α-Glucosidase, α-amylase inhibition kinetics,in vitro gastro-intestinal digestion,and apoptosis inducing abilities of Ficus microcarpa L. f. and Ficus racemosa L. fruit polysaccharides

Food Science and Biotechnology - A rich source of nutrients, figs have a number of clinically validated benefits. This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion, and...     

Solution‐Processable Photonic Inks of Mie‐Resonant Hollow Carbon–Silica Nanospheres

Hollow carbon–silica nanospheres that exhibit angle‐independent structural color with high saturation and minimal absorption are made. Through scattering calculations, it is shown that the structural color arises from Mie resonances that are tuned precisely by varying the thickness of the shells. Since the color does not depend on the spatial arrangement of the particles, the coloration is angle independent and vibrant in powders and liquid suspensions. These properties make hollow carbon–silica nanospheres ideal for applications, and their potential in making flexible, angle‐independent films and 3D printed films is explored.     

High performance multi-layer varistor (MLV) from doped ZnO nanopowders by water based tape casting: Rheology,sintering, microstructure and properties

In this work, we report the fabrication of a high performance multi-layer varistor (MLV) via water based tape casting method using novel compositions of nanomaterials. Bi₂O₃, CaO and Co₃O₄ doped ZnO nanopowders were prepared by solution combustion synthesis (SCS) route, calcined at different temperatures (550, 650, 750 and 850?°C) and characterized by TEM, XRD, SEM and AFM. The nanopowder (crystallite size ~30?nm) calcined at 650?°C for 1?h was used as the starting material for MLV fabrication. Compositions of the slurry containing doped ZnO nanopowders, binder and plasticizer in water solvent were optimized for the fabrication of thick film. The rheological properties of the slurries having different solid loadings were analysed and thick films of various thicknesses (50–500?µm) were prepared by varying the feeding rate of tape casting. The film roughness of 38.3?nm for the thick film made from 40?wt% solid slurry was found to be superior compared to other samples due to the presence of reduced crack and shrinkage. MLV fired at 950?°C for 1.5?h exhibited a coefficient of nonlinearity of 18 and breakdown voltage of 291.5?V that yields superior properties compared to commercial MLVs.     

On comparison of luminescence properties of La2Zr2O7 and La2Hf2O7 nanoparticles

Unveiling the underlying mechanisms of properties of functional materials, including the luminescence differences among similar pyrochlores A₂B₂O₇, opens new gateways to select proper hosts for various optoelectronic applications by scientists and engineers. For example, although La₂Zr₂O₇ (LZO) and La₂Hf₂O₇ (LHO) pyrochlores have similar chemical compositional and crystallographic structural features, they demonstrate different luminescence properties both before and after doped with Eu³⁺ ions. Based on our earlier work, LHO-based nanophosphors display higher photo- and radioluminescence intensity, higher quantum efficiency, and longer excited state lifetime compared to LZO-based nanophosphors. Moreover, under electronic O²⁻→Zr⁴⁺/Hf⁴⁺ transition excitation at 306 nm, undoped LHO nanoparticles (NPs) have only violet blue emission, whereas LZO NPs show violet blue and red emissions. In this study, we have combined experimental and density functional theory (DFT) based theoretical calculation to explain the observed results. First, we calculated the density of state (DOS) based on DFT and studied the energetics of ionized oxygen vacancies in the band gaps of LZO and LHO theoretically, which explain their underlying luminescence difference. For Eu³⁺-doped NPs, we performed emission intensity and lifetime calculations and found that the LHOE NPs have higher host to dopant energy transfer efficiency than the LZOE NPs (59.3% vs 24.6%), which accounts for the optical performance superiority of the former over the latter. Moreover, by corroborating our experimental data with the DFT calculations, we suggest that the Eu³⁺ doping states in LHO present at exact energy position (both in majority and minority spin components) where oxygen defect states are located unlike those in LZO. Lastly, both the NPs show negligible photobleaching highlighting their potential for bioimaging applications. This current report provides a deeper understanding of the advantages of LHO over LZO as an advanced host for phosphors, scintillators, and fluoroimmunoassays.     

