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Mirabilis jalapa Linn. (Nyctaginaceae), commonly referred to as the Four O'clock plant (Sinhala name: Hendirikka), is a popular ornamental plant grown for the beauty of its flowers and used in folklore remedies. This plant is used to treat a variety of disease conditions around the world. It is widely used for abdominal colic, aphrodisiac, boils, diarrhea, inflammations, genitourinary disorders, muscular pain, and other issues by people from various countries. This plant contains several phytochemical compounds isolated from its parts, such as alkaloids, brassicasterol, carbohydrates, flavonoids, glycosides, phytosterols (beta-sitosterol and stigmasterol), oleanolic acid, trigonelline, and ursolic acid. This plant has been studied for its anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial (antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal), antioxidant & cytotoxic, anti-tumor, anti-nociceptive, antihistamine and immune modulatory, anti-tubercular induced hepatotoxic effect, antiparasitic, dermatological, and hypoglycemic and antihyperlipidemic properties. It is also used as a reductant in the production of gold nanoparticles. This research aims to review the literature on Mirabilis Jalapa’s morphology, ethnomedicinal, phytochemical, and pharmacological properties.

Aims: To investigate in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of aqueous, methanol, dichloromethane, and hexane extracts of Artocarpus nobilis Thw. leaves and stem bark using heat-induced protein denaturation test (egg albumin denaturation). Methodology: About 500 g of each matured, fully expanded leaves and stem bark of Artocarpus nobilis were collected, washed and air-dried. Leaves and stem bark parts were grounded to obtain a fine powder material. The extractions were obtained using the decoction extraction method. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using the heat-induced egg albumin denaturation method. Diclofenac sodium was used as the positive control. Results: Results showed that Diclofenac sodium exhibited an IC50 value of 243.4 µg/mL and methanolic stem bark extract had an IC50 Value of 249.8 µg/mL) for heat-induced egg albumin protein denaturation test. R² and P values for aqueous, methanol, dichloromethane, and hexane extracts indicated that there was a strong, statistically significant correlation (P

Aims: To evaluate antibacterial activity of aqueous, methanol, dichloromethane, and hexane extracts of Artocarpus nobilis Thw. leaves and stem bark against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus using agar well diffusion method. Methodology: Matured fully expanded leaves and stem bark parts of Artocarpus nobilis were collected, air-dried, and grounded. The extraction was obtained using a decoction extraction method. Antibacterial activity was performed against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC® 25923TM) and Escherichia coli (ATCC® 25922TM) using agar well diffusion method and gentamicin was used as a positive control. The whole experiment was done in triplicates and the diameter of the inhibition zone (in mm) was measured and recorded. Results: Results showed that aqueous bark extract (EC50 4.286 mg/mL) showed the highest efficacy and potency against E. coli while methanol bark extract (EC50 4.427 mg/mL) showed the highest efficacy and potency against S. aureus. R² and P values for aqueous, methanol, dichloromethane, and hexane extracts indicated that there was a strong, statistically significant correlation (P ≤ 0.05) between concentration and zone of inhibition for all extracts of A. nobilis against E. coli and S. aureus. Conclusion: This study showed that aqueous and methanol bark extracts of Artocarpus nobilis have marked in vitro dose-dependent antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus respectively. Further studies are necessary to ascertain the mechanism and the active constituents responsible for the antibacterial activity of the of plant parts of Artocarpus nobilis.

