The Indian banking sector can take advantage of the proliferation of smartphones as well as the government’s encouragement of cashless transactions to accelerate the use of mobile and online banking. ...The purpose of this study is to understand the initial acceptance of mobile banking by existing online banking users. Few studies have focused on online banking users’ behavioural intention to use similar services (such as mobile banking) in India. To this end, a theoretical model was developed using the technology acceptance model, which was extended to cover the adoption factors that influence users of online banking to use mobile banking. These adoption factors comprise perceived ease of use, perceived security, mobile self-efficacy, social influence and customer support. The dependent variable is customers’ behavioural intention to use mobile banking. A partial least squares structural equation modelling analysis was used to test the theoretical model with sample data from 420 online banking customers of various public, private, foreign and co-operative banks in India. The study found that the adoption factors had a significant impact on customers’ behavioural intention to use mobile banking. The findings of this study provide insight into digital banking channels, contribute to existing research on digital banking adoption and will educate banks and financial institutions on the adoption of mobile banking in India.
Medical problems of children and their differences from adults have been mentioned in the ancient texts. Important contributions to medicine, including treatment of diseases of children were made by ...Greek and many scholars from middle East countries in 10th century. Pediatrics became widely recognized in Europe and USA during early 19th century and a number of children's hospitals were established in major cities. With technological advances, pediatric subspecialties also developed. In India, pediatrics was recognized around 1950s and thereafter, gradually progressed. Pediatric specialties came up in 1970s and became well established during 2020s. Pediatricians are regarded as doctors treating sick children. Pediatric specialists have the responsibility of providing tertiary care to patients with complex systemic diseases and critical care. In our country having a huge underprivileged population, pediatricians need to play a wider role and aim to provide comprehensive care that would lead to optimum development for every child. They should be aware of child rights, widely prevalent child abuse and exploitation and legal protective mechanisms, and attempt to tackle these issues in association with other agencies and organizations working for child welfare.
Ferrimagnetic Mn
0.25
Co
0.75
Fe
2
O
4
(MCF) nanoparticles were synthesized via sol–gel autocombustion method. Polyaniline (PANI) and PANI nanocomposites with MCF as filler (PANI/MCF) were ...synthesized through chemical oxidative in-situ polymerization of aniline under the presence of varying weight percentage of the MCF (10%, 20% and 50%). The MCF, PANI and PANI/MCF nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), field emission scanning electron microscopy equipped with elemental detection (FESEM-EDAX) and vibrating sample magnetometer. The XRD and FTIR spectra confirmed the formation of pure phase with high crystallinity for all the samples. TGA study showed the increased thermal stability of PANI with addition of MCF. MCF and PANI/MCF nanocomposites showed ferrimagnetic hysteresis loop under external magnetic field at room temperature. Additionally, the ac conductivity, dielectric and electrical properties as a function of frequency ranging from 100 Hz to 120 MHz, were investigated for all the samples using impedance analyzer at room temperature. Dielectric, TGA and magnetic studies showed that PANI/MCF with 50 weight percentage of MCF has maximum ac conductivity, thermal stability and moderate magnetic properties. Hence, it could be a potential candidate to be used as dielectric material in high frequency capacitors and for electromagnetic interference shielding material at high frequency.
Yeast is very well known eukaryotic organism for its remarkable biodiversity and extensive industrial applications. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the most widely used microorganisms in ...biotechnology with successful applications in the biochemical production. Biological conversion with the focus on the different utilization of renewable feedstocks into fuels and chemicals has been intensively investigated due to increasing concerns on sustainability issues worldwide. Compared with its counterparts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the baker’s yeast, is more industrially relevant due to known genetic and physiological background, the availability of a large collection of genetic tools, the compatibility of high-density and large-scale fermentation, and optimize the pathway for variety of products. Therefore, S. cerevisiae is one of the most popular cell factories and has been successfully used in the modern biotech industry to produce a wide variety of products such as ethanol, organic acids, amino acids, enzymes, and therapeutic proteins. This study explores how different sustainable solutions used to overcome various environmental effects on yeast. This work targets a broad matrix of current advances and future prospect in yeast biotechnology and discusses their application and potential in general.
