Textile supercapacitors‐based on MnO2/SWNT/conducting polymer ternary composites

This paper describes a simple and fast process for the fabrication of flexible and textile‐based supercapacitors. Symmetric electrodes made up of binder‐free ternary composites of manganese oxide (MnO₂) nanoparticles, single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) and a conducting polymer (either polyaniline (PANI) or poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)–poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)) were layer‐by‐layer deposited onto cotton substrates by dip coating method. Solid‐state supercapacitor devices were assembled using a gel electrolyte. Specific capacitances of 294 F/g and 246 F/g were obtained for MnO₂/SWNT/PANI and MnO₂/SWNT/PEDOT:PSS ternary nanocomposite supercapacitors, respectively. Power densities for these supercapacitors were 746.5 W/kg and 640.5 W/kg for MnO₂/SWNT/PANI and MnO₂/SWNT/PEDOT:PSS, respectively. Good capacity retention (more than 70%) upon cycling over 1000 times was achieved for both electrode compositions. Supercapacitors demonstrated in this work would be well suited as disposable power sources for wearable and intelligent textiles. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Economic and cross-media effect analyses of best available techniques for caustic recovery from mercerization textile wastewater

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Caustic can be recovered from textile mercerization wastewaters by evaporation or membrane filtration. The main objective of this study was to evaluate...     

Collaborative Multi-MSA Multi-Target Tracking and Surveillance: a Divide &; Conquer Method Using Region Allocation Trees

This work deals with the problem of the accurate task space control subject to finite-time convergence. Kinematic and dynamic equations of a rigid robotic manipulator are assumed to be uncertain. Moreover, unbounded disturbances, i.e., such structures of the modelling functions that are generally not bounded by construction, are allowed to act on the manipulator when tracking the trajectory by the end-effector. Based on suitably defined task space non-singular terminal sliding vector variable and the Lyapunov stability theory, we derive a class of absolutely continuous (chattering-free) robust controllers based on the estimation of a Jacobian transpose matrix, which seem to be effective in counteracting uncertain both kinematics and dynamics, unbounded disturbances and (possible) kinematic and/or algorithmic singularities met on the robot trajectory. The numerical simulations carried out for a 2DOF robotic manipulator with two revolute kinematic pairs and operating in a two-dimensional task space, illustrate performance of the proposed controllers.     

Hydropower production without sacrificing environment: a case study of Ilisu Dam and Hasankeyf

The Ilisu Dam and HEPP Project, on the Tigris River in the South-Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, has been under debate for more than half a century due to its possible adverse effects on the environment. In particular, the proposed inundation of the archaeological sites around Hasankeyf has prompted strong criticism from national and international organizations. The primary reason for the administration's insistence on construction of the dam is its energy production capacity. The present study is an assessment of an alternative solution that not only saves Hasankeyf with its countless ancient monuments from inundation but also supplies the projected energy production of Ilisu Dam.     

Development of a machine tool selection system using AHP

The selection of appropriate machines is one of the most critical decisions in the design and development of an efficient production environment. In this study, we propose a decision support system for machine tool selection using an effective algorithm, the analytic hierarchy process. In the selection process, we first consider qualitative decision criteria that are related to the machine properties. Reliability and precision analyses may be included in the detailed evaluation procedure. Furthermore, the decision-maker may take into account the economical considerations through cost analysis. In addition, the robustness of the selection procedure may be evaluated using sensitivity analysis. An illustrative example of machine tool selection using the proposed methodology and the software implementation are provided.     

Investigation of mean glandular dose versus compressed breast thickness relationship for mammography

The relationship between the mean glandular dose (MGD) and the compressed breast thickness (CBT) is commonly used for the presentation of mammographic dose survey results and could also be useful for the assessment of individual breast doses retrospectively in case of lack of necessary dosimetric instrumentation. The high data scattering from the best fit reduces the reliability of this technique. The aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of this relationship using the data collected from a patient survey and phantom experiment. Patients were divided into three different groups according to their breast glandularities, which were predicted from the inspection of previous mammograms. X-ray beam qualities that will be used in patient examinations were determined according to breast thickness and predicted glandularities. The MGD versus CBT relationship for all the examined patients resulted in a poor correlation (R(2) = 0.28). This relationship was separately obtained for each glandularity group and also for sub-groups of specific beam qualities. The best correlation (R(2) = 0.73) was obtained for the fatty breast group and Mo/Mo combination. A low correlation (R(2) = 0.34) was observed in the mid-glandularity group due to inclusion of a wide range of glandularities in this group. In the case of the dense breast group, although the glandularity range was narrow, there were e still high data scattering (R(2) = 0.25). This was probably due to the use of Mo/Rh and Mo/Mo combinations. This is validated by obtaining the MGD-CBT relationship specific to Mo/Mo combination (R(2) = 0.61).     

