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Methane hydroxylation presents a promising approach to produce high-energy methanol from potent greenhouse gases, thereby contributing to a more sustainable future. Despite its environmental importance, current research on this process remains challenging due to the harsh operating conditions for the activation of inert C-H bond in methane. In nature, methane monooxygenase converts methane by activating the C-H bonds through its hydroxylase, under ambient conditions, receiving electrons from NADH via a reductase. Beyond the traditional biological approach, the development of NADH-independent biocatalytic systems could open new avenues for cost-effective and sustainable methane conversion. Herein, we report an NADH-free biosolar platform that activates hydroxylase for eco-friendly methanol production. The xanthene-based light harvester spontaneously associates with hydroxylase and directly transfers its photoexcited electrons to the diiron active site, eliminating the need for a cofactor or reductase. Halogenation of xanthene accelerates direct electron transfer to the active site by increasing the polarizability and spin-orbit coupling of the light harvesters. Accordingly, the direct photobiocatalytic platform achieved a methanol time yield of 7.52 mmol g cat −1 h −1 . This work provides the design concept of solar-driven biocatalytic methane hydroxylation under ambient conditions, suggesting a promising approach for implementing methanol biomanufacturing. Methane monooxygenase (MMO) is capable of methane activation under ambient conditions, but most MMO applications are hindered by the slow electron transfer from NADH to the reductase and further to the hydroxylase. Here, the authors report an NADH-free biosolar platform for the conversion of methane to methanol, featuring high catalytic productivity using xanthene dyes as light harvesters.

Purpose India generates around two million tonnes of e-waste every year, and it is increasing at a very high rate of 30%. However, due to inefficient handling of infrastructure and limited number of collection centres along with the absence of proper incentive structure for producer and recyclers, 95% of e-waste reaches to unorganized sector for disposal. Consumers are not aware of the need of proper e-waste disposal and in absence of proper motivation and they are not inclined towards recycling process. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the best practices of e-waste take adopted all over the world to implement effective policy interventions for e-waste management in India and other emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach This paper has recommended preventive as well as curative policy interventions on the basis of best e-waste management practices of Germany, Italy and Japan; life cycle assessment of e-waste; and SWOT analysis of Indian electronic product industry. Findings Preventive measures include a deposit refund scheme wherein a consumer will be responsible for depositing a refundable fees during the purchase of the product. The amount should be arrived at keeping in mind cost involved in handling e-waste and ensure some motivation for the consumers to give back used product. To ensure proper tracking of the product, Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can be used which will be activated at the time of sale of product and remain so until product reaches some designated recycling space or recycler and consumer is returned back his deposit fee. Subsidy to the producers and recyclers can also be provided by the government to further incentivize the whole process. An example of mobile phones has been used to understand the proposed deposit fees and associated cost structure. Curative measures to reduce the generation of e-waste in long run for managing the discussed issue have also been proposed. Originality/value This study is an initiative for proposing and implementing best e-waste take back techniques in a developing economy like India by acquiring learnings from best/advanced economies in terms of e-waste take back.

Hydroxamic acids represent a group of weak organic acids, both naturally occurring and synthetically derived, characterized by the general formula RC(= O)N(R’OH). In this study, we investigated the binding behavior of N-m-tolyl-4-chlorophenoxyaceto hydroxamic acid with calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) and torula yeast RNA (t-RNA) through a combination of techniques including UV–visible spectroscopy, fluorescence emission analysis, viscometry, and computational simulations using AutoDock4 software. Our findings reveal that the mode of binding between the compound and the nucleic acids is consistent with intercalation. Competitive binding experiments demonstrated that the complex competes effectively with ethidium bromide (EB) for binding to ct-DNA/t-RNA, displacing EB from its binding sites. Additionally, the introduction of the compound into the DNA-EB system resulted in a quenching of fluorescence emission peaks. Analysis of absorption spectra indicated a red shift and hypochromic shift when the compound interacted with DNA, further supporting the intercalative binding mode. The calculated binding constant (K b ) value for the compound is 6.62 × 10 4  M −1 and 5.40 × 10 3  M −1 indicating a strong interaction with ct-DNA and t-RNA respectively. We determined the Stern–Volmer constants for ct-DNA and t-RNA as 9.96 × 10 4  M −1 and 8.13 × 10 5  M −1 , respectively. The binding free energy values for ct-DNA/t-RNA were calculated to be − 3.741 × 10 7 and − 5.425 × 10 8  kcal/mol, respectively. Viscometric studies corroborated the UV results, showing a continuous increase in relative viscosity of ct-DNA/t-RNA solutions with the addition of the optimal hydroxamic acid concentration. Furthermore, we assessed the antioxidant activity of the compound using DPPH-radical scavenging and β-carotene linoleic acid assays. Gel electrophoresis results demonstrated the compound's remarkable efficacy in preventing DNA damage. Collectively, all experimental evidence supports the conclusion that N-m-tolyl-4-chlorophenoxyaceto hydroxamic acid binds to ct-DNA/t-RNA through an intercalative mechanism, which is consistent with our molecular docking simulations.

The ability of a Real Time Location System (RTLS) to provide correct information in a clinical environment is an important consideration in evaluating the effectiveness of the technology. While past efforts describe how well the technology performed in a lab environment, the performance of such technology has not been specifically defined or evaluated in a practice setting involving workflow and movement. Clinical environments pose complexity owing to various layouts and various movements. Further, RTL systems are not equipped to provide true negative information (where an entity is not located). Hence, this study defined sensitivity and precision in this context, and developed a simulation protocol to serve as a systematic testing framework using actors in a clinical environment. The protocol was used to measure the sensitivity and precision of an RTL system in the emergency department space of a quaternary care medical center. The overall sensitivity and precision were determined to be 84 and 93% respectively. These varied for patient rooms, staff area, hallway and other rooms.

