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Synthesis of nanocarbon-polyaniline composite and investigation of its optical and electrical properties
The polyaniline-nanocarbon (PANI-NC) composite was synthesized by in situ polymerization of the aniline monomer (PBC-A&B) with reduced carbon from bituminous coal (RBC). The X-ray analysis confirmed the formation of the polyaniline-graphene oxide composite. The XRD result shows that the stacking height of the PBC-A increased due to the attachment of nitrogen group to the carbon lattice. The result of CHNS confirmed the increase in composition of nitrogen in PBC-A due to the treatment of RBC with aniline to form the polymer-nanocarbon composite. Optical analysis by UV absorption spectra revealed that the band gap is in the range of 3.29-4.27 eV. The AC conductivity, dielectric permittivity, and dielectric loss of the composite are measured within a frequency response of 10 Hz to 1 MHz. It is observed that one can tailor the band gap of the PANI-GO composite by varying the concentration of reduced carbon from coal. 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. -
Industry 5.0 - The co-creator in marketing
The unavoidable connection between automation and digitalization is already in the business horizon in the name of Industry 5.0. Industry 4.0, the robotic and technological revolution were largely hit among the manufacturing industries, but Industry 5.0 is meant for all sectors across ranges from manufacturing to services. Evolution from the days of mechanization (Industry 1.0) to smart factory (Industry 4.0) witnessed the improvisation of metrics related to efficiency and optimization. And now its turn for the balance between optimization and efficiency with the support from robots in assisting the smarter generation's technologies and machineries and tools through Industry 5.0 in the domain of marketing too where the change is constant and dynamic would be more accommodative to opportunities and challenges through the next wave of 5.0. The disruption by Industry 5.0 will change existing nature of marketing in terms of customer experience, supply chain, procurement, product development, retail operations, etc. The market which predominantly flourishes with the help of customers in co-creation is going to have robot as bystander with the intervention of this Revolution 5.0 which will level up the existing customer experience. Marketing by its nature demands the cooperation at multiple levels and is becoming easier prey for the Industry 5.0 revolution as it's expected to create the cooperation between the humans and machines. Product development, customer engagement and customer experience will undergo the transformation due to this industry revolution and also there are other areas in the marketing domain to go through the impact are addressed in this chapter. 2023 by A. Mansurali, V. Harish and Swamynathan Ramakrishnan. All rights reserved. -
Employee attrition and absenteeism analysis using machine learning methods: Application in the manufacturing industry
HR analytics has been envisaged as recent research trend for providing a comprehensive decision support system to the top level management in terms of employee's performance, recruitment and behaviour analysis. Globally, organizations are using technology to support and ease HR processes. Every organization should give maximum value to every available human resource, and they should minimize the attrition and absenteeism rate and ensure what are the factors that contribute towards employee attrition as well as the causes for workmen absenteeism. The ultimate objective is to correctly identify attrition and absenteeism in order to assist the company to improve retention tactics for key personnel and increase employee satisfaction. Through this chapter, a machine learning-based model is proposed to get quick results for such employee attrition and workmen absenteeism. The model is trained and tested for its accuracy. The result shows that the proposed model has high sensitivity. The managerial implications are also discussed for taking informed decisions. 2023, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Blockchain and the Evolving Internal Audit Function
Blockchain Technology indicates a transformative era for internal audit practices in the evolving digital finance and operations landscape. This research explores the internal audit function in a Blockchain-driven world, emphasizing the changing perspectives and methodologies necessitated by this disruptive technology. With its foundational principles of transparency, immutability, and decentralization, Blockchain presents challenges and opportunities for internal auditors. The paper delves into how Blockchain is poised to redefine traditional audit practices, moving towards more real-time and continuous auditing techniques. It examines the implications of Blockchain for risk assessment, fraud detection, and compliance, highlighting the shift towards proactive rather than reactive audit strategies. Furthermore, the research examines Blockchains opportunities and challenges to the internal audit function. This study provides insights into integrating Blockchain Technology in internal auditing through a comprehensive secondary data analysis. It proposes a roadmap for auditors to adapt and thrive in this new era. The findings underscore the importance of embracing technological advancements, advocating for a dynamic approach to audit practices that aligns with the complexities of a blockchain-driven world. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025. -
AI in IA: Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Internal Audit: A Qualitative Study
