Bot with a Heart: Can AI-Bot Sensory Experience and Employee Sustainability Manufacture Happiness? See

Within the current VUCA technological environment, manufacturing industry in emerging countries faces serious challenges, such as disengagement of employees, increased stress levels, and high turnover rate. Even though artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being incorporated into work processes, little research has been conducted on AI and its impact on the emotional reactions of employees. Thus, this research fills this gap by using outside-in perspective to investigate the impact of ...

Influence of Conventional Shot Peening on Adhesion, Microstructure, and Corrosion Resistance of Electrodeposited Nickel Coatings on Copper See

Copper is highly vulnerable to degradation in corrosive environments, necessitating effective surface protection strategies. In this study, nickel coatings were electrodeposited onto copper substrates to improve their properties. However, the as-deposited coatings exhibited inadequate adhesion with surface defects, indicating the need for an additional post-treatment. To overcome this limitation, a surface mechanical treatment through conventional shot peening (CSP) was employed to refine the...

From Point to Batch: Advancing Incremental Clustering with Mass-based Dissimilarity See

Non-incremental clustering algorithms (NICLAs) dealing with dynamic data suffer from issues related to their compute-intensive behaviour. A plausible approach to address these issues lie in transforming the NICLAs into intelligent (incremental) methods that are capable of processing dynamic data. MBSCAN is one such robust NICLA that leverages the idea of data-dependent dissimilarity to find clusters. An incremental version of MBSCAN namely 𝑖𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 was designed to handle single-point inser...

Digital Coded Metasurface Design Based on Deep Learning Technique: A Study See

This paper presents a comprehensive study of advanced techniques for designing digitally coded metasurfaces, highlighting their ability to manipulate electromagnetic wave propagation. Five key methodologies are investigated and compared: Back Projection (BP), Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Superposition, and Deep Learning (DL). While the computationally efficient BP method is suitable for single-beam configurations, it is inadequate for multi-beam or complex radiat...

Antiproliferative and Anti-Metastatic effects of ethanolic Leaf Extract of Cascabela Thevetia against Cholangiocarcinoma Cells See

Cascabela thevetia (syn. Thevetia peruviana) is a medicinally important flowering plant traditionally used for the treatment of wounds, skin infections, tumours, and other ailments. With the increasing incidence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections and aggressive cancers such as cholangiocarcinoma, the present study aimed to evaluate the phytochemical composition, antibacterial activity, and anticancer potential of C. thevetia leaf and flower extracts. Ethanolic and aqueous extra...

Synergistic polymicrobial biofilm of Pseudomonas oryzihabitans GAT2212B and Aspergillus niger KCRE2202F as a blue biotechnological strategy to enhance the growth of mangrove Avicennia officinalis L. See

Mangrove ecosystems are a foundational pillar of the emerging blue economy. However, environmental stressors such as salinity fluctuations, pollution, and climate change threaten mangrove survival and regeneration. This study aim to evaluate the role of a synergistic polymicrobial bacterial-fungal inoculum as a blue biotechnology strategy to promote seed germination and enhance the growth of Avicennia officinalis L.. Amplicon-based metagenomic analysis revealed 1,372 bacterial and 2...

Attention-Driven Underwater Image Enhancement Framework via Edge-Aware Feature Refinement See

Underwater images suffer from unique challenges during restoration, due to absorption and scattering of light. It results in significant loss of fine details, color cast, blurriness, and irregular haze. Existing methods struggle to capture the fine details in complex underwater scenarios. To tackle these difficulties, we propose a novel Edge-guided Feature Refinement (EFR) module using channel attention and integrate this in a vision transformer based architecture. It is precisely designed to...

A Heat Transfer Search Algorithm Optimized Support Vector Regressor for Predicting Transportation Cost in the Steel Industry See

Different machine learning (ML) models are used in various engineering applications for prediction purposes. The performance of ML models is often governed by their hyperparameters. Support vector regression (SVR) is a widely accepted ML model for predicting transportation costs across various engineering fields, as it can learn non-linear relationships with the help of a kernel, even with small to medium-sized datasets. Therefore, the present work uses SVR to model transportation cost in the...

Development of MoS2 Composites for Wastewater Reclamation Using a Pharmaceutical Waste See

The sustainable visible light active MoS2 and MoS2/BC composite is synthesized and employed for waste water reclamation. In this study, jackfruit stalk biochar (BC), pure MoS2 and MoS2/BC was prepared by pyrolysis and facile hydrothermal methods respectively. The characterization results of all the samples by SEM, XRD and FTIR showed the successful formation of the hexagonal phase of molybdenum sulphide, the grafting of MoS2 particles uniformly over the biochar surface, and the presence of re...

