Effect of soya protein on the dialysability of exogenous iron and zinc

The investigation aimed at studying the influence of soya proteins on in vitro dialysability of exogenous iron and zinc. Soyabean was processed into various components like soya flour (SF), concentrate (SC) and isolate (SI) and two peptides (<30 kDa and >30 kDa). The protein contents of SF, SC and SI were 51, 62 and 78 g/100 g, respectively. Their iron contents ranged between 9.7 and 15.8 mg/100 g and zinc contents from 3.3 to 6.7 mg/100 g. Phytic acid contents (mg/100 g) of the soya components were SF 339, SC 226, SI 186 and peptides 18–20. In SF, percent dialysable iron and zinc were 12.6 and 50, respectively, this reduced to one-third and one-fifth in SC and SI. Dialysability of exogenously added minerals was found to be significantly lower in all soya protein components. However, the inhibitory effect was less pronounced in peptides. The protein component/matrix effect needs to be investigated to counteract the inhibitory effect of soya on iron dialysability.     

Combustion characteristics of a stationary diesel engine fuelled with a blend of crude rice bran oil methyl ester and diesel

The objective of the present work is to analyze the combustion characteristics of crude rice bran oil methyl ester (CRBME) blend (20% of CRBME with 80% no.2 diesel on volume basis) as a fuel in a stationary small duty direct injection (DI) compression ignition (CI) engine. When operating with CRBME blend the cylinder pressure was comparable to that of diesel. It was observed that the delay period and the maximum rate of pressure rise for CRBME blend were lower than those of diesel. The occurrence of maximum heat release rate advanced for CRBME blend with lesser magnitude when compared to diesel. CRBME blend requires more crank angle duration to release 50% & 90% of heat when compared with diesel. The brake specific fuel consumption of CRBME blend was found to be only marginally different from that of the diesel and its hourly fuel cost was higher than that of diesel. CRBME blend has lower smoke intensity and higher NOx emission than those of diesel. Since the measured parameters for CRBME blend differs only by a smaller magnitude, when compared with diesel, this investigation ensures the suitability of CRBME blend as fuel for CI engines with higher fuel cost.     

Heat and mass transfer analysis of combined convection in a horizontal rectangle

In this study, the heat and mass transfer of combined free and forced convection in the horizontal rectangle is explored. The governing equations together with the boundary conditions are solved numerically by using the finite volume method. The innovative idea in this study is to appropriately modify the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations algorithm and thereby, the numerical solutions of the flow variables such as the temperature and the concentration in addition to the components of velocity and the pressure are computed. The Richardson numbers (Ri) for distinct gases and liquids are calculated for different Rayleigh numbers at low (Re = 50) and high (Re = 5000) Reynolds numbers. The dimensionless parameters, such as the Reynolds number (Re), the Prandtl number (Pr), and the Schmidt number (Sc) are appropriately chosen to calculate the Richardson numbers. Consequently, combined free and forced convection effects are analyzed. Furthermore, the heat and mass transfer aspect for distinct gases and liquids is critically examined using empirical correlations. The accuracy and the validation of these results are ensured owing to the solutions obtained from correlations being advised in this study and those are existing in the literature.     

Hydrogen storage in TiO2 functionalized (10, 10) single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) – First principles study

Hydrogen storage in titanium dioxide (TiO₂) functionalized (10, 10) armchair single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is investigated through first principle calculations using density functional theory (DFT). This first principles study uses Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package (VASP) with ultrasoft pseudopotentials and local density approximation (LDA). The necessary benchmark and other systematic calculations were carried out to project the hydrogen storage capability of the designed system. Interestingly, the TiO₂ molecules functionalized on the outer surface of SWCNT do not undergo any dimerization/clustering thus giving excellent stability and usable gravimetric hydrogen storage capacity of 5.7 wt.% and the value nearly fulfills the US DOE target (i.e. 6 wt.%). The band structure and density of states (DOS) plots suggest that the functionalization can lead a way to transform the nature (metallic → semiconducting) of the pristine SWCNT. The nominal values of H₂ storage capacity and binding energies give much hope for using CNT functionalized with TiO₂ as a practical and reversible hydrogen storage medium (HSM).     

Numerical investigation of a convective hybrid nanofluids around a rotating sheet

Hybrid nanofluids are formulated with various kinds of base fluids. They are designed to provide good heat transfer performance. They can achieve this by dispersing various kinds of nanoparticles in the base materials. This new technology of formulating hybrid nanofluids has a wide range of applications in various industries such as solar energy, medical equipment, and aerospace. Keeping these applications in view, this study provides an insight into the effects of convective heat transport on a Hybrid nanofluid, across a rotating sheet with a variable heat source. In this investigation, the governing boundary layer partial differential equations were modified into the ordinary differential equations, by using the proper similarity transformations. Later, they were solved numerically, with the support of the Lobatto IIIA technique in MATLAB. The influence of the Richardson number on flow parameters was studied, and it was discovered that increasing Ri increases the velocity while decreasing temperature and concentration profiles. The impact of various other flow parameters on the flow fields and also on the behavior of Nusselt number, coefficient skin friction, and Sherwood number were studied and represented graphically. The outcomes were found to be in excellent accord when compared with quoted studies.     

MEMS tunable SOI waveguide Bragg grating filter with 1.3 THz tuning range for C-band 100 GHz DWDM optical network

A MEMS tunable integrated waveguide Bragg grating-based filter for C-band optical dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) network is presented and analyzed in this work. Waveguide Bragg grating being a notch filter in the transmission spectrum is used to realize a tunable filter by varying the applied voltages to the fixed–fixed beam loaded with this grating. The strain across the grating is enhanced by choosing MEMS beam configuration such that the metal electrode is the bottom-most layer of the composite fixed–fixed beam. Device dimensions are chosen to achieve a narrow full width half maximum of 0.77 nm, allowing filtering of adjacent channels of 100 GHz DWDM network. A large Bragg wavelength shift of 10.4 nm (1552.52–1562.92 nm) was achieved at 45.8 V actuation providing tuning for 14 DWDM channels with inter-channel cross talk below ? 21 dB, with tuning range of 1.3 THz.

     

An Improved Genetic with Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm Based on Ensemble Classification to Predict Protein–Protein Interaction

Wireless Personal Communications - Protein–protein interaction plays an important role in biological function. Though protein interaction and non-interaction is a broad field, PPI is...     

One-pot synthesis of conjugated nitroalkenes by diamino-functionalised mesoporous material

Nitroalkenes are synthesised for the first time in a one-pot liquid-phase procedure from carbonyl compounds and nitroalkanes using organic-diamine-functionalised mesoporous material (MCM-41) as the catalyst. The yields are reasonable to excellent and the reaction conditions are mild. The hybrid solid base catalyst can be recycled several times with consistent activity. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Transesterification of β ‐keto esters catalysed by transition metal complexes in a novel heterogeneous way

β‐keto esters have been successfully transesterified with primary, secondary, tertiary, allyl and alkynic alcohols by recyclable Mn(III) salen or vanadyl(IV) acetate catalysts realised while conducting the reaction deliberately for the first time in a novel heterogeneous media to afford good to excellent yields. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Convenient synthesis of (thiocyanomethyl)-thio heteroaromatics as antifungal agents

Synthesis of some (thiocyanomethyl)-thio heteroaromatic derivatives by reacting metal salts of (mercapto) heteraromatics with chloromethylthiocyanate using methanol or acetone as cosolvent, reported. All the synthesized derivatives were identified by conventional methods, IR-, ¹H NMR and mass spectral data. All the prepared compounds were tested for their antifungal activity. © 1998 SCI