Vertical flow immunoassays (VFIAs) are considered potential point-of-care testing (POCT) devices ... more Vertical flow immunoassays (VFIAs) are considered potential point-of-care testing (POCT) devices compared to lateral flow assays due to their ability to analyze a comparatively large sample volume and ease of multiplexing. However, VFIA devices are limited by low analytical sensitivity when coupled with a visual colorimetric signal. Herein, we carefully analyzed key parameters that accounted for the proper functionality of VFIA that can be modified to enhance the overall sensitivity of VFIA. In particular, we focused on improving the stability of conjugate pads impregnated with capture antibodies, maintaining a controlled flow rate to ensure higher analyte reactivity with capture antibodies, and enhancing the absorption efficiency. The results showed that air-drying of conjugate pads in the presence of 5% (w/v) lactose significantly improved the stability of antibodies during long-term storage. Integration of dissolvable polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membrane of optimal concentration as a...
Education is fundamental to learning and is a pre-requisite for development. It is also imperativ... more Education is fundamental to learning and is a pre-requisite for development. It is also imperative for sustained growth and development of a nation. There is still a long way to go for India in achieving Goal 4 and 5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals quality education and gender equality by 2030. Despite several government initiatives and literacy programmes, a gender gap in literacy of 17% still persists. A collective effort is required to address these gaps , as women constitute two-thirds of the illiterate population in India. The present study has been conducted to assess the outcome of an adult literacy programme ‘Each One Enable One’ by undergraduate students at a college of the University of Delhi, targeted at women from poor socio-economic backgrounds residing in the neighbourhood of students. The study was conducted across 11 districts of Delhi, the Capital city of India, using a sample of 150 women. The results have revealed that literacy programme led to statistical...
Reliability is enhancing its value in the advancement of mechanical and industrial world by incor... more Reliability is enhancing its value in the advancement of mechanical and industrial world by incorporating the repair mechanism, availability and manufacturing possibility of machines with varying working capacity in all conditions. The present paper is an initiative taken with a mechanical system operating with single repair server facility for varying nature of failures and services. Passive standby machine strategy is adopted for maintaining reliability at a gratified level in the system. The inspection process is included for filtering the machines according to its failure or to the level of repair services. The computed numerical and graphical data is proved to be beneficial for clarifying the profit and reliability behaviour with increasing/decreasing rate of repair mechanism and failure rate. The preference policy has been initiated for regular failure or to the failure requiring normal servicing charges and time period than major ones to avoid the waiting time for normal customer.
International Journal of Commerce and Management Research, 2017
Startups have been the flavor of the season over the last few years for the Indian markets. This ... more Startups have been the flavor of the season over the last few years for the Indian markets. This has resulted into the emergence of a number of home grown unicorns across the country. One of the major contributors leading to this development has been the mega funding that has been ploughed into most of these unicorns between the period 2007 and 2015. This has been in line with the global trend dominating the space. Even the aspiring unicorns have had a decent run during this period, where managing to find investors is usually considered a tough task. Making big bets on Indian innovation has become a global point of interest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an ambitious program called Startup India Standup India. This was aimed at revolutionizing and accelerating the startup revolution in India, which is already witnessing strong traction. However the road to success is not as smooth as it appears to be. The larger problems plaguing the businesses, such as the unorganized and f...
In 2019 field studies were conducted in order to check how various aspects of pedestrian and cycl... more In 2019 field studies were conducted in order to check how various aspects of pedestrian and cycle crossing infrastructure influence driver behavior. The overall goal was to verify the adequacy of the road safety-related provisions of the main strategic and planning documents of the Mazovia Region. The crossings analyzed in Warsaw and Radom were chosen so as to take into account all the types of traffic calming mentioned in the Spatial Development Plan of Mazovia as serving to improve safety on pedestrian crossings. Other aspects taken into account included road width, type of intersection and presence/type of traffic lights. The field studies focused on the behavior of drivers towards pedestrians and cyclists, including behavior which determines how quickly a driver can react to a non-motorized person appearing. The crossings were observed from a distance, so that the presence of the observer wouldn't influence the participants' behavior. Each crossing was observed and recorded for at least thirty minutes in order to identify how often a driver: stops before a crossing, drives across in front of or behind a non-motorized person, stops on the crossing or drives fast across it. In selected places, another recorded aspect was whether the driver looks around before driving across the crossing. However, such detailed observation was not possible in the majority of places due to high traffic and/or inadequate visibility of the interiors of cars. The field studies in Radom were conducted by Sebastian Pawłowski and Łukasz Zaborowski of the Radom branch of the Mazovian Office for Regional Planning. The study results indicate that dangerous driver behavior is influenced by: the width of the road on the crossing, bicycle crossings and right-of-way provisions, physical traffic calming measures and traffic lights. Measures which were found to be ineffective include hatched road markings signaling a part of the road which is not to be driven across and red lights with a green arrow allowing for a conditional right-turn after stopping, which were in fact treated as green right-turn lights. The study confirmed the accuracy of the measures indicated in the strategic and spatial planning documents of the Mazovia Region, as well as the need for them to be implemented more often. An analysis of the field study results allowed for the identification of the impact of individual road crossing parameters on drivers' behavior, thus providing new material in reference to earlier local studies and a 2018 Polish national study. A Polish version of this article will also be published in a later issue of this periodical.
associated with cloud. Encryption is the foremost option for securing the data and this paper hig... more associated with cloud. Encryption is the foremost option for securing the data and this paper highlights comparative analysis of symmetric as well as asymmetric encryption algorithms for providing security in cloud computing systems.
