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A distinctive symmetric analyzation of improving air quality using multi-criteria decision making method under uncertainty conditions
This world has a wide range of technologies and possibilities that are available to control air pollution. Still, finding the best solution to control the contamination of the air without having any impact on humans is a complicated task. This proposal helps to improve the air quality using the multi-criteria decision making method. The decision to improve air quality is a challenging problem with todays technology and environmental development level. The multi-criteria decision making method is quite often faced with conditions of uncertainty, which can be tackled by employing fuzzy set theory. In this paper, based on an objective weighting method (CCSD), we explore the improved fuzzy MULTIMOORA approach. We use the classical Interval-Valued Triangular Fuzzy Numbers (IVTFNs), viz. the symmetric lower and upper triangular numbers, as the basis. The triangular fuzzy number is identified by the triplets; the lowest, the most promising, and the highest possible values, symmetric with respect to the most promising value. When the lower and upper membership functions are equated to one, we get the normalized interval-valued triangular fuzzy numbers, which consist of symmetric intervals. We evaluate five alternatives among the four criteria using an improved MULTIMOORA method and select the best method for improving air quality in Tamil Nadu, India. Finally, a numerical example is illustrated to show the efficiency of the proposed method. 2020, MDPI AG. All rights reserved. -
Unique Host Matrix to Disperse Pd Nanoparticles for Electrochemical Sensing of Morin: Sustainable Engineering Approach
Biomass-based carbon nanospheres derived from Mimosa pudica (commonly called "Touch-me-not") smeared on carbon fiber paper have been used as a host matrix for electrochemical deposition of palladium nanoparticles. The physicochemical characterization of modified electrodes was performed by field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to study the electroanalytical properties of the electrodes. The modified electrode demostrated an excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of a flavonoid, morin, which gave a sensitive anodic peak at-0.30 V (vs SCE). An ultralow-level detection limit of 572 fM with a linear dynamic range of 37.50-130 pM was achieved. The proposed electrochemical sensor was successfully employed for the analysis of morin in mulberry and guava leaves. This is a sustainable engineering approach where a perfect unique host matrix is created using carbon nanospheres from biomass. Copyright 2020 American Chemical Society. -
Lora-WAN Powered by Renewable Energy, and Its Operation with Siri / Google Assistant
LoRa WAN is a newly emerged game changing communication technology for sending small data packets of size 50 bytes or less, wirelessly over an area of up to 10 Km without the need of an internet connection. LoRa WAN has its own frequency band and the band is different for every country. This technology is now starring to boost WSN technology better than ever before. This paper aims to, power up a LoRa Enabled Device or a LoRa Gateway by using a reliable dual mode non-conventional energy resource for storage and utilization, find peak performances altering the data rate that can be achieved in a LoRa WAN Communication (using Indoor RAK Gateway), make use data compression techniques, data packet encoding/decoding, Coding Apple Shortcuts, setting up Siri and Google Assistant for voice control and future scope. 2020, Asian Research Association. All rights reserved. -
Long-term optical and infrared variability characteristics of Fermi blazars
We present long-term optical and near-infrared flux variability analysis of 37 blazars detected in the ?-ray band by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. Among them, 30 are flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and 7 are BL Lac objects (BL Lacs). The photometric data in the optical (BVR) and infrared (JK) bands were from the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System acquired between 2008-2018. From cross-correlation analysis of the light curves at different wavelengths, we did not find significant time delays between variations at different wavelengths, except for three sources, namely PKS 1144-379, PKS B1424-418, and 3C 273. For the blazars with both B- and J-band data, we found that in a majority of FSRQs and BL Lacs, the amplitude of variability (?m) in the J band is larger than that in B band, consistent with the dominance of the non-thermal jet over the thermal accretion disc component. Considering FSRQs and BL Lacs as a sample, there are indications of ?m to increase gradually towards longer wavelengths in both, however, found to be statistically significant only between B and J bands in FSRQs. In the B-J v/s J-colour magnitude diagram, we noticed complicated spectral variability patterns. Most of the objects showed a redder when brighter (RWB) behaviour. Few objects showed a bluer when brighter (BWB) trend, while in some objects both BWB and RWB behaviours were noticed. These results on flux and colour characteristics indicate that the jet emission of FSRQs and BL Lacs is indistinguishable. 2020 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. -
Modified Rice Husk Silica from Biowaste: An Efficient Catalyst for Transesterification of Diethyl Malonate and Benzyl Alcohol
