Release of ultrafine particles from three simulated building processes

Building activities are recognised to produce coarse particulate matter but less is known about the release of airborne ultrafine particles (UFPs; those below 100 nm in diameter). For the first time, this study has investigated the release of particles in the 5–560 nm range from three simulated building activities: the crushing of concrete cubes, the demolition of old concrete slabs, and the recycling of concrete debris. A fast response differential mobility spectrometer (Cambustion DMS50) was used to measure particle number concentrations (PNC) and size distributions (PNDs) at a sampling frequency of 10 Hz in a confined laboratory room providing controlled environment and near–steady background PNCs. The sampling point was intentionally kept close to the test samples so that the release of new UFPs during these simulated processes can be quantified. Tri–modal particle size distributions were recorded for all cases, demonstrating different peak diameters in fresh nuclei (<10 nm), nucleation (10–30 nm) and accumulation (30–300 nm) modes for individual activities. The measured background size distributions showed modal peaks at about 13 and 49 nm with average background PNCs ~1.47 × 10⁴ cm⁻³. These background modal peaks shifted towards the larger sizes during the work periods (i.e. actual experiments) and the total PNCs increased between 2 and 17 times over the background PNCs for different activities. After adjusting for background concentrations, the net release of PNCs during cube crushing, slab demolition, and ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ recycling events were measured as ~0.77, 19.1, 22.7 and 1.76 (×10⁴) cm⁻³, respectively. The PNDs were converted into particle mass concentrations (PMCs). While majority of new PNC release was below 100 nm (i.e. UFPs), the bulk of new PMC emissions were constituted by the particles over 100 nm; ~95, 79, 73 and 90% of total PNCs, and ~71, 92, 93 and 91% of total PMCs, for cube crushing, slab demolition, dry recycling and wet recycling, respectively. The results of this study firmly elucidate the release of UFPs and raise a need for further detailed studies and designing health and safety related exposure guidelines for laboratory workplaces and operational building sites.     

Manifestation of the Gouy phase in vector-vortex beams

Experimental measurements of the twirl and changes in the anisotropy of the constant intensity ellipse, and the rotation of the polarization singular lemon pattern a generalized vector-vortex beam experiences around the two foci due to the converging and diverging conical waves and in between, are presented and interpreted as being due to the universal form of the Gouy phase, φ(G)=mπ/2.     

A novel method for measurement of concentration using two dimensional photonic crystal structures

A novel method to measure the concentration of sugar, sodium chloride and alcohol, in their aqueous solution by using two dimensional photonic crystal structures is presented. This measurement is very accurate as the principle is based on variation of photonic band gap with respect to concentration. Photonic band gap here is computed using plane wave expansion method.     

Bound states of string networks and D-branes

We show the existence of nonthreshold bound states of (p,q) string networks and D3-branes, preserving 1/4 of the full type-IIB supersymmetry, interpreted as string networks "dissolved" in D3-branes. We also explicitly write down the expression for the mass density of the system and discuss the extension of the construction to other Dp-branes. Differences in our construction of string networks with the ones interpreted as dyons in N = 4 gauge theories are also pointed out.     

Viscous Fluid Cosmology in Bianchi Type-I Space-Time

The paper presents a spatially homogeneous and anisotropic Bianchi type-I cosmological model consisting of a dissipative fluid. The field equations are solved explicitly by using a law of variation for mean Hubble parameter, which is related to average scale factor and yields a constant value for deceleration parameter. We find that the constant value of deceleration parameter describes the different phases of the evolution of universe. A barotropic equation of state (p=γ ρ) together with a linear relation between shear viscosity and expansion scalar, is assumed. It is found that the viscosity plays a key role in the process of the isotropization of the universe. The presence of viscous term does not change the fundamental nature of initial singularity. The thermodynamical properties of the solutions are studied and the entropy distribution is also given explicitly.     

Impairment of mitochondrial calcium handling in a mtSOD1 cell culture model of motoneuron disease

Background  

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the selective loss of motor neurons (MN) in the brain stem and spinal cord. Intracellular disruptions of cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium have been associated with selective MN degeneration, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. The present evidence supports a hypothesis that mitochondria are a target of mutant SOD1-mediated toxicity in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS) and intracellular alterations of cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium might aggravate the course of this neurodegenerative disease. In this study, we used a fluorescence charged cool device (CCD) imaging system to separate and simultaneously monitor cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium concentrations in individual cells in an established cellular model of ALS.     

An ab-initio Investigation: The Physical Properties of ScIr2 Superconductor

Physics of the Solid State - Using ab initio technique the physical properties of ScIr2 superconductor have been investigated with Tc 1.03 K with a MgCu2-type structure. We have carried out the...     

Design of Hamming Code Checker Using Titanium-Diffused Lithium Niobate-Based Waveguide

ABSTRACT

This work presents an electro-optic effect-based design for the widely used Hamming code for checking single bit errors in the received data. The structure is based on Mach-Zehnder Interferometer, designed using Titanium-diffused Lithium Niobate-based waveguides. The proposed device has been successfully tested using the beam propagation method. For a received 7-bit code, the three simultaneously generated check bits are combined to check the error position. Critical performance parameters like extinction ratio (24.39dB), contrast ratio (25.711dB), insertion loss (0.041dB), and amplitude modulation (0.079dB) calculated for the overall device are within acceptable limits for the feasibility of the device.     

Synthesis,Optical Investigation and Biological Properties of Europium(III) Complexes with 2-(4-Chlorophenyl)-1-(2-Hydroxy-4-Methoxyphenyl)Ethan-1-one and Ancillary Ligands

Synthesis and photoluminescence behaviour of six novel europium complexes with novel β-hydroxyketone ligand, 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)ethan-1-one (CHME) and 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy) or neocuproine (neo) or 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) or 5,6-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dmphen) or bathophenanthroline (bathophen) were reported in solid state. The free ligand CHME and europium complexes, Eu(CHME)₃.2H₂O [1] Eu(CHME)₃.bipy [2], Eu(CHME)₃.neo [3], Eu(CHME)₃.phen [4], Eu(CHME)₃.dmphen [5] and Eu(CHME)₃.bathophen [6]were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and ¹H-NMR. The photoluminescence emission spectra exhibited four characteristic peaks arising from the ⁵D₀ → ⁷F_J (J = 1–4) transitions of the europium ion in the solid state on monitoring excitation at λ_ex = 395 nm. The luminescence decay curves of these europium complexes possess single exponential behaviour indicating the presence of a single luminescent species and having only one site symmetry in the complexes. The luminescence quantum efficiency (η) and the experimental intensity parameters, Ω ₂ and Ω ₄ of europium complexes have also been calculated on the basis of emission spectra and luminescence decay curves. In addition, the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were also studied of the investigated complexes.     

Generation of an arbitrary chirped microwave waveform with high time-bandwidth product for increasing range resolution of RADAR by using photonic technique

An approach for photonic generation of an arbitrary chirped microwave waveform with an increased time-bandwidth product (TBWP) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. In the proposed model, light from the mode locked laser is splitted into two parts by using 1 × 2 power splitter: one is sent to linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating (LCFBG) through circulator and the other is time delayed by fiber delay line. The optical pulse in upper arm is time stretched by the LCFBG. Meanwhile, the optical pulse in lower arm experiences a time delay and then stretched by the dispersive single mode fiber. Temporal interference pattern is generated with an increasing or decreasing free spectral range by combination of two time-stretched optical pulses. Finally, the temporal interference pattern which is obtained at the output of optical coupler is transformed into an arbitrary chirped microwave waveform by using a photo-detector. The main advantage of this proposed model is high TBWP in the range of 750–1000 which ultimately results in an increased range resolution of radio detection and ranging.