Normal 0 Batch adsorption studies were carried out to investigate the adsorption behaviour of tex... more Normal 0 Batch adsorption studies were carried out to investigate the adsorption behaviour of textile dye- reactive red 2 (RR2) from aqueous solution onto montmorillonite (Mt) clay and organophilic Mt clays. The monovalent organic cations- cetyltrimethylammonium (CTA + ) and cetylpyridinium (CP + ) were exchanged for the metal cations in montmorillonite clay to prepare the organophilic Mt clays- CTA–Mt and CP-Mt. The synthesis of these organophilic clays was confirmed by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transformed Infra Red (FTIR), specific surface area (BET ) and zeta potential techniques. The adsorption affinity of Mt, CTA-Mt and CP-Mt for RR2 was investigated as a function of initial dye concentration, pH of the aqueous dye solution, contact time and adsorbent dosage. The adsorption data obtained was fitted to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin adsorption models and it was found that Langmuir adsorption isotherm yielded the most favourable representation of the adsorption behav...
Epigenetic modification of gene expression is one mechanism by which genetic susceptibility and e... more Epigenetic modification of gene expression is one mechanism by which genetic susceptibility and environmental insults can lead to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) problem worldwide. The peripheral insulin resistance is common during obesity and aging in animals and people, progression to T2DM is largely due to insulin secretory dysfunction and significant apoptosis of functional β-cells, leading to an inability to compensate for insulin resistance. It is recognized that environmental factors and genetic play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetes. However, our knowledge surrounding molecular mechanisms by which these factors trigger β-cell dysfunction and diabetes is still limited. Epigenetic changes could account for the accelerated rates of chronic and persistent phenotype and genotype complications associated with diabetes. Epigenetic mechanisms are likely involved, especially in obesity and diabetes mellitus. It is not the only factor; there is a wide variety of potent...
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 2019
Objective. To assess burnout and engagement in first-and second-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) ... more Objective. To assess burnout and engagement in first-and second-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students and to investigate their relationships to students' perception of their academic ability. Methods. An online survey that included three validated scales was administered in May 2017 to firstand second-year pharmacy students enrolled in didactic coursework at Touro University California College of Pharmacy. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to assess burnout and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale was used to measure student engagement. To characterize academic ability, Academic Self-Perception, a subscale of the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised, was used. Regression analysis was performed using statistical software. Results. One hundred sixty-two students (81.4% response rate) completed the survey. Emotional exhaustion and professional inefficacy were negatively correlated with students' academic selfperception. Dedication was positively correlated with academic self-perception. Conclusion. In pharmacy students completing the didactic portion of the PharmD curriculum, various engagement and burnout parameters correlated with academic self-perception.
Traditional hydropower generation is one of the most sustainable energy sources; however, the loc... more Traditional hydropower generation is one of the most sustainable energy sources; however, the local environmental impact of hydroelectric dams and reservoirs is serious, and hydroelectric power requires high-cost turbines and generators. Because these installations utilize gravitational potential energy of massive volumes of falling water, this sort of hydropower generation is unsuitable for ubiquitous, small-scale energy production. Here, we report that wetting and evaporation of pure water from a tiny block of porous alumina generates electrical current in the direction of water transpiration. The current induced in microporous alumina is associated with mass transport of water accompanying ions that accumulate near the negatively charged surface of alumina pores. Without any pre-treatment or additives, once evaporation commences, a 3 × 3 cm2 piece of alumina can generate an open-circuit voltage as large as 0.27 V. The power generation scheme we propose here is simple, clean, and ...
2013 International Conference on Energy Efficient Technologies for Sustainability, 2013
In this new era of technology the overall energy cost and service time for hosting and delivering... more In this new era of technology the overall energy cost and service time for hosting and delivering the resources present in various data centers over the internet has abridged all due to Cloud Computing. As the Cloud Computing is giving tremendous support to computations, storages and communication, the energy efficiency in cloud computing has become the premier for the furtherance of information and technology (ICT). The emission of green house gases is too detrimental for all living beings because they are posing threat to our biodiversity. In general, Cloud Computing can be congenitally energy efficient technology for ICT which abates the all- embracing energy consumption in the resources related to data centers. Cloud Computing can be boon as an energy efficient technology for ICT on the condition that energy savings strategy has till now pivoted on various aspects related to system's hardware and networking scenario. A new model is proposed for energy -efficiency of cloud computing that helps to keep track on how much level of degradation of atmosphere has occurred by the emissions of various green house gases by various huge data centers and how our computing can become eco- friendly. This paper even identifies the various key challenges that arise when such energy-saving techniques are extended for use in cloud computing techniques.
