Effects of Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas on Isolated and Cellular DNA—A Review

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma (APP) is being used widely in a variety of biomedical applications. Extensive research in the field of plasma medicine has shown the induction of DNA damage by APP in a dose-dependent manner in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. Recent evidence suggests that APP-induced DNA damage shows potential benefits in many applications, such as sterilization and cancer therapy. However, in several other applications, such as wound healing and dentistry, DNA damage can be detrimental. This review reports on the extensive investigations devoted to APP interactions with DNA, with an emphasis on the critical role of reactive species in plasma-induced damage to DNA. The review consists of three main sections dedicated to fundamental knowledge of the interactions of reactive oxygen species (ROS)/reactive nitrogen species (RNS) with DNA and its components, as well as the effects of APP on isolated and cellular DNA in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.     

Hydrogen Diffusion and Trapping Effects in Low and Medium Carbon Steels for Subsurface Reinforcement in the Proposed Yucca Mountain Repository

The electrochemical hydrogen permeation method was used to investigate hydrogen transport, trapping characteristics of low (0.08 pct C) and medium carbon (0.44 pct C) steels proposed for the Yucca Mountain (YM) repository environment. The presence of relatively high amounts of C, Mn, and S increased the density of trapping sites in medium carbon steel. The measured diffusivity of medium carbon steel was lower than that of the low carbon steel due to increased trapping of hydrogen at irreversible sites in the medium carbon steel. Hydrogen concentration values obtained for low carbon steels in YM ground water electrolytes indicate that increased ionic concentration decreases the uptake of hydrogen. The decrease in hydrogen permeation were due the formation of CaCO₃ corrosion products on the surface of steels.     

Evaluation of energy requirements for all-electric range of plug-in hybrid electric two-wheeler

Recently plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are emerging as one of the promising alternative to improve the sustainability of transportation energy and air quality especially in urban areas. The all-electric range in PHEV design plays a significant role in sizing of battery pack and cost. This paper presents the evaluation of battery energy and power requirements for a plug-in hybrid electric two-wheeler for different all-electric ranges. An analytical vehicle model and MATLAB simulation analysis has been discussed. The MATLAB simulation results estimate the impact of driving cycle and all-electric range on energy capacity, additional mass and initial cost of lead-acid, nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries. This paper also focuses on influence of cycle life on annual cost of battery pack and recommended suitable battery pack for implementing in plug-in hybrid electric two-wheelers.     

Dual-Layer Oxidation-Protective Plasma-Sprayed SiC-ZrB<Subscript>2</Subscript>/Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>-Carbon Nanotube Coating on Graphite

Graphite is used in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors because of its outstanding irradiation performance and corrosion resistance. To restrict its high-temperature (>873 K) oxidation, atmospheric-plasma-sprayed SiC-ZrB₂-Al₂O₃-carbon nanotube (CNT) dual-layer coating was deposited on graphite substrate in this work. The effect of each layer was isolated by processing each component of the coating via spark plasma sintering followed by isothermal kinetic studies. Based on isothermal analysis and the presence of high residual thermal stress in the oxide scale, degradation appeared to be more severe in composites reinforced with CNTs. To avoid the complexity of analysis of composites, the high-temperature activation energy for oxidation was calculated for the single-phase materials only, yielding values of 11.8, 20.5, 43.5, and 4.5 kJ/mol for graphite, SiC, ZrB₂, and CNT, respectively, with increased thermal stability for ZrB₂ and SiC. These results were then used to evaluate the oxidation rate for the composites analytically. This study has broad implications for wider use of dual-layer (SiC-ZrB₂/Al₂O₃) coatings for protecting graphite crucibles even at temperatures above 1073 K.     

Active solar distillation—A detailed review

All over the world, access to potable water to the people are narrowing down day by day. Most of the human diseases are due to polluted or non-purified water resources. Even today, under developed countries and developing countries face a huge water scarcity because of unplanned mechanism and pollution created by manmade activities. Water purification without affecting the ecosystem is the need of the hour. In this context, many conventional and non-conventional techniques have been developed for purification of saline water. Among these, solar distillation proves to be both economical and eco-friendly technique particularly in rural areas. Many active distillation systems have been developed to overcome the problem of lower distillate output in passive solar stills. This article provides a detailed review of different studies on active solar distillation system over the years. Thermal modelling was done for various types of active single slope solar distillation system. This review would also throw light on the scope for further research and recommendations in active solar distillation system.     

