Indigenous communities use wild plants to cure human ailments since ancient times; such knowledge has significant potential for formulating new drugs and administering future health care. Considering ...this, the present study was undertaken to assess use value, diversity, and conservation concerns of medicinal plants used in traditional herbal care system of a marginal hill community in Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand in the Central Himalayan region of India.
Extensive surveys were made in 73 villages to gather information on the ethnomedicinal use of plant species used in the traditional herbal healing system. A total of 100 respondents were identified (30 herbal healers called Vaidyas and 70 non-healers/natives) and interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires, target interviews, and group discussion. Some important indices such as the use-value index (UV), relative frequency citation (RFC), cultural importance index (CI), and informant consensus factor (F
) were calculated for the medicinal plants included in the present study.
It was recorded that the community uses a total of 70 species with 64 genera and 35 families for curing various ailments. Family Lamiaceae recorded the maximum number of medicinal plants. Twenty-one species used most extensively in the traditional health care system. The major parts of the identified plants used for the treatment of various ailments were root/rhizome and leaf. The most common methods used for the preparation of these plants were decoction and infusion. Ocimum basilicum L., Cannabis sativa L., Citrus aurantifolia (Christm) Sw., Curcuma longa L., and Setaria italica L. had the highest rate of use report. RFC value ranged between 0.03 and 0.91 with highest values for Setaria italica, Zingiber officinale, Ocimum basilicum, and Raphanus sativus. The traditional knowledge is passed verbally to generations and needs to be preserved for the future bio-prospecting of plants that could be a potential cure to any future disease.
In recent years, the community has access to modern hospitals and medicinal facilities, although a considerable number still prefer medicinal plants for curing select ailments. It is suggested that these ethnomedicinal species need to be screened and evaluated further for their effectiveness for pharmacological activity. Also, significant efforts are required to conserve traditional knowledge and natural habitats of wild medicinal plants.
In this study, a hybrid approach has been used to increase the predictive efficiency of the SCS-CN model. A recently proposed Ajmal model (developed after randomized configuration) that ignored ...initial abstraction and maximum potential retention has been given the conceptual framework of the SCS-CN model and a new outcome-based hybrid model (M
) was formulated. A total of 78 watersheds (7817 events) were used for calibration and the remaining 36 watersheds (3967 events) for validation to develop this hybrid model. The numerical value of hybrid model parameters L
, λ and S were calibrated using calibration dataset and a simple non-linear one-parameter model has been developed. The performance of the Ajmal (M
) and hybrid model (M
) was compared with the original SCS-CN method (λ = 0.2 as M
and λ = 0.05 as M
). The performance of models was compared by using four statistical error indices i.e. RMSE, NSE, PBIAS, and n(t) and applying ranking and grading system (RGS). The mean RMSE, NSE, PBIAS, and n(t) values were found superior for M
(5.60 mm, 0.71, 6.97%, 1.15) model followed by M
(5.98 mm, 0.65, 16.52%, 1.01), M
(6.27 mm, 0.61, 20%, 0.90) and M
(6.98 mm, 0.46, 24.2%, 0.72) model for tested watersheds. The hybrid model (M
) exhibited consistently well performance for all size watersheds. On the basis of the agreement between watershed runoff coefficient (C) and calibrated model parameter (L
or CN), R
value was found relatively higher for hybrid model (M
) than other models.
Ageing of paper insulation in a transformer produces H 2 O molecules, which ultimately gets released into the oil. Reduced dielectric strength and increased conductivity are consequences of moisture ...in insulation. At high temperature, the two main guiding factors that cause dielectric relaxation inside an insulation are electrical polarization and DC conductivity. Polarization and conductivity at high temperature are often difficult to segregate from one another. In the present work, moisture present inside transformer oil-paper insulation is estimated to study its effect on dielectric polarization and conductivity at different operating temperatures. Analysis at various complex planes including complex permittivity, complex susceptibility, complex conductivity, and complex dielectric modulus have been proposed to assess different relaxation distribution processes taking place inside the insulation with varying operating temperature.