Cr3C2- NiCr and Cr3C2- NiCr-(25) WC-Co coatings were deposited on T22 boiler steel by High Veloci... more Cr3C2- NiCr and Cr3C2- NiCr-(25) WC-Co coatings were deposited on T22 boiler steel by High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) Technology. The coated as well as the uncoated steel samples were exposed to the actual boiler environments in a thermal power plant for 1500 hrs under cyclic conditions to evaluate their erosion-corrosion performance. Weight change measurements were taken for each sample after every 100 hrs. It has been observed that the weight change trends for coated steel with Cr3C2- NiCr and Cr3C2- NiCr-(25) WC-Co coatings followed a parabolic trend. The exposed samples were physically investigated for any macroscopic changes after each cycle of 100 hours. The uncoated steel showed blisters and spallation of its oxide scale, whereas the coated samples exhibited intact oxide scales, in general. Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (SEM/EDAX) was done to characterize morphology of the oxide scales. The protective nature of coatings has been explained based o...
Abstract The present study is based on “waste to energy” concept, wherein the potential of almond... more Abstract The present study is based on “waste to energy” concept, wherein the potential of almond crop residues viz., almond shells were investigated for biofuel production via different bioprocesses. Three routes, namely A1 representing hythane production through two-stage anaerobic digestion (TSAD), A2 representing ethanolic fermentation and A3 representing coupled ethanol and hythane production were evaluated for maximizing energy recovery. Results showed that in route A1, increased H2/(H2 + CH4) ratio (0.53) resulted in inappropriate hythane composition which was attributed to higher hydrogen yield of 236.6 L/kg chemical oxygen demand removed (CODr) and lower methane production (203.9 L/kg CODr) in the respective route. In route A2, sole ethanol production led to much lower carbon conversion efficiency (25.7%) and energy yield (6173.1 kJ/kg CODr) that questions the feasibility and efficiency of this process. However, in route A3, coupled ethanol and hythane production led to increased substrate degradation (91.3%) and higher carbon conversion efficiency (75.1%) resulting in enhanced energy recovery (22156.6 kJ/kg CODr) as compared to A1 route (13573.6 kJ/kg CODr). The stable H2/(H2 + CH4) ratio of 0.29 obtained in route A3 makes this pathway most suitable for efficient co-production of both biofuels. Further, linking of biochemical conversion process with thermochemical process viz., pyrolysis to produce biochar from almond shell residue, could be seen as an effective strategy for waste management and for enhancing the economic viability of the process.
Abstract The study outlines an economical biorefinery concept to evaluate the potential of three ... more Abstract The study outlines an economical biorefinery concept to evaluate the potential of three aquatic weeds Eichhornia crassipes, Lemna minor and Azolla microphylla for co-production of ethanol and methane. Four different scenarios were investigated viz., scenario A-hydrothermal treatment followed by anaerobic digestion and ethanol fermentation respectively (HT → AD → EF), scenario B- thermochemical treatment followed by anaerobic digestion and ethanol fermentation respectively (TC → AD → EF), scenario C- hydrothermal treatment followed by ethanol fermentation and anaerobic digestion respectively (HT → EF → AD) and scenario D- thermochemical treatment followed by ethanol fermentation and anaerobic digestion respectively (TC → EF → AD). Sequential hydrothermal treatment and anaerobic digestion (HT → AD) in scenario A enhanced the hemicellulose removal by 68.5–73.5% and simultaneously enriched the cellulose content by 41.2–54.5%. This contributed to highest ethanol yield (0.167–0.231 g/g biomass) in scenario A, which was found comparable to that obtained in scenario D, wherein harsh and expensive thermochemical pretreatment was employed. Besides that, relatively higher methane yield of 209–257 dm3/kg TOCR (Total organic carbon removal) obtained in scenario A as compared to other scenarios (67.5–238 dm3/kg TOCR) improved the overall energy efficiency of the studied concept. The energetic assessment showed lowest total energy output (859.6–1322.7 kwh) in scenario B and C as compared to other scenarios (1041.8–1583.9 kwh), thereby confirming their incompetence in coupled bioenergy production. This study, therefore presents an economically and energetically sustainable approach for pretreatment and bioenergy production that could help in overcoming the constraints hindering the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol. The study also opens up possibility for development of coupled aquatic weeds-based wastewater treatment and bioenergy production system for an efficient exploitation of the phytoremediation property of aquatic weeds.
We present a deep learning approach for the core digital libraries task of parsing bibliographic ... more We present a deep learning approach for the core digital libraries task of parsing bibliographic reference strings. We deploy the state-of-the-art Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network architecture, a variant of a recurrent neural network (RNN) to capture long-range dependencies in reference strings. We explore word embeddings and character-based word embeddings as an alternative to handcrafted features. We incrementally experiment with features, architectural configurations, and the diversity of the dataset. Our final model is an LSTM-based architecture, which layers a linear-chain Conditional Random Field (CRF) over the LSTM output. In extensive experiments in both English indomain (computer science) and out-of-domain (humanities) test cases, as well as multilingual data, our results show a significant gain (p < 0.01) over the reported state-of-the-art CRF-only based parser.
