PRATIT: a CNN-based emotion recognition system using histogram equalization and data augmentation

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Emotions are spontaneous feelings that are accompanied by fluctuations in facial muscles, which leads to facial expressions. Categorization of these facial...     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(ethylene aspartate)-metal complexes

Poly(ethylene aspartate) [PEA] was synthesized by the melt condensation of D,L-aspartic acid and ethylene glycol. PEA containing pendent amino and carbonyl groups in its repeating chain was used as the polymeric ligand for complexation with transition metal ions, viz. Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Mn(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Ca(II), Mg(II), Pb(II) and Hg(II). Complexation was found to be most effective in DMSO. The resulting polyester-metal complexes were solid coloured materials which have been characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The thermal stability of the polyester-metal complexes was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). On the basis of the physico-chemical studies, an oxygen and nitrogen coordinated structure for the polyester-metal complexes is proposed.     

Stepwise-Graded Si3N4–SiC Ceramics with Improved Wear Properties

The processing of stepwise graded Si₃N₄/SiC ceramics by pressureless co-sintering is described. Here, SiC (high elastic modulus, high thermal expansion coefficient) forms the substrate and Si₃N₄ (low elastic modulus, low thermal expansion coefficient) forms the top contact surface, with a stepwise gradient in composition existing between the two over a depth of ∼1.7 mm. The resulting Si₃N₄ contact surface is fine-grained and dense, and it contains only 2 vol% yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) additive. This graded ceramic shows resistance to cone-crack formation under Hertzian indentation, which is attributed to a combined effect of the elastic-modulus gradient and the compressive thermal-expansion-mismatch residual stress present at the contact surface. The presence of the residual stress is corroborated and quantified using Vickers indentation tests. The graded ceramic also possesses wear properties that are significantly improved compared with dense, monolithic Si₃N₄ containing 2 vol% YAG additive. The improved wear resistance is attributed solely to the large compressive stress present at the contact surface. A modification of the simple wear model by Lawn and co-workers is used to rationalize the wear results. Results from this work clearly show that the introduction of surface compressive residual stresses can significantly improve the wear resistance of polycrystalline ceramics, which may have important implications for the design of contact-damage-resistant ceramics.     

12-tungstophosphoric and 12-tungstosilicicacid supported onto hydrous zirconia for liquid phase tert-butylation of m-cresol

Supported 12-tungstophosphoricacid (12-TPA) and 12-tunstosilicicacid (12-TSA) were used as heterogeneous catalysts for liquid-phase tert-butylation of m-cresol, an industrial important reaction. Alkylation reactions have been carried out with supported 12-TPA by varying different parameters such as % loading of 12-tungstophosphoricacid onto support, mole ratio of alcohol to m-cresol, reaction temperature, amount of the catalyst, reaction time and calcination temperature to optimize the conditions. To see the effect of the acidity on the reaction, the same reaction was studied over supported 12-TSA. Both the catalysts give 100% selectivity for o-isomer with different % conversion. The difference in catalyst performance of both the catalyst was correlated with the value of total acidity as well as Bronsted acidity.     

A hybrid approach based on SERVQUAL and fuzzy TOPSIS for evaluating transportation service quality

Managing service quality is vital to retain customer satisfaction and augment revenues for any business organization. Often it is difficult to assess service quality due to lack of quantifiable measures and limited data. In this paper, we present a hybrid approach based on SERVQUAL and fuzzy TOPSIS for evaluating service quality of urban transportation systems. The proposed approach consists of three steps. The first step involves development of a SERVQUAL based questionnaire to collect data for measuring transportation service quality. The participants provide linguistic assessments to rate the service quality criteria and the alternatives. In step 2, the linguistic ratings are combined through fuzzy TOPSIS to generate an overall performance score for each alternative. The alternative with the highest score is finally chosen. In step 3, sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate the influence of criteria weights on the decision making process.The strength of the proposed approach is its practical applicability and ability to provide solution under partial or lack of quantitative information. An application of the proposed approach for evaluation of service quality of metro in Montreal is provided.     

A Diffusion Model Analysis of the Effects of Aging in the Lexical-Decision Task.

The effects of aging on response time (RT) are examined in 2 lexical-decision experiments with young and older subjects (age 60-75). The results show that the older subjects were slower than the young subjects, but more accurate. R. Ratcliff s (1978) diffusion model provided a good account of RTs, their distributions, and response accuracy. The fits show an 80-100-ms slowing of the nondecision components of RT for older subjects relative to young subjects and more conservative decision criterion settings for older subjects than for young subjects. The rates of accumulation of evidence were not significantly different for older compared with young subjects (less than 2% and 5% higher for older subjects relative to young subjects in the 2 experiments). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Keggin type inorganic–organic hybrid material containing Mn(II) monosubstituted phosphotungstate and S-(+)-sec-butyl amine: Synthesis and characterization

A new inorganic–organic POM-based hybrid material comprising Keggin type mono manganese substituted phosphotungstate and enantiopure S-(+)-sec-butyl amine was synthesized in an aqueous media by simple ligand substitution method. The synthesized hybrid material was systematically characterized in solid as well as solution by various physicochemical techniques such as elemental analysis, TGA, UV–vis, FT-IR, ESR and multinuclear solution NMR (³¹P, ¹H, ¹³C). The presence of chirality in the synthesized material was confirmed by CD spectroscopy and polarimeter. The above study reveals the attachment of S-(+)-sec-butyl amine to Keggin type mono manganese substituted phosphotungstate through N → Mn bond. It also indicates the retainment of Keggin unit and presence of chirality in the synthesized material. An attempt was made to use the synthesized material as a heterogeneous catalyst for carrying out aerobic asymmetric oxidation of styrene using molecular oxygen. The catalyst shows the potential of being used as a stable recyclable catalytic material after simple regeneration without significant loss in conversion.     

Assessment of diverse image encryption mechanisms under prevalent invasion

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Image encryption mechanisms provide confidentiality and concealment of information (image) in transmission over the alleyway, susceptible to prevalent invasions....     

Greener,solvent free three component Biginelli reaction over different recyclable solid acid catalysts

Solid acids comprising 12-tungstophosphoric acid and 12-tungstosilicic acid anchored on to metal oxide (ZrO₂), zeolites (Hβ and HZSM-5), and mesoporous material (MCM-41) were synthesized, characterized and used as the catalysts. A solvent free green route to carry out the Biginelli cyclocondensation reaction is described over synthesized catalysts. The method provides an efficient and much improved protocol of Biginelli reaction in terms of solvent free conditions, high yields up to 98 %, very short reaction time of 15 min, and simple work-up procedure. Based on the above study a best catalyst among all is proposed and is recycled up to four times without any significant change in % yields of the product. Another important feature of this method is survival of a variety of functional groups under the reaction conditions.