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•New heterocyclic sulfonamide analogs synthesized as potential antibacterial agents.•The molecules docked with Bacillus anthracis dihydropteroate synthase enzyme (BaDHPS: PDB ...ID-3TYE).•Antibacterial activity determined using micro serial dilution method and cytotoxicity using MTT assay.•Fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) determined using combination approach showed great synergistic effect.
A new series of heterocyclic molecules bearing sulfonamide linkage has been synthesized and screened for antibacterial activity. During antibacterial screening using broath dilution method, molecules were found to be highly active (MIC value 50–3.1 µg/mL) against different human pathogens, namely B. cerus, S. aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa, and most effective against E. coli. A great synergistic effect was observed during determination of FIC where molecules were used in combination with reference drugs chloramphenicol and sulfamethoxazole. The MIC value of the combination – varying concentration of test compounds and ½ MIC of reference drugs or varying concentration of reference drugs and ½ MIC of test compounds, was reduced up to 1/4 or 1/32 of the original value, indicating thereby the combination was 4–32 times more potent than the test molecule. The molecules also showed low degree of cytotoxicity against PBM, CEM and VERO cell lines. The results positively indicated towards the development of lead antibacterials using the combination approach.
Southeast Asia map with different sub-regions for study.
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•A new long-term gridded rainfall product was used to analyze rainfall variability over SEA.•Rainfall extreme indices were ...generated and evaluated in the spatiotemporal domain.•This study revealed strong correlation between SEA rainfalls and global climate indices.
This study utilized a long-term (1951–2014) moderate-resolution observed gridded (0.5°×0.5°) rainfall dataset to analyze long-term and short-term rainfall variability and the seasonality in Southeast Asia (SEA). The previous studies for this region revealed significant enhancement in extreme events and seasonal variabilities in rainfall. In this study, the frequency and intensity-based rainfall extremity analysis was carried out by utilizing a number of rainfall extreme indices (e.g. Dry Days, Wet Days, 90P, 95P, and 99P). A seasonal non-parametric Mann-Kendall test was applied to detect significant increase and decrease of rainfall. The possible causes for the acceleration and variabilities of rainfall were investigated by analyzing the impact of large-scale ocean-atmospheric climate interactions through global climate indices such as El Nino (3.4 and 4.0), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), global mean land and ocean temperature index, QBO and NOI. Our results displayed a significant increase of rainfall amount in most of SEA regions, while a minimal decrease was also found over some regions. The rainfall indices displayed substantial intra-decadal variabilities over the SEA region. The intra-decadal percent of change analysis based on rainfall extreme indices revealed significant changes in rainfall extremes over SEA, which also evidenced the computed acceleration in rainfall over the region. The correlation analysis based findings exhibited that a strong correlation existed between the SEA rainfall and the large-scale global climate indices generated based on the ocean-atmosphere climate interactions. After regionalization of the SEA, the global climate indices based results described the spatiotemporal variabilities in rainfall, which were computed over SEA regions. The global climate indices such as El Nino (3.4 & 4.0), SOI, NOI and MJO suggested significant correlations with the seasonal rainfall and the rainfall extreme indices and highlighted that their collinearities vary within regions as per variations in the monsoon.
BaTi1−xFexO3 compositions (for x = 0, 0.1, and 0.2) were prepared via a solid‐state reaction route. The presence of iron (Fe) in barium titanate (BaTiO3) eventually decreased the energy bandgap; ...thus, its utilization for water cleaning application through photocatalysis process was explored (using methylene blue MB dye as an indicative pollutant in water). Characterization of the synthesized powder was performed through scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The bandgap of the synthesized powder was calculated as 3.2, 2.12, and 1.67 eV for BaTi1−xFexO3 compositions (for x = 0, 0.1, and 0.2), respectively. BaTi0.8Fe0.2O3 powder showed excellent results, and ∼71% of the MB dye (∼5 mg/L concentrated) was degraded using the photocatalysis process under visible light. To check the potentiality of BaTi1−xFexO3 compositions (for x = 0, 0.1, and 0.2), the photocatalysis process was carried out by changing the concentration of MB dye (2.5–10 mg/L with a step of 2.5 mg/L) and the amount of BaTi0.8Fe0.2O3 powder (0.05–0.2 g with a step of 0.05 g) for ∼5‐mg/L concentrated MB dye. The treated water was further used as a growth parameter and phytotoxicity analysis through germination index on the wheat seeds. Lastly, the BaTi1−xFexO3 compositions (for x = 0, 0.1, and 0.2) were explored for water cleaning applications under real‐time solar irradiation.
