Development of nanocomposite biodegradable film containing iron nanoparticles biosynthesised by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The use of nanoparticles in biodegradable films has been shown to improve their characteristics in food packaging. The study was designed to investigate the effect of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and lysed yeast cells residue (YSR) on the properties of whey protein concentrate (WPC) films. IONPs (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mm ) biosynthesised by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and YSR were used to prepare WPC films. The addition of IONPs and YSR increased the tensile strength (TS) of the films by approximately 2.6 MPa compared with the control films (P < 0.05). Percent elongation and water vapour permeability of the films decreased significantly (P < 0.05) by the contribution of IONPs. All the films did not inhibit the growth of tested microorganisms. The incorporation of YSR in the film also did not make a significant change in any properties of the film (P > 0.05). The results indicated the usefulness of IONPs incorporation into WPC films to enhance mechanical but not antimicrobial properties.     

Computer-aided process intensification of natural gas to methanol process

The recent revolution in shale gas has presented opportunities for distributed manufacturing of key commodity chemicals, such as methanol, from methane. However, the conventional methane-to-methanol process is energy intensive which negatively affects the profitability and sustainability. We report an intensified process configuration that is both economically attractive and environmentally sustainable. This flowsheet is systematically discovered using the building block-based representation and optimization methodology. The new process configuration utilizes membrane-assisted reactive separations and can have as much as 190% higher total annual profit compared to a conventional configuration. Additionally, it has 57% less CO₂-equivalent greenhouse gas emission. Such drastic improvement highlights the advantages of building block-based computer-aided process intensification method.     

A Study on Designing Video Tutorials for Promoting Security Features: A Case Study in the Context of Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

This article investigates the effectiveness of informational videos that are designed to provide an introduction to two-step verification (i.e., 2FA) and in turn seeks to improve the adoption rate of 2FA among users. Toward that, eight video tutorials based on three themes (e.g., Risk, Self-efficacy, and Contingency) were designed, and a three-way between-group study with 399 participants on Amazon’s MTurk was conducted. Furthermore, a follow-up study was run to see the changes in participants’ behavior (e.g., enabling of 2FA). The Self-efficacy and Risk themes were found to be the most effective in making the videos more interesting, informative, and useful. Willingness to try 2FA was found to be higher for participants who were exposed to both the Risk and Self-efficacy themes. Participants’ decisions regarding actually enabling 2FA was found to be significantly correlated with how interesting, informative, and useful the videos were. Implications of our findings in a broader context are discussed in the article.     

Multi-level residue harmonic balance solution for the nonlinear natural frequency of axially loaded beams with an internal hinge

In this article, an analytical approach, namely, multi-level residue harmonic balance is introduced and developed for the nonlinear free vibration analysis of axially loaded beams with an internal hinge. The main advantage of this method is that only one set of nonlinear algebraic equations is required to be solved for obtaining the zero level solution while the high accuracy of the higher level solutions can be obtained by solving a set of linear equations. The new approximate analytical solution method is developed for solving the governing differential equations. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are verified by a numerical method. In the comparison, the results obtained from the proposed method well agree with those from other methods. The effects of vibration amplitude, axial force, and hinge location on the fundamental frequencies of various beam cases are investigated. The optimum and worst hinge locations are also studied.     

Surface optimization of metal halide perovskite solar cells using ZnS nanorods

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - The present paper reports the fabrication of solar cells using surface-optimized ZnS-Perovskite composites. Initially, ZnS nanorods (NRs)...     

Exploring the Approaches to Data Flow Computing

Architectures based on the data flow computing model provide an alternative to the conventional Von-Neumann architecture that are widely used for general purpose computing. Processors based on the data flow architecture employ fine-grain data-driven parallelism. These architectures have the potential to exploit the inherent parallelism in compute intensive applications like signal processing, image and video processing and so on and can thus achieve faster throughputs and higher power efficiency. In this paper, several data flow computing architectures are explored, and their main architectural features are studied. Furthermore, a classification of the processors is presented based on whether they employ either the data flow execution model exclusively or in combination with the control flow model and are accordingly grouped as exclusive data flow or hybrid architectures. The hybrid category is further subdivided as conjoint or accelerator-style architectures depending on how they deploy and separate the data flow and control flow execution model within their execution blocks. Lastly, a brief comparison and discussion of their advantages and drawbacks is also considered. From this study we conclude that although the data flow architectures are seen to have matured significantly, issues like data-structure handling and lack of efficient placement and scheduling algorithms have prevented these from becoming commercially viable.     

Diversity analysis of ML and ZF detectors in physical layer network coding relay system over frequency selective channels

Wireless Networks - In this paper, we consider a multi-source decode and forward cooperative network coding (NC) relay system based on single-carrier zero-padded (SC-ZP) transmission scheme. All...     

Synthesis and Characterization of Al–Al/(SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>)<Subscript>np</Subscript> Composite by Powder-in-Tube Method

In this study, a macro-nanocomposite of Al–Al/(SiO₂)_np was synthesized using powder-in-tube method. Pure aluminum cylinders were cast and then machined to prepare tubes. Nanocomposite powders of Al/(SiO₂)_np were prepared by mixing 1 and 2 wt% SiO₂ nano-particle with aluminum. Then macro-nanocomposites were prepared by compaction of the nanocomposites inside the tubes. The effects of reinforcement weight fraction, volume fraction of nanocomposite in the macro-nanocomposites and hot extrusion on the microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and optical microscope (OM) were used for microstructural examinations. Mechanical properties were investigated using tensile and compression tests at room temperature. The results revealed that when 25 vol% of the powder-in-tube composite was the nanocomposite reinforced with 2 wt% of nano-particle, the tensile strength was increased by 10.8%. Tensile strength was improved by up to 24% when 64 vol% of nanocomposite reinforced with 1 wt% of nano-particle was employed. Additionally, significant increase in compressive strength was achieved. This is noteworthy that coupling of a pure aluminum sheath with the nanocomposite enhanced the strength with limited loss of ductility. Micrographs showed integrated composites in which the interface between the sheath and the core had no defects.     

Tailoring the Processing Route to Optimize the Strength–Toughness Combination of Pearlitic Steel

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - The present study fine tunes the processing route of a eutectoid steel to shape an optimum strength–toughness combination through appropriate...