Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

About: Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is a education organization based out in Kharagpur, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Dielectric. The organization has 16887 authors who have published 38658 publications receiving 714526 citations.

Graphene decorated with hexagonal shaped M-type ferrite and polyaniline wrapper: a potential candidate for electromagnetic wave absorbing and energy storage device applications

Abstract: The development of promising microwave absorbing materials is a booming field of research in both the commercial and defense sectors to prevent electromagnetic pollution, and also to enrich the field of stealth technology. Supercapacitors are a symbol of clean energy storage devices. The present work attends to the preparation of hexagonal shaped magnetic M-type hexaferrite, CuFe10Al2O19 (CFA) by a facile chemical co-precipitation method, and the formation of its composites (graphene/CFA) in the presence of acid modified graphene. An in situ approach was employed for the coating of graphene with CFA. Another nanocomposite (graphene/CFA/PANI) was prepared by the wrapping of graphene/CFA with polyaniline (PANI), which was prepared through the in situ chemical oxidation polymerization of aniline. The prepared multifunctional nanocomposites showed an outstanding and improved microwave absorption property (the maximum reflection loss was −63.6 dB at a thickness of 2.5 mm with a broad absorption range) and electrochemical properties (the highest specific capacitance value was 342 F g−1), in contrast to the pristine graphene and CFA. The addition of PANI also improves the microwave absorption and specific capacitance of the nanocomposites. The formation of the multifunctional nanocomposites and their structural characteristics are discussed thoroughly with their impact on the two different fields of applications i.e. microwave absorbing and energy storage device applications individually.

Third generation in bio-electrochemical system research – A systematic review on mechanisms for recovery of valuable by-products from wastewater

Abstract: Bio−electrochemical system (BES) mainly focused on bio−energy generation in the form of methane and bio−hydrogen while treating wastewater in anodic chamber. The potential of BES to produce intermittent chemicals and high-value derivatives has been immensely explored since last decade by adopting modified reaction kinetics. This review article deals with the mechanism of recovery of resources and by-products during redox reactions in BES. The BES offers flexible platform for both oxidation and reduction processes. Development of BES for product synthesis via bio-electrochemical pathway has greatly extended the new horizon in bioenergy research. Microbial fuel cell and microbial electrolysis cell, the major two variants of BES, are useful to convert the energy present in wastewater to recover resources like bio-electricity, hydrogen, nutrients, heavy metals, minerals and industrial chemicals. Thus, after improving the performance of BES, widening the scope for products recovery by developing better understanding of the process and with efforts to reduce its production cost, it can become a sustainable technology for treatment of wastewater with added advantage of recovery of resources and bio-energy generation.

Association of an SNP in a novel DREB2-like gene SiDREB2 with stress tolerance in foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.)]

Abstract: The DREB genes code for important plant transcription factors involved in the abiotic stress response and signal transduction. Characterization of DREB genes and development of functional markers for effective alleles is important for marker-assisted selection in foxtail millet. Here the characterization of a cDNA (SiDREB2) encoding a putative dehydration-responsive element-binding protein 2 from foxtail millet and the development of an allele-specific marker (ASM) for dehydration tolerance is reported. A cDNA clone (GenBank accession no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"GT090998","term_id":"292658268","term_text":"GT090998"}}GT090998) coding for a putative DREB2 protein was isolated as a differentially expressed gene from a 6 h dehydration stress SSH library. A 5' RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) was carried out to obtain the full-length cDNA, and sequence analysis showed that SiDREB2 encoded a polypeptide of 234 amino acids with a predicted mol. wt of 25.72 kDa and a theoretical pI of 5.14. A theoretical model of the tertiary structure shows that it has a highly conserved GCC-box-binding N-terminal domain, and an acidic C-terminus that acts as an activation domain for transcription. Based on its similarity to AP2 domains, SiDREB2 was classified into the A-2 subgroup of the DREB subfamily. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed significant up-regulation of SiDREB2 by dehydration (polyethylene glycol) and salinity (NaCl), while its expression was less affected by other stresses. A synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associated with dehydration tolerance was detected at the 558th base pair (an A/G transition) in the SiDREB2 gene in a core set of 45 foxtail millet accessions used. Based on the identified SNP, three primers were designed to develop an ASM for dehydration tolerance. The ASM produced a 261 bp fragment in all the tolerant accessions and produced no amplification in the sensitive accessions. The use of this ASM might be faster, cheaper, and more reproducible than other SNP genotyping methods, and thus will enable marker-aided breeding of foxtail millet for dehydration tolerance.

Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty in Indian Commercial Banks

Abstract: This article examines whether service quality of Indian commercial banks increases customer satisfaction that fosters customer loyalty. Data were collected from 350 valued customers of scheduled commercial bank branches in Orissa (India). A questionnaire elicited information on socio–demographic variables along with human, technical, and tangible aspects of service quality, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. Results suggest that better human, technical and tangible aspects of service quality of the bank branches increase customer satisfaction. Human aspects of service quality were found to influence customer satisfaction more than the technical and tangible aspects. Customer satisfaction furthers customer loyalty. Increase in service quality of the banks can satisfy and retain customers. In the Indian banking sector, human aspects are more important than technical and tangible aspects of service quality that influence customer satisfaction and promote and enhance customer loyalty.