Social positioning matters: A socialized affordance perspective of mHealth in India

Existing research on technology affordance rarely considers the role of social structures in shaping the interaction between human actors and technology. In this paper, we draw upon the concept of social positioning to explore how socialized affordances of technology adoption, as well as their impact in work and social life, are shaped by the social positions that human actors occupy within multiple social structures. We do so by examining the adoption of mHealth devices by community health workers in India. The study generates theoretical implications for research on affordances of technology and social structures by integrating social positioning of actors in the analysis of a digital practice, and enriching IS research by incorporating the broader social arrangements and power relations.     

Transition Metal Phosphide Nanoarchitectonics for Versatile Organic Catalysis

Transition metal phosphides (TMP) posses unique physiochemical, geometrical, and electronic properties, which can be exploited for different catalytic applications, such as photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, organic catalysis, etc. Among others, the use of TMP for organic catalysis is less explored and still facing many complex challenges, which necessitate the development of sustainable catalytic reaction protocols demonstrating high selectivity and yield of the desired molecules of high significance. In this regard, the controlled synthesis of TMP-based catalysts and thorough investigations of underlying reaction mechanisms can provide deeper insights toward practical achievement of desired applications. This review aims at providing a comprehensive analysis on the recent advancements in the synthetic strategies for the tailored and tunable engineering of structural, geometrical, and electronic properties of TMP. In addition, their unprecedented catalytic potential toward different organic transformation reactions is succinctly summarized and critically analyzed. Finally, a rational perspective on future opportunities and challenges in the emerging field of organic catalysis is provided. On the account of the recent achievements accomplished in organic synthesis using TMP, it is highly anticipated that the use of TMP combined with advanced innovative technologies and methodologies can pave the way toward large scale realization of organic catalysis.     

Design and Performance Evaluation of a Novel Dual Tunneling based TFET Considering Trap Charges for Reliability Improvement

Silicon - Interface trap charges originate in the semiconductor while, fabricating the device, which occur due to the process, radiation stimulated impairments, leading to serious reliability...     

Antibiotic resistance profiling and valorization of food waste streams to starter culture biomass and exopolysaccharides through fed-batch fermentations

Food Science and Biotechnology - The present study evaluated antibiotic resistance (ABR) in bacteria isolated from different food wastes viz., meat slaughterhouses, dairy and restaurants. About 120...     

Light-Regulated Pro-Angiogenic Engineered Living Materials

Regenerative medicine aims to restore damaged cells, tissues, and organs, for which growth factors are vital to stimulate regenerative cellular transformations. Major advances have been made in growth factor engineering and delivery like the development of robust peptidomimetics and controlled release matrices. However, their clinical applicability remains limited due to their poor stability in the body and need for careful regulation of their local concentration to avoid unwanted side-effects. In this study, a strategy to overcome these limitations is explored using engineered living materials (ELMs), which contain live microorganisms that can be programmed with stimuli-responsive functionalities. Specifically, the development of an ELM that releases a pro-angiogenic protein in a light-regulated manner is described. This is achieved by optogenetically engineering bacteria to synthesize and secrete a vascular endothelial growth factor peptidomimetic (QK) linked to a collagen-binding domain. The bacteria are securely encapsulated in bilayer hydrogel constructs that support bacterial functionality but prevent their escape from the ELM. In situ control over the release profiles of the pro-angiogenic protein using light is demonstrated. Finally, it is shown that the released protein is able to bind collagen and promote angiogenic network formation among vascular endothelial cells, indicating the regenerative potential of these ELMs.     

Kiln-fired clay bricks synergizing nickel–chromium plating sludge and fly ash: mechanical characteristics and cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Life cycle assessment (LCA) of novel fired clay bricks with synergistic co-valorization of nickel-chrome plating sludge (NCPS) and fly ash (FA) is...     

Room-Temperature Chemiresistive Gas Sensing of SnO2 Nanowires: A Review

Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials - Innovative chemiresitive gas sensors with strong sensing qualities that operate at room temperature are much more appealing due to...     

Structural,optical, microstructure,and giant dielectric behavior of parent,Cu and Sr doped La0.55Li0.35TiO3-δ

Optimization of energy storage performance in dielectric ceramics has been a focus in recent decades due to the benefits of high energy storage density, efficiency, and exceptional temperature stability. In this work, we report huge dielectric constant in La_0.55Li_0.35TiO_3-δ and sharp decrease in its value with the substitution of Sr and Cu at Ti position. These samples La_0.55Li_0.35TiO_3-δ (LLTO), La_0.55Li_0.35Ti_0.9Cu_0.1O_3-δ (LLTCO) and La_0.55Li_0.35Sr_0.1Ti_0.9O_3-δ (LLSTO) were prepared by solid state reaction method. The interfacial polarization of lithium ion aggregation close to the grain boundaries and the dipoles of Li ions in the sample are suggested to be the source of the enormous dielectric values. Parent composition (LLTO) shows highest dielectric constant value (6.29 × 10⁵ at frequency 10 Hz, 7.30×10⁴ at 1 kHz) recorded at room temperature while the lowest dielectric loss value (0.124) was observed for LLSTO at frequency 1 kHz. Structural characterization has been done using X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique to investigate the crystal structure of the prepared compositions. The XRD patterns show the similar crystal structure for all the compositions with the parent composition LLTO. The optical band gap is calculated by Kulbeka Munk function and Tauc plot using UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy technique. The maximum band gap value (3.32 eV) is obtained for parent composition while doping of Cu and Sr at Ti site in La_0.55Li_0.35TiO_3-δ decreases the band gap value. Optical microscopy shows the micron size grains in these samples. Doping of Sr and Cu in perovskite structure of LLTO brings tunability in dielectric and optical properties.     

Linker Independent Regioselective Protonation Triggered Detoxification of Sulfur Mustards with Smart Porous Organic Photopolymer

The development of efficient metal-free photocatalysts for the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) for sulfur mustard (HD) decontamination can play a vital role against the stockpiling of chemical warfare agents (CWAs). Herein, one novel concept is conceived by smartly choosing a specific ionic monomer and a donor tritopic aldehyde, which can trigger linker-independent regioselective protonation/deprotonation in the polymeric backbone. In this context, the newly developed vinylene-linked ionic polymers (TPA/TPD-Ionic) are further explored for visible-light-assisted detoxification of HD simulants. Time-resolved-photoluminescence (TRPL) study reveals the protonation effect in the polymeric backbone by significantly enhancing the life span of photoexcited electrons. In terms of catalytic performance, TPA-Ionic outperformed TPD-Ionic because of its enhanced excitons formation and charge carrier abilities caused by the donor-acceptor (D-A) backbone and protonation effects. Moreover, the formation of singlet oxygen (¹O₂) species is confirmed via in-situ Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) analysis, which explained the crucial role of solvents in the reaction medium to regulate the (¹O₂) formation. This study creates a new avenue for developing novel porous photocatalysts and highlights the crucial roles of sacrificial electron donors and solvents in the reaction medium to establish the structure-activity relationship.