Effect of Composition of Iron-Cobalt Oxide Catalyst and Process Parameters on The Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Sugarcane Bagasse

Development of catalyst with high deoxygenation activity and optimum process parameters are the key for getting the highest biooil yield with the least oxygen content by hydrothermal liquefaction. With this view, iron-cobalt oxides of Co/Fe ratio 0.33, 1.09, 2.35, and 3.52 were prepared by co-precipitation method, and characterized by XRD, BET surface area, chemical composition by EDX method, and evaluated for hydrothermal liquefaction of sugarcane bagasse in a high-pressure batch reactor under subcritical conditions using CO as process gas to find the optimum Co/Fe ratio and process parameters. Optimum Co/Fe ratio was found to be 1.09 as it gave the highest bio-oil yield of 57.6% with the least oxygen content of 10.8%, attributed to the cobalt ferrite, the major phase present in it. The optimum temperature, initial CO pressure, water/biomass ratio, catalyst/biomass ratio and reaction time for the highest oil yield with the least oxygen content were found to be 250 °C, 45 bar, 28, 0.4, and 120 min,  respectively. From the effect of reaction time, it was found that much of the hydrolysis of lignocellulose to water soluble oxygenates, its deoxygenation to bio-oil and its deoxygenation to low oxygen containing bio-oil took place in initial 15 min, 15 to 60 min, and from 30 to 120 min, respectively. Total oil yield (%) was lower by 21% and % oxygen in total oil was higher by 9.9% for spent catalyst compared to fresh catalyst indicating the erosion in the deoxygenation activity of catalyst and thus need for improving its hydrothermal stability. Copyright © 2020 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Mapping the Intellectual Structure of Social Entrepreneurship Research: A Citation/Co-citation Analysis

In this paper, we employ bibliometric analysis to empirically analyse the research on social entrepreneurship published between 1996 and 2017. By employing methods of citation analysis, document co-citation analysis, and social network analysis, we analyse 1296 papers containing 74,237 cited references and uncover the structure, or intellectual base, of research on social entrepreneurship. We identify nine distinct clusters of social entrepreneurship research that depict the intellectual structure of the field. The results provide an overall perspective of the social entrepreneurship field, identifying its influential works and analysing scholarly communication between these works. The results further aid in clarifying the overall centrality features of the social entrepreneurship research network. We also examine the integration of ethics into social entrepreneurship literature. We conclude with a discussion on the structure and evolution of the social entrepreneurship field

Assessing the readiness to implement lean in healthcare institutions – a case study

We develop a lean readiness framework and an assessment methodology to quantify the readiness of healthcare institutions for implementing lean. We use stakeholder theory and work with a lean implementation team responsible for process improvement in a healthcare group to develop the framework. The framework uses fuzzy based input derived from the stakeholders of the healthcare institution to generate an overall ranking through ideal solution technique. The assessment method derives input from the readiness scores shared by various stakeholders. The ranking suggests future improvement areas to prepare the healthcare institution for a lean implementation project. We provide an alternative perspective of assessing the lean readiness of healthcare institutions before beginning a lean implementation project for both researchers and practitioners. Our research is the first to develop a lean readiness framework for healthcare institutions and demonstrate it using an assessment technique

Synthesis, Spectral Characterization, and Biochemical Evaluation of Antidiabetic Properties of a New Zinc-Diosmin Complex Studied in High Fat Diet Fed-Low Dose Streptozotocin Induced Experimental Type 2 Diabetes in Rats

In view of the established antidiabetic properties of zinc, the present study was aimed at evaluating the hypoglycemic properties of a new zinc-diosmin complex in high fat diet fed-low dose streptozotocin induced experimental type 2 diabetes in rats. Zincdiosmin complex was synthesized and characterized by various spectral studies. The complexation between zinc ions and diosmin was further evidenced by pH-potentiometric titrations and Job's plot. Diabetic rats were orally treated with zinc-diosmin complex at a concentration of 20 mg/kg b.w./rat/day for 30 days. At the end of the experimental period, the rats were subjected to oral glucose tolerance test. In addition, HOMA-IR and various biochemical parameters related to glucose homeostasis were analyzed. Treatment with zinc-diosmin complex significantly improved the glucose homeostasis in diabetic rats. Treatment with zinc-diosmin complex significantly improved insulin sensitivity, at least in part, through enhancing protein metabolism and alteration in the levels of muscle and liver glycogen. The assay of clinical marker enzymes revealed the nontoxic nature of the complex. Determination of renal tissue markers such as blood urea and serum creatinine indicates the renoprotective nature of the complex. These findings suggest that zinc-diosmin complex is nontoxic and has complimentary potential to develop as an antihyperglycemic agent for the treatment of diabetes mellitus

