Institutional Digital Repository (Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpu)

Tripathi, Ashwani Sharan

Design and Development of Electroactive Polymer-Based Actuator for Biomedical Applications

Raju, Mula

CVD Grown Molybdenum Dichalcogenides/Oxides: Shape Evolution, Ordering and Phase Transformation

Sanyal, Souriddha

Lean Mg-Zn-Al and Mg-Al-Ca-Mn Alloys for Ambient and Elevated Temperature Applications: Development, Processing and Structure-Property Correlation

Abbas Ali, Sameer Ali

Title:  
MODELLING A COMMUNITY RESILIENCE INDEX FOR URBAN FLOOD-PRONE 
AREAS 
Abstract: 
Urban Resilience for any city is a gap to be fully understood and assimilated in urban planning. 
Globalization and rapid urbanization in recent years have led to newer challenges as higher 
densities, greater demand for infrastructure, resources, and ‘environmental and man-made hazards’ 
that are on the rise. Cities try to cope with the rising demands through various planning techniques 
and modern applications and planning models. However, the landscape of each city is different 
and many times these approaches might not be the best fit for every aspect of a city. One of the 
worst situations where this reality would be revealed is the resilience shown by a city when disaster 
strikes. The flood in Kerala State that occurred in August 2018 is an example where resilience can 
be studied by examining how people and institutions cope with the maximum damage, and how 
quickly lives can be brought back to normal. Determining what the ‘original condition was before 
the hazard,’ or the ‘higher or acceptable lowest’ levels, are among the first questions to be resolved. 
In most cases, governmental, private, and non-governmental agencies strive to attain the ‘lowest 
acceptable level.’ However, it is most appreciated if the achieved resilience level exceeds the 
original level by adopting a better approach to planning, design, and infrastructural capabilities. 
The ability and the extent of resilience shown by Kerala are very good as compared to similar scale 
disasters that have struck other locations in India. The thesis creates a Community Resilience Index 
for urban Flood-prone areas (CRIF) through a rigorous bottom-up approach with reference to 
Kerala. Criteria for the proposed index were developed using multi-criteria decision analysis that 
began with a focus-group discussion, a literature study, fuzzy Delphi analysis, empirical study 
using multi-variate Probit regression, and AHP analysis. The index is designed according to the 
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030). The CRIF Index is put to test through 
a case study. Further, the results are also validated using three different techniques. The thesis ends 
with formulation of appropriate policies for future flood-resilient urban planning. 
Keywords: community resilience, index, flood, analytic hierarchy process, fuzzy Delphi, Probit 
regression 
 


Modelling a Community Resilience Index for Urban Flood-Prone Areas

Hazra, Tanmoy

System Dynamics Simulation and Genetic Algorithms for Uncertainty Based Strategic Mine Planning

Upadhyay, Rahul

Predictors for Whole-Body Vibration Exposure and Musculoskeletal Disorders of Dumper Operators in Surface Mines and Their Control through Intervention Strategy

Mukhopadhyay, Parama

Characterization of Source Rock Properties, Geochemistry and Pore Properties of Shale Samples from Barren Measure, Cambay and Raghavpuram Formations of India

Chakraborty, Souvic

Understanding Opinions and Sentiments in User-Generated Content by Learning through Limited Labels

Bag, Arnab

Design and Analysis of Advanced Searchable Symmetric Encryption Systems

Kulkarni, Gaurav Dinesh

Electrically stimulated polypyrrole-gelatin/silk fibroin hydrogels for skin 
regeneration 
Chronic skin injuries accounts for about 1 to 2% incidents worldwide. The major 
challenge while addressing this issue is healing time as chronic wounds decelerates the 
rate of wound healing by interfering with the biochemical events. When skin is 
wounded, it disrupts the transepithelial potential that exists between dermal and 
epidermal layers. While electrical stimulation has therapeutic effects in skin 
regeneration, application of electrical stimulation directly to skin has several limitations 
for various reasons. Therefore, the delivery of stimulation through hydrogel has benefits 
in keeping wound site moist. The effect of electrically stimulated conductive hydrogel 
is being explored for faster wound healing. The present study aimed to develop an 
electrically stimulated polypyrrole-gelatin/silk fibroin matrix for skin tissue 
engineering. To mimic skin, dual component hydrogel composed of gelatin and silk 
fibroin was reinforced with polypyrrole. Gelatin hydrogels were crosslinked with 1-
Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS) or 
glutaraldehyde (GTA) to improve its mechanical properties. Raman spectroscopic 
approach was deployed to understand the interaction of fibroblast cells with crosslinked 
hydrogels. It was concluded that GTA crosslinked samples were cytotoxic. Thus, 
gelatin was crosslinked with EDC/NHS, which showed better cytocompatibility as per 
Rhodamine-DAPI staining results. Dual step activated/crosslinked matrices of gelatin-
silk fibroin were prepared to further tailor the properties of gelatin. With increase in silk 
fibroin loading in gelatin, enhanced cell proliferation was observed. However, taking 
into account the solid weight of gelatin, the sample loaded with 25% of silk fibroin was 
found to exhibit superior mechanical characteristics. Although the fabricated 
gelatin/silk fibroin matrices are mechanically stable, the hydrogels lack conductivity. 
Thus, polypyrrole was reinforced by using interfacial polymerization. After the 
modification with 100 mM of polypyrrole, conductivity got increased from 10-7 to 10-3 
S/cm. Also, the samples showed scavenging activity, blood compatibility and were 
cytocompatible. The sample formulation with 30 mM polypyrrole and containing 75% 
gelatin and 25% silk fibroin was investigated for wound healing by electrical 
stimulation. An indigenously designed device having graphite electrodes is proposed 
capable of delivering pulsed stimulation to electroconductive hydrogels for wound 
healing studies. Human dermal fibroblasts stimulated with 300 mV/mm of electric 
fields showed enhanced proliferation at 2 Hz frequency and 20% duty cycle. 
Upregulation in the expressions of TGFβ, αSMA, and Collagen I supported the 
hypothesis of accelerated wound healing upon electrical stimulation.  
Keywords:  Biomaterials, Hydrogels, Wound Healing, Conductive Polymers, 
Electrical Stimulation, Bioelectricity 


Electrically Stimulated Polypyrrole-Gelatin/Silk Fibroin Hydrogels for Skin Regeneration

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