Metol as Corrosion Inhibitor for zinc

The inhibition behavior of metol (N-methyl-p-aminophenol sulphate) on zinc in different corrosive solutions at room temperature was investigated by various techniques such as weight loss, polarization and linear polarization methods. The percentage inhibition efficiencies were evaluated at different concentrations of the inhibitors. The corrosion rate, inhibition efficiency and surface coverage were dependent on metol concentration. The electrochemical data indicated a basic modification of zinc surface resulting in a decrease in the corrosion rate. Corrosion inhibition was explained by considering an interaction between metal surface and the inhibitor. SEM images and FT-IR profiles confirmed the formation of passive film on the metal surface.     

Poly(ethylene glycol) grafted polystyrene dendrimer resins: Novel class of supports for solid phase peptide synthesis

Poly(propyleneglycol)dimethacrylate cross-linked support using monomers Styrene and 4-chloromethyl styrene (PS-PPGDMA-VBC resin) was prepared by suspension polymerization method. Dendritic templates were synthesized from Schiff base and trimesic acid molecules and assembled independently on PS-PPGDMA-VBC support to the second generation. N,N-bischloro ethyl amine dendrimer was generated from Schiff base units and introduced to the chloromethyl groups uniquely through secondary amine. It was followed by acidolytic cleavage, diazotization and thionyl chloride reactions leading to first generation dendrimer. O-benzyl ether dendrimer was created using 1,3,5-tris(hydroxyl methyl)benzene unit which was produced by the LiAlH₄ reduction of carbonyl groups of trimesic acid molecule. The hydroxyl methyl groups formed were converted to chloro methyl groups by adding thionyl chloride that leads to first generation dendrimer. Similar synthetic routes were followed to produce second generation dendrimers too. Poly(ethylene glycol), M_n ≈ 1500) has been grafted to chlorine termini of both dendrimers and used to check various physical and chemical properties of different peptide synthetic conditions. Reactions were qualitatively analyzed by FTIR, ¹³C NMR, SEM and quantitatively analyzed by UV measurements and CHN analysis. Classically difficult ACP sequence was synthesized on both PEGylated dendrimer supports and compared to Tenta Gel. Biologically significant disulfide bonded endothelin class of peptides were also synthesized using novel supports using various literature reported methods.     

A hybrid Taguchi-artificial neural network approach to predict surface roughness during electric discharge machining of titanium alloys

In the present study, electric discharge machining process was used for machining of titanium alloys. Eight process parameters were varied during the process. Experimental results showed that current and pulse-on-time significantly affected the performance characteristics. Artificial neural network coupled with Taguchi approach was applied for optimization and prediction of surface roughness. The experimental results and the predicted results showed good agreement. SEM was used to investigate the surface integrity. Analysis for migration of different chemical elements and formation of compounds on the surface was performed using EDS and XRD pattern. The results showed that high discharge energy caused surface defects such as cracks, craters, thick recast layer, micro pores, pin holes, residual stresses and debris. Also, migration of chemical elements both from electrode and dielectric media were observed during EDS analysis. Presence of carbon was seen on the machined surface. XRD results showed formation of titanium carbide compound which precipitated on the machined surface.     

Effect of Heat Treatment on Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Performance of Cold-Sprayed Tantalum Coatings

The cold-spray technique is of significant interest to deposit refractory metals with relatively high melting point for a variety of demanding applications. In the present study, mechanical properties of cold-sprayed tantalum coatings heat treated at different temperatures were investigated using microtensile testing, scratch testing, and nanoindentation. The corrosion performance of heat-treated coatings was also evaluated in 1 M KOH solution, and potentiodynamic polarization as well as impedance spectroscopy studies were carried out. Assessment of structure–property correlations was attempted based on microstructure, porosity, and intersplat bonding state, together with mechanical and corrosion properties of the heat-treated cold-sprayed tantalum coatings. Coatings annealed at 1500 °C, which is very close to the recrystallization temperature of tantalum, were found to perform almost as bulk tantalum, with exciting implications for various applications.     

An efficient algorithm for mass detection and shape analysis of different masses present in digital mammograms

The present study introduces an efficient algorithm for automatic segmentation and detection of mass present in the mammograms. The problem of over and under-segmentation of low-contrast mammographic images has been solved by applying preprocessing on original mammograms. Subtraction operation performed between enhanced and enhanced inverted mammogram significantly highlights the suspicious mass region in mammograms. The segmentation accuracy of suspicious region has been improved by combining wavelet transform and fast fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm. The accuracy of mass segmentation has been quantified by means of Jaccard coefficients. Better sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and area under the curve (AUC) are observed with support vector machine using radial basis kernel function. The proposed algorithm is validated on Mini-Mammographic Image Analysis Society (MIAS) and Digital Database for Screening Mammography (DDSM) datasets. Highest 91.76% sensitivity, 96.26% specificity, 95.46% accuracy, and 96.29% AUC on DDSM dataset and 94.63% sensitivity, 92.74% specificity, 92.02% accuracy, and 95.33% AUC on MIAS dataset are observed. Also, shape analysis of mass is performed by using moment invariant and Radon transform based features. The best results are obtained with Radon based features and achieved accuracies for round, oval, lobulated, and irregular shape of mass are 100%, 70%, 64%, and 96%, respectively.     

