Adsorption of Pb(II) and Cd(II) metal ions from aqueous solutions by mustard husk

The adsorption of Pb(II) and Cd(II) metal ions on mustard husk has been found to be concentration, pH, contact time, adsorbent dose and temperature dependent. The adsorption parameters were determined using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The adsorption isotherm studies clearly indicated that the adsorptive behavior of Pb(II) and Cd(II) metal ions on mustard husk satisfies not only the Langmuir assumptions but also the Freundlich assumptions, i.e. multilayer formation on the surface of the adsorbent with an exponential distribution of site energy. Ion exchange and surface complexation are the major adsorption mechanisms involved.

The applicability of Lagergren kinetic model has also been investigated. Thermodynamic constant (k_ad), free energy change (ΔG), enthalpy change (ΔH) and entropy change (ΔS) were calculated for predicting the nature of adsorption. The results indicate the potential application of this method for effluent treatment in industries and also provide strong evidence to support the adsorption mechanism proposed.     

Use of calcium, potassium, and sodium lactates to control germination and outgrowth of Clostridium perfringens spores during chilling of injected pork

Inhibition of Clostridium perfringens spore germination and outgrowth during abusive chilling regimes was investigated by the incorporation of lactates of calcium (CaL), potassium (KL) and sodium (NaL) in injected pork. Lactates (Ca, K, or Na) were incorporated into injected pork samples at four different concentrations (1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0%, and 4.8%), along with a no-lactate control. A three-strain cocktail of C. perfringens spores was inoculated into the product (injected pork) to obtain a final spore population of ca. 2.0-2.5 log(10)CFU/g. Chilling of injected pork (control) from 54.4 to 7.2 degrees C within 6.5, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21 h exponential chill rates resulted in C. perfringens population increases of 0.49, 2.40, 4.02, 5.03, 6.24, and 6.30 log(10)CFU/g, respectively. Addition of CaL at 1.0% or KL and NaL > or = 2.0% to injected pork was able to control C. perfringens germination and outgrowth to <1 logCFU/g, meeting the USDA-FSIS performance standard. However, extension of chilling rates beyond 9.0 h (up to 21 h) required addition of CaL ( > or = 2.0%), KL or NaL ( > or = 3.0%) to meet the stabilization performance standard. In general, CaL was more effective compared to KL or NaL for all the chilling regimes, in reducing the potential risk of C. perfringens germination and outgrowth.     

Pavement performance assessment using a cost‐effective wireless accelerometer system

Pavement condition monitoring is required to identify pavements in need of maintenance or rehabilitation. Early identification of reduction in pavement's structural resistance and improving the structural resistance by minor repairs can lead to significantly lower maintenance costs for transportation agencies. In this study, a cost‐effective wireless sensor that can be embedded in the road to measure the transient vibrations due to different applied loads was tested to determine its effectiveness in terms of pavement displacement measurements. Test results show that the vibration sensor, combined with the algorithms, can be embedded in new or existing pavements and used as an accurate wireless displacement sensor. The low cost of the sensor system allows the use of these sensors at high densities for monitoring the performance of an entire road network. Outputs from the developed system can be directly used to evaluate the condition and performance of pavement structure (increasing displacement over time indicating increasing pavement damage). In addition, displacement data from the system can be used to backcalculate pavement layer stiffnesses, which can be used to predict long‐term performance of the pavement structure. Reduction in pavement layer stiffness over time can be used to determine long‐term damage accumulation.     

Hardness, microstructure and surface characterization of laser gas nitrided commercially pure titanium using high power CO2 laser

Surface nitriding of commercially pure (CP) titanium was carried out using high power CO ₂ laser at pure nitrogen and dilute nitrogen (N ₂ + Ar) environment. The hardness, microstructure, and melt pool configuration of the laser melted titanium in helium and argon atmosphere was compared with laser melting at pure and dilute nitrogen environment. The hardness of the nitrided layer was of the order of 1000 to 1600 HV. The hardness of the laser melted titanium in the argon and helium atmosphere was 500 to 1000 HV. Using x-ray analysis the formation of TiN and Ti ₂ N phase was identified in the laser nitrided titanium. The presence of nitrogen in the nitrided zone was confirmed using secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analysis. The microstructures revealed densely populated dendrites in the sample nitrided at 100% N ₂ environment and thinly populated dendrites in dilute environment. The crack intensity was large in the nitrided sample at pure nitrogen, and few cracks were observed in the 50% N ₂ + 50% Ar environment.     

