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This paper is toward the study of measure of different operators in fuzzy automata theory, which determine the amount of preciseness of given [Formula: see text]-valued subset endowed with an [Formula: see text]-valued preorder induced by [Formula: see text]-valued transition function of an [Formula: see text]-valued automaton. Further, we study the algebraic and topological study of [Formula: see text]-valued automata via different [Formula: see text]-valued operators and on the basis of homomorphism we examine the behavior of operators associated with an [Formula: see text]-valued automaton.

Reducing the operating voltage and processing temperature are the crucial factors in the progression of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) in flexible portable applications. Here, we have dem...

Herein, we report the plasmonic upconversion (UC) emission enhancement of Gd2O3:Er3+/Yb3+ thin films grown on randomly distributed gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on glass. The AuNPs were prepared by thermal annealing a gold thin film on a glass substrate at 500 °C for 2 h. Gd2O3:Er3+/Yb3+ thin films were deposited on AuNPs using the pulsed laser deposition technique. The prepared plasmonic films exhibited stronger UC emission intensities in comparison to the reference Gd2O3:Er3+/Yb3+ thin film. This enhancement in UC intensity was assumed to be due to the strong optical field associated with the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and strong light scattering from AuNPs. A theoretical simulation based on a finite element method was performed to understand the nature of the optical field confined in AuNPs present in the Gd2O3:Er3+/Yb3+ thin film. This study is believed to be beneficial for several applications such as thin film-based infrared detectors and high efficiency photovoltaic devices.

Actinyl ions can self-assemble in aqueous solution to form closed cage clusters ranging from 1.5 to 4.0 nm in diameter. The self-assembly, stability, and behavior of the nanoclusters depend on the nature of the aqueous environment, such as the pH and cations present. In this work, a classical force field for [(UO2)20(O2)30]20- (U20) peroxide nanoclusters in aqueous solution was developed from quantum-mechanical calculations. Using molecular dynamics simulations, the preferred binding sites of six cations (Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+, and Ca2+) to the nanocluster were determined. Replica exchange molecular dynamics was used to equilibrate the structure and determine the equilibrium distribution of cations and water with respect to the nanocluster cage. In addition, the free energy barriers associated with cations entering the cluster were computed. Finally, the association of two cages was investigated by computing the free energy as a function of intercage distance. The free energy profiles reveal that the nanoclusters prefer to be associated when neutralized with divalent cations, but do not associate when neutralized with monovalent cations. This could explain the formation of tertiary structures observed experimentally.

Ecotourism holds promise of localized economic and environmental benefits. Yet, these benefits are often promoted in Nepal without assessing related challenges. Officials at Chitwan National Park plan to disperse tourism benefits and use more widely across the park buffer zone. The intention is to improve regional prosperity and alleviate impacts at the current, concentrated points of park entry. Park and tourism staff and government officials have identified Nandapur, a buffer zone village, as an additional park entry point. We present the story of Nandapur villagers, as they would be most affected by local ecotourism development. This case shares synthesized information from household surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions to showcase (1) how locals view this potential national-level development in their rural ethnic-minority village and (2) what methods may examine such cases. Findings suggest that opportunities are welcomed overall but that the Botey (marginalized caste) are less positive about ecotourism’s local supports and benefits than are the Magar and Tharu (privileged castes). Significant challenges are posed regarding difficulties in community–park relationships, skills development, staffing, and information availability. Readers are offered an opportunity to critically consider scale and local inclusion in ecotourism development and the local viability of such efforts.

Speed Up Robust Feature Algorithm (SURF) has been a very useful technique in the advancement of image feature algorithm. The strategy offers an extremely decent agreement between the runtime and accuracy, especially at object borders and fine structures. It has a wide scope of applications in remote sensing like getting computerized surface models from UAV and satellite images. In this paper, SURF algorithm has been discussed in details to enhance the capability of the system for image feature extraction technique to detect and obtain the maximum feature points from aerial imagery. The algorithms are developed depending upon such phenomena in which a maximum result can be obtained in very less time.

