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Cerium oxide (ceria) contains two stable states of cerium ions (Ce3+ and Ce4+). The presence of these two states and the ability to swap from one state to another (Ce3+ ↔ Ce4+) by scavenging the highly reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated from radiolysis of water, ensure the enhanced stability of polysulfone (Psf) membranes in the γ-radiation environment. In this study, the ROS scavenging ability of ceria was studied. Ceria nanoparticles were found to scavenge ROS like hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The H2O2 scavenging is due to the peroxidase-like catalytic activity of ceria nanoparticles. The ROS scavenging is responsible for offering protection to the Psf host matrix and in turn the stability to the Psf-ceria mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) in γ-radiation environment. Thus, presence of ceria nanoparticles provides an opportunity for utilizing Psf-ceria MMMs in ionizing radiation environment with increased life span, without compromise in the performance.

HIx processing section of Iodine-Sulphur (IS) thermochemical cycle dictates the overall efficiency of the cycle, which poses extremely corrosive HI–H2O–I2 environment, coupled with a very low equilibrium conversion (~22%) of HI to hydrogen at 450 °C. Here, we report the fabrication, characterization and operation of a 4-tube packed bed catalytic tantalum (Ta) membrane reactor (MR) for enhanced HI decomposition. Gamma coated clay-alumina tubes were used as supports for fabrication of Ta membranes. Clay-alumina base support was fabricated with 92% alumina (~8 μm particle size) and 8% clay (~10 μm particle size), sintered at a temperature of 1400 °C. An intermediate gamma alumina coating was provided with 4% polyvinyl butyral as binder for a 10% solid loading. Composite alumina tubes were coated with thin films of Ta metal of thickness 80% single-pass conversion of HI to hydrogen at 450 °C. The hydrogen throughput of the reactor was ~30 LPH at a 2 bar trans-membrane pressure, with >99.95% purity. This is the first time a muti-tube MR is reported for HIx processing section of IS process.

This paper proposes a state feedback output tracking Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) to control the power of a nuclear reactor. A linearized version of nuclear reactor dynamics based on point kinetics modeling, with parameter uncertainties, is utilized for the control studies. Normalized negative gradient algorithm is used to update the controller gains adaptively. Stability of the closed loop system is established through Lyapunov analysis and Barbalet’s lemma. Performance of controller is validated through non linear simulation studies.

For the first time, a hybrid nanoparticle system of nanodiamond (ND) and cerium oxide (ceria) is used as a reinforcement material in order to enhance the γ-radiation stability of polysulfone (Psf) host membrane matrix. Control Psf and Psf–(ND + Ce) hybrid membranes are synthesized and characterized, with the loading of each nanomaterial varying from 0.25 to 0.5 wt%. The membranes are exposed to γ-radiation at different doses (up to 1000 kGy) and the effect of radiation on the Psf matrix is evaluated. Gel permeation chromatography studies confirm that the average molecular weight of the hybrid membranes is restored to a reasonable extent, in contrast to the control Psf membrane, which is reduced by 45% at a radiation dose of 1000 kGy. The optimum loading of ND and ceria in the membrane matrix is found to be 0.5% each, which offers a remarkable ∼10-fold enhancement of radiation stability compared to the control Psf membrane, making it a novel membrane material for potential applications in radioactive environments. The enhanced stability of the optimum hybrid membrane is due to the ability of ND and ceria in scavenging the secondary eaq− and OH˙ radicals, respectively, generated due to the radiolysis of water, as confirmed by the free radical scavenging studies.

We report, for the first time, the development of gamma radiation resistant polysulfone (Psf)-nanodiamond (ND) composite membranes with varying concentrations of NDs, ranging up to 2 wt% of Psf. Radiation stability of the synthesized membranes was tested up to a dose of 1000 kGy. To understand the structure-property correlationship of these membranes, multiple characterization techniques were used, including field-emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, drop shape analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, positron annihilation spectroscopy, and small angle X-ray scattering. All the composite membranes exhibited enhanced radiation resistance properties, with 0.5% loading of NDs as the optimum. Compared to the radiation stability of Psf membranes up to a dose of 100 kGy, the optimum composite membranes are found to be stable up to a radiation dose of 500 kGy, owing to the unique surface chemistry of NDs and interfacial chemistry of Psf-ND composites. Experimental findings along with the Monte Carlo simulation studies confirmed a five times enhanced life-span of the composite membranes in an environment of the intermediate level radioactive waste, compared to the control Psf membrane.