Glutathione Reductase in Heavy Metal Nanoparticle-Stressed Plants See

Heavy metal contamination in agricultural systems has become an escalating environmental issue, affecting plant health, crop productivity, and food safety. Elements such as Nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co), while essential micronutrients in small quantities, become toxic at elevated concentrations commonly found in industrially polluted soils. In plants, excessive Co disrupt metabolic processes by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS), impairing photosynthesis, altering nutrient uptake, and dam...

Metabolite Profiling of Methanolic Extract of Ficus Bengalensis Bark and Exploring Its Impact On the Epigenome in Prostate Cancer See

Ficus bengalensis (the banyan tree) holds significant importance in phytotherapy due to its wide range of bioactive compounds and therapeutic properties. The present study investigates the metabolite profile and anticancer potential of the methanolic extract of Ficus benghalensis bark (MEFB), with a focus on its epigenetic and signalling pathway modulation in prostate cancer. Plant extract was collected from the NIT Campus, and MEFB was prepared by the maceration method. Qualitative and quant...

Impact of Inorganic Nanoparticles on the Phenylalanine Self-Assembly: Implication for Phenylketonuria See

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an inherited metabolic disorder caused by deficiency of phenylalanine hydroxylase, resulting in excessive accumulation of phenylalanine inside the body. Accumulation of it shows metabolic and cytotoxicity, high concentration of phenylalanine undergoes spontaneous self-assembly under physiological conditions, forming ordered amyloid-like aggregates stabilized by aromatic π–π interactions, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic forces, with fibrillary morphology similar to p...

Tension Crack Modelling and its Influence on Active Earth Pressure in Numerical Limit Analysis See

The precise estimation of active earth pressure (AEP) in retaining walls supporting unsaturated backfills continues to be a major challenge in geotechnical engineering. Classical theories mostly consider dry or fully saturated soils, thus, neglecting the development of the tensile stress zones under partial saturation conditions [1], [2]. Such conditions eventually give rise to tension cracks, which further, alter the lateral stress field and thus, affecting the global stability of retaining ...

Next-Generation Biodegradable Ternary BiOI/TiO₂/PPy Heterojunction Hydrogel for Efficient Photocatalytic Tetracycline Degradation See

This study investigates the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC) using BiOI/TiO2/PPy (BTPY) hydrogels, highlighting their efficiency and applicability for wastewater treatment. BTPY was synthesized via hydrothermal method followed by polymeric interaction with carboxymethyl cellulose and crosslinked with FeCl3 to enhance stability and reusability. The photocatalytic performance was evaluated under visible light, achieving up to 91% degradation efficiency under optimized conditions....

Exploring the Antitumor Effects of Berberine on Migration and Proliferation against U87MG Glioblastoma Cell Line See

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, with brain cancers accounting for approximately 3% of all reported cases. Glioblastoma is the most aggressive and treatment-resistant form of brain cancer, necessitating the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Berberine, a naturally occurring isoquinoline alkaloid derived from plants of the Berberidaceae family, has demonstrated significant anticancer potential due to its low toxicity and ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. In t...

Fermentation-Assisted Saccharification for the Production of Bioethanol from Seaweed See

Fossil fuel reserves are rapidly depleting and the burning of conventional fuels releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Crops which are rich in sugar and starch are the best biomass for conversion to ethanol. However, most of them are edible crops and this competes with their use as food. One promising alternative is bioethanol production from seaweed. One of the major advantages associated with using seaweed is that it can grow in ocean water without the need for arabl...

Optimization of Gain Tuning in Quadrotors for Attitude Stability using Best Mean Random Metaheuristic See

Drones are a type of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) come under multicopters. UAV, in certain applications require low altitude and short flight distance characteristics. In such instances, quadrotors are most suitable than the fixed wing UAVs. Quadrotors are controlled by the stabilization process in real time. It requires sensors including accelerometers, gyroscope, altitude sensors to estimate the air frame position and velocity. For efficient flight control, different variables affect the ...

Development of Bio-compatible Curcumin-loaded BSA Nanoparticles with Enhanced AntiCancer and Anti-Bacterial Potential See

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a highly aggressive and therapy-refractory brain tumor, with treatment efficacy severely limited by the blood–brain barrier, tumor heterogeneity, and systemic toxicity of conventional therapies. This study reports the development of a multifunctional and biocompatible nanoparticulate delivery system based on curcumin-loaded bovine serum albumin nanoparticles (CUR-BSA NPs) to address curcumin’s poor solubility and bioavailability. Nanoparticles were synthesi...

Development and Characterization of PEGylated Chitosan Nanoparticles Co-loaded with Curcumin and Thymoquinone for Glioblastoma Therapy See

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive and therapy-resistant brain tumor, with treatment efficacy severely constrained by poor drug solubility, systemic toxicity, and the inability of conventional therapeutics to achieve sustained bioavailability. This study reports the development of a biocompatible PEGylated chitosan-based nanoparticle delivery system co-loaded with curcumin and thymoquinone, to address formulation and delivery barriers associated with these compounds. Nanopart...