Studies in radiation-induced polymerization of vinyl monomers at high dose rates. II. Methyl methacrylate

The radiation-induced polymerization of methyl methacrylate was investigated with radiation sources of cobalt 60 and accelerated electrons at dose rates up to 3 Mrads/sec. Extrapolation of previous rates of polymerization at dose rates of 0.01–200 rads/sec coincided with the present results, the rates being approximately proportional to the square root of the dose rate throughout the entire set of dose rates measured. The molecular weights seemed to be independent of dose rate at the highest dose rates investigated. A combination of high polymer with a much higher molecular weight than expected was formed, together with a substantial portion of low molecular weight polymer. The reason for this behavior is not clear at this time. The G(M·) calculated from the molecular weights and fraction of polymer and resin was 6.0, which approaches that reported in previous investigations at low dose rates. There was no significant effect of air on the polymerization kinetics of methyl methacrylate at above 1 Mrad/sec. Nitrogen also did not influence the measured rates. Conversions to polymer were not substantially reduced by the presence of inhibitor at above 1.26 × 10⁵ rads/sec. Water did not influence the rates of polymerization, except at the highest temperature (50°C) investigated. A large posteffect was observed in sealed degassed ampoules after 25% conversion to polymer. Only 3.4% additional polymer was formed in 24 hr after irradiation in the presence of air. The activation energy for the electron beam polymerization of methyl methacrylate was about 7.0 kcal/mole. This value, considering the complications in technique such as beam heating, did not differ from literature data enough to suggest any mechanistic difference in the polymerization at high dose rates.     

Transient analysis of modified t.t.l. gate

The letter derives expressions for the transient response of the modified t.t.l. NAND/NOR gate using a piecewise linear analysis. The expressions are presented in a form suitable for incorporation into a computer-aided circuit-analysis program based on the macromodelling concept and intended for the analysis of relatively large arrays of integrated-circuit logic gates. Results are compared with experimental observations.     

Evaluation of solid-state bioconversion of domestic wastewater sludge as a promising environmental-friendly disposal technique

Natural and environmental-friendly disposal of wastewater sludge is a great concern. Recently, biological treatment has played prominent roles in bioremediation of complex hydrocarbon- rich contaminants. Composting is quite an old biological-based process that is being practiced but it could not create a great impact in the minds of concerned researchers. The present study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the solid-state bioconversion (SSB) processes in the biodegradation of wastewater sludge by exploiting this promising technique to rejuvenate the conventional process. The Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) domestic wastewater treatment plant (DWTP) sludge was considered for evaluation of SSB by monitoring the microbial growth and its subsequent roles in biodegradation under two conditions: (i) flask (F) and (ii) composting bin (CB) cultures. Sterile and semi-sterile environments were allowed in the F and the CB, respectively, using two mixed fungal cultures, Trichoderma harzianum with Phanerochaete chrysosporium 2094 (T/P) and T. harzianum with Mucor hiemalis (T/M) and two bulking materials, sawdust (SD) and rice straw (RS). The significant growth and multiplication of both the mixed fungal cultures were reflected in soluble protein, glucosamine and color intensity measurement of the water extract. The color intensity and pH of the water extract significantly increased and supported the higher growth of microbes and bioconversion. The most encouraging results of microbial growth and subsequent bioconversion were exhibited in the RS than the SD. A comparatively higher decrease of organic matter (OM) % and C/N ratio were attained in the CB than the F, which implied a higher bioconversion. But the measurement of soluble protein, glucosamine and color intensity exhibited higher values in the F than the CB. The final pH drop was higher in the CB than the F, which implied that a higher nitrification occurred in the CB associated with a higher release of H+ ions. Both the mixed cultures performed almost equal roles in all cases except the changes in moisture content.     

Unsteady mixed-convection boundary layer flow along a symmetric wedge with variable surface temperature

Laminar two-dimensional unsteady mixed-convection boundary-layer flow of a viscous incompressible fluid past a sharp wedge has been studied. The governing boundary layer equations are transformed into a non-dimensional form and the resulting nonlinear system of partial differential equations is reduced to local non-similarity boundary layer equations, which are solved analytically for small time. Perturbation solutions are also obtained for small and large dimensionless time, τ. Solutions of the governing equations for all time are obtained employing the implicit finite difference method. Here we have focused our attention on the evolution of skin-friction coefficient (C_f) and local Nusselt number (Nu) (heat transfer rate), fluid velocity and fluid temperature with the effects of different governing parameters such as different time, τ, the exponent, m (=0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0), mixed convection parameter, λ (= 0.0, 0.5, 1.0) for fluids having Prandtl number, Pr = 0.1, 0.7, and 7.0.     

