Influence of surface roughness on superhydrophobicity

Superhydrophobic surfaces, with liquid contact angle theta greater than 150 degree, have important practical applications ranging from self-cleaning window glasses, paints, and fabrics to low-friction surfaces. Many biological surfaces, such as the lotus leaf, have hierarchically structured surface roughness which is optimized for superhydrophobicity through natural selection. Here we present a molecular dynamics study of liquid droplets in contact with self-affine fractal surfaces. Our results indicate that the contact angle for nanodroplets depends strongly on the root-mean-square surface roughness amplitude but is nearly independent of the fractal dimension D_f of the surface.Comment: 5 Pages, 6 figures. Minimal changes with respect to the previous versio

Hardness of Games and Graph Sampling

The work presented in this document is divided into two parts. The �rst part presents the hardness of games and the second part presents Graph sampling. Non-deterministic constraint logic[1] is used to prove the hardness of games. The games which are considered in this work is Reversi (2 player bounded game), Peg Solitaire (single player bounded game), Badland (single player bounded game). It also contains a theoretical study of peg solitaire on special graph classes. Reversi is proved to be PSPACE-Complete using Bounded 2CL, Peg Solitaire is proved to be NP-Complete using Bounded NCL. Badland is proved to be NP-Complete by a reduction from 3-SAT. The objective of study of peg solitaire of special graph classes is to �nd the maximum number of marbles we can remove from a fully �lled board, if the player is given the privilege to remove a marble from any cell initially, then following the rules after the initial move. The second part of the work is dedicated to graph sampling. Given a graph G, we try to sample a represen- tative subgraph Gs which is similar to the original graph G. The properties that are being studied are Degree Distribution, Clustering Coefficient, Average Shortest Path Length, Largest Connected Component Size. To measure the similarity between the original graph and sample we use the metrics Kolmogorov - Smirnov test and Kullback - Leibler divergence test. Tightly Induced Edge Sampling performs well on general graphs but it's performance decreases when the graph is a tree. Overall TIBFS and KARGER produces a sample which closely matches the distribution of original graphs.

Magnetic field-tuned Aharonov-Bohm oscillations and evidence for non-Abelian anyons at v=5/2

We show that the resistance of the v=5/2 quantum Hall state, confined to an interferometer, oscillates with magnetic field consistent with an Ising-type non-Abelian state. In three quantum Hall interferometers of different sizes, resistance oscillations at v=7/3 and integer filling factors have the magnetic field period expected if the number of quasiparticles contained within the interferometer changes so as to keep the area and the total charge within the interferometer constant. Under these conditions, an Abelian state such as the (3,3,1) state would show oscillations with the same period as at an integer quantum Hall state. However, in an Ising-type non-Abelian state there would be a rapid oscillation associated with the "even-odd effect" and a slower one associated with the accumulated Abelian phase due to both the Aharonov-Bohm effect and the Abelian part of the quasiparticle braiding statistics. Our measurements at v=5/2 are consistent with the latter.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, includes Supplemental Material

Contribution of macrophages to fetomaternal immunological tolerance

The semi-allogeneic fetus develops in a uniquely immune tolerant environment within the uterus. For successful pregnancy, both the innate and adaptive immune systems must favor acceptance of the fetal allograft. Macrophages are the second most abundant immune cells after natural killer (NK) cells in the decidua. In coordination with decidual NK cells and dendritic cells, macrophages aid in implantation, vascular remodeling, placental development, immune tolerance to placental cells, and maintenance of tissue homeostasis at the maternal-fetal interface. Decidual macrophages show the classical activated (M1) and alternatively activated (M2) phenotypes under the influence of the local milieu of growth factors and cytokines, and appropriate temporal regulation of the M1/M2 switch is vital for successful pregnancy. Disturbances in the mechanisms that control the M1/M2 balance and associated functions during pregnancy can trigger a spectrum of pregnancy complications ranging from preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction to preterm delivery. This review addresses various mechanisms of tolerance, focusing on the basic biology of macrophages, their plasticity and polarization, and their protective roles at the immune-privileged maternal-fetal interface, including direct and indirect roles in promoting fetomaternal immune tolerance

Kinetics & Mechanism of Oxidation of Aralkyl Amines by Peroxomonophosphoric Acid

361-36

Clay mineralogy and chemistry of mudflat core sediments from Sharavathi and Gurupur estuaries: Source and processes

379-388Clay minerals were investigated in mudflat core sediments representing lower and middle regions of the tropical estuaries, viz., Sharavathi and Gurupur, west coast of India to understand the source and the role of estuarine processes in clay mineral distribution. Clay chemistry of the sediments was also determined to understand the interaction of metals with clay minerals. Among the clay minerals, kaolinite was abundant in both the estuaries which reflected chemical weathering of source rocks, granites and granitic gneisses. Smectite was present in slightly higher concentration in the lower Sharavathi estuary than the middle region, while kaolinite was higher in the middle region of both the estuaries. Illite and chlorite were relatively higher in the lower region than the middle region of both the estuaries. Thus, the distribution of clay minerals within estuaries was regulated by salinity. Further, study of metals in the clay fraction from both the estuaries revealed higher concentration of metals in the middle region than the lower, which was attributed to mixing processes facilitating enhanced adsorption of metals onto suspended clay particles. The distribution of major elements, viz., Al, Fe and Mn in the lower Sharavathi estuary, and of all the metals in the lower Gurupur estuary indicated their association with kaolinite. On the other hand, distribution of Al, Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn and Cr in the middle Sharavathi estuary and Al, Fe and Zn in the middle Gurupur estuary suggested their association with smectite and illite

