Surface Modification of Steel via In Situ Formed Tantalum Carbide Through TIG Arcing

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - Surface modification of low-carbon steel has been carried out by in situ formation of tantalum carbide (TaC) using tungsten inert gas arcing (TIG)...     

A Microfluidic Contact Lens to Address Contact Lens-Induced Dry Eye

The contact lens (CL) industry has made great strides in improving CL-wearing experiences. However, a large amount of CL wearers continue to experience ocular dryness, known as contact lens-induced dry eye (CLIDE), stemming from the reduction in tear volume, tear film instability, increased tear osmolarity followed by inflammation and resulting in ocular discomfort and visual disturbances. In this article, to address tear film thinning between the CL and the ocular surface, the concept of using a CL with microchannels to deliver the tears from the pre-lens tear film (PrLTF) to the post-lens ocular surface using in vitro eye-blink motion is investigated. This study reports an eye-blink mimicking system with microfluidic poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (poly(HEMA)) hydrogel with integrated microchannels to demonstrate eye-blink assisted flow through microchannels. This in vitro experimental study provides a proof-of-concept result that tear transport from PrLTF to post-lens tear film can be enhanced by an artificial eyelid motion in a pressure range of 0.1–5 kPa (similar to human eyelid pressure) through poly(HEMA) microchannels. Simulation is conducted to support the hypothesis. This work demonstrates the feasibility of developing microfluidic CLs with the potential to help prevent or minimize CLIDE and discomfort by the enhanced transport of pre-lens tears to the post-lens ocular surface.     

Design and Analog/RF Performance Analysis of a Novel Symmetric Raised-Channel SiGe Heterojunction Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor (TFET)

Silicon - In this paper, a novel symmetric double-gate TFET with elevated mid-channel is proposed with Si1-xGex heterojunction as the source and its performance has been extensively analyzed....     

Froth flotation as primary treatment of flowback water: Removal of total organic carbon and prediction of kinetics

Petroleum and exploration industries employ a hydrofracking process where a large volume of water (fracturing fluid) is injected and a fraction (known as flowback water) is returned to the surface. Froth flotation is a typical process employed for the primary treatment of water. In the present work, froth flotation has been used as a pretreatment method for real flowback water sourced from the petroleum and shale gas exploration industry. In the present work, a first-principle based convective mass transfer model has been developed to describe the froth flotation performance. The resultant equation was solved analytically and compared with the numerical solution, and a parametric sensitivity analysis of the process performance was also undertaken. In addition, a correlation to estimate the flotation rate constant was proposed, thereby circumventing the need to obtain a large number of cumbersome parameters experimentally. Overall, this study proposes froth flotation as an efficient primary treatment method towards the separation of dispersed oil droplets from the flowback water and the corresponding prediction of kinetics using a first-principle based transport model.     

A survey on rumor detection and prevention in social media using deep learning

Knowledge and Information Systems - In the current digital era, massive amounts of unreliable, purposefully misleading material, such as texts and images, are being shared widely on various web...     

Little amounts of carbon nanotubes as anti-wear reinforcement for alumina in dry sliding

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a leading choice for reinforcing oxide and nitride ceramics, but investigations into the tribological performance of CNT–ceramic composites remain inconclusive. Here, we show that reinforcement with only .1 wt% multi-walled CNTs improves the antifriction and anti-wear performance of zirconia-toughened alumina by up to 23% and 51%, respectively. Dry sliding tests under normal loads of 40–60 N for a sliding distance of 1000 m reveal a load-dependent transition in the lubrication mechanism—CNTs retain their tubular morphology at low loads and reduce friction via a sliding–rolling response, whereas high sliding loads trigger the formation of a uniform, thin lubricating film by the repeated crushing and smearing of exfoliated nanotubes. Raman spectra analyses confirmed that the carbon-rich tribo-film possesses a graphitic structure. Well-dispersed CNTs prevent wear loss by mechanisms, such as crack bridging and grain anchoring. The present work opens up new frontiers for the application of CNT–alumina tribo-ceramics in anti-wear, unlubricated, and high contact stress applications, such as in the manufacturing and mining industries.