On the order of a non-abelian representation group of a slim dense near hexagon

In this paper we study the possible orders of a non-abelian representation group of a slim dense near hexagon. We prove that if the representation group R of a slim dense near hexagon S is non-abelian, then R is a 2-group of exponent 4 and |R|=2 ^β , 1+NPdim(S)≤β≤1+dimV(S), where NPdim(S) is the near polygon embedding dimension of S and dimV(S) is the dimension of the universal representation module V(S) of S. Further, if β=1+NPdim(S), then R is necessarily an extraspecial 2-group. In that case, we determine the type of the extraspecial 2-group in each case. We also deduce that the universal representation group of S is a central product of an extraspecial 2-group and an abelian 2-group of exponent at most 4. This work was partially done when B.K. Sahoo was a Research Fellow at the Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore Center with NBHM fellowship, DAE Grant 39/3/2000-R&D-II, Govt. of India.     

Steric communication of chiral information observed in dendronized polyacetylenes

Structural and retrostructural analysis of helical dendronized polyacetylenes (i.e., self-organizable polyacetylenes containing first generation dendrons or minidendrons as side groups) synthesized by the polymerization of minidendritic acetylenes with [Rh(nbd)Cl]2 (nbd = 2,5-norbornadiene) reveals an approximately 10% change in the average column stratum thickness (l) of the cylindrical macromolecules with a chiral periphery, through which a strong preference for a single-handed screw-sense is communicated. The cylindrical macromolecules reversibly interconvert between a three-dimensional (3D) centered rectangular lattice (Phi r-c,k) exhibiting long-range intracolumnar helical order at lower temperatures and a two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal columnar lattice (Phi h) with short-range helical order at higher temperatures. A polymer containing chiral, nonracemic peripheral alkyl tails is found to have a larger l as compared to the achiral polymers. In methyl cyclohexane solution, the same polymer exhibits an intense signal in circular dichroism (CD) spectra, whose intensity decreases upon heating. The observed change in l indicates that the chiral tails alter the polymer conformation from that of the corresponding polymer with achiral side chains. This change in conformation results in a relatively large free energy difference (DeltaGh) favoring one helix-sense over the other (per monomer residue). The capacity to distort the polymer conformation and corresponding free energy is related to the population of branches in the chiral tails and their distance from the polymer backbone by comparison to recently reported first and second generation dendronized polyphenylacetylenes.     

Surfactant-Assisted Acid Pretreatment of Sugarcane Tops for Bioethanol Production

Sugarcane tops is one of the largest biomass resources in India and in tropical countries such as Brazil in terms of surplus availability. Conversion of this feedstock to ethanol requires pretreatment to make it more accessible for the enzymes used in saccharification. Though several pretreatment regimens have been developed for addressing biomass recalcitrance, very few seem to be promising as an industrial process. A novel hybrid method involving use of mild acid and surfactant was developed which could effectively remove lignin and improve the sugar yield from sugar cane tops. Operational parameters that affect the pretreatment efficiency (measured as yield of sugars) were studied and optimized. Changes in structural properties of the biomass were studied in relation to the pretreatment process using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis, and the changes in chemical composition was also monitored. The biomass pretreated with the optimized novel method could yield 0.798?g of reducing sugars per gram of pretreated biomass upon enzymatic hydrolysis.     

Nanoporous gold as a solid support for protein immobilization and development of an electrochemical immunoassay for prostate specific antigen and carcinoembryonic antigen

Nanoporous gold (NPG) was utilized as a support for immobilizing alkaline phosphatase (ALP) conjugated to monoclonal antibodies against either prostate specific antigen (PSA) or carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). The antibody-ALP conjugates were coupled to self-assembled monolayers of lipoic acid and used in direct kinetic assays. Using the enzyme substrate p-aminophenylphosphate, the product p-aminophenol was detected by its oxidation near 0.1?V (vs. Ag|AgCl) using square wave voltammetry. The difference in peak current arising from oxidation of p-aminophenol before and after incubation with biomarker increased with biomarker concentration. The response to these two biomarkers was linear up to 10?ng mL^?1 for CEA and up to 30?ng mL^?1 for PSA. The effect of interference on the PSA assay was studied using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model albumin protein. The effect of interference from a serum matrix was examined for the PSA assay using newborn calf serum. A competitive version of the immunoassay using antigen immobilized onto the NPG surface was highly sensitive at lower antigen concentration. Estimates of the surface coverage of the antibody-ALP conjugates on the NPG surface are presented.