Abstract: Molybdenum and lanthanum oxide modified silica-based catalysts were prepared from the agricultural waste rice husk. These synthesized catalysts were characterized by various spectroscopic and non-spectroscopic techniques. The catalytic performance was investigated by transesterification reaction between diethyl malonate and benzyl alcohol in the liquid phase using modified silica as a heterogeneous catalyst. Molybdenum modified silica-based catalyst showed the highest conversion efficiency of 95.6% and selectivity of 96.8% for dibenzyl malonate. The reaction conditions were optimized to give maximum efficiency with the highest selectivity in a solvent-free green method. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. 2019, Springer Nature B.V. -
Improved Photocatalytic Activity of g-C3N4/ZnO: A PotentialDirect Z-Scheme Nanocomposite
In this study, a Z-scheme g-C3N4/ZnO nanocomposite was synthesized using exfoliation process, which was further characterized using XRD, FT-IR, UV-DRS, SEM-EDAX, PL, EIS, and TGA techniques. The properties of g-C3N4 were enhanced when fabricated with ZnO resulting in a better electron mobility, high redox potential, and excellent semiconducting properties. The performance of this heterostructure was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of malachite green (MG) under visible light irradiation. The g-C3N4/ZnO heterostructure achieved a degradation of 84.3 % within 60 min under visible light irradiation. The degradation reaction follows a pseudo first-order kinetic model with a reaction rate constant of 0.0329 min?1. The nanocomposite demonstrated outstanding stability and recyclability. 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH -
Supercapacitor studies of activated carbon functionalized with poly(ethylene dioxythiophene): Effects of surfactants, electrolyte concentration on electrochemical properties
Electropolymerization of poly(ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT) on activated carbon (AC) was performed using different surfactants such as anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate), protonic surfactant (camphor sulphonic acid) and non-ionic surfactant (Triton) in 0.1 M H2SO4. The effects of concentration of different surfactants for electrodeposition of PEDOT on AC were analyzed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and SEM techniques. Supercapacitors (SC) were fabricated using AC/PEDOT composite electrodes and 0.1 M H2SO4 as an electrolyte. The specific capacitance (Cs) values were calculated using CV at different concentrations of surfactants, electrolytes and variation of potential. The electrolyte containing 0.1 M H2SO4 and 0.02 M camphor sulphonic acid showed to have the highest specific capacitance value of 240 Fg?1 than other surfactant based SCs. Galvanostatic charge/discharge at varying current density were performed on SCs containing different surfactant based electrodes to study their cyclic stability. 2020 -
TEMPO mediated electrocatalytic oxidation of pyridyl carbinol using palladium nanoparticles dispersed on biomass derived porous nanoparticles
Remarkable electrocatalytic property of Pd nanostructures dispersed on CNSareca coated CFP electrode towards TEMPO mediated electrooxidation of pyridyl carbinol was reported for the first time. Carbon nanospheres (CNSs) derived from Areca catechu decorated with Pd nanoparticles were coated on carbon fiber paper (CFP) and was employed for electrooxidation of pyridyl carbinol in aqueous acidic medium. An environmentally benign and economic strategy was utilized for the preparation of CNSs obtained from Areca catechu. The physical characterizations, electronic state and chemical composition of the modified electrode were studied using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques were used for analyzing the morphology of modified electrode. The electrochemical characterizations of the modified electrodes were performed by Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Pd decorated CNSareca dispersed on CFP electrode has exhibited strong electrocatalytic activity towards TEMPO mediated oxidation of pyridyl carbinol. 2020 Elsevier Ltd -
Happiness, Meaning, and Satisfaction in Life as Perceived by Indian University Students and Their Association with Spirituality
The present study aims to examine the association between various dimensions of psychological well-being (subjective happiness, satisfaction, and meaning in life), spirituality, and demographic and socioeconomic background of university students. A total of 414 postgraduate students were selected from three different schools, viz. science, management, and social sciences/humanities of Pondicherry University (A Central University), Puducherry, India, following multistage cluster sampling method. One semi-structured questionnaire and four standardized psychological scales, viz. subjective happiness scale, satisfaction with life scale, meaning in life questionnaire, and spirituality attitude inventory, were used for data collection after checking psychometric properties of the scales. The results show that a positive significant correlation between spirituality and subjective happiness exists. Spirituality is also correlated with meaning in life and satisfaction with life scale. Statistically, no significant gender difference was observed with respect to subjective happiness, meaning, and satisfaction in life as well as spirituality although the mean score of female students was more in all the four psychological domains. Non-integrated students are found to be happier than integrated students, and statistically it was significant. Positive interpersonal relationship and congenial family environment were probed to be facilitating factors for positive mental health of university students. There is a severe need to address students mental health by every educational institution through multiple programs. 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. -
