The selection of an appropriate conformal coating for electronic components exposed to harsh environments requires a systematic, scientific approach to ensure optimal protection and long-term performance. This process involves evaluating environmental factors such as temperature extremes, humidity, chemical exposure, vibration and corrosion that the components may encounter as well as potential material properties like mechanical strength, flexibility, dielectric performance and chemical resistance. This paper describes selection models based on these performance needs and the characteristics of conformal coating categories, primarily liquid coatings (e.g., acrylics, silicones, etc.), chemical vapor deposition (CVD) coatings (i.e., Parylenes), plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) coatings and atomic layer deposition (ALD) coatings (e.g., Al2O3, etc.). A methodical approach to coating selection enables engineers to make informed decisions that optimize performance, ensuring the reliability, durability and longevity of electronic systems in demanding environments.

This paper introduces advanced halogen-free and PFAS-free plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited nano conformal coatings that help solve the growing issues of harsh environment electronics, particularly reliability and corrosion protection and waterproofing of next-generation, flexible, miniaturized and highly-dense electronics and components. These nano coatings meet the needs of environment-friendly products and regulatory compliance and lightweight requirements worldwide.

A field experiment was conducted during the winter (rabi) season of 2013–15 at the ICAR–Research Complex for North-Eastern Hill Region, Nagaland Centre, Jharnapani, Medziphema, Nagaland, to evaluate the effect of mulching, liming and integrated nutrition for maximizing the productivity of recently introduced crop baby corn (Zea mays L.) in the region. The results revealed that, use of straw mulches significantly increased the yield attributes of baby corn. Significantly higher yields of green baby cob (10.8 t/ha), baby corn (1.84 t/ha) and green fodders (34.65 t/ha) were recorded with application of 1.0 t lime/ha but was on a par with 0.5 t lime/ha. Similarly, higher yields of green baby cob (10.56 t/ha), baby corn (2.02 t/ha) and green fodder (34.95 t/ha) were noted with application of 100% recommended dose of fertilizer through inorganic sources (RDF (IN) + 25% RDF through organic sources (ON). Hence, use of straw mulch integrated with application of lime in furrow @ 1.0 t/ha along with 100% RDF (IN: N-P-K-S-Zn: represents 150-80-60-30-10 kg/ha) + 25% RDF (ON) may be adopted and promoted to achieve the maximum crop productivity of baby corn under the foot-hill condition of eastern Himalayas.

This paper introduces an advanced ALD conformal coating - both alone and in combination with Parylenes - that is applied at room temperature, making it suitable for printed circuit boards and other components to provide robust and reliable protection from corrosion and other harsh environments. A long-term evaluation results demonstrates a robust and reliable protection against severe corrosive environments. In addition to these beneficial properties, experiments demonstrate excellent corrosion resistance, adhesion to the substrate, electrical insulation and a significant (sixty-three times) improvement on Parylene C's water vapor transmission rate when combined with ALD

So far many attempts have been made to synthesize phase-pure Ti3AlC2 MAX-phase. But still the challenge posed by the presence of TiC and Ti-Al based intermetallic transient impurity phases in the final product is a persisting problem. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique has been the most successful method to decrease the impurity content of the final product. Even so, synthesis of phase-pure Ti3AlC2 MAX-phase, without any TiC and Ti-Al based intermetallic impurities, has not been achieved and reported in literature with substantial evidences. Further, high purity Ti3AlC2 MAX-phase synthesized using SPS technique has shown lack of phase and microstructural stability above 1350°C temperature. In this work, we have reported an optimized method for producing phase-pure Ti3AlC2 MAX-phase (having more than 99 % purity) using commercial grade Ti, Al and C elemental powders through SPS technique. The final product also showed very good high temperature stability up to 1500°C under flowing Argon inert atmosphere.

