Spray pressure variation effect on the properties of CdS thin films for photodetector applications

Herein, we report the photosensing property of CdS thin films. CdS thin films were coated onto glass substrates via a spray pyrolysis method using different spray pressures. Prepared films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and optical and photoluminescence spectroscopy. XRD analysis demonstrated the growth of crystalline CdS films with crystallite sizes varying from 26 to 29 nm depending on the pressure. The SEM and EDAX analyses revealed nearly-stoichiometric CdS films with smooth surfaces and slight variation in grain morphology due to pressure changes. Optical measurements showed a direct bandgap varying from 2.37 eV to 2.42 eV due to pressure changes. A photodetector was also fabricated using the grown CdS films; the fabricated photodetector exhibited good performance depending on the spray pressure. A spray pressure of 1.5 GPa resulted in high photoresponsivity and external quantum efficiency.     

Video compression using frame redundancy elimination and discrete cosine transform coefficient reduction

The need of human beings for better social media applications has increased tremendously. This increase has necessitated the need for a digital system with a larger storage capacity and more processing power. However, an increase in multimedia content size reduces the overall processing performance. This occurs because the process of storing and retrieving large files affects the execution time. Therefore, it is extremely important to reduce the multimedia content size. This reduction can be achieved by image and video compression. There are two types of image or video compression: lossy and lossless. In the latter compression, the decompressed image is an exact copy of the original image, while in the former compression, the original and the decompressed image differ from each other. Lossless compression is needed when every pixel matters. This can be found in autoimage processing applications. On the other hand, lossy compression is used in applications that are based on human visual system perception. In these applications, not every single pixel is important; rather, the overall image quality is important. Many video compression algorithms have been proposed. However, the balance between compression rate and video quality still needs further investigation. The algorithm developed in this research focuses on this balance. The proposed algorithm exhibits diversity of compression stages used for each type of information such as elimination of redundant and semi redundant frames, elimination by manipulating consecutive XORed frames, reducing the discrete cosine transform coefficients based on the wanted accuracy and compression ratio. Neural network is used to further reduce the frame size. The proposed method is a lossy compression type, but it can reach the near-lossless type in terms of image quality and compression ratio with comparable execution time.

     

Ranking Approach for the User Story Prioritization Methods

The AHP （analytic hierarchy process） has been applied in many fields and especially to complex engineering problems and applications. AHP is capable of structuring decision problems and finding mathematically determined judgments built on knowledge and experience. This suggests that AHP should prove useful in agile software development, where complex decisions occur routinely. This paper describes a ranking approach to help stakeholders select the best prioritization method for prioritizing the user stories.     

Synthesis and characterization of first‐ and second‐generation polyamide pyridylimine nickel dihalide metallodendrimers and their uses as catalysts for ethylene polymerization

First‐ and second‐generation pyridylimine‐terminated dendrimeric ligands were prepared by the reaction of the corresponding amine‐terminated aromatic polyamide dendrimers with 2‐acetylpyridine. The pyridylimine terminal groups were used as bidentate N,N ligands of nickel halide to prepare the corresponding first‐generation and second‐generation nickel dihalide metallodendrimers C1 and C2 , respectively. The synthesized dendrimers and metallodendrimers were characterized by elemental and spectral analyses. C1 and C2 were evaluated as catalyst precursors for ethylene oligomerization after being activated with methylaluminoxane (MAO) and diethylaluminum chloride (Et₂AlCl) under 1 atm and 5 atm pressure of ethylene. In both cases, the use of 1 atm or 5 atm pressure of ethylene and a 1500:1 Al:Ni molar ratio for C1 and C2 resulted in high catalytic activities toward ethylene polymerization. Upon activation with MAO and Et₂AlCl, C1 exhibited promising activities toward ethylene polymerization and produced linear chain structures that were associated with high density polyethylene. In contrast, C2 produced a polymer with the branching nature of low density polyethylene under similar conditions. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis and characterization of monomeric and polymeric pyridinylimine‐based Ni(II) complexes and their catalytic activities in ethylene oligomerization

A new polymeric ligand was synthesized through the reaction of 4‐(pyridinylimine)phenol and formaldehyde in a basic medium, and its corresponding polymer–nickel complexes were formed in a 1:1 molar ratio. The synthesized compounds were characterized using elemental and spectral analyses. The monomeric and polymeric Ni(II) complexes (C₁ and C₂, respectively) were evaluated as catalyst precursors for ethylene oligomerization, using methylaluminoxane as an activator at two different ethylene pressures. C₂ was found to be a more effective pre‐catalyst than C₁, with the co‐catalyst having a similar effect in both cases. C₂ exhibited an activity of 1.282 × 10⁶ g (mol Ni)^?1 h^?1 bar^?1, with an Al:Ni ratio of 2000:1 at room temperature and 1 atm ethylene pressure. Meanwhile C₁ exhibited an activity of 1.126 × 10⁶ g (mol Ni)^?1 h^?1 bar^?1 under similar experimental conditions. At 5 atm ethylene pressure, C₁ favoured the formation of high‐density polyethylene, whereas C₂ favoured the formation of branched low‐density polyethylene. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Mixing of low-dose cohesive drug and overcoming of pre-blending step using a new gentle-wing high-shear mixer granulator

