Probing the p-type Chemiresistive Response of NiFe2 O4 Nanoparticles for Potential Utilization as Ethanol Sensor

Detection of gas molecules and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using efficient, low cost sensors has fetched significant attention in environmental monitoring, safety measures and medical diagnosis. In the present work, nickel ferrite (NFO) nanoparticles are explored as p-type semiconducting metal oxide (SMO) sensor for detection of five different organic vapors namely methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, iso-propanol and acetone which often cause severe damage to human body under prolonged exposure. The sensing studies in presence of the aforementioned five vapors are carried out by varying the sensor operating temperature (225-300 °C) and vapor concentrations (10-1000 ppm). Developed NFO sensor demonstrated best performance in terms of sensing (~10 ppm), response time (<10 s), excellent repeatability and selectivity towards ethanol among all other considered gas species. The repeatability of the sensor response is verified and the underlying reasons for the variation in the response of NFO sensor due to the change of operating temperature, analyte type and concentrations has been discussed. The synthesis of NFO through auto combustion method and study on their formation behaviour, oxygen vacancy evolution, band gap calculation, crystalline nature as well as microstructural features provides here the comprehensive information about the potential application of NFO nanoparticles as gas sensor.

Role of ammonium ionic liquid and Pd nanoparticles in cavitation-based graphite decontamination and recycling process

Sonochemical recovery of radioactive contaminants from nuclear graphite has been demonstrated to be quite invaluable in recent studies. However, graphite is a soft material and is prone to erosion and wear. This restricts the recycle of graphite cleaned using ultrasound beyond a few decontamination cycles. Hence, it is an imperative to prevent the surface erosion of graphite in the sonic field. The current work studies the efficacy of ultrasound in decontaminating ceria contaminated graphite coupons using a cocktail of acids (0.25 M HNO3 - 1 M HCOOH - 0.2 M [N2H5][NO3]). Based on the superlative effects of ionic liquids in lubrication and erosion prevention, the effect of adding ionic liquid stabilized Pd nanoparticles to the leachate was also studied. It was observed that the Trioctylmethyl ammonium chloride (TOMAC) ionic liquid prevented the generation of the carbon residue due to a protective viscous layer formation reducing the mechanical effects of cavitation on graphite surface. It also helped in maintaining the porosity change in graphite microstructure around 5% after 15 cycles of decontamination. TOMAC also proved to offer better surface protection on graphite compared to imidazolium-based ILs, based on the change in compressive strength and porosity in different ionic liquids. The palladium nanoparticles, on the other hand, helped in reductive dissolution of ceria layer by acting as a reducing agent due to its lower reduction potential compared to cerium. With the surge in demand of graphite worldwide, a non-destructive decontamination process for graphite with no secondary waste generation is the need of the hour. This study is an attempt in that direction.

Volterra filter modelling of non-linear system using Artificial Electric Field algorithm assisted Kalman filter and its experimental evaluation

The main objective of this paper is to improve the identification efficiency of non-linear systems using the Kalman filter (KF), which is optimised with the Artificial Electric Field (AEF) algorithm. The conventional KF suffers from the proper tuning of its parameters, which leads to a divergence problem. This issue has been solved to a great extent by the meta-heuristic AEF algorithm assisted Kalman filter (AEF-KF). This paper proposes three steps for the identification of the systems while solving the problem as mentioned above. Firstly, it converts the identification model to a measurement problem. Next, the AEF algorithm optimises the KF parameters by considering the fitness function with the KF equations. The third step is to identify the model using conventional KF algorithm with the optimised KF parameters. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, parameter estimation error, mean squared error (MSE), fitness (FIT) percentage, statistical information and percentage improvement are considered as the performance metrics. To validate the performance of the proposed method, five distinct non-linear models are identified with the Volterra model using KF and the AEF-KF techniques under various noisy input conditions. Besides, the practical applicability of the proposed approach is also tested on two non-linear benchmark systems using experimental data sets. The obtained simulation results confirm the efficacy and robustness of the proposed identification method in terms of the convergence speed, computational time and various performance metrics as compared to KF, Kalman smoother (KS) which is optimised using different state-of-the-art evolutionary algorithms and also other existing recently reported similar types of stochastic algorithms based approaches.

