Fastest Rapid Loading Methods of Vertical and Radial Consolidations

Fastest curve-fitting procedures are proposed for vertical and radial consolidations for rapid loading methods. In vertical consolidation, the next load increment can be applied at 50-60% consolidation (or even earlier if the compression index is known). In radial consolidation, the next load increment can be applied at just 10-15% consolidation. The effects of secondary consolidation on the coefficient of consolidation and ultimate settlement are minimized in both cases. A quick procedure is proposed in vertical consolidation that determines how far is calculated from the true , where is coefficient of consolidation. In radial consolidation no such procedure is required because at 10-15% the consolidation effects of secondary consolidation are already less in most inorganic soils. The proposed rapid loading methods can be used when the settlement or time of load increment is not known. The characteristic features of vertical, radial, three-dimensional, and secondary consolidations are given in terms of the rate of settlement. A relationship is proposed between the coefficient of the vertical consolidation, load increment ratio, and compression index. (C) 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.

The dual role of Zn-acid medium for one-step rapid synthesis of M@rGO (M = Au, Pt, Pd and Ag) hybrid nanostructures at room temperature

We report a new protocol for the synthesis of M@rGO (M = Au, Pt, Pd, Ag and rGO = reduced graphene oxide) hybrid nanostructures at room temperature in Zn-acid medium. The roles of Zn-acid are to reduce the GO by generated hydrogen and the deposition of metal nanoparticles on rGO by galvanic replacement reaction between Zn and Mn+.

An Efficient Probe for Rapid Detection of Cyanide in Water at Parts per Billion Levels and Naked-Eye Detection of Endogenous Cyanide

A new molecular probe based on an oxidized bis-indolyl skeleton has been developed for rapid and sensitive visual detection of cyanide ions in water and also for the detection of endogenously bound cyanide. The probe allows the naked-eye detection of cyanide ions in water with a visual color change from red to yellow ((max)=80nm) with the immediate addition of the probe. It shows high selectivity towards the cyanide ion without any interference from other anions. The detection of cyanide by the probe is ratiometric, thus making the detection quantitative. A Michael-type addition reaction of the probe with the cyanide ion takes place during this chemodosimetric process. In water, the detection limit was found to be at the parts per million level, which improved drastically when a neutral micellar medium was employed, and it showed a parts-per-billion-level detection, which is even 25-fold lower than the permitted limits of cyanide in water. The probe could also efficiently detect the endogenously bound cyanide in cassava (a staple food) with a clear visual color change without requiring any sample pretreatment and/or any special reaction conditions such as pH or temperature. Thus the probe could serve as a practical naked-eye probe for in-field experiments without requiring any sophisticated instruments.

Rapid determination of main constituents of packed juices by reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography: an insight in to commercial fruit drinks

The present work reports the compositional analysis of thirteen different packed fruit juices using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Vitamin C, organic acids (citric and malic) and sugars (fructose, glucose and sucrose) were separated, analyzed and quantified using different reverse phase methods. A new rapid reverse phase HPLC method was developed for routine analysis of vitamin C in fruit juices. The precision results of the methods showed that the relative standard deviations of the repeatability and reproducibility were < 0.05 and < 0.1 respectively. Correlation coefficient of the calibration models developed was found to be higher than 0.99 in each case. It has been found that the content of Vitamin C was less variable amongst different varieties involved in the study. It is also observed that in comparison to fresh juices, the packed juices contain lesser amounts of vitamin C. Citric acid was found as the major organic acids present in packed juices while maximum portion of sugars was of sucrose. Comparison of the amount of vitamin C, organic acids and sugars in same fruit juice of different commercial brands is also reported.

