Search

Abstract-: Partial shading deteriorates the overall performance of photovoltaic (PV) arrays by reducing the power output. Various shading mitigation strategies have been proposed in the literature with vulnerabilities of limited applications, switches, sensor counts, design, cost, and complexities. In this paper, a multi-string differential power processing (MS-DPP) based voltage equalizer is proposed for power output improvement in the PV arrays during shading. The equalizer is utilized for the series-parallel array which is equipped with a shading detection system achieved from the optimal placement of minimum sensor counts. The technique uses the concept of a switching capacitor that balances the voltage ratio between the modules of individual strings to ensure higher power generation and convex power curves during shading. The system is simulated and validated in MATLAB simulation and further verified on the OPAL-RT 4510 hardware-in-loop FPGA-based real-time platform. The technique is executed on three array sizes and compared with existing techniques under static and dynamic partial shading cases. The analysis shows that MS-DPP enhances the array power output with a conversion efficiency higher than 99 % during shading with lower system size and 98.38 % and 95.05 % reduced counts of switches and sensors than dynamic reconfigurations.

Modern-day power systems are highly stressed and operate close to the stability limit. The bus voltage variation in power systems generally infringes on the researcher's mind about voltage stability. The main focus of this manuscript is the voltage stability problem and voltage security assessment rather than the angle stability problem. Voltage security can be determined by running a full-load AC load flow with contingency analysis. In real-time analysis, running thousands of contingencies in online mode is quite a cumbersome task, so here in this manuscript, we have proposed a functional link-based ANN for voltage security assessment and then predicted the weakest voltage control area by the entropy concept along with the placement of FACTS devices according to the voltage control area weakness factor and contingencies ranking. The novel technique is then tested with IEEE-14 Bus and IEEE-30 Bus systems with voltage stability performance indicators.

This paper analyzes the effect of different types of dust on the reduction of PV systems' performance. The PV system installed on the field gives maximum output. However, in a real-time scheme, the PV system fails to generate the desired power output due to various realistic and unavoidable factors like soiling. Different dust particles accumulating on photovoltaic (PV) modules result in shadowing and reduced irradiance, impacting power production. The study investigates eight dust samples (ash, dirt, cement, brick powder, putty, wood dust, sand, and salt) in indoor and outdoor environments. It evaluates the decrease in power at solar irradiance levels of 500, 700, and 1000 W/m². The soiling experiments conducted indoors show that the maximum% reduction in power is 39.21 % in the case of Ash, while a minimum of 8.32 % in the case of red soil. The outdoor experiments suggest that red soil, sand, and brick dust can create huge power losses in the PV system, followed by ash powder, wood dust, putty dust, salt, and cement powder. The advantages of this research lie in its thorough analysis of several forms of dust and their impact on photovoltaic (PV) systems under different circumstances. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the crucial need for implementing dust control measures to maximize system performance, thereby providing insightful information for system design and maintenance procedures. The novelty of this study is to investigate the performance impact of various kinds of dust on PV systems, offering significant insights for improving system efficiency in real-world circumstances. The research enhances the reliability and applicability of its results by thoroughly assessing outdoor and indoor conditions, bridging the gap between laboratory results and practical applications.

The trend of integrating different distributed generation sources into the existing grid have increased the probability of power quality disturbances to a threatening level. Eventually, detection, protection and mitigation of these disturbances are even more challenging. In this regard, the article presents an intelligent power quality disturbance classification scheme using a 2D convolutional neural network designed from a systematic and structural standpoint. A total of 8 singular, 5 complex power quality events are simulated and voltage data collection is made from a test system designed in MATLAB Simulink environment. The three-phase voltage data is converted to a single signal arrangement through a newly proposed Unique Clark’s Transformed Sequence. In addition to that, the scheme completely eliminates the worry of a signal processing stage by proposing a novel scaled matrix image created out of 2-cycle data collected at 6.4kHz sampling frequency that acts as input to the CNN architecture designed in the PYTHON environment. Further, the novelty extended to design a pseudo-real-time setup where the MATLAB environment continuously runs the test system, producing scaled matrix images. These images are saved to a shared directory, enabling a PYTHON loop for prompt event classification through the trained CNN model. The model performance is found to be 100% under ideal conditions. It has also tested under three different noise conditions of 40dB, 30dB and 20dB and obtained an overall accuracy of 98.86% with singular events. Further, the method is also verified for complex and unsymmetrical dataset and found to be equally effective. Additionally, the validation is likewise made with a trivial set of real-time simulated data using OPAL-RT 4510 setup. Finally, the proposed PQ detection scheme is compared with recently published work to express its superiority over other similar studies in terms of classification accuracy.INDEX TERMS Convolutional neural network, deep learning, power quality disturbance classification, scaled matrix image, unique Clark’s transformed sequence.

The modern era power system is constantly undergoing constructive changes and implementations both in source and load side. Certainly, the distributed generators, unconventional/nonlinear loads, charging stations etc are mostly integrated through power electronics interfaces. As a result, frequent power quality disturbances appear in the system that is to be mitigated at the earliest. Since detection is the prerequisite for mitigation, therefore the article presents a novel intelligent power quality detection scheme to detect and classify the PQ Events. At first, the energy feature of the 5 band limited modes are calculated from variational mode decomposed voltage signals. Then the mode energy features are utilized to train a novel Hybrid Arithmetic Whale Optimized light gradient boosting machine classifier. A total of 15 different PQ events have been investigated and exceptional classification results have obtained with optimum computational complexity, both under noiseless and noisy conditions. Moreover, the accuracy of the proposed PQ classification schemes found to be towering against other related pre-published works. Finally, the ability of the proposed detection scheme is validated in real time though OPAL-RT 4510 and grid simulator hardware in loop setup.

