Nanoclays for polymer nanocomposites, paints, inks, greases and cosmetics formulations, drug delivery vehicle and waste water treatment

An overview of nanoclays or organically modified layered silicates (organoclays) is presented with emphasis placed on the use of nanoclays as the reinforcement phase in polymer matrices for preparation of polymer/layered silicates nanocomposites, rheological modifier for paints, inks and greases, drug delivery vehicle for controlled release of therapeutic agents, and nanoclays for industrial waste water as well as potable water treatment to make further step into green environment. A little amount of nanoclay can alter the entire properties of polymers, paints, inks and greases to a great extent by dispersing 1nm thick layered silicate throughout the matrices. The flexibility of interlayer spacing of layered silicates accommodates therapeutic agents which can later on be released to damaged cell. Because the release of drugs in drug-intercalated layered materials is controllable, these new materials have a great potential as a delivery host in the pharmaceutical field. The problem of clean water can be solved by treating industrial and municipal waste water with organoclays in combination with other sorbents like activated carbon and alum. Organoclays have proven to be superior to any other water treatment technology in applications where the water to be treated contains substantial amounts of oil and grease or humic acid.     

Equivalent circuit models using CPE for impedance spectroscopy of electronic ceramics

Complex immittance (Impedance Z, Modulus M, Admittance Y, Permittivity ?) spectra for some equivalent circuit models involving resistances, capacitances and constant phase angle elements (CPE) are calculated for different ratios of the parameters. A comparison of experimentally obtained complex immittance plots with these diagrams greatly facilitates the search for the most appropriate equivalent circuit representing the electrical properties of electronic ceramics. An equivalent circuit for Ba_1-xSr_xTiO₃ (x = 0.35) ceramic system is developed by using these simulated plots.     

A clustered locally linear approach on face manifolds for pose estimation

Data points with small variations between them are assumed to lie close to each other on a smooth varying manifold in the feature space. Such data are hard to classify into separate classes . A sequence of face pose images with closely varying pose angles can be considered as such data. The pose angles when large enough create images that are largely differing from each other, and thus, the sequence of face images can be assumed to be on or near a nonlinear manifold. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised pose estimation method for face images based on clustered locally linear manifolds using discriminant analysis. We divide the data into multiple disjointed, locally linear and separable clusters. The problem of identifying which cluster to use is solved by dividing the entire process into two steps. The first step or projection using the entire smooth manifold identifies a rough region of interest. We use clustering techniques on entire data to form the pose-dependent classes which are then used to find the first set of discriminant functions. The second step or second projection uses trained cluster(s) from this neighbourhood to obtain a second set of discriminant functions. The idea behind such an approach is that the local neighbourhood would be linear and provide better between-class separation, and hence, the classification problem would now be simpler.     

Robustness of group delay representations for noisy speech signals

This paper demonstrates the robustness of group delay based features to additive noise. First, we analytically show the robustness of group delay based representations. The analysis makes use of the fact that, for minimum-phase signals, the group delay function can be represented in terms of the cepstral coefficients of the log-magnitude spectrum. Such a representation results in the speech spectrum dominating over the noise spectrum, both at low and high SNRs. Further, we experimentally demonstrate the robustness of the representation on a voice activity detection (VAD) task, comparing a group delay based VAD algorithm with standard VAD methods as well as a magnitude-spectrum based method.     

Prediction of bulk modulus and volumetric expansion coefficient of water for leak tightness test of pipelines

To determine whether any pressure variation in pipeline hydrostatic test is a result of temperature changes or the presence of leaks, the calculation of pressure/temperature changes is required for test sections. In these calculations, bulk modulus and volumetric expansion coefficient of fresh or sea water must be taken into account. In this study, a simple-to-use correlation is developed to predict the bulk modulus and volumetric expansion coefficient of both fresh and sea water as a function of temperature and pressure. The proposed correlation helps to cover the bulk modulus and volumetric expansion coefficient of both fresh and sea water for temperatures less than 50 °C (40 °C for sea water) as well as pressures up to 55,000 kPa (550 bar). The results can be used in follow-up calculations to determine whether any pressure variation in pipeline hydrostatic test is a result of temperature changes or the presence of leaks. The proposed correlation showed promising results with average absolute deviations for volumetric expansion coefficient and bulk modulus of water being around 0.58% and 0.08% respectively. The novel correlation is easy to use and will prove to be of immense value for project engineers to test the critical limits accurately.     

Synthesis of submicron size hollow carbon spheres by a chemical reduction — solvothermal method using carbon tetrachloride as carbon source

A simple, rapid and energy efficient approach based on copper mediated chemical reduction — solvothermal method was employed to prepare submicron size hollow carbon spheres (SHCS) using carbon tetrachloride as carbon source. The obtained SHCS were characterized by means of various physico-chemical techniques like nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements at 77 K, XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX and FT-Raman techniques. Thus characterized samples displayed macroporous nature of carbon with carbon and chloride contents of about 73% and 12% on atomic basis respectively. The presence of chloride content may open new avenues for surface modifications of SHCS in the area of catalysis and separation science.     