An overview of the geostatistical toolkit is presented, from data analysis through estimation and simulation, with a focus on problems that typically arise in the assessment and development of coal ...deposits. Geostatistical procedures for the data analysis are described, leading to a discussion of the importance of spatial variation and the variogram. The most common geostatistical estimation procedure, ordinary kriging, is presented as an improvement to inverse-distance methods; two ways are presented of understanding kriging without recourse to the underlying mathematics. Estimation and simulation are compared and contrasted, and the benefits of a family of equally likely scenarios are covered. The paper concludes with brief summaries of the 16 additional papers in the International Journal of Coal Geology's Special Issue on Geostatistics, and provides two indexes to guide the reader to papers according to the problems they address and according to the tools they use.
► Overview of geostatistics: analysis of spatial variation, estimation and simulation. ► Simple, illustrative examples of methods. ► Tabular indexes to other papers in this Special Issue.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify factors influencing the adoption of mobile banking in India and develop and empirically validate a model explaining the behavioural intention to use ...mobile banking in the Indian banking sector.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, a model is developed and proposed to explain customers’ intention to use mobile banking. The model comprises six constructs, namely, perceived ease of use, computer self-efficacy, social influence, perceived financial cost, security, and trust. The model also describes the relationship between perceived ease of use and computer self-efficacy, as well as that between security and trust. The proposed model was tested by using a survey method, with a sample of 855 bank customers from public, private, foreign, and cooperative banks in India. Structural equation modelling analysis was performed with AMOS 16.0.
Findings
The proposed theoretical model was found to predict, with statistical significance, the intention to use mobile banking, explaining 76.9 per cent of the variance in the dependent variable. The results found that security, computer self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, and perceived financial cost, in that order of influence, affect customers’ intention to adopt mobile banking.
Practical implications
The results obtained will help both academic researchers and practitioners explain, understand, and elucidate the status of mobile banking in India, as well as helping them formulate strategies to expedite the use of mobile banking.
Originality/value
The adoption of mobile banking in India is in a nascent stage compared with developed countries such as the USA, the UK, and Finland, but it is expected to increase or surpass the rate of adoption of internet banking in those countries. Further, only limited research to date has examined the adoption of mobile banking in India, especially the drivers and inhibitors of mobile banking adoption.
•Recycling of all valuable and precious metals from spent auto-catalyst was studied.•NaOH roasting decomposed cordierite to acid soluble products-NaAlO2 and Na2MgSiO4.•>95% Al & Mg with significant ...amount of PGMs were leached in 1.0 M H2SO4 at 90 °C.•Cementation by Al0-powder (0.5 g/L) yielded all PGMs into mixed concentrate with CeO2.•PGMs were selectively leached in 6.0 HCl + 2.0 M NaClO3, leaving CeO2 in the residue.
Total recycling of all valuable metals such as PGMs, Ce, Al and Mg from the spent automobile catalysts has been explored. The alkali roasting was performed under NaOH, 0.5–3.0 g; temperature, 300–800 °C; and time, 10–60 min. The phase transformation from cordierite to the soluble products (NaAlO2, Na2MgSiO4) was influenced by the temperature, following the diffusion-controlled model (Ea(roasting), 6.4 kJ/mol). XRD analysis of the roasted mass revealed that the refractory phases of cordierite and γ-alumina could be eliminated at ≥600 °C at sample-to-NaOH mass ratio, 1:1. The leaching of the roasted mass followed an intermediate-controlled mechanism for aluminum leaching with (Ea(Al-leaching) value of 20.3 kJ/mol), while it was diffusion-controlled for magnesium leaching (Ea(Mg-leaching), 8.9 kJ/mol). At the optimum leaching condition (1.0 M H2SO4, 90 °C, 60 min, yielding >95% aluminum and magnesium), a significant amount of PGMs was also leached. Thereafter, the cementation process was investigated with Al0-powder that could precipitate >99% PGMs within 15 min at 90 °C. The yielded concentrate of PGMs and CeO2 was subsequently leached in 6.0 M HCl with 2.0 M NaClO3 that dissolved >97% PGMs, leaving the residue as the CeO2 concentrate. Individual metals can be recovered by following established separation and purification techniques.