Hierarchical constellation for multi-resolution data transmission over block fading channels

We propose a new technique for multi-resolution video/image data transmission over block fading channels. The proposed scheme uses an adaptive scheduling protocol employing a retransmission strategy in conjunction with a hierarchical signal constellation (known also as nonuniform, asymmetric, multi-resolution constellation) to give different transmission priorities to different resolution levels. Transmission priorities are given in terms of average packet loss rate as well as average throughput. Basically, according to the transmission scheduling and channel state (acknowledgment signal) of the previous transmission, it dynamically selects packets from different resolution levels to transmit for the current transmission. The bits from the selected packets are assigned to different hierarchies of a hierarchical 4/16-quadrature amplitude modulation to transmit them with different error protections. The selection of packets for transmission and the assignment of these selected packets to different hierarchies of the hierarchical constellation are referred to as the scheduling protocol in our proposed scheme. We model this protocol by a finite state first order Markov chain and obtain the packet loss rate and the packet transmission rate over Nakagami-m block fading channel in closed-form. Some selected numerical results show that the proposed scheme can control the relative packet loss rate and the packet transmission rate of different resolution levels by varying the priority parameter (or equivalently, the asymmetry) of the hierarchical constellation and the maximum number of allowed retransmissions.     

Isomeric yield ratios for the formation of Sc in the Sc(γ,n), Ti(γ,xnp), Fe(γ,xn5p) and Cu(γ,xn8p) reactions with 2.5 GeV bremsstrahlung

We measured the isomeric yield ratios for the ^44m,gSc isomeric pairs produced from four different photonuclear reactions ⁴⁵Sc(γ,n)^44m,gSc, ^natTi(γ,xn1p)^44m,gSc, ^natFe(γ,xn5p)^44m,gSc, and ^natCu(γ,xn8p)^44m,gSc by using the activation method. The high purity natural Sc, Ti, Fe, and Cu metallic foils in disc shape were irradiated with uncollimated 2.5 GeV bremsstrahlung beams of the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory. The induced activities in the irradiated foils were measured by the high-resolution γ-ray spectrometry with a calibrated high-purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. In order to improve the accuracy of the experimental results the necessary corrections were made in the gamma activity measurements and data analysis. The obtained isomeric yield ratios for the ⁴⁵Sc(γ,n)^44m,gSc, ^natTi(γ,xn1p)^44m,gSc, ^natFe(γ,xn5p)^44m,gSc and ^natCu(γ,xn8p)^44m,gSc reactions are 0.25 ± 0.03, 0.43 ± 0.05, 1.38 ± 0.14, and 1.89 ± 0.21, respectively. The present result for the ^natCu(γ,xn8p)^44m,gSc reaction is in good agreement with the existing data. Our results for the ⁴⁵Sc(γ,n)^44m,gSc, ^natTi(γ,xn1p)^44m,gSc, and ^natFe(γ,xn5p)^44m,gSc reactions are the first measurements at 2.5 GeV bremsstrahlung. The obtained results are compared with the corresponding values found in the literature. The relation between the isomeric yield ratios and the complexity of the photonuclear reactions is discussed.     

Correlations of the Composition,Minerals, and RVA Pasting Properties of Various Potato Starches

Multiple linear regression equations were developed to correlate the granule size distribution, composition, and minerals content with the Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) pasting properties of potato starches of different cultivars. From the experimental values and the values of the regression coefficients, it could be observed that a higher level of amylose resulted in a lower peak viscosity (PV) and breakdown (BD) and higher setback (SB) and peak viscosity temperature (PVT) in the potato starches. The reverse was observed when the phosphorus content was higher. Smaller granule size was associated with a decrease in the PVT, whereas larger granules demonstrated higher PV, BD, and SB values in the potato starches. A higher calcium content was associated with a decrease in PV and an increase in BD, SB, and PVT. On the other hand, higher potassium was associated with an increase in PV, BD, SB, and PVT. The sodium contents demonstrated a higher PV and SB, and the reverse was observed in the BD and PVT. It is difficult to conclude the precise role of magnesium ions to the RVA properties although as divalent cations, they may have similar effect as calcium. From the positive and negative values of the regression coefficients it was shown that the correlation is useful for determining more precise values of the RVA pasting properties using a multiple linear regression equation. The correlations were also useful for predicting the effects of the starch composition and minerals on the RVA pasting properties.     

Performance Analysis on Homogeneous LEACH and EAMMH Protocols in Wireless Sensor Network

Wireless Personal Communications - The current state of aerosols retention and loading over West Africa requires urgent consideration to avert environmental disaster which include telecommunication...