Increased postprandial glucose (PPG) is associated with high glycated haemoglobin levels and is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to compare PPG increments in Asian versus non-Asian adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D), who were insulin-naïve or insulin-experienced, from the phase 3 insulin degludec/insulin aspart (IDegAsp) clinical trials.This was a post hoc analysis of data from 13 phase 3, randomised, parallel-group, open-label IDegAsp trials in patients with T2D. The pooled baseline clinical data were analysed for insulin-naïve and insulin-experienced groups; and each group was split into subgroups of Asian and non-Asian patients, respectively, and analysed accordingly. Baseline self-monitored blood glucose (SMBG) values at breakfast, lunch and the evening meal (before and 90 min after each meal) were used to assess PPG increments. The estimated differences in baseline SMBG increment between the Asian and non-Asian subgroups were analysed.Clinical data from 4750 participants (insulin-naïve, n = 1495; insulin-experienced, n = 3255) were evaluated. In the insulin-naïve group, the postprandial SMBG increment was significantly greater in the Asian versus the non-Asian subgroup at breakfast (estimated difference 28.67 mg/dL, 95% confidence interval [CI] 18.35, 38.99; p 0.0001), lunch (17.34 mg/dL, 95% CI 6.47, 28.21; p = 0.0018) and the evening meal (16.19 mg/dL, 95% CI 5.04, 27.34; p = 0.0045). In the insulin-experienced group, the postprandial SMBG increment was significantly greater in the Asian versus non-Asian subgroup at breakfast (estimated difference 13.81 mg/dL, 95% CI 9.19, 18.44; p 0.0001) and lunch (29.18 mg/dL, 95% CI 24.22, 34.14; p 0.0001), but not significantly different at the evening meal.In this post hoc analysis, baseline PPG increments were significantly greater in Asian participants with T2D than in their non-Asian counterparts at all mealtimes, with the exception of the evening meal in insulin-experienced participants. Asian adults with T2D may benefit from the use of regimens that control PPG excursions.NCT02762578, NCT01814137, NCT01513590, NCT01009580, NCT01713530, NCT02648217, NCT01045447, NCT01365507, NCT01045707, NCT01272193, NCT01059812, NCT01680341, NCT02906917.

The purpose of this study was to develop fast dissolving tablets of Aceclofenac using different concentration of super disintegrants. Fast dissolving tablets of Aceclofenac were prepared by dry granulation technique using croscarmellose sodium together with avicel ph as superdisintegrants. The porous granules were then compressed in to tablets by direct compression technique. These tablets were evaluated for drug content, weight variation, friability, hardness, wetting time and dispersion time. All the formulations showed low weight variation with dispersion time less than 90 seconds and rapid in vitro dissolution. The drug content of all the formulations was within the acceptable limits. The optimized formulation showed good release profile i.e. maximum drug being released at all-time intervals compared to other trial batches. It was concluded that fast dissolving tablets with improved dissolution could be prepared by dry granulation method of tablet. Keywords: Aceclofenac, fast dissolving tablet, dry granulation, super disintegrants.

The steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP) based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) generally deploy flickering stimuli with different frequencies in order to generate different commands. This paper presents a setup that can be used to generate multiple commands from a single flickering stimulus using magnitude modulation of SSVEP through eye-accommodation. In this setup, a flickering stimulus was shown on the computer screen and a passive fixation target was placed between the screen and the subject. The eye-accommodation mechanism to focus on the target between the screen and the subject, caused the flickering stimulus to become blurred which reduced the magnitude of the evoked SSVEP response. The reduced magnitude SSVEP response can be used to generate another command over the command generated when the subject focuses directly on the stimulus. The fixation target was placed at 3 different positions that can provide up to 4 commands from the single flicker stimulus. Fifteen healthy human subjects participated in the experiments. The mean offline accuracies obtained for 2-class, 3-class, and 4-class extraction were 100%, 94.2 ± 6.1%, and 80.9 ± 9.7% respectively for a 4-seconds time window.

A novel polysulfone–cerium oxide (Psf–ceria) mixed-matrix membrane (MMM) with enhanced γ radiation resistant property was developed. Ceria nanoparticles were synthesized by gel-combustion route and...

