Effect of discontinuity in density and conductivity on the hydromagnetic stability of a two-dimensional jet

The hydromagnetic stability of an incompressible, inviscid, and two-dimensional jet in the presence of a discontinuity in density and conductivity across the jet surfaces is studied against small and large wavelength disturbances. In the equilibrium state the magnetic field is uniform and aligned with the direction of jet velocity. Study of several different cases shows that discontinuity in density or conductivity or in the product of density and conductivity across the jet surfaces has a stabilizing effect on the jet.     

Magnetic field induced residual resistivity in quasi-one-dimensional Hg3−δAsF6

The â-b? plane resistivity of the Hg-chain compound, Hg_3?δAsF₆, has been measured as a function of temperature and magnetic field using a contactless ac technique. The data imply a magnetic field dependent residual resistivity which goes to zero as the field is reduced to zero. The results are discussed in terms of the quasi-one-dimensional electronic and structural features of this novel linear chain compound.     

On the transient electrical response of a piezoelectric transducer due to shock-loaded stress

The methods of transform calculus are made use of in finding the electrical response in a piezoelectric transducer due to shock-loaded stress. The response is found to be transient in character to a first order of approximation.The author is deeply indebted to Dr. D. K. Sinha for his constant guidance in preparing this paper. He also thanks the referee for his comments and suggestions for improving the paper.     

Charged particle orbits in Kerr geometry with electromagnetic fields as viewed from locally non-rotating frames

The charged particle orbits in electromagnetic fields on Kerr background as viewed from a locally non-rotating frame do not exhibit non-gyrating bound orbits, which was an essential feature in the earlier study of Prasanna and Vishveshwara, thus showing the non gyration to be due to the effect of dragging of inertial frames produced by the rotating black hole.     

Controlling and fine tuning the physical properties of two identical metal coordination sites in de novo designed three stranded coiled coil peptides

Herein we report how de novo designed peptides can be used to investigate whether the position of a metal site along a linear sequence that folds into a three-stranded α-helical coiled coil defines the physical properties of Cd(II) ions in either CdS(3) or CdS(3)O (O-being an exogenous water molecule) coordination environments. Peptides are presented that bind Cd(II) into two identical coordination sites that are located at different topological positions at the interior of these constructs. The peptide GRANDL16PenL19IL23PenL26I binds two Cd(II) as trigonal planar 3-coordinate CdS(3) structures whereas GRANDL12AL16CL26AL30C sequesters two Cd(II) as pseudotetrahedral 4-coordinate CdS(3)O structures. We demonstrate how for the first peptide, having a more rigid structure, the location of the identical binding sites along the linear sequence does not affect the physical properties of the two bound Cd(II). However, the sites are not completely independent as Cd(II) bound to one of the sites ((113)Cd NMR chemical shift of 681 ppm) is perturbed by the metalation state (apo or [Cd(pep)(Hpep)(2)](+) or [Cd(pep)(3)](-)) of the second center ((113)Cd NMR chemical shift of 686 ppm). GRANDL12AL16CL26AL30C shows a completely different behavior. The physical properties of the two bound Cd(II) ions indeed depend on the position of the metal center, having pK(a2) values for the equilibrium [Cd(pep)(Hpep)(2)](+) → [Cd(pep)(3)](-) + 2H(+) (corresponding to deprotonation and coordination of cysteine thiols) that range from 9.9 to 13.9. In addition, the L26AL30C site shows dynamic behavior, which is not observed for the L12AL16C site. These results indicate that for these systems one cannot simply assign a "4-coordinate structure" and assume certain physical properties for that site since important factors such as packing of the adjacent Leu, size of the intended cavity (endo vs exo) and location of the metal site play crucial roles in determining the final properties of the bound Cd(II).     

Rayleigh light scattering from hydrogen‐bonded dimers of small astrophysical molecules

High level ab initio calculations of the Rayleigh scattering activities of the hydrogen‐bonded dimers of formic acid (HCOOH), nitrosyl hydride (HNO), and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) molecules have been performed. All these molecules have already been detected in interstellar space and are of great importance from the astrochemical point of view. The geometries of the homo‐ and hetero‐dimers have been optimized using Hartree–Fock and second‐order Møller‐Plesset perturbation theory. Dipole moment, mean dipole polarizability, and polarizability anisotropy have been calculated utilizing Pople‐type 6‐311++G(d,p) and Dunning's aug‐cc‐pVDZ basis sets for all the complexes. The polarizabilities are then used to calculate and analyze the Rayleigh scattering parameters. The results for the dimers, HCN···HCN, HCOOH···HCOOH, HNO···HNO, HCN···HCOOH, HCN···HNO, and HNO···HCOOH are compared with those of the isolated molecules, HCN, HCOOH, and HNO to see the effect of hydrogen bond formation on the molecular interaction with radiation. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Analyte-driven switching of DNA charge transport: de novo creation of electronic sensors for an early lung cancer biomarker

A general approach is described for the de novo design and construction of aptamer-based electrochemical biosensors, for potentially any analyte of interest (ranging from small ligands to biological macromolecules). As a demonstration of the approach, we report the rapid development of a made-to-order electronic sensor for a newly reported early biomarker for lung cancer (CTAP III/NAP2). The steps include the in vitro selection and characterization of DNA aptamer sequences, design and biochemical testing of wholly DNA sensor constructs, and translation to a functional electrode-bound sensor format. The working principle of this distinct class of electronic biosensors is the enhancement of DNA-mediated charge transport in response to analyte binding. We first verify such analyte-responsive charge transport switching in solution, using biochemical methods; successful sensor variants were then immobilized on gold electrodes. We show that using these sensor-modified electrodes, CTAP III/NAP2 can be detected with both high specificity and sensitivity (K(d) ～1 nM) through a direct electrochemical reading. To investigate the underlying basis of analyte binding-induced conductivity switching, we carried out F?rster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) experiments. The FRET data establish that analyte binding-induced conductivity switching in these sensors results from very subtle structural/conformational changes, rather than large scale, global folding events. The implications of this finding are discussed with respect to possible charge transport switching mechanisms in electrode-bound sensors. Overall, the approach we describe here represents a unique design principle for aptamer-based electrochemical sensors; its application should enable rapid, on-demand access to a class of portable biosensors that offer robust, inexpensive, and operationally simplified alternatives to conventional antibody-based immunoassays.     

Stability of ruthenium nanoparticles synthesized by solvothermal method

One of the major obstacles to the synthesis of nanoparticles and nanocatalyst is the stability of particles. In the present study, polymer stabilized ruthenium nanoparticles were synthesized by solvothermal method using solutions of ruthenium chloride in ethylene glycol in presence of poly(N ‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone) (PVP) as a stabilizing agent. Stability of nanoparticles was studied by varying different parameters e.g. PVP/RuCl₃ molar raio, RuCl₃ concentration, reaction temperature and time and expressed in terms of particle size and size distribution. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis revealed the presence of metallic clusters with a uniform size of about 20‐65 nm. Dispersion destabilisation of colloidal nanoparticles was detected by Turbiscan. Polymer stabilized ruthenium nanoparticles were dispersed on γ‐alumina to prepare uniformly disperse Ru/γ‐Al₂O₃ catalyst by mechanical strirring and sonication. Inductively coupled plasma‐optical emission spectroscopy (ICP‐OES), X‐Ray powder diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize the supported catalyst. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)