Reduction of the shrinkage–swelling potential with polymer nanocomposite stabilization

This article describes the application of using polymer stabilization to create a new hydrophobic (nanocomposite) material with swollen clay. A series of tests were performed with different polymer contents to study the effect of using polypropylene as a partial soil stabilizer and a shrinkage–swelling modifier for expansive soils. The effect of the obtained clay–polymer nanocomposites on the shear strength of swelling soils was also investigated. The tests showed that the resulting nanocomposites acted as nanofiller materials and decreased both the plasticity index and permeability. The optimum moisture content and dry density decreased relatively with increasing polymer content. The polymer inclusions significantly reduced the free swelling and swelling pressure values. In addition, the produced nanocomposites reduced the volumetric shrinkage of the expansive soils and created isotropic and compressible materials. The unconfined compressive strength of the soil increased significantly with increasing polymer content. The proposed stabilized technique increased the bearing capacity under the model footing and modified the stress settlement relationship. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

An alternative clustering approach for reconstructing cross cut shredded text documents

In this paper, we propose a clustering approach for solving the problem of reconstructing cross-cut shredded documents. This problem is important in the field of forensic science. Unlike other clustering approaches which are applied as a preprocessing step before the actual reconstruction algorithms, our clustering approach is part of the reconstruction process itself. We define a new cost function which mainly relies on black pixels to measure the cost of pairing two shreds together. The reconstruction algorithm creates multiple clusters which grow by adding additional shreds based on the cost function. Adding a shred may result in merging two or more clusters to produce a larger cluster. We, also, propose a way to involve the user in the reconstruction process. We compare our approach with a recent proposal and conclude that our approach gives better solutions in less time.     

Longitudinal polarization-dependent coupling of light from anoptical fiber to a side-bonded planar proximity detector: application tointegrated azimuthally distributed multidetector photopolarimeters

An in-line integrated fiber-optic photopolarimeter (IFOP) is described for the complete measurement of the state of polarization (SOP) of light. The IFOP consists of four azimuthally distributed side-bonded planar proximity detectors (SBPPDs), each of which develops an electrical signal proportional to the polarization-dependent fraction of light that it absorbs from the fiber guide. The four outputs thus developed determine the four Stokes parameters of light in the fiber via an instrument matrix which is fixed by calibration, in much the same way as has been established for the four-detector polarimeter of unguided beams. Simpler IFOPs using only two detectors, of which at least one is a SBPPD, are also proposed for partial or complete measurement of the SOP     

PARTICLE SIZE CHARACTERIZATION OF A JET MILL PRODUCT VIA PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS

A powerful statistical technique, principal component, analysis, can be used to characterize the product particle size distribution of a jet mill. Usually the average and variance of a product size distribution are used to characterize or specify the product. With principal component analysis, a broader spectrum of the product distribution can be characterized by only one or two principal components. Using these principal components in reverse, one can approximately reconstruct the particle size distribution. These principal components can also be treated as response variables and regressed against operating variables of the micronizing process.

The technique employed in this study thus offers:

1. a useful method for characterizing the jet mill product size distributions, and can be directly adapted in powder production operations.

2. an alternate basis for comparing jet mill configurations and operating conditions.     

Plastic deformation effect in high dose ion implanted systems

The rotation of the implanted surface region with respect to the orientation of the bulk crystal during high dose ion implantation has been observed for the systems $\text{V}\text{Sn}$, $\text{V}\text{Te}$, $\text{V}\text{Cs}$ and $\text{N}\text{bCs}$. The critical foreign atom concentration at which the rotation occur is different for different systems and can be correlated to the size-mismatch energy between the foreign and the host lattice atoms. Amorphization of the implanted region stabilizes the angle of rotation for the system $\text{V}\text{Sn}$.     

Mice lacking GFAP are hypersensitive to traumatic cerebrospinal injury

Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is an intermediate filament protein expressed primarily in astrocytes. We have tested whether GFAP protects against mechanical stress by inducing percussive head injury in GFAP-null mice with a weight drop device. When mice were positioned on a foam bed which allowed head movement at impact, all 14 wild-type mice tested survived, but 12 of 15 GFAP-null mice died within a few minutes. The cause of death appeared to be upper cervical spinal cord injury resulting in respiratory arrest. When the foam bed was replaced by a firm support, both GFAP-null and wild-type mice survived. These results indicate that mice lacking GFAP are hypersensitive to cervical spinal cord injury caused by sudden acceleration of the head.     

Determination of the refractive index and thickness of transparent pellicles by use of the polarization-independent absentee-layer condition

The refractive index and the thickness of a transparent pellicle are determined when the pellicle is placed between two vertical crossed polarizers and rotated in the horizontal plane. The transmission axes of the polarizers are neither parallel nor perpendicular to the plane of incidence. The light transmitted through the crossed polarizers reaches a minimum when the pellicle satisfies the absentee-layer condition. The refractive index and the film thickness are obtained from the pellicle orientation angles under such a condition.     

User consent modeling for ensuring transparency and compliance in smart cities

Smart city infrastructures such as transportation and energy networks are evolving into so-called cyber physical social systems (CPSSs), which collect and     

Further Investigations on Cane Wax Refining and Bleaching

The crude wax from Egyptian sugar contains ash, which probably consists of soaps and phosphatides. After the inorganic material has been eliminated by heating with hydrochloric acid, a soft wax of higher acidity remains. The acid and the softer components of the wax may be readily distilled under low pressure in steam, leaving as a residue a hard dark wax, which is odourless, contains little acid material and is comparable with hard, dark waxes obtained by solvent process of refining. The distillates from the low pressure distillation are pale yellow-brown pastes. The effect of different chemical bleaching agents on bleaching of hard wax is reported. Chromic acid was found to be much superior to other bleaching agents examined. The hard wax obtained, whether from the low pressure refining or from solvent refining, are readily converted by this agent into pale hard, glossy waxes having high acid values.     

Effect of chemical erosion and freeze–thaw cycling on the physical and mechanical characteristics of granites

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Rocks in nature are very often subjected to weathering processes. The physical and mechanical properties of granites exposed to chemical...