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Banana peels as a cost effective substrate for fungal chitosan synthesis: optimisation and characterisation
Massive accumulation of unprocessed banana peels enthralls sustainable issues as they are eventually dumped as landfills leading to emission of obnoxious gasses. To avoid these persisting challenges the present study shims lights on chitosan production from the characterised fungal strain using banana peel hydrolysate as an effective medium. Substantial amount of carbohydrate in banana peels serves as a potential solution for fungal chitosan production in a view to attain a circular bioeconomy and repurposed for synthesis of beneficial products in a cost effective manner. Presence of fermentable sugars in banana peels qualifies them as a feasible substrate which could be exploited for scaling up of fungal chitosan synthesis. Screened isolate was subjected to statistical optimisation using formulated medium to elucidate the influential factors that had significant effect on chitosan production. The harvested chitosan biomass was characterised through standardised techniques and evaluated for further studies. Statistical optimisation reveals that ammonium nitrate (5 g/L), pH (6) and incubation time (144 hrs) were the three PBD variables that had a greater influence on fungal chitosan yield. The validated developed model exhibited maximum yield of 200 mg/L, a 4.4 fold increase than unoptimised medium (45 mg/L). These findings emphasise the fermentative synthesis of chitosan through valorisation of banana peel prop up a complementary approach in concomitant with preserving renewable resources and bioproduct formation. 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
In silico studies of viral protein inhibitors of Marburg virus using phytochemicals from Andrographis paniculata
The Marburg virus is a causative agent of Marburg hemorrhagic fever, which was discovered in Marburg, Germany, in 1967. It is a highly contagious and fatal disease transmitted by body fluids. The reservoir host is African fruit bats. Currently, there is no vaccine available to control this disease. Medicinal plants possess many phytochemicals of great therapeutic value. Many have antiviral properties and have been identified as promising drug molecules against various viral diseases proven with an in silico approach. The current research uses the in silico approach to identify the phyto-derived drugs from Andrographis paniculata to treat the Marburg virus. Twenty-four bioactive molecules from the A. paniculata plant were investigated against the targets VP35 and VP40 of Marburg viral proteins using the AutoDock Vina 1.1.2 tool. Out of 24 compounds, Andrographidine C, Andrographidine A, Andrographolactone, and 7-O-methylwogonin showed best docking scores for the target VP40 dimer while Bisandrographolide A, Luteolin Andrographolide, and Andrographiside showed best docking scores with VP35 protein. To determine the druglikeness, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties and toxicity for each targets highest docking score compound was assessed using the Swiss absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) and pkCSM tool. Andrographidine C and Andrographolide performed well in all the parameters of ADME and toxicity. These compounds are recommended as effective inhibitors of VP35 and VP40 of Marburg virus and potential antiviral drugs to treat the hemorrhagic disease. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo studies can be used to examine the effectiveness and mode of action against the proteins of the Marburg virus. 2023 R. Hariprasath et al -
Measuring Financial Inclusion in India: An Approach
In light of the COVID-19-induced financial crisis, the need for robust financial services and networks has become more apparent than ever, which necessitated the accurate measurement of the breadth of financial inclusion in India. First, the study conducted a detailed critical review of the current indices and their construction methodology. Then, we created a financial inclusion index for India by accounting for the flaws existing in the current indices. The primary contribution of this study to the existing literature is the new approach it proposed for the assignment of weights in the financial inclusion index. Based on this new financial inclusion index, the study concluded that Indias Southern states and union territories showed better financial inclusion. In contrast, the traditionally backward BIMARU states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, and a few of the North Eastern states of India, lagged. The study also provided a refined and inclusive definition of financial inclusion based on its new approach to index creation. 2023, Associated Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd.. All rights reserved. -
Solute-solvent interaction and DFT studies on bromonaphthofuran 1,3,4-oxadiazole fluorophores for optoelectronic applications
In the present work, computational and experimental studies were carried out to explore the photophysical properties of bromonaphthofuran substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives for optoelectronic applications. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to demonstrate the electronic and optical properties of the synthesised molecules. The theoretical ground state dipole moments of the fluorophores in gas and solvent environments were also computed using Gaussian 09W software. Further, the HOMO-LUMO energies of the fluorophores determined using DFT agree well with the experimental values. Molecular electrostatic potential 3D plots were used to identify the sites which are electrophilic and nucleophilic in nature. Dipole moment of both the fluorophores in ground and excited states were determined experimentally. The excited state dipole moments being higher than that of the ground state shows the redistribution of electron densities in the excited state than in the ground state in both the fluorophores. The solute-solvent interactions, both specific and non-specific, were assessed using Catalan parameters. Further, the nature of chemical reactivity was determined based on global descriptors. The photophysical properties of the fluorophores studied suggest their potential use as promising candidates for organic light emitting diode (OLED), solar cell and chemosensor applications. 2022 Elsevier Inc. -
