Saxena, Deepak Kumar

While renewable energy is growing in terms of its production and usage, the oil & gas industry is still the major contributor to world energy production. The rapid decline in oil & gas demand is not foreseeable in the near future unless there is a drastic shift in current policies. Hence, considering its impact on the world, it becomes crucial that the oil & gas sector functions efficiently. However, the execution of oil & gas projects, particularly Large Oil and Gas Projects (LOGPs) have a sluggish track record of execution in terms of time and cost. The execution of LOGPs within the allocated time frame and budget is of paramount importance to keep the investors' faith for receiving budget allocations in future investments and remain a prime target to attract investment expected as per world energy outlook, 2020. Project management tools such as identification of Success Factors/Critical Success Factors (CSFs) help the project management team in the successful implementation of a project. This study aims to find out and enumerate success factors for different phases of project life cycle specific to oil & gas projects.

Collecting relevant and appropriate data when conducting research in the Global South and other resource-constrained environments can be challenging. This is particularly true when the researcher originates from a different country and has different social, cultural, and political beliefs to the research participants. Data collection in such contexts can be challenging for a variety of ethical, philosophical, theoretical, and methodological reasons which may arise resulting from the use of research approaches designed in the Global North. There are also many practical and infrastructural issues which may be relevant in resource-constrained countries. This paper provides examples of challenges encountered by the authors in a variety of ongoing research projects in the Global South. We propose approaches to address the identified challenges, and we conclude by calling for additional work on this important topic.

Data collection in resource-constrained environments, particularly in the Global South, is challenging for a variety of philosophical, theoretical, methodological, and ethical reasons. Challenges may involve using research approaches designed in the Global North that are not appropriate when using data from the social and cultural contexts in the Global South. Adopting a reflective approach, this paper examines research projects in Bangladesh, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda and highlights the challenges encountered on these projects. Along with the problems, attempted ameliorations are discussed, and insights are offered on how the authors overcame these challenges. The paper posits that these challenges can be mitigated by adopting contextualist methodology resulting in theories that are based on local social and cultural processes. The paper proposes that a critical realist-philosophical approach and methodology are appropriate because of contextual specificity and the innate ability to alleviate problems associated with the Global North methodology and generalisable theory.

Remotely operated robotic systems have gained importance in executing tasks in complex and challenging environments which are difficult to automate. This paper focuses on developing reference hardware and software architectures for haptic-based teleoperation under various physical and network conditions. The system consists of a 6-DOF haptic device as the leader and a 6-DOF robotic manipulator as the follower. The control architecture used for teleoperation is Jacobian inverse control, which enables the follower to follow the leader when commanded. The performance of the proposed architecture is determined in terms of the error between current and commanded motion for different input velocities, communication delays in different network configurations, and the stable haptic force feedback at the haptic end.

The present study aims to investigate the motional dynamics of risperidone within polylactic co-glycolic acid (PLGA) microsphere by employing solution state 1H and 19F nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. Risperidone, a second-generation fluorinated antipsychotic drug used for the treatment of schizophrenia is commercially marketed as PLGA microsphere formulation resulting in prolonged release of the drug in solution. Although the current trend in the pharmaceutical market is to develop drug formulation with long-acting release (LAR) products, complete physicochemical characterization of such formulations are scarce. Especially the effects of microsphere encapsulation on the motional properties and diffusion behavior of the drugs are not discussed adequately in any of the earlier reports. We therefore, have employed NMR relaxation and diffusion measurements to decipher the interaction of PLGA cavity water with risperidone. A detailed analysis of NMR relaxation rates confirmed the event of encapsulation and the presence of local motion in the non-fluorinated end of risperidone. Further, the relaxation data indicated a significant alteration in 19F chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) and CSA/dipole-dipole (DD) cross-correlated relaxation mechanism and decreased effect of solvent relaxation pointing out reduced water concentration within the microsphere cavity. 1H and 19F diffusion coefficients of risperidone led to the information about hydrodynamic radius of risperidone in free and encapsulated states. Measurement of hydrodynamic radius supported the presence of limited water in PLGA cavity allowing higher translational mobility of risperidone after the encapsulation.

