.Originality/valueThe authors have combined ideas from both the strategic management and organizational development fields to understand successfully the implementation of strategic change in a survival urgency situation. In the past, the strategic management literature focused primarily on understanding strategy formulation process, and the process of implementation was generally neglected. The respondents are from a variety of industries. The analysis indicate that membership to any one firm was not impacting the results obtained by the authors and as such allows for results to generalized.

Many firms have started investing in social media, hoping to reach and to engage their customers. However, results from social media initiatives have been inconsistent, underscoring the need to understand social media use at the individual level. We examined the impact of demographics on the attitudes of Facebook users towards the social media giant in the United States using survey data published by Pew Internet Project. Users’ perceptions of importance and continued usage were found to vary across demographic groups based on gender, age, education and income. Younger, less educated and lower-income users are expected to decrease their time on Facebook next year compared with older, more educated and higher-income users. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

There are very few reports of meningoencephalitis and myositis subsequent to hepatitis A virus (HAV). This case study reports a patient with serologically proven HAV infection, associated with meningoencephalitis and myositis. Since HAV infection might pass unnoticed, as many cases remain anicteric or subclinical, HAV should be considered as one of the etiological agents in meningoencephalitis.

Two children of 4 and 18 years of ages developed multiple supratentorial metastases at 3 years and 8 months follow up respectively, following their gross total microsurgical excision of medulloblastomas. Both the children received standard doses of craniospinal irradiation following surgery. An adjuvant chemotherapy was also offered to the younger child (of 4 years), who developed recurrence at posterior fossa along with supratentorial metastases. It is concluded, that early supratentorial metastases may occur even following gross total excision, craniospinal irradiation and chemotherapy of medulloblastomas. Probable routes of dissemination remain subarachnoid, cerebrospinal fluid and leptomeningeal.

A 9-year-old boy with precocious puberty was presented with severe headache and vomiting, despite having a functioning ventriculoperitoneal shunt, from the age of one year for hydrocephalus. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a tense suprasellar arachnoid cyst indenting the third ventricle. Decompression of cyst improved his headache and the features of precocious puberty at follow-up. His hormonal levels were not abnormal on gross neuroendocrine evaluation. It was concluded that suprasellar arachnoid cyst may manifest with features similar to raised intracranial pressure despite having a functioning shunt for associated hydrocephalus. Precocious puberty in such children may manifest without gross endocrinological abnormalities.

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a major public health problem as it is the most common helminthic infestation of the central nervous system in developing countries. Clinical manifestations are nonspecific and pleomorphic, but case reports on uncommon presentations of NCC in children are relatively few. We report four cases of NCC in children, with unusual clinical presentations, which exhibit the spectrum of clinical pleomorphism. These include cases presenting with syndrome of cerebellar ataxia, focal dystonia, stroke and dementia. Their clinical details and possible mechanism for these uncommon presentations are also discussed. Thus, a high level of suspicion should be kept for NCC, especially in endemic zones and developing countries. It is important that neurologists become familiar with this disorder, as they are involved in the diagnosis and management of NCC and will play an important role in efforts to control the disease.

Two cases of 6 years old and 20 years of ages were operated for intramedullary anaplastic ependymomas. A gross total microsurgical excision of their tumors was achieved in both the cases, barring the infiltrated nerve roots of one case (6 years old, child). Standard doses of irradiation were offered to both the cases following surgery. The dissemination of disease occurred at six months and one year and 10 months duration in both. An extensive spread of ependymoma involved full spinal cord and brain stem in the first case, while malignant meningitis, mild hydrocephalus and a distal recurrence occurred in another case. It was concluded that (1) anaplastic ependymomas have high potential for dissemination anywhere in neuraxis (2) dissemination may occur without a local recurrence of tumor at primary site (3) gross total microsurgical excision and irradiation does not offer resistance to dissemination.

Kluver-Bucy syndrome (KBS) includes increased oral exploration, placidity, indiscriminate hypersexuality and altered dietary habits, reported to develop following insult to temporal lobes. Psychic blindness (inability to recognize familiar objects) and hypermetamorphosis (strong tendency to react to visual stimulus) are other constituents of this neurobehavioral syndrome. We encountered 12 children with features of KBS among cases of delayed mental and motor milestones following cerebral birth anoxia consequent to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Period of the study was 11 years (January 1994-June 2004). Diagnosis of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy was based on birth records, pediatricians' report, history provided by mother or relatives, clinical and radiological features. Their age ranged between 6 and 14 years. Development of hyperorality, sexual hyperactivity and abnormal behavior suggested the presence of KBS in them. Hyperorality and abnormal behavior were common manifestations in all patients. Hyperorality was in form of an attempt to put non-edible substances in mouth, while abnormal behavior manifested as hostility, irritability or placidity. Hypersexuality was evident in seven children and presented as fondling, holding or rubbing the genitals along with paroxysmal pelvic thrusting. Seizures were present in eight patients. In five of these, they were well-controlled (more than 60% decline in frequency), with improvement in behavior in three of them, following control of seizures. In other patients, behavior was unaltered. It appears that KBS may be more common than was suspected previously in children of cerebral birth anoxia consequent to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Though it may manifest with a wide clinical spectrum, hyperorality is its commonest constituent. Seizures are commonly associated and their control may help in improving the behavioral disorder.