Aims
The study aimed to investigate the inactivation efficacy and mechanisms of plasma activated water (PAW) on selected bacteria in planktonic state.
Methods and Results
Plasma activated water was ...generated using an atmospheric cold plasma jet at 15, 22 and 30 kV for 5 min. Escherichia coli, Listeria innocua, Staphylococcus aureus, Aeromonas hydrophila, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Shewanella putrefaciens were selected as the representative bacterial species. Each bacterial suspension was inoculated into PAW immediately after generation, and the viable counts at different exposure times of 0·5, 1, 3, 5 and 24 h during 4°C storage were measured to determine the inactivation efficacy. Scanning electron microscopy images of the bacteria were conducted to examine the structural changes. Physicochemical properties of PAW, including pH, conductivity, oxidation reduction potential (ORP), and reactive species of H2O2, NO2− and NO3− were measured. The results demonstrated that inactivation efficacy was in positive correlation with voltage and exposure time. Gram‐negative bacteria were more susceptible to PAW than Gram‐positive bacteria. Morphology damage was observed for all the bacterial species. PAW was significantly acidified, conductivity and ORP were significantly increased, and reactive species were detectable after 48 h.
Conclusions
This study offered a better understanding of the inactivation mechanisms of PAW, and the inactivation efficacy can be affected by voltage, exposure time and bacterial species.
Significance and Impact of the Study
This study demonstrated the potential usage of PAW as an alternative disinfectant.
Activated carbons are materials with versatile properties but have not been demonstrated as reinforcements in polymer composites. In the current study, the porous nano activated carbon materials are ...synthesized from waste biomass (Arhar stalks) and utilized as reinforcements in the fabrication of epoxy composites with 1% wt, 2% wt, and 3% wt filler loadings. Porous nano activated carbon epoxy composites were studied for their erosion and abrasive wear properties. Erosion wear rate at different impact angles (30°, 45°, 60° and 90°) and impact velocities (i.e., 101 m/s, 119 m/s and 148 m/s) studied. It is observed that reinforcement of porous nano activated carbon in epoxy composites enhanced the wear resistance of composites by 106% with 1% inclusion of activated carbon. Minimum wear rate was noticed in 2% filler composites which have almost three times more resistance then epoxy polymer. Irrespective of percentage of filler loadings, all the composites exhibited semi ductile erosion wear behavior with maximum wear rate at 45° impact angle. Sliding wear analysis performed at various loads on different abrasive surfaces suggests 2% wt activated carbon epoxy composites have better abrasive wear resistance with least material loss on P800 abrasive surface. Eroded composites surfaces were examined microscopically and the wear mechanisms of the composites are discussed in detail.
•Porous nano activated carbon materials developed from biomass were successfully utilized as filler materials.•Activated carbon epoxy composites were tested for solid particle erosion and abrasive wear analysis.•Dependence of wear on filler percentage, impact angle, impact velocity and loads applied are demonstrated.
Graphene oxide (GO) received a significant attention in the scientific community due to their excellent mechanical properties identifying themselves as an alternative and combinatory to various other ...metals and composites. Though GO possess excellent strength, it was observed from the literature that graphene oxide consisting of hydroxyl group elements ensue in poor bonding. Thus reduced functional group density (rFGD) graphene is preferred which has an advantage of good bonding, alongside very small quantity as a filler is required to achieve the enhancement equivalent to graphene oxide which forms the novelty of the current work. In current case, 3, 6 and 9 wt% of rFGD is dispersed into E-glass fibre reinforced composite by traditional hand layup technique. The obtained results revealed that, the tensile, flexural and impact strength have shown superior enhancement with 3 and 6 wt% of rGO than neat E-glass epoxy (0 wt% rGO), whereas an asymptotic decrement is noticed at 9 wt% when tested with ASTM standards except for impact strength. The microstructural studies also indicated the proper adhesion and alignment of fibres without any agglomerations corroborate the enhancement of properties. These overall finding supports the suitability of the developed laminates for potential use in structural applications in aerospace industry.
