Flux vacua statistics for two‐parameter Calabi‐Yau's

We study the number of flux vacua for type IIB string theory on an orientifold of the Calabi‐Yau expressed as a hypersurface in WCP ⁴[1,1,2,2,6] by evaluating a suitable integral over the complex‐structure moduli space as per the conjecture of Douglas and Ashok. We show that away from the singular conifold locus, one gets a power law, and that the (neighborhood) of the conifold locus indeed acts as an attractor in the (complex structure) moduli space. In the process, we evaluate the periods near the conifold locus. We also study (non)supersymmetric solutions near the conifold locus, and show that supersymmetric solutions near the conifold locus do not support fluxes.     

Theoretical and computational aspects of scattering from periodic surfaces: one-dimensional transmission interface

We consider the scattering from and transmission through a one-dimensional periodic surface. For this problem, the electromagnetic cases of TE and TM polarization reduce to the scalar acoustic examples. Three different theoretical and computational methods are described, all involving the solution of integral equations and their resulting discrete matrix system of equations for the boundary unknowns. They are characterized by two sample spaces for their discrete solution, coordinate space and spectral space, and labelled by the sampling of the rows and columns of the discretized matrices. They are coordinate-coordinate (CC), the usual coordinate-space method, spectral-coordinate (SC) where the matrix rows are discretized or sampled in spectral space and spectral-spectral (SS) where both rows and columns are sampled in spectral space. The SS method uses a new topological basis expansion for the boundary unknowns.

Equations are derived for infinite surfaces, then specialized and solved for periodic surfaces. Computational results are presented for the transmission problem as a function of roughness, near-grazing incidence as well as many other angles, density and wavenumber ratios. Matrix condition numbers and different sampling methods are considered. An error criterion is used to gauge the validity of the results.

The computational results indicated that the SC method was by far the fastest (by several orders of magnitude), but that it became ill-conditioned for very rough surfaces. The CC method was most reliable, but often required very large matrices and was consequently extremely slow. It is shown that the SS method is computationally efficient and accurate at near-grazing incidence and can be used to fill a gap in the literature. Extensive computational results indicate that both SC and SS are highly robust computational methods. Spectral-based methods thus provide viable computational schemes to study periodic surface scattering.     

Microwave-Assisted Solid-Phase Synthesis of Cephalosporin Derivatives with Antibacterial Activity

 The reaction of heterocyclic acids with 7-amino-cephalosporanic acid adsorbed on basic alumina under microwave irradiation afforded the N-acylated cephalosporin analogues in satisfactory yield. All compounds were tested for their antibacterial activity; some of them showed significant antibacterial properties. Cefotaxime and cephalothin were used as reference drugs.     

q-Wedge Modules for Quantized Enveloping Algebras of Classical Type

We use the fusion construction in twisted quantum affine algebras to obtain a unified method to deform the wedge product for classical Lie algebras. As a by-product we uniformly realize all non-spin fundamental modules for quantized enveloping algebras of classical types, and show that they admit natural crystal bases as modules for the (derived) twisted quantum affine algebra. These crystal bases are parametrized in terms of the q-wedge products.     

Phonons and their dispersion in poly(S-benzyl-L-cysteine)

Poly(S-benzyl-L -cysteine) (PBLC) is a S-benzyl derivative of the natural amino acid poly(L -cysteine). Its normal modes and their dispersion in antiparallel β-sheet conformation have been obtained within the first Brillouin zone using Wilson's G.F. matrix method, as modified by Higgs for an infinite polymeric chain. The zone center frequencies and the Urey Bradley force field have been obtained by “best fitting” the observed Fourier transform IR (FTIR) absorption bands. The characteristic features of dispersion curves such as crossing, repulsion, and exchange of character are discussed. Predictive values of heat capacity in the temperature range of 50–500 K are reported. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 3269–3287, 1999     

A Pro-Fluorescent Ubiquitin-Based Probe to Monitor Cysteine-Based E3 Ligase Activity

Protein post-translational modification with ubiquitin (Ub) is a versatile signal regulating almost all aspects of cell biology, and an increasing range of diseases is associated with impaired Ub modification. In this light, the Ub system offers an attractive, yet underexplored route to the development of novel targeted treatments. A promising strategy for small molecule intervention is posed by the final components of the enzymatic ubiquitination cascade, E3 ligases, as they determine the specificity of the protein ubiquitination pathway. Here, we present UbSRhodol, an autoimmolative Ub-based probe, which upon E3 processing liberates the pro-fluorescent dye, amenable to profile the E3 transthiolation activity for recombinant and in cell-extract E3 ligases. UbSRhodol enabled detection of changes in transthiolation efficacy evoked by enzyme key point mutations or conformational changes, and offers an excellent assay reagent amenable to a high-throughput screening setup allowing the identification of small molecules modulating E3 activity.     

A Magnetic Bio-Inspired Soft Carrier as a Temperature-Controlled Gastrointestinal Drug Delivery System

Currently, gastrointestinal bleeding in the colon wall and the small bowel is diagnosed and treated with endoscopes. However, the locations of this condition are often problematic to treat using traditional flexible and tethered tools. New studies commonly consider untethered devices for solving this problem. However, there still exists a gap in the extant literature, and more research is needed to diagnose and deliver drugs in the lower gastrointestinal tract using soft robotic carriers. This paper discusses the development of an untethered, magnetically-responsive bio-inspired soft carrier. A molding process is utilized to produce prototypes from Diisopropylidene-1,6-diphenyl-1,6-hexanediol-based Polymer with Ethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate (DiAPLEX) MP-3510 - a shape memory polymer with a low transition temperature to enable the fabrication of these carriers. The soft carrier design is validated through simulation results of deformation caused by magnetic elements embedded in the carrier in response to an external field. The thermal responsiveness of the fabricated prototype carriers is assessed ex vivo and in a phantom. The results indicate a feasible design capable of administering drugs to a target inside a phantom of a large intestine. The soft carrier introduces a method for the controlled release of drugs by utilizing the rubbery modulus of the polymer and increasing the recovery force through magnetic actuation.     

Tetracyanobutadiene Bridged Push-Pull Chromophores: Development of New Generation Optoelectronic Materials

This review describes the design strategies used for the synthesis of various tetracyanobutadiene bridged donor-acceptor molecular architectures by a click type [2+2] cycloaddition-retroelectrocyclization (CA-RE) reaction sequence. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of the tetracyanobutadiene bridged molecular architectures based on various moieties including diketopyrrolopyrrole, isoindigo, benzothiadiazole, pyrene, pyrazabole, truxene, boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY), phenothiazine, triphenylamine, thiazole and bisthiazole are summarized. Further, we discuss some important applications of the tetracyanobutadiene bridged derivatives in dye sensitized solar cells, bulk heterojunction solar cells and photothermal cancer therapy.