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Influence of pulse reverse current parameters on electrodeposition of copper-graphene nanocomposite coating
This work focuses on the influence of pulse reverse current parameters such as duty cycle and frequency on the microstructure and properties of graphene reinforced copper nanocomposite (Cu-Gr) coating. Graphene nanosheets were prepared by a liquid phase exfoliation technique and characterized using FE-SEM and Raman spectroscopy. Cu-Gr nanocomposite coating on stainless steel was prepared by pulse reverse electrodeposition method. The influence of pulse reverse current parameters such as duty cycle and frequency on the coating structure and texture was analyzed. By reducing the duty cycle and increasing frequency, a high amount of graphene co-deposition was achieved. A duty cycle of 40%, frequency of 1000 Hz and stirring speed of 500 rpm produced Cu-Gr coatings with maximum graphene codeposition. XRD analysis showed that the change in duty cycle and pulse frequency influenced the crystal structure, preferred orientation, and crystallite size of the deposit. A high pulse frequency improved the compactness of the composite coating, while longer pulse off-time and application of reverse pulse resulted in highly oriented (220) texture of pure Cu and Cu-Gr nanocomposite coatings. Due to graphene co-deposition, the copper grains became more refined, and hence the microhardness of the composite coating showed a tremendous increase compared to pure Cu coating. The Tafel polarization and electrochemical impedance studies revealed that pulse reverse electrodeposited Cu-Gr coating has higher corrosion resistance than pure Cu coating due to strong (220) texture and barrier effect of graphene. 2021 The Authors -
Metalsemiconductormetal visible photodetector based on Al-doped (Cd:Zn)S nano thin films by hydrothermal synthesis
High quality undoped and Al-doped nanocrystalline (Cd:Zn)S films [CZS and ACZS] were deposited on glass substrates by hydrothermal assisted chemical bath deposition. The Al concentration was varied from 0.5 mol.% to 2 mol.% in steps of 0.5 mol.% replacing cadmium while keeping other deposition parameters constant. XRD, SEM, and EDX were used to observe crystallinity, morphology and composition of the as prepared samples. X-ray diffraction revealed the hexagonal phase of CZS films with prominent orientation along the (002) plane. XPS analysis was used to confirm the doping concentration of Al in to CZS lattice. Repeatable photoresponse was recorded under 100 s cycle light-on and light-off conditions. 1 mol.% Al doped film being optimised as good photoconductor; a photodetector was fabricated with Ag/ACZS/Ag device structure. The ACZS photodetector exhibits similar time response, good photocurrent reproducibility and a sharp photoresponse at blue radiation with high photo-dark current ratio of 95. The device exhibits peak responsivity of 3.48 mA W?1 and detectivity of 1.26 1011 Jones at 470 nm. These properties suggest that the ACZS photodetector holds great potential for application in high-performance visible photodetectors, especially in the blue region. 2021 Elsevier GmbH -
Hybrid fruit-fly optimization algorithm with k-means for text document clustering
The fast-growing Internet results in massive amounts of text data. Due to the large volume of the unstructured format of text data, extracting relevant information and its analysis becomes very challenging. Text document clustering is a text-mining process that partitions the set of text-based documents into mutually exclusive clusters in such a way that documents within the same group are similar to each other, while documents from different clusters differ based on the content. One of the biggest challenges in text clustering is partitioning the collection of text data by measuring the relevance of the content in the documents. Addressing this issue, in this work a hybrid swarm intelligence algorithm with a K-means algorithm is proposed for text clustering. First, the hybrid fruit-fly optimization algorithm is tested on ten unconstrained CEC2019 benchmark functions. Next, the proposed method is evaluated on six standard benchmark text datasets. The experimental evaluation on the unconstrained functions, as well as on text-based documents, indicated that the proposed approach is robust and superior to other state-of-the-art methods. 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. -
Mental Health in the Times of Corona: A model for Positive Mental Health During the Global Pandemic
As the world comes to terms with the changes brought on by the appearance and spread of Covid-19, there is an increase in fear and anxiety levels. The World Health Organization has stressed on the need to focus on mental health, as the epidemic affects both young and old. One of the biggest challenges is that the situation has no precedent. This has led to the creation of uncertainty and doubt. The current study focusses on studying the positive mental health of the Indian population. For the study, the researchers have restricted the scope to include only Generation Y and Generation Z, as they form a majority of the working population and literature suggests that negative moods, stressors and apprehensions are far more prevalent among the younger sections of the society. The findings suggest that positive mental health is not dependent on gender or age. However, some of the dimensions do show significant variance. The researchers have also proposed a model of Positive Mental Health based on the dimensions of the Positive Mental Health Instrument. 2021, National Academy of Psychology (NAOP) India. -
