Search results for: Digital holographic microscopy.

Authors: G. Momen, R. Jafari, M. Farzaneh

Abstract:

Two different superhydrophobic surfaces were elaborated and their oil repellency behavior was evaluated using several liquid with different surface tension. A silicone rubber/SiO2 nanocomposite coated (A) on aluminum substrate by “spin-coating" and the sample B was an anodized aluminum surface covered by Teflon-like coating. A high static contact angle about ∼162° was measured for two prepared surfaces on which the water droplet rolloff. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the presence of micro/nanostructures for both sample A and B similar to that of lotus leaf. However the sample A presented significantly different behaviour of wettability against the low surface tension liquid. Sample A has been wetted totally by oil (dodecan) droplet while sample B showed oleophobic behaviour. Oleophobic property of Teflon like coating can be contributed to the presence of CF2 and CF3 functional group which was shown by XPS analysis.

Keywords: Oleophobic, Superhydrophobic, Aluminum surface, Nano-texture.

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Authors: Salem Ali Jebreil

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In this work, a polyaniline/Iron oxide (PANI/Fe2O3) composite was chemically prepared by oxidative polymerization of aniline in acid medium, in presence of ammonium persulphate as an oxidant and amount of Fe2O3. The composite was characterized by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The prepared composite has been used as adsorbent to remove Tartrazine dye form aqueous solutions. The effects of initial dye concentration and temperature on the adsorption capacity of PANI/Fe2O3 for Tartrazine dye have been studied in this paper. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models have been used for the mathematical description of adsorption equilibrium data. The best fit is obtained using the Freundlich isotherm with an R2 value of 0.998. The change of Gibbs energy, enthalpy, and entropy of adsorption has been also evaluated for the adsorption of Tartrazine onto PANI/ Fe2O3. It has been proved according the results that the adsorption process is endothermic in nature.

Keywords: Adsorption, Composite, dye, Polyaniline, Tartrazine.

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Authors: I. Siti Rabiatull Aisha, A. Ourdjini, O. Saliza Azlina

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The aim of this paper is to study the effectiveness of bismuth addition in the solder alloy to retard the intermetallic compound formation and growth. In this study, three categories of solders such as Sn-4Ag-xCu (x = 0.5, 0.7, 1.0) and Sn-4Ag-0.5Cu-xBi (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.4) were used. Ni/Au surface finish substrates were dipped into the molten solder at a temperature of 180-190 ^oC and allowed to cool at room temperature. The intermetallic compound (IMCs) were subjected to the characterization in terms of composition and morphology. The IMC phases were identified by energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), whereas the optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to observe microstructure evolution of the solder joint. The results clearly showed that copper concentration dependency was high during the reflow stage. Besides, only Ni₃Sn₄ and Ni₃Sn₂ were detected for all copper concentrations. The addition of Bi was found to have no significant effect on the type of IMCs formed, but yet the grain became further refined.

Keywords: Bismuth addition, intermetallic compound, composition, morphology.

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Authors: Rachid El Aidani, Phuong Nguyen-Tri, Toan Vu-Khanh

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This study intends to show the influence of the hydrolytic degradation on the properties of the e-PTFE/NOMEX® membranes used in fire-protective clothing. The modification of water vapour permeability, morphology and chemical structure was examined by MOCON Permatran, electron microscopy scanning (SEM), and ATR-FTIR, respectively. A decrease in permeability to water vapour of the aged samples was observed following closure of transpiration pores. Analysis of fiber morphology indicates the appearance of defects at the fibers surface with the presence of micro cavities. ATR-FTIR analysis reveals the presence of a new absorption band attributed to carboxylic acid terminal groups generated during the amide bond hydrolysis.

Keywords: Hydrolytic ageing, moisture membrane; water vapor permeability, morphology.

