Google Scholar University Ranking Algorithm to Evaluate the Quality of Institutional Research

Education quality has undoubtedly become an important local and international benchmark for education, and an institute’s ranking is assessed based on the quality of education, research projects, theses, and dissertations, which has always been controversial. Hence, this research paper is influenced by the institutes ranking all over the world. The data of institutes are obtained through Google Scholar (GS), as input to investigate the United Kingdom’s Research Excellence Framework (UK-REF) process. For this purpose, the current research used a Bespoke Program to evaluate the institutes’ ranking based on their source. The bespoke program requires changes to improve the results by addressing these methodological issues: Firstly, Redundant profiles, which increased their citation and rank to produce false results. Secondly, the exclusion of theses and dissertation documents to retrieve the actual publications to count for citations. Thirdly, the elimination of falsely owned articles from scholars’ profiles. To accomplish this task, the experimental design referred to collecting data from 120 UK-REF institutes and GS for the present year to enhance its correlation analysis in this new evaluation. The data extracted from GS is processed into structured data, and afterward, it is utilized to generate statistical computations of citations’ analysis that contribute to the ranking based on their citations. The research promoted the predictive approach of correlational research. Furthermore, experimental evaluation reported encouraging results in comparison to the previous modification made by the proposed taxonomy. This paper discussed the limitations of the current evaluation and suggested the potential paths to improve the research impact algorithm.     

Evaluation of mechanical and thermal properties of carrageenan/hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose hard capsule

The inherent source of gelatin used for commercial hard capsules causes a surging demand for vegetarian capsules. In this work, carrageenan is utilized in preparing hard capsules to meet consumer preferences. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) was incorporated as a reinforcing agent to improve the low mechanical properties of hard capsules made of carrageenan. The HPMC concentration was manipulated from 0.2 to 1.0 w/v% in the carrageenan matrix. The increasing concentration of HPMC exerts significant effects on the tensile strength and elongation at break, with an improvement of 59.1% and 46.9%, respectively, at the optimized HPMC concentration of 0.8 w/v%. The loop strength of the capsule is also increased by 56.4% with decreasing moisture content. The downfield movement from around 3.20 ppm of the carrageenan proton to 3.33 ppm in the proton nuclear magnetic resonanance ( ¹H-NMR) spectrum suggests the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonding between carrageenan and HPMC, which correlates to the results of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and zeta potential. The glass transition temperature of the film was increased from 37.8 to 65.3°C, showing an upgrade in thermal stability. The film possesses a major mass loss with an activation energy of 64.7 kJ/mol with an increment of 43.4% compared to the control carrageenan. These findings support the conclusion that HPMC enhanced the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the carrageenan film, and the comprehensive analysis of the molecular interaction and decomposition kinetics subsequently may expand the application fields of the carrageenan-HPMC hard capsule as an alternative to gelatin in the future.     

A review on preparation,surface enhancement and adsorption mechanism of biochar-supported nano zero-valent iron adsorbent for hazardous heavy metals

Heavy metal pollution of water is a global concern, which adversely affects human health because of its resistance to biodegradation and thus its transmission in the food chain via bioaccumulation. Nano zerovalent iron (nZVI) is very effective for the removal of heavy metals and is cost effective in terms of production. However, the main problems of nZVI are agglomeration and ease of oxidation. Several stabilization materials have been implemented to limit the aggregation of nZVI, such as silica, activated carbon and biochar. In comparison, as a support material, biochar possesses a large surface area, high stability and strong adsorption capacity, as well as being obtainable from various types of materials. Thus, this work aims to establish the opportunities available on the use of biochar-supported nZVI in utilizing its ability to stabilize and immobilize the nZVI. This review also reports the preparation, modification and surface enhancement of biochar, nZVI and biochar-nZVI for practical use as adsorbents. This review shows that modifications of the nZVI surface can help in their stabilization and reduction of aggregation. Additionally, this review is able to increase one's understanding of heavy metal sorption behavior by biochar-supported nZVI as it is the important as heavy metal sorption is driven based on biochar-nZVI type and heavy metal species which involve numerous mechanisms, including physical binding, complexation, ion exchange, surface precipitation and electrostatic interactions. Furthermore, this research reviews the adsorption parameters, including the crucial adsorption mechanism of heavy metals onto biochar-nZVI; the reusability of the biochar-nZVI is also discussed in this work. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).     

Symmetric and asymmetric impacts of the palm oil industry on carbon dioxide emissions in Malaysia based on linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag models

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Palm oil is a major global commodity that is vital for the well-being of many communities. Despite its significant contribution to the attainment of...     

Effects of Positive Carbon Quantum Dots on Gram-Negative Bacteria as an Antimicrobial Agent

Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials - Non-radiative decay is the main limitation to applications of the excellent optical properties of carbon quantum dots. Moreover, the...     

Sustainable Utilization of Waste Glass in Concrete: a Review

Silicon - Due to population growth and industrial development, waste generation has increased annually over the last few years. According to a World Bank report, in 2018, about 2.01 billion tons of...