Dots in rods as polarized single photon sources

We report the evidence of a polarized single photon flux from a colloidal nanoparticle. We analyze, by time and polarization resolved spectroscopy measurements, the polarization behavior of a single CdSe/CdS core/shell dot in rod, achieving a polarization ratio at room temperature of ∼75% and a lifetime of the excited state of ∼11 ns.     

Propagation of SH‐wave in an initially stressed orthotropic medium sandwiched by a homogeneous and an inhomogeneous semi‐infinite media

The paper presents a study of propagation of shear wave (SH‐wave) in an orthotropic elastic medium under initial stress sandwiched by a homogeneous semi‐infinite medium and an inhomogeneous half‐space. The technique of separation of variables has been adopted to get the analytical solutions for the dispersion relation in a closed form. The propagation of SH‐waves is influenced by inhomogeneity parameters and initial stress parameter. Velocities of SH‐waves are calculated numerically for different cases. As a special case when the intermediate layer and half‐space are homogeneous, computed frequency equation coincides with general equation of Love wave. To study the effect of inhomogeneity parameters and initial stress parameter, we have plotted the velocity of SH‐wave in several figures and observed that the velocity of wave decreases with the increases of non‐dimensional wave number. It can be found that the phase velocity decreases with the increase of inhomogeneity parameters. We observed that the velocity of SH‐wave decreases with the increases of initial stress parameter in both homogeneous and inhomogeneous media. GUI has been developed by using MATLAB to generalize the effect of the parameters discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wormhole supported by dark energy admitting conformal motion

In this article, we study the possibility of sustaining static and spherically symmetric traversable wormhole geometries admitting conformal motion in Einstein gravity, which presents a more systematic approach to search a relation between matter and geometry. In wormhole physics, the presence of exotic matter is a fundamental ingredient and we show that this exotic source can be dark energy type which support the existence of wormhole spacetimes. In this work we model a wormhole supported by dark energy which admits conformal motion. We also discuss the possibility of the detection of wormholes in the outer regions of galactic halos by means of gravitational lensing. Studies of the total gravitational energy for the exotic matter inside a static wormhole configuration are also performed.     

Pool boiling heat transfer characteristics of ZrO2–water nanofluids from a flat surface in a pool

Nucleate pool boiling of ZrO₂ based aqueous nanofluid has been studied. Though enhancement in nucleate boiling heat transfer has been observed at low volume fraction of solid dispersion, the rate of heat transfer falls with the increase in solid concentration and eventually becomes inferior even to pure water. While surfactants increase the rate of heat transfer, addition of surfactant to the nanofluid shows a drastic deterioration in nucleate boiling heat transfer. Further, the boiling of nanofluid renders the heating surface smoother. Repeated runs of experiments with the same surface give a continuous decrease in the rate of boiling heat transfer.     

The electronic structure of propiolic acid and propynal

A CNDO/2 calculation of ths total energy and electron distribution of propiolic acid and propynal shows that their dipole moment originates almost entirely from the charge distribution of the COOH and CHO groups and receives only a small contribution from the CCH group. These results provide a satisfactory explanation of very recent microwave dipole moment measurements on propiolic acid.     

Estimation of Olefin Dimerisation Products by GC/GC–MS and IR Techniques

A GC and IR based protocol was developed for monitoring the isobutene dimerisation process wherein the complete characterisation of the products was carried out by GC coupled with mass spectrometry. In the dimerisation process, LPG from FCC process comprising a mixture of saturated and unsaturated C4 hydrocarbons is subjected to a dimerisation process using a catalyst to produce C8 hydrocarbons. The reaction is carried out keeping in view the demand for high-octane blending components in gasoline. The isooctene generated in the process (mainly from the dimerisation of isobutene) is converted into isooctane having the RON and MON value 100. The monitoring process requires the use of two different column chemistries, viz., a 100 m CPSIL PONA CB non-polar column for C8 and its isomers and an Alumina PLOT column for C4 hydrocarbons. A 100 m non-polar column does not separate the C4 mixture since the column is meant for gasoline range products containing C5 and above hydrocarbons. Therefore, a need was felt for an improvised method which can handle both the analyses simultaneously. A cryogenic oven program starting from 0 °C was developed for separating the isomers of C4 hydrocarbons and C8 hydrocarbons on a single column during the single run by Detailed Hydrocarbon Analyzer. The data obtained using the cryo programme was validated with data obtained using Alumina PLOT column on C4 mixture since the Alumina PLOT column is the widely accepted column chemistry for separating the C4 hydrocarbons. An IR method for the estimation of the total olefin content was developed using 2,2,4-trimethyl pentene-1 as the reference standard. The total olefins generated during the process were identified by GC–MS, quantified by DHA-FID and validated by infrared spectroscopy. A good correlation was found between GC and IR spectral results (correlation coefficient R ²  = 0.99).     

