Wind energy is one of the abundant sources present in nature. To meet future needs of clean and sustainable energy, there are many alternates arising day by day in the market. Here, we propose a ...simple design of sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) as a wind energy harvester by adopting savonius-type vertical axis wind turbine. The blade shaft is affixed with a circular acrylic sheet, which is an upper friction layer of the TENG. A static friction layer is made up of Kapton tape. Accordingly, the revolution of the wind turbine induces continuous triboelectrification and electrostatic induction at the friction layers. Savonius TENG has been experimented on at varying wind speeds and observed in certain conditions. The fabricated TENG produced 25 µA short circuit current (Isc), open-source voltage (Voc) was recorded at 40 V on 8 m/s wind speed. The maximum power obtained from the TNEG was up to 50 µW power, whereas 110.58 Wm−2 power density at the contact area 144 cm2 of TENGs was achieved. By adjusting the thicknesses of the triboelectric layer and electrodes, the TENG underwent an optimization process that resulted in a substantial enhancement of its overall performance. To our knowledge, such remarkable power density represents the highest value ever reported for savonius TENG. Having the high output characteristics, the fabricated savonius TENG successfully delivered power to 25 blue-coloured light-emitting diode. The power generated from savonius TENG has been provided to the energy storage unit and maintained uninterruptable supply to small electronics like the thermometer, and digital watch. According to our best knowledge, the savonius wind turbine design has been used first time with the nanogenerator in this paper. The fabricated Savonius TENG is one of the promising solutions to drive small electronics and can be operated on very low wind profiles.
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•A unique low-cost high-performance Low-Profile Wind Savonius Turbine as an Energy Harvester is designed and fabricated.•The output performance of Savonius wind-TENG was studied and enhanced.•The Savonius wind turbine combined with TENG has potential to power small electronics with its unique properties.
Protein aggregation, such as amyloid fibril formation, is molecular hallmark of many neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Prion disease. Indole alkaloids are well-known ...as the compounds having the ability to inhibit protein fibrillation. In this study, we experimentally and computationally have investigated the anti-amyloid property of a derivative of a synthesized tetracyclic indole alkaloid (TCIA), possessing capable functional groups. The fibrillation reaction of Hen White Egg Lysozyme (HEWL) was performed in absence and presence of the indole alkaloid. For quantitative analysis, we used Thioflovin T binding assay which showed ~50% reduction in fibril formation in the presence of 20 μM TCIA. Using TEM imaging, we observed a significant morphological change in our model protein in the presence of TCIA. In addition, we exploited FT-IR assay by which Amide I peak's shifting toward lower wavenumber was clearly observed. Using Molecular Docking, the interaction of the inhibitor (TCIA) with the protein's amyloidogenic region was modeled. Also, different biophysical parameters were calculated by Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation. Various biochemical assays, conformational change, and hydrophobicity exposure of the protein during amyloid formation indicated that the compound assists HEWL to keep its native structure via destabilizing β-sheet structure.
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•Anti-aggregation behavior of TCIA was investigated.•20uM TCIA inhibits HEWL fibrillation by about 50%.•TCIA destabilizes β-sheet while producing the more stable alpha helices in its presence.•Bioinformatics study confirmed the favorable interaction between TCIA and HEWL.
Intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) have been considered to revolutionize beyond 5G and 6G systems as they help increase signal strength through their ability to control radio environments ...effectively. Introducing IRS assistance in a single-input single-output (SISO) network has been proven to improve the system's performance. This paper compares the performance of a single IRS-assisted SISO system against a double IRS-assisted system under various wireless network setups. Our work relies on a shared allocation scheme of IRS elements, where a practical phase-dependent amplitude phase shift model is utilized along with discrete phase shifts to develop a reliable and energy-efficient system. We observe energy efficiency while altering system parameters to identify the limits where each system works better. The simulation results show that two IRSs perform better at large deployments, whereas a single IRS performs better in compact environments.
Abstract Biodegradable polymers such as polylactic‐co‐glycolic acids (PLGA) are used for various implantable devices such as tissue scaffolds, drug delivery devices, and biosensors in different ...forms. However, high‐resolution patterning of biodegradable polymers on implantable devices has not been explored much yet. While electrohydrodynamic printing (EHD) can achieve high‐resolution printing compared to other printing methods, EHD printing of PLGA solutions is rarely attempted due to unstable printing. Such printing instability originates from the volatile nature of PLGA inks, and it causes nozzle clogging or change of ink conditions during printing. Here, PLGA ink formulation and a voltage input profile are studied for stable and high‐resolution EHD printing. Addition of glycerol at an optimal ratio as well as the control of voltage pulse shape strongly influenced both the stability and resolution of EHD printing of PLGA patterns. With the optimized inks and voltage inputs, stable printing of PLGA micropatterns down to 5 µ m is achieved on both conductive and insulating surfaces for controlled drug release. Furthermore, use of a ring type electrode allows for EHD printing of PLGA micropatterns on 3D surfaces of PLLA tubes and stent struts.
d-ribose, a reducing sugar, in diabetic hyperglycemia provokes non-enzymatic glycoxidation of hemoglobin (Hb), an abundant protein of red blood cells (RBCs). Different types of intermediates adduct ...formation occur during glycoxidation, such as advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) which lead to amyloid formation due to structural and conformational alterations in protein. Therefore, the study of these intermediate adducts plays a pivotal role to discern their relationship with diabetes mellitus and related disorders. Here, we investigated the interaction mechanism of d-ribose with Hb, and Hb prebound phytochemical thymoquinone (TQ). Our investigation reveals that the interaction of TQ with histidine residues of Hb interferes with the interaction of d-ribose with glycine residues at the glycation-site. Based on that, we had performed a time-based (21-days) in-vitro glycoxidation study at 37 °C to investigate the structural perturbation mechanism of Hb at different time-intervals in absence/presence of TQ. We found that prolonged glycoxidation induces amyloid formation in absence of TQ but in its presence, the process was prohibited. In summary, this study examined and characterized biophysically different intermediate-states of protein carrying glycoxidation-modification. Our findings suggested that TQ potentially affects interaction of d-ribose with Hb that prevents glycoxidation and protofibril formation, which establishes TQ as a potential therapeutic agent.
•D-ribose, a reducing sugar, in diabetic hyperglycemia provokes non-enzymatic glycoxidation of hemoglobin.•During glycoxidation, intermediate adduct formation occurs such as AGEs which lead to protofibril-like structure formation.•Prolonged glycoxidation induces amyloid formation and this process was prohibited by the presence of TQ.•Thymoquinone play an effective role to prevent the process of Hb-glycoxidation and protofibrils formation.
Trustworthy smart contracts is usually challenging due to the multifaceted semantics of essential domain-specific languages and their testability. A vulnerability in smart contracts possibly ...comprises numerous code-security and may allow an attacker to gain control of a system resulting in financial tribulations. Therefore, it is very essential to design safe and secure smart contracts in blockchain’s immutable environment by applying numerous techniques for assessing flaws before deployment. Application programmers building smart contracts must test their code for vulnerabilities. Security and privacy is top in the list. The objective of this research is to explore: 1) the emerging landscape of smart contracts, 2) identifies the vulnerabilities faced by the developers and 3) What tools are available to address these issues? Our study showed: 1) comprehensive realistic studies in the smart contract security are at present lagging as related to primary studies. 2) 73% of contracts implemented in Solidity had security vulnerabilities. 3) Poor programming technique and 4) Slack programming activity.
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