Highly crystallized mullite has been synthesized at a temperature of 1000 ˚C by the sol–gel technique in the presence of copper ions of different concentrations. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and an LCR meter. Mullite formation was found to depend strongly on the concentration of the copper ions, copper acting as an effective mineralizer that lowers the mullitization temperature. The dielectric properties (dielectric constant, tangent loss and a.c. conductivity) of the composites have been measured, and their variation with increasing frequency and concentration of the doped metal was investigated. All the experiments were performed at room temperature. The composite showed a minimum dielectric constant of about 3.30 at G 1 (M) concentration of copper at 1.5 MHz.

The effectiveness of microbe-induced soil improvement depends on physical and chemical environmental factors, surface characteristics of EPS and mineral grains. The structure, composition, and chemical characteristics of EPS of two soil-residing bacteria, Bacillus megaterium RB-05 and Lysinibacillus sp. DRG3, and their attachment mechanism on quartz-feldspar sand under slow fluvial action have been investigated in this study. They were grown within loose sand exposed to surface velocities of up to 0.006 mm/s over a period of up to 48 h. Microbial growth, EPS content, and hydrogen bonding between EPS macromolecules and sand particles were found greater under fluvial conditions. These changes made EPS more compact, continuous, viscous, hydrophobic, and efficient in microbe-mediated sand strengthening. EPS macromolecules attach with each other via hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interaction as well as hydrophobic interaction, and on sand particles through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction. Results indicated that electrostatic attraction between EPS macromolecules and the sand surface appears to be more effective in an acidic environment and would weaken somewhat with increasing flow velocity and environmental alkalinity. However, increased hydrogen bonding and EPS production in fluvial conditions are likely to offset the weakening of the EPS attachment on the sand surface resulting from weakened electrostatic attractions.

N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc) is a commercially important amino sugar for its wide range of applications in pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics and biofuel industries. In nature, GlcNAc is polymerised into chitin biopolymer, which is one of the major constituents of fungal cell wall and outer shells of crustaceans. Sea food processing industries generate a large volume of chitin as biopolymeric waste. Because of its high abundance, chitinaceous shellfish wastes have been exploited as one of the major precursor substrates of GlcNAc production, both in chemical and enzymatic means. Nevertheless, the current process of GlcNAc extraction from shellfish wastes generates poor turnover and attracts environmental hazards. Moreover, GlcNAc isolated from shellfish could not be prescribed to certain groups of people because of the allergic nature of shell components. Therefore, an alternative route of GlcNAc production is advocated. With the advancement of metabolic construction and synthetic biology, microbial synthesis of GlcNAc is gaining much attention nowadays. Several new and cutting-edge technologies like substrate co-utilization strategy, promoter engineering, and CRISPR interference system were proposed in this fascinating area. The study would put forward the potential application of microbial engineering in the production of important pharmaceuticals. Very recently, autotrophic fermentation of GlcNAc synthesis has been proposed. The metabolic engineering approaches would offer great promise to mitigate the issues of low yield and high production cost, which are major challenges in microbial bio-processes industries. Further process optimization, optimising metabolic flux, and efficient recovery of GlcNAc from culture broth, should be investigated in order to achieve a high product titer. The current study presents a comprehensive review on microbe-based eco-friendly green methods that would pave the way towards the development of future research directions in this field for the designing of a cost-effective fermentation process on an industrial setup.

In this study, growth and enzyme production of Bacillus megaterium RB-05 was achieved at varying parameters such as temperature, incubation time, pH, carbon source and nitrogen source. Naturally occurring sand with 97

Limited availability of simple yet adequately validated tools for estimating the deformation potential of municipal solid waste (MSW) material poses difficulty in planning and managing landfill operations. Estimation of settlement of MSW landfills has remained a challenge because of heterogeneity and time-varying mechanical behavior of MSW materials and difficulty of extracting representative samples and reconstituting them for laboratory testing. An empirical correlation is proposed here for estimating the short-term settlement of landfill materials. The relationship was developed by calibrating laboratory data from axial (1D) compression and consolidated drained triaxial tests against field-measured shear wave velocities from five landfill sites with varied waste compositions. The correlation was validated against three full scale load tests; one obtained in this research and two reported by others, and a field compaction study from a fourth landfill. Although the proposed correlation was more accurate than an alternative developed earlier, overall it underestimated settlements by about 12%. The proposed relationship could therefore provide a conservative guidance in MSW landfill design and operation.