Bacterial contaminated water causes potential health issues. Conventional chlorine treatment has shortcomings of environmental hazards and chlorine adoptability by the bacterial cells. Ultrafiltration membrane can intercept bacterial species from feed water. Membrane having anti-biofouling/antifouling properties is needed for the removal of bacteria from feed water. Herein, interpolymer membranes with inherent antimicrobial activity and fouling release property have been prepared by the blend of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) and partially long chain alkylated (C12 chain) poly(vinyl imidazole) copolymer (PVIm-co-PVIm-C12) followed by cross-linking of the remaining VIm groups with an activated di-halide compound. The membranes obtain with copolymers of degree of alkyl substitution (DS

This paper presents a combination of use of gamma rays and iterative Computed Tomography (CT) algorithm to reduce metal artifacts also known as streak artifacts in Industrial Computed Tomography (ICT) imaging. ICT imaging method generally makes use of the popular Filtered Back Projection (FBP) algorithm. In a typical ICT data scan this method is seen to create streak artifacts. One of the reasons for streak artifacts is polychromatic nature of X ray beam causing beam hardening effect while other reasons like radiation scatter and photon starvation are also responsible. Use of gamma rays may help in countering beam hardening but still we find streaks in CT image. In addition to use of gamma rays, metal artifacts are reduced by employing iterative reconstruction algorithms like Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization (MLEM). MLEM is chosen because it is faster and guarantees convergence. Here we have studied the effect of employing gamma rays and MLEM algorithm on metal artifact at different iterations.

This is the first study undertaken towards development of mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) with enhanced radiation resistant attributes by reinforcement of nanostructured Gd2Zr2O7 (GZO) within polysulfone (Psf) host-matrix. The study describes synthesis and characterization of GZO in disordered, defect-fluorite structure, having average crystallite size of 31(±3) nm. Membranes prepared with different loading of GZO (up to 2 w/w% of Psf) are exposed to γ-radiation up to a dose of 1000 kGy in aqueous environment. The effect of radiation on the structural, mechanical, and thermo-oxidative properties of MMMs has been compared with that of radiation-sensitive Psf membrane. The ultrafiltration performance of the (un)irradiated Psf and MMMs reveal that an optimum reinforcement of GZO at 1 (w/wPsf)% offers ~10 times radiation resistant MMM, compared to that of Psf membrane. The MMM with 1 (w/wPsf)% GZO was rolled into 2512 spiral configuration and a highly-compact device was developed for treatment of radioactive effluent. Based on the flux decline behaviour over 18 months duration, the fouling behaviour of the MMM module was modelled. The life-span of the MMM was predicted based on the absorbed radiation dose, GZO leaching study, and fouling behaviour. It is proposed that GZO mitigates a fraction of the impinged γ-energy in swapping of the Gd3+ and Zr4+ sites, which protects the polymeric host-matrix in-situ from radiation induced degradation. The abundance of Gd3+ and Zr4+ associated with polar O2− over the impregnated GZO further stabilizes MMMs through scavenging of the oxidizing and reducing radiolysed products of water. Thus, we report a smart approach to develop novel MMM with greater life-expectancy against high-energy radiation and further fabricate a membrane-based device for management of liquid radioactive waste.

Cerium oxide (ceria) contains two stable states of cerium ions (Ce3+ and Ce4+). The presence of these two states, and the ability to swap from one state to another (Ce3+ ↔ Ce4+) by scavenging the highly reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated from radiolysis of water, ensures the enhanced stability of polysulfone (Psf) membranes in the γ-radiation environment. In this study, the ROS scavenging ability of ceria was studied. Ceria nanoparticles were found to scavenge hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide by mimicking peroxidase-like activity. This is responsible for offering protection to the Psf host matrix, and in turn the stability to the Psf-ceria mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) in γ-radiation environment. Thus, presence of ceria nanoparticles provides an opportunity for the application of Psf-ceria MMMs in radioactive effluent treatment with increased life span, without compromise in the performance.