Viruses are responsible for a variety of human pathogenesis. Owing to the enhancement of the world population, global travel, and rapid urbanization, and infectious outbreaks, a critical threat has been generated to public health, as preventive vaccines and antiviral therapy are not available. Herbal medicines and refined natural products have resources for the development of novel antiviral drugs. These natural agents have shed light on preventive vaccine development and antiviral therapies. This review intends to discuss the antiviral activities of plant extracts and some isolated plant natural products based on mainly preclinical (in vitro and in vivo) studies. Twenty medicinal herbs were selected for the discussion, and those are commonly recognized antiviral medicinal plants in Ayurveda (Zingiber officinale, Caesalpinia bonducella, Allium sativum, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Ferula assafoetida, Gymnema sylvestre, Gossypium herbaceum, Phyllanthus niruri, Trachyspermum ammi, Withania somnifera, Andrographis paniculata, Centella asiatica, Curcuma longa, Woodfordia fruticose, Phyllanthus emblica, Terminalia chebula, Tamarindus indica, Terminalia arjuna, Azadirachta indica, and Ficus religiosa). However, many viruses remain without successful immunization and only a few antiviral drugs have been approved for clinical use. Hence, the development of novel antiviral drugs is much significant and natural products are excellent sources for such drug developments. In this review, we summarize the antiviral actions of selected plant extracts and some isolated natural products of the medicinal herbs.

X-ray characterisation methods have undoubtedly enabled cutting-edge advances in all aspects of materials research. Despite the enormous breadth of information that can be extracted from these techniques, the challenge of radiation-induced sample change and damage remains prevalent. This is largely due to the emergence of modern, high-intensity X-ray source technologies and the growing potential to carry out more complex, longer duration

A challenge in neurology is the lack of efficient brain-penetrable neuroprotectants targeting multiple disease mechanisms. Plasmonic gold nanostars are promising candidates to deliver standard-of-care drugs inside the brain but have not been trialed as carriers for neuroprotectants. Here, we conjugated custom-made peptide dendrimers (termed H3/H6), encompassing motifs of the neurotrophic S100A4-protein, onto star-shaped and spherical gold nanostructures (H3/H6-AuNS/AuNP) and evaluated their potential as neuroprotectants and interaction with neurons. The H3/H6 nanostructures crossed a model blood-brain barrier, bound to plasma membranes, and induced neuritogenesis with the AuNS, showing higher potency/efficacy than the AuNP. The H3-AuNS/NP protected neurons against oxidative stress, the H3-AuNS being more potent, and against Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease (PD/AD)-related cytotoxicity. Unconjugated S100A4 motifs also decreased amyloid beta-induced neurodegeneration, introducing S100A4 as a player in AD. Using custom-made dendrimers coupled to star-shaped nanoparticles is a promising route to activate multiple neuroprotective pathways and increase drug potency to treat neurodegenerative disorders.

X-ray characterisation methods have undoubtedly enabled cutting-edge advances in all aspects of materials research. Despite the enormous breadth of information that can be extracted from these techniques, the challenge of radiation-induced sample change and damage remains prevalent. This is largely due to the emergence of modern, high-intensity X-ray source technologies and growing potential to carry out more complex, longer duration in-situ or in-operando studies. The tunability of synchrotron beamlines enables the routine application of photon energy-dependent experiments. This work explores the structural stability of [Rh(COD)Cl]2, a widely used catalyst and precursor in the chemical industry, across a range of beamline parameters that target X-ray energies of 8 keV, 15 keV, 18 keV and 25 keV, on a powder X-ray diffraction synchrotron beamline at room temperature. Structural changes are discussed with respect to absorbed X-ray dose at each experimental setting associated with the respective photon energy. In addition, the X-ray radiation hardness of the catalyst is discussed, by utilising the diffraction data at the different energies to determine a dose limit, which is often considered in protein crystallography and typically overlooked in small molecule crystallography. This work not only gives fundamental insight into how damage manifests in this organometallic catalyst, but will encourage careful consideration of experimental X-ray parameters before conducting diffraction on similar radiation-sensitive organometallic materials., 20 pages, 7 figures

Selecting a specialization area is the most important and the most difficult decision that undergraduates ever made in their life. It is not only affect to their academic life but also for future personal life. There are number of specializations related to the Business Administration undergraduate degree program and Human Resource Management [1] also one of the significant area which undergraduate can select as their specialization. This paper refers to identify essential aspects of HRM to be included in the curriculum. Data collection was based on primary data which was collected through telephone interview method. The convenience sampling method was used to select eight industrial professionals and lecturers in respective area. The NVivo software have been used to analyze the data gathered from interviews. The findings of the present study suggest that modules in existing HRM undergraduate curriculum should be developed and there is a necessity of adding some new modules/ subjects/ core subjects in practical way. It was significantly identified that modern and digitalized HR practices, some practical sessions should be added to the existing HRM educational curriculum. As an implication of the study, the results will be offered as a guidance for the people who are engaging in HRM education system in order to understand the course content of the degree program and this concept recognized key aspects towards the high quality instruction for the development of HRM curriculum. This study recommends future researchers to increase the sample size and gather data even from HRM undergraduates rather than industrial professionals and lecturers.

