Characterization and thermal investigations of ammonium heptamolybdate

Thermal decomposition of ammonium heptamolybdate was studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry. DSC showed that the material decomposes in the temperature region 463–608 K in static air atmosphere, in three steps. The products of decomposition were characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis and magnetic susceptibility measurements. All the phases are paramagnetic in nature. Kinetic analysis suggested that the first two steps are controlled by a diffusion mechanism, while the third step is controlled by nuclear-growth.

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Zusammenfassung Mittels Differential-Scanning-Kalorimetrie und Thermogravimetrie wurde die thermische Zersetzung von Ammoniumheptamolybdat untersucht. Laut DSC zersetzt sich die Substanz in statischer Luftatmosphäre im Temperaturbereich von 463 bis 608 K in drei Schritten. Die Produkte wurden durch IR-Spektroskopie, Elementaranalyse und Messungen der magnetischen Suszeptibilität charakterisiert. Alle Phasen sind paramagnetischer Natur. Kinetische Untersuchungen besagen für die ersten zwei Schritte einen diffusionskontrollierten, für den dritten Schritt einen wachstumskontrollierten Mechanismus.

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The authors are grateful to the UGC, New Delhi, for financial assistance.     

Impedance response of polycrystalline tungsten oxide

Polycrystalline tungsten oxide (WO₃) pellets were prepared by conventional ceramic processing technology. The ac small-signal electrical data acquired in the frequency (f) range 100 Hz≤f≤1 MHz at temperature (T) ranging the 31-100 °C revealed distinct semicircular relaxation in the impedance plane. This relaxation indicates device behavior originating from the grain boundaries. The lumped grain impedance associated with the device action remained too small to detect when the large resistance scale is realized. The semicircular relaxation is thermally activated indicating 0.58 eV as the activation energy for the relaxation time.     

In silico structure-based design of a novel class of potent and selective small peptide inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Dihydrofolate reductase,a potential target for anti-TB drug discovery

The worldwide TB structural genomics initiative has identified several new drug targets for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb). Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) catalyzes the NADPH-dependent reduction of dihydrofolate to tetrahydrofolate that is essential for DNA synthesis. Inhibition of its activity leads to arrest of DNA synthesis and hence cell death. Thus, M. tb DHFR (mtDHFR) is an attractive novel drug target for developing anti-TB drugs. Structural comparison of mtDHFR and human DHFR (hDHFR) reveals key differences in the active sites. These differences can be exploited for the design of selective inhibitors for mtDHFR. Based on the recently determined high resolution crystal structure of mtDHFR complexed with known inhibitor methotrexate (MTX) and cofactor NADPH, a tri-peptide inhibitor has been identified using a structure-based drug design approach. Docking studies indicate that the designed tripeptide inhibitor has a high potency (K _d = 1.78 nM) and is a selective (approximately 120 fold over hDHFR) inhibitor for mtDHFR. Hence, the tripeptide is a suitable lead compound for the development of novel anti-TB drugs.     

Local ferromagnetic resonance imaging with magnetic resonance force microscopy

We report nanoscale scanned probe ferromagnetic resonance force microscopy (FMRFM) imaging of individual ferromagnetic microstructures. This reveals the mechanism for high spatial resolution in FMRFM imaging: the strongly inhomogeneous local magnetic field of the cantilever mounted micromagnetic probe magnet used in FMRFM enables selective, local excitation of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR). This approach, demonstrated here in individual permalloy disks, is straightforwardly extended to excitation of localized FMR modes, and hence imaging in extended films.     

Analytical solution of the contact problem of a rigid indenter and an anisotropic linear elastic layer

We use the Stroh formalism to study analytically generalized plane strain deformations of a linear elastic anisotropic layer bonded to a rigid substrate, and indented by a rigid cylindrical indenter. The mixed boundary-value problem is challenging since the a priori unknown deformed indented surface of the layer contacting the rigid cylinder is to be determined as a part of the solution of the problem. For a rigid parabolic prismatic indenter contacting either an isotropic layer or an orthotropic layer and a flat rigid punch indenting a half space, the computed solutions are found to agree well with those available in the literature. Parametric studies have been conducted to delimit the length and the thickness of the layer for which the derived relation between the axial load and the indentation depth caused by the rigid cylinder is valid. The indentation of a face centered cubic crystal with the plane of indentation oriented differently from the principal planes of symmetry has also been studied to illustrate the applicability of the technique to general layers made of anisotropic materials. Results presented herein can serve as benchmarks with which to compare solutions obtained by other methods.     

Generalized Poynting Effects in Predeformed Prismatic Bars

We use the Signorini expansion method to determine second-order Saint-Venant solution for an infinitesimally bent and stretched bar. The bar in the unstressed reference configuration is straight, prismatic, isotropic, homogeneous and made of a second-order elastic material. These solutions and those found earlier for a pretwisted bar give generalized Poynting effects. A bar when bent stretches and the elongation is determined by the first and second-order elasticities, area of cross-section, torsional rigidity, bending vector and the inertia tensor. When an infinitesimally twisted bar is deformed, there is a second-order bending deformation even when there is no resultant bending moment applied on the end faces. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Acceleration waves in a fluid mixture with compressible constituents

An analysis is presented for the problem of propagating acceleration waves in a binary, immiscible fluid mixture with compressible constituents. A purely mechanical theory is used to describe the behavior of the mixture, and the local volume fractions (concentrations) of the constituents appear among the independent variables in constitutive equations. These volume fractions are constrained by the condition that they sum to unity. The theory of singular surfaces is used to analyse the propagation of waves. A quartic equation is obtained whose solutions are the permissible wave speeds. Conditions for the growth or decay of the amplitude of the wave are also given.     

Energy-momentum tensors in nonsimple elastic dielectrics

We use Noether's theorem to derive energy-momentum tensors for a simple elastic material, a nonsimple elastic material of grade two, a simple elastic dielectric and a nonsimple elastic dielectric of grade two. The technique is easily extendable to a nonsimple elastic dielectric of any grade.