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Evaluating the performance of Cr-Soc-MOF Super-Adsorbents for CO2 capture from flue gas under humid condition through molecular simulation
One of the major criticisms for gas separation by utilizing Metal Organic Framework (MOF) porous material for all classes of adsorbents is their very poor performance under humidified gas streams. Very few MOFs show better CO2 separation from N2 mixture in the presence of moisture. Conversely, plenty of MOFs demonstrated good CO2 capture from dry gas streams. In order to explore the potential characteristics of gas separation under humid conditions by coordinatively unsaturated metal organic framework (CUS-MOF) with square octahedral (Soc) topology were exercised single component (CO2, N2) adsorption and co-adsorption (CO2/N2) in the presence of moisture at 298 K with pressure ranging from 0 to 10 bar. Herein, we investigated five exceptional Cr-Soc-MOFs similar to the experimentally established iso-structural topology by differing the polynuclear aromatic ring size and N-heteroatom to their pore wall. The specific interaction of guest molecules to the coordinatively unsaturated metal site (CUS), i.e., rigid ?3-oxygen-centered tri-nuclear metal carboxylate, of Cr-Soc-MOF-n series were identified with Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, this energy profile was used to derive specific force field. Further, Grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulation was employed with DFT-derived force field to identify suitable CO2 capture for Cr-Soc-MOFs in the presence of moisture. Interestingly, the Cr-Soc-MOFs with larger pore volume were retained not only CO2 uptake in the range of 23 35 wt% but also selectivity about 20 50 range even up to 70% of RH. Importantly, we introduced a mathematical tool to theoretically analyze the dynamic co-adsorption in the form of breakthrough curve measurement from CO2/N2 simulated co-adsorption by mimicking the real flue gas condition, also working capacity (?N), Regenerability (R%) and Adsorbent Performance Indicator (API) of Cr-Soc-MOF-n series were investigated. The CO2 separation performances of Cr-Soc-MOF-n series suggested that the polynuclear aromatic ring to their pore wall withstand CO2 uptake in the presence of humidity rather than N-heteroatom decorated Cr-Soc-MOF due to its high pore volume and the accommodation of extra aromatic ring in their pore channels. 2022 Elsevier B.V. -
Agricultural credit and agricultural productivity across Indian states: An analysis
The study analyses the relationship between formal agricultural credit and agricultural productivity in India. Secondary data have been collected from various sources for the selected states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal for the time period 19901991 to 20172018. Fixed effect model is used to perform the state-level panel data analysis to establish the relationship between the agricultural credit and agricultural productivity. In addition to this, the study also focuses on analysing the effectiveness of Doubling of agricultural credit policy. The findings from the analysis show that direct agricultural credit and doubling of agricultural credit policy has a positive impact on productivity, whereas the indirect credit has a significant negative impact on productivity. In order to increase agricultural productivity, policies should focus on providing direct credit at a larger scale. 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. -
Pure red luminescence and concentration-dependent tunable emission color from europium-doped zinc sulfide nanoparticles
Nano-sized Eu3+-doped ZnS particles were prepared by chemical precipitation method using polyethylene glycol as capping agent. The structural and morphological studies of ZnS:Eu3+ nanoparticles were carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD results show that ZnS:Eu3+ nanoparticles have a cubic structure for all Eu3+ concentrations. Dependence of doping concentration on the photoluminescence (PL) of ZnS:Eu3+ nanophosphor was studied for excitations at 395nm and 465nm. At 395-nm excitation, emission colors of ZnS:Eu3+ nanophosphor lie in blue, green, yellow, and red regions of chromaticity diagram for different doping concentrations. But for all doping concentrations we got red emission when the excitation wavelength was 465nm and the color purity was 92% for 0.03M doped sample. 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. -
A New Economics Awaits Us
This article attempts to look into the concept of othering in the context of urban development. The major motivation for the initiation of this article came after reading Dipankar Guptas book review titled A New Sociology Awaits Us (EPW, 26 December 2020), which mainly concentrated on urban affairs. 2022 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved. -
Complicated Grief during COVID-19: An International Perspective
