Andrographolide, a diterpenoid, is known for its anti-inflammatory effects. It can be isolated from various plants of the genus
Andrographis
, commonly known as ‘creat’. This purified compound has ...been tested for its anti-inflammatory effects in various stressful conditions, such as ischemia, pyrogenesis, arthritis, hepatic or neural toxicity, carcinoma, and oxidative stress, Apart from its anti-inflammatory effects, andrographolide also exhibits immunomodulatory effects by effectively enhancing cytotoxic T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, phagocytosis, and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). All these properties of andrographolide form the foundation for the use of this miraculous compound to restrain virus replication and virus-induced pathogenesis. The present article covers antiviral properties of andrographolide in variety of viral infections, with the hope of developing of a new highly potent antiviral drug with multiple effects.
Nowadays, new products have been introduced in the market at an ever increasing pace due to rapid technology advancement. Consequently, products are becoming outdated and discarded faster than ever ...before. Since the demand for new solutions to economically deal with such outdated products begun to rise, the disassembly line has emerged as a viable solution to this problem. The disassembly line has been considered as a viable choice for automated disassembly of returned products. The problem of sequence generation in disassembly is complex due to its NP-Hard nature and therefore the heuristically solutions are most preferable for these types of problems. In this paper, a heuristic has been proposed to assign the disassembly tasks/parts to the work stations under its precedence constraints. It incorporates Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (Fuzzy AHP) and PROMETHEE method for the selection of tasks for assignment to the disassembly line. The Fuzzy AHP has been used to find the relative importance of each criteria and PROMETHEE method has been used for prioritising the tasks for assignment. The proposed heuristics has been illustrated with an example and the results have been compared to the heuristic proposed by McGovern and Gupta. The proposed heuristic performs well and has shown improvements in terms of cycle time and idle time of the workstations.
We are currently facing the COVID-19 pandemic which is the consequence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Since no specific vaccines or drugs have been developed till date ...for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection, early diagnosis is essential to further combat this pandemic. In this context, the reliable, rapid, and low-cost technique for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis is the foremost priority. At present reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the reference technique presently being used for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, in a number of cases, false results have been noticed in COVID-19 diagnosis. To develop advanced techniques, researchers are continuously working and in the series of constant efforts, nanomaterials-enabled biosensing approaches can be a hope to offer novel techniques that may perhaps meet the current demand of fast and early diagnosis of COVID-19 cases. This paper provides an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic and nanomaterials-enabled biosensing approaches that have been recently reported for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. Though limited studies on the development of nanomaterials enabled biosensing techniques for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 have been reported, this review summarizes nanomaterials mediated improved biosensing strategies and the possible mechanisms that may be responsible for the diagnosis of the COVID-19 disease. It is reviewed that nanomaterials e.g. gold nanostructures, lanthanide-doped polysterene nanoparticles (NPs), graphene and iron oxide NPs can be potentially used to develop advanced techniques offered by colorimetric, amperometric, impedimetric, fluorescence, and optomagnetic based biosensing of SARS-CoV-2. Finally, critical issues that are likely to accelerate the development of nanomaterials-enabled biosensing for SARS-CoV-2 infection have been discussed in detail. This review may serve as a guide for the development of advanced techniques for nanomaterials enabled biosensing to fulfill the present demand of low-cost, rapid and early diagnosis of COVID-19 infection.
No specific vaccine or drug has been developed till date for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection, early diagnosis is very essential to manage COVID-19 pandemic. At present, the reliable, rapid, and low-cost technique for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis is the foremost priority. In this context, nanomaterials enabled based biosensors can be a hope to offer novel techniques that may perhaps meet the current demand for early and rapid diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Display omitted
•Nanomaterials enabled biosensors for the detection of respiratory viral infection•Summarize studies of nanomaterials-enabled biosensors for SARS-CoV-2 detection•Fabrication strategies of nanomaterials-based biosensors for SARS-CoV-2 detection•Focus on the mechanism of nanomaterials-enabled biosensors for SARS-CoV-2 detection•Future prospects of nanomaterials enabled biosensors to manage COVID-19 pandemic
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•Detailed analysis of TGA-DTG and DSC results of sugar cane leaves.•Model free methods have been used to evaluate kinetic parameters for sugar cane leaves.•Uses Vyazovkin and ...Vyazovkin (AIC) kinetic model for sugar cane leaves.•Multiple linear regression method has also been successfully used.•A multi-step reaction mechanism through z(α) master plots has been ascertained.
Pyrolysis of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L) leaves (SCL) has been investigated using DTA/TGA and DSC techniques. Proximate and ultimate analyses and calorific value measurement have been carried out using standard protocols. The sugar cane leaves contain 44% cellulose, 22% hemicellulose and 17% lignin. The pyrolysis have been carried out at six heating rates varying from 5 to 40 °C/min. Analysis of the pyrolysis results has been carried using iso-conversional model free methods as well as multiple linear regression method. For the fractional conversion range of 0.05–0.95, the average apparent activation energy values evaluated from iso-conversional methods have ranged from 214.9 to 239.6 kJ/mol where as in the case of multiple linear regression analysis it has ranged from 25.06 to 57.23 kJ/mol. The multi-step reaction mechanism has been investigated using the Criado method. The results of this study are useful for the design of large scale biomass thermal conversion process.
