Search

The urgent need to address environmental issues associated with the use of conventional fossil fuels has driven the rapid evolution of the global energy landscape. This review explores the background and significance of 3-G biofuel production, emphasizing the shift towards sustainable alternatives amidst escalating greenhouse gas emissions. While various renewable energy sources have gained prominence, biofuels have emerged as a promising solution for the transportation and industrial sectors, particularly from microalgal biomass. The rationale for focusing on microalgal biomass is based on its technical and environmental advantages. Unlike traditional feedstocks, microalgae boast a high lipid content, enhancing biofuel production efficiency. Their rapid growth rates and efficient carbon dioxide sequestration make microalgae frontrunners in scalable and sustainable biofuel production. This review aims to comprehensively analyze recent breakthroughs in 3-G biofuel production from microalgal biomass, filling gaps in the existing literature. The topics covered included species diversity, cultivation techniques, harvesting, pretreatment, lipid extraction methods, and biofuel production pathways. Genetic engineering, downstream processing, energy-efficient practices, and emerging trends, such as artificial intelligence and cross-disciplinary collaboration, will be explored. This study aims to consolidate recent research findings, identify challenges and opportunities, and guide future directions in microalgal biomass-based biofuel production. By synthesizing unpublished research, this review seeks to advance our knowledge and provide insights for researchers to foster sustainable and efficient 3-G biofuel production.

The experiment was conducted from April to May 2024 at the Centre for Excellence in Biotechnology in Research and Training (CEBRT) lab of Amicable Knowledge Solution University (AKS) University, Satna. In the present study, a simple, routine, and reproducible RP-HPLC method was employed for estimating the levels of Ferulic acid (FA) in different treatments of maize that is essential in the phytochemical analysis of this plant, has been assessed based on ferulic acid (FA). The method used in this study was based on HPLC on a C18 column using a gradient of water, methanol, and acetic acid. The calibration curve showed optimum linearity from 10 to 100 µg ml-1, with R²=0.981. This method is used to quantify the concentration, of FA. This methodology was used to detect FA in maize plants with different treatments: T1: control plants, T2: drought-induced plants, T3: plants inoculated with PKR1, T4: plants inoculated with PKR5, T5: plants inoculated with PKR6. The increase in FA was observed in all three Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR)-treated plants (T3, T4, and T5) as compared to T1: control plant and T2: drought-induced plants. Among these, maximum FA was found in T4 treatment, and the maximum peak height and area of T4 were 229259 and 10884, respectively. The Reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) RP-HPLC analytical methodology was validated for reliable analysis of FA content in maize leaves, contributing to phytochemical studies and quality assurance in different plant treatments and their derived products.

Rice, wheat, and maize grains are staple foods, widely consumed for their mineral and nutritional values. However, they can accumulate toxic elements from contaminated soils, posing health risks. This study investigates the bioaccumulation patterns of 52 elements (including nutrients, heavy metals, and rare earth elements) in various parts (grain, husk, straw, and root) of cereals grown in a heavily polluted region. The results revealed that rice grains exhibited a higher accumulation (Σ33.4 mg/kg) of toxic elements (As, Cu, Cr, Ni, and Pb) than wheat (Σ26.6 mg/kg) and maize (Σ16.2 mg/kg) grains, with the high-yield RI64 cultivar (Σ47.0 mg/kg) being the most susceptible. Across the rice plant, accumulation increased in the order of grain < husk < straw < root. Elements like P, K, Cu, and Zn showed the highest enrichment. Worryingly, the most toxic elements, such as As, Pb, and Cd, exceeded permissible limits across grains, straws, and husks. Health risk assessment indicated that wheat and maize pose greater non-cancer and cancer risks than rice. Despite being grown in a highly contaminated region, the study identifies some rice cultivars like Luchai and Sarna as relatively safer options due to a lower accumulation of toxic elements.