Self-Care, burnout, and compassion fatigue in oncology professionals
Context: With the rising number of cancer cases in India, the stress levels of the treating team have increased. It has affected their self-care and made them susceptible to problems like burnout and compassion fatigue that adversely affect the quality of patient care. Aims: The aim of the study was to assess and compare the levels of burnout, compassion fatigue, and self-care in three groups of oncology professionals (clinical oncologists, nurses, and psychologists). Settings and Design: The study included 134 oncology professionals working in New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. Methods and Material: Sociodemographic data sheet, Professional Quality of Life Scale V and Self-Care Assessment Worksheet were used. Statistical Analysis Used: Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U test, and Correlation Analysis. Results: The majority of the professionals reported moderate levels of burnout (60.4%) and compassion fatigue (56%). Oncology nurses reported an elevated risk as they scored significantly higher on these domains and had a lower degree of self-care. Interestingly, psychologists reported comparatively lower levels of burnout and compassion fatigue, despite the fact that they interact with the patients at a deeper level, looking after their psychological and emotional needs. Young age and a poor degree of self-care were identified as major risk factors. Conclusions: The moderate levels of burnout and compassion fatigue, though not severe, are a cause of concern and cannot be overlooked. The study highlights the need for self-care in this regard and suggests that individual and institutional level interventions, particularly for nurses and young professionals, would prove useful. 2020 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved. -
?-Cyclodextrin-PANI decorated pencil graphite electrode for the electrochemical sensing of morin in almonds and mulberry leaves
Morin (3,2,4,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone) is one of the natural flavonoids which is present in a variety of fruits and herbs. ?-cyclodextrin (?-CD) and polyaniline (PANI) decorated Pencil graphite electrode (PGE) has been successfully used as a sensitive and conducting electrode for the determination of morin. The hydroxyl groups of ?-CD attract the analyte towards the modified electrode through hydrogen bonding. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques were employed to study the electrochemical properties of the modified electrodes. The enhanced surface roughness of ?-CD-PANI/PGE has resulted in the increase of electrocatalytic activity of electrode towards the analyte. Opitical profilometric studies were performed to evaluate the surface roughness of electrodes and differential pulse votammetry (DPV) was used for the quantitative analysis of morin. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were carried out to know the physicochemical characteristics of the modified electrodes. The experimental conditions such as scan rate, pH and concentration were optimized. The electrochemical process was found to be adsorption controlled and irreversible from scan rate studies. Under optimal conditions, the linear dynamic range for the quantification of morin was found to be 1.1732nM. The low detection limit (0.38nM) indicates ultrasensitivity of the proposed method. The suggested method has been effectively employed for the determination of morin in almonds and mulberry leaves. 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. -
Performance of second law in Carreau fluid flow by an inclined microchannel with radiative heated convective condition
This investigation addresses the novel characteristics of entropy production in the fully-developed heat transport of non-Newtonian Carreau fluid in an inclined microchannel. The physical effects of Roseland thermal radiation and viscous heating are included in the energy equation. The no-slip boundary condition for velocity and convective type heating boundary conditions for temperature are also accounted. Mathematical modeling included the non-Newtonian Carreau fluid model. The dimensionless two-point boundary value problem acquired from governing equations via dimensionless variables. The nonlinear system is tackled by using the Finite Element Method. A detailed discussion of the significance of effective parameters on Bejan number, entropy generation rate, temperature and velocity is presented through graphs. Our analysis established that the entropy generation is reduced at the left and right phase of the channel while the Bejan number is improved at both phases of the channel and is maximum at the center of channel by the incrementing values of Weissenberg number. 2020 Elsevier Ltd -
Microcannular electrode/polymer electrolyte interface for high performance supercapacitor
