What is driving the passenger demand on new regional air routes in India: A study using the gravity model

Are there unique determinants of air travel demand for regional routes? Is the passenger mix different for airlines flying these routes in developing countries? This paper attempts to answer these questions through a gravity model that identifies significant factors influencing demand for air travel on new routes connecting regional and remote locations. The data for the analysis is from India, where an ongoing regional connectivity scheme encourages the addition of new air routes to the national network. We estimate a multiple regression model with passenger demand as the response variable. The model tests some new predictors along with the traditional explanatory variables of gravity models. The results show that passengers find the saving in travel time due to the introduction of regional air service most attractive. Rather than the size of the population, the presence of prominent tertiary educational institutions at the origin or destination of a regional route is a more significant determinant of demand. This paper derives policy implications and opens new research questions

Self-Organizing Tree Algorithm (SOTA) Clustering for Defining Level of Service (LOS) Criteria of Urban Streets

This study is intended to define the Free Flow Speed (FFS) ranges of urban street classes and speed ranges of Level of Service (LOS) categories. In order to accomplish the study FFS data and average travel speed data were collected on five urban road corridors in the city of Mumbai, India. Mid-sized vehicle (car) mounted with Global Positioning System (GPS) device was used for the collection of large number of speed data. Self-Organizing Tree Algorithm (SOTA) clustering method and five cluster validation measures were used to classify the urban streets and LOS categories. The above study divulges that the speed ranges for different LOS categories are lower than that suggested by Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) 2000. Also it has been observed that average travel speed of LOS categories expressed in percentage of free flow speeds closely resembles the percentages mentioned in HCM 2010

Studies on Wear Behavior of Aluminium-Tin Alloy

Aluminium and its alloys offer substantial potential for industrial applications because of special characteristics like lightness, excellent resistance to atmospheric corrosion in marine, urban and industrial settings and their ability to be lend to a huge variety of surface treatments like anodization. Aluminium and Aluminium based alloys are used in the automotive industries, parts operated at severe wear and tear conditions. In the present work, with the objective of studying the wear behavior of Al-Sn alloys, some samples of Al and 1% Sn composition alloy were taken. The sliding wear behavior using ball on plate wear tester was observed. Erosion wear behavior, under the influence of different parameters like velocity and angle of incidence of silica particles, sand flux rate etc. was observed. Microstructural characterization, X- ray diffraction studies and surface properties after sliding wear test were also observed. In order to increase the life and performance of Aluminium alloys in various industrial sectors, tribological characterization is critical since failure from wear can be detrimental. Due to the significance associated with tribology, this particular alloy has been studied for tribological properties. Variation of cumulative mass loss for different impingement angles were plotted and analyzed. The individual effects of control parameters was also observed. According to Taguchi analysis, of all the parameters affecting wear rate, “velocity” is the most significant parameter and angle of impingement plays a crucial role too. Corrosion behavior of Aluminium samples was also observed by immersing the Aluminium alloy samples in a sea water bath. Weight was taken after frequent intervals and thus material loss was determined from weight loss

A RETROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF TYPE 2 DIABETES AND ITS MANAGEMENT ON INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE COVID-19 PATIENTS’ PROGNOSIS.

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) as a worldwide chronic disease combined with the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates improving the management of hospitalized COVID-19 patients with preexisting T2D to reduce complications and the risk of death. Methods: In this retrospective study, the clinical characteristics of 193 patients with severe covid-19 were gathered. 48 patients with severe covid-19 had diabetes, while 145 patients (the control group) did not. Results: 48 (24.9%) of 193 patients with severe covid-19 had diabetes. In comparison to patients with severe covid-19 who did not have diabetes, those with diabetes were elderly, more likely to require mechanical ventilation and ICU admission, and had a higher mortality rate. Moreover, patients with severe covid-19 and diabetes had elevated levels of leukocyte count, neutrophil count, high-sensitivity C reaction protein, procalcitonin, ferritin, interleukin (IL) 2 receptor, IL-6, IL-8, tumour necrosis factor, D-dimer, fibrinogen, lactic dehydrogenase, and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide. Among patients with severe covid-19 and diabetes, men were more likely to not survive [30 (76.9%) vs. 9 (23.1%)]. Conclusion: The mortality rate among patients with severe covid-19 and diabetes is substantial. Diabetes may increase the likelihood of mortality

The Anxiety of COVID-19 Outbreak and its Impact on Students’ Academic Activity: a Case Study of NIT Durgapur, India

Central Library National Institute of Technology (NIT) Durgapur, West Bengal, India conducted study after the announcement of nationwide lockdown in India to know the students’ awareness about COVID-19, anxiety caused, if any, due to the Pandemic and its impact over their academic activities. Central Library also tries to find out the user satisfaction and expectations during the lockdown. Authors opted Google form as a questionnaire which contains the questions of general perception and distributed via Institute email Ids. Responses were analysed using Microsoft Excel. Two hundred fifty research scholars and postgraduate students were selected randomly for the study and 135 (54%) responses received. 107 (77%) were male and 31 (23%) were female respondents. It was found that 133 (99%) of students were aware of the Coronavirus and its impact. 60 (44%) students have no impact over their normal routine at home whereas 22(16%) were afraid of the situation, 14 (10%) were worrying constantly. 47 (35%) were experiencing anxiety and stress. 89 (66%) students believed their lifestyle is changed, the majority of the students 46 (34%) were spending 2-4 hours in the study even more. 109 (81%) students were accessing e-resources through id/passwords and 96 (71%) students agreed that the library plays an inevitable role in their study.With the commencement of online teaching learning Central Library started extending its services beyond the campus and initiated to collect id/passwords so that e-resources can be made accessible off-campus. Simultaneously library started setting up remote access tool to integrate the subscribed e-resources at a single platform

The Anxiety of COVID-19 Outbreak and its Impact on Students’ Academic Activity: a Case Study of NIT Durgapur, India

Central Library National Institute of Technology (NIT) Durgapur, West Bengal, India conducted study after the announcement of nationwide lockdown in India to know the students’ awareness about COVID-19, anxiety caused, if any, due to the Pandemic and its impact over their academic activities. Central Library also tries to find out the user satisfaction and expectations during the lockdown. Authors opted Google form as a questionnaire which contains the questions of general perception and distributed via Institute email Ids. Responses were analysed using Microsoft Excel. Two hundred fifty research scholars and postgraduate students were selected randomly for the study and 135 (54%) responses received. 107 (77%) were male and 31 (23%) were female respondents. It was found that 133 (99%) of students were aware of the Coronavirus and its impact. 60 (44%) students have no impact over their normal routine at home whereas 22(16%) were afraid of the situation, 14 (10%) were worrying constantly. 47 (35%) were experiencing anxiety and stress. 89 (66%) students believed their lifestyle is changed, the majority of the students 46 (34%) were spending 2-4 hours in the study even more. 109 (81%) students were accessing e-resources through id/passwords and 96 (71%) students agreed that the library plays an inevitable role in their study.With the commencement of online teaching learning Central Library started extending its services beyond the campus and initiated to collect id/passwords so that e-resources can be made accessible off-campus. Simultaneously library started setting up remote access tool to integrate the subscribed e-resources at a single platform