In the real-world, there are various situations when all units are not accessible of the respondent called unit non-response. The effect of unit non-response is a tricky matter for estimating the total number of unit. The present work highlights the interest about subpopulations (domains) in two affairs: i. if domains total of the supportive information is accessible ii. if domains total of the supportive variable does not access. The government needs to be introducing the actual facilities in these small domains. The supportive information is used to find out the estimate of the non respondent information and to apply this information for desired domains. Sometimes, it has been found that the accessible auxiliary variable for the domains might be positive shape. Therefore, it develops an appropriate model that has positive skewness. The present context highlighted the indirect method using a power-based estimation with calibration approach. By combining power based estimation and calibration technique, it is possible to obtain more accurate estimates for intended small domains. Even the supportive information is positively biased. This approach helps us in mitigating the effect of non-respondent and improving the overall reliability of the estimators. The simulation was conducted for different sizes 70 and 90 when nonresponse variable in the study variable. The results show that investigated power-based estimate provides better option over relevant exponential, ratio, and generalized regression estimators for intended domains.

Non-rhizobial endophytes (NREs) are active colonizers inhabiting the root nodules. Though their active role in the lentil agroecosystem is not well defined, here we observed that these NREs might promote the growth of lentils, modulate rhizospheric community structure and could be used as promising organisms for optimal use of rice fallow soil. NREs from root nodules of lentils were isolated and examined for plant growth-promoting traits, exopolysaccharide (EPS) and biofilm production, root metabolites, and the presence of nifH and nifK elements. The greenhouse experiment with the chosen NREs, i.e., Serratia plymuthica 33GS and Serratia sp. R6 significantly increased the germination rate, vigour index, development of nodules (in non-sterile soil) and fresh weight of nodules (33GS 94%, R6 61% growth) and length of the shoot (33GS 86%, R6 51.16%) as well as chlorophyll levels when compared to the uninoculated control. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed that both isolates could successfully colonize the roots and elicit root hair growth. The inoculation of the NREs resulted in specific changes in root exudation patterns. The plants with 33GS and R6 treatment significantly stimulated the exudation of triterpenes, fatty acids, and their methyl esters in comparison to the uninoculated plants, altering the rhizospheric microbial community structure. Proteobacteria dominated the rhizospheric microbiota in all the treatments. Treatment with 33GS or R6 also enhanced the relative abundance of other favourable microbes, including Rhizobium, Mesorhizobium, and Bradyrhizobium. The correlation network analysis of relative abundances resulted in numerous bacterial taxa, which were in cooperation with each other, having a possible role in plant growth promotion. The results indicate the significant role of NREs as plant growth promoters, which also includes their role in root exudation patterns, enhancement of soil nutrient status and modulation of rhizospheric microbiota, suggesting their prospects in sustainable, and bio-based agriculture.

Abstract A new modular transformer based 36‐pulse ac–dc converter for a cascaded H‐bridge‐inverter fed medium voltage induction motor drive is proposed in this work. The conventional multi‐pulse ac–dc converter has only 18‐pulses in its line input current with six output dc voltages, whereas, the proposed multi‐pulse ac–dc converter has 36‐pulses in its line current with six output voltages. Due to this, the proposed medium voltage induction motor drive has improved power quality at input end. A 9‐level cascaded H‐bridge‐inverter is applied on drive side to boost the performance of medium voltage induction motor drive. A modified model reference adaptive system based speed sensorless vector control is presented in this paper. A nearest level modulation scheme is used to operate a 9‐level inverter at fundamental frequency switching over the entire speed range of an induction motor drive. The performance of this drive is verified through both simulation and experimental results.

