Palyno-morphological attributes of some selected plant species of family Asteraceae from district Dera Ismail Khan,KPK, Pakistan

The current study aimed to investigate the palyno-morphological features of Asteraceous species from District Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A total of 13 species were collected, pressed, identified, and examined by using light and scanning electron microscopy. Both qualitative and quantitative pollen characters were observed, that is, equatorial and polar diameter, number of pores and colpi, exine thickness, exine sculpturing, pollen shape, and P/E ratio. Pollen shapes observed in studied taxa were spheroidal, suboblate, oblate-spheroidal, and lophate-spheroidal. The aperturation patterns of pollens vary from tricolporate to tetracolporate. The maximum polar and equatorial diameter of 75–100 (87.5 ± 13.6) μm and 87.5–117.5 (102.5 ± 16.4) μm, respectively, was recorded in Echinops echinatus, while minimum polar and equatorial diameter of 20–22.5 (21 ± 1.36) μm and 22.5–25 (23.5 ± 1.36) μm, respectively, was recorded in Aster subulatus. Six types of exine sculpturing patterns were observed; echinate, micro-echinate, echinate-microreticulate, microreticulate, echinate-perforate, and scabrate. Maximum exine thickness of 8.75 μm was recorded in E. echinatus and minimum of 1.25 μm in Launaea mucronata. The pollen morphology has valuable significance in understanding the taxonomy of different plant groups and plays a central role in the correct identification and classification of Asteraceous flora at species, generic, and tribe levels.     

Characterization Of C60/Bi2TiO4F2 as a Potential Visible Spectrum Photocatalyst for The Depolymerization of Lignin

Effects of a photocatalyst, C₆₀-modified Bi₂TiO₄F₂, on pine kraft lignin under visible light irradiation were investigated, along with those of Bi₂TiO₄F₂ and C₆₀/TiO₂ as references. The influences of pH, C₆₀ mass fraction, and the initial lignin concentration on lignin conversion and yields of mono-phenolic products were investigated. Seven products were determined by GC/MS, including phenol, 2-methoxyphenol, 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, vanillin, acetovanillone, and homovanillic acid. The yields of products and lignin conversion were higher by C₆₀/Bi₂TiO₄F₂ than Bi₂TiO₄F₂ and C₆₀/TiO₂. C₆₀/Bi₂TiO₄F₂ and C₆₀/TiO₂ were more stable than Bi₂TiO₄F₂ upon repetitive recycling of catalyst. The effectiveness of C₆₀/Bi₂TiO₄F₂ declines 25%, whereas that of Bi₂TiO₄F₂ declines 56.4% after being recycled five times. FTIR and HRTEM indicated that the deactivation of photocatalysts might be caused by lignin adsorbed on the surface of photocatalysts and the change in the crystal structure.     

Microscopic and mechanical properties of semi‐crystalline and amorphous polymeric parts produced by laser cutting

Microscopic and mechanical properties of polymeric parts are effective factors on their durability. Laser cutting is one of the most common methods for production of 2D polymeric parts. Experimental study of the mentioned properties of semi‐crystalline and amorphous polymeric parts after laser cutting is conducted in this research. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polystyrene (PS) are considered as semi‐crystalline and amorphous polymers, respectively. Laser power and cutting velocity were selected as input parameters of cutting process. According to microscopic observations, the microcracks, re‐solidified spots of molten material, and sink marks just appear in heat affected zone (HAZ) on amorphous polymer. Results also showed that the HAZ width and surface roughness values are smaller for semi‐crystalline polymer. For both polymers, decreasing of power and increasing of cutting velocity reduce the HAZ and surface roughness. In the case of mechanical properties, tensile strength of semi‐crystalline and amorphous polymers reduces after laser cutting. Results of experiments revealed that the extension of HAZ and deterioration of surface finish decrease tensile strength of parts. Therefore, lower power and higher cutting velocity condition is preferable for reaching the better mechanical properties. Furthermore, two separate mathematical models for each polymer are presented for prediction of tensile strength after laser cutting process. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 44179.     

A Q Learning and Fuzzy Q Learning Approach for Optimization of Interference Constellations in Femto–Macro Cellular Architecture in Downlink

The reduction in the cost and enhancement in the network coverage and capacity are the main objectives in the establishment of mobile networks. These objectives were the key force behind the idea of femtocells deployment. But, there are many technical issues for the femtocells deployment with already existing macro network. Cross-tier interference is one of the main challenge that must have to be resolved for smooth operation of macro–femto network. This paper gives self-optimizing and self-healing technique that utilizes Q-learning and fuzzy Q-learning algorithm for the objectives of enhancement in the network capacity and spectral efficiency. In our proposed scheme, each macro base station acts as an agent which interacts with its local environment (all the femtocells and mobile stations under its coverage area), gathers the information and takes the suitable actions correspondingly. For the objective of controlling cross-tier interference, macrousers are rescheduled in such an intelligent way that performance of the femtousers, located on the overlapped spectral portion, is not degraded. The simulation results confirm our proposed approach to improve the network capacity and spectral efficiency as well as sharp convergence, which designates its capability to meet the self organizing network requirements set by 3GPP.     