In the present study, M-30 grade Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) was designed using natural fine and coarse aggregates, Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and varying percentages of binary admixtures i.e., Fly Ash (FA) and Silica Fume (SF) for part replacement of OPC. Also, the effects of these admixtures in combination (FA + SF) were evaluated on the fresh properties, compressive strength, flexural strength, split tensile strength, cost and CO2 emission. Further, the micro-structural analyses (XRD and SEM) of dif-ferent samples were carried out. The strength of different SCCs increases in the range of 4.34-44.88 % depending upon the type of admixture(s) or their combination and number of days. The cost of SCC reduces in the range of 2.77- 10.97 %, when OPC is replaced in part by different admixtures or their combination. The reduction of CO2 emission lies in the range of 8.84-22.10 %, when OPC is replaced by admixture. Thus, the results show that the concrete containing either FA or binary admixtures are not only stronger and economical but also helpful in the environmental protection. Copyright (c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The most commonly used open circuit is The Jackson Rees modification of the Ayre's T-piece (Mapleson-F system) in pediatric patients because it has low resistance and nominal dead space.Here, we report a case in which we used the Jackson Rees circuit with bag tail valve for ventilation in pediatric patient weight 12 kg.During positive-pressure ventilation, we felt resistance and the patient was not ventilating.High pressure in the bag was being formed despite the valve was fully open.On inspection, we found out the cause was a twisted bag tail end as shown in Figure 1.We straighten the tail end of the bag, which aided in releasing air pressure and the patient started getting ventilation.The obstruction of the expiratory limb of the reservoir bag may be due to a stuck valve or due to twisting of its tail end.Due to high flexibility, twisting of the tail end of reservoir bag commonly found when it was held with tail end up position.Due to the twisting of the tail end of the reservoir bag, the expiratory limb becomes closed and high flow oxygen started going to the inspiratory limb.This may result in CO 2 retention and barotraumas of the lungs if the obstruction was not released.We can prevent twisting of the tail end of the bag by keeping the Jackson Rees circuit in a vertical position with the tail end facing down.

In this communication, structural and electrical properties of rare earth oxides La2O3 (LO) and LaNdO3 (LNO) have been studied. To understand the structural properties of the LO and LNO samples, X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement was carried out at room temperature. The XRD patterns have been analyzed by Rietveld refinement to confirm the single-phase nature of both the samples. The crystal structures of studied samples were created from the derived parameters of Rietveld parameters. The crystal size and lattice strain have been estimated using Williamson–Hall (W–H) plot analysis. Frequency-dependent dielectric constant and loss tangent have been studied for a frequency range of 20 Hz to 2 MHz. To estimate the relaxation time and contribution of the charge carriers in the studied samples, relaxation mechanism and universal dielectric response (UDR) model have been employed. The ac conductivity measurements were carried out for the same frequency range (i.e., 20 Hz to 2 MHz) which has been understood on the basis of Jonscher’s power law. The barrier height has been calculated by fitting the power law. Frequency-dependent impedance behavior has been discussed in the context of grains and grain boundaries for both the samples under study.

OBJECTIVES:Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a commonly reported cancer in men and is second only to breast cancer in women in Pakistan.. Investigations for identifying biomarkers of OSCC are essential for diagnostic, therapeutic, or prognostic significance. This study aims to examine the miR-31 expression in the pre- and post-operative OSCC patients and correlate this expression with clinicopathological characteristics. METHODS:Patients with histopathologically confirmed OSCC who had undergone surgical resections of tumours were recruited. A total of 40 saliva samples (pre- and post-operative) were collected from 19 patients and two healthy individuals. Levels of salivary miR-31 expressions were examined through quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS:The salivary miR-31 expression was significantly higher in the preoperative patients than in postoperative patients (p < 0.001). However, no significant correlation had been found between the salivary miR-31 expression and clinicopathological characteristics (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION:Our data suggest that miR-31 can be used as an adjunct non-invasive marker to monitor surgery outcomes during postoperative follow-up in patients with OSCC.

We report the results of the studies on electrical properties of Zn1-xFexO (x = 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) nanoparticles synthesized using sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement confirms the presence of extra phase of ZnFe2O4 in all the samples which gets enhanced with increase in Fe concentration. Surface morphological studies using atomic force microscopy (AFM) suggest the reduction in grain size with increase in Fe doping level in ZnO. All the dielectric parameters show dispersion nature and dielectric constant has been found to increase with Fe content. The obtained dielectric behavior has been understood on the basis of Maxwell-Wagner (M - W) mechanism and Koop's theory. Frequency dependent electrical conductivity has been understood on the basis of Jonscher's universal power law that suggests a conduction of charge carrier through correlated barrier hopping (CBH) mechanism. Impedance spectroscopy measurements have been explained on the basis of crystal cores and crystal boundary density. Grain boundary contribution in conduction mechanism is identified by fitting equivalent circuit model on cole-cole plots. Temperature and magnetic field dependent variation in electrical properties of studied samples has been understood on the basis of structure-property correlations.

Globally water is a vital need South Africa is getting quite less amount of rainfall (500 mm) in comparison to the global average (860 mm). This low rainfall coupled with wide variability in rainfall across wet eastern and dry western regions poses great challenges. This calls for integrated water resources management which encompasses synchronized expansion as well as management of not just water but also land and aquatic ecosystems. Besides water scarcity, a number of other hurdles exist including frequent droughts, flooding, salinity, illegal water abstraction and water allocation. Further, surface groundwater aquifers limit the full exploitation potential of groundwater resources. Pollution of groundwater is a challenge since groundwater is the most economical water resource for most small towns and rural villages. Based on the provisions of the National Water Act, 1997 of South Africa, a National Water Resources Strategy was developed but not able to resolve the issues. In this review, the different components of water resources management, in context to South Africa are discussed Different categories of water usage spanning domestic, industrial, mining, hydropower and irrigation have been included The overall ecological and environmental balance for ultimately sustaining has also been discussed.

