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A 21-Mb/mm2 SRAM design using 0.0367- $\mu {\mathrm{ m}}^{2}$ HCC bitcell on a 10-nm CMOS technology is presented. Gate-modulated self-collapse (GSC) write-assist is utilized to enable 175 mV $V_{\mathrm{ MIN}}$ reduction with negligible active energy overhead, and a modest 5.5% array area overhead on a 256-Kb instance. Compared to NBL and TVC write-assist techniques, GSC delivers comparable $V_{\mathrm{ MIN}}$ improvement across a wide frequency range with 31%–108% write energy reduction.

In the present work, a novel approach has been made to prepare a new catalyst for Fenton-type degradation of dye. In the first step alumina is modified with sodium dodecyl sulfate (an anionic surfactant). Under suitable conditions the surfactant forms bilayer (admicelle) on alumina surface. The surfactant-modified alumina (SMA) can adsorb metal ions such as Co(II), Fe(II), Cu(II), Mn(II) and Ni(II) on its surface. Among all the metal ions Co(II) shows the best catalytic activity when supported on SMA. The newly formed catalyst is named as Co-SMA. In this report, we described the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under heterogeneous photo-Fenton condition by application of Co-SMA as the catalyst and in the presence of H2O2 and visible light. Effect of various independent variables such as dose of catalyst, initial concentration of the dye, H2O2 concentration, intensity of visible light, pH have been studied. The process parameters were optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) approach. Under the optimum conditions of 30 mg/L MO, 29.92 g/L Co-SMA, 37.9 mM H2O2 and pH 4.31, the maximum response for MO decolorization efficiency was 94.79%.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the role of customer engagement (CE) in transforming a committed customer into a loyal customer in an online service context. The study explores the varied effect of the dimensions of commitment on the dimensions of beyond purchase CE and their effect on loyalty. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a survey for data collection and assesses the measurement model with confirmatory factor analysis and uses partial least square-structural equation modeling for the structural model. Findings The study reveals that the constructs commitment, CE and loyalty are interrelated. It empirically supports that the affective and continuance commitment has a significant positive association with CE, and two out of the three dimensions of CE have a significant positive association with loyalty. Research limitations/implications This study advances the understanding of the relationship between commitment, CE and loyalty and supports the conceptualization of CE as a behavioral construct. The study uses cross-sectional data, which miss the effect of the time lag of the constructs and use of the context of travel booking websites limits its generalization. Practical implications This study helps marketers to understand CE, what motivates CE, its impact on the firm and how to align CE strategies with the firm’s goal. Originality/value This study proposes a conceptual model for how CE transforms commitment into loyalty. It improves the understanding of CE’s conceptualization, its drivers and its impact on brand loyalty.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common and debilitating joint disorder that leads to progressive joint breakdown and loss of articular cartilage. Accompanied by a state of low-grade inflammation, its etiology extends beyond that of a wear-and-tear disease, and the immune system might have a role in its initiation and progression. Obesity, which is directly associated with an increased incidence of OA, alters adipokine release, increases pro-inflammatory macrophage activity, and affects joint immune regulation. Studying inflammatory macrophage expression and strategies to inhibit inflammatory macrophage phenotype polarization might provide insights into disease pathogenesis and therapeutic applications. In pre-clinical studies, the detection of OA in its initial stages was shown to be possible using imaging techniques such as SPECT-CT, and advances are made to detect OA through blood-based biomarker analysis. In this review, obesity-induced osteoarthritis and its mechanisms in inducing joint degeneration are summarized, along with an analysis of the current developments in patient imaging and biomarker use for diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Scott Rozelle, and Natalie Hell, Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2020), 248 pp., US$27.50, ISBN: 978-0226740515 (e-book).

