An indigenously developed electronic control system for Langmuir-Blodgett film deposition set-up

An indigenous and simple electronic control system for Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film deposition set-up has been developed. This set-up consists of a microstepping circuit to drive the stepper motors with precision and smooth motion, essential for controlled movement of the barriers and substrate in the LB set-up. Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT)-based displacement measuring device has been developed and used to measure the surface pressure of the monolayer material spread on the water surface. A control program is written which incorporates all operational modes required to drive the set-up and to acquire the datain situ using a set of user-friendly commands. This control set-up has been successfully used to plot the pressure-area isotherm of various amphiphilic compounds such as ferric stearate, zinc arachidate etc. and for deposition of ordered LB films of ferric stearate.     

Thermal performance optimization of a flat plate solar air heater using genetic algorithm

Thermal performance of solar air heater is low and different techniques are adopted to increase the performance of solar air heaters, such as: fins, artificial roughness etc. In this paper an attempt has been done to optimize the thermal performance of flat plate solar air heater by considering the different system and operating parameters to obtain maximum thermal performance. Thermal performance is obtained for different Reynolds number, emissivity of the plate, tilt angle and number of glass plates by using genetic algorithm.     

Solar stills: A review

The availability of drinking water is reducing day by day; where as the requirement of drinking water is increasing rapidly. To overcome this problem there is a need for some sustainable source for the water distillation (purification). Solar still is a useful device that can be used for the distilling of brackish water for the drinking purposes. In this article a review has been done on different types of solar still.     

Optimization-based design for lignocellulosic ethanol production: a case study of the state of Maharashtra,India

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - A large-scale mixed-integer linear programming model is developed for the supply chain and processing of agricultural residue to produce ethanol. The...     

Experimental investigations on silicon carbide mixed electric discharge machining

Silicon - In this study, silicon carbide mixed electrical discharge machining (SCMEDM) process has been developed and later on modelled also using an artificial neural network (ANN) based technique...     

UV reactor flow visualization and mixing quantification using three-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence

Three-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence (3DLIF) was applied to visualize and quantitatively analyze mixing in a lab-scale UV reactor consisting of one lamp sleeve placed perpendicular to flow. The recirculation zone and the von Karman vortex shedding that commonly occur in flows around bluff bodies were successfully visualized. Multiple flow paths were analyzed by injecting the dye at various heights with respect to the lamp sleeve. A major difference in these pathways was the amount of dye that traveled close to the sleeve, i.e., a zone of higher residence time and higher UV exposure. Paths away from the center height had higher velocities and hence minimal influence by the presence of sleeve. Approach length was also characterized in order to increase the probability of microbes entering the region around the UV lamp. The 3DLIF technique developed in this study is expected to provide new insight on UV dose delivery useful for the design and optimization of UV reactors.     

Structural, thermal and optical behavior of 84 MeV oxygen and 120 MeV silicon ions irradiated PES

In order to study structural, thermal and optical behavior, thin flat samples of polyethersulfone were irradiated with oxygen and silicon ions. The changes in properties were analyzed using different techniques viz: X-ray diffraction, thermo-gravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared, UV-visible and photoluminescence spectroscopy. A noticeable increase in the intensity of X-ray diffraction peaks was observed after irradiation with 84 MeV oxygen ions at low and medium fluences, which may be attributed to radiation-induced cross-linking in polymer. Fourier transform infrared and thermo-gravimetric analysis corroborated the results of X-ray diffraction analysis. No noticeable change in the Fourier transform infrared spectra of oxygen ion irradiated polyethersulfone were observed even at the highest fluence of 1 × 10¹³ ions cm⁻², but after irradiation with silicon ions, a reduction in intensity of almost all characteristic bands was revealed. An increase in the activation energy of decomposition of polyethersulfone was observed after irradiation with 84 MeV oxygen ions up to medium fluences but degradation was revealed at higher fluences. Similar trends were observed by photoluminescence analysis.     

Inactivation of lipoxygenase in whole soy flour suspension by ultrasonic cavitation

Use of ultrasound for lipoxygenase inactivation in whole soy flour suspension was studied. Inactivation of the enzyme was influenced by the time of exposure, pH, and the amplitude of ultrasound. Exposure to cavitating 20 kHz ultrasound for 3 h at pH > 5.0 had no effect on the activity of the enzyme. However, under similar conditions, the activity decreasd by 70-85% when pH was lowered to 5.0 and 4.0, respectively. Lipoxygenase activity also decreased with increase in frequency of the ultrasound waves when pH was ≥5.0; above pH 5.0, increase in frequency did not affect the enzyme activity after an exposure of 1 h.     

In-vitro antioxidant and antibacterial activities of pumpkin,quince, muskmelon and bottle gourd seeds

Ethanol and chloroform extracts of pumpkin, quince, muskmelon, and bottle gourd seeds were studied for in-vitro antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Crude protein and fat contents of all the seeds compared favorably with high protein legumes and high oil containing oilseeds. Ethanol and chloroform extracts of bottle gourd seeds had highest phenolic content. A direct positive relationship between antioxidant activities and extract concentration was observed with the relationship being more pronounced in chloroform extract of quince seeds (R²?=?0.9685 and 0.9829) followed by ethanol extract of pumpkin seeds (R²?=?0.9666 and 0.9685) as per 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) method, respectively. Seed extracts were also studied for in-vitro antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhii, Enterococcus sp., Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. Ethanol extract of pumpkin seeds inhibited the growth of all bacteria; however, both the extracts of quince seeds did not show any activity against S. typhii, E. coli and S. aureus.     

Pharmacophore Synergism in Diverse Scaffold Clinches in Aurora Kinase B

Aurora kinase B (AKB) is a crucial signaling kinase with an important role in cell division. Therefore, inhibition of AKB is an attractive approach to the treatment of cancer. In the present work, extensive quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSAR) analysis has been performed using a set of 561 structurally diverse aurora kinase B inhibitors. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines were used to develop a QSAR model that has high statistical performance (R²_tr = 0.815, Q²_LMO = 0.808, R²_ex = 0.814, CCC_ex = 0.899). The seven-variable-based newly developed QSAR model has an excellent balance of external predictive ability (Predictive QSAR) and mechanistic interpretation (Mechanistic QSAR). The QSAR analysis successfully identifies not only the visible pharmacophoric features but also the hidden features. The analysis indicates that the lipophilic and polar groups—especially the H-bond capable groups—must be present at a specific distance from each other. Moreover, the ring nitrogen and ring carbon atoms play important roles in determining the inhibitory activity for AKB. The analysis effectively captures reported as well as unreported pharmacophoric features. The results of the present analysis are also supported by the reported crystal structures of inhibitors bound to AKB.