Excess thermodynamic properties of the 2-propanol + dichloromethane system at 25°C

Densities, viscosities, enthalpies, vapor-liquid equilibria, and surface tensions were determined at 25°C for the 2-propanol+dichloromethane system. From the experimental results excess volumes, viscosities, enthalpies, Gibbs energies, and excess surface tensions were calculated. An attempt has been made to explain the observed deviations from ideal behavior on the basis of intermolecular interactions.     

Determination of Binding Constants of Polyethylene Glycol Vancomycin Derivatives to Peptide Ligands Using Affinity Capillary Electrophoresis

Vancomycin (Van) from Streptomyces orientalis has been derivatized with polyethylene glycol [PEG; PEG-550 (1), 750 (2), 1,100 (3), 2,000 (4), 5,000 (5), and 8,000 (6) g mol⁻¹] at the N-terminus of the glycopeptide backbone and their binding to d-Ala-d-Ala terminus peptides assessed using affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE). Utilizing ACE, a plug of Van-PEG and non-interacting standards are injected and electrophoresed. Analysis of the change in the relative migration time ratio of the Van-PEG species, relative to the non-interacting standards, as a function of the concentration of peptide, yields a value for the binding constant (K _b). Values of K _b for N-acetyl-d-Ala-d-Ala, 7 to the Van-PEG derivatives are weaker than those for N _α,N _ε-diacetyl-Lys-d-Ala-d-Ala, 8 (for example, values of K _b for 7-1 and 8-1 are 1.8 and 47.7 × 10³ M⁻¹, respectively). These results demonstrate that derivatization of Van with PEG has little effect on the affinity of d-Ala-d-Ala peptide ligands to it. The findings further prove the versatility of ACE and its ability to estimate binding parameters of ligands to antibiotics.     

Partial-filling affinity capillary electrophoresis

Partial-filling affinity capillary electrophoresis (PFACE) is used to examine the binding interactions between two model biological systems: D-Ala-D-Ala terminus peptides to the glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin (Van) from Streptomyces orientalis, and arylsulfonamides to carbonic anhydrase B (CAB, EC 4.2.1.1, bovine erythrocytes). Using these two systems, modifications in the PFACE technique are demonstrated including flow-through PFACE (FTPFACE), competitive flow-through PFACE (CFTPFACE), on-column ligand synthesis PFACE (OCLSPFACE), and multiple-step ligand injection PFACE (MSLIPFACE). In PFACE small plugs of sample are injected into the capillary column and an equilibrium is established between receptor and ligand during electrophoresis. Binding constants are then obtained by Scatchard analysis using changes in the migration time of the receptor/ligand on changing the concentration of the ligand/receptor. Data demonstrating the quantitative potential of these methods are presented. This review focuses on the unique capabilities of the different PFACE techniques as applied to two model biological systems.     

A Review on Effects of Lubricant Formulations on Tribological Performance and Boundary Lubrication Mechanisms of Non-Doped DLC/DLC Contacts

Tribological efficiency of industrial applications involving boundary lubrication regime can be improved to an appreciable extent by the deposition of hard coatings on interacting surfaces. Among such coatings, diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings are considered to be one of the most suitable ones for the said role. DLC coatings possess a unique combination of physical, chemical, and material properties due to which they can help in minimizing friction-induced energy and material losses even under starved lubrication conditions. Since commercial lubricants are optimized for steel surfaces, therefore, a lot of experimental investigations were carried out to analyze the tribological compatibility of these lubricants with various DLC coatings. However, there is still a lack of understanding about how DLC coatings interact with conventional lubricant additives. Some researchers reported tribologically beneficial interactions between DLC coatings and formulated lubricants while others observed no such behavior. To address these inconsistencies, there is a need to rearrange the published data in a more apprehensible and organized manner with a special emphasis on the mechanisms responsible for a particular tribological behavior. In this way, it can be determined whether synergistic or antagonistic correlation exists between a particular DLC-lubricant combination and research on DLC coatings can be continued in a logical way. In this article, most widely investigated non-doped DLC coatings (ta-C, a-C:H, a-C, and ta-C:H) are tribologically analyzed. Average values of friction and wear coefficients are calculated for various DLC-lubricant combinations using already published data and compared to quantify the effectiveness of a particular lubricant additive in enhancing tribological characteristics of symmetrical non-doped DLC contacts. Moreover, tribological performance parameters of non-doped DLC coatings are compared with those of doped-DLC coatings to understand differences in their tribological behavior in combination with additives.     

Tunable high power fiber laser using an AWG as the tuning element

In this paper, a design of a High Power Tunable Fiber Laser (HP-TFL) in C-band region from 1536.7 to 1548.6 nm is set forth with Erbium Doped Fibers (EDFs) being used as a seeding signal and a booster amplifier. With a 1 × 16 channels Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG), this setup is capable of generating 16 different wavelengths with an average output power of 20.7 dBm.     

Modelling and measuring the thermal conductivity of multi-metallic Zn/Cu nanofluid

A metallic nanofluid is a suspension of metallic nanoparticles in a base fluid. Multi-metallic nanoparticles are a combination of two or more types of metallic particles. Such multi-metallic nanoparticles were suspended in water using an ultrasonic vibrator for different total volume fractions and different ratios of metallic/metallic nanoparticles. A transient hot wire setup was built to measure the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid at different temperatures. The experimental results were in good agreement with the results in the literature. Then, the experimental results were used as input data for an adaptive neural fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to predict the thermal conductivity of the multi-metallic nanofluid. The maximum deviation between the ANFIS results and experimental measurements was 1 %. The predicted results and the experimental data were compared with other models. The ANFIS model was found to have good ability to predict the thermal conductivity of the multi-metallic nanofluid over the range of the experimental results.     

Highly efficient and high output power of erbium doped fiber laser in a linear cavity configuration

A simple Erbium Doped Fiber Laser (EDFL) in linear cavity configuration is reported. The cavity design is based on an FBG as a back reflector, and a loop back optical circulator with an output coupler as the front reflector. Different coupling ratios of the coupler are tested and 50: 50 provides the highest coupling output power of 22.06 dBm (160.7 mW). The pump power conversion efficiency is about 95% when pumping with two pump lasers at 1460 and 1490 nm with combined pumping power of 545 mW. The laser output has a measured linewidth of 0.0179 nm.