Effects of Economic Pressure on Marital Conflict in Romania.

This study examined the interrelationships among economic pressure, maternal depression, social support, and marital conflict in a sample of 239 mothers in Romania. Data were collected through a school-based survey. Findings indicated that higher levels of economic pressure were associated with higher levels of marital conflict. Economic pressure was also associated with higher marital conflict indirectly through increased maternal depression and lowered social support. The present results were similar to those obtained in studies conducted among U.S. samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Humidity sensing and electrical properties of polyaniline/cobalt oxide composites

Polyaniline/cobalt oxide composites were synthesized by an in situ chemical polymerization method with ammonium persulfate as an oxidizing agent. This was a single‐step polymerization process for the direct synthesis of the emeraldine salt phase of the polymer. The polymers were characterized with X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis. The formation of mixed phases of the polymer together with the conducting emeraldine salt phase was confirmed by spectroscopic techniques. High‐temperature conductivity measurements showed thermally activated behavior. A change in the resistance was observed with respect to the relative humidity when the pellets were exposed to a wide humidity range of 10–95%. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 653–658, 2007     

Synthesis,characterization, and electrochemical properties of poly(ethylene oxide)-based polyaniline electrolyte complex

The polymer electrolyte based poly(ethylene oxide) complexed with conducting polyaniline (PANI) has been prepared in different weight percentages. The complexation is confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).The change in morphology is studied by using scanning electron microscopy. The DC conductivity measurements are carried out using Keithley digital multimeter. It is seen that DC conductivity shows exponential behavior for all PEO : PANI complexes. It is observed that among all the PEO : PANI complexes, 50 wt % of PEO in PANI shows highest conductivity. Electrochemical cell parameters for battery applications at room temperature also have been determined. The samples are fabricated for battery application in the configuration of Na:(PEO : PANI):(I₂ + C + sample), and their experimental data are measured using Wagner polarization technique. The cell parameters results in an open-circuit voltage of 0.4 V and a short-circuit current of 902 μA for PEO : PANI (50 : 50) composite. Hence, these composites can be better candidates for the polymer electrolyte studies. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Assessment of the performance of different compost models to manage urban household organic solid wastes

The environmental, cultural, socio-economic and political conditions of each community greatly affect the municipality’s effort and decision-making in managing household wastes. Composting at home can be used as a sound method of SWM, can manage the waste at source itself thereby can increase their recycling. And vermicomposting is a viable and completely feasible option at household level, provided it is acceptable to family members to handle the worms and to remove worm-casts subsequently. In this regard, the present paper gives a methodological framework for assessing the management of urban household organic wastes using different compost models to influence the actual efficiency and effectiveness of a municipality’s collection and management services. The current study also deals with the challenges of solid waste management with a focus on the segregation of compostable wastes from the non-compostable ones and their composting, recycling or disposal. The non-compostable wastes can be left for recycling and re-use by the concerned authorities. The composting behavior and the efficiency of different compost models have been dealt with, and it is concluded that vermicomposting model is the best option. Urban residents can be educated to vermicompost not only their entire kitchen wastes but also garden wastes to reduce the burden on the municipal councils.     

Effect of low-density filler on mechanical properties of syntactic foams of cyanate ester

Syntactic foam composites of cyanate ester with varying volume fractions of resin and glass microballoon were processed and evaluated for tensile, flexural and compressive properties. The effect of nature and volume fraction of microballoon on the mechanical properties was studied. The mechanical properties showed a gradual decrease in strength with increase in volume fraction of microballoon. The specific strength values also manifested a similar order. A similar behaviour was observed for syntactic foams with microballoons of varying true density. The properties increased proportional to the strength of the microballoon in resin-rich systems implying a strong microballoon-resin interface, corroborated by Scanning Electron Microscopy studies. The compressive modulus showed a decreasing trend with enhanced microballoon loading.     

Indole‐based polymer and its silver nanocomposite as advanced antibacterial agents: synthetic path,kinetics of polymerization and applications

Atom transfer radical polymerization of 1‐allylindole‐3‐carbaldehyde (AIC) was studied by employing 2‐bromoisobutyryl bromide as initiator in toluene. It led to controlled radical polymerization of AIC, with an increase of molecular weight along with the conversion of the monomer, and a relatively narrow molar mass distribution was obtained, as determined by gel permeation chromatography. The living nature of poly(1‐allylindole‐3‐carbaldehyde) (PAIC) was confirmed by the chain extension polymerization whereas ¹H NMR analysis showed that the major population of PAIC retained the chain‐end functional group. PAIC and its silver nanocomposite were found to be biologically active against some tested bacterial pathogens. Minimum inhibitory concentration tests revealed that PAIC exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella pneumonae whereas PAIC/Ag nanocomposite showed antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis and K. pneumonae. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Fabrication and Tunable Dielectric Properties of (Ba0.7Sr0.3)TiO3-Glass-Based Thick-Film Capacitors

