Non Linear Companding Transform to Mitigate PAPR in DCT Based SC-FDMA System

Wireless Personal Communications - As a result of the rapid progress in editing techniques, fakes and forgeries in images became easy and pervasive. Image forgery detection methods have been...     

Design and evaluation of an enhanced constrained rod casting mould for experimental characterisation of hot tearing in aluminium casting alloys

The most popular mould configuration for hot tearing evaluation of aluminium alloys, the Constrained Rod Casting (CRC) design, was evaluated via computer modelling. Filling patterns, heat flows, and shrinkage areas were assessed using the existing published design, and improvements in the design were generated. A mould of the improved design or Enhanced Constrained Rod Casting (ECRC) was fabricated and successfully used to evaluate the hot tearing tendencies of A206.2 and A380 die casting alloys. The ECRC mould reduced fill time and increased uniform filling of the constrained rods, which resulted in more uniform solidification rates for all the constrained rods. The ECRC mould and novel measurement technique predicted hot tearing in real time of A206.2 and A380 die casting alloys at initial pouring temperatures of 700, 760, and 800 °C. The A206.2 alloy exhibited hot tearing characteristics at the measurement rod while A380 did not show any hot cracking defects.     

Use of dyes and proteins as indicators of virus adsorption to soils

Outbreaks of viral diseases have been associated with contamination of ground water sources by viral migration from septic tanks. A better understanding of virus adsorption to soils might help elucidate the possible mechanism of subsurface virus migration and ultimate contamination of ground water sources. The present investigation sought a simple test that could predict virus adsorption to soils. Two dyes, methylene blue (positively charged) and amaranth (negatively charged), and three proteins, ferritin (p¹ 4.5), myoglobin (p¹ 7.3) and cytochrome-c (p¹ 9.3), were evaluated as potential indicators of virus adsorption to 20 different soils. The results indicated that no single indicator could predict the adsorption pattern for the different viruses which were evaluated with the soils tested. However, the viruses could be divided into two groups based on their similarities to adsorption of ferritin and cytochrome-c to soils. The other three indicators, myoglobin, methylene blue and amaranth did not significantly correlate with virus adsorption. Therefore, it is proposed that a two protein indicator system could be used to evaluate soils to predict virus adsorption.     

ANALYSIS OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER DURING DRYING OF PAPER/BOARD

A mathematical model has been successfully developed to study the heat and mass transfer process during paper drying. This model takes into account the consective transfer of vapor and liquid apart from the known transport mechanisms of capillary flow of liquid, diffusion, vaporization-condensation, and heat conduction. The partial differential equations describing temperature, saturation and pressure change within the web during drying with associated boimdary conditions and initial conditions were solved using finite difference method. The model predictions show that during the drying process the web can be conveniently divided into three different zones, namely dry zone, wet zone and an intermediate zone. The movement of liquid and vapor in opposite directions in the intermediate zone is similar to the action of a heat pipe. Also, as drying proceeds the location of the intermediate zone and hence the heat pipe advances progressively through the thickness of the web.     

γ-linolenic acid-containing diet attenuates bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in hamsters

Although bleomycin (BLM), an antineoplastic drug, is used in the treatment of a variety of tumors, the mechanism(s) that contribute to its induced lung injury and fibrosis are not fully elucidated. Since alterations in the levels of certain fatty acid metabolites have been associated with BLM-induced lung injury, we tested the effects of dietary γ-linolenic acid (GLA)-containing evening primrose oil on BLM-induced morphological alterations in the hamster lung, the marked elevation of tissue hydroxyproline (a marker for collagen synthesis), and elevated generation of arachidonic acid metabolites (marker of inflammatory mediators). Our data revealed that after 14 d of dietary GLA-containing oil (i) BLM-induced elevation of lung hydroxyproline was suppressed (P<0.05), (ii) the marked BLM-induced elevation of lung leukotriene B₄ (LTB₄) (a marker of polymorphonuclear generation of proinflammatory LTB₄) was significantly suppressed (P<0.05). The decrease in LTB₄ was accompanied by marked elevations (P<0.05) of lung prostaglandin E₁ (PGE₁) and 15-hydroxyeicosatrienoic acid (15-HETrE), both with known antiinflammatory properties. Taken together, data from these studies suggest that dietary GLA-containing oil contributes to tissue elevation of PGE₁ and 15-HETrE, which in vivo may attenuate lung inflammation and fibrosis.     

