Stock Price Prediction using Bat Algorithm

There is no such thing as a safe path of investment in the stock market because it is highly unpredictable, which has been a major concern of investors globally. As a result, stock market or stock price prediction has been a hot topic for scholars and researchers and a popular topic for investors worldwide

Studies on wear resistance of PTFE filled with glass and bronze particles based on Taguchi technique

An attempt has been made to study the influence of wear parameters like applied load, sliding speed, sliding distance on the dry sliding wear of polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE), PTFE + 25% glass and PTFE + 40% bronze composites. Experiments, based on the techniques of Taguchi, were performed to acquire data in a controlled way. An orthogonal array and the analysis of variance were employed to investigate the influence of process parameters on the wear of composites. The worn surfaces were examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The experimental results show that sliding distance and applied load were found to be the more significant factors among the other control factors on wear. The objective is to establish a correlation between dry sliding wear of composites and wear parameters. These correlations were obtained by multiple regressions. A good agreement between the predicted and actual wear resistance was seen

Atmospheric dispersion corrector for a multi-object spectroscopic mode of HROS-TMT

Highly multiplexed spectroscopic surveys have changed the astronomy landscape in recent years. However, these surveys are limited to low and medium spectral resolution. High spectral resolution spectroscopy is often photon starved and will benefit from a large telescope aperture. Multiplexed high-resolution surveys require a wide field of view and a large aperture for a suitable large number of bright targets. This requirement introduces several practical difficulties, especially for large telescopes, such as the future ELTs. Some of the challenges are the need for a wide field atmospheric dispersion corrector and to deal with the curved non-telecentric focal plane. Here, we present a concept of Multi-Object Spectroscopy (MOS) mode for TMT High-Resolution Optical Spectrograph (HROS), we have designed an atmospheric dispersion corrector for individual objects that fit inside a fiber positioner. We present the ZEMAX design and the performance of the atmospheric dispersion corrector for all elevations accessible by TMT

Not Available

Not AvailableCereals and legumes are largely grown under harsh rainfed conditions in India, which is further complicated by climate change and climate variability. Tropical drylands are experiencing deficit rainfall over the years. Due to this, agricultural production is affected in arid and semi arid regions. There is an urgent need to find low cost, ecofriendly, sustainable solutions to manage crop productivity under rainfed situations to help resource poor small and marginal farmers in particular. Plant microbiome interactions offer plants to tide over adverse conditions viz., biotic and abiotic stresses through their various activities. The mechanisms they employ under moisture stress conditions include; synthesis and accumulation of biochemical compounds like proline and sugars, regulation of ethylene synthesis, production of phytohormones and exopolysaccharides, enhancement of root growth, regulation of gene expression etc. In addition to water deficit stress, drylands are also deficient in various plant nutrients. Consortia of microorganisms with multiple improved functions such as nitrogen fixation, drought tolerance, nutrient mobilization and solubilization have a potential to improve drought tolerance, plant growth and development under rainfed conditions.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableCereals and legumes are largely grown under harsh rainfed conditions in India, which is further complicated by climate change and climate variability. Tropical drylands are experiencing deficit rainfall over the years. Due to this, agricultural production is affected in arid and semi arid regions. There is an urgent need to find low cost, ecofriendly, sustainable solutions to manage crop productivity under rainfed situations to help resource poor small and marginal farmers in particular. Plant microbiome interactions offer plants to tide over adverse conditions viz., biotic and abiotic stresses through their various activities. The mechanisms they employ under moisture stress conditions include; synthesis and accumulation of biochemical compounds like proline and sugars, regulation of ethylene synthesis, production of phytohormones and exopolysaccharides, enhancement of root growth, regulation of gene expression etc. In addition to water deficit stress, drylands are also deficient in various plant nutrients. Consortia of microorganisms with multiple improved functions such as nitrogen fixation, drought tolerance, nutrient mobilization and solubilization have a potential to improve drought tolerance, plant growth and development under rainfed conditions.Not Availabl

Broad Spectrum Antibacterial and Antifungal Polymeric Paint Materials: Synthesis, Structure–Activity Relationship, and Membrane-Active Mode of Action

Microbial attachment and subsequent colonization onto surfaces lead to the spread of deadly community-acquired and hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections. Noncovalent immobilization of water insoluble and organo-soluble cationic polymers onto a surface is a facile approach to prevent microbial contamination. In the present study, we described the synthesis of water insoluble and organo-soluble polymeric materials and demonstrated their structure–activity relationship against various human pathogenic bacteria including drug-resistant strains such as methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and beta lactam-resistant <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> as well as pathogenic fungi such as <i>Candida</i> spp. and <i>Cryptococcus</i> spp. The polymer coated surfaces completely inactivated both bacteria and fungi upon contact (5 log reduction with respect to control). Linear polymers were more active and found to have a higher killing rate than the branched polymers. The polymer coated surfaces also exhibited significant activity in various complex mammalian fluids such as serum, plasma, and blood and showed negligible hemolysis at an amount much higher than minimum inhibitory amounts (MIAs). These polymers were found to have excellent compatibility with other medically relevant polymers (polylactic acid, PLA) and commercial paint. The cationic hydrophobic polymer coatings disrupted the lipid membrane of both bacteria and fungi and thus showed a membrane-active mode of action. Further, bacteria did not develop resistance against these membrane-active polymers in sharp contrast to conventional antibiotics and lipopeptides, thus the polymers hold great promise to be used as coating materials for developing permanent antimicrobial paint