Heat transfer analysis of Walters’-B fluid with Newtonian heating through an oscillating vertical plate by using fractional Caputo–Fabrizio derivatives

Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials - This paper presents a study of Walters’-B fluid with Caputo–Fabrizio fractional derivatives through an infinitely long oscillating vertical plate...     

On the Refinement Mechanism of Silicon in Al-Si-Cu-Zn Alloy with Addition of Bismuth

Obtained results of micro and nano studies reveal that bismuth refines the silicon in which the flake silicon changed to lamellar structure with reduction in twin spacing from 160 to 75 nm. Bismuth segregates towards the inter-dendritic regions and decreases the Al-Si contact angle resulting in suppression of the silicon growth causing refinement of the eutectic structure. Increased recalescence temperature and time confirmed that the refinement effect is attributed to the growth stage.     

Phenomenological model of the magnetocaloric effect and its correlation with critical behavior near room temperature in La<Subscript>0.7</Subscript>Ca<Subscript>0.2</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>0.1</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> manganite

In this paper, we investigate the field dependence of the magnetocaloric properties of La_0.7Ca_0.2Sr_0.1MnO₃ powder sample using a phenomenological model. Our compound was elaborated by the conventional solid state reaction. The model parameters were determined from the magnetization data and were used to give better fits to magnetic transition and to calculate the magnetocaloric quantities. The magnetocaloric parameters such as the maximum of the magnetic entropy change \(\Delta S_M^{max}\) and the relative cooling power RCP, have been determined from the calculation of the magnetization as a function of temperature under several magnetic applied field. Thus, from the magnetocaloric results, such as RCP?≈?b(μ₀H)^1+1/δ and T_peak???T_C ≈ b (µ₀H)^1/Δ, the critical exponents values related to the magnetic transition have been determined. The estimated results are close to those expected by the tricritical mean-field model. Furthermore, the values of the ferromagnetic transition temperature T_C, as well as the critical exponents β, γ and δ obtained by the theoretical model, are compared with those obtained by other various techniques (such as the modified Arrott plots, the Kouvel–Fisher method and the critical isotherm analysis). A good agreement has been found in the vicinity of the Curie temperature.     

Emotional speaker recognition in real life conditions using multiple descriptors and i-vector speaker modeling technique

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Emotional speaker recognition under real life conditions becomes an urgent need for several applications. This paper proposes a novel approach using multiple...     

Synthesis,Characterization, Antibacterial Properties,and In Vitro Studies of Selenium and Strontium Co-Substituted Hydroxyapatite

In this study, as a measure to enhance the antimicrobial activity of biomaterials, the selenium ions have been substituted into hydroxyapatite (HA) at different concentration levels. To balance the potential cytotoxic effects of selenite ions (SeO₃²⁻) in HA, strontium (Sr²⁺) was co-substituted at the same concentration. Selenium and strontium-substituted hydroxyapatites (Se-Sr-HA) at equal molar ratios of x Se/(Se + P) and x Sr/(Sr + Ca) at (x = 0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2) were synthesized via the wet precipitation route and sintered at 900 °C. The effect of the two-ion concentration on morphology, surface charge, composition, antibacterial ability, and cell viability were studied. X-ray diffraction verified the phase purity and confirmed the substitution of selenium and strontium ions. Acellular in vitro bioactivity tests revealed that Se-Sr-HA was highly bioactive compared to pure HA. Se-Sr-HA samples showed excellent antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus carnosus) bacterial strains. In vitro cell–material interaction, using human osteosarcoma cells MG-63 studied by WST-8 assay, showed that Se-HA has a cytotoxic effect; however, the co-substitution of strontium in Se-HA offsets the negative impact of selenium and enhanced the biological properties of HA. Hence, the prepared samples are a suitable choice for antibacterial coatings and bone filler applications.     

The Viability of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM Following Double Encapsulation in Alginate and Maltodextrin

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM (LNCFM) were encapsulated in alginate microgel particles (microbeads) by a novel dual aerosols method. The encapsulated probiotics in microbead gel matrix were further stabilized in maltodextrin solids by either spray or freeze-drying to form probiotic microcapsule powders. The free cells of probiotics were also sprayed and freeze-dried in maltodextrin only without microgel encapsulation. After rehydration of microgel-encapsulated powder, gel particles regained their shape. There was no difference in the loss of viability between encapsulated and unencapsulated probiotics during spray drying or freeze-drying. For LNCFM, spray-dried bacteria with or without gel encapsulation exhibited less death (3.03 and 3.07 log CFU/g reduction, respectively) than those of freeze-dried bacteria (4.36 and 4.89 log CFU/g reduction, respectively) after 6 months storage at 4 °C. The same trend was also observed in spray-dried LGG without gel encapsulation which showed 5.87 log CFU/g reduction in viability after 6 months at 4 °C; however, freeze-dried LGG without gel encapsulation exhibited a rapid reduction in viability of 5.91 log CFU/g within just 2 months. Gel-encapsulated LGG which was freeze-dried exhibited less death (3.32 log CFU/g reduction) after 6 months at 4 °C. This work shows that spray drying results in improved subsequent probiotic survivability compared to freeze-drying and that alginate gel encapsulation can improve the survivability following freeze-drying in a probiotic-dependent manner.