Exploring factors of consumer perception and attitude towards organic food consumption in India
Organic food market is witnessing an exponential growth in India. However, contradictory to expectations consumption of organic foods as compared to conventional food is still at nascent stage and many empirical studies have indicated this trend. Many of the food retailers have started organic food business across the nation but consumption level has remained significantly low. Impetus for this study came from this contrarian trend and it is crucial to garner insights from awareness and attitude of consumers towards organic food products in terms of why there is gap between awareness and attitude and actual consumption. While there are many empirical studies, not many studies have been conducted in India context. This study is based on descriptive research design constituting a sample of 250 respondents and the data was collected by administering a questionnaire on Likert scale. Study revealed that there was significant gap between perception and attitude of consumers. Factors namely health benefits and concern for environment have higher influence Price sensitivity. Thus, this study helps to bring about an understanding regarding the awareness and attitude of consumers towards organic food products in terms of opportunities ahead and overcoming unaddressed issues. 2021 Ecological Society of India. All rights reserved. -
On an anti-torqued vector field on riemannian manifolds
A torqued vector field ? is a torse-forming vector field on a Riemannian manifold that is orthogonal to the dual vector field of the 1-form in the definition of torse-forming vector field. In this paper, we introduce an anti-torqued vector field which is opposite to torqued vector field in the sense it is parallel to the dual vector field to the 1-form in the definition of torse-forming vector fields. It is interesting to note that anti-torqued vector fields do not reduce to concircular vector fields nor to Killing vector fields and thus, give a unique class among the classes of special vector fields on Riemannian manifolds. These vector fields do not exist on compact and simply connected Riemannian manifolds. We use anti-torqued vector fields to find two characterizations of Euclidean spaces. Furthermore, a characterization of an Einstein manifold is obtained using the combination of a torqued vector field and FischerMarsden equation. We also find a condition under which the scalar curvature of a compact Riemannian manifold admitting an anti-torqued vector field is strictly negative. 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. -
Emotional Intelligence as a Predictor of Police Operational Stress: A Pilot Study
The present study examined the relationship between police operational stress and emotional intelligence. The study also observed the difference in operational stress and emotional intelligence concerning gender, rank, education, and marital status. The sample included 80 police officers from Bangalore, India. The operational police stress questionnaire developed by McCreary and Thompson (2006) and emotional intelligence scale developed by Hyde et al. (2002) were used to measure police operational stress and emotional intelligence, respectively. Independent sample t-test and Cohens d indicated that differences in gender, rank, education, and marital status had no significant effect on police operational stress. Gender differences had a significant effect on the emotional intelligence factors, empathy, and self-motivation. Differences in rank had a significant effect on empathy, self-motivation, emotional stability, managing relationships, integrity, value orientation, and commitment. Differences in marital status had a significant effect on value orientation. Correlation analysis showed that operational stress had a significant negative relationship with emotional intelligence and its factors such as self-motivation, emotional stability, value orientation, and altruistic behavior. Regression analysis showed emotional intelligence and its factor, emotional stability, as significant predictors of police operational stress. 2021, Society for Police and Criminal Psychology. -
Evaluation of Gamified TrainingASolomon Four-Group Analysis of the Impact of Gamification on Learning Outcomes
Gamification is the application of game elements to non-game contexts. The process of gamification has been found to improve engagement levels, motivate participation and improve outcomes of activities. The primary focus of Gamification research has been on understanding how it can improve the process of learning, especially in academics or education. The impact of gamification in the organizational context is still relatively unexplored. The current study attempts to provide evidence supporting the use of gamification in organizational training. The study adopted an experimental methodology and is set in the context of organizations in India. The findings suggest that potential learners responded more positively to the gamified module and the knowledge gained was also higher through the gamified module. The gamified module also resulted in higher learner motivation. Thus, the current study provide support for the Theory of Gamified Learning that proposes that Gamification would increase Learner Motivation and thereby improve Learner reaction to the training and increase Learning. 2021, Association for Educational Communications & Technology. -
