Measurement of thermal and electrical conductivities of graphene nanofluids

This paper was presented at the 3rd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2011), which was held at the Makedonia Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki in Greece. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Thessaly, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute.The current work experimentally investigates the thermal and electrical conductivities of nanofluids containing graphene sheets that have very high thermal conductivity. Here, the graphene is prepared from natural graphite by oxidation-reduction process through a single step method. The graphene nanofluid thus obtained exhibited greater stability even after six months of preparation without addition of any surfactants. The detailed characterization process involving TEM, UV absorption and DLS measurements revealed the well dispersed nature of nanofluid with sheets appropriately interconnected and entangled. The DLS measurement indicates a trimodal size distribution of graphene sheet ranging from 5nm to 1500nm. It was also found that the absorption peak of the sample was 269 nm. This reveals the complete reduction of graphene oxide to graphene and the value is in good agreement with the literature. The thermal conductivity is measured using the traditional Transient Hot Wire (THW) method and enhancements are substantial even at lower concentrations while such behaviour is not predicted by the classical Maxwell theory. The thermal conductivity of graphene nanofluids are measured for different concentrations of 0.01 - 0.2 volume % at different temperatures. It is observed that the thermal conductivity increases with increase in concentration of grapheme, which is as expected. The maximum enhancement obtained is 27% at 0.2% concentration. The enhancement also shows a strong temperature dependence which is unlike that of its carbon predecessors like CNT and graphene oxide nanofluids. Electrical conductivity is measured using a 4 cell conductivity meter with inbuilt automatic temperature compensation. Electrical conductivity enhancement is found to be linear with increase in graphene volume fraction

Enhanced Antimicrobial activities of Hybrid ZnMgAlO nanocomposite by soft chemical method

In the present investigation, ZnMgAlO nanoparticles were prepared by soft chemical method.  The synthesized NPs were analyzed by XRD and SEM EDAX. ZnMgAlO crystal structure was confirmed through powder XRD technique as hexagonal wurtzite structure. The surface morphology was analyzed from SEM images. Finally, antimicrobial activity of all the synthesized samples was tested against Bacillus subtilis and Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria and Xylaria hypoxylon, Fistulina hepatica fungus. The observed results showed good anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities. Â

Artificial tongues and leaves

The objective with synthetic multifunctional nanoarchitecture is to create large suprastructures with interesting functions. For this purpose, lipid bilayer membranes or conducting surfaces have been used as platforms and rigid-rod molecules as shape-persistent scaffolds. Examples for functions obtained by this approach include pores that can act as multicomponent sensors in complex matrices or rigid-rod π-stack architecture for artificial photosynthesis and photovoltaic

A cognitive science analysis of the Quaker Business Method: is how it works why it works?

The Quaker Business Method (QBM) has been in development for over 300 years. Quakers believe that the QBM is an effective means for making decisions. This paper develops a tripartite theoretical framework to analyze the QBM in order to examine its efficacy, both in terms of the quality of its processes and the morality of its decisions. The framework encompasses: (1) a decomposition of the QBM as a set of tools; (2) a selection of theories and models from cognitive science that explain how humans think; (3) a set of relational models that can be used to objectively judge the morality of different forms of human behavioural interactions. Overall, it appears that QBM tools may counter the deficits in natural human abilities to reason and solve problems, and that they may promote decision making practices that are moral and that the resulting decisions, themselves, may be moral

Validation of High Risk Clinical Scoring: As a Sensitive Method to Predict Endoscopic Severity and Adverse Outcome in patients with UGI Bleed

In our hospital, the Government General Hospital, Chennai, we started this study with the objectives of identifying high risk clinical features in upper Gastrointestinal bleeding and testing the sensitivity of high risk clinical features in predicting endoscopic severity and adverse outcome like Rebleed and Mortality. We studied 50 consecutive patients admitted with UGI bleed in Medical and Surgical wards prospectively. Clinical assessment was done by taking careful history, bedside examination and basic blood investigation. We assigned a score for each parameter with due emphasis laid over quantity of bleed, continued bleed, unstable hemodynamics, altered consciousness level and presence of co-morbidities. After clinical stabilisation, all the patients were subjected to early upper GI endoscopy. And endoscopy revealed those patients with high risk clinical score, had high grade ulcer bleed in the non - variceal category based on Forrest classification and high grade esophageal varices, in the variceal category. Endoscopy also provided an excellent correlation between high risk clinical scoring and early adverse outcome like Rebleed and Mortality. We found that clinical risk scoring was a sensitive tool in identifying patients who are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality from UGI bleed and in predicting endoscopic severity

Influence of Liming on Yield of Rice and Soil Properties in Acidic Soils of High Rainfall Zone

