Multisensor data fusion

Multisensor data fusion refers to the acquisition, processing and synergistic combination of information gathered by various knowledge sources and sensors to provide a better understanding of a phenomenon. It is a fascinating and rapidly evolving field that has generated a lot of excitement in the research and development community. These concepts are being applied to a wide variety of fields such as military command and control, robotics, image processing, air traffic control, medical diagnostics, pattern recognition and environmental monitoring. This paper presents a brief overview of the field and illustrates its potential by means of two examples     

Composition dependence of transition temperature in some ceramic superconductors

The composition dependence of transition temperature in some ceramic superconductors (La_2−x (Ba, Sr) _x CuO₄) was studied by modifying our earlier approach and developing a Fourier-transformed effective potential which involves the effect of two-dimensional (2D) acoustic plasmons. This potential was used to obtain the pairing (electron-electron attraction) parameter (λ), the averaged Coulomb repulsive parameter (μ*) and the cut-off 2D acoustic plasmon frequency (ω _c) required to compute the superconducting transition temperature (T _c) from the strong coupling theory. The variations ofT _c with compositions (x) obtained for La_2−x (Ba, Sr) _x CuO₄ show reasonably good agreement with experimental data.     

Parallel integer sorting using small operations

We consider the problem of sortingn integers in the range [0,n ^c -1], wherec is a constant. It has been shown by Rajasekaran and Sen [14] that this problem can be solved optimally inO(logn) steps on an EREW PRAM withO(n) n -bit operations, for any constant >O. Though the number of operations is optimal, each operation is very large. In this paper, we show thatn integers in the range [0,n ^c -1] can be sorted inO(logn) time withO(nlogn)O(1)-bit operations andO(n) O(logn)-bit operations. The model used is a non-standard variant of an EREW PRAMtthat permits processors to have word-sizes ofO(1)-bits and (logn)-bits. Clearly, the speed of the proposed algorithm is optimal. Considering that the input to the problem consists ofO (n logn) bits, the proposed algorithm performs an optimal amount of work, measured at the bit level.This work was partially supported by The Northeast Parallel Architectures Center (NPAC) at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244 and The Rome Air Development Center, under contract F30602-88-D-0027.     

Characterization of copper nanoparticles synthesized by a novel microbiological method

The exploitation of various biomaterials for the biosynthesis of nanoparticles is considered as green technology as it does not involve any harmful chemicals. The present study reports the synthesis of copper nanoparticles which involves non-pathogenic bacterial strain Pseudomonas stutzeri, isolated from soil. These copper nanoparticles are further characterized for size and shape distributions by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy techniques. The results showed that the particles are spherical and quite stable in nature and shows surface plasmon resonance clearly featured in the optical spectra in visible region.     

Effect of Curing and Functionalization on the Interface Thermal Conductance in Carbon Nanotube–Epoxy Composites

This study investigates the interface thermal conductance in a functionalized carbon nanotube (CNT)–epoxy composite system and how it is modified when the surrounding matrix is cured. We have used nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations to study the interface thermal conductance in both cured and uncured matrices, based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol F (EPON-862) and diethylenetoluenediamine. The functionalization is modeled using a dynamic crosslinking algorithm and represents a realistic model of the matrix-filler interface. The thermal interface conductance increases linearly with the degree of functionalization up to the studied 2.5% due to stronger thermal coupling between functionalized CNT and the matrix. In addition, it was observed that curing of the matrix increases the interface conductance by 20% relative to the uncured matrix. This increase is attributed to an increase in thermal conductivity of cured epoxy resulting from relative enhancement in nonbonded interactions (originating from volume reduction) and structural rigidity during curing. Our results suggest that the interface conductance can be strongly influenced by the thermal properties of the bulk matrix as well as the interface chemistry of the additives such as CNTs.     

A KINETIC APPROACH TO EVALUATE THE ENERGY AND ENTROPY OF ACTIVATION FOR THE EXCHANGE OF ALKALINE EARTH METAL IONS ON TIN(IV) TUNGSTATE CATION EXCHANGER

Abstract

A new approach based on the Nernst-Planck equations has been applied to study the reaction kinetics on the surface of tin(IV) tungstate for the Mg(II)-H(I), Ca(II)-H(I), Sr(II)-H(I) and Ba(IT)-H(I) exchanges under the conditions favouring a particle diffusion phenomenon. On the basis of these studies the various physical parameters such as the effective diffusion coefficients, activation energies and entropies of activation have been evaluated which give some informations regarding the mechanism of ion-exchange on the surface of inorganic materials.     

Application of nitrogen-enriched nanobiopolymer for the effective removal of Cr(VI) from tannery effluent

Nitrogen-enriched nanobiopolymer has been fabricated using (2,3-epoxypropyl) trimethylammonium chloride (EPTMAC) and explored for the removal of Cr(VI) from tannery effluent. The removal efficiency of nanobiopolymer was found to be 23.99 mg g^?1 (95.94%) under optimized conditions. The sorption data agrees well with the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order model. Equilibrium parameter (R_L) and sorption energy show the favorability and physical binding of Cr(VI) on the nanobiopolymer’s backbone. The values of ?G° (?7.84 kJ mol^?1), ?S° (65.97 J mol^?1K^?1) and ?H° (11.82 kJ mol^?1) reflect the feasible nature of the sorption process. Reusability study was also conducted to state the performance of the nanobiopolymer.