Distribution of soil carbon fractions under different bamboo species in northwest Himalayan foothills, India

Soil carbon and its fractions are important in understanding the mechanism of soil carbon sequestration. The present study evaluated the impact of seven commercial bamboo species, viz., Bambusa balcooa, B. bambos, B. vulgaris, B. nutans, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, D. stocksii, and D. strictus, on labile and non-labile carbon fractions. In the 0-15-cm layer, B. nutans had the highest very labile C (7.65 g kg^-1) followed by B. vulgaris > B. balcooa > D. stocksii > D. hamiltonii > B. bambos > D. strictus > open. The active carbon pool was significantly low under the control plot (i.e. the open) indicating the positive influence of bamboo in soil C build-up in the top 0-15 cm soil layer. Amongst the different species of bamboo evaluated in this study, D. strictus accumulated the highest active C pool in 0-30-cm soil layer followed by B. vulgaris. Of the total organic C in the 0-30 cm soil depth, majority (55-60%) was contributed by the passive C pool comprising the less labile and the non-labile fraction of SOC. A high value of carbon stratification ratio (> 2) was observed for D. strictus, B. bambos, and D. hamiltonii which proves their potential for restoration of the degraded lands. The majority of bamboo species except for B. balcooa and D. stocksii showed a higher carbon management index than open systems, thereby indicating higher rates of soil C rehabilitation. Of the seven bamboo species, B. vulgaris, D. strictus, and B. nutans can be adopted for cultivation in the northwest Himalayas given their ability to positively impact the SOC and its fractions in both surface and sub-surface soil.

Sonocatalytic recovery of ceria from graphite and inhibition of graphite erosion by ionic liquid based platinum nanocatalyst

Use of ultrasound as an intensified non-destructive decontamination technique for processing graphite limits its reusability beyond a few number of decontamination cycles due to the exfoliation of graphite due to cavitation effects. The current work establishes that the use of platinum nanoparticles in the leachant reduces the erosion of graphite substrate due to cavitation. It presents an improved way of sonochemical recovery of ceria using a mixture of nitric acid, formic acid and hydrazinium nitrate in the presence of platinum nanoparticles and ionic liquid. The platinum nanoparticles catalyst in ionic liquid prevented the generation of the carbon residue due to the combined effect of denitration and reduced sonication. The presence of the catalyst showed a fivefold increase in dissolution kinetics of ceria as well as absence of graphite erosion, facilitating better chances of graphite recycling than the decontamination without the catalyst. The catalytic approach offers a better recycle strategy for graphite with reduced exfoliation and NOx generation due to denitration, making it a more sustainable decontamination process. Since ceria is used as a surrogate for plutonium oxide, the results can be extended to decontaminate such deposits clearly establishing the utility of the presented results in the nuclear industry.

Comparative Study of Common Bile Duct Diameter between Normal and Post Cholecystectomy Cases Using Trans-abdominal Ultrasonography

Background Increase in common bile duct diameter can occur because of different causes. Post cholecystectomy status is one of the potential causes. Many studies done in the past show different results and are hence inconclusive. Objective To see if the post cholecystectomy cases would have a statistically significant change in common bile duct diameter. Method We carried out a study in 100 cases (46 post cholecystectomy cases and 54 cases with intact gall bladder, measuring their common bile duct diameters and performing an unpaired t test to see if the mean in common bile duct among these two groups of cases was statistically significant. Result One hundred cases, 46 post cholecystectomy cases and 54 cases with intact gall bladder were included in our study. An unpaired t-test was used to compare the common bile duct diameters in these two groups. Our findings showed that the difference in common bile duct diameter between the cases with intact gall bladder and those who underwent cholecystectomy was significant for both one tailed and two tailed studies (p < 0.001). Hence, it can be stated that post cholecystectomy status increases the common bile duct diameter. Conclusion An increased Common bile duct diameter in post cholecystectomy case could be because of the post cholecystectomy status itself and not due to some other obstructive cause. So careful decision is necessary before subjecting the patient to further invasive/non-invasive investigations and treatments.

