Effect of relativistic plasma on extreme-ultraviolet harmonic emission from intense laser-matter interactions

Experiments were performed in which intense laser pulses (up to 9x10(19) W/cm(2)) were used to irradiate very thin (submicron) mass-limited aluminum foil targets. Such interactions generated high-order harmonic radiation (greater than the 25th order) which was detected at the rear of the target and which was significantly broadened, modulated, and depolarized because of passage through the dense relativistic plasma. The spectral modifications are shown to be due to the laser absorption into hot electrons and the subsequent sharply increasing relativistic electron component within the dense plasma.     

Universality of single-particle spectra of cuprate superconductors

All the available data for the dispersion and linewidth of the single-particle spectra above the superconducting gap and the pseudogap in metallic cuprates for any doping have universal features. The linewidth is linear in energy below a scale omega(c) and constant above. The cusp in the linewidth at omega(c) mandates, due to causality, a waterfall, i.e., a vertical feature in the dispersion. These features are predicted by a recent microscopic theory. We find that all data can be quantitatively fitted by the theory with a coupling constant lambda(0) and an upper cutoff at omega(c), which vary by less than 50% among the different cuprates and for varying dopings. The microscopic theory also gives these values to within factors of O(2).     

Organic–inorganic hybrid sol–gel pretreatments for corrosion protection of mild steel in neutral and acidic solutions

Research on Chemical Intermediates - This work aims to develop and study sol–gel-derived anticorrosion films for mild steel. Epoxy bis-silane precursor has been prepared by reaction of liquid...     

MXene-based composite electrodes for efficient electrochemical sensing of glucose by non-enzymatic method

A recently discovered 2D transition titanium metal carbides also called as MXenes (Ti₃C₂T_x)-based nanocomposite was prepared with Cu₂O through wet precipitation technique, and these materials were further developed as the electrode for sensing glucose by chronoamperometry technique. The prepared MXene-Cu₂O (Ti₃C₂T_x-Cu₂O) nanocomposite was characterized by XRD, FTIR, UV–Vis spectroscopy, FE-SEM, EDAX, and Raman spectroscopy. Morphological studies of the composites revealed that the micro-octahedral shape of Cu₂O is distributed on the surface of MXene with size larger than bare Cu₂O. Further, the prepared composite material was fabricated as a sensing probe, and the electrochemical activities were examined by cyclic voltammetric analysis (CV) and chronoamperometric (CA) methods. From the CV and CA investigation, the current response was higher for the composite than the bare material (Cu₂O & MXene) in the presence of glucose. The amperometric investigation of MXene-Cu₂O composite for the detection of glucose shows a broad linear range (0.01–30 mM) with a sensitivity of 11.061/μAmM cm^?2 and a detection limit of 2.83 μM. Further, the fabricated sensor exhibits good selectivity with interfering species like NaCl, fructose, sucrose, urea, ascorbic acid, lactose, short response time, stability, good reproducibility, and compatibility with human serum sample. From the investigation, the prepared MXene-Cu₂O composite is a good candidate for the direct detection of glucose molecules and is also well suitable for clinical diagnosis.     

Designing polymer metamaterial for protective armor: a coarse-grained formulation

Meccanica - Designing protective armors is important for varied civil and defense applications. Ceramic-polymer composite armors are particularly interesting for their high strength and light...     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel pentacyclic C16 diketone and derivatives

The syntheses and crystal structures of pentacyclo[9.4.1.0^5,14.0^7,13.0^12,15]hexadecane-3,9-dione (2), a novel C₁₆ diketone with potential inclusion ability, and the products of the reaction of2 withn-butyllithium andmeso-erythritol (i.e.,meso-1,2,3,4-butanetetrol) are described. Crystal data:2·H₂O, orthorhombic,Pmmn,a=10.7385(8),b=9.0188(6),c=6.8411(4)Å,V=662.55(7)ų, andR=0.039 (379 reflections);3 (product from reaction withn-butyllithium), triclinic,P¯1,a=8.7192(7),b=10.9351(8),c=12.1842(8)Å,=68.933(5),=75.850(6), =80.309(6)°,V=1047.0(1)ų, andR=0.081 (1811 reflections);4 (product from reaction with erythritol), triclinic,P¯1,a=7.7224(8),b=10.1976(8),c=10.7021(9)Å,=85.405(7),=85.766(8), =76.056(7)°,V=814.0(1)ų, andR=0.052 (1471 reflections).     

High throughput screening for neurodegeneration and complex disease phenotypes

High throughput screening (HTS) for complex diseases is challenging. This stems from the fact that complex phenotypes are difficult to adapt to rapid, high throughput assays. We describe the recent development of high throughput and high-content screens (HCS) for neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on inherited neurodegenerative disorders, such as Huntington's disease. We describe, among others, HTS assays based on protein aggregation, neuronal death, caspase activation and mutant protein clearance. Furthermore, we describe high-content screens that are being used to prioritize hits identified in such HTS assays. These assays and screening approaches should accelerate drug discovery for neurodegenerative disorders and guide the development of screening approaches for other complex disease phenotypes.     

Concise total synthesis of (+)-crocacin C

The cytotoxic natural product (+)-crocacin C ( 1) has been synthesized in 10 linear steps from commercially available Evans' chiral propionimide in 5% overall yield (8 steps from Evans' chiral dipropionate synthon). No protecting groups were utilized.