Fakir Mohan University (FM University) is named after prominent Odia writer Fakir Mohan Senapati. The seat of the Vice-Chancellor is in the new campus located at Nuapadhi, Balasore, Odisha, India..
The powder samples of rare earth, Gd doped ZnO were synthesized by a wet chemical solution method. Structural analysis showed that all the samples crystallize in the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO along with the impurity phases associated with Gd. The crystallite sizes, estimated using the Debye–Scherrer and Williamson–Hall methods, were found to be in the ranges of 29.63–43.02 nm and 31.64–56.81 nm, respectively. The morphological features showed nearly hexagonal rectangular particles with few rod shaped particles. The 3
Development of efficient, cost-effective, and multifunctional electrocatalysts is the key focus in renewable energy research. Cobalt-based electrocatalysts are widely used in the electrochemical HER, OER, and ORR. In this study, we report a novel multifunctional electrocatalyst composed of polyaniline (PANI) decorated with cobalt nanoclusters, synthesized via a simple solvothermal method. The uniform distribution of amorphous cobalt nanoclusters within the PANI matrix provides abundant active sites, high electrical conductivity, and high surface area, resulting in excellent trifunctional electrocatalytic activity. The Co60@PANI catalyst exhibits a high half-wave potential of 0.74 V versus RHE and limiting current density of -4.82 mA cm-2 in 0.1 M KOH for the ORR. The catalysts also achieve low overpotentials of 292 and 320 mV at 10 mA/cm2 for HER and OER, respectively, in 1 M KOH. This finding provides a foundation for the development of highly efficient and multifunctional electrocatalysts toward energy conversion processes.
This article presents the local convergence analysis of a fifth-order Potra–Pták-like iteration method for solving nonlinear equations in Banach spaces. Our convergence analysis depends exclusively on the first-order derivative, in contrast to existing results that establish fifth-order convergence using the classical Taylor series approach, which requires higher-order derivatives. A comprehensive extended ball convergence theorem for the proposed method is developed, providing explicit expressions for the radius of convergence, error estimates, and the uniqueness domain of the solution. Furthermore, the dynamic behavior of this iterative method is explored using the concept of basins of attraction, which visually demonstrate the convergence regions for different complex polynomial equations. We analyze and compare two cases of the method, known as PTKM5-I and PTKM5-II, in terms of their numerical examples and dynamic characteristics. The numerical results are also compared with the existing iteration method, showing that both cases of the proposed method have improved performance compared to the existing method, with PTKM5-I providing a wider convergence region than PTKM5-II. Theoretical and numerical analyses confirm the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed iteration scheme.
BackgroundGlobal health progress accelerated from 2000 to 2019, followed by severe disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study provides a demographic and econometric assessment of Healthy Life Expectancy (HALE) trends, associations between socioeconomic factors and health service coverage, and projections to 2030 under alternative policy scenarios. Because the analysis is observational, findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.MethodsWe applied a continuous-change demographic decomposition to partition HALE gains (2000–2019) and pandemic losses (2019–2021) across 22 causes of death and 10 age groups in 167 countries. Country and year fixed-effects panel regressions estimated associations between health determinants and six outcomes—HALE, under-five mortality (U5MR), maternal mortality (MMR), UHC Service Coverage Index (SCI), catastrophic health spending, and DTP3 immunization—over 2000–2021. Socioeconomic inequality in DTP3 coverage was measured using the Slope Index of Inequality (SII) from 88 DHS/MICS surveys (2014–2023). Dynamic simulation models projected outcomes to 2030 under business-as-usual, primary health care expansion, and accelerated equity-focused reform scenarios with Monte Carlo uncertainty. Robustness checks used Driscoll–Kraay standard errors for cross-sectional dependence and system GMM for dynamic panel specification; results were consistent with the main findings.FindingsGlobal HALE increased by 5.25 years (95% CI: 4.89–5.61) from 2000 to 2019, with communicable disease reductions accounting for an estimated 65% of gains. The pandemic reduced HALE by 1.50 years globally, with COVID-19 responsible for over 80% of losses and substantial regional heterogeneity. The estimated income association for HALE was 0.687 (p < 0.001), while female education showed stronger associations with mortality reductions in LMICs. UHC expansion was positively associated with catastrophic spending (elasticity 0.214), a pattern consistent with service–financial protection decoupling. Median DTP3 inequality was 10.4 percentage points, and subnational gender inequality correlated with immunization coverage (ρ = 0.49). Under business-as-usual, 34 countries reach UHC SCI ≥ 80 by 2030, compared with 78 under equity-focused reform.InterpretationHALE gains have relied largely on communicable disease control, now approaching diminishing returns. Persistent inequalities and pandemic setbacks highlight the need for equity-focused financing and gender-responsive reforms, while future quasi-experimental and intervention studies are needed to confirm these observational findings.
Widespread extreme precipitation events (WEPEs) have intensified globally in recent decades, leading to severe hydrological and socio-economic impacts. Iran has experienced several destructive WEPEs, particularly during 2019 and 2020. Using Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG-F) data for 2000-2024, extreme precipitation events (EPs) were classified as WEPEs when their spatially connected affected area exceeded 10% of Iran's land area. A total of 153 WEPEs were identified across all seasons. Owing to the dominant contribution of winter and spring events, subsequent large-scale analyses focused on these two seasons, comprising 135 events (80 in winter and 55 in spring). Evaluation against observations from 39 synoptic stations on IMERG-identified WEPE days, indicates that IMERG-F reliably captures the frequency and intensity of EPs during WEPEs, supporting its use for long-term WEPE analysis. Cluster analysis using Ward's method delineated three spatial sub-regions were identified: R1 (western and northwestern Iran), R2 (eastern, central and southeastern Iran) and R3 (southern Iran). R1 exhibited the highest frequency and intensity of WEPEs, while event duration contributed comparably across R1 and R3, reaching up to 500-h/25-year (similar to 21-day/25-year). Composite analyses reveal that WEPEs over R1, R2 and R3 are associated with upper deep trough over Red Sea, eastern Saudi Arabia, and the Red Sea extending toward central Saudi Arabia, respectively. Increased instability and dynamical forcing substantially strengthen upwards motion, while moisture transport is dominated by strong integrated vapor transport from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Lead-lag composite analysis of 200 hPa geopotential height anomalies reveal a clear synoptic evolution preceding WEPEs across Iran. Furthermore, WEPEs over Iran is closely associated with Circumglobal Wave Train (CGT) in both seasons, with North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) influence WEPEs indirectly by modulating CGT variability.