Successful innovation depends upon effective communication of the business value of innovation. Yet different stages of the innovation process require different communication strategies. Companies who have recognized the different elements of the innovation process are able to target their communication mechanisms to achieve the best results from organizational innovation. In this article, we employ Desouza’s model of intrapreneurship to outline key communication challenges and strategies for addressing them across the five phases of innovation: idea generation and mobilization, idea screening and advocacy, experimentation with ideas, commercialization of ideas, and diffusion and implementation of ideas. The importance of communication to each stage is identified and barriers are noted. Drawing from first-hand interviews, case studies and a literature review, and further refined by presentation of the ideas to various executives, we propose in this article seven communication strategies for organizations to consider across the innovation process. Overall, having a clear understanding of the stages of the innovation process, and the kinds of communication that are most beneficial to each stage provides a clear vision of how to communicate the business value of innovations both internally and to external stakeholders. The effectiveness of communication can determine the success or failure of an innovation project.

Arsenic poisoning has multiple causes including exposure to pesticides, rodenticides, paints, pigments, alloys and consumption of water contaminated with arsenic. In India, traditional home made, herbal remedies are widely consumed to enhance potency and vitality, and they are often contaminated with toxic ingredients, including arsenic. We report a case of chronic arsenic poisoning, due to prolonged consumption of such a homemade vitaliser that contained arsenic as chief ingredient. Our patient presented with polyneuropathy and cutaneous lesions that recovered significantly with dimercaprol therapy, despite delayed diagnosis.

We analyzed a dataset of fraudulent credit card transactions to uncover patterns in fraudulent transactions and to demonstrate the importance of focusing on suspicious transactions. We argue that revealed patterns in fraudulent transactions may help financial institutions update their practices and develop innovative mechanisms and systems to improve their performance at preventing and detecting credit card frauds.

Credit card fraud costs consumers and the financial industry billions of dollars annually. However, there is a dearth of published literature on credit card fraud detection. In this study we employed transaction aggregation strategy to detect credit card fraud. We aggregated transactions to capture consumer buying behavior prior to each transaction and used these aggregations for model estimation to identify fraudulent transactions. We use real-life data of credit card transactions from an international credit card operation for transaction aggregation and model estimation.

Aim: Leprosy classically presents with cutaneous and neural involvement. Rheumatological manifestations arefrequent, although often under-recognized. At times, these may present to a rheumatology clinic prior to thediagnosis of leprosy. Herein, we present our experience with patients referred with various rheumatological dis-orders who were subsequently diagnosed as having leprosy.Methods: This retrospective study (January 2001–September 2010) was carried out at the Department of Clini-cal Immunology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, in northern India.Patients who were confirmed as having leprosy were included. Details regarding demographic and clinical pre-sentations were collected.Results: Forty-four cases (30 male, mean age 40 ± 13.6 years and mean disease duration 18.7 ± 24.3 months)were identified. Musculoskeletal manifestations included arthritis ( n = 22), swollen hands and feet syndrome(SHFS) (n = 11), tenosynovitis (n = 9), painful swollen feet (n = 9), arthralgias (n = 7) and vasculitis ( n = 1).Distribution of joints mimicked rheumatoid arthritis ( n = 14) and spondyloarthropathy (n = 7). Arthritis and/or tenosynovitis were part of spontaneous onset lepra reaction in 28 cases. Other clinical manifestations were:paresthesias (n = 28), erythematous nodules (n = 25) and anesthetic patches ( n = 7). Thirty-one patients hadthickened nerves (ulnar n = 28, common peroneal n = 21). Eight patients did not have any cutaneous manifes-tations and had presented with SHFS and arthritis or tenosynovitis. These were labeled as pure neuritic leprosy.Most of the patients responded to multidrug anti-leprosy therapy and glucocorticoids.Conclusion: Rheumatological presentations of leprosy may mimic RA, spondyloarthropathy or vasculitis. Pureneuritic variety and spontaneous type 2 lepra reaction pose unique diagnostic challenges. Increased awarenessmay avoid delay in diagnosis.Key words: arthritis, lepra reaction, leprosy, pure neuritic leprosy, swollen hand foot syndrome, tenosynovitis.

