Study on the Synthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles Using Azadirachta indica Extracts for the Fabrication of a Gas Sensor

This paper compared the effects of A. indica plant proteins over chemical methods in the morphology of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) prepared by a co-precipitation method, and ethanol sensing performance of prepared thin films deposited over a fluorene-doped tin oxide (FTO) bind glass substrate using spray pyrolysis technique. The average crystallite sizes and diameters of the grain-sized cluster ZnO NPs were 25 and (701.79 ± 176.21) nm for an undoped sample and 20 and (489.99 ± 112.96) nm for A. india dye-doped sample. The fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis confirmed the formation of the Zn–O bond at 450 cm⁻¹, and also showed the presence of plant proteins due to A. indica dye extracts. ZnO NPs films exhibited good response (up to 51 and 72% for without and with A. indica dye-doped extracts, respectively) toward ethanol vapors with quick response-recovery characteristics at a temperature of 250 °C for undoped and 225 °C for A. indica dye-doped ZnO thin films. The interaction of A. indica dye extracts helps to decrease the operating temperature and increased the response and recovery rates of the sensor, which may be due to an increase in the specific surface area, resulting in adsorption of more oxygen and hence high response results.     

Characterization and Evaluation of Antimicrobial Potential of Trigonella incise (Linn) Mediated Biosynthesized Silver Nanoparticles

The goal of the research was to explore a new green method used to synthesize silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) from an aqueous extract of Trigonella incise, which serves as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The obtained results showed an 85% yield of nanoparticles by using 2:5 (v/v) of 5% plant extract with a 0.5 M solution of AgNO₃. Different techniques were used to characterize the synthesized Ag NPs, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV–visible spectroscopy. The UV–visible spectra of green synthesized silver nanoparticles showed maximum absorption at a wavelength of 440 nm. The FT-IR studies revealed the stretching oscillation frequency of synthesized silver nanoparticles in the absorption band near 860 cm⁻¹. Similarly, the bending and stretching oscillation frequencies of the NH function group were assigned to the band in the 3226 cm⁻¹ and 1647 cm⁻¹ regions. The bending vibration of C-O at 1159 cm⁻¹ confirmed the carbonyl functional group that was also assigned to the small intensity band in the range of 2361 cm⁻¹. The X-ray diffraction analysis of Ag NPs revealed four distinct diffraction peaks at 2θ of 38°, 45°, 65° and 78°, corresponds to (111), (200), (220) and (311) of the face-centered cubic shape. The round shape morphology of Ag NPs with a mean diameter in the range 20–80 nm was analyzed via SEM images. Furthermore, the nanoparticles showed more significant antimicrobial activity against Salmonella typhi (S. typhi) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) with an inhibition zone of 21.5 mm and 20.5 mm at 6 μg/mL concentrations, respectively, once compared to the standard reference. At concentrations of 2 µg/mL and 4 µg/mL, all of the bacterial strains showed moderate activity, with inhibition zones ranging from 11 mm to 18.5 mm. Even at high concentrations of AgNPs, S. typhi showed maximum resistance. The best antifungal activity was observed by synthesized Ag NPs against Candida albicans (C. albicans) with 21 mm zone of inhibition, as compared to a standard drug which gives 22 mm of inhibition. Therefore, we conclude that the antibacterial and antifungal activities showed satisfactory results from the synthesized Ag NPs.     

Crack identification method in beam-like structures using changes in experimentally measured frequencies and Particle Swarm Optimization

In this paper, a technique is presented for the detection and localization of an open crack in beam-like structures using experimentally measured natural frequencies and the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method. The technique considers the variation in local flexibility near the crack. The natural frequencies of a cracked beam are determined experimentally and numerically using the Finite Element Method (FEM). The optimization algorithm is programmed in MATLAB. The algorithm is used to estimate the location and severity of a crack by minimizing the differences between measured and calculated frequencies. The method is verified using experimentally measured data on a cantilever steel beam. The Fourier transform is adopted to improve the frequency resolution. The results demonstrate the good accuracy of the proposed technique.     