SSR-Based DNA Fingerprinting and Diversity Assessment Among Indian Germplasm of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Euryale ferox</Emphasis>: an Aquatic Underutilized and Neglected Food Crop

Euryale ferox is native to Southeast Asia and China, and it is one of the important aquatic food crops propagated mostly in eastern part of India. The aim of the present study was to characterize and evaluate the genetic diversity of ex situ collections of E. ferox germplasm from different geographical states of India using microsatellite (simple sequence repeats (SSRs)) markers. Ten SSR markers were analyzed to assess DNA fingerprinting and genetic diversity of 16 cultivated germplasm of E. ferox. Total 37 polymorphic alleles were recorded with an average of 3.7 allele frequency per primer. The polymorphic information content value varied from 0.204 to 0.735 with mean of 0.448. A high range of heterozygosity (Ho 0.228; He 0.512) was detected in the present study. The neighbor-joining (N-J) tree and the principle coordinate analysis showed that the germplasm divided in to three main clusters. The results of the present investigation comply that SSR markers are effective for computing genetic assessment of genetic diversity and similarity with classifying cultivated varieties of E. ferox. Evaluation of genetic diversity among Indian E. ferox germplasm could provide useful information for genetic improvement.     

Dielectric properties of a strongly polar nematic liquid crystal compound doped with gold nanoparticles

This study focuses on the electrical characteristics of a strongly polar nematic liquid crystal, Hexyloxy-cyanobiphenyl (6OCB), doped with a low concentration (2% by weight) of citrate buffer stabilised gold nanoparticles (GNPs) at low frequencies between 20 Hz and 35 MHz. The doped samples have lower values of nematic–isotropic transition temperature, permittivity (both parallel and perpendicular to the field direction) and dielectric anisotropy; however, relaxation time and activation energy were increased. The observed results could be explained on the basis of weakly anisotropic nature of GNPs and a local rearrangement of liquid crystal molecules surrounding the nanoparticles. Moreover, a complimentary suggestion on a possible change in the dipole–dipole correlation is made to explain the difference in changes (qualitative and quantitative) observed for permittivity of the host nematic liquid crystal doped with GNP. Temperature dependent dielectric relaxation studies indicate an increase in viscosity and potential barrier; and hence a change in strength of inter-molecular and intra-molecular interactions is suggested.     

Complexes of 2-(2-hydroxyacetophenone)imino-5-(p-anisyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole with some bivalent metals ions

Summary The metal complexes of the type [M(SB)₂(H₂O)₂] and [M(SB)₂][where M = Mn^II, Co^II, Ni^II or Cu^II, M = Zn^II Cd^II, Hg^II and Pb^II and SBH = 2-(2-hydroxyacetophenone)imino-5-(p-anisyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole] have been prepared and characterised by elemental analyses, thermal analyses, magnetic measurements, electronic and infrared spectral studies. The complexes [M(SB)₂(H₂O)₂] possess octahedral structures, whereas complexes [M(SB)₂] are tetrahedral. The crystal field parameters of the Co^II and Ni^II complexes are also calculated.     

Shock wave study on the thermal unimolecular decomposition of allyl radicals

We present the first direct study on the thermal unimolecular decomposition of allyl radicals. Experiments have been performed behind shock waves, and the experimental conditions covered temperatures ranging from 1125 K up to 1570 K and pressures between 0.25 and 4.5 bar. Allyl radicals have been generated by thermal decomposition of allyl iodide, and H-atom resonance absorption spectroscopy has been used to monitor the reaction progress. A marked pressure dependence of the rate constant has been observed which is in agreement with the results from a master equation analysis. However, our experimental results as well as our Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus calculations seem to contradict the results of Deyerl et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 1999, 110, 1450) who investigated the unimolecular decomposition of allyl radicals upon photoexcitation and tried to deduce specific rate constants for the unimolecular dissociation in the electronic ground state. At pressures around 1 bar we extracted the following rate equation: k(T) = 5.3 x 10(79)(T/K)(-19.29) exp[(-398.9 kJ/mol)/RT] s(-1). The uncertainty of the rate constant calculated from this equation is estimated to be 30%.