Background: Oxalate ligand-based metal complexes have long been used for the thermal synthesis of metal oxides. Polymeric homo/heterometallic oxalate-based molecular materials of the general formula, {A]MIIMIII[C2O4]3]}∞, [A = organic cation, MII/MIII: di/trivalent transition metal ion; C2O4: oxalate ligand] provides a molecular source to prepare metal oxides through solid state thermal decomposition primarily due to the potential to tune the materials’ outcome by adjusting the molecular stoichiometry and composition. Objective: The study aims to explore the effect of mixing at the di- and trivalent metal sites of {N[n-C4H9]4]FeIIFeIII[C2O4]3]}∞ which decomposes to hematite, on the nature of thermal decomposition reaction as well as the nature of the obtained decomposed materials. Methods: Two series of materials {N[n-C4H9]4]FeII 1-xZnII xFeIII[C2O4]3]}∞ and {N[n- C4H9]4]FeIIFeIII 1-xCrIII x[C2O4]3]}∞ were prepared as precursors for non-isothermal thermogravimetry [TG] study. Model-free integral isoconversional method is employed to calculate the activation energy of decomposition, and hence the most probable reaction mechanism, as well as the reaction rate of thermal decomposition, was determined. Based on the kinetic parameters, the important thermodynamic parameters such as the changes of entropy, enthalpy, and Gibbs free energy are estimated for the activated complex formation from the precursors. Powder X-ray diffraction studies were made to identify the decomposed materials. Results: For materials with 0 < x ≤ 1 well-defined two-step and one-step decomposition process were observed for {N[n-C4H9]4]FeII 1-xZnII xFeIII[C2O4]3]}∞ and {N[n- C4H9]4]FeIIFeIII 1-xCrIII x[C2O4]3]}∞, respectively. For each series of materials, a systematic dependence of the activation energy on the extent of conversion indicates a systematic change in the reactivity. The thermal decomposition strongly depends on the extent of mixing at the di- and trivalent sites and proceeds through different reaction mechanisms at different rates. On the decomposition of these series of materials, a range of metal oxides was obtained. Possibly, during such extent of mixing dependent reactions, the reactant particles go through modifications in their reactivity by several factors. Conclusion: Present work may invoke interest in solid state synthesis of different metal oxides under controlled thermal decomposition by identifying the rate controlling the process through reaction kinetics study for better synthesis and manoeuvring.

The efficacy of microbially mediated stabilization of soil mass depends on soil aggregation and further depends on the complex interplay of environmental parameters, microbial extracellular metabolic products, and surface characteristics of soil particles. Failures of flood control dikes or similar structures often culminate from minor erosion of soil particles initiated by groundwater seepage. Although the introduction of microbial metabolic products in controlling soil erosion has been studied by researchers, the influence of slow fluvial activities on the composition, characteristics, and their impacts on attachment mechanisms of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on soil surfaces have remained unexplored. Impacts of slow fluvial activities on the amount and chemical composition of EPS produced by Lysinibacillus sp. DRG3, a nonpathogenic soil bacterium, and the attachment mechanisms of the EPS produced under noncalcifying, nonureolytic, and ureolytic calcifying bioprocesses on the sand surfaces were investigated. DRG3-inoculated specimens were incubated in the presence of steady circulation of aqueous media containing minimal concentrations of minerals and carbon and nitrogen sources to simulate groundwater movements through soil. Quantity, compactness, continuity, and viscosity of EPS and the amounts of carbohydrate, protein, lipid, DNA, and RNA found in EPS increased with circulation velocity and incubation duration. EPS were found to attach to sand through electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding. Internally, EPS components interacted with each other through electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interaction. Electrostatic interaction appeared to weaken with increasing media circulation intensity and alkalinity. In contrast, EPS production and hydrogen bonding intensified under increased media circulation. Results of this investigation suggest microbe-mediated soil aggregation becomes stronger and more efficient under slow media circulation and are expected to have implications on microbially mediated soil stabilization, particularly in addressing soil erosion. This study provides useful insights for successful field implementation of biomediated soil stabilization. Work presented herein also demonstrates a role for microbial activities found in subterranean environments in strengthening an existing sand deposit.