Encapsulated 3converter for power loss minimization in a grid-connected system
A newly designed DCAC three phase bidirectional converter (DATBC) with an encapsulated DCDC converter (EDC) for the energy storage system (ESD) is analysed and investigated in this research paper. By using encapsulated or embedded or hidden DCDC converter a stable and constant DC bus is developed between the encapsulated DCDC converter and DCAC three phase bidirectional converter. The proposed converter is entirely different from the traditional dual-stage DCAC converter, because it takes less than 20% of power used for the DCAC conversion process. So, this reduced power consumption increases efficiency to a considerable value. A new control technique for zero sequence has been adopted components are inserted in the modulating signal based on carrier pulse width modulation (CPWM). Working principle, implementation and characteristics of the DCAC three phase bidirectional converter are analysed. Effectiveness and feasibility of the developed converter are examined with a proto-type model. 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
The use of self-protective measures to prevent COVID-19 spread: an application of the health belief model
This study uses a health belief model to examine the preventive behavioral orientation or self-protective measures adopted by people in the face of the current COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 603 participants were selected from the city of Bangalore, India. The data was collected through an online survey with participants age varying between 17 and 54 and mean as 23 years (SD = 4.32). The findings revealed that perceived barrier has significant negative impact, while perceived threat, perceived consequences, perceived benefits, community and individual self-efficacy, and general health cues have a positive influence on an individuals intention to follow self-protective measures against COVID-19. Based on the constructs of the health belief model, this study proposes multiple health-related interventions to reduce the spread of COVID-19. 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
A Novel Generative Adversarial Network-Based Approach for Automated Brain Tumour Segmentation
Background: Medical image segmentation is more complicated and demanding than ordinary image segmentation due to the density of medical pictures. A brain tumour is the most common cause of high mortality. Objectives: Extraction of tumorous cells is particularly difficult due to the differences between tumorous and non-tumorous cells. In ordinary convolutional neural networks, local background information is restricted. As a result, previous deep learning algorithms in medical imaging have struggled to detect anomalies in diverse cells. Methods: As a solution to this challenge, a deep convolutional generative adversarial network for tumour segmentation from brain Magnetic resonance Imaging (MRI) images is proposed. A generator and a discriminator are the two networks that make up the proposed model. This network focuses on tumour localisation, noise-related issues, and social class disparities. Results: Dice Score Coefficient (DSC), Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), and Structural Index Similarity (SSIM) are all generally 0.894, 62.084 dB, and 0.88912, respectively. The models accuracy has improved to 97 percent, and its loss has reduced to 0.012. Conclusions: Experiments reveal that the proposed approach may successfully segment tumorous and benign tissues. As a result, a novel brain tumour segmentation approach has been created. 2023 by the authors. -
Broadband Spectral Properties of MAXI J1348-630 using AstroSat Observations
We present broadband X-ray spectral analysis of the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1348-630, performed using five AstroSat observations. The source was in the soft spectral state for the first three observations and in the hard state for the last two. The three soft state spectra were modeled using a relativistic thin accretion disk with reflection features and thermal Comptonization. Joint fitting of the soft state spectra constrained the spin parameter of the black hole a * > 0.97 and the disk inclination angle i = 32.9 ? 0.6 + 4.1 degrees. The bright and faint hard states had bolometric flux a factor of ?6 and ?10 less than that of the soft state respectively. Their spectra were fitted using the same model except that the inner disk radius was not assumed to be at the last stable orbit. However, the estimated values do not indicate large truncation radii and the inferred accretion rate in the disk was an order of magnitude lower than that of the soft state. Along with earlier reported temporal analysis, AstroSat data provide a comprehensive picture of the evolution of the source. 2022. National Astronomical Observatories, CAS and IOP Publishing Ltd. -
Bismuth (III) oxide decorated graphene oxide filled epoxy nanocomposites: thermo-mechanical and photon attenuation properties