Effects of different filler types on decay resistance and thermal,physical, and mechanical properties of recycled high-density polyethylene composites

In this study, flexural properties, impact strength, thermal performance, water absorption, biological durability, and morphology of wood-plastic composites (WPCs) filled with different filler types were investigated. Six different formulations of WPCs were fabricated from mixtures of carpenter waste and recycled high-density polyethylene (R-HDPE). The carpenter waste was derived from wood and particle board wastes, and R-HDPE was used as the polymer matrix, with and without addition of maleic anhydrite grafted polyethylene (MAPE). All formulations were compression moulded in a hot press for 3 min at 170 °C. Investigations on the compression moulded specimens revealed that water absorption values in the particleboard waste flour specimens were lower than in the wood-waste flour WPCs. However, the wood-waste flour-filled composites exhibited higher mechanical property values than the particleboard waste flour WPCs. Statistically, only the wood-waste flour-filled composites with MAPE were significantly different. The use of MAPE (3 wt%) had a positive effect on the water absorption, crystallinity degree, and flexural properties of the WPCs. In addition, the peak temperatures of the composites did not show any variation, while thermal decomposition of the composites showed minor variations under the thermogravimetric analysis. Furthermore, the decay resistance of the composites improved with the use of particleboard waste flour. The obtained results demonstrate that particleboard waste flour, such as wood-waste flour, is potentially suitable as a raw material in WPCs.     

Inexpensive synthesis of a high-performance Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript>-SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> photocatalyst: Magnetic recovery and reuse

A sol-gel technique has been developed for the synthesis of a magnetite-silica-titania (Fe₃O₄-SiO₂-TiO₂) tertiary nanocomposite with improved photocatalytic properties based on the use of inexpensive titania and silica precursors. The exceptional photocatalytic activity of the resulting materials was demonstrated by using them to photocatalyze the degradation of methylene blue solution. The best formulation achieved 98% methylene blue degradation. An interesting feature of the present work was the ability to magnetically separate and reuse the catalyst. The efficiency of the catalyst remained high during two reuses. The synthesized nanomaterials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultra-violet-visible spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. XRD analysis revealed the formation of multicrystalline systems of cubic magnetite and anatase titania crystals. SEM and TEM characterization revealed well-developed and homo-geneously dispersed particles of size less than 15 nm. FTIR spectra confirmed the chemical interaction of titania and silica. It was further noticed that the optical properties of the prepared materials were dependent on the relative contents of their constituent metal oxides.

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Design for testability of high‐order OTA‐C filters

A study of oscillation‐based test for high‐order Operational Transconductance Amplifier‐C (OTA‐C) filters is presented. The method is based on partition of a high‐order filter into second‐order filter functions. The opening Q‐loop and adding positive feedback techniques are developed to convert the second‐order filter section into a quadrature oscillator. These techniques are based on an open‐loop configuration and an additional positive feedback configuration. Implementation of the two testability design methods for nth‐order cascade, IFLF and leapfrog (LF) filters is presented, and the area overhead of the modified circuits is also discussed. The performances of the presented techniques are investigated. Fourth‐order cascade, inverse follow‐the‐leader feedback (IFLF) and LF OTA‐C filters were designed and simulated for analysis of fault coverage using the adding positive feedback method based on an analogue multiplexer. Simulation results show that the oscillation‐based test method using positive feedback provides high fault coverage of around 97%, 96% and 95% for the cascade, IFLF and LF OTA‐C filters, respectively. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetic and conductive magnetite nanowires by DNA-templating

The synthesis of nanowires made of magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) phase iron oxide was achieved using DNA as a template to direct formation of the metal oxide and confine its growth in two dimensions. This simple solution-based approach involves initial association of Fe(2+) and Fe(3+) to the DNA "template" molecules, and subsequent co-precipitation of the Fe(3)O(4) material, upon increasing the solution pH, to give the final metal oxide nanowires. Analysis of the DNA-templated material, using a combination of FTIR, XRD, XPS, and Raman spectroscopy, confirmed the iron oxide formed to be the Fe(3)O(4) crystal phase. Investigation of the structural character of the nanowires, carried out by AFM, revealed the metal oxide to form regular coatings of nanometre-scale thickness around the DNA templates. Statistical analysis showed the size distribution of the nanowires to follow a trimodal model, with the modal diameter values identified as 5-6 nm, 14-15 nm, and 23-24 nm. Additional scanning probe microscopy techniques (SCM, MFM) were also used to verify that the nanowire structures are electrically conducting and exhibit magnetic behaviour. Such properties, coupled with the small dimensions of these materials, make them potentially good candidates for application in a host of future nanoscale device technologies.