Authors: Dhananjay Kumar Singh, Assistant Professor Dr. Amit Kumar Ahirwar

Abstract: The stiff aged binder contained in reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) can reduce the demand for virgin binder, but it may also limit workability and cracking tolerance. This study develops a dense-graded hot mix asphalt containing a combined 31.53% RAP and tear-off RAS, 0.50% rejuvenator, 1.94% hydrated lime, and VG-30 virgin bitumen. The aggregate blend was checked against the applicable Ministry of Road Transport and Highways grading envelope, and Marshall specimens were evaluated at total binder contents of 5.4, 5.6, 5.8, 6.0, and 6.2%. The measured responses included bulk and maximum specific gravity, air voids, voids in mineral aggregate, voids filled with bitumen, stability, flow, and Marshall quotient. All combined gradation values remained within the specified limits. Marshall stability increased from 902.12 kg at 5.4% binder to a maximum of 1232.70 kg at 5.8%, then decreased to 905.33 kg at 6.2%. At 5.8% binder, the mixture achieved a bulk specific gravity of 2.443, maximum specific gravity of 2.545, 3.99% air voids, 14.19% VMA, 71.89% VFB, 3.27 mm flow, and a Marshall quotient of 3.77 kN/mm-equivalent as reported from the adopted calculation basis. The convergence of maximum stability, maximum bulk density, and approximately 4% air voids established 5.8% as the optimum binder content. The results show that a properly graded RAP-RAS blend with a modest rejuvenator dosage can satisfy Marshall volumetric and strength requirements. Direct wheel-tracking, fatigue, moisture-susceptibility, and field validation are recommended before project-scale implementation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22873662

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: Dhananjay Kumar Singh, Assistant Professor Dr. Amit Kumar Ahirwar

Abstract: The use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) can support material circularity in highway construction by returning aged aggregate and binder to productive use. This study evaluates the resource-substitution potential and engineering feasibility of a dense-graded hot mix asphalt containing a combined 31.53% RAP and tear-off RAS. The mixture incorporated 19.89% virgin 13.2 mm aggregate, 43.66% virgin 6 mm aggregate, 1.94% hydrated lime, 2.48% VG-30 virgin bitumen, and 0.50% rejuvenator. A material-flow assessment was combined with gradation compliance and Marshall design results. Recycled binder supplied 3.33 percentage points of the 5.80% total binder content, corresponding to 57.4% of the binder system; RAS alone supplied 1.88 percentage points. All sieve results remained within the adopted Ministry of Road Transport and Highways limits. At the selected 5.8% binder content, the mixture achieved 1232.70 kg Marshall stability, 3.27 mm flow, bulk specific gravity of 2.443, 3.99% air voids, 14.19% VMA, and 71.89% VFB. These results demonstrate that substantial recycled-material and recycled-binder contributions can be achieved without losing basic Marshall and volumetric compliance. The design offers a technically credible pathway for reducing dependence on virgin pavement materials. However, project-specific cost, energy, emissions, leaching, durability, and field-performance data are required before claiming quantified environmental or economic benefits.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22872539

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: Pawandeep Kaur, Jasleen Kaur, Priya Bhat, Upasana Bhumbla

Abstract: Objective: To characterize the aerobic bacterial and fungal isolates recovered from patients with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) and to evaluate their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles along with selected phenotypic resistance mechanisms. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted over six months at Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Bathinda. A total of 178 ear discharge specimens obtained from patients clinically suspected of having CSOM were processed for isolation and identification of aerobic bacteria and fungi. Organisms were identified by conventional microbiological methods and, where applicable, confirmed using the VITEK® 2 Compact system. Antimicrobial susceptibility was assessed by the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method in accordance with CLSI M100 (2024). Phenotypic testing included detection of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) production among selected Enterobacterales, metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) production among Gram-negative isolates, and methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Colistin susceptibility among multidrug-resistant Gram-negative isolates was determined by broth microdilution following EUCAST recommendations. Results: Of the 178 specimens examined, 132 (74.16%) yielded microbial growth, whereas 46 (25.84%) showed no growth. All culture-positive specimens demonstrated monomicrobial growth. Culture-positive cases were predominantly male (88/132, 66.67%), and the 41–50-year age group accounted for the largest proportion (50/132, 37.88%). Tubotympanic disease constituted 66.67% of cases, while atticoantral disease accounted for 33.33%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the predominant bacterial isolate (60/132, 45.45%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (28/132, 21.21%). Among fungal isolates, Candida albicans was more frequently recovered (5/132, 3.79%) than Aspergillus niger (3/132, 2.27%). S. aureus exhibited complete susceptibility to vancomycin, linezolid, and teicoplanin. Conclusion: The study demonstrated a predominance of Gram-negative organisms, particularly P. aeruginosa, in CSOM, along with notable antimicrobial resistance among several bacterial isolates and the presence of phenotypic resistance mechanisms. These findings emphasize the value of periodic local antimicrobial resistance surveillance and microbiologically guided treatment for CSOM. Such surveillance may assist in optimizing antimicrobial selection and strengthening antimicrobial stewardship.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22845104

