Stoichiometry control of sputtered CuCl thin films: Influence on ultraviolet emission properties

We demonstrate that the chemical composition of the sputtered CuCl thin films could be finely controlled by adjusting the bias to the substrate. The films deposited without any intentional bias were Cl rich (CuCl1+x), a bias of −22 V yielded stoichiometric CuCl, and a further increase in the negative bias resulted in Cl deficient films (CuCl1−x). The crystalline and optical properties were found to be associated with the chemical composition. Cl rich films showed a deep level green emission at around 515 nm in addition to ultraviolet (UV) excitonic emission. The stoichiometric films have higher optical quality, exhibiting a sharp UV emission at around 385 nm at room temperature, compared to nonstoichiometric samples. Visible luminescence related to deep level defects was not observed in the stoichiometric films. Changes in energy of the flux from the target and the subsequent ion bombardment on the substrate surface are correlated with the variations in chemical composition and their impact on the film microstructure and UV emission

Object Classification Techniques using Tree Based Classifiers

Object recognition is presently one of the most active research areas in computer vision, pattern recognition, artificial intelligence and human activity analysis. The area of object detection and classification, attention habitually focuses on changes in the location of anobject with respect to time, since appearance information can sensibly describe the object category. In this paper, feature set obtained from the Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrices (GLCM), representing a different stage of statistical variations of object category. The experiments are carried out using Caltech 101 dataset, considering sevenobjects viz (airplanes, camera, chair, elephant, laptop, motorbike and bonsai tree) and the extracted GLCM feature set are modeled by tree based classifier like Naive Bayes Tree and Random Forest. In the experimental results, Random Forest classifier exhibits the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method with an overall accuracy rate of 89.62%, which outperforms the Naive Bayes classifier

Growth of CuCl thin films by magnetron sputtering for ultraviolet optoelectronic applications

Copper (I) chloride (CuCl) is a potential candidate for ultraviolet (UV) optoelectronics due to its close lattice match with Si (mismatch less than 0.4%) and a high UV excitonic emission at room temperature. CuCl thin films were deposited using radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. The influence of target to substrate distance (dts) and sputtering pressure on the composition, microstructure, and UV emission properties of the films were analyzed. The films deposited with shorter target to substrate spacing (dts=3 cm) were found to be nonstoichiometric, and the film stoichiometry improves when the substrate is moved away from the target (dts=4.5 and 6 cm). A further increase in the spacing results in poor crystalline quality. The grain interface area increases when the sputtering pressure is increased from 1.1×10–³ to 1×10–² mbar at dts=6 cm. Room temperature cathodoluminescence spectrum shows an intense and sharp UV exciton (Z₃) emission at ~385 nm with a full width at half maximum of 16 nm for the films deposited at the optimum dts of 6 cm and a pressure of 1.1×10–³ mbar. A broad deep level emission in the green region (~515 nm) is also observed. The relative intensity of the UV to green emission peaks decreased when the sputtering pressure was increased, consistent with an increase in grain boundary area. The variation in the stoichiometry and the crystallinity are attributed to the change in the intensity and energy of the flux of materials from the target due to the interaction with the background gas molecules

Enhancing plant growth, yield and nutritional quality of brinjal through Arka Microbial Consortium (AMC) applications

Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) is the "poor man’s vegetable" and prized for its affordability, nutritional value and medicinal uses. The Elavambadi brinjal (VRM-1) is a Geographical Indication (GI)-tagged variety from Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for its tender texture, fewer seeds and health benefits, particularly for managing diabetes and liver ailments. This study investigated the impact of the Arka Microbial Consortium (AMC), a carrier-based bio-fertilizer containing nitrogen-fixing, phosphorus, zinc solubilizing and plant growth-promoting microbes, on the growth, yield and quality of Elavambadi brinjal. The treatment T5, which combined soil drenching, rhizosphere soil and foliar application of AMC, resulted in the highest performance across multiple parameters. It recorded the maximum plant height, branching, stem diameter, fruit yield (8704.67 g/plant), ascorbic acid content (107.81 mg/100 g) and phenol content (90.49 mg Gallic Acid Equivalent (GAE)). Additionally, T5 demonstrated superior cooking quality and reduced weight loss during frying (65.96 %) and baking (11.97 %). These results highlight AMC’s ability to enhance nutrient uptake, plant growth and the synthesis of bioactive compounds. The findings emphasize that AMC is a potentially effective bio-fertilizer for improving brinjal production, enhancing nutritional quality and promoting sustainable agricultural practices

Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes of Induction of Labour in Oligohydramnios at Term - A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Oligohydramnios is decreased amniotic fluid index of less than 5cm. It is associated with increased risk of fetal growth restriction, meconium aspiration syndrome, fetal distress necessitating early delivery. Many researchers concluded that induction of labour for oligohydramnios frequently led to caesarean section and operative delivery and neonates had higher neonatal intensive care unit admissions for respiratory distress. Objective: To study the maternal and neonatal outcomes in women with oligohydramnios at term following induction of labour.Materials and Methods: A prospective cross sectional study performed in a tertiary level healthcare setting in rural South India between April 2021 and July 2022. 150 women with singleton pregnancy with oligohydramnios at term (37 - 42weeks) who satisfied inclusion criteria were included. Women planned for elective caesarean section, conditions which precluded vaginal delivery, prelabour rupture of membranes, anomalous fetus, multiple pregnancy and maternal complications were excluded. Labour was induced and maternal and neonatal outcomes were recorded and appropriate statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20 (trial version).Results: The mean gestational age at recruitment was 38weeks 6 days± 5days and mean induction to delivery interval was 15.68 ± 7.51 hours. Most (64.7 %) delivered vaginally. 8.7 % had postpartum hemorrhage, 14.7 % had meconium staining of amniotic fluid. Only one neonate had Apgar less than 7 at 5 minutes. Neonatal intensive care unit admissions were commonly due to neonatal distress and average length of stay was 2.29 ± 0.5 days.Conclusion: This study showed that labour induction in oligohydramnios at term resulted in more vaginal delivery rates and few maternal and neonatal complications emphasizing an increased intra-partum surveillance in view of the risk of meconium staining of amniotic fluid and non-reassuring fetal heart tracings to avoid adverse perinatal outcomes

Utilization of nano-silica from Equisetum sp. - A pathway to sustainable agriculture, economic development and insights into toxicological safety

This review aims to assess the potential applications of nano-silica derived from Equisetum sp. in agriculture. It aims to implement sustainable farming practices to address environmental and economic challenges. The study investigates the effectiveness of nano-silica as a transformative tool for smart delivery systems in fertilizers, pest control and cleaning pollution. A comprehensive review of literature to synthesize and characterize nano-silica from Equisetum sp. through eco-friendly green synthesis methods. Techniques such as acid and alkali treatments and calcination were highlighted for their efficiency and sustainability. The review also evaluated nano-silica pathways in plants, mechanisms of action and its integration into agricultural technologies. Its application in wastewater treatment demonstrated efficacy in removing heavy metals like cadmium and lead. Additionally, nano-silica based smart delivery systems improved efficiency, minimized environmental impacts and reduced input costs. Economically, nano-silica promotes postharvest preservation and supports the circular economy through recycling agricultural waste. Equisetum-based nano-silica is highly economical and a resource-efficient alternative for the advancement of sustainable agriculture systems by increasing resistance to stress factors in crops, maintaining soil quality and reducing contaminants. However, there are still issues in supplying, safety testing and cost of mass production of these materials. Future research should address these gaps to fully harness nano-silica potential in precision farming and sustainable food systems

Pulmonary Mycobacterium kansasii disease in immunocompetent host: Treatment outcomes with short-course chemotherapy

Mycobacterium kansasii, most virulent of all atypical mycobacteria, causes pulmonary disease identical to the disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Early identification of the species and prompt initiation of treatment for M. kansasii is necessary to prevent morbidity and mortality due to this disease. This case series highlights the similarity in the clinical presentation of both M. tuberculosis and M. kansasii and response to direct observation of short-course chemotherapy with rifampicin, in the management of pulmonary M. kansasii disease. Larger studies are required to evaluate the long-term effect of short-course chemotherapy, especially use of moxifloxacin, in the management of pulmonary M. kansasii disease

