Current Scenario Research Articles

Flexible Electronics for Individuals: Epitomized Survey

Abstract: The current scenario reveals a growing demand for foldable and flexible materials that are well-suited for curved screen surfaces in wearable devices and acclimatize with the environment. The development of eco-designed electronic devices for energy storage, optoelectronics and more applications employing biopolymers or carbon-based substrates was preferred on account of being economical and readily available. The present study explores the recent trends in flexible, transient and green electronics engaging biopolymers like cellulose, chitosan, silk, paper and others to substitute silicon-based electronics. Nanoparticles blended with eco-friendly substrates, nanofibers and nano-sized natural polymers are observed to receive attention in soft electronics and robotics. The study mentions recent patents in this sector and the analysis based on the SCOPUS database highlights the leading authors, countries and keywords which are widely used in this research.

The size and composition of residual emissions in integrated assessment scenarios at net-zero CO2

Residual emissions are an important category of analysis in climate targets and scenarios, describing the emissions that would need to be compensated by carbon dioxide removal to reach net zero CO2. This article sheds light on the size and composition of residual emissions in integrated assessment modelling (IAM) scenarios at net-zero CO2, using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th assessment report (AR6) scenario database. I find that IAMs depict residual greenhouse gas emissions levels of 16 [12–26] GtCO2e/yr across below 1.5 °C, below 1.5 °C with overshoot, and below 2 °C scenarios—representing gross emissions reductions of 72 [55–78] % from 2020 to the point of net zero CO2. Emissions from livestock, agriculture, transport, waste and industrial processes remain most prevalent at net zero, with scenario averages tending to depict significantly lower reduction rates and higher residual emissions than those recently published in corporate net zero standards. Nonetheless, scenarios depict a wide range of outcomes across all of these ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors, with lower values characterised by demand-side shifts in the food and energy system, alongside the rapid electrification of end-use sectors and limits on CDR scaling. Current scenario reporting does not easily facilitate the calculation of gross emissions from the AR6 database, which would be a prerequisite to a more systematic exploration of the residual emissions frontier and its implications for climate policy.

A Comparative Analysis of Risk and Return Among chosen companies against the Benchmark Index in NSE.

In the current scenario of high volatility in the stock exchange, it's crucial for investors to make informed decisions. The surge of millennial investors into the market, aiming for substantial returns, highlights the importance of a solid grasp of statistical tools and measures for sound decision-making. This study delves into the risk and return analysis of various stocks alongside their benchmark indices to decode the stock movements in relation to the market. The primary goal for any investor is to amplify profits while minimizing risks. This research aids investors by offering insights into various statistical methods for analyzing stock risks and returns.

Chaotic‐quasi‐opposition based whale optimization technique applied to multi‐objective complementary scheduling of grid connected hydro‐thermal–wind–solar‐electric vehicle system

AbstractThe sources of fossil fuel are impoverishing in upcoming future. In the current research scenario, sincere effort has been taken worldwide to explore the use of renewable energy sources in electrical power system for the economic benefits and environmental consciousness. The main contribution of the proposed work is first, to find optimal hydro‐thermal scheduling (HTS) with wind, solar, and electric vehicles (EVs) for variable load. The target is to find out maximum utilization of renewable energy sources for economic power generation with less emission. Thus, a new approach of EV to grid has been adopted with wind–solar based HTS system for improving grid reliability and resilience. Second, there is a requirement to overcome the local optima problems with less convergence speed. This is obtained by employing a relatively new methodology, known as chaotic‐quasi‐opposition‐based whale optimization algorithm (WOA) (CQOWOA). The proposed algorithm is tested on HTS and wind–solar‐electric vehicle‐based HTS (HTWSVS) for three different cases. Different nonlinearities like valve point effect of thermal units, transmission losses, spillage rate of hydro reservoir units and uncertainties of wind, solar as well as EV are considered to judge the effectiveness of the proposed CQOWOA technique on realistic problems. The presence of wind, solar, and EV energy sources with HTS is evident from the test results of CQOWOA, for multi‐objective problem where cost and emission both are reduced significantly. The robustness of the proposed solution has been verified by implementing the statistical analysis on two systems with least variation of mean and optimal values of cost with the tolerance of less than 0.025%. The comparative analysis of CQOWOA with the other optimization techniques validates its superiority on both the test systems by minimizing the generation cost and emission.

De novo transcriptomic analysis of Doum Palm (Hyphaene compressa) revealed an insight into its potential drought tolerance.

