Concept of stress dead zone in cracked plates: Theoretical,experimental, and computational studies

This paper presents a study on stress dead zone implications and its characterization with uniaxial tensile testing on MT polycarbonate plate specimens. To obtain the experimental solution, digital image correlation (DIC) is used. Numerically, based on LEFM, the problem is solved using advanced discretization techniques, finite element, and meshless methods. Considering stress dead zone notion, it aims to determine alternative analytical solution of the SIF. Thus, the compliance method is adopted, which is associated with the specimen's dead zone region that does not involve the cracking resistance. Hence, LEFM formulations complying with strain energy release rate criterion are assumed. A proper comparison is made amongst results obtained from all theoretical, experimental, and numerical analyses. Furthermore, this work focuses on the variational fields' evaluation and, in particular, verification on the theoretical assumption of dead zone characteristics. The obtained results support adopted methodologies and are encouragingly robust and cost‐effective.     

Techno-economic study of bioethanol production from olive wastes cake (OWC) in Iran

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - In this study, a techno-economic analysis of bioethanol production from the olive waste cake in Iran has been performed. The biofuel plant with a...     

Characterization and comparison of merozoite antigens of different Babesia canis isolates by serological and immunological investigations

Merozoites of four Babesia canis isolates from Hungary, France, Africa, and Egypt were purified. Antigens were compared in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and by immunoblotting. In the ELISA, antigen from the highly pathogenic isolate from Hungary showed the highest sensitivity for homologous and heterologous immune sera. This was confirmed by immunoblotting. Protein bands of the Hungarian isolate were strongly recognized by all B. canis immune sera, whereas the antigens from the other isolates showed only weak reactions with homologous and heterologous immune sera. Significant was a protein band of about 12 kDa appearing in all pathogenic isolates from Hungary, France, and South Africa but not in the apathogenic Egyptian isolate. This protein band may determine the virulence. For serological tests, the B. canis isolate from Hungary seems to be the one most suitable for detection of even mild infections.     

Salient object detection using the phase information and object model

Multimedia Tools and Applications - One of the most important features of saliency detection algorithms is to reduce the size of processing data for algorithms with higher processing size such as...     

Development of ZrO2‐MgO nanocomposite powders by the modified sol‐gel method

The ZrO₂‐MgO nanocomposites were synthesized using a new sol‐gel method with sucrose and tartaric acid as a gel agent. The samples were characterized by thermal analysis (TG/DTA), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray mapping (EDX mapping), and Ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy (UV‐vis). The results showed that the cubic phase of ZrO₂‐MgO was formed in the presence of both gel agents. The average particle size of the samples synthesized with sucrose was lower (30 nm) than that of tartaric acid (50 nm). Finally, the formation mechanism and the optical properties of zirconia‐magnesia have been discussed.     

Accelerated testing of some Australian and overseas aggregates for alkali-aggregate reactivity

Some slowly-reacting and non-reactive Australian aggregates, and reactive aggregates from South Africa, Canada and Japan, have been subjected to accelerated testing of mortar bars and concrete prisms in 1 M NaOH solution at 80°C. The test on mortar bars correlates with service performance of the aggregates and, compared with the conventional mortar bar test, an acceleration factor of about 30 is achieved. Concrete prisms are not suitable for this accelerated method except for carbonate rock, where concrete prisms are more suitable than mortar bars for assessing alkali reactivity.     

Distance-based-decoding of block turbo codes

List-based algorithms for. decoding block turbo Codes (BTC) have gained popularity due to their low computational complexity. The normal way to calculate the soft outputs involves searching for a decision code word D and a competing codeword B. In addition, a scaling factor /spl alpha/ and an estimated reliability value /spl beta/ are used. In this letter, we present a new approach that does not require /spl alpha/ and /spl beta/. Soft outputs are generated based on the Euclidean distance property of decision code words. By using the new algorithm, we achieve better error performance with even less complexity-for certain BTCs.     

Describing one generic and two new species record to the flora of Pakistan using LM and SEM methods

Common mulberry weed (Fatoua villosa (Thunb.) Nakai) and creeping amaranth (Amaranthus crassipes Schlecht) are reported for the first time in Pakistan's flora as these were not listed in any other literature nor identified before in Pakistan. Plants were found as a result of taxonomic studies performed in 2013 in Peshawar, Pakistan. Detail study was performed for the exact identification. Morphological results were compared with Flora of China and Flora of North America. Plant distribution along with its habitat and adjacent species was also recorded. Scanning electron and light microscopy was performed for the confirmation of epidermal appendages on leaf epidermis and palyno‐morphological characters.