Background: Menstrual cups have been available for decades, but their use in India is limited because of the popularity of sanitary pads. Menstrual cups are a safe and feasible alternative to the more widely used sanitary napkins. Objective of this study was to assess menstrual cup awareness among the female medical college students.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 389 undergraduate female medical students, among which 355 students responded after consent. Data was collected through Google forms using pre-tested semi structured questionnaire. Collected data was transferred to Microsoft excel and was analysed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 21. Chi-square test was used to determine the association.Results: Among the 355 female medical students, 215 (60%) of them belonged to upper middle class. 335 (94%) of them were unmarried. (282) 80% of the students had knowledge regarding menstrual cups, in which majority were aware of the material used to manufacture the cups. The cup was preferred by 100 (28%) and 54 (15%) of them used menstrual cups for its comfort, easiness to wear and less odor. Few of them had pain, dryness and rashes after the use of menstrual cup. Problem of leakage was encountered in 15-26%. There was significant association between income and usage of menstrual cup (p

The human digestive tract is the cottage to trillions of live microorganisms, which regulate health and illness. A healthy Gut Microbiota (GM) is necessary for preventing microbial growth, body growth, obesity, cancer, diabetes, and enhancing immunity. The equilibrium in GM's composition and the presence/absence of critical species enable specific responses to be essential for the host's better health condition. Research evidences revealed that the dietary plants and their bioactive phytochemicals (BPs) play an extensive and critical role in shaping the GM to get beneficial health effects. BPs are also known to improve gastrointestinal health and reduce the risk of several diseases by modulating GM-mediated cellular and molecular processes. Regular intake of BPs-rich vegetables, fruits, and herbal preparations promotes probiotic bacteria, including Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus species, while inhibiting unwanted gut residents' development Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhimurium etc. Upon consumption, BPs contact the GM that gets transformed before being absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Biotransformation of BPs by GM is linked with the enhancement of bioactivity/toxicity diminishment of the BPs compared to parental phytochemicals. Therefore, the current review focuses on the role of BPs in shaping GM for the prevention and treatment of human diseases.

Purpose: To compare short-term visual outcomes (best corrected visual acuity [BCVA]), visual axis opacification, anterior (ACCC) and posterior (PCCC) continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis size, shape, and extension, and their decentration between manual capsulorhexis and 25-gauge vitrectorhexis in pediatric cataract surgery with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. Methods: Thirty eyes of children aged 3 to 8 years with developmental cataract were randomly selected for ACCC and PCCC by manual capsulorhexis forceps and 25-gauge vitrectomy cutter followed by IOL implantation and limited anterior vitrectomy. The size of the ACCC and PCCC was measured intraoperatively with calibrated capsulorhexis forceps. Patients were followed up for 3 months postoperatively and were evaluated for BCVA and visual axis opacification. Slit-lamp photographs of operated eyes were taken in retroillumination. The size in millimeters and decentration of the ACCC and PCCC from the center of the IOL were measured with the help of the Python imaging library. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between BCVA ( P > .05), visual axis opacification ( P > .05), size of the ACCC ( P > .05) and its decentration ( P > .05), extension of the rhexis ( P > .05), and size of the PCCC ( P > .05) and its decentration ( P > .05) between the two methods. Conclusions: In both groups, BCVA, visual axis opacification, and ACCC and PCCC size, shape, and decentration from the center of the IOL were comparable, making 25-gauge vitrectorhexis a good alternative to manual capsulorhexis. [ J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus . 2019;56(5):327–332.]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors which affect the financial access of the female-owned informal enterprises (FOIEs) in India. There has been a dearth of studies particularly targeting determinants of credit access by the women-owned informal enterprises. Demand side factors affecting financial access have been studied. The study of major factors affecting access to credit by unorganized women enterprises will be useful for policy making perspectives. Design/methodology/approach The study uses nationalized micro data set on the non-agricultural informal enterprises and probit estimation has been used to identify the factors which affect the probabilities of access to credit for the FOIEs. Findings The study highlights what facilitates and hinders the financial access for the FOIEs particularly in India. These enterprises in rural areas have better chances to avail credit from formal sources. Firm size, measured by policy-making size of employment and gross profit, involvement in diversified activities, maintenance of accounting record, has positive and significant impact on access to formal credit. The younger firms and the firms operating in the southern states of the country have higher probabilities to avail credit from institutional sources. Originality/value The study used the latest data set available on Indian informal enterprises, thus provides important insights about the status of financing of enterprises in India. This study highlights the regional variations and gender disparities that are prevalent in the Indian economy.

