Multipurpose Utilization Research Articles

Diversity Assessment, Utilization Pattern and Indigenous uses of Plants in Shri Naina Devi Conservation Area in District Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, North Western Himalayas

The Indian Himalayan region is one of the largest biodiversity hotspot in the world. In IHR most of the communities are lived in remote or rural area and are totally dependent on natural resources to fulfill their daily needs. Natural resources such as plant diversity is used as food, medicine, fodder, dye yielding, fuel, timber, rituals and various other function. Shri Naina Devi conservation reserve situated in Bilaspur districts of Himachal Pradesh has not been yet explored for plant diversity. The present study is carried out to assess the plant diversity and their utilization pattern and indigenous uses of the plants. A total 121 species recorded belonged from 107 genera and 57 families. Among these species shrub (26 spp.), tree (48 spp.), herb (47 spp.) were present. The families, Fabaceae (11 spp.), Asteraceae (10 spp.), Moraceae (8 spp.), Poaceae (7 spp.), Lamiaceae (4spp.), Solanaceae (4 spp ), Myrtaceae (4spp.) Brassicaceae (1 spp.); Euphorbiaceae (3 spp.); Rosaceae (3 spp.) were rich species. Among genera, Ficus (7 spp.), Allium (2 spp.), Bauhinia (2 spp.), Acacia (2 spp.), Cassia (2 spp.), Phyllanthus (2 spp.), Rumex (2 spp.), were the dominant genera. 91 species were of multipurpose utility and 30 species were monotypic. The species were used as medicine (107 spp.), food (27 spp.), fuel (37 spp.), fodder (57 spp.), ornamental (24 spp.) timber (9 spp.) and religious (6 spp.) by the inhabitants of the area. This paper gives the scientific name of wild plants along with common names, local names, family, life form, indigenous uses and plant part used by the local inhabitants of the area. Plant parts used such as whole plants, roots (including rhizomes and tubers), leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds and stems by the local people for curing various diseases.

Multipurpose Research from a Native Woody Oil Plant Xanthoceras sorbifolia in China

Xanthoceras sorbifolia Bunge, an indigenous oilseed tree from China, is a major woody energy plant that has been used for biodiesel production for a long time. In the past decade, X. sorbifolia has become a hot research topic due to its diverse bioactivities, which include improving learning and memory deficits, killing sperm, stabilizing capillaries, lowering cholesterol, and rheumatism. This review aims to analyze a comprehensive appraisal of X. sorbifolia, including its history, traditional uses, biological activities, food value, economic value, and current applications, and provide instruction for promoting the multipurpose utilization of X. sorbifolia.

Variation of Different Drying Characteristics of Moringa Leaves on Different Drying Methods

Moringa oleifera, one of the multipurpose utility trees, is widely cultivated in different regions of India and throughout the World. M.o.l. belongs to M.o.l family and known with the various names according to their origin and local dialect. Different parts of M.o.l.tree are widely used as source of as multi-nutrition, multi-vitamins and medicinal compounds. M.o.l. are one of the edible parts of the tree carrying a bundle of nutrients and multi-vitamins. The present investigation focused on evaluating the physic-chemical properties of M.o.l. leaves, study of drying behaviour of M.o.l. using different drying methods namely shade drying, hot air oven drying (40, 50, 60 & 70˚C) and microwave drying (300, 450 & 600 W). Also, analysis of the nutritional and proximate composition such as fat, protein, ash, fiber, carbohydrate and energy value, mineral fractions viz. calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc and vitamins of dried M.o.l. were carried out. The weighted M.o.l. were taken and dried in different drying methods and conditions. The weight reduction of the samples was measured periodically until the constant weights were observed.