A rapid, efficient, and economical inverse polymerase chain reaction-based method for generating a site saturation mutant library

With the development of deep sequencing methodologies, it has become important to construct site saturation mutant (SSM) libraries in which every nucleotide/codon in a gene is individually randomized. We describe methodologies for the rapid, efficient, and economical construction of such libraries using inverse polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We show that if the degenerate codon is in the middle of the mutagenic primer, there is an inherent PCR bias due to the thermodynamic mismatch penalty, which decreases the proportion of unique mutants. Introducing a nucleotide bias in the primer can alleviate the problem. Alternatively, if the degenerate codon is placed at the 5' end, there is no PCR bias, which results in a higher proportion of unique mutants. This also facilitates detection of deletion mutants resulting from errors during primer synthesis. This method can be used to rapidly generate SSM libraries for any gene or nucleotide sequence, which can subsequently be screened and analyzed by deep sequencing. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Novel spherical hierarchical structures of GdOOH and Eu:GdOOH: rapid microwave-assisted synthesis through self-assembly, thermal conversion to oxides, and optical studies

We report a novel, rapid, and low-temperature method for the synthesis of undoped and Eu-doped GdOOH spherical hierarchical structures, without using any structure-directing agents, through the microwave irradiation route. The as-prepared product consists of nearly monodisperse microspheres measuring about 1.3 mu m in diameter. Electron microscopy reveals that each microsphere is an assembly of two-dimensional nanoflakes (about 30 nm thin) which, in turn, result from the assembly of crystallites measuring about 9 nm in diameter. Thus, a three-level hierarchy can be seen in the formation of the GdOOH microspheres: from nanoparticles to 2D nanoflakes to 3D spherical structures. When doped with Eu3+ ions, the GdOOH microspheres show a strong red emission, making them promising candidates as phosphors. Finally, thermal conversion at modest temperatures leads to the formation of corresponding oxide structures with enhanced luminescence, while retaining the spherical morphology of their oxyhydroxide precursor.

RAPID HUMAN ACTION RECOGNITION IN H.264/AVC COMPRESSED DOMAIN FOR VIDEO SURVEILLANCE

This paper discusses a novel high-speed approach for human action recognition in H. 264/AVC compressed domain. The proposed algorithm utilizes cues from quantization parameters and motion vectors extracted from the compressed video sequence for feature extraction and further classification using Support Vector Machines (SVM). The ultimate goal of our work is to portray a much faster algorithm than pixel domain counterparts, with comparable accuracy, utilizing only the sparse information from compressed video. Partial decoding rules out the complexity of full decoding, and minimizes computational load and memory usage, which can effect in reduced hardware utilization and fast recognition results. The proposed approach can handle illumination changes, scale, and appearance variations, and is robust in outdoor as well as indoor testing scenarios. We have tested our method on two benchmark action datasets and achieved more than 85% accuracy. The proposed algorithm classifies actions with speed (>2000 fps) approximately 100 times more than existing state-of-the-art pixel-domain algorithms.

Rapid, microwave-assisted synthesis of Gd2O3 and Eu:Gd2O3 nanocrystals: characterization, magnetic, optical and biological studies

Ultra-small crystals of undoped and Eu-doped gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) were synthesised by a simple, rapid microwave-assisted route, using benzyl alcohol as the reaction solvent. XRD, XPS and TEM analysis reveal that the as-prepared powder material consists of nearly monodisperse Gd2O3 nanocrystals with an average diameter of 5.2 nm. The nanocrystals show good magnetic behaviour and exhibit a larger reduction in relaxation time of water protons than the standard Gd-DTPA complex currently used in MRI imaging. Cytotoxicity studies (both concentration- and time-dependent) of the Gd2O3 nanocrystals show no adverse effect on cell viability, evidencing their high biological compatibility. Finally, Eu:Gd2O3 nanocrystals were prepared by a similar route and the red luminescence of Eu3+ activator ions was used to study the cell permeability of the nanocrystals. Red fluorescence from Eu3+ ions observed by fluorescence microscopy shows that the nanocrystals (Gd2O3 and Eu:Gd2O3) can permeate not only the cell membrane but can also enter the cell nucleus, rendering them candidate materials not only for MRI imaging but also for drug delivery when tagged or functionalized with specific drug molecules.