RayleighBard and BardMarangoni magnetoconvection in variable viscosity finitely conducting liquids
The thermorheological effect on magneto-Bard-convection is studied numerically in fluids with finite electrical conductivity. A nonlinear thermorheological equation is considered in the problem. The results are compared with the classical approach of constant viscosity, which depicts the fact that the effect of increasing the strength of the magnetic field is to delay the onset of convection. The magnetic field is shown to have a rheostatic influence on convective instabilities. The results obtained by the study have possible applications in the field of astrophysics, sunspots, and in space applications under microgravity. 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC -
Financial inclusion of rural sector: Imperative for sustainable economic growth of India
This research paper aimed to take a look on the present status of financial inclusion in the Indian economy, especially in the rural sector. It also suggested few measures to be taken by the government and banking sector to enhance the inclusion of deprived sections of our country in the financial ecosystem. The data was collected from various secondary sources to depict the present level of financial inclusion, primarily after the implementation of various government policies. The suggested measures mainly included financial literacy and awareness campaign to be implemented at the grass root level along with a robust infrastructure to increase the telephone and internet connectivity in the rural sector. The researchers also analysed that the financial inclusion of the rural sector is imperative for the sustainable economic growth of an agricultural driven economy like India. 2021 Ecological Society of India. All rights reserved. -
The zamkovoy canonical paracontact connection on a para-kenmotsu manifold
The object of the paper is to study a type of canonical linear connection, called the Zamkovoy canonical paracontact connection on a para-Kenmotsu manifold. 2021 D. G. Prakasha et al. -
Antecedents of organic food consumption in Delhi NCR
The consumption of organic food in increasing rapidly in the country. It has a significant impact on the environment, individuals and public health. This is an attempt to understand the antecedents of organic food and try to re-establish the relationship between the attributes of organic food, the utilitarian and hedonic attitudes and consumer purchase intentions. The SOR model has been used to support the theoretical framework for conducting the research on organic food products. The nutritional values, sensory appeal, environmental concern price and natural content of organic food products have significant and positive relationship on utilitarian and hedonic attitudes of the consumer. Even utilitarian and hedonic attitudes have a positively strong relationship on consumer purchase intentions for organic food products. 2021 Ecological Society of India. All rights reserved. -
Antioxidant and antigenotoxic properties of Alpinia galanga, Curcuma amada, and Curcuma caesia
Objective: To compare the antioxidant and anti-genotoxic properties of Alpinia (A.) galanga, Curcuma (C.) amada, and C. caesia. Methods: Cytotoxicity of ethanolic extracts of A. galanga, C. amada, and C. caesia at selected doses was evaluated by trypan blue, MTT, and flow cytometry-based assays. Genotoxicity and anti-genotoxicity (against methyl methanesulfonate, 35 ?M and H2O2, 250 ?M) of these plants were studied by comet assay in human lymphocytes in vitro. Furthermore, DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, lipid peroxidation, and hydroxyl radical scavenging assays were performed to study the antioxidant potentials of the plants. Finally, anti-genotoxic potential of C. amada was validated in Swiss albino mice using comet assay. Phytochemical composition of C. amada was determined by GC/MS and HPLC. Results: The selected doses (2.5, 5, and 10 ?g/mL) of A. galanga, C. amada, and C. caesia were non-toxic by cytotoxicity tests. All three ethanolic extracts of plant rhizomes demonstrated antioxidant and anti-genotoxic properties against methyl methanesulfonate-and H2O2-induced oxidative stress in human peripheral blood lymphocytes in vitro. Multivariate analysis revealed that various antioxidant properties of these extracts in DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays were strongly correlated with their total phenolic constituents. C. amada extract conferred protection against cyclophosphamide-induced DNA damage in the bone marrow cells of mice and DNA damage was significantly inhibited by 2.5 mg/kg C. amada extract. Conclusions: C. amada is rich in potentially bioactive molecules and exhibits potent antioxidant activities. Its anti-genotoxicity against cyclophosphamide-induced oxidative stress is also confirmed in this study. 2021 Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine Produced by Wolters Kluwer-Medknow. All rights reserved. -
