Nanostructured ZnO synthesis and its application for effective disinfection of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> micro organism in water

Nanostructured ZnO photo catalyst was synthesized by precipitation method and was applied in conjunction with 355 nm pulsed laser irradiation for effective disinfection of the water contaminated with Escherichia coli micro organism. The morphological studies using X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) were carried out on the synthesized nano-ZnO, and these studies indicated that the catalyst has the crystallographic structure of hexagonal wurtzite and has the grain size of around 20–40 nm. The bacteria decay rate constants were estimated for nine different concentrations of nano-ZnO in infected water. The parametric optimization was carried out, and we could reach the decay rate constant as high as 0.24 min_,⁻¹ which is higher than micro-structured ZnO and the familiar TiO₂ photo catalysts under similar experimental condition.     

An over-expression system for characterizing <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ppt1</Emphasis> function in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila</Emphasis>

Background  

The infantile onset form of Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (INCL) is the earliest and most severe form of NCL, with neurological symptoms that reflect massive neurodegeneration in the CNS and retina. INCL is due to recessively inherited mutations at the CLN1 locus. This locus encodes the evolutionarily conserved enzyme palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1), indicating an essential role for protein palmitoylation in normal neuronal function.     

Improvement of <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-ZnO/<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Si photodiodes by embedding of silver nanoparticles

The photo-current of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction photodiodes was improved by embedding Ag nanoparticles in the interface (ZnO/nano-P_Ag/p-Si), and the ratio between photo- and dark-current increased by about three orders more than that of a n-ZnO/p-Si specimen. The improvement in the photo-current resulted from the light scattering of embedded Ag nanoparticles. The I–V curve of n-ZnO/p-Si degraded after thermal treatment (A-ZnO/p-Si) because the silicon robbed the oxygen from ZnO to form amorphous silicon dioxide and left an oxygen vacancy. Notably, the properties of ZnO/nano-P_Ag/p-Si were better in the time-dependent photoresponse under 10 V bias. Ag nanoparticles (15–20 nm) scattered the UV light randomly and increased the probability for the absorption of ZnO to enhance the properties of the photodiode.     

Reconstruction of <Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis>) gravity according to holographic dark energy

We develop the reconstruction of the f(T) gravity model according to the holographic dark energy. T is the torsion scalar and its initial value from the teleparallel gravity is imposed for fitting the initial value of the function f(T). The evolutionary nature of the holographic dark energy is essentially based on two important parameters, Ω _V  and ω _V , respectively, the dimensionless dark energy and the parameter of the equation of state, related to the holographic dark energy. The result shows a polynomial function for f(T), and we also observe that, when Ω _V →1 at the future time, ω _V may cross −1 for some values of the input parameter b. Another interesting aspect of the obtained model is that it provides a unification scenario of dark matter with dark energy.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>) Cosmology from <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-theory

From a macroscopic theory of the quantum vacuum in terms of conserved relativistic charges (generically denoted by q ^(a) with label a), we have obtained, in the low-energy limit, a particular type of f(R) model relevant to cosmology. The macroscopic quantum-vacuum theory allows us to distinguish between different phenomenological f(R) models on physical grounds. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Mouse brain expression patterns of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spg7</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Afg3l1</Emphasis>, and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Afg3l2</Emphasis> transcripts,encoding for the mitochondrial <Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis>-AAA protease

Background  

The m-AAA (ATPases Associated with a variety of cellular Activities) is an evolutionary conserved metalloprotease complex located in the internal mitochondrial membrane. In the mouse, it is a hetero-oligomer variably formed by the Spg7, Afg3l1, and Afg3l2 encoded proteins, or a homo-oligomer formed by either Afg3l1 or Afg3l2. In humans, AFG3L2 and SPG7 genes are conserved, whereas AFG3L1 became a pseudogene. Both AFG3L2 and SPG7 are involved in a neurodegenerative disease, namely the autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia SCA28 and a recessive form of spastic paraplegia, respectively.     

Contribution of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>1 process to the astrophysical <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>-factor of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Superscript>2</Superscript>H radiative capture

The experimental data on the astrophysical S-factor of the p ²H radiative capture are well described for energies from 1 keV to 10 MeV using the potential cluster model and the Young schemes of orbital cluster state classification with allowance for the E1 and M1 transitions.     

