Detection of sulfur in soil samples using 2.5 MeV neutron activation

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Sulfur concentrations in soil samples containing 4.4–13.47 wt% sulphur were measured in neutron inelastic scattering using dc beams...     

String Scattering from Decaying Branes

We develop the general formalism of string scattering from decaying D-branes in bosonic string theory. In worldsheet perturbation theory, amplitudes can be written as a sum of correlators in a grand canonical ensemble of unitary random matrix models, with time setting the fugacity. An approach employed in the past for computing amplitudes in this theory involves an unjustified analytic continuation from special integer momenta. We give an alternative formulation which is well-defined for general momenta. We study the emission of closed strings from a decaying D-brane with initial conditions perturbed by the addition of an open string vertex operator. Using an integral formula due to Selberg, the relevant amplitude is expressed in closed form in terms of zeta functions. Perturbing the initial state can suppress or enhance the emission of high energy closed strings for extended branes, but enhances it for D0-branes. The closed string two point function is expressed as a sum of Toeplitz determinants of certain hypergeometric functions. A large N limit theorem due to Szegö, and its extension due to Borodin and Okounkov, permits us to compute approximate results showing that previous naive analytic continuations amount to the large N approximation of the full result. We also give a free fermion formulation of scattering from decaying D-branes and describe the relation to a grand canonical ensemble for a 2d Coulomb gas.     

Tetracyclic triterpenoids from the leaves of Azadirachta indica and their insecticidal activities

A new tetranortriterpenoid, meliatetraolenone [24,25,26,27-tetranor-apotirucalla-(apoeupha)-6alpha-O-methyl, 7alpha-senecioyl(7-deacetyl)-11alpha,12alpha,21,23-tetrahydroxy-21,23-epoxy-2,14,20(22)-trien-1,16-dione] (1) was isolated from the methanolic extract of fresh leaves of Azadirachta indica along with the known compound odoratone (3) which was hitherto unreported from this source. Their structures have been elucidated by spectral studies including 2D NMR. The insecticidal activities of 1 as well as those of odoratone (3) are reported. 1 and odoratone both showed mortality on fourth instar larvae of mosquitoes (Anopheles stephensi) with LC(50) values of 16 and 154 ppm, respectively.     

Symmetric random walk on a regular lattice with an elastic barrier: diffusion equation and the boundary condition

We examine here the symmetric random-walk model in which a particle can jump only to adjacent sites on a regular lattice, and discuss, in the light of the works of Chandrasekhar, Goodrich, van Kampen, and Oppenheim, the reduction of the problem of random walk in the presence of an elastic barner to a boundary value problem.     

Opto-galvanic spectroscopy of broadening and shift of two-photon thallium transitions by N2 and He

This paper reports the first measurements of pressure broadening and shift of thallium 6 ${}^2\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{?8}{}^2\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$$\text{3}\text{2}$ transitions by N₂ and He perturbers. Ion-detection with box-car integration was used for data collection. The number of the perturbating gases ranged from $\text{(1.1?4.7)×10}{}^{19}\text{cm}{}^3$. The red shift to N₂ and the shift due to He are found to vary linearly with pressure. The value of the effective cross section for the impact broadening was determined and van der Waals constants obtained.     

A new practical method for evaluating the intensities of pulsed lasers and some photophysical parameters of organic molecules

This paper has two main aims: to propose a practical procedure, exploiting the phenomenon of saturation of optical transitions, for measuring the intensities of pulsed lasers, and to draw attention to a new method of data analysis — developed originally by Eisenthal and Cornish-Bowden for estimating the kinetic parameters occurring in the Michaelis—Menten equation of enzyme kinetics — which is far superior to the method presently employed in kinetic analyses of data pertaining to excimer formation of saturable absorption.     

