Effect of sodium hydroxide pre-treatment on the optical and structural properties of lyocell

Lyocell is a type of regenerated cellulose. Fibres spun from cellulose solution in N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide hydrate consist of crystalline cellulose II and amorphous cellulose. Lyocell fabrics were treated with aqueous sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) to study the influence of alkali on optical and structural properties. It was observed that sodium hydroxide treatment causes the density, orientation and crystallinity of lyocell fibre to decrease with increasing sodium hydroxide concentration, a corresponding decrease in tensile strength is also observed. The greatest change in fibre properties occurs between 3.0 and 5.0 mol dm⁻³ NaOH. This is attributed to the onset of formation of Na-cellulose II at 3.0 mol dm⁻³ NaOH; a fully formed Na-cellulose II structure is expected above 6.8 mol dm⁻³ NaOH. Formation of Na-cellulose II causes plasticization of the lyocell fibres as both inter- and intra-molecular hydrogen bonds are broken by these higher sodium hydroxide concentrations.     

Synthesis, structure, redox and spectra of green iridium complexes of tridentate azo-aromatic ligands

Reactions of IrCl₃·xH₂O with the ligands, 2-[(phenylamino)phenylazo]pyridine (HL^1a) and 2-[(p-tolylamino)phenylazo]pyridine (HL^1b) produce [Ir(L¹)₂]Cl (L¹ = L^1a, [1]Cl and L¹ = L^1b, [2]Cl) along with many unidentified products. The iridium complexes have been characterized by various techniques such as X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, cyclic voltammetry and absorption studies. The complex [1]ClO₄ crystallises in triclinic space group. The crystallographic data have been determined. Notably, the Ir-N (azo) lengths are short (av. 1·9875(4) ?) as compared to the remaining four Ir-N lengths (av. 2·052(5) ?). There is significant degree of ligand backbone conjugation in the coordinated ligands, which result in shortening of the C-N lengths on the other side of the middle phenyl ring and also in lengthening of the diazo (N=N) lengths. The complexes display multiple low energy transitions ranging between 1010 and 450 nm. These are electro active and show three reversible redox responses in the potential range, +1·5 V to −1·5 V. The cathodic potential responses are ascribed as ligand reductions, while the redox process at the anodic potential occurs at a mixed metal-ligand (HOMO) orbital.     

Angular momentum transfer in incomplete fusion

Isomeric cross-section ratios of evaporation residues formed in¹²C+⁹³Nb and¹⁶O+⁸⁹Y reactions were measured by recoil catcher technique followed by off-line γ-ray spectrometry in the beam energy range of 55.7–77.5 MeV for¹²C and 68–81 MeV for¹⁶O. The isomeric cross-section ratios were resolved into that for complete and incomplete fusion reactions. The angular momentum of the intermediate nucleus formed in incomplete fusion was deduced from the isomeric cross-section ratio by considering the statistical deexcitation of the incompletely fused composite nucleus. The data show that incomplete fusion is associated with angular momenta slightly smaller than critical angular momentum for complete fusion, indicating the deeper interpenetration of projectile and target nuclei than that in peripheral collisions.     

Effect of gamma irradiation on the polymer electrolyte PEO-NH4ClO4

Irradiation affects the structures of materials at different scales, thus changing physical and chemical properties. We study here the effect of gamma irradiation at different doses on the polymer electrolyte PEO-NH₄ClO₄. Optical micrographs show cracks in the irradiated samples and impedance spectroscopy measurements indicate reduced ion-conductivity at room temperature but slight enhancement at higher temperature. At high frequencies, the real part of the admittance shows a power-law variation; the exponent, which is a measure of self-similarity of the structure, is reduced on irradiation. The overall results point to a more disordered structure at higher radiation doses.     

Analyzing a multiserver bulk-service finite-buffer queue

This paper analyzes a finite-buffer multiserver bulk-service queueing system in which the interarrival and service times are, respectively, arbitrarily and exponentially distributed. Using the supplementary variable and the imbedded Markov chain techniques, we obtain the queue-length distributions at prearrival and arbitrary epochs. We also present Laplace–Stiltjes transform of the actual waiting-time distribution in the queue. Finally, several performance measures and a variety of numerical results in the form of tables and graphs are discussed.     

Study of fission track registration efficiency of γ-irradiated polyester track detector in solution medium

The fission track registration efficiency (K _wet) of the Garware polyester track (GPF) detector in solution has been determined with respect to the Lexan detector whose K _wet is very well known in the literature. The K _wet is found to be (1.2 ± 0.1) 10⁻³ cm. The track registration efficiency of the GPF detector in solution is better than the efficiencies of other nuclear track detectors reported in the literature. This implies that the threshold energies for track registration are different for different detectors and that GPF detector has a lower threshold-energy value. The effects of gamma irradiation in the dose range of 5–51 Mrad on the fission track registration efficiency (K _wet) of this track detector from the solution medium are also investigated. The results show that the K _wet values for the gamma-irradiated detectors in the above dose range in 2M HNO₃ solution medium decreases by ∼7–15%. The changes induced in the gamma-irradiated detectors as a function of gamma dose have also been studied by bulk-etch rate measurements.     

Radon exhalation rate studies in Makum coalfield area using track-etched detectors

Radon exhalation rates were studied using LR-115 (II) nuclear track detectors in and around the Makum coalfield, which has significant geological features. Exhalation rates (mass and surface) from coal and soil samples were studied with reference to the geological features. The mass and surface exhalation rates from coal samples ranged from 6.1–16.2 mBq/kg/h and 201.6–535.7 mBq/m²/h, respectively. The mass and surface exhalation rates from the soil samples collected from the Margherita Thrust area of the coalfield and the coalfield area lying in between the Margherita Thrust and Disang Thrust of the coalfield were found to be 10.7 mBq/kg/h and 354.2 mBq/m²/h, and 9.5 mBq/kg/h and 314.2 mBq/m²/h, respectively.     

Minimal textures in seesaw mass matrices and their low and high energy phenomenology

In an attempt to find minimal scenarios we study the implications of Dirac and Majorana mass matrices with texture zeros within the type I seesaw mechanism. For the Dirac mass matrices we consider 5 zero textures which we show to be the most minimal form that can successfully account for low energy phenomenology if the Majorana mass matrices are chosen minimal as well. For those, we consider both diagonal and even more minimal non-diagonal forms. The latter can be motivated e.g. by simple U(1)$U(1)$ flavour symmetries and have two degenerate eigenvalues. We classify the allowed textures and discuss the ramifications for leptogenesis and lepton flavour violation.     

Crystallization-Induced Emission Enhancement of Nanoclusters and One-Step Conversion of “Nanoclusters to Nanoparticles” as the Basis for Intracellular Logic Operations

Herein, we report the construction of intracellular logic operations using luminescent histidine stabilized gold nanoclusters (His Au NCs). The luminescence intensity of His Au NCs was found to be significantly enhanced following interaction with zinc ions, owing to “Crystallization induced emission enhancement”. Further, the luminescence intensity of His Au NCs was found to be effectively quenched in presence of sulphide ions, owing to transformation of emissive His Au NCs to non-emissive gold nanoparticles. Thus, the collective and individual effects of zinc ions and sulphide ions causing significant variation in the luminescence intensity of His Au NCs, were used as input parameters for construction of intracellular logic operations such as Tri state buffer, “on-off” switch and INHIBIT gate within mammalian cells.