A Hybrid fuzzy based cross neighbor filtering (HF-CNF) for image enhancement of fine and coarse powder scanned electron microscopy (SEM) images

Image enhancement is one of the most critical stages towards any image processing application. The outcome of image enhancement determines the accuracy and precise nature of the overall output from the image processing under interest. This research paper has shown specific interests towards enhancement of Scanned Electron Microscopic (SEM) images which are primarily concerned with projection of fine details exist in internal details of surfaces, metals, fine powders, fibers etc. These fine details play a dominant role in detection of minute cracks, artifacts, progressing faults, texture of powders, their coarseness or fineness, internal details of fibers in forensics. However, due to the image capturing process which is through conventional camera-based models, noise tends to be a major source in degrading or blurring the underlying vital information. A cross neighbor fuzzy filter is a hybrid combination called Hybrid Fuzzy Based Cross Neighbor Filtering (HF-CNF) which is proposed in this research paper in order to minimize impulse and random noise to a great extent also to fine tune the further processing stages. The proposed method has been subjected to extensive analysis by comparison with state of art and recent benchmark methods and superior performance justified in terms of several validation metrics.

Effects of particle grading composition of SiC on properties of silicon-bonded SiC porous ceramics

Silicon-bonded silicon carbide (SBSC) porous ceramics had been prepared by mixing two different particle size of SiC powder (coarse and fine) as aggregates for silicon carbide porous ceramics, adding metallic Si as the binder phase and firing at 1450 °C under argon atmosphere. Various combinations of SiC mixtures consisting of two different particle size and packing density were prepared, and the samples were investigated to understand apparent porosity, bending strength, pore size distribution, and microstructure. The result showed that mixing an appropriate proportion of SiC coarse and fine powders could not only improve the pore size distribution of SBSC porous ceramics but also significantly increase the bending strength compared with the single-particle size sample. The system had the highest free packing density when the ratio of coarse to fine SiC size was >2 and the coarse powder content was 60-70 wt%. The optimal bending strength, and apparent porosity were 37.53 MPa and 37.11% respectively when mixing 70 wt% of coarse powder (50.8 μm) and 30 wt% of fine powder (9.5 μm) and sintered at 1450 ℃ in an argon atmosphere. The material created had 100.3% increased bending strength, and 0.99% decreased porosity compared with the single-particle size sample (50.8 μm).

Simplicia Characterization And Phytochemical Screening Of Secondary Metabolite Compounds Ethanol Extract Of Trembesi Leaves (Samanea saman)

Trembesi plant (Samanea saman) is a plant that has the potential as traditional medicine. People in using medicinal plants often do not know the chemical content of these plants, so that in determining the amount of dosage, people only rely on experience and estimates. Research on the characterization of trembesi leaf simplicia has never been done. Research on the characterization of trembesi leaf simplicia has never been done. The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of trembesi leaf simplicia including specific and non-specific characteristics. The research is carried out in the form of experiments in the laboratory. The sample used is trembesi leaves. The research stages started from discovery, making simplicia, extraction, specific and non-specific characteristics. In the phytochemical test, ethanol extract of trembesi leaves was used. Data analysis used is descriptive method. Specific results showed trembesi leaf simplicia has a coarse powder form, distinctive odor, tasteless, green in color, and on microscopic results of trembesi leaf simplicia powder there is starch, fragments in the form of epidermis, water soluble extract content 11.93%, ethanol soluble essence 18, 93% and contains flavonoids, tannins, steroids and saponins. The results of non-specific characteristics are 8.07% water content, 7.91% ash content and 0.29% acid insoluble ash content.

Isolation and Identification of Phenolic Compounds from Dianthus orientalis Wildly Grown in Iraq.

The plant Dianthus Orientalis that belongs to the Caryphyllaceae family is one of the useful plants in Iraq. Its seeds are commonly used for toothache. This project provides the first comprehensive research done in Iraq and the world to study the phytochemicals and the methods of extraction and isolation of active constituents from Dianthus orientalis wildly grown in Iraq. The plant was harvested from Penjwin in AL-Sulaymaniyah city, Iraq in September 2019.The whole plant were washed carefully, dried in shade area for two weeks, and milled in a mechanical grinder to a coarse powder. The plant was defatted by maceration with hexane for 7days and dried after that extracted by cold extraction methods using 80% methanol solvent for 9 days then fractionation with chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol to separate the active constituents according to the change in polarities. The chloroform, ethyl acetate fractions were used for identification and isolation of phenolic compounds by TLC, PTLC, HPLC and LC/mass, FTIR. Results of the phytochemical screening exposed the presence of, phenols in the plant extract. The phenolic compound (vanillic acid, coumaric acid, cinnamic acid, genistein, oleuropein) were separated and purified by PTLC. The isolated compounds were subjected to several chemical, chromatographic and spectral analytical techniques for their identification such as TLC, HPLC, FTIR and LC/mass.