Performance of radio-iodine discharge control methods of nuclear reprocessing plants

It is imperative to control radio-iodine discharges to atmosphere from nuclear reprocessing plants. Inhalation and ingestion of radio-iodine cause its concentration in the thyroid gland leading to risk of thyroid cancer in humans. Two isotopes of iodine viz. iodine-131 (¹³¹I) and iodine-129 (¹²⁹I) are generated in considerable quantities in the nuclear fuel as fission products in the nuclear reactors. From nuclear reactors, no iodine is released to the atmosphere during normal operations, whereas from spent fuel reprocessing plants, during normal operation, iodine is discharged to the atmosphere, mainly through gaseous discharges. Shortly after the initial periods of reprocessing in 1944, iodine emission control methods were incorporated in the design of reprocessing plants. At the time of spent fuel discharge from reactor, quantity of ¹³¹I is high and can contribute radiation dose to humans during reprocessing operations. A delay or cooling period of spent fuel, before reprocessing for a definite number of days can reduce the quantities to below the permissible limits of discharge due to its short half-life of 8 days. ¹²⁹I has a very long half-life, and is only significant for reprocessing plants of large throughput and high fuel burn-ups. Minimum required de-contamination factor (DF) for iodine for a reprocessing plant can be estimated from the limits of discharge of iodine stipulated by regulatory authority of each country. Though many processes were developed and demonstrated extensively in lab and pilot scale, only a few of these processes were found to be suitable for commercial deployment. This paper reviews systematically the operation experiences and performance characteristics of iodine control methods implemented so far. The review also focus on the effect of integrating various iodine control methods on the main reprocessing operations and thereby facilitate selection of the optimum iodine control method.

Sonochemical recovery of uranium from nanosilica-based sorbent and its biohybrid

Use of nanomaterials to remove uranium by adsorption from nuclear wastewater is widely applied, though not much work is focused on the recovery of uranium from the sorbents. The present work reports the recovery of adsorbed uranium from the microstructures of silica nanoparticles (SiO2M) and its functionalized biohybrid (fBHM), synthesized with Streptococcus lactis cells and SiO2M, intensified using ultrasound. Effects of temperature, concentration of leachant (nitric acid), sonic intensity, and operating frequency on the recovery as well as kinetics of recovery were thoroughly studied. A comparison with the silent operation demonstrated five and two fold increase due to the use of ultrasound under optimum conditions in the dissolution from SiO2M and fBHM respectively. Results of the subsequent adsorption studies using both the sorbents after sonochemical desorption have also been presented with an aim of checking the efficacy of reusing the adsorbent back in wastewater treatment. The SiO2M and fBHM adsorbed 69% and 67% of uranium respectively in the second cycle. The adsorption capacity of fBHM was found to reduce from 92% in the first cycle to 67% due to loss of adsorption sites in the acid treatment. Recovery and reuse of both the nuclear material and the sorbent (with some make up or activation) would ensure an effective nuclear remediation technique, catering to UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Assessment of eco-hydrological parameters for important sympodial bamboo species in Himalayan foothills

