Occurrence of wax esters and 1-O-alkyl-2,3-diacylglycerols in goat epididymal sperm plasma membrane

Two unusual lipid classes were detected by thin-layer chromatography in the neutral lipids derived from goat cauda-epididymal sperm plasma membrane. The lipids were identified as wax esters and 1-O-alkyl-2,3-diacylglycerols based on chromatographic properties, identity of their hydrolysis products, and infrared/¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectral evidence. The membrane containedca. 3 and 5 μg/mg protein of wax esters and alkyldiacylglycerols, respectively. The relative proportions of wax esters and alkyldiacylglycerols in the total neutral lipids were 1.5% and 2.4%, respectively. The lipids contained fatty acids with chain lengths of C₁₄ to C₂₂. The major fatty acids of the wax esters were 14∶0, 16∶0, 16∶1ω7, 18∶0 and 18∶1ω9. The fatty acids in alkyldiacylglycerol were 16∶0, 18∶0, 22∶5ω3 and 22∶6ω3. Alkyldiacylglycerol was particularly rich in docosahexaenoic acid 22∶6ω3) representing 30% of the total fatty acids. The alcohols of wax ester were all saturated with C₂₀–C₂₉ carbon chains. The deacylated products derived from alkyldiacylglycerols were identified as hexadecyl, octadecyl and octadec-9′-enyl glycerol ethers.     

Analysing the patterns of spatial contrast discontinuities in natural images for robust edge detection

Pattern Analysis and Applications - The pattern of spatial contrast discontinuities in natural images has been analysed in the present work, and based on it, a new adaptive model of the...     

Interpenetrating polymer network/functionalized-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite: As an advanced functional material

In this report, smart polyurethane-polystyrene interpenetrating polymer network (IPN)-based nanocomposites were fabricated using simultaneous polymerization technique with different doses of functionalized reduced graphene oxide (f-RGO). RGO was functionalized with monoglyceride of sunflower oil in the presence of toluene diisocyanate. Successful functionalization of RGO was supported by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy analyses. Most interestingly, the fabricated IPN-based nanocomposites showed significant enhancements in mechanical (tensile strength: 165%; elongation at break: 198%; toughness: 340%) and thermal (thermally stable up to 262°C) properties upon incorporation of 1 weight% of f-RGO. Moreover, the fabricated nanocomposites exhibited outstanding chemical resistance, self-cleaning behavior through surface hydrophobicity (static contact angle: 125.6–136.5°), multi-stimuli responsive shape memory effect (100% recovery within 33–44 s by microwave and 265–308 s by sunlight) and thermally actuated artificial muscle-like behavior. Therefore, the studied smart nanocomposites with the aforementioned properties hold significant potential for possible advanced applications.     

Deposition of hydroxyapatite coatings by axial plasma spraying: Influence of feedstock characteristics on coating microstructure,phase content and mechanical properties

Axial plasma spray is one of the thermal spray techniques to deposit multifunctional advanced coatings. The present work explores the use of this process to deposit thin, continuous, and adherent Ca₅ (PO₄)₃OH (hydroxyapatite, HAp) coatings and characterize its microstructure, phases, hardness and adhesion strength. Three different suspension-deposited HAp coatings were investigated and compared with powder-deposited HAp coating on a Ti6Al4V substrate. The effect of mean solute particle size and solid-loading in the suspension has been explored on the evolution of microstructure, phase content and mechanical properties of axial suspension plasma sprayed (ASPS) coatings. Phase-characterization has shown retention of hydroxyapatite phase and coating crystallinity in the deposited coatings, whereas the adhesion strength of the HAp coating decreased from ～40 MPa to ～13 MPa when bioglass was added to the feedstock material. The lower solid load content and lower mean solute particle size in the suspension were found to be beneficial in achieving porous, rougher, and well-adhering coatings. This work concludes that ASPS can potentially deposit thin HAp coatings (< 50 μm) with high adhesion strength.     

Comparative wear performance of titanium based coatings for automotive applications using exhaust gas recirculation

This paper reports tribological characterization of titanium based coatings ion bonded on steel balls for automotive applications using exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). It is well known that lubricating oil drawn from EGR operated engine is contaminated with soot and higher amounts of wear debris compared to non-EGR operated engine. In this study, steel balls coated with TiN, TiAlN and TiCN are investigated in both fresh lubricating oil and EGR stressed oil for a comparative assessment of their wear characteristics in two mediums. Normal load was applied on the samples, tested against a rotating cast iron disk, simulating ring-liner interaction. In each experiment, about one quarter of disk was dipped in the oil (a) to ensure the presence of a thin oil film on the disk-ball interface during the experiment, and (b) to avoid exposure of the worn surface to atmospheric air. The results reveal that the wear rates of the coatings based on the change in the scar diameters of the samples, tested in EGR oil was 2-4 times higher than that of fresh lubricating oil. It was found that despite lowest hardness, TiN coated samples showed smaller scar diameters than TiAlN and TiCN coated samples in both lubricating oil environments. A simple geometric model was used to calculate the thickness of the coating removed as a function of the test duration. Results show that TiN coatings last for 120 min in fresh oil as compared to 30 min in the EGR oil under normal loading, whereas TiAlN and TiCN coating last for 60 and 30 min respectively in fresh oil and wear out in 15 min in EGR oil.     

