Experimental studies on the aetiology of acute scorpion pancreatitis

This study examined the action of the venom of the scorpion Tityus trintatis on the pancreas and gastrointestinal tract in anaesthetized dogs, on the isolated extracorporeal haemoperfused canine pancreas and on the isolated canine sphincter of Oddi. The venom induces exocrine secretion in both the isolated and intact pancreas and causes contraction of the isolated sphincter of Oddi. These results are discussed in relation to the pathogenesis of acute scorpion pancreatitis and possibly of some other forms of acute pancreatitis.     

Stability of tapered cantilever columns subjected to follower forces

Accurate estimates of critical loads of tapered cantilever columns with fixed or spring hinged ends subjected to follower forces are obtained in this paper. A Galerkin finite element method is used to solve the governing differential equation with variable coefficients. The effect of the stiffness of the spring hinge on the critical load is also studied.     

Using Semantics for Policy-Based Web Service Composition

Proliferation of Web technologies and the ubiquitous Internet has resulted in a tremendous increase in the need to deliver one-stop Web services, which are often composed of multiple component services that cross organizational boundaries. It is essential that these Web services, referred to in this paper as service flows, be carefully composed in a dynamic and customized manner to suit to the changing needs of the customers. This composition should be conducted in such a manner that (i) the composed service flow adheres to the policies imposed by the organizations offering the component services, (ii) the selected component services are compatible with one another so that the entire composition would result in a successful service flow, and (iii) the selected component services most closely meet the customer requirements. In this paper, we propose a policy-based Web service composition that utilizes the semantics associated with the component services.We consider policies imposed by different entities while composing service flows, which include service policies (imposed by the organizations offering component services), service flow policies (associated with the entire service flow), and user policies (the user requirements expressed as policies). In addition to these policies, one may consider rules at the syntactic and semantic levels that can be used to select relevant component services in order to compose customized service flows, by considering the notions of syntactic, semantic and policy compatibility. We model the different policies and the service topic ontology using OWL, DAML-S, RuleML and RDF standards.Recommended by: Athman Bouguettaya and Boualem BenatallahThe work is supported by and a grant from the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute, New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.     

Study of flavonoids in aqueous spinach extract using positive electrospray ionisation tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry

The presence of three flavonols (quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin) and two flavones (apigenin, luteolin) were investigated in the extract of fresh spinach leaves. Aqueous spinach extracts were prepared with a leaf/water ratio of 1:2 at 80 °C for 30 min stirring. Ferric ammonium sulphate method was used for measuring total polyphenols in the extracts and expressed as catechins and tannic acid equivalents. The flavonoids glycosides in the extract were hydrolysed to their aglycons with 1.2 M HCl in boiling 50% water methanol solution. The resulting aglycons were identified and quantified by a C18 reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Furthermore, the results were confirmed by HPLC coupled to an electrospray ionisation tandem triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer ESI-MS performing low-energy collision induced dissociation (CID-MS/MS) in the collision cell (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS). Analyses were made in the multiple reaction monitory (MRM) mode. Results showed that total polyphenols contents in fresh spinach leaves were 270 mg kg⁻¹ and 390 mg kg⁻¹ as tannic acid and catechin equivalents, respectively, in which, major flavonoids aglycons were apigenin (170 mg kg⁻¹), quercetin (50 mg kg⁻¹) and kaempferol (30 mg kg⁻¹).     

Analysis of pulsed microwave processing of polymer slabs supported with ceramic plates

