As major historical periods such as Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age, the development of new materials was the fundamental to all the periods. In the present investigation, a new hybrid composite ...with epoxy as a resin and reinforcing both biowaste (jute) and traditional fiber (glass) as continues layered mat composites and also study experimentally the effect of the stacking sequence on tensile, flexural, and interlaminar shear properties. Composites were prepared by using hand lay-up technique. All the laminates were prepared with a total of four piles, by varying the position of glass and jute. One group of all jute and glass laminate was also fabricated for comparison purpose. Specimen preparation and testing were carried out as per ASTM standards. Tests were conducted on INSTRON H10KS Material Test System at room temperature using automatic data acquisition software. The results indicated that the jute fiber and hybrid composite give encouraging results when compared with the neat epoxy. The morphologies of the composites are also studied by scanning electron microscope.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Due to fast climate change and foreseen damage through global warming, access to clean and green energy has become very much essential for the sustainable development of the society, globally. ...Biomass based energy is one of the important renewable energy resources to meet the day to day energy requirements and is as old as the human civilization. Biomass gasification is among few important aspects of bioenergy for producing heat, power and biofuels for useful applications. Despite, the availability of vast literature, technological and material advancements, the dissemination of gasification technology could not overcome the critical barriers for the widespread acceptability over the conventional energy resources. This article presents a comprehensive review on the technical advancements, developments of biomass gasification technology and the barriers being faced by different stakeholders in the wide dissemination of the technology for day to day requirements of the society, followed by recommendations for policy makers to make this technology popular while serving the society.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
The aim of this paper is to replace the traditional fiber composites with a natural-fiber composite in perception of tribological and mechanical accepts. A systematic study has been carried out to ...investigate jute fiber properties when incorporated into epoxy matrix. Thermogravimetric analysis has also been carried out for jute and epoxy for thermal property analysis. For a comparison purpose epoxy and glass fiber composites are prepared. The investigation reveals that, due to incorporation of jute into polymer epoxy shows better properties than the resins alone; but the properties are inferior to those of glass reinforced in terms of mechanical. When considering the tribological application, the jute fiber shows superior properties than neat and glass-reinforced epoxy composites. The worn out samples were studied using scanning electron microscope.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Plants associate with communities of microbes (bacteria and fungi) that play critical roles in plant development, nutrient acquisition and oxidative stress tolerance. The major share of plant ...microbiota is endophytes which inhabit plant tissues and help them in various capacities. In this article, we have reviewed what is presently known with regard to how endophytic microbes interact with plants to modulate root development, branching, root hair formation and their implications in overall plant development. Endophytic microbes link the interactions of plants, rhizospheric microbes and soil to promote nutrient solubilization and further vectoring these nutrients to the plant roots making the soil‐plant‐microbe continuum. Further, plant roots internalize microbes and oxidatively extract nutrients from microbes in the rhizophagy cycle. The oxidative interactions between endophytes and plants result in the acquisition of nutrients by plants and are also instrumental in oxidative stress tolerance of plants. It is evident that plants actively cultivate microbes internally, on surfaces and in soils to acquire nutrients, modulate development and improve health. Understanding this continuum could be of greater significance in connecting endophytes with the hidden half of the plant that can also be harnessed in applied terms to enhance nutrient acquisition through the development of favourable root system architecture for sustainable production under stress conditions.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Cabozantinib targets tyrosine kinases including the hepatocyte growth factor receptor (MET) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor 2, which are important drug targets in renal cell ...carcinoma (RCC).
This single-arm open-label phase I trial evaluated the safety and tolerability of cabozantinib in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic clear cell RCC.
The study enrolled 25 RCC patients for whom standard therapy had failed. Patients received a median of two prior systemic agents, and most patients had previously received at least one VEGF pathway inhibiting therapy (22 patients 88%). Common adverse events included fatigue, diarrhea, nausea, proteinuria, appetite decreased, palmar–plantar erythrodysesthesia, and vomiting. Partial response was reported in seven patients (28%). Median progression-free survival was 12.9 months, and median overall survival was 15.0 months.
