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Small-scale urban pig farming (SUPF) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) contributes to food, nutrition, income and social security of indigent urbanites but is associated with animal, human and environmental health risks. In this context, it is critical to identify key strategies to optimize the benefits and minimize the risks of SUPF in SSA. The current review identifies a set of existing management practices that synchronously enhance sustainability and circularity of SUPF and explore factors influencing the capacity of farmers to adopt such practices. The review demonstrates that there is a multitude of opportunities for enhancing the sustainability and circularity of SUPF in SSA through application of sustainable and circular economy practices (SCEPs) in housing, feeding, breeding, health, marketing and waste management. However, these opportunities can only be fully realized if appropriate urban planning, by-laws, and policies are implemented, and socio-economic, psychological and institutional factors, private-public partnerships and international corporations that promote widespread application of SCEPs are holistically integrated into decision-making processes of the relevant stakeholders. Research should continuously focus on identifying SCEPs adopted by farmers and incorporating their adoption predictors in decision-making. This has the potential to transition SUPF in SSA towards a more sustainable and circular food system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water hyacinth is classified as a high-risk invasive species but is a source of biomass to obtain bio-oil and biochar by pyrolysis reaction. The Kissinger- Akahira-Sunose model (KAS), Ozawa-Flynn Wall (OFW), and Friedman model, determined the pyrolysis activation energy to be 213.19 kJ mol−1, 222.55 kJ mol−1, and 248.09 kJ mol−1, respectively. Bio-oil was obtained with a 2.2% yield, and a maximum calorific value of 21,641 kJ kg−1. The composition was 44% hydrocarbons, 27% aromatic hydrocarbons, 6% alcohols and phenols, 4% acids, and 19% aldehydes, ketones, ethers, nitriles, and others. A 48.84 wt% biochar was also obtained, gaining energy and active carbon. Bio-oil could be a candidate for the production of refined chemical products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shaken the global economy and significantly affected the financial markets. This anxiety triggered panic reactions. The article aims to explain impact of abrupt changes in structural stability of four key asset markets due to pandemic. It includes a detail discussion regarding structural change in co-movement of stock indices, exchange rates, minerals and metal returns. The daily returns of 14 financial indices across four groups during a span of 25 January 2019 to 3 February 2021 are sampled. The selection of financial assets is based on trading volume and velocity in each of the four groups. The results of Markov Switching model explain that pandemic not only increase volatility of financial markets but also have a significant long-term impact on structural behaviour in daily returns. The analysis further reveals differences in co-movement of financial returns during two periods. However, on a positive note, pandemic does make a way for few financial assets to dominate the market, especially ones recognised as 'safe-haven' assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) causes a significant yield loss in solanaceous crops. Accurate and rapid diagnosis of TMV is an essential pre-requisite for proactive and tailored disease management strategies, filling the gap between more rigorous laws regarding pesticide use and maintaining crop production. Herein, we developed a time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay (TRFIA) to quantitatively detect TMV in tobacco. TMV virions were used as immunogens to develop monoclonal antibodies, which were then conjugated to Eu3+ nanospheres. The detection limit of the TRFIA platform was 0.24 ng/mL, with recovery rates in the range of 90.71-108.11% in spiked tobacco. The specificity was confirmed using ten species of tobacco-infecting phytopathogens. In-field applicability was implemented by screening for TMV in 10,000 tobacco leaf samples collected from five fields in Kunming, China. Overall, the proposed TRFIA platform is rapid, accurate, and end-user friendly, demonstrating its application in TMV onsite testing in tobacco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discharge of toxic chemicals into water bodies and their linked detrimental effects on health is a global concern. Phytoremediation, an environment-friendly plant-based technology, has gained intensive interest over the last decades. For the aquatic phytoremediation process, the commonly available duckweeds have recently attracted significant attention due to their capacity to grow in diverse ecological niches, fast growth characteristics, suitable morphology for easy handling of biomass, and capacity to remove and detoxify various potential toxic elements and compounds. This review presents the progress of duckweed-assisted aquatic phytoremediation of toxic chemicals. A brief background of general phytoremediation processes, including the different phytoremediation methods and advances in understanding their underlying mechanisms, has been described. A summary of different approaches commonly practiced to assess the growth of the plants and their metal removal capacity in the phytoremediation process has also been included. A vast majority of studies have established that duckweed is an efficient plant catalyst to accumulate toxic heavy metals and organic contaminants, such as pesticides, fluorides, toxins, and aromatic compounds, reducing their toxicity from water bodies. The potential of this plant-based phytoremediation process for its downstream applications in generating value-added products for the rural economy and industrial interest has been identified. Duckweed is an aquatic plant widely available in diverse ecosystems on the earth. Due to its fast growth in various environmental conditions, capacity to accumulate and transform different toxic chemicals, and a suitable morphology for handling and processing its biomass easily, duckweed has been projected as an efficient floating plant species for the aquatic phytoremediation technology. Moreover, the duckweed biomass generated from the post phytoremediation process may be transformed into various value-added products to support the rural economy. Duckweed is a potential plant for the aquatic phytoremediation of toxic chemicals. Technical simplicity and affordability make the duckweed-assisted method attractive. Scopes to generate value-added products from treated biomass may contribute to the rural economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work describes one-pot synthesis of pyrano[2,3-d] pyrimidine derivatives using aromatic aldehyde, ethyl cyanoacetate and barbituric or thiobarbituric acid accelerated by microwave irradiation in the presence of agro-waste extract solvent medium with few drops of ethanol as a co-solvent presented. The reaction is optimized by various methods such as magnetic stirring, ultrasound, mechanochemical and microwave irradiation, but the microwave irradiation method excelled product formation faster rate with high yield and purity. The advantages of the present approach are the metal-free, chemical-less, and hazardous solvent-less employed and considered as an eco-friendly protocol for the synthesis of pyrano[2,3-d] pyrimidine