Hadrons in compact stars

We discuss β-equilibrated and charge neutral matter involving hyperons and {ie817-1} condensates within relativistic models. It is observed that populations of baryons are strongly affected by the presence of antikaon condensates. Also, the equation of state including {ie817-2} condensates becomes softer resulting in a smaller maximum mass neutron star     

Four constant potential function of amorphous selenium and evaluation of its thermodynamic and acoustic properties

Litov and Anderson after various considerations suggested a four constant potential function for a-Se as well as a-As₂S₃. Hence we also used a four constant potential function with the sole purpose of applying this potential function to obtain several acoustic, thermodynamic and other properties. We calculated several acoustic properties of a-Se like second order elastic constants (SOECs), their pressure derivatives, the longitudinal and transverse Grüneisen constant by two different methods, phonon frequencies, absorption band position through the use of Nath-Smith-Delaunay’s equation, and the thermodynamic properties like heat capacity, bulk modulus, thermal Grüneisen constant, the pressure derivative of the bulk modulus (dK _T/dP=C ₁), the pressure derivative ofC ₁ which is related to Anderson-Grüneisen parameter, pressure derivative of Grüneisen constant namelyγ′ _g which is related to second Grüneisen constant, characteristics of phonon frequencies, potential energy function through the use of fitted parameters and third order elastic constants. Finally we calculatedK _T at the reduced density ofρ/ρ ₀=1.1.K _T is obtained from the potential function with the fitted parameters. In all the above cases the calculated values are found to be in good agreement with experiment wherever available. In this connection it is important to point out that we eliminated ‘C’ a constant in the potential function using the equilibrium condition as was done by Litovet al in a-Se and Gerlichet al in the case of a-As₂S₃ as all amorphous substances are isotropic as mentioned by several authors. We contemplate to calculate several other properties for a-Se and a-As₂S₃ and present them at a later stage.     

A finite volume method for viscous incompressible flows using a consistent flux reconstruction scheme

An incompressible Navier–Stokes solver using curvilinear body‐fitted collocated grid has been developed to solve unconfined flow past arbitrary two‐dimensional body geometries. In this solver, the full Navier–Stokes equations have been solved numerically in the physical plane itself without using any transformation to the computational plane. For the proper coupling of pressure and velocity field on collocated grid, a new scheme, designated ‘consistent flux reconstruction’ (CFR) scheme, has been developed. In this scheme, the cell face centre velocities are obtained explicitly by solving the momentum equations at the centre of the cell faces. The velocities at the cell centres are also updated explicitly by solving the momentum equations at the cell centres. By resorting to such a fully explicit treatment considerable simplification has been achieved compared to earlier approaches. In the present investigation the solver has been applied to unconfined flow past a square cylinder at zero and non‐zero incidence at low and moderate Reynolds numbers and reasonably good agreement has been obtained with results available from literature. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gelation of aqueous pectin solutions: a dynamic light scattering study

We report the dynamic light scattering study of the gelation of aqueous solutions of the biopolymer, pectin, induced by the addition of calcium chloride. The time correlation function data are analyzed under the framework of the coupling model. As the solution enters the semidilute regime where gelation sets in, the relaxation process shows a stretched exponential behavior. The stretching exponent decreases and the characteristic time of the stretched exponential diverges as the system evolves to a gel. Aqueous pectin solutions in the presence of 0.1 M NaCl show similar behavior. Thus, the molecular relaxation modes of pectin solutions can be well described by the coupling model.     

Reduction of copper in porous matrixes. Stepwise and autocatalytic reduction routes

