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The surface modification on electrode materials generally improves the electron mobility and surface interactions at carbon materials. Exfoliate graphite has been prepared by the ball milling technique with three different milling time. The graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide were prepared modified Hummers method and carbon quantum dots was prepared using chemical synthesis-pyrolysis technique. The synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and investigated the electrochemical performances of Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) analysis to understand their specific capacitance.

Background The role of pain sensitivity in the development and maintenance of chronic pain states, impaired executive functioning, and patient recovery is being investigated. Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is widely used to measure musculoskeletal pain associated with central sensitization (CS). Despite the recommendations of many reviews and clinical practice guidelines that exercise programs reduce pain and disability, the overall confidence in these results is considered “critically low.” The “active ingredient” of exercise programs and the dominant factor influencing CPM remain largely unknown. The objectives of this trial are to determine: • If different exercises cause different results on the CPM in a subgroup of people with chronic low back pain (CLBP) who are labeled as having CS pain, • If a program of exercise interventions for 12 weeks would alter executive functioning, quality of life (QoL), disability, and pain in persons with CLBP. • The relationship between patient characteristics, executive functions, CPM, and QoL Methods The trial is a randomized, controlled, multi-center study with four experimental groups and one healthy control group. Both the researchers and the people in the study will be blinded to the results. This paper describes the protocol for a trial examining the effects of 12-week individualized, twice-weekly exercise sessions lasting 30 to 60 min in persons with CLBP, who are positive for CS. Participants will be randomized to receive either patient education with motor control exercises (MCE), superficial strengthening (SS), aerobic exercises (AE), or patient education alone. Another group comprised of healthy volunteers will serve as controls. The primary outcomes are changes in CPM outcomes as measured by the cold pressor test (CPT). The secondary objectives are to evaluate executive functioning, pain, disability, quality of life, and spine muscle strength. The outcomes will be measured at 3 months and at a 6-month follow-up. Discussion The outcomes of the study will help in gaining more information and evidence about exercise-induced analgesia from the perspective of CPM. Measuring exercise outcomes will aid in scientifically prescribing exercise prescriptions in people with CLBP. The study outcomes will also assist in identifying the characteristics of individuals who will respond or respond indifferently to exercises. Investigating the relationship between the study’s various outcomes could provide information for future trials. Trial registration Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI) identifier: CTRI/2022/03/041143. Registered on 16 March 2022.

The two-step SILAR approach was used to create pure and Aluminium (Al) doped Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films. The structural, optical, and morphological properties of pure ZnO thin film and ZnO thin films doped with Al (1, 3, and 5) % were investigated. All the sample’s diffraction peaks were mapped to a hexagonal Wurtzite form. For the synthesized thin films, dislocation density, crystallite size, microstrain, and lattice parameters were calculated. Pure ZnO thin films have a spherical structure, while Al-doped ZnO thin films have a hexagonal-faced rod-like shape. The bandgap of the prepared thin film reduces with the rise in Al content. The occurrence of deep level and near band edge emissions were confirmed by photoluminescence (PL) investigations. The maximal zone of inhibition was studied using the Agar diffusion process on Gram-positive and Gram-negative (i.e., S.aureus and E.coli) bacteria. Pure and Al-doped ZnO both showed significant antibacterial activity. All the samples exhibit significant antimicrobial activity.

Background There is no general consensus on how to measure disability and disability prevalence rates. The results of previous estimates could not be compared due to the varied nature of the methodologies used and the lack of standardization in the measurement of disability. The primary objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of disability using a population-based disability survey and questions selected by the National Center for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP). The secondary objective is to determine whether there was any relationship between the severity of disability and essential sociodemographic factors. The survey was carried out in the Indian state of Gujarat’s Piplag village. Eight final-year physiotherapy students gathered sociodemographic data and answers to the four disability-related questions—disability question asked in India census 2011, Washington Group (WG)-suggested question, United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)-based question, and National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO)-based question. Results A greater percentage of the population was classified as having a functional limitation in the questions based on the UNCRPD (28.29%) (95% CI 25.1–31.3%) and the WG (29.69%) (95% CI 26.0–34.4%). Our findings demonstrated that there were significant relationships between the questions in different questionnaires (p Conclusions The prevalence statistics may vary based on the questions used to gather information about disabilities. As gender and socioeconomic status can impact the prevalence of disabilities, it is important to focus on ways to improve economic growth, especially for women.