Objective: To investigate the psycho-social factors associated with COVID-19 and the nationwide lockdown in India. Study design: An online survey was conducted from April 11 through April 16, 2020 in 28 states and 8 union territories (UT) of India. The potential participants were recruited using snowball sampling procedure. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among the people of all states in India. A spatial analysis was performed and Moran's I statistic was applied to investigate the overall clustering of locations. Fisher's exact test was used to investigate associations. GeoDa and R console were used to analyze the data. A total of 1316 responses were received. Results: Those worried for their family's health were likely to follow the lockdown measures(p

Background. Hexavalent chromium-containing waste from chromite ore processing is a major environmental health hazard due to its high toxicity. There have been instances of improper and unsafe disposal of this waste, leading to environmental health hazards. Objectives. The objective of the present study was to identify the cause of yellow colored water discharge and reported health issues in nearby residents and cattle. In addition, it investigated the improper disposal of chromite ore processing residue (COPR), a hazardous waste, in an abandoned quarry in stromatolitic-limestone terrain in central-east India. Methods. Standard methods of analysis of water and wastewater were used for the analyses of variables, including hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), pH, sulfate (SO42−), chlorine (Cl−), total hardness, calcium (Ca(II)), magnesium (Mg(II)), alkalinity and sodium (Na(I)) with proper sampling, quality assurance, and quality control protocols. Onsite Cr(VI) was analyzed using a chromium testing kit, and in the laboratory by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results. Large-scale contamination of surface and groundwater was noted due to the migration of hexavalent chromium-contaminated yellow colored leachate. High levels of hexavalent chromium were noted in the samples. The maximum Cr(VI) concentration observed was 1050 mg/L in leachate, 22 mg/L in surface water and 0.26 mg/L in the groundwater sample. Acute health effects were noted in cattle and by residents who consumed the highly contaminated water. Conclusions. A large volume of discharge of hexavalent chromium contamination from the COPR landfill was found, indicating the absence of containment features in the design (double high-density polyethylene liners, clay, leachate collection). Disposal of COPR in an abandoned limestone mine is inadvisable. The highly fractured stromatolitic-limestone environment at the study site was found to offer almost no resistance to the mobilization of Cr(VI) due to the absence of organic or eukaryotic deposition in the stromatolitic environment. It was also noted that the drainage pattern of the area facilitates a possible translocation of contaminated discharge to the nearby river system. Nearby residents were unaware of the adverse impacts of the contaminated leachates and were using the contaminated water for bathing, washing, etc. Applicable Indian governmental regulations regarding the construction of hazardous waste landfills were found to be insufficient with respect to the use of inactive limestone mines as landfill sites. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests.

In this article, a new structure is used for induction motor drive (IMD). A Δ-polygon configuration based multi-winding transformer is designed in it to get an eighteen pulse AC-DC converter, which fulfill the DC-supply requirement of a 7-level cascaded H-bridge (CHB) inverter. This 7-level CHB-inverter is utilized at the drive end, to drive an induction motor (IM) and it requires less semiconductors switches and DC-supplies than the existing 7-level CHB-inverter. Therefore, a modified multi-winding transformer is designed to fulfil the need of a 7-level CHB-inverter, which also makes the input current closer to sinusoidal and reduces its THD to an acceptable value. A vector control is used to control an IM, which has good performance than v/f control. A new fundamental frequency switching technique (area equalization modulation strategy) is used in this work, to operate a 7-level CHB-inverter at fundamental frequency switching, which reduces the switching losses and increases efficiency of the system. The comparative study is also given to show the effectiveness of the system. Performance of the system is analyzed in MATLAB/Simulink under various operating conditions of IM. The simulated performances are validated from the experimental results captured from the developed laboratory prototype.

Introduction It has always been a concern of ENT surgeon to prevent post operative complications like nasal bleeding, septal hematoma and septal abscess after septoplasty. Traditionally nasal packing has been done to avoid these complications. Although the nasal pack itself has been a concern for several reasons, packing apart from causing breathing distress, has resulted in epiphora, dysphagia, sleep disturbance, post-operative pain, headache, septal infection, septal abscess and even toxic shock syndrome. Materials and Methods This study has compared the efficacy of a newly designed septal splint with clip with nasal packs. This study was done on 60 patients, nasal packing was done in 30 patients and septal splints with clip were applied in 30 patients. Results Post-operative pain, epiphora, dysphagia, dryness of mouth and sleep disturbance was found to be significantly less in patients with septal splints with clip as compared to those with nasal packing. Conclusion Septal splints with clip is more efficacious alternative to nasal packing in patients undergoing septoplasty.

