Tuning of shear thickening behavior and elastic strength of polyvinylidene fluoride via doping of ZnO-graphene

ZnO rice like nonarchitects are grafted on the graphene carbon core via a rapid microwave synthesis route. The prepared grafted systems are characterized via XRD, SEM, RAMAN, and XPS to examined the structural and morphological parameters. Zinc oxide grafted graphene sheets (ZnO-G) are further doped in β-phase of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) to prepare the polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) via mixed solvent approach (THF/DMF). β-phase confirmation of PVDF PNCs is done by FTIR studies. It is observed that ZnO-G filler enhances the β-phase content in the PNCs. Non-doped PVDF and PNCs are further studied for rheological behavior under the shear rate of 1–100 s⁻¹. Doping of ZnO-G dopant to the PVDF matrix changes its discontinuous shear thickening (DST) behavior to continues shear thickening behavior (CST). Hydrocluster formation and their interaction with the dopant could be the reason for this striking DST to CST behavioral change. Strain amplitude sweep (10⁻³% -10%) oscillatory test reveals that the PNCs shows extended linear viscoelastic region with high elastic modulus and lower viscous modulus. Effective shear thickening behavior and strong elastic strength of these PNCs present their candidature for various fields including mechanical and soft body armor applications.     

Lowered antioxidant status of red blood cells in post-parturient haemoglobinuria of buffaloes

Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis with FSME-Immun vaccine was started in the Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical School of Bia?ystok, Poland, in 1992. No serious adverse reactions after vaccine administration were observed. Post-vaccine side effects were reported in 242 (11.3%) persons after the first dose (n = 2,135) and only in 14 patients (1.2%) after the second one (n = 1,183). These effects were mild and transitory. No relationship was observed between the frequency of adverse reactions, general or local, and the initial anti-TBE virus antibody titres or the age of the immunized individuals. Post-vaccine side effects were reported significantly more frequently among people not bitten by ticks.     

Preparation of an anion‐exchange adsorbent by the radiation‐induced grafting of vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride onto cotton cellulose and its application for protein adsorption

Poly(vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride)‐graft‐cotton cellulose, an anion‐exchange matrix, was synthesized by a mutual radiation‐induced grafting technique with a ⁶⁰Co γ‐radiation source. The grafted matrix was characterized by grafting yield estimation, elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The grafting yield decreased with the increase in the dose rate. However, the grafting yield and nitrogen content of grafted samples increased almost linearly with an increase in the total irradiation dose. To evaluate the performance of the grafted anion‐exchange matrix, the protein adsorption and elution behavior were investigated in a continuous column process under various experimental conditions, with bovine serum albumin used as a model protein. The binding and elution behavior of the anion‐exchange matrix depended on different experimental parameters, such as the grafting yield, ionic strength, pH of the medium, and amount of protein loaded. From a breakthrough curve, the equilibrium binding capacity and elution percentage of the grafted anion‐exchange matrix were estimated to be 40 mg/g and 94%, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 5512–5521, 2006     

Structural features of an arabinan fragment isolated from the water-soluble fraction of dehulled rapeseed

A water-soluble polysaccharide fraction was prepared from dehulled rapeseed meal (winter rapeseed variety Casino). Further purification yielded two major fractions having a high content of arabinose and galactose residues, with Ara/Gal ratios of 5.4 (G1) and 1.8 (G2). The Ara/Gal ratio of the high molecular weight fraction G1 was stable over the whole gel filtration peak, indicating that the arabinose and galactose residues are part of the same polysaccharide. The high molecular weight fraction G1 was studied further by methylation analysis and several NMR techniques. Structural studies showed G1 to consist mainly of arabian fragments, which have terminal alpha-L-arabinofuranosyl groups with anomeric carbons bound (1-->5) (A) or (1-->2) (B), and 2,5-substituted arabinosyl residues with anomeric carbons bound (1-->5) (D) or (1-->2) (C) to adjacent arabinosyl residues. The A:B:C:D ratios were 2:1:1:1 according to results from NMR and methylation analysis.     

An intelligent hybrid approach for hepatitis disease diagnosis: Combining enhanced k‐means clustering and improved ensemble learning

In real world, the automatic detection of liver disease is a challenging problem among medical practitioners. The intent of this work is to propose an intelligent hybrid approach for the diagnosis of hepatitis disease. The diagnosis is performed with the combination of k‐means clustering and improved ensemble‐driven learning. To avoid clinical experience and to reduce the evaluation time, ensemble learning is deployed, which constructs a set of hypotheses by using multiple learners to solve a liver disease problem. The performance analysis of the proposed integrated hybrid system is compared in terms of accuracy, true positive rate, precision, f‐measure, kappa statistic, mean absolute error, and root mean squared error. Simulation results showed that the enhanced k‐means clustering and improved ensemble learning with enhanced adaptive boosting, bagged decision tree, and J48 decision tree‐based intelligent hybrid approach achieved better prediction outcomes than other existing individual and integrated methods.     