A detailed theoretical analysis has been carried out to study the role of ceramic supports (alumina and SiC) and pulsed microwave heating of polymer (Natural Rubber, NR, and Nylon 66) slabs due to various distributions of microwave incidences. Ceramic plates are typical representations as they withstand high temperature without any deformation. It is found that ceramic plates influence the heating processes significantly and local hot spots within samples are governed by specific type of ceramic plates for various sample thicknesses and distributions of microwave incidence (one side or both sides). Optimized pulsing of microwave incidence has been employed to minimize the thermal runaway or hot spots in order to achieve uniform temperature distribution and pulsing is introduced based on two parameters: setpoint (ΔT_S) and on-off constraint (T^′). Detailed spatial distributions of power and temperature are illustrated for a few representative length scales to demonstrate the role of local maxima in power and temperature on heating rate as well as thermal runaway with or without pulsing. Pulsing ratio (PR) has been defined as PR=t_off/t_p, where t_off is power-off time and t_p is the total processing time such that smaller PR denotes large processing rates. It is found that one side incidence gives smaller values of PR for both the ceramic plates whereas SiC plate may be suitable for both sides incidence with large sample thicknesses of NR samples. It is also found that larger values of setpoints also minimize PR. The setpoints along with the on-off constraint play critical role to select the heating strategy as a function of ceramic plates and types of incidence. Pulsing may not be important for smaller thicknesses of Nylon samples and SiC or alumina plates may be recommended for processing larger thicknesses of Nylon samples in presence of pulsing. Current study recommends the efficient microwave heating methodologies for polymer processing attached with ceramic plates by means of optimized pulsing for the first time.     

Complementary Antiparallel Schottky Barrier Diode Pair in a 0.13- $mu hbox{m}$ Logic CMOS Technology

A shunt-connected complementary antiparallel diode pair (C-APDP) using n- and p-type Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) in a 0.13-mum CMOS logic process is demonstrated. The structure eliminates the deleterious effects of parasitic capacitance to substrate and reduces the substrate resistance effects. The extrapolated cutoff frequency of C-APDP is above 470 GHz, which demonstrates the potential as a millimeter-wave frequency component. The harmonic power measurements indicate that C-APDPs can generate more than 25 dB higher third harmonic powers than n-type SBDs. The C-APDPs can be integrated with the other devices in CMOS technologies to enable generation and processing of millimeter- and submillimeter-wave signals.     

Optimization of sensitizer concentration for upconversion photoluminescence of Yb3+/Er3+: La10W22O81 nanophosphor rods

Yb³⁺/Er³⁺codoped La₁₀W₂₂O₈₁ (LWO) nanophosphor rods have been successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal assisted solid state reaction method, and their upconversion photoluminescence properties were systematically studied. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the nanophosphors have an orthorhombic structure with space group Pbcn (60). A microflowers-like morphology with irregular hexagonal nanorods was observed using field emission scanning electron microscopy for the Yb³⁺(2 mol%)/Er³⁺(2 mol%):LWO nanophosphor. The shape and size of the nanophosphor and the elements along with their ionic states in the material were confirmed by TEM and XPS studies, respectively. A green upconversion emission was observed in the Er³⁺: LWO nanophosphors under 980 nm laser excitation. A significant improvement in upconversion emission has been observed in the Er³⁺: LWO nanophosphors by increasing the Er³⁺ ion concentration. A decrease in the upconversion emission occurred due to concentration quenching when the doping concentration of Er³⁺ ions was greater than 2 mol%. An optimized Er³⁺(2 mol%): LWO nanophosphor exhibited a strong near infrared emission at 1.53 μm by 980 nm excitation. The green upconversion emission of Er³⁺(2 mol%): LWO was remarkably enhanced by co-doping with Yb³⁺ ions under 980 nm excitation because of energy transfer from Yb³⁺ to Er³⁺. The naked eye observed this upconversion emission when co-doping with 2 mol% Yb³⁺. In order to obtain the high upconversion green emission, the optimized sensitizer concentration of Yb³⁺ ions was found to be 2 mol%. The upconversion emission trends were studied as a function of stimulating laser power for an optimized sample. Moreover, the NIR emission intensity has also been enhanced by co-doping with Yb³⁺ ions due to energy transfer from Yb³⁺ to Er³⁺. The energy transfer dynamics were systematically elucidated by energy level scheme. Colorimetric coordinates were determined for Er³⁺ and Yb³⁺/Er³⁺: LWO nanophosphors. The energy transfer mechanism was well explained and substantiated by several fluorescence dynamics of upconversion emission spectra and CIE coordinates. The results demonstrated that the co-doped Yb³⁺(2 mol%)/Er³⁺(2 mol%): LWO nanophosphor material is found to be a suitable candidate for the novel upconversion photonic devices.     

