LAXS investigation of finger phantoms

Osteoporosis is a bone condition that is caused mainly by the degradation of trabecular and cortical bone resulting in the decrease of bone strength and eventually leads to bone fracture. A low angle X-ray scattering (LAXS) system that uses mainly the coherent scattering process for the characterisation of materials was constructed to study such bone conditions. Several finger phantoms were fabricated to simulate bone of varying densities. The LAXS method was able to identify the changes in bone density quite well by comparing energy dispersive X-ray diffraction patterns as well as the angular patterns. Quantitative information can be extracted from such patterns that relate to bone loss. Signature patterns at low exposure times were produced in order to reduce the dose received with reasonable identification power but at slightly higher statistical errors compared with long exposure patterns. Use of other parameters to increase the sensitivity was attempted.     

Radiation pasteurised oil palm empty fruit bunch fermented with Pleurotus sajor-caju as feed supplement to ruminants

In solid state fermentation, Pleurotus sajor-caju has been found to be able to degrade at least 30% oil palm empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) fibre leaving 70 % useful materials. Conditions under which fermentation carried out were investigated. It was found that, in the temperature range between 25– 28 °C, relative ph between 6–8, moisture between 60–70 % and medium composition of CaCO₃: rice bran 2 %: 5 % were the optimum conditions. The results showed in fermented products that, there were substantial reduction in cellulosic component such as Crude Fiber (CF, 18 %); Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF, 45 %), Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF, 61 %) and Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL, 14 %). However, Crude Protein (CP, 10%) increased resulted from single cell protein enrichment of mycelial microbial mass. The mass reductions of substrate in fermentation process corresponds to the CO₂ released during fermentation. Hence, attributable to the decreased in content of CF, ADF, NDF, and ADL. The digestibility study has also been carried out to determine the useful level of this product to ruminant. Aflatoxin content was detected low in both the initial substrates and products. Based on nutritional value and low content of aflatoxin, the product is useful as a source of roughage to ruminant.     

Novel filled polymer composites prepared from in situ polymerization via a colloidal approach: II. Blends of kaolin/Nylon-6 in situ composites with conventional Nylon-6 and -66

A novel in situ composite comprised of kaolin clay fillers and polyamide 6 (Nylon-6) was synthesized via a colloidal approach by suspending kaolin particles in aqueous caprolactam and then polymerizing the caprolactam under elevated temperature and pressure. This in situ polymerization technique enables the deposition of nylon molecules directly onto the filler surface. It offers a much larger contact surface area for the nylon molecules to interact with the filler particles and enhances filler/matrix interaction through polymer miscibility. The kaolin particles were shown to be uniformly dispersed in Nylon-6 matrix without appreciable agglomeration. In the highly clay-loaded composites such as the 50/50 kaolin/Nylon-6 in situ composite, the deposited nylon molecules probably form a coated layer on the filler particles. This kind of nylon coated fillers may be applied as a reinforcing entity to commercial Nylon-6 or −;66 by improving particle dispersion and melt processability. The 50/50 kaolin/Nylon-6 in situ composites have been used as a masterbatch for blending with commercial Nylon-6 and Nylon-66 to take advantage of their good properties and to reduce cost. Rheology and mechanical properties of the masterbatch/nylon composites have been investigated in comparison with those of the conventional melt-mixed composites. The improvement of rheological and mechanical properties of the in situ composites has been discussed in relation to the composite structure. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Novel filled polymer composites prepared from in situ polymerization via a colloidal approach: I. Kaolin/Nylon-6 in situ composites

A mineral-filled in situ composite was prepared by a colloidal approach by first suspending kaolin filler particles in aqueous caprolactam, and then polymerizing caprolactam in situ at high pressure and temperature. The purpose of this colloidal in situ polymerization is to improve particle dispersion and to enhance interaction of the filler to the polymer matrix. X-ray diffraction studies of the in situ kaolin/Nylon-6 composites revealed that the x-ray peak corresponding to the α-crystal form of Nylon-6 diminished with increasing kaolin loading, while the γ-crystal structure became more pronounced. The degree of crystallinity of Nylon-6 remained fairly unchanged with the kaolin loading level in the in situ composites. Calorimetric and dynamic mechanical studies exhibited that the glass transition temperature of the resulting composite increased significantly with increase in kaolin concentration, suggesting strong filler-matrix interaction at the kaolin/Nylon-6 interface. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) results showed uniform filler dispersion in the in situ composites relative to the conventional melt-mixed composites. Modulus and tensile strength of these in situ composites were found to be distinctively higher than that of the conventional melt-mixed kaolin/Nylon-6 composites. However, as typical for composite materials, drawability and fracture toughness decreased with increasing kaolin loading. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Late energy injection and cosmological constraints in axino dark matter scenarios

