Ground Plane Electrostatically Doped Junctionless Tunnel Field Effect Transistor: Process Immune Design for Suppressed Ambipolarity

Silicon - The incorporation of a highly doped Si layer below the Si film, termed as the ground plane, in the electrostatically doped junctionless tunnel field effect transistor (ED-JLTFET) with...     

Comparative studies on Performance evaluation of a two stroke copper coated spark ignition engine with alcohols with catalytic converter

AimInvestigations were carried out to evaluate the performance of a two-stroke, single cylinder, spark ignition (SI) engine, with alcohol blended gasoline (80% gasoline, 20% methanol by vol; 80% gasoline and 20% ethanol by volume) having copper coated engine [CCE, copper-(thickness, 300 μm) coated on piston crown, inner side of cylinder head] provided with catalytic converter with sponge iron as catalyst and compared with conventional SI engine (CE) with pure gasoline operation.Study designPerformance parameters of brake thermal efficiency, exhaust gas temperature and volumetric efficiency were determined at various values of brake mean effective pressure (BMEP).MethodologyA microprocessor-based analyzer was used for the measurement of carbon monoxide (CO) and un-burnt hydro carbons (UBHC) in the exhaust of the engine at various values of BMEP. Aldehydes were measured by dinitrophenyl hydrazine (DNPH) method at peak load operation of the engine.Brief resultsCCE with alcohol blended gasoline considerably reduced pollutants in comparison with CE with pure gasoline operation. Catalytic converter with air injection significantly reduced pollutants with test fuels on both configurations of the engine. Gasohol improved the performance of the both versions of the engine in comparison with methanol blended gasoline. On the other hand, methanol blended gasoline effectively reduced the emissions when compared with gasohol in both versions of the engine.     

Studies on Synthesis and Characterization of Mo Based <Emphasis Type=Italic>In Situ</Emphasis> Composite by Silicothermy Co-reduction Process

The results of an in situ synthesis of refractory metal–intermetallic composite (RMIC), Mo-16Cr-4Si (wt pct) multiphase alloy and its characterization, are presented in this study. The alloy was prepared from the oxides of molybdenum and chromium by their co-reduction with Si metal powder as a reductant. The exothermic nature of these reactions resulted in the formation of consolidated composite as a product in a single step. The thermodynamic aspects of exothermic reactions were studied by thermogravimetry/differential thermal analyzer. As-reduced alloys were remelted by arc melting and heat treated to obtain a homogenous microstructure. The evolution of phases and microstructures qA studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive spectrum analysis. The multiphase alloy consisted of Mo₃Si and discontinuous (Mo, Cr) (ss) phase with a volume percentage of 28 pct. The synthesized alloys were characterized with respect to composition, phases, microstructure, hardness, and oxidation behavior.     

A simple and sensitive method for determination of vitamins D3 and K1 in rat plasma: application for an in vivo pharmacokinetic study

Purpose: To develop and to validate a simple but sensitive method for determination of vitamins D₃ and K₁ in rat plasma.

Methods: The sample treatment included protein precipitation by cold acetonitrile, evaporation, reconstitution with methanol and filtration. The chromatography conditions included Xterra RP18 3.5?µm 4.6?×?100?mm column at ambient temperature and mobile phase consisting of methanol/water (93/7, v/v) at 0.5?mL/min flow rate. Vitamin D₃ and probucol were detected at 265?nm and vitamin K₁ at 239?nm. Rats were administered intravenously by 0.1?mg/kg of vitamin D₃ or K₁ and the blood samples were withdrawn pre-administration and at pre-determined time points post-administration. The pharmacokinetic analysis was performed using a non-compartmental approach.

Results: The calibration curves in rat plasma were linear up to 5000?ng/mL for both vitamins. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 20?ng/mL for vitamin D₃ and 40?ng/mL for K₁. Inter- and intra-day precision and accuracy were below 15%. The pharmacokinetic parameters of vitamin D₃ following intravenous administration were: AUC_0?∞?=?11323?±?1081?h?×?ng/mL, V_d?=?218?±?80?mL/kg, CL?=?8.9?±?0.8?mL/h/kg, t_1/2?=?16.8?±?5?h; and of vitamin K₁: AUC_0?∞?=?2495?±?297?h?×?ng/mL, V_d?=?60?±24?mL/kg, CL?=?40.5?±?5.1?mL/h/kg, t_1/2?=?1.1?±0.5?h.

Conclusion: The developed HPLC–UV assay is a simple and sensitive method for the determination of vitamins D₃ and K₁ in rat plasma. A higher dose of vitamin K₁ should be used in future studies for accurate estimation of pharmacokinetic parameters. The data show the suitability of the assay for pharmacokinetic studies in rats.     

Interpretation of Electrochemical Potentiokinetic Reactivation data in the presence of sulphide/oxysulphide inclusions in 316LN stainless steel

This paper presents the Electrochemical Potentiokinetic Reactivation (EPR) parameters obtained for non-sensitised 316LN stainless steel containing sulphide/oxysulphide inclusions. Even in the absence of sensitization, reactivation peaks were obtained in single loop and double loop EPR experiments for longitudinal and cross transverse sections. Using Laser Raman Spectroscope, Raman maps of Cr (VI) oxide were obtained around the inclusions. It was inferred that the reactivation peak is due to dissolution of sulphide inclusions and chromium depleted zones arising around chromium segregated flow lines. The need to interpret EPR parameters carefully in the presence of sulphide inclusions is emphasised.     

Long chain branched impact copolymer of polypropylene: Microstructure and rheology

A biphasic impact copolymer of polypropylene (ICP) was modified with peroxide by reactive extrusion process resulting in reduced melt flow index, improved melt strength, and higher die swell. The polymers were for the first time subjected to systematic rheological and microstructural characterization in an effort to understand their structure‐property relations. In shear rheological tests, the modified ICP displayed higher flow activation energy, reduced values of loss tangent and nearly equal frequency dependence of storage and loss modulli. The modified ICP also showed strain hardening behaviour in uniaxial extensional rheology and higher crystallization temperature in differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). All these are definitive indications of the presence of long chain branches (LCB). Fitting the rheological data of modified ICPs with the eXtended Pom Pom (XPP) model indicated the presence of LCB on the higher molecular weight fraction in the polymer, a result which was corroborated with multi‐detector high temperature gel permeation chromatography (HT‐GPC). More importantly, the matrix and rubber phases of the ICP were separately characterized for presence of long chain branching by rheology, DSC and HT‐GPC. The results indicate that while LCB existed in the matrix phase, microgels were present in both phases indicating that the reaction with peroxide occurred in both phases. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:1463–1474, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

3-substituted 2-phenylimidazo[2,1-b]benzothiazoles: synthesis, anticancer activity, and inhibition of tubulin polymerization

A new series of 3‐substituted 2‐phenylimidazo[2,1‐b]benzothiazoles ( 3 a – h ) were synthesized by C‐arylation of 2‐arylimidazo[2,1‐b]benzothiazoles using palladium acetate as catalyst, and the resulting compounds were evaluated for their anticancer activity. Compounds 3 a , 3 e , and 3 h exhibited good antiproliferative activity, with GI₅₀ values in the range of 0.19–83.1 μM . Compound 3 h showed potent anticancer efficacy against 60 human cancer cell lines, with a mean GI₅₀ value of 0.88 μM . This compound also induced cell‐cycle arrest in the G₂/M phase and inhibited tubulin polymerization followed by activation of caspase‐3 and apoptosis. A high‐throughput tubulin polymerization assay showed that the level of inhibition for compound 3 h is similar to that of combretastatin A‐4. Molecular modeling studies provided a molecular basis for the favorable binding of compounds 3 a , 3 e , and 3 h to the colchicine binding pocket of tubulin.     

Electrospun Nanofibers: Materials,Synthesis Parameters,and Their Role in Sensing Applications

Since the last decade, electrospinning is garnering more attention in the scientific research community, industries, applications like sensing (glucose, H₂O₂, dopamine, ascorbic acid, uric acid, neurotransmitter, etc.), biomedical applications (wound dressing, wound healing, skin, nerve, bone tissue engineering, and drug delivery systems), water treatment, energy harvesting, and storage applications. This review paper provides a brief overview of the electrospinning method, history of the electrospinning, factors affecting the electrospun nanofibers, and their morphology with different materials and composites (metals, metal oxides, 2D material, polymers and copolymers, carbon-based materials, etc.) used in the electrospinning technique with optical spinning parameters. Moreover, this paper deliberates the application of electrospun nanofibers and fibrous mats for sensing (electrochemical, optical, fluorescence, colorimetric, mechanical, photoelectric, mass sensitive change, resistive, ultrasensitive, etc.) in most illustrative representations. In the end, the challenges, opportunities of the electrospun nanofibers, and new direction for future progress are also discussed.     

Using the low-resolution properties of correlated images to improve the computational efficiency of eigenspace decomposition.

Eigendecomposition is a common technique that is performed on sets of correlated images in a number of computer vision and robotics applications. Unfortunately, the computation of an eigendecomposition can become prohibitively expensive when dealing with very high-resolution images. While reducing the resolution of the images will reduce the computational expense, it is not known a priori how this will affect the quality of the resulting eigendecomposition. The work presented here provides an analysis of how different resolution reduction techniques affect the eigendecomposition. A computationally efficient algorithm for calculating the eigendecomposition based on this analysis is proposed. Examples show that this algorithm performs well on arbitrary video sequences.     

Specification techniques for Markov reward models

Markov reward models (MRMs) are commonly used for the performance, dependability, and performability analysis of computer and communication systems. Many papers have addressed solution techniques for MRMs. Far less attention has been paid to the specification of MRMs and the subsequent derivation of the underlying MRM. In this paper we only briefly address the mathematical aspects of MRMs. Instead, emphasis is put on specification techniques. In an application independent way, we distinguish seven classes of specification techniques: stochastic Petri nets, queuing networks, fault trees, production rule systems, communicating processes, specialized languages, and hybrid techniques. For these seven classes, we discuss the main principles, give examples and discuss software tools that support the use of these techniques. An overview like this has not been presented in the literature before. Finally, the paper addresses the generation of the underlying MRM from the high-level specification, and indicates important future research areas. This work was supported in part by the Naval Surface Warfare Center under contract N60921-92-C-0161 and by the National Science Foundation under grant CCR-9108114.