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Authors: Analiza Acuña-Villacorte

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The Institutional Sustainability Performance (ISP) of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in the Philippines reveals the level of compliance and fidelity of the latter to the mandates of the state. This performance evaluation procedure aims to perpetually monitor and sustain the quality of services provided by the state institutions in the country. Importantly, the SUC level rating is one of the key indicators of the merit system adopted by the state to give incentives to government institutions. With the crucial role of the ISP and SUC level in the performance of an institution and in sustaining quality assurance, this study theorized that the top managers’ capacity to influence is the critical factor in meeting the expectations of the state. This study assessed the top managers’ capacity to influence. The hypothesis in this study proved that leadership style of top managers has significant relationship to the managers’ capacity to influence for institutional sustainability performance. Thus, the subjects of this study were restricted only to the State Universities and Colleges (SUC) that qualified in the top 20 Institutional Sustainability Performance; the digital governance performance, and the SUC leveling status nationwide. The top managers and their subordinates with doctorate of Bulacan State University and Bataan Peninsula State University whose programs have been consistently submitted to accreditation and were ranked Levels III and IV were subjected and participated to the study. This study assessed the top managers’ capacity to influence. The hypothesis in this study proved that leadership style of top managers has significant relationship to the managers’ capacity to influence for institutional sustainability performance. Thus, the subjects of this study were restricted only to the State Universities and Colleges (SUC) that qualified in the top 20 Institutional Sustainability Performance; the digital governance performance, and the SUC leveling status nationwide. The top managers and their subordinates with doctorate of Bulacan State University and Bataan Peninsula State University whose programs have been consistently submitted to accreditation and were ranked Levels III and IV were subjected and participated to the study.

Keywords: Capacity to Influence, Descriptive Design, Institutional Sustainability Performance, Management.

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Authors: N. M. Ahmad, J. Abdullah, N. I. Ramli, S. Abd Rahman, N. E. Azmi, Z. Hamzah, A. Saat, N. H. Rahman

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A biosensor based on glucose oxidase (GOx) immobilized onto nanoparticles zirconium oxide with polyethylene nanocomposite for glucose monitoring has been designed. The CTAB/PEG/ZrO2/GOx nanocomposite was deposited onto screen printed carbon paste (SPCE) electrode via spin coating technique. The properties of CTAB/PEG/ZrO2/GOx were study using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SPE modified with the CTAB/PEG/ZrO2/GOx showed electrocatalytical response to the oxidation of glucose when ferrocene carboxaldehyde was used as an artificial redox mediator, which was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Several parameters such as working potential, effect of pH and effect of ZrO2/PEG layers that governed the analytical performance of the biosensor, have been studied. The biosensor was applied to detect glucose with a linear range of 0.4 to 2.0 mmol L−1 with good repetability and reproducibility.

Keywords: Nanocomposite, Nanoparticles, Modified SPE, Ferrocenecarboxaldehyde.

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Authors: Lynette Sheridan Burns, Benjamin J. Matthews

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The context of post-industrial journalism is one in which the material circumstances of mechanical publication have been displaced by digital technologies, increasing the distance between the orthodoxy of the newsroom and the culture of journalistic writing. Content is, with growing frequency, created for delivery via the internet, publication on web-based ‘platforms’ and consumption on screen media. In this environment, the question is not ‘who is a journalist?’ but ‘what is journalism?’ today. The changes bring into sharp relief new distinctions between journalistic work and journalistic labor, providing a key insight into the current transition between the industrial journalism of the 20^th century, and the post-industrial journalism of the present. In the 20^th century, the work of journalists and journalistic labor went hand-in-hand as most journalists were employees of news organizations, whilst in the 21^st century evidence of a decoupling of ‘acts of journalism’ (work) and journalistic employment (labor) is beginning to appear. This 'decoupling' of the work and labor that underpins journalism practice is far reaching in its implications, not least for institutional structures. Under these conditions we are witnessing the emergence of expanded ‘entrepreneurial’ journalism, based on smaller, more independent and agile - if less stable - enterprise constructs that are a feature of creative industries. Entrepreneurial journalism is realized in a range of organizational forms from social enterprise, through to profit driven start-ups and hybrids of the two. In all instances, however, the primary motif of the organization is an ideological definition of journalism. An example is the Scoop Foundation for Public Interest Journalism in New Zealand, which owns and operates Scoop Publishing Limited, a not for profit company and social enterprise that publishes an independent news site that claims to have over 500,000 monthly users. Our paper demonstrates that this journalistic work meets the ideological definition of journalism; conducted within the creative industries using an innovative organizational structure that offers a new, viable post-industrial future for journalism.