derivatives developed. The final product isolated was recrystallized in ethanol and characterized by FT-IR, 1H-, 13C-NMR and LC-MS spectrometry. Further, some of the selected pyrano[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives (4a, 4b, 4d, 4f, 4m and 4o) are subjected to electrochemical behavior and anti-microbial activity studies. The anti-microbial activity tested derivatives showed comparable activities, and also electrochemical behavior of oxidation and reduction potentials observed by these compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated cracking phenomena in 316L stainless steel (SS316L) and Inconel 718 (IN718) composition-graded material (CGM) additively manufactured by the direct energy deposition (DED) process. In order to prevent cracking in the CGM, thermodynamic analysis was performed to avoid the critical concentration for crack formation. Based on the local compositional detouring (LCD) method suggested by new approach, a crack-free CGM with a nonlinear combination of SS316L and IN718 was successfully fabricated with local additional elemental powder in the CGM defective region obtained using a multi-powder feeding system during the DED process. We aim to avoid the cracks of functionally graded materials fabricated by local in-situ alloying technique using the result of thermodynamically analyzing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quest for energy efficiency systems is gaining momentum in the present-day context due to prevailing environmental and eco nomic compulsions. One of the alternatives available to meet this requirement is to modify the fuel to make it greener and more reasonable. In the present study, an attempt has been made to assess the performance and emissions of a compression ignition (CI) engine fuelled with B20 biodiesel and nano additives. Experiments have been carried out on a ssingle-cylinder CI engine using waste cooking oil-derived biodiesel, B20 and nano-sized biochar and multi-walled carbon nano tubes (MWCNTs). The nano additives were used in concentrations of 20 and 40 ppm to form four fuel variants, and the results relating to performance and emissions were compared. B20 fuel with MWCNT nanoparticles showed better brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake-specific fuel consumption and reduced HC and carbon monoxide emissions. On the contrary, increased exhaust temperature and a subsequent increase in NOx emissions were recorded. The activated biochar nanoparticles improved the BTE of the engine with a comparatively better removal of NOx. This intricate behaviour of both the carbon nanoparticles reported in this work requires comprehensive optimization studies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyberstalking, especially among university students, has become a critical social concern. While a growing body of research associates cyberstalking with abuse of technology, psychological instability and the perceived porosity of the legal systems, power inequality has not been foregrounded as a major driver. With a focus on establishing power relationships between victims and perpetrators, the study explored structural and social environments surrounding female students at the University of Dar es Salaam. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected with an online survey questionnaire distributed to 424 female students. Together with the questionnaire, deeper insights for the qualitative information were obtained from online interviews held with 30 female students and 15 key informants as well as from online Focused Group Discussion held with another cluster of 30 female students who had experiences of cybertalking. Interpreted from a feminist theoretical perspective and 'gender digital divide' stances, the results indicate multiple forms of unequal power relations surrounding third-world women internet users in universities. The study recommends strategies against gender inequality to be extended to cyberspace, while women's empowerment in online spaces should be spearheaded in gender equality discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel quinoxaline based bisspirooxindolo-pyrrolizidines were synthesized through 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition under ultrasonication with shorter reaction time and good yields. The compounds were well characterized by various spectroscopic methods and finally single crystal X-ray diffraction method (4c, 4d). DFT energy calculations confirm the regioselectivity due to enone umpolung effect. The in vitro anti-cancer activity of the synthesized compounds (4a–s) shows that the compounds 4g and 4q exhibited good anti-cancer activity with IC50 values14.51 ± 1.1 and 11.36 ± 0.23 µM against DU-145 prostate cancer cell line; and 16.78 ± 0.95 and 14.28 ± 0.64 µM against Hela cervical cancer cell lines when compared to the standard anti-cancer drug doxorubicin (1.75 ± 0.06 and 1.35 ± 0.09 µM). In silico molecular docking studies indicated that the synthesized compounds may serve as a potential lead for the further development of novel anti-cancer agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The vast majority of acute diarrheal diseases are self-limiting and do not require treatment on a regular basis. Empirical antibiotics should only be used to treat dysenteric and invasive bacterial diarrhea. Antibiotic misuse in the treatment of acute diarrhea is widespread in clinical practice worldwide. Hence, the purpose of this study was to examine the pattern of antibiotic use for the acute diarrheal diseases at Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital, Harar, Ethiopia. Methods: A retrospective, institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the antibiotic utilization pattern for the treatment of acute diarrheal diseases from September 1 to September 30, 2022. Data were obtained retrospectively from patient cards treated for diarrheal disorders from August 1, 2021 to August 31, 2022, using standardized questionnaires, and the analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 27. Results: Among 332 patients in present study, 271 (81.63%) of them received nine different types of antibiotics, with the most commonly prescribed drugs were Cotrimoxazole (30.26%), Ciprofloxacin (19.19%), and Azithromycin (17.71%). Based on the presence of blood in the stools, 14.76% of the cases were invasive bacterial in nature. Antibiotics were prescribed about 2.55 times more frequently to patients under the age of 12 than to subjects 65 and older (AOR 2.55, 95% CI 1.45–3.87). Patients who received three or more medications were 2.77 times more likely to be prescribed antibiotics (AOR 2.77, 95% CI 1.84–7.56). For every unit increase in the number of drugs prescribed, the odds of prescribing antibiotics increased by 2.44 units (COR 2.44; 95% CI 2.06–4.32). Conclusions: The current study found that antibiotics were overused in both adults and children with acute diarrheal diseases at Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital. The number of antibiotics prescribed was significantly associated with the patient's age and the number of medications prescribed. To reduce antibiotic overuse, health professionals have to follow the national standard treatment guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media provides marginalized activists multiple options for constructing alternative narratives that challenge mainstream discourse. However, despite these platforms' increasing accessibility, disabled activists may struggle in creating their counter-narrative. Their inability to conform to