Nonlinear vibration analysis of isotropic plate with inclined part-through surface crack

The four modes of vibration of an isotropic rectangular plate with an inclined crack are investigated. It is assumed that the crack remains continuous and its center is located at the center of the plate. The governing nonlinear equation of the transverse vibration of the plate with the plate boundary conditions being simply-supported on all edges is developed. The multiple scale perturbation method is utilized as the solution procedure to find the steady-state frequency response equations for all the four modes of vibration. The equations for the free and forced vibrations are derived and their frequency responses are presented. A special case of large-scale excitation force has also been considered. The parameter sensitivity analysis for the angle of crack, length of crack and the position of the external applied excitation force is performed. It has been shown that according to the aspect ratio of the plate, the vibration modes can have either nonlinear hardening effect or nonlinear softening behavior.     

Numerical analysis of quantum ring intersubband photodetector for far infrared detection

A quantum ring based intersubband photodetector is designed and its optical performance is studied based on a developed theoretical model. Intersubband absorption of quantum rings is numerically calculated for two transitions, from ground state to first excited state and to continuum energy and the effects of broadening mechanisms are studied. Device show responsivity about 0.2 A/W at T = 80 K and V = 2 V. Dark current of structure with and without the resonant tunneling barriers is calculated. Specific detectivity \((D^*)\) is studied at different temperatures and peak values about \(3\times 10^{12}\,\hbox {cm Hz}^{1/2}/\hbox {W}\) is obtained at T = 50 K. Results show that inclusion of resonant tunneling barriers leads to improvement in \(D^*\) about one order of magnitude.     

Applications of nanofluids in porous medium

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - This investigation provides a review on the applications of nanofluids in porous media. The transport phenomena in porous media have been of continuing...     

Synthesis and morphological study on the nanocomposite hydrophilic coatings

Hydrophilic nanocomposite coatings based on epoxy silane were prepared with incorporation of aminoethylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane by a sol-gel process. It was found out that the hydrophilicity is affected remarkably in the presence of non-ionic surfactant. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Si mapping micrographs indicated that there is a uniform distribution of silica particles in the coatings with either lower or higher amounts of aminoethylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane. Furthermore, the effect of aminoethylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane on transparency of the coatings was evaluated in the absence and presence of surfactant. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) techniques were employed to study the different steps of nanocomposite hybrid coating synthesis. Surface topography of the coatings investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that the silica particles’ dimensions are at the nano-scale.     

Optical and microwave analysis of mushroom-type waveguides for traveling wave electroabsorption modulators based on asymmetric intra-step-barrier coupled double strained quantum wells by full-vectorial method

The finite difference method is exploited for a full-vectorial analysis of mushroom-type waveguides for traveling wave electroabsorption modulators (TWEAM) based on asymmetric intra-step-barrier coupled double strained quantum wells (AICD-SQW). In this analysis, the discontinuities of the normal components of the electric field across abrupt dielectric interfaces which are known as the limitations of scalar and semivectorial approximation methods are considered. The optical field distributions in mushroom-type TWEAM based on AICD-SQW and conventional ridge-type TWEAM of the same active region for 1.55 μm operation are presented. The important parameters in the high-frequency TWEAM design such as optical effective index which defines optical velocity and transverse mode confinement factor are calculated. Then, the transmission line microwave properties (microwave index, microwave loss, and characteristic impedance) of TWEAMs are obtained. The modulation response of mushroom-type TWEAM is calculated using circuit model by considering interaction between microwave and optical fields in waveguide and compared with conventional ridge-type TWEAM. It is found that increasing the width of p-cladding layer with the same i-layer to reduce the resistance in p-i-n mushroom-type waveguide of TWEAM based on AICD-SQW can improve the microwave propagation loss and thus the high-speed electro-optical response.     

