A novel technique for active vibration control,based on optimal tracking control

Determination of concentration of major elements such as Ca, Si, Al, and Fe in cement is very important for quality control during its production, correct classification according to the existing standards, and thus for appropriate use in the construction industry. For this purpose, neutron activation analysis is very suitable. In this preliminary theoretical work, the irradiation and consecutive measurement of the percentage of the constituent elements in different cement samples were done using MCNPX with γ-ray spectra as the output. Specific peaks of Ca, Si, Al, and Fe obtained from these spectra were used as input for artificial neural network (18 of them for training and 8 for testing) resulting in the determination of each element in the given sample. The mean absolute errors of the results are less than 0.4%, which is very promising for the future experimental work where the uncertainties are usually one order higher.     

Ag implantation-induced modification of Ni–Ti shape memory alloy thin films

Nanocrystalline thin films of Ni–Ti shape memory alloy are deposited on an Si substrate by the DC-magnetron co-sputtering technique and 120?keV Ag ions are implanted at different fluences. The thickness and composition of the pristine films are determined by Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS). X-Ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and four-point probe resistivity methods have been used to study the structural, morphological and electrical transport properties. XRD analysis has revealed the existence of martensitic and austenite phases in the pristine film and also evidenced the structural changes in Ag-implanted Ni–Ti films at different fluences. AFM studies have revealed that surface roughness and grain size of Ni–Ti films have decreased with an increase in ion fluence. The modifications in the mechanical behaviour of implanted Ni–Ti films w.r.t pristine film is determined by using a Nano-indentation tester at room temperature. Higher hardness and the ratio of higher hardness (H) to elastic modulus (E_r) are observed for the film implanted at an optimized fluence of 9?×?10¹⁵ ions/cm². This improvement in mechanical behaviour could be understood in terms of grain refinement and dislocation induced by the Ag ion implantation in the Ni–Ti thin films.     

Instability of binary nanofluids with magnetic field

The present paper investigates the effects of a vertical magnetic field on the double diffusive nanofluid convection. The effects of the Brownian motion and thermophoresis due to the presence of nanoparticles and the effects of the Dufour and Soret parameters due to the presence of solute are included in the investigated model. The normal mode technique is used to solve the conservation equations. For the analytical study, valid approximations are made in the complex expression for the Rayleigh number to get useful and interesting results. The bottom heavy binary nanofluids are more stable than the regular binary fluids, while the top heavy binary nanofluids are less stable than the regular binary fluids. The critical wave number and the critical Rayleigh number increase whereas the frequency of oscillation (for the bottom heavy configuration) decreases when the Chandrasekhar number increases. The numerical results for the alumina-water nanofluid are studied by use of the MATHEMATICA software.     

Neuroprotective Ability of Apocynin Loaded Nanoparticles (APO-NPs) as NADPH Oxidase (NOX)-Mediated ROS Modulator for Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Oxidative Neuronal Injuries

Apocynin (APO) is a known multi-enzymatic complexed compound, employed as a viable NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibitor, extensively used in both traditional and modern-day therapeutic strategies to combat neuronal disorders. However, its therapeutic efficacy is limited by lower solubility and lesser bioavailability; thus, a suitable nanocarrier system to overcome such limitations is needed. The present study is designed to fabricate APO-loaded polymeric nanoparticles (APO-NPs) to enhance its therapeutic efficacy and sustainability in the biological system. The optimized APO NPs in the study exhibited 103.6 ± 6.8 nm and −13.7 ± 0.43 mV of particle size and zeta potential, respectively, along with further confirmation by TEM. In addition, the antioxidant (AO) abilities quantified by DPPH and nitric oxide scavenging assays exhibited comparatively higher AO potential of APO-NPs than APO alone. An in-vitro release profile displayed a linear diffusion pattern of zero order kinetics for APO from the NPs, followed by its cytotoxicity evaluation on the PC12 cell line, which revealed minimal toxicity with higher cell viability, even after treatment with a stress inducer (H₂O₂). The stability of APO-NPs after six months showed minimal AO decline in comparison to APO only, indicating that the designed nano-formulation enhanced therapeutic efficacy for modulating NOX-mediated ROS generation.     

XPS study of annealing induced effects on surface and interface electronic properties of Si/Ge nanostructures

The present study is focused on the influence of vacuum thermal treatment on surface/interface electronic properties of Si/Ge multilayer structures (MLS) characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique. Desired [Si(5 nm)/Ge(5 nm)]_×10 MLS were prepared using electron beam evaporation technique under ultra high vacuum (UHV) conditions. The core-level XPS spectra of as-deposited as well as multilayer samples annealed at different temperatures such as 100 °C, 150 °C and 200 °C for 1 h show substantial reduction in Ge 2p peak integrated intensity, whereas peak intensity of Si 2p remains almost constant. The complete interdiffusion took place after annealing the sample at 200 °C for 5 h as confirmed from depth profiling of annealed MLS. The asymmetric behaviour in intensity patterns of Si and Ge with annealing was attributed to faster interdiffusion of Si into Ge layer. However, another set of experiments on these MLS annealed at 500 °C suggests that interdiffusion can also be studied by annealing the system at higher temperature for relatively shorter time duration.     

Two-dimensional analytical subthreshold model of graded channel DG FD SOI n-MOSFET with gate misalignment effect

A two-dimensional (2-D) analytical subthreshold model is developed for a graded channel double gate (DG) fully depleted SOI n-MOSFET incorporating a gate misalignment effect. The conformal mapping transformation (CMT) approach has been used to provide an accurate prediction of the surface potential, electric field, threshold voltage and subthreshold behavior of the device, considering the gate misalignment effect to be on both source and drain side. The model is applied to both uniformly doped (UD) and graded channel (GC) DG MOSFETs. The results of an analytical model agree well with 3-D simulated data obtained by ATLAS-3D device simulation software.     

Effect of iron doping concentration on magnetic properties of ZnO nanoparticles

The ZnO:Fe nanoparticles of mean size 3-10 nm were synthesized at room temperature by simple co-precipitation method. The crystallite structure, morphology and size estimation were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The wurtzite structure of ZnO gradually degrades with the increasing Fe doping concentration. The magnetic behavior of the nanoparticles of ZnO with varying Fe doping concentration was investigated using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Initially these nanoparticles showed strong ferromagnetic behavior, however at higher doping percentage of Fe, the ferromagnetic behavior was suppressed and paramagnetic nature was observed. The enhanced antiferromagnetic interaction between neighboring Fe-Fe ions suppressed the ferromagnetism at higher doping concentrations of Fe. Room-temperature Mössbauer spectroscopy investigation showed Fe³⁺ nature of the iron atom in ZnO matrix.     

Nuclear symmetry energy effects in finite nuclei and neutron star

Within a relativistic mean-field model with nonlinear isoscalar–isovector coupling, we explore the possibility of constraining the density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy from a systematic study of the neutron skin thickness of finite nuclei and neutron star properties. We find the present skin data supports a rather stiff symmetry energy at subsaturation densities that corresponds to a soft symmetry energy at supranormal densities. Correlation between the skin of ²⁰⁸Pb and the neutron star masses and radii with kaon condensation has been studied. We find that ²⁰⁸Pb skin estimate suggest star radii that reveals considerable model dependence. Thus precise measurements of neutron star radii in conjunction with skin thickness of heavy nuclei could provide significant constraint on the density dependence of symmetry energy.