Rajata Bhasma (RB) is an Ayurvedic formulation and used for the treatment of liver disorders. Till date scientific validation according to modern tool of RB has been not performed. Hence it was planned to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of RB in CCl­4 induced liver cirrhosis rats. The different formulation RB1 (9 puta) and RB2 (17 puta) were prepared by following classical methods. The SGOT, SGPT, ALP, ACP, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin in blood significantly enhance in CCl4 treated rats compared to normal group rats. After treatment with the different doses of RB1 (50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg) and RB2 (50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg) significantly decreased the CCl4 induced alteration in SGOT, SGPT, ALP, ACP, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin in blood. The RB1 and RB2 treated rats significantly increased the level of catalase, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase enzyme, whereas lipid peroxidation was decreased, when compared to CCl4 treated group rats. Theses property confirmed the antioxidant properties of RB. The findings suggest that hepatoprotective activity of RB may be due to free radical scavenging property.

Organic FETs (OFETs) with bilayer dielectric poly(4-vinylphenol) (PVP)/HfO2 and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/HfO2 were fabricated on a flexible low-cost Kapton tape substrate with TIPS -pentacene:polystyrene as an active layer. The devices exhibited average and maximum field-induced mobility of 0.25(±0.10) and 0.37 cm $^{{{2}}}\text{V}^{{-{1}}}\,\,\text{s}^{{-{1}}}$ for PVP/HfO2 devices, and 0.35(±0.18) and 0.69 cm $^{{{2}}}\text{V}^{{-{1}}}\,\,\text{s}^{{-{1}}}$ for PVA/HfO2 devices, respectively, with low threshold voltage and ${I}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ to ${I}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}}$ ratio approaching $10^{{{4}}}$ for both types of devices. Overlapping transfer multiple scans with very less performance variation under ambient conditions were observed. The devices were found to be fairly stable even when electrical stress was applied after a period of 5 months. Devices exhibited small degradation in ${I} _{{\text {DS}}}$ and small $\Delta {V} _{{\text {TH}}}$ with high degree of reliability and small performance spreads under combined effects of ambient exposure over a period of 5 months and successive electrical stress. In addition, inverter based on these OFETs with external load was also demonstrated.

Cocoonase is known to digest the sericin protein that encapsulates the silkworm cocoon's fibroin protein. Silk fibroin and sericin are two types of proteins that make up silk, and accounts for around 20-30% of the overall cocoon weight. The aim of the study was to see the protein-protein interaction (PPI) and molecular dynamic study of sericin, cocoonase and protein-protein docked complex of silkworm by computational approaches. Here motif analysis, phylogenetic analysis, principal component analysis, root-mean-square deviation (RMSD), root mean square fluctuation, radius of gyration, structural and functional study of cocoonase and sericin as well as molecular docking study were carried out. The 33 amino acid residues of cocoonase shows interaction with 38 aa residues of sericin involving 4 disulphide bonds, 22 hydrogen bonds and 319 non-bonded contacts. The confirmational stability and flexibility of both the proteins as well as protein-protein complex were achieved at 70 ns of MD simulation study. RMSD-based data indicated that cocoonase is more stable than sericin and complex, and complex has a greater fluctuation with more compact (higher Rg) value than cocoonase and sericin, inferring higher conformational stability and flexibility of protein-protein complex than cocoonase and sericin. This study provides a new dimension for PPI study by computational approaches.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Conformational dynamics play critical roles in protein folding, misfolding, function, misfunction, and aggregation. While detecting and studying the different conformational states populated by protein molecules on their free energy surfaces (FESs) remain a challenge, NMR spectroscopy has emerged as an invaluable experimental tool to explore the FES of a protein, as conformational dynamics can be probed at atomic resolution over a wide range of timescales. Here, we use chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) to detect “invisible” minor states on the energy landscape of the A39G mutant FF domain that exhibited “two-state” folding kinetics in traditional experiments. Although CEST has mostly been limited to studies of processes with rates between ∼5 to 300 s(−1) involving sparse states with populations as low as ∼1%, we show that the line broadening that is often associated with minor state dips in CEST profiles can be exploited to inform on additional conformers, with lifetimes an order of magnitude shorter and populations close to 10-fold smaller than what typically is characterized. Our analysis of CEST profiles that exploits the minor state linewidths of the 71-residue A39G FF domain establishes a folding mechanism that can be described in terms of a four-state exchange process between interconverting states spanning over two orders of magnitude in timescale from ∼100 to ∼15,000 μs. A similar folding scheme is established for the wild-type domain as well. The study shows that the folding of this small domain proceeds through a pair of sparse, partially structured intermediates via two discrete pathways on a volcano-shaped FES.

