Quadruple Gaussian Laser Beam Profile Dynamics in Collisionless Magnetized Plasma

This paper presents an investigation of self-focusing of a quadruple Gaussian laser beam in collisionless magnetized plasma. The nonlinearity due to ponderomotive force which arises on account of nonuniform intensity distribution of the laser beam is considered. The nonlinear partial differential equation governing the evaluation of complex envelope in the slowly varying envelope approximation is solved using a paraxial formalism. The self-focusing mechanism in magnetized plasma, in the presence of self-compression mechanism will be analyzed in contrast to the case in which it is absent. It can be observed that, in case of ponderomotive nonlinearity, the self-compression mechanism obstructs the pulse self-focusing above a certain intensity value. The effect of an external magnetic field is to generate pulses with smaller spot size and shorter compression length. The lateral separation parameter and the initial intensity of the laser beam play a crucial role on focusing and compression parameters. Also, the three-dimensional analysis of pulse propagation is presented by coupling the self-focusing equation with the self-compression one.     

Entrapment and kinetic resolution of stabilized axial and equatorial conformers of spiro-β-lactams

The facile synthesis of the stabilized axial and equatorial conformers of spiro-β-lactams was achieved via entrapment of cyclohexanone imines (Schiff bases) with acetoxyacetyl chloride in a [2 + 2]-cycloaddition reaction followed by their kinetic resolution. The immobilization of the racemic substrates on an inert solid support significantly reduced the reaction time and improved the enantioselectivity of conformers during kinetic resolution. The mechanism of the formation of the spiro-β-lactams was explored using B3LYP/6-31+G* level quantum chemical calculations.     

Comments on ‘Derivation of general order kinetics equation using probability theory by Longjam Lovedy Singh’

Comments on “Derivation of general order kinetics equation using probability theory by Longjam Lovedy Singh” regarding its limitations are described. It has been found that the value of η or α (ratio of A_n/A_m) need not be ≤1 and the use of α(N?n) for estimating empty trap population will lead to wrong estimation of the concentration/population of empty traps, i.e., <N for α?N for α?>?1 even when n?=?0.     

H-bonding-directed self-assembly of synthetic copolymers containing nucleobases: organization and colloidal fusion in a noncompetitive solvent

The self-organization of random copolymers composed of a nucleobase monomer (either 1-(4-vinylbenzyl)thymine or 9-(4-vinylbenzyl)adenine) and dodecyl methacrylate (DMA) was studied in dilute chloroform solutions. The balance between the molar fractions of the nucleobase monomer (leading to intermolecular H-bonding) and DMA (soluble moiety in chloroform) in the polymer chains was found to be the parameter that principally influences the self-organization. DMA-rich copolymers are molecularly soluble in chloroform, whereas nucleobase-rich copolymers are insoluble in this solvent. Copolymers possessing an equimolar comonomer composition self-assemble into micrometer-sized particles physically cross-linked by intermolecular H-bonds (either thymine-thymine or adenine-adenine interactions, depending on the studied copolymer). Nevertheless, when mixed together, thymine- and adenine-based colloids fuse into thermodynamically stable microspheres cross linked by adenine-thymine interactions.     

Optical guiding of elliptical laser beam in nonuniform plasma

Guiding of laser beam in plasma channel formed by short ionizing laser pulse is studied in this paper. When a delayed pulse propagates through this channel diffraction, refraction and self-phase modulation phenomena results which are not balanced resulting in increase/decrease in beam width. These are studied using direct Variational Technique. In this paper cross-focussing phenomena is not observed. Parameters like beam width and longitudinal-phase delay of elliptical laser beam are also studied. It has been observed that the propagation of semi-major axis and semi-minor axis of elliptical beam are independent leading to oscillating guided beam.     

Analysis of equation of state for nanomaterials

An equation of state (EOS) recently proposed for nanomaterials is discussed critically. Different possible forms of the EOS are discussed with their correlations. We have considered 20 nanomaterials for this purpose, viz. CdSe, Rb₃C₆₀, carbon nanotube, γ-Fe₂O₃, ε-Fe (hexagonal iron), MgO, γ-Al₂O₃ (67 nm), α-Fe₂O₃, α-Fe (filled nanotube), TiO₂ (anatase ), 3C-SiC (30 nm), TiO₂ (rutile phase), Zr_0.1Ti_0.9O₂, γ-Si₃N₄, Ni-filled MWCNT, Fe-filled MWCNT, CeO₂ (cubic fluorite phase and orthorhombic phase), germanium (49 nm), GaN (wurtzite phase) and SnO₂ (rutile phase) (14 nm). It is found that the change in the form of EOS does not improve the results. This demonstrates the validity of the EOS proposed for nanomaterials. The EOS is also used to study the effect of temperature on compression of Ni (20 nm). It is found that there is small shift in isotherm due to increase in the temperature. The results have been found to present a good agreement with the available experimental data.     

Mobile trap algorithm for zinc detection using protein sensors

We present a mobile trap algorithm to sense zinc ions using protein-based sensors such as carbonic anhydrase (CA). Zinc is an essential biometal required for mammalian cellular functions although its intracellular concentration is reported to be very low. Protein-based sensors like CA molecules are employed to sense rare species like zinc ions. In this study, the zinc ions are mobile targets, which are sought by the mobile traps in the form of sensors. Particle motions are modeled using random walk along with the first passage technique for efficient simulations. The association reaction between sensors and ions is incorporated using a probability (p1) upon an ion-sensor collision. The dissociation reaction of an ion-bound CA molecule is modeled using a second, independent probability (p2). The results of the algorithm are verified against the traditional simulation techniques (e.g., Gillespie's algorithm). This study demonstrates that individual sensor molecules can be characterized using the probability pair (p1,p2), which, in turn, is linked to the system level chemical kinetic constants, kon and koff. Further investigations of CA-Zn reaction using the mobile trap algorithm show that when the diffusivity of zinc ions approaches that of sensor molecules, the reaction data obtained using the static trap assumption differ from the reaction data obtained using the mobile trap formulation. This study also reveals similar behavior when the sensor molecule has higher dissociation constant. In both the cases, the reaction data obtained using the static trap formulation reach equilibrium at a higher number of complex molecules (ion-bound sensor molecules) compared to the reaction data from the mobile trap formulation. With practical limitations on the number sensors that can be inserted/expressed in a cell and stochastic nature of the intracellular ionic concentrations, fluorescence from the number of complex sensor molecules at equilibrium will be the measure of the intracellular ion concentration. For reliable detection of zinc ions, it is desirable that the sensors must not bind all the zinc ions tightly, but should rather bind and unbind. Thus for a given fluorescence and with association-dissociation reactions between ions and sensors, the static trap approach will underestimate the number of zinc ions present in the system.     

Experimental analysis of heat transfer behavior of silver,MWCNT and hybrid (silver +MWCNT) nanofluids in a laminar tubular flow

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Experimental investigations were carried out in order to study the heat transfer performance of silver (Ag), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and...