Synthesis and characterization of some aromatic polyimides

The diamine 2‐methyl‐1,3‐bis(4‐aminophenyloxy)benzene was prepared via a nucleophilic substitution reaction and was characterized with Fourier transform infrared, elemental analysis, and ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR spectroscopy. The prepared diamine was also characterized with single‐crystal analysis. The geometric parameters of C₁₉H₁₈N₂O₂ were in the usual ranges. The dihedral angles between the central phenyl ring and the two terminal aromatic rings were 88.9 and 91.6°. The crystal structure was stabilized by N? H···N hydrogen bonds. The diamine was then polymerized with 3,3′,4,4′‐benzophenone tetracarboxylic acid dianhydride, 4,4′‐(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride, 3,4,9,10‐perylenetetracarboxylic acid dianhydride, and pyromellitic dianhydride by either a one‐step solution polymerization reaction or a two‐step procedure. These polymers had inherent viscosities ranging from 0.61 to 0.85 dL/gm. Some of the polymers were soluble in most common organic solvents even at room temperature, and some were soluble on heating. The degradation temperatures of the resultant polymers fell in the range of 260–500°C in nitrogen (with only 10% weight loss). The specific heat capacity at 200°C ranged from 1.0 to 2.21 J g^?1 K^?1. The temperatures at which the maximum degradation of the polymer occurred ranged from 510 to 610°C. The glass‐transition temperatures of the polyimides ranged from 182 to 191°C. The activation energy and enthalpy of the polyimides ranged from 44.44 to 73.91 kJ/mol and from 42.58 to 72.08 kJ/mol K, respectively. The moisture absorption was found in the range of 0.23–0.71%. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

The survivability of Bacillus anthracis (Sterne strain) in processed liquid eggs

In this study, we investigated the survival and inactivation kinetics of a surrogate strain of Bacillus anthracis (Sterne strain) in whole egg (WE), egg white (EW), sugared egg yolk (YSU), and salted egg yolk (YSA) at low (−20, 0, and 5 °C), moderate (15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 °C), and high storage temperatures (45, 50, 55, and 60 °C). Outgrowth of the spores was measured as lag phase duration (LPD). Replication of vegetative cells was measured in terms of growth rate (GR) and maximum population density (MPD). Spore inactivation was recorded as inactivation rate and percent reduction in viable count. In general, spore viability decreased at low and high temperatures and increased at moderate temperatures. At 0 and 5 °C, a 60–100% reduction in spore viability was seen within 2–3 weeks in WE and YSU, 0–30% in YSA, and 50–100% in EW. At −20 °C, however, no drop in spore titer was observed in YSU and EW but a 20% drop in titer was seen in YSA and 50% in WE within 2–3 weeks. At high temperatures, WE, EW, and YSA produced a 20–50% drop in the spore titer within 1–4 h whereas YSU showed 100% inactivation within 0.75 h. At moderate storage temperatures, as the temperature increased from 15 to 40 °C, LPD decreased from 13.5 to 0.75 h and MPD reached 0.27–2.2 × 10⁹ CFU/ml in YSU and WE, respectively. Markedly lower growth was observed in YSA (LPD = 24–270 h, MPD = 9 × 10⁵ CFU/ml) and spores were inactivated completely within 1–6 h in EW. The survivability and inactivation data of B. anthracis in liquid egg products reported in this investigation will be helpful in developing risk assessment models on food biosecurity.     

Development and characterization of Nickel–Titanium–Zirconium shape memory alloy for engineering applications

Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) are unique class of alloys which possess various engineering applications. One such SMA is Nickel–Titanium (Nitinol) shape memory alloy. The problem, however with Nickel is that the metal may leach out in form of toxic Ni²⁺ ions. The latter may prove costly when used in various applications. To increase the corrosion resistant properties of Nitinol and to evaluate its shape memory properties, small amount of Zirconium i.e. 5 and 10 at % are added into the existing Nitinol system. Buttons of Nitinol and Nickel–Titanium with Zirconium additions are made using the button arc furnace. For the characterization of the alloys, various techniques including Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Back Scattering Electron (BSE) imaging, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) have been performed. The work conducted reveals that addition of Zirconium in Nitinol has marked influence on microstructure, shape memory properties, transformation temperature, hardness values, and corrosion properties of the alloy.     

