[en] Experimentally it is shown that a movable grounded metallic plate placed inside a multi-dipole magnetic cage can vary the diffused plasma parameters such as density, plasma potential and electron temperature. Plasma is solely produced in the source section of a double plasma device by a dc hot filament discharge and a low-density plasma is produced in the target section by local ionization of neutral gas by the high energetic electrons coming from the source section. A grounded movable stainless steel plate is inserted in the target section of the device. The floating potential of the plate also changes depending on the position of the plate inside the magnetic cage

[en] When a metallic body is inserted inside plasma chamber it is always associated with sheath which depends on plasma and wall condition. The effect of sheath formed in the magnetic drift and magnetic field direction on cross field plasma transport has been investigated in a double Plasma device (DPD). The drifts exist inside the chamber in the transverse magnetic field (TMF) region in a direction perpendicular to both magnetic field direction and axis of the DPD chamber. The sheath are formed in the magnetic drift direction in the experimental chamber is due to the insertion of two metallic plates in these directions and in the magnetic field direction sheath is formed at the surface of the TMF channels. These metallic plates are inserted in order to obstruct the magnetic drift so that we can minimised the loss of plasma along drift direction and density in the target region is expected to increase due to the obstruction. It ultimately improves the negative ion formation parameters. The formation of sheath in the transverse magnetic field region is studied by applying electric field both parallel and antiparallel to drift direction. Data are acquired by Langmuir probe in source and target region of our chamber. (author)

[en] Protein self-association leads to toxic filamentous plaques believed to be the key reason behind several neurodegenerative diseases. Stabilization of the fibrillar architecture is guided by several forces; primarily electrostatic, hydrophobic, and the extent of hydrogen bonding. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate, for the first time, the effect of varying static electric fields on preformed fibrils of human serum albumin (HSA) in an electrowetting on dielectric type setup using spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. We have found appreciable and continuous reduction in the β-sheet content of HSA fibrils up to an applied field of ∼8 × 10⁶ V m⁻¹. The observed disruption of the fibrils has been attributed to the combined effects of electrostatic interactions and electrowetting phenomena. Kinetic studies indicate a prior intermediate formation followed by disruption of HSA fibrils after application of the electric field. (paper)

[en] Highlights: • Energy generation potentials of the municipal solid waste (MSW) have been assessed. • Assessment of WTE potential is based on theoretical ideals and waste characteristics. • Impact of segregation of MSW on energy generation potential has been evaluated. • Plasma arc gasification technology shows the highest energy generation potential. - Abstract: Municipal solid waste (MSW) is an important source of methane emission which is a greenhouse gas (GHG) and has high potential for its use as energy source. A study has been carried out to find out the energy generation potential of MSW being dumped in Delhi’s three landfills viz. Ghazipur (GL), Bhalswa (BL) and Okhla (OL). Five technologies for waste to energy generation, namely biomethanation, incineration, gasification/pyrolysis, refused derived fuel (RDF) and plasma arc gasification have been evaluated for computation of possible energy (WTE) generation potential of MSW under ideal conditions using the MSW specific characteristic parameters. Bulk waste with and without pre-segregation of reusable high carbonaceous materials have been considered to develop range of energy generation potentials under two scenarios of with and without segregation of MSW. USEPA-LandGem model version 3.02 has been used to get LFG generation potential of Delhi’s landfills. The potential of biomethanation process for producing energy has been found to be in the range of 3–10, 3–8 and 2–8 MW/day from the MSW deposited in GL, BL and OL respectively. The energy generation potentials of the MSW deposited in GL, BL and OL have been found to be in the range of 8–24, 7–22 and 7–19 MW/day for incineration process; 17–32, 16–29 and 11–25 MW/day from gasification/pyrolysis process; 9–19, 8–18 and 6–15 MW/day for RDF process; and 17–35, 16–32 and 11–28 MW/day for plasma arc gasification process respectively. The lower values in these ranges depict the energy generation potential for segregated waste while the higher values are for the bulk waste. These values are based on theoretical ideals and help in identifying the optimal WTE technique