Detection of illicit material using neutron activation: weakness and solutions

Poisoning the illicit materials by a neutron absorber leads to false detection when the detection is relied on combined thermal neutron activation and fast neutron activation to identify the elements of interest. The use of adjacent transmission thermal neutron detector for verifying the presence of neutron poisons and to trigger an alarm was investigated experimentally and using MCNP calculations. The illicit material of high hydrogen content will affect the detector response in the presence or absence of poisons.     

Investigating neutron back scattering technique for the detection of oil water separation levels in horizontal gravity oil separators

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Neutron backscattering technique is investigated as an alternative way for measuring the level of water in the horizontal oil gravity separators....     

Microstructure and Optical Bandgap of Cobalt Selenide Nanofilms

Semiconductors - The purpose of this research is to explore the properties of CoSe nanostructured thin films on glass substrates prepared by a chemical solution deposition method. Special attention...     

Suspension bead array branch migration displacement assay for rapid STR analysis

STR analysis is commonly used in forensic and genetic studies. STRs are currently discriminated based on size, primarily by gel- and column-based approaches. Hybridization-based approaches have the potential to allow high-throughput analysis of STRs; however, development of such approaches has been limited by the difficulty in discriminating between STRs of similar length. We have recently described several innovations to enable STR analysis using an array-based hybridization approach for high- throughput STR analysis. Here we extend that approach by incorporating the array into microspheres and adding a discriminatory branch migration displacement step. This microsphere-based platform uses Luminex xMAP technology and improves the sensitivity, selectivity, and speed of the assay. We demonstrate the feasibility, speed, and reliability of the assay for STR detection by correctly analyzing two STR loci in 20 forensic DNA samples of known STR type. The multiplex, bead-based approach provides a high-throughput and more portable STR analysis.     

Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-like fluorescence assay to investigate the interactions of glycosaminoglycans to cells

Sulfated glycosaminoglycans were labeled with biotin to study their interaction with cells in culture. Thus, heparin, heparan sulfate, chondroitin 4-sulfate, chondroitin 6-sulfate and dermatan sulfate were labeled using biotin-hydrazide, under different conditions. The structural characteristics of the biotinylated products were determined by chemical (molar ratios of hexosamine, uronic acid, sulfate and biotin) and enzymatic methods (susceptibility to degradation by chondroitinases and heparitinases). The binding of biotinylated glycosaminoglycans was investigated both in endothelial and smooth muscle cells in culture, using a novel time resolved fluorometric method based on interaction of europium-labeled streptavidin with the biotin covalently linked to the compounds. The interactions of glycosaminoglycans were saturable and number of binding sites could be obtained for each individual compound. The apparent dissociation constant varied among the different glycosaminoglycans and between the two cell lines. The interactions of the biotinylated glycosaminoglycans with the cells were also evaluated using confocal microscopy. We propose a convenient and reliable method for the preparation of biotinylated glycosaminoglycans, as well as a sensitive non-competitive fluorescence-based assay for studies of the interactions and binding of these compounds to cells in culture.     

Construction of 1,3-disubstituted 4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinolines as a potential antibacterial agents

Research on Chemical Intermediates - A novel series of 1,3-disubstituted 4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinolines as antimicrobial agents were designed and synthesized. Their structures have been confirmed...     

Nested and interleaved direct sequence spread spectrum to enhance CDMA security and bit error rate performance

Two new methods, the nested direct sequence spread spectrum and interleaved direct sequence spread spectrum, are introduced in view of the previously investigated spread spectrum methods. In the nested direct sequence method, the security is maintained, and the cross‐correlation between different codes resulting in multi‐user interference that corresponds to BER performance is improved, while in the interleaved direct sequence spread spectrum, the security is improved and BER performance is maintained. Both methods are analysed by mathematical relations as well as computer simulations and are compared with the existing methods. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ekman layers of rotating fluids: The case of general initial data

In this paper we describe the weak solutions of the Navier‐Stokes equations with a large Coriolis term as the Rossby and the Ekman numbers go to zero in a special domain with various boundary conditions. This work extends the results (in the case of well‐prepared initial data) in [19, 30]. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

VTF to arrhenius crossover in temperature dependence of conductivity in (PEG)xNH4ClO4 polymer electrolyte

We have studied the temperature variation of conductivity and ¹H NMR linewidth of (PEG)_xNH₄ClO₄ (x = 20, 30, 46, 100, 200, & 1000) polymer electrolyte systems. The temperature dependence of the conductivity shows two distinct behaviors, the low temperature VTF dependence crossing over to Arrhenius dependence at higher temperatures. The departure from the VTF behavior is found to be composition dependent. NMR spectra indicate the presence of large fractions of crystalline regions that start to melt around the crossover temperature. We understand the deviation from the VTF behavior as a consequence of this crystalline to elastomer transition. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 1201–1209, 1998