Saliency-weighted graphs for efficient visual content description and their applications in real-time image retrieval systems

The exponential growth in the volume of digital image databases is making it increasingly difficult to retrieve relevant information from them. Efficient retrieval systems require distinctive features extracted from visually rich contents, represented semantically in a human perception-oriented manner. This paper presents an efficient framework to model image contents as an undirected attributed relational graph, exploiting color, texture, layout, and saliency information. The proposed method encodes salient features into this rich representative model without requiring any segmentation or clustering procedures, reducing the computational complexity. In addition, an efficient graph-matching procedure implemented on specialized hardware makes it more suitable for real-time retrieval applications. The proposed framework has been tested on three publicly available datasets, and the results prove its superiority in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency in comparison with other state-of-the-art schemes.     

Structural Control of NiO–YSZ/LSCF–YSZ Dual‐Layer Hollow Fiber Membrane for Potential Syngas Production

The objective of this study was to fabricate dual‐layer hollow fiber as a microreactor for potential syngas production via phase inversion‐based co‐extrusion/cosintering process. As the main challenge of phase inversion is the difficulty to obtain defect‐free fiber, this work focuses on the effect of the fabrication parameters, that is, nonsolvent content, sintering temperature and outer‐layer extrusion rate, on the macrostructure of the produced hollow fiber. SEM images confirm that the addition of nonsolvent has successfully minimized the finger‐like formation. At high sintering temperature, more dense hollow fiber was formed while outer‐layer extrusion rate affects the outer layer thickness.     

One-step purification of lactoperoxidase from bovine milk by affinity chromatography

Sulphanilamide was determined to be a new inhibitor of lactoperoxidase (LPO) with an IC₅₀ of 0.848.10⁻⁵ M. The K_i for sulphanilamide was determined to be 3.57.10⁻⁵ M and sulphanilamide showed competitive inhibition, which makes it a suitable ligand for constructing a Sepharose 4B-l-tyrosine affinity matrix. The affinity matrix was synthesised by coupling sulphanilamide as the ligand and l-tyrosine as the spacer arm to a cyanogen bromide (CNBr)-activated-Sepharose 4B matrix. Lactoperoxidase was purified 409-fold from the synthesized affinity matrix in a single step, with a yield of 62.3% and a specific activity of 40.9 EU/mg protein. The enzyme activity was measured using ABTS as a chromogenic substrate (pH 6.0). The degree of LPO purification was monitored by SDS–PAGE and its R_z (A₄₁₂/A₂₈₀) value. The R_z value for the purified LPO was found to be 0.7. Maximum binding was achieved and K_m and V_max values were determined.     

Antioxidant Capacity and Phenolic Content of the Aqueous Extract of Commonly Consumed Cucurbits

The antioxidant capacity of commonly consumed cucurbits vegetable was determined by the DPPH, FRAP, Fe³⁺ reducing power, and hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay. The aqueous extract of Luffa cylindrica showed the highest value of phenolic content and antioxidant capacity based on FRAP, Fe³⁺ reducing power, and hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay. However, Laginaria siceraria extract showed the highest flavonoid and DPPH scavenging activities among all three cucurbits used in this study. Phenolic content in aqueous extracts of Luffa cylindrica and Laginaria siceraria was almost equal. Cucurbita maxima exhibited the lowest phenolic, flavonoid content, and exhibited the lowest power of antioxidant scavenging. The antioxidant capacity of cucurbits was significantly correlated (P < 0.05) with the phenolic content of their extracts. The antioxidant capacity of Luffa cylindrica and Laginaria siceraria have also shown a significant correlation (P < 0.05).     

Numerical analysis of the influence of convection on off-eutectic solidification

Convection during solidification is predicted to lead to transverse inhomogeneities. With an off-eutectic melt a portion of the cross section should be single phase, and a portion of the two phase material will have a varying average composition and microstructure. This effect will be more pronounced at higher convection levels, lower freezing rates, and greater departures from the eutectic composition. During the performance of this research he was a graduate student at Clarkson College of Technology in Potsdam, NY.     

Transient phenomenon of step switching for current or voltage in PEMFC

The transient phenomenon of fuel cell with 5 cm² active area is investigated in this study by current density step increase and switching voltage under different conditions. It is found that there is an undershoot when the current density step increase is at the loading of 60% RH anode cathode, 3 stoic., 70 °C, 15 psi for automobile applications. The voltage is almost zero under 0.2 step increase to 1.0 A/cm² due to the H⁺ transport in membrane or H₂/O₂ in catalyst layer is almost used up. The undershoot phenomenon is more serious under gases stoichiometries of 3.0/3.0 when H₂ is fully humidified due to low gas concentration or flooding on the electrode. This phenomenon would induce the degradation of fuel cell components.     

The performance of ceramic and cermet cutting tools for the machining of austempered ductile iron

In this study, the machinability of austempered ductile iron (ADI) having a ferritic structure was examined. For this purpose, three types of ductile iron materials (as cast, ADI-250, ADI-375) and two different types of cutting tool materials (ceramics and cermet) were used. To emphasize the role of austempering process, ductile iron (DI) specimens are first austenitized in salt bath at 900°C for 120 minutes after which they are quenched in salt bath at 250°C (ADI-250) and 375°C (ADI-375) for 120 min. Machining tests were carried out at various cutting speeds (100–500 m/min) under the constant depth of cut and feed rate. The performance of both ceramic and cermet tools were evaluated based on the workpiece surface roughness and flank wear. Wear conditions of the cutting tools were characterized by scanning electron microscope. The results point out that the lower austempering temperature results in increasing of the cutting forces, while better surface roughness is obtained. Additionally, the results indicate that the tool wear occurs mainly on the flank face. However, higher cutting speed results in chipping formation in cermet cutting tool.     

Retraction Note: Relationship between water content,shear deformation,and elastic wave velocity through unsaturated soil slope

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment -