The present study was designed to evaluate the amino acid profiles and anti-nutritional contents of six wild vegetables viz. Cardamine hirsuta, Melothria perpusilla, Cryptolepis sinensis, Persicaria chinensis, Lippia javanica and Polygonum perfoliatum from Assam, India. The total amino acid detected was found the highest in P. chinensis as 25.92 mg/g dry weight (DW) followed by P. perfoliatum (19.68 mg/g DW) and M. perpusilla (14.57 mg/g DW), and the lowest amino acid was observed in L. javanica (0.62 mg/g DW). However, the highest non-essential amino acids (NEAA) were detected in P. perfoliatum (3.89 mg/g DW). Among the NEAA, aspartic acid and glutamic acid were detected in all the six plant species which ranged from 0.01 to 0.33 mg/g DW and 0.02 to o.75 mg/g DW, respectively. In this study, the highest concentration of essential amino acids (EAA) was detected in C. hirsuta (1.72 mg/g DW) followed by M. perpusilla (0.95 mg/g DW) and P. chinensis (0.67 mg/g DW). Besides EAA and NEAA, some other amino acids such as phosphoserine, OH-proline, amino adipic acid, phosphoenolamine, and taurine are the most common which were detected. In the study, variable amounts of anti-nutritional contents were found and discussed herein.

Conveyors and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are important mechanical handling equipment used to transport loads from one place to another. Selection of proper material handling equipment is an intricate process. In the present paper two material handling equipment selection problem was solved using various newly developed multi criteria decision making (MCDM) methods. First a conveyor selection problem with six conflicting criteria and four alternatives was solved using four MCDM methods, i.e. combinative distance based assessment (CODAS) method, evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) method, weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) method and multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) method. Second an automated guided vehicles selection problem with six conflicting criteria and eight alternatives was solved using CODAS, EDAS, WASPAS and MOORA methods. Spearman rank correlation coefficient was calculated between the ranks obtained by various methods. The ranks obtained by these methods were even compared with the ranks of other MCDM methods and it was found that the relatively new methods CODAS, EDAS and WASPAS were in good agree-ment with each other.

New ruthenium(III) complexes with 3-(Benzothiazol-2-yliminomethyl)-phenol (HL) ligand have been synthesized and characterized with the aid of elemental analysis, IR, electronic, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic techniques. The binding mode of the ligand and complexes with DNA and their ability to bind DNA have been investigated by UV-vis absorption titration. In addition, the ligand and complexes have been subjected to antioxidant activity tests which showed that HL and its ruthenium(III) complexes possess significant scavenging effect against DPPH and OH radicals. Cytotoxic activities of the ligand and ruthenium(III) complexes showed that the ruthenium(III) complexes exhibited more effective cytotoxic activity against HeLa and MCF-7 cells than the corresponding ligand.

The presence of heterocyclic moiety in diverse compounds, strongly indicative of the desired effect on physiological activity, and it reflects on efforts to find useful synthetic drugs. In this connection, here reporting the synthesis and characterization of 5-[substituted]-1, 3, 4-thiadiazol-2-amines (1-7). All the prepared compounds were characterized by spectroscopic viz. ¹H-NMR, ¹³C{¹H}-NMR, FT-IR, and LC-MS. The results of the DNA binding interactions using absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy reveal that the compounds are avid binders to DNA. A DNA cleavage study with pUC18 DNA using gel electrophoresis indicates the compounds are able to cleave DNA in presence of oxidant H₂O₂.

The paper aims to pinpoint and assess the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for road development in India. Main PPP project contributors in Indian PPP road projects were polled via questionnaire. A literature review was used to select fifteen favourable characteristics and thirteen unfavourable factors for the questionnaire. Descriptive statistical analysis is used to analyze the data that was collected. The elimination of government financial restraints, project cost and time management, the reduction of government funds committed to capital investment, improved maintainability and accelerated project development are the key positive characteristics that draw PPP in Indian road projects. Excessive participation restrictions, protracted negotiating delays, ambiguity surrounding government objectives and evaluation standards, a lack of employment possibilities, and a lack of experience and the necessary skills make PPP undesirable. Both the public and private sectors can benefit from PPP in various ways. All sectors must make decisions based on proper assessment criteria during the project development stage. The decision-makers of PPP projects benefit early on from thoroughly understanding both positive and negative elements.

