Magnetotransport properties of La<Subscript>0.67</Subscript>Ca<Subscript>0.33</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> with different grain sizes

The magnetotransport and magnetoresistive (MR) properties of manganese-based La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ perovskite with different grain sizes are reported. The electrical resistivity was measured as a function of temperature in magnetic fields of 0.5 and 1 T. The insulator–metal transition temperature, T _IM, shifted to a higher temperature with the application of the magnetic field. In zero field, T _IM is almost constant (∼271 K) for all samples except for the sample with the largest grain size, where T _IM=265 K. The temperature dependence of resistivity was fitted with several equations in the metallic (ferromagnetic) region and the insulating (paramagnetic) region. The density of states at the Fermi level, N(E _F), and the activation energy of electron hopping were estimated by fitting the resistivity versus temperature curves. The ρ–T ² curves are nearly linear in the metallic regime, but the ρ–T ^2.5 curves exhibit a deviation from linearity. The variable range hopping model and small polaron hopping model fit the data well in the high-temperature region, indicating the existence of the Jahn–Teller distortion that localizes the charge carriers. MR was found to increase with an increase in the magnetic field, an effect which is attributed to the intergrain spin tunneling effect.     

Ultrasound assisted microwave digestion

Simultaneous microwave and ultrasound irradiation is shown as a new technique for digestion of solid and liquid samples suitable for chemical and food analysis. Its application in analytical chemistry has been shown by decreases in digestion time: determination of copper in edible oils and total Kjeldahl nitrogen.     

Studies on recoil proton tracks in NTA films with the T(d,n)He reaction

Recoil proton tracks in nuclear emulsion are counted by scanning them using strip, square or circular field of view of optical microscope. In this paper, the overestimate due to the edge effects in counting recoil proton tracks at different neutron energies produced from the T(d,n)⁴He reaction has been determined by measuring the true track density in NTA film. The overestimate has also been calculated using the measured value of the mean projected track length (L) in the film. The percentage of measured overestimates has been compared with those obtained by calculation and the results agree reasonably well. Fading effect in NTA film has been studied and found to be 22% more in the summer than in the winter season. A great reduction in fading rate could be achieved if the films are desiccated and sealed in highly pure dry nitrogen maintained at an over-pressure of 1000 Pa to reduce water vapour ingress. After the edge effect correction, the sensitivity of NTA film has been calculated from (1.72±0.08)×10⁻³ tracksn⁻¹ to (1.97±0.16)×10⁻³ tracksn⁻¹ in the neutron energy ranges from 15.91 to 18.88 MeV. The response was found to be from 0.24±0.02 trackscm⁻² permSv to 0.26±0.01 trackscm⁻² permSv in the same energy range.     

On the rank-dependence of coal tar secondary reactions

The secondary reactions of volatile compounds, including coal tar and light gases, accounts for a great portion of soot formation and the subsequent heat release and pollutant emissions in the combustion zone. While coal primary pyrolysis has been extensively studied over the last few decades and several network pyrolysis models has been developed to describe this process, coal secondary pyrolysis is still not well understood. The Babcock and Wilcox Company has been investigating coal secondary pyrolysis in order to develop a comprehensive mechanism for inclusion in predictive computational fluid dynamics and coal combustion models. Supportive experiments were carried out in an entrained-flow reactor. Tar was extracted from the pyrolysis byproducts of seven coals of widely-distributed rank at temperatures ranging from 923 to 1473 K, and analyzed by ¹³C NMR. Tars formed from higher rank coals generally demonstrated higher sooting propensities. This rank-dependent sooting propensity is associated with tar’s chemical structure properties. With increased heat treatment severity, tar molecules lose a substantial amount of aliphatic attachments, and the average size of substitution per cluster decreases. Compared to tars formed from high-rank bituminous coals, those formed from low-rank sub-bituminous coals have a larger attachment portion, higher averaged substitution, and higher oxygen-containing functional groups. These differences contribute to the higher cracking propensity observed for low-rank coal tars.     

Solitons of the KP equation in dusty plasma with variable dust charge and two temperature ions: energy and stability

The propagation of nonlinear waves in dusty plasmas with variable dust charge and two temperature ions is analyzed. By using the reductive perturbation theory, the Kadomtsev-Petviashivili (KP) equation is derived. A Sagdeev potential has been investigated. This potential is used to study the stability conditions for existence of solitonic solutions. Also, it is shown that a rarefactive soliton can exist in most of the cases. The energy of the soliton has been calculated and by using the standard normal-mode analysis a linear dispersion relation has been obtained. The effects of variable dust charge on the amplitude, width and energy of soliton and its effects on the angular frequency of linear wave are also discussed.     

