Marketing Behaviour of Organic Farmers in Karur district of Tamil Nadu

In the recent past, most of the developed countries and some of the developing countries are returning to organic farming cultivation. For sustaining a healthy ecosystem there is a need for adoption of organic farming in India. The study was conducted in Karur district of Tamil Nadu to assess the marketing behavior of organic farmers. Nearly three-fourths of the respondents had medium level of marketing behavior

Effectiveness of the tactile stimulation on anxiety and selected physiological parameter (HR) among patients admitted in intensive care units (ICUs)

The research project is a “Quasi experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of tactile stimulation on anxiety and selected physiological parameter (HR) among patient admitted in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of Government Rajaji Hospital at Madurai”. Pre test post test non equivalent control group research design was adopted. The total sample size was 60 out of which 30 samples were in the experimental group and 30 samples were in the control group. This study was carried out by administration of tactile stimulation twice a day for 3 days continuously, and by checking Apical heart rate per minute with the help of stethoscope. The tool used to assess the level of anxiety was modified anxiety part of CINT questionnaire in which 15 items were related in a four point likert type scale. The data obtained were analyzed by inferential and descriptive statistics. The major findings of the study were the mean post level of anxiety of patients admitted in ICU who received tactile stimulation was (t=19.328, P<0.05) lower than their mean pre test level of anxiety. The mean post level of selected physiological parameter (HR) of patients admitted in ICU who received tactile stimulation was (t=9.483, P<0.05) lower than their mean pre test level of selected physiological parameter (HR). There was a significant positive relation between the post level of anxiety (r=1) and selected physiological parameter (HR) (r=0.215) of experimental group who had received tactile stimulation. There was a significant association between the pre test level of anxiety with type of ICU [χ2 = 5.59 at df (2)] of experimental and control group. There was a significant association between the pre test level of heart rate with diagnosis of client [χ2 = 5.59 at df (1)] and type of ICU [χ2 = 15.26 at df (2)]. Based on the findings it is recommended that, tactile stimulation can be used for promoting healing environment and maintain the human element of nursing care in ICUs

Cardiac autonomic dysfunction measured as reduced heart rate variability, in the intermediate Post-Covid state in men

Background: A critical illness such as severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) activates autonomic, endocrine, and emotional stress responses. Whether the manifestations of excessive stress experience persist beyond full recovery into the intermediate post-COVID period (3–6 months after recovery) is not known and was the question we addressed in the current study. Methods: An analytical observational cross-sectional study compared the heart rate variability (HRV), 8 AM serum cortisol concentration, and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale–21 (DASS-21) scores between COVID-19 recovered participants and their age-matched control subjects (21 male participants, 30–70 years of age, in each group). Results: The median (Q1–Q3) of low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and total powers of HRV was significantly reduced in those who recovered from severe COVID-19, compared to control subjects (respectively LF power: 410.871 [245.10–861.94], 947.57 [536.11–1778.55], P = 0.011; HF power: 192.916 [87.66–564.43], 705.18 [248.67–1192.19] P = 0.013; Total power: 646.33 [308.72–1518.28], 1613.33 [956.14–4022.55] P = 0.015, Mann–Whitney U-test). Serum cortisol and DASS-21 scores were not different from the control group. Conclusions: Impaired cardiac autonomic function, evidenced by reduced HRV, was observed in the intermediate period following recovery from severe COVID-19. However, psychological stress and elevated serum cortisol were not noted. Our result that exposes the effect of COVID-19 on cardiac autonomic responsiveness is important as diminished HRV increases the vulnerability of COVID-19 survivors to diseases. These findings may also suggest a focus of therapy in them, as specific interventions are known to improve HRV and cardiac autonomic functioning

CoNiSe2 Nanostructures for Clean Energy Production

Comparative investigation of the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity for clean energy production was performed by fabricating three different electrodes, namely, NiSe2, CoSe2, and CoNiSe2, synthesized by hydrothermal treatment. Cubic, orthorhombic, and hexagonal structures of NiSe2, CoSe2, and CoNiSe2 were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and also by other characterization studies. Perfect nanospheres, combination of distorted nanospheres and tiny nanoparticles, and sharp-edge nanostructures of NiSe2, CoSe2, and CoNiSe2 were explored by surface morphological images. Higher OER activity of the binary CoNiSe2 electrode was achieved as 188 mA/g current density with a comparatively low overpotential of 234 mV along with higher conductivity and low charge transfer resistance when compared to its unary NiSe2 and CoSe2 electrodes. A low Tafel slope value of 82 mV/dec was also achieved for the same binary CoNiSe2 electrode in a half-cell configuration. The overall 100% retention achieved for all of the fabricated electrodes in a stability test of OER activity suggested that the excellent optimum condition was obtained during the synthesis. This could definitely be a revelation in the synthesis of novel binary combinations of affordable metal selenides for clean energy production

Pure and cobalt-substituted zinc-ferrite magnetic ceramics for supercapacitor applications

Pure and cobalt-substituted zinc ferrites were successfully synthesized employing a simple co-precipitation route. CoxZn0.04−xFe2O4 (x = 0, 0.01, 0.02) physical properties have been investigated employing comprehensive characterization studies. XRD results confirmed the cobalt substitution in zinc-ferrite magnetic ceramics. SEM analysis revealed non-uniform cluster formation with large agglomeration and more number of spherical grain nanoparticles in the range of 30–150 nm. Raman phonon vibration modes [F2g(1) + F2g(2) + A1g] revealed cubic zinc-ferrite phase and cobalt substitution. Product-predominant blue–green emission was observed in PL studies. IR results confirmed ferrite tetrahedral (~ 540–565cm−1) and octahedral sites’ (~ 428 cm−1) metal oxygen vibrations. Electrochemical studies confirmed an appreciable increase in specific capacitance of Co0.02Zn0.02Fe2O4 around 377 F/g at 10 mV/s scan rate. Cobalt substitution in zinc spinel ferrite structure revealed dominant influence on structural, optical, and electrochemical properties of the obtained product

Electrochemical energy storage and conversion applications of CoSn(OH)₆ materials

Supercapacitors are a boon in today's modern world. The role of a supercapacitor is important in providing electrical energy in the most efficient way for the usefulness of the society. Herein, co-precipitation technique was adapted to prepare electrodes for energy storage and water-splitting purposes. Role of ammonia at different concentrations was deliberated. Better 269 and 364 F/g capacitance was attained for best electrode from cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) curves, respectively. The capacitive and diffusion contribution of all electrodes were estimated and found to be 91.88 and 8.12 for the best sample. A better diffusion contribution of the higher-concentration ammonia sample revealed a higher specific capacitance. In this study, 91.33% capacitive retention and 90.38% columbic efficiency were calculated after 5000 cycles of charge and discharge. Further electrochemical method like linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and chronoamperometry (CA) was explored for water-splitting applications and 367 mA/g current density with 264 mV overpotential was achieved in the LSV plot. CA test was carried out for 10 h to reveal 189 mA/g current density and delivered 74% stability. Therefore, the present study describes different technique to extend electrochemical supercapacitor and water-splitting purposes.This work was supported by UGC-SAP, DST-FIST, DST-PURSE, MHRD-RUSA grants