Dielectron widths of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>-, <Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis>-vector bottomonium states

The dielectron widths of Y(nS)(n = 1, …, 7) and vector decay constants are calculated using the relativistic string Hamiltonian with a universal interaction. For Y(nS) (n = 1, 2, 3) the dielectron widths and their ratios are obtained in full agreement with the latest CLEO data. For Y(10580) and Y(11020) a good agreement with experiment is reached only if the 4S-3D mixing (with a mixing angle θ = 27°± 4°) and 6S-5D mixing (with θ = 40°±5°) are taken into account. The possibility to observe higher “mixed D-wave” resonances, $ \tilde \Upsilon $ \tilde \Upsilon (n ³ D ₁) with n = 3, 4, 5 is discussed. In particular, $ \tilde \Upsilon $ \tilde \Upsilon (≈11120), originating from the pure 5³ D ₁ state, can acquire a rather large dielectron width, ∼130 eV, so that this resonance may become manifest in the e ⁺ e ⁻ experiments. On the contrary, the widths of pure D-wave states are very small, Γ _ee (n ³ D ₁)≤ 2 eV.     

Reconstruction of some cosmological models in <Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>,<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis>) cosmology

In this paper, we reconstruct cosmological models in the framework of f(R,T) gravity, where R is the Ricci scalar and T is the trace of the stress-energy tensor. We show that the dust fluid reproduces ΛCDM, phantom–non-phantom era and phantom cosmology. Further, we reconstruct different cosmological models, including the Chaplygin gas, and scalar field with some specific forms of f(R,T). Our numerical simulation for the Hubble parameter shows good agreement with the BAO observational data for low redshifts, z<2.     

Cosmological Models with Variable <Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis> in <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis>-Field Cosmology

Cosmological models with variable G in C-field cosmology for barotropic fluid distribution in FRW space-time are investigated. To get the deterministic model of the universe, we have assumed that G=R ⁿ where R is the scale factor and n the constant. To obtain the results in terms of cosmic time t, we have assumed n=−1. We find that for n=−1, Creation field (C) and spatial volume increase with time, G and ρ (matter density) decreases with time, the model represent accelerating universe. Thus inflationary scenario exists in the model. The model is also free from horizon. The results so obtained match with the astronomical observations.     

Exact Results for Topological Strings on Resolved <Emphasis Type="Italic">Y</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic"> p</Emphasis>,<Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis></Superscript> Singularities

We obtain exact results in α′ for open and closed A-model topological string amplitudes on a large class of toric Calabi-Yau threefolds by using their correspondence with five dimensional gauge theories. The toric Calabi-Yaus that we analyze are obtained as minimal resolution of cones over Y ^p,q manifolds and give rise via M-theory compactification to SU(p) gauge theories on . As an application we present a detailed study of the local case and compute open and closed genus zero Gromov-Witten invariants of the orbifold. We also display the modular structure of the topological wave function and give predictions for higher genus amplitudes. The mirror curve in this case is the spectral curve of the relativistic A ₁ Toda chain. Our results also indicate the existence of a wider class of relativistic integrable systems associated to generic Y ^p,q geometries.     

Quantitative measurement of dynamic flow induced by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetrahymena pyriformis</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">T. pyriformis</Emphasis>) using micro-particle image velocimetry

Abstract  

In-depth quantitative visualization studies are required to understand the flow induced by swimming micro-organisms and find potential applications. The present study visualized the flow induced by Tetrahymena pyriformis of size 45–50 μm, which swam freely and via stimulation by galvanotaxis in a PDMS micro-chamber using a micro-particle image velocimetry system. The results showed that the maximum velocity of the induced flow was around 430 μm/s for free swimming and 700 μm/s for galvanotactic-controlled swimming. Due to the applied electric field, the electro-osmosis flow led to increased velocity of roughly 135 μm/s at 3 V/mm. The increased velocity stems from the increased motility of the cell under the electric field. Therefore, it was demonstrated that galvanotaxis can control the swimming direction and increase the induced velocity.     

Pion mass dependence of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">l</Emphasis>3</Subscript> semileptonic scalar form factor within finite volume

We calculate the scalar semileptonic kaon decay in finite volume at the momentum transfer t _m =(m _K −m _π )², using chiral perturbation theory. At first we obtain the hadronic matrix element to be calculated in finite volume. We then evaluate the finite size effects for two volumes with L=1.83 fm and L=2.73 fm and find that the difference between the finite volume corrections of the two volumes are larger than the difference as quoted in Boyle et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 100:141601, 2008). It appears then that the pion masses used for the scalar form factor in ChPT are large which result in large finite volume corrections. If appropriate values for pion mass are used, we believe that the finite size effects estimated in this paper can be useful for lattice data to extrapolate at large lattice size.     