Ultrasound-assisted photochemical oxidation of unsymmetrically substituted 1,4-dihydropyridines

The combination of ultrasound and photochemistry has been used for the oxidation of unsymmetrical 1,4-dihydropyridines to the pyridine derivatives. An ultrasonic probe of 24 kHz frequency and a Hg-lamp of 100 W have been used for this study. The effect of parameters such as ultrasonic intensity, the presence of oxygen and argon atmospheres and also the separate usage of one of these irradiation sources have been studied. Whereas sonication of these compounds alone did not result in the oxidation of them, the use of ultrasound increases the rate of photo-oxidation. The presence of oxygen decreases or increases the rate of reaction, depending on the type of excited state of 1,4-dihydropyridines involved in the reaction.     

Microwave-assisted green synthesis of 4,5-dihydro-1<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis>-pyrazole-1-carbothioamides in water

Rapid, efficient, simple and green procedure for the synthesis of 4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carbothioamides via the multicomponent reaction of aryl aldehydes, acetophenones and thiosemicarbazide in water in the presence of tetrabutylammonium hydroxide under microwave irradiation is reported.     

Zn and Zr co-doped M-type strontium hexaferrite: Synthesis,characterization and hyperthermia application

In the present study, hard ferromagnetic (M-type strontium hexaferrite) SrFe₁₂O₁₉ was co-doped by Zn and Zr for magnetic hyperthermia applications. As a result of the high concentration of single domain SrFe₁₂O₁₉ nanoparticles (suspended in the ferrofluid), they found a large hydrodynamic diameter, which caused a long-time Brownian relaxation under the AC magnetic field. On the other hand, increasing the Zn-Zr content (low concentration of SrFe₁₂O₁₉) led to a drop in anisotropy, which coincided with a short-time N´eel relaxation. All of the substituted samples with a multi-disperse state in ferrofluid exhibited an almost equal amount of the N´eel and Brownian effects. Consequently, the magnetic saturation (M_s) was considered as the dominant factor in the specific absorption rate (SAR) of the substituted samples. Transformation to the mono-disperse state was followed by the decrease of the Brownian relaxation time and hence the increase of the SAR. The interesting point in mono-disperse state was the heat generation of pure SrFe₁₂O₁₉ under the AC magnetic field as a result of the decrement of the Brownian relaxation time.     

Thermal radiation effects on Williamson fluid flow due to an expanding/contracting cylinder with nanomaterials: Dual solutions

The phenomena of heat and mass transfer during the flow of non-Newtonian transfer are amongst the core subjects in mechanical sciences. Recently, the nanomaterials are among the eminent tools for improving the low thermal conductivity of working fluids. Therefore, in view of the existing contributions, this article presents a two-dimensional numerical simulation for the transient flow of a non-Newtonian nanofluid generated by an expanding/contracting circular cylinder. This critical review further explores the impacts of variable magnetic field, thermal radiation, velocity slip and convective boundary conditions. The basic governing equations for Williamson fluid flow are formulated with the assistance of boundary layer approximations. The non-dimensional form of partially coupled ordinary differential equations has been tackled numerically by utilizing versatile Runge–Kutta integration scheme. The momentum, thermal and concentration characteristics are investigated with respect to several critical parameters, like, Weissenberg number, unsteadiness parameter, viscosity ratio parameter, slip parameter, suction parameter, magnetic parameter, thermophoresis parameter, Brownian motion parameter, Prandtl number, Lewis number and Biot number. The outcomes of the systematic reviews of these parameters and forest plots are illustrated. The study reveals that multiple solutions for the considered problem occurs for diverse values of involved physical parameters. The computed results indicate that the friction and heat transfer coefficients are significantly raised by the magnetic parameter for upper branch solutions.     

Generating one-, two-, three- and four-scroll attractors from a novel four-dimensional smooth autonomous chaotic system

A new four-dimensional quadratic smooth autonomous chaotic system is presented in this paper, which can exhibit periodic orbit and chaos under the conditions on the system parameters. Importantly, the system can generate one-, two-, three- and four-scroll chaotic attractors with appropriate choices of parameters. Interestingly, all the attractors are generated only by changing a single parameter. The dynamic analysis approach in the paper involves time series, phase portraits, Poincar\'{e} maps, a bifurcation diagram, and Lyapunov exponents, to investigate some basic dynamical behaviours of the proposed four-dimensional system.