International Journal of Physics and Research, 2019
In the present study, the effects of non-thermal and nonextensive distribution of electrons on th... more In the present study, the effects of non-thermal and nonextensive distribution of electrons on the soliton propagation in plasma system containing Boltzmann positrons have been studied. Using Reductive Perturbation method, Korteweg-de Vries (K-dV), modified K-dV (mK-dV) and Gardner equations are derived for electron-positron-ion (e-p-i) plasma system. The soliton solution of the Gardner equation is discussed in detail. Results have been interpreted in the form of graphs. It is found that for a given set of parameters, there exists a critical value of q (i.e, qc) below which only rarefactive K-dV solitons exist and above it compressive K-dV solitons exist. However, both positive and negative mK-dV and Gardner potential structures exist at the critical value of nonextensivity. The present investigation may help us to understand the electrostatic perturbations in laboratory and space plasmas.
Abstract Aquatic weed, Lemna minor was evaluated for its potential as a feedstock for gaseous fue... more Abstract Aquatic weed, Lemna minor was evaluated for its potential as a feedstock for gaseous fuel production (biohythane) in an integrated strategy. Three approaches viz., acidogenic fermentation (HAF), electrohydrogenesis (HMEC) and methanogenesis (MAD), were evaluated in single stage as well as in different combinations of two stage (HAF → HMEC, HAF → MAD) and three stage (HAF → HMEC → MAD, HAF → MAD → HMEC) to tap the maximum feasible energy. Compared to single and two-stage operations, three-stage operation evidenced higher biogas (H2 + CH4) yield with remarkable total organic carbon (TOC) reduction. Irrespective of the integration sequence, HAF in first stage depicted the possibility of harnessing higher energy by accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) along with H2 production. Similarly, integration of MAD in second stage showed the possibility of tapping higher energy rather than HMEC due to higher carbon loss as CO2 coupled to more H2 fraction in biogas in case of HMEC. Among, three-stage integrations, higher biogas yield and energy recovery was observed in HAF → MAD → HMEC (38.77 mol biogas/kg TOCR; 25,415 KJ/kg TOCR) as compared to HAF → HMEC → MAD (37.79 mol biogas/kg TOCR; 15,416 KJ/kg TOCR). Along similar lines, analysis of organic carbon flow exhibited significant substrate degradation in three stage integrations (72.5–81.4%) as compared to second (66.2–70%) and first stage (39.7–56.5%).
The effects of various processing methods viz. pressure cooking with soaking, sprouting (48 h), s... more The effects of various processing methods viz. pressure cooking with soaking, sprouting (48 h), sprouting and pressure cooking, dehulling, and pressure cooking of the dehulled legume on the bioavailability of zinc were studied. The total zinc content varied from 3.28 to 3.37%; the highest being in raw ricebeans and the lowest being in dehulled, soaked and pressure cooked, and sprouted and pressure cooked ricebeans, respectively. The soluble zinc content was highest for dehulled soaked and pressure cooked ricebeans (28.2%) and lowest for raw ricebeans (16.0%). The absorption, retention, and balance of zinc were estimated in rats fed experimental and standard ZnSO 4 diets using a balance study. The maximum retention of zinc was observed in dehulled soaked, and pressure cooked diets (63.37%) followed by sprouted (48 h) and pressure cooked (61.38%) diets. The gain in body weight, total femur zinc and retention of zinc in liver, kidneys and spleen were found to be highest for rats eating the sprouted pressure cooked diet followed by the dehulled, soaked and pressure cooked diet. Plasma zinc levels were found to range from 3.81 to 6.34 µmol/dl; they were maximum for rats fed the dehulled, soaked and pressure cooked diet. It can be concluded that dehulling significantly improves the availability of zinc and germination of ricebeans is the best method to enhance the zinc availability.
2015 4th International Symposium on Emerging Trends and Technologies in Libraries and Information Services, 2015
Plagiarism - using someone else's ideas, writings or results, and presenting them as one'... more Plagiarism - using someone else's ideas, writings or results, and presenting them as one's own without giving proper credit to the actual author. In today's competitive world plagiarism is spreading at a tenacious rate. Scientific writing requires good expertise for it demands both features: vividness and terseness, which are generally hard to accomplish together. Any scientific work should be characterized by clear expression, concise content, accurate facts, and perhaps most importantly, honest and objective narrative. The principle reason behind the steep evolution of plagiarism seems to be lack of awareness along with the presence of fierce competition. Several students and other academicians have a misconception that they either won't get caught or there would be little or no long-term effects for plagiarizing other people's content. This paper highlights the menace of plagiarism with some case studies and the means to curb it effectively with the help of educational seminars for especially young researchers. We also discuss the results of surveys conducted after organizing the seminars for plagiarism awareness. As per survey results, most of the students were not even aware about plagiarism earlier, but after the seminar, their understanding of plagiarism issues and its consequences enhanced, and they felt highly motivated against it.