The coke reactivity index and coke strength after reaction are critical parameters for the efficient operation of a blast furnace. Therefore, maintaining desired qualities of the produced coke as per coal blend chemistry and coke oven battery parameters is essential. However, the coke reactivity index (CRI) and coke strength after reaction (CSR) vary from laboratory to laboratory even though they have the same determination methodology. In the present investigation, a unique laboratory sample holder for reactivity test has been developed. The test method by Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) has been compared with the newly developed sample holder method. The correlation between coke CRI and CSR has been studied with samples with a wide range of reactivity in the repeatability test. Results confirmed that the reactivity of coke highly depends on the reaction of individual coke pieces participating in the test. Despite undergoing strict process monitoring of the testing procedure of hot strength of coke, the present study confirmed that a variation of ±2 points in coke CSR and CRI does not affect coke quality in a single reading. The study also includes the influence of the number of coke pieces in the test sample to optimize the coke bed height. This paper described in detail the methodologies adopted, addressing the factors resulting in differences in CRI/CSR values within the same coke.

Lowering the processing temperature is a crucial factor in the development of flexible electronic devices. Here we report the fabrication of high-performance OFETs based on room temperature deposited Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 (BST) as a high-k dielectric layer. The fabricated devices exhibited excellent performance while operating at a low voltage of -3 V along with demonstrating high operational stability when tested for 1 h bias stress and continuous transfer measurement cycles. In addition, inverter circuit performance is also investigated with these devices by connecting them to external loads.

Background Malaria is a major public health problem in India and accounts for about 88% of malaria burden in South-East Asia. India alone accounted for 2% of total malaria cases globally. Anti-malarial drug resistance is one of the major problems for malaria control and elimination programme. Artemether-lumefantrine (AL) is the first-line treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum in north eastern states of India since 2013 after confirming the resistance against sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. In the present study, therapeutic efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine and k13 polymorphism was assessed in uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria. Methods This study was conducted at four community health centres located in Koraput district of Odisha, Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh and Gondia district of Maharashtra state. Patients with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria were administered with fixed dose combination (6 doses) of artemether-lumefantrine for 3 days and clinical and parasitological response was recorded up to 28 days as per World Health Organization protocol. Nucleotide sequencing of msp1 and msp2 gene was performed to differentiate between recrudescence and reinfection. Amplification and sequencing of k13 propeller gene region covering codon 450–680 was also carried out to identify the polymorphism. Results A total 376 malaria patients who fulfilled the enrolment criteria as well as consented for the study were enrolled. Total 356 patients were followed up successfully up to 28 days. Overall, the adequate clinical and parasitological response was 98.9% and 99.4% with and without PCR correction respectively. No case of early treatment failure was observed. However, four cases (1.1%) of late parasitological failure were found from the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. Genotyping of msp1 and msp2 confirmed 2 cases each of recrudescence and reinfection, respectively. Mutation analysis of k13 propeller gene showed one non-synonymous mutation Q613H in one isolate from Bastar. Conclusions The study results showed that artemether-lumefantrine is highly effective in the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria among all age groups. No functional mutation in k13 was found in the study area. The data from this study will be helpful in implementation of artemether-lumefantrine in case of treatment failure by artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine.

We have explored the relationship between physical properties and foaming behavior of 30 wt % aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) solutions with three different surfactant-like additives. The additives ...

India’s Higher Education system is the largest in the world in terms of number of institutions. Higher education in India has undergone rapid development after post-independence era. Every society gives importance to education because it is a panacea for all evils. It is the key to solve the various problems of life. Education has been described as a process of waking up to life also. This article attempts to examine the scenario of higher education in India. Besides the university departments of education and their affiliated colleges, government and government aided institutions; private and self-financing colleges and open universities are also engaged in education. Although there have been challenges to higher education in the past, these most recent calls for reform may provoke a fundamental change in higher education. These disparate literatures have not been tied together in a way that would examine the impact of fundamental change from the policy level to the institutional level and to the everyday lives of college and university administrators, faculty and students. Now the time has come to create a second wave of institution building and of excellence in the fields of education, research and capability building. We need higher educated people who are skilled and who can drive our economy forward. This paper discussed the issues of higher education and direction to improve the higher education in India.