HI decomposition in Iodine-Sulfur (IS) thermochemical process for hydrogen production is one of the critical steps, which suffers from low equilibrium conversion as well as highly corrosive environment. Corrosion-resistant metal membrane reactor is proposed to be a process intensification tool, which can enable efficient HI decomposition by enhancing the equilibrium conversion value. Here we report corrosion resistance studies on tantalum, niobium and palladium membranes, along with their comparative evaluation. Thin layer each of tantalum, palladium and niobium was coated on tubular alumina support of length 250 mm and 10 mm OD using DC sputter deposition technique. Small pieces of the coated tubes were subject to immersion coupon tests in HI-water environment (57 wt% HI in water) at a temperature of 125–130 °C under reflux environment, and simulated HI decomposition environment at 450 °C. The unexposed and exposed cut pieces were analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS). The extent of leaching of metal into liquid HI was quantified using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). Findings confirmed that tantalum is the most resistant membrane material in HI environment (liquid and gas) followed by niobium and palladium.

In a typical catalytic trickle bed type of process reactor, capturing representations of steady-state flow features as well as situations like channelling or bypassing is a challenging task. Transmission-type industrial process tomography (PT) based on gamma radiation can be employed in many chemical and process industries as a tool for localizing the problem area for quick and economical troubleshooting. Industrial PT technology often makes use of either penetrating radiation like radioisotope based gamma rays, X-rays, microwaves or ultrasonic waves. We have developed a new gamma-ray transmission tomography system in collaboration with the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL R&D Unit, Faridabad, India). The system makes use of thirty two scintillator based gamma-ray detectors in addition to a host of other sub-systems. This paper evaluates the performance of the system considering systematic and automated data acquisition, capabilities of the reconstruction software as well as experimental verification using actual flow dynamics in the process column to map the steady state three phase liquid gas flow distribution across a plane in the presence of catalyst.

This paper proposes a machine vision scheme for denoising, feature space gradient preserving, and detecting weld defects in noisy weld X-radiography images; particularly, for the images that are in low-contrast and contain noises. The detection of small weld defects present on noisy image is extremely difficult in non-destructive testing through machine vision. The presence of high gradient magnitude and the low intensity in the feature space of a noisy image are the main characteristics of weld defects. These characteristics can be considered to refine and obtain noise-free images for detection of weld defects. This study proposes a modified anisotropic diffusion model, which considers a local probability value of gray-level and an adaptive threshold parameter in diffusion coefficient function to adjust the implication of low edge gradient of the feature space from the noisy image. Furthermore, an entropy based stopping criterion has been introduced to terminate the diffusion process. This proposed model is compared with the existing models, and its performance is evaluated through Mean Square Error (MSE), Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Entropy (E) and Mean Structural Similarity (MSSIM) measures. Experimental results confirm the reliability of the proposed model.

It is highly desirable to increase the accuracy of automatic weld defect detection in X-radiography for non-destructive testing and evaluation. For this purpose, a machine vision method is proposed for weld defect segmentation, using the Least Probability Weighted Background Group (LPWBG), an improved version of Otsu's method. This automatically selects a desired threshold value for segmenting the weld defects by adapting the Weibull distribution. The least non-zero probability value of gray-levels of the whole image has been considered as a weighted parameter of the background group of Otsu's within-class criterion. It has been determined that the resulting threshold value will always lie at the left bottom side of the unimodal distribution, especially when the defects are smaller than the background area. Existing approaches such as Otsu's threshold, valley-emphasis, neighborhood valley-emphasis, and weighted object variance have similarly been tried and compared with the proposed method. Our results establish that the proposed method provides satisfactory segmentation results over the others. The performance of the LPWBG method has been both evaluated and compared, using Misclassification Error measure (ME) with significant results.

The third section of closed loop Iodine Sulphur (IS) thermochemical cycle, dealing with HI x processing, suffers from low equilibrium decomposition of HI to hydrogen with a conversion value of only ∼22% at 700 K. Here, we report a significant enhancement in conversion of HI into hydrogen (up to ∼95%) using a zeolite membrane reactor for the first time. The all silica DDR (deca dodecasil rhombohedral) zeolite membrane with dense, interlocked structure was synthesized on the seeded clay alumina substrate by sonication mediated hydrothermal process. The synthesized membranes along with seed crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Corrosion studies were carried out by exposing the membrane samples to simulated HI decomposition reaction environment (at 450 °C) for different durations of time upto 200 h. The FESEM, EDX and XRD analyses indicated that no significant changes occurred in the morphology, composition and structure of the membranes. Iodine adsorption on to the membrane surface was observed which got increased with the exposure duration as confirmed by secondary ion mass spectrometry studies. A packed bed membrane reactor (PBMR) assembly was fabricated with integration of in-house synthesized zeolite membrane and Pt-alumina catalyst for carrying out HI decomposition studies. The tube side was chosen as reaction zone and the shell side as the permeation zone. The HI decomposition experiments were carried out for different values of temperature and feed flow rates. DDR zeolite based PBMR was found to enhance the single-pass conversion of HI up to ∼95%. The results indicate that for achieving optimal performance of PBMR, it should be operated with space velocities of 0.2–0.3 s −1 and temperature in the range of 650 K–700 K with permeate side vacuum of 0.12 kg/cm 2 . It is believed that the in-house developed zeolite PBMR shall be a potential technology augmentation in making the IS thermochemical cycle energy efficient.