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: Sagar Shivaji Thakare

Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an important part of digital marketing. Marketers now use AI for personalized recommendations, customer service chatbots, targeted advertising, content creation, customer analysis, and other activities across the digital customer journey. These applications can make marketing communication faster and more relevant, but they also raise questions about privacy, transparency, trust, authenticity, and the appropriate role of human interaction. This conceptual paper reviews and connects research on AI and marketing to explain how AI-enabled marketing activities may influence consumer engagement and purchase intention. The paper uses a structured literature-based approach and does not use primary survey data. The review suggests that AI capability alone does not determine consumer response. Instead, consumer perceptions of relevance, usefulness, convenience, transparency, privacy, and trust play an important role in shaping outcomes. Based on the literature, the paper develops a conceptual framework and six propositions linking AI-enabled digital marketing with consumer engagement, trust, and purchase intention. The paper also discusses practical implications for marketers and identifies directions for future empirical research.

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: Rajesh Chauhan, Akshay Bhardwaj, Shubham Rana

Abstract: Phishing websites are still one of the most common infection vectors for stealing credentials, financial information and other sensitive data from users of digital platforms, and there is a growing demand for accurate and deployable automated phishing-detection systems. However, models trained on a set of phishing URLs may experience a large performance drop when transferred to another feature scheme or a different collection window outside the scope of their training. In this work, we compare four classical machine-learning models, and five deep-learning and hybrid architectures for within-domain and cross-domain phishing-website detection. We evaluate our approach over five publicly available benchmark datasets, which contain more than 445k labeled instances in total, including UCI Phishing Websites Dataset, PhiUSIIL Phishing URL Dataset, Web-Page Phishing Detection Dataset, Mendeley Web-Page Phishing Dataset and Phishing Dataset based on Machine Learning. The models are evaluated in terms of classification accuracy, F1-score, transfer of cross domain performance, computational cost, data needs and interpretability. The Hybrid CNN-BiLSTM with attention model achieved the highest accuracy of 98.1% on PhiUSIIL and 85.6% on the transfer task from the PhiUSIIL to the Mendeley Web-Page dataset, outperforming the Linear SVM model by 13.1 percentage points. However, classical models still work well in resource-limited and interpretability-sensitive settings, and a simple BiLSTM with additive attention offers a balanced compromise. The results suggest that model selection for phishing detection should not only focus on predictive performance, but also consider operational deployment constraints.

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: Amit Jalindar Sawant

Abstract: Learning English language’ is essential for career growth. There are different ways of learning English language. Using different ways of learning English language is really helpful to be comfortable and fluent. If we don’t practice enough to be habitual then definitely it does not work. We often learn different things knowingly-unknowingly because of being practiced or habitual after revising many more times. Similar thing works for learning English language. So many tactics are there to learn, generally we notice, how people are there, who they use differente words, even sentences but they don’t know, which word they should use in their mother tongue, and that is the practice and habitual process. Surrounding really well important to become a part of learning English language. It says, what people are there in our surrounding, so we become one of them, likewise, if there are English language speakers, we tend to speak English language without any hesitation. Actually, there are different expectation, demands, requirements of English language users, average, proficient, expert etc. And definitely no one is born perfectionist, we become educated through process, different ways, ‘Learning English language’ is a part of ways of learning.

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: Okorinama E, Nmegbu CGJ

Abstract: Due to the many processes involved in oil and gas production, Produced Water is usually given off as a major by-product. This wastewater constitutes of contaminants like dissolved salts, hydrocarbons, organic matter and other toxins which pose significant risks to the environment if discharged without the necessary treatments. This study analyzed the treatment potential of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and microalgae species, utilizing Produced water gotten from the Obaji Oil field, Rivers State, Nigeria. A total of five microalgae species -Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus obliquus, Arthrospira platensis, Monoraphidium sp. and Neochloris oleoabundans -were screened and acclimatized, while bacterial isolates were obtained from rhizosphere soil and identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Rhodococcus erythropolis and Sphingomonas paucimobilis. The treatments were carried out in batch reactor systems at 50%, 60%, 75% and 100% produced water concentrations for seven days. Notable changes in temperature, pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Hydrocarbon Content (THC) and Dissolved Oxygen (DO) were observed. Microalgae treatment reduced the major pollutants and produced biomass, while bacterial treatment gave noticeable reductions in TDS, BOD and THC. At 100% produced water concentration, bacterial treatment achieved 12.7%, 16.8%, 23.7% and 14.6% reductions in TDS, COD, BOD and THC respectively. At the same concentration, microalgal treatment reduced TDS by 11.9%, COD by 24.7%, BOD by 31.4% and THC by 22.8%. Comparing the given results with Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) Onshore Discharge standards showed that the treated water still surpassed the limits for major parameters. The study indicated that biological treatment alone, of the produced water sample, was inadequate for direct discharge into the environment. The findings from this study demonstrated the viability of microbial treatment and aids further development of combined bacteria-microalgae systems for produced water remediation.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22828486