Doum palms (Hyphaene compressa) perform a crucial starring role in the lives of Kenya's arid and semi-arid people for empowerment and sustenance. Despite the crop's potential for economic gain, there is a lack of genetic resources and detailed information about its domestication at the molecular level. Given the doum palm's vast potential as a widely distributed plant in semi-arid and arid climates and a source of many applications, coupled with the current changing climate scenario, it is essential to understand the molecular processes that provide drought resistance to this plant. Assembly of the first transcriptome of doum palms subjected to water stress generated about 39.97 Gb of RNA-Seq data. The assembled transcriptome revealed 193,167 unigenes with an average length of 1655 bp, with 128,708 (66.63%) successfully annotated in seven public databases. Unigenes exhibited significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in well-watered and stressed-treated plants, with 45071 and 42457 accounting for up-regulated and down-regulated DEGs, respectively. GO term, KEGG, and KOG analysis showed that DEGs were functionally enriched cellular processes, metabolic processes, cellular and catalytic activity, metabolism, genetic information processing, signal transduction mechanisms, and posttranslational modification pathways. Transcription factors (TF), such as the MYB, WRKY, NAC family, FAR1, B3, bHLH, and bZIP, were the prominent TF families identified as doum palm DEGs encoding drought stress tolerance. This study provides a complete understanding of DEGs involved in drought stress at the transcriptome level in doum palms. This research is, therefore, the foundation for the characterization of potential genes, leading to a clear understanding of its drought stress responses and providing resources for improved genetic modification.

Shoals in troubled waters? The impact of rising temperatures on metabolism, foraging, and shoaling behavior in mixed-species shoals.

Rising water temperatures across aquatic habitats, in the current global climate change scenario, can directly affect metabolism and food intake in fish species. This can potentially alter their physiological, behavioral, and shoaling properties. In the current study, we examined the effects of high temperatures on metabolism, foraging, and shoaling in tropical fish. Mixed-species (comprising flying barbs, zebrafish, and gambusia) and single-species (flying barbs and zebrafish) shoals were conditioned for 45 days to three kinds of temperature regimes: the current temperature regime (CTR), in which shoals were maintained at water temperature of 24°C (i.e., the current mean temperature of their habitat), the predicted temperature regime (PTR) at 31°C (i.e., simulating conditions projected for their habitat in 2100), and the dynamic temperature regime (DTR), which experienced daily temperature fluctuations between 24 and 31°C (i.e., resembling rapid temperature changes expected in their natural environments). We found species-specific responses to these temperature regimes. Flying barbs exhibited significantly lower body weight at PTR but maintained consistent muscle glycogen content across all temperature regimes. In contrast, zebrafish and gambusia displayed significantly elevated muscle glycogen content at PTR, with similar body weights across all three temperature regimes. Cohesion within flying barb shoals and cohesion/polarization in mixed-species shoals decreased significantly at PTR. Shoals exposed to DTR exhibited intermediate characteristics between those conditioned to CTR and PTR, suggesting that shoals may be less impacted by dynamic temperatures compared to prolonged high temperatures. This study highlights species-specific metabolic responses to temperature changes and their potential implications for larger-scale shoal properties.

Environmental injustice in the privatization of Brazilian sanitation: an empirical analysis

This study analyzes whether the low rate of universalizing water supply and sanitation services in Brazil is related to the low participation of private companies in the concession of these services in municipalities in the country. To this end, it discusses basic sanitation in Brazil and its current scenario, its problems from the point of view of environmental injustice, and the existing public/private conflicts. The empirical analysis conducted a data survey of eight municipalities defined in four population groups, comparing data from 13 operational, efficiency, quality, and cost indicators of the services provided. Each population group compared two municipalities providing water and sewerage services, one provided by a public company and the other by a private company. The compared data were from 2021, obtained through the Brazilian National Sanitation Information System (SNIS). As a result of the comparative analyses, it was shown that the performance of public companies was more positive for most indicators, compared to private companies. It is concluded that the main challenge to overcome the social and environmental injustice resulting from the deficit in basic sanitation coverage lies in the promotion of public management instruments that enable the articulation of public and private investments in the expansion of basic sanitation services, in the improvement of the quality of services with the inclusion of social control through popular participation.

Exploring the Effects of Cold Plasma on Preserving and Processing of Foods: A Review

In the current scenario, global food productions need to be incredibly enormous to feed everyone. Though food supply plays a tremendous role in reaching out to the people, meanwhile advancement in food processing technology is a predominant factor in increasing food availability. In the food industry, there was a huge number of technologies for food processing that made food more convenient to eat and might be stable for extended storage. Among the food processing technologies, cold plasma may be one of the novel non-thermal technology that functions at atmospheric pressure or low-pressure processing technology. Cold plasma is an eco-friendly technique involved in food preservation, mainly destructing microbes in food thereby extending its shelf life. Cold plasma processes the food without degrading the physical, chemical, biological, nutritional and sensory qualities of food products. This review elaborates on cold plasma utilization and its quality changes in various foods.

