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Research has shown that incorporating haptics into virtual environments can increase sensory fidelity and provide powerful and immersive experiences. However, current studies on haptics in virtual interactions primarily focus on one-on-one scenarios, while kinesthetic haptic interactions in large virtual gatherings are underexplored. This study aims to investigate the impact of kinesthetic haptics on eliciting emotional responses within crowded virtual reality (VR) scenarios. Specifically, we examine the influence of type or quality of the haptic feedback on the perception of positive and negative emotions. We designed and developed different combinations of tactile and torque feedback devices and evaluated their effects on emotional responses. To achieve this, we explored different combinations of haptic feedback devices, including “No Haptic,” “Tactile Stimulus” delivering tactile cues, and “Haptic Stimulus” delivering tactile and torque cues, in combination with two immersive 360-degree video crowd scenarios, namely, “Casual Crowd” and “Aggressive Crowd.” The results suggest that varying the type or quality of haptic feedback can evoke different emotional responses in crowded VR scenarios. Participants reported increased levels of nervousness with Haptic Stimulus in both virtual scenarios, while both Tactile Stimulus and Haptic Stimulus were negatively associated with pleasantness and comfort during the interaction. Additionally, we observed that participants’ sense of touch being real was enhanced in Haptic Stimulus compared to Tactile Stimulus. The “Haptic Stimulus” condition had the most positive influence on participants’ sense of identification with the crowd.

Force is crucial for learning psychomotor skills in laparoscopic tissue manipulation. Fundamental laparoscopic surgery (FLS), on the other hand, only measures time and position accuracy. FLS is a commonly used training program for basic laparoscopic training through part tasks. The FLS is employed in most of the laparoscopic training systems, including box trainers and virtual reality (VR) simulators. However, many laparoscopic VR simulators lack force feedback and measure tissue damage solely through visual feedback based on virtual collisions. Few VR simulators that provide force feedback have subjective force metrics. To provide an objective force assessment for haptic skills training in the VR simulators, we extend the FLS part tasks to haptic-based FLS (HFLS), focusing on controlled force exertion. We interface the simulated HFLS part tasks with a customized bi-manual haptic simulator that offers five degrees of freedom (DOF) for force feedback. The proposed tasks are evaluated through face and content validity among laparoscopic surgeons of varying experience levels. The results show that trainees perform better in HFLS tasks. The average Likert score observed for face and content validity is greater than 4.6 ± 0.3 and 4 ± 0.5 for all the part tasks, which indicates the acceptance of the simulator among subjects for its appearance and functionality. Face and content validations show the need to improve haptic realism, which is also observed in existing simulators. To enhance the accuracy of force rendering, we incorporated a laparoscopic tool force model into the simulation. We study the effectiveness of the model through a psychophysical study that measures just noticeable difference (JND) for the laparoscopic gripping task. The study reveals an insignificant decrease in gripping-force JND. A simple linear model could be sufficient for gripper force feedback, and a non-linear LapTool force model does not affect the force perception for the force range of 0.5-2.5 N. Further study is required to understand the usability of the force model in laparoscopic training at a higher force range. Additionally, the construct validity of HFLS will confirm the applicability of the developed simulator to train surgeons with different levels of experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we proposed an electromagnetic-piezoelectric integrated vibration based energy harvester to scavenge energy and generate steady power. By adopting rectangular cut cantilever with rectangular portion comprising the PE section and remaining cut portion acts as proof mass and NdFeB magnet which is surrounded by the coil. Power is harvested simultaneously by means of electromagnetic induction and piezoelectric principle. Though it works on different mechanisms, the design and fabrication of the harvester is as simple as the device with single energy conversion process, which results in reduced size and attains a greater power density. The design of hybrid harvester was modeled and investigated by using COMSOL multi-physics which produces 120 μW at its matching frequency with an optimum load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flower-like bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3) nanostructures were synthesized from two sulfur sources, namely thiourea and thioacetamide, by microwave irradiation technique. The synthesized materials were annealed at 300 °C for 3 h. The characteristic properties of the as-prepared and annealed samples S1, AS1 (thiourea source) and S2, AS2 (thioacetamide source) were studied by XRD, SEM with EDS, XPS, UV–Vis spectra and FTIR analysis. The XRD analysis revealed that the annealing process had increased the crystallite size of the Bi2S3 samples. The SEM images showed that the flower-like nanostructure of both the samples (S1and S2) was changed to spherical shape (AS1) and irregular shape (AS2) respectively after annealing. The EDS and XPS results confirm the purity and the presence of the Bi and S. The UV–Vis absorption spectra revealed that the optical band gap values of Bi2S3 were reduced due to the annealing process. The FTIR spectra showed the functional groups present in the as-prepared and annealed Bi2S3 samples. The annealed Bi2S3 nanoparticles (AS1) showed remarkable