Anesthetized rodent models are ubiquitous in pre-clinical neuroimaging studies. However, because the associated cerebral morphology and experimental methodology results in a profound negative brain-core temperature differential, cerebral temperature changes during functional activation are likely to be principally driven by local inflow of fresh, core-temperature, blood. This presents a confound to the interpretation of blood-oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired from such models, since this signal is also critically temperature-dependent. Nevertheless, previous investigation on the subject is surprisingly sparse. Here, we address this issue through use of a novel multi-modal methodology in the urethane anesthetized rat. We reveal that sensory stimulation, hypercapnia and recurrent acute seizures induce significant increases in cortical temperature that are preferentially correlated to changes in total hemoglobin concentration (Hbt), relative to cerebral blood flow and oxidative metabolism. Furthermore, using a phantom-based evaluation of the effect of such temperature changes on the BOLD fMRI signal, we demonstrate a robust inverse relationship between both variables. These findings suggest that temperature increases, due to functional hyperemia, should be accounted for to ensure accurate interpretation of BOLD fMRI signals in pre-clinical neuroimaging studies.

Website evaluation has been studied extensively in Information Systems and Tourism literature; but few studies combine information system issues with the Tourist decision making perspective. In this research we evaluate websites on a comprehensive set of criteria, based on five factors of website effectiveness. A Content analysis of official tourism websites of top ten tourist attracting nations was done and data was analysed using Correspondence analysis and weighted mean scores. Findings reveal that websites need to improve on certain factors, the two most important being Security and Responsiveness. In addition to this, websites should include features that support decision making at different stages of travel which would enhance website effectiveness. The study also discusses the implications for tourism organisations for developing websites that create destination image and attract tourists across the globe. The research contributes to the website evaluation approaches by developing a set of criteria using a tourist decision making perspective, rather than only technical, for evaluating website effectiveness. The research employs a novel approach of analysing cross national websites unlike other studies that have generally evaluated websites from a single country.

Merely satisfying the customers is not enough; delighting them by offering unexpected, innovative and surprising services has become crucial. For this, firms invest in several channels and attract delighted customers. The current research examines the impact of Omni-channel customer delight on customers’ repurchase intention. The proposed conceptual model develops several hypotheses relating to customer delight in the Omni-channel context by reviewing rich literature on customer delight. Data were collected from 496 respondents using convenience sampling, representing 24 states of India. Using Smart PLS software, collected data were examined through structural equation modelling. Surprise and joy are crucial to offline customer delight, while satisfaction, usefulness and entertainment play significant roles in online customer delight. Also, Omni-channel customer delight significantly influences repurchase intentions; therefore, paying attention to all antecedents of customer delight is essential. The research provides a basic understanding of customer delight in Omni-channel contexts and offers directions to formulate various strategies to delight customers beyond satisfaction. The article adds value to existing knowledge relating to Omni-channel retailing. Omni-channel customer delight is undoubtedly an emerging research domain in the current Omni-channel retailing.

Recent use of noninvasive and continuous hemoglobin (SpHb) concentration monitor has emerged as an alternative to invasive laboratory-based hematological analysis. Unlike delayed laboratory based measures of hemoglobin (HgB), SpHb monitors can provide real-time information about the HgB levels. Real-time SpHb measurements will offer healthcare providers with warnings and early detections of abnormal health status, e.g., hemorrhagic shock, anemia, and thus support therapeutic decision-making, as well as help save lives. However, the finger-worn CO-Oximeter sensors used in SpHb monitors often get detached or have to be removed, which causes missing data in the continuous SpHb measurements. Missing data among SpHb measurements reduce the trust in the accuracy of the device, influence the effectiveness of hemorrhage interventions and future HgB predictions. A model with imputation and prediction method is investigated to deal with missing values and improve prediction accuracy. The Gaussian process and functional regression methods are proposed to impute missing SpHb data and make predictions on laboratory-based HgB measurements. Within the proposed method, multiple choices of sub-models are considered. The proposed method shows a significant improvement in accuracy based on a real-data study. Proposed method shows superior performance with the real data, within the proposed framework, different choices of sub-models are discussed and the usage recommendation is provided accordingly. The modeling framework can be extended to other application scenarios with missing values.

Leigh Disease is a progressive neurometabolic disorder for which a clinical effective treatment is currently still lacking. Here, we report on the therapeutic efficacy of KH176, a new chemical entity derivative of Trolox, in Ndufs4 −/− mice, a mammalian model for Leigh Disease. Using in vivo brain diffusion tensor imaging, we show a loss of brain microstructural coherence in Ndufs4 −/− mice in the cerebral cortex, external capsule and cerebral peduncle. These findings are in line with the white matter diffusivity changes described in mitochondrial disease patients. Long-term KH176 treatment retained brain microstructural coherence in the external capsule in Ndufs4 −/− mice and normalized the increased lipid peroxidation in this area and the cerebral cortex. Furthermore, KH176 treatment was able to significantly improve rotarod and gait performance and reduced the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells in Ndufs4 −/− mice. These in vivo findings show that further development of KH176 as a potential treatment for mitochondrial disorders is worthwhile to pursue. Clinical trial studies to explore the potency, safety and efficacy of KH176 are ongoing.

Inevitably, service failures occur. This often leads to negative word-of-mouth (NWOM). The increasing use of the internet and social media to express dissatisfaction has expanded and changed how NWOM is generated, received, and acted upon by consumers. Firm reactions and responses have also evolved. We review the evolution of the NWOM literature, suggest conceptual refinements andpresent an aggregative framework of antecedents. We also propose a taxonomy of NWOM behaviors. This study synthesizes current NWOM research and provides directions for future research.