Maintaining software reliability is the key idea for conducting quality research. This can be done by having less complex applications. While developers and other experts have made significant ...efforts in this context, the level of reliability is not the same as it should be. Therefore, further research into the most detailed mechanisms for evaluating and increasing software reliability is essential. A significant aspect of growing the degree of reliable applications is the quantitative assessment of reliability. There are multiple statistical as well as soft computing methods available in literature for predicting reliability of software. However, none of these mechanisms are useful for all kinds of failure datasets and applications. Hence finding the most optimal model for reliability prediction is an important concern. This paper suggests a novel method to substantially pick the best model of reliability prediction. This method is the combination of analytic hierarchy method (AHP), hesitant fuzzy (HF) sets and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). In addition, using the different iterations of the process, procedural sensitivity was also performed to validate the findings. The findings of the software reliability prediction models prioritization will help the developers to estimate reliability prediction based on the software type.
Although regulatory T cells (Treg) are highly enriched in human tumours compared with peripheral blood, expression of the immune-checkpoint receptors, immunosuppressive molecules and function of Treg ...in these two sites remains undefined.
Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes and peripheral blood lymphocytes were isolated from a cohort of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. The immunosuppressive phenotypes and function of intratumoral Treg were compared with those of peripheral blood Treg.
The frequency of immune-checkpoint receptor-positive cells was higher on intratumoral FOXP3(+)CD25(hi) Treg compared with circulating Treg (CTLA-4, P=0.002; TIM-3, P=0.002 and PD-1, P=0.002). Immunosuppressive effector molecules, LAP and ectonucleotidase CD39 were also upregulated on intratumoral FOXP3(+) Treg (P=0.002 and P=0.004, respectively). CTLA-4 and CD39 were co-expressed on the majority of intratumoral FOXP3(+)CD4(+) Treg, suggesting that these molecules have a key role in regulatory functions of these cells in situ. Notably, intratumoral Treg exhibited more potently immunosuppressive activity than circulating Treg.
These results indicate that intratumoral Treg are more immunosuppressive than circulating Treg and CTLA-4 and CD39 expressed can be potential target molecules to inhibit suppressive activities of intratumoral Treg in situ.
The present study focuses on the investigation of magnetic and temperature-dependent dielectric properties of Co-CuFe
2
O
4
nanoferrites. CuFe
2
O
4
, Cu
0.5
Co
0.5
Fe
2
O
4
and CoFe
2
O
4
...nanoparticles were prepared using sol–gel auto-combustion. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows a phase transformation from tetragonal (for CuFe
2
O
4
) to cubic (for Cu
0.5
Co
0.5
Fe
2
O
4
and CoFe
2
O
4
) structure. Surface morphology of synthesized samples was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, which shows formation of agglomerated, irregular shaped nanoparticles. Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectra of CuFe
2
O
4
, Cu
0.5
Co
0.5
Fe
2
O
4
and CoFe
2
O
4
nanoparticles support the results of XRD analysis. The UV–visible spectra of all the samples show strong absorption maxima in the visible range and are used to calculate the energy band gap of the synthesized nanoferrites. It was noticed that the value of band gap is highest for CuFe
2
O
4
(1.58 ± 0.02 eV) nanoparticles in comparison to Cu
0.5
Co
0.5
Fe
2
O
4
(1.18 ± 0.02 eV) and CoFe
2
O
4
(1.01 ± 0.02 eV) ferrite systems. Magnetic study shows the highest value of coercivity (H
c
) and squareness ratio (
S
) for Cu
0.5
Co
0.5
Fe
2
O
4
(
H
c
= 959.10 ± 0.30 Oe, and
S
= 0.45 ± 0.05) ferrite. The dielectric measurement revealed a significantly lower value of tangent loss (tan
δ
) at higher frequencies for Cu
0.5
Co
0.5
Fe
2
O
4
and CoFe
2
O
4
ferrite samples in comparison to that for CuFe
2
O
4
. The high value of magnetic parameters, high resistivity (~ 10
7
–10
8
Ω cm), and low dielectric loss at high frequencies for Cu
0.5
Co
0.5
Fe
2
O
4
and CoFe
2
O
4
nanoferrites suggests that the materials are potential candidate for high density magnetic recording media and also to be used in power transformers at high frequencies.
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