Geothermal probabilistic cost study

A tool is presented to quantify the risks of geothermal projects, the Geothermal Probabilistic Cost Model (GPCM). The GPCM model was used to evaluate a geothermal reservoir for a binary-cycle electric plant at Heber, California. Three institutional aspects of the geothermal risk which can shift the risk among different agents was analyzed. The leasing of geothermal land, contracting between the producer and the user of the geothermal heat, and insurance against faulty performance were examined

Uma abordagem de agrupamento de fatores para avaliar as percepções dos residentes em relação ao desenvolvimento do turismo rural sustentável

Rural tourism is now widely embraced and has given rural residents numerous recreational business opportunities to engage in tourism globally. Therefore, they are required to investigate even on a lesser scale. In this regard, a study was conducted to ascertain how locals view sustainable rural tourism development and how these perceptions vary across various demographic categories. The data was gathered from 300 randomly selected Dharbandoda Taluka, Goa, India residents and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and Cluster Analysis. The EFA revealed the five main factors, namely, the public utility services factor, economic factors, social factors, cultural factors, and environmental factors. The factor-cluster analysis results identified the three main clusters: Socio-Environmental, Socio-Economic, and Socio-Cultural Focused. It is revealed that cluster 3 has more respondents who are female, ages between 18 to 25, single, and employed, and have favorable attitudes toward the sustainable development of rural tourism. The study concludes that the region will experience significant growth if more local and natural resources are utilized efficiently.El turismo rural está ahora ampliamente aceptadoy ha brindado a los residentes rurales numerosas oportunidades de negocios recreativos para participar en el turismo a nivel mundial y, por lo tanto, se requiere investigar incluso a menor escala. En este sentido, se llevó a cabo un estudio para determinar cómo ven los lugareños el desarrollo sostenible del turismo rural y cómo varían estas percepciones entre las distintas categorías demográficas. Los datos se recopilaron de 300 residentes seleccionados al azar de Dharbandoda Taluka, Goa, India, y se analizaron mediante estadística descriptiva, análisis factorial exploratorio (EFA) y análisis de conglomerados. La EFA reveló los cinco factores principales, a saber, el Factor de Servicios de Utilidad Pública, el Factor Económico, el Factor Social, el Factor Cultural y el Factor Ambiental. Los resultados del análisis de conglomerados factoriales identificaron los tres conglomerados principales, que incluyen: Socio-Ambiental, Socioeconómico y Centrado en la Comunidad. Se revela que el grupo 3 tiene más encuestados, que son mujeres, con edades entre 18 y 25 años, solteras y empleadas que tienen actitudes favorables hacia el desarrollo sostenible del turismo rural. El estudio concluye que la región experimentará un crecimiento significativo si se utilizan más recursos locales y naturales de manera eficiente.O turismo rural é agora amplamente adotado e tem dado aos residentes rurais inúmeras oportunidades de negócios recreativos para se envolverem no turismo globalmente e, portanto, necessário investigar mesmo em menor escala. A este respeito, foi realizado um estudo para verificar como os habitantes locais vêem o desenvolvimento sustentável do turismo rural e como estas perceções variam entre várias categorias demográficas. Os dados foram coletados de 300 residentes selecionados aleatoriamente de Dharbandoda Taluka, Goa, Índia, e analisados usando estatística descritiva, Análise Fatorial Exploratória (EFA) e Análise de Cluster. A EFA revelou os cinco principais fatores, a saber, Fator Serviços de Utilidade Pública, Fator Ecômico, Fator Social, Fator Cultural e Fator Ambiental. Os resultados da análise fatorial-cluster identificaram os três principais clusters que incluem: Socioambiental, Socioeconômico e Focado na Comunidade. Revela-se que o cluster 3 tem mais entrevistados, sendo mulheres, com idades entre 18 e 25 anos, solteiras e empregadas tiveram atitudes favoráveis ao desenvolvimento sustentável do turismo rural. O estudo conclui que a região experimentará um crescimento significativo se mais recursos locais e naturais forem utilizados de forma eficiente

Genetic Divergence Study in Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)

The genetic divergence of forty bitter gourd genotypes was studied for sixteen different parameters by adopting Mahalanobis D2 statistics using Tocher's method. The genotypes were grouped into six clusters irrespective of geographic divergence, indicating no parallelism between geographic and genetic diversity. A maximum of 32 genotypes entered in cluster I, followed by 4 genotypes in cluster II. The cluster III, IV, V and VI had single genotypes each. The maximum inter-cluster distance was obtained between cluster II and VI (1620.05) while minimum distance was between III and V (103.32). Cluster V followed by cluster VI showed superiority for yield and other desirable traits, which indicate the potentiality of these diverse genotype collection for providing basic material for future breeding programmes

A Novel Class of Pyrazoline Analogue of Combretastatin-A4 (CA-4): Synthesis Characterization and in-vitro Biological Testing