Fabrication of zinc‐loaded hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) for hydrogen storage

The greatest challenge for a feasible hydrogen economy lies on the production of pure hydrogen and the materials for its storage with controlled release at ambient conditions. Hydrogen with its great abundance, high energy density and clean exhaust is a promising candidate to meet the current global challenges of fossil fuel depletion and green house gases emissions. Extensive research on hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) for hydrogen storage is being carried out world‐wide, but the right material for hydrogen storage is yet underway. But many other characteristics, such as the poor thermal conductivity etc. of the HGMs, restrict the hydrogen storage capacity. In this work, we have attempted to increase the thermal conductivity of HGMs by ZnO doping. The HGMs with Zn weight percentage from 0 to 10 were prepared by flame spheroidization of amber‐colored glass powder impregnated with the required amount of zinc acetate. The prepared HGMs samples were characterized using field emission‐scanning electron microscope (FE‐SEM), environmental SEM (ESEM), high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The deposition of ZnO on the microsphere walls was observed using FE‐SEM, ESEM and HRTEM which was further confirmed using the XRD and ultraviolet–visible absorption data. The hydrogen storage studies done on these samples at 200 °C and 10‐bar pressure for 5 h showed that the hydrogen storage increased when the Zn percentage in the sample increased from 0 to 2%. The percentage of zinc beyond 2, in the microspheres, showed a decline in the hydrogen storage capacity. The closure of the nanopores due to the ZnO nanocrystal deposition on the microsphere surface reduced the hydrogen storage capacity. The hydrogen storage capacity of HAZn2 was found 3.26 wt% for 10‐bar pressure at 200 °C. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Traffic video‐based intelligent traffic control system for smart cities using modified ant colony optimizer

Road traffic congestion is a serious problem in today's world and it happens because of urbanization and population growth. The traffic reduces the transport efficiency in the city, increases the waiting time and travel time, and also increases the usage of fuel and air pollution. To overcome these issues this papers propose an intelligent traffic control system using the Internet of Vehicles (IoV). The vehicles or nodes present in the IoV can communicate between themselves. This technique helps in determining the traffic intensity and the best route to reach the destination. The area of study used in this paper is Vellore city in Tamilnadu, India. The city map is separated into many segments of equal size and Ant Colony Algorithm (AOC) is applied to the separated maps to find the optimal route to reach the destination. Further, Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used to calculate the traffic density and to model the heavy traffic. The proposed algorithm performs better in finding the optimal route when compared to that of the existing path selection algorithms. From the results, it is evident that the proposed IoV‐based route selection method provides better performance.     

Effect of matrix content on the performance of carbon paper as an electrode for PEMFC

Porous conducting carbon fiber‐based composite paper is used as an electrode backing in the fuel cell assembly. It not only acts as a channel through which the reactant and product gases pass to and from the bipolar plate and the catalyst site but also helps in the flow of electrons. In order to perform its role efficiently, it should have sufficient strength, high electrical conductivity, and ideal porous structure. Carbon paper has been fabricated, which builds up the required composite properties. Studies have been conducted to optimize the fiber/matrix ratio in the carbon paper, while ensuring the perfect combination of porosity, mechanical strength, and electrical conductivity for an electrode in a proton electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Detail physico‐mechanical and electrochemical characterizations further ascertain that the fiber/matrix ratio plays an important role in tuning the composite properties. The polarization curve of the unit proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell (with an effective electrode area 4 cm²) shows a peak power density of 916 mW/cm² for the sample with fiber/matrix ratio of 65:35, which is almost the same as the commercially available sigracet gas diffusion layer (SGL) carbon paper tested under similar conditions. Further, proportionally enlarging the electrode area to 100 cm² shows that the carbon paper not only shows almost repeatable results in a given set up but also scales up.