The objective of this study was to examine the influence of drug amount and mixing time on the homogeneity and content uniformity of a low-dose drug formulation during the dry mixing step using a new gentle-wing high-shear mixer. Moreover, the study investigated the influence of drug incorporation mode on the content uniformity of tablets manufactured by different methods. Albuterol sulfate was selected as a model drug and was blended with the other excipients at two different levels, 1% w/w and 5% w/w at impeller speed of 300?rpm and chopper speed of 3000?rpm for 30?min. Utilizing a 1?ml unit side-sampling thief probe, triplicate samples were taken from nine different positions in the mixer bowl at selected time points. Two methods were used for manufacturing of tablets, direct compression and wet granulation. The produced tablets were sampled at the beginning, middle, and end of the compression cycle. An analysis of variance analysis indicated the significant effect (p?相似文献   

Theranostic Interpolation of Genomic Instability in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a diverse disease caused by mutations in multiple genes accompanying epigenetic aberrations of hazardous genes and protein pathways, which distress tumor-suppressor genes and the expression of oncogenes. Alteration in any of the several physiological mechanisms such as cell cycle checkpoints, DNA repair machinery, mitotic checkpoints, and telomere maintenance results in genomic instability. Theranostic has the potential to foretell and estimate therapy response, contributing a valuable opportunity to modify the ongoing treatments and has developed new treatment strategies in a personalized manner. “Omics” technologies play a key role while studying genomic instability in breast cancer, and broadly include various aspects of proteomics, genomics, metabolomics, and tumor grading. Certain computational techniques have been designed to facilitate the early diagnosis of cancer and predict disease-specific therapies, which can produce many effective results. Several diverse tools are used to investigate genomic instability and underlying mechanisms. The current review aimed to explore the genomic landscape, tumor heterogeneity, and possible mechanisms of genomic instability involved in initiating breast cancer. We also discuss the implications of computational biology regarding mutational and pathway analyses, identification of prognostic markers, and the development of strategies for precision medicine. We also review different technologies required for the investigation of genomic instability in breast cancer cells, including recent therapeutic and preventive advances in breast cancer.     

Model Free Approach for Non-Isothermal Decomposition of Un-Irradiated and γ-Irradiated Silver Acetate: New Route for Synthesis of Ag(2)O Nanoparticles

Kinetic studies for the non-isothermal decomposition of unirradiated and γ-irradiated silver acetate with 10(3) kGy total γ-ray doses were carried out in air. The results showed that the decomposition proceeds in one major step in the temperature range of (180-270 °C) with the formation of Ag(2)O as solid residue. The non-isothermal data for un-irradiated and γ-irradiated silver acetate were analyzed using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and nonlinear Vyazovkin (VYZ) iso-conversional methods. These free models on the investigated data showed a systematic dependence of Ea on α indicating a simple decomposition process. No significant changes in the thermal decomposition behavior of silver acetate were recorded as a result of γ-irradiation. Calcinations of γ-irradiated silver acetate (CH(3)COOAg) at 200 °C for 2 hours only led to the formation of pure Ag(2)O mono-dispersed nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction, FTIR and SEM techniques were employed for characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles.     

Manifestation of external size reduction effects on the yield point of nanocrystalline rhodium using nanopillars approach

In this study, pure rhodium was fabricated and mechanically investigated at the nanoscale for the first time. The nanopillars approach was employed to study the effects of size on the yield point. Nanopillars with different diameters were fabricated using electroplating followed by uniaxial compression tests. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used as a quality control technique by imaging the pillars before and after compression to ensure the absence of cracks, buckling, barrelling or any other problems. Transmission electron microscopy and SEM were used as microstructural characterization techniques. Due to substrate-induced effects, only the plastic region of the stress–strain curves were investigated, and it was revealed that the yield point increases with size reduction up to certain limit, then decreases with further reduction of the nanopillar size (diameter). The later weakening effect is consistent with the literature, which demonstrates the reversed size effect (the failure of the plasticity theory) in nanocrystalline metals, i.e. smaller is weaker. In this study, however, the effect of size reduction is not only weakening, but is strengthening-then-weakening, which the authors believe is the true behavior of nanocrystalline materials.     

Tube inlet orifice design of a once-through steam generator for flow stabilization

A numerical study is conducted on the secondary side screw-type tube inlet orifice design of a once-through steam generator. An orifice length criterion for flow stabilization is derived by introducing the hydraulic resistance ratio of the orifice and the subcooled region to the two-phase and superheated regions. Various tube plugging conditions and power levels are considered, and the secondary coolant pressure at the tube outlet is adjusted to maintain a constant thermal power. Comprehensive numerical solutions are acquired to evaluate the minimum orifice length under various operating conditions. The results obtained show that a constant thermal power is maintained by properly adjusting the secondary coolant outlet pressure with a variation of the superheat degree and secondary coolant pressure drop when the steam generator operates at high power level. The steam generator performance is analyzed according to the tube plugging condition in terms of the degree of superheat, secondary side pressure drop, temperature distribution, and quality distribution. The secondary side outlet pressure curve for the constant thermal power operation is obtained, and the required minimum orifice length to suppress the flow oscillation below the allowable level is evaluated. The lowest power level results in the highest minimum orifice length, and non-plugging condition provides a limiting case for the orifice length criterion except near the 100 % power level.