Characterization and distribution of mechanically competent mineralized tissue in micropores of β-tricalcium phosphate bone substitutes

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Kinetic sorption study of Cerium (IV) on magnetite nanoparticles

Magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄) and humic acid-coated magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄/HA) were prepared by co-precipitation method for cerium ions removal from aqueous solution. The success of preparation in nanoscale was confirmed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The TEM image shows that the size of Fe₃O₄ is around 15 nm and the presence of humic acid reduces the magnetite aggregation and stabilizes the magnetite suspension. Adsorption studies with respect to various process variables such as contact time, pH, and temperature were investigated by batch technique. The sorption kinetics and isotherms of Fe₃O₄ and Fe₃O₄/HA for Ce (IV) ions show that the sorption kinetics follow the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir isotherm models for both sorbents. The maximum capacities (Q_max) of Ce (IV) onto Fe₃O₄ and Fe₃O₄/HA were found to be 160 and 280 mg/g, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters (ΔG^o, ΔH^o and ΔS^o) were calculated, and the results revealed that the sorption process of Ce (IV) ions on both Fe₃O₄ and Fe₃O₄/HA are spontaneous, endothermic for Fe₃O₄ and exothermic for Fe₃O₄/HA.     

Porcine skin gelatin–silver nanocomposites: synthesis,characterisation, cell cytotoxicity,and antibacterial properties

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesised with hydrothermal autoclaving technique by using AgNO₃ salt (silver precursor) at different concentrations (0.01, 0.1, 0.55, 1.1, 5.5, and 11 mM) and porcine skin (1% (w/v)) gelatin polymeric matrix (reducing and stabiliser agent). The reaction was performed in an autoclave at 103 kPa and 121°C and the hydrothermal autoclaving exposure time and AgNO₃ molar concentration were varied at a constant porcine skin gelatin concentration. The as‐prepared AgNPs were characterised by UV–visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The antibacterial properties of AgNPs were tested against gram‐positive and gram‐negative bacteria. Furthermore, 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl) 2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide and 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl assays were used to test whether the synthesised AgNPs can be potentially applied in cancer therapy or used as an antioxidant. This approach is a promising simple route for synthesising AgNPs with a smaller average particle 10 nm diameter. Furthermore, AgNPs exhibited a good cytotoxicity activity, reducing the viability of the liver cancer cell line HepG2 with a moderate IC₅₀; they also showed a low‐to‐fair antioxidant activity. In addition, AgNPs had a remarkable preferential antibacterial activity against gram‐positive bacteria than gram‐negative bacteria. Therefore, these fabricated AgNPs can be used as an antibacterial agent in curative and preventive health care.Inspec keywords: gelatin, silver, nanoparticles, nanocomposites, nanobiotechnology, biomedical materials, antibacterial activity, microorganisms, Fourier transform infrared spectra, ultraviolet spectra, visible spectra, transmission electron microscopy, cancer, cellular biophysicsOther keywords: porcine skin gelatin–silver nanocomposites, cell cytotoxicity, antibacterial properties, silver nanoparticles, hydrothermal autoclaving technique, gelatin polymeric matrix, UV–visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gram‐positive bacteria, gram‐negative bacteria, 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl) 2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide assays, 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl assays, cancer therapy, antioxidant, liver cancer cell line HepG2, Ag     

Video Identification Based on Watermarking Schemes and Visual Cryptography

Related to the growth of data sharing on the Internet and the wide - spread use of digital media, multimedia security and copyright protection have become of broad interest. Visual cryptography () is a method of sharing a secret image between a group of participants, where certain groups of participants are defined as qualified and may combine their share of the image to obtain the original, and certain other groups are defined as prohibited, and even if they combine knowledge of their parts, they can’t obtain any information on the secret image. The visual cryptography is one of the techniques which used to transmit the secrete image under the cover picture. Human vision systems are connected to visual cryptography. The black and white image was originally used as a hidden image. In order to achieve the owner’s copy right security based on visual cryptography, a watermarking algorithm is presented. We suggest an approach in this paper to hide multiple images in video by meaningful shares using one binary share. With a common share, which we refer to as a smart key, we can decrypt several images simultaneously. Depending on a given share, the smart key decrypts several hidden images. The smart key is printed on transparency and the shares are involved in video and decryption is performed by physically superimposing the transparency on the video. Using binary, grayscale, and color images, we test the proposed method.     

Satellite image fusion based on modified central force optimization

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Nowadays, optimization has become a brand methodology for different applications. One of the most promising fields for application of optimization is the image...     