The indiscriminate and excessive use of antibiotics has ultimately led to the emergence of bacterial resistant mutants or superbugs. These superbugs are difficult to control with conventional antibiotics. Disabling quorum sensing (QS), a population-density-dependent cell-to-cell communication process used by bacteria to coordinate the expression of virulence genes and biofilm formation, with dietary phytochemicals is emerging as a non-antibiotic strategy to inhibit bacterial pathogenicity. Although curcumin is an anti-QS agent and its delivery to cells has been a challenge due to poor bioavailability, ZnO/curcumin nanocomposites (ZnC-NCs) were fabricated with enhanced delivery of curcumin inside the bacterial superbug Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 for effective inhibition of its QS and biofilm formation. Sustained release of curcumin from ZnC-NCs was observed where 51% curcumin at pH 7.2 and 83% curcumin at pH 5.5 were released within 48 h. ZnC-NCs also decreased the production of virulence factors and biofilm formation without affecting planktonic cell growth. Both LasR and RhlR QS systems were inhibited by ZnC-NCs. ZnC-NCs were also capable of protecting both mice as well as lung epithelial cells from killing by PAO1. The superoxide anions (O2·-) were also found as key players in suppressing PAO1 QS systems by ZnC-NCs. Overall, ZnC-NCs enhanced curcumin bioavailability for effective inhibition of QS signaling in P. aeruginosa via LasR-RhlR suppression and O2·- generation.

This is the first report on the investigation of a realistic 3D hybrid metal–insulator–silicon–insulator–metal (MISIM) plasmonic tapered coupler, which efficiently couples light from dielectric to multilayer (MISIM) hybrid plasmonic waveguide. The structure is designed to achieve high transmission efficiency and to suppress the reflection losses. The proposed coupler exhibits a maximum transmittance up to 99% and a minimum mode propagation loss of 0.07 dB/ $\mu \text{m}$ at 1.55- $\mu \text{m}$ wavelength. The structure is designed using an ultra-short curved taper length of $1.5~\mu \text{m}$ , and it occupies a footprint area of $5.94~\mu \text{m}^{2}$ , which is several folds reduced compared to the previous reports. This investigation provides a basis for the future nanoscale photonics of practical applications.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the different dimensions of involvement and customer engagement (CE) and analyze the influence of CE on loyalty in an online retail context. The study also tests the mediation of CE between the facets of involvement and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a survey for data collection from online retail website users and analyzed the data with partial least squares – structural equation modeling. Findings The results reveal that the dimensions of involvement drive engagement differently. The risk importance and risk probability do not influence CE whereas the sign, interest, and pleasure are positively associated with CE. Furthermore, CE mediates the link between sign, interest, and pleasure dimensions of involvement and loyalty. Practical implications This study provides insights for the managers that the perception of value from a brand starts at its product category level and values like sign, interest, and pleasure can be provided to the customers by not only brand consumption but also by engaging them with the brand. Originality/value This is among the first studies to have empirically tested the effect of dimensions of involvement on CE and explain the role of engagement as a means for the customers to achieve expected values. It also contributes to the extant CE literature by testing its mediating role between involvement dimensions and loyalty, thus augmenting the studies, which have explored the antecedents and consequences of CE.

In this work, CMOS compatible hybrid insulator metal insulator (HIMI) planar plasmonic waveguide based components such as, racetrack ring resonator, y-splitter, coupler and dual parabolic profile nano antenna have been proposed and investigated at 1.55 μm operating wavelength for the first time. The proposed components are analyzed at various parametric variations using CST microwave studio. The proposed racetrack ring resonator offers 153.88 nm free spectral range, 0.3232 nm FWHM and 46.57 dB extinction ratio at 0.40 μm radius and 0.49 μm separation length. Y-splitter divides equal power of 46.85% in both output arms and coupler couples till 86.5% power in coupled arm. The dual parabolic profile nano antenna offers a gain, bandwidth and efficiency of 7.99 dB, 203 THz and 84.56 % respectively. Using all the components, HIMI plasmonic integrated circuits have also been designed and investigated for on chip applications. Proposed components work very efficiently in chip scale integrated circuit. This investigation provides groundwork for future chip scale applications.