Internal auditing is becoming more crucial as businesses become more complex and extensive. Artificial intelligence (AI) in internal auditing is a trend change that promises to revolutionize how internal auditing functions are performed and delivered through significant improvements in audit quality and operational discipline. This paper reflects on many of the multifaceted impacts of AI on internal auditing functions. This paper intends to investigate how this AI will impact the audit profession. By interviewing ten individual internal audit experts qualitatively, the study shows that AIs implementation will impact the following six critical levels. AI makes it possible for an auditor to (1) spend less time and make the audit more productive, (2) increase coverage, (3) real-time auditing, (4) enhance decision-making, (5) risk assessment and management, and (6) create new advisory services. The findings thus imply a need for a well-defined and consistent audit structure that is flexible enough for auditors to improve their audits. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024. -
Food Security and Its Impact on Society: Cases of Developing World
Food security is a matter of concern in the twenty-first century as is evident from the importance given to it in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Despite attempts to address food scarcity concerns at global conventions such as the World Food Summit of 1996, food remains scarce. Scholars further suggest that though food scarcity is a global issue, its roots and impact is local. Consequently, a study of food must study the major challenges that converge to undermine food security worldwide including conflicts, climate change, global policies and in recent times even the Covid 19 pandemic. However, at a fundamental level food scarcity is the by-product of not just a legacy of past failures to build more just, sustainable, and resilient food systems, but rather a by-product of our inability to be responsible and sustainable consumers. This chapter highlights that despite surplus food production, developing nations often face food insecurity owing to the diversion of food towards developed nations. These nations, instead of sharing global resources (including food and agricultural labour), often contribute towards the global food crisis. Moreover, some of these developed nations engage in an industrialised system of food produc-tion which might meet the nations food requirements but are not sustainable modes of production and pose a serious threat to the environment. Nevertheless, the indis-cretions of the developed nations affect the developing nations economically as well as socially. As social outcasts, marginalised communities and individuals within the developing world are worst affected. As a result, this chapter offers insight into the social struggle brought on by inaccessibility to food. The chapter further suggests that addressing concerns of food security is not only a matter of addressing the inequalities manifest in the production, distribution and consumption of food but also learning to be responsible and sustainable consumers. Simply stated, the chapter recommends connecting SDG 2 with SDG 12. This chapter would also include the position of India in GHI, the Ukraine crisis and its aftermath in various developing countries, the earthquake in Turkey and how it affects the food security, and a few instances from Africa to highlight the concepts of food security and its correlation with sustainability of any society. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024. -
Interaction of Nanomaterials with Plant Macromolecules: Nucleic Acid, Proteins and Hormones
Nanotechnology has the ability to change a wide range of industrial and agricultural operations. To harness these possibilities, it is essential to construct nano-materials that have minimum impact on the human body, plant systems as well as the environment. Using different materials can up-or down-regulate diverse genes of plants, create stimulating or stressful conditions and even cause production of metabolites that affect plant-associated microbes. The same nanoparticle can promote one plant species growth and be toxic to another. A small change in the concen-trations could cause either flourishment or senescence. It is crucial to understand how nanomaterials interact with nucleic acids, the most fundamental plant macro-molecule, as well as with the proteins and hormones made by biochemical processes. This chapter explores the basics of nanotechnology, with a brief classification and notes on some of the most recently used nanomaterials in agriculture such as metals and their oxides, quantum dots, graphene, arabinoxylan and chitosan nanoparticles, single and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Interactions with these above-mentioned macromolecules are explored, along with futuristic applications in plants that are currently being tested, like nanocarriers and nanovalves. Through this work, it is hoped that the field will further be extended through proper understanding of the environmental implications of nanomaterials, and that green technology will become the norm. The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. -
Facile Synthesis of Polymer Dot and Its Antibacterial Action Against Staphylococcus aureus
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) rising from nosocomial infections is an escalating threat to human life nowadays due to the overuse of drugs. The multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria have increased morbidity and mortality rates, becoming a crucial global clinical challenge. Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria is one of the nosocomial pathogens that cause severe invasive diseases and skin infections to human health worldwide. Herein, a non-conjugated polymer dot (NCPD) was synthesized from less toxic and biocompatible polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) via hydrothermal treatment. The fluorescence of the polymer dots was enhanced by nitrogen doping. The as-synthesized nitrogen-doped polymer dots (PDs) exhibit excitation-dependent luminescence emission and show green color fluorescence under UV light. The average size of the synthesized functionalized non-conjugated polymer dot is obtained as 4.08nm, and they exhibit an amorphous structure. No antibacterial property was observed for bulk polymer, but the doped polymer dots showed antibacterial activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2024. -