HISTORY TEACHING IN THE FACE OF A NEW AND CHALLENGING HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The aim of this text is to discuss the use of information and communication technologies in the teaching and learning process in the subject of history. The topic was chosen as a result of the current technological scenario, which provides new configurations of social relations and allows for changes in various areas of people’s lives. Technology is currently embedded in all spaces and scenarios in society, and this is no different in the educational context. When used in the context of education, it allows for various possibilities of application, such as the use of digital media in classrooms, the implementation of virtual learning environments - in which it is possible to post content, lessons and interactions between teachers and students, as well as between students - in addition to countless other applications of technological resources, such as computers, tablets, among other tools. We also point out suggestions, possible paths, promoting reflection on teaching practice, in which teachers should need too adapt to new technologies.

An Alternative Approach Using the Firefly Algorithm and a Hybrid Method Based on the Artificial Bee Colony and Cultural Algorithm for Reservoir Operation

In reservoir operation rule curves, it is necessary to apply rule curves to guide long-term reservoir management. This study proposes an approach to optimizing reservoir operation rule curves (RORCs) using intelligent optimization techniques from the firefly algorithm (FA) and a unique combination method utilizing the artificial bee colony and cultural algorithm (ABC-CA). The aim is to establish a connection with the simulation model to determine the optimal RORCs for flood control. The proposed model was used to determine the optimal flood control RORC for the Nam-Oon Reservoir (NOR) in northeastern Thailand. A minimum frequency and minimum average of excess water were provided as an objective function for assessing the efficiency of the search process. The evaluation of the effectiveness of flood control RORCs involved expressing water scarcity and excess water situations in terms of frequency, magnitude, and duration using historical inflow data synthesized from 1000 events. The results demonstrated that when using the obtained RORC to simulate the NOR system for reducing flooding in long-term operations, excess water scenarios were smaller than those using the current RORC. The results showed that the excess water scenario using the RORC obtained from the proposed model can reduce the excess water better than the current RORC usage scenario. In decreasing flood situations, the newly acquired RORC from the suggested FA and ABC-CA models performed better than the current RORC.

A novel congestion mitigation key of power system via generator rescheduling using Jaya algorithm

ABSTRACT In the contemporary power system, congestion is a big hazard to system security. Congestion reduces the capability of the power system to work under secure limits of thermal and voltage profiles. Implementing FACTS devices or rescheduling the generator’s active power output are the most prevalent ways to mitigate congestion in the current scenario and hence this paper presents generator rescheduling for congestion management under the N-1 contingency condition. The generator sensitivity factor (GSF) is used to select the generators’ participation in the rescheduling process. The minimization of active power rescheduled by the selected generators is the key to success. JAYA algorithm is used first time in this work to reduce the congestion cost of the system. Furthermore, the JAYA algorithm is applied to a modified IEEE 30 bus system and the results obtained are validated by comparing them with other popular heuristic algorithms as available in the literature for diverse case studies.

Methyl Jasmonate Improves Antioxidants, Protecting Photosynthetic Apparatus in Blueberry Plants under Water Deficit

The plant water status is crucial for growth and production, but the current climate change scenario makes it challenging to match the water plant demand. Blueberries are an economically important crop and play an acknowledged role in human health due to their antioxidant compounds. This research aimed to determine whether the exogenous application of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) improves the antioxidant defense mechanisms for protecting the photosynthetic performance in the blueberry plant cultivar ‘Brigitta’ under the stress condition of a water deficit (WD). A greenhouse experiment was carried out under a 16-h light period, at 20 °C, and 60–80% relative humidity for two weeks before the application of MeJA to the blueberry plants (Vaccinium corymbosum, cultivar ‘Brigitta’). The following treatments were maintained for 7-days: (i) 80% field capacity (NoWD), (ii) 80% field capacity plus MeJA application (NoWD + MeJA), (iii) 20% field capacity (WD), and (iv) 20% field capacity plus MeJA application (WD + MeJA). The MeJA was sprayed as an aqueous solution of 10 µM MeJA over the plant’s foliar system. At the end of the assay, the blueberry leaves were analyzed for their relative water content, specific leaf area, lipid peroxidation, total antioxidant activity, total phenols, total anthocyanins, anthocyanidin compounds, and photosynthetic performance. The ‘Brigitta’ cultivar showed a significant decrease in the oxidative stress at leaf levels, with an increase in antioxidant activity, phenolic compounds, total anthocyanins, delphinidin, petunidin, antheraxanthin, zeaxanthin, and an improvement in photosynthetic performance parameters. The ‘Brigitta’ blueberry cultivar was shown to be susceptible to WD, which mainly decreased photosynthesis. However, the application of MeJA to the leaves induced metabolic changes through an increase of the antioxidant strategy within the plant to counteract the negative effects of WD and protect the photosynthetic apparatus, which allowed the ‘Brigitta’ cultivar to withstand the period of a WD.

