Carbon-Based Materials for De-Fluoridation of Water: Current Status and Challenges

World is facing scarcity of pure and safe drinkable water and third world war would be based on this issue. Recently ground water is excessively used to meet drinking water needs. Water is the principal source of fluoride in daily intake. Excessive fluoride content in ground water due to leaching from fluoride bearing rocks, pose a serious threat worldwide. Concentration of fluoride in drinking water beyond the recommended standards may lead to serious health problems such as skeletal problems, restricted movement, severe anemia and fluorosis. De-fluoridation of water is quite difficult and expensive. Various materials and technologies have been developed to solve this world wide problem. Ion-exchange, precipitation, electro-chemical, reverse osmosis and adsorption are most widely applied methods for de-fluoridation of water. The main highlight of this chapter is to identify and compare carbon-based materials for de-fluoridation of water on the basis of their efficiency, cost and availability. Challenges associated with the development and use of cost effective and environmental friendly materials for de-fluoridation of water have also been discussed

Limb splinting for intravenous cannulae in neonates: A randomised controlled trial

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of peripheral intravenous (IV) cannula site joint immobilisation by splint application on functional duration of peripheral IV cannula in neonates. Design: Randomised controlled trial. Setting: Neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital. Participants: Neonates requiring continuous IV infusion for an expected duration of more than or equal to 72 hours. Intervention: Eligible cannulations were randomised to either “splint” or “no-splint” group. In the splint group, a cardboard splint was used to immobilise the joint at peripheral IV cannula site. No attempt was made to immobilise the limb in the no-splint group. Outcome measure: Functional duration of a peripheral IV cannula measured as interval from time of insertion to the development of predefined sign of removal (extravasation, blockage, inflammation). Results: A total of 69 peripheral IV cannulations in 54 neonates were randomised to either the splint (n = 33) or no-splint group (n = 36). Both groups were comparable in birth weight, gestation, site of cannulation and nature of fluids administered. Mean functional duration of cannula was lesser in the splint group compared to the no-splint group (h; 23.5 (SD15.9) vs 26.9 (SD15.5), mean difference: −3.3 h, 95% CI −11.02 to 4.3 h) although the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.38). Extravasation at cannula site was found be the commonest indication for cannula removal in both the groups (84% vs 76.5%). Conclusion: Joint immobilisation with splint at cannula site did not improve the functional duration of peripheral IV cannula

A study on the effects of 6 weeks of training on body composition, physical fitness and physiological variables of female football players

Background: Female football becomes popular in last decades. The body fat, strength, power, endurance etc are playing an important role in female football. The present study has been designed to investigate the effects of 6 weeks of training on body composition, physical fitness and physiological variables of female football players. Materials and Methods: A total of eighty two female football players (age 16-18 yrs.) participated were included and twenty two were excluded from the study, the remaining were divided into control group (CG, n = 30) and experimental group (EG, n = 30). The volunteers of the experimental group followed a training programme (2 hrs/day, 5day/week, for 6 weeks), whereas no training was given volunteers of the control group. Selected body composition, physical fitness and physiological variables were performed at the beginning (0 week) and at the end of the study (6 weeks). Results: A significant reduction (p < .05) in body mass, body fat, resting heart rate, recovery heart rate, and systolic blood pressure; and an increase (p < .05) in strength, anaerobic power, VO2max, FEV1, FVC and PEFR was noted after 6 weeks of training. Body fat showed negative correlation with back strength (r = - 0.26, p < .05), grip strength (r = -0.46, p < .01), anaerobic capacity (r = -0.30, p < .05) and flexibility (r = -0.32, p < .05) of the volunteers. LBM showed positive correlation with grip strength right (r = 0.59, p < .05), grip strength left (r = 0.53, p < .05), back strength (r = 0.73, p < .05), flexibility (r = 0.41, p < .05). The anaerobic power showed a significant positive correlation with VO2max (r = 0.51, p < .01). Conclusions: Regular monitoring of the indicators is essential to obtain optimal performance of the players