photocatalytic activity and achieved 98.6% RhB dye degradation in 180 min. The rhodamine B (RhB) photodegradation was determined to follow a pseudo-first-order kinetic model, with a rate constant of 0.02142 min−1 being the highest. After three cycles, the annealed Bi2S3 nano photocatalyst showed excellent reusability and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of residual sulfonate esters in drugs is potentially genotoxic impurities (PGIs), thus demanding a need for a specific method to quantify them in the drug as per regulatory authorities' guidelines. Accordingly, a GC-MS procedure was optimized and proved for the assessment of ethyl ethanesulfonate (EES) and isopropyl ethanesulfonate (IPES) in the Teneligliptin drug. The detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) limit values of EES and IPES were 3.75 and 11.25 ppm, respectively. A linear relationship was observed between 11.25 and 56 ppm. The mean recoveries of EES and IPES were 102.65 and 102.21%. The method is precise, accurate, specific, and linear; thus it can be employed to measure the EES and IPES in Teneligliptin and other gliptins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitral Stenosis (MS) is an abnormal condition of the heart mitral valve in which the valve orifice area is reduced leading to many complications in heart function. Noninvasive and less expensive procedures for diagnosis are not currently available. The aim of this work was to explore the use of the radial artery pulse (RAP) to diagnose MS. This paper analyzed the effect of the development and growth of MS on possible radial artery noninvasive assessment parameters. For this, MS was introduced to ex vivo by varying the orifice area to either 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 cm2 in a hybrid cardiopulmonary electrical analogous model based on clinically obtained healthy controls with an orifice area of 6 cm2. Results showed that a mitral valve area less than 2 cm2 significantly influenced the pulse magnitude and time parameters. A strong correlation was observed in pulse height (PH), mean pulse height (MPH), and time occurrence of the dichotic notch. This may be due to increased blood remaining in the left atrium and hence decreased stoke volume (SV). SV is proportional to arterial pulse pressure which is evident from the decrease in the PH and MPH in MS. In summary, this study provides the first evidence that MS may be diagnosed by examining peripheral pulses which thus, needs further investigation to use RAP as a noninvasive and less expensive MS diagnostic tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indomitable spirit of higher education paves the way for the growth of a nation in the political, economic, social, intellectual and spiritual dimensions. Teacher education is one of the areas in higher education which trains student-teachers in pedagogy, which in turn helps them to train the young minds of educational institutions. The "Fate of the nation is decided in the classroom," is a remark made by the Education Commission of India. Such classrooms are created by committed and dedicated teachers. These teachers are trained in teacher education institutions. Teacher education institutions should maintain quality to ensure the academic excellence of trainees who come into the teaching profession. Quality is a comparative standard prescribed for those institutions that are on the quest for output brilliance. Quality assurance in teacher education reflects on the high profile of the institution and the competency of student-teachers. The present study on the application of principals of TQM in teacher education institutions in India has exposed the tangibility of institutions in the perception of teachers based on eleven quality indicators, such as principal as leader, teacher quality, linkage and interface, students, co-curricular activities, teaching, office management, relationships, material resources, examinations and job satisfaction. A total of nine colleges of education was selected to collect data. The exploratory technique under the survey method of research design was used for the study. A tool--"Teacher Institutional Profile" (TIP)--was constructed, standardized and used for data collection. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were made for finding and interpreting results. The findings focus on the strong and weak areas of various teacher education institutions according to the quality indicators. The study recommends further strengthening of quality indicators, which are already strong, and the revamping of weaker quality indicators. It is also recommended that institutions should adhere to the quality standards set by national and international assessment and accreditation bodies. In conclusion, the global scenario expects skilled teachers to produce students with a versatile personality for which teacher education should be strengthened. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

Introduction: Antibiotic resistance is a problem of deep scientific concern, both in hospital and community settings. Due the presence of highly resistant microorganisms in food, it may lead to serious health issues to the human beings and other animals also. This can be controlled by novel control methods using natural products. Algae are one such wonderful source that helps in treating such dreadful microorganisms. Ulva lactuca incorporate discrete active compounds, hence, exhibit antibacterial property to control the multidrug resistant bacteria. The present research aims in exploring the potential antibacterial property of such dreadful bacteria. Aim: To evaluate the potential bioactive compound of Ulva lactuca and its antibacterial activity against Multidrug Resistant (MDR) and betalactamase producing food isolates. Materials and Methods: The present pilot in-vitro study was carried out at Arignar Anna Government Arts College, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India, in the period of December 