able-bodied notions of activism leaves their individual experiences out of the discussion of social media activism. This paper addresses this gap by presenting the individual decision-making process of disabled social media users regarding activists' performances in social media as gleaned from the qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews. This process includes three phases that demonstrate the experiences of social media users with communicative concealable disabilities – autistics, hard-of-hearing (HoH), and people who stutter. First, these interviewees present a spectrum of perceptions of disability activism in social media. Second, these perceptions lead to a spectrum of motivations, which mirror the interviewees' various risk-benefit calculations regarding public self-disclosure as disabled. Third, these perceptions and motivations are manifested through interviewees' strategic design of their activist performances in private and public spheres. By rethinking key concepts in social media activism – risk-benefit calculation, slacktivism, and digital storytelling – this process illustrates taken-for-granted assumptions of personalization, visibility and representation, that challenge current discussions on social media activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmentally benign, facile, and efficient one-pot three-component synthesis of pyrano[2,3-d]pyrimidine-2,4,7-trione derivatives by the reaction of aromatic aldehyde, barbituric acid and Meldrum's acid employing recently reported agro-waste catalyst WELFSA (Water Extract Lemon Fruit Shell Ash) from our group is described. The reaction found efficient in ultrasound at room temperature and took about 40 min for the reaction to complete. The catalyst has significant features in the present protocol gave high yield, simple reaction condition, non-hazardous, and not required chromatographic purification. The application of the ultrasound in organic synthesis is fulfilling some of the goals of the 'greener and sustainable chemistry', as it has some advantages over the traditional thermal methods in terms of reaction rates, yields and purity of the products. All the synthesized derivatives are characterized by FT-IR, 1H and 13C-NMR and mass spectrometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For cost-effective biodiesel synthesis, a solid heterogeneous acid catalyst SO3H-ARNH-12 was synthesized by sulfonation of activated carbon derived from areca nut husk (ARNH). SEM-EDS, XPS, FTIR, and XRD analyses investigate the morphology and elemental composition that reveals the successful sulfonation of carbonaceous material. The SO3H-ARNH-12 provides an excellent conversion of 99.15 ± 0.4% in a short reaction time (30 min) under various optimized conditions {catalyst dose 7 wt.%, 100°C temperature, 1:10 Oleic acid-to-MeOH ratio (OATMR)}. It has been investigated that different types of alcohols affect the biodiesel yield. Moreover, the biodiesel yield was established by GC analysis, and confirmation of biodiesel synthesis was done by 1H, 13C NMR spectroscopy. The effective catalytic activity of the catalyst was observed for up to six cycles. This work provides a sustainable heterogeneous acid catalyst for the fabrication of biodiesel, which solves pollution, time, and energy consumption issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of controlling major rice insect pests, their spatial distribution patterns within crop fields remain unknown. However, they are influenced by their interactions with resources and their natural enemy species. This study examined the spatial distribution of rice insect pests and their natural enemy species in Myanmar's intensive rice-growing field across 56 rice fields cultivated in the 2018 monsoon season as trial plots. Geostatistical analysis has shown strong evidence of a spatial relationship between the major rice pests and their natural enemy species. In addition, the generated maps demonstrated the aggregated population dispersions for the major pest species and their potential natural enemy species. It is also evident that the dispersion of insect pest species varied with their potential natural enemy species. The distribution of the major insect pests on rice was often non-random. Thus, associations with the natural enemy species are important for effective pest monitoring and management, as they allow improved sampling and precise targeting control methods for insect pests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The increase of motor vehicles results in a rapid increase in fuel supply and generates high emissions, which then affects the environment and human health in general. Replacement of nonrenewable fuels can be achieved by using alternative energy sources. Viewing fuel properties and production routes, biodiesel is deemed as one preferred alternative fuel for diesel engines. This work focuses on biodiesel production using waste cooking oil through a catalyst made of mixed multi-fruits' peel ash and titanium dioxide nanoparticles through a transesterification process. Further, the produced biodiesel was used to evaluate the engine performance by analyzing brake thermal efficiency and brake-specific fuel consumption. Emission characteristics due to biodiesel combustion, namely carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, was our main focus in this study. Both engine performance and emissions levels were optimized through Taguchi L16 orthogonal array. Highest brake thermal efficiency of 36.19% was achieved by the influence of 450°C of calcination temperature, 30°C of reaction temperature, 4% of catalyst loading, and 3 hr time of reaction. The lowest brake-specific fuel consumption obtained is 0.23 kg/kWh by involving 300°C of calcination temperature, 60°C of reaction temperature, 4% of catalyst loading, and 5 hr time. The statistical analysis based on ANOVA shows that the studied parameters does contribute to the developed regression model. In emission analysis, calcination temperature greatly influenced both CO and NOx. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North-Eastern region of India has the distinction of being one of the most seismically active and tectonically complex regions in the world. The region has periodically jolted by a number of large earthquakes. The temporal and spatial frequency-magnitude distribution (FMD) of earthquakes in three major selected regions of North-East India, namely Shillong-Mikir Hills, Arunachal Himalaya, and Assam Foredeep region, are examined in this study. Temporal variation of 'b' shows a significant declination prior to a large earthquake, which strongly advocates for a medium-term (months-year) earthquake precursor. Similarly, spatial distribution map is prepared by estimating b-value at every 0.01° x 0.01° grid using the nearest 150 events, which is vital in understanding the stress regime of a specific region. The present study critically demonstrates the higher b-value regions associated with minimum seismicity and vice-versa, especially focusing on large earthquake scenario. High anomalies of 'b' were found in the regions of Shillong-Mikir hills and Arunachal Himalaya, whereas the Assam-Foredeep region, free from seismic activity for a long period, shows a low. It may be due to the accumulation of stress energy within the region for a long time and could be an alarming sign for future large events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shaken the global economy and significantly affected the financial markets. This anxiety triggered panic reactions. The article aims to explain impact of abrupt changes in structural stability of four key asset markets due to pandemic. It includes a detail discussion regarding structural change in co-movement of stock indices, exchange rates, minerals and metal returns. The daily returns of 14 financial indices across four groups during a span of 25 January 2019 to 3 February 2021 are sampled. The selection of financial assets is based on trading volume and velocity in each of the four groups. The results of Markov Switching model explain that pandemic not only increase volatility of financial markets but also have a significant long-term impact on structural behaviour in daily returns. The analysis further reveals differences in co-movement of financial returns during two periods. However, on a positive note, pandemic does make a way for few financial assets to dominate the market, especially ones recognised as 'safe-haven' assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the design and fabrication of 20 ± 0.3 dB directional coupler having 2 kW power handling capability in the frequency range of 140–200 MHz. The developed coupler has an important application in the prototype of the Ion Cyclotron Resonance Frequency (ICRF) system of Tokamak. The directional coupler used to couple the forward and reflected power for measurement and provide the feedback to the existing matching network responsible for protecting the high-power RF source. The developed coupler is compact in size, robust, and capable of handling 2 kW, continuous wave (CW) RF power. This paper also analyses the dielectric breakdown strength using electric field distribution inside the coupler, and the average power handling capability is determined using numerical analysis. The test results using Vector Network Analyser (VNA) are obtained as, the coupling flatness of 20 ± 0.3 in 140–200 MHz frequency range, return loss and isolation are −30 dB and −35 dB, respectively. The work presented in this paper is helpful for the development of high-power coupler in radio frequency (RF) range and may be applied in various applications such as RF Plasma, Radar, navigation, satellite, and research, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely and rational prediction of coseismic landslides is crucial for the design and development of key infrastructure capable to protect human lives in seismically active regions. This research introduces the novel Hybrid Coseismic Landslide Forecasting model (COLAFOS) that takes into consideration three parameters namely: The Average Slope of the Active Areas, the Slope Aspect and the types of Geological forms. The developed model was tested on two datasets from the island of Lefkada Greece, for years 2003 and 2015. COLAFOS is a hybrid model, employing the Fuzzy c-Means clustering, the Ensemble Adaptive Boosting (ENS_AdaBoost) and the Ensemble Subspace k-Nearest Neighbour (ENSUB k-NN) algorithms. The introduced model managed to correctly classify the coseismic landslides according to their severity, with a success rate of 70.07% and 72.88% for 2003 and 2015, respectively. The algorithm has shown very good performance for the classes of major severity, reaching an accuracy up to 92%. Accuracy, Sensitivity, Specificity, Precision and F-1 Score, were used to evaluate the performance of the model. Given the fact that this is a multi-class classification problem, 'One Versus All' Strategy was used in the evaluation process. Although the datasets were relatively unbalanced, the evaluation indices sealed the efficiency of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the population increases, energy demands continue to rise rapidly. In order to satisfy this increasing energy demand, biogas offers a potential alternative. Biogas is economically viable to be produced through anaerobic digestion (AD) from various biomass feedstocks that are readily available in Malaysia, such as food waste (FW), palm oil mill effluent (POME), garden waste (GW), landfill, sewage sludge (SS) and animal manure. This paper aims to determine the potential feedstocks for biogas production via AD based on their characteristics, methane yield, kinetic studies and economic analysis. POME and FW show the highest methane yield with biogas yields up to 0.50 L/g VS while the lowest is 0.12 L/g VS by landfill leachate. Kinetic study shows that modified Gompertz model fits most of the feedstock with R 2 up to 1 indicating that this model can be used for estimating treatment efficiencies of full-scale reactors and performing scale-up analysis. The economic analysis shows that POME has the shortest payback period (PBP), highest internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV). However, it has already been well explored, with 93% of biogas plants in Malaysia using POME as feedstock. The FW generation rate in Malaysia is approximately 15,000 tonnes per day, at the same time FW as the second place shows potential to have a PBP of 5.4 years and 13.3% IRR, which is close to the results achieved with POME. This makes FW suitable to be used as the feedstock for biogas production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient and rapid one-pot multicomponent synthesis of 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-b]phthalazine-5,10-diones through condensation of aldehyde, malononitrile and phthalhydrazide catalyzed by agro-waste solvent catalyst-derived water extract of mango peel ash (WEMPA) under microwave irradiation is described. Further, the catalyst is prepared from agricultural waste and characterized for elemental composition by different techniques such as SEM-EDX, XRD and flame photometry. This green synthetic approach offers various advantages such as inexpensive, abundantly available source, shorter reaction time (6–8 min), good-to-excellent yield (83%–89%), simple workup and a sustainable alternative method to the existing protocols. All the synthesized compounds (4a–l) was confirmed by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and LC-MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitration of N-acetyl anilides using a simple combination of AgNO3 and K2S2O8 as a stable nitro source and an oxidant, respectively, was explored. The reaction was practical to operate and proceeded under considerably mild reaction conditions (reflux in acetonitrile) within acceptable reaction time (6 h). The para-substituted N-acetyl anilides gave only ortho-nitrated products in moderate to good yields (30–63% yields). The ortho-, meta-, or non-substituted N-acetyl anilides gave a mixture of nitrated products (30–72% combined yields) with preferentially at the para- over the ortho-position (ortho:para; 1.0:1.1–1.0:2.8). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up a large percentage of businesses; they employ over 50% of all employees, and account for most partnerships in supply chain networks. This makes SME employees a target for cybercriminals. This study examines the factors that influence the security behaviour intention of SME employees to better understand how SMEs can manage cybersecurity risk caused by employee security behaviour. In a survey of 294 employees, the research model developed from the theory of planned behaviour and protection motivation theory, including the habit and hardiness personality trait, is empirically validated to understand employee security behaviour intention. The results of the study show that hardiness and habit have a significant effect on employee security behaviour intention. The findings contribute to the literature on personality traits and habit in the context of information security behaviour. The study's implications for research and practice are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microencapsulation of essential oils by complex coacervation continues to attract considerable attention due to high payload, increased thermal stability and sustained release of core materials. This review recapitulates the thermal properties of coacervates and essential oil microcapsules prepared by complex coacervation method using protein/polysaccharide and polysaccharide/polysaccharide. The authors discussed the factors affecting coacervation and the thermal properties of coacervates. Besides, this review describes the microencapsulation processes physicochemical properties and release characteristics of essential oils microcapsules based on complex coacervation method. Finally, the review concentrates on the antimicrobial properties and the applications of essential oils microcapsules in food and nutrition. Despite extensive research conducted on the preparation of essential oils microcapsules prepared by complex coacervation, the application of this technique in encapsulating essential oils exposed to high temperatures during processing and storage remains a current area of research. Therefore, the research consolidated in this review describes a high degree of thermal stability of essential oils microcapsules prepared with complex coacervation that is yet understood, which can be readily utilized in the food and pharmaceutical industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Site effect estimation using recorded ground motion is an effective approach to assess the seismic hazard of a region. Keeping the same thing in mind, an endeavor is being made to study the local site effects at different locations in the North East region of India through analysis of recorded strong ground motion data provided by Indian strong motion network. The data recorded at 25 sites from 37 earthquakes with a magnitude range M L 4.0–6.9 have been utilized. The estimated predominant frequencies ( f p e a k ) using horizontal to the vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) is well observed for various sites placed in various geological formations like the Precambrian, Tertiary and Quaternary Consequently, the pseudo velocity response (PSV) for 5% critical damping is estimated and compared with the regional geological formations, especially in the Brahmaputra Valley region. It is further noticed that the HVSR, as well as PSV, show a noticeable correlation according to the geological set up of the region for most of the sites, giving a clear idea about the site effect evaluation. Analyzed strong motion data also show the effect of non-linearity, which is an important parameter as it explains the inelastic behavior of the soil causing a reduced or non-linear amplification. Since some of the sites used in present work do not correlate with geology, the sites used for HVSR estimation are used to classify them according to the classical approach employing f p e a k . All the sites are classified in four different classes namely A, B, C, and D based on shear wave velocity in the upper 30 m. The outcome of the present study is being shown in the form of contour maps for f p e a k and site amplification for various types of buildings in order to assess the seismic hazard and risk mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green electro-analytical method was developed and validated for quantitative determination and monitoring of the dissolution behavior of Losartan potassium tablets by in-line potentiometric measurement system with no need for pre-treatment or derivatization of the sample. A sensor was fabricated for in-line determination of Losartan potassium LOS in its dissolution medium utilizing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) based membrane and nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE) as a plasticizer. Tetraheptyl ammonium bromide (THAB) was employed as anion exchanger for the first sensor, while cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was used in the second sensor. The proposed method showed fast, stable near Nernstian responses across a relatively wide LOS concentration range (1.0 × 10−5 to 1.0 × 10−2 mol/L) in the case of THAB-based sensor while LOS concentration range was (1.0 x 10−4 - 1.0 × 10−2 mol/L) in case of CTAB-based sensor. The dissolution method was developed according to FDA regulations using USP apparatus II, 50 rpm rotation speed, at 37.0 ± 0.5°C and 900 mL of deareated double distilled water as the dissolution medium. Dissolution profile was generated over 45 min and compared to those obtained by the official spectrophotometric and HPLC methods. The developed method can be efficiently applied as benchtop real-time in-process analysis of LOS concentration. Greenness assessment using Analytical Eco-scale, National Environmental Method Index (NEMI), Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI) and Analytical Greenness (AGREE) calculator was conducted to evaluate and compare the proposed method with the official ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to conventional metallic antennas, the resonant wavelength of a plasma dipole antenna is very much different from the predicted ∼λ/2 rule. In this paper, an implicit relation is derived to calculate the effective wavelength λeff and thus the resonant wavelength of a single element 3-layered plasma dipole antenna made of a glass tube filled with the plasma gas. An explicit relation is then derived in terms of the λ using reasonable assumptions. It is shown that this relation could be modeled by a linear formula λeff = m1+m2λ in which the coefficients m1 and m2 depend on the geometry and material properties. Comparison of the results from the full-wave electromagnetic simulation, the numerical solution of the surface wave dispersion equations and the derived relations shows a reasonable match, verifying the theoretical approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composting is an effective waste management alternative that creates a horticultural and agricultural based resource. Globally, large quantities of human hair and pet fur from salons, barber shops, and groomers are disposed of, ultimately ending up in landfills. Thus, incorporating human hair and pet fur into compost is a potential approach for waste diversion. Human hair and pet fur are organic substances that contain nutrients essential for plant growth, have moisture retention properties, and can insulate and stabilize soil. Cumulatively, these properties suggest that hair and fur could be composted to create a valuable product. However, human hair and pet fur also have the capacity to contain heavy metals and/or chemicals from treatments. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of composting human hair and pet fur as an alternative waste management option without sacrificing compost quality standards or safety. To achieve this, compost piles were created using 25% human hair or pet fur, 40% wood chips, and 35% food waste. Piles were mixed twice weekly and monitored every 5–7 days for proper moisture and temperatures in accordance with industry standards. In-vessel composters were used. Piles cured for 4–8weeks and the entire composting process lasted 5months. Samples were composited and tested by the Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory’s U.S. Composting Council’s Seal of Testing Approval Program at Pennsylvania State University. In this pilot study, high quality composts were created, indicating that waste management industries can potentially utilize human hair and pet fur as feedstocks to create desirable compost for the horticultural and agricultural industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although blood is essential in healthcare systems for medical and surgical use, it is still a scarce resource. Given that blood cannot be produced artificially, donors are the backbone of the system, which is why it is crucial for transfusion centers to understand the factors that determine their behavior. The goal of this study is to help decision-makers at transfusion understand what lines of research have been developed in the literature and which ones might be useful to define and assess actions related to the attributes of the donation system and donor behavior. To that end, this work aims to present an overview of the available literature on blood donor behavior from a social marketing perspective, which is of paramount importance in the context of blood donation. Based on the results of this review, which was performed by using the text mining methodology, this study presents current lines of investigation, and proposes additional future lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a nonenveloped virus causing an emerging zoonotic disease posing a severe threat to the public health in the world, especially to pregnant women. In this study, a truncated form (aa 368–606) of the open reading frame 2 of the capsid protein (tORF2-HEV), a major structural protein of HEV, was expressed in Escherichia coli. This work characterizes for the first time, the fused Glutathione-S-Transferase-tagged tORF2 (GST-tORF2) and tORF2-HEV forms in E. coli. The fusion protein was purified by affinity chromatography with a purity higher than 90% and to yield about 27% after thrombin digestion. The purified GST-tORF2 protein was then characterized by western blot, using anti-GST antibodies, and CD spectroscopy. The GST-tORF2 and tORF2-HEV proteins were shown to be efficient to develop an ELISA test to detect anti-HEV IgG in mice sera immunized with a recombinant full length ORF2 protein. Sera showed a significant increase of the absorbance signal at 450 nm, in plate wells coated with a quantity of 0.5, 1 and 2 µg of proteins. ELISA plates coated with the purified GST-tORF2 and tORF2-HEV showed similar response when compared to the HEV ELISA where total insect cell lysate, infected with the recombinant baculovirus expressing full ORF2, was used as positive control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drying is an indispensable operation in the preparation of pharmaceutical powders and always remained one of the energetic tasks in the pharmaceutical industry. Improving the stability, solubility, and dissolution of pharmaceutical products are being prime objectives of the drying process, intending to produce the products loving the dry state. Although there are voluminous literatures available concerning drying operations, there is scant information available regarding the applicability of drying in drug delivery and process scale-up. The current communication embodies the different particle engineering technologies of drying viz. spray-, freeze-, and spray-freeze drying. In addition, potential uses of drying in the taste masking, and the development of inhalable powders presented briefly. Recent advancements in the drying of novel drug delivery systems is the major focus of the present review. In our opinion, the commercial aspects, regulatory guidelines, and scale-up strategies presented herein provide an opportunity to readers, researchers, and industrialists to ruin the critical issues during drying operations and aid in developing quality pharmaceutical technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Light distribution in the soybean canopy is affected by the leafstalk angle, which is of great significance for breeding high-quality soybean cultivars. In order to calculate the soybean leafstalk angle more accurately, three soybean varieties (Kangxian-9, Kangxian-13 and Fudou-6) were taken as studies objects, first, the colour and depth images of soybean canopy during reproductive growth period were obtained by Kinect V2.0 sensor. Second, the image of soybean canopy was recognized from original two dimensional image using k-means clustering segmentation algorithm. Third, the soybean canopy skeleton was extracted using morphology thinning method. Further, the branch points and endpoints of skeleton were detected in three dimensional space by optimized corner detection algorithm based on the registration between depth images and the corresponding colour images. Finally, the calculation of the leafstalk angle was realized according to the principle of angle calculation. The results showed that compared with the measured values, the coefficient of determination (R2) between calculated values and measured values for the three cultivars were 0.94, 0.92 and 0.84, respectively, which could meet the need of accuracy for breeding. Thus, the proposed method can not only calculate the leafstalk angle of soybean accurately, but also provide technical support for calculation of other phenotypic traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study focuses on developing a 3D crustal velocity model and applying it to perform ground motion simulations for North East India. The study region encompasses area between 89°E to 97°E longitude and 22°N to 30°N latitude. The calibration of the material property is based on 48 shear wave profiles available for the region along with the geotectonic features reported in the literature. The 3D material model arrived from the study is implemented in a finite element framework for ground motion simulations. The developed model is validated using the strong motion data available for four events; 1988 Mw 7.2 India–Bangladesh earthquake, 2011 Mw 6.3 India–Myanmar earthquake, 2013 Mw 5.5 Assam earthquake and Mw 5.2 Bhutan earthquake. The simulations are able to capture the prominent features of the recorded data up to 2Hz. Hence, the developed model can be implemented for estimating ground motions (< 2Hz) in the north eastern region of India. The simulated results can be used to estimate region-specific hazard and the displacement-based design of structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a design investigation of the Electron Optical Gun (EOG) for a 42 GHz, 200 kW second harmonic gyrotron operating in the TE0, 3 mode. The initial design of MIG is done using established design equations and then optimized through numerical simulations. The different software, such as 2D-Numerical codes EGUN, TRAK and 3D-CST Particle Studio, are used to optimize the design and found good agreement in results obtained from these codes. The sensitivity analysis has also been carried out for the sake of complete design. Furthermore in brief, a design has been done for the un-depressed and Single-Stage Depressed Collector (SDC). In addition, the uneven or uniform beam distribution on collector wall is presented with result comparison of both the collectors. The optimized beam voltage and single-stage depressed collector voltage are 65 kV, 30 kV respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weed control is one of the biggest challenges in organic farms or nature reserve areas where mass spraying is prohibited. Recent advancements in remote sensing and airborne technologies provide a fast and efficient means to support environmental monitoring and management, allowing early detection of invasive species. However, in order to perform weed classification, current