Phonon response of the high‐temperature spin‐density‐wave superconductors

The phonon response of a spin density wave superconductor (SD^W-SC) is calculated. The phonon self energy due to electron-phonon interaction, which involves the electronic density response function, is evaluated explicitly for the coexistent SDW-SC state. It has a square-root singularity at a frequency corresponding to the superconducting gap 2Δ. As a consequence, the spectral density function of the SDW-phonon will show a peak at 2Δ The possibility of observing the 2Δ-peak by Raman scattering is discussed. The relevance of the results to high-temperature superconductors is pointed out. The available Raman data for YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δare compared with the results of the calculation.     

An optical study of phase transitions of poly (ethylene terephthalate-co-p-hydroxybenzoic acid) liquid crystal

The copolyester containing 40 mol % ethylene terephthalate (PET) and 60 mol % p-hydroxybenzoate (HB) units has been reported by several investigators to be biphasic in the solid and the liquid states. The reported thermal transitions in the two phases, however, are in part contradictory, perhaps partly due to different polymerization conditions. The present work is a study of the transitions in each of the two phases of this copolyester by polarized light microscopy and by light transmission measurements. By light transmission measurements, the two phases were found to have two different glass transition temperatures for the onset of segmental motion, consistent with two assignable temperatures (T.). Cold crystallization and melting in each of the two different phases was also detected. The results help clarify the nature of transitions and agree with the results of dynamic mechanical analysis on the same thermotropic liquid crystalline copolyester.     

A two pass heuristic algorithm for scheduling ‘blocked out’ units in continuous process industry

This paper addresses the problem of scheduling cascaded ‘blocked out’ continuous processing units separated by finite capacity storage tanks. The raw materials for the product lines arrive simultaneously on the input side of the first unit. But every unit can process only one product line at a time, thus giving rise to the possibility of spillage of raw material due to limited storage capacity. The need to process multiple product lines and the added constraint of multiple intermediate upliftment dates aggravate the problem. This problem is quite common in petrochemical industry. The paper provides a MINLP (Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming) formulation of the problem. However, for any realistic scheduling horizon, the size of the problem is too large to be solved by standard packages. We have proposed a depth first branch and bound algorithm, guided by heuristics, to help planners in tackling the problem. The suggested algorithm could output near optimal solutions for scheduling horizons of 30 time periods when applied to real life situations involving 3 units and 3 product lines. Preliminary version of the paper appeared in the proceedings of MISTA, 2005.     

Markov property of continuous dislocation band propagation

Tensile tests were carried out by deforming polycrystalline samples of substitutional Al–2.5%Mg alloy at room temperature for a range of strain rates. The Portevin–Le Chatelier (PLC) effect was observed throughout the strain rate regime. The deformation bands in this region are found to be of type A in nature. From the analysis of the experimental stress time series data we could infer that the dynamics of type A dislocation band propagation is a Markov process.     

Kinetics of Surfactant-induced Aggregation of Lysozyme Studied by Fluorescence Spectroscopy

The study of protein conformational changes in the presence of surfactants and lipids is important in the context of protein folding and misfolding. In the present study, we have investigated the mechanism of the protein conformational change coupled with aggregation leading to size growth of Hen Egg White Lysozyme (HEWL) in the presence of an anionic detergent such as sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) in alkaline pH. We have utilized intrinsic protein fluorescence (tryptophan) and extrinsic fluorescent reporters such as 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (ANS), dansyl and fluorescein to follow the protein conformational change in real-time. By analyzing the kinetics of fluorescence intensity and anisotropy of multiple fluorescent reporters, we have been able to delineate the mechanism of surfactant-induced aggregation of lysozyme. The kinetic parameters reveal that aggregation proceeds with an initial fast-phase (conformational change) followed by a slow-phase (self-assembly). Our results indicate that SDS, below critical micelle concentration, induces conformational expansion that triggers the aggregation process at a micromolar protein concentration range.     

Delta doping of ferromagnetism in antiferromagnetic manganite superlattices

We demonstrate that delta doping can be used to create a dimensionally confined region of metallic ferromagnetism in an antiferromagnetic (AFM) manganite host, without introducing any explicit disorder due to dopants or frustration of spins. Theoretical consideration of these additional carriers shows that they cause a local enhancement of ferromagnetic double exchange with respect to AFM superexchange, resulting in local canting of the AFM spins. This leads to a highly modulated magnetization, as measured by polarized neutron reflectometry. The spatial modulation of the canting is related to the spreading of charge from the doped layer and establishes a fundamental length scale for charge transfer, transformation of orbital occupancy, and magnetic order in these manganites. Furthermore, we confirm the existence of the canted, AFM state as was predicted by de Gennes [Phys. Rev. 118, 141 (1960)] but had remained elusive.     

Gold nanoparticle induced conformational changes in heme protein

Change of α-helical structure of heme protein (Hb) to a β-sheet and random coil conformation because of the interaction of glycine capped gold nanoparticles (20–60 nm) as observed from attenuation total reflectance, absorption, Fourier transform infra red, and Circular Dichroism spectroscopy has been reported in this article. Upon interaction, protein takes a cylindrical shape of length 12 μm and diameter 0.35 μm as revealed from scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The Selected-Area Electron beam Diffraction pattern shows change of crystalline structure in GNP to amorphous nature with the interaction of Hb.     

Synthesis,characterization, and in vitro biological evaluation of highly stable diversely functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

In this article, we report the design and synthesis of a series of well-dispersed superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) using chitosan as a surface modifying agent to develop a potential T ₂ contrast probe for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The amine, carboxyl, hydroxyl, and thiol functionalities were introduced on chitosan-coated magnetic probe via simple reactions with small reactive organic molecules to afford a series of biofunctionalized nanoparticles. Physico-chemical characterizations of these functionalized nanoparticles were performed by TEM, XRD, DLS, FTIR, and VSM. The colloidal stability of these functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles was investigated in presence of phosphate buffer saline, high salt concentrations and different cell media for 1 week. MRI analysis of human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cell lines treated with nanoparticles elucidated that the amine-functionalized nanoparticles exhibited higher amount of signal darkening and lower T ₂ relaxation in comparison to the others. The cellular internalization efficacy of these functionalized SPIONs was also investigated with HeLa cancer cell line by magnetically activated cell sorting (MACS) and fluorescence microscopy and results established selectively higher internalization efficacy of amine-functionalized nanoparticles to cancer cells. These positive attributes demonstrated that these nanoconjugates can be used as a promising platform for further in vitro and in vivo biological evaluations.     

Practical spatial resolution of electron energy loss spectroscopy in aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy

The resolution of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is limited by delocalization of inelastic electron scattering rather than probe size in an aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). In this study, we present an experimental quantification of EELS spatial resolution using chemically modulated 2×(LaMnO(3))/2×(SrTiO(3)) and 2×(SrVO(3))/2×(SrTiO(3)) superlattices by measuring the full width at half maxima (FWHM) of integrated Ti M(2,3), Ti L(2,3), V L(2,3), Mn L(2,3), La N(4,5), La N(2,3) La M(4,5) and Sr L(3) edges over the superlattices. The EELS signals recorded using large collection angles are peaked at atomic columns. The FWHM of the EELS profile, obtained by curve-fitting, reveals a systematic trend with the energy loss for the Ti, V, and Mn edges. However, the experimental FWHM of the Sr and La edges deviates significantly from the observed experimental tendency.