Search

Areneruthenium chemistry was employed to produce intramolecular S(sub N)Ar reactions between phenoxide nucleophiles and chlorophenylalanine resides that are linked by a peptide chain, resulting into the formation of a bicyclic peptido aryl ether system. This ether system corresponded to the BCDF system of the glycopeptide antibiotics ristocetin A and teicoplanin. A simple and selective base-catalyzed complete inversion of configuration at the D ring arylglycine residue was found when this unit is the carboxylate terminus on a 16-membered ring system corresponding to the DEF rings of the target molecules.

The study attempts to verify the effects of the announcement of merger on the shareholder's wealth of State Bank of India (SBI) and select associate banks and adopts the event study methodology in which both single factor model and two factor model are used to measure the impact. The data of the study includes daily stock prices to calculate the returns of the listed banks, BSE-200 as market return, and Bank-NIFTY as bank return. The findings show that the shareholders of the anchor bank have not gained substantially whereas there is overall gain for the shareholders of target banks. Interestingly, it is also found that the merger announcement has created additional wealth for the shareholders of the both anchor as well as target banks while clubbed together to calculate Weighted Average Cumulative Abnormal Returns (WACAR). The study contributes to literature in finance especially to merger and amalgamation in Indian banking industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stone quarrying activities generate dust and fine particulate matters of silica and heavy metals. The prolonged exposure to suspended particulates leads to fatal respiratory complications. Occupational pulmonary complications are poorly characterized among quarry workers in Tamil Nadu. Objectives: This study aims to assess pulmonary function and determine the associated risk factors among quarry workers. Materials and Methods: A comparative, cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2014 to January 2015 among workers at seven stone quarries in Chennai and residents within a 5 Km radius. Pulmonary function tests (PFT) and sputum analysis were done. Results: Overall, 670 participants were enrolled in the study, with a median age of 37 years. Comparatively, the mean PFT measures were significantly lower in quarry workers with a higher proportion of airflow obstruction and tuberculosis infection. Conclusion: The risk of airflow obstruction among quarry workers increased with smoking and longer duration of work years in quarry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peanut is a legume crop that belongs to the family of Fabaceae, genus Arachis and botanically named as Arachis hypogaea L. Peanuts are considered as a vital source of nutrients plays an important role in growth and energy gain of living organisms. They are rich in calories and contain many nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins that are essential for optimum health. All these biomolecules are essential for pumping vital nutrients into the human body for sustaining normal health. This paper presents an overview of the peanut composition in terms of the constituent biomolecules and their biological functions, also discusses about the relationship between consumption of peanuts and their effect on human metabolism and physiology. It highlights the usefulness of considering peanuts as an essential component in human diet considering its nutritional values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education has a considerable role in the development of our future. Hence, the quality of education is of prime importance in crafting the future of our country. Services offered by education institutes articulate the quality of the education. This is also valid to higher education. Higher education institutes in India are increasing and thus, to remain competitive, they strive to improve the quality of education. Technical institutes are growing at a rapid pace compared to non-technical and the same is experienced in the Goa state. Hence, this paper focuses on technical higher education in Goa, India. This research investigates service attributes contributing towards the quality of technical education and suggests operating levels of these attributes to improve student performance in academics. To distinguish quality of technical education, a face to face survey with stakeholders was conducted. The SERVQUAL form questionnaire addresses five service quality dimensions. Further analysis was carried out using Signal to Noise ratio and Grey Relation Analysis to predict optimal levels of service attributes to improvised student performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents fabrication of an ultrasonic regenerative evaporative cooler, coupled with a desiccant dehumidifier. Ultrasonic regenerative evaporative cooler consists of several sets of a dry channel and a wet channel. A part of the air from the dry channel is redirected into the wet channel where it is cooled by evaporation of water mist from an ultrasonic atomiser. Air flowing through dry channels is pre-cooled by heat transfer between wet and dry channels, without changing its humidity. In this cooler, the conventional hygroscopic layer for wetting the plate surface is replaced with the water mist. It is observed that the performance of the cooling