SOLAR-POWERED MOBILITY: CHARTING THE COURSE FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE WITH SOLAR VEHICLES

Solar-powered vehicles utilize photovoltaic panels to harness solar energy, offering a promising solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable transportation. This research project focused on the challenges and limitations of solar-powered vehicles and aims to provide solutions for their widespread adoption. The research questions explored in this study are: (Q1) How do different geographical locations and climate regions affect the feasibility and practicality of solar-powered vehicles due to variations in sunlight availability? (Q2) How has the adoption of solar-powered vehicles contributed to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions? (Q3) What policies and incentives can promote the adoption of solar-powered vehicles? (Q4) What strategies and technologies promote effective recycling of retired electric vehicle batteries? Through a comparative analysis in Q1, Q2, and data analysis in Q3, and Q4, the research questions were analyzed, and provided the findings for each question as: (Q1) In comparing the two states, California and Washington, solar irradiance varies across regions, with California experiencing higher solar power generation (average just below 8.6MW) compared to Washington state (4.53). Northern US cities have an average annual solar irradiation of 4.0 to 4.6 kWh/m²/day, while southern cities receive 4.7 to 6.1 kWh/m²/day. (Q2) Comparing the categories of transportation with gases, light-duty vehicles contribute 45% of GHG emissions, with CO2 accounting for 97% of vehicle emissions in the 2021 sample data that are released in the environment and the composition of these gases that influence harmful emissions, there are significant differences to consider. However, (Q3) The Advanced Clean Cars Rule II (ACC-II) in California aims to achieve 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2035, with an intermediate target of 36% sales of zero-emission vehicles by 2026. In contrast, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Plan focuses on installing 250,000 zero-emission vehicle chargers, including 10,000 fast chargers, by 2025. (Q4) Battery demand is projected to increase by approximately 3818.42% from 0.01856 TWh in 2020 to 0.7087 TWh in 2030 due to the rise in electric vehicle sales. The conclusion for each question is (Q1) The areas with high solar irradiance (like California (average just below 8.6MW) have the potential to harvest more effective energy. However, in areas (For e.g., Washington with 4.53MW) with low solar irradiance, it is challenging for these vehicles. (Q2) CO2 has the highest contribution (97%) among the gases released with highest the proportion of internal combustion vehicles (Light Duty vehicles {45%}), to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the shift to zero-emission vehicles and the adoption of solar-powered vehicles presents a perfect opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With carbon-neutral operation, enhanced energy efficiency, and seamless integration with renewable energy grids, solar vehicles hold tremendous promise for a cleaner and sustainable future. (Q3) By Implementing effective policies and providing financial incentives, governments can attract investments and accelerate the transition towards solar vehicles for e.g. California plans to install 10,000 direct current fast chargers that demonstrates a progressive strategy for adopting these vehicles. (Q4) The growing demand for electric vehicles has increased the demand for lithium-ion batteries, projected to soar by an astounding 3818.42% by the year 2030, resulting in a strain on critical material supplies. Promoting battery recycling is essential to meet the demand, reduce reliance on new materials, and support a sustainable energy transition. Areas for further study include: Developing vehicles that can harness solar irradiation and combine it with electricity generated from various sources, including roof solar panels, nuclear power plants, and wind, to optimize solar energy utilization. Additionally, exploring energy management systems (EMS) can intelligently regulate energy flow, storage, and consumption in these solar-powered vehicles, ensuring efficient use of the available energy. Also, integrating hybrid systems into solar vehicles will allow them to benefit from multiple power sources, enhancing efficiency and adaptability, regardless of varying sunlight availability. By adopting this approach, the transportation sector can progress towards a greener and more sustainable future

Solitary central osteoma of mandible in a geriatric patient: report and review

Solitary central osteomas of jaw are extremely rare lesions with only few previously documented cases. This paper reports a case of large solitary central osteoma involving mandible symphysis- parasymphysis region in an elderly female patient. A brief review of similar cases reported in the literature is also provided in this paper