Credit card fraud is a serious and growing problem. While predictive models for credit card fraud detection are in active use in practice, reported studies on the use of data mining approaches for credit card fraud detection are relatively few, possibly due to the lack of available data for research. This paper evaluates two advanced data mining approaches, support vector machines and random forests, together with the well-known logistic regression, as part of an attempt to better detect (and thus control and prosecute) credit card fraud. The study is based on real-life data of transactions from an international credit card operation.

Tuberculous brain abscess (TBA) is one of the rare forms of central nervous system tuberculosis. A case of tuberculous cerebellar abscess in a young immunocompetent adult male is being described. There was no clinical or radiological evidence of active tuberculosis elsewhere in the body. The diagnosis of tubercular abscess was confirmed by demonstration of acid fast bacilli in the abscess material aspirated via a burr hole. High index of suspicion and timely intervention is required to diagnose and treat this potential fatal but easily treatable condition.

Introduction In 2003, Dell computers shifted support calls for two of its corporate computer lines from its call center in Bangalore, India back to the U.S. The reason was that its customers were not satisfied with the level of technical support they were getting. Apart from the language difficulties, customers also faced difficulty in reaching senior technicians to, perhaps, resolve their problems more quickly. However, such problems are not just limited to computer vendors such as Dell. Recent research from Accenture finds that 75% of the sample of consumer technology company executives believed their companies provided average customer service. However, to their surprise, 58% of their customers had rated customer service to be either average or below average. A further grim detail was that 81% of the respondents who rated customer service as below average expressed intent to purchase from a different vendor next time. This research highlights the importance of customer service for consumer technology companies in retaining their customers. In general, consumer technology companies spend inordinate amounts of time, cost, and effort to get their innovations to market. However, initial acceptance is only the first step towards technology utilization. It is only after a certain amount of use that customers become aware of a technology's benefits and limitations. Having technology is one thing, using it effectively and persisting with it, is quite another. Hence, the study of factors leading to consumer technology repurchase is of critical importance. Consumer technologies, in particular, demand attention due to their commoditization, increased complexity, advances in technology, and focus on high serviceability. We can note the following when we think of consumer technologies such as PCs, laptops, or mobile phones: • The marketplace for these technologies is characterized by fierce competition amongst numerous players leading to a continuous price decline. For instance, almost all computer vendors now offer laptops for a few hundred dollars as compared to thousands of dollars a few years back. As prices continue to decline, it is imperative that companies focus on providing high-level customer service to differentiate from competitors and retain their existing customers, and prevent them from discontinuing their product. • Consumer technologies have also become more complex with more functionality being constantly added to the core product. Take the case of mobile phones: What was once a simple device for making phone calls has been morphed to include a digital camera, mp3 player, organizer, and a Web browser, to name a few. With such additional functionality and increased complexity, a customer is likely to encounter problems whose cause is difficult to identify correctly, yet need to be resolved quickly before the customer switches to a competing product. • Technological advances and a new generation of products have meant that both the technology providers as well as customers have to be knowledgeable in utilizing the consumer technologies. Without proper knowledge of the technology, support staff often struggle to resolve the problems in a timely manner. For example, in resolving problems with new release of operating system like Windows Vista, both the customers as well as Microsoft technical staff are required to have certain amount of knowledge about the system. A crucial aspect of customer service is being able to resolve consumer concerns during their use of technology. These factors contribute to difficulties in retaining customers for the consumer technology companies. One of the ways to have satisfied customers is continuing to address customer complaints effectively. Customers expect to have any service or product failures diagnosed and resolved quickly. In this context, we chose to examine how the complaint management process can impact customers' intention to continue or discontinue using a given technology. The complaint management process is not just a customer service issue and is not just limited to customer service personnel. It also has to do with the overall policies governing the customer service function. As Dell discovered, their policy of not limiting the time junior technical support personnel spent in resolving customer complaints (instead of referring to senior personnel) had impact on customers' satisfaction. Moreover, encouraging customer participation and feedback while addressing their concerns can lead to innovative practices within the company. For instance, Cingular involves its customers in its usability lab and leverages its interactions with them to design better mobile phone services. Hence, apart from customers' satisfaction, a good complaint management process can also help leverage customers' input to design better offerings. In our research we open the black box of the consumer technology complaint management process to learn how it affects customer satisfaction and intent to continue/discontinue a given product or service.

