Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) characterization of electrically conducting polyaniline nanofiber/polyimide nanocomposites

Nanocomposites of polyaniline nanofibers and polyimide were fabricated and studied using small angle neutron scattering (SANS). The immiscible nature of the conformationally dissimilar polyaniline nanofiber and polyimide host is established by a series of experiments involving neutron scattering. Based on these techniques, we conclude that the crystal structure of the polyimides is not disrupted, and that there is no mixing between the two components on a molecular level. The morphology of the conducting salt component was analyzed by SANS data and was treated by two common models: Debye–Bueche (D–B) and inverse power law (IPL). Due to deviations in the linear curve fitting over a large scattering range, neither the D-B nor the IPL model could be used to characterize the size and shape of all PANI-0.5-CSA (polyaniline camphor sulfonic acid doped polymer)/polyimide blend systems. At 1 and 2% concentration, the D–B model suggested salt domains between 20 and 70 Å with fractal geometries implied by the IPL model. As salt concentrations increased to 5%, the structures were observed to change, but there is no simple structural model that provides a suitable basis for comparison.     

Controlled synthesis and characteristics of antireflection coatings of TiO2 produced from a organometallic colloid

Antireflection titanium dioxide (TiO₂) coatings have been developed on monocrystalline silicon by a sol–gel spin-coating process using titanium di-isopropoxidebis(acetylacetonate) colloidal precursor solution. The effect of titanium content in the precursor, spin rate, sintering duration and temperature have been studied and their effect on coating thickness and optical properties (i.e., refractive index and reflectivity) were investigated. The influence of post-deposition sintering temperature on the optical characteristics, composition and the microstructure of the coatings have been evaluated by UV–vis spectroscopy, ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. Solar cells made on silicon wafers with TiO₂ as antireflection layer showed enhancement of more than 20% in short circuit current density in comparison to a cell devoid of the TiO₂ coating.     

Trust based Intelligent Routing Algorithm for Delay Tolerant Network using Artificial Neural Network

In today’s world, when every mobile device corresponds with human behavioral patterns. People often come across with various communities having patterns such as mobility, communication and groups. Trust is an intrinsic factor, which plays important role in formation of such communities. It is important to see the inherent risk involved in such socially active communities. Such factors motivate the use of trust as a routing factor in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs). This paper proposes a Trust based Intelligent Routing Algorithm, which exploits the Call Data Record from Call Detail Record. The function of Artificial Neural Network is to calculate and learn, trust value that can be shared among network devices. Our algorithm lowers the need of nodes resources like energy consumption, computation time and space overheads. The proposed algorithm enhances the routing performance in DTN. The earlier work claiming better efficiency generally ends up consuming network’s resources. On the contrary our proposed algorithm provides in-built security, without any additional overhead. To the best of our knowledge the proposed work is the first of its kind, providing ingrained security feature to the DTN. This work gives vantage point to the researchers in the field over other schemes proposed in the past.     

Inhibition of aldose reductase and anti-cataract action of trans-anethole isolated from Foeniculum vulgare Mill. fruits

Foeniculum vulgare fruits are routinely consumed for their carminative and mouth freshening effect. The plant was evaluated for aldose reductase inhibition and anti-diabetic action. Bioguided fractionation using silica gel column chromatography, HPLC, and GC-MS analysis revealed trans-anethole as the bioactive constituent possessing potent aldose reductase inhibitory action, with an IC₅₀ value of 3.8 μg/ml. Prolonged treatment with the pet ether fraction of the F. vulgare distillate demonstrated improvement in blood glucose, lipid profile, glycated haemoglobin and other parameters in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Trans-anethole could effectively show anti-cataract activity through the increase in soluble lens protein, reduced glutathione, catalase and SOD activity on in vitro incubation of the eye lens with 55 mM glucose. Trans-anethole demonstrated noncompetitive to mixed type of inhibition of lens aldose reductase using Lineweaver Burk plot.     