Photobleaching pathways in single-molecule FRET experiments

To acquire accurate structural and dynamical information on complex biomolecular machines using single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (sm-FRET), a large flux of donor and acceptor photons is needed. To achieve such fluxes, one may use higher laser excitation intensity; however, this induces increased rates of photobleaching. Anti-oxidant additives have been extensively used for reducing acceptor's photobleaching. Here we focus on deciphering the initial step along the photobleaching pathway. Utilizing an array of recently developed single-molecule and ensemble spectroscopies and doubly labeled Acyl-CoA binding protein and double-stranded DNA as model systems, we study these photobleaching pathways, which place fundamental limitations on sm-FRET experiments. We find that: (i) acceptor photobleaching scales with FRET efficiency, (ii) acceptor photobleaching is enhanced under picosecond-pulsed (vs continuous-wave) excitation, and (iii) acceptor photobleaching scales with the intensity of only the short wavelength (donor) excitation laser. We infer from these findings that the main pathway for acceptor's photobleaching is through absorption of a short wavelength photon from the acceptor's first excited singlet state and that donor's photobleaching is usually not a concern. We conclude by suggesting the use of short pulses for donor excitation, among other possible remedies, for reducing acceptor's photobleaching in sm-FRET measurements.     

Microwave monitoring of silver nanoparticle sintering for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering substrates

One of the most widely used methods for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) employs silver or gold nanoparticles either in colloidal suspension or in the dry‐drop form. In such substrates the SERS amplification factors depend critically on the interparticle distances. Here, we report that microwave absorption as a function of temperature in dry‐drop substrates can be used as a probe to demarcate temperature regions for thermal annealing to produce SERS substrates with very high amplification factors. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Expanding the scope of Lewis acid catalysis in water: remarkable ligand acceleration of aqueous ytterbium triflate catalyzed Michael addition reactions

[reaction: see text] Significant rate acceleration of metal-catalyzed Michael addition reactions in water was observed upon addition of small, dibasic ligands. Ytterbium triflate and TMEDA was the most effective combination leading to a nearly 20-fold faster reaction than in the absence of ligand.     

Shot-noise limited single-molecule FRET histograms: comparison between theory and experiments

We describe a simple approach and present a straightforward numerical algorithm to compute the best fit shot-noise limited proximity ratio histogram (PRH) in single-molecule fluorescence resonant energy transfer diffusion experiments. The key ingredient is the use of the experimental burst size distribution, as obtained after burst search through the photon data streams. We show how the use of an alternated laser excitation scheme and a correspondingly optimized burst search algorithm eliminates several potential artifacts affecting the calculation of the best fit shot-noise limited PRH. This algorithm is tested extensively on simulations and simple experimental systems. We find that dsDNA data exhibit a wider PRH than expected from shot noise only and hypothetically account for it by assuming a small Gaussian distribution of distances with an average standard deviation of 1.6 A. Finally, we briefly mention the results of a future publication and illustrate them with a simple two-state model system (DNA hairpin), for which the kinetic transition rates between the open and closed conformations are extracted.     

Analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</Emphasis> PAO1 Biofilm Protein Profile After Exposure to <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-Butanolic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cyclamen coum</Emphasis> Extract Alone and in Combination with Ciprofloxacin

Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm-related infections are the major cause of premature death in cystic fibrosis patients. Strategies to induce biofilm dispersal are of interest, because of their potential in preventing biofilm-related infections. Our previous work demonstrated that n-butanolic Cyclamen coum extract with ciprofloxacin could eliminate 1- and 3-day-old P. aeruginosa PAO1 biofilms. To gain new insights into the role of C. coum extract and its synergistic effect with ciprofloxacin in eliminating P. aeruginosa PAO1 biofilms, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) in combination with mass spectrometry-based protein identification were used. Changes in the bacterial protein expression were analyzed when 3-day-old biofilm cells were exposed to the C. coum extract alone and in combination with ciprofloxacin. Proteins involved in alginate biosynthesis, quorum sensing, adaptation/protection, carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism showed a weaker expression in the C. coum extract-ciprofloxacin-treated biofilm cells compared to those in the untreated cells. Interestingly, the proteome of C. coum extract-ciprofloxacin-treated biofilm revealed more resemblance to the planktonic phenotype than to the biofilm phenotype. It appears that saponin extract in combination with ciprofloxacin causes biofilm disruption due to several mechanisms such as motility induction, cell envelope integrity perturbation, stress protein expression reduction, and more importantly, signal transduction perturbation. In conclusion, exposure to a combination of biofilm dispersal such as saponin extract and antimicrobial agents may offer a novel strategy to control preestablished, persistent P. aeruginosa biofilms and biofilm-related infections.