The reduction of Cu(II) oxide species in siliceous matrixes of different porosity (MFI, FAU, MCM-48) and in alumosilicate MFI was studied by temperature-programmed reduction in hydrogen (TPR), by X-ray absorption fine structure (after stationary hydrogen treatments), and by transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the reduction may proceed in one or in two reduction steps. The two-step scheme known for zeolites was observed also for Cu(II) in siliceous microporous matrixes, with similar temperature of Cu(II) reduction onset as for the alumosilicate MFI. Therefore, the two-step scheme cannot be explained by the stabilization of Cu ions by intra-zeolite electrical fields. CuOx clusters in MCM-48 were reduced in a one-step scheme (similar to bulk CuO) at high Cu content (6 wt %) but in a two-step scheme at low Cu content (1 wt %). The two reduction steps observed with most samples cannot be identified with the transitions of all Cu(II) to Cu(I) and of Cu(I) to Cu(0). Instead, Cu(0) nuclei were observed already at low reduction temperatures and were found to coexist with Cu ions over temperature ranges of different extension. This coexistence range was narrow in materials that favor aggregation of the Cu nuclei into particles: Cu-MCM-48 of low Cu content and Cu-ZSM-5. In the latter, metal segregation from the pore system was found to be accompanied by an autocatalytic initiation of the second reduction step. In the siliceous microporous matrixes, the Cu(0) nuclei were observed to coexist with Cu ions over wide temperature ranges (100 K for MFI) at temperatures far above that of Cu reduction in the bulk oxide. These observations suggest that oligomeric Cu metal nuclei which may have been formed, e.g., at the intersections of the MFI channel system, may be unable to activate hydrogen, which would be required for rapid reduction of the coexisting Cu ions.     

Boronic acid based dynamic click chemistry: recent advances and emergent applications

Recently, reversible click reactions have found numerous applications in chemical biology, supramolecular chemistry, and biomedical applications. Boronic acid (BA)-mediated cis-diol conjugation is one of the best-studied reactions among them. An excellent understanding of the chemical properties and biocompatibility of BA-based compounds has inspired the exploration of novel chemistries using boron to fuel emergent sciences. This topical review focuses on the recent progress of iminoboronate and salicylhydroxamic–boronate constituted reversible click chemistries in the past decade. We highlight the mechanism of reversible kinetics and its applications in chemical biology, medicinal chemistry, biomedical devices, and material chemistry. This article also emphasizes the fundamental reactivity of these two conjugate chemistries with assorted nucleophiles at variable pHs, which is of utmost importance to any stimuli-responsive biological and material chemistry explorations.

Fundamental progress, current developments, and rapidly growing applications of iminoboronate and salicylhydroxamic–boronate conjugate esters are deliberated.     

STUDIES ON HUMAN LENSES: II. DISTRIBUTION AND SOLUBILITY OF FLUORESCENT PIGMENTS IN CATARACTOUS AND NON-CATARACTOUS LENSES OF INDIAN ORIGIN

Abstract— Fluorometric studies of cataractous and non-cataractous human lenses were carried out to study the emission characteristics and the distribution and solubility of lenticular pigments. Most of the detected fluorophores were well distributed over the cortical and nuclear portion of the lens. The decrease in solubility of proteins with aging and cataract formation is concomitant with increasing photolysis of tryptophan. However, this is likely a phenomenon independent of the photochemical transformations of the lens proteins. The number of emitting species in the diseased lenses are higher than in the normal mature lenses. A species emitting around 375 or 388 nm is of particular interest (λ_cx, 330 nm) in that the emission characteristics of this fluorophore resemble kynurenic acid which has a high photosensitizing efficiency. The concentration of fluorescent pigments in the lenses of Indian origin is significantly high. The intense pigmentation could be attributed largely to the formation of photoproducts in the absence of normal endogenous antioxidant accumulation that is dependent on nutrition standard. If, indeed, any of these fluorescent pigments, because of their photosensitizing ability, are responsible for lenticular opacity, it is not the abundance of sunlight alone but also malnutrition that could account for the high incidence of cataract in India.     

SL(2,C)-gauge theory,N=1 supergravity and torsion

It is shown that the SL(2,C)-gauge theory of gravitation may be considered to correspond toN = 1 supergravity and the conserved current gives rise to the Einstein-Cartan action. The torsion term here appears due to the spinorial variable, which is associated with the internal helicity giving rise to the isospin algebra from the conformal reflection group. In this sense, the internal symmetry of hadrons is found to take a dominant role in gravitational phenomena in the microlocal space-time region where the Einstein-Cartan action becomes significant.