Abstract: The development of highly sensitive sensors has become an efficient field of research. In this work, an ArF Excimer laser of 193 nm with a maximum pulse energy of 275 mJ, 15 ns pulse duration and a repetition rate of 1 Hz is utilized to form a Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) of three different morphologies (nanochains, contours, grooves) on surface of CR39 polymer at a fluence range above the ablation threshold (250 mJ/cm2). The laser ablated polymer surface is then Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) activated by deposition of a gold layer of 30 nm thickness. The capability of the produced substrate for surface enhanced Raman scattering is evaluated through thiophenol as an analyte molecule. It is observed that the Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures of grooves like nanostructures coated with 30 nm gold layer gives a best enhancement factor in the range from 0.9*108 to 2*108 which is suitable for a single- molecule sensitivity.
BACKGROUND: Burkholderia cepacia adhesion and biofilm formation onto abiotic surfaces is an important feature of clinically relevant isolates. The in vitro biofilm formation of B. cepacia onto coated indwelling urinary catheters (IDCs) with moxifloxacin has not been previously investigated. OBJECTIVES: To examine the ability of B. cepacia to form biofilms on IDCs and the effect of coating IDCs with moxifloxacin on biofilm formation by B. cepacia in vitro. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The adhesion of B. cepacia to coated and uncoated IDCs with moxifloxacin was evaluated. Pieces of IDCs were coated with moxifloxacin (adsorption method). The spectrophotometric method was used to check moxifloxacin leaching into tubes. Coated and uncoated tubes were i
... Show MoreThe development of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in the underwater environment leads to underwater WSN (UWSN). It has severe impact over the research field due to its extensive and real-time applications. However effective execution of underwater WSNs undergoes several problems. The main concern in the UWSN is sensor nodes’ energy depletion issue. Energy saving and maintaining quality of service (QoS) becomes highly essential for UWASN because of necessity of QoS application and confined sensor nodes (SNs). To overcome this problem, numerous prevailing methods like adaptive data forwarding techniques, QoS-based congestion control approaches, and various methods have been devised with maximum throughput and minimum network lifesp
... Show MoreThe development of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in the underwater environment leads to underwater WSN (UWSN). It has severe impact over the research field due to its extensive and real-time applications. However effective execution of underwater WSNs undergoes several problems. The main concern in the UWSN is sensor nodes’ energy depletion issue. Energy saving and maintaining quality of service (QoS) becomes highly essential for UWASN because of necessity of QoS application and confined sensor nodes (SNs). To overcome this problem, numerous prevailing methods like adaptive data forwarding techniques, QoS-based congestion control approaches, and various methods have been devised with maximum throughput and minimum network lifesp
... Show MoreIn this paper, a Modified Weighted Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (MW-LEACH) protocol is implemented to improve the Quality of Service (QoS) in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) with mobile sink node. The Quality of Service is measured in terms of Throughput Ratio (TR), Packet Loss Ratio (PLR) and Energy Consumption (EC). The protocol is implemented based on Python simulation. Simulation Results showed that the proposed protocol provides better Quality of Service in comparison with Weighted Low Energy Cluster Hierarchy (W-LEACH) protocol by 63%.
In recent years, various methods have been developed to enhance the characteristics of asphalt pavement in order to face the continuous challenges of increasing traffic loads and changing climate conditions. One of the most popular and successful methods is modifying the asphalt mixtures or asphalt binder with the addition of polymers. Therefore, two types of Polyethylene (PE) polymer, High-Density PE (HDPE) and Low-Density PE (LDPE), are used in this research. Two methods were applied to prepare PE-modified asphalt mixtures: Semi-Wet Method (S-WM) and Dry Method (DM). The findings of the investigation indicated that the addition of PE polymer can reduce the wear loss of aggregate. In general, the experimental results revealed that asphalt
... Show MoreThe first aim of this paper was to evaluate the push-out bond strength of the gutta-percha coating of Thermafil and GuttaCore and compare it with that of gutta-percha used to coat an experimental hydroxyapatite/polyethylene (HA/PE) obturator. The second aim was to assess the thickness of gutta-percha around the carriers of GuttaCore and HA/PE obturators using microcomputed tomography (