Photoionization of Xe near 5<Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis> threshold: II. 5<Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis>- main line and satellites

Photon-induced fluorescence spectroscopy was applied to measure absolute fluorescence emission cross sections from the main 5s- and first satellite levels of XeII upon photoionization from XeI in a broad exciting-photon energy range (23–28 eV) with 20 meV bandwidth of the exciting radiation and in a narrow energy range (23.25–23.50 eV) with a bandwidth of 1.8 meV. The average fluorescence resolution amounted to 0.07 nm. Fluorescence emission cross sections were computed with taking into account many-electron correlations and doubly excited states. Computed cross sections, especially in integrated form, agree well with the results of experiment. Many features observed in the high resolution experiment are identified to originate from nf-Rydberg series.     

Polynomial Realization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis>l<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis></Subscript>(2) and Fusion Rules at Exceptional Values of <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>

Representations of the sℓ_q(2) algebra are constructed in the space of polynomials of real (complex) variable for q^N=1. The spin addition rule based on eigenvalues of Casimir operator is illustrated on few simplest cases and conjecture for general case is formulated.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">lin-12</Emphasis> Notch functions in the adult nervous system of <Emphasis Type="Italic">C. elegans</Emphasis>

Background  

Notch signaling pathways are conserved across species and traditionally have been implicated in cell fate determination during embryonic development. Notch signaling components are also expressed postdevelopmentally in the brains of adult mice and Drosophila. Recent studies suggest that Notch signaling may play a role in the physiological, rather than developmental, regulation of neurons. Here, we investigate a new non-developmental role for Caenorhabditis elegans lin-12 Notch signaling in neurons regulating the spontaneous reversal rate during locomotion.     

Synthesis of silver and lithium sub-micro- and nanoparticles coated with derivatives of <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">tert</Emphasis>-butyl thiacalix[4]arenes

The effect of solvent nature and temperature on the formation of 3D-dimensional SAM (self-assembled monolayers on nanoparticles) based on synthetically available stereoisomers of p-tert-butyl thiacalix[4]arenes tetrasubstituted at the lower rim by pyrrolidide and octylamide groups (cone, partial cone, and 1,3-alternate) with lithium and silver nanoparticles were determined by dynamic light-scattering and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the variation of the temperature of the system and the nature of the solvent leads to the formation discrete or extended particles (CH₂Cl₂) (98–110 nm), nanostructures (CH₃CN) (120–295 nm) or three-dimensional SAM (DMF) (1–13 nm; 46–622 nm).     

On the <Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis> interaction at low energies

The Kd reactions are considered in the impulse approximationwithNN final-state interactions (FSI) taken into account. Realistic parameters for the KN phase shifts are used. The “quasi-elastic” energy region, in which the elementary KN interaction is predominantly elastic, is considered. The theoretical predictions are compared with the data on the K ⁺ d → K ⁺ pn, K ⁺ d → K⁰ pp, K ⁺ d → K ⁺ d, and K ⁺ d total cross sections. The NN FSI effect in the reaction K ⁺ d → K ⁺ pn has been found to be large. The predictions for the Kd cross sections are also given for slow kaons, produced from ϕ(1020) decays, as the functions of the isoscalar KN scattering length a ₀. These predictions can be used to extract the value of a ₀ from the data. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Self-trapping of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis> charge transfer exciton in bulk NiO evidenced by X-ray excited luminescence

Soft X-ray (XUV) excitation did make it possible to avoid the predominant role of the surface effects in luminescence of NiO and revealed a bulk luminescence with a puzzling well isolated doublet of very narrow lines with close energies near 3.3 eV which is assigned to recombination transitions in self-trapped d-d charge transfer (CT) excitons formed by coupled Jahn-Teller Ni⁺ and Ni³⁺ centers. The conclusion is supported both by a comparative analysis of the CT luminescence spectra for NiO and solid solutions Ni _x Zn_{1 − x} O, and by a comprehensive cluster model assignment of different p-d and d-d CT transitions, their relaxation channels. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first observation of the luminescence due to self-trapped d-d CT excitons.     

Non-vacuum Bianchi types <Emphasis Type="Italic">I</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">V</Emphasis> in <Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>) gravity

In a recent paper (Sharif and Shamir in Class. Quantum Grav. 26:235020, 2009), we have studied the vacuum solutions of Bianchi types I and V spacetimes in the framework of metric f (R) gravity. Here we extend this work to perfect fluid solutions. For this purpose, we take stiff matter to find energy density and pressure of the universe. In particular, we find two exact solutions in each case which correspond to two models of the universe. The first solution gives a singular model while the second solution provides a non-singular model. The physical behavior of these models has been discussed using some physical quantities. Also, the function of the Ricci scalar is evaluated.