Measurement of Time Constant of Wet-Bulb Thermocouple in Air

An experimental apparatus was built to measure the time constant of fine wet-bulb thermocouples in air. Rapid response solenoid valves (15 msec response time) were used to control airflow through tubing into which wet-bulb thermocouples were placed. Wet-bulb thermocouples (type T, 0.005 cm diameter) with the tip (bead) covered with a moistened wick were tested. Experiments were performed for air velocities ranging from 1.50 to 2.5 m sec^?1 (Reynolds number of 2,500 to 4,500) and wet-bulb temperature ranging from 12.5 to 17.4°C. Experimental conditions were selected to simulate human respiratory conditions. Correlation between airflow velocity and wet-bulb thermocouple time constants was not significant at all levels.     

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...     

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.     

Highly Regioselective and Diastereoselective,One‐Pot,Four‐Component Synthesis of Novel Spiroindenoquinoxalineindolizidine Derivatives

A one‐pot, four‐component procedure for the synthesis of novel spiroindenoquinoxalineindolizidines with high regioselectivity and diastereoselectivity from the 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides, generated from indenoquinoxalines and pipecolinic acid, and chalcones is described. The reaction occurs under reflux of ethanol as a green solvent and in the absence of any catalyst. The cycloadducts are obtained purely without future purification. The regiochemistry and stereochemistry of resultant cycloadducts have been determined by several 2D‐NMR spectroscopic techniques and X‐ray single crystal diffraction.     

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.