This paper discusses the profit Analysis of Customized Application Software against the standard ERP for insurance sector. This Application Software contains different modules. This application software contains different modules such as policy management, claim management, customer management and profit management, marketing management. Customized application software can work in reduced and full working dimensions which means from the given set of modules one or more than one may not working as expected. In one Application Software model the system can work in decreased state which implies the product is having old highlights and need versatile, restorative, preventive and perfective upkeep to achieve the full limit working state.

The concept of recognizability of a fuzzy language by crisp deterministic fuzzy automaton and monoid is well known. The purpose of the present work is to study the recognizability of fuzzy languages by fuzzy ordered monoids. We show that the upper sets of a given fuzzy ordered monoid play a nice role in such studies. Also, we introduce the syntactic fuzzy ordered monoid of an upper set which recognizes this upper set.

The constructions of finite switchboard state automata are known to be an extension of finite automata in the view of commutative and switching state machines. This research incorporated an idea of a switchboard in the general fuzzy automata to introduce general fuzzy finite switchboard automata. The attained output reveals that a strongly connected general fuzzy finite switchboard automaton is equivalent to the retrievable general fuzzy automata. Further, the notion of the switchboard subsystem and strong switchboard subsystem of general fuzzy finite switchboard automata are examined. Finally, the concept of fuzzy topology on general fuzzy finite switchboard automata in terms of these characterisations is formulated.

The co-precipitation synthesis assisted YF3:Er3+/Yb3+ upconversion nanoparticles were examined as a function of pump power which showed a tuneable emission efficiency through 976 nm diode laser excitation. Different emission bands in the visible range corresponding to the 4F7/2 → 4I15/2 (490 nm), 2H11/2 → 4I15/2 (522 nm), 4S3/2 → 4I15/2 (548 nm) and 4F9/2 → 4I15/2 (659 nm) transitions were observed. The sample crystal structure, particle morphology and optical properties were characterized. The applications of the present sample in latent fingermarks detection and security ink demonstration were successfully examined through the optimized annealing temperature and pump power of excitation. This demonstration claimed the highly utilization of the YF3:Er3+/Yb3+ upconversion nanoparticles for possible crime scene and anti-counterfeiting practitioners.

Despite the importance of protein dynamics to function, studying exchange between multiple conformational states remains a challenge because sparsely populated states are invisible to conventional techniques. CEST NMR experiments can detect minor states with lifetimes between 5 and 200 ms populated to a level of just ∼1%. However, CEST often cannot provide the exchange mechanism for processes involving three or more states, leaving the role of the detected minor states unknown. Here a double-resonance CEST experiment to determine the kinetics of multistate exchange is presented. The approach that involves irradiating resonances from two minor states simultaneously is used to study the exchange of T4 lysozyme (T4L) between the dominant native state and two minor states, the unfolded state and a second minor state (B), each populated to only ∼4%. Regular CEST does not provide the folding mechanism, but double-resonance CEST clearly shows that T4L can fold directly without going through B.

This is an integrated study to classify Tamil Nadu Coast in terms of its vulnerability to coastal processes. It is accomplished through estimating Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) for the entire s...