Cultures across the globe have evolved time-tested rituals to honor those who die and offer solace and support to survivors with the goal of helping them to accept the reality of the death, cope with the feelings of loss, adjust to life without the deceased, and find ways to maintain a connection to the memory of the deceased. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted these rituals and brought significant changes to the way we mourn. Specifically, public health responses to COVID-19 such as social distancing or isolation, delays or cancellations of traditional religious and cultural rituals, and shifts from in-person to online ceremonies have disrupted rituals and thus made it more difficult to access support and complete the psychological tasks typically associated with bereavement. This paper conceptualizes the common bereavement tasks including emotion-focused coping, maintaining a connection to the deceased, disengagement and reframing death and loss, and problemfocused coping. It provides examples of how the COVID-19 pandemic has altered mourning rituals across several cultures and religions and contributed to prolonged grief disorder as defined by the ICD-11 that includes depressive symptoms and post-traumatic stress. Early evidence suggested that the suddenness of loss, the social isolation, and the lack of social support often associated with COVID-19-related death are salient risk factors for complicated grief. As a consequence, psychological assessments, grief counseling, and mental health support are needed by families of patients who died from COVID-19. These services must be essential components of any comprehensive public health response to the pandemic. 2022 Hogrefe Publishing. -
Study of Transport Characteristics using Impedance Spectroscopy and Memristor Property Analysis of Protonated Polyaniline-WO3 Nanocomposite
Polyaniline-WO3 nanocomposite was synthesized through in-situ chemical polymerization. The structural properties are studied by using XRD and FESEM characterization. The XRD results confirmed the presence of crystalline WO3 nanoparticles in the polymer nanocomposite structure. FESEM images confirmed the sheet-like structure with heterojunction of WO3 nanoparticles and polyaniline matrix. The transport properties of the synthesized nanocomposites are studied using impedance spectroscopy analysis. The complex impedance analysis conducted using the Nyquist plot and equivalent circuit model of the nanocomposites are simulated using ZSimpWin software. The major conduction mechanism in the material is found to be grain boundary effect and the grain boundary conduction parameters are calculated. The polyaniline-WO3 nanocomposite with WO3 doping concentration of 15% has exhibited better sensing characteristics towards the target VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) 3-Carene, a breath-based biomarker for malaria. The memristor sensor model of the polyaniline nanocomposite with 15% of WO3 is simulated using MATLAB-Simulink. The pinched hysteresis loop obtained confirmed the memristor properties of the material. 2022, Universiti Malaysia Perlis. All rights reserved. -
Stigma among COVID-19 patients in South India-A cross-sectional study
Background: COVID-19 has a significant biopsychosocial impact on the lives of people who are infected, with the stigma associated with the illness being one of the major issues. However, the level of stigma based on demographics, gender differences, hospital-based or home-based care is yet to be explored. Hence, this study aimed to infer the level of stigma between these groups in the urban district of south India. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 50 participants who were recently infected with COVID-19 and were receiving either hospital or home-based care. The stigma was assessed using a standardized questionnaire which has four domains. MannWhitney U test was conducted to analyze the data. Results: Median age is 54 years and the majority of the participants are male (74%). The mean score of enacted stigma subscale was 4.48, disclosure fear was 2.34, internalized stigma was 2.82, perceived externalized stigma was 7.32 and the total stigma mean score was 17. The perceived externalized stigma subscale was higher in males (7.57 5.96) when compared to females 6.62 5.53. Total stigma scores were higher for males 17.2 10.1 when compared to females 16.2 10.5. The total stigma score was more (17 10.3) among home isolated COVID patients as compared to hospitalized patients (16.9 10.2). Conclusion: Increased levels of stigma among COVID-19 patients have various important psychosocial implications. This study highlights the need for larger prospective cohort studies to further understand stigma in the context of COVID-19. 2022 by the Author(s). -
Computational simulation of surface tension and gravitation-induced convective flow of a nanoliquid with cross-diffusion: An optimization procedure
The control of heat transfer in the hydromagnetic semiconductor crystal involves Marangoni convection with buoyancy forces. In this study, the conventional thermo-solutal Marangoni mixed flow model is modified by incorporating the solutal buoyancy effects that are significant in the flow phenomenon. The heat and mass transfer (HMT) characteristics of the Marangoni convective flow of a Cu ? H2O nanofluid subjected to the assisting/resisting buoyancy forces and cross-diffusion are numerically studied. The homogeneous single-phase nanoliquid model is used in conjunction with experimental data of dynamic viscosity and thermal conductivity. The Dufour and Soret effects are considered. Governing equations are solved using the finite difference-based algorithm. The problem is analyzed in a unified way considering the cases of buoyancy-assisted flow and buoyancy-opposed flow. The response surface methodology (RSM) based on the face-centered composite design (CCD) is used to optimize the heat and mass transfer rates. A multivariate regression model is proposed and authenticated prior to optimization. Additionally, sensitivity analysis is performed using the full quadratic regression model. The increase in the temperature profile is more significant due to the radiative heat flux than the inclined magnetic field. Heat transfer has a high sensitivity to the appearance of thermal radiation, while mass transfer has a high sensitivity to the Soret effect. Simultaneous optimization of HMT rates is achieved with the high level of thermal radiation and low levels of the cross-diffusion aspects. 2022 -
