Design of an Ultra-Compact and Highly-Sensitive Temperature Sensor Using Photonic Crystal Based Single Micro-Ring Resonator and Cascaded Micro-Ring Resonator

Silicon - In the present report, a photonic crystal based micro-ring resonator (MRR) structure is proposed which is very compact in size and has very fast response and is employed for temperature...     

Cover Feature: Superior Proton-Transfer Catalytic Promiscuity of Cytochrome c in Self-Organized Media (7/2021)

Evolutionarily elderly proteins commonly feature greater catalytic promiscuity. Cytochrome c is among the first set of proteins in evolution to have known prospects in electron transport and peroxidative properties. Here, we report that cyt c is also a proficient proton-transfer catalyst and enhances the Kemp elimination (KE; model reaction to show proton transfer catalytic property) by ∼750-fold on self-organized systems like micelles and vesicles. The self-organized systems mimic the mitochondrial environment in vitro for cyt c. Using an array of biophysical and biochemical mutational assays, both acid–base and redox mechanistic pathways have been explored. The histidine moiety close to hemin group (His18) is mainly responsible for proton abstraction to promote the concerted E2 pathway for KE catalysis when cyt c is in its oxidized form; this has also been confirmed by a H18A mutant of cyt c. However, the redox pathway is predominant under reducing conditions in the presence of dithiothreitol over the pH range 6–7.4. Interestingly, we found almost 750-fold enhanced KE catalysis by cyt c compared to aqueous buffer. Overall, in addition to providing mechanistic insights, the data reveal an unprecedented catalytic property of cyt c that could be of high importance in an evolutionary perspective considering its role in delineating the phylogenic tree and also towards generating programmable designer biocatalysts.     

Parallelised production of fine and calibrated emulsions by coupling flow-focusing technique and partial wetting phenomenon

The capacity of microfluidic technology to fabricate monodisperse emulsion droplets is well established. Parallelisation of droplet production is a prerequisite for using such an approach for making high-quality materials for either fundamental or industrial applications where product quantity matters. Here, we investigate the emulsification efficiency of parallelised drop generators based on a flow-focusing geometry when incorporating the role of partial wetting in order to make emulsion droplets with a diameter below 10 μm. Confinement intrinsically encountered in microsystems intensifies the role played by interfaces between liquids and solids. We thus take advantage of partial wetting to enhance the maximum confinement accessible due to liquid flow focusing. We compare the performances brought by partial wetting to more established routes such as step emulsification. We show that the step configuration and the partial wetting regime are both well suited for being parallelised and thus open the way to the production of fine and calibrated emulsions for further applications. Finally, this new route of emulsification that exploits partial wetting between the fluids and the channel walls opens possibilities to the formation of substantially smaller droplets, as required in many fields of application.     

Texture modeling in carbon-carbon composites based on mesophase precursor matrices

A computational modeling study of texture formation in carbon-carbon composites based on carbon fibers and carbonaceous mesophase precursors is presented. The modeling predictions on texture formation and disclination structures are quantitatively validated with extensive experimental data. The number and type of disclinations displayed by the carbonaceous mesophase matrix is shown to be governed by the elasticity of the mesophase, the carbon fiber-mesophase interfacial energy, the size of the fibers, and positional arrangement of the fibers. The simulations provide new insights on the fundamental principles that govern texturing and disclination nucleation, and on how to control the structure of carbon-carbon composites through fiber concentration, fiber cross-section, and fiber-matrix interaction.     

A class of discontinuous dynamical systems IV. A laboratory air-water system

An air-water experimental system consisting of two inlets and one outlet is constructed and characterised. It reaches the state of sliding mode, or equivalently, two phase slug flow. The linear hydraulic model proposed in the literature is adequate to describe it. Experimental data are used to tune this model. The resistance to the flow of air through the outlet valve during the two phase flow is much larger than that when air alone flows out. At the operating range, the resistance to water flow is not affected by the presence of air.     

Electrostatic capillary collector for in-situ spectroscopic analysis of aerosols

Identification of particulate matter is important in assessing an individual’s exposure to potentially harmful particles, such as aeroallergens, toxins, and emissions from combustion sources, which can contribute to cardio-pulmonary diseases. Efficient collection of aerosols is essential for aerosol exposure studies such as analysis of chemical and biological components. We present the design and evaluation of a capillary collector that collects PM_2.5 onto the outer surface of a capillary for in-situ spectroscopic analysis. The capillary collector uses a needle-to-ring corona generator to charge particles; the electric field between a cylinder and a wire inserted into the bore of a capillary is used to collect the charged particles. Corona and repelling voltages are optimized for maximum collection of ambient PM_2.5 particles and fluorescent polystyrene latex microspheres in the PM_2.5 size range, on the capillary. The capillary collection efficiency of ambient PM_2.5 at 3 slpm operating flow rate and optimal operating voltages is 63%. Fluorescence spectroscopy is used to quantify the collection of polystyrene latex microspheres. The fluorescence-based capillary collection efficiency is in close agreement with the capillary collection efficiency of ambient PM_2.5. The collection and analysis methodology can be used to develop a compact, low-cost sensor for in-situ spectroscopic analysis of aerosols to determine their chemical composition for source apportionment.

Copyright © 2019 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Kinetics of hydration properties of meat emulsions containing various fillers during smokehouse cooking

The cooking kinetics of meat emulsions containing various fillers was determined by monitoring changes in hydration properties such as cooking loss and water-holding capacity during smokehouse cooking. Press juice, consumer cook test and emulsion stability of cooked product were also determined. The fillers used were buttermilk powder, corn starch, microcrystalline cellulose, modified corn starch, modified wheat flour, soy-protein concentrate and whey-protein concentrate. The cooking process was modelled using reaction kinetics and Eyring's absolute reaction rate theory. Enthalpy and entropy changes of activation were calculated for various properties and fillers.     

Numerical solution of nonlinear system of Klein–Gordon equations by cubic B-spline collocation method

A technique to approximate the solutions of nonlinear Klein–Gordon equation and Klein–Gordon-Schrödinger equations is presented separately. The approach is based on collocation of cubic B-spline functions. The above-mentioned equations are decomposed into a system of partial differential equations, which are further converted to an amenable system of ODEs. The obtained system has been solved by SSP-RK54 scheme. Numerical solutions are presented for five examples, to show the accuracy and usefulness of proposed approach. The approximate solutions of both the equations are computed without using any transformation and linearization. The technique can be applied with ease to solve linear and nonlinear PDEs and also reduces the computational work.     

Mutual spectral residual approach for multifocus image fusion

Multifocus image fusion is the process of obtaining a single image from multiple partially focused images such that the newly formed image consists of the well-defined information extracted from each source image. This paper proposes the use of saliency of the source images based on Mutual Spectral Residual. Spectral Residual brings out the unique/salient features of an image in frequency domain. The idea of proposed mutual spectral residual is to emphasize the relative unique features of a source image with respect to the other source images. The relative unique features are utilized to form saliency maps for each source image. These saliency maps can clearly indicate the focused and defocused parts of an image. Based on the saliency maps obtained, the image fusion takes place in spatial domain. Visual inspection and quantitative evaluation of the fused images obtained by the proposed method, using different evaluation metrics, demonstrate its effectiveness over several existing image fusion methods.