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: Hannah Owusu Ansah, Daniel Karikari Frempong, Gabriel Oduro Asirifi

Abstract: Nanotechnology has emerged as a transformative field with the potential to reshape multiple dimensions of society through the manipulation and application of materials at the nanoscale. The distinctive optical, electrical, mechanical, chemical, and biological properties of nanomaterials have enabled advances across healthcare, environmental sustainability, agriculture, energy, electronics, transportation, and consumer products. This review provides an overview of major nanomaterial classes, their synthesis, fabrication, and characterization, and examines their growing contributions to societal transformation. Particular attention is given to nanomedicine, targeted drug delivery, medical diagnostics, cancer therapy, nano-enabled agriculture, water purification, environmental remediation, nanoelectronics, energy generation and storage, and lightweight automotive materials. Beyond technological applications, the review discusses the broader socioeconomic and societal implications of nanotechnology, including employment opportunities, public acceptance, privacy, security, and environmental risks. Although nanotechnology offers considerable opportunities for improving human health, resource efficiency, environmental sustainability, energy performance, and economic development, its widespread implementation is accompanied by challenges related to nanomaterial toxicity, environmental fate and bioaccumulation, high production costs, technological scalability, uncertainty, public awareness, privacy, and security. Addressing these challenges requires interdisciplinary research, improved risk assessment and characterization methods, responsible innovation, effective regulation, transparent communication, and stronger consideration of the entire nanomaterial life cycle. The responsible development and commercialization of nanotechnology can contribute substantially to societal transformation while ensuring that technological progress is aligned with human health, environmental protection, security, and sustainable development

DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22827579

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: Daniel Karikari Frempong, Hannah Owusu Ansah, Gabriel Oduro Asirifi

Abstract: One of the most promising anode materials for high-energy sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) is hard carbon (HC); however, low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE), unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation, irreversible sodium loss, and sodium-plating risks at low potentials continue to limit its commercial implementation. The interfacial mechanisms controlling HC performance are critically examined in this paper, which also assesses methods for getting beyond these restrictions in realistic full-cell systems. The effects of surface imperfections, specific surface area, and open microporosity are highlighted in the link between HC microstructure, electrolyte breakdown, SEI composition, and sodium-ion transport. In addition, surface and artificial interphase engineering through atomic layer deposition, chemical vapour deposition, thermal-pyrolysis carbon coatings, and conductive protective layers is discussed for suppressing parasitic reactions and stabilising the interface; the mechanisms and operational triggers of sodium plating, such as high-rate charging, low temperature, and mass-transfer polarisation, are also examined; and finally, operando characterisation, scalable manufacturing, thermal management, and techno-economic considerations are identified as critical paths for converting HC-based SIBs into safe, long-lasting, and commercially viable high-energy cells

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22827360

Published by: vikaspatanker

Authors: Rajpurohit Priya Bhavani Singh, Assistant Professor Ms Manisha Kalra

Abstract: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are widely described as the backbone of the Indian economy, contributing close to 30 per cent of national income, a little over a third of manufacturing output, and roughly 45 per cent of the country's merchandise exports, while sustaining employment for more than 110 million people. Despite this scale, the sector has historically operated under a severe financing constraint, with credible estimates of the gap between demand and formally supplied credit ranging from about ₹20 lakh crore to ₹30 lakh crore in recent years. This paper examines the evolving relationship between bank credit and industrial credit in India, with specific reference to the MSME sector, using secondary data drawn from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Parliamentary disclosures, and other government and industry publications. Employing a Pearson correlation framework on annual data for scheduled commercial bank (SCB) credit to MSMEs and to the industrial sector as a whole, the study finds a very strong, statistically significant positive association between the two series (r ≈ 0.98, p < 0.001), leading to rejection of the null hypothesis of no relationship. The paper further documents that credit to MSMEs grew faster than credit to any other major sector in 2024-25, even as overall bank credit growth dece Fund lerated, reflecting the cumulative effect of policy interventions such as the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), and priority sector lending norms. At the same time, the study finds that formal credit penetration remains low — by some estimates only about one in seven MSMEs has access to institutional finance — and that collateral requirements, asset-quality caution among lenders, and disparities across enterprise size and gender continue to constrain the sector. The paper concludes with a set of policy-relevant observations on deepening formal credit flow to MSMEs.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22812490

Published by: vikaspatanker