The last two decades of computer vision technologies in water resource management: A bibliometric analysis

Efficient management of water resources is an important task given the significance of water in daily lives and economic growth. Water resource management is a specific field of study which deals with the efficient management of water resources towards fulfilling the needs of society and preventing from water-related disasters. Many activities within this domain are getting benefitted with the recent technological advancements. Within many others, computer vision-based solutions have emerged as disruptive technologies to address complex real-world problems within the water resource management domain (e.g., flood detection and mapping, satellite-based water bodies monitoring, monitoring and inspection of hydraulic structures, blockage detection and assessment, drainage inspection and sewer monitoring). However, there are still many aspects within the water resource management domain which can be explored using computer vision technologies. Therefore, it is important to investigate the trends in current research related to these technologies to inform the new researchers in this domain. In this context, this paper presents the bibliometric analysis of the literature from the last two decades where computer vision technologies have been used for addressing problems within the water resource management domain. The analysis is presented in two categories: (a) performance analysis demonstrating highlighted trends in the number of publications, number of citations, top contributing countries, top publishing journals, top contributing institutions and top publishers and (b) science mapping to demonstrate the relation between the bibliographic records based on the co-occurrence of keywords, co-authorship analysis, co-citation analysis and bibliographic coupling analysis. Bibliographic records (i.e., 1059) are exported from the Web of Science (WoS) core collection database using a comprehensive query of keywords. VOSviewer opensource tool is used to generate the network and overlay maps for the science mapping of bibliographic records. Results highlighted important trends and valuable insights related to the use of computer vision technologies in water resource management. An increasing trend in the number of publications and focus on deep learning/artificial intelligence (AI)-based approaches has been reported from the analysis. Further, flood mapping, crack/fracture detection, coastal flood detection, blockage detection and drainage inspections are highlighted as active areas of research.     

Implementation of shooting technique for Buongiorno nanofluid model driven by a continuous permeable surface

The current investigation focuses on the thermal characteristics and heat and mass transfer in the context of their applications. There has been a lot of interest in the utilization of non-Newtonian liquids in various engineering and biological fields. Having such considerable attention on non-Newtonian liquids, the goal is to investigate the flow nature of viscoelastic nanoliquid flow driven by a permeable stretchable surface considering the Buongiorno nanofluid model with suction or injection and mixed convection. This model includes Brownian diffusion, thermophoresis, and radiation effects. The thermal boundary layer theories established the constitutive flow equations, that is, the momentum, diffusion balance, and energy expressions. The established partial differential equations are diminished to dimensionless coupled ordinary differential equations by taking the assistance of proper transformations of nonlinearities. An efficient and validated numerical algorithm is implemented as a computational technique where Mathematica 11.0 environment, a programming tool, is developed for fluid dynamics. The convergence standard had also been recognized for the precision of the relevant parameters by using boundary postulates. The impact of embedded physical quantities of practical interest is examined and offered via the plotted graphs. In addition, the impression of system parameters on drag force, heat, and mass flow coefficient with three-dimensional graphs is also debated.     

Chitosan-Based Smart Polymeric Hydrogels and Their Prospective Applications in Biomedicine

With increasing scientific research, knowledge, and socioeconomic awareness, research, and industrial communities are now much more interested in biopolymers-based composite materials with multifaceted functionalities. Biopolymers are easily obtainable, economical, non-hazardous, and abundant. Several natural and synthetic polymers have been used to prepare hydrogels, microbeads, and microfibers for controlled drug release. Due to marvelous properties, chitosan has been widely explored for medical and pharmaceutical applications. In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to the chitosan-based hydrogels for biomedical applications, especially for transplantation, and for improving interfacial interactions for the living tissues. Hydrogels can be synthesized by co-polymerization, condensation, and cross-linking. This review spotlights recent advances in physicochemical characteristics, modification strategies, and smart blended hydrogels for an array of biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. The whole discussion reveals that among all the biopolymers, chitosan is the finest carrier for biomedical applications.     

Development of Magnetocaloric Microstructures from Equiatomic Iron–Rhodium Nanoparticles through Laser Sintering

Pronounced magnetocaloric effects are typically observed in materials that often contain expensive and rare elements and are therefore costly to mass produce. However, they can rather be exploited on a small scale for miniaturized devices such as magnetic micro coolers, thermal sensors, and magnetic micropumps. Herein, a method is developed to generate magnetocaloric microstructures from an equiatomic iron–rhodium (FeRh) bulk target through a stepwise process. First, paramagnetic near-to-equiatomic solid-solution FeRh nanoparticles (NPs) are generated through picosecond (ps)-pulsed laser ablation in ethanol, which are then transformed into a printable ink and patterned using a continuous wave laser. Laser patterning not only leads to sintering of the NP ink but also triggers the phase transformation of the initial γ- to B2-FeRh. At a laser fluence of 246 J cm⁻², a partial (52%) phase transformation from γ- to B2-FeRh is obtained, resulting in a magnetization increase of 35 Am² kg⁻¹ across the antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transition. This represents a ca. sixfold enhancement compared to previous furnace-annealed FeRh ink. Finally, herein, the ability is demonstrated to create FeRh 2D structures with different geometries using laser sintering of magnetocaloric inks, which offers advantages such as micrometric spatial resolution, in situ annealing, and structure design flexibility.     

Synthesis of Mg-stabilized nitrogen-rich alpha-sialons along Si3N4–0.5Mg3N2:3AlN line via field-assisted sintering

The present study reports for the first time the synthesis and evaluation of magnesium (Mg)-doped nitrogen-rich (N-rich) sialon ceramics exploring the possible existence of Mg-stabilized single-phase alpha-sialon (on the Mg-alpha-sialon plane). Mg-stabilized N-rich sialons, with the general formula of Mg_xSi_12−2xAl_2xN₁₆ having x value in the range of 0.2–2.2 for the composition laying along the Si₃N₄–0.5Mg₃N₂:3AlN line, were synthesized at 1500°C, using nano-size starting powder precursors and field-assisted (or spark plasma) sintering technique. Consolidated sialon ceramic samples were characterized for their microstructure, phase stability regime, and physical and mechanical properties. Although a relatively low synthesis temperature was adopted, well densified sialon samples were achieved; however, the densification of the samples became difficult with a higher x value (containing high Mg₃N₂/AlN content). Contrary to what was expected to take place, a single-phase Mg-doped sialon was not obtained near the N-rich line (on Mg-alpha-sialon plane). Such distinctive behavior in Mg-doped sialons was supposed to be due to the formation of a highly stable Mg-containing aluminum nitride polytype phase, which consumed most of the high-temperature transient liquid phase. Mg-doped N-rich sialon sample having the maximum amount of alpha phase depicted a remarkable hardness (HV₁₀) of 21.4 GPa and a fracture toughness of 3.5 MPa m^1/2.     

Comparative Effect of Foliar Application of Silicon,Titanium and Zinc Nanoparticles on the Performance of Vetiver- a Medicinal and Aromatic Plant

Silicon - In the agriculture sector, the use of nanoparticles (NPs) has become a centre of attraction for plant biological researchers. Several studies have been accomplished regarding the...