studies mostly relied on object-based image analysis (OBIA) and proprietary software which required substantial human inputs. This paper proposes an open-source workflow for automated weed mapping using a commercially available unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The UAV was flown at a low altitude between 10 m and 20 m, and collected true-colour RGB imagery over a weed-infested nature reserve. The aim of this study is to develop a repeatable and robust system for early weed detection, with minimum human intervention, for classification of Rumex obtusifolius (R. obtusifolius). Preliminary results of the proposed workflow achieved an overall accuracy of 92.1% with an F1 score of 78.7%. The approach also demonstrated the capability to map R. obtusifolius in datasets collected at various flight altitudes, camera settings and light conditions. This shows the potential to perform semi- or fully automated early weed detection system in grasslands using UAV-imagery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reported the investigation on the small strain modulus of compacted low plastic Mississippi River Valley silt under varying moisture contents and dry densities through ultrasonic pulse velocity testing method. Detailed procedures on filtering the ultrasonic pulse velocity signals and determining the wave arrival times were established. The variation of the small strain elastic moduli with bulk density, dry density as well as water content was also studied. The elastic properties of the compacted Mississippi River Valley silt were found to remain relatively constant with increasing moisture content and bulk density up to a point then decrease rapidly as moisture content increases wet of optimum water content and bulk density increases from around 2000 kg/m3 (bilinear model). The investigation of how pulse wave velocities and moduli vary with density, moisture content, and saturation was found to provide alternative tool for assessing soil characteristics, and based on the trends observed in this study, ultrasonic pulse velocity testing could provide insight on the stability of partially saturated compacted soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following incidents of school violence, common discourse often neglects the role of practical approaches, such as CPTED, to safeguard campuses. This study utilized a content analysis of U.S. Clery Act Safety Reports from a national, randomly drawn stratified sample of n=100 American universities to determine the extent CPTED techniques were implemented. Findings suggested that 1) CPTED use is limited; 2) two CPTED techniques, access control and activity support, were most common; 3) institutions with higher crime rates tended to have implemented more CPTED measures; and 4) CPTED use appears to be related to less severe campus crimes. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the combustion characteristics of a single cylinder four stroke variable compression ratio direct injection diesel engine run by Nahar biodiesel (BD) and its six different blends (B5, B10, B20, B30, B40, and B50). Combustion duration reduced up to B40 and slightly increased for B50 and significantly for B100. Peak cylinder pressure (PCP) increased with BD concentration in the blend. Maximum rate of pressure rise (MROPR), heat release rate, and ignition delay (ID) reduced with an increase in BD share in the blend. At full load, PCP for B100 is obtained as 70.91 bar, whereas for diesel it is 70.04 bar. The MROPR is observed to be 5.67 bar/°CA for diesel, whereas 5.31 bar/°CA for B100 at full load. Peak heat release rate is observed to be 64.7 J/°CA for diesel, whereas it is 54.41 J/°CA for B100. ID for the blends reduced by 1–2°CA compared to diesel fuel. Overall, it is recommended to use BD up to B40 blend in a DI diesel engine primarily employed in gen sets and agricultural units. Abbreviation: BD: Biodiesel; DF: Diesel fuel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, taste masked drug–resin complex (DRC) of efavirenz (EFV) was prepared by spray drying technique. The DRC was then incorporated in to a fast dissolving tablet dosage form. EFV is antiretroviral agent of very bitter taste and low oral bioavailability. To investigate the influence of the independent variables on encapsulation efficiency (EE) as well as on the bitter taste of EFV, response surface methodology was employed. Ion-exchange resin (tulsion-335) and amount of solvent were selected as the independent variables while the EE was selected as the dependent variable. DRC was characterized for EE, X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, surface morphology, and in vitro dissolution study. The spectrophotometric method was used for the evaluation of bitter taste of EFV. The EE was found to be 37–84%. The compressed tablets were evaluated for the hardness, Friability, wetting time, disintegration time and in vitro drug release studies. This study confirmed that complexation of the drug with an ion-exchange resin can effectively mask the bitter taste of the drug in combination with production of fast dissolving tablets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genetic diversity of freshwater fishes is still anonymous in several drainage systems in northeast India. Moreover, the comparative genetic analysis is largely sporadic to judge their actual diversity and true status. We generated 89 DNA barcodes of 40 morphologically identified fishes collected from two major tributaries of Brahmaputra River. The comparative study revealed that most of the species were clearly discriminated by their estimated genetic distances and monophyletic clustering in Bayesian (BA) tree. Considering the genetic divergence (2%) for species discrimination boundary, the high genetic diversity (2.36–10.73%) was detected in 11 species (Macrognathus pancalus, Channa punctata, Puntius terio, Bangana ariza, Garra arupi, Badis badis, Mystus vittatus, Rita rita, Gagata cenia, Mastacembelus armatus, and Danio dangila), which signified the occurrence of concealed genetic diversity in this ecozone. However, the insignificant genetic distances were also noticed in few reportedly valid species: Channa stiktos and C. ornatipinnis (1.43%); Mystus ngasep, M. rufescens, and M. carcio (0.4%); Glyptothorax trilineatus, G. churamanii, and G. verrucosus (0.4%); Botia almorhae, B. histrionica, B. lohachata, and B. rostrata (0–0.4%); Barilius barilia and B. vagra (0.4%); Batasio merianiensis and B. tengana (1.2%); Puntius chola and P. fraseri (0%), Schistura beavani and S. paucireticulata (0%); hence to validate this species, generation of more barcode data was required from their types or topotypes. The present study would help to develop conservation schemes for the native species and collegiate ecosystem, which associated with the livelihoods of millions of ethnic communities in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palatability of a formulation is one of the primary requirements for therapeutic compliance in children. Clindamycin (CLN) often prescribed to children to treat various infections. However, it has a bitter taste and bad smell. The focus of the present investigation was to develop salt of CLN with a commonly used sweetener such as cyclamic acid (CYA) to improve the palatability. The salt forms were prepared by solubilization crystallization method and characterized by Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR), Near infrared (NIR), Raman, X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, solubility, dissolution, and solid-state physical and