Flourishing and work flow among working adults: A positive investigation from India
The demands in today's organizations are only growing at peaking high levels where turnover and burnout sets out to be major factors that challenge productivity. This is supported by previous findings which have identified turnover and burnout as a consequence of job demands. In today's demanding era of workforce, capacity to work effectively is a key component of employee's health, well-being and growth. Positive emotional and mental state of employees is a predictor of positive organization which will result in high performance, wellbeing and a conducive environment to flourish. Present study deals with workflow and its relationship with employee`s flourishing. This paper aims to explore the relationship between flourishing and experiences of work flow among working adults (n=105). Relationship among variables was analyzed through correlation and regression analysis. Results indicate that there is significant positive correlation between flourishing and experience of work flow (r (105) = 0.49, p<.01) and experience of work flow predicts the flourishing among employees. 2021 Ecological Society of India. All rights reserved. -
Pan-generation investigation of sustainability factors in conjunction with personality aspects influencing consumer's perception towards sustainable marketing
Sustainability has become the goal of governments and organizations worldwide since the 2030 agenda of the United Nations was declared. The large number of products has emerged in the market that claims to be green and sustainable or promise to serve a social cause. Even though numerous studies that claim consumers are increasingly conscious of their choices and consumption behaviour there has been a marked gap between this awareness and the actual behaviour exhibited. In a quest to comprehend the curious gap between the attitude and behaviour of consumers, several studies have endeavored to find a plausible explanation. Marketing specialists have come up with several strategies in order to make sustainable marketing a success but inexplicably still fail to do so. This study proposes a conceptual framework that comprehensively explains the impact of external and internal drivers for a consumer's perception of products that claim to be sustainable in nature, which may eventually explain the attitude-behaviour gap. This has been constructed using well-established consumer behaviour and personality theories. Sample size was calculated using proportion to population method and was derived as 270. Judgment and convenience sampling were used to collect the data through a structured questionnaire. The study uncovered that age influences the attitudes of consumers and both Gen X (cohort born between 1965-79) and Y (cohort born between 1980-96) bear positive attitudes towards sustainable marketing. Pricing had a major influence as well, buyers who ranked high on the 'Conventional' and 'Realistic' interests of the RIASEC personality model had a more positive perception. 2021 Ecological Society of India. All rights reserved. -
Novel dioxidomolybdenum complexes containing ONO chelators: Synthesis, physicochemical properties, crystal structures, Hirshfeld surface analysis, DNA binding/cleavage studies, docking, and in vitro cytotoxicity
A series of dioxidomolybdenum (VI) complexes, [MoO2(ESB)H2O]DMF (1), [MoO2(ESB)MeOH] (2), and [MoO2(ESB)H2O]EtOH (3), containing 3-ethoxysalicylaldehyde benzoylhydrazone have been synthesized and analysed using various spectral and analytical techniques such as elemental analyses, IR spectra, UVVis absorption spectra, X-ray crystallography, and Hirshfeld surface analysis. Based on the elemental and spectral analysis, six-coordinate geometry was assigned for these complexes wherein the hydrazone ligand binds to the metal centre in its dianionic enolate form through ONO donor set. Distorted octahedral geometry of complexes 1 and 2 was evidenced from their crystal structures, which is typical for many cis-dioxido complexes of MoVI. The proligand and the new complexes were examined for their DNA binding, DNA cleavage, and cytotoxic properties. The DNA binding efficiency of the compounds in terms of their binding constants (Kb) of the metal complexes was observed to be 1.3727 105 M?1, 3.0194 104 M?1, and 1.13206 104 M?1 for [MoO2(ESB)H2O]DMF (1), [MoO2(ESB)MeOH] (2), and [MoO2(ESB)H2O]EtOH (3), respectively, indicating that these complexes strongly bind to DNA. To determine the binding interactions of the complexes with DNA and protein (BSA), molecular docking studies were carried out. Gel electrophoresis study reveals the fact that the complexes cleaved supercoiled pUC-18 DNA to nicked form (Form II) in the presence and absence of H2O2. The complexes showed significantly high cytotoxicity against MCF-7 (breast cancer cells). 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. -
Litchi inflicted child mortality in Bihar-a whistle blower to the pathetic public health system and other contributory factors