2017 to December 2020. Total 18 bacterial isolates were isolated from five retail chicken meat samples. These were then, tested for its antibiotic resistance property using standard antibiotic discs. The algae Ulva lactuca was isolated and extract was prepared using ethanol and chloroform solvents, followed by which the phytochemical studies were performed. These extracts were then tested, against the selected organisms for its potential activity. Results: Among the 12 antibiotics tested, all isolates were resistance to variety of antibiotic classes, mainly aminoglycosides, cephalosporins, and fluoroquinolones and also 55% of the bacteria were able to produce betalactamase enzyme. The ethanol extract of Ulva lactuca was highly active against all isolates and exhibited a range of 10±1.24 mm to 22±1.24 mm inhibition zone. The chloroform extract, exhibited less potency, which exhibited 10±0.816 mm to 13.16±1.027 mm inhibition zone. Each organic solvent showed positive result for following metabolites-alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, sterols, tannins and terpenoids. Conclusion: The ethanolic extract of Ulva lactuca was very effective against the selected MDR and betalactamase producing food isolates. Therefore, it could be suggested as an antibacterial agent in the future. Further studies are needed to reveal the behavioural mechanisms of this plant and its pharmacological effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pullulan (PUL) has a diverse range of applicationsdue to its many therapeutic benefits, including biodegradability, biocompatibility, nontoxicity, antimicrobial activity, and adsorption. They are combined with chitosan, polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polycaprolactone (PCL), heparin, fluorescent polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs), and carboxyl Pullulan to develop properties such as thermal stability, mechanical properties, pH resistance, chemical stability, toughness. The effects of Pullulan content on the properties of the solution, as well as the morphology of the resultant nanofibers, were investigated >80%. The concept of a scaffold can be a useful notion to improve the mechanical behavior of hydrogel-based scaffolds. Compositional analysis by Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed that Pullulan might enhance the mechanical properties of the nanofibers. This review focuses on the combination and analysis of Pullulan blends and composites of natural and synthetic polymers, as well as their capability in biomedical fields and bone tissue engineering, for example in drug delivery, insulin delivery, food industry, medicinal and biomedical applications, antimicrobial wound dressings, cancer cell targeting, anticancer vaccine improvement, new biopolymer development, food product development and sensing. The electro spinning procedure and the materials employed in it will be covered in this review. The use of Pullulan electrospun nanofibers structures in tissue engineering will also be covered in this paper. The benefits, restrictions, and future opinions were studied. This is because of Pullulan-based polymers have a variety of properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to develop a sensitive GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) technique for the estimation of genotoxic impurity p-anisaldehyde in Teneligliptin drug to meet the current regulatory requirements. A simple and specific method was developed and validated according to ICH (International Council for Harmonization) guidelines. The LOQ (limit of quantitation) and LOD (limit of detection) values were determined as 0.38 and 0.12 ppm, respectively. The approach was linear in the range of 0.38-56 ppm with a correlation coefficient of 0.9997. The average recovery of Teneligliptin was 93%. The validation parameters strongly support that the developed technique is suitable to determine the p-anisaldehyde in Teneligliptin hydrobromide hydrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voided beams are the concrete beams that are incorporated with a specified shape of void formers that can eliminate concrete in the tension zone. Hence it is used to reduce the consumption of the concrete. In this paper, voided beams are tested to study the effect of the size of the rib on its flexural behaviour. The minimal rib size of voided concrete member has to be 65mm. This paper investigates the influence of the rib size on the flexural behaviour of voided beams.A solid concrete beam and voided concrete beams with varying rib sizes are studied numerically and an experimental program is proposed. The beams are studied numerically using finite element software ANSYS. The voided beams with 65mm, 60mm and 55mm are analyzed numerically. The behaviour of voided beams is compared with that of the solid reinforced concrete beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary schools play a vital role in all round development of children. Even in the primary level, more attention has been focused on such concepts such as mathematical scientific, linguistic and social and thereby the children are forced to mug up the content without any consideration to their learning abilities. Most of the teachers fail to understand and find out the learning disabilities of their children at the primary level. The most widely recognized kinds of learning disabilities include issues with reading, writing, math, reasoning, listening, and speaking. While each child experiences difficulty with schoolwork occasionally, if a specific territory of learning is reliably tricky, it may show a learning issue. Learning disabilities are due to hereditary as well as neurobiological factors that change cerebrum working in a way which influences at least one intellectual cycle identified with learning. These handling issues can interfere with learning essential aptitudes, for example, reading, writing as well as math. They can likewise interfere with more significant level