Innovation is a crucial component of business strategy, but the process of innovation may seem difficult to manage. To plan organizational initiatives around innovation or to bolster innovation requires a firm grasp of the innovation process. Few organizations have transparently defined such a process. Based on the findings of an exploratory study of over 30 US and European companies that have robust innovation processes, this paper breaks down the innovation process into discrete stages: idea generation and mobilization, screening and advocacy, experimentation, commercialization, and diffusion and implementation. For each stage, context, outputs and critical ingredients are discussed. There are several common tensions and concerns at each stage, which are enumerated; industry examples are also given. Finally, strategies for and indicators of organizational success around innovation are discussed for each stage. Successful organizations will use an outlined innovation process to create a common framework for discussion and initiatives around the innovation process, and to establish metrics and goals for each stage of the innovation process.

Information-Communication Technologies (ICTs) are no longer just for internal use. Rather, in the era of open and distributed innovation, they must be leveraged by businesses and organizations to reach, record and review ideas from internal and external sources ranging from vendors, suppliers and customers to employees. ICTs enable the entire innovation process, from idea generation and development to experimenting and testing, and, finally, to commercialization of ideas.

Summary Background Ischemic complications are known to occur in tuberculous meningitis (TBM). They are usually seen in patients with TBM having a more severe disease. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) provides information regarding tissue ischemia at an early stage as compared to conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods Ischemic complications in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) negative TBM were evaluated using DWI and T2 weighted imaging in 30 patients in the present study. The imaging was performed at baseline within 7 days of admission and in case of any neurological deterioration during follow up. The outcome was assessed by the modified Barthel's index at 1 year follow up. A score of ≥12 was taken as a poor outcome, while a score of Result Seventeen of these 30 patients had infarcts, and the total number of infarcts seen was 42. Thirty eight lesions were acute/sub acute and four were chronic infarcts. Out of the 38 acute/sub acute infarcts 34 were visible both on T2 weighted imaging and on DWI, while four were seen only on DWI. The volume of infarcts as seen by DWI was significantly larger as compared to conventional T2 weighted imaging ( p =0.019). Six patients had a poor outcome, five from the infarct group and one from the non-infarct group. Conclusion DWI demonstrates a larger area of infarction and may also be useful in the early detection of infarction. It should be used as an additional sequence along with conventional imaging in patients with TBM while they are on a follow up on anti tuberculous treatment. The information obtained by DWI may be of value in explaining the clinical condition of the patient as well as in the management and prognostication.

Consumer technologies have become pervasive and ubiquitous in modern societies. These technologies have moved from being luxuries to necessities for average consumers. Moreover, they have become more affordable, are easily accessible, and have significant value-propositions. Many of these technologies, e.g. Web browsers, are available on the Internet as shareware or freeware. Today, it has become an increasingly simple task for the average consumer to find, acquire, set up and use these technologies. Consequently, there is little in the way that prevents a consumer from abandoning these technologies once they are adopted, or switching over to competitive offerings. The focus of this article is to seek an understanding of what factors lead a consumer to abandon one product offering for another. Scholars in marketing and consumer behavior have identified several factors that influence consumer switching in general, as illustrated in Figure 1. However, examining switching behavior between technology substitutes, especially in the case of consumer technologies, is salient for several reasons. First, the technology marketplace is extremely competitive. For most consumer needs, there is an abundance of technology choices and technology providers have to fight fiercely to introduce their products in an already saturated, and highly contested, marketplace. For example, in today's mobile technology marketplace a consumer is offered choices from a wide assortment of products and services from existing technology providers, hence making it difficult for a new provider to carve out a niche. Second, most consumer technologies are relatively easy to acquire, try out, and even abandon. For instance, today, through portals such as CNET.com a consumer can find and download several dozen options of software products for any given task. These technologies are all available at little or no expense to the consumer and hence there is low if any switching cost. Third, there is often low differentiation among various technology options. For instance, consider the differences between Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox, both products offer very similar functionality, have similar user-interfaces, and may not be clearly differentiated by a novice user. Hence, the decision to switch from an incumbent technology solution to a substitute becomes even more interesting. Why would one switch if the two products are highly similar, and there are no obvious differences. Finally, user switching between technology products is also interesting to study because it represents a form of post-adoption behavior that is generally unexplored in the Information Systems literature. While there is an abundance of studies on technology adoption,12 only recently have researchers started to examine post-adoption issues.7 Among the studies that have examined post-adoption behavior, we believe that we are one of the first to study the switching behavior that is associated with the abandoning of one technology product in favor of a substitute.