A spatio‐temporal water quality assessment of the Beas and Sutlej Rivers at the Harike Wetland: A Ramsar site in Punjab,India

Lakes play a vital role in regulating water storage, flow of river water, and ultimately maintaining a balanced ecosystem. Spatial and temporal variations in physicochemical parameters of water in Harike Wetland, a Ramsar site in the northwestern state of Punjab, India, were studied. This study was conducted on a monthly basis from January to December 2015. The water quality was studied at ten locations from sites 1 to 10 upstream, central and downstream from Harike Lake for ten physicochemical parameters, including temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen concentration biological oxygen demand, nitrate and phosphate concentrations and salinity. The findings of this study revealed that, except for temperature and pH, all parameters exhibited relatively higher values for the Sutlej River, compared with the Beas River, with sampling sites 5 to site 7 exhibiting intermediate results. The mean seasonal temperature variations ranged from 16.9 to 26.6 °C, the pH from 7.7 to 8.2, electrical conductivity from 223 to 303 μS cm^?1 and TDS concentration from 148.7 to 180.4 ppm. Correlation analysis was conducted to assess the relations between the variables. The electrical conductivity exhibited a high positive correlation with salinity and biological oxygen demand, whereas it correlated negatively with the dissolved oxygen concentration. Box and whisker plots were also plotted for the study results to better examine the data distribution.     

Geospatial technology applied to spatiotemporal assessment of Harike Wetland,Punjab

The Harike Wetland situated in Punjab is a Ramsar site and a wetland of national importance. The present study was undertaken to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics of the wetland on the basis of geospatial technology and ground‐based studies. Landsat images for the years 2002 and 2014 were acquired from the United States Geological Survey and classified digitally to generate landuse/land cover maps involving four classes (water, grassland (including water hyacinth), agriculture, built‐up (settlement), barren land). The total area of the Harike Wetland was found to be 8023.68 ha. Water sampling at eleven sites was carried out and evaluated for physicochemical parameters. The water quality at several sampling points was found to be severely degraded. Change detection analysis revealed the submerged area (area under water) and grassland (including water hyacinth) had decreased over the past 12 years, whereas that area under agriculture and built‐up land has increased, indicating a shrinkage in the total wetland area. The present study also indicated that the near‐infrared band is a good indicator of water quality parameters, as indicated by the significant positive correlation between the near‐infrared band and relevant water parameters. Because the wetland is important from both an ecological perspective and economic perspective, regular monitoring is recommended, for which geospatial technology has proven to be very useful.     

Somein situ STM contributions to the characterization of electrochemical systems

We present a critical review on the use of STM as anin situ technique to characterize electrochemical systems based on the work performed in our laboratory. Contributions ofin situ STM studies include: (i) atomic resolution of electrodeposited lead on graphite; (ii) imaging of modifications on metallic electrode surfaces induced by electrochemical oxidation-reduction processes; (iii) imaging of corrosion process on aluminium and Al-Ta alloy electrodes in NaCl solution; (iv) characterization of semiconductor-solution interfaces. These studies allowed: (a) establishment of STM as a technique which, for some systems, yields atomic resolution of metallic surfaces in air and in solution; (b) establishment of a mechanism for the electrochemical growth of oxide films on metal electrodes; (c) establishment of a corresponding mechanism for the reduction of those electrochemically grown oxide films; (d) direct monitoring of corrosion processes on a scale of nm to m; and (e) determination of the presence of surface states and their energy position at the semiconductor-solution interfaces.This paper is dedicated to Professor Brian E. Conway on the occasion of his 65th birthday and in recognition of his outstanding contribution to electrochemistry.     

Eco-friendly electronics,based on nanocomposites of biopolyester reinforced with carbon nanotubes: a review

ABSTRACT

Fabrication of electronic materials from nanocomposite of biopolyesters reinforced with carbon nanotubes can be regarded as the effective alternative for conventional nanocomposites consisting of non-biodegradable polymers. Commercial availability of biopolyester-based nanocomposites is limited because of their high cost compared to other polymers, but the factor of their compostable nature is worthless for environmental protection. Such nanocomposites have potential applications in biodegradable sensors, EMI materials, etc. In this review, the current progress of biopolyester/CNTs nanocomposites in the field of biodegradable electronics is reviewed and also the impact of CNTs dispersion on electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of eco composites is stipulated.     

A free space frequency‐time‐domain technique for electromagnetic characterization of materials using reflection‐based measurement

In this report, a free space frequency‐time‐domain technique is presented for characterizing the electrical properties and thickness of the sample using multiple reflections and fabry‐perot resonance phenomenon. The retrieval of constitutive electromagnetic parameters of the sample has been carried out by comparing the measured reflection coefficient data from the sample at two different incident angles. The relative permittivity as well as relative permeability along with the thickness of different samples viz., beryllia, silicon, and plexiglass have been evaluated with high accuracy in the frequency range 1 to 15 GHz. The method is also experimentally validated by successfully reconstructing the unknown material properties of two different samples. The unique advantage of this method lies in non‐requirement of any prior knowledge of the sample's thickness for measuring the complex relative dielectric constant as well as relative permeability of the sample. To determine the electromagnetic properties of the sample, the sole knowledge of reflection coefficient data are needed. Moreover, the method does not involve any additional measurement for the reference calibration. The simple, cost‐effective proposed scheme is quite useful in many applications like accurate determination of signal strength in indoor wireless communication, through wall imaging, food industry, and so on.