ELECTRIC SCOOTER SEGWAY

In today’s world, the infrastructure of College and Industries are becoming insanely large so if one has to travel or visit from one place to another he has to walk a long distance and sometimes it becomes very hasty and inconvenient. Sometimes after too much travelling on campus, it causes strain and pain in the body. So to travel these distances a two-wheeled electric scooter like Segway was introduced. But, these scooters are very costly as they start from ₹ 50,000. Another problem with that vehicle is that they are difficult to handle when we drive the first time. So in alternate to this product, we developed whole newly designed product and this is Reliable, Eco-friendly, a Compact vehicle to travel easily. Its utilities are college campus, Airports, Industries, Recreational Parks, Sanctuaries, Museums, Palaces, Villas etc. So our project is on design and fabrication of two-wheel vehicle and also its a multipurpose utility vehicle. The concept of the model taken from children’s scooter bicycle. The complete body looks like a scooter bicycle in which platform is provided for standing and driving the electric powered scooter. This product is a battery powered and motor-driven vehicle. The scooter is intended to use in indoors areas as well as in outdoor areas, hence eradicating pollution like petrol engines. Key Words: Battery, EV, Electric scooter, Electric bike, Lead acid, Lithium-ion, Electric Motor, Brushless DC, AC motor, DC motor.

Electric Scoot

Abstract: In today’s world, the infrastructure of College and Industries are becoming large so if one has to travel or visit from one place to another he has to walk a long distance and sometimes it becomes very hasty and inconvenient. Sometimes after too many travelling on campus, it causes strain and pain in the body. So to travel these distances two-wheeled or three-wheeled electric scooter like Segway PT, Irrway were introduced .But, these scooters are very costly such as they start from ₹ 50,000. Another problem with that vehicle is that they are difficult to handle when we drive the first time. So in alternate to this product, we developed whole newly designed product and this is Reliable, Eco-friendly, a Compact vehicle for the campus. Its utilities are college campus, Airports, Industries, Recreational Parks, Sanctuaries, Museums, Palaces, Villas etc. So our project is on design and fabrication of three-wheel vehicle and also its multipurpose utility among the society. The concept of the model taken from children’s scooter bicycle. The complete body looks like a scooter bicycle in which platform is provided for standing and driving the powered scooter. This product is a battery powered and motor-driven vehicle. The scooter is intended to use in indoors areas as well as in outdoor areas, due to the absence of any type of pollution causing drive mechanism such as petrol engines.

Multipurpose Utilization Trend of Nickel Mineral Resources under the Goal of Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality

Multipurpose Utilization Trend of Nickel Mineral Resources under the Goal of Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality

Generic and adaptive probabilistic safety assessment models: Precursor analysis and multi-purpose utilization

Motivated by learning from experience and exploiting existing knowledge in civil nuclear operations, we have developed in-house generic Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) models for pressurized and boiling water reactors. The models are computationally light, handy, transparent, user-friendly, and easily adaptable to account for major plant-specific differences. They cover the common internal initiating events, frontline and support systems reliability and dependencies, human-factors, common-cause failures, and account for new factors typically overlooked in many PSAs. For quantification, the models use generic US reliability data, precursor analysis reports, the ETHZ Curated Nuclear Events Database, and experts’ opinions. Moreover, uncertainties in the most influential basic events are addressed. The generated results show good agreement with assessments available in the literature with detailed PSAs. We envision the models as an unbiased framework to measure nuclear operational risk with the same “ruler”, and hence support inter-plant risk comparisons that are usually not possible due to differences in plant-specific PSA assumptions and scopes. The models can be used for initial risk screening, order-of-magnitude precursor analysis, and other research/pedagogic applications especially when no plant-specific PSAs are available. Finally, we are using the generic models for large-scale precursor analysis that will generate big picture trends, lessons, and insights.

Study on an Oscillating Water Column Wave Power Converter Installed in an Offshore Jacket Foundation for Wind-Turbine System Part II: Experimental Test on the Converting Efficiency

This study is an experimental study corresponding to an analytical study presented previously, where a scaled-down model was built and tested in a water tank by following the size and shape of the structure applied in the analytical study. In this study, a wave energy converter of an oscillating water column (OWC) system is integrated with the infrastructure of a jacket-type offshore platform applied to an offshore wind turbine system. The purpose is to conduct a combination system through the simultaneous utilization of both wind power and wave power so that sustainable energy can be maximized. During the analytical study’s analysis, the airflow response and the converting efficiency of wave energy from an OWC system integrated with an offshore template structural system were evaluated. By following the analytical study’s analysis, the performance of all the systems is tested, including the airflow velocity, pneumatic power, and the converting efficiency of the power from waves. The experimental data are analyzed and discussed in terms of the variations of the OWC system’s geometrical parameters. The parameters under consideration include the exhale orifice-area of airflow, gate-openings of inflow water, and the submerged chamber depth. It is found from the experimental results that, through the comparison between the experimental data and the analytical results, the results of the analytical study’s analysis are countable, and an open sea OWC system can be successfully applied to the template structure of offshore wind power infrastructure as a secondary generating system for the multi-purpose utilization of the structure.

Structurally diverse glycosides of secoiridoid, bisiridoid, and triterpene-bisiridoid conjugates from the flower buds of two Caprifoliaceae plants and their ATP-citrate lyase inhibitory activities

The ethanolic extracts of the dried flower buds of two Caprifoliaceae plants, Lonicera japonica and Abelia × grandiflora, showed considerable inhibitory activities against adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-citrate lyase (ACL), a new promising drug target for the treatment of metabolic disorders. Bioassay-guided purification in conjunction with HPLC-PDA profiling led to the isolation and characterization of thirty-five (1–35) and fourteen (1′−14′) structurally diverse compounds from the above two plant extracts, respectively. Compounds 1–9 and 1′−6′ are previously undescribed glycosides. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data, electronic circular dichroism (ECD), and single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. In particular, lonicejaposide A (1) has an unprecedented skeleton generated through the coupling of C-7 in secologanin with C-2′′ in phenylacetaldehyde via an aldol condensation. Abeliflorosides A (1′) and B (2′) are hitherto unknown glycosides of triterpene and bisiridoid conjugates constructed through the formation of a 1,3-dioxane moiety. All the isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory activities against ACL. Compounds 9, 25–28, 31, 1′, 2′, and 14′ displayed significant inhibitory effects, with IC50 values ranging from 0.1 to 14.2 μM. The interactions of selected compounds possessing different structure features (e.g., 9, 25, 31, and 2′) with ACL were thereafter performed by employing molecular docking studies. In addition, compound 2′, the most complex triterpene-bisiridoid conjugate glycoside reported herein, also inhibited acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1), with an IC50 value of 7.9 μM. The dried material of the flower buds of L. japonica (honeysuckle) is a well-known traditional oriental medicine (i.e., Flos Lonicerae Japonicae, FLJ) and has long been used in large quantities. The above findings not only provide new insights for the development of multipurpose utilization of FLJ in healthcare community, but also provide profitable clues indicating that the flower buds of A. × grandiflora might be a potential alternative to FLJ in the traditional Chinese medicine market.

The Careful Assessment Tool for Managing Patients with Medically Unexplained Symptoms - the Experience of Slovenian Family Medicine Trainees: a Qualitative Study.

IntroductionPrimary care physicians use various tools and methods to identify medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). The main purpose of our study is to determine the views of Slovenian family medicine trainees (FMT) about using the “Careful Assessment” tool for managing patients with MUS.MethodsA qualitative study using open survey questions focused on the experience of family medicine trainees in managing patients with MUS. The sample consisted of surveys from 184 family medicine trainees. These trainees analysed a total of 702 patients with MUS. Manual coding was used for quantitative content analysis.ResultsIn the coding process, 49 codes were developed that included broader research fields about using the “Careful Assessment” tool for managing patients with MUS. The codes were grouped into four theoretically grounded, logical categories in accordance with the elaborated theoretical concept: multi-purpose utility; improved patient management; in-depth knowledge and new skills; and patient response.ConclusionThe study demonstrated that, in the view of Slovenian FMT, the “Careful Assessment” tool has multi-purpose utility. The study showed that FMT felt that this tool helps them in systematic patient management. Their opinion is that it helps them establish a trusting relationship with patients, which is a precondition for providing further treatment.

Fifty years of research on Tinospora cordifolia: From botanical plant to functional ingredient in foods

Consumer demand, combined with industry interest, highlights the need to develop foods that have health promoting characteristics beyond basic nutrition. In this regard, Tinospora cordifolia ( giloy ) (TC), has paved the way in the food industry because of multi-purpose utilization for health care management. Being reservoir of bioactive components, TC has been exploited since ages for its therapeutic properties. Its’ consumption by people in the crude form has limited its utility for disease treatment and management. The greatest approach to avoid any disease is to prevent it thus, application of TC preparations in the development of functional foods would definitely address this issue and broaden the horizon of food market. However, this is relatively a nascent area and there is an urgent need to investigate the mechanisms and interactions between diverse food matrices and TC bioactive components. This review provides comprehensive information on TC and its health-related properties, elucidating the physiological role in human body and focusing its utilization in food industry. Literature is based on the findings of several researches on its protective role against various patho-physiological diseases. The potential of this medicinal plant as a therapeutic agent against SARS-COV-2 virus has also been reviewed. Research needs of food scientists dealing with development of functional foods using TC has also been catered under this review. About 45 active constituents have been isolated from TC and include alkaloids, glycosides, terpenoids, steroids, polysaccharides, and are mainly responsible for its biological roles. These components provide the defense against diseases by several mechanisms viz., modulation of host immune responses via TLR4 dependent pathway, macrophage activation, inhibiting VEGF expression, activating enzyme system generating cyclic AMP, translocation of nuclear transcription factor etc. TC has also been explored in development of functional foods and edible packaging films as antioxidant, antimicrobial, lipase inhibitor and bioactive ingredient. Extensive research is required to investigate the suitable techniques for the stability of TC preparations in food matrix. • T. cordifolia (TC) is well-recognized plant as a reservoir of therapeutic properties. • Alkaloids and terpenoids are the most active components from TC. • The review describes the potential application of TC in wide variety of foods. • Foods incorporated with TC can improve storage stability and functionality. • Future challenges include stabilization of TC preparation in food matrix and their interactions.

Evaluation of Groundwater Resources in Minor Plio-Pleistocene Arenaceous Aquifers in Central Italy

The hilly landscape of the Periadric area in Central Italy is characterized by mainly marly–clayey foredeep basin deposits (Plio–Pleistocene age). These lithotypes are generally considered aquicludes, if compared with the regional limestone aquifers of Apennines. However, a coarsening upward trend characterizes the upper portion of this stratigraphic sequence, with arenaceous deposits and even conglomerates on the top. From a geomorphological viewpoint, the areas with coarser outcrops show a flat shape and sub-vertical slopes, like boundaries. At the base of these scarps, springs can be found at the interface between coarse and fine deposits, whereas these arenaceous bodies are actual aquifers. Until now, the hydrodynamics and hydrochemical features of this kind of aquifer have not been investigated deeply, because they have always been considered a worthy water resource. However, they could play a crucial role in integrated water management, especially to cope with climate changes and drought periods. Considering these, the main purpose of this study was to investigate from a hydrogeological point of view and to assess the groundwater quantity and quality. Five examples throughout the Abruzzo region were considered. For evaluation and comparisons between water resources, the water volume that infiltrates yearly at each squared kilometer of an aquifer (Mm3/y/km2) was applied. This value was calculated through three different approaches to provide a recharge estimation for this kind of aquifer that is as exhaustive and representative as possible. The results allowed us to characterize the hydrogeological model and to quantify the resources between 0.1 and 0.16 Mm3/y/km2, to be suitable for multi–purpose utilization.

Multi-criteria spatial analysis for location selection of multi-purpose utility tunnels

Multi-purpose utility tunnels (MUTs) integrate all underground utilities in one accessible tunnel. MUTs reduce the need for excavations and their associated costs, as well as the resulting traffic congestion. Several MUTs have been implemented in different parts of the world. Their locations have either been politically influenced or selected to preserve heritage sites or to meet the conditions of a newly developed city. Nevertheless, selecting the location in an existing city under street segments is affected by several criteria that have different spatial characteristics. Combining these characteristics and managing the trade-offs that exist between them determine the ranking of alternative MUT locations. The use of subjective and objective weights in the decision-making process will offer different perspectives from the decision-maker's perspective and the data itself, respectively. This paper aims to analyze spatial data as an input in the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) process of the MUT location selection. The objectives are: (1) defining the criteria that influence the MUT location selection, (2) defining the required GIS datasets for quantifying the criteria as scores for each candidate street segment, (3) analyzing the impacts of the dependencies between the criteria by comparing the ranking results of two MCDM methods (i.e., Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Analytic Network Process (ANP)) combined with the Technique for Order Preference by the Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), (4) analyzing the difference between using subjective weights or objective weights, and (5) developing a prototype system to integrate the MCDM methods in a GIS platform. A vector-based spatial analysis is conducted to identify the suitable locations for MUT construction based on 12 criteria representing physical condition information or affecting social costs. Two subjective MCDM methods (i.e., AHP and ANP) are used to generate each criterion's weights, and the ranking of alternatives is determined using TOPSIS. Another set of weights representing the objective weights are calculated for each criterion using the Shannon Entropy method. These weights are combined with TOPSIS to obtain an objective ranking of the alternatives. Based on the results from the different combinations (AHP + TOPSIS, ANP + TOPSIS, and ENTROPY + TOPSIS), the top alternative is always the same.

Efficient removal of iron from red gypsum via synergistic regulation of gypsum phase transformation and iron speciation

Red gypsum is a type of iron-rich gypsum residue originated from industrial titanium dioxide process using Ilmenite. Currently, it has a low rate of comprehensive utilization about 20%, and deep removal of iron impurity is the crucial factor that directly limits its multipurpose utilization. In this study, the iron was efficiently removed from red gypsum residue by synergistic controlling the phase transformation of gypsum and the iron speciation under hydrothermal conditions. The iron removal efficiency was more than 99% under the optimized treatment condition (i.e. liquid-solid ratio of 10, with 1.5 M HCl as mineralizer, heating at 140 °C for 6 h). The X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses showed that the phase transformation and crystal growth of gypsum accelerated by H+ was the essential reasons to fully remove iron. Moreover, H+ also provided acidic conditions (pH < 1) to change the iron speciation from amorphous oxide or hydroxide fine particles into soluble Fe3+ which release into the solution and easy to be removed by solid-liquid separation. In this work, based on the synergistic regulation of gypsum phase transformation and iron speciation, a feasible method for deep removal of iron from red gypsum was proposed, which is conducive to broadening the comprehensive utilization range of red gypsum. This work would inspire the treatment and resource utilization of industrial gypsum residues containing other contaminants or impurities, including heavy metals and organic matters.

Methodology of development limits and quotas of water use for program of multipurpose utilization of water resources

A methodology has been proposed to substantiate the effectiveness of measures in the development of limits and quotas for water consumption and wastewater disposal for all subjects of the territorial natural production complex, which ensures the distribution of the technogenic load on water bodies from all water users and guarantees the quality of water at the level of permissible discharges and permissible impact standards.

Progress and Perspectives of Desalination in China.

In recent decades, the ever-growing demands for clean water in households and industries have urged researchers to take every possible step to deal with the global water crisis. Seawater desalination has turned out to be the most promising and efficient way to provide clean water. Owing to the advancement of synthetic chemistries and technologies, great success has been achieved in the desalination and utilization of seawater worldwide. China, with the world’s largest population, has pushed the development of desalination and multipurpose utilization of seawater further in respect of materials, technologies and services, etc. This review reports recent progress of desalination technologies accomplished in China, from the viewpoints of facilities and equipment, collaborations, technologies, applications, research abilities, services, and standard systems. Inspired by the Fourteenth Five-year Plan, it also proposes future perspectives of desalination in China.

Diversity and multipurpose utility of wild edible plant in Chopta –Mandal forest, Uttarakhand

Wild edible plants (WEP) play a very important role in providing stable and supplemented food and also the source of income to local communities providing food security during lean periods. The present study was conducted in 11 villages covering the Chamoli and Rudraprag district of Uttarakhand. The information was collected through structured questionnaires along with field visit, group discussions and key informant interviews. The methods employed in the study is designed with the purpose of providing baseline information on the ethnobotanical use of plant species in local communities. The study recorded 64 species of WEP belonging to 47 genera and 36 families. Most of the species are used as fruits (30 species) followed by leafy vegetables (20), about 31 wild edibles plant species are used as medicinal and almost half of the species (51%) were also used for purposes other than food and 28% species with market value. A few wild edible species are used for making pickles, chutney, jam, jelly and squash through value addition to ensure high returns in comparison to selling of raw materials. Dependency of local people on the wild edible plants for economic potential is still alive and is a traditional culinary practice that demonstrates rich traditional knowledge of local people. Wild edible plants provide all the essential nutrient and minerals to the local inhabitants to stay healthy but unfortunately the traditional knowledge on the use of WEP is diminishing. WEP are not only important for livelihood but have a great potential for crop improvement. These wild species should be promoted for income generation activities through sustainable collection and trade as they are important throughout the year because their consumption serves multiple purposes.

Privacy preservation of electronic health records with adversarial attacks identification in hybrid cloud

An increasing trend in healthcare organizations to outsource EHRs’ data to the cloud highlights new challenges regarding the privacy of given individuals. Healthcare organizations outsource their EHRs data in a hybrid cloud that elevates the problem of security and privacy in terms of EHRs’ access to an unlimited number of recipients in a hybrid cloud environment. In this paper, we investigated the need for a privacy-preserving access control model for the hybrid cloud. A comprehensive and exploratory analysis of privacy-preserving solutions with the help of taxonomy for cloud-based EHRs is described in this work. We have formally identified the existence of internal access control and external privacy disclosures in outsourcing system architecture for hybrid cloud. Then, we proposed a privacy-preserving XACML based access control model (PPX-AC) that supports fine-grained access control with the multipurpose utilization of EHRs alongside state-of-the-art privacy mechanism. Our proposed approach invalidates the identified security and privacy attacks. We have formally verified the proposed privacy-preserving XACML based access control model (PPX-AC) with the invalidation of identified privacy attacks using High-Level Petri Nets (HLPN). Moreover, property verification of the proposed model in SMT-lib and Z3 solver and implementation of the model proves its effectiveness in terms of privacy-aware EHRs access and multipurpose usage.

Study on an Oscillating Water Column Wave Power Converter Installed in an Offshore Jacket Foundation for Wind-Turbine System Part I: Open Sea Wave Energy Converting Efficiency

This study is focused on the wave energy converter of an oscillating water column (OWC) system that is integrated with a jacket type infrastructure applied for an offshore wind turbine system. In this way, electricity generation by both wind power and wave power can be conducted simultaneously to maximize the utilization of sustainable energy. A numerical analysis was performed in this research to model and simulate the airflow response and evaluate the converting efficiency of wave energy from an OWC system integrated with an offshore template structural system. The performance of the system including the generating airflow velocity, air-pressure in the chamber, generating power and then the converting efficiency of power from waves are all analyzed and discussed in terms of the variations of the OWC system’s geometrical parameters. The parameters under consideration include the exhale orifice-area of airflow, gate-openings of inflow water and the submerged chamber depth. It is found that from the analytical results the performance of the OWC wave energy converter is influenced by the dimensional parameters along with the design conditions of the local environment. After a careful design based on the in-situ conditions including water depth and wave parameters, an open OWC system can be successfully applied to the template structure of offshore wind power infrastructure as a secondary generating system for the multi-purpose utilization of the structure.

A review on the unexplored and underutilized Arenga species in India

The Genus Arenga which includes some of the magnificent palms of the world, their multipurpose utility and diversity is been reviewed to shed light on the wide potentialities of the different species. Of the 24 species reported only few of them has been recognized as candidates for domestication from the wild. Four species namely Arenga pinnata, A. obtusifolia, A. micranta and A. wightii have been reported from India. Their ecological aspects, utilization and conservation strategies of the tribal communities have been discussed. Seed biology of few species has been reviewed along with the available data generated through scientific studies. Although most of the members in this Genus have the potential to be explored commercially, they still fall into the underutilized category. The review is mainly intended to highlight the untapped resources from different species in this Genus which will promote more scientific studies and result in proper conservation and sustainable utilization of these valuable palms.