The power loss in the arrays due to non-uniform irradiances in the site is the most common scenario observed in a PV system. The irradiance non-uniformity occurs due to obstacles between actual irradiance and modules caused by dust and shadow of clouds, trees, and buildings in some portions of the array. This results in complications like mismatch, power reduction, deformed characteristics curves, failure of power tracking algorithms, and sometimes physical damage to the PV modules. Numerous solutions are present for mitigating the above complications among which the array reconfiguration gained a huge audience for ease of implementation, lower cost, and higher reliability but, each technique exhibits certain drawbacks. In this paper, a harmony search reconfiguration (HSR) algorithm for dynamic reconfiguration is proposed that has advantages in terms of simplicity, adaptability, convergence speed, reduced switch count, and arbitrary array application. The modeling and validation are done in the MATLAB platform using $5 \times 5$ , $9 \times 9$ , $9 \times 5$ , and $3 \times 3$ arrays under various shading cases and compared with the 22 existing conventional, static, and dynamic techniques. The depth investigation shows the higher performance of the HSR with 24.64% and 12.28% higher performance than conventional and static techniques with lowest actual power deviation of −1.10% and equivalent performance to that of existing techniques with reduced complexities.

This paper develops the Gaussian Mutation Based Teaching-Learning Optimization (GMBTLO) to solve different reactive power dispatch problems. In GMBTLO, Gaussian random variables are instituted, which includes both the ‘Teacher phase’ as well as ‘Learner phase’ helps to improve the efficiency of searching. Simultaneously, it ensures more feasibility to obtain the global optimal. Gaussian random variables are presented in GMBTLO, where both the ‘Teacher phase’ as well as ‘Learner phase’ is considered. This advances searching competence and guarantee a great possibility of achieving global optimum without affecting the convergence speed. In this paper, GMBTLO is implemented to enhance solution quality as well as convergence speed. Developed GMBTLO is exploited for obtaining the control variables settings including terminal voltages of a generator, transformer taps, as well as output power of shunt VAR compensators (reactive) for achieving a reduced loss in real power transmission and enhanced voltage profile. GMBTLO is validated by taking IEEE 30-bus, 57-bus along with 118-bus test systems. Also, test outcomes are matched with the results already acquired from other implemented evolutionary techniques. It is concluded that the suggested GMBTLO extends a better solution.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) owing to its broad application spectrum are gaining popularity in recent years. The current review article offers a one-stop-reference for young scientists as it encompasses the literature reports on method of synthesis and functionalization of MNPs based systems and their potential applications spectrum in diverse fields. This review summarizes in details about different methods reported in literature for the synthesis of MNPs, need of functionalization of MNPs, immobilization of active species onto the surface of functionalized MNPs and their applications in carrying out biologically important organic transformation. Applications of MNPs are not only restricted to the field of catalysis but also showed potential applications in different sectors. Over the last few decades, there has been increasing global concern over public health issues due to contamination of water bodies with harmful dyes and toxic metals. Monitoring and subsequent removal of these harmful dyes and toxic metals from the contaminated water is one of the major environmental remediation interests today. In this context, MNPs based absorbents have shown exuberant potential to remove deleterious pollutants from water bodies owing to their high removal efficiency, low cost, faster kinetics, easy accessibility and design flexibility. Besides, MNPs have also proved their potential in the field of enzyme and pharmaceutical industries. MNPs being the major class of nanoscale materials are revolutionizing the current clinical diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and are currently employed as next generation drug carriers. Furthermore, Magnetic NP-Based Biosensors was also employed for detection of the presence of SARS-CoV-2, a ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus responsible for nearly 6.1 million deaths occurred due to COVID-19 pandemic. MNPs based system also showed their potential in fuel industry as it is used in the production of biodiesel which emerges as a promising alternative to fossil fuel derived energy sources because it is eco-friendly, clean and biodegradable in nature. In short, we have provided in-depth details about the MNPs, their synthesis, functionalization and their applications in diverse fields.

Traveling Wave Tubes (TWT) are most widely used in civil, defense, and space applications as power amplifiers over a wide range of frequency. When a TWT works at a higher bandwidth, it suffers from nonlinearities, which affects the overall performance of the tube and hence the required results aren't achieved. So, optimization of a TWT is required, mainly in terms of its power characteristics. Power characteristics of the TWTs are specified in terms of output power at different input drive levels, AM/PM transfer and AM/PM conversions, input, and output back-off, gain at saturation, etc. Some of the linearity factors like 3rd order inter modulation product (IMP), and the 1 dB compression point are also optimized. An exhaustive study has been made to achieve the optimum performance of a 140W TWT in Ku-Band. The result has been validated by experimental results.

Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) is a rare autoimmune disorder which mainly affects the skin and skeletal muscles. Characteristic features of this rare disorder include Gottron papules, heliotrope rashes and proximal muscle weakness. MDA5 positive JDM is usually associated with interstitial lung disease in later part of life. The authors report a case of an 11-year-old male child who presented to the Paediatric Department with complaints of rashes over extensor surfaces, Gottron papules and pain and weakness in all limbs. The child was on treatment from the Dermatology Department as a case of psoriasis for last six months. During hospital stay after detailed work-up, the child was diagnosed to have JDM. Anti-melanoma Differentiation-Associated gene 5 (Anti-MDA5) antibodies were positive in the present case. The child was treated with immunosuppressive drugs with supportive care and is currently on treatment for the last one and a half years and is largely asymptomatic. JDM requires meticulous clinical examination and specific investigations so that timely diagnosis can be made to ensure appropriate treatment. In the present index case, the authors describe the typical clinical presentation, newer investigative modalities like myositis specific antibody and treatment outcomes of this rare condition.

This work discusses the frequency and voltage stabilization in a stand-alone self-excited induction generator system (SEIGs) using a fuel cell (FC)-based generation unit. The proposed SEIG acts as the power generator in a microhydro system. Variations in load create fluctuations in voltage and frequency, which have to be stabilized. In this work, authors have proposed integrating a FC-based generation unit with the existing SEIGs to improve its voltage and frequency profiles. For this work, a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has been considered. Modeling of a 36 kW PEMFC is taken for the proposed work, which has to be integrated with the 22 kW self-excited induction generator. The design of the system and converter parameters have also been included in the work. Authors have proposed an orthogonal current component-based controlstructure that provides independent control of active and reactive power in the system. Considering the FC system working conditions, this article aims to assure optimum power transfer capability between the self-excited induction generator, fuel cell system, and the time-varying loads. The system is exposed to time-varying RL loads dynamic load switching, and the performance is evaluated in real-time. OP 4510 real-time simulator verifies the proposed system's dynamic model created using Matlab/Simulink.

Background: Breast cancer is triggered by uncontrollable breast cell development. These metals may build up in human serum and tissues, causing estrogenic/malignant consequences. Therefore, metals are being studied to investigate whether they enhance the risk of endocrine-related malignancies like breast cancer. Methods: This study assessed the level of metals such as Cd, As, Pb, Ni, Cr, Zn, and Fe in 120 women undergoing breast cancer surgery in the Malwa region of Punjab. Subjects having malignant breast lesions (n = 83) were grouped in the cancer case group whereas subjects with benign breast lesions (n = 37) were separated as a control group. From each case, blood, breast tumor, surrounding adipose tissue samples were obtained, and metal analysis was carried out using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results: In malignant cases, the amount of metals ranges from 0.04 to 139.18 μg/kg in tumor. Whereas in adipose tissues and blood, it ranges from 0.04 to 1164.0 μg/kg and from 0.02 to 276.61 μg/kg, respectively. In control group, the total amount ranges from 0.05 to 332.72 μg/kg in the tumor, from 0.13 to 125.61 μg/kg in adipose tissues, and from 0.01 to 121.76 μg/kg in the blood. The level of Cd, Cr, Zn, Fe, Ni, and Pb were observed to be statistically significant/extremely significant whereas Arsenic was detected in no groups. Conclusion: The results indicate that Cd, Cr, Zn, Fe, Ni, and Pb may play a significant role in the development of breast cancer. The parenchymal component of tumor tissues accumulates heavy metals at a higher rate.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) power system consists of numerous modules connected in series and parallel to generate a certain range of voltage and current outputs. However, the modules are highly vulnerable to the frequently occurring scenario of partial shading that results in severe losses of power, hotspot, system performance reduction, and permanent damage to the modules. These problems are mainly diminished through reconfiguration strategies that disperse the intensity of shading among the modules to reduce current mismatch and increase the power output of the system. But the pre-existing reconfiguration techniques exhibit one major demerit toward the limited application in symmetrical or square arrays that are quite uncommon in the real-time scenario. Hence, this paper presents a Dimension-Independent Array Relocation (DIAR) approach for the modules connected to asymmetrical arrays that enhance the output power of the system during all patterns of partial shading scenarios. The methodology is simple, easy to implement, cost-effective, and a one-time arrangement for the modules of the system that ensures lower power losses and higher reliability during partial shading. The methodology has been tested for $6\times 3$ , $5\times 7$ , $20\times 4$ , and $4\times 3$ (experimental analysis) asymmetrical arrays and compared with conventional connections under numerous partial shading cases in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. Additionally, the application of the proposed methodology to symmetrical arrays has been validated under partial shading and compared to three pre-existing reconfiguration strategies. From the depth investigation, the average efficiency of power conversion has been noted as 98.04% with an average power enhancement of 18.34% than conventional techniques.

Shopping malls are visited for both functional as well as entertainment values. They provide emotional comfort and escape from boredom and stress to the shoppers. This study investigates the relationship of ambiance, layout, and utility of a mall with escapism and repurchase intention using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model. Using a survey instrument, a convenience sampling procedure was adopted to obtain data from 316 respondents (mall visitors of the Delhi National capital Region in India). Delhi is the mall capital of India, with the highest population density in the world. The relationships between utility-escapism (β = .0265, p = .018), layout-escapism (β = 0.269, p = .012), layout-utility (β = 0.776, p < 0.001), utility-ambiance (β = 0.480, p < 0.001), layout-ambiance (β = 0.407, p < 0.001), and escapism-repurchase intention (β = 0.708, p < 0.001) are validated. However, the relationship between ambiance-escapism (β = 0.073, p = .509) is not supported. The results indicate that mall layout facilitates escapism followed by utility, whereas ambiance does not play a vital role. The purpose of the mall visit moderates this effect. Mall managers can create engaging shopping experiences to help shoppers escape boring routines/stress through improved layouts and enhanced functional values. The study establishes a strong linkage between mall layout, utility, and escapism.

