Heat transfer from an immersed vertical tube to a gas fluidized bed

Fluidization and heat transfer experiments have been conducted in gas fluidized beds of two different sizes, viz., 305 × 305 mm² and 305 × 152.5 mm² and with particles of silica sands ($\text{d}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{= 167, 488, 504, and 745 μ}\text{m}$), glass beads (d_p = 427 μm) and millet seeds (d_p = 2064 μm) with immersed smooth vertical heated tubes of diameter 12.7, 28.6, and 50.8 mm. Important conclusions are drawn concerning the dependence of heat transfer coefficient on fluidization velocity, bed particle diameter, tube diameter and nature of bed fluidization. The heat transfer data are employed to assess the available literature correlations for heat transfer coefficient and for its maximum value.     

Correction to: Comparative analysis of limit equilibrium and numerical methods for prediction of a landslide

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Landslides that occur due to the rapid motion of a rock-mass are a primary risk in mountainous terrains and are a danger to human life and...     

An energy-efficient cloud system with novel dynamic resource allocation methods

The Journal of Supercomputing - In the last decade, cloud computing has brought enormous changes to people’s lives. Cloud computing gives a client-driven computational model. In this case,...     

Performance evaluation of breast lesion detection systems with expert delineations: a comparative investigation on mammographic images

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Performance of computerized diagnostic systems yearning to be approved by medical regulatory bodies must meet the expectations of human experts. Highly accurate...     

Polyaniline-Acetylene black-Copper cobaltite based ternary hybrid material with enhanced electrochemical properties and its use in supercapacitor electrodes

A new system based on Polyaniline-Acetylene black-Copper cobaltite composite has been prepared and affirmed by XRD, UV, SEM, FTIR, and EDS characterizations. The rod-like texture of ternary hybrid system offered excellent electrochemical activity in comparison to single and binary systems. CV and CD results revealed outstanding redox behavior of the ternary hybrid electrodes. Ternary electrode (PACC) presented the highest specific capacitance value of 690 F/g at 1 mA/cm² current density. PACC electrode based symmetric supercapacitor had a specific capacitance of 137.25 Fg^-1 at 1 mA/cm² of current density. PACC symmetric supercapacitor had the highest specific power and specific energy of 3308.85 W.kg^-1 and 19.064 Wh.kg^-1, respectively. The ternary system provides less charge transfer resistance values compared to all other systems. Thermal stability of the ternary composite is way better than polyaniline, which is due to the contribution of copper cobaltite and acetylene black. The overwhelming characteristics of the ternary hybrid composite bring it to the limelight as an excellent candidate in the field of supercapacitors.     

Escherichia coli,Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus aureus susceptibility to antimicrobials of human and veterinary importance in poultry sector of India

In India, little attention has been paid on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the context of developing “One Health” approach. Hence, utilizing multi-disciplinary approach, we assess the AMR level and dynamics/pattern of multi-drug resistance (MDR) in Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus aureus circulating over the different stages of poultry in India. A total of 342 isolates including E. coli (n = 143), Salmonella spp. (n = 104), and S. aureus (n = 95) were recovered from fecal (n = 80) and cecal (n = 80) samples of chicken, collected across the different poultry-retail shops and poultry-farms located at urban and rural areas of Rajasthan, India, respectively. High rates of AMR to drugs that are critically/highly important both in human and veterinary medicine were observed among all the isolates. Upward trends in AMR prevalence was observed in poultry-retail shops than in poultry-farms. Notably, >90% of all the isolates were MDR, of particular, pattern/prevalence of MDR was substantially varied across the poultry-farms vs. poultry-retail shops. Our results indicate AMR including MDR to be common in E. coli, Salmonella spp., and S. aureus distributed frequently in poultry. The study encourages the formulation of national policy, programmes and further research with a “One Health” approach that can benefits to the human/animal and the environment.     

Comprehensive review for energy efficient hierarchical routing protocols on wireless sensor networks

Wireless Networks - In recent years, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have played a major role in applications such as tracking and monitoring in remote environments. Designing energy efficient...     

Application of High Hydrostatic Pressure as a Pretreatment for Osmotic Dehydration of Banana Slices (Musa cavendishii) Finish-Dried by Dehumidified Air Drying

The process variables high hydrostatic pressure (HHP; 100–500 MPa), sucrose concentration (30–70 °Brix), immersion time (5–9 h) and immersion temperature (30–70 °C) were optimised to yield maximum water loss (WL), minimum solid gain (SG), minimum water activity (a _w) and minimum browning index (BI) during osmotic dehydration (OD) of banana slices (Musa cavendishii) pretreated by HHP using response surface methodology. The pressure-treated samples showed significantly higher WL and SG during OD (p?<?0.05), which was attributed to the rupture of cell wall with applied pressure, making the cells more permeable, also evident from the scanning electron micrographs of the banana tissue. The optimised operating conditions were: HHP of 200 MPa for a dwell time of 5 min at room temperature (26 °C), sucrose concentration of 60 °Brix, immersion time of 5 h and immersion temperature of 40 °C. A study of the concentration profiles during OD revealed no appreciable increase in SG and WL after 4 h; hence, immersion time was reduced to 4 h. The optimised product developed was dried to a moisture content of 15 % (wet basis) in a dehumidified air dryer at an air temperature of 40, 55 and 70 °C with a fixed air velocity of 3.8 m/s and relative humidity maintained at 20 %. The final dried product was analyzed for total soluble solids content, BI and a _w. A drying temperature of 55 °C was found to give superior quality OD banana slices in terms of reduced bulk, improved flavour, decreased a _w (<0.60), and reduced dehydration time and energy using HHP as a pretreatment.     

Reduction of cresolase and catecholase activities in tubers of some Indian potato varieties by the application of potash fertilisers

Cresolase and catecholase activities were determined in tubers of four potato (Solanum tuberosum L) varieties (Kufri Chamatkar, Kufri Chandramukhi, Kufri Sindhuri and C-2703) fertilised with three levels (0, 120, 240 kg K₂O ha^?1) of either muriate or sulphate of potash. The enzyme activities were also determined separately in the peel and flesh tissues of the tubers of Kufri Chamatkar and C-2703. Differences were observed in the activities between varieties, with highest specific activities in the tubers of Kufri Chamatkar. Peels of both the varieties showed higher cresolase and catecholase activities than the flesh tissue. Application of potassic fertilisers caused a reduction in both the activities in the tuber, peel and flesh tissue. Greater reduction in activities was caused by application of muriate of potash than with the sulphate form.