Determination of critical level of zinc in non-calcareous soils for predicting response of wheat to applied zinc

Studies were conducted in ten non-calcareous arid brown soils (India) to determine the critical level of soil Zn for predicting response of wheat to zinc fertilization. The per cent mean response at 5 mg kg^–1 added Zn varied from 1.3 to 51.4 with a mean value of 17.5 per cent over control in terms of grain yield (g pot^–1). Further, Zn application resulted in significant increase in Zn concentration in various plant parts in all the soils irrespective of the initial Zn status. The critical level of Zn in soil and plant below which response to applied Zn may be expected was found to be 1.75 mg kg^–1 for 0.1 N HC1 extractable soil Zn and 1.7 mg kg^–1 for plant tissue Zn.     

Synthesis and Evaluation of Novel Functional Polymers Derived from Renewable Jasmine Lactone for Stimuli-Responsive Drug Delivery

Instances of synthetic polymers obtained from renewable feedstock with the possibility of post-synthesis functionalization are scarce. Herein, the first ever synthesis and drug delivery application of amphiphilic block copolymer (mPEG-b-PJL) derived from renewable jasmine lactone with free allyl groups on the backbone is presented. The polymer is synthesized via facile ring-opening polymerization and subsequently, UV mediated thiol-ene click chemistry is utilized for post-functionalization. The introduction of hydroxyl, carboxyl, and amine functionality to mPEG-b-PJL polymer is successfully established. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, doxorubicin (DOX) is conjugated on hydroxyl-terminated polymer (mPEG-b-PJL-OH) via redox responsive disulfide linkage to obtain PJL-DOX. PJL-DOX is readily self-assembled into micelles with an average hydrodynamic size of ≈ 150 nm and demonstrates reduction-responsive DOX release. Micelles are evaluated in vitro for cytocompatibility and selective drug release in cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) using 10 mm glutathione as a reducing agent. Cytotoxicity and microscopy results confirm a redox-triggered release of DOX, which is further confirmed by flow cytometry. The introduction of these novel functional polymers can pave the way forward in designing polymer-drug conjugate-based smart nano-carriers.     

Blind image deblurring via gradient orientation-based clustered coupled sparse dictionaries

Pattern Analysis and Applications - In this paper, we proposed a novel sparse representation-based blind image deblurring algorithm, which exploits the benefits of coupled sparse dictionary, and...     

Consistent Point Clouds of Narrow Spaces Using Multiscan Domain Mapping

Abstract: Three‐dimensional (3D) range scanning of large spaces, such as civil structures, generates an immense cloud of 3D points with inconsistent data densities due to the limited positions of the stationary scanner, inaccessible surfaces, and narrow pathways. This density variation is the dominant detrimental factor in extracting accurate scanned shapes. This article introduces an effective scan planning methodology for capturing accurate geometry from long and narrow spaces, which minimizes the need for subsequent data approximations. The technique computes an optimum scanning range for each stationary position of the scanner that limits the density variation to a user‐defined value. Three cases are proposed to define the “limited data density” and a FARO®‐LS880 laser scanner is used to illustrate the proposed approach that achieves acceptable scanning results in terms of its critical shape capturing capability, overall point cloud density, and accurate point‐based visualization. The experimental observations confirm that the accuracy of the scanned data can be improved by registering multiple partial scans with restricted density and positioning the data acquisition device close to the critical features. The latter recommended step decreases the incident angle to the world domain, which, in turn, reduces the surface occlusions and data density variations.     

DC pulsed plasma deposition of nanocomposite coatings for improved tribology of gray cast iron stamping dies

Automotive stamping dies are very large in size with sizes ranging up to 2 m × 2 m × 1 m. The primary material used in the manufacturing of these dies is gray cast iron that is relatively cheap with good castability, machinability and reparability. Due to its lack of adequate hardness, die wear is a major problem at highly loaded die features such as corners, bead-radii, punch-radii etc. The greater is this wear, the greater is the die-related down times and production losses. This problem of die wear has become even more significant in recent times due to the introduction of Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) and Ultra High Strength Steels (UHSS) in automotive stamping. Stamping of these materials is accompanied by higher contact pressures on the die surface, higher abrasion and higher surface temperature from frictional heat.This paper presents a novel DC pulsed plasma based approach to the deposition of triplex coating on cast iron substrates that can withstand high normal pressures, shears, sliding and abrasion experienced during stamping. This triplex coating consists of silicon enhanced nanocomposite a-C:H film supported by plasma nitrocarburized duplex case. This nanostructured-composite film is shown to have high toughness and extremely low coefficients of friction. A unique feature of this plasma processing is the industrial size of chambers used in the coating development. This paper also includes results of film characterization and its performance evaluation in simulated wear tests that generate stresses similar to actual stamping dies. By carefully designing the plasma processing treatment, a good hardness gradient and elastic modulus gradient is achieved that provide an improvement in life of about 5 times that of the currently used hard chrome plating.     

