1,043 research outputs found
Selective synthesis of Bisphenol-A over mesoporous MCM silica catalysts functionalized with sulfonic acid groups
No full textSulfonic acid functionalized mesoporous MCM-41 silica as a convenient catalyst for Bisphenol-A synthesis
No full textGlobal trends, practices, and challenges in contemporary tourism and hospitality management/ Debasish Batabyal and Dillip Kumar Das, Editors.
No full textIncludes bibliographical references and index."This book examines changes and issues involved in global tourism practices. It analyzes new trends in the tourism, hospitality, and transport sectors. It also explores the influence and use of technology in the tourism industry"--Chapter 1. Impacts of anthropogenic and tourism activities on river water quality: a case study of Betwa River stretch, Madhya Pradesh, India -- Chapter 2. Revaluing saltscapes in Portugal: ecotourism, ecomuseums, and environmental education -- Chapter 3. Guest retention through automation: an analysis of emerging trends in hotels in Indian sub-continent -- Chapter 4. Restaurant management system (RMS) and digital conversion: a descriptive study for the new era -- Chapter 5. Urban and rural ecotourism in and around bolpur: a study of destination marketing and challenges ecotourism practices in West Bengal, India -- Chapter 6. Sustainable development and ecotourism consciousness: an empirical analysis for Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu, India -- Chapter 7. Understanding the importance of the banking system in the Romanian tourism and hospitality industry -- Chapter 8. Indian tourism industry: current trends and future outlook -- Chapter 9. Pricing for hill tourism destination: an empirical analysis of Sikkim Himalaya, India linear price model for Himalayan Hill Station -- Chapter 10. Fibras as a tool for investment diversification in the Mexican hotel sector: the case of FIBRA inn -- Chapter 11. Christianity and tourism development in Nigeria: a socio-economic discourse -- Chapter 12. Assessment of the internal control system in the accommodation firm and its relation to performance -- Chapter 13. Academic tourism: a segment on the rise.1 online resource (24 PDFs (xxii, 318 pages)
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The role of the disulfide bond in amyloid-like fibrillogenesis in a model peptide system
No full textThe role of the disulfide bond in amyloid-like fibrillogenesis in a model peptide system Apurba Kumar Das,(a) Michael G. B. Drew,(b) Debasish Haldar(a) and Arindam Banerjee*(a) (a)Department of Biological Chemistry, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700 032, India. E-mail: [email protected]; Fax: +91-33-2473-2805 b School of Chemistry, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, UK RG6 6AD Received 28th June 2005, Accepted 20th July 2005 First published as an Advance Article on the web 11th August 200
Multi-Agent Positional Consensus Under Various Information Paradigms
Full text linkThis thesis addresses the problem of positional consensus of multi-agent systems. A positional consensus is achieved when the agents converge to a point. Some applications of this class of problem is in mid-air refueling of the aircraft or UAVs, targeting a geographical location, etc. In this research work some positional consensus algorithms have been developed. They can be categorized in two part (i) Broadcast control based algorithm (ii) Distributed control based algorithm. In case of broadcast based algorithm control strategies for a group of agents is developed to achieve positional consensus. The problem is constrained by the requirement that every agent must be given the same control input through a broadcast communication mechanism. Although the control command is computed using state information in a global framework, the control input is implemented by the agents in a local coordinate frame. The mathematical formulation has been done in a linear programming framework that is computationally less intensive than earlier proposed methods. Moreover, a random perturbation input in the control command, that helps to achieve reasonable proximity among agents even for a large number of agents, which was not possible with the existing strategy in the literature, is introduced. This method is extended to achieve positional consensus at a pre-specified location. A comparison between the LP approach and the existing SOCP based approach is also presented. Some of the algorithm has been demonstrated successfully on a robotic platform made from LEGO Mindstorms NXT Robots. In the second case of broadcast based algorithm, a decentralized algorithm for a group of multiple autonomous agents to achieve positional consensus has been developed using the broadcast concept. Even here, the mathematical formulation has done using a linear programming framework. Each agent has some sensing radius and it is capable of sensing position and orientation with other agents within their sensing region. The method is computationally feasible and easy to implement. In case of distributed algorithms, a computationally efficient distributed rendezvous algorithm for a group of autonomous agents has been developed. The algorithm uses a rectilinear decision domain (RDD), as against the circular decision domain assumed in earlier work available in the literature. This helps in reducing its computational complexity considerably. An extensive mathematical analysis has been carried out to prove the convergence of the algorithm. The algorithm has also been demonstrated successfully on a robotic platform made from LEGO Mindstorms NXT Robots
Constitutive Theories for Polymers Using Non-Classical Continuum Mechanics
No full textThis thesis is on the development of a few constitutive theories characterising the thermo-mechanical response of polymers. In proposing the theories, some aspects of non-classical continuum mechanics are used. The first few constitutive theories predict the extrinsic and intrinsic mechanical behaviour of different types of polymers across a wide range of ambient temperature, loading rate, and/or solvent concentration. Varied response features characterised by strikingly contrasted timescales are observed as the conditions are altered. For example, for thermoplastics, hyperelastic response is observed for high temperatures or low loading rates. In contrast, the response is nearly viscoplastic at low temperatures or high loading rates. For a unified, seamless modelling approach to transitions across the timescale separated behavioural characteristics, a thermodynamic framework based on effective temperature is used. Separate theories have been constituted for thermoplastics, block-copolymers, and hydrogels, all within this thermodynamic setup. Here a thermodynamic system is split into configurational and kinetic-vibrational subsystems, which are weakly coupled by heat exchange. The configurational subsystems are characterized by states that evolve over larger time scales than the kinetic vibrational subsystem, which evolves with a time scale of atomic vibrations. One or more configurational subsystems are defined for describing submacroscopic phenomena involving multiple time scales or different relaxation rates. Depending on the relaxation processes, the configurational subsystems are chosen. While for thermorheologically simple thermoplastics, a single configurational subsystem is sufficient to capture relaxation, multiple configurational subsystems are necessary for thermorheologically complex polymers such as thermoplastic elastomers, especially to capture such complex phenomena as Mullin's effect. The rate of heat exchange between the configurational and kinetic vibrational subsystems is governed by the structural relaxation time. In the case of thermoplastics and block copolymers that do not contain a solvent, the structural relaxation time may be a function of the ambient temperature. However, for hydrogels, the relaxation time requires to be a function of the solvent concentration as well. All the three constitutive models are validated against experimental observations reported in the literature. They successfully capture the salient features of mechanical response across temperature or rate or solvent phase transition. Besides, the model for block-copolymers is shown to have features that enable it to be used as an effective design tool for the composition, given the requirement of an effective glass transition temperature. In addition to the viscoelastic theories, a brittle damage model for compressible elastomers is also developed. This theory is grounded in non-Euclidean geometry wherein the kinematic variables are derived considering the assumption that, upon damage, the material body no longer remains Euclidean but assumes the structure of a Riemannian manifold. Also, the energy of surface creation due to cracks is assumed to be a function of the Ricci curvature. The theory is used in several numerical simulations. The observations from some of these simulations are used to highlight the superior features of the geometry-driven approach vis-\'a-vis a second-order phase field theory involving a quadratic degradation function
A New World During COVID-19: employability skills in tourism, hospitality and events
No full textCOVID-19 has changed the landscape of the Tourism, Hospitality and Events industry worldwide. This study seeks to determine if the employability skills needed in the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Industry in Australia and Singapore have changed since the pre-COVID era. The implications of this research can impact tertiary education institutions which need to address necessary changes to employability skills in the curriculum.
The Australian Higher Education Standards Framework created by TEQSA require employability skills as part of the learning outcomes for all degree courses. The Department of Education, Science and Training developed the Employability Skills for the Future Report. This report identified eight employability skills, and 13 personal attributes, which were deemed necessary by employers. Studies prior to the COVID-19 pandemic identified communication, leadership and teamwork as the top three skills areas for the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Industry. This study utilized the Employability Skills Framework to conduct a critical assessment of employability skills needed during COVID-19.
Job advertisments were searched to identify a range of positions for investigation – from frontline to back-of-house and from junior supervisory to executive levels. Fifteen positions were chosen and for each position 20 job descriptions as detailed in job advertisements were collected from Australia and 20 respective job descriptions from Singapore. This resulted in 40 job descriptions for each position for a total of 600 job description for analysis. The researchers used a qualitative approach and NVivo software to analyse the employability skills for each of the job titles in Australia and Singapore respectively, to determine similarities and differences of skills needed between each country. Overall, the results indicate that communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills were the most desired skills by the industry. These findings provide information for development of curriculum to meet the respective needs of each country as the industry moves through this pandemic era
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