Taking into account effects of late energy injection, we examine big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) constraints on axino dark matter scenarios with long-lived charged sleptons. We calculate 4-body slepton decays into the axino, a lepton, and a quark–antiquark pair since they govern late hadronic energy injection and associated BBN constraints. For supersymmetric hadronic axion models, we present the obtained hadronic BBN constraints and show that they can be more restrictive than the ones associated with catalyzed BBN via slepton-bound-state formation. From the BBN constraints on hadronic and electromagnetic energy release, we find new upper limits on the Peccei–Quinn scale.     

Effect of the natural radioactivity concentrations and 226Ra/238U disequilibrium on cancer diseases in Penang,Malaysia

Natural radioactivity measurements and assessment of radiological hazards in soil and sand samples obtained from Penang, Malaysia were carried out using the Exploranium GR-135 Plus “Identifier” Radioisotope Identification Device and high-resolution High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector system. The activity concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K were found to be 184±11, 396±22, 165±14, and 835±28 Bq kg^?1 respectively, and the external gamma dose rate is 315±44 nGy h^?1 for soil samples. For sand samples, the activity concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K were 31±8, 62±16, 36±6, and 369±17 Bq kg^?1, respectively, and the external gamma dose rate is 66±12 nGy h^?1. To assess the radiological hazard of radioactivity present in the samples, the radium equivalent activity, annual effective dose, annual gonadal dose equivalent, external hazard, and internal indices were calculated.The Ra_eq values of soil samples were higher than the limit of 370 Bq kg^?1, which is equivalent to a gamma dose of 1.5 mSv yr^?1, whereas the Ra_eq for sand samples was lower than 370 Bq kg^?1. The calculated concentrations by HPGe spectroscopy were compared with the measured concentrations detected by a GR-135 spectrometer. The calculated and measured gamma dose rates had an ideal correlation coefficient R of 0.72. The gamma dose rates in Penang increased with the average annual age-standardized rates (ASR) for all cancers between 1994 and 2010. The effects of the pH value of soil and sand samples on natural radionuclides concentrations were investigated. The high concentration of ²²⁶Ra/²³⁸U ratio disequilibrium (²²⁶Ra/²³⁸U of 1.76–2.33) was observed in the sampling sites. Moreover, a portable continuous radon monitor (SNC, model 1029, Sun Nuclear Corporation) was used to measure the radon concentration of the soil surface. The radon concentrations were found to vary from 7 to 50 Bq m^?3. A positive correlation was observed between the radon and radium concentrations in samples measured by the SNC continuous radon monitor and HPGe detector.     

Ab-initio and modeling study of some amino acid-tRNA: NMR shielding and thermodynamic of solvent effect (Poster Presentation)

The tRNA molecule takes suitable amino acid to the ribosome for the formation of peptide bonds. In starting the peptide chain, the first amino acid which is taken to the ribosome is methionine. We have simulated methionine-amino acid bonding and amino acid-tRNA bonding, using a mixed study of quantum mechanics ab-initio and molecular mechanics. NMR shielding tensors and thermodynamic parameters and total energies are also calculated. It is important to understand the physical properties and the environmental conditions in which the dipeptides cause the tRNA to attach to a wrong amino acid. One of the properties studied is the dielectric environment of in which the bonding occurs. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

"One-pot" tandem C-H borylation/1,4-conjugate addition/reduction sequence

A microwave-assisted, one-pot, iridium-catalyzed aromatic C-H borylation/rhodium-catalyzed 1,4-conjugate addition sequence provides a highly robust protocol suitable for high-throughput array synthesis. Selective formation of either β-aryl-substituted ketones or the corresponding alcohols can be achieved in good overall yields by simple variation of the reaction conditions.