BODIPY Immobilized MCM-41 Based Multianalyte Sensor: Application in Detection and Removal of Trivalent (Al3+, Cr3+) and Divalent (Cu2+, Hg2+) Metal Ions in Aqueous Media

In the present study, a novel p-phenylcarboxylic acid BODIPY ( L ) immobilized MCM-41 based solid chemosensor material L-propylsilyl@MCM-41 ( MS4 ) was developed to detect multiple metal ions in a pure aqueous medium. The synthesized solid chemosensor material MS4 shows high sensitivity and removal ability towards trivalent (Al³⁺, Cr³⁺) and divalent (Cu²⁺, Hg²⁺) metal ions. The emission intensity of MS4 enhanced multifold selectively in the presence of trivalent (Al³⁺, Cr³⁺) metal ions and shows quenching in the presence of divalent (Cu²⁺, Hg²⁺) metal ions. The limit of detection was calculated to be in the nanomolar range with Al³⁺, Cr³⁺, Cu²⁺_, and Hg²⁺ metal ions in the aqueous medium. The spectroscopic and analytical results suggest that MS4 selectively binds with Al³⁺ and Cr³⁺ through −NH functionality and with Hg²⁺ and Cu²⁺ through −COOH functionality of p-phenylcarboxylic acid BODIPY ( L ). Further, MS4 selectively removes Al³⁺, Cr³⁺, Cu²⁺, and Hg²⁺ metal ions from the aqueous media with removal efficiency of 97.28 %, 96.34 %, 87.19 %, and 95.63 %, respectively. No noticeable change in the concentration was observed for other metal ions. The recycling potential of MS4 was evaluated using EDTA for up to seven cycles with no significant reduction in sensing capability.     

Hydrodynamics of a biologically inspired tandem flapping foil configuration

Numerical simulations have been used to analyze the effect that vortices, shed from one flapping foil, have on the thrust of another flapping foil placed directly downstream. The simulations attempt to model the dorsal–tail fin interaction observed in a swimming bluegill sunfish. The simulations have been carried out using a Cartesian grid method that allows us to simulate flows with complex moving boundaries on stationary Cartesian grids. The simulations indicate that vortex shedding from the upstream (dorsal) fin is indeed capable of increasing the thrust of the downstream (tail) fin significantly. Vortex structures shed by the upstream dorsal fin increase the effective angle-of-attack of the flow seen by the tail fin and initiate the formation of a strong leading edge stall vortex on the downstream fin. This stall vortex convects down the surface of the tail and the low pressure associated with this vortex increases the thrust on the downstream tail fin. However, this thrust augmentation is found to be quite sensitive to the phase relationship between the two flapping fins. The numerical simulations allows us to examine in detail, the underlying physical mechanism for this thrust augmentation.      

A finite element formulation for global linear stability analysis of a nominally two‐dimensional base flow

A stabilized finite element method, to carry out the linear stability analysis of a two‐dimensional base flow to three‐dimensional perturbations that are periodic along span, is presented. The resulting equations for the time evolution of the disturbance requires a solution to the generalized eigenvalue problem. The analysis is global in nature and is also applicable to non‐parallel flows. Equal‐order‐interpolation functions for velocity and pressure are utilized. Stabilization terms are added to the Galerkin formulation to admit the use of equal‐order‐interpolation functions and to eliminate node‐to‐node oscillations that might arise in advection‐dominated flows. The proposed formulation is tested on two flow problems. First, the mode transitions in the circular Couette flow are investigated. Two scenarios are considered. In the first one, the outer cylinder is at rest, while the inner one spins. Two linearly unstable modes are identified. The primary mode is real and represents the axisymmetric Taylor vortices. The second mode is complex and consists of spiral vortices. For the counter‐rotating cylinders, the primary transition is via the appearance of spiral vortices. Excellent agreement with results from earlier studies is observed. The formulation is also utilized to investigate the parallel and oblique modes of vortex shedding past a cylinder for the Re = 100 flow. It is found that the flow is associated with a large number of unstable oblique shedding modes. The parallel mode of vortex shedding is a special case of this family of modes and is associated with the largest growth rate. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of dust particles on a layer of micropolar ferromagnetic fluid heated from below saturating a porous medium

