A Layered Architecture and Taxonomy for Blockchain-empowered Reputation-based Reward Systems

Blockchain based rating and review systems have changed the operational structure of the traditional market by introducing characteristics like immutability, security, anonymity etc. to liberate users from potential malicious acts of sellers such as altering and hiding ratings or reviews, collusion with users or service providers. The lack of standardization for developing decentralized applications does not depict flow of information and cataloguing of specific functions and roles for a particular set of tasks. The development of decentralized applications for e-commerce systems is in its immature age of progress and has lack of interoperable sharing of data and workflows for new innate systems. Thus, it is significant to catalogue blockchain-based rating and review systems by identifying key parameters to generate a taxonomy and develop a conceptual layered framework for identifying core components and their interaction. This manuscript presents a substantial analysis of existing blockchain-empowered reputation-based reward systems. It uses an iterative approach following observed to rational and rational to observed for taxonomy development. The analysis results identify 11 key parameters for categorizing systems and propose a 4 layered architecture to signify IPFS, P2P network, Blockchain and DApps. The proposed model identifies underlying subsystems, their services, and their interaction. The new taxonomy identifies natural roadmaps in system development process. This study is key because it allows developers to design new reputation-based reward framework in different dimensions by following an open workflow with a common understanding of underlying core entities

Assessment of geotechnical properties of uncemented/cemented clayey soil incorporated with waste crumb rubber

Discarded waste tires are becoming a serious threat to health, environment, and ecological systems worldwide if it is not disposed of properly. Every year 1000 million of waste tires are discarded. This number may grow up to 1200 million by the year 2030. On the other hand, construction of civil engineering structures such as buildings, dams, highways, etc. are at high risk of differential settlement, especially in the case of weak or soft clay, which is due to its low shear strength and high compressibility. The paper aims to assess geotechnical properties of uncemented/cemented clayey soil incorporated with waste crumb rubber. Compaction parameters, unconfined compressive strength, split tensile strength, toughness index, CBR values and swelling pressure of rubberized uncemented/cemented clayey soil (3%, and 6% cement and different percentage of crumb rubber) have been obtained. After rigorous extensive study, it has been concluded that unconfined compressive strength and split tensile strength of rubberized cemented clayey soil decreases with the increase of the percentage of crumb rubber whereas the axial, and diametral strain are found to be increased with the addition of crumb rubber up to 5% after that it starts to decrease. The CBR values, swelling pressure, and toughness index of uncemented/cemented clayey soil was significantly affected by incorporation of crumb rubber. SEM studies have also been incorporated in this investigation

Analysis of Aqueducts Subjected to Hydrostatic and Dynamic Loads Using 3D - Solid Modeling

In many areas of developing countries, the access to fresh water is limited even today. Aqueducts are the major structures in water supply and diversion schemes when carrying the water over natural and artificial obstacles such as valleys, rivers, roads, railway lines, canals etc. During an earthquake, the effect of water sloshing on the walls of aqueduct and the resulting hydrodynamic forces is often neglected. In this study, the analysis is carried out for a single span elevated aqueduct using finite element analysis, in which the structure is discretized into smaller elements. The structure is modelled using solid elements in Staad Pro V8i software for different loads. The behavioral response of aqueduct structure subjected to hydrostatic loads and dynamic loads due to seismic ground excitation has been analyzed. It has been observed that the structure is more vulnerable to dynamic loads compared to hydrostatic loads. The effect of dynamic loads due to sloshing of water under seismic forces is predominant. The stresses induced by hydrodynamic loads are observed to be 2.4 times more than hydrostatic loads

ASSOCIATION OF THE IMPACT OF POSTNATAL NUTRITION ON THE GROWTH OF PRETERM INFANTS

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to measure the actual daily amount of each nutrient (protein, glucose, and fat) energy and fluid as per current ESPGHAN guidelines for preterm infants and to analyze the role of nutrients at different gestational age on growth and weight of preterm infants. Material and Methods: An observational and prospective cohort study was conducted from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018. This study included all preterm infants born <34 weeks gestational age admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit during this period at Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital. A total of 120 preterm neonates were studied. Results: There were mean weight, length, and head circumference continues to rise till the study end. Mean energy at birth was also continues to rise till the end. Conclusion: In the study, proper nutritional supplement as per ESPHAGEN guidelines was used for the development of preterm infant. The study showed that there were statistically significant results with anthropometry parameters with preterm baby growth in all domains

Studies on H2-Assisted Liquefied Petroleum Gas Reduction of NO over Ag/Al2O3 Catalyst