The influence of the segregation of Cu-rich phase on the microstructural and impedance characteristics of CaCu<Subscript>3</Subscript>Ti<Subscript>4</Subscript>O<Subscript>12</Subscript> ceramics

The influence of sintering conditions on the microstructural features and impedance characteristics of the giant dielectric constant material CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) was investigated. The microstructure and impedance characteristics were found to be strongly dependent on the sintering conditions. Sintering of the CCTO ceramics at elevated temperatures (>1100 °C) for prolonged durations resulted in the segregation of Cu-rich phase, mostly confined to the surface, which was in concomitance with the appearance of the additional semicircle at the low frequency end in Impedance (Z*) plots. The absence of this additional semicircle in the Cu-deficient CCTO ceramics and the appearance of the same in Cu-rich CCTO ceramics that were deliberately fabricated corroborated the above observations. Also, La_2/3Cu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (LCTO), a low dielectric constant member of CCTO family, which consisted of small grains without the segregation of Cu-rich phase at the grain boundary, did not reveal the presence of additional semicircle in the Z*plots.     

Oxovanadium(IV) Schiff Base Complexes Encapsulated in Zeolite-Y as Catalysts for the Liquid-Phase Hydroxylation of Phenol

Liquid-phase hydroxylation of phenol with H₂O₂ to a mixture of catechol and hydroquinone in acetonitrile has been reported using oxovanadium(IV) Schiff base complexes encapsulated in zeolite-Y as catalysts. Reaction conditions have been optimized by considering the concentration of substrate and oxidant, amount of catalyst, volume of solvent and temperature. Under the optimized reaction conditions, [VO(sal-1,3-pn)]-Y (H₂sal-1,3-pn = N,N'-bis(salicylidene)propane-1,3-diamine) has shown the highest conversion of 34.3% after 6 h, [VO(salen)]-Y (H₂salen = N,N'-bis(salicylidene)ethane-1,2-diamine) and [VO(saldien)]-Y (H₂saldien = N,N'-bis(salicylidene)- diethylenetriamine) have comparable catalytic activity (33% conversion) while [VO(sal-1,2-pn)]-Y (H₂sal-1,2-pn = N,N'-bis(salicylidene)propane-1,2-diamine) has the poorest performance (10.6% conversion). All these catalysts are more selective (90%) toward catechol formation except [VO(sal-1,3-pn)]-Y, which only gives 68% selectivity.     

Catalytic thermal treatment of desizing wastewaters

In the present study, catalytic thermal treatment (thermolysis) was investigated for the reduction of COD and color of the desizing wastewater under moderate temperature and atmospheric pressure conditions using various catalysts. The experimental runs were performed in a glass reactor equipped with a vertical condenser. The homogeneous copper sulfate catalyst was found to be the most active in comparison to other catalysts under similar operating conditions. A removal of about 71.6% chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 87.2% color of desizing wastewater was obtained with a catalyst concentration of 4 kg/m(3) at pH 4. The initial pH value of the wastewater showed a pronounced effect on the precipitation process. During the thermolysis, copper gets leached to the aqueous phase, the residue obtained after the treatment is rich in copper and it can be blended with organic manure for use in agricultural fields. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the thermal oxidation of the solid residue obtained after thermolysis gets oxidized at a higher temperature range than that of the residue obtained from the desizing wastewater. The results lead to the conclusion that thermochemical precipitation is a very fast (instantaneous) process and would need a very small reactor vessel in comparison to other processes.