Bamboos due to high soil water conservation potential are gaining increased attention in plantation programs across the globe. Large-scale plantation of fast-growing bamboo, however, can have important hydrological consequences. The study aims to quantify the eco-hydrological parameters, viz., throughfall (TF), stemflow (SF), and interception (I) in seven important sympodial bamboo species in north western Himalayan foothills of India. The species selected include Bambusa balcooa, Bambusa bambos, Bambusa vulgaris., Bambusa nutans, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Dendrocalamus stocksii, and Dendrocalamus strictus. Throughfall versus gross rainfall (GR) relationship in different species indicated high throughfall production during high rainfall events with r² > 0.90. Average throughfall was lowest (62.1%) in D. hamiltonii and highest in B. vulgaris (74.6%). SF ranged from 1.32% in B. nutans to 3.39% in D. hamiltonii. The correlation coefficient (r) between leaf area index (LAI), number of culms, and crown area with the interception were 0.746, 0.691, and 0.585, respectively. The funneling ratio (F) was highest (27.0) in D. hamiltonii and least in B. nutans. Canopy storage capacity was highest in D. strictus (3.57 mm) and least in D. hamiltonii (1.09 mm). Interception loss was highest (34.4%) in D. hamiltonii and lowest in B. vulgaris (23.5%) and D. strictus (23.6%). Higher interception in bamboos make them suitable for soil conservation, but careful selection of species is required in low rainfall areas.

Cavitation-assisted decontamination of yttria from graphite of different densities

Yttria coated graphite crucibles are widely used to handle molten refractory and radioactive metals like uranium and plutonium. However, the coated layer suffers damages like cracking and peeling off owing to thermal cycles. As a result, removal of the yttria layer from the graphite surface is essential to ensure reuse of the crucible and minimization of radioactive waste. The present work investigates intensified dissolution of yttria from the coated graphite samples using ultrasound as a non-destructive decontamination technique to recycle the graphite substrate. The optimum conditions established for maximum dissolution were 8 M as acid strength, frequency of 30 kHz, temperature of 45 °C and power density of 8 W cm^-2 that resulted in maximum dissolution of 52% in 30 min. Use of an oxidant H₂O₂ to the acid, did not yield any improvement in the dissolution kinetics, instead, increased oxidation of the graphite substrate was observed, leading to the anomalous weight gain of the graphite substrate despite surface erosion. Effect of ultrasound on the dissolution was pronounced, with almost a threefold increase compared to dissolution performed under silent conditions. Rates of dissolution of yttria from the substrate of different densities and pore size distribution were also studied. The dissolution was slowest from graphite of density 1.82 g cm^-3 as the pore size distribution was conducive to accommodate the yttria particles. The dissolution in nitric acid followed ash layer diffusion controlled kinetics. The study has demonstrated the efficacy of application of ultrasound for accelerated decontamination of graphite substrates.

Numerical approach to minimize mercury contamination by geometric and parametric optimization

Due to high vapour pressure at ambient conditions, exposed mercury contributes significant vapour concentration in working atmosphere. Ventilation is a conventional, cheap and very effective method to bring down the concentration of hazardous materials like mercury vapour below permissible limit. In this work a numerical model was developed to obtain intuitive understandings of the spatial distribution of mercury vapors from an exposed surface. The model was validated with experimental data generated using a precinct ventilation system with 8.14% absolute average error. a Validated model was used to study the effect of air flow rate (100–1200 LPM) and impact of architectural design of the containment for fixed exposed mercury surfaceon the final (diluted) mercury concentration. Comparative analysis shows that modification in structural design offers a reduced volume averaged exit mercury concentration and also the reduced peak mercury concentration(C_peak) in the computational domain. Computational approach outlined in this work can be used to estimate spatial variation of mercury vapor concentration and to locate and quantify regions of high local concentration of mercury in various geometries.

