Quantification of crustal geotherms along with their error bounds for seismically active regions of India: A Matlab toolbox

Determination of the thermo-mechanical structure of the crust for seismically active regions using available geophysical and geological data is of great importance. The most important feature of the intraplate earthquakes in the Indian region are that the seismicity occurs within the entire crust. In Latur region of India an earthquake occurred in the upper crust. In such situations, quantifying the uncertainties in seismogenic depths becomes very important. The stochastic heat conduction equation has been solved for different sets of boundary conditions, an exponentially decreasing radiogenic heat generation and randomness in thermal conductivity. Closed form analytical expressions for mean and variance in the temperature depth distribution have been used and an automatic formulation has been developed in Matlab for computing and plotting the thermal structure. The Matlab toolbox presented allows us to display the controlling thermal parameters on the screen directly, and plot the subsurface thermal structure along with its error bounds. The software can be used to quantify the thermal structure for any given region and is applied here to the Latur earthquake region of India.     

Fixed-width confidence interval estimation of the inverse coefficient of variation in a normal population

A sequential procedure is developed in order to construct a confidence interval of “fixed-width and preassigned coverage probability” for the inverse of the coefficient of variation of a normal population. The proposed sequential procedure is proved to be “asymptotically efficient and consistent” in the sense of Chow and Robbins ([1]: Ann. Math. Statist. 36, 457–462 (1965)). Asymptotic distribution of the stopping time is derived.     

Heavy metal accumulation in vegetables irrigated with water from different sources

The present study was carried out to assess levels of different heavy metals like iron, manganese, copper and zinc, in vegetables irrigated with water from different sources. The results indicated a substantial build-up of heavy metals in vegetables irrigated with wastewater. The range of various metals in wastewater-irrigated plants was 116–378, 12–69, 5.2–16.8 and 22–46 mg/kg for iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), respectively. The highest mean levels of Fe and Mn were detected in mint and spinach, whereas the levels of Cu and Zn were highest in carrot. The present study highlights that both adults and children consuming vegetables grown in wastewater-irrigated soils ingest significant amount of these metals. However, the values of these metals were below the recommended maximum tolerable levels proposed by the [Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (1999). Summary and conclusions. In 53rd Meeting, Rome, June 1–10, 1999]. However, the regular monitoring of levels of these metals from effluents and sewage, in vegetables and in other food materials is essential to prevent excessive build-up of these metals in the food chain.     

Optimization and surface modification of silk fabric using DBD air plasma for improving wicking properties

It is necessary to study the suitable effect of plasma parameters, such as exposure time and applied voltage on the wicking properties of silk fabrics. Wicking property of silk fabric has been improved by using air dielectric barrier discharge plasma treatment. The plasma treatment has been utilized to modify the surface properties of silk fabrics. Untreated and plasma-treated fabrics have been characterized by contact angle Goniometer, wicking test, Wet-out time, scanning electron microscope, Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transforms Infrared spectrometer (ATR-FTIR) and dye uptake test. The ATR-FTIR characterization shows that the hydroxyl functional group has been increased after plasma treatment of silk fabric. The experimental results of wicking rate and Wet-out time of the plasma-treated silk fabrics have shown significant improvement in hydrophilic properties that could be confirmed by contact angle measurement which is close to 0°. The tensile strength of untreated and plasma-treated fabrics has been measured to confirm the enhanced surface property.     

Two-step purification strategy for enhanced recovery of recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen from Pichia pastoris

Univariate screening on factors affecting the purification performance of recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) on ion exchange chromatography (IEC) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and the establishment of a two-step purification strategy were performed. Amongst four IEC adsorbents examined, the use of Q Sepharose XL IEC adsorbent under optimized conditions together with optimized SEC purification was able to efficiently purify HBsAg. An established purification strategy comprising the two techniques further demonstrated adaptability for scale-up operations with a final total purification factor (PF) of 94.82 ± 16.20, HBsAg purity of 95.48% and recovery yield of 78.07%.     

Analysis of thermo-elastic plates based on Reissner’s mixed variational theorem

Analysis of composite/sandwich plates under thermal loads has greater significance due to its extensive application in ocean and aerospace structures. This paper addresses the analysis of composite/sandwich plates under thermal load using layer-wise mixed finite element method. The Reissner mixed variational theorem (RMVT) has been used for the thermal analysis of plates. Transverse stress assumptions are made in the framework of RMVT and the resulting finite element describes a priori inter-laminar continuous transverse shear and normal stresses. This method is equally applicable to the analysis of plates under mechanical and thermal loads. Numerical examples are solved to validate the present formulation using a code developed in C-language and the results obtained with the present model are in good agreement with the analytical solutions available in literature.     

Electrodeposition and properties of nanocrystalline ZnO films prepared in the presence of anionic surfactant SDS and ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate

ZnO thin films were potentiostatically electrodeposited on transparent tin oxide conducting glass substrates at ?1.0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in the presence of anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and hydrophobic ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate [bmim][CH₃SO₄]. X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigation confirm the formation of nanocrystalline and stoichiometric ZnO thin films. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results reveal that the grain size of the deposited ZnO film is reduced from 85 to 28 nm when small amount of ionic liquid is added to the deposition bath. Photoluminescence study at room temperature shows a clear absorption edge in the ultra violet (UV) region confirming the high quality, nanocrystalline and stoichiometric nature of the deposited ZnO films.     

Development of polybutadiene (BR)–polyethylene (LDPE) blend based microcellular soles for low‐temperature applications

Microcellular (MC) soles based on polybutadiene (BR) and low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) blends for low‐temperature applications were developed. A part of BR in BR–LDPE blend was replaced by natural rubber (NR) for property improvement. The BR–NR–LDPE blend‐based MC sole shows good technical properties. Sulphur curing and DCP curing were tried in BR–LDPE and NR–BR–LDPE blends. Study shows that sulphur‐cured MC sheets possess better technical properties than DCP‐cured MC sheets. 90/10 BR–LDPE and 60/30/10 BR–NR–LDPE blend combinations are found to be suitable for low‐temperature applications. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 76: 277–281, 2000     

Structural and thermodynamic consequences of introducing {{alpha}}-aminoisobutyric acid in the S peptide of ribonuclease S

The S protein–S peptide interaction is a model systemto study binding thermodynamics in proteins. We substitutedalanine at position 4 in S peptide by