Adsorption of anionic dye on eco-friendly synthesised reduced graphene oxide anchored with lanthanum aluminate: Isotherms,kinetics and statistical error analysis

In the present study we made an effort to deploy eco-friendly synthesized reduced graphene oxide/Lanthanum Alluminate nanocomposites (RGO-LaAlO₃) and Lanthanum Alluminate (LaAlO₃) as adsorbents to remove dye from the synthetic media. XRD, SEM, BET surface area and EDX have been used to characterize the above-mentioned adsorbents. The impacts of different factors like adsorbent dosage, the concentration of adsorbate and PH on adsorption were studied. The best fit linear and nonlinear equations for the adsorption isotherms and kinetic models had been examined. The sum of the normalized errors and the coefficient of determination were used to determine the best fit model. The experimental data were more aptly fitted for nonlinear forms of isotherms and kinetic equations. Pseudo-second-order and Freundlich isotherm model fits the equilibrium data satisfactorily. Methyl orange (MO) has been used as model dye pollutant and maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 469.7 and 702.2 mg g^?1 for LaAlO₃ and RGO-LaAlO₃, respectively.     

Experimental investigation of Co and Fe-Doped CuO nanostructured electrode material for remarkable electrochemical performance

The current research work presents a facile and cost–effective co-precipitation method to prepare doped (Co & Fe) CuO and undoped CuO nanostructures without usage of any type of surfactant or capping agents. The structural analysis reveals monoclinic crystal structure of synthesized pure CuO and doped-CuO nanostructures. The effect of different morphologies on the performance of supercapacitors has been found in CV (cyclic voltammetry) and GCD (galvanic charge discharge) investigations. The specific capacitances have been obtained 156 (±5) Fg^?1, 168(±5) Fg^?1 and 186 (±5) Fg^?1 for CuO, Co-doped CuO and Fe-doped CuO electrodes, respectively at scan rate of 5 mVs^?1, while it is found to be 114 (±5) Fg^?1, 136 (±5) Fg^?1 and 170 (±5) Fg^?1 for CuO, Co–CuO and Fe–CuO, respectively at 0.5 Ag^-1 as calculated from the GCD. The super capacitive performance of the Fe–CuO nanorods is mainly attributed to the synergism that evolves between CuO and Fe metal ion. The Fe-doped CuO with its nanorods like morphology provides superior specific capacitance value and excellent cyclic stability among all studied nanostructured electrodes. Consequently, it motivates to the use of Fe-doped CuO nanostructures as electrode material in the next generation energy storage devices.     

Identifying crop water stress using deep learning models

Neural Computing and Applications - The identification of water stress is a major challenge for timely and effective irrigation to ensure global food security and sustainable agriculture. Several...     

A Novel Self-Organizing Approach to Automatic Traffic Light Management System for Road Traffic Network

Wireless Personal Communications - Traffic network is basically a “network of networks” consisting of mainly two types of networks: road network and a travel network. Due to drastic...     

Interplay of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and tissue engineering: a review on clinical aspects of ROS-responsive biomaterials

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) refers to the reactive molecules and free radicals of oxygen generated as the by-products of aerobic respiration. Historically, ROS are known as stress markers that are linked to the response of immune cell against microbial invasion, but recent discoveries suggest their role as secondary messengers in signal transduction and cell cycle. Tissue engineering (TE) techniques have the capabilities to harness such properties of ROS for the effective regeneration of damaged tissues. TE employs stem cells and biomaterial matrix, to heal and regenerate injured tissue and organ. During regeneration, one of the constraints is the unavailability of oxygen as proper vasculature is absent at the injured site. This creates hypoxic conditions at the site of regeneration. Hence, effective response against the stresses like hypoxia spurs the regeneration process. Contrary, hyperoxic condition may increase the risk of ROS stress at the site. TE tries to overcome these limitations with the new class of biomaterials that can sense such stresses and respond accordingly. This review endeavors to explain the role of ROS in stem cell proliferation and differentiation, which is a key component in regeneration. This compilation also highlights the new class of biomaterials that can overcome the hypoxic conditions during tissue regeneration along with emphasis on the ROS-responsive biomaterials and their clinical applications. Incorporating these biomaterials in scaffolds development holds huge potential in tissue or organ regeneration and even in drug delivery.