Design and Implementation of Implanted Log Periodic Spiral PIFA in Liver

A design of a log periodic SPIFA （spiral planar inverted-F antenna） is proposed. A way of tuning the SPIFA to work in the ISM band （2.45 GHz） is discussed. The purpose of the antenna is to detect any tumor in the liver depending on the change in the conductivity and the permittivity of the liver after being infected. Detecting liver cancer on its early stages will help in the treatment process and makes it much faster as cancer in early stages can be treated easily. The antenna is designed, simulated and measured in a rabbit＇s liver. The simulated and measured results show great agreement with each other.     

Preparation and evaluation of a new anti-corrosive coating based on asphalt cement blended with polyesteramide resin for steel protection

Asphalt cement is a material commonly used in coating applications due to its good adhesion properties and relatively low cost. Unfortunately it has the drawback of being slow to dry. Long polyesteramide resin (PEA) is predominantly used for air-dry and force-dry industrial coatings onto metal surfaces, yet is considered to be a relatively weak material. This paper focuses on the potential synergy of mixing asphalt cement, of penetration grade 60/70, with polyesteramide resin to produce industrial coatings for steel applications, with the aim of overcoming the slow drying time of the asphalt cement and the relative weakness of PEA resin. To achieve this aim, PEA resin was mixed with asphalt cement in a range of concentrations from 3 to 12% (w/w). The prepared coating blends were characterised physically using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the performance of the coatings were evaluated for mechanical properties and corrosion resistance in selective chemical reagents, following complete immersion for the duration of 84 days. The results obtained concluded that generally, a blend of asphalt cement and polyesteramide resin produces an effective material for industrial coating applications. Also, 9% and 12% PEA resin content produced high-quality anti-corrosive material as compared to virgin asphalt cement. The degree of modification depends upon the properties of the asphalt and the content level of the polyesteramide.     

Coal rib response during bench mining: A case study

In 2016, room-and-pillar mining provided nearly 40% of underground coal production in the United States.Over the past decade, rib falls have resulted in 12 fatalities, representing 28% of the ground fall fatalities in U.S.underground coal mines.Nine of these 12 fatalities(75%) have occurred in room-andpillar mines.The objective of this research is to study the geomechanics of bench room-and-pillar mining and the associated response of high pillar ribs at overburden depths greater than 300 m.This paper provides a definition of the bench technique, the pillar response due to loading, observational data for a case history, a calibrated numerical model of the observed rib response, and application of this calibrated model to a second site.     

A Nyquist-rate pixel-level ADC for CMOS image sensors

A multichannel bit-serial (MCBS) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is presented. The ADC is ideally suited to pixel-level implementation in a CMOS image sensor. The ADC uses successive comparisons to output one bit at a time simultaneously from all pixels. It is implemented using a 1-bit comparator/latch pair per pixel or per group of neighboring pixels, and a digital-to-analog-converter/controller shared by all pixels. The comparator/latch pair operates at very slow speeds and can be implemented using simple robust circuits. The ADCs can be fully tested by applying electrical signals without any optics or light sources. A CMOS 320×256 sensor using the MCBS ADC is described. The chip measures 4.14×5.16 mm². It achieves 10×10 μm² pixel size at 28% fill factor in 0.35 μm CMOS technology. Each 2×2 pixel block shares an ADC. The pixel block circuit comprises 18 transistors. It operates in subthreshold to maximize gain and minimize power consumption. The power consumed by the sensor array is 20 mW at 30 frames/s. The measured integral nonlinearity is 2.3 LSB, and differential nonlinearity is 1.2 LSB at eight bits of resolution. The standard deviation of the gain and offset fixed pattern noise due to the ADC are 0.24 and 0.2%, respectively     

Application of NIR hyperspectral imaging for discrimination of lamb muscles

The potential of near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging system coupled with multivariate analysis was evaluated for discriminating three types of lamb muscles. Samples from semitendinosus (ST), Longissimus dorsi (LD) and Psoas Major (PM) of Charollais breed were imaged by a pushbroom hyperspectral imaging system with a spectral range of 900-1700 nm. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used for dimensionality reduction, wavelength selection and visualizing hyperspectral data. Six optimal wavelengths (934, 974, 1074, 1141, 1211 and 1308 nm) were selected from the eigenvector plot of PCA and then used for discrimination purpose. The results showed that it was possible to discriminate lamb muscles with overall accuracy of 100% using NIR hyperspectral reflectance spectra. An image processing algorithm was also developed for visualizing classification results in a pixel-wise scale with a high overall accuracy.