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We studied a range-restricted, recently described, little-known endemic ranid frog Indosylvirana sreeni from Southern Eastern Ghats, which forms a peripheral unit of its geographic range supporting satellite populations. We provide detailed notes on the morphology, call characteristics, distribution and a quantitative account on microhabitat associations of I. sreeni in the Southern Eastern Ghats. We record the presence of I. sreeni in three out of four hill ranges surveyed and present an updated distribution map for the species. Based on our field observations, we also report instances of roadkill mortalities and malformation (anophthalmia) in this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrode/electrolyte interface plays a critical role in a Li-ion battery. Here the authors report that Al doping can tailor the interfacial reactions to lead to enhanced structural stability and cyclability of cathode. Al dopants form not only lattice solid solution but also Al2O3 islands on the surface.

The application of ternary nanowires (NWs) in optoelectronics has been hindered by difficulties in producing high quality NWs on silicon substrates. Here, the authors report on InxGa1-xSb NWs exhibiting simultaneously high hole mobility, responsivity, and fast response times in the infrared regime.

While renewable energy sources are deemed as a preponderant component toward building a sustainable society, their utilization depends on the efficiency and sustainability of energy‐storage technologies. The development of battery‐storage technologies with affordable and environmentally benign chemistries/materials is increasingly considered as an indispensable element of the whole concept of sustainable energy technologies. Lithium‐ion batteries are at the forefront among existing rechargeable battery technologies in terms of operational performance. Considering materials cost, abundance of elements, and toxicity of cell components, there are, however, sustainability concerns for lithium‐ion batteries. Herein, a discussion of the existing rechargeable battery technologies from a sustainability perspective is provided. Then, recent research strategies toward enhancing the sustainability of Li+‐ion technologies are first discussed. After that, emerging novel battery systems, beyond lithium‐ion technology, with sustainable chemistries and materials are highlighted and prospected.

The saw-scaled viper ( Echis carinatus ) is considered to be a venomous snake which is especially seen in Northern Sri Lanka. Systemic manifestations are rare and reported complications include coagulopathy and renal impairment. The cardiac toxicity following snakebites is rare and cardiac involvement following the saw-scaled viper bites is extremely rare. Here, we describe a patient with acute myocardial infarction following systemic envenoming by saw-scaled viper in Northern Sri Lanka, which was successfully managed per ward protocol following national guidelines.

The antioxidant activities of enzymatically hydrolyzed (protease fromBacillus cereus SU12) oyster (Saccostrea cucullata)protein were studied. The hydrolysate exhibited a strong antioxidant potential in 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH, 85.7 ± 0.37%), followed by hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging activity (81.6 ± 0.3%), hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (79.32 ± 0.6%), and reducing power assay (2.63 ± 0.2 OD at 700 nm) at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. Due to the high antioxidant potential, the hydrolysate was purified in Sephadex G-25 gel filtration chromatography. The active peptide fraction was identified by DPPH and reducing power assay. The amino acid content of the purified active peptide fraction was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. The active fraction contained a good quantity of both essential and nonessential amino acids. The present study revealed that oyster(S. cucullata)protein hydrolysate is a potential source for natural antioxidants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new single-phase cascaded multilevel inverter is proposed. This structure consists of series connection of proposed basic unit blocks which are built with both unidirectional and bidirectional switches. It can generate only positive Levels at the output. Therefore, an H-bridge is added to the proposed inverter. This inverter is called developed cascaded multilevel inverter. The proposed topology requires lesser number of power switches, drive circuits and dc voltage sources that lead to reduction installation space and cost of the inverter. Thus the simulation has been carried out for various modulation indices using MATLAB/SIMULINK and the results were verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel sodium‐ion conducting polymer–ceramic solid‐state composite electrolyte is developed for ambient‐temperature sodium batteries. Polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) is used as a polymeric matrix into which ceramic nanoparticles of NASICON‐type Na3Zr2Si2PO12 are integrated. The PEGDA polymeric phase of the composite can maintain an amiable ionic interface between the solid‐state electrolyte and electrodes. The Na3Zr2Si2PO12 ceramic phase not only enhances the sodium‐ion conductivity of the composite but also can suppress the Na dendrites from penetrating through the electrolyte membrane. To optimize the Na+‐ion conductivity, a succinonitrile (SCN) plasticizer is also incorporated. The composite solid electrolyte membranes are fabricated with an ultraviolet (UV) curing process. Through proper management of the composition, the PEGDA‐SCN‐Na3Zr2Si2PO12‐NaClO4 composite solid electrolyte delivers an ionic conductivity of 4.5 × 10−4 S cm−1 at room temperature. All‐solid‐state Na cells with the PEGDA‐SCN‐NaClO4‐Na3Zr2Si2PO12 composite electrolyte are fabricated by coupling a Na2MnFe(CN)6 positive electrode to a Na‐metal negative electrode. The resulting Na ‖ PEGDA‐SCN‐NaClO4‐Na3Zr2Si2PO12 ‖ Na2MnFe(CN)6 cells show remarkable cycling stability.

In this study, a novel hybrid sol–gel coating on AA3003 substrate was developed and the effects of various waste material additives on the reinforcement of the sol–gel coating and the anticorrosion properties in the saline medium were investigated. Egg shell, crumb rubber, activated carbon obtained for pyrolysis of waste rubber tire, waste rubber tire, cement kiln dust, and ST100 additives were tested as reinforcement materials. The AFM characterization results of the coating formulations on AA3003 alloy revealed enhanced roughness values for the modified coatings as compared to the base coating. Similarly, no significant changes were detected in the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) absorption peaks of the hybrid polymeric material upon loading it with the waste additives, while slight changes in the hydrophobic properties of the final modified coatings were observed as a result of the modification process. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results revealed that the hybrid sol–gel coating had a promising potential for the protection of the AA3003 substrate against corrosion in the saline medium. However, the loaded additives negatively affected the corrosion resistance properties of the parent hybrid sol–gel coating. For instance, the egg shell additive had the least negative effect on the barrier properties, whereas the cured coating layer of the sample loaded with cement and clay additives showed some disintegration, inhomogeneity, and low barrier properties on the metal surface.

In this paper, a new multilevel converter which consists of only the seven switches rather than the conventional multilevel converter is analyzed. The various PWM techniques were included: APODPWM, COPWM and PSPWM, to generate the respective output voltage levels. It has many main advantages of lower harmonics, reductions in installation space and cost of inverter. The performance measures like Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), VRMS (fundamental) and Vpeak are evaluated for various modulation indices. This proposed multilevel converter can be analyzed and investigated through MATLAB/SIMULINK software. Finally, compared with all PWM strategies, the COPWM and PSPWM provide higher (fundamental) RMS voltage and APODPWM provides lower Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]