One of the indicators of achieving the graduate attribute, Investigation, is to review the research literature, which needs both critical thinking and critical reading skills. The SQ4R strategy is ...

Core level photoelectron spectroscopy is a widely used technique to study amino acids. Interpretation of the individual contributions from functional groups and their local chemical environments to overall spectra requires both high-resolution reference spectra and theoretical insights, for example from density functional theory calculations. This is a particular challenge for crystalline amino acids due to the lack of experimental data and the limitation of previous calculations to gas phase molecules. Here, a state of the art multiresolution approach is used for high precision gas phase calculations and to validate core hole pseudopotentials for plane-wave calculations. This powerful combination of complementary numerical techniques provides a framework for accurate ΔSCF calculations for molecules and solids in systematic basis sets. It is used to successfully predict C and O 1s core level spectra of glycine, alanine and serine and identify chemical state contributions to experimental spectra of crystalline amino acids.

This study is significant to examine the impact of Human Resource Management Practices (HRMP) of the managers on Perceived Organizational Performance (POP). Employees in Managerial category at Ceylon Fisheries Corporation (CFC) in Sri Lanka totaling 123 responded for the survey. The survey questionnaire had comprised with 67 items enveloping selected HRMP and POP of CFC. This study has established that selected HRMP such as recruitment & selection, training & development, performance appraisal and reward management has a significant impact on POP in the context of CFC in Sri Lanka. The study utilized quantitative method and cross sectional approach. The results were derived from the survey study at the convenience of the researcher with quantitative approach. It is found that CFC has enhanced its performance to higher degree, by emphasizing more on proper recruitment & selection procedure, implementing comprehensive training & development programs, application of sound performance appraisal system and execution of effective reward management initiatives. More studies on impact of HRMP on POP have focused on private sectors in Sri Lanka. Hence, this study has attempted to investigate the impact of HRMP on POP in CFC as an element of State-Owned Business Enterprises (SOBEs) in Sri Lanka.

Molecules which exhibit thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) show great promise for use in efficient, environmentally-friendly OLEDs, and thus the design of new TADF emitters is an active area of research. However, when used in devices, they are typically in the form of disordered thin films, where both the external molecular environment and thermally-induced internal variations in parameters such as the torsion angle can strongly influence their electronic structure. In this work, we use density functional theory and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the impact of disorder on both core and valence states in the TADF emitter 2CzPN (1,2-bis(carbazol-9-yl)-4,5-dicyanobenzene). By simulating gas phase molecules displaying varying levels of disorder, we assess the relative sensitivity of the different states to factors such as varying torsion angle. The theoretical results for both core and valence states show good agreement with experiment, thereby also highlighting the advantages of our approach for interpreting experimental spectra of large aromatic molecules, which are too complex to interpret based solely on experimental data.

