Effects of chitosan addition to DMEU‐processed cotton fabrics for adsorbing metallic ions in waste water

This study examines the effects of adding chitosan to the curing treatment of cotton fabrics, using dimethylolethyleneurea as a crosslinking reagent; in particular, how the adsorption of the processed cotton fabrics for metallic ions is influenced. Different concentrations of added chitosan, different curing temperatures and time, as well as different adsorption times and temperatures were examined. The cotton fabrics studied were compared with other adsorptive materials, and also, were examined by Fourier Transform Infrared Analysis (FTIR), Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM), and Thermal Gravity Analysis (TGA) to study the crosslinkage reaction. The experimental results were as follows: the adsorption of copper and zinc ions increases as chitosan concentration increases, with the best adsorption when chitosan concentration is 0.5%; the adsorption of copper and zinc ions increases as the curing temperature rises, with the best adsorption at 140°C; the adsorption increases with longer curing time, with the best adsorption at 6 min after the processing begins. For adsorption of zinc ions, the cotton fabrics containing chitosan have better adsorption than pure chitosan, but worse adsorption than activated carbon. For the adsorption of copper ions, chitosan is the best, processed cotton fabrics are the second, and activated carbon is the poorest. The adsorption of these two kinds of ions increases with the longer time and higher temperature. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 4440–4445, 2006     

Radiation-induced cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers in solution: 2. Polymerization of ethyl vinyl ether in methylene dichloride solution

The rates and degrees of polymerization of ethyl vinyl ether (EVE) polymerized by gamma radiation in methylene chloride (CH₂Cl₂) have been studied in detail. The addition of even a small amount of CH₂Cl₂ sharply reduced the rates and degrees of polymerization. After about 0.5 ml_?1 of CH₂Cl₂ the rates became roughly first order in monomer. It is postulated that CH₂Cl₂ strongly solvates the growing chain ends disrupting the solvation by the polymer chains themselves, leading to lower rates. The degrees of polymerization support this hypothesis. Isodielectric constant solutions of EVE in benzene-CH₂Cl₂ mixtures gave rates at the same monomer concentrations, which fitted perfectly those obtained in EVE-CH₂Cl₂ mixtures. These results indicate that the dielectric constant is not the predominating property as formerly thought but that solvation is a more important factor. The activation energies were lower in CH₂Cl₂ solution than in bulk monomer or in low dielectric constant solvents, again indicating perhaps a different state of solvation of the growing chain ends.     

Relative inhibitory potencies of flavonoids on 12-lipoxygenase of fish gill

The relative efficacy of 10 flavonoid compounds and some common antioxidants in inhibiting 12-lipoxygenase of fish gill was determined. Lipoxygenase activity was measured by oxygen consumption with polarography and formation of hydroxy fatty acid using thin layer chromatography with autoradiography. Generally, the inhibition of 12-lipoxygenase by flavonoids was noncompetitive. The lipoxygenase product pattern did not change in the presence of flavonoids. Fisetin (3,3′,4′,7-tetrahydroxyflavone) and quercetin (3,3′,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone) were the most potent inhibitors of 12-lipoxygenase, with IC₅₀'s of 0.25 and 0.4 μM respectively. These were compared with IC₅₀'s values of 5, 1000 μM for BHA (t-butylhydroxyanisole) and BHT (t-butylhydroxytoluene) respectively. Possible inhibitory mechanisms and relationships between flavonoid structure and inhibitory potencies are discussed.     

Postirradiation polymerization of vinyl monomers on poly(ethylene terephthalate)

A postirradiation process was evaluated in polymerizing vinyl monomers on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) film, fiber, and fabric. The use of DMF, pyridine, and DMSO as swelling agents to facilitate monomer incorporation and effective polymerization were also investigated. The solvents were effective in promoting the incorporation of acrylic acid (AA) in PET film and that of n-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone (VP) in Dacron 54. AA, a good swelling agent for PET, produced equivalent polymerization yield and moisture regain results with or without any solvent on Dacron 54 and 64. Polymerization yields on films increased with increasing total doses, but those on yarns and fabrics were independent of total dose. The different results obtained on film versus yarn and fabric from solvent treatment and total dose is thought to be due to the different surface-volume ratio of these substrates. The moisture properties of the substrates were dependent mainly upon the monomer type. Among the monomers studied, VP gave highest moisture regain values, followed by AA. The tensile properties of the modified Dacron 54 were not affected. However the breaking elongation of the modified Dacron 64 was slightly lowered by postirradiation polymerization without solvent treatment and was increased when solvent treatment was included.     

Synthesis of the CulnSe2 thin film for solar cells using the electrodeposition technique and Taguchi method

The Taguchi method was used to obtain the optimum electrodeposition parameters for the synthesis of the CuInSe2 thinfilm for solar cells.The parameters consist of annealing temperature,current density,CuCl2 concentration,FeCl3 concentration,H2SeO3 concentration,TEA amount,pH value,and deposition time.The experiments were carried out according to an L18(2137) table.An X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) were respectively used to analyze the phases and observe the microstructure and the grain size of the CuInSe2 film before and after annealing treatment.The results showed that the CuInSe2phase was deposited with a preferred plane (112) parallel to the substrate surface.The optimum parameters are as follows:currentdensity,7 mA/cm2;CuCl2 concentration,10 raM;FeCl3 concentration,50 raM;H2SeO3 concentration,15 mM;TEA amount,0 mL;pH value,1.65;deposition time,10 min;and annealing temperature,500℃.     