Vertical flow immunoassays (VFIAs) are considered potential point-of-care testing (POCT) devices ... more Vertical flow immunoassays (VFIAs) are considered potential point-of-care testing (POCT) devices compared to lateral flow assays due to their ability to analyze a comparatively large sample volume and ease of multiplexing. However, VFIA devices are limited by low analytical sensitivity when coupled with a visual colorimetric signal. Herein, we carefully analyzed key parameters that accounted for the proper functionality of VFIA that can be modified to enhance the overall sensitivity of VFIA. In particular, we focused on improving the stability of conjugate pads impregnated with capture antibodies, maintaining a controlled flow rate to ensure higher analyte reactivity with capture antibodies, and enhancing the absorption efficiency. The results showed that air-drying of conjugate pads in the presence of 5% (w/v) lactose significantly improved the stability of antibodies during long-term storage. Integration of dissolvable polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membrane of optimal concentration as a...
Education is fundamental to learning and is a pre-requisite for development. It is also imperativ... more Education is fundamental to learning and is a pre-requisite for development. It is also imperative for sustained growth and development of a nation. There is still a long way to go for India in achieving Goal 4 and 5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals quality education and gender equality by 2030. Despite several government initiatives and literacy programmes, a gender gap in literacy of 17% still persists. A collective effort is required to address these gaps , as women constitute two-thirds of the illiterate population in India. The present study has been conducted to assess the outcome of an adult literacy programme ‘Each One Enable One’ by undergraduate students at a college of the University of Delhi, targeted at women from poor socio-economic backgrounds residing in the neighbourhood of students. The study was conducted across 11 districts of Delhi, the Capital city of India, using a sample of 150 women. The results have revealed that literacy programme led to statistical...
Reliability is enhancing its value in the advancement of mechanical and industrial world by incor... more Reliability is enhancing its value in the advancement of mechanical and industrial world by incorporating the repair mechanism, availability and manufacturing possibility of machines with varying working capacity in all conditions. The present paper is an initiative taken with a mechanical system operating with single repair server facility for varying nature of failures and services. Passive standby machine strategy is adopted for maintaining reliability at a gratified level in the system. The inspection process is included for filtering the machines according to its failure or to the level of repair services. The computed numerical and graphical data is proved to be beneficial for clarifying the profit and reliability behaviour with increasing/decreasing rate of repair mechanism and failure rate. The preference policy has been initiated for regular failure or to the failure requiring normal servicing charges and time period than major ones to avoid the waiting time for normal customer.
International Journal of Commerce and Management Research, 2017
Startups have been the flavor of the season over the last few years for the Indian markets. This ... more Startups have been the flavor of the season over the last few years for the Indian markets. This has resulted into the emergence of a number of home grown unicorns across the country. One of the major contributors leading to this development has been the mega funding that has been ploughed into most of these unicorns between the period 2007 and 2015. This has been in line with the global trend dominating the space. Even the aspiring unicorns have had a decent run during this period, where managing to find investors is usually considered a tough task. Making big bets on Indian innovation has become a global point of interest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an ambitious program called Startup India Standup India. This was aimed at revolutionizing and accelerating the startup revolution in India, which is already witnessing strong traction. However the road to success is not as smooth as it appears to be. The larger problems plaguing the businesses, such as the unorganized and f...
In 2019 field studies were conducted in order to check how various aspects of pedestrian and cycl... more In 2019 field studies were conducted in order to check how various aspects of pedestrian and cycle crossing infrastructure influence driver behavior. The overall goal was to verify the adequacy of the road safety-related provisions of the main strategic and planning documents of the Mazovia Region. The crossings analyzed in Warsaw and Radom were chosen so as to take into account all the types of traffic calming mentioned in the Spatial Development Plan of Mazovia as serving to improve safety on pedestrian crossings. Other aspects taken into account included road width, type of intersection and presence/type of traffic lights. The field studies focused on the behavior of drivers towards pedestrians and cyclists, including behavior which determines how quickly a driver can react to a non-motorized person appearing. The crossings were observed from a distance, so that the presence of the observer wouldn't influence the participants' behavior. Each crossing was observed and recorded for at least thirty minutes in order to identify how often a driver: stops before a crossing, drives across in front of or behind a non-motorized person, stops on the crossing or drives fast across it. In selected places, another recorded aspect was whether the driver looks around before driving across the crossing. However, such detailed observation was not possible in the majority of places due to high traffic and/or inadequate visibility of the interiors of cars. The field studies in Radom were conducted by Sebastian Pawłowski and Łukasz Zaborowski of the Radom branch of the Mazovian Office for Regional Planning. The study results indicate that dangerous driver behavior is influenced by: the width of the road on the crossing, bicycle crossings and right-of-way provisions, physical traffic calming measures and traffic lights. Measures which were found to be ineffective include hatched road markings signaling a part of the road which is not to be driven across and red lights with a green arrow allowing for a conditional right-turn after stopping, which were in fact treated as green right-turn lights. The study confirmed the accuracy of the measures indicated in the strategic and spatial planning documents of the Mazovia Region, as well as the need for them to be implemented more often. An analysis of the field study results allowed for the identification of the impact of individual road crossing parameters on drivers' behavior, thus providing new material in reference to earlier local studies and a 2018 Polish national study. A Polish version of this article will also be published in a later issue of this periodical.
associated with cloud. Encryption is the foremost option for securing the data and this paper hig... more associated with cloud. Encryption is the foremost option for securing the data and this paper highlights comparative analysis of symmetric as well as asymmetric encryption algorithms for providing security in cloud computing systems.