Almost Entirely Empirical Estimation for Chemical Potential

Based on statistical thermal approaches, the transverse momentum distribution of the well-identified produced particles, π+, π–, K+, K–, p, and $$\bar {p}$$, is studied. We aim at introducing a novel almost entirely empirical estimation for the inclusive chemical potential μ. From the partition function of a grand-canonical ensemble, we propose a generic expression for the dependence of μ on the rapidity y. Then, by fitting this expression with the experimental results of the most central p⊥ and d2N/2πp⊥dp⊥dy, at 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 130, 200 GeV, we introduce a generic expression for the rapidity dependence of for all particle yields, at different energies, μ = a + by2. The resulting energy dependence reads $$\sqrt {{{s}_{{{\text{NN}}}}}} $$ = c[(μ – a)/b]d/2. As a validation test, we show that the proposed approach reproduces excellently the rapidity spectra of various particle yields measured, at different energies.     

STGR Model and Relation between Growth Rate and Polytypism

Effect of crystal growth rate on polytypism has been explained using STGR model. It has been suggested that during the process of growth, polytypes are formed from a suitable combination of basic units in accordance with the rate of growth. At a slower rate the most probable polytype is predicted to be different from the one at faster rate.     

Comments on “Design of fractional-order variants of complex LMS and NLMS algorithms for adaptive channel equalization”

This paper explores a nonlinear Cournot oligopoly with n firms displaying general isoelastic demand. The marginal profits-based gradient rule and the expectation rule Local Monopolistic Approximation were employed in two Cournot oligopoly games. Nash equilibrium stability analysis is carried out on each of the two games to throw light on the effects of demand elasticity and other parameters on the dynamics of the game. Our results show that the influence of demand elasticity on stability depends on firms’ expectation rules.     

Sampling frequency,response times and embedded signal filtration in fast,high efficiency liquid chromatography: A tutorial

With increasingly efficient columns, eluite peaks are increasingly narrower. To take full advantage of this, choice of the detector response time and the data acquisition rate a.k.a. detector sampling frequency, have become increasingly important. In this work, we revisit the concept of data sampling from the theorem variously attributed to Whittaker, Nyquist, Kotelnikov, and Shannon. Focusing on time scales relevant to the current practice of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and optical absorbance detection (the most commonly used method), even for very narrow simulated peaks Fourier transformation shows that theoretical minimum sampling frequency is still relatively low (<10 Hz). However, this consideration alone may not be adequate for real chromatograms when an appreciable amount of noise is present. Further, depending on the instrument, the manufacturer's choice of a particular data bunching/integration/response time condition may be integrally coupled to the sampling frequency. In any case, the exact nature of signal filtration often occurs in a manner neither transparent to nor controllable by the user. Using fast chromatography on a state-of-the-art column (38,000 plates), we evaluate the responses produced by different present generation instruments, each with their unique black box digital filters. We show that the common wisdom of sampling 20 points per peak can be inadequate for high efficiency columns and that the sampling frequency and response choices do affect the peak shape. If the sampling frequency is too low or response time is too large, the observed peak shapes will not remain as narrow as they really are – this is especially true for high efficiency and high speed separations. It is shown that both sampling frequency and digital filtering affect the retention time, noise amplitude, peak shape and width in a complex fashion. We show how a square-wave driven light emitting diode source can reveal the nature of the embedded filter. We discuss time uncertainties related to the choice of sampling frequency. Finally, we suggest steps to obtain optimum results from a given system.     

Recent Advances in the Chemistry and Synthetic Uses of Amino‐1,3,4‐thiadiazoles

Amino‐1,3,4‐thiadiazoles, although scarce in nature, constitute a group of nitrogen and sulfur heterocyclic compounds that have shown significant biological activities. Their transformations into other biologically active compounds have been exploited. This review describes the work on the synthesis and reactions of amino‐1,3,4‐thiadiazoles as well as their biological evaluation.     

A Convenient Synthesis of New Annelated Pyrimidines and Their Biological Importance

Several bicyclic/tricyclic‐fused pyrimidines were synthesized from the reactions of amino esters and bifunctional nucleophiles such as 2‐methylthio‐thiazoline and 2‐methylthio‐imidazoline. The synthesized compounds were tested for their in vitro antimicrobial activities that revealed mild to moderate growth inhibitory potentials.