Boron-doped activated carbon from the stems of Prosopis juliflora as an effective electrode material in symmetric supercapacitors

For a supercapacitor electrode, carbon-based materials have received great attention for their high surface area and stability. In this work, sustainable and cost-effective synthesis of boron-doped activated biomass-derived carbon from the stems of Prosopis juliflora has been reported for supercapacitor applications. The activation by KOH creates pores and boron induces p-type doping in the carbon matrix. The material gave a higher specific capacitance of 307.14 F/g at a current density of 0.5 A/g. The symmetric supercapacitor device delivered 156.29 F/g of specific capacitance with 98.1% of energy efficiency. The observed energy and power densities were 7.81 Wh/Kg and 150 W/Kg, respectively. The device was further studied with stability test for 1000 charge/discharge cycles and showed 98.6% of capacitance retention and 97.9% of coulombic efficiency.

     

A semi-parametric generalization of the Cox proportional hazards regression model: Inference and Applications

The assumption of proportional hazards (PH) fundamental to the Cox PH model sometimes may not hold in practice. In this paper, we propose a generalization of the Cox PH model in terms of the cumulative hazard function taking a form similar to the Cox PH model, with the extension that the baseline cumulative hazard function is raised to a power function. Our model allows for interaction between covariates and the baseline hazard and it also includes, for the two sample problem, the case of two Weibull distributions and two extreme value distributions differing in both scale and shape parameters. The partial likelihood approach can not be applied here to estimate the model parameters. We use the full likelihood approach via a cubic B-spline approximation for the baseline hazard to estimate the model parameters. A semi-automatic procedure for knot selection based on Akaike’s information criterion is developed. We illustrate the applicability of our approach using real-life data.     

Synthesis and thermal analysis of aluminium nitride filled epoxy composites and its effective application as thermal interface material for LED applications

The improvement of heat conduction in any electronic devices has become a predominant issue in which effective heat dissipation is crucial to enhance the performance of packaged devices. This paper elucidates the application of thermally conductive particles filled composites as thermal interface material for LEDs. Present work aims on reducing the junction temperature and thermal resistance of the device under test with heavily filled ceramic-epoxy composite as the interface material between the device and metal substrate. Silane treated aluminium nitride (AlN) powder was studied for its feasibility as the filler material. The thermal conductivity values obtained by hot disc method (ISO/DIS 22007-2.2) were 0.66, 0.54 and 0.44 W/mK for 60, 50 and 40 wt% AlN filled epoxy composites respectively which were described well by thermal transient measurement of LEDs. The junction temperature and total thermal resistance of the thermal set up was reduced significantly with increased filler loading. The least junction to ambient thermal resistance (R_thJ-A) was achieved for 60 wt% followed by 50 and 40 wt% AlN filled TIM with the values of 24.8, 31.98 and 34.64 K/W respectively. Characteristics of the AlN filled composites for LED applications are discussed extensively in terms of thermogravimetric and thermo-mechanical analysis.     

Human Stem Cell and Organoid Models to Advance Acute Kidney Injury Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is an increasingly common problem afflicting all ages, occurring in over 20% of non-critically ill hospitalized patients and >30% of children and >50% of adults in critical care units. AKI is associated with serious short-term and long-term consequences, and current therapeutic options are unsatisfactory. Large gaps remain in our understanding of human AKI pathobiology, which have hindered the discovery of novel diagnostics and therapeutics. Although animal models of AKI have been extensively studied, these differ significantly from human AKI in terms of molecular and cellular responses. In addition, animal models suffer from interspecies differences, high costs and ethical considerations. Static two-dimensional cell culture models of AKI also have limited utility since they have focused almost exclusively on hypoxic or cytotoxic injury to proximal tubules alone. An optimal AKI model would encompass several of the diverse specific cell types in the kidney that could be targets of injury. Second, it would resemble the human physiological milieu as closely as possible. Third, it would yield sensitive and measurable readouts that are directly applicable to the human condition. In this regard, the past two decades have seen a dramatic shift towards newer personalized human-based models to study human AKI. In this review, we provide recent developments using human stem cells, organoids, and in silico approaches to advance personalized AKI diagnostics and therapeutics.     

Performance evaluation of an acrylic mirror booster solar still for neera concentration in jaggery-making industry

A single-basin solar still was constructed from locally available materials to concentrate palm tree juice (neera) for jaggery-making application. The performance of the still was tested with and without an acrylic mirror booster on both partially cloudy and clear sunshine days. About 73% of water content from neera was evaporated within 2 days by using the mirror booster technique in clear sunshine days. Distilled water of about 7.26 l was extracted from 10 l of neera with the mirror booster condition. Wind velocity showed a considerable effect on neera juice temperature and water vapour temperature during partially cloudy conditions. The calculated efficiency of the still with the mirror booster technique was 36.53% in clear sunshine conditions. The calculated energy conservation for the neera concentration process by using the mirror booster solar still was about 16408 kJ.     

