Quantum chemical computation by DFT application of NLO molecule 2-aminopyridinium <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-toluenesulphonate

We investigate the face-to-face collision between multisolitons in spin-1/2 quantum plasma. It is studied in the framework of the model proposed by Marklund et al in Phys. Rev. E 76, 067401 (2007). This study is done with the help of the extended Poincare–Lighthill–Kno (PLK) method. The extended PLK method is also used to obtain two Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equations and the phase shifts and trajectories during the head-on collision of multisolitons. The collision-induced phase shifts (trajectory changes) are also obtained. The effects of the Zeeman energy, total mass density of the charged plasma particles, speed of the wave and the ratio of the sound speed to Alfvén speed on the phase shifts are studied. It is observed that the phase shifts are significantly affected by all these parameters.     

Modulation of the PGE2-Mediated Pathway in the Eclosion Blocking Effect of Flumethrin and Terpenoid Subfraction Isolated from Artemesia nilagirica in Rhipicephalus annulatus

Prostaglandins are a group of important cell-signaling molecules involved in the regulation of ovarian maturation, oocyte development, egg laying and associated behaviors in invertebrates. However, the presence of prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂), the key enzymes for PGE₂ biosynthesis and its interference by drugs were not investigated previously in the ovary of ticks. The present study was undertaken to assess the modulation of the PGE₂-mediated pathway in the eclosion blocking effect of flumethrin and terpenoid subfraction isolated from Artemisia nilagirica in Rhipicephalus annulatus ticks. The acaricidal activities and chemical profiling of the terpenoid subfraction were performed. The localization of the cyclooxygenase1 (COX1) and prostaglandin E synthase (PGES) enzymes and the quantification of PGE₂ in the ovaries of the ticks treated with methanol (control), flumethrin and terpenoid subfraction were also undertaken. In addition, the vitellogenin concentration in hemolymph was also assayed. Both flumethrin and the terpenoid subfraction of A. nilagirica elicited a concentration-dependent inhibition of fecundity and blocking of hatching of the eggs. The COX1 could not be detected in the ovaries of treated and control ticks, while there was no significant difference observed in the concentration of vitellogenin (Vg) in them. The presence of PGES in the oocytes of control ticks was confirmed while the immunoreactivities against PGES were absent in the vitellogenic oocytes of ticks treated with flumethrin and terpenoid subfraction. The levels of PGE₂ were below the detection limit in the ovaries of the flumethrin-treated ticks, while it was significantly lower in the ovaries of the terpenoid subfraction-treated ticks. Hence, the prostaglandin E synthase and PGE₂ were identified as very important mediators for the signaling pathway for ovarian maturation and oviposition in ticks. In addition, the key enzyme for prostaglandin biosynthesis, PGES and the receptors for PGE₂ can be exploited as potential drug targets for tick control. The detection of PGES by immunohistochemistry and quantification of PGE₂ by LC-MSMS can be employed as valuable tools for screening newer compounds for their eclosion blocking acaricidal effects.     

Intact cell matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry as a tool to screen drugs in vivo for regulation of protein expression

Here we demonstrate for the first time the application of intact cell matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (ICM-MS) to study the regulation of protein expression. This technique can be extended to screen the drugs that inhibit protein synthesis in various diseases. We have used Escherichia coli cells expressing a recombinant glutathione-S-transferase (GST) gene under an arabinose-inducible promoter as a model system. Using ICM-MS analysis, we have detected a 28 kDa peak corresponding to the production of recombinant GST under the arabinose-induced condition. Furthermore, recombinant GST protein was purified by a single-step affinity purification using a glutathione Sepharose 4B affinity column from arabinose-induced E. coli cells. The purified GST protein was found to be a 28 kDa protein by MALDI analysis suggesting the arabinose-induced protein is indeed GST. The regulation of protein expression was studied using glucose as an alternative metabolite. The glucose-mediated regulation of the ara-operon was followed using the ICM-MS technique. All the results obtained from ICM-MS data were validated using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis. The present technique can be extended for in vivo screening of drugs and it holds tremendous potential to discover novel drugs against specific protein expressions in different diseases.     