Normal 0 Batch adsorption studies were carried out to investigate the adsorption behaviour of tex... more Normal 0 Batch adsorption studies were carried out to investigate the adsorption behaviour of textile dye- reactive red 2 (RR2) from aqueous solution onto montmorillonite (Mt) clay and organophilic Mt clays. The monovalent organic cations- cetyltrimethylammonium (CTA + ) and cetylpyridinium (CP + ) were exchanged for the metal cations in montmorillonite clay to prepare the organophilic Mt clays- CTA–Mt and CP-Mt. The synthesis of these organophilic clays was confirmed by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transformed Infra Red (FTIR), specific surface area (BET ) and zeta potential techniques. The adsorption affinity of Mt, CTA-Mt and CP-Mt for RR2 was investigated as a function of initial dye concentration, pH of the aqueous dye solution, contact time and adsorbent dosage. The adsorption data obtained was fitted to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin adsorption models and it was found that Langmuir adsorption isotherm yielded the most favourable representation of the adsorption behav...
Epigenetic modification of gene expression is one mechanism by which genetic susceptibility and e... more Epigenetic modification of gene expression is one mechanism by which genetic susceptibility and environmental insults can lead to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) problem worldwide. The peripheral insulin resistance is common during obesity and aging in animals and people, progression to T2DM is largely due to insulin secretory dysfunction and significant apoptosis of functional β-cells, leading to an inability to compensate for insulin resistance. It is recognized that environmental factors and genetic play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetes. However, our knowledge surrounding molecular mechanisms by which these factors trigger β-cell dysfunction and diabetes is still limited. Epigenetic changes could account for the accelerated rates of chronic and persistent phenotype and genotype complications associated with diabetes. Epigenetic mechanisms are likely involved, especially in obesity and diabetes mellitus. It is not the only factor; there is a wide variety of potent...
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 2019
Objective. To assess burnout and engagement in first-and second-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) ... more Objective. To assess burnout and engagement in first-and second-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students and to investigate their relationships to students' perception of their academic ability. Methods. An online survey that included three validated scales was administered in May 2017 to firstand second-year pharmacy students enrolled in didactic coursework at Touro University California College of Pharmacy. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to assess burnout and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale was used to measure student engagement. To characterize academic ability, Academic Self-Perception, a subscale of the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised, was used. Regression analysis was performed using statistical software. Results. One hundred sixty-two students (81.4% response rate) completed the survey. Emotional exhaustion and professional inefficacy were negatively correlated with students' academic selfperception. Dedication was positively correlated with academic self-perception. Conclusion. In pharmacy students completing the didactic portion of the PharmD curriculum, various engagement and burnout parameters correlated with academic self-perception.
Traditional hydropower generation is one of the most sustainable energy sources; however, the loc... more Traditional hydropower generation is one of the most sustainable energy sources; however, the local environmental impact of hydroelectric dams and reservoirs is serious, and hydroelectric power requires high-cost turbines and generators. Because these installations utilize gravitational potential energy of massive volumes of falling water, this sort of hydropower generation is unsuitable for ubiquitous, small-scale energy production. Here, we report that wetting and evaporation of pure water from a tiny block of porous alumina generates electrical current in the direction of water transpiration. The current induced in microporous alumina is associated with mass transport of water accompanying ions that accumulate near the negatively charged surface of alumina pores. Without any pre-treatment or additives, once evaporation commences, a 3 × 3 cm2 piece of alumina can generate an open-circuit voltage as large as 0.27 V. The power generation scheme we propose here is simple, clean, and ...
2013 International Conference on Energy Efficient Technologies for Sustainability, 2013
In this new era of technology the overall energy cost and service time for hosting and delivering... more In this new era of technology the overall energy cost and service time for hosting and delivering the resources present in various data centers over the internet has abridged all due to Cloud Computing. As the Cloud Computing is giving tremendous support to computations, storages and communication, the energy efficiency in cloud computing has become the premier for the furtherance of information and technology (ICT). The emission of green house gases is too detrimental for all living beings because they are posing threat to our biodiversity. In general, Cloud Computing can be congenitally energy efficient technology for ICT which abates the all- embracing energy consumption in the resources related to data centers. Cloud Computing can be boon as an energy efficient technology for ICT on the condition that energy savings strategy has till now pivoted on various aspects related to system's hardware and networking scenario. A new model is proposed for energy -efficiency of cloud computing that helps to keep track on how much level of degradation of atmosphere has occurred by the emissions of various green house gases by various huge data centers and how our computing can become eco- friendly. This paper even identifies the various key challenges that arise when such energy-saving techniques are extended for use in cloud computing techniques.