Ranking online consumer reviews

YesProduct reviews are posted online by the hundreds and thousands for popular products. Handling such a large volume of continuously generated online content is a challenging task for buyers, sellers and researchers. The purpose of this study is to rank the overwhelming number of reviews using their predicted helpfulness scores. The helpfulness score is predicted using features extracted from review text, product description, and customer question-answer data of a product using the random-forest classifier and gradient boosting regressor. The system classifies reviews into low or high quality with the random-forest classifier. The helpfulness scores of the high-quality reviews are only predicted using the gradient boosting regressor. The helpfulness scores of the low-quality reviews are not calculated because they are never going to be in the top k reviews. They are just added at the end of the review list to the review-listing website. The proposed system provides fair review placement on review listing pages and makes all high-quality reviews visible to customers on the top. The experimental results on data from two popular Indian e-commerce websites validate our claim, as 3–4 newer high-quality reviews are placed in the top ten reviews along with 5–6 older reviews based on review helpfulness. Our findings indicate that inclusion of features from product description data and customer question-answer data improves the prediction accuracy of the helpfulness score.Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India for financial support during research work through “Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme for Electronics and IT”

Understanding and conceptualising the adoption, use and diffusion of mobile banking in older adults: A research agenda and conceptual framework

Mobile banking has become increasingly important to society; however, not all members of society adopt and/or use it as much as others: older adults, the disabled and lower-income families remain behind in their use and adoption of this service. This finding helped us recognise a research gap and led us to form our primary aim: to understand and explain the factors that influence the adoption, use and diffusion of mobile banking among one of those groups in particular, older adults, in the UK. To form a theoretical understanding, this paper presents a comprehensive review of the surrounding literature in the area and proposes a conceptual framework that can be used for future research. The implications of this research for academia and businesses are also provided in this paper

A study of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in the Indian textile industry a pathway to building a sustainable supply chain

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays a significant role in achieving sustainable development goals for different business entities. In India, the business press and daily news have reported that CSR efforts are becoming popular within the Indian textile industry, and CSR is considered as one of the significant factors for business success. This exploratory study was conducted to analyze the drivers and inhibitors of CSR that are practiced among textile companies in India as well as the growing scrutiny of CSR among academics and practitioners, in particular. Stakeholders theory was applied to analyze both external and internal factors in Indian textile companies. Interviews were conducted to discover and address core problems that are faced by employees while also taking into account that many employers do not take CSR seriously. Interview questions were developed by adhering to the extant literature review and essential information was collected to answer this study's research questions. The same interview platform highlighted the fact that a number of companies have achieved great success by adhering to CSR practices with adequate implementation. In this research, thematic analysis was conducted to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility and sustainability while taking into account that employees could receive information about the benefits of adopting CSR initiatives in Indian textile firms. In addition, the necessity of adopting CSR practices for community growth and development was highlighted. Several themes were emphasized, such as the empowerment of employees, the empowerment of women, the significance of employee health and the recognition of the importance of CSR and basic employee rights. Feedback from employees was used to help analyze how organizations interpret CSR and the role of employers in the implementation of CSR initiatives. A reflection regarding efficiencies and positive outcomes associated with the implementation of CSR highlights the expected benefits of CSR for the Indian textile industry. To conclude, certain suggestions for future research are given, taking into consideration that CSR is a growing business platform that has the potential to provide long term benefits to both employers and employees

Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide as corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in acidic medium

339-343The inhibitive effect of cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) on acid corrosion of mild steel in sulphuric acid at different temperatures has been investigated. Galvanostatic and potentiostatic studies were performed to determine the corrosion current, inhibition efficiency, passivation current and passivation potential range. The parameters so obtained were used to explain the effectiveness of inhibitor when present in different concentrations. Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) studies also help to understand the changes that take place on the surface layer with respect to change in CTAB concentration. The extent of corrosion inhibition has also been evaluated by comparing the micrographs obtained from SEM. The results obtained are in direct agreement with the electrochemical studies.</i

Trends in creative design scholarship in textile and apparel: 2000-2016

The purpose of this study is to analyze the past trends and suggest new interdisciplinary ways and directions in creative scholarship that contribute to the larger academic dialogue. It is also to position creative practice in design as a tool to advance problem-based research and research through practice (Bye, 2010) in clothing and textile design scholarship. By analyzing the trends over the past 16 years, themes such as target markets, design techniques, sustainability, technology, functional clothing were identified. The study examines trends and gaps in creative practice, and increases engagement and productivity of design scholars who are seeking guidance in framing their future creative practices in interdisciplinary ways.</p