Performance of different normal dispersion fibers to generate triangular optical pulses

Optical and Quantum Electronics - The nonlinear scattering of two non-collinear Gaussian pulses with different central frequencies and lengths, incident on the periodic stacks of semiconductor...     

Theoretical modeling of Cu(II), Sr(II), Gd(III), U(VI) sorption from nuclear effluent on PHA resin with experimental validation

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - The sorption capacity of an in–house synthesized novel resin Polyhydraxamic acid(PHA) towards Cu(II), Sr(II), Gd(III), U(VI) ions was...     

Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence – A tool for interdisciplinary research

Trace elements have been at the focus of attention for decades with considerable emphasis on their role in biology and biomedical sciences, environmental sciences, geology, archaeology and material sciences. They comprise a large number of elements, some having essential physiological functions, whereas others are toxic, mutagenic or carcinogenic. A few even have antiproliferative and anticarciniogenic properties. The advent of various instrumental techniques and sophisticated instrumentations has made their detection to very low limits possible, making this a very important multidisciplinary study. Among these techniques the energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) technique is being widely used for trace element detection in various fields of science. Keeping the importance of trace elements in mind, the Kolkata centre of UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research initiated several research schemes in different fields of trace element research using various techniques, EDXRF being one of the main techniques. A Xenemetrix (erstwhile Jordan Valley) EX 3600 EDXRF spectrometer is being used to carry out the research. This presentation aims to highlight some of the very recent applications of EDXRF in the study of the role of trace elements in pre-cancerous tissues, medicinal plants and also in some environmental studies.     

Poly-hydroxamic acid (PHA) matrix for gadolinium pre-concentration and removal

A novel hydrophilic, three dimensionally cross-linked, aliphatic backbones with pendant hydroxamic acid (HA) group as functional moiety has been synthesized and utilized targeting removal of gadolinium [Gd(III)] from laboratory waste aqueous effluent. To understand the nature of sorption, gadolinium solution of various concentrations viz., 20, 10, 5.0, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.1 ppm has been contacted with a dose rate of 1 g/100 mL for 2 h. In this study, ICP-AES has been used for determination of concentration (ppm) of gadolinium in feed, filtrate and elute. EDXRF study also ensures the presence of gadolinium in the respective medium. Loaded gadolinium matrix was eluted with 1 N HCl for determining the elution factor (0.98).     

On the multistability of spatial solitons in waveguide and optical lattice

Properties of spatial solitons in channel waveguide and optical lattice are studied with the help of projection operator approach. The nonlinearity is assumed to be of cubic-quintic type. The stability consideration of the fixed point solutions of the ODE’s governing the evolution of soliton parameters indicates to the existence of more than one branch of soliton, giving rise to multistability. Explicit numerical analysis gives more information than the standard Vakhitov–Kolokov criterion. A systematic numerical simulation of the soliton profile gives detailed information about the nature of trapping and structure of the different branches of the pulse. It is observed that even under different launching conditions the solitons do not radiate but get trapped.     

Nonparaxial effects on the propagation and scattering of a polarized optical pulse

Propagation characteristics of a polarized optical solitary pulse are analyzed by taking into account the effect of nonparaxiality and mutual interaction. To start with, a pair of generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equations is deduced through an operator approach. Stationary solutions of such a system are then analyzed numerically through a boundary value problem in two stages, with and without the nonparaxial effect. In the second stage, the propagating form of the corresponding spatial soliton is studied by an extended split step algorithm ETDRK. The initial profile is considered to be both a one- and two-soliton solution, to visualize the event of scattering and fusion. From this data, we have computed the intensity, root mean square spectral width, and chirp of a single soliton as it propagates. In the case of the two-soliton solution, we observe that for source parameter values, the fusion is more favored than scattering. It is observed that nonparaxiality and the interaction between A(x) and A(y) tends to destroy the periodic behaviors of these parameters. Lastly, we have investigated the modulational instability of the system as function of frequency detuning and nonparaxiality. The form of the gain is discussed as a function of nonparaxiality.     

Efficient dispersion tailoring by designing alternately arranged dispersion compensating fibers and fiber amplifiers to create self-similar parabolic pulses

The parabolic similariton pulse formation by alternate arrangements of passive and active dispersion compensating fibers (DCFs) is presented here. These combinations of passive and active DCFs with constant core radii and constant nonlinearities are suggested as equivalent profiles of a dispersion tailored fiber amplifier in normal dispersion regime. The dispersion tailored fibers, usually known as dispersion decreasing fibers (DDFs) in normal dispersion regime, are capable of producing linearly chirped parabolic self-similar pulses. The DDF is designed and optimized with proper choice of fiber parameters so that considerable variation of nonlinearity can be achieved, which in turn enhances the effective gain coefficient of the fiber. Inclusion of this nonlinear variation along the DDF amplifier length leads to obtain the simulated output pulses with very small misfit parameters with respect to perfect parabolic pulse at sufficiently reduced optimum length. At the same time to avoid the fabrication difficulties of the DDF, the alternately arranged passive and active DCFs are suggested as suitable alternatives of the DDF. The performances of the cascaded systems for generation of self-similar parabolic pulses are compared with that of the DDF amplifier as well as combined systems consisting of DCFs with equal gain. The results show that the proposed alternately arranged cascaded system with less pumping requirements, are efficient enough to produce similar parabolic pulses as compared to the previously designed DDF, even when considerable amount of splice loss at each joint is included.     

Simultaneous occurrence of energy transfer and photoinduced electron transfer in interactions of hen egg white lysozyme with 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide

The carcinogenic drug 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO) has been found to bind with the protein hen egg white lysozyme as evident from fluorescence quenching experiments. The binding constant and stoichiometry have been determined. The values of the thermodynamic parameters indicate that the interaction is an enthalpy-driven spontaneous phenomenon. The experimental value of change in free energy is similar to that obtained from the docking study. The far UV circular dichroism spectra show some changes in the secondary structure of protein. The high value of bimolecular quenching constant leads to the possibility of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). Along with FRET, the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from tryptophan residue of protein to 4NQO has also been evident from the transient absorption spectra obtained in laser flash photolysis experiments. The simultaneous occurrence of FRET and PET is the key factor for quenching of intrinsic fluorescence of the protein as it binds with the drug.     

Chemoselective thioacetalisation and transthioacetalisation of carbonyl compounds catalysed by tetrabutylammonium tribromide (TBATB)

Thioacetals and thioketals of various aldehydes and ketones were obtained directly from carbonyl compounds or by a transthioacetalisation process from cyclic O,O-acetals in the presence of dithiols and a catalytic amount of tetrabutylammonium tribromide (TBATB). Chemoselective thioacetalisation of aromatic aldehydes containing an electron-donating group in the presence of an aldehyde containing an electron-withdrawing group, aldehydes in the presence of ketones, aliphatic cyclic ketones in the presence of aromatic ketones and less hindered ketones in the presence of more hindered ketones have been achieved. A cyclic acetal containing an electron-donating group has been chemoselectively transthioacetalised in the presence of an acetal having an electron-withdrawing substituent. These selectivities are due to the intrinsic reactivity of the substrate themselves and are independent of the catalyst and reaction conditions. Shorter reaction times, mild reaction conditions, stability of acid sensitive protecting groups, high efficiencies, facile isolation of the desired products and the catalytic nature of the reagent are the attractive features of the present method.