Introduction: Seasonal outbreak of a neurological illness called encephalopathy causing death among children has been reported since 1995 from the state of Bihar in India where in the year 2019 fifty-four children reportedly died due to this cause. Though this illness and its deadly consequences have been reportedly associated to consumption of a locally harvested fruit in the state called Litchi, still, it would not be appropriate to blame the fruit alone which is widely consumed by millions of people in India and all around the world without causing them any health hazards. Objectives: The study aims at exploring and reporting the prime contributory causes of encephalopathy among children due to consumption of the Litchi fruit in the state of Bihar. Methods: The article is based on review and analysis of secondary data gathered through scientific research papers, reports and statistics published by various ministries and departments of the Government of India, data published by recognised medical bodies, news journals and relevant research articles. Results: The findings of the report confirm that Litchi victimizes only those who are malnourished and feed in a considerable quantity to quench their hunger. The real causes of litchi inflicted child mortality is therefore poverty, malnutrition, lack of proper and equipped public health system leading to lack of timely and quality access to medical facilities, absence or lack of nutritious evening meal and high exposure to litchi orchards and large amount of time spent by children in these orchards without supervision and control. Conclusion: Strict monitoring and supervision should be executed in the health units of the state of Bihar and the same should be equipped with necessary equipment and manpower. The people in the state especially the uneducated should be made aware of the deadly outcomes of consuming large amount of litchi on an empty stomach. 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS -
Stakeholders' pedagogical preferences for teaching 'marketing' in management education
This study has been realized that there is a dire need for re-thinking, particularly obvious for matters of assessment and its relation to the current focus on teaching marketing. A descriptive design of the research was used where convenient sampling has been followed for data collection. In order to achieve the purpose, it was decided to collect independent opinions of students, teachers, and professionals. Analysis has been done through descriptive statistics and Spearman's rank correlation. As a result, a significant difference between the stakeholders' perceptions about the pedagogy for teaching marketing in management education was identified. 2021 Ecological Society of India. All rights reserved. -
Sustainable intensification of water guzzling crops: Identifying suitable cropping districts of India
With food sufficiency being achieved, emphasis of policy makers is now on to sustainable intensification in line with the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Widening discrepancy between the water-resource supply and demand necessitates relook into the cropping pattern of the country.Based on district-level secondary data of area, productivity and level of groundwater extraction, this study aims to identify critical and potential area for cultivation of three major water-intensive crops, i.e.rice, wheat and sugarcane.Study found that 1.93 million ha of area under rice, mainly in north-western and western India, need a gradual shift.Nearly 43% of the rice cultivated area in eastern and north-eastern states of West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Assam has potential for further intensification of rice cultivation.In case of wheat, around 0.65 million ha of area, mostly in Rajasthan, is critical in terms of sustainability.Livestock is an integral part of agriculture in this region and hence diversification of wheat would require mixed strategy of shifting to alternative dual-purpose crops and wheat cultivation with water conservation technologies.Study ftirther found that around 13543 ha of sugarcane in mainly in western Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is deterring the groundwater resources.Recommendations emanating from the study include differentiates agricultural price policy, payment for ecosystem services and greater focus on productivity enhancement in eastern India. 2021 Indian Council of Agricultural Research. All rights reserved. -
Pollution forecast of united states using holt-winter exponential method
The United States is the world's most developed country and one of the top ten most air polluted countries in the world. Though the population is not very dense as in India or China, people face immense health problems. The US government is taking a lot of initiatives than any other government globally. However, it still faces issues. This paper mainly focuses on developing a forecasting model of the top four pollutants like SO2, NO2, CO, O3 that will help the country take necessary actions for the near future. This paper involves the secondary data of the daily pollution collected and merged for all states from 2007 to 2017. The forecast will throw the better output at the pollutants for the next four years, until 2021. The findings revealed that despite the increased GDP, the country had controlled the pollution level. NO2 has decreased to a better level. O3 and CO2 are also decreasing but has slight fluctuations. It will take some time to stabilize. SO2 had an increased level till 2017 and has started reducing afterwards. 2021 Ecological Society of India. All rights reserved.