A Galerkin Approach for Power Spectrum Determination of Nonlinear Oscillators

A numerical method to estimate spectral properties of nonlinear oscillators with random input is presented. The stationary system response is expanded into a trigonometric Fourier series. A set of nonlinear algebraic equations, solved by Newtons method, leads to the determination of the unknown Fourier series coefficients of single samples of the response process. For cubic polynomial nonlinearities, closed-form expressions are used to find the nonlinear terms at each step of the solution scheme. Further, a simple procedure yields an approximation of an arbitrary nonlinearity by a cubic polynomial. Power spectral density estimates for the response process are constructed by averaging the square modulus of the computed Fourier coefficients over various samples or by means of well-established smoothing techniques of spectral analysis. Two applications are presented illustrating the effectiveness of the method as compared to statistical linearization and digital Monte-Carlo simulation.     

Detection of p53 Gene by Using Genomagnetic Assay Combined with Carbon Nanotube Modified Disposable Sensor Technology

Electrochemical monitoring of DNA hybridization related to p53 gene sequence was investigated using genomagnetic assay combined with single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) modified pencil graphite electrodes (PGEs). The hybridization was performed either at magnetic beads (MB) surface or in solution. The enhanced guanine signal was obtained using SWCNT‐PGEs compared to one obtained by unmodified PGEs. The selectivity of genomagnetic assay was tested under optimum conditions. The DLs were calculated as 0.88 µM and 0.11 µM for hybridization performed at MB surface and solution, respectively. This selective, practical and cost effective genomagnetic assay combined with SWCNT‐PGEs is reported herein for the first time.     

Simple,Rapid and Sensitive Electrochemical Method for the Determination of the Triketone Herbicide Sulcotrione in River Water Using a Glassy Carbon Electrode

We report a novel, simple, rapid and sensitive electrochemical method for the determination of sulcotrione, a member of the relatively new class of triketone herbicides, using differential pulse voltammetry on a glassy carbon electrode. Its electrochemical behavior including influences of electrolyte composition, pH and scan rate was studied to select optimal experimental parameters for its determination. In Britton? Robinson buffer at pH 3 sulcotrione provided a well‐defined reduction peak at ?0.84 V (vs. Ag/AgCl electrode), with good repeatability (relative standard deviation of 2.3 % for 8 measurements at 10 µM concentration level). With optimized parameters differential pulse voltammetry rendered two linear concentration ranges from 0.2 to 2 µM and from 2 to 50 µM with a detection limit of 0.05 µM. The proposed procedure was successfully applied to the determination of sulcotrione in spiked river water samples with satisfactory recoveries (93–109 %). The developed method may represent a simple, rapid and sensitive alternative to highly toxic mercury electrodes and chromatographic methods.     

Enhanced nonlinear effects in pulse propagation through epsilon‐near‐zero media

In recent years, unconventional metamaterial properties have triggered a revolution of electromagnetic research which has unveiled novel scenarios of wave‐matter interaction. A very small dielectric permittivity is a leading example of such unusual features, since it produces an exotic static‐like regime where the electromagnetic field is spatially slowly‐varying over a physically large region. The so‐called epsilon‐near‐zero metamaterials thus offer an ideal platform where to manipulate the inner details of the “stretched” field. Here we theoretically prove that a standard nonlinearity is able to operate such a manipulation to the point that even a thin slab produces a dramatic nonlinear pulse transformation, if the dielectric permittivity is very small within the field bandwidth. The predicted non‐resonant releasing of full nonlinear coupling produced by the epsilon‐near‐zero condition does not resort to any field enhancement mechanism and opens novel routes to exploiting matter nonlinearity for steering the radiation by means of ultra‐compact structures.

     

Experimental high pressure speed of sound and density of (tetralin + n-decane) and (tetralin + n-hexadecane) systems and thermodynamic modeling

In this work, speed of sound for n-decane, n-hexadecane and tetralin, as well as for binary mixtures involving these hydrocarbons, were determined at pressures of (0.1, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25) MPa at temperatures of (313.15, 323.15 and 333.15) K at different compositions. Density data at atmospheric pressure for these same systems were measured experimentally at temperatures of (313.15, 323.15 and 333.15) K. From these results and thermodynamic definitions, the following properties were calculated: density at high pressures, excess molar volume and excess isentropic compressibility. Tetralin, n-decane and n-hexadecane are chemicals asymmetrical in shape, length and chemical nature that can be found in naphtha and kerosene fractions. The influence of these differences on the physical properties of these mixtures was then evaluated. Density and speed of sound data were correlated with Prigogine–Flory–Patterson (PFP) equation of state. The PFP model correlated well experimental densities for pure components but did not correlate so well the speed of sound dependency with pressure. The model calculated well excess properties, with correct signs, magnitudes, and the qualitative effect of pressure and temperature on these properties.     