Tungsten (W) is an important and versatile transition metal and has a firm place at the heart of many technologies. A popular experimental technique for the characterization of tungsten and tungsten-based compounds is x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which enables the assessment of chemical states and electronic structure through the collection of core level and valence band spectra. However, in the case of tungsten metal, open questions remain regarding the origin, nature, and position of satellite features that are prominent in the photoelectron spectrum. These satellites are a fingerprint of the electronic structure of the material and have not been thoroughly investigated, at times leading to their misinterpretation. The present work combines high-resolution soft and hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (SXPS and HAXPES) with reflected electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) and a multitiered ab initio theoretical approach, including density functional theory (DFT) and many-body perturbation theory (G0W0 and GW + C ), to disentangle the complex set of experimentally observed satellite features attributed to the generation of plasmons and interband transitions. This combined experiment-theory strategy is able to uncover previously undocumented satellite features, improving our understanding of their direct relationship to tungsten's electronic structure. Furthermore, it lays the groundwork for future studies into tungsten-based mixed-metal systems and holds promise for the reassessment of the photoelectron spectra of other transition and post-transition metals, where similar questions regarding satellite features remain. CK acknowledges the support from the Department of Chemistry, UCL. NKF acknowledges support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L015277/1). AR acknowledges the support fromthe Analytical Chemistry Trust Fund for her CAMS-UK Fellowship. LER acknowledges support from an EPSRC Early Career Research Fellowship (EP/P033253/1). JL and JMK acknowledge funding from EPSRC under Grant No. EP/R002010/1 and from a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF/R/191004). This work used the ARCHER UK National Supercomputing Service via JL’s membership of the HEC Materials Chemistry Consortium of UK, which is funded by EPSRC (EP/L000202). JJGM and SM acknowledge the support from the FusionCAT project (001-P-001722) cofinanced by the European Union Regional Development Fund within the framework of the ERDF Operational Program of Catalonia 2014-2020 with a grant of 50% of total cost eligible, the access to computational resources at MareNostrum and the technical support provided by BSC (RES-QS-2020-3-0026). Part of this work was carried out using supercomputer resources provided under the EU-JA Broader Approach collaboration in the Computational Simulation Centre of International Fusion Energy Research Centre (IFERC-CSC) Peer Reviewed "Article signat per 13 autors/es: C. Kalha, L. E. Ratcliff, J. J. Gutiérrez Moreno, S. Mohr, M. Mantsinen, N. K. Fernando, P. K. Thakur, T.-L. Lee, H.-H. Tseng, T. S. Nunney, J. M. Kahk, J. Lischner, and A. Regoutz"

X-ray characterization techniques are invaluable for probing material characteristics and properties, and have been instrumental in discoveries across materials research. However, there is a current lack of understanding of how X-ray-induced effects manifest in small molecular crystals. This is of particular concern as new X-ray sources with ever-increasing brilliance are developed. In this paper, systematic studies of X-ray-matter interactions are reported on two industrially important catalysts, [Ir(COD)Cl]

X-ray characterization techniques are invaluable for probing material characteristics and properties, and have been instrumental in discoveries across materials research. However, there is a current lack of understanding of how X-ray-induced effects manifest in small molecular crystals. This is of particular concern as new X-ray sources with ever-increasing brilliance are developed. In this paper, systematic studies of X-ray-matter interactions are reported on two industrially important catalysts, [Ir(COD)Cl]2 and [Rh(COD)Cl]2, exposed to radiation in X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experiments. From these complementary techniques, changes to structure, chemical environments, and electronic structure are observed as a function of X-ray exposure, allowing comparisons of stability to be made between the two catalysts. Radiation dose is estimated using recent developments to the RADDOSE-3D software for small molecules and applied to powder XRD and XPS experiments. Further insights into the electronic structure of the catalysts and changes occurring as a result of the irradiation are drawn from density functional theory (DFT). The techniques combined here offer much needed insight into the X-ray-induced effects in transition-metal catalysts and, consequently, their intrinsic stabilities. There is enormous potential to extend the application of these methods to other small molecular systems of scientific or industrial relevance.

