Natural leathers from natural materials: progressing toward a new arena in leather processing

Globally, the leather industry is currently undergoing radical transformation due to pollution and discharge legislations. Thus, the leather industry is pressurized to look for cleaner options for processing the raw hides and skins. Conventional methods of pre-tanning, tanning and post-tanning processes are known to contribute more than 98% of the total pollution load from the leather processing. The conventional method of the tanning process involves the "do-undo" principle. Furthermore, the conventional methods employed in leather processing subject the skin/ hide to a wide variation in pH (2.8-13.0). This results in the emission of huge amounts of pollution loads such as BOD, COD, TDS, TS, sulfates, chlorides and chromium. In the approach illustrated here, the hair and flesh removal as well as fiber opening have been achieved using biocatalysts at pH 8.0, pickle-free natural tanning employing vegetable tannins, and post-tanning using environmentally friendly chemicals. Hence, this process involves dehairing, fiber opening, and pickle-free natural tanning followed by ecofriendly post-tanning. It has been found that the extent of hair removal and opening up of fiber bundles is comparable to that of conventionally processed leathers. This has been substantiated through scanning electron microscopic analysis and softness measurements. Performance of the leathers is shown to be on par with conventionally chrome-tanned leathers through physical and hand evaluation. The process also exhibits zero metal (chromium) discharge and significant reduction in BOD, COD, TDS, and TS loads by 83, 69, 96, and 96%, respectively. Furthermore, the developed process seems to be economically viable.     

A facile synthesis of silver nanoparticle with SERS and antimicrobial activity using Bacillus subtilis exopolysaccharides

In this study, we report a facile synthesis of silver nanoparticle having SERS and antimicrobial activity using bacterial exopolysaccharide (EPS). Bacillus subtilis (MTCC 2422) was grown in nutrient broth and the extracellular EPS secreted by the organism was extracted and purified. The purified EPS was used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. The kinetics of silver nanoparticle synthesis was deduced by varying the exposure time and the concentration of EPS. The rate constant (k) for the synthesis of silver nanoparticle was calculated from the slope of ln(A^∞ ? A^t) versus time plot. The k value was found to be 3.49 × 10^?3, 5.81 × 10^?3 and 5.03 × 10^?3 per min for particle synthesis using 2, 5 and 10 mg/mL EPS, respectively. The nanoparticles synthesised had an average particle size of 5.18 ± 1.49 nm, 1.96 ± 0.77 nm and 2.08 ± 0.88 nm for 2, 5 and 10 mg/mL EPS, respectively. The synthesised particles were characterised using UV-Vis absorbance spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) attached to EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and zeta potential analyser. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report SERS activity of microbial Bacillus subtilis EPS-based synthesis of silver nanoparticle. HRTEM images showed silver nanoparticle entrapped in polysaccharide nanocages. Silver nanoparticle showed higher adherence towards the bacterial surface, with good bactericidal activity against Pseudomonas aeroginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.     

On metrics for comparing interconnect estimation methods for FPGAs

Interconnect management is a critical design issue for large field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) based designs. One of the most important issues for planning interconnection is the ability to reliably and efficiently predict the interconnect requirements of a given design on a given FPGA architecture. Many interconnect estimation methods have been reported so far and the estimation problem is also under active research. From a CAD tool deployment point of view, comparing these estimation methods is very difficult because of the different reporting methods used by the authors. We make an argument for and propose a new uniform reporting metric, based on comparing the estimates with the results of an actual detailed router on both local and global levels. We then compare some of the well known and promising interconnect estimation methods using our new metric on a large number of benchmark circuits.     

Switched-current circuits in digital CMOS technology with low charge-injection errors

In this paper, digital CMOS switched-current (SI) circuits with low charge-injection errors are presented. These circuits are based on the operation of the switches at virtual-ground nodes to result in signal-independent charge injection. Based on this scheme, different topologies for the memory cell are discussed. To verify the theoretical concepts developed, a third-order elliptic low-pass SI filter is implemented in a 0.25-/spl mu/m digital CMOS process. The filter nominally operates with a clock frequency of 10 MHz, cutoff frequency of 1 MHz, and a power supply of 2.3 V, while consuming 29 mW of power and processing input signals as large as 600-/spl mu/A peak differential. The low-charge injection nature of the circuit is reflected in its low total harmonic distortion of -59 dB for a 0.3-MHz signal with a modulation index of 0.5.     

Decision depths of convolutional codes

The decision depth function of a convolutional code L_D(w) is the first trellis depth at which all unmerged incorrect subset paths exceed weight w. The authors tabulate this function for most codes in common use. L _D(w) specifies the path memory length of a decoder. It follows a clear asymptotic growth rule     

E-banking and customer preferences in Malaysia: An empirical investigation

This paper examines the current trends in the e-commerce revolution that has set in motion in the Malaysian banking sector and reports on an empirical research that was carried out in Malaysia to study the customers’ preference for electronic banking and the factors, which they considered influenced the adoption of electronic banking. Results based on the analysis of data relating to 300 respondents indicate that while there is no significant differences between the age and educational qualifications of the electronic and conventional banking users, some differences exists on other demographic variables. Analysis further reveals that accessibility of Internet, a wareness of e-banking, and customers’ reluctance to change are the factors that significantly affected the usage of e-banking in Malaysia. The paper discusses on the implications of these. Limitations of the study are highlighted and further research directions are suggested.     

Characteristics of Alumina Powders Prepared by Spray-Drying of Boehmite Sol

Boehmite sol prepared from aluminum nitrate has been spray-dried to obtain micrometer-size spherical particles consisting of submicrometer crystallites. The spray-dried powder was further washed with solvents of varying polarities such as acetone, 2-propano1, and 2-methyl-2-propanol. Particle-size distribution, morphology, density, compaction, and sintering characteristics of powders washed with different solvents are reported. The effect of posttreatments on the boehmite-sol-derived powders toward reducing agglomeration and obtaining high-density bodies is discussed.     

Electrical conductivity in Ta2O5

The defect structure of undoped polycrystalline Ta₂O₅ was investigated by determining the temperature [850–1050°C] and oxygen partial pressure [10⁰–10^?19 atm.] dependence of the electrical conductivity. The data were found to be proportional to the $\text{～?}\text{1}\text{4}\text{th}$ power of the oxygen partial pressure for the oxygen pressure range <10^?8 atm. and independent of the oxygen partial pressure for P_O2 > 10^?6 atm. The enthalpy of formation of doubly ionized oxygen vacancies plus two electrons is estimated to be 118.31 Kcal/mole [5.13 eV]. The observed conductivity data are explained on the basis of the presence of unknown acceptor impurities in the undoped samples.     

System Effectiveness Simulation Model with Nonparametric Dependability

The simulation model presented here is a useful extension of WSEIAC's system's effectiveness methodology. This model accepts information regarding uncertainty with the parametric estimates of the system's attributes. One of the system's attributes, defined as “dependability,” requires Markovian State Transition Process. Time-dependent queueing process and renewal theory application for this dependability matrix are avoided by resorting to a simulation technique. This dependability matrix requires reliability and repairability estimates, which are obtained based on a non-parametric approach. This approach is based on a test program with a very realistic environment where n identical units are placed on test for a mission duration T. At the end, the number of failed units r is noted. Units failed are not replaced. Times of failed units before failure are unknown. Based on these, the dependability matrix is generated, which results ultimately in generating a sampling distribution of system effectiveness of each subsystem and the overall system. This process is coded in FORTRAN IV.