Purpose: To compare refractive measurements of noncycloplegic photoscreener Plusoptix S12R with cycloplegic retinoscopy, noncycloplegic autorefractor, and cycloplegic autorefractor in children. Methods: The study population (200 eyes of 100 children) was divided into two groups: Group 1 (age 3–7 years) and Group 2 (age 8–15 years). In Group 1, Plusoptix was compared with cycloplegic retinoscopy. In Group 2, Plusoptix was compared with cycloplegic retinoscopy and autorefraction. The second group was made because the younger group was found to be uncooperative for autorefraction. Paired t-test and Pearson's correlation were used for statistical analysis. Results: The mean difference in sphere (DS), spherical equivalent (DSE), and cylinder (DC) between cycloplegic retinoscopy and Plusoptix in Group 1 was 0.68 ± 0.55 (P < 0.001), 0.77 ± 0.61 (P < 0.001), and 0.18 ± 0.28 (P < 0.001), respectively. In Group 2, DS, DSE, and DC between cycloplegic retinoscopy and Plusoptix were 0.86 ± 0.49 (P < 0.001), 0.97 ± 0.51 (P < 0.001), and 0.23 ± 0.28 (P < 0.001); between cycloplegic autorefractor and Plusoptix were 0.69 ± 0.47 (P < 0.001), 0.74 ± 0.49 (P < 0.001), and 0.10 ± 0.31 (P = 0.002); and between noncycloplegic autorefractor and Plusoptix were − 0.25 ± 0.39 (P < 0.001), −0.19 ± 0.41 (P < 0.001), and 0.11 ± 0.31 (P < 0.001), respectively. Pearson's correlation coefficients of S, SE, and C between Plusoptix and cycloplegic retinoscopy were 0.948, 0.938, and 0.924 in Group 1 and 0.972, 0.972, and 0.946 in Group 2, and these values were statistically significant. Bland–Altman plots showed good agreement between cycloplegic retinoscopy and Plusoptix in both groups. Plusoptix gave axis values within 10° of cycloplegic retinoscopy in 81.56% of eyes in Group 1 and in 71.44% of eyes in Group 2. Conclusion: Plusoptix photoscreener can be used for prescription of axis of cylinder in children; however, other refractive measurements must be refined by cycloplegic retinoscopy.

Guided mode resonance filter (GMRF) has recently attracted much attention due to its simple structure and high spectral filtering capability [1] . GMRF design relies on a subwavelength grating placed over a high index optical guided medium, where the spectral filtering occurs due to interference between the diffracted light and leaky waveguide modes at resonance condition [1] . The resonance can be tuned by altering the geometrical and material parameters, for instance, grating period, filling factor, duty cycle, waveguide thickness and refractive index [1] . However, there is a challenge to dynamically control the GMRF spectral response by active tuning of the resonance wavelength. In this study we present a new design of CMOS compatible, polarization-insensitive graphene/Si tunable guided-mode resonance filter with a high extinction ratio, where the resonance is tuned by modulation of graphene doping. Graphene is a 2D semimetal with appealing electrical, mechanical and optical properties, and it provides an active tuning of optical loss and effective refractive index by capacitive effect using electrostatic doping [2] . Our designs show a polarization-insensitive operation of electrically controlled reflection, high extinction ratio (ER) (>11 dB) and high (> 12dB) spectral tunability, which is important for applications such as wavelength division multiplexing, laser devices, add/drop filters and more [3] , [4] .

Hepatocellular Carcinoma is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancer and highly refractory for chemotherapeutics agents. Therefore, the study aims to explore the new therapeutic agents for HCC. Phenolics rich fraction of leaves of

Microbial polysaccharides (MPs) offer immense diversity in structural and functional properties. They are extensively used in advance biomedical science owing to their superior biodegradability, hemocompatibility, and capability to imitate the natural extracellular matrix microenvironment. Ease in tailoring, inherent bio-activity, distinct mucoadhesiveness, ability to absorb hydrophobic drugs, and plentiful availability of MPs make them prolific green biomaterials to overcome the significant constraints of cancer chemotherapeutics. Many studies have demonstrated their application to obstruct tumor development and extend survival through immune activation, apoptosis induction, and cell cycle arrest by MPs. Synoptic investigations of MPs are compulsory to decode applied basics in recent inclinations towards cancer regimens. The current review focuses on the anticancer properties of commercially available and newly explored MPs, and outlines their direct and indirect mode of action. The review also highlights cutting-edge MPs-based drug delivery systems to augment the specificity and efficiency of available chemotherapeutics, as well as their emerging role in theranostics.