Climate change has pushed the natural limits of our environment, creating extreme weather events that are more frequent and more intense in certain locations around the globe. There is evidence of increasing trends in temperature extremes in most countries of South Asia, while in a few regions, temperature extremes have been decreasing. Heatwaves have intensified, which has contributed to accelerating drought and extreme flood events in most South Asian countries. Overall changes in rainfall and temperature have led to alterations in water availability in this region. With few exceptions, the general phenomenon in most South Asian countries is that rainfall intensity has increased, but with a reduced number of wet days. Studies that associate rainfall and temperature in the region of South Asia are scarce and rainfall extremes have been studied more extensively than temperature extremes. In fact, temperature trends are spatially less coherent than rainfall trends in most south Asian countries. It is more likely correlated for the teleconnection and South Asian climate for influencing the temperature and rainfall pattern, rather than any other factors. When it comes to trend estimations, statistical slope detection metrics, such as simple linear regression, have been commonly used to detect and quantify mean trends for countries in the regions of South Asia. However, application lacks in usage of robust nonparametric statistical tests to quantify temperature and rainfall extremes in many countries of South Asia. Statistical downscaling is recommended for better prediction accuracy as well as to find spatial coherence in trends.

Hershfield’s statistical procedure is recognized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and widely used for estimating probable maximum precipitation (PMP). It uses the frequency fa...

The binary alloy of titanium-tungsten (TiW) is an established diffusion barrier in high-power semiconductor devices, owing to its ability to suppress the diffusion of copper from the metallization scheme into the surrounding silicon substructure. However, little is known about the response of TiW to high-temperature events or its behavior when exposed to air. Here, a combined soft and hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization approach is used to study the influence of post-deposition annealing and titanium concentration on the oxidation behavior of a 300 nm-thick TiW film. The combination of both XPS techniques allows for the assessment of the chemical state and elemental composition across the surface and bulk of the TiW layer. The findings show that in response to high-temperature annealing, titanium segregates out of the mixed metal system and upwardly migrates, accumulating at the TiW/air interface. Titanium shows remarkably rapid diffusion under relatively short annealing timescales, and the extent of titanium surface enrichment is increased through longer annealing periods or by increasing the bulk titanium concentration. Surface titanium enrichment enhances the extent of oxidation both at the surface and in the bulk of the alloy due to the strong gettering ability of titanium. Quantification of the soft x-ray photoelectron spectra highlights the formation of three tungsten oxidation environments, attributed to WO2, WO3, and a WO3 oxide coordinated with a titanium environment. This combinatorial characterization approach provides valuable insights into the thermal and oxidation stability of TiW alloys from two depth perspectives, aiding the development of future device technologies. C.K. acknowledges the support from the Department of Chemistry, UCL. N.K.F. acknowledges support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (No. EP/L015277/1). J.J.G.M. and S.M. acknowledge the support from the FusionCAT project (No. 001-P-001722) co-financed by the European Union Regional Development Fund within the framework of the ERDF Operational Program of Catalonia 2014–2020 with a grant of 50% of total cost eligible, the access to computational resources at MareNostrum and the technical support provided by BSC (No. RES-QS-2020-3-0026). L.E.R. acknowledges support from an EPSRC Early Career Research Fellowship (No. EP/P033253/1) and the Thomas Young Centre under Grant No. TYC-101. A.R. acknowledges the support from the Analytical Chemistry Trust Fund for her CAMS-UK Fellowship. We acknowledge Diamond Light Source for time on Beamline I09 under Proposal No. SI19885-1. The authors would like to thank Dave McCue, I09 beamline technician, for his support of the experiments. Peer Reviewed "Article signat per 13 autors/es: C. Kalha, S. Bichelmaier, N. K. Fernando, J. V. Berens, P. K. Thakur, T.-L. Lee, J. J. Gutiérrez Moreno, S. Mohr, L. E. Ratcliff, M. Reisinger, J. Zechner, M. Nelhiebel, and A. Regoutz"

Journal of physics / Condensed matter 33(23), 233001 (1-44) (2021). doi:10.1088/1361-648X/abeacd, Hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) is establishing itself as an essential technique for the characterisation of materials. The number of specialised photoelectron spectroscopy techniques making use of hard x-rays is steadily increasing and ever more complex experimental designs enable truly transformative insights into the chemical, electronic, magnetic, and structural nature of materials. This paper begins with a short historic perspective of HAXPES and spans from developments in the early days of photoelectron spectroscopy to provide an understanding of the origin and initial development of the technique to state-of-the-art instrumentation and experimental capabilities. The main motivation for and focus of this paper is to provide a picture of the technique in 2020, including a detailed overview of available experimental systems worldwide and insights into a range of specific measurement modi and approaches. We also aim to provide a glimpse into the future of the technique including possible developments and opportunities., Published by IOP Publ., Bristol

Green building is widely discussed in may research arenas. There are millions of ways in developing and achieving “green status” using various green building rating tools. The main aim of green buildings is to design and construct environmentally, socially and economically sustainable buildings to reduce the negative impacts on the environment and the society as a whole. However, the real question is whether implanting one-off green building can face this challenge. Green buildings need to be integrated to the society and the cities. Even though integrating cities, into this concept is a long way ahead, this research aims to explore the possibility of developing green building clusters for mega residential projects in Australia. This paper presents a preliminary desk study of the proposed project. Currently there is an exponential growth in residential building developments within Australia. Therefore, this research identified the potential methods such as “district cooling system” as one of the resource sharing techniques among green buildings cluster in residential developments. District cooling system is one of such initiative used in Middle Eastern countries for residential developments where cooling is essential for most parts of the year. However, this is not widely used in Australia. This research study carried out a cost–benefit analysis based on a case study project. The research study reported that developing district cooling system is positive for energy savings and life-cycle costs, yet there are many challenges. Combining renewable energy sources into district cooling systems is one of the future directions identified.

With the massive investments on the infrastructure over the coming years in Australia, Building Information Modelling (BIM) has become a one of the priorities in managing these massive projects. Over the next fifteen-year period, Australia focuses on 121 national significant infrastructure proposals worth of 58 billion dollars, to deliver best outcomes for Australia’s growing communities. Yet, Australia has a long way to go prior to mandating BIM national wide. There has been a visible rise in BIM adoption within the last couple of years, yet there are many speculations for the future and lot of discussion on the actual standpoint in BIM in Australia. Integrating innovative learning models with major advances in collaborative construction methods will help keep Australia abreast of this massive technological development. BIM will unlock new and more efficient ways of working, putting the world in a new digital construction era. Therefore, this review papers intends to focus on the current status of BIM in Australia for adopting it in infrastructure projects. Initially, this research identified the adoption of BIM in Australian context. Based on this analysis, this research study identified the status quo of BIM implementation in Australia and the steps that should be initiated in order to pave the way toward a smooth adoption of BIM in infrastructure projects in Australian context.

Amino acids are essential to all life. However, our understanding of some aspects of their intrinsic structure, molecular chemistry, and electronic structure is still limited. In particular the nature of amino acids in their crystalline form, often essential to biological and medical processes, faces a lack of knowledge both from experimental and theoretical approaches. An important experimental technique that has provided a multitude of crucial insights into the chemistry and electronic structure of materials is x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. While the interpretation of spectra of simple bulk inorganic materials is often routine, interpreting core level spectra of complex molecular systems is complicated to impossible without the help of theory. We have previously demonstrated the ability of density functional theory to calculate binding energies of simple amino acids, using ΔSCF implemented in a systematic basis set for both gas phase (multiwavelets) and solid state (plane waves) calculations. In this study, we use the same approach to successfully predict and rationalise the experimental core level spectra of phenylalanine (Phe), tyrosine (Tyr), tryptophan (Trp), and histidine (His) and gain an in-depth understanding of their chemistry and electronic structure within the broader context of more than 20 related molecular systems. The insights gained from this study provide significant information on the nature of the aromatic amino acids and their conjugated side chains.