Subthreshold Schmitt trigger using body-bias technique for ultra low power and high performance applications

Digital subthreshold logic provides extremely low power consumption since the power supplies are kept below the threshold voltage and using the small subthreshold current of MOS transistors to operate. In this paper, a body-bias technique to match the subthreshold currents of both the NMOS and PMOS transistors is explored and a Schmitt trigger circuit employing this bias technique is proposed. Extensive circuit simulations were conducted and the results were compared with standard body bias technique in terms of performance parameters. The simulation results were obtained with 0.18 μm technology parameters. The conclusion is that Schmitt trigger with this body biasing is suitable for high performance and ultra low power applications.     

Instant Noodles: Processing,Quality, and Nutritional Aspects

Noodles are one of the staple foods consumed in many Asian countries. Instant noodles have become internationally recognized food, and worldwide consumption is on the rise. The properties of instant noodles like taste, nutrition, convenience, safety, longer shelf-life, and reasonable price have made them popular. Quality factors important for instant noodles are color, flavor, and texture, cooking quality, rehydration rates during final preparation, and the presence or absence of rancid taste after extended storage. Microstructure of dough and noodles has been studied to understand the influence of ingredients and processing variables on the noodle quality by employing scanning electron microscopy. Applications of newer techniques like confocal laser scanning microscopy and epifluorescence light microscopy employed to understand the microstructure changes in dough and noodles have also been discussed. Sincere efforts of researchers are underway to improve the formulation, extend the shelf life, and promote universal fortification of instant noodles. Accordingly, many researchers are exploring the potential of noodle fortification as an effective public health intervention and improve its nutritional properties. This review focuses on the functionality of ingredients, unit operations involved, quality criteria for evaluation, recent trends in fortification, and current knowledge in relation to instant noodles.     

New thiophene‐based donor–acceptor conjugated polymers carrying fluorene or cyanovinylene units: Synthesis,characterization, and electroluminescent properties

Two new thiophene‐based donor–acceptor (D–A) conjugated polymers, PDTOFV and PDTOCN, are synthesized and characterized. The polymers are readily soluble in common organic solvents and exhibit good thermal stability with onset decomposition temperature (T_d) in the range 310?330°C. Cyclic voltammetry studies revealed that polymers possess low‐lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels (?5.94 eV for PDTOFV and ?5.86 eV for PDTOCN) and low‐lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels (?3.35 eV for PDTOFV and ?3.55 eV for PDTOCN). The optical band gap is calculated from onset absorption edge of the polymer film. The polymers exhibit green fluorescence with fluorescence quantum yields (?_fl) of 38% and 42%, respectively, for PDTOFV and PDTOCN. Polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) are fabricated using these polymers with a device configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer/Al. The device based on PDTOFV emitted green light with Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage (CIE) coordinate values of (0.25, 0.39). Whereas, the device based on PDTOCN showed white light emission with CIE coordinate values of (0.32, 0.35), which is very close to the values (0.33, 0.33) of standard white light emission. The threshold voltages of the PLEDs are determined by current density‐voltage characteristics and are found to be 7.3 and 3.9 V for PDTOFV and PDTOCN, respectively. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2013. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Energy Efficient Four Level Cooperative Opportunistic Communication for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN)

For wireless sensor networks (WSNs), energy is a scarce resource. Due to limited battery resources, the energy consumption is the critical issue for the transmission as well as reception of the signals in the wireless communication. WSNs are infrastructure-less shared network demanding more energy consumption due to collaborative transmissions. This paper proposes a new cooperative opportunistic four level model for IEEE 802.15.4 wireless personal area network. The average per node energy consumption is observed merely about 0.17 mJ for the cooperative wireless communication which proves the proposed mechanism to be energy efficient. This paper further proposes four levels of cooperative data transmission from source to destination to improve network coverage with energy efficiency.