Kinetic studies of retinol addition radicals

Retinol neutral radicals (RS-retinol˙), generated from the reaction of retinol with 4-pyridylthiyl and 2-pyridylthiyl radicals in argon-saturated methanol, undergo β-elimination, which can be monitored via the slow secondary absorption rise at 380 nm attributed to the rearrangement of the unstable retinol neutral addition radicals to the more stable addition radicals. Rate constants for the β-elimination reactions (k(β)) of 4-PyrS-retinol˙ were measured at different temperatures and the Arrhenius equation for the reaction is described by log (k(β)/s(-1)) = (12.7 ± 0.2) - (54.3 ± 1.3)/θ, where θ = 2.3RT kJ mol(-1). The reactivities of retinol addition radicals (RS-retinol˙), generated from the reaction of retinol with various thiyl radicals, towards oxygen have also been investigated in methanol. In the presence of oxygen, the decay of RS-retinol˙ fits to biexponential kinetics and both observed rate constants for the RS-retinol˙ decay are oxygen-concentration dependent. This suggests that at least two thiyl addition radicals, formed from the reaction of RS˙ with retinol, undergo oxygen addition reactions. In light of the estimated rate constants for oxygen addition to RS-retinol˙ and RS-CAR˙ (CAR: carotenoid), the antioxidant-prooxidant properties of retinol are discussed.     

Small polaron hopping conduction mechanism in Fe doped LaMnO3

The structural and electrical transport properties of LaMn(1-x)Fe(x)O(3) (0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.6) bulk samples have been investigated. The powder x-ray diffraction patterns at room temperature show that all samples are formed in single phase. The temperature dependent resistivity data have been fitted with the Mott's variable-range hopping (VRH) model for an entire studied range of the temperature (77-300 K) to calculate the hopping distance (R(h)) and the density of states at Fermi level (N(E(F))). It is found that all parameters vary systematically with the increase in Fe concentration. Moreover, the resistivity data were also fitted in the small polaron hopping (SPH) model. The non-adiabatic SPH conduction mechanism is followed by all samples. This type conduction mechanism is far accompanied by subtle electronically induced structural changes involving in Fe-O-Fe and Fe-O-Mn bond angles and bond lengths. Thus we suggest that the transport properties can be explained according to the additional localization of charge carriers induced by Fe doping.     

Phase Separation Phenomenon in Non-ionic Surfactant TX-114 Micellar Solutions: Effect of Added Surfactants and Polymers

Clouding (or phase separation) in non-ionic surfactants is a well-known phenomenon. Clouding is to be avoided in some applications whereas in others it is preferred. Herein the results of CP (cloud point—the temperature at which solution separates into two phases) measurements of the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114 (TX-114) in the presence of surfactants and polymers are presented. Cationic and nonionic surfactants, in the absence and presence of the quaternary salt tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB), increase the CP of TX-114. Anionic surfactants, in the absence of TBAB, increase the CP; in the presence of TBAB, these surfactants decrease the CP. Polymers of PEG and PVP series have been found to decrease the CP. The results are discussed by taking into consideration the nature of the added surfactants and polymers.     

Effects of pharmaceutical excipients on cloud points of amphiphilic drugs

The clouding behavior, i.e., formation of phase separation at elevated temperature (the temperature being known as cloud point (CP)), of three amphiphilic drugs, amitriptyline (AMT), clomipramine (CLP) and imipramine (IMP) hydrochlorides in the presence of various additives, like cationic surfactants (conventional and gemini), nonionic surfactants, bile salts, anionic hydrotropes, sodium salts of fatty acids and cyclodextrin has been investigated. These additives are generally used as drug delivery systems. The drugs used are tricyclic antidepressants. All the surfactants increase the CP of mixed micelles formed by cationic (conventional and gemini) and nonionic surfactants. Hydrotropes, bile salts and fatty acid salts, when added in low concentrations, increase the CP, whereas at high concentrations, they decrease it. β-Cyclodextrin behaves as simple sugar and decreases the CP of the drug solutions.