Phytochemical analysis of ethanolic extract of leaves of Caesalpinia bonducella

Bioactive chemicals of plant source are phytochemicals (secondary metabolites). They are synthesized naturally in all segments of the plant. Caesalpinia bonducella used for psoriasis care by traditional Siddha physicians in the Malabar regions and is also used in Pakistan's traditional medicine scheme. Tree bark has been identified as a purgative and is recommended for the treatment of disorders of the kapha and vata, gynaecological disorders, skin infections, bowel problems, abdominal distension, piles, ulcers. This study is concerned with the phytoconstituents assessment of the ethanolic extract of Caesalpinia bonducella (EECB) leaves. Method: Using Soxhlet apparatus, coarse powder of Caesalpinia bonducella leaves was extracted with ethanol by hot percolation. For 24 hours, the extraction has been worked out. The solvent was extracted out for acquiring a concentrated extract following extraction. The condensed extract was then vacuum dried and the dry extract was processed for specific bioactive compounds investigation in an air tight container. The existence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, proteins & amino acids, hormones, phenols, tannins, flavonoids, glycosides and saponins was revealed in EECB.

Faience Waste for the Production of Wall Products

Increasing the efficiency of using gypsum binders can be carried out by using not natural gypsum raw materials, but calcium sulfate-containing waste from various industries (phosphogypsum, borogypsum, citrogypsum, etc.). As the main source material in the work, we used gypsum-containing waste from a faience factory in the form of waste molds for casting dishes, souvenirs and plumbing fixtures. It has been established that the optimal binding system is formed by mixing powders of dihydrate technogenic gypsum from a coarse and fine earthenware factory with average particle diameters of 3.473 microns and 3.065 microns in a percentage ratio of 30:70, respectively. Using a computer software developed by the authors, which makes it possible to simulate the microstructure of a raw mixture taking into account the contact interaction of particles and calculate the average coordination number, models of binary packing of particles were constructed at various ratios of their diameters. Studies of the strength of composites obtained on the basis of bidisperse systems have shown the presence of an extremum in the region of mixtures containing 30% coarse powder. With optimal packing, a large number of phase contacts are formed due to the regulation of the grain composition of the bidisperse system. It was revealed that a brick based on the waste of two-water gypsum from earthenware production has 2.5–5 times better characteristics of compressive strength than traditional building wall products based on natural gypsum. At the same time, the strength immediately after molding is more than 3 times higher than that of traditional gypsum products. Even higher indicators are achieved when adding microcalcite in addition to the waste of earthenware production, in this case, the compressive strength is 3–6 times higher, and the strength immediately after molding is almost 3 times higher than that of traditional gypsum products.

TOTAL PHENOLS CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT POLARITY CRUDE EXTRACTS OF DODONAEA VISCOSA

Nowadays, effective medications as antioxidant agents are mandatory for a safe and sustainable environment. Dodonaea viscosa (D. viscosa) is used traditionally by the Omani people to treat rheumatism, toothaches, fever, cold, malaria, headaches, indigestion, ulcers, diarrhea, and constipation, dysmenorrheal and irregular menstruation. This study was carried out to prepare leaf extracts by different solvents and to determine their antioxidant activity and total phenols content. The selected plant was collected locally near the University Campus, Nizwa, Oman. The dried coarse powder was used for the extraction with methanol and it was defatted with water and successively partitioned with different polarity solvents with increasing solvent polarity. The total phenols content and antioxidant activity of the prepared different extracts were assessed by Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) methods. The total phenols content of different extracts was in the range of 3.02-249.93 mg gallic acid/g dry extract. The chloroform extract showed the maximum amount of total phenol compounds (249.93 mg GAE acid/g dry extract) and the minimum content was found in water extract (3.02 mg GAE acid/g dry extract). The leaf crude extracts were obtained to significant levels of antioxidant activity that ranged from percentage of inhibition from 33-85.92 %. The water extract and n-butanol extracts showed significant levels of antioxidant activity (85.92 % and 84.99 %) against the DPPH free radical method. In conclusion, this study showed that different polarities crude extracts of D. viscosa comprise a significant amount of phenols plus antioxidant properties and have possibilities of being potential use of the selected species for a natural source of antioxidants.

