Analysis of Dielectric and Electro-optic Responses of Nanomaterials Doped Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Mixture

Dielectric and rotational viscosity measurements of a multi-component ferroelectric liquid crystal mixture were performed by adding a small concentration (0.01 wt%) of silica and multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Liquid crystals turn out to be outstanding hosts for nanomaterials. A remarkable increase in the rotational viscosity was noticed in CNT doped system as compared to silica doped same liquid crystal system. Comparison of dielectric studies shows higher value of permittivity and dielectric losses for silica-doped sample than those of CNT doped sample. The results have been interpreted both experimentally and theoretically.     

A rapid assay method for spermidine and spermine synthases. Distribution of polyamine-synthesizing enzymes and methionine adenosyltransferase in rat tissues

A 51-year-old male presented with a chronic asymmetrical ptosis which was variable. Repeated anticholinesterase testing gave equivocal responses. The patient was treated for myasthenia gravis until a mass was detected in the orbit. Although rare, localized orbital amyloidosis should be considered in the diagnosis of patients with ptosis, particularly when the results of anticholinesterase testing are equivocal.     

Three-view co-ordinate computation

The equation for determining the three-dimensional coordinates of a point from three corresponding views is given. This extends the previously available results based on two views     

Motion of a two-phase bubble through a quiescent liquid

The motion of a two-phase bubble in immiscible liquids is associated with the development of three-phase heat exchangers applicable for heat transfer at low driving forces. An analytical expression for the instantaneous velocity of a two-phase bubble moving through a quiescent, less viscous, immiscible liquid has been developed. This expression predicts, very well, the available experimental data over the whole operational range of temperature and initial drop diameter.     

Microhardness measurements on single crystals of flux-grown rare earth perovskites (orthoferrites,orthochromites and aluminates)

The results of indentation-induced microhardness testing studies of flux-grown single crystals of rare earth orthoferrites, RFeO₃ (R=Gd to Er and Yb), rare earth orthochromites RCrO₃ (R=La, Eu and Dy), and rare earth aluminates RAlO₃ (R=La, Sm, Gd, Eu and Ho) are presented. The variation in the value of microhardness with load is observed to be non-linear in the case of all these materials. It is found that the results are not in accordance with Kick's law. The results have been analysed and the applicability of the idea of materials resistance pressure in the modified law as proposed by Hays and Kendall [Metallography 6 (1973) 275] is discussed.     

Blends of polypropylene and ethylene octene comonomer with conducting fillers: Influence of state of dispersion of conducting fillers on electrical conductivity

Blends of polypropylene/ethylene octene comonomer (PP/EOC) with conducting fillers viz., carbon black (CB) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) were prepared using melt mixing technique with varying filler concentration and blend compositions. Thermo gravimetric analysis studies indicated that presence of filler enhanced the thermal stability of PP/EOC blends. Morphological analysis revealed the formation of matrix‐dispersed droplet and co‐continuous type of morphology depending on the blend compositions. Significant reduction in droplet size and finer ligament thickness in co‐continuous structure were observed in the blends with filler due to compatibilization action. Fillers were found to be aggregated in the EOC phase irrespective of blends compositions and could be related to the affinity of the fillers toward EOC phase. The electrical conductivity of PP/EOC blends with CB and MWNT was found to be highest for 80/20 composition and decreased as EOC content increased. The percolation threshold of CB was between 10 and 15 wt% for the 80/20 and 70/30 blends whereas it was 15–20 wt% for blends with EOC content higher than 30 wt%. The percolation threshold was 2–3 wt% MWNT for PP/EOC blends. This was attributed to the aggregated filler network preferentially in the EOC phase. The melt‐rheological behavior of PP/EOC blends was significantly influenced in presence of both the fillers. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Agro-Waste Generated Pd/CAP-Ash Catalyzed Ligand-Free Approach for Suzuki–Miyaura Coupling Reaction

Catalysis Letters - We converted agro-waste Custard Apple Peels (CAP) to ash via thermal treatment, on which Pd(OAc)2 was immobilized easily that produced a low-cost, highly efficient Pd/CAP-ash...     

High-speed,two-dimensional digital image correlation algorithm using heterogeneous (CPU-GPU) framework

Two-dimensional digital image correlation (2D-DIC) is an experimental technique used to measure in-plane displacement of a test specimen. Real-time measurement of full-field displacement data is challenging due to enormous computational load of the algorithm. In order to improve the computational speed, the focus of recent research works has been on the approach of parallelization across subsets within image pairs using graphics processing unit (GPU). But alternate GPU-based parallelization approaches to improve the performance of this algorithm as per the order of data processing have not been explored. To address this research gap, our method utilizes parallelism within a subset as well as across subsets for each computation step in an iteration cycle. A heterogeneous (CPU-GPU) framework in combination with a pyramid-based initial values estimation for subsets (in parallel) is proposed in this work. The precompute steps of the proposed framework are implemented using CPU, whereas the main iterative steps are realized using GPU. It is demonstrated that the overall computational speed of the proposed heterogeneous framework improves by compared to a sequential CPU-based implementation for a pair of gray-scale images with a resolution of pixels. As an important milestone, feasibility to measure deformations in real time ( 1 s) is manifested in this study.     

An expert enhanced coloured fuzzy Petri net approach to reconfigurable manufacturing systems involving information delays

In today’s competitive market, manufacturers need to quickly adapt to the changing demands of the customers. Reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) is a cost-effective system that can easily absorb frequent changes in product demands. In this article such a system is modelled using expert enhanced coloured fuzzy Petri net (EECFPN), which considers the demands of customers as a fuzzy parameter and vividly captures the reconfigurability aspect of RMS. A fuzzy control strategy (FCS) is proposed to deal with the information delays occurring during information transfer or decision implementation. After intensive computational experimentation, it has been found that FCS outperforms the alternative priority (AP) heuristic and it is considered an effective measure to deal with situations where considerable information delay is involved.