Need of independent rural power producers in India—an overview

The current scenario of heavy power crisis in India particularly in rural areas and small towns requires urgent solution. There is a need to look for innovative and sustainable ways for promoting equitable development in India. The centralized energy planning model currently used ignores energy needs of the rural areas and poor and has also led to environmental degradation, whereas decentralized energy planning model is in the interest of efficient utilization of resources. Energy planning at the village level is the bottom limit of the application of decentralized planning principle. The individual villages are the smallest social units where the energy consumption occurs. Renewable energy is energy derived from sources that are being replaced by nature, such as water, wind, solar, or biomass. Renewable sources are essentially non-polluting, if applied correctly. This article presents a review of the important decentralized renewable energy options. Also, this article discusses about current power scenario in India particularly in rural sector. Taking into consideration the limitations of conventional power policy and benefits decentralized power potential in India, this article presents the need to setup independent rural power producers (IRPPs) as an instrument to promote sustainable and socially equitable rural power sector development.     

Volumetric, Compressibility, and Surface Tension Studies on Micellization Behavior of SDS in Aqueous Medium: Effect of Sugars

The densities , velocities of sound , and surface tension , of anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate in presence of aqueous saccharides (fructose and maltose) with concentrations 0.01 and 0.10 mol kg^?1 have been reported over a wide temperature range (293.15–313.15 K) at an interval of 5 K. The apparent molar volume , isentropic compressibility , and apparent molar adiabatic compression values have been calculated using densities and velocities of sound data. Both, and vary non‐linearly at lower concentration of surfactant and tend to achieve linearity at higher concentration of surfactant in presence of saccharides. From the surface tension data, parameters like surface excess , minimum area occupied by the surfactant molecule at the saturated air/solution interface and surface film pressure have been computed. The effect of additives on these parameters has been discussed in terms of different types of the interactions pertaining in the micellar system. An attempt has also been made to draw an inference regarding the effect of these additives on the critical micelle concentration of the surfactant.     

Natural and forced ventilation of buoyant gas released in a full-scale garage: Comparison of model predictions and experimental data

An increase in the number of hydrogen-fueled applications in the marketplace will require a better understanding of the potential for fires and explosion associated with the unintended release of hydrogen within a structure. Predicting the temporally evolving hydrogen concentration in a structure, with unknown release rates, leak sizes and leak locations is a challenging task. A simple analytical model was developed to predict the natural and forced mixing and dispersion of a buoyant gas released in a partially enclosed compartment with vents at multiple levels. The model is based on determining the instantaneous compartment over-pressure that drives the flow through the vents and assumes that the helium released under the automobile mixes fully with the surrounding air. Model predictions were compared with data from a series of experiments conducted to measure the volume fraction of a buoyant gas (at 8 different locations) released under an automobile placed in the center of a full-scale garage (6.8 m × 5.4 m × 2.4 m). Helium was used as a surrogate gas, for safety concerns. The rate of helium released under an automobile was scaled to represent 5 kg of hydrogen released over 4 h. CFD simulations were also performed to confirm the observed physical phenomena. Analytical model predictions for helium volume fraction compared favorably with measured experimental data for natural and forced ventilation. Parametric studies are presented to understand the effect of release rates, vent size and location on the predicted volume fraction in the garage. Results demonstrate the applicability of the model to effectively and rapidly reduce the flammable concentration of hydrogen in a compartment through forced ventilation.     

Efficient disparity estimation from stereo images using hybrid-guided image filter

Stereo vision process involves capturing the pictures from a camera of the same scene from at least two different locations and calculating the three-dimensional information. Conventionally, these two versions of snapshots are called left and right views which yield the depth information of an object upon relative comparison of its location in two views. Although the stereo image and its applications are becoming increasingly prevalent, there has been very limited research on disparity estimation from stereo images. Most of the existing techniques suffer from the gradient reversal artefacts issue. Therefore, to handle this issue, we have proposed a hybrid-guided image filter for improving the disparity estimation from stereo images. The hybrid filter utilizes the features of guided image filter and Bayesian non-local means with edge aware constraint. Maximum likelihood and local area homogeneity analysis are used to generate the guidance image for the proposed filter. To enhance the quality of disparity estimation from stereo images, segmentation is also done using the modified mean shift technique. Experimental results show that the proposed technique can efficiently estimate the depth maps over the available techniques. One-way ANOVA analysis on experimental results validates that the hybrid filter-based stereo matching outperforms consistently over the state-of-art approaches.