Gröbner bases of ideals cogenerated by Pfaffians

We characterise the class of one-cogenerated Pfaffian ideals whose natural generators form a Gröbner basis with respect to any anti-diagonal term order. We describe their initial ideals as well as the associated simplicial complexes, which turn out to be shellable and thus Cohen-Macaulay. We also provide a formula for computing their multiplicity.     

Breakup excitation function at backward angles from α-spectra in the Li + Sm system

Breakup cross sections were obtained for the ⁶Li + ¹⁴⁴Sm system at energies above and below the Coulomb barrier from a detailed analysis of the data recorded at backward angles. These cross sections are compared with inelastic target excitations previously reported revealing a similar behavior as a function of the bombarding energy but a large absolute difference between them. Using kinematical considerations we have analyzed possible contributions from different breakup channels and we have extracted information on magnitudes such as the relative kinetic energies of the corresponding breakup fragments.     

PIDAZTA: Structurally Constrained Chelators for the Efficient Formation of Stable Gallium-68 Complexes at Physiological pH

Two structurally constrained chelators based on a fused bicyclic scaffold, 4-amino-4-methylperhydro-pyrido[1,2-a][1,4]diazepin-N,N′,N′-triacetic acids [(4R*,10aS*)-PIDAZTA ( L1 ) and (4R*,10aR*)-PIDAZTA ( L2 )], were designed for the preparation of Ga^III-based radiopharmaceuticals. The stereochemistry of the ligand scaffold has a deep impact on the properties of the complexes, with unexpected [Ga( L2 )OH] species being superior in terms of both thermodynamic stability and inertness. This peculiar behavior was rationalized on the basis of molecular modeling and appears to be related to a better fit in size of Ga^III into the cavity of L2 . Fast and efficient formation of the Ga^III chelates at room temperature was observed at pH values between 7 and 8, which enables ⁶⁸Ga radiolabeling under truly physiological conditions (pH 7.4).     

G-biliaison of ladder pfaffian varieties

The ideals generated by pfaffians of mixed size contained in a subladder of a skew-symmetric matrix of indeterminates define arithmetically Cohen–Macaulay, projectively normal, reduced and irreducible projective varieties. We show that these varieties belong to the G-biliaison class of a complete intersection. In particular, they are glicci.     

Synthesis of gold nanoparticles using herbal Acorus calamus rhizome extract and coating on cotton fabric for antibacterial and UV blocking applications

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been synthesized by greener method using chloroauric acid as precursor and extract of Acorus calamus rhizome as reducing agent. Formation of AuNP was confirmed by the presence of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) peak in UV–Visible spectral analysis. XRD and FT-IR spectral analyses were performed for characterization. SEM images show spherical morphology and HR-TEM images reveal nanosize of AuNPs. The AuNPs were then coated on cotton fabric by pad-dry-cure method and characterized by SEM with EDAX technique. The results reveal the deposition of AuNPs on the surface of cotton fabric. Uncoated cotton, neat extract coated cotton and extract containing AuNPs coated cotton fabrics were then tested for antibacterial activity against Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacterial strains by AATCC 100 test method. It showed that the extract containing AuNPs coated cotton fabric had higher antibacterial activity than other test samples against E. coli. UV-DRS analysis performed on extract containing AuNPs coated cotton fabric showed improved UV-blocking property than uncoated cotton fabric and neat extract coated cotton fabric.     

Near-barrier fusion, breakup and scattering for the Be + Sm system

Fusion, breakup and scattering for the ⁹Be + ¹⁴⁴Sm system at near barrier energies are investigated by different approaches. We show that at energies above the barrier there is a small complete fusion suppression when compared with predictions from a double folding potential and with a similar tightly bound system. At sub-barrier energies there is no significant deviation from the predictions using coupled channel calculations that do not include the breakup channel. The energy dependence of the optical potential does not show the usual threshold anomaly found in tightly bound systems. From a simultaneous analysis of fusion and scattering data we estimate the distance where breakup starts to occur.     

Bayesian stratified random sampling using auxiliary information

Summary Smith (1976,J. R. Statist. Soc., A,139, 183–204) has argued that survey statisticians should attempt to model finite population structures in the same way that statisticians in other disciplines have to provide models of finite or infinite populations. Following this argument, we suggest in this paper that an obvious model for a stratified population when auxiliary information regarding variate values is available, is the one way analysis of covariance model with unequal variances and we consider the problem of estimating the finite population mean. Finally a possible extension of this result is discussed.     

Human Nails Permeation of an Antifungal Candidate Hydroalcoholic Extract from the Plant Sapindus saponaria L. Rich in Saponins

We evaluated a hydroalcoholic extract of Sapindus saponaria L. pericarps (ETHOSS), as a candidate to a topical antifungal medicine for onychomycosis. ETHOSS was produced by extracting the crushed fruits in ethanol. The saponin contents were identified and characterized by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. We measured the in vitro antifungal activity against three dermatophyte fungi, isolated from onychomycosis: Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, and T. interdigitale, using broth microdilution tests. The minimum fungicide concentration of ETHOSS ranged from 195.31 to 781.25 μg/mL. The cytotoxicity of the crude extract was tested on the HeLa cell line, and its ability to permeate into healthy human nails by photoacoustic spectroscopy and Fourier transformation infrared spectrometer (FTIR) spectroscopy by attenuated total reflection. Besides its strong antifungal activity, ETHOSS showed low cytotoxicity in human cells. It was able to permeate and reach the full thickness of the nail in one hour, without the aid of facilitating vehicles, and remained there for at least 24 h. These results suggest that ETHOSS has great potential for treating onychomycosis.