HI decomposition reaction in Iodine–Sulphur (IS) thermochemical process for hydrogen production is one of the critical steps, which suffers from low equilibrium conversion. Metallic membrane reactor is proposed to be a process intensification tool that can enable efficient HI decomposition by overcoming the equilibrium limitation of the reaction. In this study, we report the fabrication and characterization of clay alumina supported tantalum (Ta) membrane and its application in packed bed catalytic membrane reactor for HI decomposition section of IS process for the first time. The alumina tubes were coated with thin film of Ta metal of thickness 2.5 μm using DC sputter deposition technique under the optimum set of parameters. The membranes were found to remain stable upto 200 Hrs of exposure under HI-H2O environment at 125 °C. Modeling of a packed bed Ta membrane reactor for HI decomposition was carried out to find out the optimum operating parameters of the membrane reactor to get a conversion of at least 95%. A packed bed membrane reactor (PBMR) assembly was fabricated with integration of the in-house synthesized Ta membrane and Pt-alumina catalyst for carrying out HI decomposition studies at 450 °C. The tube side was chosen as permeation zone and the shell side as the reaction zone. A single-pass conversion of 94.7% of HI to hydrogen was obtained by employing Ta metal membrane reactor against the theoretical equilibrium conversion value of 22%. The findings showed that Ta-based PBMR shall offer a potential benefit to reach higher efficiency of IS thermochemical process.

Nanomaterials potentially minimize the inherent trade-off between productivity and selectivity of membranebased ultrafiltration (UF) process. A comparative study on the reinforcement effect of pristine carbon nanotubes (CNTs) of three different configurations, viz. single-walled (SWNT), double-walled (DWNT) and multi-walled (MWNT), and their carboxylated counterparts, onto a polysulfone (Psf) host matrix of mixed-matrix UF membranes is illustrated herein. The varying structural features of carboxylated CNTs, probed by XPS analysis, underpin the enrichment of CNTs with oxygen rich functionalities following the trend of MWNT > DWNT > SWNT. The membranes with enhanced hydrophilicity and altered electrokinetics substantiate the efficacy of facilitated reinforcement of functionalized CNTs over the pristine ones. Variations in surface topography and mechanical feature of the membranes elucidate that carboxylation influences the interfacial chemistry by enhancing the dispersion stability of MWNTs more profoundly than its configurational counterparts like SWNTs and DWNTs, and concurrently alters its distribution within the membranous matrix. The enhanced ultrafiltration performances, as achieved by twofold enhancement in solvent fluxes without compromise in the solute rejection capabilities (~89–90% toward PEG, Mw: 35 kDa), confirm the potential of carboxylated CNTs in leading to development of high-performance mixed-matrix membranes.

Generally, the Steady-State Visually Evoked Potential (SSVEP) based Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) or the BCIs based on some other paradigm offer a discrete kind of control. This paper proposes a setup to extract continuous control using the SSVEP paradigm. This was achieved by voluntarily controlling the SSVEP magnitude with eye-accommodation. Using a flickering stimulus with 15 Hz frequency, a setup with 7 passive fixation targets on a linear scale was placed between the subject and the screen. The subject could vary the magnitude of the evoked SSVEP by focusing on different targets. A mathematical relationship was formulated between the SSVEP magnitude and the distance being focused on using the training data. Using the test data, the mathematical model was used to predict the distance being focused on from the evoked SSVEP magnitude for which the mean accuracy came out to be 4.7 cm for 8 healthy human subjects. The proposed setup can be used to predict the distance being focused on from the magnitude of the evoked SSVEP. which can then be mapped to some continuous control parameter of a Brain-Computer Interface.