Composites based on natural polymers
Polymers are composed of macromolecules of high molecular weight formed by the repeated union of small molecules known as monomers. Polymer materials over other materials such as metals and ceramics, are of light weight and hence extensively used. The use of renewable raw materials can provide a substantial activity for a sustainable society and environment. Natural polymer composites can provide an alternative to increasingly scarce raw materials from plants and animals. 2017 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. -
Modelling the role of institutional support in shaping the social behaviour of business administration students
The relevance and scope of teaching social responsibility and ethical behaviour to business students has been widely discussed among academicians worldwide (Giacalone & Thompson, 2006). Presently all business schools emphasize teaching social responsibility to the students. But the effectiveness of this education on the student's social responsibility was not evaluated in the past. This study tries to fill this gap by conducting an empirical study on the effectiveness of social responsibility projects undertaken by undergraduate business students for their overall development. The study hypothesized that the course support and institutional support would influence the student's perception of social responsibility, which in turn affects the student's academic performance. For this purpose, the study was conducted among 450 students who have undergone a social responsibility course. The path analysis method was used to test the hypothesized model. Further, the study also evaluated the moderation effect of gender on this model. The study's major finding indicated that the social responsibility course and the organizational support positively impacted students' social responsibility perceptions, which, in turn, influenced students' academic performance. The study suggests that business institutions should emphasize social responsibility initiatives. 2024 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. -
Examining Pre- and Post-ERP Adoption Challenges Confronting SMES: A Study on South Indian Companies
In todays dynamic and fiercely competitive business world, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can benefit greatly from using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Because these technologies may revolutionize decision-making, data management, and operational efficiency, they are a compelling choice for SMEs who aspire to thrive in their respective industries. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), focusing on the challenges encountered during the pre and post-adoption phases. The research incorporates quantitative data from 36 SMEs that have undergone ERP implementation. The study aims to unravel the challenges of ERP adoption in SMEs through statistical analysis, including paired and independent samples t-tests, Pearson Chi-square tests, and non-parametric tests such as Wilcoxon Signed Rank and Mann-Whitney tests. The findings reveal a significant reduction in operational challenges post-ERP adoption, highlighting the efficiency gains from ERP systems. The findings advocate for a strategic approach to ERP adoption, emphasizing the importance of vendor selection and the nuanced role of employee training in ensuring the successful integration and utilization of ERP systems within SMEs. It is also important to establish a continuous monitoring and evaluation mechanism to resolve issues when and where occurred. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024. -
Intelligent Wearable Electronics: A New Paradigm in Smart Electronics
In the last decade or so, the wearable electronics technology has seen an unprecedented growth which is expected to reach around USD 51.60 billion by the year 2022 with a CAGR of 15.51%. Intelligent wearable electronics is a combination of wide range of technologies like computation, communication, sensors, cloud computing, and display to cite a few. Integration of various technologies resultin systems which are multifunctional along with higher complexity of design presenting a unique challenge for the technologists. With Internet of Things (IoTs) becoming ubiquitous and 5G technologies around the corner, the wearable devices are no longer simple passive systems providing the user limited information, but rather they are multifunctional, powerful, and intelligent devices which make use of complex sensing and signal processing elements along with cloud computing and data analytics to provide real-time data interpretation. In this chapter, we review the recent developments of intelligent wearable electronics (WE) with emphasis on their working principle and design at various levels of abstraction, that includes material, device, and system levels, along with signal processing and communication protocol for external communication. Further, the design and development of smart wearable electronics which involves multivariant problem-solving at various abstraction levels is explained. In addition, we elucidate popular classes of smart wearables like wearable textiles, healthcare wearable electronics, and WE in education. Furthermore, we explore the primary performance constraints of typical WE systems such as battery life (energy), system architecture, communication protocols, and integration with cloud computing to, mention a few. This chapter concludes by elucidating various challenges in developing WE and the future directions of this industry. 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. -
The Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility in Social Value Creation