The basic needs of man are food, clothing, and shelter besides air and water. In providing these needs, power generation systems play a crucial role. Day by day, for various reasons such as explosion of population, the demand for power is increasing tremendously. Power generation systems need to generate more power. A novel power generation system suitable for recovering waste heat at a medium temperature range is examined in the present work. To assess the performance of a power generation system, energy and exergy measures are necessary. Energy measures provide enough details about the performance of the system. To know the systematic performance analysis, detailed exergy analysis alternatively profound as advanced exergy analysis and environmental impact are to be investigated. Exergoenvironmental analysis on the proposed Kalina power generation system has been carried out under hot sink conditions. Considering the proposed decision variables relative exergy destruction (ĖD/ĖP), relative environmental impact (Ẏ/ĖP), and relative investment cost (Ż/ĖP), the performance of the system has been assessed. The exergy destruction and the destruction cost rate of 29.23 kW and 0.478 $/hr at turbine inlet conditions of 185°C and 45 bar have been achieved. The exergoenvironmental factor fb and the relative difference rb have revealed that the components with high environmental impact have to be minimized. Turbine and HE4 are the components that contribute to higher total exergy and devise related impact on the environment.

The Rationale: Dural tear is a serious complication during hypertelorism corrective surgeries. Identifying the tear and managing requires considerable expertise. Managing large dural tears correctly is necessary to prevent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-related complications in craniofacial surgery. Patient Concerns: The patient presented with hypertelorism as a part of the Tessier Cleft 0 and sought to correct the widely placed eyes. Diagnosis: Large critical-sized dural tear during modified box osteotomy surgery. Treatment: Besides successful modified box osteotomy surgery, the critical-sized dural tear was managed with fascia lata and fibrin glue. Outcomes: There was no CSF leak or related complication postsurgically indicating successful sealing and healing of the dural tear. Take-Away Lessons: The synergistic mechanism by which fascia lata graft and fibrin glue help to hermetically seal the critical-sized defect, especially when there are variable amounts of hydrostatic-hydrodynamic forces of CSF exerting pressure on the patched area, is discussed.

Background Studies have revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased sedentary behavior and reduced the number of physical activities in public. The present study attempted to assess the changes in physical activity patterns among the residents of a south Indian city at different stages after the COVID-19 outbreak. The present cross-sectional prospective study was conducted on 372 participants between November 2020 and March 2021. The physical activity patterns before, during, and after the lockdown phase were collected using a custom-built questionnaire, and the current level of physical activity was recorded using the international physical activity questionnaire–short form (IPAQ-SF). Results Higher number of respondents reported limiting the intensity of physical activities during and after lockdown [(228/372; 61.29%) and (216/372; 58.06%), respectively]. Additionally, respondents reporting lower physical activity intensity [mean total metabolic equivalents of task (MET)/week: 1182.80] compared with (99/372; 26.61%), and (63/372; 16.93%) numbers of participants who engaged in moderate (mean total MET/week-3005.86) and high levels (mean total MET/week-4188.67) of physical activities respectively. Conclusions The results of the study reported immediate and long-term impacts on self-reported physical activity patterns among the study sample.

Physical inactivity (PI) is a risk factor for mortality and morbidity. PI and its predictors among the urban population in Bhubaneswar, India, were unknown. Finding out the contribution of PI as a cause of existing noncommunicable diseases (NCD) is difficult without following up with a cohort. The study was hence done to find out the prevalence, patterns, and predictors of physical inactivity in an urban population, and simultaneously investigate its causal relationship with NCD from this cross-sectional study. Cluster random sampling was used with a sample size of 1203 with a design effect of three. Socio-demographic, health profile, physical activity levels, and stage of change for physical activity behavior were collected. Logistic regression and marginal structural model analysis (by inverse probability of treatment weighting {IPTW} using a generalized estimating equation {GEE} to investigate the relationship between physical activity and prevalence of NCDs) were done using IBM SPSS v20 software (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). Statistical significance was tested at p=0.05. A total of 1221 subjects participated. The mean age was 35.25 years and 71.9% were physically inactive. General caste, presence of NCD, and being in a static stage of change influenced physical activity positively. PI was found to be a risk factor for NCD with 1.54 times higher odds in this population. The study concluded that the prevalence of physical activity was low and PI was a causative factor for NCD.

This paper introduces a novel power generation system using solar energy as a heat source. The proposed cycle incorporates heat sources from two solar collectors for the effective utilisation of heat energy. To aid the performance of the proposed system, the turbine flow rate is increased with the specific heater arrangements. Energy and exergy balances of the novel system were generated using Python software. The investigation of the present system was evaluated with high sink temperature. Turbine inlet concentration, turbine inlet pressure, HE4 outlet temperature from the turbine, condenser concentration of ammonia, isentropic efficiency of the turbine and pressure ratio are the design variables considered for the exergy and thermoeconomic investigation. The energy and exergy analyses resulted in suitable design variables to optimise the performance. The optimum Kalina cycle efficiency, solar plant efficiency, exergy efficiency and network output were determined to be 18.51%, 8.28%, 34.51% and 295.24 kW, respectively. Among the components involved in the system, the mixers account for the highest exergy destruction followed by the turbine. The cycle performance can be improved by reducing the exergy destruction rate. The thermal efficiency is maximised by the turbine inlet pressure and temperature. Moreover, a higher relative cost difference has resulted in heat exchanger 5 and pump 2.