In this study, bismuth (III) oxide (Bi2O3) decorated graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites were employed as novel radioprotective fillers in the epoxy matrix. Decoration of GO with Bi2O3 would transform it as carrier for Bi2O3 particles, thereby enhancing the thermo-mechanical and radiation shielding properties of the epoxy composites through effective filler distribution. Structural and compositional studies confirmed the successful decoration of Bi2O3 on the surface of GO. Thereupon, epoxy composites containing decorated fillers at different loadings (5, 10 and 15 wt%) were synthesized using solution casting technique. The correlation between surface decoration and filler loading was systematically examined as function of thermo-mechanical, viscoelastic and radiation shielding properties of the composites. These nanocomposites displayed good thermal resistance (~ 450 C), high glass transition temperature (~ 136 C), elastic modulus (~ 4.36 GPa) and storage modulus, thereby confirming the improved dispersion and better interfacial adhesion in the composites. The formation of continuous filler network across epoxy matrix formed by decorated fillers significantly improved X-ray and ?-ray shielding properties of epoxy composites in the wide energy range of medical interest (301332 keV). Shielding efficiency of these lowly loaded BGO/epoxy composites were comparable with the composites containing Bi2O3 nanoparticles alone and highly loaded microcomposites. 2022 Japan Society for Composite Materials, Korean Society for Composite Materials and Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
Enterococcus species and their probiotic potential: Current status and future prospects
Probiotics are described as live microbes that, once consumed in sufficient quantities, provide a health advantage to the host. A rising number of research works have verified the health benefits of probiotics. Enterococci are common bacteria that may be found almost anywhere. For their opportunistic pathogenicity, Enterococci have been associated with numerous nosocomial infections resulting from resistance to antibiotics and the existence of other virulence factors, notably the development of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci. However, some Enterococcal strains such as E. faecium and E. faecalis strains are being utilized as probiotics and are widely marketed, usually in the form of pharmaceutical solutions. Enterococcus spp. based probiotics are used to treat irritable bowel syndrome, infectious diarrhea, and antibiotic-associated diarrhea, along with decreasing cholesterol levels and enhancing host immunity. To be used as probiotics in the future, Enterococcal strains must be properly defined and thoroughly evaluated in terms of safety and can be beneficial. Here, in this work, we have reviewed various aspects of Enterococcus spp. pertaining to its possibility of being utilized as a probiotic strain. 2023 Krishna, et al. -
Effective and Efficient Video Compression by the Deep Learning Techniques
Deep learning has reached many successes in Video Processing. Video has become a growing important part of our daily digital interactions. The advancement of better resolution content and the large volume offers serious challenges to the goal of receiving, distributing, compressing and revealing highquality video content. In this paper we propose a novel Effective and Efficient video compression by the Deep Learning framework based on the flask, which creatively combines the Deep Learning Techniques on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN). The video compression method involves the layers are divided into different groups for data processing, using CNN to remove the duplicate frames, repeating the single image instead of the duplicate images by recognizing and detecting minute changes using GAN and recorded with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). Instead of the complete image, the small changes generated using GAN are substituted, which helps with frame-level compression. Pixel wise comparison is performed using K-nearest Neighbours (KNN) over the frame, clustered with K-means and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is applied for every frame in the video for all three colour channels [Red, Green, Blue] to decrease the dimension of the utility matrix [R, G, B] by extracting its latent factors. Video frames are packed with parameters with the aid of a codec and converted to video format and the results are compared with the original video. Repeated experiments on several videos with different sizes, duration, Frames per second (FPS), and quality results demonstrated a significant resampling rate. On normal, the outcome delivered had around a 10% deviation in quality and over half in size when contrasted, and the original video. 2023 CRL Publishing. All rights reserved. -
Detrimental effects of microplastics in aquatic fauna on marine and freshwater environments A comprehensive review
The world is ever evolving and new technologies are popping up everywhere. New inventions and discoveries have created a better world, but not a sustainable one. The whole earth is drowning in various pollutants and garbage. Plastic pollution has garnered sufficient attention and there are various teams and organizations working toward cleaning our beaches, parks, and environment. However, all these actions will not suffice as plastics have trickled down into microplastics, which are posing a greater threat to our water systems and aquatic fauna. Several ongoing researches focus on marine microplastics, while only 13% of studies are on freshwater. Research on microplastics is now on the rise, with new strategies and restrictions being put into place to curb its accumulation in our marine and freshwater environments. In a recent study, microplastics were found to be present in human blood with. Out of 22 people tested, 17 test subjects had microplastics present in their blood. This review focuses on the adverse effects of microplastics in marine and freshwater ecosystems, with special focus on aquatic fauna. 2023 Jaikumar, et al. -