system significantly depends on the channel spacing, channel length, inlet airflow rate and extraction ratio, and marginally depends upon feed water temperature. The room cooling capacity is eminently responsive to both air mass flow rate and extraction ratio. The maximum available room cooling capacity of 339.8 W is obtained for the optimal values of 0.0488 kg/s mass flow rate of air and 0.37 extraction ratio. The prototype achieved wet-bulb effectiveness values as high as 1.15 and delivered more than 10℃ temperature drop.Practical application: An ultrasonic regenerative evaporative cooler can be coupled with a desiccant dehumidification unit for use in hot and humid climate to achieve comfort condition utilising less energy and feed water when compared to the vapour compression refrigeration system. From this prototype researchers and engineers can develop, by combining desiccant regenerators and evaporative coolers which use ultrasonic method for low-temperature dehydration of desiccant substance. Solar thermal energy can also be directly utilised for marginally heating the desiccant substance during the regeneration process. Overall, this system can contribute to the development of energy efficient buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banking industry is considered to be the most vulnerable sector in the demonetisation process as it controls the entire payment system in India. The paper is aimed to study the impact of demonetisation upon the alternative payment channels by considering a time period from 2012 to 2018. Multiple linear regression was performed and revealed that most of the alternative payment channels were retained their presence in the short run. The result of the cross-correlation exhibits that Mobile banking, Point of Sale and Prepaid Payment Instruments are showing a negative correlation such as -0.07-0.57 and -0.40 respectively. Finally, our results claimed the current digital move can’t easily dethrone the cash from the economy; it will take some more years to move largely to digital payment modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooum is one of the degraded sub basins in Tamil Nadu. Surface water, groundwater in and around the basin is polluted by factors such as industries and domestic waste etc. This paper highlights the importance of sewage inflow through Cooum inlets and assess quality of the surface water and groundwater influenced by the discharges in Cooum basin. Sewage inflow was highest in Elephant Gate Bridge (3039 Cum/day) and Annai Kasthuriba Nagar (2651 Cum/day). Surface water results exhibited higher pH, BOD, COD, chloride and zinc content. Groundwater quality of the study area has a higher pH of alkaline in nature and total dissolved solids in the range of 859-1611 mg/L. Sodium concentration was much higher than permissible limits (110-357 mg/L), and sulphate concentration was about 672 mg/L in Avadi region. Investigation was taken up for groundwater quality assessment through Water Quality Index, for drinking purpose, of open well in Cooum basin. Groundwater variables such as electrical conductivity values vary from 1760 to 2540 μS/cm. Analysis was taken for the parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, bicarbonates, chlorides, sulphates and nitrates. WQI ranges from 221 (very poor water) for Govindampadi to 321 for Avadi (unsuitable for drinking). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was conducted to assess the level of awareness in bank employees and their nature of views towards the anti-money laundering regulation (AML) in India. The sample consisted of 392 employees from the public sector, private sector and foreign banks located in Puducherry and Chennai regions in India. Snowball sampling method was adopted in selecting the sample. The data was collected by administering the structured questionnaire during the period June 2014 to January 2015. Results indicate that the respondents had moderate to high knowledge of money laundering and terrorism financing risks, AML and CFT legislation, and AML/CFT measures. The respondents had expressed the need for AML regulation in India considering its importance for India's global position, as well as, for the integrity of the banks. However, majority of the respondents had exhibited a low confidence in the present AML measures as a tool to control the money laundering activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six Sigma is a structured, statistical and logical method for process improvement. It primarily focuses on increasing the process capability by reducing process variation. This paper aims to reduce process variation of Chopped Strand Mat (CSM) in a fiber industry in the state of Goa, India. The CSM is used in automobile, aerospace, marine and many other industrial applications as housing or cover shells where strength to weight ratio is important parameter in design. The major critical to quality characteristic of CSM is GSM of fiber, where any variation in GSM of fiber leads to variation in CSM. DMAIC methodology is implemented to optimize the fiber production process and reducing process variation. Critical process parameters have been identified using brainstorming and multi-voting method. Taguchi method of experimental design has been used to identify key factors and their optimal levels. Reduction of variance coupled with an economic analysis has been carried out and reported in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]