This paper aims to study the effect of eye-accommodation on the occipital EEG and its potential use in a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). 6 subjects were asked to focus on a computer screen in one case and on a target kept between the subjects and the screen in the other case. This constituted a 2-class problem. The optimal frequency bands were found which provided maximum classification accuracy for the 2-class problem for each of the subjects. The mean offline accuracy achieved for a 3 s time window was 91.63\pm 6.84% which shows that the proposed technique can be used as a potential BCI switch.

The Brain-Computer Interfaces are quite useful for persons with neurodegenerative disorders. This paper presents such an interface which is useful and intuitive for arbitrary pick and place tasks. We have developed a higher-level interface in which the user has to select the location of an object on his/her computer screen, which needs to be picked up or the location where the object needs to be placed. After providing the location, the robot directly reaches to pick the object or to place the object at the selected location. To select these locations, we have utilized a 2-class SSVEP paradigm. Using the SSVEP and eye-blinks, the user is able to perform pick and place task at arbitrary locations.

HIx decomposition step of the Iodine-Sulphur (IS) thermochemical process for hydrogen production is the most critical step. The Coated Wall Membrane Reactor (CWMR) is an important configuration that can be used for carrying out HI decomposition. The present study uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as a tool to assess the performance of a CWMR that ensures higher conversion for HI decomposition, which in turn positively affects the overall thermochemical efficiency of the IS process. The effects of various operating parameters, geometry and properties on conversion are studied. The results show that using a CWMR instead of a coated wall reactor (CWR) leads to significant process intensification by coupling reaction and separation in a single unit and enhancing conversion of the reaction. The operating parameters having significant impact on conversion are identified. Comparison of a CWMR with a Packed Bed Membrane Reactor (PBMR) shows that the PBMR gives higher conversion (at least 6%) than the CWMR for the entire range of parameters considered. For very low space velocity, high membrane permeability and low reactor diameters, conversions in PBMR and CWMR are almost the same.

A distinctive and impactful idea has been materialized to develop high-performance mixed-matrix ultrafiltration (UF) membranes using non-solvent induced phase inversion technique, utilizing various optimized compositions of polymer – polysulfone (Psf) and bactericidal nanostructured material, i.e., silver nanoparticles (Ag-nps). Membranes in sheet-configuration with high void volumes were synthesized employing large amount of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as porogen. The resultant porous morphology and surface chemistry, i.e., surface hydrophilicity and electrokinetic features were assessed by instrumental techniques. The notable separation performances were observed as the membranes exhibited very high solvent throughput with reasonable anti-microbial activity. It has been substantiated that the nanoparticles upon impregnation within such a benign matrix of polymer exerted more pronounced mechanistic role towards anti-microbial efficacy on Escherichia coli, since as a survival mechanism the bacteria undergoing flagellar locomotory motion started experiencing negative chemotactic responses under the modified circumstances. With an objective of applying the salient features of such membranes, the facile methodical attempt was utilized in fabricating a domestic water purification device, with the membrane in candle-configuration for treatment of environmentally relevant aquatic media. It has been corroborated that our impactful approach towards development of an efficient water purification methodology (solvent throughput: 2500 LMH/bar and bacterial rejection: 99.99%) confirms the significance of membrane technology as a green and sustainable process with provision of easy scale up, energy and cost efficiency.

The need of vehicular license plate recognition system (VLPR) has arisen based on the need to implement traffic control on transportation systems, since early 1970s. Since then, researchers are continuously proposing various approaches and solutions. One of the significant and challenging tasks is to localize the license plate of the moving car. Since the license plate standards are not strictly practiced in world, a large amount of variations are obtained like, size, location, type of font used, background and foreground colour, and so on. The principal component analysis (PCA) is one of the widely used and most successful techniques that have been used in image recognition and compression. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to identify the license plate using PCA.

Industrial Computed Tomography (ICT) is a radiation based cross sectional imaging technique that requires a sample to be manipulated precisely in a specific geometry to acquire analytically useful data. Unlike medical CT, industrial CT may require use of gamma radiation from radio-isotopes like Co60, Cs137 etc. having higher energy radiations for penetrating through higher density and thickness of material under inspection. Data acquisition in ICT involves use of a mechanical manipulator to rotate either the specimen or the source and detectors assembly in circular and linear geometry. Misalignment in mechanical set-up leads to significant artifacts in CT image. The effects may be even more pronounced in data acquired with discrete detector as against Linear Detector Array (LDA) because of certain built-in mechanical integrity associated with LDA. This paper discusses cross correlation based software correction method for combination of gamma ray source and NaI (Tl) scintillation detector based transmission ICT system in parallel beam CT geometry. The proposed correction does not require calibration of the set-up and any prior knowledge of the sample geometry or composition. This data driven correction yields improved CT reconstruction with limited data. The method is demonstrated with a mathematical simulation and applied to experimental data for validation.