Nanostructured c-axis oriented thin films of CaCuO2 have been grown on the single crystalline (110) NdGaO3 and (100) LaAlO3 substrates using pulsed laser deposition technique. The structural characterization confirms that the grown CaCuO2 films are in single phase with (001) oriented on both the substrates. An energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic study ensures the stoichiometric growth of the film. Nanostructured morphology of CCO film is confirmed by the scanning electron microscopy.

The electronics industry is continuously facing a challenge to produce greener or environmentally friendly products due to various governmental and non-governmental concerns. Among the various efforts towards environmental friendly products, making the electronics completely halogen free gained a significant attention, particularly, in Asia and Europe. Most electronics require a conformal coating for their long-term and robust protection and performance against water and other corrosive harsh environments. Among the various coating options, the Parylene family of conformal coatings is considered the best in the industry compared to epoxy, acrylics, urethane. silicones and other polymeric coatings. However, except one Parylene type. Parylene N. which is relatively inferior among Parylenes in its barrier performance against moisture and other corrosive chemicals, all other Parylene types contain halogens, and thus are considered not suitable for halogen free electronics. To meet the industry's current trend and future requirements, a new halogen-free Parylene type, ParyFree®, has been developed, which provides far better protection, barrier and chemical resistance compared to the existing halogen-free Parylene and other liquid conformal coating options for flexible, rigid and dense electronics. Being a vapor phase and molecular level coating. ParyFree can reach into smaller gaps, crevices and openings including underneath the dense electronic components on any assembled electronic boards to provide protection. This paper introduces a new Parylene type to the electronics industry and shares the characterization and qualification results of ParyFree Parylene conformal coating for protection and enhanced reliability of various types of electronics. Some of the testing includes IPX water resistance- corrosion resistance and qualification per IPC-CC-830B.

Electrical drives are widely used in many industrial systems. Speed or positions of electric motors are usually controlled to hold the speed/ position under unknown disturbances or to change the speed according to a reference profile. The output of a speed control is a torque demand and electrical drives or called upon to have a good torque control performance. The speed control performance obtained using a PI/PID controller s sensitive to the uncertainties such as plant parameter variation, external load disturbances and unmodelled and non linear dynamics of the plant. Therefore, a robust controller would be attractive in most industrial applications. A controller is said to be robust if it gives satisfactory dynamic response in the presence of parameter variations, external disturbance and unmodelled or non linear dynamics of the plant. The problem of designing robust controller is thus called robust control. For the robust control of motor drives, a variety of approaches (sliding mode, Fuzzy, two-degree of freedom, torque feed-forward and adaptive control method) has been investigated by many researchers. Although Fuzzy Logic systems are most widely used because of their simplicity and lower computational cost. Fuzzy Logic systems has been used in some control application but these are not have been used for robust speed control of an electric drive system. In this study a Fuzzy Logic system has been proposed for the speed control of a DC series motor system. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme under parameter variations and external disturbances were illustrated by simulation results. The performance comparison of Fuzzy controller and PID controller is provided and it has been found that the performance of proposed Fuzzy controller is better with sudden load changes and periodic load changes and also with internal parameter variations due to temperature rise, inter turn faults and aging.

Significant performance and reliability challenges exist for harsh environment electronics used in many applications including those used in power electronics, down-hole, under-bonnet, well-logging and aero-engine applications. Under varying harsh operating environments, the life expectancy of electronic components and systems reduces exponentially if they are not designed, packaged and protected appropriately. Through characterization of dielectric and other properties at high temperatures, this work describes the development of a high temperature and UV stable nan/micro vapor-phase-deposited polymer coating for providing electrical insulation and protection of various electronics from chemical corrosion and other harsh environmental effects. Packaging, protection and reliability of various electronic devices and components including printed circuit boards, MEM's, optoelectronic devices, fuel cell components and nano-electronic parts are becoming more challenging due to their long-term performance requirements. A recently commercialized thermally stable, vapor-phase fluorinated polymer, named Parylene HT, offers solutions to many existing protective, packaging and reliability issues of electronic and medical industries due to its excellent electrical & mechanical properties, chemical inertness and long-term thermal stability at high temperature exposures (up to 350°C long-term, 450°C short-term). Experimental results and trial runs demonstrate the ability of Parylene HT coating to meet growing requirements of the dynamic electronics industry including higher dielectric capabilities, higher temperature requirements. In addition, Parylene HT polymer coating truly conforms to parts due to its molecular level deposition characteristics. Its suitability and biocompatibilty encourage researchers to explore Parylene HT's role in sensors and in active electronic devices for various industries.