Arthrocentesis is a simple yet effective and minimally invasive treatment modality for patients diagnosed with temporomandibular joint derangement. Though conservative methods should be initiated as a first line of treatment, arthrocentesis can be considered before subjecting the patient for any major surgical procedure for the joint. In this chapter the various techniques for arthrocentesis have been discussed emphasizing the merits and demerits of each. It is essential to evaluate the patient and execute the technique accurately for a successful outcome.

In this paper a hybrid DC micro grid standalone grid system is adopted with four sources (PVA, BESS, Super capacitor and fuel cell) for operating an AC load even during environmental disturbances. An optimal energy management scheme is implied on the grid system for better power sharing capability. The energy management scheme controls the buck & boost converters power electronic devices connected to sources for DC voltage stability. The modelling of the proposed system is designed in MATLAB Simulink software with graphical representations with time domain analysis for different operating conditions.

In today's world, all the countries are facing threats from the intruder. This is challenging the internal security of the nation. Hence, military applications require locating the intruders in the border areas. In this application, tracking of target, processing the data and analysis of the fetched data plays a major role. The proposed system requires tracking of target in the secured area and analysing the data received. Sensors play a major role in detecting the intruder. In this paper, the proposed, designed and implemented a system which makes use of Passive Infrared Sensor(PIR) to detect the intruder and surrounding environment has been discussed. The information gathered from the sensor network is sent to the base station for processing using Long Range(LoRa) Technology. The implementation results justifies the importance of the methodology used. The performance results justifies effectiveness of the proposed system.

A 21Mb/mm2 SRAM design using 0.0367um2 HCC bitcell on a 10nm CMOS technology is presented. Gate-modulated self-collapse (GSC) write assist is utilized to enable 175mV reduction in V MIN with minimal energy overhead. Instance area overhead is limited to 3–5% by implementing the GSC circuitry in a row-based configuration with modified SRAM bitcells.

Disaster management demands a near real-time information dissemination so that the emergency services can be provided to the right people at the right time. Recent advances in information and communication technologies enable collection of real-time information from various sources. For example, sensors deployed in the fields collect data about the environment. Similarly, social networks like Twitter and Facebook can help to collect data from people in the disaster zone. On one hand, inadequate situation awareness in disasters has been identified as one of the primary factors in human errors with grave consequences such as loss of lives and destruction of critical infrastructure. On the other hand, the growing ubiquity of social media and mobile devices, and pervasive nature of the Internet-of-Things means that there are more sources of outbound traffic, which ultimately results in the creation of a data deluge, beginning shortly after the onset of disaster events, leading to the problem of information tsunami. In addition, security and privacy has crucial role to overcome the misuse of the system for either intrusions into data or overcome the misuse of the information that was meant for a specified purpose. These problems can be addressed by processing the collected data in real-time and extracting meaningful and actionable information for emergency providers while taking care of security and privacy aspects. Such situation-awareness applications demand a large amount of computing resources. The cloud, which provides elastic and scalable infrastructure, becomes the natural choice for such applications. In this chapter, we provide such a situation aware application to support disaster management data lifecycle, i.e. from data ingestion and processing to alert dissemination. We utilize cloud computing, Internet of Things and social computing technologies to achieve a scalable, efficient, and usable situation-aware application called Cloud4BigData.