This work is based on the evaluation of a super-twisting sliding mode controller for power control in an isolated multi-source renewable generation system. The hybrid multi-source system taken into consideration, in this case, is made up of three different generation units. The main generation unit is a 22kW micro-hydro system with a self-excited induction generator. To this, a 7.5kW doubly fed induction generator-based wind energy conversion system is integrated. An 18kW solar PV system connected to a battery energy storage system is connected at the dc-link. All the above systems are integrated through a bidirectional nine-switch converter. The autonomous hybrid system's power control is solely done by the nine-switch converter. In this work, efforts have been made to combine the robustness and accuracy of super-twisting sliding mode controllers with the reliability and flexibility of the nine-switch converters. The performance evaluation of the above combination is done with various load and source side disturbances. The system's uninterrupted power supply capability has also been examined in this work. Using the MATLAB environment, the system's performance is evaluated, examined, and the same has been verified using an OPAL-RT 4510 real-time simulator.

PV systems connected to the grid are primarily designed to generate clean energy to fulfil the rising energy demand. To predict the performance and efficacy of PV systems, several installation aspects are employed, such as location, local meteorological data, orientation, optimal tilt angle, varying losses, and energy yield estimation. Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar (Latitude 20.24°N and Longitude 80.85°E) has taken one such initiative by installing a 13 kWp rooftop grid-connected solar photovoltaic system in one of its institutional buildings. The solar PV system is fixed at an angle of 21° and is installed on the rooftop of a 25-m height building. The measured performance characteristics were analysed and compared to those of PVSyst software to determine its feasibility in campus buildings. From the result, the annual electricity supplied to the grid is 17.79 MWh, final yield of 3.80 h/d, reference yield of 4.62 h/d and performance ratio of 0.82. The solar PV system installed at the institution is predicted to have reduced 17443.02 kg of CO2, 22.07 kg of SO2, and 46.1 kg of NOx from the atmosphere per year. The lebelised cost of energy (LCOE) of the installed PV system is 9.408 INR/kWh with a payback of 9.8 years. This study provides the techno-economic feasibility of installing grid-connected solar PV systems on the roof of an institutional building and help the solar installers in establishing the most efficient solar photovoltaic system’s sizing and design.

Aim The aim of the study is to determine improvements in perinatal mortality at the end of the first 2 years from the initiation of the Samrakshan program of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association. Methods Samrakshan is a screening program of pregnant women that uses trimester-specific risk assessment protocols including maternal demographics, mean arterial pressure, and fetal Doppler studies to classify women as high risk or low risk for preterm preeclampsia (PE) and fetal growth restriction (FGR). Low dose aspirin 150 mg daily once at bedtime was started for pregnant women identified as high risk in the 11–136/7 weeks screening. The third-trimester screening focused on the staging of FGR and protocol-based management for childbirth and risk assessment for PE. Outcomes of childbirth including gestational age at delivery, development of PE, and perinatal mortality outcomes were collected. Results Radiologists from 38 districts of 16 states of India participated in the Samrakshan program that screened 2,816 first trimester, 3,267 second trimester, and 3,272 third trimester pregnant women, respectively. At 2 years, preterm PE was identified in 2.76%, preterm births in 19.28%, abnormal Doppler study in 25.76% of third trimester pregnancies, and 75.32% of stage 1 FGR delivered at term. The neonatal mortality rate was 9.86/1,000 live births, perinatal mortality rate was 18.97/1,000 childbirths, and maternal mortality was 58/100,000 live births compared with 29.5, 36, and 113, respectively in 2016. Conclusion Fetal Doppler integrated antenatal ultrasound studies in Samrakshan led to a significant reduction in preterm PE rates, preterm birth rates, and a significant improvement in mean birth weights. Perinatal, neonatal, and maternal mortality rates are significantly better than the targets for 2030 set by the Sustainable Development Goals-3.

The awareness of making decisions in an imprecise environment has resulted in considering the inventory system under a fuzzy approach. The effects of uncertain demand have been finding increased application in many inventory systems. Uncertainty creates complicated situations for the manufacturer in making decisions. Markets have become more competitive as a result of technological advancements. The effect of inflation on the overall cost of the inventory system is useful in providing a tool for the analysis of inventory decisions. This study intended to estimate the effect of different fuzzy numbers on a manufacturer's annual joint expected total cost. The comparative study of this proposed model has been considered for two different fuzzy numbers with the defuzzification technique as the centroid method. The optimization technique has been used to minimize the producer's joint expected total cost under the condition mentioned earlier, and the model is validated numerically. (original abstract)

Partial shading is the most unexpected scenario encountered by the arrays that degrade the performance causing power reduction, non-convex characteristics curves, losses, hotspot, module damage, and system failure. The adoption of various reconfiguration techniques has recently provided relief to the PV array to reduce power losses during partial shading. However, these techniques exhibit vulnerabilities such as reliable operation, ease of implementation and, higher cost and complexity due to the requirement of abundant manpower, labour, complex algorithms, dynamic operation, switches and sensors that cause additional power losses. Hence, this paper presents a low cost and less complex reconfiguration technique for PV arrays to effectively increase the power generation during partial shading scenarios. The proposed reconfiguration does not require any manpower, labour, algorithms or additional devices to reduce the losses in arrays during shading. The efficacy of the technique is tested using two array sizes under various shading scenarios using MATLAB modelling and real-time field experiments. Also, for better analysis, the performance of the proposed technique is compared with conventional configurations and Sudoku reconfiguration. The investigation proclaimed that the proposed reconfiguration technique has an average power enhancement of 20% higher than any other conventional configurations.

