Multi-objective optimization of the heat transmission and fluid forces around a rounded cornered square cylinder

The unsteady fluid stream and warmth transmission nearby a square cylinder with sharp and rounded cornered edges are numerically examined, and then the roundness of the corner is predicted and optimized for the minimum fluid forces and maximum heat transmission rate. The roundness of the cylinder corner is changing 0.5D (circle) to 0.71D (square); D is the depth of the cylinder. The fluid flow and the heat transmission features around the sharp and curved cornered square cylinder are evaluated with the streamline, isotherm patterns, pressure coefficient, drag and lift coefficients, local Nusselt number (Nu_local) and average Nusselt number (Nu_avg) at different Re and for several roundness values. These characteristics are predicted by the gene expression programming, and then the multi-objective genetic algorithm is utilized for the optimization. A number of combinations of values of corners have been found in the form of Pareto-optimal solution to compromise the minimum fluid forces with maximum heat transfer rate.

     

e-PCP: A robust skew detection method for scanned document images

We present here an enhanced algorithm (e-PCP) for skew detection in scanned documents, based on the work on Piecewise Covering by Parallelogram (PCP) for robust determination of skew angles [C.-H. Chou, S.-Y. Chu, F. Chang, Estimation of skew angles for scanned documents based on piecewise covering by parallelograms, Pattern Recognition 40 (2007) 443-455]. Our algorithm achieves even better robustness for detection of skew angle than the original PCP algorithm. We have shown accurate determination of skew angles in document images where the original PCP algorithm fails. Further, the increased robustness of performance is achieved with reduced number of computation compared to the originally proposed PCP algorithm. The e-PCP algorithm also outputs a confidence measure which is important in automated systems to filter cases where the estimated skew angle may not be very accurate and thus can be handled by manual intervention. The proposed algorithm was tested extensively on all categories of real time documents and comparisons with PCP method is also provided. Useful details regarding faster execution of the proposed algorithm is provided in Appendix.     

A Survey on Path Planning Techniques for Mobile Sink in IoT-Enabled Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - Recently, the Internet of Things (IoT) had emerged very rapidly and became the most important technology in today’s era. In an IoT-based environment, every...     

Solid acid catalyzed synthesis of furans from carbohydrates

The alternative feedstock, biomass (particularly lignocelluloses), having the profuse availability, is promising for the synthesis of several value-added chemicals which are currently obtained from fossil feedstock. In this article, the synthesis of two extremely significant furan chemicals viz. furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) are discussed. In the synthesis of furans from biomass, numerous challenges, i.e., use of edible sugars as substrates, selectivity to furans, their isolation in pure form, reuse of catalyst, environmental issues, etc., are perceived and in the recent past researchers tried to resolve those by developing advance methodologies. This article comprehensively summarizes the latest progress made in the above-mentioned areas and also provides commentary on the analyses of results, rationale for observed activity and mechanisms, etc. It also discusses future aspects of this work.     

In vitro and in vivo release of cefuroxime axetil from bioactive glass as an implantable delivery system in experimental osteomyelitis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the characterisation, in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility and antimicrobial activity of bioactive glass (BG) impregnated with an antibiotic. The BG was prepared by normal glass melting procedures as a controlled release device to treat experimental osteomyelitis. The study design was for prospective in vivo experimental study. Two sets of porous bioactive glass ceramic blocks (9 mm × 4 mm × 4 mm and 20 mm × 9 mm × 9 mm) were fabricated using bioactive glass powder and subsequently antibiotic cefuroxime axetil (CFA) (55 and 125 mg on an average) was impregnated in these two sets of blocks, respectively. Osteomyelitis was produced in the right tibia of the rabbits according to the model of Norden. After thorough in vitro characterization of the porous blocks [including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transformed infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), thorough chemical analysis by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectra (ICP-AES) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM)] and in vitro elution of the said drug, in vivo test was carried out with rabbit species split into two groups: (a) animals treated with CFA impregnated bioactive glass and (b) parenteral [intra muscular (IM)] administration of CFA. Histological, radiological and drug concentration in bone and serum (measured by HPLC) in both groups were carried out. HPLC technique was used for determination of concentration both in vitro and in vivo. Fabricated porous struts showed amorphous microstructure without formation of any crystallite. The elution of said drug was stopped after 6 days in vitro. Histological studies at 3 and 6 weeks revealed formation of well-developed lamellar bone and havarsian canal. Radiological evaluation pointed out disappearance of sequestrum and existence of newly formed bony specules. Concentration of cefuroxime axetil in bone and serum showed highest value on day 21 which reduced marginally by day 42 and these values were higher than minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against Staphylococcus aureus (known pathogen for chronic osteomyelitis). It could be concluded that the biodegradable antibiotic carrier system developed in this study proved to be an effective therapeutic approach toward an experimental model of osteomyelitis. Based particularly on the in vivo results of the study, this cefuroxime axetil incorporated bioactive glass blocks can be successfully used in clinical cases of osteomyelitis in veterinary as well as human orthopaedic surgery.     

Voltage induced anomalous conductance switching behaviour in nematic liquid crystal-multiwalled carbon nanotube composite

Investigations on the voltage induced conductance switching behavior in the nematic liquid crystal-multiwalled carbon nanotube composite have performed. We have found that, the system formed electrical conduction pathways with increasing voltages. Anomalous conductance switching took place at a certain threshold voltage. Percolation threshold voltage depends on the frequencies of the measuring electric field. We have made an analogy between concentration dependent percolation and voltage induced percolation. A two dimensional (2D) renormalization model calculation reveals that if the CNTs form a 2D network then percolation threshold concentration (p(c)) should be 0.768. After careful analysis we have found that voltage analogy of percolation threshold concentration in our system is also very close to the above value. The connectivity exponent (beta) for 2D site percolation agrees well with our proposed voltage induced percolation connectivity exponent. Which gives a glimpse that voltage induced percolating network may forms a two dimensional network in this particular system.     

A novel integrated decision-making approach for the evaluation and selection of renewable energy technologies

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - The decision-making in energy sector involves finding a set of energy sources and conversion devices to meet the energy demands in an optimal way....     

Granular fluids with solid friction and heating

We perform large-scale molecular dynamics simulations to study heated granular fluids in three dimensions. Granular particles dissipate their kinetic energy due to solid frictional interaction with other particles. The velocity of each particle is perturbed by a uniformly-distributed random noise, which mimics the heating. At the early stage of evolution, the kinetic energy of the system decays with time and reaches a steady state at a later stage. The velocity distribution in the steady state shows a non-Gaussian distribution. This has been characterized by using the Sonine polynomial expansion for a wide range of densities. Particles show diffusive motion for densities below the jamming density \(\phi _\mathrm{J}\).     

Distributed routing in wireless sensor networks using energy welfare metric

There are several requirements for a routing algorithm in wireless sensor networks. First, it should achieve both energy-efficiency and energy-balancing together, in order to prolong the lifetime of sensor networks. Second, the algorithm should follow a distributed control scheme so that it is applicable to large-scale networks. Third, it needs to be robust to diverse potential event generation patterns. The routing algorithm, MaxEW, designed in this study satisfies such requirements. It adopts the social welfare function from social sciences to compute energy welfare as a goodness measure for energy populations. When each sensor tries to maximize energy welfare of its local society, it collectively leads to globally efficient energy-balancing. This emergent property consequently supports preparedness and hence robustness to diverse event generation patterns. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed routing algorithm through extensive simulation-based experiments, by comparing with other existing algorithms as well as optimal routing solutions.