This paper draws attention to highlight the spatial and temporal variability in precipitation lapse rate (PLR) and precipitation extreme indices (PEIs) through the mesoscale characterization of ...Teesta river catchment, which corresponds to north Sikkim eastern Himalayas. A PLR rate is an important variable for the snowmelt runoff models. In a mountainous region, the PLR could be varied from lower elevation parts to high elevation parts. In this study, a PLR was computed by accounting elevation differences, which varies from around 1500m to 7000m. A precipitation variability and extremity were analysed using multiple mathematical functions viz. quantile regression, spatial mean, spatial standard deviation, Mann–Kendall test and Sen's estimation. For this reason, a daily precipitation, in the historical (years 1980–2005) as measured/observed gridded points and projected experiments for the 21st century (years 2006–2100) simulated by CMIP5 ESM-2M model (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 Earth System Model 2) employing three different radiative forcing scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways), utilized for the research work. The outcomes of this study suggest that a PLR is significantly varied from lower elevation to high elevation parts. The PEI based analysis showed that the extreme high intensity events have been increased significantly, especially after 2040s. The PEI based observations also showed that the numbers of wet days are increased for all the RCPs. The quantile regression plots showed significant increments in the upper and lower quantiles of the various extreme indices. The Mann–Kendall test and Sen's estimation tests clearly indicated significant changing patterns in the frequency and intensity of the precipitation indices across all the sub-basins and RCP scenario in an intra-decadal time series domain. The RCP8.5 showed extremity of the projected outcomes.
•Downscaling of the precipitation using CMIP5/ESM2 RCP scenarios•Calculation of precipitation lapse rate at sub-catchment scale•Trends of precipitation lapse rate at Sikkim Himalayas using mathematical models•Precipitation variability and heterogeneity assessment in an intra-annual time series domain
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between quality management (QM) and performance, specifically how the infrastructure and core QM practices affect quality and business ...performance, in Indian manufacturing organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the empirical data were drawn from 262 manufacturing organizations in India. The research model was tested using the structural equation modeling technique.
Findings
The findings of the empirical study revealed that infrastructure QM practices have a positive effect on core QM practices and indirectly on quality performance, whereas, core QM practices have a positive effect on quality performance. Also, quality performance has a positive effect on business performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study considered QM from two dimensions (infrastructure and core quality practices), the study further contributes to the understanding of the different roles played by diverse QM dimensions in determining business performance in terms of increased return on investment, shareholder and stakeholder value.
Practical implications
The study showed that infrastructure quality practices support the application of core quality practices. Therefore, managers must develop and maintain their organization’s quality system and sufficient resources need to be allocated to both types of practices in order to achieve the superior business performance.
Originality/value
This study considers both total quality management and Six Sigma practices for defining a new set of infrastructure and core QM practices in Indian manufacturing organizations.
Accurate orientation and position estimation are critical elements in optimizing real-time object tracking performance when leveraging smartphone sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes. The ...primary challenges encountered in smartphone-based object tracking are attributed to the GPS signal, canyon effect, and orientation errors, accumulation error in sensor. To address these limitations, a novel approach is proposed wherein a smartphone application is developed based on IMU Multi -sensor fusion using Kalman filter and Rotation vector. The proposed approach integrates Kalman filtering to fuse sensor data and leverages the rotation vector for precise orientation estimation. Additionally, geohash filtering is employed to efficiently proficiency in quantifying intricate spatial interdependencies and display track paths on maps within the application. A detailed mathematical analysis and thorough comparison with existing algorithms in the field proves the dexterity of the proposed object tracking scheme. The comprehensive evaluation showcases the algorithm’s capability and advancement compared to state-of-the-art approaches.
Tribocatalysis is one of the emerging processes for organic dye degradation application. The process uses mechanical energy as a source for breaking down organic pollutants present in water. The ...synergistic effect of two catalysis processes for eliminating organic pollutants, here in the present study photocatalysis an advanced oxidation process is integrated with the tribocatalysis process for enhancing the degradation efficiency of the tribocatalysis process by using BaTiO3 ceramic powder as a catalyst. The responsible factors for dye degradation via the tribocatalysis process such as surface roughness of the materials utilized, force applied, and energy band gap of the catalyst are also studied. The Methylene Blue dye's degradation was ∼39%, ∼60%, and ∼76 % through tribocatalysis, photocatalysis, and photo‐tribocatalysis respectively by using 400 mg BaTiO3 ceramic powder in 8 h. The synergistic effect of photocatalysis and tribocatalysis process showed enhanced degradation compared to individual processes.
