Strength-Grain Size Relations in Polycrystalline Ceramics

A model is presented to explain the strength-grain size behavior of ceramics exhibiting duplex microstructures and of ceramics with uniform coarse-grained microstructures. Using an energy balance analysis, the model shows that in most ceramics an hitiipl flaw contained within a single large grain will initially propagate and then arrest after entering the region of increased fracture-surface energy. The arrested flaw will subsequently propagate to failure at the value OF the critical stress intensity factor. Using the data in the literature, a strength-(grain size)^−1/2 plot for MgAl₂O₄ was generated.     

Accelerated Fermentation of Milk by Nitrosoguanidine Induced Mutans of Lactobacilli

Selected nitrosoguanidine (NTG) mutants of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and L. casei produced appreciably higher acidities and a noticeable increase in proteolytic activity as compared to the parent cultures. Combination of these NTG-induced mutants with Streptococcus lactis and S. cremoris showed enhancement in the biochemical performance, thereby exploring the possibility of utilizing these variants in the manufacture of milk products.     

Guaiacol and 4‐methylguaiacol accumulate in wines made from smoke‐affected fruit because of hydrolysis of their conjugates

Background and Aims: Taint in smoke‐exposed grapes have been associated with elevated levels of guaiacol and 4‐methylguaiacol. Previous research has reported guaiacol and 4‐methylguaiacol in both fruits and wines. In some cases, these compounds were not detected, or were detected at low levels in the fruit while high levels were subsequently identified during or after winemaking. Later research indicated that this was due to the presence of glycosidic conjugates. Here we report a method for the routine analysis of guaiacol and 4‐methylguaiacol released after acid hydrolysis of glycoside precursors. Methods and Results: Chardonnay, Merlot, Shiraz, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon fruits were collected following bushfire events in 2006–2007 in the King Valley wine region of NE Victoria, Australia. Gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) was used to detect free guaiacol and 4‐methylguaiacol in both fruits and wines. Low levels of free and bound forms were present in fruit not exposed to smoke. Substantial levels of free guaiacol and 4‐methylguaiacol were detected in the wines made from the smoke‐affected fruits. These compounds increased during bottle storage. Acid hydrolysis of wines and berries resulted in a several‐fold increase in free guaiacol and 4‐methylguaiacol. Conclusions: The validated GC‐MS method is suitable for monitoring free and glycosidically bound guaiacol and 4‐methylguaiacol after acid hydrolysis in both fruits and wines. Acid hydrolysis of wines provided evidence that bound volatiles, most probably glycosidically, act as reserve for guaiacol and 4‐methylguaiacol, which are released during ageing of wines. Significance of the Study: This is the first study published in a refereed journal to demonstrate that smoke taint‐associated volatiles increase during ageing of wine and bound forms of guaiacol and 4‐methylguaiacol represent an aroma reserve for smoke taint in ageing/bottled wines.     

Varna-based optimization:a novel method for capacitated controller placement problem in SDN

Recently,software defined networking(SDN)is a promising paradigm shift that decouples the control plane from the data plane.It can centrally monitor and control the network through softwarization,i.e.,controller.Multiple controllers are a necessity of current SDN based WAN.Placing multiple controllers in an optimum way is known as controller placement problem(CPP).Earlier,solutions of CPP only concentrated on propagation latency but overlooked the capacity of controllers and the dynamic load on switches,which is a significant factor in real networks.In this paper,we develop a novel optimization algorithm named varna-based optimization(VBO)and use it to solve CPP.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first attempt to minimize the total average latency of SDN along with the implementation of TLBO and Jaya algorithms to solve CPP for all twelve possible scenarios.Our experimental results show that TLBO outperforms PSO,and VBO outperforms TLBO and Jaya algorithms in all scenarios for all topologies.     

Development of mix design method based on statistical analysis of different factors for geopolymer concrete

The present study proposes the mix design method of Fly Ash (FA) based geopolymer concrete using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). In this method, different factors, including binder content, alkali/binder ratio, NS/NH ratio (sodium silicate/sodium hydroxide), NH molarity, and water/solids ratio were considered for the mix design of geopolymer concrete. The 2D contour plots were used to setup the mix design method to achieve the target compressive strength. The proposed mix design method of geopolymer concrete is divided into three categories based on curing regime, specifically one ambient curing (25 °C) and two heat curing (60 and 90 °C). The proposed mix design method of geopolymer concrete was validated through experimentation of M30, M50, and M70 concrete mixes at all curing regimes. The observed experimental compressive strength results validate the mix design method by more than 90% of their target strength. Furthermore, the current study concluded that the required compressive strength can be achieved by varying any factor in the mix design. In addition, the factor analysis revealed that the NS/NH ratio significantly affects the compressive strength of geopolymer concrete.