Fabrication and characterization of electrospun psyllium husk-based nanofibers for tissue regeneration

The present study reports for first time the blending of psyllium husk (PH) powder/gelatin (G) in the polymer-rich composition of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to make an electrospinnable solution. The composite was prepared in 3 different ratios viz., 100% (wt/wt) (PVA + PH), 75% + 25% (PVA + 75PH + 25G) (wt/wt) and 50% + 50% (PVA + 50PH + 50G) (wt/wt) in 6% PVA solution. Optimum electrospinning parameters were evaluated for all the prepared blends. The fabricated nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared, differential scanning calorimetry, porosity percentage, and fiber orientation using ImageJ software. A qualitative in vitro degradation study at room temperature is supported by SEM images. The cellular interactions were characterized by MTT assay of NIH-3T3 fibroblast cells for 2 and 4 days with an optimum cell growth of >50% by fourth day of culture and long-term cultivation of L929-RFP cells was observed for 10 days. The nanofibers were formed in the range of 49–600 nm. PVA + 75PH + 25G when cultured with L929-RFP cells exhibited highest fluorescence intensity and thus supported cellular proliferation significantly. Based on the results obtained from various analyses, we anticipate that fabricated psyllium-based nanofiber can be used as a promising candidate for wound healing and other biomedical applications.     

Evolutionary optimization of Haferman carpet fractal patterned antenna array

This article investigates radiation characteristics of a new type of fractal shaped antenna array based on Haferman carpet geometry. An iterative feed matrix eases the complexity of array factor calculation that makes the array factor suitable for the application of any evolutionary optimization techniques. It is seen that Haferman carpet array produces peak side lobe level (PSLL) better than Sierpinski carpet that produces ?10 dB PSLL at every stage of growth. Optimization techniques have been applied for array element reduction and PSLL minimization at different stages of growth. Here, PSLL is minimized by turning off array elements and also by varying inter element spacing between the array elements. The optimized version of Haferman carpet array produces better characteristics (49.38% thinning with ?20.5 dB PSLL for stage‐2, 46.3% thinning with ?22 dB PSLL for stage‐3 and 42.3% thinning with ?21dB PSLL for stage‐4) than its original counterpart in terms of reduced element count and PSLL. Numerical results for obtaining optimized array performance exploit both DE as well as PSO. A comparative study on the performance is also presented. As a whole, Haferman carpet is seen to be more effective approach than Sierpinski carpet in fractal antenna paradigm. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:719–729, 2015.     

Mutations Closer to the Active Site Improve the Promiscuous Aldolase Activity of 4‐Oxalocrotonate Tautomerase More Effectively than Distant Mutations

The enzyme 4‐oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4‐OT), which catalyzes enol–keto tautomerization as part of a degradative pathway for aromatic hydrocarbons, promiscuously catalyzes various carbon–carbon bond‐forming reactions. These include the aldol condensation of acetaldehyde with benzaldehyde to yield cinnamaldehyde. Here, we demonstrate that 4‐OT can be engineered into a more efficient aldolase for this condensation reaction, with a >5000‐fold improvement in catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) and a >10⁷‐fold change in reaction specificity, by exploring small libraries in which only “hotspots” are varied. The hotspots were identified by systematic mutagenesis (covering each residue), followed by a screen for single mutations that give a strong improvement in the desired aldolase activity. All beneficial mutations were near the active site of 4‐OT, thus underpinning the notion that new catalytic activities of a promiscuous enzyme are more effectively enhanced by mutations close to the active site.     

A moment-method characterization of V-Koch fractal dipole antennas

This article compares input impedances and radiation characteristics of half wavelength Koch fractal V–electric dipoles having included angles 60°, 90° and 120°. The study considers three structures. In the 1st structure the Koch arms open into the V-region, in 2nd structure they open away from the V-region and in the third structure, one arm opens into and the other away from the V-region. A first iteration, structure 1 of V-Koch electric dipole antenna with included angle of 120° was fabricated and the experimental return loss was in good agreement with simulation. At their first resonances the antennas’ gain and input resistance decrease with decrease in included angles, an observation synonymous to Euclidian electric dipoles. In terms of gain, the first structure is found to give better performance than the other two. For this structure, the pattern distortion at the second resonance was also less compared to the other structures.     