The problem of the effect of dust particles on the thermal convection in micropolar ferromagnetic fluid saturating a porous medium subject to a transverse uniform magnetic field has been investigated theoretically. Linear stability analysis and normal mode analysis methods are used to find an exact solution for a flat micropolar ferromagnetic fluid layer contained between two free boundaries. In case of stationary convection, the effect of various parameters like medium permeability, dust particles, non-buoyancy magnetization, coupling parameter, spin-diffusion parameter and micropolar heat conduction parameter are analyzed. For sufficiently large values of magnetic parameter M₁, the critical magnetic thermal Rayleigh number for the onset of instability is determined numerically and results are depicted graphically. It is also observed that the critical magnetic thermal Rayleigh number is reduced solely because the heat capacity of clean fluid is supplemented by that of the dust particles. The principle of exchange of stabilities is found to hold true for the micropolar ferromagnetic fluid saturating a porous medium heated from below in the absence of micropolar viscous effect, microinertia and dust particles.     

Vocal responses to unanticipated perturbations in voice loudness feedback: an automatic mechanism for stabilizing voice amplitude

The present study tested whether subjects respond to unanticipated short perturbations in voice loudness feedback with compensatory responses in voice amplitude. The role of stimulus magnitude (+/- 1,3 vs 6 dB SPL), stimulus direction (up vs down), and the ongoing voice amplitude level (normal vs soft) were compared across compensations. Subjects responded to perturbations in voice loudness feedback with a compensatory change in voice amplitude 76% of the time. Mean latency of amplitude compensation was 157 ms. Mean response magnitudes were smallest for 1-dB stimulus perturbations (0.75 dB) and greatest for 6-dB conditions (0.98 dB). However, expressed as gain, responses for 1-dB perturbations were largest and almost approached 1.0. Response magnitudes were larger for the soft voice amplitude condition compared to the normal voice amplitude condition. A mathematical model of the audio-vocal system captured the main features of the compensations. Previous research has demonstrated that subjects can respond to an unanticipated perturbation in voice pitch feedback with an automatic compensatory response in voice fundamental frequency. Data from the present study suggest that voice loudness feedback can be used in a similar manner to monitor and stabilize voice amplitude around a desired loudness level.     

On strong Nörlund summability of Fourier series

In this note, a sufficient condition for summability of Fourier series has been obtained which in conjunction with the author's Tauberian theorem [M.L. Mittal, A Tauberian theorem on strong Nörlund summability, J. Indian Math. Soc. 44 (1980) 369-377] on strong Nörlund summability gives a sufficient condition for summability [C,1,2] of a Fourier series. This generalizes results due to Prasad [G. Prasad, On strong Nörlund summability of Fourier series, Univ. Roorkee Res. J. 9 (1966-1967) 1-10] and Varshney [O.P. Varshney, Note on H₂ summability of Fourier series, Boll. Un. Mat. Ital. 16 (1961) 383-385].     

Design of Wide-Band Microstrip Antenna Array at Millimeter Wave Frequencies

This paper describes the Design of Broadside 8-Elements Microstrip Antenna Array at Ka-Band using corporate feed. Array is designed for the Broadband applications for 32 GHz to 36 GHz (4 GHz Bandwidth). The Gain of the Antenna Array is 18 dBi and the 3-dB Beamwidth in E - & H - Plane is 18 degree and 27 degree respectively with minimum sidelobe level of 15 dBc. Antenna test results show a close agreement between the designed and measured values. The Antenna Array has been printed on 10 mil RT-Duriod (_r = 2.22) substrate.