MADS-box genes encode transcription factors that play important roles in the development and evolution of plants. There are more than a dozen clades of MADS-box genes in angiosperms, of which those with functions in the specification of floral organ identity are especially well-known. From what has been elucidated in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the clade of FLC-like MADS-box genes, comprising FLC-like genes sensu strictu and MAF-like genes, are somewhat special among the MADS-box genes of plants since FLC-like genes, especially MAF-like genes, show unusual evolutionary dynamics, in that they generate clusters of tandemly duplicated genes. Here, we make use of the latest genomic data of Brassicaceae to study this remarkable feature of the FLC-like genes in a phylogenetic context. We have identified all FLC-like genes in the genomes of 29 species of Brassicaceae and reconstructed the phylogeny of these genes employing a Maximum Likelihood method. In addition, we conducted selection analyses using PAML. Our results reveal that there are three major clades of FLC-like genes in Brassicaceae that all evolve under purifying selection but with remarkably different strengths. We confirm that the tandem arrangement of MAF-like genes in the genomes of Brassicaceae resulted in a high rate of duplications and losses. Interestingly, MAF-like genes also seem to be prone to transposition. Considering the role of FLC-like genes sensu lato (s.l.) in the timing of floral transition, we hypothesize that this rapid evolution of the MAF-like genes was a main contributor to the successful adaptation of Brassicaceae to different environments.

In this article, a chemoselective reduction process of various aldehydes to their corresponding alcohols is described. An aqueous solution of various aromatic and allylic aldehydes was treated with NaBH4 and tetrabutylammonium iodide as a phase transfer catalyst by choosing appropriate concentrations to give their respective alcohols in good to moderate yield. This methodology offered several advantages, including simple environmentally benign experimental procedure, good yields, short reaction time, and no toxic by-product. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v13i4.1576

As heterocyclic nitrogen molecules, tetrahydropyridines have been recognized as significant constituents of many natural and synthetic compounds, many of which have interesting biological and pharmacological properties. Tetrahydropyridines (THPs) play a pivotal role in synthesizing a range of remedial compounds. They have exhibited impressive curative efficacy for the treatment of numerous diseases. Due to this reason, they are attractive synthetic targets for organic chemists. Several techniques and schemes have been adopted for the synthesis of these molecules. Among these, multicomponent reactions (MCRs) are proved to be one of the best tools for achieving compounds containing complex diversity in a single step and production of their vast libraries. Along with this, the employment of various catalysts makes this technique more vibrant. This review article discussed different catalysts adopted in the synthesis of tetrahydropyridine derivatives via multicomponent reactions to provide information for the development of new-fangled processes aiming at less reaction time, better yield, and minimum side effects. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v13i4.1585

Background: Investigating the underlying psychosocial factors is a cornerstone of planning need-based intervention for adult males accused of rape. Unresolved debates on its etiology, mediation, or interaction among causal psychosocial variables fuel curiosity to scrutinize it further. Hence, we studied potential influence of and relation between adverse childhood experiences, aggression, empathy, and psychopathology in adult males accused of rape in India and investigated the risk factors for the same. Methods: With a correlational research design, 40 literate and consenting adult males medically confirmed for rape were recruited using convenient sampling. The assessment was done on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Aggression Questionnaire, Symptom Checklist-90, and Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product–moment correlation, and stepwise linear regression analysis were calculated. Results: Approximately 75% of the participants experienced at least one category of Adverse Childhood Experiences. Scores above cut-off points were obtained on anger, hostility, fantasy, and personal distress. Significant correlations were obtained between adverse childhood experiences and psychopathology; between hostility and psychopathology, perspective taking, and personal distress; and in case of indirect aggression, with perspective taking and empathetic concerns. Regression analysis revealed that an increase in Symptom Checklist-90 global scores increases hostility and that lower personal distress predicts higher scores on hostility on Aggression Questionnaire. Conclusions: Adverse childhood experiences, aggression, and psychopathology play a critical role and, therefore, should be included as core components of the prevention of rape or relapse prevention programs at the community level.

Background: Substance use among adolescents is increasing rapidly and becoming a global health concern worldwide. Because of the changing trends and rising magnitude in India, there is an urgent need to adapt and validate instruments to assess adolescents’ substance use. The study translated the Teen-Addiction Severity Index (T-ASI) into Hindi and assessed the psychometric properties. Methods: The instrument (T-ASI) was translated from English to Hindi using: (a) forward translation: translation from the source language into the target one, (b) comparison and synthesis of the two translated versions, (c) blind backward translation, (d) comparison of the two back-translated versions and development of prefinal version, (e) conceptual evaluation of items and pilot study, and (f) assessing the psychometric properties. Results: The content validity of Hindi T-ASI was quite high (0.97). A significant positive correlation r = 0.439* (0.014) between the T-ASI family functioning domain and the organization scale of the Family Environment Scale (FES) demonstrated good concurrent validity. Youth self-report substance use domain correlated well with youth self-report behavior problems scale r = 0.385 (0.033) and the psychiatric status domain correlated with all three internalizing 0.606 (

