Light-activated ionic gelation of common biopolymers

Biopolymers such as alginate and pectin are well known for their ability to undergo gelation upon addition of multivalent cations such as calcium (Ca(2+)). Here, we report a simple way to activate such ionic gelation by UV irradiation. Our approach involves combining an insoluble salt of the cation (e.g., calcium carbonate, CaCO(3)) with an aqueous solution of the polymer (e.g., alginate) along with a third component, a photoacid generator (PAG). Upon UV irradiation, the PAG dissociates to release H(+) ions, which react with the CaCO(3) to generate free Ca(2+). In turn, the Ca(2+) ions cross-link the alginate chains into a physical network, thereby resulting in a hydrogel. Dynamic rheological experiments confirm the elastic character of the alginate gel, and the gel modulus is shown to be tunable via the irradiation time as well as the PAG and alginate concentrations. The above approach is easily extended to other biopolymers such as pectin. Using this approach, a photoresponse can be imparted to conventional biopolymers without the need for any chemical modification of the molecules. Photoresponsive alginate gels may be useful in creating biomaterials or tissue mimics. As a step toward potential applications, we demonstrate the ability to photopattern a thin film of alginate gel onto a glass substrate under mild conditions.     

Stable physically adsorbed coating of poly-vinyl alcohol for the separation of basic proteins

In aqueous capillary electrophoresis, the electroosmotic flow can be strongly suppressed by coating the inner surface of the capillary. In the present work hydrophilic coating of 4% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been used for the analysis of basic proteins. The coating is simple and easy to obtain. The separation of ribonuclease and α-chymotrypsin has been uniquely done with other three basic proteins (lysozyme, cytochrome-c and trypsin) using a buffer 11.60 mM sodium acetate and 18.40 mM acetic acid at pH 4.5 in addition to positive power supply of 20 kV at 25°C. Detection was performed using UV detector at 230 nm. The proposed PVA coated capillary provides reproducible separation of five basic proteins within 10 min with RSD values for mobility bellow 1.4% (n = 6) for all the five basic proteins. The stability of coated capillary has been checked up to 40 runs. The viscosity measurement for 4% PVA have been studied and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images obtained to make it compatible with future micro-chip applications.     

Understanding anomalous current-voltage characteristics in microchannel-nanochannel interconnect devices

The integration of a microchannel with a nanochannel is known to exhibit anomalous nonlinear current-voltage characteristics. In this paper, we perform detailed numerical simulations considering a 2-D nonlinear ion transport model, to capture and explain the underlying physics behind the limiting resistance and the overlimiting current regions, observed predominantly in a highly ion-selective nanochannel. We attribute the overlimiting current characteristics to the redistribution of the space charges resulting in an anomalous enhancement in the ionic concentration of the electrolyte in the induced space charge region, beyond a critical voltage. The overlimiting current with constant conductivity is predicted even without considering the effects of fluidic nonlinearities. We extend our study and report anomalous rectification effects, resulting in an enhancement of current in the non-ohmic region, under the application of combined AC and DC electric fields. The necessary criteria to observe these enhancements and some useful scaling relations are discussed.     

Modeling of 2.5 Gbps-intersatellite link (ISL) in inter-satellite optical wireless communication (IsOWC) system

Free-space optics (FSO) has the combined features of most dominated telecommunication technologies: wireless and fiber optics. Many of the aspects of FSO are related to fiber optics with an important difference of transmission medium which is air/free space rather than the glass of the fiber-optic cable. Inter-satellite optical wireless communication systems (IsOWC), one of the important applications of FSO/WSO technology, will be deployed in space in the near future as such systems provide a high bandwidth, small size, light weight, low power and low cost alternative to present microwave satellite systems. In this paper, we have designed a model of IsOWC system using OPTI-SYSTEM™ simulator to establish an inter-satellite link (ISL) between two satellites estranged by a distance of 1000 km at data rate of 2.5 Gbps which is not reported in previous investigated works.     

Viscosity and excess molar volume of binary mixtures of methanol with n-butylamine and di-n-butylamine at 303.15, 313.15 and 323.15 K. Characterization in terms of ERAS model

The excess molar volume V_m^E, viscosity deviation Δη, and excess Gibbs energy of activation ΔG^?E of viscous flow have been investigated from the density ρ and viscosity η measurements of binary mixtures of methanol with n-butylamine and di-n-butylamine over the entire range of mole fractions at 303.15, 313.15, and 323.15 K. The systems studied exhibit very strong cross association through strong O–H…N bonding between –OH and –NH– groups. As a consequence of this strong intermolecular association, both the systems have very large negative V_m^E and positive Δη and ΔG^?E over entire range of composition and at all the temperatures of investigation. V_m^E of the studied mixtures is consistently described by the ERAS model. The values of cross association constants K_AB illustrate that cross-associates are more pronounced in primary amine mixtures than that in secondary amine.     

