A Simple and General Strategy for the Design of Fluorescent Cation Sensor Beads

Chenodeoxycholic acid based PET sensors for alkali metal ions have been immobilized on Merrifield resin and on Tentagel. The fluorescence of the sensor beads is enhanced upon binding the cations. The modular nature of the sensor allows designing different sensors based on this concept.

Titania nanowires as substrates for sensing and photocatalysis of common textile industry effluents

Sensing and photocatalysis of textile industry effluents such as dyes using mesoporous anatase titania nanowires are discussed here.Spectroscopic investigations show that the titania nanowires preferentially sense cationic (e.g. Methylene Blue, Rhodamine B) over anionic (e.g. Orange G, Remazol Brilliant Blue R) dyes. The adsorbed dye concentration on titania nanowires increased with increase in nanowire dimensions and dye solution pH. Electrochemical sensing directly corroborated spectroscopic findings. Electrochemical detection sensitivity for Methylene Blue increased by more than two times in magnitude with tripling of nanowire average length. Photodegradation of Methylene Blue using titania nanowires is also more efficient than the commercial P25-TiO2 nanopowders. Keeping illumination protocol and observation times constant, the Methylene Blue concentration in solution decreased by only 50% in case of P25-TiO2 nanoparticles compared to a 100% decrease for titania nanowires. Photodegradation was also found to be function of exposure times and dye solution pH.Excellent sensing ability and photocatalytic activity of the titania nanowires is attributed to increased effective reaction area of the controlled nanostructured morphology. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A fluorescent probe study of the solubilisation of cholesterol by biie salt-phospholipid micelles

The fluorescent probe dansyl cadaverine has been shown to bind strongly to mixed bile salt-phospholipid micelles containing unsaturation in the fatty acyl chains. Incorporation of cholesterol into the mixed micelles reduces the number of molecules of bound dansyl cadaverine without altering the binding affinity. These results suggest a tighter packing of the hydrocarbon matrix of the micelles in the presence of cholesterol.

Two-dimensional fuzzy fault tree analysis for chlorine release from a chlor-alkali industry using expert elicitation

The hazards associated with major accident hazard (MAN) industries are fire, explosion and toxic gas releases. Of these, toxic gas release is the worst as it has the potential to cause extensive fatalities. Qualitative and quantitative hazard analyses are essential for the identification and quantification of these hazards related to chemical industries. Fault tree analysis (FTA) is an established technique in hazard identification. This technique has the advantage of being both qualitative and quantitative, if the probabilities and frequencies of the basic events are known. This paper outlines the estimation of the probability of release of chlorine from storage and filling facility of chlor-alkali industry using FTA. An attempt has also been made to arrive at the probability of chlorine release using expert elicitation and proven fuzzy logic technique for Indian conditions. Sensitivity analysis has been done to evaluate the percentage contribution of each basic event that could lead to chlorine release. Two-dimensional fuzzy fault tree analysis (TDFFTA) has been proposed for balancing the hesitation factor involved in expert elicitation. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of subcontracting on innovation and economic performance of SMEs in Indian automobile industry

Trans-national corporations (TNCs) expanding their production bases to developing countries having better conditions of manufacturing and domestic markets provide increasing opportunities for local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to have subcontracting relationships with these TNCs Even though some theoretical and a few empirical studies throw light on the nature of assistance provided by TNCs to local SMEs through subcontracting relationships none of the studies so far quantitatively analysed the role of this assistance on the innovative performance of SMEs leading to better economic performance This paper probes the extent and diversity of assistance received by SMEs from a TNC through subcontracting and its influence on technological innovations and economic performance of SMEs in the Indian automobile industry Indian SMEs were able to receive mainly product related and purchase process assistance thereby implying that subcontracting is largely confined to purchase-supply relationships However assistance received through subcontracting is beneficial as It promoted technological innovations of SMEs the higher the degree of assistance the higher the level of innovations carried out by these SMEs which in turn facilitated their economic performance Thus this paper substantiates in the Indian context that subcontracting relationship with a TNC can be an important source of technological innovations and enhanced economic performance for SMEs (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved

Energy efficiencies of end-use devices in an electro-metallurgical industry: A critical study

The inefficient use of energy in a large number of industries is slowly developing into a major energy crisis in the already power-starved Karnataka State, India. This study attempts to bring out the present inefficient pattern of energy use in an electro-metallurgical industry. It also brings out the considerable scope for energy conservation, especially by increasing the efficiency of the end-use devices used. This concept, when extended to other industries, wherein increasing efficiency of the end-use devices would provide the desired end results with small energy input. This, in turn, would result in a slower rate of energy growth as well as saving in energy use.

Coordination-Driven Self-Assembly of M3L2 Trigonal Cages from Preorganized Metalloligands Incorporating Octahedral Metal Centers and Fluorescent Detection of Nitroaromatics

The design and preparation of novel M3L2 trigonal cages via the coordination-driven self-assembly of preorganized metalloligands containing octahedral aluminum(III), gallium(III), or ruthenium(II) centers is described. When tritopic or dinuclear linear metalloligands and appropriate complementary subunits are employed, M3L2 trigonal-bipyramidal and trigonal-prismatic cages are self-assembled under mild conditions. These three-dimensional cages were characterized with multinuclear NMR spectroscopy (H-1 and P-31) and high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The structure of one such trigonal-prismatic cage, self-assembled from an arene ruthenium metalloligand, was confirmed via single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The fluorescent nature of these prisms, due to the presence of their electron-rich ethynyl functionalities, prompted photophysical studies, which revealed that electron-deficient nitroaromatics are effective quenchers of the cages' emission. Excited-state charge transfer from the prisms to the nitroaromatic substrates can be used as the basis for the development of selective and discriminatory turn-off fluorescent sensors for nitroaromatics.

Synthesis and properties of rare earth doped lamp phosphors

Red, blue and green emitting lamp phosphors such as EU(3+) doped Y2O3 (red phosphor), EU(2+) doped Ba0.64Al12O18.64, BaMgAl10O17 and BaMg2Al16O27 (blue phosphors) and Ce0.67Tb0.33MgAl11O19 and Eu2+, Mn2+ doped BaMgAl10O17 (green phosphors) have been prepared by the combustion of the corresponding metal nitrates (oxidizer) and oxalyl dihydrazide/urea/carbohydrazide (fuel) mixtures at 400 degrees-500 degrees C within 5 min. The formation of these phosphors has been confirmed by their characteristic powder X-ray diffraction patterns and fluorescence spectra. The phosphors showed characteristic emission bands at 611 nm (red emission), 430-450 nm (blue emission) and 515-540 nm (green emission). The fine-particle nature of the combustion derived phosphors has been investigated using powder density, particle size and BET surface area measurements.

Role of Management Decision Variables in Determining Technology Progress and Technical Efficiency in Indian Electronic Industry

This paper analyses the influence of management on Technical Efficiency Change (TEC) and Technological Progress (TP) in the communication equipment and consumer electronics sub-sectors of Indian hardware electronics industry. Each sub-sector comprises 13 sample firms for two time periods.The primary objective is to determine the relative contribution of TP and TEC to TFP Growth (TFPG) and to establish the influence of firm specific operational management decision variables on these two components. The study finds that both the sub-sectors have strived and achieved steady TP but not TEC in the period of economic liberalisation to cope with the intensifying competition. The management decisions with respect to asset and profit utilization, vertical integration, among others, improved TP and TE in the sub-sectors. However, R&D investments and technology imports proved costly for TFP indicating inadequate efforts and/or poor resource utilisation by the management. Management was found to be complacent in terms of improving or developing their own technology as indicated by their higher dependence on import of raw materials and no influence of R&D on TP.