Processing of advanced Al/SiC particulate metal matrix composites under intensive shearing – A novel Rheo-process

Particulate metal matrix composites (PMMCs) have attracted interest for application in numerous fields. The current processing methods often produce agglomerated particles in the ductile matrix and as a result these composites exhibit extremely low ductility. The key idea to solve the current problem is to adopt a novel Rheo-process allowing the application of sufficient shear stress (τ) on particulate clusters embedded in liquid metal to overcome the average cohesive force or the tensile strength of the cluster. In this study, cast A356/SiC_p composites were produced using a conventional stir casting technique and a novel Rheo-process. The microstructure and properties were evaluated. The adopted Rheo-process significantly improved the distribution of the reinforcement in the matrix. A good combination of improved ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and tensile elongation (ε) is obtained.     

Adsorption of Cu, Cd, and Ni on goethite in the presence of natural groundwater ligands

The adsorption of copper, cadmium, and nickel on goethite was examined in natural groundwater samples from an infiltration site of the river Glatt at Glattfelden (Switzerland). Unfractionated dissolved organic matter was used at its natural concentrations. Metal concentrations were close to environmental conditions. Cu, Cd, and Ni presented the typical pH adsorption edge of cations. The major influence on metal adsorption was due to a strong organic ligand L(I), which inhibited adsorption of Cu, Cd, and Ni in the alkaline pH region. Complexation of Cu, Cd, and Ni by the natural organic ligands was described with a model defining a minimum number of discrete ligands: a strong ligand L(I) at low concentration and additional weaker ligands with higher concentrations. The adsorption of Cu, Cd, and Ni on the goethite surface in the presence of the natural organic ligands was adequately described by considering only surface complexation and complexation in solution by organic ligands. No ternary complexes had to be invoked in the model. The major effect was complexation by the strongest ligand, whereas interactions with other cations and anions had only a minor influence. Competition reactions between Cu and Ni for complexation with the same strong ligand L(I) were observed.     

Error resilient video over multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS)

With available data rates for mobile devices constantly increasing, services such as video broadcast and multicast are becoming feasible. A new standard called Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS) is being developed by 3GPP to enable new class of spectrum-efficient multimedia services. Multicast services are expected to serve a diverse user base with varying connectivity and capabilities. We analyze the problem of video error resilience in MBMS services that is critical to maintain consistent quality for end users. The existing error resilience techniques for IP multicasting are not applicable in the MBMS environment. In this paper, we present error resilience techniques that are applicable within the context of the MBMS standard. We propose an Intra Block Refresh method for MBMS services and the results show improved performance. We develop a methodology that can be applied to adapting traditional error resilience tools for the MBMS environment.     

Differential sensitivity of Desi (small‐seeded) and Kabuli (large‐seeded) chickpea genotypes to water stress during seed filling: effects on accumulation of seed reserves and yield

Water stress during the reproductive phase, especially during seed development, is considered detrimental for chickpea yield. In the present study, the relative sensitivity of Desi and Kabuli chickpea types to water stress during seed filling was assessed in terms of effects on quantitative and qualitative aspects of seed yield. Leaves of both types experienced stress injury (evaluated as electrolyte leakage) to the same extent and possessed almost similar values of water potential at the end of 14 days of water stress. The stressed plants of Kabuli type lost more chlorophyll and had less photosynthesis than Desi type. At maturity, Desi type showed more diminution of vegetative dry matter due to stress over control than Kabuli type. On the other hand, Kabuli type showed a proportionally greater reduction in seed weight per plant, average seed weight, average seed size, number of pods (single‐ and double‐seeded) and harvest index. The stressed seeds of Kabuli type showed 48 and 46% reduction over control in starch and protein content compared with 25 and 40%, respectively in Desi type. The accumulation of soluble sugars was relatively greater due to stress in Kabuli (47%) than Desi type (23%). Fat and fiber content declined by 39 and 35% over control in Desi seeds because of stress whereas Kabuli type showed 46 and 67% decreases, respectively. Protein fractions, namely albumins, globulins, glutelins and prolamins, decreased in stressed seeds of Kabuli by 32, 40, 16 and 15% over control relative to 40, 48, 30 and 28%, respectively, in Kabuli type. The activities of sucrose synthase, invertase and soluble starch synthase were inhibited to a higher extent in Kabuli seeds than Desi seeds under stress. Kabuli seeds showed significantly more reduction in the accumulation of amino acids such as phenylalanine + tyrosine, tryptophan, valine, alanine and histidine and minerals (Ca, P, Fe) due to stress compared with Desi type. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry