Thermoelectric Polymer Aerogels for Pressure–Temperature Sensing Applications

The evolution of the society is characterized by an increasing flow of information from things to the internet. Sensors have become the cornerstone of the internet‐of‐everything as they track various parameters in the society and send them to the cloud for analysis, forecast, or learning. With the many parameters to sense, sensors are becoming complex and difficult to manufacture. To reduce the complexity of manufacturing, one can instead create advanced functional materials that react to multiple stimuli. To this end, conducting polymer aerogels are promising materials as they combine elasticity and sensitivity to pressure and temperature. However, the challenge is to read independently pressure and temperature output signals without cross‐talk. Here, a strategy to fully decouple temperature and pressure reading in a dual‐parameter sensor based on thermoelectric polymer aerogels is demonstrated. It is found that aerogels made of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) can display properties of semiconductors lying at the transition between insulator and semimetal upon exposure to high boiling point polar solvents, such as dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Importantly, because of the temperature‐independent charge transport observed for DMSO‐treated PEDOT‐based aerogel, a decoupled pressure and temperature sensing can be achieved without cross‐talk in the dual‐parameter sensor devices.     

Preparation, Characterization, and Microwave Dielectric Properties of Sr2La3Nb1−x Ta x Ti4O17 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) Ceramics

Sr₂La₃Nb_1?x Ta _x Ti₄O₁₇ (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) ceramics were processed via a solid-state mixed oxide route. Sr₂La₃Nb_1?x Ta _x Ti₄O₁₇ (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) solid solutions were single phase in the whole range of x values within the x-ray diffraction (XRD) detection limit. The microstructure comprised elongated and needle-shaped grains. The ceramics exhibit relative permittivity (ε _r) of 73 to 68.6, product of unloaded quality factor and resonant frequency (Q _u f ₀) of 7100 GHz to 9500 GHz, and temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (τ _f) of 78.6 ppm/°C to 56.6 ppm/°C.     

A new design approach for dual‐band patch antenna serving Ku/K band satellite communications

A printed planar antenna with simple and intelligent geometrical structure has been proposed for Ku/K band satellite communication systems. The radiating patch of the antenna is formed by cutting rectangular slots and extending the radiating element to some extent. The final design of the antenna with optimized parameters is fabricated on ceramic–polytetrafluoroethylene substrate materials of dielectric constant ε_r = 10.2. The antenna is excited through a microstrip feed line and has reduced ground plane that covers only the non‐radiating portion of the antenna. The reduced complexity of the antenna is easy to fabricate and has overall dimension of 40 × 35 × 1.905 mm³. The results from experimental analysis show that the proposed antenna can guarantee a wide bandwidth of 12.0 to 16.4 GHz at lower band, and the upper band covers the frequency in the range of 17.53 to 19.5 GHz. The antenna has achieved appreciable gain in the range of 3.14 to 4.68 dBi for lower band and 2.03 to 3.65 dBi for upper band. The proposed antenna has offered almost symmetrical and directional radiation pattern that is essentially suitable for serving Ku/K band satellite applications. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low temperature annealing of metals with electrical wind force effects

Conventional annealing is a slow, high temperature process that involves heating atoms uniformly, i.e., in both defective and crystalline regions. This study explores an electrical alternative for energy efficiency,where moderate current density is used to generate electron wind force that produces the same outcome as the thermal annealing process. We demonstrate this on a zirconium alloy using in-situ electron back scattered diffraction(EBSD) inside a scanning electron microscope(SEM) and juxtaposing the results with that from thermal annealing. Contrary to common belief that resistive heating is the dominant factor, we show that 5 × 10~4 A/cm~2 current density can anneal the material in less than 15 min at only135?C. The resulting microstructure is essentially the same as that obtained with 600?C processing for360 min. We propose that unlike temperature, the electron wind force specifically targets the defective regions, which leads to unprecedented time and energy efficiency. This hypothesis was investigated with molecular dynamics simulation that implements mechanical equivalent of electron wind force to provide the atomistic insights on defect annihilation and grain growth.     