Hot springs are considered to be a unique environment with extremophiles, that are sources of industrially important enzymes, and other biotechnological products. The objective of this study was to undertake, analyze, and characterize the microbiome of two major hot springs located in the state of Madhya Pradesh explicitly, Chhoti Anhoni (Hotspring 1), and Badi Anhoni (Hotspring 2) to find out the inhabitant microbial population, and their functional characteristics. The taxonomic analysis of the microbiome of the hot springs revealed the phylum Proteobacteria was the most abundant taxa in both the hot-springs, however, its abundance in hot-spring 1 (~88%) was more than the hot-spring 2 (~52%). The phylum Bacteroides (~10–22%) was found to be the second most abundant group in the hot-springs followed by Spirocheates (~2–11%), Firmicutes (~6–8%), Chloroflexi (1–5%), etc. The functional analysis of the microbiome revealed different features related to several functions including metabolism of organics and degradation of xenobiotic compounds. The functional analysis showed that most of the attributes of the microbiome was related to metabolism, followed by cellular processes and environmental information processing functions. The functional annotation of the microbiomes at KEGG level 3 annotated the sequences into 279 active features that showed variation in abundance between the hot spring samples, where hot-spring 1 was functionally more diverse. Interestingly, the abundance of functional genes from methanogenic bacteria, was higher in the hot-spring 2, which may be related to the relatively higher pH and temperature than Hotspring 1. The study showed the presence of different unassigned bacterial taxa with high abundance which indicates the potential of novel genera or phylotypes. Culturable isolates (28) were bio-prospected for industrially important enzymes including amylase, protease, lipase, gelatinase, pectinase, cellulase, lecithinase, and xylanase. Seven isolates (25%) had shown positive results for all the enzyme activities whereas 23 isolates (82%) produced Protease, 27 isolates (96%) produced lipase, 27 isolates produced amylase, 26 isolates (92%) produced cellulase, 19 isolates (67%) produced pectinase, 19 isolates (67%) could produce lecithinase, and 13 isolates (46%) produced gelatinase. The seven isolates, positive for all the enzymes were analyzed further for quantitative analysis and identified through molecular characterization.

This paper analyzes the time to event data in the presence of collinearity. To address collinearity, the ridge regression estimator was applied in multiple and logistic regression as an alternative to the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE), among others. It has a smaller mean square error (MSE) and is therefore more precise. This paper generalizes the approach to address collinearity in the frailty model, which is a random effect model for the time variable. A simulation study is conducted to evaluate its performance. Furthermore, the proposed method is applied on real life data taken from the largest sample survey of India, i.e., national family health survey (2005–2006 ) data to evaluate the association of different determinants on infant mortality in India.

Facial nerve palsy is usually associated with a malignant parotid neoplasm; it is highly unusual for it to result from a benign situation, such as inflammation or infection of the parotid gland. Surgery along with prompt medical treatment is the mainstay, and in the majority of the patients, nerve paralysis recovers in the follow-up period. We report a case of a 50-year-old non-diabetic non-hypertensive female who presented with odynophagia, left-sided parotid swelling, and left facial nerve palsy. The diagnosis of facial nerve palsy due to a parotid abscess extending to the parapharyngeal space was made. Facial palsy fully recovered within 2 months.