Ferroelectric glass–ceramics of composition 0.90 (Ba_0.7Sr_0.3) TiO₃–0.10(B₂O₃:SiO₂) (0.90 BST:0.10 BS) synthesized by sol–gel method have been used for the preparation of dielectric thick-film inks. The particle dispersion of the glass–ceramic powders in the thick-film ink formulations have been studied through rheological measurements for fabricating thick-film capacitors by screen printing technique. The thick films derived from such glass–ceramics are found to sinter at considerably lower temperatures than the pure ceramic, and exhibit good dielectric characteristics with a tunability of 32% at 1 MHz under a dc bias field of 35 kV/cm.     

Role of bismuth oxide as a reinforcer on gamma shielding ability of unsaturated polyester based polymer composites

Unsaturated Polyester resin is reinforced with Bi₂O₃ up to 60% filler weight. The effect of bismuth oxide on gamma shielding ability of the composites is studied in terms of attenuation parameters using Ba‐133, Cs‐137, and Co‐60 gamma ray sources. The results reveal that, the shielding property of the composite material increases with increase in the filler concentration and decreases with energy. The HVL, TVL, and relaxation length of the composites are found to decrease with increase in the filler concentration. It is found that, the shielding ability of 60% filled polymer composite is comparable to that of barite at low energy. The above polymer composite performs well at all energies and can act as an excellent gamma radiation shield for low energies and also proved to be light weight when compared to the conventional shielding materials. Thus, the gamma shielding ability of the UP resin is enhanced due to the addition of Bi₂O₃. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44657.     

Coumarin‐based polymer and its silver nanocomposite as advanced antibacterial agents: Synthetic path,kinetics of polymerization,and applications

A novel polymer bearing coumarin pendants of 4‐allyloxy‐2H‐chromen‐2‐one (ACO) was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) in toluene at 110°C using 2‐Bromoisobutyryl bromide (BIBB), Cu (I) Br, and 2,2′‐bipyridyl (bpy) as initiator, catalyst, and ligand, respectively. The most appropriate molar concentration ratio of [ACO] : [BIBB] : [Cu (I) Br] : [bpy] was found to be 40 : 1 : 1 : 2 for controlled polymerization. Successful chain extension polymerization of poly (4‐allyloxy‐2H‐chromen‐2‐one) (PACO) confirms the livingness of the process. The activation energy (E_a) (76.26 kJ mol^?1) and enthalpy of activation (ΔH^?) (73.07 kJ mol^?1) were in good agreement to each other proving the feasibility of the reaction and negative value of entropy of activation (ΔS^?) (?320 J mol^?1 K^?1) supported the highly restricted movement of reacting species in transition state during polymerization. Initial polymer decomposition temperature of PACO was found to be 130°C. SEM analysis revealed that polymer surface is not smooth with pointed rod like shapes. The polymer/Ag nanocomposite was synthesized and examined in view of antibacterial effect against Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, and Klebsiella pneumonae. PACO and its Ag nanocomposite (PACON) have been found to be active selectively against bacterial pathogen E. fecalis with minimum inhibitory concentration of 50 and 32 μg mL^?1, respectively. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Dual threshold voltage and sleep switch dual threshold voltage DOIND approach for leakage reduction in domino logic circuits

Subthreshold leakage current becomes the major component of total power dissipation as scaling down the feature size. In this paper, two new circuit techniques are proposed for reducing the subthreshold leakage power consumption in domino logic circuit. Dual threshold voltage DOIND (Domino logic with clock and input dependent transistors) and NMOS sleep switch dual threshold voltage DOIND circuits for low leakage domino logic circuits are presented. High threshold voltage transistors are utilized to reduce the leakage current and a sleep transistor is added to the dynamic node that strongly turnoff all the high threshold voltage transistor and significantly reduce the subthreshold leakage power. The proposed circuit techniques, dual threshold voltage DOIND logic and sleep switch dual threshold voltage DOIND logic reduces the leakage current by 71.46 and 74.86% respectively as compared to standard domino logic circuit. Simulation results also shows that both the circuits are less affected by supply and temperature variations. The proposed sleep switch dual threshold voltage DOIND exhibits 19.95% less power consumption with 24% die area overhead for the buffer circuit as compared to standard domino logic circuit. The proposed sleep switch dual threshold voltage DOIND logic has improved normalized figure of merit of 1.17 as compared to standard domino logic circuit.