Thermodynamic characterization of proflavine–DNA binding through microcalorimetric studies

The interaction of an important acridine dye, proflavine hydrochloride, with double stranded DNA was investigated using isothermal titration calorimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. The equilibrium constant for the binding reaction was calculated to be (1.60 ± 0.04) · 10⁵ · M⁻¹ at T = 298.15 K. The binding of proflavine hydrochloride to DNA was favored by both negative enthalpy and positive entropy contributions to the Gibbs energy. The equilibrium constant for the binding reaction decreased with increasing temperature. The standard molar enthalpy change became increasingly negative while the standard molar entropy change became less positive with rise in temperature. However, the standard molar Gibbs free energy change varied marginally suggesting the occurrence of enthalpy–entropy compensation phenomenon. The binding reaction was dominated by non-polyelectrolytic forces which remained virtually unchanged at all the salt concentrations studied. The binding also significantly increased the thermal stability of DNA against thermal denaturation.     

Prestrained biaxial DMA investigation of viscoelastic nonlinearities in highly filled elastomers

Highly filled elastomers present strong nonlinear mechanical behavior. This study proposes a biaxial dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) experiment to study the prestrain induced nonlinearity. This phenomenon has already been observed for uniaxial tests, revealing an increase of the amplitude of the dynamic modulus with prestrain. The novelty proposed here is to investigate the problem under biaxial conditions. For this purpose, a specific apparatus and an appropriate specimen have been designed. Strains and stresses have been measured using localization formulae and compared with measurements from digital image correlation and finite element computations. Biaxial DMA tests were performed on a propellant specimen, for different values of biaxial prestrain. The material is a highly filled elastomer with an important influence of the prestrain on the global viscoelastic behavior. The results exhibit increasing amplitude of the complex modulus with increasing prestrain, as in uniaxial experiments. Moreover, the dependence can be characterized using the second invariant of the prestrain, and the viscoelastic behavior is modeled using a closed-form spectrum of relaxation times.     

Functional graphene-gold nano-composite fabricated electrochemical biosensor for direct and rapid detection of bisphenol A

In this research, the graphene with excellent dispersity is prepared successfully by introducing gold nanoparticle to separate the individual sheets. Various techniques are adopted to characterize the prepared graphene and graphene-gold nanoparticle composite materials. This fabricated new composite material is used as the support material to construct a novel tyrosinase based biosensor for detection of bisphenol A (BPA). The electrochemical performances of the proposed new enzyme biosensor were investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) method. The proposed biosensor exhibited excellent performance for BPA determination with a wide linear range (2.5 × 10⁻³–3.0 μM), a highly reproducible response (RSD of 2.7%), low interferences and long-term stability. And more importantly, the calculated detection limit of the proposed biosensor was as low as 1 nM. Compared with other detection methods, this graphene-gold nanoparticle composite based tyrosinase biosensor is proved to be a promising and reliable tool for rapid detection of BPA for on-site analysis of emergency BPA related pollution affairs.     

Double-ion imprinted polymer @magnetic nanoparticles modified screen printed carbon electrode for simultaneous analysis of cerium and gadolinium ions

A typical, reproducible, and rugged screen printed carbon electrode, modified with dual-ion imprinted beads, was fabricated employing the “surface grafting from” approach. For this, the acyl chloride functionalized magnetic nanoparticles were first immobilized and chemically attached with a typical functional monomer (but-2-enedioic acid bis-[(2-amino-ethyl)-amide]) on the electrode surface. This was subsequently subjected to the thermal polymerization in the presence of template ions (Ce(IV) and Gd(III)), cross-linker (ethylene glycol dimethacrylate), initiator (AIBN), and multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The modified sensor was used for the simultaneous analysis of both template ions in aqueous, blood serum, and waste-water samples, using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry which revealed two oxidation peaks for respective templates with resolution as much as 950 mV, without any cross reactivity, interferences and false-positives. The detection limits realized by the proposed sensor, under optimized conditions, were found to be as low as 0.07 ng mL⁻¹ for Ce(IV) and 0.19 ng mL⁻¹ for Gd(III) (S/N = 3) that could eventually be helpful for lanthanide estimation at stringent levels.