Nanoencapsulation of Ru(p-cymene) Complex Bearing Ginger-based Natural Product into Liposomal Nanoformulation to Improve Its Cellular Uptake and Antiproliferative Activity
The organometallic compounds are prospective candidates in the row of developing metallochemotherapeutics with the aim of overcoming the limitations of platinum drugs. In order to explore the anticancer properties of organometallic compounds with the natural medicines, two Ru(II)-p-cymene complexes containing the natural products, viz., 6-gingerol (6G) and benzylated-6-gingerdione (B-6GD) have been synthesized and characterized well. The phenolic group of the Ru(6G) complex facilitates its higher cell-free antioxidant activity than its analogue complex. Also, the same complex shows higher cytotoxicity toward A549 lung and HeLa-S3 cervical cancer cells than the Ru(B-6GD) complex but lower cytotoxicity toward A2058 metastatic melanoma cancer cells. Both complexes are shown to easily accumulate in melanoma cancer cells, and their degree of cytotoxicity in the same cells is found to be positively correlated with cell uptake. The cytotoxicity of complexes arises from their intracellular activity, mainly due to the induction of singlet oxygen production in cancer cells. The subcellular fractionation study shows that mitochondria and ER-Golgi membranes might be their predominant targets. Also, the mechanistic investigation revealed that Ru(B-6GD) induces caspase-dependent non-apoptotic cell death whereas Ru(6G) can induce caspase-independent non-apoptotic cell death. Furthermore, both complexes are found to moderately alter the adhesion properties of cancer cells, which is beneficial for antimetastatic treatment. Despite the potential pharmacological activity, Ru(6G) is encapsulated into polymer-supported liposomes to reduce its toxicity and further improve its anticancer potency. The ?-conjugated yne-ene chain of polydiacetylene aids in the development of a stable nanoformulation, which achieved a slow release of the complex. Most importantly, the cancer cell uptake of the liposome-encapsulated Ru(6G) complex is 20 times enhanced and the total ROS formation in cancer cells is significantly increased compared to the non-encapsulated complex. However, the nanoformulation does not alter the antimetastatic potency of the encapsulated complex. 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved. -
Corrosion Characterization of Friction Stir Weld Dissimilar Aluminium Alloy Joints
The course of contact mix welding is quick acquiring conspicuousness in aviation, marine and car industry because of its benefits as far as mechanical strength, effect and hardness characteristics. There is as yet a requirement for sure fire consideration from the exploration local area to erosion in grating mix welding zones, hence the work introduced here centres around the consumption portrayal of the grinding mix weld divergent aluminium composite. This study looks into friction stir welding under various parametric settings and shows how corrosion happens in a sodium chloride electrolytic media under potentio-dynamic conditions. The friction stir weld joints of dissimilar alloys aluminium are constructed using three sets of parameters. Straight cylinder, taper cylinder, and straight triangular tool profiles; tool rotational speeds of 800, 1000, and 1200 rpm; tool feed rates of 100, 120, and 140 mm/min; and tool offsets of 0.5, 0 mm, and-1.5 mm. The corrosion current (Icorr) reduces as tool rotating speed increases up to 1200 rpm, after which it slightly increases due to the creation of ridges all around the periphery of the friction stir weld area. 2022, Books and Journals Private Ltd.. All rights reserved. -
Modelling, Temperature Analysis, and Mechanical Properties of Friction Stir Welding of Al-Cu Joints with Hardened OHNS Steel Tools
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a nearly modern welding method with vital advantages over the conventional welding process, such as lower distortion, enhanced mechanical properties, and eco-friendly. In FSW, the joint characteristics mainly depend on heat development during the joining process due to its solid-state joining method. The basic principles of thermomechanical methods during FSW are unknown since it is a new metal joining method. In this investigation, the 2D and 3D models of the tools with different pin forms were designed using SOLIDWORKS. The ANSYS software was used to investigate the temperature distributions near the weld zones. The fixture was designed and made according to the machine conditions. The base plates used were AA6101 and C11000; the tool material used was the Hardened OHNS steel tool with square and circular pin form. The temperature values were measured in each trial while joining of Al-Cu base plates along the weld line. The results reveal that in the joint area, a trial with high temperature leads to high ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and Charpy impact strength (CIS). Made at tool rotation speed 1200 rpm and feed velocity 20 mm/min of Hardened OHNS steel tool with circular pin form. The obtained UTS value at joints was less than that of Al and Cu base plates. The microhardness value detected at the joint area was higher than the Al and Cu base plates, providing high strength, and irregularly dispersed. 2022, Books and Journals Private Ltd.. All rights reserved. -
Semilinear fractional elliptic equations with combined nonlinearities and measure data
This study focuses on semilinear fractional elliptic problems with concave-convex type nonlinearities and measures as data. Suitable iteration techniques and embedding results are employed to ensure the existence and multiplicity of solutions. 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. -