Effect of pulse slippage on density transition-based resonant third-harmonic generation of short-pulse laser in plasma

The resonant third-harmonic generation of a self-focusing laser in plasma with a density transition was investigated. Because of self-focusing of the fundamental laser pulse, a transverse intensity gradient was created, which generated a plasma wave at the fundamental wave frequency. Phase matching was satisfied by using a Wiggler magnetic field, which provided additional angular momentum to the third-harmonic photon to make the process resonant. An enhancement was observed in the resonant third-harmonic generation of an intense short-pulse laser in plasma embedded with a magnetic Wiggler with a density transition. A plasma density ramp played an important role in the self-focusing, enhancing the third-harmonic generation in plasma. We also examined the effect of the Wiggler magnetic field on the pulse slippage of the third-harmonic pulse in plasma. The pulse slippage was due to the group-velocity mismatch between the fundamental and third-harmonic pulses.     

Simulative investigation of the impact of EDFA and SOA over BER of a single-tone RoF system

In this paper, we investigate the impact of EDFA and SOA amplifiers over BER and Q-parameter of a Radio-over-Fiber (Rof) system consisting of two different system set-ups using direct- and external-laser modulation techniques. In this work, we also measured and compared the electric Rf power at receiver at different modulating Rf frequencies up to 20 GHz using two different optical amplifiers, i.e. EDFA and SOA. Further, we also compared the received electric Rf power at different optical powers without and with different optical amplifiers. An improvement of −11 dB (approx.) of received Rf power was observed using EDFA with the external modulation technique, on comparing with direct modulation.     

Role of the gouy phase in the coherent phase control of the photoionization and photodissociation of vinyl chloride

We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that the Gouy phase of a focused laser beam may be used to control the photoinduced reactions of a polyatomic molecule. Quantum mechanical interference between one- and three-photon excitation of vinyl chloride produces a small phase lag between the dissociation and ionization channels on the axis of the molecular beam. Away from the axis, the Gouy phase introduces a much larger phase lag that agrees quantitatively with theory without any adjustable parameters.     

Pulse Slippage of Resonant Third Harmonic Generation in Electron-Hole Plasma

Effect of pulse slippage on resonant third harmonic generation of a short pulse laser in electron-hole plasma in the presence of wiggler magnetic field has been investigated. The group velocity mismatch of the third harmonic pulse and the fundamental pulse is significant in electron hole plasma. As the third harmonic pulse has higher group velocity than that of fundamental pulse, therefore, it moves faster than the fundamental pulse. It gets slipped out of the domain of fundamental pulse and its amplitude saturates. Phase matching condition is satisfied by applying wiggler magnetic field,which provides additional angular momentum to the third harmonic photon to make the process resonant. Enhancement in the efficiency of third harmonic generation of an intense short pulse laser in electron-hole plasma embedded with a magnetic wiggler is seen.     

Structural insights of dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitors through molecular dynamics-guided receptor-dependent 4D-QSAR studies

Dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) inhibitors are promising antidiabetic agents. Currently, several DPP-IV inhibitors have been approved for therapeutic use in diabetes mellitus. Receptor-dependent 4D-QSAR is comparatively a new approach which uses molecular dynamics simulations to generate conformational ensemble profiles of compounds representing a dynamic state of compounds at a target’s binding site. This work describes a receptor-dependent 4D-QSAR study on triazolopiperazine derivatives. QSARINS multiple linear regression method was adopted to generate 4D-QSAR models. A model with 9 variables was found to have better predictive accuracy with \({R}^{2}=0.692\), \({Q}^{2}\) (leave-one-out) = 0.592 and \({R}^{2}\) predicted = 0.597. The location of these 9 variables at the binding site of DPP-IV revealed the importance of the residues Val711, Tyr662, Tyr666, Val202, Asp200 and Thr199 in making critical interactions with DPP-IV inhibitors. The study of these critical interactions revealed the structural features required in DPP-IV inhibitors. Thus, in this study the importance of a halogen substituent on a phenyl ring, the extent of substitution on the triazolopiperazine ring, the presence of an ionizable amino group and the presence of a hydrophobic substituent that can bind deeper in binding pocket of DPP-IV were revealed.