abilities, for example, association, time arranging, conceptual thinking, long or short memory and consideration. Realize that learning disabilities can influence a person's life past scholastics and can affect associations with family, friends and in the work environment. Dyscalculia is a condition that influences the capacity to obtain arithmetical aptitudes. Dyscalculia students may experience issues understanding straightforward number ideas, do not have an instinctive handle of numbers, and have issues learning number realities and strategies. Dyscalculia is in this way observed to be particular learning disabilities and requires determination just as help separated from classroom teaching. However, only few studies have been centered around dyscalculia and approaches to conquer it. It is exceptionally fundamental for teachers to embrace creative procedures of teaching to meet the needs of dyscalculia students. The utilization of technique may encourage the process of mathematical exploration in dyscalculia children. To be truly fruitful in maths, one needs to clearly numbers and numerical circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper crystallizes how and why Bellow's intellectual heroes in his later novels are men of ideas, dissenters and revolutionists of the age, though marginalized, victimized, degraded, disregarded, and forgotten despite their celebrity contributions to American culture. This partly exists in their being idealists, men of imagination and letters and partly because of the spoilt capitalistic American culture. Herzog satirizes the masses' norms, and ironically and sympathetically, is mocked by Bellow himself for his being too romantic. Henderson, Sammler and Humboldt sketch the decline of humanism and the agony of the intellectual. Corde illustrates this humanistic fall through the crisis of the communist system in Romania. Because of this cultural backdrop, American intellectuals are destined to suffer, feel agony and alienation. Here Bellow suggests subversion and deconstruction to the norms of his society. More strikingly, he adopts the strategy of being =forever en route,' forever re-evaluating one's beliefs and ideals. His heroes' madness is only a moment of wisdom and over consciousness about the necessity of replacing the culture of masses and capitalism. Deeply behind this, Bellow maintains that the promises of the Enlightenment morality--freedom, faith, happiness, altruism, reason, wisdom, humanism, self-autonomy and harmony--have surprisingly turned into their opposites and have been supplanted by new terms of utilitarian, nihilist, =irrational' discipline characterized by amorality, illusion, risk and the crisis of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Diabetic neuropathy is a family of nerve disorders with progressive loss of nerve function in 15% of diabetes mellitus (DM) subjects. Two-point discrimination (TPD) is one method of quantitatively testing for loss of nerve function. The law of mobility for TPD is known for normal subjects in earlier studies but has not been studied for diabetic subjects. This is a pilot study to evaluate and plot the law of mobility for TPD among DM subjects. Methods The Semmes Weinstein monofilament (SWMF) was used to measure the loss of protective sensation. An Aesthesiometer was used to find the TPD of several areas in upper and lower extremities for normal and diabetic subjects. All the subjects were screened for peripheral artery occlusive disease with ankle brachial pressure index (0.9 or above). Results TPD of normal and diabetic subjects for different areas of hands and legs from proximal to distal is evaluated for 18 subjects. TPD values decrease from proximal to distal areas. Vierodt's law of mobility for TPD holds good for normal subjects in the hand and foot areas. The law of mobility for TPD in DM subjects holds well in the hand but doesn't hold well in foot areas with or without sensation. Conclusion TPD is a quantitative and direct measure of sensory loss. The TPD value of diabetic subjects reveals that the law of mobility do not hold well for Diabetic subjects in foot areas. The significance of this result is that the TPD of the diabetic subjects could provide direct, cost effective and quantitative measure of neuropathy.

In the present investigation the coriander plant volatiles for the tritrophic interactions on the egg parasitoid Trichogramma chilonis Ishii is evaluated. The GCMS profile study of the foliage extract of coriander in both hexane and dichloromethane showed presence of 2-Dodecenal-(E), (E)-Tetradec-2-enal, Octadecane, Nonacosane, Hexadecane, Pentadecane and Heneicosane, which are of biologically active fractions in insects. In laboratory study the maximum parasitization was recorded in hexane extract treated Corcyra card (31.04 eggs/card) compared to 28.16 eggs per card observed in untreated control. The data gathered on number of parasitized eggs hatched into adult indicated that in hexane extract treated Corcyra card had 91.19 per cent while parasitoid emergence was 29.30 eggs per card followed by 87.76 per cent in untreated control 24.90 eggs per card. The GCMS profile study of the foliage extract of coriander in both hexane and dichloromethane showed presence of 2-Dodecenal-(E), (E)-Tetradec-2-enal, Octadecane, Nonacosane, Hexadecane, Pentadecane and Heneicosane, which are of biologically active fractions in insects. The above findings reveal the possible role of such active chemicals in parasitoid compatibility of the intercrop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations were carried out to assess the impact of wind direction on parasitization behaviour of Trichogramma chilonis Ishii on brinjal shoot and fruit borer Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee indicated maximum number of parasitization in windward direction. Findings indicate importance of air stream in the parasitization behaviour of T. chilonis in field condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]