Morphological and physicomechanical analysis of high‐density polyethylene filled with Salago fiber

The environmental issues associated with the mass discarding of waste plastics in the Philippines have significantly raised for the past decade. However, this country is a home to many natural fibers which necessitates the development of ecofriendly materials to diminish the environmental footprint of polymers. High‐density polyethylene (HDPE) was filled with floured untreated and 5 wt % alkaline‐treated Salago fiber via melt compounding. The physical and mechanical characteristics of both types of composites were measured and compared. The composite filled with 30 wt % untreated fiber became very brittle, showing tensile strength and impact resistance of 15.8 MPa and 4.9 kJ/m², respectively. Alkaline treatment improved the mechanical properties of untreated composites, but not above the value of virgin HDPE. Nevertheless, the flexural strength of treated composites exceeded that of the virgin HDPE. Untreated composites absorbed water twice as the treated ones. Finally, morphological and fractography inspection on tensile and flexural test specimens showed improvement made by treatment on the interfacial adhesion between fiber and thermoplastic, corroborating the results from mechanical properties test. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46479.     

Space syntax analysis of tourists’ movement patterns in the historical district of Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

Although many researchers study the walkable environment and physical activities, very few studies demonstrate the important functions of walkable places on tourists’ walking experiences, particularly in Southeast Asian cities. This article evaluates pedestrian networks’ connectivity in Kuala Lumpur’s historic district to support pedestrian tourists’ movement patterns. The methods used in this study are gate observation and space syntax (integration value) analysis. The results indicate that pedestrian movement in the study areas is oriented more to land uses and elements of attractors than to connectivity of walkways. The findings suggest that pedestrian-oriented environments could contribute to the walkability of city centers through the integration of diverse place uses and street activities. The findings can be a useful reference for future urban studies and urban design of walkability to regenerate historical city centers that have lost their importance for tourists.     

Improving the quality of meat‐free sausages using κ‐carrageenan,konjac mannan and xanthan gum

High consumption of processed red meat can cause health issues. Therefore, production of high‐quality meat‐free food alternatives is necessary. The main objective of this study was to use hydrocolloids including κ‐carrageenan, konjac mannan and xanthan gum at 0, 0.3, 0.6, 1.0 and 1.5% w/w to improve the quality of meat‐free sausages formulated by soy protein isolated, texturised soy protein, corn starch, vegetable oil and spices. With the addition of the tested hydrocolloids, the lightness of the sausages improved. κ‐Carrageenan and konjac mannan significantly improved the water‐holding capacity and texture and reduced the cooking loss of the samples, while xanthan gum showed no considerable effect on these parameters. Konjac mannan and κ‐carrageenan (up to 0.6%) improved the general acceptability of the sausages, while inclusion of xanthan gum made no significant difference. Unlike xanthan gum, κ‐carrageenan followed by konjac mannan was highly successful in improving the overall quality of meat‐free sausages.     

Water-Gas Shift Reaction in a Microchannel Ni-based Catalytic Coated Reactor: Effect of Solvents

Medium-temperature shift (MTS) reaction was investigated in a microchannel reactor using the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method to coat porous layers of Ni-K/CeO₂ catalyst on stainless-steel plates. The electrolyte suspensions of the catalyst were prepared in isopropanol, ethanol, methanol, and acetone as solvents. All EPD experiments were carried out under similar conditions (i.e., for a contact time of 3 min, at a voltage of 140 V, and in the presence of 0.3 wt % polyethylenimine as the dispersant). The effect of the different solvents on the coated catalytic layers was studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and 2D and 3D optical imaging. The experimental results proved that the best performance for the MTS reaction in the plate microreactor was achieved with isopropanol as the solvent.     

An Efficient Target Tracking in Directional Sensor Networks Using Adapted Unscented Kalman Filter

Wireless Personal Communications - In this paper we have considered an efficient adapted Unscented Kalman Filter based target tracking in directional wireless sensor networks while observations are...