A Cross-Sectional Study on Mental Health of School Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in India
The broad objective of the present study is to assess the levels of anxiety and depression of school students during the COVID-19 lockdown phase and their association with students background, stress, concerns and social support. In this regard, the present study follows a novel two stage approach. In the first phase, an empirical survey was carried out, based on multivariate statistical analysis, wherein a group of 273 school students participated in the study voluntarily. In the second phase, a novel Picture Fuzzy FFA (PF-FFA) method was applied for understanding the dynamics of facilitating and prohibiting factors for three categories of focus groups (FG), formulated on the basis of attendance in online classes. Findings revealed a significant impact of anxiety and depression on mental health. Further, PF-FFA examinedthe impact of the driving forces that steered children to attend class as contrasted to the the impact of the restricting forces. 2022 by the authors. -
Trigonometric Cosine, Square, Sawtooth and Triangular Waveforms of Internal Heating Modulations for Three-Component Convection in a Couple Stress Liquid: A Detailed Analysis
In this paper, the main focus is to study the effect of internal heating modulations of sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal waveforms on a three-component convection in a couple stress liquid. This three-component layer is heated from below and salted with two solutes at the bottom. In order to facilitate a solution to the problem, linear case is formulated using the Venezian approach for modulations while the non-linear case is modeled using 7-mode generalized Lorenz equations. With the aim of quantifying the heat and mass transfer, average Nusselt and average Sherwood numbers are computed. The investigation reveals that, internal heating modulations show a stabilizing or destabilizing trend that precisely depends on the modulated frequency and appropriate waveforms. The effect of heat source and sink is recorded on different convection processes. The effect of the pertinent parameters and waveforms on the stability of the system and on heat and mass transfer have been captured via graphs. The results confirm that the heat and mass transfer escalates to its maximum due to the square waveform. In this research paper, six problems involving three types of convection in two different liquids are solved as limiting cases of the problem. 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature India Private Limited. -
Breast Cancer Detection in Mammography Images Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks and Fuzzy Ensemble Modeling Techniques
Breast cancer has evolved as the most lethal illness impacting women all over the globe. Breast cancer may be detected early, which reduces mortality and increases the chances of a full recovery. Researchers all around the world are working on breast cancer screening tools based on medical imaging. Deep learning approaches have piqued the attention of many in the medical imaging field due to their rapid growth. In this research, mammography pictures were utilized to detect breast cancer. We have used four mammography imaging datasets with a similar number of 1145 normal, benign, and malignant pictures using various deep CNN (Inception V4, ResNet-164, VGG-11, and DenseNet121) models as base classifiers. The proposed technique employs an ensemble approach in which the Gompertz function is used to build fuzzy rankings of the base classification techniques, and the decision scores of the base models are adaptively combined to construct final predictions. The proposed fuzzy ensemble techniques outperform each individual transfer learning methodology as well as multiple advanced ensemble strategies (Weighted Average, Sugeno Integral) with reference to prediction and accuracy. The suggested Inception V4 ensemble model with fuzzy rank based Gompertz function has a 99.32% accuracy rate. We believe that the suggested approach will be of tremendous value to healthcare practitioners in identifying breast cancer patients early on, perhaps leading to an immediate diagnosis. 2022 by the authors. -
Proficient randomized response model based on blank card strategy to estimate the sensitive parameter under negative binomial distribution
This paper has great potential for estimating population proportion who possess stigmatized character by using Negative binomial distribution as a randomization device. The properties of the proposed estimation procedure have been examined. Measure of privacy protection for the proposed randomization device has been also quantified. Empirical studies are performed to support the theoretical results, which show the dominance of the proposed estimator over its competitors. Results are analysed and suitable recommendations are put forward for survey practitioners whenever they deal with sensitive characteristics. 2021 -
Numerical Modelling and Experimental Validation of Novel Para Winglet Tape for Heat Transfer Enhancement
