Attenuation Characteristics and Sensitivity Analysis for Coplanar Waveguide

The behaviour of attenuation losses in Coplanar waveguides (CPW) is studied for quasi-planar transmission lines with constant characteristic impedance (Z₀) and resistivity, having different geometry's. This behavior helps in making a suitable choice of the type of structure and its dimensional parameters depending upon the application. Minimization of loss for a chosen substrate thickness, conductivity and impedance is analyzed. Dispersion characteristics of CPW have been plotted for various metallization thicknesses. A sensitivity analysis for effective dielectric constant with respect to various dimensional parameters of CPW is presented.     

New cerium(III) and neodymium(III) complexes as cytotoxic agents

The cerium(III) and neodymium(III) complexes of 5‐aminoorotic acid were synthesized and characterized by means of spectral data (IR, Raman, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR) and elemental analysis. Significant differences in the IR spectra of the complexes were observed as compared with the spectrum of the ligand. A comparative analysis of the Raman spectra of the complexes with that of the free 5‐aminoorotic acid allowed a straightforward assignment of the vibrations of the ligand groups involved in coordination. ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectra confirmed the formation of the complexes. The ligand and the complexes were tested for the cytotoxic activities on the chronic myeloid leukemia‐derived K‐562, overexpressing the BCR‐ABL fusion protein, and the non‐Hodgkin lymphoma‐derived DOHH‐2, characterized by a rexpression of the antiapoptotic protein bcl‐2 cell lines. The results obtained indicate that the tested compounds exerted a considerable cytotoxic activity upon the evaluated cell lines in a concentration‐dependent manner, which enabled the construction of dose–response curves and the calculation of the corresponding IC₅₀ values. Cytotoxicity towards tumor cells was determined for a broad concentration range. The inorganic salts exerted a very weak cytotoxic effect on these cells that is in contrast to the lanthanide complexes, which exhibited potent cytotoxic activity towards K‐562 and DOHH‐2 cell lines. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Directional couplers in trapped image guide configuration

Dispersion characteristics and wave impedance of trapped coupled image guides are computed by using mode matching techniques. Dispersion curves for trapped coupled image guide are plotted for various dielectric materials and dimensional parameters. The hybrid directional couplers in the above configuration have been theoretically designed by computing the normalization propagation constant.     

Characterizing the Rheology of Powders by studying dynamic avalanching of the powder

Avalanching of solids is an important multivariable dependent phenomenon that can be a valuable tool for characterization of solids flowability. Although avalanching by itself is primarily chaotic it appears that the fractal analysis of its avalanching mass data can yield very interesting and significant information that is of importance in determining suitability of a material in solids handling and pneumatic transport.     

Gold nanoparticle-decorated keggin ions/TiO2 photococatalyst for improved solar light photocatalysis

We demonstrate a facile localized reduction approach to synthesizing a Au nanoparticle-decorated Keggin ion/TiO(2) photococatalyst for improved solar light photocatalysis application. This has been achieved by exploiting the ability of TiO(2)-bound Keggin ions to act as a UV-switchable, highly localized reducing agent. Notably, the approach proposed here does not lead to contamination of the resultant cocatalyst with free metal nanoparticles during aqueous solution-based synthesis. The study shows that for Keggin ions (phosphotungstic acid, PTA), being photoactive molecules, the presence of both Au nanoparticles and PTA on the TiO(2) surface in a cocatalytic system can have a dramatic effect on increasing the photocatalytic performance of the composite system, as opposed to a TiO(2) surface directly decorated with metal nanoparticles without a sandwiched PTA layer. The remarkable increase in the photocatalytic performance of these materials toward the degradation of a model organic Congo red dye correlates to an increase of 2.7-fold over that of anatase TiO(2) after adding Au to it and 4.3-fold after introducing PTA along with Au to it. The generalized localized reduction approach to preparing TiO(2)-PTA-Au cocatalysts reported here can be further extended to other similar systems, wherein a range of metal nanoparticles in the presence of different Keggin ions can be utilized. The composites reported here may have wide potential implications toward the degradation of organic species and solar cell applications.     

Integrated Downstream Processing of Lactoperoxidase from Milk Whey Involving Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction and Ultrasound-Assisted Ultrafiltration

The present work involves the adoption of an integrated approach for the purification of lactoperoxidase from milk whey by coupling aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) with ultrasound-assisted ultrafiltration. The effect of system parameters of ATPE such as type of phase system, polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecular mass, system pH, tie line length and phase volume ratio was evaluated so as to obtain differential partitioning of contaminant proteins and lactoperoxidase in top and bottom phases, respectively. PEG 6000-potassium phosphate system was found to be suitable for the maximum activity recovery of lactoperoxidase 150.70% leading to 2.31-fold purity. Further, concentration and purification of enzyme was attempted using ultrafiltration. The activity recovery and purification factor achieved after ultrafiltration were 149.85% and 3.53-fold, respectively. To optimise productivity and cost-effectiveness of integrated process, influence of ultrasound for the enhancement of permeate flux during ultrafiltration was also investigated. Intermittent use of ultrasound along with stirring (2 min acoustic and 2 min stirring) resulted in increased permeate flux from 0.94 to 2.18 l/m² h in comparison to the ultrafiltration without ultrasound. The use of ultrasound during ultrafiltration resulted in increase in flux, but there was no significant change in activity recovery and purification factor. The integrated approach involving ATPE and ultrafiltration may prove to be a feasible method for the downstream processing of lactoperoxidase from milk whey.     

Density functional theory calculations and vibrational spectral analysis of 3,5-(dinitrobenzoic acid)

The FT-IR and Raman spectra of 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (DNBA) have been recorded and analyzed. The equilibrium geometry, various bonding and harmonic vibrational wavenumbers have been calculated with the help of density functional theory (DFT) method. Most of the vibrational modes are observed in the expected range. Mulliken population analysis shows the interactions C-N-O?H-C and C-O?H-C. The most possible interaction is explained using natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. The strengthening and polarization of the CO bond increases due to the degree of conjugation. HOMO-LUMO energy and the thermodynamic properties are also evaluated.     

Quantum confinement effects of CdTe nanocrystals sequestered in TiO2 matrix: effect of oxygen incorporation

Thin films of TiO₂ with high volume fraction (40–55%) and crystallite size (6–40 nm) of CdTe nanoparticles had been prepared by rf magnetron sputtering from a composite TiO₂:CdTe target at room temperature and 373 K. A detailed optical properties of nanocrystalline CdTe:TiO₂ films as-deposited and after thermal treatment (300 °C) are studied. The absorbance of the TiO₂ films with CdTe nanocrystallite dispersions depends both on the nanocrystallite size and volume fraction. The blue-shifts of the optical absorption edge concurrent with the CdTe nanocystal size reduction for as-deposited and after thermal treatment of nanocrystalline CdTe:TiO₂ thin films with respect to the bulk semiconductor agrees quite well with the strong quantum confinement theory. A slight deviation in absorption edge values than the predicted values from the strong quantum confinement model can be attributed to change in interplanar distance due to oxygen incorporation and inhomogeneous size distribution of CdTe nanocrystallites in these films.