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SIRA: Scale illumination rotation affine invariant mask R-CNN for pedestrian detection

Applied Intelligence - In this paper, we resolve the challenging obstacle of detecting pedestrians with the ubiquity of irregularities in scale, rotation, and the illumination of the natural scene...     

Kinetic modelling and microbial community assessment of anaerobic biphasic fixed film bioreactor treating distillery spent wash

Anaerobic digestion, microbial community structure and kinetics were studied in a biphasic continuously fed, upflow anaerobic fixed film reactor treating high strength distillery wastewater. Treatment efficiency of the bioreactor was investigated at different hydraulic retention times (HRT) and organic loading rates (OLR 5-20 kg COD m⁻³ d⁻¹). Applying the modified Stover-Kincannon model to the reactor, the maximum removal rate constant (U_max) and saturation value constant (K_B) were found to be 2 kg m⁻³ d⁻¹ and 1.69 kg m⁻³ d⁻¹ respectively. Bacterial community structures of acidogenic and methanogenic reactors were assessed using culture-independent analyses. Sequencing of 16S rRNA genes exhibited a total of 123 distinct operational taxonomic units (OTUs) comprising 49 from acidogenic reactor and 74 (28 of eubacteria and 46 of archaea) from methanogenic reactor. The findings reveal the role of Lactobacillus sp. (Firmicutes) as dominant acid producing organisms in acidogenic reactor and Methanoculleus sp. (Euryarchaeotes) as foremost methanogens in methanogenic reactor.     

How cryogenic techniques help in machining of nickel alloys? A review

Nickel alloys are extensively used in aerospace, automotive, marine, nuclear, petro-chemical and food processing industries due to properties like high strength, resistance to heat, resistance to corrosion, etc. However, machining of these alloys pose many challenges in machining such as: work hardening, high temperatures at the cutting zone, rapid tool wear, reduced tool-life, etc. Attempts are made to overcome these challenges by using various cryogenic techniques. This paper, therefore discusses different techniques such as cryogenic cooling, cryogenic treatment of tool and simultaneous use of cryogenic cooling of tool and heating of workpiece (hybrid technique) and their effects on machinability of Nickel alloys with the help of indicators like tool-life, surface roughness, residual stresses, etc. It is concluded that cryogenic techniques are helpful in improving the machining performance by way of improvement in tool-life and surface quality. This happens due to better cooling by cryogen and improved tool properties after cryogenic treatment. However, based on the published works, it is not possible to decide about the following: correct amount of cryogen required for cooling, appropriate cryogenic tool treatment cycle to be used and the best parameters for machining of Nickel alloys. Therefore, future research should focus on these aspects.     

A combined experimental‐numerical framework for residual energy determination in spent lithium‐ion battery packs

The present research proposes a combined framework that evaluates remaining capacity, material behavior, ions concentration of remaining metals, and current rate of chemical reactions of spent Li‐ion batteries accurately. Voltage, temperature, internal resistance, and capacity were studied during charging and discharging cycles. Genetic programming was applied on the obtained data to develop a model to predict remaining capacity. The results of experimental work and those estimated from model were found to be correlated, confirming the validation of model. Materials structure and electrochemical behavior of electrodes during cycles were studied by cyclic voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersion spectrum.     

CFD analysis of performance improvement of the Savonius water turbine by using an impinging jet duct design

The majority of research on water turbines focuses on design improvement of large-scale hydrokinetic turbines for power generation, which may have delayed the utilization of kinetic energy contained in rivers and canals. The aim of this paper is to improve the efficiency of a two bladed Savonius type cross-flow hydrokinetic turbine, which can be used as an energy converter to harness free-stream kinetic energy of water. An impinging jet duct design is presented for improving performance of the Savonius turbine in wind application as seen from literature. The performance of the modified turbine is evaluated using CFD software Fluent, and is compared with that of a simple two bladed Savonius water turbine and some of the prominent literature designs of the Savonius turbine. It is shown that the present design exhibits improved performance compared to the selected designs of the Savonius turbine.Further an insight of the improved performance of the modified turbine is also obtained from flow physics study.