Long read: Cities and climate change – improving liveability through impactful research in two cities in South Asia

Solid Waste Management affects each and every individual on the planet. This is of particular relevance in the developing world where increasing population, urbanisation and lack of resources very often make city life unclean, unhealthy and hazardous. Climate change has exacerbated these issues. On the occasion of Earth Day, Mani Nepal and A.K. Enamul Haque discuss the findings of their study, in two cities of Nepal and Bangladesh, that successfully identified the main challenges faced by city administrations in tackling the issue, and impacted on the policies adopted

A glucose biosensor based on novel Lutetium bis-phthalocyanine incorporated silica-polyaniline conducting nanobeads

The facile preparation of highly sensitive electrochemical bioprobe based on lutetium 13 phthalocyanine incorporated silica nanoparticles (SiO2(LuPc2)) grafted with Poly(vinyl 14 alcohol-vinyl acetate) itaconic acid (PANI(PVIA)) doped polyaniline conducting nanobeads 15 (SiO2(LuPc2)PANI(PVIA)-CNB) is reported. The preparation of CNB involves two stages (i) 16 pristine synthesis of LuPc2 incorporated SiO2 and PANI(PVIA); (ii) covalent grafting of 17 PANI(PVIA) onto the surface of SiO2(LuPc2). The morphology and other physico-chemical 18 characteristics of CNB were investigated. The scanning electron microscopy images show 19 that the average particle size of SiO2(LuPc2)PANI(PVIA)-CNB was between 180-220 nm. 20 The amperometric measurements showed that the fabricated SiO2(LuPc2)PANI(PVIA)-21 CNB/GOx biosensor exhibited wide linear range (1-16 mM) detection of glucose with a low 22 detection limit of 0.1 mM. SiO2(LuPc2)PANI(PVIA)-CNB/GOx biosensor exhibited high 23 sensitivity (38.53 μA mM−1 cm−2) towards the detection of glucose under optimized 24 conditions. Besides, the real (juice and serum) sample analysis based on a standard addition 25 method and direct detection method showed high precision for measuring glucose at 26 SiO2(LuPc2)PANI(PVIA)-CNB/GOx biosensor. The SiO2(LuPc2)PANI(PVIA)-CNB/GOx 27 biosensor stored under refrigerated condition over a period of 45 days retains ~ 96.4 % 28 glucose response current

Computer Simulation of Mechanical Harvesting and Transportation of Sugarcane

A computer simulation model was developed for analysis of different performance parameters of mechanical harvesting and transportation of sugarcane. The model was based on time utilization study of harvester, physical characteristics of sugarcane fields and performance of the transporting trucks for a sugar mill. The performance components were taken as per the BIS (1979) code and data for validation of the model was collected from Shakti Sugars Limited, Shaktinagar, Tamilnadu. The model could estimate the output of the harvester (tons/day), and cost components like harvesting, transportation and total system cost of harvesting and transportation (Rs./ton) for a given set of conditions. Based on the minimum system cost it determines the optimum number of transporting trucks after simulating the harvesting and transport operation