Comparative analysis of cyanobacterial superoxide dismutases to discriminate canonical forms

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Superoxide dismutases (SOD) are ubiquitous metalloenzymes that catalyze the disproportion of superoxide to peroxide and molecular oxygen through alternate oxidation and reduction of their metal ions. In general, SODs are classified into four forms by their catalytic metals namely; FeSOD, MnSOD, Cu/ZnSOD and NiSOD. In addition, a cambialistic form that uses Fe/Mn in its active site also exists. Cyanobacteria, the oxygen evolving photosynthetic prokaryotes, produce reactive oxygen species that can damage cellular components leading to cell death. Thus, the co-evolution of an antioxidant system was necessary for the survival of photosynthetic organisms with SOD as the initial enzyme evolved to alleviate the toxic effect. Cyanobacteria represent the first oxygenic photoautotrophs and their SOD sequences available in the databases lack clear annotation. Hence, the present study focuses on structure and sequence pattern of subsets of cyanobacterial superoxide dismutases.</p> <p>Result</p> <p>The sequence conservation and structural analysis of Fe (<it>Thermosynechococcus elongatus </it>BP1) and MnSOD (<it>Anabaena </it>sp. PCC7120) reveal the sharing of N and C terminal domains. At the C terminal domain, the metal binding motif in cyanoprokaryotes is DVWEHAYY while it is D-X-[WF]-E-H-[STA]-[FY]-[FY] in other pro- and eukaryotes. The cyanobacterial FeSOD differs from MnSOD at least in three ways <it>viz</it>. (i) FeSOD has a metal specific signature F184X₃A188Q189_.......T280_......F/Y303 while, in Mn it is R184X₃G188G189_......G280......W303, (ii) aspartate ligand forms a hydrogen bond from the active site with the outer sphere residue of W243 in Fe where as it is Q262 in MnSOD; and (iii) two unique lysine residues at positions 201 and 255 with a photosynthetic role, found only in FeSOD. Further, most of the cyanobacterial Mn metalloforms have a specific transmembrane hydrophobic pocket that distinguishes FeSOD from Mn isoform. Cyanobacterial Cu/ZnSOD has a copper domain and two different signatures G-F-H-[ILV]-H-x-[NGT]-[GPDA]-[SQK]-C and G-[GA]-G-G-[AEG]-R-[FIL]-[AG]-C-G, while Ni isoform has an nickel containing SOD domain containing a Ni-hook HCDGPCVYDPA.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present analysis unravels the ambiguity among cyanobacterial SOD isoforms. NiSOD is the only SOD found in lower forms; whereas, Fe and Mn occupy the higher orders of cyanobacteria. In conclusion, cyanobacteria harbor either Ni alone or a combination of Fe and Ni or Fe and Mn as their catalytic active metal while Cu/Zn is rare.</p

Impact of high-performance work practices on efficiency and effectiveness of multispecialty healthcare service delivery in an emerging economy – role of relational coordination

Healthcare institutions have been working to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the service delivered. The literature has argued that their capabilities have a direct effect on service outcomes. Research has explained how their capabilities can be enhanced by implementing high-performance work practices (HPWP) bundles and how these bundles can impact performance through relational coordination. However, this previous research has focused primarily on single-specialty healthcare institutions in a developed country. Inherent characteristics of multispecialty healthcare institutions (e.g., inability to standardize) and emerging economy context (e.g., absence of case manager role) motivate further investigation in this setting. Therefore, in our research, we study the impact of HPWP on the overall performance, efficiency, and effectiveness of healthcare service delivered and how this linkage is moderated by relational coordination. We analyzed 605 valid responses from different healthcare institutions located in the southern Tamil Nadu state of India using structural equation modeling. In alignment with past research, our results show that HPWP improves the overall performance and effectiveness and this linkage is moderated by relational coordination. However, HPWP's impact on efficiency and its moderation by relational coordination is insignificant. We explain the results by anchoring them to the characteristics of the multispecialty and emerging economy context