In recent years, people have pursued smarter and faster options for fast-paced modern lifestyles. This is in response to many technologies that have recently emerged. Vehicle tracking systems based on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology is one of these. This chapter aims to examine the IoT-based cutting-edge vehicular tracking systems. For this purpose, 30 peer-reviewed research publications, from 2014 to 2018, were selected and raw data was extracted. Selection was based on certain critical parameters such as: measuring attributes of the moving vehicle, sensors and actuators used for data obtaining in tracking devices, data transferring methods for transmission, networks and protocols utilized for communication, utilized stock for data storage, programming languages or systems, and algorithms utilized for raw data analysis. The investigation demonstrated that (i) a large portion of the IoT sensors and actuators were centered on the primary location tracking system in cloud data centers that can be handled remotely by retrieving real-time data, (ii) The GPS sensors widely use in vehicle tracking systems were based on the RFID technology, (iii) Wi-Fi networks were the most popular networks while GSM/GPRS and TCP/UDP protocols were the best transport layer protocols, (iv) most used storage method was observed as the cloud for smart vehicle tracking systems, and (v) Kalman filter was the most popular algorithm in vehicular tracking systems. Moreover, the most critical advantage of using IoT for tracking systems was the effectiveness, security, and intrusion of protection for the passengers. The security administration could monitor students by remotely tracking their RFID sensor tags or any IoT sensor embedded in the tracking unit. This chapter also reviews and provides relevant information for road traffic officers and related experts, correspondence technologists, and technological innovation researchers on the IoT-based smart vehicle tracking frameworks.

Chromium (III) complex [Cr (hq)3;C2H5OH] of 8-hydroxyquinoline (hq) was prepared and its structure was resolved by X-ray diffraction analysis at low-temperature, showing that Cr3+ ion presents in distorted octahedral geometry, and it is consistent with the DFT optimized structure. It was observed that solvent ethanol is involved a hydrogen bond with 8-hydroxyquinoline anion. Furthermore, the molecular orbital contributions to spectral bands observed for the complex were determined by TD-DFT. The interaction of [Cr (hq)3;C2H5OH] with glutamine (Gln) or asparagine (Asn) shows that the complex binds effectively with glutamine through hydrogen bonding (H2N+-H⋅⋅⋅Oethanol) to form a possible stable adduct [Cr (hq)3;C2H5OH)Gln], yielding its binding constant 10,000 times greater (1.4315 M-1) than that for Asn (5.0 × 10−4 M−1). This is apparently due to the formation of stable secondary coordination sphere through the hydrogen bond between the metal complex with Gln. This observation is good agreement with the total molecular energy as well as with the molecular orbital study, i.e. in the DFT calculation, a lower total molecular energy (−8299,549.441 kcal/mmol) for [Cr (hq)3;C2H5OH) Gln] was obtained than that resulted for [Cr (hq)3;C2H5OH)Asn] (−8194,799.867 kcal/mmol), establishing ethanol effectively stabilizes the interaction between glutamine and the complex. Finally, antibacterial properties of [Cr (hq)3;C2H5OH] against Gram positive Bacillus cereus and Gram negative Escherichia coli was also studied, and compared its bacterial growths for its adducts of glutamine or of asparagine.

Southeast Asian ovalocytosis (SAO) is an autosomal dominant, red cell membrane defect due to mutation in SLC4A1 gene which code for band 3 protein. Though this condition is common among Southeast Asia, the prevalence is very low in Sri Lanka. We report a case of asymptomatic SAO in western province, Sri Lanka who was found incidentally. She was treated for pyelonephritis and while investigating, the peripheral blood film reveals, the presence of numerous ovalocytes (knizocytes) and elliptocytes compatible with SAO. Diagnosis is done by finding many ovalocytes in the blood film supported by genetic analysis and knizocytes are also seen in the blood film. Treatment is unnecessary. Good prognosis has observed in heterozygous form.

SiC is set to enable a new era in power electronics impacting a wide range of energy technologies, from electric vehicles to renewable energy. Its physical characteristics outperform silicon in many aspects, including band gap, breakdown field, and thermal conductivity. The main challenge for further development of SiC-based power semiconductor devices is the quality of the interface between SiC and its native dielectric SiO2. High temperature nitridation processes can improve the interface quality and ultimately the device performance immensely, but the underlying chemical processes are still poorly understood. Here, we present an energy-dependent hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) study probing non-destructively SiC and SiO2 and their interface in device stacks treated in varying atmospheres. We successfully combine laboratory- and synchrotron-based HAXPES to provide unique insights into the chemistry of interface defects and their passivation through nitridation processes.