Cr3C2- NiCr and Cr3C2- NiCr-(25) WC-Co coatings were deposited on T22 boiler steel by High Veloci... more Cr3C2- NiCr and Cr3C2- NiCr-(25) WC-Co coatings were deposited on T22 boiler steel by High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) Technology. The coated as well as the uncoated steel samples were exposed to the actual boiler environments in a thermal power plant for 1500 hrs under cyclic conditions to evaluate their erosion-corrosion performance. Weight change measurements were taken for each sample after every 100 hrs. It has been observed that the weight change trends for coated steel with Cr3C2- NiCr and Cr3C2- NiCr-(25) WC-Co coatings followed a parabolic trend. The exposed samples were physically investigated for any macroscopic changes after each cycle of 100 hours. The uncoated steel showed blisters and spallation of its oxide scale, whereas the coated samples exhibited intact oxide scales, in general. Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (SEM/EDAX) was done to characterize morphology of the oxide scales. The protective nature of coatings has been explained based o...
Abstract The present study is based on “waste to energy” concept, wherein the potential of almond... more Abstract The present study is based on “waste to energy” concept, wherein the potential of almond crop residues viz., almond shells were investigated for biofuel production via different bioprocesses. Three routes, namely A1 representing hythane production through two-stage anaerobic digestion (TSAD), A2 representing ethanolic fermentation and A3 representing coupled ethanol and hythane production were evaluated for maximizing energy recovery. Results showed that in route A1, increased H2/(H2 + CH4) ratio (0.53) resulted in inappropriate hythane composition which was attributed to higher hydrogen yield of 236.6 L/kg chemical oxygen demand removed (CODr) and lower methane production (203.9 L/kg CODr) in the respective route. In route A2, sole ethanol production led to much lower carbon conversion efficiency (25.7%) and energy yield (6173.1 kJ/kg CODr) that questions the feasibility and efficiency of this process. However, in route A3, coupled ethanol and hythane production led to increased substrate degradation (91.3%) and higher carbon conversion efficiency (75.1%) resulting in enhanced energy recovery (22156.6 kJ/kg CODr) as compared to A1 route (13573.6 kJ/kg CODr). The stable H2/(H2 + CH4) ratio of 0.29 obtained in route A3 makes this pathway most suitable for efficient co-production of both biofuels. Further, linking of biochemical conversion process with thermochemical process viz., pyrolysis to produce biochar from almond shell residue, could be seen as an effective strategy for waste management and for enhancing the economic viability of the process.
Abstract The study outlines an economical biorefinery concept to evaluate the potential of three ... more Abstract The study outlines an economical biorefinery concept to evaluate the potential of three aquatic weeds Eichhornia crassipes, Lemna minor and Azolla microphylla for co-production of ethanol and methane. Four different scenarios were investigated viz., scenario A-hydrothermal treatment followed by anaerobic digestion and ethanol fermentation respectively (HT → AD → EF), scenario B- thermochemical treatment followed by anaerobic digestion and ethanol fermentation respectively (TC → AD → EF), scenario C- hydrothermal treatment followed by ethanol fermentation and anaerobic digestion respectively (HT → EF → AD) and scenario D- thermochemical treatment followed by ethanol fermentation and anaerobic digestion respectively (TC → EF → AD). Sequential hydrothermal treatment and anaerobic digestion (HT → AD) in scenario A enhanced the hemicellulose removal by 68.5–73.5% and simultaneously enriched the cellulose content by 41.2–54.5%. This contributed to highest ethanol yield (0.167–0.231 g/g biomass) in scenario A, which was found comparable to that obtained in scenario D, wherein harsh and expensive thermochemical pretreatment was employed. Besides that, relatively higher methane yield of 209–257 dm3/kg TOCR (Total organic carbon removal) obtained in scenario A as compared to other scenarios (67.5–238 dm3/kg TOCR) improved the overall energy efficiency of the studied concept. The energetic assessment showed lowest total energy output (859.6–1322.7 kwh) in scenario B and C as compared to other scenarios (1041.8–1583.9 kwh), thereby confirming their incompetence in coupled bioenergy production. This study, therefore presents an economically and energetically sustainable approach for pretreatment and bioenergy production that could help in overcoming the constraints hindering the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol. The study also opens up possibility for development of coupled aquatic weeds-based wastewater treatment and bioenergy production system for an efficient exploitation of the phytoremediation property of aquatic weeds.
We present a deep learning approach for the core digital libraries task of parsing bibliographic ... more We present a deep learning approach for the core digital libraries task of parsing bibliographic reference strings. We deploy the state-of-the-art Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network architecture, a variant of a recurrent neural network (RNN) to capture long-range dependencies in reference strings. We explore word embeddings and character-based word embeddings as an alternative to handcrafted features. We incrementally experiment with features, architectural configurations, and the diversity of the dataset. Our final model is an LSTM-based architecture, which layers a linear-chain Conditional Random Field (CRF) over the LSTM output. In extensive experiments in both English indomain (computer science) and out-of-domain (humanities) test cases, as well as multilingual data, our results show a significant gain (p < 0.01) over the reported state-of-the-art CRF-only based parser.