In the present work, the ionic resistance in the activated carbon (AC) electrode and blend polymer electrolyte (BPE) interface is reduced by tuning binder and BPE. A unique microcannulars channel connecting AC, binder and gaur gum (GG)/polyvinylalcohol (PVA) electrolyte is developed for easy Li+ movement. The use of AC derived from areca nut and natural GG as a binder makes the developed method more environmentally sustainable. The presence of microcannular structures on the electrode surface and BPE was confirmed using SEM and TEM analysis. Combined DSC-TGA data for BPE showed that PVA provides the mechanical support to jelly guar gum. The ionic conductivity, activation energy, dielectric studies were studied to understand the electrode/electrolyte interface mechanism. Dielectric studies revealed that the unique pathway of microcannular structures reduces the charge transfer resistance significantly at the interface. Optimized BPE was used in the fabrication of supercapacitor and specific capacitance was found to be 542 Fg-1. The time constant was 0.4 s and showed consistent cyclic pattern during galvanostatic charge/discharge studies with 99% Columbic efficiency. 2020 Elsevier Ltd -
Spatio-temporal crime analysis using KDE and ARIMA models in the Indian context
In developing countries like India, crime plays a detrimental role in economic growth and prosperity. With the increase in delinquencies, law enforcement needs to deploy limited resources optimally to protect citizens. Data mining and predictive analytics provide the best options for the same. This paper examines the news feed data collected from various sources regarding crime in India and Bangalore city. The crimes are then classified on the geographic density and the crime patterns such as time of day to identify and visualize the distribution of national and regional crime such as theft, murder, alcoholism, assault, etc. In total, 68 types of crime-related dictionary keywords are classified into six classes based on the news feed data collected for one year. Kernel density estimation method is used to identify the hotspots of crime. With the help of the ARIMA model, time series prediction is performed on the data. The diversity of crime patterns is visualized in a customizable way with the help of a data mining platform. Copyright 2020, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. -
Automatic Skin Lesion SegmentationA Novel Approach of Lesion Filling through Pixel Path
Abstract: Lesion segmentation is a vital step in a melanoma recognition system. Many algorithms were developed for the efficient skin lesion segmentation. Most of them fails to realize a perfect segmentation. This paper proposes a novel, fully automatic system, for the lesion segmentation in dermatograms. The proposed approach executes in two steps. Selection of root seed is the first step. All the lesion pixels in the dermatogram are identified during the second step. Traversal through a predefined lesion pixel path ensures the reachability of all lesion pixels irrespective of the possible lesion discontinuity. The proposed algorithm is tested with two publically available dataset, PH2 and images of ISBI2016 challenge. Out of the six evaluation parameters, the proposed method shows the best values for specificity, accuracy, Hammuode distance and XOR. This confirms the merit of the proposal with respect to existing popular methods. 2020, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. -
An intelligent web caching system for improving the performance of a web-based information retrieval system
With an increasing number of web users, the data traffic generated by these users generates tremendous network traffic which takes a long time to connect with the web server. The main reason is, the distance between the client making requests and the servers responding to those requests. The use of the CDN (content delivery network) is one of the strategies for minimizing latency. But, it incurs additional cost. Alternatively, web caching and preloading are the most viable approaches to this issue. It is therefore decided to introduce a novel web caching strategy called optimized popularity-aware modified least frequently used (PMLFU) policy for information retrieval based on users' past access history and their trends analysis. It helps to enhance the proxy-driven web caching system by analyzing user access requests and caching the most popular web pages driven on their preferences. Experimental results show that the proposed systems can significantly reduce the user delay in accessing the web page. The performance of the proposed system is measured using IRCACHE data sets in real time. Copyright 2020, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. -
Effects of bio-flocculated algae on the growth, digestive enzyme activity and microflora of freshwater fish Catla catla (Hamilton 1922)
In numerous ways, diets incorporating probiotics are beneficial to host animals. This study was conducted to evaluate the influence of bio-flocculated freshwater algae Chlorella vulgaris on the freshwater fish Catla catla. For the process of flocculating algae, probiotics Lactobacillus acidophilus (10307 MTCC) and Bacillus subtilis (MTCC 441) were used. The experimental fish were fed with Artemia franciscana enriched with flocculated algae for 60days. A control group was fed with unenriched A. franciscana. After the experimental period, there was a significant decrease in anaerobic bacteria and a significant colonization of candidate probiotics in guts of fish fed with flocculated algae-enriched Artemia. This treatment group also had a better growth performance with a higher average body length and weight (8.70.3cm, 5.830.9g) and survival % (981.02). High protease (7.8mg/protein?1) and lipase (2.56 mg/protein?1) activity were also found in the enriched A. franciscana-fed fish group. Comparatively, higher protein, lipid and PUFA/HUFA contents were also reported in this treatment group. The study found that flocculated algae-enriched A. franciscana has a positive impact on gut microflora, growth parameters and survival as compared to the unenriched group, and hence, the flocculated algae serve a dual purpose in rearing of C. catla. This study supports the inference that a bio-flocculated algae-incorporated diet is a preferable method for larval rearing aquaculture. 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd -
From the homestead to centerstage: A journey of empowerment; [De la granja al centro de escena: Un viaje de empoderamiento]
The Kerala Model of Development has been widely acclaimed for its contribution in generating favourable social indices at par with Scandinavia. The central issue to the development in almost all underdeveloped and developing countries is the empowerment of women constituents. In Kerala, the story of empowerment of women is not just economic, but psychological too. Under Article 243(D) of the Constitution of India, there is a mandate to provide 50% reservation for women in Local Self-Government Institutions (LSGIs). This constitutional amendment is regarded as a path-breaking move to empower women at the grassroots level. This article portrays the impact of government interventions for ensuring the participation of women in decision-making as well as in the power structure in LSGIs. The researcher(s) used multiple case study design and adopted purposive sampling. The data was collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used for triangulation. The finding of the study shows that how the women are empowered though various government interventions such as Kudumbashree (the name of Keralas Poverty Eradication Mission), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (the job guarantee scheme in India), Accredited Social Health Activist Scheme (a scheme of National Rural Health Mission) and Local Self-Government Institutions. 2020, Hipatia Editorial. All rights reserved. -
Magnetohydrodynamic flow of Carreau liquid over a stretchable sheet with a variable thickness: The biomedical applications
Purpose: The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow problems are important in the field of biomedical applications such as magnetic resonance imaging, inductive heat treatment of tumours, MHD-derived biomedical sensors, micropumps for drug delivery, MHD micromixers, magnetorelaxometry and actuators. Therefore, there is the impact of the magnetic field on the transport of non-Newtonian Carreau fluid in the presence of binary chemical reaction and activation energy over an extendable surface having a variable thickness. The significance of irregular heat source/sink and cross-diffusion effects is also explored. Design/methodology/approach: The leading governing equations are constructed by retaining the effects of binary chemical reaction and activation energy. Suitable similarity transformations are used to transform the governing partial differential equations into ordinary differential equations. Subsequent nonlinear two-point boundary value problem is treated numerically by using the shooting method based on RungeKuttaFehlberg. Graphical results are presented to analyze the behaviour of effective parameters involved in the problem. The numerical values of the mass transfer rate (Sherwood number) and heat transfer rate (Nusselt number) are also calculated. Furthermore, the slope of the linear regression line through the data points is determined in order to quantify the outcome. Findings: It is established that the external magnetic field restricts the flow strongly and serves as a potential control mechanism. It can be concluded that an applied magnetic field will play a major role in applications like micropumps, actuators and biomedical sensors. The heat transfer rate is enhanced due to Arrhenius activation energy mechanism. The boundary layer thickness is suppressed by strengthening the thickness of the sheet, resulting in higher values of Nusselt and Sherwood numbers. Originality/value: The effects of magnetic field, binary chemical reaction and activation energy on heat and mass transfer of non-Newtonian Carreau liquid over an extendable surface with variable thickness are investigated for the first time. 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. -
Energy efficient data collection in sparse sensor networks using multiple Mobile Data Patrons
Wireless sensor networks consist of sensor nodes that can sense the environment and forward the sensed data to the destination. It takes multiple hops for the data to get transmitted from the source to the destination node. Mobile Data Patron is a high energy mobile data collector that collects data from the sensors within sparse networks. In sparse networks, the sensors detect the physical phenomenon, and the MDP is used to collect data generated by the sensors. In existing models, a single MDP is used to collect data from sensors within sparse networks. It requires high amounts of energy for long-range data transmission to the base station. The proposed work uses multiple MDPs to solve the energy depletion problem. The research also focuses on improving the data transfer rate so that the MDPs lose minimal amounts of energy. 2020