Processing of Al2O3-AlN Ceramics and Their Structural, Mechanical, and Tribological Characterization

The aim of this study is to present a novel, lower sintering temperature preparation, processing, structural, mechanical, and tribological testing of the AlN-Al2O3 ceramics. The precursor powder of AlN was subjected to oxidation in ambient environment at 900 °C for 3, 10, and 20 h, respectively. These oxidized powders were characterized by SEM and XRD to reveal their morphology, phase, and crystal structure. The SEM results showed coarse powder particles and the presence of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) phase at the surface of aluminum nitride (AlN). The XRD analysis has shown increasing aluminum-oxy-nitride conversion of aluminum nitride as the holding time of oxidation increased. The highest percentage of conversion of AlN powder to AlN-Al2O3 was observed after 10 h. Simultaneously the powders were compacted and sintered using the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) under inert environment (N2 gas) at 1700 °C, 20 MPa for 5 h. This led to the compaction and increase in density of the final samples. Mechanical tests, such as bending test and tribology tests, were carried out on the samples. The mechanical properties of the samples were observed to improve in the oxidized samples compared to the precursor AlN. Moreover, applying longer oxidation time, the mechanical properties of the sintered samples enhanced significantly. Optimum qualitative (microstructure, oxide percentage) and quantitative (tribology, hardness, and bending tests) properties were observed in samples with 10-h oxidation time.

Evaluation of the Antibacterial Properties of the Hydro-Ethanolic Leaf and Stembark of Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae) on Cariogenic and Periodontopathic Bacteria

Background: Caries and periodontal diseases are major public health problems. Due to increase in bacterial resistance to antibiotics, there is a need to promote the known potential of plants and search for new anti-infectious substances as therapeutic alternatives to antibiotics. Aims: This study was aimed at evaluating the antibacterial property of the hydro-ethanolic leaf and stem bark extracts of Psidium guajava on cariogenic and periodontopathic bacteria. Methodology: This was an experimental study that took place in the Laboratory of Chemistry and Microbiology (Clinique Universitaires des Montagne (CUM)) of Bangangté between January to June 2020. They were dried in shade for 3 weeks and ground to obtain a coarse powder. The dried powders were macerated for 72 hours in a water-ethanol mixture (30:70). Then, the phytochemical screening and quantification of the total polyphenol content followed. Microdilutions were used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of guava. Müller Hinton agar was used for obtaining the minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) and the determination of inhibition diameters of the bacteria. Results: Extraction yields of 17.36g and 42.55g were obtained for leaf and stem bark, respectively. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of various secondary metabolites among which the total phenol content was quantified at 236.1878 and 255.7682 mg equivalent of gallic acid per gram for leaf and stem bark, respectively. The carious bacteria isolated were: Streptococcus mutans, Actinomycetes viscosus and Lactobacillus acidophilus.While, the periodontal bacteria were: Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Fusobacterium nucleatum ,Tannerella forsythensis. The results obtained showed that the combined extracts of leaf and stem bark had an activity higher than that of the stem bark which in turn had a higher activity than the leaves. Conclusion: Non-invasive independent predictors for screening esophageal varices may decrease medical as well as financial burden, hence improving the management of cirrhotic patients. These predictors, however, need further work to validate reliability.

Antioxidant Properties and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Cucumeropsis Edulis (Seeds)

This study sought to explore the medicinal properties of extracts obtained from C. edulis seeds. The seeds were obtained from farms in the Upper East Region of Ghana, dried and milled into coarse powder. Petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and methanol were used to extract the bioactive compounds present in the seeds by the cold maceration method. Antioxidant properties of the extracts were evaluated using the Phosphomolybdenum and DPPH free radical scavenging assays. The Folin-Ciocalteu assay was used to estimate the total phenol content and carrageenan-induced paw oedema model in chicks employed for the anti-inflammatory effects. The results showed that methanol extract had the highest antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities while the petroleum ether extract showed the least activity. The anti-inflammatory activity of the methanol extract (31.3% oedema inhibition at 300 mg/kg body weight) was however lower than diclofenac (54.04% oedema inhibition at 100 mg/kg body weight), the reference drug. Compounds such as tannins, alkaloids, and carotenoids detected during phytochemical screening may be responsible for the activities observed.