3D LAND-MARINE PROPERTIES ADMINISTRATION IN THE CONTEXT OF SEA LEVEL RISE (SLR) – ISSUES & CHALLENGES

Abstract. The current scenario of understanding spatial objects with regards to land and marine environment seems lacking. Inevitably, the scenario in line with the global warming issues as being highly mentioned by world-bodies such as the United Nations (UN) on climate change, etc. Recently the statistics on earth surface temperature point towards high record temperatures that lead to sea-level rise and degradation of land surface area, in general. These situations caused other spatial objects (land and marine properties) to be affected by their physical properties’ changes (including geometries and locations). Thus, this paper attempts to review various aspects related to digital twins of land and marine spatial objects with respect to issues and challenges of multiple data acquisition techniques considering accuracy, data standard, seamless and integrated georeferenced data within the scenario as being reported in the 6th IPCC document. The situation warrants us to explore different types of land and marine properties (static and dynamic) where static properties are defined as immovable objects and vice versa for the dynamic environment. This paper also discusses on a brief experiment utilizing MERIT DEM (Multi-Error-Removed Improved-Terrain Digital Elevation Model), existing building footprints, simulated bathymetry, and land use datasets. The experiment reveals the prediction of the sea level rise according to the IPCC report. The gist of this paper to serve a motivation for our near-future research in the context of geospatial components and sea level rise (SLR).

Applications of the Natural Polymers for Fast Dissolving Tablets

Oral route is the safest, most convenient, and economical route for administration of different drugs. Oral disintegrating tablets becoming very popular in the current scenario, as they facilely disintegrated in mouth within fewseconds of the time after its administration withoutthe need of water. Conventional dosage form has a limitations like dysphagia (arduousness in swallowing), in pediatric and geriatric patients, which have been overcome by oral disintegrating tablets. To prepare the same super disintegrating agents plays vital role. Natural Super disintegrants gained an advantage over the synthetic super disintegrants since they are chemicallyinert, non-toxic, less expensive, easily available, biodegradable in nature. Natural polymers such as locust bean gum, banana powder, pectin from mango peels, as well as the mucilageofHibiscus rosa-sinenses improve tablet qualities and are used as superdisintegrants, binder, and diluents to speed up the disintegration process as well as improve the solubilityofpoorlysoluble drugs. Natural super disintegrants are obtained from various sources of natural origin, as well as being affordable, nontoxic, biodegradable, environmentally benign, free of negative effects, as well as renewable. From the different extensive literature review, It is observed that based on research showing that natural polymersare more effectiveandsafe than synthetic ones. Thegoal ofthe current reviewpaper is to examine the natural polymersthat have FDAapproval and are used in fast dissolving tablets.

Speculation of Stock Marketing Using Advanced Recursive Techniques

In the current scenario, the economic status of countries is dependent on stock markets. However, predicting the future prices of any stock is a multifaceted task, as the nature of data is complex and unstructured in nature, which is difficult understand. The focus of the study relies on applying deep neural techniques with regression-based application to discover knowledge from financial databases. The authors have applied LSTM, an advanced version of RNN, and regression-based methods such as ARIMA for predicting future prices of stocks. The study was supported by implementing the techniques on real-world data that was captured from SBI for 6 years. The data has significant opening and closing prices of stock markets. To implement the current study approach, the authors have utilized Python language, where result predicts various performance parameters such as MAE, MSE, RMSE, and bias for both LSTM as well as ARIMA. The performance matrix of LSTM and ARIMA were compared for MAE (mean absolute error) for LSTM, which is 4.32, whereas for ARIMA is 3.83. Also, MSE (mean squared error) value for LSTM is 29.52, for ARIMA was 24.53, and RMSE (root mean squared error) for LSTM and ARIMA are 5.43 and 4.95. The overall accuracy of both of the algorithm were widely applied for real-world prediction among the stock market analysis.