Surface-engineering of carbon fibre paper electrode through molecular imprinting technique towards electrochemical sensing of food additive in shrimps
Excessive usage of food additives needs to be extensively examined and regulated. Herein, we report the development of an exceptionally proficient and practical electrochemical sensor for the quantitative determination of 4-hexylresorcinol (4-HR) in shrimps using a molecularly imprinted conducting polymer. By electropolymerizing 2-aminothiazole (AT) on the surface of a carbon fibre paper electrode (CFP) in the presence of 4-HR imprinted polymer films were developed. Bulk-electrolysis was used to produce definite imprinting sites and regulate the release of 4-hexylresorcinol templates. Voltammetric study reveals that the synthesized conducting polymer has outstanding electroactivity towards 4-HR and enables quick electron transfer kinetics. This MIP sensor has a detection limit of 6.03 nM for 4-HR. The modified CFP electrode has been found to be extremely selective to 4-HR due to its intensive contact via intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The modified electrodes were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, Optical profilometry, and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. 2022 Elsevier B.V. -
Dynamical analysis of fractional yellow fever virus model with efficient numerical approach
In this paper, we have projected the theoretical and numerical investigation of the mathematical model representing the yellow fever virus transmission from infected mosquitoes to humans or vise-versa through mosquito bites in the framework of the Caputo derivative. Theoretical aspects of the dynamics of susceptible individuals, exposed individuals, infected individuals, toxic infected individuals, recovered and immune individuals, and susceptible mosquitoes and infected mosquitoes have been analyzed by using the theory of fractional calculus such as boundedness, uniqueness and existence of the solutions. Sufficient conditions for the global stability of the virus-free point of equilibrium are inspected. T validate the theoretical results numerical analysis is performed using the generalized Adams-Bashforth-Moultan method. 2023, Eudoxus Press, LLC. All rights reserved. -
Performance Evaluation of Refractory Bodies Fabricated from Composite Oxide Powders Beneficiated from Black Al-dross
Aluminum Oxide (Corundum, ?-Al2O3) and Magnesium-Aluminum Oxides (Spinel, MgAl2O4) are highly desired refractory materials due to their ability to withstand high-temperature service conditions without corroding and cracking. They are present in composite form in black Aluminum Dross (Al-dross), a hazardous industrial waste. 1 Kg batch of this composite powder was beneficiated from Al-dross to 98+% purity after removing the hazardous Aluminum Nitride (AlN) by aqueous treatment of Al-dross in an environment-friendly manner. The treated slurry was oven dried, ball milled to fine powder, hydraulically pressed, and sintered at 1500 C/6 h into solid cylinders (50 mm diameter 20 mm height). The structural phase analysis of the sintered product (refractory blocks) revealed a highly crystalline XRD pattern with peaks pertaining to only ?-Al2O3 and MgAl2O4. The blocks with Rockwell Hardness values of 4850 HRC, were subjected to thermal shock cycling by following the guidelines of IS 1528 (heat quench between 1000 C and air at ambient) which successfully withstood > 100 shock cycles without failure. SEM was employed to study the fracture surface in an as-sintered state and after thermal shock cycling, to reveal a fine-grained microstructure with clear grain boundaries in the as-sintered state to a glassy matrix with fine cracks at the end of the thermal shock cycle test. The potential for utilization of Al-dross for refractory applications was thus established. 2023 -
Pyrazole Derivative Containing Naphthalene Moiety: Cytotoxocity (Breast and Cervical Cancer), Antibacterial and Antifungal Studies Using Experimental and Theoretical Tools
In the present study, the title compound is named 4-((5-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)(6-methoxynaphthalen-1-yl)methyl)-5-methyl-2-phenyl-1,2-dihydropyrazol-3-one was synthesized, and its antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic activity was studied by both experimental and in silico methods. The molecular structure was optimized using DFT/B3LYP method with cc-pVDZ as a besis set, and frontier molecular orbital (FMO) studies was used to explain the physiochemical properties of that molecule by the energy of interacting orbitals. NBO describes the intra delocalization of electrons in the molecule, which support the stability of that molecule. Noncovalent interaction (NCI) explains the nonbond interactions present in the molecule. Drug-likeness property of 405 C have been checked by absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) assay, result shown all the drug-likeness properties in red color region, so we have confirmed this molecule as a drug. 405 C undergoes antibiotic activity against P. aeruginosa organism, antifungal activity against B. cinerea and cytotoxicity activity against MCF-7 and HeLa cell when compared to standard drugs. 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. -
Spoofing Face Detection Using Novel Edge-Net Autoencoder for Security