Effect of Indium and Antimony Doping on SnS Photoelectrochemical Solar Cells

Single crystals of pure SnS, indium （In） and antimony （Sb） doped SnS are grown by the direct vapor transport technique. Two doping concentrations of 5 at. % and 15 at. % are employed for both In and Sb dopants. In total, five samples are studied, i.e., pure SnS, 5at.% In-doped SnS, 15at.% In-doped SnS, 5at.% Sb-doped SnS and 15at.% Sb-doped SnS single crystals. The energy dispersive analysis of x-ray （EDAX） and x-ray diffraction （XRD） analysis show that all the five as-grown single crystal samples possess near perfect stoichiometry and orthorhombic structure, respectively. The doping of In and Sb in SnS is established from the EDAX data and from the shift in the peak positions in XRD. Photoeleetroehemical （PEC） solar cells are fabricated by using the as- grown single crystal samples along with iodine/iodide electrolytes. Mott-Schottky plots for different compositions of iodine/iodide electrolytes show that O. 025 M 12 ＋ 1 M Nal＋2 M Na2 S04 ＋0.5 M 1-12 S04 will be the most suitable electrolyte. Study of efficiency （η） and fill factor for different intensities of illuminations at room temperature is carried out for the five samples. The In-doped SnS single crystals show better PEC efficiency than the undoped and Sl〉doped SnS single crystals.     

Energy level alignment at interfaces between 3-(4-biphenylyl)-4-phenyl-5-(4-tert-butyl phenyl)-1, 2, 4-triazole (TAZ) and metals (Ca,Mg, Ag,and Au): experiment and theory

We have performed ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy measurements and density functional theory calculations to study the electronic structure at the interface between organic semiconductor (3-(4-biphenylyl)-4-phenyl-5-(4-tert-butyl phenyl)-1,2,4-triazole (TAZ)) and metals (Ca, Mg, Ag, and Au). The basic mechanism of interface states at organic–metal interfaces can be understood by controlling the injection of charge carriers at these interfaces. The position of highest occupied molecular orbital relative to the Fermi level and the magnitude of the interface dipole are measured for each organic–metal interface. For TAZ on Ca, Mg, and Ag, interface states are observed near the Fermi level. However, no interface state is observed for TAZ on Au. It is analyzed qualitatively that the interface state is formed due to interaction of TAZ lowest unoccupied molecular orbital composed of C2p and metal s levels. It is suggested that the interface state plays an important role in charge transport at the interface. The mechanism of formation of interface states and electrical properties are discussed.     

Unexpected consequences of block polydispersity on the self-assembly of ABA triblock copolymers

Controlled/"living" polymerizations and tandem polymerization methodologies offer enticing opportunities to enchain a wide variety of monomers into new, functional block copolymer materials with unusual physical properties. However, the use of these synthetic methods often introduces nontrivial molecular weight polydispersities, a type of chain length heterogeneity, into one or more of the copolymer blocks. While the self-assembly behavior of monodisperse AB diblock and ABA triblock copolymers is both experimentally and theoretically well understood, the effects of broadening the copolymer molecular weight distribution on block copolymer phase behavior are less well-explored. We report the melt-phase self-assembly behavior of SBS triblock copolymers (S = poly(styrene) and B = poly(1,4-butadiene)) comprised of a broad polydispersity B block (M(w)/M(n) = 1.73-2.00) flanked by relatively narrow dispersity S blocks (M(w)/M(n) = 1.09-1.36), in order to identify the effects of chain length heterogeneity on block copolymer self-assembly. Based on synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy analyses of seventeen SBS triblock copolymers with poly(1,4-butadiene) volume fractions 0.27 ≤ f(B) ≤ 0.82, we demonstrate that polydisperse SBS triblock copolymers self-assemble into periodic structures with unexpectedly enhanced stabilities that greatly exceed those of equivalent monodisperse copolymers. The unprecedented stabilities of these polydisperse microphase separated melts are discussed in the context of a complete morphology diagram for this system, which demonstrates that narrow dispersity copolymers are not required for periodic nanoscale assembly.     

Electronic Properties-Morphology Correlation of a Rod-Rod Semiconducting Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymer Containing Poly(3-hexylthiophene)

The influence of the solvent and annealing temperature on the field-effect mobilities and morphologies of poly(3-hexylthiophene)-b-poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) (P3HT-b-PBLG) rod-rod diblock copolymer has been investigated. Thin film X-ray diffraction studies show peaks originating from both P3HT and PBLG indicating that the crystalline nature of both the blocks is conserved after the formation of the block copolymer. It has been observed that the field-effect mobilities of the diblock copolymer are independent of the annealing temperatures for thin films deposited from both 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene and chloroform solvents. The correlation between the field-effect mobility and morphology indicates that the P3HT block self-assembles at the surface SiO(2) dielectric.     

Microarray-guided discovery of two-photon (2P) small molecule probes for live-cell imaging of cysteinyl cathepsin activities

A microarray immobilized with 105 aldehyde-containing small molecules was screened against mammalian cell lysates over-expressing cathepsin L to identify two potent inhibitors, which were subsequently converted into cell-permeable probes capable of live-cell imaging of endogenous cysteinyl cathepsin activities by two-photon fluorescence microscopy.