Microbe-induced reduction of soil erodibility, since natural, is expected not to disrupt the natural environmental system. Although the role of bacteriogenic EPS in aggregating soil particles is widely recognized but the impact of various environmental parameters e.g., groundwater velocity and nutrient availability on bacteriogenic EPS in reducing the erodibility of soil is not very clear. In this study, a species of EPS producing soil bacteria Bacillus megaterium RB-05 isolated from a naturally cemented intertidal silt site was used to investigate the influence of flow velocity and nutrient availability on microbially mediated reduction of erodibility of sand. Durations of nutrient availability and media circulation velocity were observed to influence the bacterial population, amounts and composition of EPS found within sand specimens. Drained shear strength of loose sand samplers was found to increase due to EPS-related interparticle aggregation. EPS produced under fluvial activities seems to be more capable in aggregating sand grains as well as reducing erodibility of sand. Results of model sand erosion test further strengthen this conclusion.

Heart disease has become a common cause of death with one in every four death being affected which includes conditions from abnormal heart rhythms or blood vessel diseases called the cardiovascular diseases. In this paper we have made an approach to find a solution where a person can detect heart rhythms at an initial stage and take necessary actions. Throughout the paper, we have analyzed the standard and the measured values of QRS complex wave function variables which are the graphical deflection parameters of an ECG. The percentage error is the actual deflection from standard values. Heart attack generally occurs when there is a blockage in the path of flow of blood while flowing through the blood vessels. The pulse rate of heart is determined by its electrical activity of heart over a period of time.

Background: Management and separation of radioactive iodine from wastewater of nuclear power plants is time-dependent and needs lot of efforts. Changes of surface chemistry due to radioactive irradiations are the major issue for developing an efficient adsorbent for separation of radionuclei from wastewater. Methods: This article presented a promising case of separation of non-radioactive iodine from aqueous solution using neem oil phenolic resin treated lignocellulosic biomass. The resin was prepared with some ingredients with known properties of radiation absorption. Findings: The data pointed that the treated biomass has the efficacy of iodine separation from aqueous solution within wide range of pH. The iodine sorption followed the Langmuir isotherm indicating a monolayer surface adsorption reaction. The maximum iodine removal efficacy of the resin treated biomass was 3.64 mg/ g. The iodine adsorption was found to follow the pseudo second order reaction. The kinetic analysis also indicated that both surface adsorption and intraparticle diffusion were likely to control the rate of iodine -adsorbent. The treated adsorbent also showed iodine removal efficacy in column mode. The resin used for the treatment of lignocellulosic biomass was prepared using cashew nut shell liquid and phenol-formaldehyde that are known for their radiation adsorption and antioxidant properties. Thus, neem oil cashew nut shell liquid containing phenol formaldehyde resin treated biomass is expected to be stable under radioactive radiation. As radioactive iodine generation is a common phenomenon for nuclear power plant the bio-based chemical modified lignocellulosic adsorbent could be a promising alternative. However, more detail investigations with radioactive iodine containing real wastewater from nuclear power plant is needed for validation of our statement. (c) 2021 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Does addition of lignocellulosic fibers alter the rate of hydration of fiber-reinforced cementitious composites? This question is being probed in this paper through a series of tests involving thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations along with standard setting time tests. It could be observed that retardation of hydration rate can be achieved with addition of increasing percentage of fibers (irrespective of the source: jute or ramie). It is also observed that treated jute has more hydration rate retardation capability in comparison to that of treated ramie. The probable reason for this effect is that the amorphous part of cellulose (obtained more in treated jute in comparison to that of treated ramie) attaches to the Ca2+ ions (thereby decreasing the amount of Ca(OH)(2) released in fiber-reinforced cement paste) in the calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) gel to result in this retardation effect.