Soil acidity is an important agricultural problem while evaluating the production potential of most of the crops. A field experiment was conducted in farmers field at Gananadhasapuram village of Thovalai taluk (strongly acidic soil) and Andarkulam village of Agastheswaram taluk (moderately acidic soil) during Pishanam (Oct-Feb) and late Pishanam (Nov–Mar) season of 2017-2018 respectively, in the high rainfall zone to study the effect of different source and levels of lime on yield of rice and soil properties. Liming materials viz., dolomite and calcite were tried at different levels along with recommended fertilizers + ZnSO4. The experiment was conducted in RBD. The results of the experiment revealed that significantly higher grain (7.09 and 7.40 t ha-1) and straw (10.3 and 10.5 t ha-1) yield of rice were recorded with the application of dolomite @ 0.75 LR (6.36 t ha-1) (T7) and @ 0.50 LR (1.6 t ha-1) (T5) respectively in the strongly and moderately acidic soils along with recommended dose of fertilizers during pishanam and late pishanam seasons. The soil pH, EC, available NPK, exchangeable Ca, Mg and DTPA extractable Zn, Cu were increased and the DTPA extractable Fe and Mn were decreased upon lime application irrespective of the sources. The economics of various treatments revealed that, the highest B:C ratio (1.86 and 2.56) was recorded with the application of dolomite @ 0.75 LR (6.36 t ha1) (T7) and @ 0.50 LR (1.6 t ha-1) (T5) along with recommended dose of fertilizers in the strongly and moderately acidic soils respectively during pishanam and late pishanam seasons. The study clearly indicated that in strongly acidic soils, the application of dolomite @ 0.75 LR (6.36 t ha-1) (T7) and in moderately acidic soils, dolomite @ 0.50 LR (1.6 t ha-1) (T5) along with recommended dose of fertilizers and ZnSO4 is found to be the best for getting higher yield and higher returns per rupee invested under rice cultivation. &nbsp

Enhanced EEG classification using adaptive DWT and heuristic-ICA algorithm

Electroencephalography (EEG) signals contain important information about the inner functioning of the brain. Effective extraction of this information will help in the detection of brain-related health conditions and emotions of a person or it can also be used as a communication medium between humans and machines. In our proposed system, we introduced Adaptive DWT by combining the temporal resolution capability of DWT, with the special capability of Fourier transform to remove the artefacts in the signal. This is achieved by using an adaptive thresholding function rather than hard or soft thresholding to improve the quality parameters of the signal. The proposed filtering model has improved the Signal to Noise ratio when compared to traditional filtering techniques. EEG features are extracted with the help of Heuristic-Independent Component Analysis (ICA) by applying covariance to equalize or improve the data. The main drawback with the existing CNN algorithm is gradient vanishing during training, this reduces the overall performance of the algorithm during classification. Therefore, using the memory function to store the previous value of iteration improves the classification accuracy and reduces the gradient vanishing problem. The proposed technique is found to have better accuracy of about 98% in classifying autism and epilepsy datasets

INFLUENCE OF WEED MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON WEED DYNAMICS AND YIELD OF DRUM SEEDED RICE UNDER PUDDLED CONDITION

 Field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Thirupathisaram during Rabi season (November- March) of 2017 - 2018 to evolve suitable weed management practices for drum seeded rice under puddled condition. Among the chemical treatments tried, the application of pretilachlor @ 0.75 kg a.i ha-1on 8 DAS as PE fb bispyribac sodium @ 25 g a.i ha-1on 20 DAS as Eearly Post Emergence (EPoE) recorded significantly lowest total weed density, total dry weight and highest weed control efficiency when compared to other treatments. Higher grain yield (6436 kg ha-1) and straw yield (7210 kg ha-1) was recorded in the application of pretilachlor @ 0.75 kg a. i ha-1on 8 DAS as PE fb bispyribac sodium @ 25 g a.i ha-1on 20 DAS as EPoE apart from weed free check.&nbsp

Awareness about Risk Factors and Outcomes in Paediatric Population with Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media in a Tertiary Care Institute

A serious public health issue, especially in developing nations, is chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). Complications include brain infections, speech delays, and hearing loss might result from inadequate awareness and postponed treatment. The purpose of this study is to evaluate treatment outcomes, risk factors, and parental awareness of CSOM in children in a tertiary care hospital. A cross-sectional study was conducted over six months on 200 pediatric patients diagnosed with CSOM at a tertiary care hospital. A structured questionnaire was used to assess parental awareness. Risk factors were analysed, and audiometric evaluations were performed to assess hearing loss. Data were statistically analysed using SPSS v25. The mean age of children was 7.5 ± 3.2 years. About 68% of parents had inadequate knowledge about CSOM, and 42% delayed seeking medical help for more than four weeks after symptom onset. The most common risk factors identified were poor hygiene (52%), upper respiratory infections (46%), bottle feeding (38%), and overcrowding (33%). Post-treatment hearing improvement was noted in 68% of cases, while 15% had persistent hearing deficits. Poor parental awareness and delayed treatment-seeking behaviour contribute significantly to complications in CSOM.  Health education and early intervention can reduce morbidity and long-term sequela