Diffusion of innovation model of consumer behaviour - Ideas to accelerate adoption of renewable energy sources by consumer communities in India

Renewable Energy (RE) sources form a minuscule portion of India’s overall Energy consumption today. India continues to rely on fast depleting fossil fuel and expensive Oil imports to satisfy the energy demands of the economy. But this is hardly sustainable and India has to quickly get RE sources to play a major role in servicing the energy needs of its population. Despite the best efforts the adoption of RE sources by consumer communities in India is patchy. This article will focus on what needs to be done to create a pull from the market for RE sources, by looking at Consumer Behaviour literature available in the area of Diffusion of Innovation[1]. Demand for RE sources from consumer communities must reach a tipping point[4] quickly; for the sector to take-off on its own and become a self-sustaining business.     

Nitrites Derived From Foneiculum Vulgare (Fennel) Seeds Promotes Vascular Functions

Abstract: Recent evidence has demonstrated that nitrites play an important role in the cardiovascular system. Fennel (Foneiculum vulgare) seeds are often used as mouth fresheners after a meal in both the Indian sub‐continent and around the world. The present study aims to quantify the nitrite and nitrates in fennel seeds as well as elucidating the effect of fennel derived‐nitrites on vascular functions. Results from our study show that fennel seeds contain significantly higher amount of nitrites when compared to other commonly used post‐meal seeds. Furthermore our study confirmed the functional effects of fennel derived‐nitrites using in vitro and ex vivo models that describe the promotion of angiogenesis, cell migration, and vasorelaxation. We also showed that chewing fennel seeds enhanced nitrite content of saliva. Thus our study indicates the potential role of fennel derived‐nitrites on the vascular system. Practical Application: This study is focused on determining the effect of fennel‐derived nitrites on angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels from pre‐existing ones), cell migration, and vasorelaxation (dilation of blood vessels) thereby preserving cardiovascular health.     

Evaluation of Optimal River Training Work Using GA Based Linked Simulation-Optimization Approach

Use of structural measures for controlling a river to minimize its devastating effect and to utilize it for the benefit of mankind is a common practice all over the world. Because of high investment, such measures require prior investigation through model study. As lab based physical model study is very expensive and time consuming, mathematical modeling is generally used for investigating different alternatives of river training works. In this study, a new approach is proposed for deciding appropriate river training measure in a particular reach of a river or channel. In this methodology, an optimization model is linked with the hydrodynamic model for obtaining cost effective combination of groynes which will maintain a user defined flow speed in a pre-decided portion of a river reach. The optimization model is developed using binary coded Genetic Algorithm (GA) and the flow simulation model uses the Beam and Warming scheme for solving the two dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic equations of unsteady flow. The performance of the model is tested by applying the methodology in a rectangular channel for attaining different target speed values at a pre-defined portion of the channel and logical results have been obtained for all the tested scenarios.     

Characterization and Low Temperature Study of Iron Telluride Thin Films Upon Ageing and Oxygen Ion Irradiation

The occurrence of superconductivity in iron telluride thin films has been observed upon ageing. The superconducting transition is found to be very robust under an application of magnetic fields up to 10 T. Infrared and Raman spectroscopic characterization of the aged films reveal the formation of Fe_1+δTeO _x upon ageing. As an alternative method of introducing oxygen in FeTe thin film, oxygen ion irradiation has also been carried out It is found that the irradiated film becomes increasingly disordered and ultimately transforms to an amorphous phase upon increasing the irradiation dose. Investigation of electrical resistivity and optical reflectivity of the irradiated FeTe films indicates an interesting possibility of an ion irradiationinduced phase change memory material in analogy to the phase change characteristics of laserirradiated FeTe films.     

Mesoporous Ru/Sn-SBA-15 catalysts: synthesis,characterization and catalytic activity towards hydrogenation of levulinic acid

Journal of Porous Materials - Among the various biomass-derived platform chemicals, levulinic acid (LA) has been identified as one of the top-10 important molecules by Department of Energy, United...     

PulseNet standardized protocol for subtyping Listeria monocytogenes by macrorestriction and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

PulseNet is a national network of pubic health and food regulatory laboratories established in the US to detect clusters of foodborne disease and respond quickly to foodborne outbreak investigations. PulseNet laboratories currently subtype Escherichia coli O157:H7, non-typhoidal Salmonella, and Shigella isolates by a highly standardized 1-day pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and exchange normalized DNA "fingerprint" patterns via the Internet. We describe a standardized molecular subtyping protocol for subtyping Listeria monocytogenes that was recently added to PulseNet. The subtyping can be completed within 30 h from the time a pure culture of the bacteria is obtained.     

Improvement of tea leaves fermentation with Aspergillus spp. pectinase

The pectinase enzymes isolated from Aspergillus spp., A. indicus, A. flavus and A. niveus were used for fermentation of tea leaves. The enzymes were purified and characterized. The effect of both crude enzyme preparation and purified pectinase enzymes on the improvement of tea leaf fermentation were determined in terms of theaflavin, thearubigin, high polymerized substances, total liquor colour, dry matter content and total soluble solids of the tea produced. The crude enzyme preparations obtained from ethanol precipitation were found to be more effective in improving tea leaf fermentation than the purified pectinase enzymes.     

Oxygen Potential in the System UMoO6/UMoO5 by the Solid Oxide Electrolyte Emf Method

The emf of the galvanic cell Pt|UMoO₆UMoO₅|ZrO₂-Y₂O₃|O₂(air, Po₂=0.21 atm)|Pt, measured from 776 to 1127 K, was determined to be E = 751.7−0.4909 ±4.3 mV. Using the standard Gibbs energy of formation, ^fΔG°, for UMoO₆ reported in the literature from transpiration studies, the ^fΔG° for UMoO₅ is calculated to be ^fΔG°〈UMoO₅〉=−1816.9+0.3748T±6.0 U-mol⁻¹ The magnitudes of the standard entropies of formation, ^fΔS°, for UMoO₆ and UMoO₅ were evaluated from those values reported for the binary oxides which constitute the ternary compounds.