Cabozantinib demonstrates preliminary anti-tumor activity and a safety profile similar to that seen with other multitargeted VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in advanced RCC patients. Further evaluation of cabozantinib in RCC is warranted.
NCT01100619.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
X-ray photons emitted during solar flares cause ionization in the lower ionosphere (~60 to 100 km) in excess of what is expected to occur due to a quiet sun. Very low frequency (VLF) radio wave ...signals reflected from the D-region of the ionosphere are affected by this excess ionization. In this paper, we reproduce the deviation in VLF signal strength during solar flares by numerical modeling. We use GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation code to compute the rate of ionization due to a M-class flare and a X-class flare. The output of the simulation is then used in a simplified ionospheric chemistry model to calculate the time variation of electron density at different altitudes in the D-region of the ionosphere. The resulting electron density variation profile is then self-consistently used in the LWPC code to obtain the time variation of the change in VLF signal. We did the modeling of the VLF signal along the NWC (Australia) to IERC/ICSP (India) propagation path and compared the results with observations. The agreement is found to be very satisfactory.
► Pleurotus eryngii possessed higher total phenolics, RSA on DPPH and growth/day. ► Higher ascorbic acid and chelating activity was found in Pleurotus citrinopileatus. ► Based on AHC, studied edible ...mushroom species were fall into two clusters. ► Enhanced BE of P. eryngii was achieved using spent compost casing overlay.
Total phenolics, radical scavenging activity (RSA) on DPPH, ascorbic acid content and chelating activity on Fe2+ of Pleurotus citrinopileatus, Pleurotus djamor, Pleurotus eryngii, Pleurotus flabellatus, Pleurotus florida, Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus sajor-caju and Hypsizygus ulmarius have been evaluated. The assayed mushrooms contained 3.94–21.67mg TAE of phenolics, 13.63–69.67% DPPH scavenging activity, 3.76–6.76mg ascorbic acid and 60.25–82.7% chelating activity. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that significantly higher total phenolics, RSA on DPPH and growth/day was present in P. eryngii whereas P. citrinopileatus showed higher ascorbic acid and chelating activity. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering analysis revealed that studied mushroom species fall into two clusters; Cluster I included P. djamor, P. eryngii and P. flabellatus, while Cluster II included H. ulmarius, P. sajor-caju, P. citrinopileatus, P. ostreatus and P. florida. Enhanced yield of P. eryngii was achieved on spent compost casing material. Use of casing materials enhanced yield by 21–107% over non-cased substrate.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The phase 3 JAVELIN Renal 101 trial (NCT02684006) demonstrated significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) with first-line avelumab plus axitinib versus sunitinib in advanced renal cell ...carcinoma (aRCC). We report updated efficacy data from the second interim analysis.
Treatment-naive patients with aRCC were randomized (1 : 1) to receive avelumab (10 mg/kg) intravenously every 2 weeks plus axitinib (5 mg) orally twice daily or sunitinib (50 mg) orally once daily for 4 weeks (6-week cycle). The two independent primary end points were PFS and overall survival (OS) among patients with programmed death ligand 1–positive (PD-L1+) tumors. Key secondary end points were OS and PFS in the overall population.
Of 886 patients, 442 were randomized to the avelumab plus axitinib arm and 444 to the sunitinib arm; 270 and 290 had PD-L1+ tumors, respectively. After a minimum follow-up of 13 months (data cut-off 28 January 2019), PFS was significantly longer in the avelumab plus axitinib arm than in the sunitinib arm {PD-L1+ population: hazard ratio (HR) 0.62 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.490–0.777}; one-sided P < 0.0001; median 13.8 (95% CI 10.1–20.7) versus 7.0 months (95% CI 5.7–9.6); overall population: HR 0.69 (95% CI 0.574–0.825); one-sided P < 0.0001; median 13.3 (95% CI 11.1–15.3) versus 8.0 months (95% CI 6.7–9.8). OS data were immature PD-L1+ population: HR 0.828 (95% CI 0.596–1.151); one-sided P = 0.1301; overall population: HR 0.796 (95% CI 0.616–1.027); one-sided P = 0.0392.
