An image-in-image communication scheme using secret sharing and M-ary spread spectrum watermarking

Microsystem Technologies - Secret image sharing is a means of secure transmission of images on an open network through meaningful share generation that reduces suspiciousness of conventional image...     

Increasing the Prediction Accuracy for Thyroid Disease: A Step Towards Better Health for Society

Wireless Personal Communications - A healthy life is essential for a happy society, however it is a fact that seemingly invisible diseases plague our families and people suffer. The thyroid disease...     

Models for the behavior of boron carbide in extreme dynamic environments

We describe models for the behavior of hot-pressed boron carbide that is subjected to extreme dynamic environments such as ballistic impact. We first identify the deformation and failure mechanisms that are observed in boron carbide under such conditions, and then review physics-based models for each of these mechanisms and the integration of these models into a single physics-based continuum model for the material. Atomistic modeling relates the composition and stoichiometry to the amorphization threshold, while mesoscale modeling relates the processing-induced defect distribution to the fracture threshold. The models demonstrate that the relative importance of amorphization and fracture are strongly dependent on the geometry and impact conditions, with the volume fraction of amorphized material being unlikely to be significant until very high velocities (~3 km/s) are reached for geometries such as ball impact on plates. These connections to the physics thus provide guidelines for the design of improved boron carbide materials for impact applications.     

Symmetrical Hexagonal Monopole Antenna with Bandwidth Enhancement Under UWB Operations

Wireless Personal Communications - This paper presents the design and development of a livestock tracking system, with the objective of transmitting the location and activity status of the animals,...     

Lattice Instabilities in the Frustrated Magnet CdCr2O4: An Ultrasonic Study

We report results on ultrasound studies of the frustrated magnet CdCr₂O₄. This compound demonstrates an antiferromagnetic ordering at T _N =7.8 K and a metamagnetic phase transition at 28 T followed by a wide magnetization plateau with one half of the full moment of S=3/2 of Cr³⁺ ions. A longitudinal acoustic mode in the [111] crystallographic direction exhibits pronounced effects both in the temperature and magnetic-field dependencies. Pulsed-field measurements show a drastic change in the sound velocity just below and above the 1/2 magnetization plateau. Our results suggest a large spin-strain coupling and give evidence for a pronounced interplay between spin and lattice degrees of freedom in CdCr₂O₄.     

Treatment of Prehydrolysis Liquor from Pulp Mill using a Biological Route Followed by Reverse Osmosis

A new method, comprised of a biological treatment followed by membrane separation, has been suggested for the treatment of spent prehydrolysis liquor (PHL) from a rayon grade pulp mill. First, the PHL was treated biologically using the torula utilis strain for the conversion of sugar into yeast. Reductions of 57 % in the amount of total reducing sugar (TRS) and about 46 % in COD were achieved in the biological treatment step. A “shifting order type” rate equation, where the order shifts from (m–n) at high concentrations to m at lower concentrations, was found to predict the total reducing sugar with high accuracy. An ultracentrifuge was used to separate out the yeast formed during the biological treatment. The clarified biologically treated liquor was subjected to reverse osmosis (RO) to remove all the remaining solutes. The permeate obtained was observed to be of disposable/reusable grade (negligible COD and less than 0.9 mg/L sugar). An attempt was made to predict the permeate flux during reverse osmosis (RO) using an osmotic pressure model. Modified osmotic pressure and concentration polarization models were utilized for the estimation of the osmotic pressure of different concentrations of the PHL's solute constituents. Three different concentration parameters (TRS, COD, and Brix) were chosen to estimate the osmotic pressures. The prediction of the permeate flux by the combination of these models was found to be in good agreement with experimental flux values.     

Cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of tri-block copolymer nanoparticles with different size and surface characteristics

Particulate matter (PM) pollution is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide, the majority due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). While many potential pathophysiological mechanisms have been proposed, there is not yet a consensus as to which are most important in causing pollution-related morbidity/mortality. Nor is there consensus regarding which specific types of PM are most likely to affect public health in this regard. One toxicological mechanism linking exposure to airborne PM with CVD outcomes is oxidative stress, a contributor to the development of CVD risk factors including atherosclerosis. Recent work suggests that accelerated shortening of telomeres and, thus, early senescence of cells may be an important pathway by which oxidative stress may accelerate biological aging and the resultant development of age-related morbidity. This pathway may explain a significant proportion of PM-related adverse health outcomes, since shortened telomeres accelerate the progression of many diseases. There is limited but consistent evidence that vehicular emissions produce oxidative stress in humans. Given that oxidative stress is associated with accelerated erosion of telomeres, and that shortened telomeres are linked with acceleration of biological ageing and greater incidence of various age-related pathology, including CVD, it is hypothesized that associations noted between certain pollution types and sources and oxidative stress may reflect a mechanism by which these pollutants result in CVD-related morbidity and mortality, namely accelerated aging via enhanced erosion of telomeres. This paper reviews the literature providing links among oxidative stress, accelerated erosion of telomeres, CVD, and specific sources and types of air pollutants. If certain PM species/sources might be responsible for adverse health outcomes via the proposed mechanism, perhaps the pathway to reducing mortality/morbidity from PM would become clearer. Not only would pollution reduction imperatives be more focused, but interventions which could reduce oxidative stress would become all the more important.     

Equation-of-motion approach to the critical dynamics of liquid helium at the lambda point

A complete treatment of dynamic scaling in liquid helium at the lambda point is developed straightforwardly from explicit application of the nonlinear mode-coupling equations of motion, without Langevin noise terms. Special attention is given to the ratio w of the order-parameter and entropy relaxation rates. Various estimates indicate w = O(0.1), which produces a characteristic double-humped fluctuation spectrum, amenable to experimental verification. Further details are a thorough study of the transient solutions as well as the presentation of a new expansion scheme similar to the expansion but of superior accuracy.Research supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grants DMR 76-82345 and DMR 76-24472.     

A sustainable approach to enhance fruit shelf-life: Edible coating from pineapple fruit waste biomass

The quality and commercial value of fruits largely depend on color, texture, appearance, nutritional value, and other factors that cease the growth of the microbes causing food spoilage. Coating with suitable edible material would keep fruits fresh for a considerable time after their harvest till it reaches to the demanding consumers. The nonedible portions (peel, crown) of pineapple are identified as an inexpensive source for the production of such edible coating material. The present work is focused on the extraction and physicochemical analysis of cellulose prepared from waste bio-mass of pineapple fruit. Physicochemical characterization of the cellulose is performed using X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The extracted cellulose is converted to carboxymethyl cellulose and formulated as a coating film in conjugation with other suitable substances. The formulated coating is applied on banana fruit to check the performance of protection against the natural degradation of the fruit. FTIR analysis of the extracted cellulose has confirmed the removal of lignin and hemicelluloses molecules from the waste biomass of pineapple. X-ray diffraction analysis has shown the crystal size of extracted cellulose was 3.23 nm with 35.62% crystallinity. Degree of substitution (DS) is estimated 0.523 for carboxymethyl cellulose prepared from the extracted cellulose. Application of coating has shown the increment in shelf-life period of banana in comparison with control up to 8 days of storage at ambient condition. This study has demonstrated a sustainable process to transform waste biomass into carboxymethyl cellulose based coating for improving storage capacity of banana fruit.