chemical stability at 25 °C/60% RH and 40 °C/75% RH for 1 month and 60 °C for 2 weeks. Spectroscopic and diffraction data indicated the formation of a new solid phase, which was different from hydrochloride salt of CLN. Shape of crystal was rectangular prism. Stoichiometric ratio between CLN and CYA in the new salt CLN-CYA was 1:1 and its melting point was 85.6 °C. There was a 2.4-fold reduction in solubility of CLN-CYA at pH 4 compared with CLN-HCl. Moreover, the dissolution rate and extent were similar between the two salts and meeting USP requirement of 85% dissolution in 30 min. Salt was physically and chemically stable at 60 °C, 25 °C/60% RH, and 40 °C/75% RH conditions but hygroscopic at high humidity condition. In conclusion, new salt will provide a new avenue for the development of a palatable formulation of CLN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study to compare biogas production potentials of wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse and pressmud was conducted at pH 8.0, temperature 40 °C and substrate concentration 20 g/L. Raw substrates were thermogravimetrically and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopically characterised. TGA showed the weight loss of samples attributable to moisture, hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin losses. FTIR analysis indicated functional groups characteristics of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. Biogas production was the maximum between 10th and 25th day for all the tests. WS with 10% inoculum showed the highest cumulative biogas production of 370 mL/g followed by the SB (316 mL/g) and PM (211 mL/g) counterparts. The corresponding values with 5% inoculum were 303 mL/g (WS), 244 mL/g (SB) and 152 mL/g (PM). The inoculum volume also positively affected the cumulative biogas production (22.1, 29.5 and 38.8% respectively). The higher volatile fatty acids as observed in case of WS which further facilitated higher biogas production could be due to its maximum volatile solids content (88.9%) and water swelling capacity (7.37). A consistently increasing trend in the methane content (varying between 54 and 61%) in all the tests was observed till the 20th day. The biogas (7.7–21.7 mL/g) and the methane (35–42%) contents showed a decreasing trend thereafter, the lowest being observed during the 35–40-day period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the first major step in each object-oriented feature extraction approach, segmentation plays an essential role as a preliminary step towards further and higher levels of image processing. The primary objective of this paper is to illustrate the potential of Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) features extracted from Compact Polarimetry (CP) SAR data for image segmentation using Markov Random Field (MRF). The proposed method takes advantage of both spectral and spatial information to segment the CP SAR data. In the first step of the proposed method, k-means clustering was applied to over-segment the image using the appropriate features optimally selected using Genetic Algorithm (GA). As a similarity criterion in each cluster, a probabilistic distance was used for an agglomerative hierarchical merging of small clusters into an appropriate number of larger clusters. In the agglomerative clustering approach, the estimation of the appropriate number of clusters using the data log-likelihood algorithm differs depending on the distance criterion used in the algorithm. In particular, the Wishart Chernoff distance which is independent of samples (pixels) tends to provide a higher appropriate number of clusters compared to the Wishart test statistic distance. This is because the Wishart Chernoff distance preserves detailed data information corresponding to small clusters. The probabilistic distance used in this study is Wishart Chernoff distance which evaluates the similarity of clusters by measuring the distance between their complex Wishart probability density functions. The output of this step, as the initial segmentation of the image, is applied to a Markov Random Field model to improve the final segmentation using vicinity information. The method combines Wishart clustering and enhanced initial clusters in order to access the posterior MRF energy function. The contextual image classifier adopts the Iterated Conditional Mode (ICM) approach to converge to a local minimum and represent a good trade-off between segmentation accuracy and computation burden. The results showed that the PolSAR features extracted from CP mode can provide an acceptable overall accuracy in segmentation when compared to the full polarimetry (FP) and Dual Polarimetry (DP) data. Moreover, the results indicated that the proposed algorithm is superior to the existing image segmentation techniques in terms of segmentation accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protective potential of broccoli against petrol-induced haematological disorders was evaluated in adult male rats. Animals were exposed to petrol vapours 6 h/6 days/week, for 12 weeks, while broccoli (steamed and cooked) was given orally (1.5 g/kg b.wt) for the same period. Petrol exposure significantly reduced red blood cell (RBC) indices, total and differential white blood cells (WBCs) and serum immunoglobulins: IgA; IgG, with elevated neutrophils%; and IgM level, indicating haematotoxicity. Meanwhile, significant elevation in levels of malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide, decreased antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, catalase and reduced glutathione) and total antioxidant capacity were observed in lysed RBCs and bone marrow of exposed rats. The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), were significantly elevated with consequent bone marrow DNA damage detected via comet assay. Histologically, bone marrow revealed structural abnormalities of increased adipocytes and abnormal megakaryocytes with separated or hypo-lobulated nuclei. Consumption of broccoli during petrol exposure attenuated oxidative stress, inflammation and haematotoxicity, through preserving bone marrow integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA barcoding technique has been gaining importance in biodiversity research for its easy and rapid ability of delineating organisms' partial DNA sequences into molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs), and identification based on referral sequences from expert identified species. We generated mtCOI barcode sequences from morphologically identified fishes from River Diphlu in northeast India. A portion of this river falls within an important rhinoceros and tiger conservation site, the Kaziranga National Park. Partial mtCOI sequences for 103 fish specimens belonging to six orders, 19 families, 37 genera and 47 a priori identified species, were delineated into 48 MOTUs based on reciprocal monophyly criteria in maximum likelihood and Bayesian tree, and 49 groups by automatic barcode gap discovery (ABGD). Morphological and molecular basis of species identification was congruent for around 80% straightforward cases. We contributed barcodes for eight species which either had no barcodes in databases or are having ambiguous barcodes. We detected four 'near threatened' and two data deficient species as per the IUCN Red List status, besides a few 'least concerned' species. We also observed a wide scope of barcoding studies on fishes from northeast India to cover the endemic species and to resolve the prevailing taxonomic problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]