Adsorption of chromate by surfactant-modified zeolites and MCM-41 molecular sieve

Synthetic and natural zeolites, modified by the quaternary amines, i.e. hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) bromide and n-cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) as well as MCM-41 molecular sieve were employed for removal of chromate from aqueous solution. Obtained data from chromate adsorption experiments over the mentioned materials were compared. It was shown that adsorption data for modified zeolite using the amine was consistent with Langmuir isotherm equation. The maximum chromate adsorption over as synthesized MCM-41 was much greater than that of the natural clinoptilolite and ZSM-5 zeolites.     

Scalability of MANET routing protocols for heterogeneous and homogenous networks

In Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET), mobility, traffic and node density are main network conditions that significantly affect performance of routing protocols. Much of the previous research in MANET routing have focused on developing strategies, which suit one specific networking scenario. Therefore, there is no existing protocol that can work well in all different networking scenarios. This paper reviews characteristics of several different classes of routing protocols. Moreover, most of current routing protocols assume homogeneous networking conditions where all nodes have the same capabilities and resources. This paper presents extensive studies simulations for DSR, AODV, LAR1, FSR and WRP in homogenous and heterogeneous networks that consist of different nodes with different resources. The results showed that while all protocols perform reasonably well in homogenous networking conditions, their performance suffer significantly over heterogonous networks.     

Response surface modeling for optimization of formulation variables and physical stability assessment of walnut oil-in-water beverage emulsions

The effect of Arabic gum content (5-10% w/w) and walnut-oil concentration (3-6% w/w) on properties of prepared walnut oil/water emulsion, including turbidity loss rate, density, size index, particle size and stability, was investigated using response surface methodology (RSM). For each response, a second-order polynomial model with high coefficient of determination (R²) values ranging from 0.907 to 0.989 was developed using multiple linear regression analysis. The lack of significant difference between the experimental and predicted values proved the adequacy of response surface equations for describing the physical changes of emulsions. An increase of Arabic gum content in range and initial concentration of walnut oil were associated with high emulsion stability and minimum droplet size. It can be concluded that RSM can determine the most suitable formulation (3% w/w walnut oil and 9.62% w/w Arabic gum) to achieve the highest stability in a developed beverage emulsion based on walnut oil.     

Chemical composition,antioxidative capacity and interactive antimicrobial potency of Satureja khuzestanica Jamzad essential oil and antimicrobial agents against selected food‐related microorganisms

This study aimed to determine the chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidative activity of Satureja khuzestanica Jamzad essential oil. The oil was analysed by GC and GC/MS. Twenty‐eight constituents were identified. The oxygenated monoterpenes (78.22%) were the principal compound group. Among them, carvacrol (53.86%) and thymol (19.84%) were the most abundant constituents. The oil exhibited an acceptable antimicrobial activity against most of the tested microorganisms. The checkerboard method was applied to determine fractional inhibitory concentration indices (FICIs) to interpret the synergetic, additive, indifference or antagonistic interactions between essential oil and each of antimicrobials (lysozyme, ciprofloxacin, fluconazole and amphotericin B) against food‐related microorganisms. The synergetic phenomenon (FICI ≤ 0.5) was observed in majority of combinations with the exception of the essential oil and lysozyme. The oil exhibited good 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity (IC₅₀ = 28.71 μg mL^?1). Also, the oil had strong antioxidative activity in β‐carotene‐linoleic acid assay relative antioxidant activity (RAA% = 95.45). This study demonstrated that the essential oil has beneficial biological properties and its simultaneous application with standard antimicrobials against food‐related microorganisms result in reduction in inhibitory doses of the antimicrobials in vitro.     

A Comprehensive Overview on the Latest Progress in the Additive Manufacturing of Metal Matrix Composites: Potential,Challenges, and Feasible Solutions

Nowadays, as an emerging technology, additive manufacturing(AM) has received numerous attentions from researchers around the world. The method comprises layer-by-layer manufacturing of products according to the 3D CAD models of the objects. Among other things, AM is capable of producing metal matrix composites(MMCs). Hence, plenty of works in the literature are dedicated to developing different types of MMCs through AM processes. Hence, this paper provides a comprehensive overview on the latest research that has been carried out on the development of the powder-based AM manufactured MMCs from a scientific and technological viewpoint, aimed at highlighting the opportunities and challenges of this innovative manufacturing process. For instance, it is documented that AM is not only able to resolve the reinforcement/matrix bonding issues usually faced with during conventional manufacturing of MMCs, but also it is capable of producing functionally graded composites and geometrically complex objects. Furthermore, it provides the opportunity for a uniform distribution of the reinforcing phase in the metallic matrix and is able to produce composites using refractory metals thanks to the local heat source employed in the method. Despite the aforementioned advantages, there are still some challenges needing more attention from the researchers. Rapid cooling nature of the process, significantly different coe fficient of expansion of the matrix and reinforcement, processability, and the lack of suitable parameters and standards for the production of defect-free AM MMCs seem to be among the most important issues to deal with in future works.     

