A biosensor in the time domain based on the diffusion coefficient measurement: intermolecular interaction of an intermediate of photoactive yellow protein

A new type of biosensor is presented for the first time. This method is based on the diffusion measurement in the time domain by the transient grating method. As the first demonstration of this new method, various intermolecular interactions with a reaction intermediate of photoactive yellow protein, such as the protein-protein interaction, protein-DNA interaction, and protein-small molecule binding are detected. The characteristic advantages and limitations are summarized.     

Effects of kinetic and transport parameters on accelerated migration of reactive additive from plastic sheet

The effects of kinetic parameters Hatta number Ha and ?, and transport parameters Biot number Bi and ψ on the migration of a reactive additive have been modeled. The convective boundary layer can be considered inert to fully reactive for Ha → 0 to 2, respectively. The migration is controlled by diffusion, reaction rate, equilibrium partitioning of the migrant between the plastic film and the solvent, and boundary layer resistance, depending on the time scale and values of the above parameters. For a nonreactive boundary layer, at high Bi, migration is initially diffusion-controlled but becomes reaction-rate controlled at later times. However, under similar conditions, a slight increase in the reactivity of the boundary layer immediately changes the transport process from diffusion-controlled to reaction rate-controlled. With further increase in reactivity, migration spontaneously reaches equilibrium. At low Bi, equilibrium partitioning and reactive depletion of the migrant in the fluid phase change predominantly to boundary layer-controlling mass transport phenomenon. For a given sampling time (τ = 1.0), the migration increases with the increase in Bi only for a reactive boundary layer. At low Bi and (τ = 1.0), migration decreases only up to ? ? 0.3 for nonreactive to partially reactive boundary layer, but for intermediate and high Bi, ? and Ha do not influence migration.     

Ionic Liquids‐Based Membranes for Carbon Dioxide Separation

Ionic liquids (ILs) have gained wide‐spread focus owing to its negligible vapor pressure, low heat capacity, high thermal stability, and structural diversity. The solubility and selectivity toward carbon dioxide has made ILs a unique platform that possess the potential in gas separations. In particularly, combining functional ILs with membranes and porous supports is an efficient way to design task‐specific materials for CO₂ separations. This minireview summarizes the developments and advances of ionic liquids‐based membranes for CO₂ separations in recent three years, with an emphasis on the strategy of incorporating ionic liquids and CO₂ separation performance.     

Effect of core–shell rubber toughening on mechanical,thermal, and morphological properties of poly(lactic acid)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites

The effect of core–shell rubber (CSR) toughening on mechanical and thermal properties of poly(lactic acid)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PLA/CNT) nanocomposites were investigated. The nanocomposites were prepared by direct melt blending method in a counter-rotating twin-screw extruder. The contents of CSR were varied between 5 and 20 wt % while the content of CNT was kept at 5 phr. The extruded samples were injection molded into the desired test specimens for mechanical and thermal properties analysis. The impact strength of PLA/CNT increased with increasing CSR content with concomitant decrease in tensile strength and modulus. Interestingly, the flexural strength increased at low CSR content before decreasing at 15 and 20% content. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis on the second heating cycle shows no crystallinity content for PLA/CNT and all CSR toughened PLA/CNT nanocomposites, while thermogravimetric analysis shows lower thermal degradation of all CSR toughened PLA/CNT as compared to PLA/CNT nanocomposite. This study reveals significant correlation between CSR loading with the mechanical and thermal properties of the nanocomposites. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47756.     

A new cladding technology to bond aluminium on magnesium

ABSTRACT

An in situ hot press bonding technology has been developed to clad aluminium on magnesium. Followed by regular hot rolling, magnesium sheets, covered by ductile and corrosion-resistant aluminium without detectable oxides in the interface, are produced. The new technology requires no welding, vacuum, protective atmosphere or barrier layer, and it makes good interfacial strength and rollability. Aluminium–magnesium intermetallic phases are formed along the clad–core interface at elevated temperatures. They are not detrimental under compression but may cause clad-core delamination in tensile strain. However, the tensile failure is more dependent on the formability of magnesium core than on the strength of interface.     