Theranostic Interpolation of Genomic Instability in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a diverse disease caused by mutations in multiple genes accompanying epigenetic aberrations of hazardous genes and protein pathways, which distress tumor-suppressor genes and the expression of oncogenes. Alteration in any of the several physiological mechanisms such as cell cycle checkpoints, DNA repair machinery, mitotic checkpoints, and telomere maintenance results in genomic instability. Theranostic has the potential to foretell and estimate therapy response, contributing a valuable opportunity to modify the ongoing treatments and has developed new treatment strategies in a personalized manner. “Omics” technologies play a key role while studying genomic instability in breast cancer, and broadly include various aspects of proteomics, genomics, metabolomics, and tumor grading. Certain computational techniques have been designed to facilitate the early diagnosis of cancer and predict disease-specific therapies, which can produce many effective results. Several diverse tools are used to investigate genomic instability and underlying mechanisms. The current review aimed to explore the genomic landscape, tumor heterogeneity, and possible mechanisms of genomic instability involved in initiating breast cancer. We also discuss the implications of computational biology regarding mutational and pathway analyses, identification of prognostic markers, and the development of strategies for precision medicine. We also review different technologies required for the investigation of genomic instability in breast cancer cells, including recent therapeutic and preventive advances in breast cancer.     

Overview and Lessons from More Than a Decade of Feeder Life Management

This paper provides an overview of the degradation in CANDU~a （Canadian Deuterium Uranium） feeders in operating plants observed from the mid 1990s onward. The degradation has been dominated by feeder wall thinning, caused by FAC （flow accelerated corrosion） and feeder cracking. This paper summarizes the industry＇s response to the discovery of these two degradation mechanisms and the methodologies, tools and technologies developed to monitor the degradation and assess the continued fitness for service to manage the plant life. This paper identifies some of the lessons gained from more than a decade of industry effort, and discusses how these lessons are being implemented in the refurbished and new CANDU plants. CANDU~a is a registered trademark of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.     

Nanomedicine-Based Delivery Strategies for Breast Cancer Treatment and Management

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among women globally. It is caused by mutations in the estrogen/progesterone receptors and conventional treatment methods are commonly utilized. About 70–80 percent of individuals with the early-stage non-metastatic disease may be cured. Conventional treatment is far less than the optimal ratio, as demonstrated through the high mortality rate of women with this cancer. However, conventional treatment methods like surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are not as effective as expected and lead to concerns about low bioavailability, low cellular uptake, emerging resistance, and adverse toxicities. A nanomedicine-based approach is a promising alternative for breast cancer treatment. The present era is witnessing rapid advancements in nanomedicine as a platform for investigating novel therapeutic applications and modern intelligent healthcare management strategies. This paper focuses on nanomedicine-based therapeutic interventions that are becoming more widely accepted for improving treatment effectiveness and reducing undesired side effects in breast cancer patients. By evaluating the state-of-the-art tools and taking the challenges involved into consideration, various aspects of the proposed nano-enabled therapeutic approaches have been discussed in this review.     

Polyphenols of tea. IV.—Qualitative and quantitative study of the polyphenols of different organs and some cultivated varieties of tea plant

A method is described for the estimation of individual polyphenols of tea leaf. Polyphenols separated by two-way paper chromatography of a methanolic extract of the material were located under ultra-violet light. The excised spots were eluted with water and estimated from extinctions at 275 nm. Three of the polyphenols, (?)-epigallocatechin gallate, (?)-epigallocatechin and (?)-epicatechin gallate, which comprise 10-19% of the dry matter of tea shoots from Assam, are partly consumed during the manufacture of black tea. Seasonal variation in the polyphenolic content of some jats and clones grown in North East India are described. The phenolic content of the tea shoots was higher during rains. Changes in the phenolic pattern during the growth and development of tea flower, fruit and seed are described. Organs of tea, such as sepals, petals and pericarp with closer morphological affinities to the leaf, showed a greater degree of similarity in their phenolic pattern compared with other organs such as stigma, style, carpel, anther and testa. The gallates were mostly confined to the chlorophyll-bearing organs.     

Atomistic modeling of dopant segregation in α-alumina ceramics: Coverage dependent energy of segregation and nominal dopant solubility

Microstructural control is a key aspect in producing ceramics with tailored properties and is often achieved by using dopants in a rather empirical fashion. Atomic scale simulations could provide much needed insight but the long-standing challenge of linking simulation results on isolated grain boundaries to those measured in real ceramics needs to be resolved. Here a novel Monte-Carlo simulation method based on a microstructural model in combination with energies obtained from atomic scale energy minimization is presented. This approach allows, for the first time, the prediction of the nominal solubility of dopants (Y, La and Mg) in a ceramic purely from theory.Results compare well with segregation/precipitation data as a function of grain size, found in the literature. The method can therefore be used in developing experimental guidelines for the effective use of dopants in ceramic production, thus accelerating the development of novel materials required for innovative applications.