Due to its high toxicity and mobility, hexavalent chromium must be adequately eliminated from effluent or wastewater. For Cr(VI) adsorption, it is increasingly becoming customary to use inexpensive, readily accessible plant-based materials. It has been discovered that the popular medicinal herb Simarouba glauca is quite effective at removing Cr(VI) from aqueous media. The first stage of this study examines Cr(VI) adsorption onto S. glauca using the 25 Full Factorial Design technique. It was possible to determine the major effects of S. glauca dosage and how they interacted with pH, temperature, the initial Cr(VI) concentration, and time. The adsorption was predicted adequately with the aid of ANOVA, t-test, Pareto charts, main effect, and interaction plots. The second section of the study focuses on the potential for continuous adsorption of S. glauca in a fixed-bed column. The Cr(VI) inlet concentration (50, 100 and 150 mg/L), flow rate (13 and 21 mL/min), and S. glauca bed height (30, 36, 40 and 45 cm) all had an impact on the breakthrough qualities of the adsorption system. The fixed-bed adsorption models of Thomas, Yoon–Nelson, and Adams-Bohart were used to fit the adsorption data. The Thomas model, with a flow rate of 13 mL/min, a bed height of 45 cm and an inlet concentration of 100 mg/L of Cr(VI), calculated the adsorption capacity to be 611.6 mg/g with a coefficient of 0.99. The findings are consistent with the hypotheses advanced by Thomas and Yoon–Nelson. This study suggests that this technique could be used to treat chromium-contaminated water in industrial settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice, wheat, and maize grains are staple foods, widely consumed for their mineral and nutritional values. However, they can accumulate toxic elements from contaminated soils, posing health risks. This study investigates the bioaccumulation patterns of 52 elements (including nutrients, heavy metals, and rare earth elements) in various parts (grain, husk, straw, and root) of cereals grown in a heavily polluted region. The results revealed that rice grains exhibited a higher accumulation (Σ33.4 mg/kg) of toxic elements (As, Cu, Cr, Ni, and Pb) than wheat (Σ26.6 mg/kg) and maize (Σ16.2 mg/kg) grains, with the high-yield RI64 cultivar (Σ47.0 mg/kg) being the most susceptible. Across the rice plant, accumulation increased in the order of grain < husk < straw < root. Elements like P, K, Cu, and Zn showed the highest enrichment. Worryingly, the most toxic elements, such as As, Pb, and Cd, exceeded permissible limits across grains, straws, and husks. Health risk assessment indicated that wheat and maize pose greater non-cancer and cancer risks than rice. Despite being grown in a highly contaminated region, the study identifies some rice cultivars like Luchai and Sarna as relatively safer options due to a lower accumulation of toxic elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgent need to address environmental issues associated with the use of conventional fossil fuels has driven the rapid evolution of the global energy landscape. This review explores the background and significance of 3-G biofuel production, emphasizing the shift towards sustainable alternatives amidst escalating greenhouse gas emissions. While various renewable energy sources have gained prominence, biofuels have emerged as a promising solution for the transportation and industrial sectors, particularly from microalgal biomass. The rationale for focusing on microalgal biomass is based on its technical and environmental advantages. Unlike traditional feedstocks, microalgae boast a high lipid content, enhancing biofuel production efficiency. Their rapid growth rates and efficient carbon dioxide sequestration make microalgae frontrunners in scalable and sustainable biofuel production. This review aims to comprehensively analyze recent breakthroughs in 3-G biofuel production from microalgal biomass, filling gaps in the existing literature. The topics covered included species diversity, cultivation techniques, harvesting, pretreatment, lipid extraction methods, and biofuel production pathways. Genetic engineering, downstream processing, energy-efficient practices, and emerging trends, such as