Electron microscopic observations of Bi and Tl bearing cuprate high temperature superconductors

The second generation of high temperature superconductors typified by Bi₂Sr₂Ca _n−1Cu _n O_2n+4 and Tl₂Ba₂Ca _n−1Cu _n O_2n+4 exhibits curious structural properties which have direct relevance to the superconducting behaviour particularly transition temperature (T _c ). The present paper reports on investigations of structural properties at microlevel in Bi-bearing HTCS. We have found curious structural characteristics which manifests itself in the form of transformation froma _p ×a _p ×c to (2)^1/2 a _p ×(2)^1/2 a _p ×c through the loss of calcium atoms and the formation of five-fold modulated phase alongb through the loss of Ca and Sr atoms. We have also found the evidence of high periodicities (n=4) Bi₂Sr₂Ca₃Cu₄O₁₂. The microstructural characteristics of HTCS showing the higherT _c (R=0) ∼ 120 K exhibits unusual characteristics.     

Hydrodynamic study on radially cross-flow fluidized bed multi-staged ion-exchange column

A hydrodynamic study was carried out on our patented radially cross-flow fluidized bed staged column, with the salt laden water and solid resins flowing counter-currently, to determine the loading/flooding criterion for a stable operation of the column, and also to ascertain the mal-distribution in flow. Residense time distribution measurements were taken to address the latter part of the study. The data collected from the hydrodynamic measurements show a wider range of liquid and solid flowrates that can be used for the stable operation of the column, in comparison to that obtained in the conventional multi-staged column. The extent of mal-distribution or channeling is also relatively smaller in the former. The observations are consistent with the mass-transfer results obtained in our recent study, where the separation of dissolved solids using the radially cross-flow ion exchange column was found to be 40% larger than that in the conventional column.     

Braille document recognition using Belief Propagation

There is a significant need for a system to recognize Braille documents in order to preserve them and make them available to a larger group of visually impaired people. A new system for Braille document recognition is proposed. We introduce a highly-adaptive Braille documents parameters estimation method to automatically determine the rotation angle, indentations, and spacing in both vertical and horizontal orientation. The key element in determining the rotation angle of the images is based on Radon transform. Also we introduce the method of Braille translation using Belief Propagation on the assumption that the Braille document is a Hidden Markov Model. We demonstrate the effectiveness of rotation angle correction as well as the accuracy of indentation and spacing in both orientations. We also prove that the translation algorithm is efficient and robust to errors made in the dot detection. The proposed method may be used for further applications.     

Indole‐based polymer and its silver nanocomposite as advanced antibacterial agents: synthetic path,kinetics of polymerization and applications

Atom transfer radical polymerization of 1‐allylindole‐3‐carbaldehyde (AIC) was studied by employing 2‐bromoisobutyryl bromide as initiator in toluene. It led to controlled radical polymerization of AIC, with an increase of molecular weight along with the conversion of the monomer, and a relatively narrow molar mass distribution was obtained, as determined by gel permeation chromatography. The living nature of poly(1‐allylindole‐3‐carbaldehyde) (PAIC) was confirmed by the chain extension polymerization whereas ¹H NMR analysis showed that the major population of PAIC retained the chain‐end functional group. PAIC and its silver nanocomposite were found to be biologically active against some tested bacterial pathogens. Minimum inhibitory concentration tests revealed that PAIC exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella pneumonae whereas PAIC/Ag nanocomposite showed antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis and K. pneumonae. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Semi-empirical modeling of electrical conductivity for composite bipolar plate with multiple reinforcements

Carbon composite bipolar plates were developed by compression molding of novolac type phenol formaldehyde resin with natural graphite, carbon black, and carbon fiber. The General Effective Media equation was adapted to model the electrical conductivity of the bipolar plate. The experimental values of the electrical conductivity of the composites with different reinforcements were well predicted by the model. For resin-graphite system (2-component), the most effective in-plane and through-plane electrical conductivities for 70% graphite content were found to be 201.26 and 40.91 S cm⁻¹, respectively. Similarly, for optimum resin-graphite-carbon black system (3-component), these values were found as 269.55 and 82.77 S cm⁻¹, respectively. The most effective in-plane and through-plane electrical conductivities were found to be 285.54 and 91.79 S cm⁻¹, respectively, for the composite with resin-graphite-carbon black-carbon fiber system (4-component). The predicted electrical conductivities for all the three systems were found to be in well agreement with the experimental values.     

