Investigation on colour,fastness properties and HPLC‐DAD analysis of silk fibres dyed with Rubia tinctorium L. and Quercus ithaburensis Decaisne

Silk fabric samples were dyed according to the various procedures using madder (Rubia tinctorium L.) and walloon oak (Quercus ithaburensis Decaisne) extracts. The colour coordinates, K/S, as well as wash, light, rub and perspiration fastness values were determined. A reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography with diode‐array detection was utilised for the identification of the components of dyes present in the dyed fabrics and in the plant extracts.     

Graphene reknits its holes

Nanoholes, etched under an electron beam at room temperature in single-layer graphene sheets as a result of their interaction with metal impurities, are shown to heal spontaneously by filling up with either nonhexagon, graphene-like, or perfect hexagon 2D structures. Scanning transmission electron microscopy was employed to capture the healing process and study atom-by-atom the regrown structure. A combination of these nanoscale etching and reknitting processes could lead to new graphene tailoring approaches.     

Chiral recognition of proteins having L-histidine residues on the surface with lanthanide ion complex incorporated-molecularly imprinted fluorescent nanoparticles

In this study, lanthanide ion complex incorporated molecularly imprinted fluorescent nanoparticles were synthesized. A combination of three novel approaches was applied for the purpose. First, lanthanide ions [Terbium(III)] were complexed with N-methacryloyl-L-histidine (MAH), polymerizable derivative of L-histidine amino acid, in order to incorporate the complex directly into the polymeric backbone. At the second stage, L-histidine molecules imprinted nanoparticles were utilized instead of whole protein imprinting in order to avoid whole drawbacks such as fragility, complexity, denaturation tendency, and conformation dependency. At the third stage following the first two steps mentioned above, imprinted L-histidine was coordinated with cupric ions [Cu(II)] to conduct the study under mild conditions. Then, molecularly imprinted fluorescent nanoparticles synthesized were used for L-histidine adsorption from aqueous solution to optimize conditions for adsorption and fluorimetric detection. Finally, usability of nanoparticles was investigated for chiral biorecognition using stereoisomer, D-histidine, racemic mixture, D,L-histidine, proteins with surface L-histidine residue, lysozyme, cytochrome C, or without ribonuclease A. The results revealed that the proposed polymerization strategy could make significant contribution to the solution of chronic problems of fluorescent component introduction into polymers. Additionally, the fluorescent nanoparticles reported here could be used for selective separation and fluorescent monitoring purposes.     

Determination of transmission factors of concretes with different water/cement ratio,curing condition,and dosage of cement and air entraining agent

This study focuses on determination of transmission factors of main parameters affecting the properties of both normal- and heavy-weight concrete in order to increase knowledge and understanding of radiation attenuation in concrete at a later age. Water/cement (W/C) ratio, curing condition, cement quantity and air entraining agent (AEA) were selected as the main parameters. Eight energy values have been selected within the energy interval of 30.85–383.85 keV to be used in the radiation source. The Taguchi Method was used as the method of optimization. It was determined in the study that the most important parameter affecting the attenuation of the radiation of the concrete is the W/C ratio and the concretes produced with the lowest level of W/C ratio absorb more radiation. However, it was also determined that there was a combined effect between the W/C ratio and the cement dosage.     

An experimental study on the linear differential scattering coefficients of the Trommel Sieve Waste (TSW)

The linear differential scattering coefficients (LDSCs) at 60 keV are measured for TSW at seven angles ranging from 60° to 120° at intervals of 10°. The results are compared with relativistic and non-relativistic theoretical values. The purpose of this work is to seek evidence whether there is a relationship between the LDSC and the scattering angle. This is the first time the LDSCs have been measured at energies lower than 100 keV, so there is a lack of comparable findings reported in the literature.     

Selective transport of cobalt (II) from ammoniacal solutions containing cobalt (II) and nickel (II) by emulsion liquid membranes using 8-hydroxyquinoline

The selective transport of cobalt (II) from ammoniacal solutions containing nickel (II) and cobalt (II) by emulsion liquid membranes (ELMs) using 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) as extractant has been presented. Membrane solution consists of a diluent (kerosene), a surfactant (ECA 4360J), and an extractant (8-HQ). Very dilute sulphuric solution buffered at pH 5.0 has been used as a stripping solution. The ammoniacal feed solution pH was adjusted to 9.0 with hydrochloric acid. The important variables governing the permeation of cobalt (II) have been studied. These variables are membrane composition, pH of the feed solution, cobalt (II) and nickel (II) concentrations of the feed solution, stirring speed, surfactant concentration, extractant concentration, complexing agent concentration and pH of the stripping solution, and phase ratio. After the optimum conditions had been determined, it was possible to selectively transport 95.0% of cobalt (II) from ammoniacal feed solution containing Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions. The separation factors of cobalt (II) with respect to nickel (II), based on initial feed concentration, have experimentally found to be of as high as 31 for equimolar Co(II)–Ni(II) feed solution.     

