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One of the major challenges that the world is facing currently is the inadequate amount of food production with high nutrient content in accordance with the increase in population size. Moreover, availability of cultivable area with fertile soil is reducing day by day owing to ever increasing population. Further, water scarcity and expensive agricultural equipment have led to the use of agrochemicals and untreated water. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers to increase crop yield have resulted in deleterious effects on the environment, health and economy, which can be overcome to a great extent by employing biological fertilizers. There are various microbes that grows in the rhizospheric region of plants known as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). PGPR act by direct and indirect modes to stimulate plant growth and improve stress reduction in plants. PGPRs are used for potential agriculture practices having a wide range of benefits like increase in nutrients content, healthy growth of crops, production of phytohormones, prevention from heavy metal stress conditions and increase in crop yield. This review reports recent studies in crop improvement strategies using PGPR and describes the mechanisms involved. The potential mechanisms of PGPR and its allies pave the way for sustainable development towards agriculture and commercialization of potential bacteria.

Nanotechnology has been accepted as a successful general-purpose technology and engine for growth in the 21st century. Research in the last two decades has highlighted the numerous potential applications of nanomanufacturing and commercialization. Nanotechnology has revolutionized various aspects of different areas, like cosmetics, medicines, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cement, agriculture, electronics, etc. Effective commercialization is of prodigious importance to inventive firms, and the latest literature has progressively recognized that industry has involvement not only in research and development but also in commercialization. Research into nanotechnology is extremely broad and involves different products, such as in the fields of cosmetics, medicines, medical devices, electronics, cement, etc.; many examples have already been commercialized and others are in development. The present review article explores recent developments relating to industrial nanotechnology and nanotechnology commercialization, which involves the development of products and techniques with a view toward their commercialization.

Visible-light-assisted photocatalysis for the degradation of organic pollutants has recently become an efficient green approach in the field of environmental pollution abatement. Herein, graphene-templated zeolite-imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) derived, Co nanoparticle embedded, nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (G-Co-NCNTs) have been developed as a promising, inexpensive, high-yield photocatalyst to decompose reactive black 5 (RB5) under visible light irradiation. Morphology and structural characterization studies revealed that the growth of NCNTs along with pyridinic N content and the abundance of meso-micropores were greater in G-Co-NCNT than in Co-NCNT itself, suggesting the importance of graphene for in situ growth of ZIF-67 on GO. DRS study reveals that G-Co-NCNT exhibited low optical band gap (∼2.9 eV), assisting in the promotion of photoresponse behavior. The photocatalytic activity of our designed G-Co-NCNT hybrid showed excellent dye degradation ability (98%) after 60 min with a wide range of pH tolerance and promising reusability even after five cycles (93%) under visible light, while Co-NCNT demonstrated only about 62% dye degradation, further implying the importance of graphene and oriented NCNTs for dye degradation. Therefore, the G-Co-NCNT hybrid could be used as an efficient photocatalyst for the remediation of organic pollutants in wastewater.

Background: Lignocellulosic residues generated by various anthropogenic activities can be a potential raw material for many commercial products such as biofuels, organic acids and nutraceuticals including xylitol. Xylitol is a low-calorie nutritive sweetener for diabetic patients. Microbial production of xylitol can be helpful in overcoming the drawbacks of traditional chemical production process and lowring cost of production. Objective: Designing efficient production process needs the characterization of required enzyme/s. Hence current work was focused on in-vitro and in-silico characterization of xylose reductase from Emericella nidulans. Methods: Xylose reductase from one of the hyper-producer isolates, Emericella nidulans Xlt-11 was used for in-vitro characterization. For in-silico characterization, XR sequence (Accession No: Q5BGA7) was used. Results: Xylose reductase from various microorganisms has been studied but the quest for better enzymes, their stability at higher temperature and pH still continues. Xylose reductase from Emericella nidulans Xlt-11 was found NADH dependent and utilizes xylose as its sole substrate for xylitol production. In comparison to whole cells, enzyme exhibited higher enzyme activity at lower cofactor concentration and could tolerate higher substrate concentration. Thermal deactivation profile showed that whole cell catalysts were more stable than enzyme at higher temperature. In-silico analysis of XR sequence from Emericella nidulans (Accession No: Q5BGA7) suggested that the structure was dominated by random coiling. Enzyme sequences have conserved active site with net negative charge and PI value in acidic pH range. Conclusion: Current investigation supported the enzyme’s specific application i.e. bioconversion of xylose to xylitol due to its higher selectivity. In-silico analysis may provide significant structural and physiological information for modifications and improved stability.

Cobalt ferrite and silver doped cobalt ferrite, AgxCo1−xFe2O4, (x = 0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.02) nanoparticles were synthesized through sol-gel auto-combustion technique via chemical and green synthesis (using the extract of tulsi seeds(Ocimum sanctum) and garlic cloves(Allium sativum)). Systematic characterization by XRD, FTIR, FE-SEM and EDX has been performed to study structural, morphological and magnetic behavior of the prepared samples. XRD confirms that the prepared samples are crystalline and have a cubic (inverse spinel) structure. Absorption bands have been studied using FTIR that further confirms the formation of single phase spinel crystal structure having two sub-lattices (Td and Oh). FE-SEM micrographs reveal the formation of cubic and encapsulated type structure in case of chemical and green synthesis respectively. EDX confirms the presence of all the required elements in the respective stoichoimetric ratios. Magnetic measurements through VSM at room temperature show that the magnetic saturation values for samples obtained using tulsi seed extract mediated synthesis and chemical synthesis are much higher than those obtained using garlic extract. The antibacterial activity of all the prepared samples against gram positive and gram negative strains were investigated and a modified mechanism of action for the antibacterial activity is proposed.