This work presents the dynamic modeling and analysis of a particle-reinforced and prestressed electro-magneto-viscoelastic plate actuator. The actuator belongs to a smart actuator category and is made of an electro-magneto-Active polymer filled with a particular volume fraction of suitable fillers. An energy-based electro-magneto-viscoelastic model is developed to predict the actuator response and interrogate the impact of particle reinforcement on the dynamic oscillations of a pre-stressed condition of the actuator. An Euler-Lagrange equation of motion is implemented to deduce the governing dynamic equation of the actuator. The findings of the model solutions provide preliminary insights on the alteration of the nonlinear behavior of the actuator driven by DC and AC dynamic modes of actuation. It is observed that the enrichment in the particle reinforcement characterized by the amount of fillers strengthens the polymer and depleted the associated level ofdeformation. Also, the depletion in the intensity of oscillation and enhancement in the frequency of excitation is perceived with an increase in the particle reinforcement. In addition, the time-history response, Poincare plots, and phase diagrams are also plotted to assess the stability, periodicity, beating phenomenon, and resonant behavior of the actuator. In general, the current study provides initial steps toward the modern actuator designs for various futuristic applications in the engineering and medical field. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4051911].

A business model basically describes the way a company makes money. Yet, often we use digital services for free (e.g. Facebook, Google or WhatsApp) or for what seems to be a relatively minor price (e.g. Blablacar, Airbnb, and Amazon). Digital business models are different to traditional business models. Digital Business Models explains the key challenges and characteristics of the various business models that are used by digital businesses. These companies can be a source of inspiration for traditional bricks-and-mortar companies that aim to go digital and/or revamp their traditional business model. Most businesses rely on some form of digital technology for their marketing communication, customer relationship management, supply chain or distribution, yet digital transformation entails a complete reassessment of the way value is created and captured. Digital Business Models details the successful customer acquisition tactics and the development of business ecosystems by digital players. Using the relevant academic and managerial body of knowledge, the authors define the concepts, describe the various ways digital businesses create and capture value and propose some useful tools for managers to analyse a situation, formulate or implement a strategy. Different digital business types are evaluated, such as multisided platforms, digital merchants, subscription-based model, freemium, social media and sharing economy. Each chapter is illustrated with several examples and the appendix comprises four full-length case studies. • Identifies and analyses the key value drivers in a digital economy • Develops effective new digital business models • Applies digital business model principles to revamp traditional business model.

Digital transformation (DT) has presented tremendous opportunities and challenges to organisations. By leveraging continuously emerging digital technologies, organisations are increasingly pursuing to make their business models efficient and smart. Consequently, research on DT has gained significant momentum in academia and practice. Although many studies present insights about DT as a phenomenon, the underlying factors encouraging such transformations are not frequently evaluated and discussed, and less so in Indian context. This study addresses this research gap by conducting a multiple case study of six organisations engaged in DT and identifying primary reasons driving the organisations towards DT. These factors are broadly classified into four categories – business innovation and process improvement, business sustainability, internal digital aspirations, and unplanned external exigencies. The study empirically identifies the drivers of DT that beginner organisations can use to address ‘where to start for DT’. The well-established organisations can use these drivers as a baseline to assess, contextualise and strategise their DT efforts to improve the success rates of their DT endeavours.

UNS S32101 lean duplex stainless steel (DSS) has a two phase microstructure consisting of austenite and ferrite in near equal proportions. Aging at high temperature results in formation of σ phase reducing ductility and also corresponding depletion of Cr from the matrix. The effect of long term aging on the microstructure and mechanical properties is still an active area of research for lean DSSs. In the present work effect of aging at 750 °C (up to 480 h) on microstructure and mechanical properties has been systematically studied. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the precipitates were distributed along ferrite/austenite (δ/γ) interfaces and ferrite/ferrite (δ/δ) boundaries. Nitrides (mainly Cr2N) were observed in initial phases of aging and σ phase afterwards, mostly at longer aging times. The decrease of Ni and Mo and increase in N in UNS S32101 steel delayed the precipitation of σ, but could not avoid it completely. The room temperature absorbed impact energy of specimens decreased gradually as the aging time increased. The lowest value of absorbed impact energy was found to be 24 ± 2 J after 480 h of aging, which was only ~11% as that of solution annealed specimen. Fractography also showed that the fracture morphology changed from fibrous (ductile) to dominant brittle (which involved predominance of cleavage facets along with long, wide cracks i.e. delamination fracture) with increasing aging time. Tensile tests also showed a decrease in ductility and an increase in yield stress/ultimate tensile strength with aging time.