Phase behaviour near the triple point of carbon dioxide confined in mesoporous VYCOR glass

The phase behaviour of carbon dioxide confined in VYCOR glass at pressures below that of the bulk triple point (0.51 MPa) has been investigated. The temperature at which freezing occurs appears to be pressure dependent below 0.3 MPa. As experiments are performed at successively lower pressures, the confined phase transitions gradually disappear, due to either partial pore filling, or the proximity of the confined triple point.     

Positron and positronium annihilation studies of phase behaviour in confined geometry

In this paper we present a brief review of the current state of positron annihilation research into the phase behaviour of fluids confined within restricted boundaries. We summarise, in the form of selected examples, the work done so far on: (1) fluids confined in the nanometer-size pores of VYCOR glass, with particular emphasis on the confined phase diagram and the mechanisms behind phase transitions compared to bulk. (2) The adsorption/physisorption of gases on internal surfaces of grafoil and the potential of positron technique for revealing physical properties, such as the intricate molecular arrangements during phase transitions of the layered fluid.     

Chemical Proteomics and Phenotypic Profiling Identifies the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor as a Molecular Target of the Utrophin Modulator Ezutromid

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal muscle‐wasting disease arising from mutations in the dystrophin gene. Upregulation of utrophin to compensate for the missing dystrophin offers a potential therapy independent of patient genotype. The first‐in‐class utrophin modulator ezutromid/SMT C1100 was developed from a phenotypic screen through to a Phase 2 clinical trial. Promising efficacy and evidence of target engagement was observed in DMD patients after 24 weeks of treatment, however trial endpoints were not met after 48 weeks. The objective of this study was to understand the mechanism of action of ezutromid which could explain the lack of sustained efficacy and help development of new generations of utrophin modulators. Using chemical proteomics and phenotypic profiling we show that the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a target of ezutromid. Several lines of evidence demonstrate that ezutromid binds AhR with an apparent K_D of 50 nm  and behaves as an AhR antagonist. Furthermore, other reported AhR antagonists also upregulate utrophin, showing that this pathway, which is currently being explored in other clinical applications including oncology and rheumatoid arthritis, could also be exploited in future DMD therapies.     

Overtone spectroscopy of some benzaldehyde derivatives

Overtone spectrum of o, m and p-nitrobenzaldehydes and p-chlorobenzaldehyde has been studied in 2000–12000 cm⁻¹ region. Vibrational frequencies and anharmonicity constants for aryl as well as alkyl CH stretch vibrations have been determined. We have also determined the internuclear distances for the aryl CH bond in the different molecules. The small variation observed in these distances is an indication of the substitution effect. It is observed that in the case of p-disubstituted benzens, the shift in aryl CH bond is proportional to sum of the Hammet σ of the substituents. However in the case of o-disubstituted benzenes it is only 80% of the para-substituted shift.     

Fermi surface of an important nanosized metastable phase: Al3Li

Nanoscale particles embedded in a metallic matrix are of considerable interest as a route towards identifying and tailoring material properties. Al-Li alloys, which form ordered nanoscale precipitates of Al(3)Li for a range of concentrations, have been deployed successfully in the aerospace industry owing to their superior strength-to-weight ratio. The precipitates are metastable and their electronic structure has so far been inaccessible through conventional techniques. Here, we take advantage of the strong positron affinity of Li to probe the Fermi surface of nanoscale Al(3)Li precipitates.     

Observation of a strongly nested Fermi surface in the shape-memory alloy Ni0.62Al0.38

The Fermi surface topology of the shape-memory alloy Ni0.62Al0.38 has been determined using Compton scattering. A large area of this Fermi surface can be made to nest with other areas by translation through a vector of approximately 0.18[1,1,0](2pi/a), which corresponds to the wave vector associated with martensitic precursor phenomena such as phonon softening and diffuse streaking in electron diffraction patterns. This observation is compelling evidence that these phenomena are driven by the enhanced electron-lattice coupling due to the Fermi surface nesting.     

Extremes of nuclear structure

With the advent of medium and large gamma detector arrays, it is now possible to look at nuclear structure at high rotational forces. The role of pairing correlations and their eventual breakdown, along with the shell effects have showed us the interesting physics for nuclei at high spins — superdeformation, shape co-existence, yrast traps, alignments and their dramatic effects on nuclear structure and so on. Nuclear structure studies have recently become even more exciting, due to efforts and possibilities to reach nuclei far off from the stability valley. Coupling of gamma ray arrays with ‘filters’, like neutron wall, charged particle detector array, gamma ray total energy and multiplicity castles, conversion electron spectrometers etc gives a great handle to study nuclei produced online with ‘low’ cross-sections. Recently we studied, nuclei in mass region 80 using an array of 8 germanium detectors in conjunction with the recoil mass analyser, HIRA at the Nuclear Science Centre and, most unexpectedly came across the phenomenon of identical bands, with two quasi-particle difference. The discovery of magnetic rotation is another highlight. Our study of light In nucleus, 107In brought us face to face with the ‘dipole’ bands. I plan to discuss some of these aspects. There is also an immensely important development — that of the ‘radioactive ion beams’. The availability of RIB, will probably very dramatically influence our ‘conventional’ concept of nuclear structure. The exotic shapes of these exotic nuclei and some of their expected properties will also be touched upon.     

Preparation, structural analysis and dielectric properties of Bi x La1−x FeO3 perovskite

Rare earth element substituted bismuth ferrites (BiFeO₃) are of enormous importance as magnetoelectric materials. The polycrystalline samples of Bi _x La_1−x FeO₃ (x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) were prepared by solid-state reaction using standard ceramic method. The single-phase formation of these compounds was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. The samples with x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 are found to be orthorhombic while the sample with x=0.8 is triclinic. The dielectric constant (ε′) and dissipation factor (tan δ) were measured in the frequency range 100 Hz to 1 MHz at room temperature and as a function of temperature at certain fixed frequencies (1 kHz, 10 kHz, 100 kHz, 1 MHz). All the samples showed dielectric dispersion. The dielectric constant with temperature shows a broad peak; the peak temperature shifts with frequency which reflects the relaxor-type behavior. The peak above 600 K in the measured temperature range corresponds to antiferromagnetic ordering temperature (Néel temperature). The broadness of the peak changes with composition. The ac conductivity as well as ε′ are found to be maximum for the sample x=0.2 at room temperature.     

Multiaxial ratcheting with advanced kinematic and directional distortional hardening rules

Ratcheting is defined as the accumulation of plastic strains during cyclic plastic loading. Modeling this behavior is extremely difficult because any small error in plastic strain during a single cycle will add to become a large error after many cycles. As is typical with metals, most constitutive models use the associative flow rule which states that the plastic strain increment is in the direction normal to the yield surface. When the associative flow rule is used, it is important to have the shape of the yield surface modeled accurately because small deviations in shape may result in large deviations in the normal to the yield surface and thus the plastic strain increment in multi-axial loading. During cyclic plastic loading these deviations will accumulate and may result in large errors to predicted strains.This paper compares the bi-axial ratcheting simulations of two classes of plasticity models. The first class of models consists of the classical von Mises model with various kinematic hardening (KH) rules. The second class of models introduce directional distortional hardening (DDH) in addition to these various kinematic hardening rules. Directional distortion describes the formation of a region of high curvature on the yield surface approximately in the direction of loading and a region of flattened curvature approximately in the opposite direction. Results indicate that the addition of directional distortional hardening improves ratcheting predictions, particularly under biaxial stress controlled loading, over kinematic hardening alone.