Water-soluble polymers. I. Synthesis of N-succinimido (N) thiocarbonyl acrylamide and its polymerization: Grafting of this monomer and acrylamide onto poly(vinyl alcohol)

A new monomer, N-succinimido (N) thiocarbonyl acrylamide is formed when succinic anhydride, thiourea, and acryloyl chloride are condensed in mole proportions at low temperatures. The monomer is polymerized and graft copolymerized onto poly(vinyl alcohol) using a potassium bromate-thiourea redox system. Acrylamide is also similarly grafted to poly(vinyl alcohol) using the same initiator system. Grafting efficiencies of the monomers are determined from the elemental analyses data of the graft copolymers. Thermal behavior of the polymers are derived from the DSC thermograms of the polymers. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Effect of Ar ion irradiation on structural and optical properties of e-beam evaporated cadmium telluride thin films

CdTe thin films were prepared using e-beam evaporation technique. The prepared films were irradiated by Ar⁺ ions at different fluencies using multipurpose aluminum (Al) probe as in-situ. This could also be used in ion bombardment for cleaning the substrate prior to coating. The as grown and Ar⁺ ion irradiated films were confirmed to be of polycrystalline nature with X-ray technique. Ar⁺ ion irradiation enhances the growth of (1 1 1) oriented CdTe crystals and the Cd enrichment on the surface of CdTe thin films. Higher Ar⁺ ion flux helps to grow (2 2 0) oriented CdTe thin film. A considerable change in structural parameters like crystallite size, lattice parameter, internal strain, etc. could be observed as a result of high Ar⁺ ion flux. The applied in-plan stress in both as grown and irradiated film was identified to be of tensile nature. The applied stress was observed between 0.016 and 0.067 GPa for all Ar⁺ ion irradiated samples. As a result of the Ar⁺ ion irradiation, the in-plan stress varies between 1.38×10⁹ and 5.58×10⁹ dyn/cm². The observed bad gap was increased for higher Ar⁺ ion flux. It shows the effect of Ar⁺ ion irradiation on the modifications of optical properties. The observed results were encouraging on the use of simple multipurpose Al probe for Ar⁺ ion irradiation process as in-situ.     

Analog Circuit Fault Detection Using Location of Poles

A method for detection of parametric faults occurring in linear analog circuits based on location of poles of the Circuit Under Test (CUT) is proposed. In the proposed method, the value of each component of the CUT is varied within its tolerance limit using monte carlo simulation. The upper and lower bounds of magnitude, phase angle, real part and imaginary part of all poles of the CUT are obtained. While testing, the locations of poles are obtained. If any one or more of the poles lies outside the tolerance limit then the CUT is declared faulty. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated through two benchmark circuits like second order sallenkey band pass filter and fourth order leapfrog low pass filter.     

Emission and performance study emulsified orange peel oil biodiesel in an aspirated research engine

This study paves the way on reducing smoke emission and NO_x emissions of research diesel engine by detailing the effect of water addition in biodiesel. Fuel samples were prepared with different concentrations of water in orange peel oil biodiesel (94% waste orange peel oil biodiesel + 4% water + 2% Span 80 (WOPOBDE1) and 90% waste orange peel oil biodiesel + 8% water + 2% Span 80 (WOPOBDE2). Span 80 was employed as a nonionic surfactant, which emulsifies water in biodiesel. Experimental results revealed that the nitrogen oxides and smoke emission of orange peel oil biodiesel emulsion were reduced by 11%–19% and 3%–21%, respectively, compared to that of neat orange peel oil biodiesel (WOPOBD). In addition, the introduction of orange peel oil–water emulsions in the diesel engine considerably reduced the emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. The overall hydrocarbon emission of WOPOBDE2 was 12.2% lower than that of WOPOBD and 16.3% lower than that of diesel. The overall CO emission of WOPOBDE2 was 17% lower than that of base fuel (WOPOBD) and 21.8% lower than that of diesel. Experimental results revealed that modified fuel had higher brake thermal efficiency and lower brake specific fuel consumption than that of base fuel at all engine brake power levels.     

Monomer reactivity ratios of some methyl aryloxymethacrylates

Summary The monomer reactivity ratios of methyl phenoxymethacrylate (MPMA), methyl p-cresoxymethacrylate (MCMA) and methyl p-nitrophenoxymethacrylate (MNMA) were evaluated both by Fineman-Ross and Kelen-Tüdös methods. The tendency to form alternating copolymers of these monomers is discussed.