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.

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 importance of any conversation on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot be overstated as such advanced technologies now influence almost every aspect of our lives. To date, dominant approaches to AI ethics have traditionally focused on the agency of the organisations creating such AI projects (e.g. the Google AI principles), but more recent approaches focus on wider structures and frameworks that may potentially support responsible AI design (e.g. the Ethically Aligned Design framework by IEEE). In this paper, we argue that such frameworks are both incomplete and insufficient as these approaches give primacy to either agency or structure. Moreover, in both approaches, the emancipation of those for whom AI is designed is almost completely ignored. To remove these lacunae, we suggest an emancipatory approach to AI ethics based on the key tenets of the philosophy and ontology of critical realism. The stratified ontology of critical realism suggests that structural conditions may be modified to activate the mechanisms supporting any desired outcome (e.g., bias-free AI). In addition, such an emancipatory approach works towards activating the mechanisms supporting the reflexivity of the stakeholders in any specific AI context. This paper makes an argument for adopting this particular philosophical approach, and we discuss three critical realist-based mechanisms in support of our argument: ethical training of AI professionals, citizen engagement, and freedom of AI information.

The present study aims at the development and characterization of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles as a carrier for various anti-cancerous drugs viz. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), Doxorubicin (DOX) and Daunorubicin (DNR). ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by standard precipitation method. The measurement of optical band gap using UV-Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) analysis reveals the lowering of ZnO band gap after the drug loading. Crystallite size of free and drug loaded ZnO nanoparticles were determined using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. The crystallite size of ZnO nanoparticles increases after the drug loading. Both the techniques confirm the adsorption of drug molecules on ZnO surface.

According to World Energy Outlook 2020, investment of near about USD 1.2 Trillion is required every year to meet global energy demand for the period of 2020-30. Out of this, substantial portion of investment is expected in the hydrocarbon industry. Like many other industries, hydrocarbon industry is hit hard by Covid-19 pandemic with decrease in demand though recovery in demand picked up gradually from the latter half of year 2021. Timely execution of Large Hydrocarbon (LHC) projects within budgeted estimates is necessary to keep the faith of investors in this sector and to attract further investment. The LHC projects are more complex in nature due to various stakeholders' involvement, which may typically involve process technology licensors, owners, project management consultants, contractors, government agencies etc. The purpose of this study is to find out the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for LHC projects. The study commenced with comprehensive literature review for identification of reported CSFs for various industries. Thereafter, data collected from expert interviews and questionnaire survey are analyzed to find out CSFs for LHC projects. The study provides a list of CSFs which may be referred as guiding tool by industry practitioners and may help in reducing the schedule and cost overruns.

Monoclinic chromium nanoparticleswere synthesized by thermal decomposition method using CrCl3 as precursor. It is a simple, fast and effective method.The synthesized nanoparticles were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X- ray diffraction (XRD)techniques. The SEM analysis confirms the spherical shape morphology and presence of stress on the surface of the nanoparticles. The XRD analysis proves that the crystal structure ismonoclinic and the size of nanoparticles is 45.20 nm.

Spectroelectrochemicalinvestigation of racemic alanine on poly crystalline metal surfaces was studied in 1M LiClO4 medium, to achieve cost effective separation of biologically important molecules from the racemic mixture. Analysis of the FTIR spectrum of racemic alanine in 1M LiClO4 indicated degradation of the same. Upon prolonged exposure in LiClO4, byproducts from degradation of alanine increasedin concentration as also observed from UV-Vis spectroscopy. Cyclic Voltammetry studies unraveled different adsorption behaviors on different metal surfaces for the racemic and the enantiomeric solution of alanine. Further FTIR analysis of the alanine solution after Cyclic Voltammetry revealed possible presence of cyanide (-C=N) and terminal alkyne as byproducts. As predicted by Monte Carlo simulations earlier, Circular Dichroism implied the dextro rotation of the racemic alanine solution after Cyclic Voltammetry. These results support the preferential adsorption of L-alanine over D-alanine from racemic mixture that could be attributed to the umbrella inversion of the molecule after adsorption on the metal surface in presence of applied electric field in the LiClO4 environment. A plausible mechanism for the formation of terminal alkyne and - C=N byproducts had also been attempted.