21-Sep-2021: Insight into response of single-particle engine to environmental noise can help construct micro-machines, useful in biomedical engineering
Performance of tiny engines encompassing single colloidal particles vary with modulations in environmental noise, said a study by researchers who evaluated the response of such micro engines to noise fluctuations in the surrounding medium. This insight will be essential for future construction of micro-machines that operate in complex biological environments and are becoming increasingly important in biomedical engineering.
Micro mechanical machines are in the forefront of present-day science and technology, with applications ranging from aerospace to biomedical engineering. Recently scientists have experimentally constructed such machines from single colloidal particles. In these systems, mechanical work and power production is highly dominated by the fluctuations in its environment. Therefore, understanding the role of environment noise statistics on this energy conversion is pivotal to understanding the operation of such micro-machines like naturally occurring molecular motors that carry out transportation inside a living cell.
A team of researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, constructed a micrometer-sized Stirling engine (kind of heat engine converting thermal energy into kinetic energy by heating and cooling the working gas sealed in the cylinders) by confining a single colloidal particle with a laser trap.
Testing its functioning in the presence of reservoirs (the fluid that holds the colloidal particle) with thermal noise (due to the random motion of the water molecules) and non-thermal noise (noise from sources other than temperature like fluctuating laser beams), they found that the engine is responding to non-thermal noise. This study has been published recently in the journal ‘Nature Communications’.
The JNCASR team carried this out with the help of a new technique of reservoir engineering using laser traps to impart artificial noise to colloidal particles, which allowed a large variety of artificial noise which were not possible to realize earlier. The team also showed that the mode of maximum power production can be obtained at various cycle-speed (time taken to complete one Stirling cycle) without affecting the engine’s efficiency.
Work, power, and efficiency, i.e., the performance of the engine, depends on the rate of broadening of laser and the relaxation rate of particle’s vibration. By changing the environmental noise/fluctuation statistics, this relaxation rate can be changed, and hence the performance of the engine can be modified.
Molecular motors which carry out transportation inside a living cell operate far from equilibrium (takes only forward steps) in the presence of non-thermal (not involving either heat or change in temperature) noise. Therefore, understanding the role of non-thermal noise on non-equilibrium energy conversion will be an insight for the construction of any artificial micro-machine that operates in complex biological environments.
6-Sep-2021: Chandigarh’s first Pollen Calendar can help identify potential allergy triggers and guard sensitive people from exposure
Chandigarh now has its first pollen calendar, which can identify potential allergy triggers and provide a clear understanding for clinicians as well as allergy sufferers about their causes to help limit their exposure during high pollen loads.
About 20-30% of the population suffers from allergic rhinitis/hay fever in India, and approximately 15% develop asthma. Pollens are considered major outdoor airborne allergens responsible for allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis in humans. Pollen calendars represent the time dynamics of airborne pollen taxa in graphical form in a particular geographical area. They yield readily accessible visual details about various airborne pollen taxa present throughout the year, with their seasonality in a single picture. Pollen calendars are location-specific, with concentrations closely related to locally distributed flora.
Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh, examined the seasonal periodicities of airborne pollen spectrum and developed the first Pollen Calendar for Chandigarh city. This will help prepare early advisories and disseminate them through media channels to the citizens so that they can use protective gear during the period when the concentration of allergic pollens will be high. It is also a preventive tool for sensitive people to diminish exposure when the levels of aero-pollen are high during specific periods.
This was made possible by a team led by Dr. Ravindra Khaiwal at the Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh. It included Dr. Ashutosh Aggarwal, Professor, and Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine from PGIMER, Chandigarh, India, and Dr. Suman Mor, Chairperson and Associate Professor along with Ms. Akshi Goyal and Mr. Sahil Kumar, Research Scholar from Department of Environment Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
The group explored the main pollen seasons, their intensities, variations, and aerobiologically significant pollen types in Chandigarh. The study brought out the first pollen calendar for Chandigarh, provided up-to-date information, and highlighted the variability of crucial pollen types in different seasons. The prominent airborne pollen dominating seasons were spring and autumn, with maximum species surfacing when the phenological and meteorological parameters are considered favourable for pollen grains' growth, dispersion, and transmission.
The study supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) was recently published in Atmospheric Environment, a journal by Elsevier
Dr. Khaiwal, the lead investigator, said that Chandigarh had reported a remarkable increase in forest cover in recent years, and rise in green spaces would also increase airborne pollen, consequently increasing pollen-related allergic ailments.
“In this scenario, the study aims to bring airborne pollen seasonal information to the susceptible population, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and scientists to be familiar with the current changes in the environment, which can further help develop mitigation strategies,” highlighted Dr. Mor. “The findings of this study would enhance the understanding of airborne pollen seasons, which may further help to minimize pollen allergies,” Dr. Ashutosh Aggarwal pointed out.
6-Aug-2021: Advanced Wound Dressing Material Based on Seaweed Agar can Treat Diabetic Wounds and Manage Chronic ones at Competitive Cost
An Indian scientist has developed an advanced wound dressing based on agarose, a natural polymer derived from seaweed agar, for the treatment of infected diabetic wounds and patients suffering from chronic wounds. This indigenous dressing will allow cost-effective dressings for chronic wound patients and will also pave the way for business incubation.
The biodegradable, non-immunogenic wound dressing was developed from sustainable source intervention has been developed by Dr. Vivek Verma from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur by adding several additive molecules like iodine and citric acid. It was supported by the Advanced Manufacturing Technologies programme of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, and is aligned with the ‘Make in India’ initiative, which has bagged a National patent and has been validated and tested in-vitro and in-vivo on rat model.
The role of addition of several active molecules like sericin, iodine, and citric acid to this novel wound dressing has been evaluated along with agar in terms of their healing and containment property with regards to chronic wounds. The invention, in particular, provides agar dressing films for the treatment of infected diabetic wounds. The dressing may be used as a single layer, bilayer, or multi-layered hydrogel films depending on the severity and type of wound.
The developed intervention is in third stage of the Technology Readiness Level. At present, the dressing has been tested on rat model with small-sized circular wound of diameter 5 mm with single layer dressing incorporated with only one active ingredient.
The next step would be to test its efficacy in the treatment of large wounds in big animals like rabbits or pigs. Dr. Verma is working towards incorporation of all the active agents in single or multilayer arrangement and optimize various parameters related to it. The final stage will include clinical trials. Following these steps, the technology can be commercialized in the market as single or all ingredient loaded uni/multilayer dressing material.
According to Dr. Vivek Verma, the advanced wound dressing has potential to be converted into commercial product for advanced wound care, and it can provide an active bandage for treatment and management of chronic wounds at competitive cost.
The advanced wound dressing market in India is largely monopolized by foreign companies. This indigenous dressing will not only allow cost-effective dressings for chronic wound patients but also will pave way for business incubation.