Growth temperature induced effects in non-polar a-plane GaN on r-plane sapphire substrate by RF-MBE

Non-polar a-plane GaN films were grown on an r-plane sapphire substrate by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). The effect of growth temperature on structural, morphological and optical properties has been studied. The growth of non-polar a-plane (1 1 ?2 0) orientation of the GaN epilayers were confirmed by high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) study. The X-ray rocking curve (XRC) full width at half maximum of the (1 1 ?2 0) reflection shows in-plane anisotropic behavior and found to decrease with increase in growth temperature. The atomic force micrograph (AFM) shows island-like growth for the film grown at a lower temperature. Surface roughness has been decreased with increase in growth temperature. Room temperature photoluminescence shows near band edge emission at 3.434–3.442 eV. The film grown at 800 °C shows emission at 2.2 eV, which is attributed to yellow luminescence along with near band edge emission.     

Every transformation is disjoint from almost every non-classical exchange

A natural generalization of interval exchange maps are linear involutions, first introduced by Danthony and Nogueira (Ann Sci École Norm Sup (4) 26(6):645–664, 1993). Recurrent train tracks with a single switch which are called non-classical interval exchanges (Gadre in Ergod Theory Dyn Syst 32(06):1930–1971, 2012), form a subclass of linear involutions without flips. They are analogs of classical interval exchanges, and are first return maps for non-orientable measured foliations associated to quadratic differentials on Riemann surfaces. We show that every transformation is disjoint from almost every irreducible non-classical interval exchange. In the “Appendix”, we prove that for almost every pair of quadratic differentials with respect to the Masur–Veech measure, the vertical flows are disjoint.     

Computational study on the conformational preferences in nateglinide

Ab initio and semi‐empirical calculations were performed on the monomers, dimers and tetramers of the antidiabetic drug nateglinide to understand the conformational preferences and to explore their possible relation with polymorphism. The reported crystal structure of bis(nateglinide) hydronium chloride shows one asymmetric unit consisting of four different conformations of the drug nateglinide. The Becke, three‐parameter, Lee–Yang–Parr /6‐31+G(d,p) optimizations indicate that these conformers are energetically quite comparable and the differences disappear in gas phase. Our analysis shows that Φ (phi) torsion angle of this phenylalanine derivative is responsible for the observed differences in stability among the nateglinide conformations. Four different polymorphs of nateglinide (B, H, S and X2) were reported but the structural differences are not available. This quantum chemical study on the dimers of nateglinide helps in proposing the structures of polymorphs. As per the quantum chemical analysis, the dimer N‐44 is the structure of the stable polymorph, whereas, the dimers N‐AA, N‐CC and N‐AC are almost isoenergetic, thus proposed to be the structures of metastable state. The dimerization and tetramerization energies are estimated to be about ?9.0 and ?38.67 kcal/mol, respectively. The extra stability in tetrameric state compared with the dimeric form is attributed to additional hydrophobic and van der Waals interactions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ruthenium‐Catalyzed Cascade CH Functionalization of Phenylacetophenones

Three orthogonal cascade C? H functionalization processes are described, based on ruthenium‐catalyzed C? H alkenylation. 1‐Indanones, indeno indenes, and indeno furanones were accessed through cascade pathways by using arylacetophenones as substrates under conditions of catalytic [{Ru(p‐cymene)Cl₂}₂] and stoichiometric Cu(OAc)₂. Each transformation uses C? H functionalization methods to form C? C bonds sequentially, with the indeno furanone synthesis featuring a C? O bond formation as the terminating step. This work demonstrates the power of ruthenium‐catalyzed alkenylation as a platform reaction to develop more complex transformations, with multiple C? H functionalization steps taking place in a single operation to access novel carbocyclic structures.     

Bandwidth enhancement of transformation optics-based cloak with reduced parameters

In this paper, dispersive cloak design with broad bandwidth and minimal scattering cross section is proposed by appropriately selecting a radial permeability for each shell in a discretized reduced cloak. The dispersive medium is constructed by artificially varying the inner radius of the cloak with frequency, and this variation results into unique material properties at every frequency. The variation of inner radius of the cloak with frequency is artificial since the actual physical dimension of inner radius remains invariant. The relation between bandwidth and geometrical parameters of cloak is obtained by ensuring that transformation media must satisfy the condition that group velocity must remain less than the speed of light along every direction for a finite frequency range. The proposed cloak provides \(8.9\,\%\) bandwidth with respect to the center frequency for \(50\,\%\) reduction in total scattering cross section, and at the design frequency, the minimum scattering cross section obtained is \(0.266\). The proposed dispersive cloak design is verified by numerical full-wave simulations results which also confirm good cloaking performance.     

