A study of ergonomics factors in washbasin design

A 4-week UNESCO-sponsored mission to the Department of Architecture, Karadeniz Technical University in Eastern Turkey, gave an opportunity to apply ergonomics techniques to some aspects of that country's domestic washbasin design. The study was intended to provide experience in questionnaire design and administration, in the application of psycho-physical methods, and to highlight the importance of determining user characteristics and preferences with regard to the built environment. A field study elicited information on dimensions and positioning of existing wash-basins and ancillary equipment and the opinions of users as to the suitability of these features in relation to the activities performed. A laboratory study, using an adjustable rig permitting variation in the heights of basin, taps and mirror/shelf, followed. The data obtained on preferred heights of these items led to the conclusions that basin height should be increased to between 95 and 100 cm to satisfy the majority of users; tap height above the basin should be reduced to about 11 cm; the shelf and lower edge of a mirror sited above the basin should be 136 cm above the floor; and a clear space of 110 cm should be available between the front of the basin and a wall or other obstruction. Suggestions on other design aspects of the bathroom, resulting from the study, are discussed.     

A power-adaptable A/D converter with integrated data compression

A novel adaptable analog/digital converter (ADC) that combines analog/digital conversion and entropy-coding for integrated data compression and low-power operation is reported. The converter has high flexibility of operation in terms of adaptable resolution, conversion rate and input signal statistics. This feature allows to adaptively react to changes of the situation and to put the device in each case into the optimum configuration. The ADC has been realized in a 0.6 μm CMOS technology with a peak resolution of 12 bit and 200 kS/s maximum sampling rate. A comprehensive power model of the converter is presented that reflects precisely the power consumption determined from experiments. The model is very useful for optimizing the converter configuration in the node of a wireless sensor network for specific situations. A feasible real-life application is demonstrated.     

A Tutorial on Multiplierless Design of FIR Filters: Algorithms and Architectures

Finite impulse response (FIR) filtering is a ubiquitous operation in digital signal processing systems and is generally implemented in full custom circuits due to high-speed and low-power design requirements. The complexity of an FIR filter is dominated by the multiplication of a large number of filter coefficients by the filter input or its time-shifted versions. Over the years, many high-level synthesis algorithms and filter architectures have been introduced in order to design FIR filters efficiently. This article reviews how constant multiplications can be designed using shifts and adders/subtractors that are maximally shared through a high-level synthesis algorithm based on some optimization criteria. It also presents different forms of FIR filters, namely, direct, transposed, and hybrid and shows how constant multiplications in each filter form can be realized under a shift-adds architecture. More importantly, it explores the impact of the multiplierless realization of each filter form on area, delay, and power dissipation of both custom (ASIC) and reconfigurable (FPGA) circuits by carrying out experiments with different bitwidths of filter input, design libraries, reconfigurable target devices, and optimization criteria in high-level synthesis algorithms.     

Covalent Immobilization of a α-Amylase onto Poly(methyl methacrylate-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Microspheres and the Effect of Ca2+ Ions on the Enzyme Activity

α-Amylase was covalently immobilized onto poly(methyl methacrylate-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) microspheres, which were activated by using either epichlorohydrin (ECH) or cyanuric chloride (C₃N₃Cl₃). The properties of the immobilized enzyme were investigated and compared with those of the free enzyme. For the assays carried out at 25 °C and pH 6.9, the relative activities were found to be 73.0% and 90.8% for epichlorohydrin and cyanuric chloride bound enzymes, respectively. Upon immobilization, the maximum activities were obtained at lower pH values and higher temperatures as compared with the free enzyme. Kinetic parameters were calculated as 2.51 g/L, 28.54 g/L and 15.50 g/L for K_m and 1.67 × 10⁻³ gL⁻¹ min⁻¹ 2.89 × 10⁻⁴ gL⁻¹ min⁻¹ and 1.89 × 10⁻³ gL⁻¹ min⁻¹ for V_max for free, epichlorohydrin and cyanuric chloride bound enzymes, respectively. Enzyme activities were found to be ca. 32.7% for ECH and 41.1% for C₃N₃Cl₃ activated matrices after storage for one month. On the other hand the free enzyme lost its activity completely within 20 days. Immobilization, storage stability and repeated use capability experiments carried out in the presence of Ca²⁺ ions demonstrated higher stability in the presence of these ions. The enzymes immobilized in the presence of Ca²⁺ ions retained 90.6% and 90.8% of the original activities even after 30 days in the case of ECH and C₃N₃Cl₃ activations, respectively. In repeated batch experiments, i.e., 20 uses of the enzyme in 3 days; in the absence of Ca²⁺ ions retentions of 79.2% and 77.1% of the original enzyme activities were observed for ECH and C₃N₃Cl₃ immobilized enzymes, respectively, whereas, in the case of addition of Ca²⁺ ions to the assay medium, these values were enhanced to 95.3% and 92.2%.     

The kinetics of hydrolysis ofNigella sativa (black cumin) seed oil catalyzed by native lipase in ground seed

Kinetics of the lipolysis ofNigella sativa oil catalyzed by native lipase in crushed seed were studied between 20 and 90°C. Data fitted the pseudo first-order rate equation at 20, 30 and 40°C; and the pseudo second-order equation at 50, 60 and 70°C, but neither equation fit at 80 and 90°C. Lipolysis approximated first-order with respect to water.     