Mutations Closer to the Active Site Improve the Promiscuous Aldolase Activity of 4‐Oxalocrotonate Tautomerase More Effectively than Distant Mutations

The enzyme 4‐oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4‐OT), which catalyzes enol–keto tautomerization as part of a degradative pathway for aromatic hydrocarbons, promiscuously catalyzes various carbon–carbon bond‐forming reactions. These include the aldol condensation of acetaldehyde with benzaldehyde to yield cinnamaldehyde. Here, we demonstrate that 4‐OT can be engineered into a more efficient aldolase for this condensation reaction, with a >5000‐fold improvement in catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) and a >10⁷‐fold change in reaction specificity, by exploring small libraries in which only “hotspots” are varied. The hotspots were identified by systematic mutagenesis (covering each residue), followed by a screen for single mutations that give a strong improvement in the desired aldolase activity. All beneficial mutations were near the active site of 4‐OT, thus underpinning the notion that new catalytic activities of a promiscuous enzyme are more effectively enhanced by mutations close to the active site.     

Protection of titanium metal by nanohydroxyapatite coating with zirconia and alumina second phases

In this study hydroxyapatite (HA)/zirconia/alumina composite coatings on titanium metal was carried out using Sol-Gel dip coating and calcination process. Hydroxyapatite-Alumina-Zirconia sol, coated samples in three processes by changing final sol stirring time, aging time, calcination temperature of synthesized powder and prepared coating and rate of coating. Some parts of prepared sol were also synthesized and became powder in all three processes. Scanning electron microscopy was used to estimate the particle size of the surface and for morphological analysis. The functional group and crystallization characteristics of the powders were analyzed using (FTIR) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). Results show that the morphology of HA-Alumina-Zirconia coatings is more homogenous in the second process with 2 hours final sol stirring time, 20 hours aging time under stirring at 60, 675°C calcination temperature for coating and 850°C for powder and 60mm/min rate of dip coating.     

Synthesis of silicon-substituted hydroxyapatite by a hydrothermal method with two different phosphorous sources

Silicon-substituted hydroxyapatite (Si-HA) with up to 1.8 wt% Si content was prepared successfully by a hydrothermal method, using Ca(NO₃)₂, (NH₄)₃PO₄ or (NH₄)₂HPO₄ and Si(OCH₂CH₃)₄ (TEOS) as starting materials. Silicon has been incorporated in hydroxyapatite (HA) lattice by partially replacing phosphate (PO₄³⁻) groups with silicate (SiO₄⁴⁻) groups resulting in Si-HA described as Ca₁₀(PO₄)_6−x(SiO₄)_x(OH)_2−x. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform IR spectroscopy (FTIR), inductively coupled plasma AES (ICP-AES) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques reveal that the substitution of phosphate groups by silicate groups causes some OH⁻ loss to maintain the charge balance and changes the lattice parameters of HA. The crystal shape of Si-HA has not altered compared to silicon-free reference hydroxyapatite but Si-incorporation reduces the size of Si-HA crystallites. Based on in vitro tests, soaking the specimens in simulated body fluid (SBF), and MTT assays by human osteoblast-like cells, Si-substituted hydroxyapatite is more bioactive than pure hydroxyapatite.     

Wiener-based smoother and predictor for massive-MIMO downlink system under pilot contamination

One of the challenges in massive-MIMO system is pilot contamination during the channel estimation process. Pilot contamination can cause error or inaccurate channel estimation process for future fifth generation (5G) downlink transmissions. This paper considers using a Wiener-based filter to smooth and predict the channel estimation to reduce the pilot contamination for more accurate CSI during channel estimation. The simulation results show that the Wiener-based smoothing and predicting technique reduces the effect of pilot contamination and increases the accuracy of CSI during channel estimation process. Wiener smoother (WS) is implemented based on Wiener-based filtering technique. The previous estimated CSI and weight coefficient vector are used to smooth the current estimated CSI by using block data formulation to reduce the effect of pilot contamination. However, WS technique suffers from pilot contamination due to pilot training. This motivates the development of two Wiener predictors (WP), known as WP1 and WP2. The WP1 and WP2 run a prediction technique for CSI and number of pilot training during the prediction period, which is missing from the original WS. Comparison results show that the proposed WS and WP outperforms the conventional minimum mean square error and least square, in terms of channel estimation error and per-cell rate. WP2 perform better than WS and WP1 because of the algorithm complexity that required more information to be updated, stored and processed for prediction. Thus, WP2 requires large computation and matrix operation compared to WS and WP1. The results indicate that the channel estimation error due to pilot contamination can be reduced by using the Wiener-based approaches.