Effect of silica fume, metakaolin, and low-calcium fly ash on chemical resistance of concrete

Effects of aggressive chemical environments were evaluated on the mortars prepared with ordinary portland cement (OPC) and silica fume (SF)/metakaolin (MK)/low-calcium fly ash at various replacement levels. The natural adverse chemical environmental conditions were simulated using sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, acetic acid, phosphoric acid, and a mixture of sodium and magnesium sulfates. Chemical resistance information was used in conjunction with compressive strength measurements to propose realistic OPC/mineral admixture proportions.     

Growth and dielectric,mechanical, thermal and etching studies of an organic nonlinear optical l-arginine trifluoroacetate (LATF) single crystal

l-arginine trifluoroacetate, an organic nonlinear optical material, has been synthesized from aqueous solution. Bulk single crystal of dimension 57 mm × 5 mm × 3 mm has been grown by temperature lowering technique. Powder X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the monoclinic structure of the grown l-arginine trifluoroacetate crystal. Linear optical property of the grown crystal has been studied by UV–vis spectrum. Dielectric response of the l-arginine trifluoroacetate crystal was analysed for different frequencies and temperatures in detail. Microhardness study on the sample reveals that the crystal possesses relatively higher hardness compared to many organic crystals. Thermal analyses confirmed that the l-arginine trifluoroacetate material is thermally stable upto 212 °C. The etching studies have been performed to assess the perfection of the l-arginine trifluoroacetate crystal. Kurtz powder second harmonic generation test confirms the nonlinear optical properties of the as-grown l-arginine trifluoroacetate crystal.     

Existence and Controllability for Impulsive Evolution Inclusions without Compactness

In this paper, we investigate the existence and controllability for impulsive evolution inclusions in Banach spaces. By using weak topology technique and Glicksberg-Ky Fan fixed point theorem, we obtain the existence of mild solutions and controllability outcomes, avoiding hypotheses of compactness on the semigroup generated by the linear part and any conditions on the multivalued nonlinearity expressed in terms of measures of noncompactness. Finally, we show an illustration to outline the plausibility of the theoretical results.     

Cobalt-doped layered lithium nickel oxide as a three-in-one electrode for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries and supercapacitor applications

Layered LiNi_0.94Co_0.06O₂ (LNCO) was prepared and explored as an energy-storage material for Li-ion (LIBs), Na-ion (SIBs) batteries as well as supercapacitor application for the first time. All the physical and morphological characterizations were studied for the sample LNCO. The result displays good thermal stability, phase purity in the crystal structure, appreciable Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area (5.53 m² g⁻¹) and possesses cubic morphology. The cobalt was identified in lithium nickel oxide with binding energies at 794.02, 779.04 and 784.30 eV, respectively. In the case of LIBs, LNCO exists with a minimal difference of 5 mAh g⁻¹, even when cycled from 2C to 0.1C. After 200 cycles, the specific capacity, 247 mAh g⁻¹, is obtained for the cell with retention of 97.8% (efficiency 99.8%) at 0.1C. In SIBs, at 0.1C, the discharge capacity of 182 mAh g⁻¹ was restored even when cycled after 2C. After 200 cycles, a discharge capacity of 204 mAh g⁻¹ is ensured with retention of 96.6% (efficiency of 99.4% at 0.1C). In supercapacitor, the electrode, LNCO, delivered a specific capacity of 300 F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹. Therefore, LNCO is highly recommended as a suitable electrode material for fulfilling the requirement of energy-storage applications.     

Superhydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene thin films with hierarchical roughness deposited using a single step vapor phase technique

Superhydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene films with hierarchical surface roughness were deposited using pulse electron deposition technique. We were able to modulate roughness of the deposited films by controlling the beam energy and hence the electron penetration depth. The films deposited at higher beam energy showed contact angle as high as 166°. The scanning electron and atomic force microscope studies revealed clustered growth and two level sub-micron asperities on films deposited at higher energies. Such dual-scale hierarchical roughness and heterogeneities at the water-surface interface was attributed to the observed contact angle and thus its superhydrophobic nature.