Tetrahydropyridine derivatives are one of the most demanding molecules due to its great applications in medicinal and synthetic chemistry. Here we have designed a new way to synthesize a series of tetrahydropyridine derivatives using citric acid. In this methodology, five-component reaction of 1,3-diketones, substituted amines and aldehydes is done in the presence of citric acid extracted from lemon juice. High atom economy, green and mild conditions, high to moderate yields and shorter reaction times were the key features of this methodology. Later, we have discussed the antioxidant activities of our compounds. It is observed that compound 4a, 4b, 4e, 4f, 4i and 4l were quite effective to show good antioxidant activity. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v12i4.1550

Isoxazole is a five membered heterocyclic compound which is an azole with an oxygen atom next to nitrogen. The substituted isoxazole derivatives show various biological activities like antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer etc. Isoxazoles are found in some natural products and also in number of drugs. Especially 3– methyl–4-arylmethylene substituted isooxazole is used as a main constituent in synthetic organic chemistry. Various approaches have been made for diverse synthesis of 3,4-distituted isoxazoles via multicomponent reaction using different catalyst. Each catalyst has its own effect on the synthetic rate, yield and reaction time of reaction. In this mini review we have reported the various catalytic effect on the single pot multicomponent synthesis of 3,4-disubstituted isoxazolones. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v12i4.1549

The issues such as deterioration of power quality owing to nonlinear loads, sudden changes in load demand, switch to dynamic loads, the occurrence of fault at the load or grid side is addressed using proposed DQ frame Complex Filter-based Adaptive Integral Algorithm (DCFAIA). The objective of the proposed control algorithm is to maintain the frequency at the desired level irrespective of electrical disturbances and also to remove the DC offset present in the synchronising parameters due to nonlinear load, lower the harmonic content in the grid parameters and maintain the power factor unity by compensating the reactive power. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with that of conventional algorithms such as Improved Second-Order Generalised Integrator (ISOGI), Third Order Generalised Integrator (TOGI), Least Mean Fourth (LMF). From the comparative assessment, it is observed that the proposed algorithm exhibits superior performance in terms of precision, settling time, steady and transient errors.

In all prior electromagnetic modeling studies of carbon nanotube (CNT) composites, the exact three-dimensional (3D) shape and spatial distribution of the CNTs in the composite were unknown. Therefore, simplifying assumptions had to be made regarding the CNT distributions. The effect of such assumptions on the electromagnetic response of CNT composites has not been quantified. Recent advances in electron-tomography and image analysis have allowed the generation of 3D maps of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) distributions with sub-nanometer resolution. In this work, the electromagnetic responses of experimentally mapped 3D structures of aligned-CNT polymer nanocomposites were calculated using both full-wave electromagnetic solvers and dilute-limit Effective Medium Approximations (EMA). Our results show that the electromagnetic response calculated using the full-wave solver exhibits additional resonances that are absent in the response calculated using the dilute-limit EMA. This difference is due to the strong electromagnetic coupling between adjacent MWCNTs, within five CNT radii, of each other. Using the mapped 3D MWCNTs, we also studied the anisotropy in the electromagnetic response of the composites and showed that it increases with the MWCNT volume fraction. The full-wave analysis presented in this work provides a more accurate understanding of the electromagnetic reflection and anisotropy of CNT composites.

Atomically differentiating surface and subsurface is experimentally challenging. Here, the authors use in-situ electron microscopy to simultaneously monitor the surface and subsurface and show that H2 oxidation on CuO surfaces induces cycles of ordering and disordering of oxygen vacancies in the subsurface.

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), distributed algorithms are used to estimate desired parameters for minimizing the communication overheads and make the network energy efficient. In literature, distributed estimation of finite impulse response (FIR) systems has been studied, because it is stable. In fact in many sensor network-based applications such as target tracking and fast rerouting, infinite impulse response (IIR) systems are required to be modeled. Thus, each sensor node uses the adaptive IIR filter and interact with each other under diffusion mode of cooperation to estimate the parameters. But the IIR filter inherently produces non-quadratic and multimodal error surfaces. Therefore gradient search algorithms that work well for FIR filters is not suitable for IIR system because they are likely to be trapped in the local minima. Keeping this in view, population based derivative free diffusion particle swarm optimization (DPSO) algorithms are proposed here to estimate the parameters of IIR systems. The algorithms are simulated for benchmark IIR systems and the steady state and transient performances are analyzed. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed diffusion algorithms provide admirable improvement by resulting in faster convergence and low steady state value compared to that of conventional least mean squared algorithms. Keywords: IIR system, Distributed estimation, Wireless sensor networks, Diffusion least mean squared, Particle swarm optimization

Electric vehicles are an important option for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Electric vehicles not only reduce the dependency on fossil fuel but also diminish the impact of ozone depleting substances and promote large scale renewable deployment. Despite comprehensive research on the attributes and characteristics of electric vehicles and the nature of their charging infrastructure, electric vehicle production and network modelling continues to evolve and be constrained. The paper provides an overview of the studies of Electric Vehicle, Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Plug-in-Hybrid Electric Vehicle and Battery Electric Vehicle penetration rate into the market and discusses their different modelling approach and optimisation techniques. The research on the essential barriers and insufficient charging facilities are addressed for a developing country like India that makes the study unique. The development of new concept of Vehicle-to-Grid has created an extra power source when renewable energy sources are not available. We conclude that taking into account, the special characteristics of electric vehicles are so important in their mobility.