Electron power absorption dynamics in capacitive radio frequency discharges driven by tailored voltage waveforms in CF4

The power absorption dynamics of electrons and the electrical asymmetry effect in capacitive radio-frequency plasmas operated in CF4 and driven by tailored voltage waveforms are investigated experimentally in combination with kinetic simulations. The driving voltage waveforms are generated as a superposition of multiple consecutive harmonics of the fundamental frequency of 13.56 MHz. Peaks/valleys and sawtooth waveforms are used to study the effects of amplitude and slope asymmetries of the driving voltage waveform on the electron dynamics and the generation of a DC self-bias in an electronegative plasma at different pressures. Compared to electropositive discharges, we observe strongly different effects and unique power absorption dynamics. At high pressures and high electronegativities, the discharge is found to operate in the drift-ambipolar (DA) heating mode. A dominant excitation/ionization maximum is observed during sheath collapse at the edge of the sheath which collapses fastest. High negative-ion densities are observed inside this sheath region, while electrons are confined for part of the RF period in a potential well formed by the ambipolar electric field at this sheath edge and the collapsed (floating potential) sheath at the electrode. For specific driving voltage waveforms, the plasma becomes divided spatially into two different halves of strongly different electronegativity. This asymmetry can be reversed electrically by inverting the driving waveform. For sawtooth waveforms, the discharge asymmetry and the sign of the DC self-bias are found to reverse as the pressure is increased, due to a transition of the electron heating mode from the α-mode to the DA-mode. These effects are interpreted with the aid of the simulation results

Calculation and comparison of heat transfer coefficient & heat flux by varying the parameters for SCWR through CFD simulations

In the present study, CFD simulation was conducted for 2•2 rod bare bundle using water at supercritical pressures. Main objective of the simulation was to compare working of different turbulence models. K-epsilon, K-omega and Spalart-Allmaras turbulence models were chosen for our study. K-epsilon and K-omega turbulence models are two equation models and are widely used for industrial research. Whereas Spalart-Allmaras is one equation model which is least computationally expensive of all the models. All three turbulence models come under the Reynolds Average Navier Strokes model (RANS). CFD results were found to be sensitive with the appropriate turbulence model and this variation is documented through various plots

Preparation and Characterization of Silver Nanoparticle/Aloe Vera Incorporated PCL/PEO matrix for wound dressing application

Polymeric wound dressing materials have remarkable mechanical, structural, and biocompatible behavior. In this work, a polymer matrix of Polycaprolactone (PCL)/Polyethylene Oxide (PEO) incorporated with Aloe Vera (AV) extract and silver nanoparticles were prepared for wound dressing application. Initially, the phytochemicals from AV were extracted by Soxhlet apparatus, and then the aloe extract was used as a reducing agent to synthesize silver nanoparticles (Ag NP). Ag NP's formation was confirmed by the presence of a characteristic UV absorbance peak at 420 nm. Ag NP's average diameter and shape were found to be between 10-50 nm and spherical, respectively. AV extract and Ag NP were incorporated into PCL/PEO polymer solution to prepare the polymer matrix by solution casting method. Box-Behnken design (BBD) was used to study the effect of Ag NP concentration, AV extract percentage, and PEO weight percentage concerning PCL on wound dressing application. Water Vapor Transmission Rate (WVTR) and swelling properties of all the sample were tested and found that the PEO and AV extract plays a major role in both swelling and WVTR irrespective of Ag NP concentration. The antimicrobial property of synthesized Ag NP was studied against gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli with control samples (PCL and PCL/PEO), Ag NP with 150 mg concentration showed a higher zone of inhibition than the other concentrations. Thus, the prepared PCL/PEO polymer matrix incorporated with AV extract and Ag NP can be used as an effective wound dressing material