Unique Fluorogenic Ratiometric Fluorescent Chemodosimeter for Rapid Sensing of CN− in Water

A new benzimidazole‐spiropyran conjugate chemosensor molecule ( BISP ) has been synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS), and elemental analysis. The two isomeric forms ( BISP ? BIMC ) were shown to be highly selective and sensitive to CN^? among the ten anions studied in aqueous HEPES buffer, as shown by fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy and even by visual color changes, with a detection limit of 1.7 μM for BIMC . The reaction of CN^? with BIMC was monitored by ¹H NMR spectroscopy, high‐resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), UV/Vis measurements, and fluorescence spectroscopy in HEPES buffer of pH 7.4. TDDFT calculations were performed in order to correlate the electronic properties of the chemosensor with its cyanide complex. Further, titration against thiophilic metal ions like Au³⁺, Cu²⁺, Ag⁺, and Hg²⁺ with [ BIMC‐CN ] in situ showed that it acts as a secondary recognition ensemble toward Au³⁺ and Cu²⁺ by switch‐on fluorescence. In addition, a reversible logic‐gate property of BIMC has been demonstrated through a feedback loop in the presence of CN^? and Au³⁺ ions, respectively. Furthermore, the use of BIMC to detect CN^? in live cells by fluorescence imaging has also been demonstrated. Notably, test strips based on BIMC were fabricated, which could serve as convenient and efficient CN^? test kits.     

Development and Validation of a Fast Reversed-Phase Ion-Pairing Liquid Chromatographic Method for Simultaneous Determination of Eight Cephalosporin Antibiotics in Pharmaceutical Formulations

A fast and reliable single method was developed for rapid screening of cephalosporin oral dosage forms aimed to the detection of counterfeit and substandard drugs that might be illegally commercialised. Nine cephalosporin compounds, ceftibuten, cefatrizine, cefadroxil, cefaclor, cefprozil (Z) and (E)-isomers, cefixime, cephalexin and cefradine were separated in a six minutes chromatographic run by using a Symmetry^® C18 column (50 × 4.6 mm I.D., 3.5 μm particle size) and an UV detector set at 254 nm. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of acetonitrile-methanol-phosphate buffer (50 mM) containing 1-pentanesulfonic acid sodium salt (7 mM) adjusted to pH=2.1 with phosphoric acid (9:13:78 v/v/v). Validation of the method showed it to be robust, precise, accurate and linear over the concentration range of analysis.     

Beyond the Förster formulation for resonance energy transfer: the role of dark states

Resonance Energy Transfer (RET) is investigated in pairs of charge-transfer (CT) chromophores. CT chromophores are an interesting class of π conjugated chromophores decorated with one or more electron-donor and acceptor groups in polar (D-π-A), quadrupolar (D-π-A-π-D or A-π-D-π-A) or octupolar (D(-π-A)(3) or A(-π-D)(3)) structures. Essential-state models accurately describe low-energy linear and nonlinear spectra of CT-chromophores and proved very useful to describe spectroscopic effects of electrostatic interchromophore interactions in multichromophoric assemblies. Here we apply the same approach to describe RET between CT-chromophores. The results are quantitatively validated by an extensive comparison with time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations, confirming that essential-state models offer a simple and reliable approach for the calculation of electrostatic interchromophore interactions. This is an important result since it sets the basis for more refined treatments of RET: essential-state models are in fact easily extended to account for molecular vibrations in truly non-adiabatic approaches and to account for inhomogeneous broadening effects due to polar solvation. Optically forbidden (dark) states of quadrupolar and octupolar chromophores offer an interesting opportunity to verify the reliability of the dipolar approximation. In striking contrast with the dipolar approximation that strictly forbids RET towards or from dark states, our results demonstrate that dark states can take an active role in RET with interaction energies that, depending on the relative orientation of the chromophores, can be even larger than those relevant to allowed states. Essential-state models, whose predictions are quantitatively confirmed by TDDFT results, allow us to relate RET interaction energies towards allowed and dark states to the supramolecular symmetry of the RET-pair, offering reliable design strategies to optimize RET-interactions.     

The molecular structure of N-hydroxyurea

Ab initio calculations were performed on the tautomers and conformers of N-hydroxyurea using a 6-31G ** basis set. The minimum-energy structures have been found and the importance of the intramolecular hydrogen bond as the stabilizing factor was pointed out. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.