Effect of sulfur on graphite aspect ratio and tensile properties in compacted graphite irons

In this research, the effect of sulfur content on graphite aspect ratio and tensile properties of compacted graphite iron (CGI) was investigated. Different samples with sulfur levels ranging from 0.023 to 0.080% were produced in which the amount of magnesium was the same. Magnesium was added as FeSiMg by sandwich method and sulfur was added as pyrite powder in reaction chamber of the mold. In order to study the microstructure and mechanical properties, metallographic examination and mechanical tests were conducted on specimens. The metallographic results showed that increasing of sulfur level from 0.023 to 0.080% in constant magnesium level of 0.057% increases the graphite aspect ratio from 0.6 to 12.4. Evaluation of the mechanical test results indicated that increasing of sulfur level, decreases the tensile properties of compacted graphite iron.     

A collective and abridged lexical query for delineation of nanotechnology publications

In order to monitor articles/patents in nanotechnology, there is little agreement on a universal lexical query or even an explicit definition of nanotechnology. Here in the light of a proposed definition, a set of case studies has been conducted to remove keywords which are not exclusive to nanotechnology. This resulted in a collective and abridged lexical query (CALQ) for nanotechnology delineation. Through bibliometric quantification of already-proposed as well as the novel keywords, it was shown that all keywords included in CALQ have considerable exclusive retrieval and precision, while the removed keywords do not satisfy either of these numerical thresholds. This approach may also be applied for the future updating of CALQ.     

Controlled release of prednisolone acetate from molecularly imprinted hydrogel contact lenses

The aim of this work was to study the influence of methacrylic acid (MAA) as a comonomer and the application of a molecular imprinting technique on the loading and release properties of weakly crosslinked 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) hydrogels, with a view toward their use as reloadable soft contact lenses for the administration of prednisolone acetate (PA). The hydrogels were prepared with HEMA (95.90–98.30 mol %) as a backbone monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (140 mM) as a crosslinker, and MAA (0, 50, 100, or 200 mM) as a functional monomer. Different PA/MAA molar ratios (0, 1 : 8, 1 : 6, and 1 : 4) in the feed composition of the hydrogels were also applied to study the influence of the molecular imprinting technique on their binding properties. The hydrogels (0.4 mm thick) were synthesized by thermal polymerization at 60°C for 24 h in a polypropylene mold. The hydrogels were then characterized by the determination of their swelling and binding properties in water. Their loading and release properties were also studied in 0.9% NaCl and artificial lachrymal fluid. Increasing the MAA content of the hydrogel and applying the molecular imprinting technique led to an increase in the loading capacity of the hydrogel. The optimized imprinted hydrogel showed the highest affinity for PA and the greatest ability to control the release process, sustaining it for 48 h. The results obtained clearly indicate that the incorporation of MAA as a comonomer increased the PA loading capacity of hydrogel. Our data showed that the molecular imprinting technique also had a significant effect on the loading and release properties of the hydrogels. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

The likely adverse environmental impacts of renewable energy sources

The global attention has always been focussed on the adverse environmental impacts of conventional energy sources. In contrast nonconventional energy sources, particularly the renewable ones, have enjoyed a ‘clean’ image vis a vis environmental impacts. The only major exception to this general trend has been large hydropower projects; experience has taught us that they can be disastrous for the environment. The belief now is that minihydel and microhydel projects are harmless alternatives. But are renewable energy sources really as benign as is widely believed? The present essay addresses this question in the background of Lovin's classical paradigm, which had postulated the hard (malignant) and soft (benign) energy concepts in the first place. It critically evaluates the environmental impacts of major renewable energy sources. It then comes up with the broad conclusion that renewable energy sources are not the panacea they are popularly perceived to be; indeed in some cases their adverse environmental impacts can be as strongly negative as the impacts of conventional energy sources. The paper also dwells on the steps we need to take so that we can utilize renewable energy sources without facing environmental backlashes of the type we got from hydropower projects.     

