Derivatographic studies on dehydration of salt hydrates and their deuterium oxide analogues. VI

Non-isothermal studies of the dehydration of double salt hydrates of the type K₂AB₄·M(II)SO₄·6H₂O where AB₄BeF^2?₄ or SeO^2?₄ and M(II)Mg(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) or Zn(II) and their D₂O analogues were carried out. Thermal parameters like activation energy, order of reaction, enthalpy change, etc., for each step of dehydration were evaluated from the analysis of TG, DTA and DTG curves. These parameters were compared with the corresponding double sulphate, i.e., K₂SO₄·M(II)SO₄·6H₂O and their D₂O analogues. The role of divalent cation on the thermal properties of dehydration of the salt hydrates and also the effect on the thermal properties due to deuteration were discussed. The order of reaction was always found unity. The values of ΔH were within ～11-～19 kcal mol^?1     

Detection and analysis of radio pulses from extensive air showers

Radio pulses from extensive air showers (EAS) at 30, 44, and 60 MHz frequencies have been studied, using wide band broad-side arrays of half-wave dipole antenna systems. The experimental results support the theoretical prediction that the field strength of radio emission depends on the shower size. An asymmetry has been noticed in the pulse height distributions of radio pulses detected by North-South and East-West directed arrays. These observations are in agreement with the theory that the charge separation mechanism is predominant in generating radio pulses from EAS and radio emission is polarised in the East-West direction. Experimental data are compared with those of earlier workers.     

Biocompatibility of gold nanoparticles and their endocytotic fate inside the cellular compartment: a microscopic overview

Macrophages are one of the principal immune effector cells that play essential roles as secretory, phagocytic, and antigen-presenting cells in the immune system. In this study, we address the issue of cytotoxicity and immunogenic effects of gold nanoparticles on RAW264.7 macrophage cells. The cytotoxicity of gold nanoparticles has been correlated with a detailed study of their endocytotic uptake using various microscopy tools such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), confocal-laser-scanning microscopy (CFLSM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Our findings suggest that Au(0) nanoparticles are not cytotoxic, reduce the production of reactive oxygen and nitrite species, and do not elicit secretion of proinflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL1-beta, making them suitable candidates for nanomedicine. AFM measurements suggest that gold nanoparticles are internalized inside the cell via a mechanism involving pinocytosis, while CFLSM and TEM studies indicate their internalization in lysosomal bodies arranged in perinuclear fashion. Our studies thus underline the noncytotoxic, nonimmunogenic, and biocompatible properties of gold nanoparticles with the potential for application in nanoimmunology, nanomedicine, and nanobiotechnology.     

Structure of129Ba from the decay of129La

The structure of¹²⁹Ba is investigated through the beta decay of¹²⁹La, whose half-life is measured to be 11.6±0.2 m. The decay properties are studied by means of beta, gamma and conversion electron spectroscopy techniques. Many transitions are observed and a level scheme of¹²⁹Ba with deduced¹²⁹Ba values is proposed. The total decay energy of¹²⁹Ba is measured to be 3.72±0.05 MeV, which is compared with predictions of mass formulae. Low-lying structure of¹²⁹Ba is discussed in terms of collective models.     

Density excitations of a harmonically trapped ideal gas

The dynamic structure factor S(q, ω) of a harmonically trapped Bose gas has been calculated well above the Bose-Einstein condensation temperature by treating the gas cloud as a canonical ensemble of non-interacting classical particles. The static structure factor is found to vanish s8 q ² in the long-wavelength limit. We also incorporate a relaxation mechanism phenomenologically by including a stochastic friction force to study S(q, ω). A significant temperature dependence of the density fluctuation spectra is found. The Debye-Waller factor has been calculated for the trapped thermal cloud as a function of q and the number N of atoms. A substantial difference is found for small- and large-N clouds.     

Improved Protocols of Secure Quantum Communication Using W States

Recently, Hwang et al. (Eur. Phys. J. D 61:785, 2011) and Yuan et al. (Int. J. Theor. Phys. 50:2403, 2011) have proposed two efficient protocols of secure quantum communication using 3-qubit and 4-qubit symmetric W state respectively. These two dense coding based protocols are generalized and their efficiencies are considerably improved. Simple bounds on the qubit efficiency of deterministic secure quantum communication (DSQC) and quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) protocols are obtained and it is shown that dense coding is not essential for designing of maximally efficient DSQC and QSDC protocols. This fact is used to design maximally efficient protocols of DSQC and QSDC using 3-qubit and 4-qubit W states.     

The Pseudo-differential Operator hμ,a on Hankel Invariant Spaces

Using Hankel transform the symbol 'a' is defined and the pseudo-differential operator (p.d.o.) h_μ,a associated with the Bessel operator d ²/dx ² + (1 ? 4μ ²)/4x ² in terms of this symbol is defined. It is shown that the operator h_μ,a is a continuous linear map of a Hankel invariant space into itself. A special pseudo-differential operator called the Hankel potential is defined and some of its properties are investigated.