Investigation on microwave absorption capacity of nanocomposites based on metal oxides and graphene

Graphene and its nanocomposites were prepared via solution mixing process. Graphene based polymer nanocomposites were prepared by two step process. Firstly, graphene/poly(3-methyl thiophene)(PMT)/BaTiO₃ nanocomposite was prepared by in situ chemical oxidation polymerization technique. In the second step these nanocomposites were dispersed in thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) matrix by solution blending process. All the four nanocomposites in TPU [30 % modified graphene (P1), 30 % Poly(3-methyl thiophene) (P2), 30 % graphene/PMT/BaTiO₃ (P3) and 15 % graphene/PMT/BaTiO₃ + 15 % Fe₃O₄ (P4)] were analyzed by different analytical techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Microwave absorbing property was measured by Agilent vector network analyzer (ENA E5071C) in the X-band region (8–12 GHz). Microwave absorption result was interpreted with the help of complex permittivity and permeability of the prepared materials. Matching of both dielectric loss and magnetic loss is essential for an effective radar absorbing material (RAM). P1, P2, P3 and P4 showed the maximum return loss of ?14.37, ?9.3, ?30.02 and ?47.59 dB respectively. Thermal stability of the RAMs was determined by the help of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) instrument. Among the all, P4 showed better thermal property. All results support their use as RAM in different field.     

How similar are two-unit bicycle and motorcycle crashes?

This paper explores the similarities and differences between bicycle and motorcycle crashes with other motor vehicles. If similar treatments can be effective for both bicycle and motorcycle crashes, then greater benefits in terms of crash costs saved may be possible for the same investment in treatments. To reduce the biases associated with under-reporting of these crashes to police, property damage and minor injury crashes were excluded. The most common crash type for both bicycles (31.1%) and motorcycles (24.5%) was intersection from adjacent approaches. Drivers of other vehicles were coded most at fault in the majority of two-unit bicycle (57.0%) and motorcycle crashes (62.7%). The crash types, patterns of fault and factors affecting fault were generally similar for bicycle and motorcycle crashes. This confirms the need to combat the factors contributing to failure of other drivers to yield right of way to two-wheelers, and suggest that some of these actions should prove beneficial to the safety of both motorized and non-motorized two-wheelers. In contrast, child bicyclists were more often at fault, particularly in crashes involving a vehicle leaving the driveway or footpath. The greater reporting of violations by riders and drivers in motorcycle crashes also deserves further investigation.     

Binning algorithm for high-resolution IRS-P4 OCM chlorophyll image

Daily chlorophyll-a concentration from the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) sensor onboard the Indian Remote Sensing satellite (IRS-P4) is used to make weekly and monthly chlorophyll-a concentration maps. The pathwise swath data at 12 noon for every alternate day over the north Indian Ocean (NIO) during February 2004 and February 2005 were used to compare the existing algorithms for binning the data. Atmospherically corrected and geocorrected OCM data were used in the comparative study of three averaging algorithms – arithmetic mean (AVG), geometric mean (GEO) and maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). The analysis shows that the AVG algorithm is best suited when compared with the two other algorithms. However, for case 1 water, MLE gives nearly the same value as AVG. Based on this result, AVG was selected for operational weekly and monthly averaging of OCM data over the NIO. These high-resolution-derived chlorophyll-a weekly and monthly products will be useful to resolve inter-annual-to-decadal changes in chlorophyll-a concentration over the NIO.     

Multifunctional glow discharge analyzer for spacecraft monitoring

In this study the main objective was to develop and demonstrate a glow discharge microplasma coupled to a miniature spectrometer for detection of fire signatures from pyrolyzing and burning spacecraft materials. Our experimental results demonstrate that combustion-produced carbonaceous aerosols can serve to identify the burning materials. Demonstrating versatility for chemistry analysis, the plasma detector could differentiate carbonaceous aerosols with different C/H ratios and distinguish inorganic samples such as salts and metal oxides from carbonaceous aerosols. In addition, in situ analysis of aerosol samples validated the microplasma’s analytical utility by linearity of its optical emission intensity with aerosol elemental composition.