This is the first report on 3D sinusoidal Bragg grating structure based on hybrid metal insulator metal (HMIM) plasmonic waveguide. The proposed structure has a gradual change in the refractive index rather than an abrupt change providing excellent filtering characteristics. The device is studied at an operating wavelength of 1.55 μm. The results are based on numerical simulations performed using the software CST microwave studio suite. The transmission characteristics show more than 80% transmission in the passband and near zero transmission in the rejection band. The proposed structure reduces the scattering losses and a wide bandgap of 0.387 μm is achieved. The proposed structure has a track length of 3.784 μm for 11 cells, which is very less compared to previous reports allowing large-scale integration of photonic devices. A microcavity is also formed and its resonance is investigated by introducing a defect length of 0.217 μm in the periodic structure. A peak transmission of 50% and a narrow resonance bandwidth of 0.029 μm are achieved at 1.55 μm resonance wavelength. The quality factor which defines the energy stored in the cavity is Q = 53.

During biotic stress, plants use several mechanisms to protect themselves that include the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), induction of pathogenesis-related proteins and cell death. Some plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are known to act as bio-control agents that protect crops against pathogens. The biocontrol activity of PGPR Paenibacillus lentimorbus (B-30488) against Sclerotium rolfsii showed previously where several defense-related genes were upregulated with ROS induction in tomato. We further evaluate the other possibility, i.e. role of autophagy in enhancing defense in tomato using PGPR. Confocal microscopy revealed the presence of an acidotropic dye Mono Dansyl Cadaverine (MDC) stained autophagosomes in B-30488 treated healthy and infected plants. These autophagosomes almost disappeared in plants treated with an autophagy inhibitor chloroquine. The results were also confirmed by ultrastructural analysis of leaf tissues using transmission electron microscopy. Enhanced expression of autophagy-related genes was also monitored in B-30488 primed fungal infected tissues as compared to control by qRT-PCR. Results of ROS accumulation, fluorescence, confocal and transmission electron microscopy and gene expression analysis revealed induction of autophagy using B-30488 as a biocontrol agent suggesting a role in enhancing disease resistance in tomato. Overall, the present study indicated a role of B-30488 as a biocontrol in enhancing disease resistance in tomato and also assists a better understanding of fungal pathogenesis that is expected to be useful in developing new strategies for disease control.

Background. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the incidence of dentinal cracks during root canal preparation with different periodontal ligament simulating materials in vitro. Methods. Seventy freshly extracted human mandibular first premolars were selected and divided into 7 groups in terms of simulating material: group 1: polyether impression material; group 2: polyvinyl acetate adhesive; group 3: polyvinyl siloxane impression material; group 4: cyanoacrylate adhesive; group 5: epoxy resin adhesive; group 6: positive control, without any periodontal ligament simulation; and group 7: negative control, where neither a periodontal ligament simulating material was used nor canal preparation was carried out. Root canal preparation was carried out in all the groups followed by sectioning of roots at 3 mm, 6 mm and 9 mm. The sections were evaluated under a stereomicroscope at ×2.5 for the presence or absence of cracks. Chi-squared test was used to compare the appearance of defective roots between the different experimental groups. Results. The least number of cracks were found in the negative control group, followed by group 1 where polyether impression material was used for periodontal ligament simulation. The difference was significant with a P-value of 0.002 for coronal sections. Conclusion. Under the limitation of the present study, polyether and polyvinyl siloxane (light body) can both be used for simulation of periodontal ligament.

This is the first report of a hybrid plasmonic nano patch antenna having metal insulator metal (HMIM) multilayer configuration. It is designed in a footprint area of 1.7 × 1.175 μm2 to resonate at 1.55 μm wavelength. The proposed antenna is inset fed by an HMIM plasmonic waveguide for achieving proper impedance matching. It is observed, through electromagnetic numerical simulation, that the proposed plasmonic nano patch antenna emits a directional beam with a bandwidth, gain, and efficiency of 0.194 μm, 8.3 dB, and 96% respectively, which are significantly higher than previously reported designs. Since inset-fed antennas are suitable for developing high-gain antenna array, hence further, we examined antenna performance by designing antenna array. The proposed antenna is practically realizable and can be fabricated using standard semiconductor fabrication process. Moreover, it could be used for numerous chip scale applications such as wireless interconnects energy harvesting, photoemission, photo detection, scattering, heat transfer, spectroscopy, and optical sensing.