Thin film composite sodium alginate membranes for dehydration of acetic acid and isobutanol

Dehydration of widely used organic solvents such as acetic acid (AA) and isobutanol (IB) is challenging tasks, which form close boiling mixtures with water. Sodium alginate (SA) thin film composite membranes were prepared and crosslinked with 2,4‐toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and glutaraldehyde for dehydration of IB and AA/water mixtures through pervaporation (PV). The crosslinked and uncrosslinked SA composite membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X‐ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and universal testing machine for intermolecular interactions, crystalline nature, thermal stability, surface morphology, and tensile strength, respectively. At a feed composition of 98 wt % IB and 95 wt % AA aqueous solutions, the TDI crosslinked SA composite membrane exhibited separation factors of 3229 and 708 with reasonable fluxes of 0.021 and 0.012 kg m^?2 h^?1, respectively. The results obtained in the study for IB and AA systems were compared with other SA membranes reported in the literature. The membranes appeared to have potential for commercial PV ability to dehydrate the solvents up to desirable purity levels (>99%) and feasibility of preparing them in a composite form which would enable scale‐up into modular configurations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2014 , 131, 40018.     

Efficient non-local means denoising for image sequences with dimensionality reduction

The aim of this paper is to improve both accuracy and computational efficiency of non-local means video (NLMV) denoising algorithm. A technique of principal component analysis (PCA) is used to reduce the heavy dimensionality of patches. A pre-processing step of shot boundary detection is used to split the video sequence into different shots having content-wise similar frames. Further PCA is computed globally for these shots. To speed-up the denoising process, weights are computed in reduced subspace. In the proposed method, we modify the original histogram difference (HD) technique such that content-wise similar frames are separated more systematically and accurately. We have achieved improvement with respect to accuracy and computational speed compared to standard NLM. Moreover, qualitative and quantitative comparisons show that the proposed method is consistently superior compared to that of NLM and some of its variants.

     

Analysis of Mechanical Properties of Jute Epoxy Composite with Cenosphere Filler

Silicon - The present work is involved with the evaluation of the mechanical, water absorption and thermal properties of woven jute reinforced composites with addition of different weight...     

Peter Marris (1927–2007): Planning in an International Context

Spatial planners and policy makers currently struggle to understand the peri-urban area, with its mixture of land uses and its transitional status between the urban and the rural. This paper presents the concept of transition, derived from complexity science, to allow planners to analyse peri-urban development in terms of a number of interacting processes, some induced, some evolving autonomously. Drawing on four case studies of European urban regions, the research finds that many of the dynamic processes underlying peri-urban development are not susceptible to the influence of planning agencies. This should enable planners to develop a more adaptive approach in the future, identifying areas where productive and case-specific interventions can be made.     

Purification and characterization of an antioxidant protein (∼16 kDa) from Terminalia chebula fruit

Terminalia chebula fruit is used as folk medicine in India and Southeast Asia. An antioxidant protein was isolated by bioassay guided fractionation of T.chebula fruit by homogenizing in the citrate phosphate buffer. The isolated protein (TCP-III) obtained from fruit was purified by gel chromatography and preparative HPLC, showed apparent molecular weight of 16 kDa by SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF/MS analyses. Amino acid sequence obtained by LC-MS^E analysis showed homology with the predicted protein fragments of Populus trichocarpa, putative uncharacterized protein fragments from Oryza sativa and with fragments of 17 kDa thylakoid lumenal protein from Spinacia oleracea. TCP-III exhibited significant radical scavenging in DPPH, NO, H₂O₂ and ABTS assays. In addition, TCP-III inhibited oxidation of linoleic acid in β-carotene bleaching assay, reduced ferric ions and chelated ferrous ions. The present finding demonstrates uniquely, for the first time, characterization of an antioxidant protein from T. chebula fruit.     

Shifts in rural planning in the US and India

ABSTRACT

The premise that rural planning is place specific is demonstrated in this paper by tracing the changing emphasis of rural planning in the US and India. Approaches to rural development in the two countries, particularly as pertinent to the agriculture sector, intersected following Indian independence in 1947. Indian planners drew on the experience of the US at inducing changes in agriculture based on scientific experimentation and a government-financed extension system for dissemination and adoption and developed similar systems for India. Salient aspects of rural planning in the two countries are delineated including historical settlement, modern farms, corporate farms, globalization, rural services, poverty alleviation, equity, access, and environmental, economic and social sustainability. Their two trajectories illustrate how the emphasis of rural planning in each country is shaped by the complex specificities of rural places. The current convergence in the US and India on environmental sustainability, communications systems, housing, education, job training, and areas of inequity reflect global trends in rural planning.