A Biodegradable Polymersome Containing Bcl‐xL siRNA and Doxorubicin as a Dual Delivery Vehicle for a Synergistic Anticancer Effect

Combined cancer treatment via co‐delivery of siRNAs and an anticancer drug can be a promising strategy due to the synergistic effect of simultaneously minimizing gene/drug administration. In this study, Bcl‐xL siRNA and doxorubicin (DOX) are encapsulated into designed methoxy‐poly(ethylene glycol)‐block‐poly(D ,L ‐lactic acid) (mPEG‐b‐PLA) block copolymer polymersomes (PSomes). A study of the cytotoxicity of Bcl‐xL siRNA and DOX co‐encapsulated PSomes (CPSomes) shows more inhibited proliferation of MKN‐45 and MKN‐28 human gastric cancer cell lines than only gene‐ and drug‐loaded ones. Consequently, these results demonstrate that co‐delivery of genes and drugs using PSomes results in a synergistic efficacy and indicates the potential of PSomes as efficient nanocarriers for combined cancer therapy.

     

Molecular Intercalation and Electronic Two Dimensionality in Layered Hybrid Perovskites

In layered hybrid perovskites, such as (BA)₂PbI₄ (BA=C₄H₉NH₃), electrons and holes are considered to be confined in atomically thin two dimensional (2D) Pb–I inorganic layers. These inorganic layers are electronically isolated from each other in the third dimension by the insulating organic layers. Herein we report our experimental findings that suggest the presence of electronic interaction between the inorganic layers in some parts of the single crystals. The extent of this interaction is reversibly tuned by intercalation of organic and inorganic molecules in the layered perovskite single crystals. Consequently, optical absorption and emission properties switch reversibly with intercalation. Furthermore, increasing the distance between inorganic layers by increasing the length of the organic spacer cations systematically decreases these electronic interactions. This finding that the parts of the layered hybrid perovskites are not strictly electronically 2D is critical for understanding the electronic, optical, and optoelectronic properties of these technologically important materials.     

Surface modification study of low energy electron beam irradiated polycarbonate film

The effect of low energy electron beam irradiation on polycarbonate (PC) film has been studied here. The PC film of thickness 20 μm was exposed by 10 keV electron beam with 100 nA/cm² current density. The irradiated film was characterized by mean of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and residual gas analyzer (RGA). Formation of unsaturated bonds and partial graphitization of the surface layer are measured by XPS. Results of the AFM imaging shows electron implantation induce changes in surface morphology of the polymer film. The residual gas analyzer (RGA) spectrum of PC is recorded in situ during irradiation. The results show the change in cross-linking density of the polymer at the top surface.     

Application of Particle Image Velocimetry and Reference Image Topography to jet shock cells using the hydraulic analogy

This paper examines the shock cell structure, vorticity and velocity field at the exit of an underexpanded jet nozzle using a hydraulic analogy and the Reference Image Topography technique. Understanding the flow in this region is important for the mitigation of screech, an aeroacoustic problem harmful to aircraft structures. Experiments are conducted on a water table, allowing detailed quantitative investigation of this important flow regime at a greatly reduced expense. Conventional Particle Image Velocimetry is employed to determine the velocity and vorticity fields of the nozzle exit region. Applying Reference Image Topography, the wavy water surface is reconstructed and when combined with the hydraulic analogy, provides a pressure map of the region. With this approach subtraction of surfaces is used to highlight the unsteady regions of the flow, which is not as convenient or quantitative with conventional Schlieren techniques. This allows a detailed analysis of the shock cell structures and their interaction with flow instabilities in the shear layer that are the underlying cause of jet screech.     

A microwave-assisted diastereoselective multicomponent reaction to access dibenzo[c,e]azepinones: synthesis and biological evaluation

An unprecedented microwave-assisted multicomponent strategy has been elaborated for the fast, efficient, and diastereoselective generation of the dibenzo[c,e]azepinone scaffold. The generated compounds were evaluated for their bioactivity.