Protein phosphorylation is one of the most important post-translational modifications, which acts as a reversible on or off switch for the activity of a large number of proteins. Analyzing the phosphorylation status of different proteins can reveal the alterations in the state of the cells in response to cellular damage, cancer and pharmaceutical drugs. Techniques such as mass spectrometry, radiolabeling, 2D-gel electrophoresis and western blotting are used to quantify protein phosphorylation. These assays can quantify phosphorylation in the bulk population of cells, however, flow cytometry can couple cell surface marker expression data with phosphorylation data to understand differential signaling in a sub-population within a heterogeneous population of cells. Our protocol describes the use of flow-cytometry for rapid and single cell-based quantification of intracellular phospho-protein with the help of anti-phospho protein specific antibody.

Abstract Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are used for several therapeutic applications to improve the functions of bone, cardiac, nervous tissue as well as to facilitate the repopulation of hematopoietic stem cells. MSC give rise to the non-hematopoietic stromal cells of the bone marrow and are important for the maintenance of normal hematopoiesis. Chemotherapeutic drugs used for treatment of leukemia extensively damage the stromal cells and alter their gene expression profiles. Methods We determined the changes in adipogenic, osteogenic differentiation, phenotypic and gene expression in MSC during treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs cytarabine, daunorubicin and vincristine. We also tested anti-cancer effects of drug treated MSC on leukemia cells. Results Treatment with the chemotherapeutic drugs resulted in functional defects in MSC, leading to reduced proliferation, osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation. The drug treated MSC also showed decreased expression of cell surface receptors, and the changes in proliferation, phenotype and differentiation defect was partially reversible after withdrawing the drugs from the cells. The drug treated MSC showed increased expression of cytokines, IL6, FGF2 and TNFA but reduced levels of differentiation markers SOX9 and ACTC1. Drug treated MSC also contributed to reduced anti-cancer effects in leukemia cells. Conclusions Chemotherapeutic drug treatment altered the phenotype, osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential of MSC and modified the gene expression profile of the cells to render them more chemoprotective of the leukemic cells. Thus, additional therapeutic efforts to target the stromal cell population will help in preventing chemoresistance, disease relapse in leukemia and to maintain a healthy bone marrow stroma.

Barren land and roof tops of buildings are being increasingly used worldwide to install solar panels for generating electricity. One such step has been taken by Siksha ‘O’Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar (Latitude 20.24° N and Longitude 80.85° E) by installing a 11.2 kWp grid connected solar power system during February, 2014. This PV system is tilted at an angle of 21° on the top floor of a 25 metre height building. This system was installed This paper presents the results of this grid connected photovoltaic system which was monitored between September 2014 to August 2015. The entire electricity generated by the system was fed into the state grid. The different parameters of the system studied include PV module efficiency, array yield, final yield, inverter efficiency and performance ratio of the system. The total energy generated during this period was found to be 14.960 MWh and the PV module efficiency, inverter efficiency and performance ratio were found to be 13.42%, 89.83% and 0.78 respectively.

In the present work, the gamma ray backscattering technique was used to determine the effective atomic numbers for certain binary alloys. With the help of a muffle furnace, the binary alloys were synthesized using the melt quenching technique with different compositions of 82Pb, 50Sn, and 30Zn. The intensity distribution of backscattered photons from radioactive isotope 22Na (511 keV) was recorded with the help of GAMMARAD5 [76 mm × 76 mm NaI(Tl) scintillator detector] and analyzed as a function of both atomic number and thickness of the target material. The effective atomic numbers for the same binary alloys were also computed theoretically using the atomic to electronic cross-section method with the help of the mass attenuation coefficient database of WinXCom (2001). Good agreement was observed between theoretical and experimental results for the effective atomic numbers of all the selected alloys.

Purpose: The study aims to examine the mediating effect of psychological well-being (PWB) on the relationship between teamwork skills and student engagement (SE) in higher education institutional setups. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a triangulation mixed-methods approach. Data were collected from final-year students pursuing post-graduation and graduation in private colleges in India. In the main study, quantitative data was gathered from 276 students through a survey. The relationship among the variables-teamwork skills, SE and PWB was empirically validated through path analysis; mediation was also conducted. In the auxiliary study, qualitative data was gathered through focus group sessions and was analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: Results depicted that teamwork skills positively predict students' engagement with their academic program. Additionally, PWB partially mediates the relationship between teamwork skills and SE. Originality/value: The study was conducted to expand understanding of aspects related to promoting students' engagement in HEIs in Delhi and Haryana through being attentive toward teamwork skills development and through taking care of students' PWB.

The nonpharmacological treatments for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have witnessed a sea change from a rudimentary and haphazard psychosocial to cognitive interventions to social and behavioral skills to body oriented interventions to more sophisticated neurocognitive interventions. As the objective of each treatment varied, the method or procedure of each treatment also differed across studies. Indian research although not very rigorous, did witness changes emphasizing on exploring interventions in reducing symptoms and improving overall behavior. The research literature between 2005 and 2015 was searched using PubMed, Google Scholar, IndMED, MedIND, ResearchGate, and other indexed databases. Results of 110 studies were organized into five broad categories of themes of interventions such as psychosocial, body-focused, cognitive/neuro-cognitive, and cognitive behavioral. Effects of ADHD on cognitive, academic, and behavioral outcomes were also highlighted before the themes of intervention to establish linkage with discussion. However, a limited number (n = 9) of reported Indian studies focusing either on the impact of ADHD on the function of children or on interventions were found, suggesting a huge gap between global and Indian research in the area of children with ADHD. It also highlights the need for development and efficacy testing of indigenous intervention program in different areas of intervention for research and clinical practice.