Display omitted
•Fabrication of E-glass laminates with dispersed rGO by hand layup technique.•Adhesion between the fibres/epoxy and rGO is improved with AGM-9 sizing additive.•Evaluated the effect rGO content on mechanical and microstructural properties.
Abstract
This paper will focus on the challenges associated with algae-based wastewater treatment (ABWWT). To elucidate the issue, this review will investigate the following: (1) microalgal strain ...selection, (2) wastewater characteristics, and (3) the effect of various biotic and abiotic factors. Mostly, monocultures of microalgae are used in wastewater treatment (WWT), but microalgae–bacteria consortia have received significant attention recently. Their interaction mechanisms and the sheer number of possible combinations pose a significant challenge in the strain selection. Various types of wastewaters have varying nutrient loads and different types of biochemical composition, which affect the efficiency of their treatment process significantly. Because microalgae are photosynthetic organisms, environmental factors, such as light, temperature, and pH play a significant role in the phycoremediation of wastewater. Light intensity and its duration, the maintenance of optimum temperature, and pH range pose major challenges in ABWWT. In addition to abiotic factors, biotic factors, such as biopollutants that include pathogenic microorganisms greatly affect the quality of treated wastewater. Their proper detection and elimination is a significant requirement in the wastewater process. Therefore, this paper will carry out a critical review of all the previously mentioned key challenges, which act as an impediment in the large scale implementation of ABWWT.
AbstractEfficient climate change detection is vital to mitigate the ill effects of climate change. Several methods of change point detection have been proposed earlier that do have some limitations. ...Nonparametric Mann–Whitney–Pettit (MWP) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) methods for climate change point detection have been widely accepted and followed by researchers. SNR method is considered better than other parametric and nonparametric change point detection methods as it considers the natural internal variability of the variable to detect significant change. Here, a simple yet powerful climate change detection method called noise-based change point (NBCP) is proposed which is an advancement of the SNR method. The performance of the NBCP method was compared with the SNR and MWP methods for a synthetically generated series as well as real-world data. Different scenarios for synthetic series were considered by introducing varying trend magnitude, variance, and location of change point. The scenarios signifying limitations of SNR as well as MWP methods were also identified. The performance of MWP was not found satisfactory for climate change point detection as it highly depends on the location of the actual change point and performs well only when the change point occurs in the middle of the series. The NBCP method detected the change point earlier than SNR for all generated scenarios as well as real-world data. This study indicates that the NBCP method could be a better option to early detect climate change points and is more consistent than both SNR and MWP methods.
Summary
Despite the constant development of novel thermal and nonthermal technologies, knowledge on the mechanisms of microbial inactivation is still very limited. Technologies such as high pressure, ...ultraviolet light, pulsed light, ozone, power ultrasound and cold plasma (advanced oxidation processes) have shown promising results for inactivation of micro‐organisms. The efficacy of inactivation is greatly enhanced by combination of conventional (thermal) with nonthermal, or nonthermal with another nonthermal technique. The key advantages offered by nonthermal processes in combination with sublethal mild temperature (<60°C) can inactivate micro‐organisms synergistically. Microbial cells, when subjected to environmental stress, can be either injured or killed. In some cases, cells are believed to be inactivated, but may only be sublethally injured leading to their recovery or, if the injury is lethal, to cell death. It is of major concern when micro‐organisms adapt to stress during processing. If the cells adapt to a certain stress, it is associated with enhanced protection against other subsequent stresses. One of the most striking problems during inactivation of micro‐organisms is spores. They are the most resistant form of microbial cells and relatively difficult to inactivate by common inactivation techniques, including heat sterilization, radiation, oxidizing agents and various chemicals. Various novel nonthermal processing technologies, alone or in combination, have shown potential for vegetative cells and spores inactivation. Predictive microbiology can be used to focus on the quantitative description of the microbial behaviour in food products, for a given set of environmental conditions.
PDF
