Ammonia gas-sensing based on polythiophene film prepared through electrophoretic deposition method

Ammonia gas-sensing properties of the iodine-doped polythiophene film deposited by electrophoretic deposition technique on an epoxy glass substrate with concentric circular electrodes were developed. The gas-sensing properties were investigated for different concentrations of ammonia gas from 0.046 to 0.185 vol% at room temperature. The obtained results demonstrate that the prepared film has a high sensitivity and excellent repeatability as well as a great potential for ammonia gas-sensing application at room temperature. Furthermore, ammonia gas-sensing mechanism of the resistance-based sensor is discussed.     

Solubility of CO2 in 15, 30, 45 and 60 mass% MEA from 40 to 120 °C and model representation using the extended UNIQUAC framework

New experimental data for vapor–liquid equilibrium of CO₂ in aqueous monoethanolamine solutions are presented for 15, 30, 45 and 60 mass% MEA and from 40 to 120 °C. CO₂ partial pressures over loaded MEA solutions were measured using a low temperature equilibrium apparatus while total pressures were measured with a high temperature equilibrium apparatus. Experimental data are given as CO₂ partial pressure as function of loading in solution for temperatures from 40 to 80 °C and as total pressures for temperatures from 60 to 120 °C for the different MEA concentrations. The extended UNIQUAC model framework was applied and model parameters were fitted to the new experimental VLE data and physical CO₂ solubility data from the literature. The model gives a good representation of the experimental VLE data for CO₂ partial pressures and total pressures for all MEA concentrations with an average absolute relative deviation (AARD) of 24.3% and 11.7%, respectively, while the physical solubility data were represented with an AARD of 2.7%. Further, the model predicts well literature data on freezing point depression, excess enthalpy and liquid phase speciation determined by NMR.     

Application of cobalt oxide nanoparticles as an electron transfer facilitator in direct electron transfer and biocatalytic reactivity of cytochrome <Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis>

We describe a modification of glassy carbon (GC) electrode surface with electrodeposited cobalt oxide nanoparticles (CoOx NPs), and then, this electrode is used to immobilization of Cytochrome c (Cyt c). The morphology of electrodeposited CoOx NPs was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Electrochemical redox property investigation of immobilized protein (Cyt c) molecules was accomplished by cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique. Cyt c/CoOx NPs/GC electrode exhibits electron transfer between the protein prosthetic groups and electrodeposited nanoparticles on the electrode surface and displayed a couple of stable redox peaks with a formal potential (E°^′) of −89.5 mV (107.5 mV vs. NHE) with respect to reference electrode in 0.05 M phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.0). The experimental results demonstrated that Cyt c/CoOx NPs/GC biosensor exhibited electrocatalytic activity toward the reduction of hydrogen peroxide and application to hydrogen peroxide determination was exemplified.     

Sound absorption characteristics of needle-punched sustainable Typha /polypropylene non-woven

Natural fibers are the acoustical sustainable materials used in blends with polypropylene as carded needle-punched non-woven for the automobile industry. Among the variety of natural fibers, studying the noise-absorptive properties of a novelty introduced fiber called Leafiran extracted from the Typha Australis plant has been aimed in this paper. Typha natural fibers were blended with polypropylene fibers in order to investigate the effect of this newly known natural fiber on the acoustic performance of producing non-woven composite structures. For this aim, five different blend ratios of Typha/polypropylene including 0:100, 30:70, 50:50, 70:30, and 100:0 were prepared. The non-woven porosity, areal density, and sound absorption properties were studied. Impedance Tube Method, which provides the normal incidence sound absorption coefficient (SAC) of materials, was used for determining the acoustic properties of produced non-woven samples. The results of SACs of Typha non-woven revealed that the Typha fibers have good acoustic performance with normal incidence absorption coefficient greater than 0.6 from 500 to 4 kHz. Finally, according to the obtained results from this research, it is claimed that Typha natural fibers could be an acceptable choice for sound reduction applications.     

A new low-power 10T SRAM cell with improved read SNM

This paper describes the characteristics of a new 10T structure for SRAM cell that works quite well in the sub-threshold region. This new architecture has good characteristics in write and read delay and energy compared with other new structures. This new 10T topology improves read static noise margin (SNM) and write operation speed with respect to other topologies in the same or even lower power consumption. The new topology has at least 13% lower power consumption compared with the best of recent architectures. Its write characteristics also are similar to those of 6T-SRAM, which has improved write delay and energy. The new 10T SRAM cell also consumes lower power compared with other cells. The stacking is used to suppress the standby leakage through the read path. The simulations were performed using HSPICE 2011 in a 16 nm bulk CMOS Berkeley predictive technology model (BPTM).     

New formulation for the simulation of the conjugate heat transfer at the curved interfaces based on the ghost fluid lattice Boltzmann method

ABSTRACT

In the present study, a new method for simulation of the conjugate heat transfer conditions at the curved interface of two media with different thermal properties is proposed based on the ghost fluid lattice Boltzmann method (GF-LBM). The proposed method significantly benefits from the inherent feature of the GF-LBM in availability of the temperature gradient normal to the interface. To test the accuracy of the presented method, three different case studies are simulated. The results revealed the second-order accuracy of the proposed conjugate heat transfer formulation. Furthermore, when compared to the available analytical solutions, the results of this study showed better agreement compared to the results of the other available methods.     

Corticolimbic dopamine neurotransmission is temporally dissociated from the cognitive and locomotor effects of phencyclidine

The behavioral syndrome produced by phencyclidine (PCP) and its analog ketamine represents a pharmacological model for some aspects of schizophrenia. Despite the multifaceted properties of these drugs, the main mechanism for their psychotomimetic and cognitive-impairing effects has been thought heretofore to involve the corticolimbic dopamine system. The present study examined the temporal relationship between alterations in corticolimbic dopamine and glutamate neurotransmission and two dopamine-dependent behavioral effects of PCP in the rodent that have relevance to the clinical phenomenology, namely, impairment of working memory, which is used to model the frontal lobe deficits associated with schizophrenia, and hyperlocomotion, which is used as a predictor of the propensity of a drug to elicit or exacerbate psychosis. PCP increased dopamine and glutamate efflux in the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, as measured by microdialysis. The increase in dopamine in both regions remained elevated well above baseline 2.5 hr after the injection, at which time the experiment was terminated. However, locomotor activity returned to baseline in <2 hr after injection. Furthermore, impaired performance in a discrete trial delayed alternation task, a rodent working memory task, was only evident up to 60 min after PCP injection; animals tested 80 min after injection, when cortical dopamine release was elevated at 300% of baseline, did not exhibit impaired performance. These findings indicate that activation of dopamine neurotransmission is not sufficient to sustain PCP-induced locomotion and impairment of working memory. Thus, effects of PCP, including a glutamatergic hyperstimulation, may be necessary to account for the psychotomimetic and cognitive-impairing effects of this drug.