A compact dual band short ended metamaterial antenna with extended bandwidth

A compact dual‐band CPW–fed metamaterial inspired antenna using Composite Right/Left Handed (CRLH) resonant approach is presented in this article. The antenna is designed such that it can be operated in series resonant mode where resonance behavior is characterized by series LC parameters. Proposed antenna comprises two annular ring resonators connected with the signal patch intended to excite the higher order modes. This results extension of second band from 51.4% (f_c = 6.92 GHz) to 69.2% (f_c = 7.35 GHz). In addition to that proposed antenna shows compact nature with an electrical size of 0.14 λ₀ × 0.21 λ0 × 0.01 λ₀ at f₀ = 2.18 GHz. The antenna is operating over 2.14–2.23 GHz, 4.81–9.90 GHz with simulated peak gain of 0.66 and 4.44 dB, respectively. Simulated radiation efficiencies of proposed antenna are 69.8 and 94.1% throughout first and second band, respectively. To examine the resonance and radiation characteristics prototype is fabricated and measured. Observed experimental results are in good agreement with those simulated one. These characteristics makes this antenna is a good candidate for modern wireless communication systems such as Bluetooth, WLAN/Wi‐Fi band. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:435–441, 2016.     

Multiresolution approach for multiple human detection using moments and local binary patterns

Human detection is a central problem in development of any surveillance application. In this study, we present a simple and efficient, multi-resolution gray scale invariant approach for multiple human detection. The multiresolution is important for objects of different size and gray scale invariance is important due to uneven illumination and within-class variability. The proposed method is based on integration of central moments upon multi-resolution gray scale invariant local binary patterns operator. Since, the local binary patterns operator is invariant against different resolutions of space scale and monotonic change in gray scale, therefore the proposed method is robust in terms of variations in space scale as well as gray scale. Another advantage is high computational accuracy of the method due to use of moment operator which enhances the efficiency of the proposed method. Moreover, the proposed method is simple, as these operations can be performed within a few steps in a small neighborhood and a lookup table. The proposed method is tested on multiple human images and experimentally found appropriate for multiple human detection. The proposed method has been evaluated over two datasets, one is our own created dataset and the other is standard INRIA human detection dataset. Experimental results obtained from the proposed method demonstrate that better discrimination can be achieved for human and non-human objects in real scenes.     

The dark side of information technology use

A large body of research has considered the positive aspects of information technology (IT) use. However, emerging research and practice commentary is beginning to focus on complex and often alarming ways in which use of IT affects organisational and social life. This Special Issue focuses on these ‘dark’ effects of IT use.     

Microalgae growth for nutrient recovery from sludge liquor and production of renewable bioenergy

Proof-of-concept has been demonstrated for a process that will utilize nutrients from sludge liquor, natural light, and CO2 from biogas to grow microalgae at wastewater treatment plants. This process will reduce the impact of returning side-streams to the head of the plant. The produced algae will be fed to anaerobic digesters for increased biogas production. Dewatering of anaerobically digested sludge in centrifuges produces reject water with extremely low transmittance of light. A pretreatment procedure was developed that improved light transmittance for reject water from the FREVAR, Norway, wastewater treatment plant from 0.1% T to 77% T (670 nm, 1 cm path). Chlorella sp. microalgae were found to be suitable for growth in this pre-treated reject water. Typical nitrogen removal was 80-90 g N/kg TSS of produced microalgae. The microalgae were successfully harvested by chemically assisted flocculation followed by straining through a 33 microm sieve cloth, achieving up to 99% recovery. Harvested algae were anaerobically co-digested with wastewater sludge. The specific methane gas production (mL CH4/g VS fed) for the algae varied from less than 65% to 90% of the specific methane gas production for the wastewater sludge, depending on digester temperature, retention time and pre-treatment of the algae biomass.     

Relationships Between Satellite Observed Lit Area and Water Footprints

Global water resources are vulnerable to depletion due to the increasing demand of an ever-increasing human population. A country’s water footprint is a measure of the total volume of water needed to produce the goods and services consumed by the country, including water originating beyond its own borders. The water footprint can be a critical indicator of global water resource use, but its practical application is hindered by a lack of comparable data across national boundaries. The purpose of this article is to test the applicability of the nighttime imagery products produced by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) for the assessment of the global water footprint. To accomplish this purpose, the average areal extent of nighttime lighting (lit area) is calculated from 1997 to 2001. Next, lit area is regressed on the total water footprint for each country, as indicated by the Water Footprint Network (WFN), to estimate that country’s total water footprint using nighttime imagery. Model residuals are analyzed at the national scale to understand the appropriateness of nighttime imagery for assessing water consumption. Results indicate strong positive correlations between lit area and total water footprint (TWF), domestic water withdrawal (DWW), and industrial water consumption (IWC) at the national scale. Overall, the analyses reveal that the rate of agricultural water consumption to total water footprint (AWCR) and population density can affect the precision of estimates when lit area is selected as a proxy to estimate water footprints.