Free Vibration Analysis of an Adhesively Bonded Functionally Graded Tubular Single Lap Joint

In this study, the three-dimensional free vibration analysis of an adhesively bonded functionally graded tubular single lap joint was carried out using the finite element method. The functionally graded tubes of the adhesive joint are composed of ceramic (Al₂O₃) and metal (Ni) phases varying through the tube thickness. The adhesive material properties, such as modulus of elasticity, Poisson's ratio, and density were found to have negligible effect on the first ten natural frequencies and mode shapes of the adhesive joint. The optimal design parameters of the adhesive joint, such as overlap length, inner radius of the inner tube, outer and inner tube thicknesses, and the through-the-thickness material composition variation were searched using both the artificial neural networks (ANNs) and the genetic algorithms (GAs). For this purpose, the natural frequencies and modal strain energy values were calculated for an adhesive joint with random geometrical properties and material compositions through the tube thicknesses, and were used for training the proposed artificial neural network models. The outer tube thickness, the inner tube-inner radius, and the compositional gradient exponent had considerable effect on the natural frequencies, mode shapes, and modal strain energies of the functionally graded tubular single lap joint, whereas the overlap length and the inner tube thickness had a minor effect. The GAs integrated with ANNs was employed to determine optimal design parameters satisfying both maximum natural frequency and minimum modal strain energy conditions for each natural mode of the tubular adhesive joint.     

Rule-based automatic segmentation of color images

A rule-based segmentation algorithm for color images has been presented in this paper. The proposed strategy is similar to region growing algorithm where the seed points are automatically selected and grown. The similarity percents of neighboring pixels are calculated by means of fuzzy reasoning rules, and the merging of the pixels with regions is performed by comparing the similarity percent with the similarity threshold value. The algorithm does not require any prior knowledge of the number of regions existing in the image and decreases the computational load required for the fuzzy c-means (FCM). Several computer simulations have been performed and the results have been discussed. The simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm yields segmented color image of perfect accuracy.     

A numerical study of the influence of bump type triggers on the axial crushing of top hat thin-walled sections

This paper deals with the issue of a trigger design and its performance. In this respect, a numerical investigation is carried out to study the effects of the geometrical features of a bump type trigger on the crush behavior of an energy absorbing member subjected to axial impact loading. The member was constructed by joining a top hat profile with a flat lid. The trigger was considered to be a bump with a semi-circular cross section on the hat profile. The finite element solver, LS-DYNA was used in all crush simulations. As a result, the introduction of the trigger was found to be effective on the peak crush force and the energy absorption capability of the member under axial impact loading. It was also shown that the crush response could be controlled by varying the location and the geometry of the trigger.     

Tl-208, Pb-212, Bi-212, Ra-226 and Ac-228 adsorption onto polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate-bentonite composite

The adsorption of naturally occurring radionuclides (²⁰⁸Tl⁺, ²¹²Pb²⁺, ²²⁶Ra²⁺, ²¹²Bi³⁺ and ²²⁸Ac³⁺) onto Polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate-bentonite (PHEMA-B) composite was investigated. Experimentally obtained isotherms were evaluated with reference to Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (DR) models. The adsorption isotherms were L type of Giles classification proving that PHEMA-B had a high affinity adsorbent for the studied radionuclides. The Langmuir adsorption capacities (X_L) were in the order of ²²⁶Ra (2.8 MBq kg⁻¹)>²¹²Bi (0.4 MBq kg⁻¹)>²¹²Pb (0.3 MBq kg⁻¹)>²²⁸Ac and ²⁰⁸Tl (0.2 MBq kg⁻¹). The adsorption process was physical via complex formation after proton exchanger for which the adsorption energies obtained from DR model was evidence. The enthalpy and entropy changes were positive and the negative free enthalpy change was proof for the spontaneity of adsorption. The reusability tests for PHEMA-B for five uses demonstrated that the adsorbent could be reused after complete recovery of the loaded radionuclide ions by 1 M HCl. The chemical structure of the composite did not change after the reuses and storage foregoing.