Rapid divergence of ecotypes of an invasive plant

Invasive species demonstrate rapid evolution within a very short period of time allowing one to understand the underlying mechanism(s). Lantana camara, a highly invasive plant of the tropics and subtropics, has expanded its range and successfully established itself almost throughout India. In order to uncover the processes governing the invasion dynamics, 218 individuals from various locations across India were characterized with six microsatellites. By integrating genetic data with niche modelling, we examined the effect of drift and environmental selection on genetic divergence. We found multiple genetic clusters that were non-randomly distributed across space. Spatial autocorrelation revealed a strong fine-scale structure, i.e. isolation by distance. In addition, we obtained evidence of inhibitory effects of selection on gene flow, i.e. isolation by environmental distance. Perhaps, local adaptation in response to selection is offsetting gene flow and causing the populations to diverge. Niche models suggested that temperature and precipitation play a major role in the observed spatial distribution of this plant. Based on a non-random distribution of clusters, unequal gene flow among them and different bioclimatic niche requirements, we concluded that the emergence of ecotypes represented by two genetic clusters is underway. They may be locally adapted to specific climatic conditions, and perhaps at the very early stages of ecological divergence.

Rapid Characterization of Molecular Diffusion by NMR Spectroscopy

An NMR-based approach for rapid characterization of translational diffusion of molecules has been developed. Unlike the conventional method of acquiring a series of 2D C-13 and H-1 spectra, the proposed approach involves a single 2D NMR spectrum, which can be acquired in minutes. Using this method, it was possible to detect the presence of intermediate oligomeric species of diphenylalanine in solution during the process of its selfassembly to form nanotubular structures.

Rapid reduction of GO by hydrogen spill-over mechanism by in situ generated nanoparticles at room temperature and their catalytic performance towards 4-nitrophenol reduction and ethanol oxidation

Here, we report the clean and facile synthesis of Pt and Pd nanoparticles decorated on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) by the simultaneous reduction of graphene oxide (GO) and the metal ions in Mg/acid medium. As-generated Pt and Pd nanoparticles serve as a heterogeneous catalyst for the further reduction of the rGO by the hydrogen spill-over process. The C/O ratio is much higher as compared to the rGO obtained by the reduction of GO by only Mg/acid. Overall, the process is rapid, facile and green that does not require any toxic chemical agent or any rigorous chemical reactions. We perform the catalytic reduction of 4-nitophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) at room temperature by Pd@rGO and Pt@rGO. The reduction is complete within 35 s for Pd@rGO and 60 s for Pt@rGO when 50 mu g of hybrid catalyst is used for 0.5 ml of 1 mM of 4-NP. In case of ethanol oxidation, the current density for Pd@rGO is comparable to commercial Pt/C but is doubled for Pt@rGO. Overall, both structures show highly stable catalytic activity compared to commercial Pt/C. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Highly sensitive and rapid detection of acetylcholine using an ITO plate modified with platinum-graphene nanoparticles

Determining the concentrations of acetylcholine (ACh) and choline (Ch) is clinically important. ACh is a neurotransmitter that acts as a key link in the communication between neurons in the spinal cord and in nerve skeletal junctions in vertebrates, and plays an important role in transmitting signals in the brain. A bienzymatic sensor for the detection of ACh was prepared by co-immobilizing choline oxidase (ChO) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) on graphene matrix/platinum nanoparticles, and then electrodepositing them on an ITO-coated glass plate. Graphene nanoparticles were decorated with platinum nanoparticles and were electrodeposited on a modified ITO-coated glass plate to form a modified electrode. The modified electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies. The optimum response of the enzyme electrode was obtained at pH 7.0 and 35 degrees C. The response time of this ACh-sensing system was shown to be 4 s. The linear range of responses to ACh was 0.005-700 mu M. This biosensor exhibits excellent anti-interferential abilities and good stability, retaining 50% of its original current even after 4 months. It has been applied for the detection of ACh levels in human serum samples.