Keywords: Creative industries, digital communication, journalism, post-industrial.

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Authors: Victor E. Gromov, Evgenii A. Budovskikh, Ludmila P. Bashchenko, Yurii F. Ivanov, Anna V. Ionina, Nina A. Soskova, Guoyi Tang

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The peculiarities of the nanoscale structure-phase states formed after electroexplosive carburizing and subsequent electron-beam treatment of technically pure titanium surface in different regimes are established by methods of transmission electron diffraction microscopy and physical mechanisms are discussed. Electroexplosive carburizing leads to surface layer formation (40 m thickness) with increased (in 3.5 times) microhardness. It consists of β-titanium, graphite (monocrystals 100-150 nm, polycrystals 5-10 nm, amorphous particles 3-5nm), TiC (5-10 nm), β-Ti02 (2-20nm). After electron-beam treatment additionally increasing the microhardness the surface layer consists of TiC.

Keywords: nanoscale, phase, structure, titanium

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Authors: Nooraneda Mutalip Laidey

Abstract:

Privacy is sacred and would normally be expected and preserved by an individual. Online privacy is no longer about the right to be left alone, but also includes the right not to be monitored. However, with the revelations made by United States National Security Agency former employee Edward Snowden that the government is spying on internet communications, individuals’ privacy can no longer be expected. Therefore, this paper is intended to evaluate law related to privacy protection in the digital domain, who should govern it and whether invasion to a person’s privacy is a necessary justification to preserve national security.

Keywords: Cyberspace, data protection, national security, privacy.

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Authors: Petr Mohyla, Ivo Hlavatý, Jiří Hrubý, Lucie Krejčí

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This work is focused on mechanical properties and microstructure of heat affected zone (HAZ) of steel P92. The thermal cycle simulator was used for modeling a fine grained zone of HAZ. Hardness and impact toughness were measured on simulated samples. Microstructural analysis using optical microscopy was performed on selected samples. Achieved results were compared with the values of a real welded joint. The thermal cycle simulator allows transferring the properties of very small HAZ to the sufficiently large sample where the tests of the mechanical properties can be performed. A satisfactory accordance was found when comparing the microstructure and mechanical properties of real welds and simulated samples.

Keywords: Heat affected zone, impact test, thermal cycle simulator and time of tempering.

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Authors: Feng-Hao Hsu, Na-Fu Wang, Yu-Zen Tsai, Yu-Song Cheng, Cheng-Fu Yang, Mau-Phon Houng

Abstract:

This study fabricates p-type Ni_1−xO:Li/n-Si heterojunction solar cells (P⁺/n HJSCs) by using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering and investigates the effect of substrate temperature on photovoltaic cell properties. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, four point probe, and ultraviolet-visible-near infrared discover the optoelectrical properties of p-Ni_1-xO thin films. The results show that p-Ni_1-xO thin films deposited at 300 ^oC has the highest grain size (22.4 nm), average visible transmittance (~42%), and electrical resistivity (2.7 Ωcm). However, the conversion efficiency of cell is shown only 2.33% which is lower than the cell (3.39%) fabricated at room temperature. This result can be mainly attributed to interfacial layer thickness (SiO_x) reduces from 2.35 nm to 1.70 nm, as verified by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

Keywords: Heterojunction, nickel oxide, solar cells, sputtering.