A series of pyrazoline bridged combretastatin analogues were designed and synthesised from their precursor chalcone analogues, and all these compounds were ascertained by IR, 1H NMR, and mass spectral analysis. Subsequently, all these compounds were evaluated for anticancer activities against breast cancer (MCF-7) and normal Vero (Monkey Kidney) cell lines, and five selected compounds from the series were evaluated against Hela (Human Cervical), MDA-MB-231 (Breast), and A-549 (Lung cancer) cell lines using the Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay method. Compounds 3a, 6a, 6e, 5b, 7a, 5a, and 7d were found to be the most potent in the series, with a GI50 value of 10 to 30 M in the MCF-7 cell line. Moreover, the same compounds 6a and 7a showed remarkable cytotoxicity against the A-549 (Lung) cell line with a GI50 value ranging from 10 to 30 M, while compound 3a displayed moderate cytotoxicity against the Hela (Human Cervical) cell line. All these compounds were found nontoxic to the Vero (Monkey Kidney) normal cell line

Effect of modified atmosphere package on physico-chemical properties of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruits

Pomegranate is an important table and processed fruit owing to its nutritional quality. Extending the fruit life of the plant is very much limited owing to its metabolic activities viz., respiration, transpiration and microbial infection. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different packaging materials on physico-chemical properties of pomegranate fruits during storage. Fruits were harvested with stalk and washed with sodium hypochlorite, air dried and graded. Fruits were stored under modified atmospheric packaging conditions using different packaging materials viz., polyethylene bag, polypropylene bag, Xtend® bag and silver nano bag Hima Fresh®. Fruits without package served as controls. Fruits were stored at low temperature 7±2 °C and 90±5 % RH. MAP treated fruits had higher quality parameters across all packaging treatments. PLW and respiration rate increased while, moisture content, colour, texture and acidity decreased with prolonged storage, but the rate of decrease was highest in unpacked fruits. MAP maintained the quality of pomegranate fruits upto 100 days compared to unpackaged fruits (40 days). Shelf life of stored fruit at ambient condition was 4 to 5 days. Fruit decay was 12 % in polyethylene whereas it was 6 % in Xtend® bag at the end of 100 day of storage

“A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Proximal Massage and Palm Fisting in Reducing the Risk of Thrombophlebitis among Intravenous Cannulated Patients’’

Background :- Swelling and cessation of fluids are common problems among thrombophlebitis patients which usually in proper management of proximal massage and palm fisting and also it can create pulmonary embolism if not treated properly. Method: - The data was collected from 60 patients. By using convenient sampling technique data was selected. Visual infusion thrombophlebitis score scale was used to assess the risk of thrombophlebitis in experimental group and control group. T test was done to assess the effectiveness between experimental and control groups and chi - square test was done to find out the association of post test scores with their selected socio - demographic variables. Result :- Majority of subjects 60% had indicating no any signs of thrombophlebitis, 50% had slight pain and slight redness near IV site, 26.66% had pain near IV site, erythema, induration, 16.66% had pain along path of cannula, erythema, induration, 6.66% had pain along path of cannula, erythema, induration, palpable venous cord. Conclusion: - Proximal massage and palm fisting exercise are non invasive, simple technique, and effective in reducing the risk of thrombophlebitis among intravenous cannulated patients. Key words: - Visual infusion thrombophlebitis score scale, proximal massage, palm fisting, erythema

Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of Pyrazoline and Pyrimidine Analogs of Combretastatin-A4 as Anticancer, Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Agents

A library of 3,5-diaryl-1-carbothioamide-pyrazoline (5a–j), N1-phenyl sulfonyl pyrazoline (6a–e) and pyrimidine (7a) analogs of combretastatin-A4 were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. Results of in vitro assay against human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) showed several compounds endowed with significant cytotoxicity compared to the adriamycin, a standard anticancer drug. Among the compounds synthesized, 7a was found to possess significant antiproliferative activity (GI50 < 0.1 µM) against the MCF-7 cell line as good as adriamycin (GI50 < 0.1 µM) whereas, compounds 6c, 5j and 5g also displayed good cytotoxicity (GI50 = 25.3–42.6 µM). Besides this, most active compound 7a was also evaluated against human myeloid leukemia cell line K562 and the remarkable result was obtained with GI50 < 0.1 µM, comparable to that of adriamycin (GI50 < 0.1 µM). In addition, all the synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. The percent inhibition studies revealed that most of the compounds were found to possess substantial anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Relating laser powder bed fusion process parameters to (micro)structure and to soft magnetic behaviour in a Fe-based bulk metallic glass

This work aims to establish fundamental processing-(micro)structure-property links in a commercial Fe-based Kuamet6B2 bulk metallic glass (BMG) processed by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). With that purpose, amorphous powders were processed using a pulsed-wave system and a simple meander strategy. The laser power, the scan speed, and the hatch distance were varied over wide intervals within the conduction regime. The processability window leading to samples with good dimensional accuracy and mechanical stability was determined. Within this window, the manufactured samples were crystalline/amorphous composites and the crystalline regions were formed by equiaxed ultrafine and nanograins with random orientations. Processing parameters yielding the densest prints caused severe crystallization while, conversely, parameter sets allowing the material to retain a high amorphous fraction led to significant lack-of-fusion defects and residual cracking along directions perpendicular to crystalline/amorphous interfaces. Comparatively, for a fixed hatch distance, the scanning speed had a stronger effect than the laser power in the resulting amorphous fraction due to its stronger influence on the melt pool size and, in turn, on the corresponding HAZ volume. The saturation magnetization and the coercive field were inversely related to the amorphous fraction. This work allows to derive fundamental guidelines for the successful additive manufacturing of soft magnetic Fe-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF)

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability