In vitro antitumor assessments of peptide nanocomplexes on Dalton's lymphoma ascites tumor model

This research work reports the in vitro antitumor personality of few novel peptide nanocomplexes synthesized via a phase-assisted, modified Brust–Schiffrin methodology. Here, a series of metallo(copper, cobalt, nickel and zinc) nanocomplexes engineered with a pre-prepared peptide [N,N′-(1,2-ethylene)-bis-hippuricamide] have been synthesized for damaging the Dalton's lymphoma ascites tumor model. All the peptide nanocomplexes are spectrally, thermally and morphologically examined. The peptide bound zinc and cobalt nanocomplexes deliver excellent antitumor behavior against both the animal and human cancer cell lines, which has been pre-documented by their efficient DNA damaging skills under physiological conditions. Additionally, all the nanocomplexes are evaluated for the inhibition of microbial augmentation against few fungal and bacterial strains. The above results demonstrate that, a consecutive development of these kinds of peptide nanocomplexes may exemplify their uniqueness in biomedical applications as useful molecular-level devices.     

Performance investigation of heat pipe using aqueous solution of n-Pentanol with different inclinations

The orientation of the heat pipe plays the significant role in its performance. In specific orientations, the performance of the heat pipe is directly related to the wick structure. In conventional heat pipe, the working fluid is used a negative surface-tension gradient with temperature. It is an unfavorable one and it decreases the heat transport between the evaporator section and the condenser section. An Aqueous solution of n-Pentanol having a positive surface tension gradient with temperature is suggested as a working medium for heat pipe to improve the performance of capillary limit and operating stability. The objective of this paper is to perform a comparative study of heat pipe performance using the aqueous solution of n-Pentanol with water at various inclinations. The results are presented to demonstrate the merits and suitability of the aqueous solution of n-Pentanol as a working fluid for heat pipe.     

Shape engineering vs organic modification of inorganic nanoparticles as a tool for enhancing cellular internalization

ABSTRACT: In nanomedicine, physicochemical properties of the nanocarrier affect the nanoparticle's pharmacokinetics and biodistribution, which are also decisive for the passive targeting and nonspecific cellular uptake of nanoparticles. Size and surface charge are, consequently, two main determining factors in nanomedicine applications. Another important parameter which has received much less attention is the morphology (shape) of the nanocarrier. In order to investigate the morphology effect on the extent of cellular internalization, two similarly sized but differently shaped, rod-like and spherical, mesoporous silica nanoparticles were synthesized, characterized and functionalized to yield different surface charges. The uptake in two different cancer cell lines was investigated as a function of particle shape, coating (organic modification), surface charge and dose. According to the presented results, particle morphology is a decisive property regardless of both the different surface charges and doses tested, whereby rod-like particles internalized more efficiently in both cell lines. At lower doses, whereby the shape-induced advantage is less dominant, however, charge-induced effects can be used to fine-tune the cellular uptake as a prospectively "secondary" uptake regulator for tight dose-control in nanoparticle-based drug formulations.     

DEEP DESULPHURISATION OF A DIESEL BLEND IN A PILOT PLANT TRICKLE BED REACTOR

ABSTRACT

A pilot plant investigation was conducted to study the influence of hydrotreating conditions on conversion and characteristics of diesel blend and to determine the severity of operating conditions required to meet the proposed product specifications for diesel fuel in India. A typical diesel blend derived from various refinery streams with sulphur content of 2·06 wt% was hydrodesulphurised over a commercial NiO-MoO₃/Al₂O₃ catalyst in a pilot plant trickle bed reactor. The experiments were conducted at 300–370°C, 30–50 kg/cm², 2·0 3·0 hr^-1 liquid hourly space velocity and constant H₂/oil ratio of 185 m³/m³. The data showed that the diesel blend could be hydrotreated to meet revised product specifications of 0·25 wt% sulphur, 46 cetane number by increasing the severity of operation. The cetane number and aromatic saturation were limited by thermodynamic equilibrium at temperatures above 360°C. The influence of temperature was found to be more pronounced than that of pressure in the range of operating conditions studied.     

Developing Temperature–Time and Pressure–Time Diagrams for Diffusion Bonding AZ31B Magnesium and AA6061 Aluminium Alloys

Diffusion bonding is a suitable process for joining dissimilar materials without much difficulty. In this investigation, an attempt was made to develop temperature–time and pressure–time diagrams for effective diffusion bonding of AZ31B magnesium and AA6061 aluminium alloys. The bonding quality of the joints was checked by microstructure analysis, lap shear tensile testing and ram tensile testing. Based on the results, temperature–time and pressure–time diagrams were constructed and these diagrams will act as reference maps for selecting appropriate process parameters to get quality bonds.     

Optimization of spinning parameters influencing the hairiness properties of polyester/cotton vortex yarn

The influence of vortex spinning parameters on the hairiness properties of polyester/cotton vortex yarn has been studied. Polyester/cotton yarn of 50:50 blend ratio has been produced in two different counts (Ne 20s and Ne 40s) each with four different spinning parameters (delivery speed, spindle size, feed ratio and nozzle pressure). Experiments are designed with the aid of response surface method. Accordingly, different samples are produced with three levels of each parameter. The hairiness index H and zweigle hairiness have been evaluated from the samples produced with these combinations. It is found that the hairiness index H of both coarser and medium count vortex yarns are influenced by all the spinning parameters considered for this study. Also, zweigle S3 values of both coarser and medium count vortex yarns are influenced by all the four parameters. The interactions of some of the spinning parameters have significant influence on the hairiness index, H of both coarser and medium count vortex yarn. Also, few of the interactions have significant influence on zweigle S3 values of both coarser and medium count vortex yarns.     

Active solar distillation—A detailed review

All over the world, access to potable water to the people are narrowing down day by day. Most of the human diseases are due to polluted or non-purified water resources. Even today, under developed countries and developing countries face a huge water scarcity because of unplanned mechanism and pollution created by manmade activities. Water purification without affecting the ecosystem is the need of the hour. In this context, many conventional and non-conventional techniques have been developed for purification of saline water. Among these, solar distillation proves to be both economical and eco-friendly technique particularly in rural areas. Many active distillation systems have been developed to overcome the problem of lower distillate output in passive solar stills. This article provides a detailed review of different studies on active solar distillation system over the years. Thermal modelling was done for various types of active single slope solar distillation system. This review would also throw light on the scope for further research and recommendations in active solar distillation system.     

Structural and optical properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films with different compositions prepared by electron beam evaporation

Tin-doped Indium oxide thin films in different compositions (Sn = 0,5,10,15,20 at.wt%) were prepared on glass substrates at the substrate temperature of 250 °C in an oxygen atmosphere by electron beam evaporation. The structural and morphological studies were carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The grain size of the ITO films decreased when increasing the dopant concentration of Sn in the In₂O₃ lattice. Optical properties of the films were studied in the UV-Visible-NIR region (300-1000 nm). The optical energy band gap (E_g), as determined by the dependence of the absorption coefficient on the photon energy at short wavelengths was found to increase from 3.61 to 3.89 eV revealing the ascending loading profile of dopant concentration. Optical Parameters, such as absorption depth, refractive index (n), extinction coefficient (k), packing density, porosity, dispersion energy and single effective oscillator energy were also studied to show the composition dependence of tin-doped indium oxide films.     

Throughput analysis of IEEE 802.11 multirate WLANs with collision aware rate adaptation algorithm

This paper presents a mathematical model that analyzes the throughput of the IEEE 802.11b distributed coordination function (DCF) with the collision aware rate adaptation (CARA) algorithm. IEEE 802.11 WLANs provide multiple transmission rates to improve system throughput by adapting the transmission rate to the current channel conditions. The system throughput is determined by some stations using low transmission rates due to bad channel conditions. CARA algorithm does not disturb the existing IEEE 802.11b formats and it can be easily incorporated into the commercial wireless local area networks (WLAN) devices. Finally, we verify our findings with simulation.     

Optimization of flux-cored arc welding process parameters by using genetic algorithm

The effect of flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) process parameters on the quality of the super duplex stainless steel (SDSS) claddings can be studied using Taguchi L9 design of experiments. In this experimental investigation, deposits were made with 30 % bead overlap. Establishing the optimum combination of process parameters is required to ensure better bead geometry and desired properties. The above objectives can be achieved by identifying the significant input process parameters as input to the mathematical models like welding voltage (X ₁), wire feed rate (X ₂), welding speed (X ₃), and nozzle-to-plate distance (X ₄). The identified responses governing the bead geometry are bead width (W) and height of the reinforcement (H). The mathematical models were constructed using the data collected from the experiments based on Taguchi L9 orthogonal array. Then, the responses were optimized using non-traditional nature-inspired technique like genetic algorithm (GA).