Spherically symmetric, self-similar spacetimes

In this paper, we show that self-similarity with respect to the existence of a (purely radial) homothetic Killing vector field for spherically symmetric spacetimes implies the separability of the spacetime metric in terms of the co-moving coordinates (and vice versa) and that the metric is, uniquely, the one recently reported in (Class. Quantam Grav. 18: 2147–2162; 2001). This spacetime, in general, has non-vanishing energy flux and shear. An interesting feature of this spacetime, in contrast to other self-similar spherically symmetric spacetimes (not reducible to our form) is that it has an arbitrary radial distribution of matter.     

Dark and bright soliton solutions and computational modeling of nonlinear regularized long wave model

Nonlinear Dynamics - In this article, the authors simulate and study dark and bright soliton solutions of 1D and 2D regularized long wave (RLW) models. The RLW model occurred in various fields such...     

Kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of benzoic acid hydrazide by bromate catalyzed by octamolybdomanganate(II)

Oxidation of benzoic acid hydrazide by bromate in the presence of octamolybdomanganate(II), [Mn^IIMo₈O₂₇]⁴⁻, was studied in hydrochloric acid medium. The mechanism of the reaction involves oxidation of the catalyst to [Mn^IVMo₈O₂₇]²⁻ by bromate which then forms a complex with the unoxidized catalyst. Both the complex and [Mn^IVMo₈O₂₇]²⁻ react with the substrate in rate-determining steps to generate an intermediate acyl diimide, RCONNH. The reaction of water with the diimide then leads to the formation of benzoic acid and nitrogen as products through an NH–NH intermediate. There was no formation of free radical, indicating the involvement of only two-electron transfer steps in the mechanism. The order of more than unity in catalyst concentration is due to the formation of complex between the catalyst and the oxidized form of the catalyst. A rate law explaining all the kinetic results has been derived and verified. The effects of ionic strength and solvent polarity have also been studied, and the thermodynamic parameters were determined. A less solvated transition state as a result of interaction between the complex and oxidized form of the catalyst satisfactorily explains all the effects observed. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Transition metal-free Suzuki type cross-coupling reaction for the synthesis of dissymmetric ketones

A simple, efficient and metal-free route for the synthesis of dissymmetric ketones through Suzuki type cross-coupling reaction has been established. This strategy signifies an attractive, cost-effective and operationally convenient tool for the synthesis of a wide range of dissymmetric ketones. Although conventional routes for the synthesis of ketones have been widely used, the potential challenge with these methods is functional group tolerance. The reported metal-free method represents a reaction with moderate functional group tolerance. The procedure is operationally convenient and shows broad substrate scope with good to excellent product yields.     

On paving matroids and a generalization of MDS codes

We define a class of codes that corresponds to a class of matroids called paving matroids. This class of codes includes maximum-distance-separable (MDS) codes, and some other interesting codes such as the (12,6) ternary Golay code. Some basic properties of these codes are established using techniques from matroid theory. Our results raise a natural existence question to which we obtain partial answers using known results about the non-existence of Steiner systems of the type S(t–1,t,2t).     

Wetting and phase separation at surfaces

We study the problem ofsurfacedirected spinodal decomposition, viz., the dynamical interplay of wetting and phase separation at surfaces. In particular, we focus on the kinetics of wetting-layer growth in a semi-infinite geometry for arbitrary surface potentials and mixture compositions. We also present representative results for phase separation in confined geometries, e.g., cylindrical pores, thin films, etc.     

A novel piezoelectric immunosensor for the detection of malarial Plasmodium falciparum histidine rich protein-2 antigen

A novel piezoelectric (PZ) immunosensor for the direct detection of malarial Plasmodium falciparum histidine rich protein-2 (PfHRP-2) antigen was developed. The mixed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of thioctic acid and 1-dodecanethiol were formed on gold surface of quartz crystal. Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and surface Raman spectroscopy techniques were used to characterize the mixed SAMs. The rabbit anti-PfHRP-2 antibodies were coupled on mixed SAM modified gold surface of quartz crystal via NHS/EDC activation method. The PZ immunosensor was applied to detect PfHRP-2 in the linear range of 15-60 ng/ml with a detection limit of 12 ng/ml. It was also found that even after 14 days of storage, 50% of the activity still remained. Clinical human serum samples were tested with this method, and the results were in agreement with those obtained from commercially available ICT kit (NOW^® Malaria).     

Assessment of Physical Process Conditions for Enhanced Production of Novel Glutaminase-Free L-Asparaginase from <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Pectobacterium carotovorum</Emphasis> MTCC 1428

Statistically based experimental design was applied to maximize the production of glutaminase-free L-asparaginase from Pectobacterium carotovorum MTCC 1428. The effect of physical process parameters (initial pH of the medium, temperature, rpm of the shaking incubator, and inoculum size) on the production of L-asparaginase from P. carotovorum MTCC 1428 was studied using central composite design technique. The individual optimum levels of initial pH of the medium, temperature, rpm of shaking incubator, and inoculum size were found to be 6.90, 29.8 °C, 157 rpm, and 2.61% (v/v), respectively, for the production of L-asparaginase. After physical process parameters optimization, the production and productivity of L-asparaginase was enhanced by 26.39% (specific activity) and 10.19%, respectively. Maximization of L-asparaginase production was achieved at 12 h under optimal levels of physical process parameters in shake flask level.