Effect of Amomum subulatum seeds against cypermethrin induced haematological changes in wistar albino rats

Background: Cypermethrin is a well know agricultural pesticide used in the developing countries. It is associated with significant toxic potential on human health. Hence the present study was aimed to evaluate the protective role of Amomum subulatum against cypermethrin induced haematalogical changes in Wistar albino rats.Methods: The albino rats were divided into five different groups of six rats each. Group I considered as normal control, group II cypermethrin control (25mg/kg body weight p.o.), group III only test drug and group IV and V administered with cypermethrin 25mg/kg body weight along test drug 1.08 and 2.16mg/kg body weight for 28 consecutive days. At the end of 28th day blood was withdrawn and total haematalogical parameters were estimated.Results: In the cypermethrin control there was significant reduction in the WBC, Platelet, MCHC and considerable reduction in the haemoglobulin concentration in comparison to normal control. The test drug administered at both dose levels was significantly reversed the cypermethrin induced changes in haematalogical parameters.Conclusions: Authors can conclude that the Amomum subulatum has potency to reverse the cypermethrin induced haematalogical changes

AN EVALUATION OF THE WOUND HEALING AND ANTI-MICROBIAL PROPERTY OF THE TINCTURE OF LANTANA CAMARA

Objective: Lantana camaraL (L. c) has been known for its anti-bacterial activity since quite some time in its various extracts and pharmacological preparations. In view of this, we plan to study and compare the wound healing property of tincture of L. cin surgically induced wound in animal models with tincture of iodine (I2).Methods: An herbal tincture was developed from stems of L. cin concentrations of 20%, 40%, alcohol in tincture was followed as mentioned in IP, tested against tincture I2 in same aged different groups of rats under incision and excision models, also with commonly wound infecting bacteria like S. aureus, E. coli, E. fecalis, P. aeruginosa[a1] . Wounds were induced surgically under anaesthesia. Excised rats were observed for wound contraction and epithelialisation. On 7th day, incised rats were subjected to wound dehiscence test. Tissue biopsy took on day 5, 14 and21 for histopathological studies.Results: Both test groups were found statistically significant against standard with P<0.05 and with mean epithelialisation day value 11±1.02 in the excision model and P<0.05 between the groups in incision model depicting 20% tincture as better with a mean value of 366.67±47.2. Histologically 40% tincture was found non-inferior against standard. Tincture was active against mentioned microbes in various dilutions.Conclusion: Tincture L. c was non-inferior to iodine. Further studies with concentrated extracts of L. cmay reveal its accelerated healing and better anti-microbial competency so that it can be developed for clinical practice.Â

Human surfactant protein D alters oxidative stress and HMGA1 expression to induce p53 apoptotic pathway in eosinophil leukemic cell line

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright: © 2013 Mahajan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Surfactant protein D (SP-D), an innate immune molecule, has an indispensable role in host defense and regulation of inflammation. Immune related functions regulated by SP-D include agglutination of pathogens, phagocytosis, oxidative burst, antigen presentation, T lymphocyte proliferation, cytokine secretion, induction of apoptosis and clearance of apoptotic cells. The present study unravels a novel ability of SP-D to reduce the viability of leukemic cells (eosinophilic leukemic cell line, AML14.3D10; acute myeloid leukemia cell line, THP-1; acute lymphoid leukemia cell lines, Jurkat, Raji; and human breast epithelial cell line, MCF-7), and explains the underlying mechanisms. SP-D and a recombinant fragment of human SP-D (rhSP-D) induced G2/M phase cell cycle arrest, and dose and timedependent apoptosis in the AML14.3D10 eosinophilic leukemia cell line. Levels of various apoptotic markers viz. activated p53, cleaved caspase-9 and PARP, along with G2/M checkpoints (p21 and Tyr15 phosphorylation of cdc2) showed significant increase in these cells. We further attempted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of rhSP-D induced apoptosis using proteomic analysis. This approach identified large scale molecular changes initiated by SPD in a human cell for the first time. Among others, the proteomics analysis highlighted a decreased expression of survival related proteins such as HMGA1, overexpression of proteins to protect the cells from oxidative burst, while a drastic decrease in mitochondrial antioxidant defense system. rhSP-D mediated enhanced oxidative burst in AML14.3D10 cells was confirmed, while antioxidant, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, abrogated the rhSP-D induced apoptosis. The rhSP-D mediated reduced viability was specific to the cancer cell lines and viability of human PBMCs from healthy controls was not affected. The study suggests involvement of SP-D in host’s immunosurveillance and therapeutic potential of rhSP-D in the eosinophilic leukemia and cancers of other origins.Department of Biotechnology, Indi

Characterisation of different polymorphs of tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminium(III) using solid-state NMR and DFT calculations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Organic light emitting devices (OLED) are becoming important and characterisation of them, in terms of structure, charge distribution, and intermolecular interactions, is important. Tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)-aluminium(III), known as Alq₃, an organomettalic complex has become a reference material of great importance in OLED. It is important to elucidate the structural details of Alq₃in its various isomeric and solvated forms. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a useful tool for this which can also complement the information obtained with X-ray diffraction studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report here ²⁷Al one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning (MQMAS) NMR studies of the meridional (<it>α</it>-phase) and the facial (<it>δ</it>-phase) isomeric forms of Alq₃. Quadrupolar parameters are estimated from the 1D spectra under MAS and anisotropic slices of the 2D spectra and also calculated using DFT (density functional theory) quantum-chemical calculations. We have also studied solvated phase of Alq₃containing ethanol in its lattice. We show that both the XRD patterns and the quadrupolar parameters of the solvated phase are different from both the <it>α</it>-phase and the <it>δ</it>-phase, although the fluorescence emission shows no substantial difference between the <it>α</it>-phase and the solvated phase. Moreover, we have shown that after the removal of ethanol from the matrix the solvated Alq₃has similar XRD patterns and quadrupolar parameters to that of the <it>α</it>-phase.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The 2D MQMAS experiments have shown that all the different modifications of Alq₃have ²⁷Al in single unique crystallographic site. The quadrupolar parameters predicted using the DFT calculation under the isodensity polarisable continuum model resemble closely the experimentally obtained values. The solvated phase of Alq₃containing ethanol has structural difference from the <it>α</it>-phase of Alq₃(containing meridional isomer) from the solid-state NMR studies. Solid-state NMR can hence be used as an effective complementary tool to XRD for characterisation and structural elucidation.</p

Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) among Tuberculosis Patients: A Study from Chennai, South India

BACKGROUND: Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) among tuberculosis (TB) patients are associated with nonadherence and poor treatment outcomes. Studies from Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC), Chennai have reported that alcoholism has been one of the major reasons for default and mortality in under the DOTS programme in South India. Hence, it is planned to conduct a study to estimate prevalence of alcohol use and AUDs among TB patients attending the corporation health centres in Chennai, India. METHODOLOGY: This is a cross-sectional cohort study covering 10 corporation zones at Chennai and it included situational assessment followed by screening of TB patients by a WHO developed Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test AUDIT scale. Four zones were randomly selected and all TB patients treated during July to September 2009 were screened with AUDIT scale for alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Out of 490 patients, 66% were males, 66% were 35 years and above, 57% were married, 58% were from the low monthly income group of <Rs 5000 per month. No females reported alcohol use. Overall, out of 490 TB pts, 29% (141) were found to consume alcohol. Among 141 current drinkers 52% (73) had an AUDIT score of >8. Age (>35 years), education (less educated), income (<Rs 5000 per month), marital status (separated/divorced) and treatment category (Category 2) were statistically significant for TB patients with alcohol use than those TB patients without alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: AUD among TB patients needs to be addressed urgently and the findings suggest the importance of integrating alcohol treatment into TB care