Long‐term water uptake behavior of natural fiber/polypropylene composites

Composites of different natural fibers and polypropylene were prepared and their long‐term water absorption behaviors were studied. Wood flour, rice hulls, newsprint fibers, and kenaf fibers (at 25 and 50% by weight contents) were mixed with polypropylene and 1 and 2% compatibilizer, respectively. Water absorption tests were carried out on injection‐molded specimens at room temperature for 5 weeks. Measurements were made every week and water absorption was calculated. Water diffusion coefficients were also calculated by evaluating the water absorption isotherms. Results indicated a significant difference among different natural fibers, with kenaf fibers and newsprint fibers exhibiting the highest and wood flour and rice hulls the lowest water absorption values, respectively. The difference between 25 and 50% fiber contents for all composite formulations increased at longer immersion times. Water diffusion coefficients of the composites were found to be about 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of pure PP. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2006     

Bioactive properties of Kilka (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Clupeonella cultriventris caspi</Emphasis>) fish protein hydrolysates

Whole common Kilka fish was hydrolyzed separately using four commercial enzymes, Alcalase, Neutrase, Protamex at 50 °C and Pepsin at 37 °C for 30, 60 and 90 min. Degree of hydrolysis, angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity and antimicrobial activity of each hydrolysate against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria innocua) bacteria were studied. Results showed that the degree of hydrolysis for all enzymes was in the range of 2.63–3.36%. Electrophoresis profiles of the Kilka protein hydrolysates showed that most of produced peptides were in the range of 30 D but Alcalase and Neutrase had a better performance in the production of low molecular weight peptides in the range of 10 D. This led to increase the antimicrobial activity against the examined bacteria at the concentration of 200 µg/mL peptide solution. The Neutrase enzyme produced hydrolysate with the highest ACE inhibitory activity (53%?±?1.8 at 500 µg/mL). Antimicrobial activity of Kilka protein hydrolysates using Protamex and Pepsin was lower than the others due to lack of considerable amount of small peptides. The current research has demonstrated that the peptides derived from the enzymatic hydrolysis of Kilka fish protein in optimum conditions are capable of being converted to antimicrobial and antihypertensive agents to be used in functional foods.     

Wireless multichannel biopotential recording using an integrated FM telemetry circuit.

This paper presents a four-channel telemetric microsystem featuring on-chip alternating current amplification, direct current baseline stabilization, clock generation, time-division multiplexing, and wireless frequency-modulation transmission of microvolt- and millivolt-range input biopotentials in the very high frequency band of 94-98 MHz over a distance of approximately 0.5 m. It consists of a 4.84-mm2 integrated circuit, fabricated using a 1.5-microm double-poly double-metal n-well standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor process, interfaced with only three off-chip components on a custom-designed printed-circuit board that measures 1.7 x 1.2 x 0.16 cm3, and weighs 1.1 g including two miniature 1.5-V batteries. We characterize the microsystem performance, operating in a truly wireless fashion in single-channel and multichannel operation modes, via extensive benchtop and in vitro tests in saline utilizing two different micromachined neural recording microelectrodes, while dissipating approximately 2.2 mW from a 3-V power supply. Moreover, we demonstrate successful wireless in vivo recording of spontaneous neural activity at 96.2 MHz from the auditory cortex of an awake marmoset monkey at several transmission distances ranging from 10 to 50 cm with signal-to-noise ratios in the range of 8.4-9.5 dB.     

Preparation of novel 2-(2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl)-3- arylthiazolidin-4-one derivatives using an efficient ionic liquid catalyst

An eco-friendly procedure for synthesis of 2-(2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl)-3-arylthiazolidin-4-one derivatives by three-component reaction of 2-oxo-2H-chromene-4-carbaldehydes, aromatic amines and thioglycolic acid, with tetramethylbutane-1,4-diammonium acetate as a low-cost ionic liquid catalyst under reflux condition is described. The use of an ionic liquid as a catalyst has the advantages of high yields, short reaction time and environmentally friendly reaction media.     

Silicon Affects Rice Growth,Superoxide Dismutase Activity and Concentrations of Chlorophyll and Proline under Different Levels and Sources of Soil Salinity

Silicon - Silicon (Si) application shows beneficial effects on growth and salt tolerance of plants; however, its effects on the rice (Oryza sativa L. var. Hashemi) growth, superoxide dismutase...     

Increased tracking ability of pulse width modulation-driven pneumatic servo systems via a modified pneumatic circuit

In this article, to increase the tracking ability of pulse width modulation (PWM)-driven pneumatic servo systems, the pneumatic circuit is modified such that an identical PWM signal is demanded by both fast switching valves. As a result, the problem of allocating different duty cycles to the valves is vanished, due to the synchronized pulsing inputs. A simple PWM algorithm is applied to compensate the dead zones in the relation between the duty cycle input and the valve flow output. An experimental investigation is carried out to indicate the capabilities of the proposed circuit. Closed-loop tests are implemented and high tracking performance for frequencies up to 5Hz are obtained, whereas experiments with frequencies up to 1Hz were reported in previous studies. In similar conditions of load and cylinder size, experiments of the proposed circuit indicate acceptable results with simple PD controller, compared with the more complicated controllers and circuits of previous studies.     

Fully integrated wideband high-current rectifiers for inductively powered devices

This paper describes the design and implementation of fully integrated rectifiers in BiCMOS and standard CMOS technologies for rectifying an externally generated RF carrier signal in inductively powered wireless devices, such as biomedical implants, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, and smartcards to generate an on-chip dc supply. Various full-wave rectifier topologies and low-power circuit design techniques are employed to decrease substrate leakage current and parasitic components, reduce the possibility of latch-up, and improve power transmission efficiency and high-frequency performance of the rectifier block. These circuits are used in wireless neural stimulating microsystems, fabricated in two processes: the University of Michigan's 3-/spl mu/m 1M/2P N-epi BiCMOS, and the AMI 1.5-/spl mu/m 2M/2P N-well standard CMOS. The rectifier areas are 0.12-0.48 mm/sup 2/ in the above processes and they are capable of delivering >25mW from a receiver coil to the implant circuitry. The performance of these integrated rectifiers has been tested and compared, using carrier signals in 0.1-10-MHz range.     

Thermal–economic–environmental analysis and multi-objective optimization of an internal-reforming solid oxide fuel cell–gas turbine hybrid system

In this article, an internal-reforming solid oxide fuel cell–gas turbine (IRSOFC–GT) hybrid system is modeled and analyzed from thermal (energy and exergy), economic, and environmental points of view. The model is validated using available data in the literature. Utilizing the genetic algorithm optimization technique, multi-objective optimization of modeled system is carried out and the optimal values of system design parameters are obtained. In the multi-objective optimization procedure, the exergy efficiency and the total cost rate of the system (including the capital and maintenance costs, operational cost (fuel cost), and social cost of air pollution for CO, NO_x, and CO₂) are considered as objective functions. A sensitivity analysis is also performed in order to study the effect of variations of the fuel unit cost on the Pareto optimal solutions and their corresponding design parameters. The optimization results indicate that the final optimum design chosen from the Pareto front results in exergy efficiency of 65.60% while it leads to total cost of 3.28 million US$ year⁻¹. It is also demonstrated that the payback time of the chosen design is 6.14 years.