Herein Ho3+/Yb3+ doped GdF3 phosphor was prepared by chemical coprecipitation method. Further, during sample preparation, Ag+ ions were incorporated into the GdF3 lattice to enhance the upconversion emission. Using 980 nm excitation intense emission bands were observed at 543 nm and 650 nm corresponding to the 5F4→ 5I8 and 5F5→5I8 transitions. Incorporation of Ag+ ions has resulted in enhancement in the emission and maximum intensity was obtained for the Ag+ concentration of 10 mol%. It was supposed that Ag+ ions change the crystal field around the Ho3+ ions that result in emission enhancement. The Ag+ incorporation was also confirmed through UV–vis absorption and downconversion analysis. The effect of the magnetic field was studied on the emission intensity and an optical hysteresis loop was observed in the plot of emission intensity vs the magnetic field. The CIE color coordinate variation based temperature sensing ability of the optimized sample is also demonstrated.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how environmental design features of a green building contribute to the formation of employees’ organization image (OIM) through better environmental awareness (EAW) within employees.Design/methodology/approachBased on a comprehensive literature review on environmental design features of a building, a theoretical model was proposed for investigation. Three putative paths linking workspace (WSP) to EAW, departmental space (DSP) to EAW and EAW to OIM were then tested relying on a survey data of 362 employees collected from three Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified buildings by using structural equation modeling methodology as prescribed by Hairet al.FindingsSignificant evidence was found in support of all three purposed paths. Further, the study found that workspace and the DSP together explained around 46 percent of the variance in employee’s EAW, which then explained around 54 percent of the variance in the formation of the employees’ OIM.Research limitations/implicationsThe study drew data only from green certified organizations. Future research should involve other green organizations or a larger sample of green buildings. The size and character of the sample were restricted by organizational constraints.Practical implicationsThe organizations need to be extremely cautious of green concerns during the design phase in order to capitalize on the yields of better employees’ OIM. It also motivates the other organizational group toward the green building concept to increase the employees’ EAW and to enhance organizational values and image.Originality/valueWhile the green concept has been a significant research topic for more than decades, barely any research has been conducted that focuses specifically on environmental design features of a green building on employees’ EAW and OIM. This study tries to make a link between green building design features with employees’ EAW and OIM. These links are rare in Indian perspective.

In this work, a combination of a thin layer of Copper (II) phthalocyanine (CuPc) and TIPS-pentacene crystal was used to enhance the photo-sensing spectrum of photo- sensitive organic field-effect transistors (photo-OFETs). In TIPS-pentacene/CuPc bi-layer devices, the different conduction path not only reduced the total number of traps but also enhanced the sensing spectrum. It was found that, though the TIPS-pentacene was able to sense only blue and green colour well, and CuPc was able to sense only red and green colour well; the TIPS-pentacene/CuPc bi-layer were able to sense all three colors, enhancing the range of sensing. On illumination, bi-layer TIPS-pentacene/CuPc OFETs exhibited higher values of shift in threshold voltage (|ΔVTH|) compared to neat TIPS-pentacene and bare CuPc OFETs, due to change in the spatial distribution in the trap state density and associated pattern of trapping of photo-generated charge carriers. It was also found that the values of photo-responsivity (Rmax) and photo-detection time for the bi-layer OFETs were in between that for OFETs with TIPS-pentacene or CuPc.

Protein molecules sample different conformations in solution and characterizing these conformations is crucial to understanding protein function. 15N CEST experiments are now routinely used to study slow conformational exchange of protein molecules between a ‘visible’ major state and ‘invisible’ minor states. These experiments have also been adapted to measure the solvent exchange rates of amide protons by exploiting the one bond deuterium isotope effect on the amide 15N chemical shifts. However at moderately high temperatures (~ 50 °C) that are sometimes required to populate protein minor conformers to levels (~ 1%) that can be detected by CEST experiments solvent H/D exchange can lead to ‘dips’ in low B1 15N CEST profiles that can be wrongly assigned to the conformational exchange process being characterized. This is demonstrated in the case of ~ 18 kDa T4 Lysozyme (T4L) at 50 °C and the ~ 11 kDa E. coli hibernation promoting factor (HPF) at 52 °C. This problem is trivially solved by eliminating the exchangeable deuterons in the solvent by using either an external D2O lock or by using a small amount (~ 1–3%) of a molecule like d6-DMSO that does not contain exchangeable deuterons to lock the spectrometer.

PurposeThe hotel industry suffers from retaining its employees, and to retain their employees is a big challenge to the hotel industry. So, the purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationship between workplace design features of hospitality industry with employee job satisfaction and their intent to stay through empirical validation.Design/methodology/approachAs per the objective of the study, three hypotheses were proposed based on a comprehensive literature review on workplace design features of the hospitality industry. The proposed relationships were examined by using structural equation modeling approach with AMOS 18 as prescribed by Hair et al. (1998).FindingsSignificant evidence was found in favor of proposed hypotheses. The result of hypothesis testing showed workplace design features of hospitality industry to positively influence employee’s intent to stay through job satisfaction.Originality/valueWhile the employee satisfaction and commitment has been a significant research topic for more than decades, barely any research has been conducted that focuses specifically on workplace design features of a hospitality industry. This study tries to make a link between workplace design with the employee intent to stay through employee satisfaction. These links are rare from an Indian perspective.

