One-step synthesis and solvent-induced exfoliation of hybrid organic-inorganic phyllosilicate-like materials

A room-temperature sol-gel-based process was used to produce by direct synthesis talc-like organosilicates having hexadecyl or aminopropyl groups pending in the interlayer space. Thermal analyses, Fourier transform infrared and 13C/29Si solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies confirmed the presence of organic moieties bonded to the inorganic network. Exfoliation of these organoclays in polar solvents such as water for the positively charged magnesium phyllo(aminopropyl)silicate, and in low polar solvents such as toluene and chloroform for hydrophobic magnesium phyllo(hexadecyl)silicate, was investigated by TEM. The ability of these layered magnesium organosilicates to exfoliate in appropriate solvents was exploited for the preparation of transparent self-supporting films and ordered macroporous networks using by latex colloidal crystal templates.     

Investigations on structural, optical and electrochemical properties of blue luminescence SnO2 nanoparticles

A simple solution approach has been developed to synthesis SnO₂ nanoparticles using polyethylene glycol as stabilizer. X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) emission spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were employed to characterize the nanoparticles. XRD, HR-TEM and AFM indicate that the SnO₂ nanoparticles correspond to tetragonal crystal structure with size ranges below Bohr’s exciton radius. UV–Vis absorption spectrum showed band gap exhibiting a 1.3 eV shift from that of bulk SnO₂ structures. The blue emission owing to transition of an electron from conduction band to deeply trapped hole in SnO₂ nanoparticles was analyzed using PL spectroscopy. The charge transfer capability had been investigated using CV and EIS in different electrolytes. A detailed exploration on confinement effect that occurred in SnO₂ nanoparticles, mechanism behind visible emission and electron transfer mechanism in different electrolyte was discussed.     

Multi-signaling detection of Hg2+ and Cu2+ by a ferrocene–pyrazole dyad associated with molecular-scale arithmetic

Ferrocene-based sensor R was synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods. The optical, electrochemical and cation-sensing properties of receptor R are presented. Receptor R behaves as a selective multi-channel signaling chemosensor molecule for Hg²⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions in CH₃CN. The binding mode of Hg²⁺ with R was determined by ¹³C NMR titration. Both optical and electrochemical methods were applied for the detection of cations in water sample. The characteristic fluorescence of R with the Cu²⁺ selective ON–OFF and the Hg²⁺ selective fluorescence bathochromic shift can be observed and the concept has been used to construct a combinational logic circuit at the molecular level.     

Novel Bacillus ginsengihumi CMRO6 Inhibits Adipogenesis via p38MAPK/Erk44/42 and Stimulates Glucose Uptake in 3T3-L1 Pre-Adipocytes through Akt/AS160 Signaling

The health benefits of probiotics have been known for decades, but there has only been limited use of probiotics in the treatment of obesity. In this study, we describe, for the first time, the role of cell-free metabolites (CM) from Bacillus ginsengihumi-RO6 (CMRO6) in adipogenesis and lipogenesis in 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes. The experimental results show that CMRO6 treatment effectively reduced lipid droplet accumulation and the expression of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α and β (C/EBPα and C/EBPβ), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPAR-γ), serum regulatory binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c), fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4), fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC), phosphorylated p38MAPK, and Erk44/42. Additionally, CMRO6 treatment significantly increased glucose uptake and phosphorylated Akt (S473), AS160, and TBC1D1 protein expressions. Considering the results of this study, B. ginsengihumi may be a novel probiotic used for the treatment of obesity and its associated metabolic disorders.     

An Improved Direct Digital Synthesizer Using Hybrid Wave Pipelining and CORDIC algorithm for Software Defined Radio

The improved Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS) using the Hybrid Wave Pipelining (HWP) technique and COordinate Rotation DIgital Computer (CORDIC) algorithm for Software Defined Radio (SDR) is presented in this paper. In order to achieve high throughput, the hybrid wave pipelining technique is adopted. The HWP can be used to speed up the circuits without insertion of storage elements. The CORDIC algorithm is used for phase-to-amplitude conversion and utilized for dynamic transformation rather than Read Only Memory (ROM) static addressing. The frequency resolution and phase resolution are achieved as 0.023 Hz and 0.088 degree, respectively, at the maximum operating frequency of 199.288 MHz for the proposed DDS architecture. The spectral purity of the proposed design has been improved to 114 dBc with a throughput of 94 %. This paper is focused on the design and implementation of DDS using hybrid wave pipelining with CORDIC approach to target on Xilinx Spartan 3 (XC3S400-5PQ208) Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) with a speed grade of ?5. The proposed DDS design reduces the gate count from 49.4 % to 18.2 % as compared to the conventional pipelined Read Only Memory Look Up Table (ROMLUT) DDS method. The throughput of the proposed method has been improved from 78 % to 94 % and 55 % of total power reduction as compared with conventional DDS. The performance of the improved DDS architecture is compared with several existing DDS architectures and it is found that the present design is outperforming and can be used for software defined radios.     

Keratin hydrolysate as an exhausting agent in textile reactive dyeing process

Salt is an essential exhausting agent for the dyeing of cotton fabric with reactive dyes. The usage of salt leads to an increased effluent load in terms of total dissolved solids and also limits the opportunities for recycling textile dye house effluents. These effluents are difficult to degrade and their disposal leads to environmental pollution. In the present work, we have prepared keratin hydrolysate (KH) from waste of wool processing industries to reduce the usage of salt in dyeing. The KH was fixed to the cotton fabric at five different add on percentage, and the presence of the KH on the fabric was confirmed by FTIR, TGA and SEM-EDX Studies. The KH-fixed fabrics were further dyed with reactive dyes without addition of salt. The colour strength of the fabric increased up to 91 % to that of the control sample. The studies reveal that the tone of the fabric was not altered and KH usage can significantly reduce salt consumption in reactive dyeing process.     

Environmental efficiency of the Indian cement industry: An interstate analysis

Coal combustion, for the production of cement, generates considerable amount of environmentally detrimental carbon dioxide as an undesirable by-product. Thus, this paper aims at measuring environmental efficiency within a joint production framework of both desirable and undesirable output using Data Envelopment Analysis and Directional Distance Function. Carbon dioxide is considered as an input in one context and as an undesirable output in the other with the environmental efficiency being defined accordingly. Using 3 digit sate level data from the Annual Survey of Industries for the years 2000–2001 through 2004–2005, the proposed models are applied to estimate environmental efficiency of Indian cement industry. Empirical results show that there is enough potential for the industry to improve its environmental efficiency with efficiency being varied across states. Results also show that Indian cement industry, if faced with environmental regulation, has the potential to expand desirable output and contract undesirable output with the given inputs. However, regulation has a potential cost in terms of lower feasible expansion of desirable output as compared to unregulated scenario.