Hydrocarbon-Selective catalytic reduction (HC-SCR) is one of the potential methods to remove NOx emissions from diesel engine, lean burn petrol engines and natural gas engines exhaust. Ag/Al2O3 is a good catalyst for HC-SCR of NOx under lean-burn conditions. Further, addition of small amount of H2 is effective for enhancing HC-SCR activity. This effect is unique to silver and to specific Ag/support combinations, namely, Ag/γ-Al2O3. Various HC reductants, such as: octane, decane, dodecane and propane, have been reported in the literatures. Only a single study on LPG as a reductant over Cu-ZSM catalyst was reported. There was no work reported on H2 assisted LPG over Ag/Al2O3 catalyst. Thus, this gap in the literature is filled with the present investigation of NO reduction over 2 wt.% Ag/Al2O3 catalyst using LPG reductant. The fresh and used catalyst was characterized by various techniques like low temperature N2-adsorption, XRD, XPS and SEM. There was practically no change in the characteristics of the fresh and used catalyst. Two different reductants of CO and LPG were compared for SCR of NO over the catalyst without and with H2-assisted. The experiments were performed in a fixed bed tubular flow reactor under the following conditions: 100mg catalyst; 0.13% NO, 2.5% LPG/CO, 1% H2, 10% O2, rest Ar; total flow rate 60 mL/min; temperature ambient 400 oC and pressure 1 atm. Around 100% conversion of NO was achieved using LPG reductant. Light off temperature of NO reduction significantly reduced by H2assisted LPG reductant. The maximum conversion of NO with CO was limited to 35.15% at temperature of 224 oC and above. Whereas, 97.79 % NO conversion was achieved at 365 oC with LPG reductant. While, the maximum conversions with H2-LPG and H2-CO reductants were 100 and 99.46% at 117 and 220 oC, respectively. Therefore, H2-LPG-SCR of NOx over 2 wt.% Ag/Al2O3 catalyst system can be used to get 100% reduction at low temperature.

Effect of inclusion of crumb rubber on the unconfined compressive strength and wet-dry durability of cement stabilized clayey soil

In the present study, the effect of inclusion of waste crumb rubber and cement on the unconfined compressive strength and wet-dry durability of clayey soil has been investigated. Crumb rubber and cement were added to clayey soil at ranges of 2.5%-10% and 3%-6% respectively. The results of the investigation revealed that the incorporation of crumb rubber influenced the unconfined compressive strength, axial strain at failure, energy absorption capacity and wet-dry durability of the cement-stabilized clay. The study reveals that as the content of crumb rubber in the cement-stabilized clayey soil increases the unconfined compressive strength decreases but prosperously changes the behavior of the cement-stabilized clay from brittle to ductile. The axial strain corresponding to peak axial stress and energy absorption capacity of the specimens can be increased by limiting the content of crumb rubber up to 5%. The weight loss of the cement-stabilized clay mixed with crumb rubber increases as the content of crumb rubber increases. With the prolongation of the curing period, the weight loss of cement-stabilized clay mixed with crumb rubber decreases. Further, the weight loss of 90 days cured specimens of clayey soil incorporated with 6% cement and crumb rubber up to 5% meets the recommendation of the material to be used in construction of road pavements as a base, sub-base, and shoulder. Most importantly, the utilization/disposal of this hazardous waste material reduces its impact on environment and health

Correction to: Studies on H2-Assisted Liquefied Petroleum Gas Reduction of NO over Ag/Al2O3 Catalyst

Correction to: Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis (2018), 13 (2): 227-235 (doi:10.9767/bcrec.13.2.1307.227-235)An error appeared in Corresponding Author in a paper entitled “Studies on H2-Assisted Liquefied Petroleum Gas Reduction of NO over Ag/Al2O3 Catalyst” published in Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis. The Corresponding Author is corrected to be:* Corresponding Authors. Tel: +919415268192. Email: [email protected] (R. Prasad) Tel: +917505072607. Email: [email protected] (D. Yadav)——————The original article can be found online at: https://doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.13.2.1307.227-235——————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).How to Cite: Singh, P., Yadav, D., Thakur, P., Pandey, J., Prasad, R. (2020). Correction to: Studies on H2-Assisted Liquefied Petroleum Gas Reduction of NO over Ag/Al2O3 Catalyst. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 15 (2): 603-603 (doi:10.9767/bcrec.15.2.7659.603-603)Permalink/DOI: https://doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.15.2.7659.603-60

Molecular cloning and characterization of protein disulfide isomerase of Brugia malayi, a human lymphatic filarial parasite

Lymphatic filariasis results in an altered lymphatic system and the abnormal enlargement of body parts, causing pain, serious disability and social stigma. Effective vaccines are still not available nowadays, drugs against the disease is required. Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is an essential catalyst of the endoplasmic reticulum which is involved in folding and chaperone activities in different biological systems. Here, we report the enzymatic characterization of a Brugia malayi Protein disulfide isomerase (BmPDI), which was expressed and purified from Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). Western blotting analysis showed the recombinant BmPDI could be recognized by anti-BmPDI Rabbit serum. The rBmPDI exhibited an optimum activity at pH 8 and 40 °C. The enzyme was inhibited by aurin and PDI inhibitor. Recombinant BmPDI showed interaction with recombinant Brugia malayi calreticulin (rBmCRT). The three-dimensional model for BmPDI and BmCRT was generated by homology modelling. A total of 25 hydrogen bonds were found to be formed between two interfaces. There are 259 non-bonded contacts present in the BmPDI-BmCRT complex and 12 salt bridges were formed in the interaction

Chlorophyll Fluorescence Spectra as an Indicator of X-Ray + EMS-Induced Phytotoxicity in Safflower

Abstract. The present investigation deals with the study of in vivo laser-induced chlorophyll florescence spectra (LICF) of safflower leaves (Carthamus tinctorius L.) for X-rays + EMS-treated plants. Seeds were treated with different doses of Xray + EM