Nanodiamond (ND) particles of different size (10, 250, and 500 nm) were used as filler materials for preparation of polysulfone-nanodiamond (Psf-ND) mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs), with loading of each ND particle varying from 0.1 to 2 wt% of polymer. Control Psf and MMMs were irradiated up to a γ-radiation dose of 1000 kGy. The effect of ND size was investigated on morphology, surface and mechanical properties, and performance of membranes in γ-radiation environment. The membranes were characterized by surface and cross-section SEM images, AFM, water contact angle studies, GPC, UTM, pure water permeability, and solute (PEO, 100 kDa) rejection measurements. The 10 nm sized ND enhanced the stability and performance of MMM up to 0.5% loading, while higher loading of it led to agglomeration of ND, and in-turn the deterioration of membrane performance. ND with larger particle size (250 and 500 nm), though dispersed homogeneously in the membrane matrix, but resulted in interfacial defects between ND and Psf host membrane matrix. The MMM with an optimum 0.5% loading of ND10 particles offered ~5 times enhanced radiation stability, as compared to that of control Psf membrane. This is the first of its kind study reported herein that provides an insight into the effect of ND particle size in altering the radiation resistance behaviour of MMMs.

Polysulfone (Psf) is the most commonly used polymer for the ultrafiltration membrane applications. Though it is regarded as high-performance engineering thermoplastic, it has γ -radiation stability only up to 100 kGy. When exposed to γ -radiation, the polymeric chains undergo scission and cross-linking, leading to a change in the cross-linking density and degradation in membrane performance. For the first time, carboxylated nanodiamonds (CND) are incorporated into Psf matrix in order to enhance the radiation resistant property of the membranes. Psf-CND composite membranes were fabricated with different loadings of CND (0.1–1 wt%) and exposed to different doses of γ -radiation up to 1000 kGy. The nanomaterials and (un) irradiated membranes were characterised using different instrumental techniques like FESEM, TEM, XPS, DSA, UTM, and DSC. It is claimed that CND helps in homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles in the membrane matrix while protecting it from the radiation environment by scavenging of radiolysed products of water. The membrane with an optimum loading of 0.5% CND was found to be stable up to 1000 kGy of radiation dose which is 10 times as compared to that of control Psf membrane. The present study has significantly opened up opportunities for enhancing the deployment of polymeric membranes in radioactive effluent treatment.

Polymeric membranes are routinely used for water purification. The performance of these conventional membranes can be improved by incorporating nanomaterials, such as metal oxide nanoparticle and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). This manuscript reports the synthesis and characterization of polysulfone (Psf) based nanocomposite membranes where multi wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and oleic acid coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been impregnated onto the polymeric host matrix. The performance of the membranes was evaluated by water permeability and solute rejection measurements. It was observed that the permeability of Psf membrane increases three times at 0.1% loading of MWCNT without compromise in selectivity. It was further observed that the increase in permeability is not affected upon addition of Fe3O4 nanoparticles into the membrane. In order to get a better insight into the membrane microstructure, small angle neutron scattering (SANS) studies were carried out. There is a good correlation between the water permeability and the pore sizes of the membranes as measured using SANS.Polymeric membranes are routinely used for water purification. The performance of these conventional membranes can be improved by incorporating nanomaterials, such as metal oxide nanoparticle and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). This manuscript reports the synthesis and characterization of polysulfone (Psf) based nanocomposite membranes where multi wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and oleic acid coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been impregnated onto the polymeric host matrix. The performance of the membranes was evaluated by water permeability and solute rejection measurements. It was observed that the permeability of Psf membrane increases three times at 0.1% loading of MWCNT without compromise in selectivity. It was further observed that the increase in permeability is not affected upon addition of Fe3O4 nanoparticles into the membrane. In order to get a better insight into the membrane microstructure, small angle neutron scattering (SANS) studies were carried out. There is a good correlation between the water per...