artificial intelligence and cross-disciplinary collaboration, will be explored. This study aims to consolidate recent research findings, identify challenges and opportunities, and guide future directions in microalgal biomass-based biofuel production. By synthesizing unpublished research, this review seeks to advance our knowledge and provide insights for researchers to foster sustainable and efficient 3-G biofuel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was conducted from April to May 2024 at the Centre for Excellence in Biotechnology Research and Training (CEBRT) lab of Amicable Knowledge Solution University (AKS) University, Satna. In the present study, a simple, routine, and reproducible RP-HPLC method was employed for estimating the levels of Ferulic acid (FA) in different treatments of maize that is essential in the phytochemical analysis of this plant, has been assessed based on ferulic acid (FA). The method used in this study was based on HPLC on a C18 column using a gradient of water, methanol, and acetic acid. The calibration curve showed optimum linearity from 10 to 100 µg ml-1, with R²=0.981. This method is used to quantify the concentration of FA. This methodology was used to detect FA in maize plants with different treatments: T1: control plants, T2: drought-induced plants, T3: plants inoculated with PKR1, T4: plants inoculated with PKR5, T5: plants inoculated with PKR6. An increase in FA was observed in all three Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR)-treated plants (T3, T4, and T5) compared to T1 (control plants) and T2 (drought-induced plants). Among these, maximum FA was found in T4 treatment, and the maximum peak height and area of T4 were 229259 and 10884, respectively. The validated RP-HPLC method provided a reliable approach for analyzing FA content in maize leaves, supporting phytochemical studies and quality assurance across various plant treatments and derived products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most coal in India originates from the Korb basin (Chhattisgarh), where coal mines, thermal power, and aluminum plants operate. Groundwater in this region faces severe pollution due to land reclamation, leaching of coal‐related contaminants, waste disposal, and industrial effluent seepage. This work presents results from monitoring groundwater pollution in the Korba basin from 2012 to 2017. Fluoride, aluminum, manganese, and iron levels exceeded acceptable quality limits across all 28 studied locations, with excessive nitrate, magnesium, calcium, and lead levels in specific sites. Tracking seasonal and temporal fluctuations in the most polluted site, namely Kudurmal, revealed peak solute concentrations during the monsoon period and a sustained 18% increase during the study period. Factorial analysis suggests groundwater contamination arises from both human activities and natural sources. These findings underscore the urgent necessity of devising remediation strategies for the drinking water supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe present article deals with the estimation of the finite population total on two occasions using a calibration approach. The estimators from different approaches on two successive occasions using calibration technique are obtained. Some of the properties of proposed estimators are also provided, including optimum composite weights and their sensitivity interval. An empirical study has been carried out using real data for numerical illustration to show the efficiency of the proposed calibrated estimator. In addition, a simulation study is also performed where proposed estimators are found to be more efficient than the other existing traditional estimators for different choices of tuning weights and composite weights under various sample proportions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the use of fungal pathogens as biocontrol agents to manage the invasive water hyacinth or Eichhornia crassipes. Topics include the molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis of fungal isolates, the evaluation of mycoherbicidal efficacy through in vitro and in vivo assays, and the development of optimized liquid-based formulations using different adjuvants.