Introduction: An extensive search on PubMed reveals very little in terms of evidence regarding the current knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of the population in general and rural population, in particular, in this part of the country. Therefore, a study was conducted with the aim to assess the communities′ knowledge of malaria transmission, recognition of signs and symptoms, treatment seeking. Materials and Methods: A stratified two-stage design was used to conduct a house-to-house survey using a semi-structured questionnaire in RS Pura block of Jammu District of Jammu and Kashmir State in North India. Results: A total of 300 households were included in the study. However, data on 4 households was found to be incomplete at the time of analysis and, therefore, were excluded. Out of 296 study participants interviewed 65.5% were males, while 34.5% females. All of the study participants (100%) had heard of malaria, and the main source of their information was television/newspaper. 92.5% of the study population considered malaria to be a serious health problem, thus reflecting their attitude to the disease. Regarding practices, 71.6% of the study participants preferred going to doctors at government hospitals for malaria treatment, and 56% were willing to seek medical help in

Background and challenges to implementation TII has been a major roadblock in implementing policies particularly since some policymakers have represented farmers constituencies and lobbies, and have direct and indirect links with tobacco companies as well. For the past ten years, India has observed many instances, including dilution and delaying of pictorial health warnings (PHWs) of TII. TII was seen openly during FCTC COP-7 held in New Delhi, India in November 2016, where the tobacco industry used farmers and front groups, and demanded that it be allow to participate in COP 7 and labelled their exclusion as "undemocratic". There is a felt need for a national law that complies with Article 5.3 of FCTC. Given that health is a state subject the efforts to advance Article 5.3 policy has to take place at the state and national level. Intervention or response This case study examines the evidence of TII at the state-level and presents it to policymakers for a development of a guideline for its prohibition in line with FCTC Article 5.3. Results and lessons learnt In 2015-2016 the states of Punjab and Mizoram, followed by Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have developed (in 2017) state policies which encompass constitution of an empowered committee and protocol to deal with tobacco industry. In 2017 three districts of Karnataka and two districts of West Bengal (Darjeeling and Howrah) have passed similar notifications. Few other states including Rajasthan, Kerala, Sikkim and Jharkhand have agreed in principal to enact such sub-national laws that will strengthen the argument to develop a national policy. Conclusions and key recommendations The advocacy efforts of civil societies through state-level coalitions and partnerships, judicial direction and media led advocacy are creating awareness for states to adopt sub-national policy to stop TII. This will gradually build generate evidences and build precedence for Government of India to develop and adopt a national policy.

Neutropenia is a risk factor for nosocomial infections (NI) in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants. Although recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) increases the neutrophil counts in neutropenic VLBW infants, its long-term efficacy for early neutropenia (EN) remains unknown. Methods: In this case-controlled study, charts of VLBW recipients of rhG-CSF for EN (total neutrophil count

Global economic environment is changing rapidly during the last two decades. This change is reflected in widening and intensifying international linkages in trade and FDI. Various countries are now favouring economic reforms for attaining rapid and sustained growth. The scope for transnational production has expended due to reduction of the barriers to international trade and the various regional integration agreements between the different countries. This paper examines the causal relationships between FDI and trade (i.e Exports and Imports) in India and China. Granger causality test has been employed to examine the causal relation between FDI and trade by using the data over the period of 1976-2011.The results for China show unidirectional causality running from FDI to imports and FDI to exports, however, there exist bidirectional causality between imports and exports. India gives the results which are not similar to China where bidirectional causality between FDI and imports; FDI and exports; and exports and imports have been found.

RuBisCo activase (Rca) is a catalytic chaperone involved in modulating the activity of RuBisCo (key enzyme of photosynthetic pathway). Here, we identified eight novel transcripts from wheat through data mining predicted to be Rca and cloned a transcript of 1.4 kb from cv. HD2985, named as TaRca1 (GenBank acc. no. KC776912). Single copy number of TaRca1 was observed in wheat genome. Expression analysis in diverse wheat genotypes (HD2985, Halna, PBW621 and HD2329) showed very high relative expression of TaRca1 in Halna under control and HS-treated, as compared to other cultivars at different stages of growth. TaRca1 protein was predicted to be chloroplast-localized with numerous potential phosphorylation sites. Nothern blot analysis showed maximum accumulation of TaRca1 transcript in thermotolerant cv. during mealy-ripe stage, as compared to thermosusceptible. Decrease in the photosynthetic parameters was observed in all the cultivars, except PBW621 in response to HS. We observed significant increase in the Rca activity in all the cultivars under HS at different stages of growth. HS causes decrease in the RuBisCo activity; maximum reduction was observed during pollination stage in thermosusceptible cvs. as validated through immunoblotting. We observed uniform carbon distribution in different tissues of thermotolerant cvs., as compared to thermosusceptible. Similarly, tolerance level of leaf was observed maximum in Halna having high Rca activity under HS. A positive correlation was observed between the transcript and activity of TaRca1 in HS-treated Halna. Similarly, TaRca1 enzyme showed positive correlation with the activity of RuBisCo. There is, however, need to manipulate the thermal stability of TaRca1 enzyme through protein engineering for sustaining the photosynthetic rate under HS – a novel approach towards development of ‘climate-smart’ crop.