In situ analysis of cooking properties of rice by thermal mechanical compression test method

A procedure for in situ analysis of rice cooking was developed in this study. Grain softening during soaking and cooking of selected rice varieties (fresh and aged TDK8, TDK11, and Doongara) were subjected to in situ analysis by using a thermally controlled sample block (thermal mechanical compression test) attached to a texture analyzer. This technique measures the changes in the mechanical properties of intact rice grain during cooking continuously. The results obtained from the thermal mechanical compression test technique were validated against two standard and conventional procedures viz; analyzing the pasting properties of rice flours by rapid visco analyzer and microscopic observations during the cooking of rice grains. The technique developed in this study was found valid for in situ analysis of rice cooking. This technique can be used for a sample size as small as 0.50 g.     

A Finite Difference Method and Effective Modification of Gradient Descent Optimization Algorithm for MHD Fluid Flow Over a Linearly Stretching Surface

Present contribution is concerned with the construction and application of a numerical method for the fluid flow problem over a linearly stretching surface with the modification of standard Gradient descent Algorithm to solve the resulted difference equation. The flow problem is constructed using continuity, and Navier Stoke equations and these PDEs are further converted into boundary value problem by applying suitable similarity transformations. A central finite difference method is proposed that gives third-order accuracy using three grid points. The stability conditions of the present proposed method using a Gauss-Seidel iterative procedure is found using VonNeumann stability criteria and order of the finite difference method is proved by applying the Taylor series on the discretised equation. The comparison of the presently modified optimisation algorithm with the Gauss-Seidel iterative method and standard Newton’s method in optimisation is also made. It can be concluded that the presently modified optimisation Algorithm takes a few iterations to converge with a small value of the parameter contained in it compared with the standard descent algorithm that may take millions of iterations to converge. The present modification of the steepest descent method converges faster than Gauss-Seidel method and standard steepest descent method, and it may also overcome the deficiency of singular hessian arise in Newton’s method for some of the cases that may arise in optimisation problem(s).     

Recent developments in biochar as an effective tool for agricultural soil management: a review

In recent years biochar has been demonstrated to be a useful amendment to sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emission from the soil to the atmosphere. Hence it can help to mitigate global environment change. Some studies have shown that biochar addition to agricultural soils increases crop production. The mechanisms involved are: increased soil aeration and water‐holding capacity, enhanced microbial activity and plant nutrient status in soil, and alteration of some important soil chemical properties. This review provides an in‐depth consideration of the production, characterization and agricultural use of different biochars. Biochar is a complex organic material and its characteristics vary with production conditions and the feedstock used. The agronomic benefits of biochar solely depend upon the use of particular types of biochar with proper field application rate under appropriate soil types and conditions. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry     

Ten switched‐beams with 2 × 2 series‐fed 2.4 GHz array antenna and a simple beam‐switching network

This article presents a 2 × 2 series fed 2.4 GHz patch antenna array having multiple beam switching capabilities by using two simple 3 dB/90° couplers to achieve required amplitude and phase excitations for array elements with reduced complexity, cost and size. The beam switching performance with consistent gain and low side lobe levels (SLL) is achieved by exciting the array elements from orthogonally placed thin quarter‐wave (λ_g/4) feeds. The implemented array is capable to generate ten (10) switched‐beams in 2‐D space when series fed elements are excited from respective ports through 3 dB quadrature couplers. The dual polarized characteristics of presented array provide intrinsic interport isolation between perpendicularly placed ports through polarization diversity to achieve independent beam switching capabilities for intended directions. The implemented antenna array on 1.575 mm thick low loss (tan δ = 0.003) NH9450 substrate with ε_r = 4.5 ± 0.10 provides 10 dB return loss impedance bandwidth of more than 50 MHz. The measured beam switching loss is around 0.8 dB for beams switched at θ = ±20°, Ф = 0°, 90°, and 45° with average peak gain of 9.5 dBi and SLL ≤ ?10 dB in all cases. The novelty of this work is the capability of generating ten dual polarized switched‐beams by using only two 3 dB/90° couplers as beam controllers.