Dietary supplementation with fermentable fiber suppresses adiposity and the associated parameters of metabolic syndrome. Microbiota-generated fiber-derived short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and free ...fatty acid receptors including GPR43 are thought to mediate these effects. We find that while fermentable (inulin), but not insoluble (cellulose), fiber markedly protected mice against high-fat diet (HFD)-induced metabolic syndrome, the effect was not significantly impaired by either inhibiting SCFA production or genetic ablation of GPR43. Rather, HFD decimates gut microbiota, resulting in loss of enterocyte proliferation, leading to microbiota encroachment, low-grade inflammation (LGI), and metabolic syndrome. Enriching HFD with inulin restored microbiota loads, interleukin-22 (IL-22) production, enterocyte proliferation, and antimicrobial gene expression in a microbiota-dependent manner, as assessed by antibiotic and germ-free approaches. Inulin-induced IL-22 expression, which required innate lymphoid cells, prevented microbiota encroachment and protected against LGI and metabolic syndrome. Thus, fermentable fiber protects against metabolic syndrome by nourishing microbiota to restore IL-22-mediated enterocyte function.
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•The fermentable fiber inulin prevented high-fat diet (HFD)-induced metabolic syndrome•HFD enriched with inulin increased gut epithelial proliferation, prevented colon atrophy•Inulin restored HFD-induced microbiota depletion and microbiota-mucosa separation•Inulin effects are microbiota and IL-22, but not short-chain fatty acid, dependent
Dietary fiber supplements suppress adiposity and the associated parameters of metabolic syndrome. Zou et al. show that the fermentable fiber inulin impacts gut microbiota to increase intestinal epithelial proliferation, prevent colonic atrophy, reduce microbiota encroachment into the mucosa, and thereby protect against metabolic syndrome in a microbiota- and IL-22-dependent manner.
Jarosite is a residue that is generated as a by-product during zinc extraction, and it consists of various types of heavy metal (loid)s such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, iron, lead, mercury and ...silver. Due to the huge jarosite turn-over rate, and less efficient and expensive residual metal extraction processes, the zinc-producing industries dispose this waste in landfills. However, the leachate generated from such landfills contains a high concentration of heavy metal (loid)s that could contaminate the nearby water resources and cause environmental concern and human health risk. Various thermo-chemical and biological processes have been developed for the recovery of heavy metals from such waste. In this review, we have discussed all those pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, and biological. Those studies were critically reviewed and compared on the basis of their techno-economic differences. The review indicated that these processes have their own benefits and drawbacks such as overall yield, economic and technical constraints, and the need for more than one process to mobilize multiple metal ions from jarosite. Also, in this review, the residual metal extraction processes from jarosite waste have been linked with the relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which can be useful for a better approach to sustainable development.
•Jarosite is rich resource for several heavy metals that posing potential treats to environment.•Thermochemical and biochemical processes commonly applied to extract heavy metals form such waste.•Extraction of heavy metals from jarosite could fulfil the UN-SDG goals.•Blending of both chemical and biochemical processes would be more techno-economic.
Transportation is among the top energy-consuming industries facing critical issues such as emissions, congestion, and environmental challenges. To overcome these environmental challenges, electric ...vehicles (EVs) have been introduced to replace conventional vehicles (CVs). EVs are widely considered as eco-friendly and alternative renewable energy technology that can speed up the transition to a low-carbon transportation system without any negative influence on natural resources. However, despite several benefits of the technology and subsequent incentives offered by the government, its consumer demand is still not increasing. Thus, it indicates the presence of certain barriers to its mainstream adoption. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify and examine the relationship between barriers affecting the adoption of EVs in India. Thirteen barriers to adopting EVs are identified through a literature review and further validated by involving a group of experts from industry and academia. Additionally, to study the relationship among the identified barriers and model them, ISM (Interpretive Structure Modeling) and MICMAC (Matriced’ Impacts Croisés Appliquéeá un Classement) are applied. The developed model would help policymakers in devising a sustainable energy and transportation policy. Also, the findings would support the EV manufacturers consider these constraints at the designing stage of EVs.
Battery Electric Vehicle. Display omitted
•The recent policy Initiatives and subsidies offered by both central and state governments for promoting EVs in India.•Explore and determine the distinct barriers that directly or indirectly affect EV adoption in India.•Find out the interaction among identified barriers of EV adoption using the ISM approach.•Identify the levels of these barriers in the conceptual framework.•Analyze the driving and dependence power of the barriers associated with EV adoption by using MICMAC analysis.
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