Effect of Fe metal on the growth of silicon oxide nanowires

Silicon oxide (SiOx) nanowires are generally grown on Si substrate under the catalysis of Au in N2 atmosphere at elevated temperatures. Because the price of Au metal is quite high, Fe metal is then used to replace a part of Au for catalyzing the growth of SiOx nanowires. The results show that the Fe film can be used as the diffusion barrier of Au. SiOx nanowires are grown on Au/Fe/Si substrate at 1030°C. Under the catalysis of Fe/Au, the efficiency for the growth of SiOx nanowires is promoted.     

Cure behavior of an epoxy–novolac molding compound

The isothermal cure of an epoxy–novolac molding compound was studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The glass transition temperature (T_g) of the molding compound increased in an approximately linear manner with conversion (α) during the major part of the cure process. Predictions of an empirical kinetic scheme (established earlier from dynamic DSC results) compared favorably with the present isothermal results in the absence of vitrification. In combination with the gel point conversion (α_gel) determined via dynamic rheological analysis and gravimetric measurements, our DSC results indicated that gelation bears no apparent effect on the rate of cure whereas vitrification retards the cure reaction. Based on the measured α_gel, the approximate T_g?α relationship, and the thermokinetic results, the time–temperature–transformation diagram of this molding compound was constructed and discussed.     

A study on estimation of early discharge day for home health care and medical expense for inpatients

This report was done mid way through the study "A Demonstration-Cum-Research on the Reimbursement system and cost-effectiveness of Home Health Care Program in Korea". It focused on developing an estimation of early discharge day to home health care based on analysis medical records and on an analysis of medical expenses based on a detailed statement of treatment for inpatients who were hospitalized at S General Hospital in 1991. Two research methods were adopted for estimation of the early discharge day. One was micro-analysis from the medical records and the other was macro-analysis to clarify the estimated early discharge day to home health care for patients with four diseases judged from need assessment to be candidates for this type of program, namely patients with, Cesarean Section, Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Estimation of early discharge day to home health care were developed through many aspects of analysis of the signs and symptoms by disease in a micro-analysis in addition to a decrease in the amount of treatment, drugs, tests and changes in the test consistency, drug methods, and client's condition in the macro-analysis. Accordingly, an early discharge day for inpatients was finally estimated through the analysis of the client's conditions and treatment, drugs, tests, and nursing care activities that the patient received during hospitalization. From the research findings, the following summarized conclusions have drawn. First, for patients with Cesarean Sections, after assessing each items using the two analysis methods, the mean period of hospitalization was 8.8 days, but the mean period of hospitalization was estimated at 4.1 days if early discharge to home health care could be done. Second, for patients with Hypertension, the same method as for the patients with the Cesarean Sections was used and the result was reduction from a mean period of the hospitalization of 9.9 days to a mean period of the hospitalization of 5.2 days. Third, for patients with Diabetes Mellitus there was a decrease from a mean period of the hospitalization of 11.7 days to a mean period of hospitalization of 8.4 days if early discharge to home health care could be done. Fourth, for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, the mean period of the hospitalization was 14.3 days, but the mean period of the hospitalization could be 8.1 days if early discharge to home health care could be done.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Parallel preconditioned WENO scheme for three-dimensional flow simulation of NREL Phase VI Rotor

The preconditioned weighted essentially non-oscillatory (P-WENO) solver for viscous flows (Huang et al. (2009) [9]) is extended to non-inertial reference frames. In the present scheme, patched multi-block grid system is employed and parallel computing is adopted as well. With the present parallel P-WENO solver, three-dimensional flows of the Phase VI Rotor from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) can be simulated and analyzed for different wind speeds. Our simulation results show good agreement with the numerical predictions based on incompressible Navier–Stokes (N–S) equations as well as the available wind tunnel data from NREL. The flow phenomena, including separation and attachment line, can be captured by the present scheme. The parallel strategy adopted is a block-domain decomposition method for the patched multi-block grid system. To balance the load among different computing nodes, a Tabu search algorithm is adopted for the parallelization. The parallel efficiency of the parallel P-WENO scheme is examined for node numbers ranging from 1 to 64. It is found that the parallel efficiency is monotonically decreased as the node number adopted is increased; the parallel efficiency is retained over 90% for all cases of different node numbers. Due to the high parallel efficiency, our parallel P-WENO solver is validated for applying to practical fluid problems from compressible to incompressible limits.     

Generalized playfield segmentation of sport videos using color features

This paper proposes a generalized method for playfield segmentation of various sport videos. It first estimates the probability density function (pdf) of color components of an image frame. Two hill-climbing schemes, which employ two-dimensional pdf and one-dimensional pdf, respectively, are proposed for clustering. Next, a novel algorithm that utilizes the domain knowledge of sport playfields is developed to merge those clusters into four color classes: red, green, blue, and gray. Finally, a simple scheme fuses small regions into their adjacent large regions to obtain the segmentation result. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method effectively segments the playfield regions of various sport videos.