In this paper, an attempt is made to understand the transmission dynamics of Ebola virus disease (EVD) incorporating fuzziness in all biological parameters due to its natural variability. To characterize the transmission trajectories of Ebola outbreak, we propose and analyze two SEIR and SEIRHD type transmission models. Using triangular fuzzy numbers for the imprecise parameters, we first study the existence of the equilibria and their stability. Both of the model have two equilibria, namely the disease-free and endemic. Stability of the disease-free and endemic equilibria is related with basic reproduction number that has been calculated from next generation matrix. Stability analysis of the system shows that the disease free equilibrium is locally as well as globally asymptotically stable when the basic reproduction number is less than unity. Under some additional conditions, the model system becomes locally asymptotically stable at unique endemic equilibrium when basic reproduction number is greater than unity. Finally, we perform some numerical experiments to justify the theoretical estimate.

Physics behind the improvement in breakdown voltage of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with carbon-doping of GaN buffer is discussed. Modeling of carbon as acceptor traps and self-compensating acceptor/donor traps is discussed with respect to their impact on avalanche breakdown. Impact of carbon behaving as a donor as well as acceptor traps on electric field relaxation and avalanche generation is discussed in detail to establish the true nature of carbon in GaN that delays the avalanche action. This understanding of the behavior of carbon-doping in GaN buffer is then utilized to discuss design parameters related to carbon doped buffer. Design parameters such as undoped channel thickness and relative trap concentration induced by carbon-doping are discussed with respect to the performance metrics of breakdown voltage, leakage current, sheet charge density, and dynamic ON-resistance.

In part I of this paper, we developed physical insights into the role and impact of acceptor and donor traps—resulting from C-doping in GaN buffer—on avalanche breakdown in AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices. It was found that the donor traps are mandatory to explain the breakdown voltage improvement. In this paper, silicon doping is proposed and explored as an alternative to independently engineer donor trap concentration and profile. Keeping in mind the acceptor and donor trap relative concentration requirement for achieving higher breakdown buffer, as depicted in part I of this paper, silicon & carbon codoping of GaN buffer is proposed and explored in this paper. The proposed improvement in breakdown voltage is supported by physical insight into the avalanche phenomena and role of acceptor/donor traps. GaN buffer design parameters and their impact on breakdown voltage as well as leakage current are presented. Finally, a modified Si-doping profile in the GaN buffer is proposed to lower the C-doping concentration near GaN channel to mitigate the adverse effects of acceptor traps in GaN buffer.

The risk of cancer development in offspring due to carcinogen exposure during pregnancy is a serious issue. In this study, we explored the involvement of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway and microRNA-21 (miR-21) in transplacental lung tumorigenesis and its prevention by dietary compound inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) in F1 mice. Balb/c mice were exposed to the N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) intraperitoneally on the 17th day of gestation. After weaning, half of the litters were fed with oral 2% IP6. At the end of 30, 120, or 240 days, we did not observe any effect on fetal viability or weight between ENU-exposed and non-exposed litters and the same was true of IP6. Altered expressions of the PI3K/Akt pathway were observed in F1 mice. Further, miR-21 expressions were found to be modulated at the respective time as well, along with the activation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-9) and vascular endothelial growth factor expression. Akt activation also enhanced the expression of cyclin D1, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor-κB (NF-κBp50), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). IP6-fed F1 mice showed reduced tumorigenesis along with reduced expression of the PI3K/Akt pathway miR-21 and downstream targets. The PI3K/Akt pathway and miR-21 are involved in transplacental lung tumorigenesis, whereas IP6 seemed to affect lung tumorigenesis by suppressing the expression of the PI3K/Akt pathway in F1 mice.

The use of natural material components in organic devices increases nature friendliness and biodegradability. In this paper, water-soluble natural protein gelatin is explored as a gate dielectric for demonstration of high performance and low voltage (−3 V) operation in flexible organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). The fabricated p-channel devices showed excellent electrical characteristics of maximum field-effect mobility up to 3.0 cm2 V−1 s−1, high current on/off ratios, low subthreshold swing, and nearly zero threshold voltage due to the high-quality dielectric semiconductor interface achieved through optimized processes of fabricating flexible OFET devices. These devices exhibited very high operational stability as confirmed by various stability tests including bias-stress, repeatability, electromechanical stability, cyclic stability, and long-term ambient stability. For electromechanical stability, no significant changes in the performance were observed upon application of compressive and tensile strain due to bending. A very high environmental stability with almost unchanged electrical characteristics over 24 weeks was demonstrated. Further, circuit applicability was analyzed by switching characteristics from resistive load inverters. These results indicate gelatin as a promising biodegradable dielectric candidate for low voltage flexible OFETs.

This paper is towards the algebraic and topological study of automata based on residuated and co-residuated lattices via different operators. The interrelationships among the operators are discussed. Interestingly, we show that the algebraic concepts of an automaton based on a residuated and co-residuated lattice can be expressed in terms of [Formula: see text]-topology/co-topology induced by operators. Finally, a composition of such automata is introduced and its categorical significance is discussed.

An optical algorithm is developed for the retrieval of the downwelling diffuse attenuation coefficient $K_{d}$ (490) in the Red Sea using a comprehensive hydrolight simulated data set ( $N = 5000$ ). We found a robust relationship between the $K_{d}$ (490) and the ratio of remote sensing reflectance $R_{\text {rs}}$ (443)/ $R_{\text {rs}}$ (555), with an excellent determination coefficient ( $R^{2} = 0.999$ ) and a low root-mean-square error (RMSE = 0.00033). The performance of the developed algorithm is evaluated with in situ data collected in the Red Sea by comparing obatined model output with existing empirical (NASA, Morel et al. , Zhang and Fell, Tiwari and Shanmugam) and semianalytical (Lee et al. ) algorithms. On the used in situ data from the Red Sea, the new algorithm shows good retrievals of $K_{d}$ (490) with a low bias, and a low RMSE compared to that of the existing algorithms. For satellite application, we applied our algorithm to selected MODIS–Aqua images acquired over the Red Sea, which captured spatial features of phytoplankton blooms and physical processes (e.g., cyclonic and anticyclonic circulations) in the Red Sea. The new algorithm has the potential to improve our understanding of water transparency and photosynthetic processes that rely on the availability of solar radiation.

Hybrid CBRAM devices based on PVP/HfOx bilayer were investigated for their switching performance. A reliable and low voltage bipolar resistive switching operation was observed in these devices with repeatability of 300 cycles, Ion/Ioff of 80, set (Vset) and reset (Vreset) voltages of 1.03 V and −0.68 V, retention time of 7200 s, and switching endurance of >2000 cycles in devices with 2.5 wt% PVP concentration. Low device-to-device variation was observed with 10 devices tested showing nearly similar switching parameters. Weibull's distribution of Vset and Vreset voltages have indicated reliable switching performance in devices. The pinholes formation in PVP layer guides the confined growth and dissolution of Ag conductive filament (CF) in the bilayer structure resulting in a stable, reliable and low voltage switching operation. PVP film roughness and pinholes depth have shown downtrend with PVP concentration. During the set process, a CF formed across the electrodes constitutes of Ag atoms, due to pinholes assisted electro-migration of Ag ions. Whereas in the reset process, the diffused Ag+ ions migrate back towards top electrode due to the electrochemical and joule-heating assisted rupture of CF in the PVP/HfOx bilayer structure.

In this study, we provide a general theory of minimal realization for a given fuzzy language in a category theory setting. We introduce categorical characterizations of a run map, reachability map, and observability map for a crisp deterministic fuzzy automaton. Finally, we show that all minimal realizations for a given fuzzy language are isomorphic to the Nerode realization for the same case.