FFCAEs: An efficient feature fusion framework using cascaded autoencoders for the identification of gliomas

Intracranial tumors arise from constituents of the brain and its meninges. Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common adult primary intracranial neoplasm and is categorized as high-grade astrocytoma according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The survival rate for 5 and 10 years after diagnosis is under 10%, contributing to its grave prognosis. Early detection of GBM enables early intervention, prognostication, and treatment monitoring. Computer-aided diagnostics (CAD) is a computerized process that helps to differentiate between GBM and low-grade gliomas (LGG), using the perceptible analysis of magnetic resonance (MR) of the brain. This study proposes a framework consisting of a feature fusion algorithm with cascaded autoencoders (CAEs), referred to as FFCAEs. Here we utilized two CAEs and extracted the relevant features from multiple CAEs. Inspired by the existing work on fusion algorithms, the obtained features are then fused by using a novel fusion algorithm. Finally, the resultant fused features are classified with the Softmax classifier to arrive at an average classification accuracy of 96.7%, which is 2.45% more than the previously best-performing model. The method is shown to be efficacious thus, it can be useful as a utility program for doctors.     

Double Q-learning-based adaptive trajectory selection for energy-efficient data collection in wireless sensor networks

This paper proposes a novel distributed stochastic routing strategy using mobile sink based on double Q-learning algorithm to improve the network performance in wireless sensor network with uncertain communication links. Furthermore, in order to extend network lifetime, a modified leach-based clustering technique is proposed. To balance the energy dissipation between nodes, the selected cluster head nodes are then rotated based on the newly suggested threshold energy value. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms outperform the QWRP, QLMS, ESRP and HACDC in terms of network lifetime by 18.33%, 35.1%, 39.7% and 44.7%, respectively. Moreover, the proposed algorithms considerably enhances the learning rate and hence reduces the data collection latency.     

A novel wideband fractal-shaped MIMO antenna for brain and skin implantable biomedical applications

A novel fractal-shaped wideband multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is proposed for brain and skin implantable applications. This antenna works in the 2.4–2.48 GHz band of industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) standards. The fractal-shaped wideband MIMO antenna is miniature in size with a footprint of $0.13\mathrm{\lambda }\times 0.06\mathrm{\lambda }\times 0.01\mathrm{\lambda }$. Rogers RT/Duroid 6010 high-dielectric substrate material is used to fabricate the optimized design in order to validate the implantable MIMO antenna structure. The same high-permittivity substrate material has been used as a superstrate. Experiments were carried out in brain and skin-mimicking gel at 2.45 GHz in the ISM band. The proposed antenna has a peak gain of −21.3 dBi at 2.45 GHz. High isolation (>20 dB) between two MIMO ports is attained. The proposed antenna achieves a fractional bandwidth of 36.76% and an impedance bandwidth of 1.02 GHz. According to IEEE safety regulations for 1- and 10-g tissues, the computed maximum specific absorption rate (SAR) is safe bound.     

Numerical modelling of dry-out in pulsating heat pipe using VOF model

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - Operational limits are critical in the continuous functioning of a pulsating heat pipe (PHP). A computational fluid dynamics study was conducted to...     

The Laplacian Energy of Hesitancy Fuzzy Graphs in Decision-Making Problems

Decision-making (DM) is a process in which several persons concurrently engage, examine the problems, evaluate potential alternatives, and select an appropriate option to the problem. Technique for determining order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) is an established DM process. The objective of this report happens to broaden the approach of TOPSIS to solve the DM issues designed with Hesitancy fuzzy data, in which evaluation evidence given by the experts on possible solutions is presents as Hesitancy fuzzy decision matrices, each of which is defined by Hesitancy fuzzy numbers. Findings: we represent analytical results, such as designing a satellite communication network and assessing reservoir operation methods, to demonstrate that our suggested thoughts may be used in DM. Aim: We studied a new testing method for the artificial communication system to give proof of the future construction of satellite earth stations. We aim to identify the best one from the different testing places. We are also finding the best operation schemes in the reservoir. In this article, we present the concepts of Laplacian energy (LE) in Hesitancy fuzzy graphs (HFGs), the weight function of LE of HFGs, and the TOPSIS method technique is used to produce the hesitancy fuzzy weighted-average (HFWA). Also, consider practical examples to illustrate the applicability of the finest design of satellite communication systems and also evaluation of reservoir schemes.