Recent security applications in mobile technologies and computer systems use face recognition for high-end security. Despite numerous security tech-niques, face recognition is considered a high-security control. Developers fuse and carry out face identification as an access authority into these applications. Still, face identification authentication is sensitive to attacks with a 2-D photo image or captured video to access the system as an authorized user. In the existing spoofing detection algorithm, there was some loss in the recreation of images. This research proposes an unobtrusive technique to detect face spoofing attacks that apply a single frame of the sequenced set of frames to overcome the above-said problems. This research offers a novel Edge-Net autoencoder to select convoluted and dominant features of the input diffused structure. First, this pro-posedmethodistestedwiththeCross-ethnicityFaceAnti-spoofing (CASIA), Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) dataset. This database has three models of attacks: distorted photographs in printed form, photographs with removed eyes portion, and video attacks. The images are taken with three different quality cameras: low, average, and high-quality real and spoofed images. An extensive experimental study was performed with CASIA-FASD, 3 Diagnostic Machine Aid-Digital (DMAD) dataset that proved higher results when compared to existing algorithms. 2023, Tech Science Press. All rights reserved. -
In-phase, out-of-phase, bottom-wall two-frequency boundary temperature modulations on the onset of Rayleigh-Bard convection
The onset of convection in a Newtonian liquid-containing system is investigated using a two-frequency boundary temperature. The consequences of three types of two-frequency boundary temperature modulations have been thoroughly investigated: (i) in-phase, (ii) out-of-phase, and(iii) bottom-wall. The combined effect of two frequencies with sinusoidal and nonsinusoidal wave types is also documented under these various types of boundary temperature modulations. To facilitate the study, the Venezian method is approvedand the critical Rayleigh number and its correction are calculated. The parameters resulting from the study's two frequencies of modulation are the mixing angle, (Formula presented.), the amplitudes, (Formula presented.), and the set of coprime integers, (Formula presented.). The system's thermodynamics determines the range of these parameters. The research discovered that out-of-phase two-frequency boundary temperature modulation is the most stable, while in-phase is the least stable. Besides that, any combination of wave type with square wave type yields the most excellent stability. Furthermore, the two-frequency boundary temperature modulation is more stable than the single-frequency and no-modulation cases. 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC. -
Enhanced dielectric and supercapacitive properties of spherical like Sr doped Sm2O3@CoO triple oxide nanostructures
Integrating the hybrid nanostructures exhibiting enhanced storage and electrical properties requires tuning of composition of constituents. To address this issue, we prepared Sr2+ nanoparticles (NPs) decorated over Sm2O3@CoO nanostructures (NS) by chemical precipitation. The structure integrity of the composite was determined by analytical tools. Based on the strongest peak of X-ray diffraction (XRD), crystallite size of the nanoparticles was determined to be 26.14 nm, indicating a mixed phase of monoclinic and tetragonal crystal formation. FESEM revealed a spherical-like morphology with a homogeneous distribution of microstructures with average sizes ranging from 68 nm to 60 nm. The optical absorptivity revealed a redshift in absorption bands centred at 337.0 nm, 343.9 nm, and 353.0 nm in UV-region. The optical band gap of NS was found to be in the range of 3.38 eV to 3.15 eV, and the BET surface area of Sr15%:Sm2O3@CoO was found to be 458469 cm2/g with a corresponding pore size of 13.17 nm. All Sr-doped Sm2O3@CoO NS exhibited higher ionic conductivity and dielectric constant than undoped material. In an aqueous KOH electrolyte, the NS showed a specific capacity of 234.2C/g (65.1mAh/g) demonstrating the material as potential candidate in energy storage and dielectrics. 2022 Elsevier Ltd -
Tanishq: Brand Activism Gone Wrong?
Mansoor Khan, 45, brand manager, Tanishq Jewellery for Media and Communications, was facing lots of backlashes for Tanishqs advertisement on interfaith marriage advertisement aired to promote unity and harmony amongst different communities. In contrast to its stated objective of promoting unity and oneness, this interfaith marriage advertisement created a huge controversy in social media dividing its consumers and netizens into two opposing camps supporting and some even boycotting the advertisement. The brand Tanishq was trolled because of its alleged insensitivity and blindness towards the recent spate of killings in interfaith love affairs and marriages across different parts of India. This controversial advertisement of interfaith marriage and its resultant controversy has left the brand manager pondering should brands rely on more mainstream work rather than any edgy or controversial messaging? Should brands add their business voice to the societal and cultural debates or just stick to conventional advertisement? Or should Tanishq take a moral high stand and continue to promote the advertisement or should it withdraw the controversial advertisement? Whether the reckless pursuit of social, environmental, political and cultural issues and brands may alienate the very customer base, who they try to impress? Therefore, this case intends to teach the postgraduate students of marketing about concepts and theories of brand activism, celebrity endorsement, brand management and brand crisis management. 2023 MDI.