Technical Analysis of Security Management in Terms of Crowd Energy and Smart Living

In this paper, a technical and statistical analysis of security system and security management is provided for crowd energy and smart living. At the same time, a clear understanding is made for crowd energy concept and next generation smart living. Various case examples have been studied and a brief summary has been provided. Furthermore, a statistical analysis has been provided in terms of security management in smart living where it is found that young technocrats give the highest importance to security management in smart living. Last but not the least, current limitation, constraints, and future scope of security implementation have been discussed in terms of crowd energy clustered with next generation smart living.     

Effect of combination and number of b values in IVIM analysis with post-processing methodology: simulation and clinical study

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine - To investigate the effect of number and combination of b values used on the accuracy of estimated Intravoxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM)...     

Carbon xerogels as electrodes for supercapacitors. The influence of the catalyst concentration on the microstructure and on the electrochemical properties

Carbon xerogels, synthesized through the resorcinol–formaldehyde polycondensation and subsequently dried under subcritical condition, have been studied as electrodes for supercapacitors. In particular, the influence of the catalyst concentration has been investigated by systematically changing the amount of catalyst (Na₂CO₃) utilized to synthesize the xerogels. To clarify the effect of such variable, both the surface properties and the electrochemical behavior of xerogel-based supercapacitors have been examined. From the xerogels characterization, it can be inferred that the amount of catalyst used has a strong influence on the properties of the material. Contrary to what happens with carbon aerogels, the best properties are obtained with the xerogels synthesized with the least amount of catalyst: in this case the highest measured specific capacitance of the supercapacitor cells, which is assembled coupling two symmetric electrodes in series, is 25 F/g, value that corresponds to a single-electrode specific capacitance of 100 F/g. The maximum energy storage capacity in an aqueous electrolyte is 3.1 Wh/kg. Using more concentrated catalyst solutions, the gel microstructure becomes finer, composed of smaller particles and pores, which in turns leads to an increase of the capillary drying stresses and to the collapse of the organic structure. Consequently, the shrinkage of the gels is high and the final carbon xerogels do not posses sufficient surface area and porosity to store a significative amount of energy.     

Nonsupercritically Dried Silica–Alumina Aerogels—Effect of Gelation pH

Silica–alumina mixed oxide aerogels, with 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 wt% of alumina in silica, have been synthesized by a hybrid sol–gel technique followed by subcritical drying. The gelation has been carried out under pH values of 3 and 5. pH is a decisive parameter that affects the rate of hydrolysis and condensation of alkoxides. Moreover, it also influences the surface area and porosity features of the final material. The gelation time has been found to be much longer for gels that were gelled at pH 3. Nitrogen sorption studies of the aerogels calcined at 500°C indicate that the mixed oxide aerogels are mesoporous in nature and the gels prepared under a gelation pH of 3 have been found to have higher surface area than the pH 5 counterpart. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis have been performed to verify the homogeneity of the mixed oxide aerogel.     

Adsorption studies on removal of Congo red dye from aqueous solution using petroleum coke

Present work attempted to decolorize the congo red dye wastewater using raw petroleum coke (RPC) and activated petroleum coke (APC) as an adsorbent. Petroleum coke contains 90% of carbon and it can be used as an adsorbent for the dye removal. Activation is done using KOH solution with different temperature and different concentration. The effect of operating parameters such as initial dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, temperature and pH has been studied on Congo red dye removal. Kinetics and Adsorption isotherm study were conducted for congo red dye removal. It is observed from the present experiment that, the APC has higher color removal efficiency than RPC. The adsorption process follows the pseudo second order kinetics and Freundlich adsorption isotherm is found that the data fit well with the higher correlation coefficient of 0.999.     

Roles of graphite oxide, clay and POSS during the combustion of polyamide 6

Two contrasting approaches have been adopted in the current study to obtain environmental benign and superior flame retardant polymer nanocomposites. In the first approach, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) is incorporated as an additional filler in polyamide 6/clay nanocomposite to improve the homogeneity of the ‘physical’ barrier, since POSS transforms to a glassy material upon fire and enhances the coupling of silicate layers to each other. In the second approach, fire response of an intumescent system, polyamide 6/graphite oxide (GO), is compared to polyamide 6/clay systems. The intention of using GO as a flame retardant is to benefit from its layered structure (‘physical’ barrier mechanism) and intumescent/blowing effect (‘chemical’ mechanism). Considerable insight and physical knowledge on the roles of different fillers in the combustion process have been obtained, which would provide useful guidance for the development of a new generation of nanocomposites. Besides the obvious contrasting differences in the flame properties of different materials, the incorporation of various fillers, depending on their nature, has both advantages and disadvantages from the viewpoint of flame retardancy.     

The TORGO database of acoustic and articulatory speech from speakers with dysarthria

This paper describes the acquisition of a new database of dysarthric speech in terms of aligned acoustics and articulatory data. This database currently includes data from seven individuals with speech impediments caused by cerebral palsy or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and age- and gender-matched control subjects. Each of the individuals with speech impediments are given standardized assessments of speech-motor function by a speech-language pathologist. Acoustic data is obtained by one head-mounted and one directional microphone. Articulatory data is obtained by electromagnetic articulography, which allows the measurement of the tongue and other articulators during speech, and by 3D reconstruction from binocular video sequences. The stimuli are obtained from a variety of sources including the TIMIT database, lists of identified phonetic contrasts, and assessments of speech intelligibility. This paper also includes some analysis as to how dysarthric speech differs from non-dysarthric speech according to features such as length of phonemes, and pronunciation errors.     

Densification and Sintering Viscosity of Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramics

In this paper, we present sintering and uniaxial viscosity data of three commercial low-temperature co-sintered ceramic systems, i.e., DuPont 951Tape (DU), Heraeus CT2000 (CT), and Ferro A6M (FE), measured by cyclic loading dilatometry. The viscosity initially decreases with temperature, changes little during the intermediate stage, and increases towards the end of densification. The viscosity increases sharply beyond the onset of crystallization. At slower heating rates, the viscosity increases at lower temperature, because of densification and crystallization. The isothermal viscosity data range from 0.1 to 100 GPa·s between 73% and 95% density. Ceramic particle-filled glasses show a higher isothermal viscosity compared with pure glass system, i.e., FE. From master viscosity curves based on isothermal data, the activation energies for viscous flow were ∼375±30 and 450±10 kJ/mol for DU and FE, respectively. These energies are comparable to values obtained from the master sintering curve approach.     

Interrelationship between uncompacted void content of aggregates and asphalt concrete properties

It is a well known fact that morphological characteristics of aggregates influence the mechanical response of asphalt concrete (AC). Uncompacted void content (UVC) of aggregate is often related to their morphological characteristics. A detailed experimental study was performed to explore relationship between UVC and mechanical response of AC. Initially, aggregates were artificially smoothened using Los Angles abrasion testing machine. UVC was then evaluated using blended aggregates at five levels of smoothness/texture. Increasing aggregate smoothness resulted in decreased UVC values. Higher UVC was obtained with a finer gradation compared to coarse gradation. Three AC mixtures prepared using these smoothened aggregates were tested for their strength and flow properties. A linear, strong positive correlation was found between UVC and Marshall parameters (stability, Marshall quotient). This can be attributed to interparticle resistance developed during mechanical loading. Parabolic relations were found between UVC and retained Marshall parameters. The retained Marshall parameters was found to be a function of UVC. It is concluded that UVC can be effectively used to capture changes in aggregate morphology and AC response.