Being a natural process, microbe-induced reduction of soil erodibility is expected not to disrupt the natural environmental system and/or coastal ecology. Although the role of bacteriogenic EPS in reinforcing soil grains is widely recognized but the impact of various environmental parameters e.g., groundwater velocity and nutrient availability on bacteriogenic EPS in reducing the erodibility of soil is not very clear. In this study a species of EPS producing soil bacteria Bacillus megaterium RB-05 isolated from a naturally cemented site was used. Durations of nutrient availability and media circulation velocity were observed to influence the bacterial population, amounts and composition of EPS found within sand specimens. Under fluvial activities, amount of EPS and its components - carbohydrate, protein and lipid contents were found to increase by about 160%, 120%, 130% and 135% respectively. EPS produced under fluvial activities seems to be more capable in aggregating sand grains as well as reducing erosion susceptibility of sand. Results of model sand erosion test conducted to demonstrate proof-of-concept in reducing erosion susceptibility of sand treated by the RB-05 EPS further strengthen this conclusion.

Chitin is a linear homo-polymer of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc) and the second most abundant biopolymer after cellulose. Several industries rely on the bioprocesses for waste chitin recycle and hydrolysis by chitinase (EC 3.2.1.14) for potential healthcare applications through the production of its monomeric subunit, GlcNAc. In the present study, a chitinase-producing fungus (named as MFSRK-S42) was isolated from the marine water sample of North Bay of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It was identified as Aspergillus terreus by morphological and molecular characterization methods leveraging the internal transcribed spacer between 18S rRNA and 5.8S rRNA. Chitinase that was isolated from the fermentation broth of marine Aspergillus terreus was used to carry out biotransformation of chitineaceous wastes. Prior to the enzymatic hydrolysis step, chitins from different sources were characterized for the presence of characteristic functional groups, grain size distribution, and surface morphology. Enzymatic hydrolysis of 50 mg/ml substrate with six units of enzyme incubated for 5 days revealed 15, 36.5, 40, and 46 mg/ml GlcNAc production from ground prawn shell, chitin flakes, colloidal prawn shell, and swollen chitin respectively under standardized conditions, as determined by HPLC. In this study, 30, 73, 80, and 92% GlcNAc yields were observed from ground prawn shell, chitin flakes, colloidal prawn shell, and swollen chitin conversion respectively. The HPLC-eluted product was confirmed as GlcNAc by the presence of characteristic functional groups in FTIR and 244 Da molecular weight peak in HRMS analyses.

Excessive fluoride (above 1.5 mg/L) containing water consumption for prolonged periods could pose health hazards, for example, dental fluorosis. Longer exposure could also cause skeletal fluorosis leading to the permanent deformity to skeleton. In the current context, use of biomasses for defluoridation would be a most economic and sustainable option for water defluoridation over the available alternatives. This article presents a brief summary of processes used biomasses for fluoride removal from aqueous solutions. This article also discusses the theoretical and instrumental approaches used by the researchers till date to understand the defluoridation mechanisms. The literature survey pointed that theoretical models such as Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, pseudo‐first‐order and second‐order kinetic models, and different thermodynamic equations were also used to define the defluoridation by biomasses. Apart from the theoretical modeling, several researchers have also tried to understand the biomass‐based defluoridation by applying advanced instruments, for example, FTIR, XPS, NMR, TG, FESEM, and Raman spectroscopic analysis. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 37: 1560–1572, 2018

Page 1. 9 Safety and Security in Cyber Physical Systems and Internet-of- Things Systems By M. Wolf and D. Serpanos |INVITED PAPER| This paper identifies key issues in the safety and security of CPSs and Internet-of-Things (IoT) systems as well as design-time and runtime approaches to handle safety and security. 21 System-on-Chip Platform Security Assurance: Architecture and Validation By S. Ray, E. Peeters, MM Tehranipoor, and S. Bhunia |INVITED PAPER| This paper surveys the security of VLSI systems-on- chip, identifies potential concerns, and proposes new approaches. 38 Wireless Communication and Security Issues for Cyber Physical Systems and the Internet-of-Things By A. Burg, A. Chattopadhyay, and K.-Y. Lam |INVITED …

Fluoride has both detrimental and beneficial effects on living beings depending on the concentration and consumption periods. The study presented in this article investigated the feasibility of using neem oil phenolic resin treated lignocellulosic bio-sorbents for fluoride removal from water through fixed bed column study. Results indicated that treated bio-sorbents could remove fluoride both from synthetic and groundwater with variable bed depth, flow rate, fluoride concentration and column diameter. Data obtained from this study indicated that columns with the thickest bed, lowest flow rate, and fluoride concentration showed best column performance. Bio-sorbents used in this study are regenerable and reusable for more than five cycles. The initial materials cost needed to remove one gram of fluoride also found to be lower than the available alternatives. This makes the process more promising candidate to be used for fluoride removal. In addition, the process is also technically advantageous over the available alternatives.