Optimization of green ammonia distribution systems for intercontinental energy transport

Green ammonia is a promising hydrogen derivative which enables intercontinental transport of dispatchable renewable energy. This research describes the development of a model which optimizes a global green ammonia network, considering the costs of production, storage, and transport. In generating the model, we show economies of scale for green ammonia production are small beyond 1 million tonnes per annum (MMTPA), although benefits accrue up to a production rate of 10 MMTPA if a production facility is serviced by a new port or requires a long pipeline. The model demonstrates that optimal sites for ammonia production require not only an excellent renewable resource but also ample land from which energy can be harvested. Land limitations constrain project size in otherwise optimal locations and force production to more expensive sites. Comparison of current crude oil markets to future ammonia markets reveals a trend away from global supply hubs and toward demand centers serviced by regional production

Development and Adhesion Strength of Plasma-Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coating on the Cast Iron Substrate

In the present scenario, the atmospheric plasma spray is used as a very important and effective weapon to produce the thermal barrier coating (TBC) on the substrate which will impart required surface characteristics to the components which are demanded by the industry. The TBC is used to impart the required characteristic such as wear, corrosion and thermal resistance to the hot section component where these will undergo severe service condition at elevated temperature. Research is carried out to replace the conventional liners in the I.C Engine by the thermal barrier coated ceramic liner. To achieve this, in this work Cast Iron substrate is used and it has been coated with a thermal barrier coating with the help of Atmospheric plasma spraying. These consisting of equal-proportion YSZ and pure alumina as topcoat ceramic material and in-between these topcoat and substrate there will be two bond coat first bond coat is Nickel Iron Aluminium Composite Powder (Metco 452) between the substrate and second bond coat. Second is  Alumina Nickel Aluminide powder blend (Metco 410 NS) between the topcoat and first bond coat. Coatings were subjected to microstructure analysis, porosity and adhesion strength. In this work, top coating thickness ie. 300µm exhibits more percentage of porosity ie.4.2% than other two coating thickness 200 and 100 µm  3.9% and 3.5% respectively. The bond coat will possess porosity percentage of  4.0 %, 3.5 % and 3 % for C3, C2 and C1 respectively. The adhesion strength test of the coatings was conducted and determined by the help of varying the topcoat thickness from 100µm to 300 µm with a step of 100 µm. In this work, it was established that the topcoat with the 100 µm exhibits the very good bond strength 70.81 MPa when compared with other two coating thickness 200µm and 300 µm have the adhesion strength 69.1 MPa and 65.52 MPa respectively. ASTM C 633 standard is used to prepare and conduct the test

Tomographic approach to resolving the distribution of LISA Galactic binaries

The space based gravitational wave detector LISA is expected to observe a large population of Galactic white dwarf binaries whose collective signal is likely to dominate instrumental noise at observational frequencies in the range 10^{-4} to 10^{-3} Hz. The motion of LISA modulates the signal of each binary in both frequency and amplitude, the exact modulation depending on the source direction and frequency. Starting with the observed response of one LISA interferometer and assuming only doppler modulation due to the orbital motion of LISA, we show how the distribution of the entire binary population in frequency and sky position can be reconstructed using a tomographic approach. The method is linear and the reconstruction of a delta function distribution, corresponding to an isolated binary, yields a point spread function (psf). An arbitrary distribution and its reconstruction are related via smoothing with this psf. Exploratory results are reported demonstrating the recovery of binary sources, in the presence of white Gaussian noise.Comment: 13 Pages and 9 figures high resolution figures can be obtains from http://www.phys.utb.edu/~rajesh/lisa_tomography.pd

HLA-A<SUP>∗</SUP>0201-restricted cytotoxic T-cell epitopes in three PE/PPE family proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

CD8+ T cells are thought to play an important role in protective immunity against tuberculosis. We report the identification of three peptides derived from Rv1818c, Rv3812 and Rv3018c proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that bound to HLA-A&#8727;0201 molecules and their ability to induce in vitro T-cell response in peripheral blood lymphocytes from HLA-A&#8727;0201-positive healthy individuals (PPD+) and patients with TB. The peptide-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) generated were capable of recognizing peptide pulsed targets. Three 9-mer peptides bound with high affinity to HLA-A&#8727;0201 and displayed low dissociation rates of the bound peptide from HLA. Epitope-specific recognition was demonstrated by the release of perforin and -interferon. Overall, our results demonstrate the presence of HLA class I-restricted CD8+ CTL against proteins from PE and PPE proteins of M. tuberculosis and identify epitopes that are strongly recognized by HLA-A&#8727;0201-restricted CD8+ T cells in humans. These epitopes thus represent potential subunit components for the design of vaccines against tuberculosis