The fundamental idea behind CSR is that corporations have duties that go beyond lawful execution of their economic duties (Steiner & Steiner, 2009). The waning hold of states over powerful transnational corporations and the increasing recognition of the potential of corporations to contribute to the welfare needs underline the importance of CSR in contemporary society. It is believed that a good CSR strategy would lead to significant reductions in business risks, including stakeholder, regulatory or marketplace sanctions. India being the first country to make CSR mandatory recognizes the potential of firms to synergize with the state in achieving larger developmental causes. This chapter is an attempt to review the CSR contributions toward public health during COVID-19. This chapter analyses the ways in which corporate social responsibility could contribute toward value creation in society and proposes a community-based convergent model of CSR implementation. 2024 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. -
Context matters: A case study of community development approaches in tribal areas
Tribal development initiatives aim to address aspects of marginality covering educational, occupational, social and political dimensions. A review of literature on the challenges in effective tribal development discusses narrow vision, implementation strategy, the attitude of people involved in the implementation and lack of community participation as hindrances in realising the desired goals. This chapter explores the need to have a context-specific approach to realise the community development goals in tribal areas considering the cultural and economic diversity of Scheduled Tribes in India. A single embedded case study has been used to understand tribal development initiatives in the three project sites, namely Manikgarh, Maharashtra; Bastar, Chhatisgarh and Niravilpuzha, Kerala. All these projects aim at the overall development of the community either through a child-centred approach or through a self-help approach. A constructive outcome-based evaluation model has been used in analysing the developmental approach, and in-depth interviews and FGDs were conducted with the project staff. An attempt has been made to study the impact on direct beneficiaries at micro, meso and macro levels. It explores the ways in which universities could become change agents through socially responsible engagements in tribal areas. This chapter would contribute towards developing a social responsibility model for other universities to emulate. 2024 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. -
Service learning as a pedagogical strategy: A case study on disability inclusion
Diversity and inclusion are the growing concerns of society and every organisation including higher educational institutions (HEIs) is designing strategies to ensure diversity equality and inclusion (DEI). To understand how students engage with the idea of disability and inclusion in education, this study explores the journey of undergraduate students with an organization for visually challenged students. This qualitative, descriptive study used interviews and focus group discussion (FGD) along with the analysis of chosen reflective journals. SL activities enabled students to reflect on the learning challenges faced by the visually challenged students as well as their caretakers. This also made them reflect on the larger academic environment at the higher education level and come up with suggestions to make the HEIs more inclusive for the visually challenged. This study emphasizes the nature of their engagement and the transformative aspects of the learning process that they experienced by focusing on the students' experiences and challenges. 2024, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Bionanomaterials in Food Applications and their Risk Assessment
Nanotechnology has increased impressively during the last decade for their diverse potential uses in food, environment, medical, sustainable energy and so forth. Nanomaterial synthesis by chemical methods has unintended properties on the ecological pollution and also effect on human welfare. To overcome these challenges green synthesized nanoparticles (NPs) has been used from plants and animals. The green synthesized NPs include gold (Au NPs), copper (Cu NPs), silver (AgNPs), iron and its oxides (Fe NPs). Abundant microbes and plants are used for the synthesizing NPs that are eco-friendly, cost effective and potentially safe. Further, these can be constructed using agri-food waste sources such as agricultural crops, fruits and vegetables, cereals, oil cakes, alcoholic beverages, and so forth, for synthesizing sustainable NPs, reducing environmental issues. These green synthesized metallic NPs needs to be further characterized for the synthesis, factors affecting the parameters and their potential applications in various fields with major challenges that needs to be researched such as toxicity and translational research. 2025 selection and editorial matter, Shakeel Ahmed; individual chapters, the contributors. -
Plant, Animal, and Microbial Sources of Dyes and Mordants
Synthetic dyes and mordants have been used by various industries, including food, cosmetics, textiles, and pharmaceuticals, for many decades. However, their potential hazards to the environment and human health, such as carcinogenicity and teratogenicity, have raised global concerns. In earlier decades, people used naturally extracted dyes and mordants from plants and insects for purposes like painting, dyeing clothes, and enhancing skin and hair, using substances like henna, turmeric, and saffron. However, chemically synthesized dyes quickly replaced natural dyes due to their easy availability and low cost. Currently, consumers are becoming more conscious of the use of synthetic dyes and their effects, which can cause allergies and toxicity. This has led to a resurgence of eco-friendly dyes and biocolors, which have gained importance. There has been advanced and increased development in utilizing naturally occurring bioresources to produce sustainable biocolors with multifunctional applications. Natural colors have not only increased their market value due to their aesthetic appeal but also for their various properties, including antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. Indeed, biocolors derived from plants, animals, and microorganisms have better degradability and compatibility with the environment. These naturally occurring pigments need to be explored from various natural sources to meet the increasing global demand, using suitable techniques for their extraction. 2025 Apple Academic Press, Inc. -