A survey on future research about electron beam welding for aerospace applications

Electron beam welding plays an important role in the aerospace industry where components like sensors,gears,actuators and air frames used in aircraft and rocket engines were welded using this technique.Welding is normally performed in a vacuum to avoid the scatter of electron due to the presence of gas molecules in the atmosphere and hence electron beam welding process provides the greater results.But still joining of dissimilar metals is challenging.This paper represents review of process,generation and distribution of heat source various input parameters,materials,microstructure,mechanical strength and the possibilities of joining dissimilar metals using electron beam welding.     

Co-operation Enforcing Reputation-Based Detection Techniques and Frameworks for Handling Selfish Node Behaviour in MANETs: A Review

In Mobile Ad hoc Network, co-operation between mobile nodes is inevitable for enabling reliable network connectivity due to the absence of pre-deployed infrastructure. In such a network, mobile nodes spend significant amount of energy for detecting routes and forwarding packets in order to enforce co-operation. The energy drain of mobile nodes due to the above fact induces them to refuse forwarding of packets for their neighbouring nodes in order to participate in the network. The mobile nodes that forward their own packets but drop the packets received from neighbours are known as selfish nodes. Detecting selfish nodes is one of the most challenging issues that need to be addressed for enforcing co-operation. The core objective of this research work is to essentially identify and highlights various reputation-based selfish node mitigation approaches available in the literature with their merits and limitations. This paper presents context-aware reputation-based selfish node mitigation approaches that are classified into three categories viz., History-based reputation mechanism, Condition probability-based reputation mechanism and Futuristic probability-based reputation mechanism. This paper further presents a review on a number of selfish node mitigation frameworks and also aims in emphasizing the role of statistical reliability co-efficient that could aid in effective and efficient mitigation of selfish nodes.     

CuBr2‐induced charge screening on photoactive nanocolloidal polypyrrole:poly(styrene sulfonate) composite multilayer thin‐film counter electrodes for high‐efficiency dye‐sensitized solar cells

Nanocolloidal polypyrrole (PPy):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) particles were synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization using 15 wt% of PSS. The highly processable polymer composite (PPy:PSS) was spin‐coated at 4000 rpm on fluorine‐doped tin oxide glass and subsequently employed as a counter electrode (CE) for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSCs). PPy:PSS multilayer (one, three, five) CEs were treated with CuBr₂ salt, which enhances the efficiency of the DSCs. Optical studies reveal that a bulkier counterion hinders interchain interactions of PPy which on salt treatment shows a moderate redshift in absorption maxima. Salt‐treated PPy:PSS films exhibit lower charge transfer resistance, higher surface roughness and better catalytic performance for the reduction of I₃^?, when compared with untreated films. The improved catalytic performance of salt‐treated PPy:PSS multilayer films is attributed to charge screening and conformational change of PPy, along with the removal of excess PSS. Under standard AM 1.5 sunlight illumination, salt treatment is shown to boost the efficiency of multilayer PPy:PSS composite film‐based DSCs, leading to enhanced power conversion efficiency of 6.18, 6.33 and 6.37% for one, three and five layers, respectively. These values are significantly higher (ca 50%) than those for corresponding devices without CuBr₂ salt treatment (3.48, 2.90 and 2.01%, respectively). © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry     

Concrete made from ceramic industry waste: Durability properties

Concrete which contains waste products as aggregate is called ‘Green’ concrete. Use of hazardous waste in concrete-making will lead to green environment and sustainable concrete technology and so such concrete can also be called as ‘Green’ concrete. Concrete made with ceramic electrical insulator waste as coarse aggregate shows good workability, compressive, tensile and flexural strengths and modulus of elasticity. Further, study of its durability will ensure greater reliability in its usage. Permeation characters are used widely to quantify durability properties of concrete. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the permeation characteristics [volume of voids and water absorption (ASTM C642-06), chloride penetration (ASTM C1202-10), and sorption] of concrete with ceramic electrical insulator waste coarse aggregate (hereafter it is called recycled aggregate concrete) of six different water–cement ratios in comparison with those of corresponding conventional concrete mixes. From the results it has been observed that there is no significant change in the basic trend of permeation characteristics of this recycled aggregate concrete when compared to the conventional concrete. This recycled aggregate concrete possesses higher permeation characteristic values than those of conventional concrete. These values decrease with decrease in water–cement ratio for both the recycled aggregate concrete and the conventional concrete.