Polarizations of J/psi and psi(2S) mesons produced in pp collisions at square root s = 1.96 TeV

We have measured the polarizations of J/psi and psi(2S) mesons as functions of their transverse momentum p(T) when they are produced promptly in the rapidity range |y| < 0.6 with p(T) > or =5 GeV/c. The analysis is performed using a data sample with an integrated luminosity of about 800 pb(-1) collected by the CDF II detector. For both vector mesons, we find that the polarizations become increasingly longitudinal as p(T) increases from 5 to 30 GeV/c. These results are compared to the predictions of nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics and other contemporary models. The effective polarizations of J/psi and psi(2S) mesons from B-hadron decays are also reported.     

Search for high-mass diphoton states and limits on Randall-Sundrum gravitons at CDF

We have performed a search for new particles which decay to two photons using 1.2 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity from pp[over] collisions at square root s = 1.96 TeV collected using the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. We find the diphoton mass spectrum to be in agreement with the standard model expectation, and set limits on the cross section times branching ratio for the Randall-Sundrum graviton, as a function of diphoton mass. We subsequently derive lower limits for the graviton mass of 230 GeV/c(2) and 850 GeV/c(2), at the 95% confidence level, for coupling parameters (k/M[over](Pl)) of 0.01 and 0.1, respectively.     

Search for V+A current in top-quark decays in pp collisions at sqrts=1.96 TeV

We report an upper limit on the fraction of V+A current, fV+A, in top-quark decays, using approximately 700 pb-1 of pp[over ] collisions at sqrts=1.96 TeV acquired by the upgraded Collider Detector at Fermilab. For the decay t-->Wb-->lnub (where l=e or micro), the invariant mass of the charged lepton and the bottom quark jet is sensitive to the polarization of the W boson. We determine fV+A=-0.06+/-0.25 given a top-quark mass of 175 GeV/c2. We set an upper limit on fV+A of 0.29 at the 95% confidence level, an improvement by a factor of 2 on the previous best direct limit.     

Cryopreservation of in vitro grown shoots of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.)

An efficient cryopreservation technique for in vitro grown shoots of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc) was developed based on encapsulation dehydration, encapsulation vitrification and vitrification procedures. Pregrowth and serial preculture were needed to obtain the best regrowth for all techniques. The vitrification procedure resulted in higher regrowth (80%) when compared to encapsulation vitrification (66%) and encapsulation dehydration (41%). In the vitrification procedure shoots were: precultured in liquid Murashige-Skoog medium containing 0.3 M sucrose for 3 days; cryoprotected with a mixture of 5% DMSO and 5% glycerol for 20 min at room temperature; osmoprotected with a mixture of 2 M glycerol and 0.4 m sucrose for 20 min at 25 degrees C; before being dehydrated with a highly concentrated vitrification solution (PVS2) for 40 min at 25 degrees C. The dehydrated shoots were transferred to 2 ml cryotubes, suspended in 1 ml PVS2 and plunged directly into liquid nitrogen. In all the three cryopreservation procedures tested, shoots grew from cryopreserved shoot tips without intermediary callus formation. The genetic stability of cryopreserved ginger shoot buds were confirmed using ISSR and RAPD profiling.     

Evidence of wormlike micellar behavior in chromonic liquid crystals: rheological, X-ray, and dielectric studies

We report rheological, X-ray, and dielectric investigations on a chromonic liquid-crystalline system formed by aqueous solutions of a food coloring agent, Sunset Yellow, in the absence and upon addition of salt. The salt-concentration dependence of the steady-state viscosity at low shear rates has a non-monotonic variation and is qualitatively similar to the behavior seen in wormlike micellar systems, a surprising result since chromonic systems are expected to be non-micellar in character. More interestingly, for a particular low concentration of the salt (20 mM), the viscosity increases by 3 orders of magnitude in comparison with that of the pure chromonic material. The dynamic (oscillatory) rheological data bring out features which can be described in terms of a microstructure formation. X-ray and dielectric studies show that certain characters of the aggregates formed by the Sunset Yellow molecules are not altered by the addition of salt.     

