Effect of Evolutionary Adaption on Xylosidase Activity in Thermotolerant Yeast Isolates <Emphasis Type="Italic">Kluyveromyces marxianus</Emphasis> NIRE-K1 and NIRE-K3

Efficient use of xylose along with glucose is necessary for the economic production of lignocellulosic based biofuels. Xylose transporters play an important role in the microorganisms for efficient utilization of xylose. In the present study, a novel method has been developed for a rapid assay of xylose transport activity in the xylose-utilizing isolates and other known yeasts. An assay was conducted to compare the activity of β-xylosidase using p-nitrophenyl-β-d-xylopyranoside (pNPX) in the intact, intracellular, and extracellular yeasts cells showing xylose transporter. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (MTCC 170) showed no xylosidase activity, while little growth was observed in the xylose-containing medium. Although other yeasts, i.e., Kluyveromyces marxianus NIRE-K1 (MTCC 5933), K. marxianus NIRE-K3 (MTCC 5934), and Candida tropicalis (MTCC 230), showed xylosidase activity in intact, intracellular, and extracellular culture. The xylosidase activity in intact cell was higher than that of extracellular and intracellular activity in all the yeast cells. The enzyme activity was higher in case of K. marxianus NIRE-K1 and K. marxianus NIRE-K3 rather than the C. tropicalis. Further, better xylosidase activity was observed in adapted K. marxianus cells which were 2.79–28.46 % higher than that of native (non-adapted) strains, which indicates the significant improvement in xylose transportation.     

Investigation of complex impedance and modulus properties of Nd doped 0.5BiFeO3-0.5PbTiO3 multiferroic Composites

0.5BiNd _x Fe_1?x O ₃ ? 0.5PbTiO₃ (BN _x F_1?x ? PT)(x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) composites were successfully synthesized by a solid state reaction technique. At room temperature, X-ray diffraction shows tetragonal structure for all concentrations of Nd doped 0.5BiFeO₃ ? 0.5PbTiO₃ composites. The nature of Nyquist plot confirms the presence of bulk effects only for BN _x F_1?x ? PT (x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) composites. The bulk resistance is found to decreases with the increasing temperature as well as Nd concentration and exhibits a typical negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTCR) behavior. Both the complex impedance and modulus studies have suggested the presence of non-Debye type of relaxation in the composites. Conductivity spectra reveal the presence of hopping mechanism in the electrical transport process of the composites. The activation energy calculated from impedance plot of the composite decreases with increasing Nd _x concentration and found to be 0.89, 0.76, 0.71 and 0.70 eV for x=0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 respectively.     

Role of the Surfactant Structure in the Behavior of Hydrophobic Ionic Liquids within Aqueous Micellar Solutions

The behavior of an ionic liquid (IL) within aqueous micellar solutions is governed by its unique property to act as both an electrolyte and a cosolvent. The influence of the surfactant structure on the properties of aqueous micellar solutions of zwitterionic SB‐12, nonionic Brij‐35 and TX‐100, and anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in the presence of the “hydrophobic” IL 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF₆]) is assessed along with the possibility of forming oil‐in‐water microemulsions in which the IL acts as the “oil” phase. The solubility of [bmim][PF₆] within aqueous micellar solutions increases with increasing surfactant concentration. In contrast to anionic SDS, the zwitterionic and nonionic surfactant solutions solubilize more [bmim][PF₆] at higher concentrations and the average aggregate size remains almost unchanged. The formation of IL‐in‐water microemulsions when the concentration of [bmim][PF₆] is above its aqueous solubility is suggested for nonionic Brij‐35 and TX‐100 aqueous surfactant solutions.     

Strain-tunable band parameters of ZnO monolayer in graphene-like honeycomb structure

We present ab initio calculations which show that the direct-band-gap, effective masses and Fermi velocities of charge carriers in ZnO monolayer (ML-ZnO) in graphene-like honeycomb structure are all tunable by application of in-plane homogeneous biaxial strain. Within our simulated strain limit of ±10%$\pm 10\text{\%}$, the band gap remains direct and shows a strong non-linear variation with strain. Moreover, the average Fermi velocity of electrons in unstrained ML-ZnO is of the same order of magnitude as that in graphene. The results promise potential applications of ML-ZnO in mechatronics/straintronics and other nano-devices such as the nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS) and nano-optomechanical systems (NOMS).     

A Ni2+ (S = 1) Kagome compound templated by 1,4-diazacubane [corrected

1,8-Diazacubane-templated nickel(II) sulfate with the Kagome structure prepared under solvothermal conditions exhibits interesting magnetic properties.     

Study of the microstructural and photoluminescence properties of Li-doped ZnO thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis

Lithium-doped zinc oxide films were synthesized by spray pyrolysis technique, and their structural and optical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, atomic force microscope, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The effect of doping on the photoluminescence properties was investigated at room temperature (300 K). Polycrystalline nature of the films was confirmed from X-ray diffraction and electron microscopic studies. A two-dimensional fringe moiré pattern with spacing of 1.2 nm was observed for the doped thin film. Lithium doping has been found to increase the roughness of the surface, thus making the film more passivated. Lithium was found to play a key role in the excitonic as well as visible luminescence of ZnO.     

Study of J-T effect on the self-energy of electrons in manganite systems

We present here a theoretical study of the effect of Jahn-Teller(J-T) distortion on the self-energy of electrons in the CMR manganites. The model consists of the itinerant e _g electrons distorted by J-T effect and the localized t _2g core electrons carrying strong ferromagnetism due to Hund’s rule. The phonon interacts with the e _g electrons as well as the J-T distorted e _g band. The electron Green’s functions are calculated by Zubarev’s technique. The electron self-energy which carries all the information of the model is calculated from the Green’s function. The effect of J-T distortion, magnetism on the frequency and temperature dependent dynamic self-energy is presented in this paper. The results are discussed.     

Bulk Viscous Bianchi-III Models with Time Dependent G and?Λ

Bulk Viscous anisotropic Bianchi-III cosmological models are investigated with time dependent gravitational and cosmological constants in the framework of Einstein’s general relativity. In order to get some useful information about the time varying nature of G and Λ, we have assumed an exponentially decaying rest energy density of the universe. The extracted Newtonian gravitational constant G varies with time but its time varying nature depends on bulk viscosity and the anisotropic nature of the model. The cosmological constant Λ is found to decrease with time to a small but positive value for the models.     

Microscopic theory of Raman spectra of heavy fermion systems in the normal state

In this communication, we develop the microscopic theory of Raman spectra of the heavy fermion (HF) system in its normal state at low temperatures. The system is described by the Periodic Anderson Model along with the coupling of the phonon to the bare f-electrons as well as to the hybridization between the conduction band and the f-electrons. The phonon Green's function and the phonon self-energy are evaluated by the equations of motion method of Zubarev. The phonon spectral density function (SDF) is evaluated at low temperatures in the long wavelength limit. The calculation depicts three Raman active modes one of which corresponds to the strongly renormalized phonon at the value of the reduced frequency ) around 0.57 denoted as (P₀), and the other two at low reduced frequencies of and in the SDF. The effect of electron–phonon (EP) coupling on Raman excitation peaks is investigated to probe the nature of the electronic states of the system.