A reconfigurable multiband rhombic shaped microstrip antenna for wireless smart applications

This article proposes a reconfigurable multiband rhombic shaped microstrip antenna (RMRS‐MSA) up to 20 GHz based on wireless smart applications. In this article radio frequency (RF) PIN diodes are loaded with microstrip feed line on radiating patch for frequency switching. It has a rhombic shaped copper loaded radiating patch. This radiating patch has two more connected rhombic patches inside with a 1 mm gap named as radiating patch 1 and radiating patch 2. These rhombic shaped radiating patches are enclosed with a square parasitic patch for achieving directional radiation pattern. A prototype of reconfigurable multiband rhombic shaped reconfigurable MSA is fabricated using a 30 × 30 mm² on FR‐4 substrate with a dielectric thickness of 1.6 mm. The proposed RMRS‐MSA is designed, fabricated, and experimentally validated. The experimental report at center frequency 5.21, 9.41, 10.46, 12.69, 14.39, and 17.09 GHz have reflection coefficients of ?16.89, ?25.54, ?24.86, ?28.62, ?26.80 and ?43.02 dB, respectively, when all diodes are OFF. Similarly, when all diodes are ON, at center frequency 14.57 and 15.18 GHz have reflection coefficients of ?26.15 and ?28.99 dB, respectively. The measured and simulated results agree well. The proposed antenna is more suitable for C, X, and Ku band‐based applications.     

Fabrication of NiO/Ta2O5 composite photocatalyst for hydrogen production under visible light

A series of novel composite photocatalysts, NiO/Ta₂O₅, were synthesized by the solid‐state reaction and successfully characterized by X‐ray diffraction, Transmission electron microscopy, diffused reflectance ultraviolet and visible (DRUV‐vis) spectroscopy, Photoluminescence and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD) pattern indicated the formation of composite material. The red shift in the absorption edges of the newly prepared composite photocatalysts were well observed from the DRUV‐vis spectra. The composite photocatalyst prepared at metal ratio (1:3) showed highest result toward hydrogen production under ultraviolet and visible light irradiation in the presence of methanol as a sacrificial agent. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Untreated Silica Nanoparticles Containing Poly(acrylamide-co-2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) Composite—Effect of Copolymer Composition

Poly(acrylamide-co-2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid)/Silica [Poly(AM-co-AMPSA)/SiO₂] core-shell composite nanogels with silica as core and hydrophilic polymer with functional groups such as sulfonic acid, amido, as shell were prepared by microemulsion polymerization without surface treatment of silica and upto 5.5 mole% of AMPSA in feed to control the particle size as well as morphology. The synthesized intercalated composites were produced with controllable sizes ranging from 44–77 nm in diameter. The repared sulfonic acid based silica core-shell composite nanogels were characterized by dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer, thermogravimetric analyzer, differential scanning calorimeter, scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The encapsulation of functional polymer shell onto the silica particles was driven by the hydrogen-bonding interaction between sulfonic acid and amido groups of AMPSA with Si-O linkages. The onset degradation temperature is increased from 227°C to 262°C in copolymer-silica composites which indicates improved thermal stability. The shifting of glass transition temperature from 194°C to 203°C in copolymeric composite nanogels further confirms the existence of strong interactions of silica filler with copolymer chains. Also the chemical composition of polymeric chains and the affinity of polymer chains and silica influenced the morphology.     

Sentiment analysis on Hindi tweets during COVID-19 pandemic

A gap among the people has been created due to a lack of social interactions. The physical void has led to an increase in online interaction among users on social media platforms. Sentiment analysis of such interactions can help us analyze the general public psychology during the pandemic. However, the lack of data in non-English and low-resource languages like ‘Hindi’ makes it difficult to study it among native and non-English speaking masses. Here, we create a small collection of ‘Hindi’ tweets on COVID-19 during the pandemic containing 10,011 tweets for sentiment analysis, which is named as sentiment analysis for Hindi (SAFH). In this article, we describe the process of collecting, creating, annotating the corpus, and sentiment classification. The claims have been verified using different word embedding with a deep learning classifier through the proposed model. The achieved accuracy of the proposed model yields up to a permissible rate of 90.9%.     

Radiation processing for elimination of Salmonella typhimurium from inoculated seeds used for sprout making in India and effect of irradiation on germination of seeds

The effect of radiation processing on the germination of the sprout seeds mung (Phaseolus aureus), matki (Phaseolus aconitifolius), chana (Cicer arietinum), and vatana (Pisum sativum) in terms of percent germination, germination yield, sprout length, vitamin C content, and texture was investigated. Gradual decreases in the percent germination, germination yield, and sprout length with increases in radiation dose (0.5 to 2.0 kGy) were observed. Vitamin C content and texture remained unaffected for the seeds treated with doses of up to 2 kGy. To determine the efficacy of radiation treatment in elimination of foodborne pathogens, seeds inoculated with 4 log CFU/g of Salmonella Typhimurium were treated with radiation doses of 1 and 2 kGy. A reduction in counts of Salmonella Typhimurium in inoculated seeds after radiation treatment was observed. A radiation dose of 2 kGy resulted in the complete elimination of 4 log CFU/g of Salmonella Typhimurium from the inoculated seeds. However, on sprouting for 48 h, the count of Salmonella Typhimurium reached 8 log CFU/g for the control seeds and the seeds treated with a 1-kGy radiation dose. The aerobic plate counts for seeds were 2.0 to 2.6 log CFU/g, which were reduced to 0.9 to 1.2 log CFU/g on treatment with a 2-kGy radiation dose. On sprouting for 48 h, the aerobic plate count reached 8 log CFU/g for both the control and radiation-treated seeds. The study demonstrates that irradiation can control bacterial levels on seeds but not contamination introduced during posttreatment handling. Therefore, radiation processing of the final product (sprouts) is recommended, rather than of the seeds.     

Radiation Processing of Minimally Processed Pineapple (Ananas comosus Merr.): Effect on Nutritional and Sensory Quality

ABSTRACT:  Radiation processing of minimally processed pineapple at a dose of 2 kGy was investigated. Effect of this treatment on different quality parameters like vitamin C content, total carotenoids content, sensory attributes, texture, and color was determined over a storage period of 12 d at 8 to 10 °C. Results showed that the irradiation treatment showed no significant effect ( P > 0.05) on total vitamin C content of pineapple samples but a significant decrease ( P ≤ 0.05) in vitamin C during storage period in both controls as well as irradiated samples was observed. However, total carotenoids were not affected by irradiation and were stable during the whole storage period as well ( P > 0.05). Sensory evaluation studies revealed that irradiation had no significant effect ( P > 0.05) on the ratings of any of the sensory attributes of pineapple samples. Taste panelists could not differentiate between control and irradiated samples. Textural studies showed no significant effect ( P > 0.05) of irradiation as well as storage period on the firmness of the central edible region of pineapple samples. Color attributes of both control and irradiated samples showed slight variation during the storage period of 12 d. However, irradiation at 2 kGy did not have a significant effect ( P > 0.05) on all color coordinates. Thus, radiation processing with 2 kGy did not affect significantly the nutritional value as well as the sensory quality of minimally processed pineapple samples.