Thin films of pure Zinc Oxide (ZnO) and Aluminium (Al) doped ZnO were deposited by two step SILAR technique. Pure and Al (1%, 3%, 5%) doped ZnO thin film’s structural, morphology and optical properties were analyzed. Diffraction peaks of the all the samples were indexed to hexagonal wurtizite structure. The crystallite size, lattice parameters, dislocation density and microstrain were calculated for the prepared thin films. Morphology study using FESEM shows spherical shaped structure of pure ZnO and hexagonal faced rod like structure for Al doped ZnO thin films.T he UV-Vis absorption spectrum for the thin films was also studied. There is decrease in bandgap as the Al doping ratio increases from 1–5%. Photoluminescence (PL) studies confirm that oxygen ion vacancy and interstitial Zn+ ion were present. The maximum zone of inhibition was studied against the bacteria’s the Gram-negative (E.coli) and Gram-positive (S.aureus) by Agar diffusion method. Significant antibacterial result was seen in pure and Al doped ZnO. Al doped ZnO shows more antibacterial activity over pure ZnO. All the samples give considerable antifungal activity which was done against Aspergillusniger. .

Introduction: Chromosomal anomalies constitute a potentially burdening and distressing group of illnesses which if screened/diagnosed in time can offer respite to the expectant family. Currently detection is based on a host of screening tests followed by Chorionic villous sampling or amniocentesis which are invasive procedures associated with a mild risk of pregnancy loss and have a long turnaround time. Non-invasive pre-natal testing uses sensitive and specific techniques to overcome the issue and has the potential to replace the conventional diagnostic tests. Materials and Methods: A total of 700 consecutive Ante natal cases reporting to Gynaecology OPD in two centres over a duration of two years were screened using protocols applicable as per gestational age. 39 screen positive high risk positive cases were further subjected to NIPT and CVS/amniocentesis and the detection rates compared. Results: In the primary outcome it was found that the detection rates were comparable with NIPT and conventional diagnostic tests and both showed equivocal results. Conclusion: The study suggests no significant difference in the detection rates on NIPT vs the conventional karyotype. However, the results need to be interpreted in the light of low incidence rates of chromosomal anomalies in general population. While a universal application of the test is desirable cost factor needs to be permissive for it to be beneficial in a holistic manner. Keywords: Chromosomal anomalies, Non-invasive Pre-natal testing (NIPT), Chorionic villous sampling, Amniocentesis, karyotyping, Cell free DNA, Quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

This work presents energy, exergy, and thermoeconomic analysis of an advanced Kalina power generation system. In every key component of the proposed system, cost-balance and auxiliary equations are typically developed which is solved efficiently through MATLAB coding. The cost-effectiveness of the entire system is assessed by the determination of thermoeconomic variables for the individual components. The energy analysis of the advanced Kalina cycle system (AKCS) proves marginal improvement to the medium temperature heat recovery Kalina cycle system (KCS). The relative cost difference in HE5, turbine, HE6, and condenser are quite larger than other components of AKCS emphasizing more focus on these components is required. The low values of HE5 (11.77 %) and pump1, P 1 (13.33 %) insist that the performance of these two components has to be improved by capital investment into a better and improved design. The energy performance maximizes at operating conditions of 45 bar turbine inlet pressure, 72–74 °C separator inlet temperature, 0.94 ammonia concentration at the condenser and 0.83 separator inlet concentration. The thermoeconomic performance minimizes at operating conditions of 30 bar turbine inlet pressure, 68 °C separator inlet temperature, 0.89 ammonia concentration at the condenser and 0.79 separator inlet concentration.

Background During the COVID-19 lockdown period many education institutions have shifted their focus from the traditional face-to-face education to online instruction mainly through various social media (SM) tools. However, it is not known if these results can be generalized across locations where infrastructure facilities are unevenly distributed. Further, no previous work has explored the role played by SM tools in knowledge translation. The objectives of this work are 1. To evaluate the students perceptions on the accessibility and acceptability of SM tools via an anonymous online survey and 2. Assess the efficacy of SM tools as an educational medium in imparting knowledge change. An online survey using an anonymous web-based questionnaire was conducted to assess the student’s accessibility and acceptability of SM tools as a direct information sharing pathway between the faculty and students. A randomized comparative design was utilized to evaluate knowledge change via an online examination administered 10 min before and after an online class delivered via 2 different SM platforms (Google meet, YouTube) and e-mail. Results Data were obtained from 627 participants through a survey. Though 71.1% of the respondents believed online classes have helped them in their study, only 21.4% and 22.6% of the participants strongly agreed that social networking platforms are helpful for teaching and will be used for teaching/learning in the future respectively. The ANOVA responses to evaluate knowledge transfer from 224 participants who were randomized to receive course content through Google meet, YouTube, and e-mail showed no significant differences in outcomes before and after the delivery of contents. Conclusion Our findings suggest that multiple external and internal factors need to be addressed before substituting classroom teaching with online teaching, especially during emergencies.