Pseudopotential in the study of superconducting state parameters of metallic glasses

A well recognized model potential is used to study the superconducting state parameters (SSP) viz. electron–phonon coupling strength λ, Coulomb pseudopotential μ¹, transition temperature T_C, isotope effect exponent α and effective interaction strength N₀V of some binary metallic glasses of simple, non-simple and transition metals. Five local field correction functions proposed by Hartree (H), Taylor (T), Ichimaru–Utsumi (IU), Farid et al. (F) and Sarkar et al. (S) are used in the present investigation to study the screening influence on the aforesaid properties. Instead of using Vegard’s law, pseudo-alloy-atom model (PAA) in the present investigation is proposed and found successful. The present results of the SSP are found in qualitative agreement with other such earlier reported data wherever exist, which confirms the superconducting phase in the metallic glasses.     

Studies on ion association. Calorimetric study of the formation of monoazido complexes of Ni(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II)

From rehydration experiments the hydrates Ba(OH)₂ · 8 H₂O, Ba(OH)₂ · 3 H₂O β-Ba(OH)₂, · 1 H₂O, and γ-Ba(OH)₂ · 1 H₂O have been found in the system Ba(OH)₂-H₂O. Thermoanalytical measurements (DTA, TG, DTG, high temperature X-ray diffraction, high temperature Raman scattering) on these hydrates are reported. Thermal decomposition of Ba(OH)₂ · 8 H₂O and Ba(OH)₂ · 3 H₂O always results in the formation of β-Ba(OH)₂ · 1 H₂O, the stable form of the monohydrates at ambient temperature. Dehydration of β- and γ-Ba(OH)₂ · 1 H₂O, both of which form anhydrous β-Ba(OH)₂ as the first product of decomposition, starts at 105 and 115°C, respectively. Single crystals of Ba(OH)₂ · 3 H₂O and γ-Ba(OH)₂ · 1 H₂O were prepared from Ba(OH)₂ · 8 H₂O meltings and from ethanolic solutions of Ba(OH)₂ , respectively. The crystal data are: Ba(OH)₂ · 3 H₂O (orthorhombic, Pnma): a = 764.0(2), b = 1140,3(5), c = 596.5(1) pm, Z = 4; γ-Ba(OH)₂ · 1 H₂O (monoclinic, P2₁/m or P2₁): a = 704.9(2), b = 418.4(1), c = 633.3(1) pm, β = 111.45(2)°, Z = 2.     

Thermodynamics of 2,2′-dipyridinium ion and its iron(II) complex in methanol—water mixture at 25°C

The enthalpies of formation of the 2,2′-dipyridinium ion and the 2,2′-dipyridyl-iron(II) complex in methanol—water media at 25°C have been determined by caloriumetry. The entropy-changes have been calculated combining the enthalpy values with the corresponding free-energy changes previously reported. The role of solvents on the thermodynamic parameters has been discussed.     

Thermodynamics of 1,10-phenanthrolinium ion and ferrous-1,10 phenanthroline complex in dioxane—water and ethanol—water at 25°c

Enthalpies of formation of 1,10-phenanthrolinium ion and ferrous-1,10-phenanthroline (tris) complex in dioxane—water and ethanol—water media at 25°C have been determined by calorimetry. Results are discussed in the light of ion—solvent and solvent—solvent interactions.     

Decoupling the effects of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties at the neuron–nanofibre interface

Peptide-based nanofibres are a versatile class of tunable materials with applications in optoelectronics, sensing and tissue engineering. However, the understanding of the nanofibre surface at the molecular level is limited. Here, a series of homologous dilysine–diphenylalnine tetrapeptides were synthesised and shown to self-assemble into water-soluble nanofibres. Despite the peptide nanofibres displaying similar morphologies, as evaluated through atomic force microscopy and neutron scattering, significant differences were observed in their ability to support sensitive primary neurons. Contact angle and labelling experiments revealed that differential presentation of lysine moieties at the fibre surface did not affect neuronal viability; however the mobility of phenylalanine residues at the nanofibre surface, elucidated through solid- and gel-state NMR studies and confirmed through tethered bilayer lipid membrane experiments, was found to be the determining factor in governing the suitability of a given peptide as a scaffold for primary neurons. This work offers new insights into characterising and controlling the nanofibre surface at the molecular level.

The mobility of hydrophobic moieties at a peptide nanofibre surface determines its suitability as a scaffold for sensitive primary cells.     

The lift force on a charged sphere that translates and rotates in an electrolyte

The distortion of the charge cloud around a uniformly charged, dielectric, rigid sphere that translates and rotates in an unbounded binary, symmetric electrolyte at zero Reynolds number is examined. The zeta potential of the particle ζ is assumed small relative to the thermal voltage scale. It is assumed that the equilibrium structure of the cloud is slightly distorted, which requires that the Péclet numbers characterizing distortion due to particle translation, , and rotation, , are small compared to unity. Here, a is radius of the particle; D is the ionic diffusion coefficient; and , where U and Ω are the rectilinear and angular velocities of the particle, respectively. Perturbation expansions for small and are employed to calculate the nonequilibrium structure of the cloud, whence the force and torque on the particle are determined. In particular, we predict that the sphere experiences a force orthogonal to its directions of translation and rotation. This “lift” force arises from the nonlinear distortion of the cloud under the combined actions of particle translation and rotation. The lift force is given by . Here, ε is the permittivity of the electrolyte; is the Debye length; and is a negative function that decreases in magnitude with increasing . The lift force implies that an unconstrained particle would follow a curved path; an electrokinetic analog of the inertial Magnus effect. Finally, the implication of the lift force on cross‐streamline migration of an electrophoretic particle in shear flow is discussed.     

Robust sparse phase retrieval made easy

In this short note we propose a simple two-stage sparse phase retrieval strategy that uses a near-optimal number of measurements, and is both computationally efficient and robust to measurement noise. In addition, the proposed strategy is fairly general, allowing for a large number of new measurement constructions and recovery algorithms to be designed with minimal effort.     

A Robust numerical approach for singularly perturbed time delayed parabolic partial differential equations

We consider the numerical solution of a initial boundary value problem with a time delay. The problem under consideration is singularly perturbed from the mathematical perspective. Assuming that the coefficients of the differential equation are smooth, we construct and analyze the finite difference method whose solutions converge pointwise at all points of the domain independently of the singular perturbation parameter. The method permits its extension to the case of adaptive meshes, which may be used to improve the solution. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. The convergence obtained in practice satisfies the theoretical predictions.     

Protein Allostery at Atomic Resolution

Protein allostery is a phenomenon involving the long range coupling between two distal sites in a protein. In order to elucidate allostery at atomic resoluion on the ligand-binding WW domain of the enzyme Pin1, multistate structures were calculated from exact nuclear Overhauser effect (eNOE). In its free form, the protein undergoes a microsecond exchange between two states, one of which is predisposed to interact with its parent catalytic domain. In presence of the positive allosteric ligand, the equilibrium between the two states is shifted towards domain–domain interaction, suggesting a population shift model. In contrast, the allostery-suppressing ligand decouples the side-chain arrangement at the inter-domain interface thereby reducing the inter-domain interaction. As such, this mechanism is an example of dynamic allostery. The presented distinct modes of action highlight the power of the interplay between dynamics and function in the biological activity of proteins.