Heat exchangers are predominantly used in the industries of production, manufacturing, power, oil and gas, petroleum, and cooling solutions. The competence of the heat exchanger is optimized through active and passive augmented techniques. The current study revolves around the performance evaluation of Novel Para winglet tape for flow and friction characteristics. Turbulence flow properties from Re of 30,000-to-6000 were explored for three different inclinations and pitches, respectively. Experimental and numerical solutions are derived to showcase the flow behavior over Para winglet tape inserts in the double pipe heat exchanger. Appreciable results were obtained in enhancing the Nusselt number (Nup) for a better heat transfer enforcement through the DEX. All case studies also increased when compared to the smooth pipe. Experimentally, the maximum Nu and Nusselt number ratio was observed to be 398.23 and 5.05 times over the plain tube. Similarly, the maximum friction factor and its ratio were observed to be near 0.33 and 8.89 times over the plain tube. Finally, the maximum POI of 2.68 to 2.37 was achieved with 20 inclinations. The experimental and numerical outcomes of Para winglet tape with the higher inclination and shorter pitch were found to be best out of the others. 2022 by the authors. -
Design Optimization of Electrical Connector Assembly using FEA
Due to the increasing number of devices and systems connected to an electric system, the need for reliable and high-quality electrical connectors has become more prevalent. This project aims to optimize the design of an electrical connector during its two most critical stages: insertion and retention of housing using FEA. A structural analysis is performed during the insertion and retention stages of housing. This process involves calculating the dimensional deformations and maximum strains developed during the steps mentioned above to determine the reliable functioning of electrical contacts. The input geometry is fed to the finite element analysis. The forces applied on the connectors latch on their respective connection are ensured to be under the limit. The analysis and simulation results are reflected to validate the safe forces in the connector assembly and a proper justification for an experimental set up in the laboratory. 2022, Books and Journals Private Ltd.. All rights reserved. -
Enhanced radial basis function neural network for tomato plant disease leaf image segmentation
Primary crop losses in agriculture are due to leaf diseases, which farmers cannot identify early. If the diseases are not detected early and correctly, then the farmer will have to undergo huge losses. Therefore, in the field of agriculture, the detection of leaf diseases in tomato crops plays a vital role. Recent advances in computer vision and deep learning techniques have made disease prediction easy in agriculture. Tomato crop front side leaf images are considered for research due to their high exposure to diseases. The image segmentation process assumes a significant role in identifying disease affected areas on tomato leaf images. Therefore, this paper develops an efficient tomato crop leaf disease segmentation model using an enhanced radial basis function neural network (ERBFNN). The proposed ERBFNN is enhanced using the modified sunflower optimization (MSFO) algorithm. Initially, the noise present in the images is removed by a Gaussian filter followed by CLAHE (contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization) based on contrast enhancement and un-sharp masking. Then, color features are extracted from each leaf image and given to the segmentation stage to segment the disease portion of the input image. The performance of the proposed ERBFNN approach is estimated using different metrics such as accuracy, Jaccard coefficient (JC), Dice's coefficient (DC), precision, recall, F-Measure, sensitivity, specificity, and mean intersection over union (MIoU) and are compared with existing state-of-the-art methods of radial basis function (RBF), fuzzy c-means (FCM), and region growing (RG). The experimental results show that the proposed ERBFNN segmentation model outperformed with an accuracy of 98.92% compared to existing state-of-the-art methods like RBFNN, FCM, and RG, as well as previous research work. 2022 Elsevier B.V. -
Influence of perceived equity, job enrichment, and burnout among educators in Indian private universities on job satisfaction and the desire to quit
The desire to quit converts into actual attrition if left unaddressed. Additionally, employees job satisfaction strongly influences their desire to stay or leave. Several individual and organizational factors affect job satisfaction levels, all of which must be thoroughly analyzed to curb both the desire to quit and attrition. The current study tests a model associating perceived equity, job enrichment, and burnout with job satisfaction and the desire to quit of educators employed in private universities in India. Data were collected from 272 university faculty members using five scales, namely, job enrichment, perceived equity, employee burnout, job satisfaction, and intention to leave, and were analyzed using AMOS 17. The initial fitness results failed to support the hypothesized framework, but a revised framework yielded a good fit for the data. Results show that perceived equity has a positive influence on job satisfaction (Hypothesis 2), job enrichment positively affects job satisfaction (Hypothesis 3), burnout negatively influences job satisfaction (Hypothesis 4), and job satisfaction negatively affects the desire to leave (Hypothesis 1). Perceived equity, burnout, and job satisfaction were found to mediate the association between job enrichment and the desire to leave. The results indicate that private universities must focus on job satisfaction to reduce employees desire to quit, thereby reducing the attrition level, which is currently a severe problem with both financial and non-financial consequences to universities. From the results, it can be seen that job enrichment has acted as a mediator to influence employees job satisfaction. Future research can explore HR practices contributing to high job enrichment, and this study would have considerable practical implications. Copyright 2022 Annamalai.