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Authors: M. E. Ali Mohsin, Agus Arsad, Othman Y. Alothman

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This study explains the influence of secondary filler on the dispersion of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) nanocomposites (CNT/HDPE). In order to understand the mixed-fillers system, Montmorillonite (MMT) was added to CNT/HDPE nanocomposites. It was followed by investigating their effect on the thermal, mechanical and morphological properties of the aforesaid nanocomposite. Incorporation of 3 wt% each of MMT into CNT/HDPE nanocomposite resulted to the increased values for the tensile and flexural strength, as compared to the pure HDPE matrix. The thermal analysis result showed improved thermal stability of the formulated nanocomposites. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed that larger aggregates of CNTs were disappeared upon addition of these two components leading to the enhancement of thermo-mechanical properties for such composites.

Keywords: Secondary filler, Montmorillonite, Carbon nanotube, nanocomposite.

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Authors: Busra Balli, Tuncay Dikici, Mustafa Toparli

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Titanium and its alloys have been used extensively over the past 25 years as biomedical materials in orthopedic and dental applications because of their good mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. It is known that the surface properties of titanium implants can enhance the cellular response and play an important role in Osseo integration. The rate and quality of Osseo integration in titanium implants are related to their surface properties. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effect of sandblasting and acid etching on surface morphology, roughness, the wettability of titanium. The surface properties will be characterized by scanning electron microscopy and contact angle and roughness measurements. The results show that surface morphology, roughness, and wettability were changed and enhanced by these treatments.

Keywords: Dental implant, etching, surface modifications, surface morphology, surface roughness.

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Authors: Rongtao Ding, Xinhao Ji, Linting Zhu

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In recent years, the relevance feedback technology is regarded in content-based image retrieval. This paper suggests a neural networks feedback algorithm based on the radial basis function, coming to extract the semantic character of image. The results of experiment indicated that the performance of this relevance feedback is better than the feedback algorithm based on Single-RBF.

Keywords: Image retrieval, relevance feedback, radial basis function.

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Authors: H. Fazlinejad, A. Halvaee

Abstract:

In this study, characteristics of ATIG welds using ZnO flux on aluminum was investigated and compared with TIG welds. Autogenously AC-ATIG bead on plate welding was applied on Al1050 plate with a coating of ZnO as the flux. Different levels of welding current and flux layer thickness was considered to study the effect of heat input and flux quantity on ATIG welds and was compared with those of TIG welds. Geometrical investigation of the weld cross sections revealed that penetration depth of the ATIG welds with ZnO flux, was increased up to 2 times in some samples compared to the TIG welds. Optical metallographic and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations revealed similar microstructures in TIG and ATIG welds. Composition of the ATIG welds slag was also analyzed using X-ray diffraction. In both TIG and ATIG samples, the lowest values of microhardness were observed in the HAZ.

Keywords: ATIG, active flux, weld penetration, Al 1050, ZnO.

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Authors: A. Kebbeb, M. Mostefai, F. Benmerzoug, Y. Chahir

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The multimodal biometric identification is the combination of several biometric systems; the challenge of this combination is to reduce some limitations of systems based on a single modality while significantly improving performance. In this paper, we propose a new approach to the construction and the protection of a multimodal biometric database dedicated to an identification system. We use a topological watermarking to hide the relation between face image and the registered descriptors extracted from other modalities of the same person for more secure user identification.

Keywords: Biometric databases, Multimodal biometrics, security authentication, Digital watermarking.

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Authors: Aida Isma M. I., Putri Razreena A. R., Rozita Omar, Azni Idris

Abstract:

This study presents the performance of membrane bioreactor in treating high phosphate wastewater. The laboratory scale MBR was operated at permeate flux of 25 L/m2.h with a hollow fiber membrane (polypropylene, approx. pore size 0.01 - 0.2 μm) at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 12 hrs. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy diffusive X-ray (EDX) analyzer were used to characterize the membrane foulants. Results showed that the removal efficiencies of COD, TSS, NH3-N and PO4 3- were 93, 98, 80 and 30% respectively. On average 91% of influent soluble microbial products (SMP) were eliminated, with the eliminations of polysaccharides mostly above 80%. The main fouling resistance was cake resistance. It should be noted that SMP were found in major portions of mixed liquor that played a relatively significant role in membrane fouling. SEM and EDX analyses indicated that the foulants covering the membrane surfaces comprises not only organic substances but also inorganic elements including Mg, Ca, Al, K and P.

Keywords: Membrane bioreactor (MBR), membrane fouling, phosphates, soluble microbial products (SMP).

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Authors: H. Wakily, M. Mehrali, H. S. C. Metselaar

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Homogeneous composites of alumina and zirconia with a small amount of MgO (<1 wt %) were prepared by colloidal filtration. The object of using ZrO2 (15wt %) was to provide zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA). Suspensions of alumina and Zirconia with various solid loadings and various concentrations of Dolapix CE64 as surfactant were studied. The stability of these suspensions was investigated using rheological measurements. The optimum amount of using Dolapix was 0.8wt% for ZTA containing MgO suspension which gave low apparent viscosity in basic area (100 mPa s at shear rate of 50 s-1). The satisfactory mixtures were made into sample pallets using colloidal filtration. The process was completed with pressureless sintering in suitable temperature. Phase, grain size and qualitative compositional analysis were done using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. ZTA containing 0.05 wt% MgO shows the lowest grain size for alumina around 0.5 μm. Densification studies show that near full densities (>99%) were obtained for ZTA ceramic containing 0.05 wt% MgO in 1500 °C.

Keywords: Colloidal filtration, Dolapix, MgO, Zirconiatoughened alumina.

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Authors: G. Çelik Gül, F. Kurtuluş

Abstract:

Colemanite is the most common borate mineral, and the main source of the boron required by plants, human, and earth. Transition metals exhibit optical and physical properties such as; non-linear optical character, structural diversity, thermal stability, long cycle life and luminescent radiation. The doping of colemanite with a transition metal, bring it very interesting and attractive properties which make them applicable in industry. Iron doped calcium borate was synthesized by conventional solid state method at 1200 °C for 12 h with a systematic pathway. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive analyze (SEM/EDS) were used to characterize structural and morphological properties. Also, thermal properties were recorded by thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA). 

Keywords: Colemanite, conventional synthesis, powder x-ray diffraction, borates.

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Authors: Jayesh P. Ruparelia, Bhavna D. Soni

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Electrochemical-oxidation of Reactive Black-5 (RB- 5) was conducted for degradation using DSA type Ti/RuO2-SnO2- Sb2O5 electrode. In the study, for electro-oxidation, electrode was indigenously fabricated in laboratory using titanium as substrate. This substrate was coated using different metal oxides RuO2, Sb2O5 and SnO2 by thermal decomposition method. Laboratory scale batch reactor was used for degradation and decolorization studies at pH 2, 7 and 11. Current density (50mA/cm2) and distance between electrodes (8mm) were kept constant for all experiments. Under identical conditions, removal of color, COD and TOC at initial pH 2 was 99.40%, 55% and 37% respectively for initial concentration of 100 mg/L RB-5. Surface morphology and composition of the fabricated electrode coatings were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) respectively. Coating microstructure was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results of this study further revealed that almost 90% of oxidation occurred within 5-10 minutes.

Keywords: Electrochemical-oxidation, RB- dye, Decolorization.

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Authors: Fakhra Aziz, K. Sulaiman, M. R. Muhammad, M. Hassan Sayyad, Kh. Karimov

Abstract:

This paper presents a comparative study on Vanadyl Phthalocyanine (VOPc) thin films deposited by thermal evaporation and spin coating techniques. The samples were prepared on cleaned glass substrates and annealed at various temperatures ranging form 95oC to 155oC. To obtain the morphological and structural properties of VOPc thin films, X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been implied. The AFM topographic images show a very slight difference in the thermally grown films, before and after annealing, however best results are achieved for the spin-cast film annealed at 125oC. The XRD spectra show no existence of the sharp peaks, suggesting the material to be amorphous. The humps in the XRD patterns indicate the presence of some crystallites.

Keywords: Annealing, optical properties, thin films, Vanadylphthalocyanine.

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Authors: Nasir Mehmood, Saad Rahman, Vinodh Ravinath, Mahesh Balaji

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This paper describes the design of a programmable FSK-modulator based on VCO and its implementation in 0.35m CMOS process. The circuit is used to transmit digital data at 100Kbps rate in the frequency range of 400-600MHz. The design and operation of the modulator is discussed briefly. Further the characteristics of PLL, frequency synthesizer, VCO and the whole design are elaborated. The variation among the proposed and tested specifications is presented. Finally, the layout of sub-modules, pin configurations, final chip and test results are presented.

Keywords: FSK Modulator, CMOS, VCO, Phase Locked Loop, Frequency Synthesizer.

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Authors: Nagulapati Kiran, V. Rangavalli, B. Vanajakshi

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This paper designs the four-phase Boost Converter which overcomes the problem of high input ripple current and output ripple voltage. Digital control is more convenient for such a topology on basis of synchronization, phase shift operation, etc. Simulation results are presented for open-loop and closed-loop for four phase boost converter. This control scheme is applicable for PFC rectifiers as well. Thus a comparative analysis based on the obtained results is performed.

Keywords: Boost Converter, Bode plot, PI Controller, Four phase.

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Authors: Yi-Ping Fang, Yi-Ting Wong

Abstract:

Transcription factor p53 has a powerful tumor suppressing function that is associated with many cancers. However, p53 of the molecular weight was higher make the limitation across to skin or cell membrane. Thymidine dinucleotide (pTT), an oligonucleotide, can activate the p53 transcription factor. pTT is a hydrophilic and negative charge oligonucleotide, which delivery in to cell membrane need an appropriate carrier. The aim of this study was to improve the bioavailability of the nucleotide fragment, thymidine dinucleotide (pTT), using elasic liposome carriers to deliver the drug into the skin. The study demonstrate that dioleoylphosphocholine (DOPC) incorporated with sodium cholate at molar ratio 1:1 can archived the particle size about 220 nm. This elastic liposome could penetration through skin from stratum corneum to whole epidermis by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Moreover, we observed the the slight increase in generation of p53 by western blot.

Keywords: Elastic liposome, Tymidine dinucleotide, p53, Topical delivery

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Authors: Samiul Kaiser, M. S. Kaiser

Abstract:

The influence of Mg and Zr addition on mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength and impact energy of commercially pure Al are investigated. The microstructure and fracture behavior are also studied by using Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy. It is observed that magnesium addition improves the mechanical properties of commercially pure Al at the expense of ductility due to formation of β″ (Al₃Mg) and β′ (Al₃Mg₂) phase into the alloy. Zr addition also plays a positive role through grain refinement effect and the formation of metastable L1₂ Al₃Zr precipitates. In addition, it is observed that the fractured surface of Mg added alloy is brittle and higher numbers of dimples are observed in case of Zr added alloy.

Keywords: Al-alloys, hardness, tensile strength, impact energy, microstructure.

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Authors: Christos Meletis, Paul Bougas, George Economakos , Paraskevas Kalivas, Kiamal Pekmestzi

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In this paper, we propose a new architecture for the implementation of the N-point Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), based on the Radix-2 Decimation in Frequency algorithm. This architecture is based on a pipeline circuit that can process a stream of samples and produce two FFT transform samples every clock cycle. Compared to existing implementations the architecture proposed achieves double processing speed using the same circuit complexity.

Keywords: Digital signal processing, systolic circuits, FFTalgorithm.

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Authors: B. Behera, M. K. Mishra

Abstract:

Typically thermal power plants are located near to surface coal mines that produce huge amount of fly ash as a waste byproduct. Disposal of fly ash causes significant economic and environmental problems. Now-a-days, research is going on for bulk utilization of fly ash. In order to increase its percentage utilization, an investigation was carried out to evaluate its potential for haul road construction. This paper presents the laboratory California bearing ratio (CBR) tests and evaluates the effect of lime on CBR behavior of fly ash - mine overburden mixes. Tests were performed with different percentages of lime (2%, 3%, 6%, and 9%). The results show that the increase in bearing ratio of fly ash-overburden mixes was achieved by lime treatment. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were conducted on 28 days cured specimens. The SEM study showed that the bearing ratio development is related to the microstructural development.