A comparison of fraud cues and classification methods for fake escrow website detection

The ability to automatically detect fraudulent escrow websites is important in order to alleviate online auction fraud. Despite research on related topics, such as web spam and spoof site detection, fake escrow website categorization has received little attention. The authentic appearance of fake escrow websites makes it difficult for Internet users to differentiate legitimate sites from phonies; making systems for detecting such websites an important endeavor. In this study we evaluated the effectiveness of various features and techniques for detecting fake escrow websites. Our analysis included a rich set of fraud cues extracted from web page text, image, and link information. We also compared several machine learning algorithms, including support vector machines, neural networks, decision trees, naïve bayes, and principal component analysis. Experiments were conducted to assess the proposed fraud cues and techniques on a test bed encompassing nearly 90,000 web pages derived from 410 legitimate and fake escrow websites. The combination of an extended feature set and a support vector machines ensemble classifier enabled accuracies over 90 and 96% for page and site level classification, respectively, when differentiating fake pages from real ones. Deeper analysis revealed that an extended set of fraud cues is necessary due to the broad spectrum of tactics employed by fraudsters. The study confirms the feasibility of using automated methods for detecting fake escrow websites. The results may also be useful for informing existing online escrow fraud resources and communities of practice about the plethora of fraud cues pervasive in fake websites.     

Influence of drying and extraction methods on yield and chemical composition of the essential oil of Satureja hortensis

The aerial parts of Satureja hortensis, cultivated in Iran (Research Station of Alborz, Karaj), were collected at the full-flowering stage and dried by three different drying methods (sun-drying, shade-drying and oven-drying at 45 °C). The essential oils of every treatment were obtained by hydro-distillation of the aerial parts. In addition, the essential oil of shade-dried sample was obtained by two other distillation methods (water- and steam-distillation and direct steam-distillation). The oils were analyzed by capillary GC and GC–MS. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference between oil yield (w/w) of the oven-dried sample (1.06%) compared to shade-dried (0.94%) and sun-dried (0.87%). The oil content of the shade-dried sample, obtained by hydro-distillation, was higher (0.94%) than that of the steam-distilled (0.27%). Twenty-three components were identified in the oil of S. hortensis in the different drying methods, including carvacrol (46.0–48.1%) and γ-terpinene (37.7–39.4%) as main components. Seventeen compounds were characterized in the oils of different distillation methods, including carvacrol (12.3–46%) and γ-terpinene (37.7–70.4%). Although the drying methods had no significant effect on oil composition of S. hortensis, the distillation changed the percentage of main components sharply (significant at 1%). The steam-distillation method produced the lowest amount of carvacrol and highest amount of γ-terpinene. The results showed that extraction by hydro-distillation gave the best results for S. hortensis, based on oil yield and carvacrol percentage.     

Modeling of CO2-brine interfacial tension: Application to enhanced oil recovery

Development of reliable and accurate models to estimate carbon dioxide–brine interfacial tension (IFT) is necessary, since its experimental measurement is time-consuming and requires expensive experimental apparatus as well as complicated interpretation procedure. In the current study, feed forward artificial neural network is used for estimation of CO₂–brine IFT based on data from published literature which consists of a number of carbon dioxide–brine interfacial tension data covering broad ranges of temperature, total salinity, mole fractions of impure components and pressure. Trial-and-error method is utilized to optimize the artificial neural network topology in order to enhance its capability of generalization. The results showed that there is good agreement between experimental values and modeling results. Comparison of the empirical correlations with the proposed model suggests that the current model can predict the CO₂–brine IFT more accurately and robustly.     

Synthesis of Ferrocene-Based Hyperbranched Polyether and Its Catalytic Performance for Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate

A series of ferrocene-based hyperbranched polyethers (HBPE-Fc) with different ferrocene content were synthesized by esterification of ferrocenecarbonyl chloride and hyperbranched polyether (HBPE). ¹H NMR and FT-IR were used to confirm the structure of HBPE and HBPE-Fc. GPC was used to calculate the molecular weights. The catalytic performance of the synthesized HBPE-Fc for thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) was investigated by TG and DTG techniques. The results showed that HBPE-Fc exhibited good catalytic activity on the thermal decomposition of AP. The influence factors on catalytic performances, such as substitution degree of ferrocene and mass ratio of AP/HBPE-Fc were discussed as well.     

Probabilistic Fatigue Life Prediction and Structural Reliability Evaluation of Turbine Rotors Integrating an Automated Ultrasonic Inspection System

The paper presents a general method and procedure for fatigue reliability assessment integrating automated ultrasonic non-destructive inspections. The basic structure of an automated ultrasonic inspection system is presented. Fatigue reliability assessment methodology is developed using uncertainty quantification models for detection, sizing, and fatigue model parameters. The probability of detection model is based on a classical log-linear model coupling the actual flaw size with the ultrasonic inspection reported size. Using probabilistic modeling, the distribution of the actual flaw size is derived. Reliability assessment procedure using ultrasonic inspection data is suggested. A steam turbine rotor example with realistic ultrasonic inspection data is presented to demonstrate the overall method. Calculations and interpretations of assessment results based on risk recommendations for industrial applications are given.