Thiol‐Directed Synthesis of Highly Fluorescent Gold Clusters and Their Conversion into Stable Imaging Nanoprobes

Fluorescent gold clusters (FGCs) with tunable emission from blue to red and quantum yields in the range of 6–17 % have been synthesized by simple modification of the conditions used for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles, namely by replacing the stronger reducing agent with a controlled amount of thiol. Various functional FGCs with hydrodynamic diameters of 5–12 nm have been successfully synthesized and used as cell labels. The results of our investigations strongly indicate that FGCs composed of Au⁰ are more stable imaging probes than commonly reported red/NIR‐emitting FGCs with a composition of Au⁰/Au^I, as this combination rapidly transforms into nonfluorescent large clusters on exposure to light. The FGC‐based nanoprobes reported herein exhibit stable fluorescence upon continuous light exposure and can be used as imaging probes with low cytotoxicity.     

A new salicin derivative from the stem bark of Populus davidiana

Phytochemical study on the BuOH-soluble fraction of the stem bark of Populus davidiana resulted in the isolation of a new salicin derivative(1),named davidianoside.The structure was elucidated on the basis of extensive physicochemical and spectroscopic analyses.     

Preparation and characterization of MgB2 superconductor

The MgB₂ superconductor, synthesized using solid-state and liquid-phase sintering methods, have been characterized for various properties. The upper critical field, irreversibility line and critical current density have been determined using magnetization data. The current-voltage characteristics recorded under an applied magnetic field revealed the existence of vortex glass transition. The surface analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows that MgB₂ is sensitive to atmospheric degradation.     

An alternative approach to determine the spot-size of a multi-mode laser beam and its application to diode laser beams

An alternative approach is suggested to determine the spot-size of a multi-mode laser beam. It has been shown by simulations that the suggested approach can give the beam quality factor and characteristic radius with less than 5% error. Unlike the power content method, the proposed method is applicable to the beams even with diameter one tenth of the CCD size. The new approach has been applied to a multi-mode diode laser output and it is shown that the ABCD matrix analysis can be used for beam propagation, with the measured parameters of the laser.     

Nuclear orbiting and anomalies in nuclear reactions

In this paper, we report our measurements of back-angle oxygen and carbon particle yields from ¹⁶O+⁸⁹Y, ¹²C+⁹³Nb reactions forming the same compound nucleus ¹⁰⁵Ag at the same excitation energy and spin distribution. We find anomalously large oxygen yield and entrance channel dependence at high excitation energies from ¹⁶O+⁸⁹Y reaction implying formation of a dinuclear orbiting complex. Possible connection between nuclear orbiting and fast fission is also discussed.     

Analysis of coupled conduction and radiation heat transfer in presence of participating medium- using a hybrid method

The current study addresses the mathematical modeling aspects of coupled conductive and radiative heat transfer in presence of absorbing, emitting and isotropic scattering gray medium within two-dimensional square enclosure. The walls of the enclosure are considered to be opaque, diffuse and gray. The enclosure comprised of isothermal vertical walls and insulated horizontal walls. A new hybrid method where the concepts of modified differential approximation employed by blending discrete ordinate method and spherical harmonics method, has been developed for modeling the radiative transport equation. The finite volume method has been adopted as the numerical technique. The effect of various influencing parameters i.e., radiation-conduction parameter, surface emissivity, single scattering albedo and optical thickness has been illustrated. The compatibility of the method with regard to solving coupled conduction and radiation has also been addressed.     

Measurement of the ground state 2n pickup probability for 28Si+68Zn and its role in sub-barrier fusion enhancement

The ground state and excited state transfer yields for the 2-neutron pickup channel in the ²⁸Si+⁶⁸Zn system have been measured explicitly. The recoil mass separator at the nuclear Science Centre, New Delhi was used for the measurement. A NaI(T1) detector was used for detecting the deexcitation γ’s from the transfer products. The kinematic coincidence technique was employed for the transfer measurement. Simplified coupled channels calculations show that out of all transfer channels the major contribution to the sub-barrier enhancement comes from the ground state 2 neutron pickup channel with a ground state Q-value of+1.83 MeV.     

Fission fragment angular distributions in 16O+181Ta

Time of flight and energy of fission fragments were measured using pulsed beam. Fission fragment mass and energy integrated angular distributions were extracted. Fission fragment anisotropy was explained in the framework of saddle point model.     

Inclusive and exclusive measurements in the projectile breakup of 7Li

The inclusive and exclusive measurements were carried out for ⁷Li projectile breakup on ²⁷Al target at 48 MeV. In the inclusive data we have observed a broad peak around the beam velocity for alphas and tritons. The exclusive data for alpha-triton coincidences show good agreement with the post-form DWBA theory of breakup reactions.