Enhanced upconversion study of Er3+-Yb3+ codoped NaYF4 phosphors synthesized by the reverse microemulsion method

Herein, nanocrystals of Er³⁺ and Er³⁺, Yb³⁺ co-doped NaYF₄ upconversion (UC) phosphor were prepared via the reverse-microemulsion method. The impact of different concentrations of Er³⁺ ions on the UC emission intensity after 980?nm diode laser excitation is discussed. The structure, morphology and composition of the nanophosphors were confirmed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and the results showed the presence of NaYF₄ nanocrystals with hexagonal phases of NaYF₄. The UC spectra revealed two emission bands including a green and a red emission band and the CIE coordinate for the samples were estimated. The present research revealed that the reverse-microemulsion approach will be suitable for the synthesis of efficient upconversion nanophosphors.     

CO2 sequestration by magnesite mineralisation through interaction of Mg-brine and CO2: integrated laboratory experiments and computerised geochemical modelling

ABSTRACT

Several Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) techniques have been studied including injections of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the mature and/or depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and deep saline aquifers. This work aims to test storing CO₂ into the magnesium-rich evaporite strata and also into the stratigraphic intervals containing Mg-rich brines. The test simulates Mg-carbonation of the synthetic solution obtained from the Mg-evaporite mineral, bischofite – both experimentally in the laboratory condition and also through computerised geochemical simulation. The laboratory experiments, which resulted in the crystallisation of anhydrous magnesite, were analysed. The TOUGHREACT^TM, Geochemist’s Workbench^TM (GWB) and PHREEQC^TM software simulated the experiments as computerised geochemical model and tested the results for natural geological conditions. The geochemical simulations successfully demonstrate the immense CCS potential for the Mg-evaporite (as well as the sedimentary strata charged with Mg-evaporitic brine) at their subsurface geological occurrences at elevated pressure-temperature and high salinity.     

Comparative analysis of storage modules under different dispatch strategies for an optimum decentralized hybrid energy solution: a case study of a remote Indian village

India has a large poor population in spite of having a steady economic growth. Supply of centralized grid power to remote villages of India is not feasible due to adverse topography and poor economic condition of the villagers. To supply the reliable power at a minimum cost including penalty due to carbon dioxide emission, a suitable decentralized energy combination using locally available resources may be a better sustainable solution. The economy of such a hybrid energy supply system significantly depends on storage devices and dispatch strategies. Therefore, selection of appropriate storage devices and dispatch strategy need to be optimized based on available local resources. In this study, the comparative analysis of techno-economic factors for five different storage devices (lead acid battery, lithium-ion battery, vanadium redox battery, zinc bromide battery and pumped hydro energy storage) are studied under two different dispatch strategies, i.e., Load Following and Cycle Charging. The estimated cost of energy and net present cost of the recommended optimum combined energy system are in the range of US$0.197/kWh–US$0.453/kWh and US$3,62,384–US$5,76,369, respectively. The cost of energy, net present cost and carbon dioxide emission for the selected energy generators combination with the zinc bromide battery is 48.964–56.512%, 24.149–32.147% and 43.419–55.865% lower than other storage-based energy systems, respectively. The abovementioned economic and environmental factors are lower by 34.113, 10.489 and 31.094%, respectively, under Load Following dispatch strategy with respect to the Cycle Charging dispatch strategy for the optimum energy combination with zinc bromide battery.

Graphical abstract

     

Facile synthesis of asymmetric patchy Janus Ag/Cu particles and study of their antifungal activity

Asymmetric patchy Ag/Cu Janus nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized via a “seed-mediated” approach. This is the first report of synthesis of nanometer sized metal-based Janus NPs without using complicated methods. Selective adsorption of the surfactant onto the seed NPs leads to the formation of Janus type structure. Subsequently the reduction potential of Ag⁺/Ag⁰ and Cu²⁺/Cu⁰ systems directs the formation of the “patch”. The patchy Janus NPs show significant antifungal activity towards a potent rice pathogen thus offering the prospect of future application in crop protection.     

CATECAS: a content-aware transmission efficiency based channel allocation scheme for cognitive radio users with improved QoE

Cognitive radio (CR) is a promising technology for the upcoming 5G communication which addresses opportunistic channel usage for enhanced spectrum utilization. However, Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning is a major challenge for CR Network due to the service interruption and packet error caused by random primary activities. In addition to this, periodic spectrum sensing for primary user protection reduces the effective throughput of the secondary users (SUs). However, to ensure QoS of SUs especially for video application, throughput enhancement is necessary which can be achieved by efficient spectrum sensing and channel allocation policy. As the QoS requirements are different for different secondary applications, we propose a novel content aware channel allocation scheme that enhances the Quality of Experience (QoE) of SUs. At first, the proposed scheme analyzes the QoS requirements of different SUs and prioritizes them. Consequently, the optimum sensing duration is determined to maximize the transmission efficiency and throughput of SUs. Finally, a novel content aware transmission efficiency-based channel assignment scheme (CATECAS) is proposed for SUs, considering the estimated channel quality and QoS requirements concurrently. Extensive performance analysis of CATESCAS on real-time video and file download applications confirms significant QoE improvement for SUs especially for rapid movement type of video application, which is considered as the most critical among different secondary applications.