A Cost-Efficient and Simple Plant Oil DNA Extraction Protocol Optimized for DNA-Based Assessment of Product Authenticity

DNA-based assays offer precision in ascertaining the species/cultivar origin of agro-food products. Yet, obtaining DNA of sufficient quality and quantity is the main challenge while performing DNA-based food authentication analyses. The aim of the present work was to standardize a cost-efficient, easy-to-apply, yet effective plant oil DNA isolation protocol that allows reliable downstream PCR-based analyses. Because capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation of species/cultivar discriminating genomic fragments is a widely adopted approach in food genomics, a CE system was utilized in order to assess the performance of the proposed cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB)-based protocol. A plastid intergenic spacer and a nuclear olive gene were used as targets in order to evaluate the amplificability of DNA extracted with the CTAB-based protocol. The plastid barcode not only allowed assessing the reproducibility of PCR amplifications from the extracted oil DNA samples (olive, hazelnut, corn, rapeseed, cottonseed, and soybean oils) but also proved successful in discriminating all tested oil crop species based on amplified fragment length polymorphisms. Moreover, the barcode assay proved successful in correctly identifying the tested olive oil: cottonseed oil blends as admixtures of the two oil species. Thus, it was also feasible to demonstrate the potential of the barcode sequence as a discriminatory analyte to detect adulteration in plant oils. In addition, application of a CAPS (cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence) assay designed to genotype a nuclear SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) marker resulted in the successful identification of the two single-cultivar olive oils included in the study. As a result of the present work, it was feasible to standardize a reliable and cost-efficient DNA extraction protocol that works well with both unrefined (olive and hazelnut) and refined (corn, rapeseed, cottonseed, and soybean) oils.     

Adsorption of trypsin onto magnetic ion‐exchange beads of poly(glycidylmethacrylate‐co‐ethyleneglycoldimethacrylate)

Magnetic beads were prepared from glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), and ethyleneglycol dimethylmethacrylate (EGDMA) in the presence of Fe₃O₄ nano‐powder via suspension polymerization. The magnetic beads were characterized by surface area measurement, electron spin resonance (ESR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). ESR data revealed that the beads were highly super‐paramagnetic. The effects of contact time, pH, ionic strength, and temperature on the adsorption process have been studied. Adsorption equilibrium was established in about 120 min. The maximum adsorption of trypsin on the magnetic beads was obtained as 84.96 mg g^?1 at around pH 7.0. At increased ionic strength, the contribution of the electrostatic component to the overall binding decreased, and so the adsorption capacity. The experimental equilibrium data obtained trypsin adsorption onto magnetic beads fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm model. The result of kinetic analyzed for trypsin adsorption onto magnetic ion‐exchange beads showed that the second order rate equation was favorable. It was observed that after six adsorption–elution cycle, magnetic beads can be used without significant loss in trypsin adsorption capacity. Finally, the magnetic beads were used for separation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and trypsin from binary solution in a batch system. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Carotid-jugular arteriovenous fistula and cerebrovascular infarct: a case report of an iatrogenic complication following internal jugular vein catheterization

Central venous catheterization is frequently performed for perioperative management and long-term intravenous access. Although complications associated with central venous catheter insertion have been widely reported, there are few reports of carotid-jugular arteriovenous fistula formation. Endovascular procedures are associated with a risk of immediate and delayed thromboembolic and ischemic complications. We describe a case of a carotid-jugular arteriovenous fistula and a cerebrovascular infarct following the insertion of a double-lumen catheter for hemodialysis access. We provide recommendations for the prevention and the early detection of this iatrogenic complication.     

The mechanism of the sudden termination of carbon nanotube supergrowth

The effect of growth conditions and catalyst lifetime on the supergrowth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) through a water assisted chemical vapor deposition has been investigated. The reasons behind the observed sudden termination of the CNT growth were explored. A proper amount of water was found to improve the activity of the catalyst and enhance the growth rate of CNTs. However, the introduction of water did not extend the catalyst lifetime leading to unavoidable termination of the CNT growth. Further experiments demonstrated that in addition to catalyzing the CNT growth, catalyst particles can also decompose/etch the C sp2/sp3 bonds including those in the CNTs. The existing termination mechanism for the CNT growth fails to explain this. We therefore propose a model based on the catalyst phase transformation using the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov theory to predict the growth rate and termination of the CNT growth.