Heavy metal detection by nanotechnology-based sensors
One of the major pollutants in the milieu consists of heavy metals that remain nondegradable with extreme toxicity that accumulates in plants, animals, and humans leading to ill effects with long exposures. These heavy metals that are used in various fields like food, textile industries, agriculture, and medicine act as enzyme inhibitors not allowing the substrate to bind the enzymes. In lieu of it, biosensors have been an essential tool that help to monitor environmental pollutants, presence of various toxins and biohazardous microbial in the organic matter, and also biomolecules in diagnostic tools. Detection of heavy metal traces in environmental monitoring has a widespread application using biosensors with improvised sensitivity, selectivity, and simplicity. Further, the biosensor technology has advanced greatly with the ability of biosensing mechanism combined with the highly advanced technique with the world of nanofabricating enabled miniature biosensors. The sensitivity performance of biosensors has increased tremendously with nanotechnology as the nanoscale dimensions promote the critical analysis and detect to probe single biomolecules. Nevertheless, the major drawback relies on the study lacking the toxicity of nanoparticles (NPs) in atmosphere, lacking in automated service, miniature induced unreliable source, and integrating the nano-biosensors for reliable transduction signals from the devices. With the development of biosensors for online and offline analysis for their quantity and diversity they have been termed as biosensor uprising with the introduction of biosensors with enzyme, DNA-, immuno-, and whole cell-based with specific analytical detection. 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved including those for text and data mining AI training and similar technologies. -
Bionanomaterials in Environmental Protection
The advent of globalization with ongoing anthropogenic actions has increased the rate of contaminants worsening aquatic, soil, and air systems, with increasing concern throughout the world. The several problems posed by these pollutants have endangered the environment as well as humans, leading to the application tasks of various conventional methods options to remove the pollutants. However, these technologies are costlier, of long duration, increasing energy consumption and also leading to toxins production. Nanotechnology, a newer method, has created a significant role in solving specific qualitative and quantitative, environmental issues of treating air, water, and soil by detection and removal of pollutants. Nanoparticles (NP) are low-cost, less energy consuming, eco-friendly and have higher efficiency rates. Nanosorbent, nanofiltration, nanocatalytic, and nanosensors methods have been used for the treatment of waste waters, air, and pollutant detection. There are different physical and chemical treatment options that have been employed for the synthesis of NPs, such as microwave heating and ultrasound methods. However recent decades have emphasized the green synthesis involving plant extracts and microbial sources due to their sustainability. Green synthesized NPs have gained immense interest due to their simplicity and relatively high reproducibility. In view of their capabilities, bionanomaterials can be used for eliminating pollutants and toxins, helping to maintain and spread a greener and cleaner environment. 2025 selection and editorial matter, Shakeel Ahmed; individual chapters, the contributors. -
Marine microbial biopolymers and their applications
Marine environment has been an important surrounding in recent times for valuable resources such as bioactive polymers. Increasing environmental concerns and realizing the limitation of global petroleum resources, biopolymers has gained utmost importance. Highly abundant renewable biopolymers of different polysaccharides have been produced from microbes, clams, shrimps, etc., exhibiting varying biological activities. Among all these biopolymers, microbial biopolymers are the most promising substitute for the existing synthetic polymers. Microbial polymers are synthesized intracellularly and extracellularly for their cell functions and survival playing specific roles as reserve materials for energy conservation, symbiosis and osmotic adaptation, protective agents that can be extruded and used for various applications. These biopolymers have exceptional moisture and oxygen barrier characteristics in making films for use in food industries and medical aspects. Microbial biopolymers that have been used include the cellulose, levan, pullulans, xanthan, gellan, kefiran, Haloferax exopolysaccharides, Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), and poly-3-hydroxybutyrates. Marine bacteria such as Bacillus, Halomonas, Alteromonas, Planococcus, Pseudoalteromonas, Vibrio, Zoogloea, and Thermococcus are found to be hyperproducers for biopolymers. Due to their high quality, sustainability, long shelf life, and biodegradability, they have been receiving interest for innumerable biological activities such as antioxidants, antidiabetic, antiinflammatory, and antimicrobial actions. Microbial marine biopolymers with natural biological activity, structural functions can be tailored using genetic engineering to obtain newer biomaterials with novel functionalities. 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.