Semi-analytical algorithms (SAAs) invert spectral remote sensing reflectance (Rrs(λ),&nbsp, sr−1) to Inherent Optical Properties (IOPs) of an aquatic medium (λ is the wavelength). Existing SAAs implement different methodologies with a range of spectral IOP models and inversion methods producing concentrations of non-water constituents. Absorption spectrum decomposition algorithms (ADAs) are a set of algorithms developed to partition anw(λ),&nbsp, m−1 (i.e., the light absorption coefficient without pure water absorption), into absorption subcomponents of phytoplankton (aph(λ),&nbsp, m−1) and coloured detrital matter (adg(λ),&nbsp, m−1). Despite significant developments in ADAs, their applicability to remote sensing applications is rarely studied. The present study formulates hybrid inversion approaches that combine SAAs and ADAs to derive absorption subcomponents from Rrs(λ) and explores potential alternatives to operational SAAs. Using Rrs(λ) and concurrent absorption subcomponents from four datasets covering a wide range of optical properties, three operational SAAs, i.e., Garver–Siegel–Maritorena (GSM), Quasi-Analytical Algorithm (QAA), Generalized Inherent Optical Property (GIOP) model are evaluated in deriving anw(λ) from Rrs(λ). Among these three models, QAA and GIOP models derived anw(λ) with lower errors. Among six distinctive ADAs tested in the study, the Generalized Stacked Constraints Model (GSCM) and Zhang’s model-derived absorption subcomponents achieved lower average spectral mean absolute percentage errors (MAPE) in the range of 8–38%. Four hybrid models, GIOPGSCM, GIOPZhang, QAAGSCM and QAAZhang, formulated using the SAAs and ADAs, are compared for their absorption subcomponent retrieval performance from Rrs(λ). GIOPGSCM and GIOPZhang models derived absorption subcomponents have lower errors than GIOP and QAA. Potential uncertainties associated with datasets and dependency of algorithm performance on datasets were discussed.

Undocumented historical losses of sea turtle nesting beaches worldwide could overestimate the successes of conservation measures and misrepresent the actual status of the sea turtle population. In addition, the suitability of many sea turtle nesting sites continues to decline even without in-depth scientific studies of the extent of losses and impacts to the population. In this study, multidecadal changes in the outlines and area of Jana and Karan islands, major sea turtle nesting sites in the Arabian Gulf, were compared using available Kodak aerographic images, USGS EROS Declassified satellite imagery, and ESRI satellite images. A decrease of 5.1% and 1.7% of the area of Jana and Karan islands, respectively, were observed between 1965 and 2017. This translated to 14,146 m2 of beach loss at Jana Is. and 16,376 m2 of beach loss at Karan Is. There was an increase of island extent for Karan Is. from 1965 to 1968 by 9098 m2 but comparing 2017 with 1968, Karan Is. lost as much as 25,474 m2 or 2.6% of the island extent in 1968. The decrease in island aerial extent was attributed to loss of beach sand. The southern tips of the island lost the most significant amount of sand. There was also thinning of beach sand along the middle and northern sections that exposed the rock outcrops underneath the beach. The process of beach changes of both islands was tracked by the satellite imagery from Landsat 1,3,5,7 and Sentinel-2 during 1972 to 2020. Other factors including the distribution of beach slope, sea level changes, as well as wind & current from both northward and eastward components were analyzed to show its impact on the beach changes. The loss of beach sand could potentially impact the quality and availability of nesting beach for sea turtles utilizing the islands as main nesting grounds. Drivers of beach loss at the offshore islands are discussed in the context of sea level rise, dust storms, extreme wave heights and island desertification.

The Gram-negative (−) bacterium Helicobacter pylori colonizes in the mucus gel layer above the gastric epithelium and has been considered to be a major etiologic factor in several gastric health complications including peptic ulcers, gastric MALT, gastritis, and gastric cancer in approximately 50% of the world’s population. Besides inducing colon carcinogenesis, the bacterium shows to be associated with different extragastric disorders. Eradication of H. pylori is reported to reduce 33–47% of gastric cancer; however, treatment of H. pylori against colon cancer is less effective in older people. Several targets of H. pylori to induce colorectal carcinogenesis have been hypothesized, and an association of gastric H. pylori with colorectal adenomatous polyps (CAPs) has been experimentally revealed. CAPs are precancerous lesions of epithelial cells and lead to colorectal cancer (CRC) from the adenomatous stage. Pathway analysis decrypts the cascade mechanism of CAPs via inducing matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase, and mucin with other molecular targets. Several therapeutic approaches have been established to eradicate H. pylori before inoculation and during histologic progression in early stages. This book chapter explains the impact and molecular mechanism of H. pylori in colon carcinogenesis and methods of therapeutic approaches.