International Journal of Physics and Research, 2019
In the present study, the effects of non-thermal and nonextensive distribution of electrons on th... more In the present study, the effects of non-thermal and nonextensive distribution of electrons on the soliton propagation in plasma system containing Boltzmann positrons have been studied. Using Reductive Perturbation method, Korteweg-de Vries (K-dV), modified K-dV (mK-dV) and Gardner equations are derived for electron-positron-ion (e-p-i) plasma system. The soliton solution of the Gardner equation is discussed in detail. Results have been interpreted in the form of graphs. It is found that for a given set of parameters, there exists a critical value of q (i.e, qc) below which only rarefactive K-dV solitons exist and above it compressive K-dV solitons exist. However, both positive and negative mK-dV and Gardner potential structures exist at the critical value of nonextensivity. The present investigation may help us to understand the electrostatic perturbations in laboratory and space plasmas.
Abstract Aquatic weed, Lemna minor was evaluated for its potential as a feedstock for gaseous fue... more Abstract Aquatic weed, Lemna minor was evaluated for its potential as a feedstock for gaseous fuel production (biohythane) in an integrated strategy. Three approaches viz., acidogenic fermentation (HAF), electrohydrogenesis (HMEC) and methanogenesis (MAD), were evaluated in single stage as well as in different combinations of two stage (HAF → HMEC, HAF → MAD) and three stage (HAF → HMEC → MAD, HAF → MAD → HMEC) to tap the maximum feasible energy. Compared to single and two-stage operations, three-stage operation evidenced higher biogas (H2 + CH4) yield with remarkable total organic carbon (TOC) reduction. Irrespective of the integration sequence, HAF in first stage depicted the possibility of harnessing higher energy by accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) along with H2 production. Similarly, integration of MAD in second stage showed the possibility of tapping higher energy rather than HMEC due to higher carbon loss as CO2 coupled to more H2 fraction in biogas in case of HMEC. Among, three-stage integrations, higher biogas yield and energy recovery was observed in HAF → MAD → HMEC (38.77 mol biogas/kg TOCR; 25,415 KJ/kg TOCR) as compared to HAF → HMEC → MAD (37.79 mol biogas/kg TOCR; 15,416 KJ/kg TOCR). Along similar lines, analysis of organic carbon flow exhibited significant substrate degradation in three stage integrations (72.5–81.4%) as compared to second (66.2–70%) and first stage (39.7–56.5%).
The effects of various processing methods viz. pressure cooking with soaking, sprouting (48 h), s... more The effects of various processing methods viz. pressure cooking with soaking, sprouting (48 h), sprouting and pressure cooking, dehulling, and pressure cooking of the dehulled legume on the bioavailability of zinc were studied. The total zinc content varied from 3.28 to 3.37%; the highest being in raw ricebeans and the lowest being in dehulled, soaked and pressure cooked, and sprouted and pressure cooked ricebeans, respectively. The soluble zinc content was highest for dehulled soaked and pressure cooked ricebeans (28.2%) and lowest for raw ricebeans (16.0%). The absorption, retention, and balance of zinc were estimated in rats fed experimental and standard ZnSO 4 diets using a balance study. The maximum retention of zinc was observed in dehulled soaked, and pressure cooked diets (63.37%) followed by sprouted (48 h) and pressure cooked (61.38%) diets. The gain in body weight, total femur zinc and retention of zinc in liver, kidneys and spleen were found to be highest for rats eating the sprouted pressure cooked diet followed by the dehulled, soaked and pressure cooked diet. Plasma zinc levels were found to range from 3.81 to 6.34 µmol/dl; they were maximum for rats fed the dehulled, soaked and pressure cooked diet. It can be concluded that dehulling significantly improves the availability of zinc and germination of ricebeans is the best method to enhance the zinc availability.
2015 4th International Symposium on Emerging Trends and Technologies in Libraries and Information Services, 2015
Plagiarism - using someone else's ideas, writings or results, and presenting them as one'... more Plagiarism - using someone else's ideas, writings or results, and presenting them as one's own without giving proper credit to the actual author. In today's competitive world plagiarism is spreading at a tenacious rate. Scientific writing requires good expertise for it demands both features: vividness and terseness, which are generally hard to accomplish together. Any scientific work should be characterized by clear expression, concise content, accurate facts, and perhaps most importantly, honest and objective narrative. The principle reason behind the steep evolution of plagiarism seems to be lack of awareness along with the presence of fierce competition. Several students and other academicians have a misconception that they either won't get caught or there would be little or no long-term effects for plagiarizing other people's content. This paper highlights the menace of plagiarism with some case studies and the means to curb it effectively with the help of educational seminars for especially young researchers. We also discuss the results of surveys conducted after organizing the seminars for plagiarism awareness. As per survey results, most of the students were not even aware about plagiarism earlier, but after the seminar, their understanding of plagiarism issues and its consequences enhanced, and they felt highly motivated against it.
Uploads
Papers by Manpreet Kaur