Performance Analysis of Gaussian Optimal Filtering for Underwater Passive Target Tracking

Wireless Personal Communications - The flourish of mobile communications is driven by the increasing number of subscribers and rapid advance of electronic devices. This brings up many multimedia...     

Towards Green Capacity in Massive Mimo Based 4G-LTE a Cell Using Beam-Forming Vector Based Sectored Relay Planning

Wireless Personal Communications - In this information age, high data rates and good reliability features are becoming the dominant factors for a successful deployment of commercial networks....     

A comprehensive survey of network coding in vehicular ad-hoc networks

Network coding is a data processing technique in which the flow of digital data is optimized in a network by transmitting a composite of two or more messages to make the network more robust. Network coding has been used in traditional and emerging wireless networks to overcome the communications issues of these networks. It also plays an important role in the area of vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) to meet the challenges like high mobility, rapidly changing topology, and intermittent connectivity. VANETs consist of network of vehicles in which they communicate with each other to ensure road safety, free flow of traffic, and ease of journey for the passengers. It is now considered to be the most valuable concept for improving efficiency and safety of future transportation. However, this field has a lot of challenges to deal with. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of network coding schemes in VANETs. We have classified different applications like content distribution, multimedia streaming, cooperative downloading, data dissemination, and summarized other key areas of VANETs in which network coding schemes are implemented. This research work will provide a clear understanding to the readers about how network coding is implemented in these schemes in VANETs to improve performance, reduce delay, and make the network more efficient.     

Tuning the interlaminar shear strength and thermo-mechanical properties of glass fiber composites by incorporation of (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane-functionalized carbon black

The incorporation of functionalized nanoscale fillers into traditional glass fiber/unsaturated polyester (GF/UPE) composites provides a more robust mechanical attributes. The current study demonstrates the potential of 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane (MPTS)-functionalized carbon black (f-CB) for enhancing the thermo-mechanical properties of GF composites. The composites infused with 1, 3 and 5 wt% of pristine and MPTS-functionalized CB were fabricated by hand lay-up and hot press processing. Tensile testing, interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) testing and dynamic mechanical analysis were used to evaluate the performance of nanocomposites. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy validated the MPTS functionalization of CB. Pristine CB-loaded nanocomposites exhibited marginal improvement in ultimate tensile strength (UTS), ILSS and thermo-mechanical properties. However, with the addition of f-CB, the improvement in all the studied properties was more substantial. The inclusion of 5 wt% f-CB increased the elastic modulus and UTS by 16 and 22%, respectively, whereas the ILSS was enhanced by 36%, in comparison to the neat GF composite. The scanning electron microscope analysis of fractured ILSS samples revealed better fiber-matrix adhesion and compatibility in f-CB-loaded nanocomposites. At the same filler weight percentage, the storage modulus at 25 °C was ~ 19% higher than that of neat composite. The f-CB inclusion resulted in increment of T _g by ~ 13 °C over the T _g of neat GF/UPE composite (~ 109 °C). These improvements were due to the chemical connection of f-CB to the UPE matrix and GF surface. With such improvements in thermal and mechanical properties, these nanocomposites can replace the conventional GF composites with prominent improvements in performance.     

Measurement of natural radioactivity and dose rate assessment of terrestrial gamma radiation in the soil of southern Punjab, Pakistan

Activity concentrations of (226)Ra, (232)Th, (40)K and (137)Cs in soil samples collected from the most populous area of southern Punjab of Pakistan have been measured by gamma-ray spectrometry. The measured activity concentrations for these radionuclides are compared with the reported data from different other countries and it is found that measured activity concentrations are comparable with the worldwide measured average values reported by the UNSCEAR. Subsequently assessed radiological effects show that the mean radium equivalent activity (Ra(eq)) is 96.7 +/- 15.2 Bq kg(-1) and air absorbed dose rate (D) is 46.1 +/- 7.3 nGy h(-1). The values of internal and external radiation hazard indices are found to be less than unity. The annual effective radiation dose is calculated to be 0.28 +/- 0.05 mSv, which is well below the limit of 1.0 mSv y(-1) recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection, for the general public.