     

Residual U-Network for Breast Tumor Segmentation from Magnetic Resonance Images

Breast cancer positions as the most well-known threat and the main source of malignant growth-related morbidity and mortality throughout the world. It is apical of all new cancer incidences analyzed among females. Two features substantially influence the classification accuracy of malignancy and benignity in automated cancer diagnostics. These are the precision of tumor segmentation and appropriateness of extracted attributes required for the diagnosis. In this research, the authors have proposed a ResU-Net (Residual U-Network) model for breast tumor segmentation. The proposed methodology renders augmented, and precise identification of tumor regions and produces accurate breast tumor segmentation in contrast-enhanced MR images. Furthermore, the proposed framework also encompasses the residual network technique, which subsequently enhances the performance and displays the improved training process. Over and above, the performance of ResU-Net has experimentally been analyzed with conventional U-Net, FCN8, FCN32. Algorithm performance is evaluated in the form of dice coefficient and MIoU (Mean Intersection of Union), accuracy, loss, sensitivity, specificity, F1score. Experimental results show that ResU-Net achieved validation accuracy & dice coefficient value of 73.22% & 85.32% respectively on the Rider Breast MRI dataset and outperformed as compared to the other algorithms used in experimentation.     

Nociceptive mechanisms modulate ozone-induced human lung function decrements

We have previously suggested that ozone (O3)-induced pain-related symptoms and inhibition of maximal inspiration are due to stimulation of airway C fibers (M. J. Hazucha, D. V. Bates, and P. A. Bromberg. J. Appl. Physiol. 67: 1535-1541, 1989). If this were so, pain suppression or inhibition by opioid-receptor agonists should partially or fully reverse O3-induced symptomatic and lung functional responses. The objectives of this study were to determine whether O3-induced pain limits maximal inspiration and whether endogenous opioids contribute to modulation of the effects of inhaled O3 on lung function. The participants in this double-blind crossover study were healthy volunteers (18-59 yr) known to be "weak" (WR; n = 20) and "strong" O3 responders (SR; n = 42). They underwent either two 2-h exposures to air or two 2-h exposures to 0. 42 parts/million O3 with moderate intermittent exercise. Immediately after post-O3 spirometry, the WR were randomly given either naloxone (0.15 mg/kg iv) or saline, whereas SR randomly received either sufentanil (0.2 microgram/kg iv) or saline. O3 exposure significantly (P < 0.001) impaired lung function. In SR, sufentanil rapidly, although not completely, reversed both the chest pain and spirometric effects (forced expiratory volume in 1 s; P < 0.0001) compared with saline. Immediate postexposure administration of saline or naloxone had no significant effect on WR. Plasma beta-endorphin levels were not related to an individual's O3 responsiveness. Cutaneous pain variables showed a nonsignificant weak association with O3 responsiveness. These observations demonstrate that nociceptive mechanisms play a key role in modulating O3-induced inhibition of inspiration but not in causing lack of spirometric response to O3 exposure in WR.     

Extended exploiting modification direction based steganography using hashed-weightage Array

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Steganography is the method of hiding secret message information in various cover media like text, image, audio, video and others without raising suspicion to...     

Multi-scale RoIs selection for classifying multi-spectral images

Multidimensional Systems and Signal Processing - The applications of object-based image analysis (OBIA) in remote sensing studies have received a considerable amount of attention over the recent...     

Identification of Floral Volatiles and Pollinator Responses in Kiwifruit Cultivars, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Actinidia chinensis</Emphasis> var. <Emphasis Type="Italic">chinensis</Emphasis>

Volatiles emitted from unpollinated in situ flowers were collected from two male cultivars, ‘M33’, ‘M91’, and one female cultivar ‘Zesy002’ (Gold3) of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis). The samples were found to contain 48 compounds across the three cultivars with terpenes and straight chain alkenes dominating the headspace. Electrophysiological responses of honey bees (Apis mellifera) and bumble bees (Bombus terrestris) to the headspace of the kiwifruit flowers were recorded. Honey bees consistently responded to 11 floral volatiles from Gold3 pistillate flowers while bumble bees consistently responded to only five compounds from the pistillate flowers. Nonanal, 2-phenylethanol, 4-oxoisophorone and (3E,6E)-α-farnesene from pistillate flowers elicited responses from both bee species. Overall, honey bees were more sensitive to the straight chain hydrocarbons of the kiwifruit flowers than the bumble bees, which represented one of the main differences between the responses of the two bee species. The floral volatiles from staminate flowers of the male cultivars ‘M33’ and ‘M91’ varied greatly from those of the pistillate flowers of the female cultivar Gold3, with most of the bee active compounds significantly different from those in the Gold3 flower headspace. The total floral emissions of ‘M33’ flowers were significantly less than those of the Gold3 flowers, while the total floral emissions of the ‘M91’ flowers were significantly greater than those of the Gold3 flowers.