Expeditious and Eco-friendly fabrication of Graphene-Ag nanocomposite for methyl paraben sensing

The synthesis of graphene-based nanocomposites using wet chemical techniques entails a number of time-consuming and laborious synthesis stages in addition to the use of potentially dangerous substances. The present article provides a novel approach to green and in-situ synthesis that employs no hazardous chemicals and synthesizes graphene and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) nanocomposite from the tea tree oil and silver nitrate (AgNO3) vapours. The synthesis happens in a matter of seconds in microwave plasma at ambient conditions. Images from the scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed that graphene nanosheets act as the most favoured sites for the Ag NPs to anchor and form a nanocomposite. The investigations revealed a correlation between the concentration of AgNO3 in the precursor and the size and aggregation of Ag NPs. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrated a negative shifting of the Ag-doublet, which suggested a strong interaction between Ag NPs and graphene. Additionally, the graphene-Ag nanocomposite drop-casted on screen-printed electrode demonstrated good electrochemical sensing capability for methyl paraben, with a superior linear range of 20 to 260 µM and a commendable limit of detection of 2.5 µM

Organization Performance Influenced by the BSD and Consultative Management Style

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among Balanced Scorecard, consultative management style, participative management style and organization size with organizational performance. All the variables are highly correlated with each other. This is an empirical study and data is collected from 100 respondents of service sector from Azad Kashmir. We used five likert scales to collect data from the respondents and data analyzed through SPSS. The result showed that there is a significant positive correlation among variables. This study also indicates that effective management style is necessary for improving the performance of organization. The result indicates that Balanced Scorecard has significant impact on performance of organization. Organization use BSC to handle the complexity and challenges that management faces during their operations. The collection of data is from small area due to time constraint. In the future comparative study can be done with other organizations for better analysis of results

Analysis of fashion product of apparels from Consumer lifestyle perspectives: An empirical study

In the present fast changing social environment, Designers, merchandisers and marketers tries to become proactive   at every level of the industry whenever it is about the concept of fashion and fashion change. Marketer tries to analyze Consumers, product cycle and their acceptances given by the consumer are all level to position its product effectively. at every point it is discussed that “how these concepts will affect product development and its effective marketing”. The Designers, merchandisers and marketers keep themselves aware of all of the categories of apparel, particularly in their specialty area. Present research work focus on the analysis of fashion product of apparels from Consumer lifestyle perspectives. Various factors and outcome are discussed and some suggestions based on the study is also given in the study

Plasma‐Based Synthesis of Freestanding Graphene from a Natural Resource for Sensing Application

Abstract Atmospheric pressure microwave plasma has the lead in synthesizing freestanding and scalable graphene within seconds without the need for high vacuum and temperature. However, the process is limited in utilizing chemical sources for synthesis, such as methane and ethanol. Herein, the usage of an extract of a sustainable precursor, that is, Melaleuca alternifolia, commonly known as tea tree, is for the first time reported to synthesize graphene nanosheets in atmospheric pressure microwave plasma. The synthesis is carried out in a single step at a remarkably low microwave power of 200 W. The morphology, structure, and electrochemical properties of graphene are studied using state‐of‐the‐art characterization techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The TEM images reveal the presence of a combination of nanostructures such as nano‐horns, nano‐rods, or nano‐onions consisting of multi‐layer graphitic architectures. An excellent sensing capability of as‐synthesized graphene is demonstrated through the detection of diuron herbicide. A commendable linear range of 20 µm to 1 mm and a limit of detection of 5 µm of diuron is recorded

Energy harvesting and stability analysis of centralized TEG system under non-uniform temperature distribution

Thermoelectric generator (TEG) systems are gaining much attraction due to utility in heat recovery, surface cooling, concentrated solar thermal, and sensor applications. In series–parallel configurations, TEG modules due to Heterogeneous temperature difference (HeTD) show the non-linear behavior. Due to non-uniform temperature distribution (NUTD), multiple maximum power points (MPP) appears on the P-V curve. It is crucial to drive the system at true global maximum power point (GMPP) among multiple MPP's. Existing classical techniques exhibit slow tracking, low efficiency, and undesired fluctuation in output voltage transients. To address these shortcomings our control technique based on improved Moth Flame Optimization (IMFO) is employed for the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control under dynamic operating conditions. Comparison of the proposed technique is made with other well-known meta-heuristic techniques including particle swarm optimization (PSO), cuckoo search (CS), Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), and recently developed Dragon Fly Optimization (DFO). The comprehensive case studies with statistical and quantitative analysis are performed to confirm the superior performance of IMFO for NUTD condition, fast varying temperature condition, and stochastic operations. To experimentally validate the performance of the IMFO algorithm a low-cost TEG emulator setup is designed. The IMFO based control is implemented on a low-cost microcontroller achieving effective real-time control application in hardware. The proposed IMFO algorithm attains up to 6 W more power and takes 59% less time to track and settle at GMPP with minimum fluctuation. Results also validate that IMFO extracts 5.2% more electrical energy in comparison to competing techniques. In light of comprehensive analysis, it is safe to conclude that the proposed IMFO performs excellently for TEG MPPT control

A Comprehensive Methodology for Evaluating the Economic Impacts of Floods: An Application to Canada, Mexico, and the United States

In 2020, we developed a comprehensive methodology (henceforth, the methodology) to assess flood-related economic costs. The methodology covers direct damages, indirect effects, and losses and additional costs across 105 social, infrastructure, economic, and emergency response indicators. As a companion paper, this study presents findings from analysis of applying the methodology to investigate economic costs for major flood events between 2013 and 2017 and to assess gaps in the existing datasets across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. In addition, we conducted one case study from each country for an in-depth examination of the applicability of the methodology. Applying the methodology, Mexico showed the most complete flood indicator data availability and accessibility among the three countries. We found that most flood-related economic cost assessments evaluated only direct damages, and indirect effect data were rarely included in datasets in the three countries. Moreover, few of the records from Canada and the United States captured the losses and additional costs. Flood-related economic cost data at the municipal or county level were easily accessible in Mexico and the United States. Mexico’s National Center for Prevention of Disasters (Centro Nacional de Prevención de Desastres), unique among the three nations, provided access to centralized and comprehensive flood cost data. In the United States and Canada, data collection by multiple agencies that focus on different jurisdictions and scales of flood damage complicated comprehensive data collection and led to incomplete economic cost assessments. Our analysis strongly suggests that countries should aim to expand the set of data indicators available and become more granular across space and time while maintaining data quality. This study provides significant insights about approaches for collating spatial, temporal, and outcome-specific localized flood economic costs and the major data gaps across the three countries