Intensified dissolution of uranium from graphite substrate using ultrasound

Decontamination of graphite structural elements and recovery of uranium is crucial for waste minimization and recycle of nuclear fuel elements. Feasibility of intensified dissolution of uranium-impregnated graphite substrate using ultrasound has been studied with objective of establishing the effect of operating parameters and the kinetics of sonocatalytic dissolution of uranium in nitric acid. The effect of operating frequency and acoustic intensity as well as the acid concentration and temperature on the dissolution of metal has been elucidated. It was observed that at lower acid concentrations (6 M-8 M), the dissolution ratio increases by 15% on increasing the bath temperature from 45 to 70 °C. At higher acid concentration (>10 M), the increase was only around 5-7% for a similar change in temperature. With 12 M HNO₃, pitting was also observed on the graphite surface along with erosion due to high local reaction rates in the presence of ultrasound. For higher frequency of applied ultrasound, lower dissolution rate of uranium was observed though it also leads to high rates of erosion of the substrate. It was thus established that suitable optimization of frequency is required based on the nature of the substrate and the choice of recycling it. The dissolution rate was also demonstrated to increase with acoustic intensity till it reaches to the maximum at the observed optimum (1.2 W/cm² at 33 kHz). Comparison with silent conditions revealed that enhanced rate was obtained due to the use of ultrasound under optimum conditions. The work has demonstrated the effective application of ultrasound for intensifying the extent of dissolution of metal.

Rooting behaviour and soil properties in different bamboo species of Western Himalayan Foothills, India

Due to extensive root system, connected rhizome bamboos are considered suitable for improving soil properties within a short period, though most of the claims are anecdotal and need to be supported with quantified data. The study evaluates seven bamboo species viz., Bambusa balcooa, Bambusa bambos, Bambusa vulgaris, Bambusa nutans, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Dendrocalamus stocksii and Dendrocalamus strictus for their rooting pattern and impact on soil health properties. Coarse and fine root intensity was maximum in B. vulgaris. Coarse root biomass ranged from 0.6 kg m⁻³ in B. nutans to 2.0 kg m⁻³ in B. vulgaris and B. bambos. Fine root biomass ranged from 1.1 kg m⁻³ in B. nutans to 4.5 kg m⁻³ in D. hamiltonii. Contribution of fine roots in terms of intensity and biomass was much higher than coarse roots. Fine root biomass showed declining trend with increase in soil depth in all the species. During sixth year, the litter fall ranged from 8.1 Mg ha⁻¹ in D. stocksii to 12.4 Mg ha⁻¹ in D. hamiltonii. Among soil physical properties significant improvement were recorded in hydraulic conductivity, water stable aggregates and mean weight diameter. Soil pH, organic carbon and available phosphorus under different species did not reveal any significant changes, while significant reduction was observed in total nitrogen and potassium. Significant positive correlation was observed between WSA and iron content. Soil microbial population and enzyme activities were higher in control plot. Considering root distribution, biomass, soil hydraulic conductivity and water stable aggregates, B. bambos, B. vulgaris and D. hamiltonii are recommended for rehabilitation of degraded lands prone to soil erosion.

Computed Tomographic Evaluation of Craniocerebral Trauma in Dhulikhel Hospital

Background Craniocerebral trauma is common health problem in emergency department of any hospital. CT is commonly indicated to to rule out any significant intracranial abnormalities in these patients, so that timely intervention of the significant intracranial pathologies can be done. Objective The study is done to evaluate CT findings of head injury patients in Dhulikhel Hospital. Method This prospective hospital based study was done in Department of Radiology of Dhulikhel Hospital in the period of January 2015 to December 2015. CT findings of the head trauma patients undergoing CT in the Department of Radiology were reviewed and analysed. Result The study was done in 484 patients, 165 female and 319 male patients. Mean age of the patients was 30.87 ± 19.25 years. Among them 205 patients showed abnormal CT findings, scalp injury being the commonest one, followed by skull fracture. 60 patients showed abnormal intracranial findings. There was significant correlation of skull fracture and abnormal intracranial findings in this study. Conclusion This study provided the normal and abnormal CT findings in head of the craniocerebral trauma patients in Dhulikhel Hospital. Abnormal CT findings were predominantly extra-cranial and were overlapping with intracranial abnormal findings.