A scientiometric review of artificial lightweight aggregates applying VOSviewer Software

This study aims to conduct a comprehensive scientometric review of Lightweight Artificial Aggregates ( LWAs ), using the Scopus database as the main data source. The choice of Scopus was motivated by the superior availability of documents compared to the "Web of Science", allowing the analysis of more than 510 articles related to the topic. The key expression "artificial lightweight aggregate " was used in the research, and document summaries were read to ensure their relevance to the topic. The justification for this study lies in the need to understand and map the current scientific scenario of LWAs , highlighting their growing importance in civil construction. The analysis Scientometrics adopted scientific mapping as a method, using the VOSviewer software in conjunction with the Scopus analyzer. This approach allowed a detailed assessment of the interconnections between disciplines, authors, publications and institutions, providing a comprehensive view of scientific development related to LWAs . The results revealed the location of 512 relevant articles in the bibliographic search, indicating a significant detection of research on LWAs in the last decade. Although there is progress in this field, it is highlighted that studies on LWAs are still relatively recent compared to commercial aggregates such as expanded clay This comprehensive scientific mapping contributes to a deeper understanding of the research domain, identifying recent advances and areas in need of further exploration, guiding future research and decisions in the construction sector.

In vitro activity of human defensins HNP-1 and hBD-3 against multidrug-resistant ESKAPE Gram-negatives of clinical origin and selected peptidoglycan recycling-defective mutants.

In the current scenario of critical need for new antimicrobials against multidrug-resistant bacteria, all options must be considered, including classic ideas such as the use of purified immune compounds. However, information regarding the activity of certain human defensins against ESKAPE Gram-negatives was incomplete. This is the first study comparatively assessing the in vitro activity of two membrane-permeabilizing/peptidoglycan construction-blocking defensins (HNP-1 and hBD-3) against relevant clinical collections of ESKAPE Gram-negatives, alone or in combination with permeabilizers, additional peptidoglycan-targeting attacks, or the blockade of its recycling. Our data suggest that hBD-3 has a notable bactericidal activity against multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Enterobacter cloacae strains that should be considered as potential adjuvant option. Our results suggest for the first time an increased resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains from chronic infection compared to acute origin ones, and provide new clues about the predominant mode of action of hBD-3 against Gram-negatives (permeabilization rather than peptidoglycan-targeting).

Electrochemical Devices to Power a Sustainable Energy Transition—An Overview of Green Hydrogen Contribution

This work discusses the current scenario and future growth of electrochemical energy devices, such as water electrolyzers and fuel cells. It is based on the pivotal role that hydrogen can play as an energy carrier to replace fossil fuels. Moreover, it is envisaged that the scaled-up and broader deployment of the technologies can hold the potential to address the challenges associated with intermittent renewable energy generation. From a sustainability perspective, this synergy between hydrogen and electricity from renewable sources is particularly attractive: electrolyzers convert the excess energy from renewables into green hydrogen, and fuel cells use this hydrogen to convert it back into electricity when it is needed. Although this transition endorses the ambitious goal to supply greener energy for all, it also entails increased demand for the materials that are essential for developing such cleaner energy technologies. Herein, several economic and environmental issues are highlighted, besides a critical overview regarding each technology. The aim is to raise awareness and provide the reader (a non-specialist in the field) with useful resources regarding the challenges that need to be overcome so that a green hydrogen energy transition and a better life can be fully achieved.

Revolutionizing urology: the advancements and applications of robotic platforms.

Robot-assisted surgery is developing as an acme of minimally invasive surgery, given its utmost dominance over laparoscopic surgery. The objective was to review the status of robotic surgery in urological practice with its advantages and disadvantages in current scenario. We conducted a literature search using MEDLINE and identified 72 articles which were relevant to urology. Single-port and various multiport robotic platforms like Da Vinci, Versius, Hugo RAS, Revo-I, Senhance, Mantra, Avatera, Hinotori, and MicroSurge are described with pros and cons. With a surge in different medical surgical robots purging into the market and a race to become the next standard of care in robotic surgery, it is only a matter of time when robotic surgery becomes financially comparable to laparoscopic surgeries.

A Review on Current Scenario of Goat Population and Production in Rajasthan, India

The present assessment focuses on the goat industry in Rajasthan, with an emphasis on population and productivity. In India, the goat industry produces 1.21 million tons of goat meat (13.8%), 0.18 million tons of skins, and 6.26 million tons of milk (3%). Goats make up 50% of the total livestock population in Rajasthan and are the dominant species. As of 2019, there were 20.84 million goats in Rajasthan, which represents a 3.81% decrease from the previous census in 2012. Rajasthan produced a total of 3.10 million tons of goat milk and 95.23 thousand tons of goat meat in 2022-2023. The purpose of this review is to shed light on the current goat situation in Rajasthan and encourage entrepreneurship to establish more goat farms to improve the economic status of goat farmers in the region.