Spherical Minimax Location Problem

This paper presents an algorithm for determining a minimax location to service demand points that are equally weighted and distributed over a sphere. The norm under consideration is geodesic. The algorithm presented here is based on enumeration and has a polynomial time complexity.     

Analytical model for the magnetophoretic capture of magnetic microspheres in microfluidic devices

Magnetic microspheres are used as mobile substrates in micro-total-analysis systems (μTAS), since the particles can be selectively functionalized to attach different bioconjugates and can be precisely manipulated using external magnetic field gradients. A large number of MEMS-based bio-analytical devices employ magnetophoretic separation as an important step during their operation. An analytical technique is proposed in this paper that describes the magnetophoretic transport of magnetic microspheres under an imposed magnetic field when there is a pressure-driven or electroosmotic flow through a microchannel. Successful magnetophoretic capture occurs if the strength of the field-inducing magnetic dipole exceeds a critical value, or if the particles are larger than a critical size. The magnetophoretic separator performance is characterized in terms of capture efficiency. The analysis shows that the capture efficiency is a function of two independent non-dimensional parameters, λ and γ that in turn involve all the physical design and operating parameters of the microfluidic separator, e.g., the dipole strength, particle size and susceptibility, fluid viscosity and velocity, channel height, and the separation of the dipole. Parametric plots of capture efficiency as function of λ and γ helps in choosing the right design and operation parameter of a practical microfluidic separator for a target level of performance.     

Gamma-irradiated onions as a biological indicator of radiation dose.

Post-irradiation identification and dose estimation are required to assess the radiation-induced effects on living things in any nuclear emergency. In this study, radiation-induced morphological/cytological changes i.e., number of root formation and its length, shooting length, reduction in mitotic index, micronuclei formation and chromosomal aberrations in the root tip cells of gamma-irradiated onions at lower doses (50-2000 cGy) are reported. The capabilities of this biological species to store the radiation-induced information are also studied.     

Binding of the bioflavonoid robinetin with model membranes and hemoglobin: Inhibition of lipid peroxidation and protein glycosylation

Recent years have witnessed burgeoning interest in plant flavonoids as novel therapeutic drugs targeting cellular membranes and proteins. Motivated by this scenario, we explored the binding of robinetin (3,7,3′,4′,5′-pentahydroxyflavone, a bioflavonoid with remarkable ‘two color’ intrinsic fluorescence properties), with egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (EYPC) liposomes and normal human hemoglobin (HbA), using steady state and time resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Distinctive fluorescence signatures obtained for robinetin indicate its partitioning (K_p = 8.65 × 10⁴) into the hydrophobic core of the membrane lipid bilayer. HbA–robinetin interaction was examined using both robinetin fluorescence and flavonoid-induced quenching of the protein tryptophan fluorescence. Specific interaction with HbA was confirmed from three lines of evidence: (a) bimolecular quenching constant K_q ? diffusion controlled limit; (b) closely matched values of Stern–Volmer quenching constant and binding constant; (c) τ₀/τ = 1 (where τ₀ and τ are the unquenched and quenched tryptophan fluorescence lifetimes, respectively). Absorption spectrophotometric assays reveal that robinetin inhibits EYPC membrane lipid peroxidation and HbA glycosylation with high efficiency.     

Characteristics of electrochemically grown dendritic metallic zinc

A simple electrochemical process has been implemented to fabricated fractal structured leaf-like metallic zinc. The fabricated material was structurally characterized using X-ray diffraction that reveals the hexagonal unit cell structure. Also the growth of the structure is anisotropic. Field emission scanning electron microscopic images revealed clearly the leaf-like morphology of the fabricated material is fern like and ∼500 μm in length, ∼50-60 μm wide and the platelets thickness is ∼5 μm. The growth of this structure is diffusion controlled and locally accomplished with the oriented attachment. Raman shift measurement revealed the existence of surface optical phonon modes which is very significant for surface defects.     

Suppressed compressibility at large scale in jammed packings of size-disperse spheres

We analyze the large-scale structure and fluctuations of jammed packings of size-disperse spheres, produced in a granular experiment as well as numerically. While the structure factor of the packings reveals no unusual behavior for small wave vectors, the compressibility displays an anomalous linear dependence at low wave vectors and vanishes when q→0. We show that such behavior occurs because jammed packings of size-disperse spheres have no bulk fluctuations of the volume fraction and are thus hyperuniform, a property not observed experimentally before. Our results apply to arbitrary particle size distributions. For continuous distributions, we derive a perturbative expression for the compressibility that is accurate for polydispersity up to about 30%.     

Evidence of formation of tetravacancies in uniformly oxygen irradiated n-type silicon

High purity n-type silicon single crystal with resistivity in the order of 4000 Ω cm has been irradiated with high-energy oxygen ions at room temperature up to a fluence of 5E15 ions/cm². The energy of the beam was varied from 3 to 140 MeV using a rotating degrader to achieve a depthwise near-uniform implantation profile. Radiation induced defects and their dynamics have been studied using positron annihilation spectroscopy along with isochronal annealing up to 700 °C in steps of 50 °C for 30 min. After annealing the sample at 200 °C for 30 min, formation of silicon tetravacancies has been noticed. The formation of the tetravacancies was found to be due to agglomeration of divacancies present in the irradiated sample. An experimentally obtained positron lifetime value of 338±10 ps has been reported for silicon tetravacancies, which has a very close agreement with the value obtained from recent theoretical calculations. The tetravacancies were found to dissociate into trivacancy clusters upon further annealing. The trivacancies thus obtained were observed to agglomerate beyond 400 °C to form larger defect clusters. Finally, all the defects were found to anneal out after annealing the sample at 650 °C.     

Gliding mycoplasmas are inhibited by cytochalasin B and contain a polymerizable protein fraction.

Studies are presented on the effect of cytochalasin B (CB) on the growth of five Mycoplasma species, three Acholeplasma species, and one Spiroplasma species. The three gliding mycoplasma species (M gallisepticum, M pneumoniae and M pulmonis are the only mycoplasmas inhibited by CB. These are the only prokaryotes reported to be inhibited by CB. This suggested that these three mycoplasmas might have some sort of cytoskeletal structure. A protein fraction has been isolated from M gallisepticum which polymerizes in 0.6 M KCl and depolymerizes when KCl is removed. This fraction contains a major 58,000-dalton protein, a 46,000-dalton protein, and a minor 87,000-dalton protein.