Lobster sea cage farming and its influence on phytoplankton diversity in evolving aquatic environments

Assessing the ecological impact of sea cage farming on phytoplankton diversity and water quality is crucial for sustainable cage culture production. Despite previous attempts, conclusive insights into these changes remain elusive. Our study focuses on the ecological impact of spiny lobster (Panulirus polyphagus) sea cage farming on water quality changes, particularly phytoplankton species and diversity. Study was conducted of for I year period (September 2020 to August 2021) at Veraval in Northwest coast of India, where spiny lobster capture-based aquaculture is being practiced. Identification of 47 phytoplankton species from 41 genera showcased dominance by Bacillariophyceae (76.5%) and Dinophyceae (23.5%). Phytoplankton diversity (Shannon) analysis revealed a decline during the cage culture period (H'=3.19) at the experimental site, in contrast to the reference location (H'=3.45). Total Suspended Solids (TSS) were recorded to significantly impacted diversity and abundance (P :5 0.05). Key species positively correlated with TSS included Chaetoceros sp., Cyclotella sp., Rhizosolenia robusta, Skeletonema costatum, Thallassiophyxix palmeriana, Navicula sp., and Thallasiothrix ft'auerifeldii. Conversely, Biddulphia sinensis, Coscinodiscus excentricus, Ditylum brightwelli, Lithodesmium sp., Rhizosolenia alata, and six others exhibited negative correlations. Understanding the impact of phytoplankton abundance on the sea cage culture site is crucial, as it significantly influences the ecosystem in which the mariculture activity been carriedout. The study emphasizes the need for meticulous assessments plankton diversity before intensifying sea cage farming activities for sustainable mariculture development

Does it make economic sense! Capturing the bio-economic dimensions of Lobster farming in Sea cages

Sea cage farming of lobsters in India has undergone a decadal transformation in terms of technological and biological innovations. However, its economic interface has always been underrepresented. As production systems gather momentum across Spatio-temporal boundaries, farmers are confronted with problems over how best to allocate and regulate technical, biological, financial information resources to the system so as to arrive a tangible tradeoff between investments made, managerial decisions and maximum economic returns. In this context, a decision support economic forecast model has been developed to evaluate the economic dynamics of lobster farming in sea cages. By revisiting the farming practice inputs, outcomes and possible risks, we use a 10-year span of temporal model, which simulated the performance of the culture system in response to biological, economic and technical parameters acting in tandem.The propensities of a profitable venture were brighter when two crop cycles were undertaken annually since the IRR increases by 18.5% from single to two crop scenarios. There exists only an 8.9% variation when farming strategy shifts from two to three crop cycles/year. The model further captures that, the payback period of 2.04 years in the two-crop cycle whereas it is only 6.8 months in a three-crop cycle. But at the same time the two-crop cycle is observed to generate an increase of 276% in net profits in stark contrast to only a marginal increase of 44.2% in a three-crop scenario. The developed model and simulation scenarios could aid in effective enterprise decisionsto establish their strategies in support of the expansion of lobster farming in sea cages

La gestión investigativa universitaria: Un problema de vieja data sin pronta solución (Caso analítico uptc)

Al hacer referencia a los ejes de la universidad, es imposible dejar de ubicarse en el contexto de la Ley 30 de diciembre 28 de 1992, por la que “se organiza el servicio público de la educación superior”, la cual en estos momentos atraviesa por una reforma coyuntural de gigantescas implicaciones para el quehacer universitario; esto se presenta porque es allí donde tal vez se origina la fundamentación teórica de lo que la Ley en su momento planteó, pero que en la realidad no se ha llevado a cabo, ya sea por los legisladores o por los mismos administradores de turno que no han llegado a reglamentar claramente esta Ley marco que rige, y que infortunadamente ha traído en algunos puntos cierto sinsabor a la actividad universitaria