A group of new fluoroaniline Schiff bases (3a–3f) were synthesized and structurally characterized by various spectroscopic techniques such as ¹H-NMR, LC-MS and FT-IR spectral studies. All compounds were evaluated for in vitro antibacterial activity. Compounds exhibited good to moderate antibacterial activity. Compound 3f (Zone of Inhibition = 10.08±0.06 µM) was found to be the most active one, and comparable to the standard Streptomycin (IC50 = 15.95±0.08 µM). The compounds having chloro substituent exhibit good membrane damage property against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) confirmed by SEM analysis. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) was rationalized by looking at the varying structural features of the molecules.

The efficacy of stainless-steel micro-particles on friction stir processed aluminium-based matrix composite (ABMC) was studied using tribological, mechanical and structural analysis tools. The stainless-steel powder (17-4PH) of average size 45 – 90 µm was used as the reinforcement particle. The parametric values employed during the fabrication of ABMC- AA7075-T651/17-4PH were the rotational speed of 1500 rpm and travel speed of 20 mm/min while the plunge depth and tilt angles used were respectively 0.3 mm and 3 degrees. Tribological study was carried out under the influence of dry sliding condition with varying loads of 20 N and 50 N using tribometer while the scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to capture the wear track. Structural analysis was examined with the aid of x-ray diffraction (XRD). The tensile strengths of the fabricated ABMC were also tested and the fracture surfaces were studied using SEM analysis. The results from the study revealed that at higher loading of 50 N, the wear performance was significantly improved for the fabricated aluminium composite- AA7075-T651/17-4PH when compare with lower loading of 20 N. The tensile properties for the ABMC were also improved under the influence of the stainless steel microparticles. There was structural improvement in ABMC wherein the value for crystallite size was lowest while micro-strain, dislocation density, as well as full width at half maximum (FWHM), had the highest values over the FSPed AA7075-T651 and the parent material. The examined fractured surface of the fabricated composite was dominated with fine, network and equiaxed dimples with cup and cone attributes confirming superb interfacial bonding and that the failure mode was ductile.

Cracks are one of the main causes of structural failure and they develop in the structures due to various reasons such as fatigue, temperature variation, excessive load, cyclic load, environmental effects, impact loading etc. Thus, structural health monitoring is necessary to avoid risks, damages and failures. So, in order to avoid an extensive failure or accident, the early prognosis of crack in structures is necessary. Visual inspection and some non-destructive testing (NDT) methods for detection of crack are difficult as it requires time, expenses and are quite inefficient. So the alternative methods are motivated to be developed. In this study, vibration analysis, finite element analysis (FEA) and an alternative way which is artificial neural network (ANN) is used to predict, detect and identify the damages in structures. It is found that the theoretical, experimental, finite element analysis and artificial neural network have good accuracy in predicting the crack characteristics.

This paper proposes a framework to develop a deterministic model for the valuation, selection and grading (ranking) of e-suppliers by using Modified Distance Based Approach (MDBA), which has not been used earlier in e-supplier selection. The e-supplier selection system performs a major part for the successful running of any supply chain. Thus, for effective running of any supply chain, it is necessary to build a system for the selection of e-supplier. Building such a decision support system software is important for the development of any decision support system efficiently with reduced cost, time and effort. The current research is based on 8 criteria and 52 sub-criteria by giving equal weightage to all of them. In this study, the major criteria are disintegrated into small sub-criteria. To validate the results obtained through the proposed distance based approximation method, the results are compared with other methodologies. Finally, with the illustration of the example problem, the applicability of the developed model is described.

The paper deals with the performance analysis and optimization for Carbonated Soft Drink Glass Bottle (CSDGB) filling system of a beverage plant using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) approach. The CSDGB system consists of seven main subsystems arranged in series namely Uncaser, Bottle Washer, Electronic Inspection Station, Filling Machine, Crowner, Coding Machine and Case Packer. Considering exponential distribution for probable failures and repairs, mathematical modeling is performed using Markov Approach (MA). The differential equations have been derived on the basis of probabilistic approach using transition diagram. These equations are solved using normalizing condition and recursive method to drive out the steady state availability expression of the system i.e. system’s performance criterion. The performance optimization of system has been carried out by varying the number of particles and number of generations. It has been observed that the maximum availability of 90.27% is achieved at flock size of 55 and 90.84% at 300th generation. Thus, findings of the paper will be useful to the plant management for execution of proper maintenance decisions.