Among patients with previously untreated aRCC, treatment with avelumab plus axitinib continued to result in a statistically significant improvement in PFS versus sunitinib; OS data were still immature.
NCT02684006.
•Avelumab plus axitinib significantly prolonged progression-free survival versus sunitinib in advanced renal cell carcinoma.•Although overall survival data were immature, results favored the combination over sunitinib across prespecified subgroups.•Adjusting for subsequent use of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in the sunitinib arm predicted a survival benefit for the combination.•Among all randomized patients, avelumab plus axitinib had a longer mean duration of response than sunitinib.•Avelumab plus axitinib prolonged progression-free survival on next-line therapy versus sunitinib.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•A numerical study on the conjugate mixed convection of Cu-water nanofluid has been considered.•An enclosure with thick wavy bottom wall is considered.•The computational domain has been transformed ...into an orthogonal co-ordinate system.•The governing equations along with the boundary conditions are solved through a finite volume.•Results showed that heat transfer rate increases remarkably by adding the nanoparticles.
A numerical study on the conjugate heat transfer by mixed convection of a Cu-water nanofluid and conduction in a solid region is conducted in an enclosure with a thick wavy heated wall. The upper lid of the enclosure is made to slide horizontally at a constant speed, along with that the condition of heated outer boundary of the thick bottom wall leads to a mixed convection within the enclosure. The impact of the wavy fluid-solid interface, solid-to-fluid thermal conductivity ratio and nanoparticle volume fraction on the heat transfer characteristics is analyzed for different choice of the Richardson number. The computational domain is transformed into an orthogonal co-ordinate system. The transformed governing equations along with the specified boundary conditions are solved through a finite volume method for a wide range of Richardson number, nanoparticle volume fraction, wave amplitude, wave number and wall-to-fluid conductivity ratio for different Reynolds number. Results show that the heat transfer rate increases substantially due to the inclusion of nanoparticles. Heat transfer rate varies due to the variation of the solid-to-fluid conductivity ratio, amplitude and wave number of the wavy wall. The impact of the wavy surface is stronger when the solid conductivity is in the order of the conductivity of the fluid. The Bejan number and the entropy generation are determined to analyze the thermodynamic optimization of the conjugate mixed convection.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Purpose
To provide a precise summary and collate the hitherto available clinical evidence on the effect of vitamin D supplementation on clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients.
Methods
PubMed/MEDLINE, ...Scopus, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched using appropriate keywords till June 8, 2021, to identify observational studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting adverse clinical outcomes (ICU admission and/or mortality) in COVID-19 patients receiving vitamin D supplementation vs. those not receiving the same. Both prior use and use of vitamin D after COVID-19 diagnosis were considered. Unadjusted/adjusted pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated (PROSPERO registration number CRD42021248488).
Results
We identified 13 studies (10 observational, 3 RCTs) pooling data retrieved from 2933 COVID-19 patients. Pooled analysis of unadjusted data showed that vitamin D use in COVID-19 was significantly associated with reduced ICU admission/mortality (OR 0.41, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.81,
p
= 0.01,
I
2
= 66%, random-effects model). Similarly, on pooling adjusted risk estimates, vitamin D was also found to reduce the risk of adverse outcomes (pooled OR 0.27, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.91,
p
= 0.03,
I
2
= 80%, random-effects model). Subgroup analysis showed that vitamin D supplementation was associated with improved clinical outcomes only in patients receiving the drug post-COVID-19 diagnosis and not in those who had received vitamin D before diagnosis.
Conclusions
Vitamin D supplementation might be associated with improved clinical outcomes, especially when administered after the diagnosis of COVID-19. However, issues regarding the appropriate dose, duration, and mode of administration of vitamin D remain unanswered and need further research.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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