► Sintering temperature greatly affects microstructural and electrical properties. ► εr increases with the increase of sintering temperature from 1300 to 1400°C. ► Dielectric study indicates ...composition fluctuations of polar micro-regions. ► Piezoelectric coefficient (d33) ∼281pC/N and a max. strain% ∼0.26. ► A potential material for dielectric and piezoelectric applications.
Lead free 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3-0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3/BZT–BCT 50/50 ceramics were synthesized by conventional solid state reaction route. The effect of sintering temperature on structural and electrical properties of BZT–BCT 50/50 ceramics were studied in detail. The coexistence of tetragonal-monoclinic structures confirmed the MPB nature of BZT–BCT 50/50 ceramics. Grain size, density and dielectric constant at room temperature of BZT–BCT 50/50 ceramics increased with the increase of sintering temperature. Increase of Tc with sintering temperature confirmed the effect of relieving of internal stress by grain-boundary sliding. Increase of diffuse phase transition indicated that with the increase in sintering temperature the competition between Ti and Zr ions increased to occupy the same crystallographic site B, which leads to increase in composition fluctuations of different polar micro-regions. A max. strain as high as ∼0.36% has been obtained in BZT–BCT 50/50 ceramic samples sintered at 1300°C.
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The thermo-chemical characterization (proximate and ultimate analyses and higher heating value) of banana trunk biomass waste has been carried out. The thermo-gravimetric and ...differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) investigations have been made at heating rates of 10, 15, 20 and 25 °C/min. The TGA data have been used to carry out kinetic analysis and evaluate the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters using iso-conversional models. The values of activation energy increase with conversion (α) irrespective of the iso-conversional model used. The average values of activation energies (Eα) are found to be 386.21, 355.43, 385.77, 355.01, 379.67, and 292.78 kJ/mol for Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO), Starink, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), Tang, Vyzovkin and Vyzovkin AIC model, respectively. The average values of change in enthalpy, Gibbs free energy, and entropy have been calculated. The reaction mechanisms of pyrolysis have been predicted using Criado’s method.
•Impact of nanomaterials for hydrogen production using various biological routes are reviewed.•Mechanisms of the nanomaterials mediated enhanced biohydrogen production have been reviewed.•Emphasis ...has been made on the feasibility of nanomaterials for cellulosic biohydrogen production.•Challenges to implement nanomaterials for cellulosic biohydrogen production have been discussed.
Recent advances on biohydrogen production using different types of waste biomass with the implementation of nanomaterials are summarized. Inspired by exceptional physicochemical and catalytic properties of nanomaterials, the present review focuses on several approaches including impact of nanomaterials on cellulosic biohydrogen production, possible pretreatment technology, as well as improved enzyme & sugar production in order to enhance the biohydrogen yield. Particularly, impacts of nanomaterial are elaborated in detail on different pathways of biohydrogen production (e.g. dark fermentation, photo-fermentation and hybrid-fermentation) using variety of waste biomass. Additionally, emphases are made on the feasibility of nanomaterials for making the biohydrogen production process more economical and sustainable and hence to develop advanced techniques for biohydrogen production using waste biomass.
This article elaborates on the competencies, often referred to as 21st century competencies, that are needed to be able to live in and contribute to our current (and future) society. We begin by ...describing, analysing and reflecting on international frameworks describing 21st century competencies, giving special attention to digital literacy as one of the core competencies for the 21st century. This is followed by an analysis of the learning approaches that are considered appropriate for acquiring 21st century competencies, and the specific role of technology in these learning processes. Despite some consensus about what 21st century competencies are and how they can be acquired, results from international studies indicate that teaching strategies for 21st century competencies are often not well implemented in actual educational practice. The reasons for this include a lack of integration of 21st century competencies in curriculum and assessment, insufficient preparation of teachers and the absence of any systematic attention for strategies to adopt at scale innovative teaching and learning practices. The article concludes with a range of specific recommendations for the implementation of 21st century competencies.
In this study, activated carbon, kaolin, bentonite, blast furnace slag and fly ash were used as adsorbent with a particle size between 100
mesh and 200
mesh to remove the lead and zinc ions from ...water. The concentration of the solutions prepared was in the range of 50–100
mg/L for lead and zinc for single and binary systems which are diluted as required for batch experiments. The effect of contact time, pH and adsorbent dosage on removal of lead and zinc by adsorption was investigated. The equilibrium time was found to be 30
min for activated carbon and 3
h for kaolin, bentonite, blast furnace slag and fly ash. The most effective pH value for lead and zinc removal was 6 for activated carbon. pH value did not effect lead and zinc removal significantly for other adsorbents. Adsorbent doses were varied from 5
g/L to 20
g/L for both lead and zinc solutions. An increase in adsorbent doses increases the percent removal of lead and zinc. A series of isotherm studies was undertaken and the data evaluated for compliance was found to match with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. To investigate the adsorption mechanism, the kinetic models were tested, and it follows second order kinetics. Kinetic studies reveals that blast furnace slag was not effective for lead and zinc removal. The bentonite and fly ash were effective for lead and zinc removal.
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