Some composite estimators based on various combinations of two different existing estimators are obtained for domain estimation. The estimation of weights and thus obtaining optimum weights to combine two or more different existing direct and indirect estimators to form composite estimators are not an easy task for practitioners due to many reasons. To account for the absence of optimum weights, we obtained the sensitivity performance intervals for weights with respect to the proposed composite estimator. Subsequently, we determined the sensible values of the involved weights. The aim of this procedure was to confine the superiority for different composite combinations i.e., simple direct vs. direct ratio, simple direct vs. synthetic ratio and direct ratio vs. synthetic ratio composite estimators as compared to the existing estimators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several million tons of coal are extracted which discharge the contaminated mineral water into the environment in the coal mines located in the Korba basin (Chhattisgarh, India) chosen as the study area. The aim of this work is to describe: (i) the physico‐chemical characteristics (pH, EC, TDS, DO, RP, CC (carbonate carbon), OC (organic carbon) F−, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, SiO44−, PO43−, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Al, As, Sb, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Hg) of the coal mine water samples, (ii) spatial, seasonal (i.e. PrM (pre‐monsoon), M (monsoon) and PtM (post monsoon) and temporal (over the period of 2012–2017) variations, (iii) sources of contaminants from fourteen coal mines, (iv) suitability of the water for drinking and other uses, and (v) health impact of the mine water in view of developing remedial approaches. The mine water is neutral in nature with high TDS (total dissolved solid) values ranging from 620 to 13711 mg L−1 due to mainly high carbon content. The concertation of all species lies between 519–11432 mg L−1 with maximum value of OC. The most dominating species were OC, CC, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, Na, and Ca. Species, that is, F−, OC, Al, Fe, As, Sb, Cd, Pb, and Hg occurred beyond their limits. Their higher concentration in the PtM is observed. Water quality index (WQI) values ranged from 17.52 to 95.68 in the PtM period. 42.85%, 21.42%, and 7.14% of water samples represent "excellent water", "good water" and "poor water" respectively in the PtM period. In addition, the fertilizer and trace element concentrations in the water samples were compared with the limit values determined for usability as drinking water. Accordingly, it was concluded that it is not suitable for use as drinking water in terms of TDS, F−, and NO3− concentrations. In addition, AsT (total arsenic), F− and NO3− pollutants were detected in the water samples, and it was observed that F− and NO3− ions did not have a carcinogenic effect. A health risk assessment of As has been made, and it is found that adults and children have a low risk of developing cancer from the exposure. However, arsenic has high non‐carcinogenic and potentially harmful effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the sharp rise in world population, it is predicted that in the next 20 years, the world’s energy demand would increase by 48 per cent. Currently, fossil fuels provide 80 per cent of the world’s energy needs. However, the increasingly diminishing supply of fossil fuels combined with their damaging effects on the environment has generated a lot of interest in sustainable biofuels. This will facilitate the shift to a bioeconomy that must be carbon neutral. Biofuels are obtained from biomass like wood and straw, released by direct combustion of dry matter and converted into a gaseous and liquid fuel. In the ensuing decades, biofuels are anticipated to play a significant role in the transition to green energy and sustainable development. Due to their contribution to energy independence, urban and rural development, improvement of the ecological footprint, and decrease in carbon emissions, biofuels offer many appealing qualities. Despite technological advancements, the sustainability aspects of biofuel production methods are of inherent importance. In this review, we have discussed the significance of biofuel, the energy demand and supply statistics and how biofuels are the upcoming fuels playing a very important role in uplifting the global bioeconomy. but on the other aspect, it has been observed through various reports that the Carbon footprint of biofuel is also going to be a severe challenge in the coming days. Thus, before framing the policy on biofuel, it is necessary to look after all possible alternates to reduce the carbon footprint because unless the carbon emission remains the same issue, then the use of biofuel for global change may effect the bioeconomy with negative implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proportional hazard regression (PHR) model is used to analyze the time to event data in terms of a set of explanatory variables. The estimation and interpretation of the model parameters are unstable, when there is collinearity between explanatory variables. In order to improve the estimation of proportional hazard model with continuous covariates, the r-k class proportional hazard estimator is proposed, which combines the ridge proportional hazard regression (ridge PHR) and principal component proportional hazard regression (PCPHR). The comparisons of the r-k class PHR, ridge PHR, and PCPHR estimators to the maximum likelihood (ML) according to the asymptotic scalar mean square error (MSE) criterion are done. Simulation study is done to evaluate its performance. Furthermore, the proposed method is applied to assess the infant mortality in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioenergy productions from microalgae have received wide attention recently and have a high potential to replace fossil fuels. Moreover, due to the high photosynthetic efficiency, microalgae mass cultivation and scale-up are believed to efficiently reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. This review article explores the potential of microalgae as a reliable and sustainable source of bioenergy feedstock. The current review article contains an in-depth discussion of the various methods of producing energy using microalgae, viz. algal fuel cell (AFC), microbial fuel cell (MFC), bioethanol and biodiesel, and various other applications. This article discussed the different aspects of AFC and MFC, such as fuel cell configurations, reaction mechanisms at electrodes, reactor design factors affecting the efficiencies, and strategies to enhance the efficiencies. Moreover, microalgae cultivation, value-added compounds (pigments, polysaccharides, unsaturated fatty acids), liquid fuel production, limitations, the global scenario of microalgae biomass-based energy, and significant advancements in this field. In a nutshell, this review serves as a valuable resource for identifying, developing, and harnessing the potential of microalgae as a promising biofuel source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]