Multi-Detector Computed Tomography Evaluation of Normal Appendix

Background Appendix is a blind-ended tubular structure arising from caecum, with variable intraluminal contents and position. Acute appendicitis is one of the common indications for emergency radiological investigation. Objective To assess visualization rate, size and position of normal appendix by Computed Tomography (CT). Method This cross-sectional observational study was done in 198 individuals undergoing abdominal CT without suspicion of acute appendicitis and without any pathology localized within right iliac fossa. Axial and coronal reformatted images of nonenhanced and contrast enhanced CT of abdomen were evaluated for visualization of appendix. Visualized appendices arising from caecum were traced and tip localized. Contents within the appendicular lumen were also evaluated and maximum transverse diameter of appendix measured. The relationship between appendicular diameter, intraluminal content and position with different age groups & gender were also derived. Result Visualization rates of appendix were 90% (93% male and 87% female) in nonenhanced CT and 97% (99.8% male and 95.4% female) in enhanced CT. The mean diameter of the appendix was 6.2 ± 1.16 mm. Most common location of the tip of appendix was pelvic position, followed by retrocaecal position. Most of the appendices showed intraluminal air. Conclusion Multi-Detector Computed Tomography is superior over ultrasonography (USG) in detection of appendix. Modifications of CT protocol reduce limitations of CT over ultrasound in evaluation of appendix. Ultrasound size criteria for appendicitis (>6 mm) is not applicable in CT as normal appendix can measure >6 mm in CT.

An efficient identification approach for stable and unstable nonlinear systems using Colliding Bodies Optimization algorithm

This paper presents an efficient approach to identify different stable and practically useful Hammerstein models as well as unstable nonlinear process along with its stable closed loop counterpart with the help of an evolutionary algorithm as Colliding Bodies Optimization (CBO) optimization algorithm. The performance measures of the CBO based optimization approach such as precision, accuracy are justified with the minimum output mean square value (MSE) which signifies that the amount of bias and variance in the output domain are also the least. It is also observed that the optimization of output MSE in the presence of outliers has resulted in a very close estimation of the output parameters consistently, which also justifies the effective general applicability of the CBO algorithm towards the system identification problem and also establishes the practical usefulness of the applied approach. Optimum values of the MSEs, computational times and statistical information of the MSEs are all found to be the superior as compared with those of the other existing similar types of stochastic algorithms based approaches reported in different recent literature, which establish the robustness and efficiency of the applied CBO based identification scheme.

Vitamin D receptor expression levels determine the severity and complexity of disease progression among leprosy reaction patients

We studied the roles of vitamin D and its receptor, VDR, in the progression of leprosy. The majority of individuals with leprosy from Kolkata, India, with a type 1 or type 2 reaction have low levels of vitamin D₃ in serum samples. Interestingly, individuals with a type 2 reaction associated with neuritis/erythema nodosum leprosum had very low VDR mRNA expression levels, ranging from 5% to 10%, compared to that of healthy control subjects; these patients also had a high bacilli index, ranging from 3+ to 5+. This is the first report to indicate that VDR expression levels may determine the complexity and severity of the progression of leprosy.

Collective Animal Behaviour Based Optimization Algorithm for IIR System Identification Problem

In this paper a novel optimization technique which is developed on mimicking the collective animal behaviour (CAB) is applied to the infinite impulse response (IIR) system identification problem. Functionality of CAB is governed by occupying the best position of an animal according to its dominance in the group. Enrichment of CAB with the features of randomness, stochastic and heuristic search nature has made the algorithm a suitable tool for finding the global optimal solution. The proposed CAB has alleviated from the defects of premature convergence and stagnation, shown by real coded genetic algorithm (RGA), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and differential evolution (DE) in the present system identification problem. The simulation results obtained for some well known benchmark examples justify the efficacy of the proposed system identification approach using CAB over RGA, PSO and DE in terms of convergence speed, unknown plant coefficients and mean square error (MSE) values produced for IIR system models of both the same order and reduced order.