Structural asymmetry in liquid Fe–Si alloys

The thermodynamic properties and microscopic structure of liquid Fe–Si alloys at 1873 K were studied by using the regular associated solution model. The model was utilized to determine the complex concentration in a regular associated solution of Fe, Si and Fe₂Si. The complex concentration was then used to calculate the integral excess free energy of mixing, activity, concentration fluctuations in the long-wavelength limit, S_CC (0), and the Warren–Cowley short-range parameter α ₁. The analysis suggests that heterocoordination leading to the formation of complex Fe₂Si is likely to exist in the liquid and is of a strongly interacting nature. The theoretical analysis reveals that the alloy is more ordered towards the Fe-rich region. The observed asymmetry in the properties of mixing of Fe–Si alloys in the molten state is successfully explained on the basis of the regular associated solution model.     

The inactivation kinetics of polyphenol oxidase in mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) during thermal and thermosonic treatments

The effect of thermal and thermosonic treatments on the inactivation kinetics of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) was studied in 55–75 °C temperature range. In both the processes, the inactivation kinetics of PPO followed a first-order kinetics (R² = 0.941–0.989). The D values during thermal inactivation varied from 112 ± 8.4 min to 1.2 ± 0.07 min while they varied from 57.8 ± 6.1 min to 0.88 ± 0.05 min during thermosonic inactivation at the same temperature range. The activation energy during thermal inactivation was found to be 214 ± 17 kJ/mol, while it was 183 ± 32 kJ/mol during thermosonic inactivation. The inactivating effect of combined ultrasound and heat was found to synergistically enhance the inactivation kinetics of PPO. The D values of PPO decreased by 1.3–3 times during thermosonic inactivation compared to the D values of PPO during thermal inactivation at the temperature range. Therefore, thermosonication can be further developed as an alternative to “hot break” process of mushroom.     

Vector space of linearizations for the quadratic two-parameter matrix polynomial

Given a quadratic two-parameter matrix polynomial Q(λ,?μ), we develop a systematic approach to generating a vector space of linear two-parameter matrix polynomials. The purpose for constructing this vector space is that potential linearizations of Q(λ,?μ) lie in it. Then, we identify a set of linearizations and describe their constructions. Finally, we determine a class of linearizations for a quadratic two-parameter eigenvalue problem.     

Topological studies related to molecular systems formed during the Big Bang: H3+ as an example

In the present article are analyzed the non-adiabatic coupling terms (NACT) for two molecular systems, namely H₃⁺ and H₃. In contrast to previous occasions in which the NACTs are studied along (closed) circular contours usually surrounding conical intersections (ci), in the present article are studied distribution of the NACTs in (planar) configuration spaces (CS). The motivation for this study has to do with a novel idea being mentioned earlier (Molec. Phys., 116, 2435 [2018]; ArXiv:1801.00103) that NACTs are like a Glue (eventually) associated with the ability of creating molecules and/or protecting them from breaking up. It was found that the distributions of the NACTs due to the two molecules are similar as long as the attention is given to regions close to their equilateral cis, but then they behave significantly different in other regions. In case of H₃⁺, the NACTs are distributed rather uniformly whereas, in case of H₃ they become spiky the closer they approach the diatom axis. The main conclusion of this study is that the glue which has its origin in the NACTs is most likely to be effective in case of H₃⁺ that explains the creation and later survival of this molecule.     

Dipolar DC induced collisional activation of non‐dissociated electron‐transfer products

The application of electron transfer and dipolar direct current induced collisional activation (ET‐DDC) for enhanced sequence coverage of peptide/protein cations is described. A DDC potential is applied across one pair of opposing rods in the high‐pressure collision cell of a hybrid quadrupole/time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometer (QqTOF) to induce collisional activation, in conjunction with electron transfer reactions. As a broadband technique, DDC can be employed for the simultaneous collisional activation of all the first‐generation charge‐reduced precursor ions (eg, electron transfer no‐dissociation or ETnoD products) from electron transfer reactions over a relatively broad mass‐to‐charge range. A systematic study of ET‐DDC induced collision activation on peptide/protein cations revealed an increase in the variety (and abundances) of sequence informative fragment ions, mainly c‐ and z‐type fragment ions, relative to products derived directly via electron transfer dissociation (ETD). Compared with ETD, which has low dissociation efficiency for low‐charge‐state precursor ions, ET‐DDC also showed marked improvement, providing a sequence coverage of 80% to 85% for all the charge states of ubiquitin. Overall, this method provides a simple means for the broadband collisional activation of ETnoD ions in the same collision cell in which they are generated for improved structural characterization of polypeptide and protein cations subjected to ETD.     

Isolation and characterization of 4-chlorophenol degrading bacterial strain from pharmaceutical xenobiotic compounds contaminated soil using enrichment technique

4- chlorophenol is available as the fundamental basic compound of numerous manufactured organics. It is produced from various sources like herbicides, wood additives, oil industries, pharmaceutical drugs and so on. It can be removed from the effluent by various ways but most effective method is bioremediation. In present study, aerobic bacterial strain was isolated from soil that was contaminated with pharmaceutical xenobiotic compounds using enrichment technique with 500 ppm of 4-chlorophenol as a sole source of carbon and energy. Colonies were isolated after 24 h of incubation on petri plate by media enrichment with 500 ppm of 4- chlorophenol and serial dilution method. 18 colonies were isolated and examined for their ability to degrade 500 ppm of 4-chlorophenol. The most potent strain, C17 was able to remove nearly ～99.93% of 4-chlorophenol in 24 h, 37 °C temperature and 6.8 pH. Based on morphological, biochemical, nucleotide homology and phylogenetic analysis the strain was found to have maximum similarity (98.98%) with Bacillus timonensis strain 10403023.     

Probabilistic Teleportation of a Single Qubit: Unearthing New W-Class of States

Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics - In this work, we propose a probabilistic teleportation protocol to teleport a single qubit via three-qubit W-states using two-qubit measurement...