The present study aimed to investigate the attitude and empathy of youth towards physically disabled persons. This study followed a quantitative paradigm. The sample comprised of 100 participants (Male = 50; Female = 50) who were under the age range of 18–25 years. Purposive sampling was taken to gather the data. Attitudes Towards Disabled Persons (ATDP) Scale and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire were administered on the participants. All the responses were entered on the SPSS software which was analysed through descriptive statistics, t-test, and Pearson's correlation. Findings of this study showed that both males and females had negative attitude towards physically disabled person. Furthermore, males and females were equally empathetic towards physically disabled person. Consequently, there were no gender differences in the attitude and empathy of youth towards physically disabled persons. Also, significant and positive correlation was seen between the two constructs, i.e., attitude and empathy. These results indicated a need of destigmatization about disability especially physical disability in the society., Attitude; Empathy; Disability; ATDP; Social psychology.

A new cobalt-based mixed ligand metal–organic framework (MOF), [Co2(L1)(obc)2].DMF (MOF1), (where L1 = 2,7-bis (3-(1H-imidazole-1-yl)propyl)benzo-[lmn][3,8]phenanthroline-1,3,6,8(2H,7H)-tetraone and H2obc = 4,4-oxybisbenzoic acid) was prepared solvothermally that simultaneously exhibits sensing and adsorption capability. The single-crystal X-ray structural analysis revealed that MOF1 exhibits an interpenetrated three-dimensional framework, of pcu topology, comprising classic paddlewheel-type units. The synthesized MOF1 was found to be luminescent with an emission/excitation peak at 402/275 nm that is enhanced by Zr4+ ions due to absorbance-caused enhancement (ACE). The fluorescence studies displayed the highly selective and sensitive behavior of MOF1 towards Zr4+ ions through the turn-on fluorescence effect with a short response time and detection limit of 0.067 μM. Furthermore, MOF1 was successfully applied for the treatment of commercial dyes Reactive Black 5 and Orange G with adsorption capacity of 33.79 and 22.32 mg/g, respectively, thus showing rapid adsorption for these dyes.

Two stable metal-organic frameworks, [Co(api)(nita)]·DMF(Co-MOF) and [Zn2(api)2(nita)2]·DMF(Zn-MOF), (where api = 1-(3-aminopropyl)imidazole and nita = 5-nitroisophathlic acid), were synthesized by solvothermal method. The MOFs were characterized by Single Crystal X-ray, thermogravimetric analysis and morphological studies. Single crystal X-ray reveals that both the MOFs exhibit discrete honeycomb like structure along a-axis. These were thermally stable up to 300°C. Dye adsorption testing was performed on the synthesized MOFs for the removal of textile dyes, Reactive Black5 (RB5) and Methyl Orange (MO) from the aqueous solutions. Co-MOF was found to be the best system that displayed significantly good results and was further explored in depth to evaluate its efficiency of the dye adsorption phenomenon. The influence of operational parameters such as the effect of contact time, pH of the untreated water, adsorbent dosage and dye concentration was investigated individually for the Co-MOF. The optimized conditions for RB5 were pH 4, contact time of 60 min, adsorbent dosage 400 mg/L and for MO, it was pH 3, a contact time of 30 min, dosage of adsorbent 500 mg/L. The Co-MOF showed 78.24 ± 0.9% adsorption for RB5 and 54.12± 1.1% for MO under optimized conditions.

The purpose of the research was to analyse the impact of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) initiatives, currently present in the retail domain in South India, on the economic performance and competitiveness of the retail companies. The GSCM concepts can be implemented in inbound, internal, and outbound stages of the retail supply chain. The research examines each of these functions separately and determines its impact on the overall performance. For this purpose, a conceptual model was developed from literature sources and data collected using a structured questionnaire circulated among mid-size retail firms in Southern India. Thereafter, a confirmatory model was tested using structural equation modeling to validate the conceptual hypothesis. The analysis identified that greening the different phases of the supply chain leads to an integrated green supply chain, which ultimately leads to competitiveness and economic performance. The research findings suggest that if the retail firms green their supply chains not only would they achieve substantial cost savings, but also enhance sales, market share, and exploit new market opportunities which lead to greater profit margins, all of which contribute to the economic performance of the firm.

Vodafone India is a leading telecomm services provider in India. It is a subsidiary of Vodafone, a British Telecommunication giant. After the acquisition of Hutch (Joint Venture of Hutchison and Essar) by Vodafone, the company has shifted its focus to the Indian markets and has managed to capture a significant portion. To understand the performance of the telecommunication services by Vodafone India, we have undertaken a research study through the Servqual Instrument which measures the quality of services on twenty two parameters.