Since last few decades optics has already proved its strong potentiality for conducting parallel logic, arithmetic and algebraic operations due to its super-fast speed in communication and computation. So many different logical and sequential operations using all optical frequency encoding technique have been proposed by several authors. Here, we have keened out all optical dibit representation technique, which has the advantages of high speed operation as well as reducing the bit error problem. Exploiting this phenomenon, we have proposed all optical frequency encoded dibit based XOR and XNOR logic gates using the optical switches like add/drop multiplexer (ADM) and reflected semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA). Also the operations of these gates have been verified through proper simulation using MATLAB (R2008a).

This chapter presents a critical review of nanomaterials-based fluoride and chlorophenol removal techniques. Rapid industrialization and urbanization have introduced many toxic pollutants into surface and groundwater resources. Fluoride and chlorophenols are among the two major types of pollutants that cause health hazards. Excessive consumption of fluoride causes molting of teeth and permanent deformities to the skeleton. Chlorophenols, even in very minute concentrations, cause severe health hazards such as cancer, afflicted neural transmission, suppressed immune systems, damaged reproductive systems, and affected mitochondrial functions. Several different techniques based on precipitation, ion exchange, electrolysis, and membrane separation and adsorption, have been used to remove fluoride and chlorophenols from water. However, most of these processes are either too expensive or inefficient, or they have the potential of introducing undesirable chemical constituents and characteristics into the water during treatment. These shortcomings are largely addressed by using nanomaterials-based adsorbents. Metal nanoparticles and magnetic nanomaterials are used to prepare polymer nanocomposites to improve fluoride and chlorophenol removal efficiency. In this chapter, the details of nanocomposite-based fluoride and chlorophenol removal techniques and their pros and cons are discussed.

Skempton's pore pressure parameter B-w, often used as a proxy for the degree of saturation of soil, depends strongly on the pore fluid compressibility. Presence of dissolved gas in pore fluid or free gas within soil void space has a remarkable influence on pore fluid compressibility. Gas generated through natural bioprocesses often increases pore fluid compressibility leading to a reduction in pore pressure development for soils under undrained loading. Loose sand samples inoculated with two aerobic soil bacteria sustained with a single dose of minimal nutrient media were monitored for bacterial growth, calcite and CO2 production, and pore fluid compressibility. A simple analytical model was developed to explain these observations based on biogenic gas production by these bacteria through different bioprocesses. Observed B-w-values were in excellent agreement with the estimated values. Biogas was found to increase pore fluid compressibility and is therefore expected to enhance liquefaction resistance of loose soil.

Accumulation of microbial metabolic products namely extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), inorganic minerals and gases often clogs soil pores and reduces its permeability. Reduction in permeability of soil has both advantages and disadvantages. Changes in soil permeability, therefore, need to investigate for successful use as a bioengineering solution or to predict future problems. Permeability reduction of a soil mass can be attributed to both biogenic deposits and biogas related unsaturation. Although several studies were conducted to see the efficacy of biofilm and biomineral in reducing soil permeability, the effect of horizontally flowing growth medium, resembling groundwater in both mineral salt composition and circulation velocity, has not been studied yet. Present study mainly focuses on the influence of horizontal flow of growth media on the amount of metabolic products and saturated and unsaturated permeability of loose quartz sand (relative density of about 40%) inoculated with an aerobic microbial species Lysinibacillus sp. DRG3. In this study, microbes were instigated to produce metabolic products through three naturally occurring bioprocesses namely, non-ureolytic calcifying process, ureolytic calcifying process and non-calcifying process. Sand samples with fluvial activities yielded higher amount of biogenic precipitates, unsaturation and permeability reduction. Calcifying process resulted in lesser development of unsaturation than that for non-calcifying process probably because of higher utilization of evolved CO2 for biocalcification. Unsaturated permeability was generally lesser than the saturated one. After treatment, the unsaturated permeability decreased up to 16% of the original permeability, while the saturated permeability recorded was up to 41% of original permeability.