Blockchain Paradigm and Internet of Things

Wireless Personal Communications - Wireless sensor network (WSN) with mobile sink serves a lot of industrial and agricultural monitoring applications. The data collection with WSN has been...     

Free radical scavenging and antibacterial activities of southern Serbian red wines

Free radical scavenging and antibacterial activities were determined for several red wines from different grape varieties from the southern Serbia wine region. The amount of polyphenols and anthocyanins in selected wines was investigated and the potential antibacterial activity of the wines against pathogenic strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli was also determined. The free radical scavenging and antibacterial activity of the wines was correlated with polyphenolic and anthocyanin content. The significant differences in the antioxidant and antibacterial activities between the wines from grape cultivars (Cabernet Sauvingon and Pinot Noir) and the indigenous varieties (Vranac and Prokupac) were not confirmed. The hypothesis of a protective effect of red wine is supported by our results that show that the red wines with higher amounts of polyphenols and anthocyanins had higher antioxidant and antibacterial properties.     

Silver/polystyrene nanocomposites: Optical and thermal properties

Nanocomposites consisted of different quantities of silver (Ag) nanoparticles incorporated in a polystyrene (PS) matrix have been prepared by solution mixing method. Transmission electron microscopy was applied to determine the size distribution of the Ag nanoparticles, while the morphology of fractured surfaces of pure PS and Ag/PS nanocomposites was examined by scanning electron microscopy. Absorption spectra of nanocomposites were compared with theoretically calculated spectra based on the Maxwell‐Garnett effective medium theory. The influence of Ag content on thermal properties of Ag/PS nanocomposites was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Thermal and thermo‐oxidative stability of the host polymer were improved by introduction of silver nanoparticles. The glass transition temperature of the prepared Ag/PS nanocomposites was lower in comparison with the neat PS and decreased with the increase of the Ag content due to the very weak interfacial interaction between Ag nanoparticles and polymer matrix. POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Ferromagnetic polyaniline/TiO2 nanocomposites

Novel ferromagnetic semiconducting polyaniline PANI/TiO₂ nanocomposites were synthesized by the oxidative polymerization of aniline with ammonium peroxydisulfate in an aqueous medium, in the presence of colloidal TiO₂ nanoparticles (d ∼ 4.5 nm), without added acid. The morphological, magnetic, structural, and optical properties of the PANI/TiO₂ nanocomposites prepared at initial aniline/TiO₂ mole ratios 80, 40, and 20 were studied by scanning electron microscopy, superconducting quantum interference device, X‐ray powder diffraction, FTIR, Raman, and UV‐Vis spectroscopies. The emeraldine salt form of linear PANI chains as well as the presence of phenazine units, branched PANI chains, and anatase crystalline structure of TiO₂ in PANI/TiO₂ nanocomposites was confirmed by FTIR and Raman spectroscopies. The electrical conductivity of synthesized composites was ∼10⁻³ S cm⁻¹. The room temperature ferromagnetic response with coercive field of H_c ∼ 300 Oe and the remanent magnetization of M_r ∼ 4.35 × 10⁻⁴ emu/g was detected in all investigated PANI/TiO₂ nanocomposites. POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

A new decentralized retrofit adaptive fault‐tolerant flight control design

In this paper, we develop a new decentralized retrofit adaptive fault‐tolerant control design for a class of nonlinear models arising in flight control. The proposed adaptive fault‐tolerant controller is designed to accommodate loss‐of‐effectiveness (LoE) failures in flight control actuators and achieve accurate estimation of failure‐related parameters. The design is based on local estimation of LoE parameters and generation of local retrofit control signals to accommodate the failures. Using state‐dependent closed‐loop estimation errors, we show the overall system to be stable and demonstrate the tracking error to converge to zero asymptotically for any combination of actuator failures. Through computer simulation of F/A‐18 aircraft under actuator LoE failures, the proposed approach is also shown to achieve better parameter estimation performance compared to the fully centralized design and the design employing local observers and a centralized adaptive controller. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Liquid–liquid slug flow: Hydrodynamics and pressure drop

In this paper, the hydrodynamics and the pressure drop of liquid–liquid slug flow in round microcapillaries are presented. Two liquid–liquid flow systems are considered, viz. water-toluene and ethylene glycol/water-toluene. The slug lengths of the alternating continuous and dispersed phases were measured as a function of the slug velocity (0.03–0.5 m/s), the organic-to-aqueous flow ratio (0.1–4.0), and the microcapillary internal diameter (248 and 498 μm). The pressure drop is modeled as the sum of two contributions: the frictional and the interface pressure drop. Two models are presented, viz. the stagnant film model and the moving film model. Both models account for the presence of a thin liquid film between the dispersed phase slug and the capillary wall. It is found that the film velocity is of negligible influence on the pressure drop. Therefore, the stagnant film model is adequate to accurately predict the liquid–liquid slug flow pressure drop. The influence of inertia and the consequent change of the slug cap curvature are accounted for by modifying Bretherton’s curvature parameter in the interface pressure drop equation. The stagnant film model is in good agreement with experimental data with a mean relative error of less than 7%.     

The influence of electron intervalley transfer on response pulse width of the MSM photodetector

This paper analyses the influence of nonstationary effects on response pulswidth of Metal-Semiconductor-Metal Photodetector (MSM-PD) made of a two-valley semiconductor. A phenomenological model is used for 2D numerical simulation of carrier transport and intervalley transfer. The analysis of the pulsewidth response of the MSM-PD has been made for various micron and submicron structures, bias voltages and incident light wavelengths.     

The influence of triangular silver nanoplates on antimicrobial activity and color of cotton fabrics pretreated with chitosan

The effect of cotton fabric pretreatment with biopolymer chitosan (CHT) on deposition of colloidal triangular silver nanoplates was studied. Also, the influence of deposited silver nanoparticles on color and antimicrobial activity of cotton fabrics was evaluated. Characterization of colloidal silver nanoparticles as well as silver nanoparticles deposited on cotton fabrics was performed using electron microscopy (TEM and FESEM), XRD analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy, UV–Vis absorption, and reflectance spectroscopy. The cotton fabric turned from white to blue color upon deposition of triangular silver nanoplates. Antimicrobial activity of CHT pretreated cotton fabric impregnated with silver nanoparticles was tested against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, and fungi Candida albicans. Deposited silver nanoparticles imparted excellent antimicrobial properties to cotton fabric. The standard sterilization procedure of cotton fabric for antimicrobial activity testing resulted in color change of the fabric from blue to yellow. This color change is most likely consequence of transformation of triangular silver nanoplates into nanodiscs and/or their agglomeration into spheroids.     

Improving the operation of a fuel-cell power unit with supervision control - A simulation study

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells are proving to be a clean and efficient source of energy. Nowadays, extensive research efforts are being focused on bringing this technology to everyday use. An important aspect when integrating fuel cells in practical applications is their ability to respond to load demand. With respect to this, due to their complex internal dynamics, fuel cells belong to the group of more slowly responding sources. In order to make them more generally applicative they are often connected with a battery or a super-capacitor via a power converter to form a hybrid power source. A control algorithm, designed for such a system, represents an interesting challenge: it has to adapt to varying working conditions and operate optimally in terms of efficiency and reliability, while minimizing any impacts on the degradation of the components. Here, we present an approach using supervisory control automaton that switches between the system's operational modes and sets the references for the lower-level control loops. The evaluation of the efficiency and degradation is carried out in a simulation using a model of the widely used 1.2-kW Ballard Nexa power module.