Concatenation of electrochemical grafting with chemical or electrochemical modification for preparing electrodes with specific surface functionality

Surface modified electrodes are used in electro-analysis, electro-catalysis, sensors, biomedical applications, etc. and could also be used in batteries. The properties of modified electrodes are determined by the surface functionality. Therefore, the steps involved in the surface modification of the electrodes to obtain specific functionality are of prime importance. We illustrate here bridging of two routes of surface modifications namely electrochemical grafting, and chemical or electrochemical reduction. First, by electrochemical grafting an organic moiety is covalently immobilized on the surface. Then, either by chemical or by electrochemical route the terminal functional group of the grafted moiety is transformed. Using the former route we prepared lithium alkyl carbonate (–O(CH₂)₃OCO₂Li) modified carbon with potential applications in batteries, and employing the latter we prepared phenyl hydroxyl amine (–C₆H₄NHOH) modified carbon which may find application in biosensors. Benzyl alcohol (–C₆H₄CH₂OH) modified carbon was prepared by both chemical as well as electrochemical route. We report combinations of conjugating the two steps of surface modifications and show how the optimal route of terminal functional group modification depends on the chemical nature of the moiety attached to the surface in the electrochemical grafting step.     

Transient Inclusion Evolution During Modification of Alumina Inclusions by Calcium in Liquid Steel: Part II. Results and Discussion

The formation of intermediate reaction products after calcium addition to aluminum-killed steel was studied. Steel samples were taken from laboratory and industrial heats before and at various times after calcium treatment. Inclusions were characterized by automated and manual scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis of polished cross sections and inclusions extracted by dissolution of the steel. Industrial and laboratory melts containing more than 40 parts per million (by mass) of dissolved sulfur showed calcium sulfide as the main reaction product after calcium injection, with calcium aluminates appearing later. It is proposed that the calcium aluminates are formed by reaction between the calcium sulfide and the alumina. A laboratory heat containing 7 parts per million of sulfur showed calcium oxide as the main initial calcium reaction product. A simple mechanism is proposed for the modification of alumina inclusions by calcium, considering transient CaO and CaS formation.     

Tight bounds for prefetching and buffer management algorithms forparallel I/O systems

The I/O performance of applications in multiple-disk systems can be improved by overlapping disk accesses. This requires the use of appropriate prefetching and buffer management algorithms that ensure the most useful blocks are accessed and retained in the buffer. In this paper, we answer several fundamental questions on prefetching and buffer management for distributed-buffer parallel I/O systems. First, we derive and prove the optimality of an algorithm, P-min, that minimizes the number of parallel I/Os. Second, we analyze P-con, an algorithm that always matches its replacement decisions with those of the well-known demand-paged MIN algorithm. We show that P-con can become fully sequential in the worst case. Third, we investigate the behavior of on-line algorithms for multiple-disk prefetching and buffer management. We define and analyze P-Iru, a parallel version of the traditional LRU buffer management algorithm. Unexpectedly, we find that the competitive ratio of P-Iru is independent of the number of disks. Finally, we present the practical performance of these algorithms on randomly generated reference strings. These results confirm the conclusions derived from the analysis on worst case inputs     

Classification of drug molecules for oxidative stress signalling pathway

In humans, oxidative stress is involved in the development of diabetes, cancer, hypertension, Alzheimers’ disease, and heart failure. One of the mechanisms in the cellular defence against oxidative stress is the activation of the Nrf2‐antioxidant response element (ARE) signalling pathway. Computation of activity, efficacy, and potency score of ARE signalling pathway and to propose a multi‐level prediction scheme for the same is the main aim of the study as it contributes in a big amount to the improvement of oxidative stress in humans. Applying the process of knowledge discovery from data, required knowledge is gathered and then machine learning techniques are applied to propose a multi‐level scheme. The validation of the proposed scheme is done using the K‐fold cross‐validation method and an accuracy of 90% is achieved for prediction of activity score for ARE molecules which determine their power to refine oxidative stress.Inspec keywords: cancer, cellular biophysics, biochemistry, drugs, molecular biophysics, proteins, learning (artificial intelligence), medical computingOther keywords: oxidative stress, Nrf2‐antioxidant response element signalling pathway, ARE signalling pathway, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, Alzheimers’ disease, heart failure, machine learning techniques, K‐fold cross‐validation method, ARE molecules