Crystallization behaviour and mechanical properties of rapidly solidified Al<Subscript>87.5</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>7</Subscript>Mm<Subscript>5</Subscript>Fe<Subscript>0.5</Subscript> amorphous alloy

The crystallization behaviour and the mechanical properties of rapidly solidified Al_87.5Ni₇Mm₅Fe_0.5 alloy ribbons have been examined in both as-melt-spun and heat-treated condition using differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), tensile testing and Vicker’s microhardness machine. XRD and TEM studies revealed that the as-melt-spun ribbons are fully amorphous. The amorphous ribbon undergoes three-stage crystallization process upon heating. Primary crystallization resulted in the formation of fine nanocrystalline fcc-Al particles embedded in the amorphous matrix. The second and third crystallization stages correspond to the precipitation of Al₁₁(La,Ce)₃ and Al₃Ni phases, respectively. Microhardness and tensile strength of the ribbons were examined with the variation of temperature and subsequently correlated with the evolved structure. Initially, the microhardness of the ribbon increases with temperature followed by a sharp drop in hardness owing to the decomposition of amorphous matrix that leads to formation of intermetallic compounds     

Centered inclined slot coupling between waveguides with coplanar axes

The article presents the method of finding the complete equivalent circuit of two waveguides with coplanar axes coupled through a centered inclined slot in the common broad wall. The variational method based on dyadic Green's function is used for finding the parameters of the equivalent circuit. A cosinusoidal aperture field distribution is assumed. Considerable mathematical simplification is resulted from replacing the centered inclined slot by an equivalent magnetic dipole. Coupling slot characteristics are deduced, including resonant length, dominant mode scattering in both the waveguides. Numerical and experimental results for resonant lengths and scattering parameters are presented over a range of tilt angles, frequencies, and waveguide dimensions. These results have significant applications in linear waveguide arrays and coupler design. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2011.     

Is hypothalamic GABA involved in immune function in relation to dietary protein during aging?

Hypothalamic GABAergic activity and immune response in spleen were not significantly changed with the increase of age from 3 to 6 months in adult male albino rats. Further increase of age from 6 to 9 months increase the GABAergic activity and decreased the cell viability in spleen without any change in its T-lymphocyte cytotoxicity. Consumption of low protein diet (LPD) for a short-term period (STP; 7 consecutive days) increased the hypothalamic GABAergic activity without changing the immune response in 3 months old rats. When supplemented for a long-term period (LTP; 30 consecutive days) to 3 months old rats, a reduction of hypothalamic GABAergic activity and the immune response was observed. Intake of high protein diet (HPD) for both STP and LTP increased the GABAergic activity and immune response, but the increase of GABAergic activity in hypothalamus under STP was greater than that observed under LTP. In 6 months old rats consumption of LPD for STP reduced the GABAergic activity without any alteration of its immune response. Long-term supplementation of this LPD to the same age group increased GABAergic activity and the mitotic activity of spleen cells without any alteration of the functional activity of the T-cells in spleen. Consumption of HPD for STP failed to produce any change in hypothalamic GABAergic activity and the immune response of 6 months old rats. Supplementation of HPD for LTP reduced the hypothalamic GABAergic activity and the immune response of the same age group. The reduction in hypothalamic GABAergic activity without any change in the immune response was observed following the supplementation of low protein diet to 9 months old rat for STP. Intake of the LPD for LTP also reduced the hypothalamic GABAergic activity and the mitotic activity of the spleen cells without any alteration of the functional activity of the T-cells in spleen of 9 months old rats. Supplementation of HPD for STP to this aged rat, on the other hand, failed to produced any change in hypothalamic GABAergic activity and the immune response. Intake of HPD for LTP by this aged rats increased the hypothalamic GABAergic activity along with the immune response. The results of this study, thus, suggest that hypothalamic GABAergic activity during aging is an index of immune response and it is modulated following the short- and long-term consumption of protein poor and protein rich diet.     

Experimental verification of the generalized Schelkunoff'shorn-gain formulas for sectoral horns

An approximate formula has been recently proposed for the on-axis gain of rectangular waveguide antennas, that include open-ended rectangular waveguides and sectoral and pyramidal horns (see Selvan, K.T., IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol.47, p.1001-4, 1999). This formula is an approximate generalization of S.A. Schelkunoff's horn-gain formulas (see "Electromagnetic Waves", Van Nostrand, p.360-4, 1943). Gain measurements are reported for the gains of E plane and H plane sectoral horns and are used in an examination of the accuracy of Selvan's formulas. To the best of the authors' knowledge, these are the first ever measurement efforts on the gain of H-plane sectoral horns