Synthesis of boron/nitrogen substituted carbons for aqueous asymmetric capacitors

Boron/nitrogen substituted carbons were synthesized by co-pyrolysis of polyborazylene/coal tar pitch blends to yield a carbon with a boron and nitrogen content of 14 at% and 10 at%, respectively. The presence of heteroatoms in these carbons shifted the hydrogen evolution overpotential to −1.4 V vs Ag/AgCl in aqueous electrolytes, providing a large electrochemical potential window (∼2.4 V) as well as a specific capacitance of 0.6 F/m². An asymmetric capacitor was fabricated using the as-prepared low surface area carbon as the negative electrode along with a redox active manganese dioxide as the positive electrode. The energy density of the capacitor exceeded 10 Wh/kg at a power density of 1 kW/kg and had a cycle life greater than 1000 cycles.     

Preparation of hybrid PU/PCL fibers from steviol glycosides via electrospinning as a potential wound dressing materials

In this study, the synthesis and application of biocompatible steviol glycosides based polyurethane/poly (ε-caprolactone) (PU/PCL) fibers was performed by electrospinning as a potential wound dressing materials that can be used for the closure of nonhealing wounds. During electrospinning, steviol glycoside-based polyurethane structures were used in blend formation with poly (ε-caprolactone) for easy producibility. Steviol glycosides are a natural abundant and easily accessible source as the main component of the wound dressing material due to their free hydroxyl groups, high biocompatibility, and hydrophilicity. The structure of steviol glycosides is composed of saccharide units and the free OH groups. Thus, steviol glycosides act as a crosslinker within the polyurethane structure and provides mechanical strength. For the production of steviol glycosides based PU/PCL fibers first, the steviol glycosides as a monomer were isolated from the stevia rebudiana. Then, polyurethane structures containing stevia glycoside were synthesized with hexamethylene diisocyanate, lactose and PEG-200 by solution polymerization technique. PCL was added to the prepared polyurethanes in a ratio of 1:2 and formation of nanofiber structure. The prepared wound dressing material was characterized by Fourier transform infrared, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscope techniques. Swelling degree, water content and oxygen permeability assay of the steviol glycosides based PU/PCL wound dressing material was determined. In biocompatibility test, cell viability value of PU/PCL fibrous materials in indirect cytotoxicity test was determined as 86.9% and cell adhesion on hybrid PU/PCL fibers was showed as morphological. In accordance with this target, the steviol glycosides based PU/PCL wound dressing material can be produced easily and low cost. As a result, the wound dressing materials obtained with their high biocompatibility and low costs will be an effective and fast method for the healing of open wounds of diabetics.     

Preparation of poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) walled thermochromic microcapsules and their application to cotton fabrics

This study focused on fabrication of the thermochromic microcapsules and their application to the cotton fabric. In this study, thermochromic systems composed of crystal violet lactone, bisphenol A, and 1-tetradecanol were prepared and microencapsulated by emulsion polymerization method in poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) wall. The microcapsules were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. Their thermoregulating property was tested by T-history test. The results revealed that microcapsules with smooth surfaces, core–shell structured, and spherical shape were successfully produced. The latent heat storage capacity of the microcapsules decreased from 202 J g⁻¹ to 167 J g⁻¹ when their shell/core ratio changed from 0.5/1 to 2/1. Microcapsules were adequately had sufficient thermal resistance to the temperatures they will encounter during their application to textile products and their usage. According to the UV–visible spectroscopy analysis and color measurements, the microcapsules exhibited reversible color change from blue to colorless and vice versa. Besides, the microcapsule impregnated fabric was able to absorb latent heat energy of 21.79 J g⁻¹ at around 35 °C and had cooling effect. According to the colorimetric parameters, the fabric was at blue color at room temperature and became colorless when heated to the temperature above the melting point of thermochromic system. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48815.     

All Solution‐Based Fabrication of Copper Oxide Thin Film/Cobalt‐Doped Zinc Oxide Nanowire Heterojunctions

Versatile and intriguing solution‐based processes are utilized to synthesize nanostructured materials for device applications to reduce material production and device fabrication costs. This study presents results on the fabrication and characterization of copper oxide (CuO) coated cobalt‐doped zinc oxide nanowires (Co‐doped ZnO NWs)‐based heterojunction diodes prepared by a two‐step synthesis route through combined hydrothermal growth and sol–gel spin coating. Highly dense, well‐ordered, undoped, and Co‐doped ZnO NWs were successfully grown by hydrothermal method. Complementary CuO thin films were synthesized by sol–gel method and subsequently coated onto both undoped and Co‐doped ZnO NWs through spin‐coating technique. Enhanced diode properties with a rectification ratio of 10³ at ±2 V and an ideality factor of n = 2.4 (in dark) were obtained for Co‐doped ZnO NWs‐based heterojunction diodes. The obtained results demonstrated that the investigated heterojunction diode structure fabricated by facile and cost‐effective solution‐based processes can be a promising candidate for the next generation optoelectronic devices.