Electrical conductivity and dielectric constant measurements of liquid crystal–gold nanoparticle composites

The behaviour of the anisotropic electrical conductivity of liquid crystal–gold nanoparticle (LC‐GNP) composites consisting of a commercially available room temperature nematic compound doped with alkylthiol‐capped GNPs has been investigated. The nematic–isotropic transition of the composite decreases nearly linearly with increasing X, the concentration of GNP (in weight %) at a rate of about 1°C /weight %. The inclusion of GNPs increases the electrical conductivity of the system with the value increasing by more than two orders of magnitude for X = 5%. However, the anisotropy in conductivity, defined as the ratio of the conductivity along (σ_∥) and orthogonal (σ_⊥) to the director shows a much smaller but definite decrease as X increases.     

Nine enzymes are required for assembly of the pacidamycin group of peptidyl nucleoside antibiotics

Pacidamycins are a family of uridyl peptide antibiotics that inhibit the translocase MraY, an essential enzyme in bacterial cell wall biosynthesis that to date has not been clinically targeted. The pacidamycin structural skeleton contains a doubly inverted peptidyl chain with a β-peptide and a ureido linkage as well as a 3'-deoxyuridine nucleoside attached to DABA(3) of the peptidyl chain via an enamide linkage. Although the biosynthetic gene cluster for pacidamycins was identified recently, the assembly line of this group of peptidyl nucleoside antibiotics remained poorly understood because of the highly dissociated nature of the encoded nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) domains and modules. This work has identified a minimum set of enzymes needed for generation of the pacidamycin scaffold from amino acid and nucleoside monomers, highlighting a freestanding thiolation (T) domain (PacH) as a key carrier component in the peptidyl chain assembly as well as a freestanding condensation (C) domain (PacI) catalyzing the release of the assembled peptide by a nucleoside moiety. On the basis of the substrate promiscuity of this enzymatic assembly line, several pacidamycin analogues were produced using in vitro total biosynthesis.     

Search for new high-mass particles decaying to Lepton pairs in pp collisions at square root s = 1.96 TeV

A search for new particles (X) that decay to electron or muon pairs has been performed using approximately 200 pb(-1) of pp collision data at (square root) s = 1.96 TeV collected by the CDF II experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron. Limits on sigma(pp --> X)BR (X --> ll) are presented as a function of dilepton invariant mass m(ll) > 150 GeV/c2, for different spin hypotheses (0, 1, or 2). The limits are approximately 25 fb for m(ll) > GeV/c2. Lower mass bounds for X from representative models beyond the standard model including heavy neutral gauge bosons are presented.     

Collision induced and resonantly enhanced extra resonances in four-wave mixing in inhomogeneously broadened four level systems

Role of collisions in inducing and enhancing extra resonances in non-linear generation by four-wave mixing in inhomogeneously broadened four level systems is studied. It is shown that collision induced three and two-photon resonances can be enhanced further by tuning to exact one photon (non-absorbing) transitions between unpopulated upper levels. In addition we also find existence of collision induced interference dip at the three-photon resonance that arises due to complete cancellation of signal at the line center.     

Tunable Optical and Multiferroic Properties of Zirconium and Dysprosium Substituted Bismuth Ferrite Thin Films

This work presents optical and multiferroic properties of bismuth ferrite thin films that are affected by zirconium and dysprosium substitution. Non-centrosymmetric BiFeO₃,Bi_0.95Zr_0.05FeO₃, and Bi_0.95Dy_0.05FeO₃ thin films were coated on Pt/TiO₂/SiO₂/Si substrates using the spin coating method. The crystal structure, optical properties, microstructural, ferromagnetic, and ferroelectric properties of doped bismuth ferrite thin films were systematically investigated. From the XRD patterns, all the prepared thin films matched well with the rhombohedral structure with R3c space group with no observed impurity phases. The average crystallite size of the bismuth ferrite thin films were between 35 and 47 nm, and the size depended on the type of dopant. The determined energy band gap values of BiFeO₃, Bi_0.95Dy_0.05FeO₃, and Bi_0.95Zr_0.05FeO₃ thin films were 2.32 eV, 2.3 eV, and 2 eV, respectively. Doping of Dy and Zr at the Bi site led to reduced surface roughness. The prepared thin films exhibited enhanced ferromagnetic and ferroelectric properties. The remnant magnetization of Zr-doped BiFeO₃ was greater than that of the BiFeO₃ and Dy-doped BiFeO₃ thin films. From the obtained results, it was concluded that Zr-doped BiFeO₃ thin films are suitable for solar cell fabrication.