Keywords: California bearing ratio, Fly ash, Mine overburden, Lime.

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Authors: T.K. Tan, P.S. Khiew, W.S. Chiu, S.Radiman, R.Abd-Shukor, N.M. Huang, H.N. Lim

Abstract:

In our recent study, we have used ZnO nanoparticles assisted with UV light irradiation to investigate the photocatalytic degradation of Phenol Red (PR). The ZnO photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), specific surface area analysis (BET) and UVvisible spectroscopy. X-ray diffractometry result for the ZnO nanoparticles exhibit normal crystalline phase features. All observed peaks can be indexed to the pure hexagonal wurtzite crystal structures, with the space group of P63mc. There are no other impurities in the diffraction peak. In addition, TEM measurement shows that most of the nanoparticles are rod-like and spherical in shape and fairly monodispersed. A significant degradation of the PR was observed when the catalyst was added into the solution even without the UV light exposure. In addition, the photodegradation increases with the photocatalyst loading. The surface area of the ZnO nanomaterials from the BET measurement was 11.9 m2/g. Besides the photocatalyst loading, the effect of some parameters on the photodegradation efficiency such as initial PR concentration and pH were also studied.

Keywords: Nanostructures, phenol red, zinc oxide, heterogeneous photocatalyst.

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Authors: Mansur Hamma-Adama, Tahar Kouider

Abstract:

Construction Industry has been evolving since the development of Building Information Modelling (BIM). This technological process is unstoppable; it is out to the market with remarkable case studies of solving the long industry’s history of fragmentation. This industry has been changing over time; United States has recorded the most significant development in construction digitalization, Australia, United Kingdom and some other developed nations are also amongst promoters of BIM process and its development. Recently, a developing country like China and Malaysia are keying into the industry’s digital shift, while very little move is seen in South Africa whose development is considered higher and perhaps leader in the digital transition amongst the African countries. To authors’ best knowledge, Nigerian construction industry has never engaged in BIM discussions hence has no attention at national level. Consequently, Nigeria has no “Noteworthy BIM publications.” Decision makers and key stakeholders need to be informed on the current trend of the industry’s development (BIM in specific) and the opportunities of adopting this digitalization trend in relation to the identified challenges. BIM concept can be traced mostly in Architectural practices than engineering practices in Nigeria. A superficial BIM practice is found to be at organisational level only and operating a model based - “BIM stage 1.” Research to adopting this innovation has received very little attention. This piece of work is literature review based, aimed at exploring BIM in Nigeria and its prospects. The exploration reveals limitations in the literature availability as to extensive research in the development of BIM in the country. Numerous challenges were noticed including building collapse, inefficiencies, cost overrun and late project delivery. BIM has potentials to overcome the above challenges and even beyond. Low level of BIM adoption with reasonable level of awareness is noticed. However, lack of policy and guideline as well as serious lack of experts in the field are amongst the major barriers to BIM adoption. The industry needs to embrace BIM to possibly compete with its global counterpart.

Keywords: Adoption, BIM, CAD, construction industry, Nigeria, opportunities.

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Authors: T. Niracharapa

Abstract:

The research studied and examined the competitiveness of the animation industry in Thailand. Data were collected based on articles, related reports and websites, news, research, and interviews of key persons from both public and private sectors. The diamond model was used to analyze the study. The major factor driving the Thai animation industry forward includes a quality workforce, their creativity and strong associations. However, discontinuity in government support, infrastructure, marketing, IP creation and financial constraints were factors keeping the Thai animation industry less competitive in the global market.

Keywords: Animation, competitiveness, digital content, Thailand.

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