Mesogenic properties and the effect of 1,2,4-trisubstitution on the central benzene nucleus of a three-ring mesogen

Four mesogenic homologous series have been synthesized by fixing a rigid 4-substituted phenylazo group to a resorcinol moiety. In series I and II, one phenolic -OH group is esterified by 4-n-alkoxybenzoyl groups; in series III and IV both the phenolic -OH groups are esterified by 4-n-alkoxybenzoyl groups. All the homologues of series III and IV exhibit low melting smectic C phases. Monoesters of series I and II, having free lateral hydroxy group with strong hydrogen bonding, exhibit high temperature nematic phases. The effect of different substituents on mesomorphic properties is discussed. One homologue of series III was doped with a chiral dopant and its spontaneous polarization evaluated.     

Revelation of microtwinning in hydrothermally grown synthetic quartz by growth structures

Growth structuress on prism surfaces of synthetic quartz grown by hydrothermal crystallization technique, indicative of microtwinning in them are described, illustrated and discussed. The microtwins are revealed by the misorientation of the growth structures, and it is observed that microtwinning is manifested in different forms. Twinned domains appear in the form of strictly oriented, square striated (stepped) structures with inclined surfaces, seemingly overlapping square striated structures, square and irregular regions demarcated by black line-like boundaries, patch-like structures enveloping irregularily bound domains, tongue-like terraces bordered by irregular line of discontinuity of varying height and the regions with both differently shaped as differently oriented growth structures. From the orientations of the square shaped growth structures, it is shown that crystals consist of domains which are in twin relationship to the main crystal. Twins by rotation around an axis perpendicular to (10ī0) with rotation angles of 60°, 90°, and 180° have been observed. Critical examination of some twin boundaries delineated by black line-like matter, with the application of multiple beam interferometry and FECO reveal that the black boundary is a ridge (line-elevation). The line elevation along such a twin boundary is explained to be as a result of preferential adsorption of impurity atoms along the trace of the boundary. It is further observed that discontinuity in crystalline structure along the twin boundary leads to growth forms with distorted morphology thus establishing strong dependence of growth forms on the underlying crystalline structure. Causes for generation of the microtwins (twinning on a microscale) in synthetic quartz are discussed.     

Hybridization and enzymatic extension of au nanoparticle-bound oligonucleotides

We have investigated the impact of steric effects on the hybridization and enzymatic extension of oligonucleotides bound to 12-nm colloidal Au particles. In these experiments, a nanoparticle-bound 12-mer sequence is hybridized either to its solution phase 12-mer complement or to an 88-mer template sequence. The particle-bound oligonucleotide serves as a primer for enzymatic extension reactions, in which covalent incorporation of nucleotides to form the complement of the template is achieved by the action of DNA polymerase. Primers were attached via-C(6)H(12)SH, -C(12)H(24)SH, and -TTACAATC(6)H(12)SH linkers attached at the 5' end. Primer coverage on the nanoparticles was varied by dilution with (5')HSC(6)H(12)AAA AAA(3'). Hybridization efficiencies were determined as a function of linker length, primer coverage, complement length (12-mer vs 88-mer), and primer:complement concentration ratio. In all cases, hybridization for the 88-mer was less efficient than for the 12-mer. Low primer surface coverage, greater particle-primer separation, and higher primer:complement ratios led to optimal hybridization. Hybridization efficiencies as high as 98% and 75% were observed for the 12-mer and 88-mer, respectively. Enzymatic extension of particle-bound primers was observed under all conditions tested; however, the efficiency of the reaction was strongly affected by linker length and primer coverage. Extension of primers attached by the longest linker was as efficient as the solution-phase reaction.     

Time domain measurement of dispersion in optical fibres

A time domain dispersion measurement apparatus was successfully built and tested at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. This instrument can measure directly the pulse broadening in a multimode optical fibre. The basic dispersion mechanisms in optical fibres and the design details of the system are discussed.     

Dielectric behaviour of La substituted BPZT ceramics

Here, we report dielectric behaviour of lanthanum substituted Ba_0.80Pb_0.20Ti_0.90Zr_0.10O₃ (BPZT) ceramics. The material series with compositional formula Ba_0.80−xLa_xPb_0.20Ti_0.90Zr_0.10O₃ (BLPZT) with x varying from 0 to 0.01 in the steps of 0.0025 was chosen for investigations. The material was synthesized by solid state reaction method. Reacted powder compacted in form of circular discs were sintered at 1325 °C. All the samples were subjected to X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and found to be single phase. Dielectric behaviour was studied as a function of frequency and temperature and Curie temperature (T_c) was determined. T_c was found to decrease with increasing x. The details are discussed and presented in this paper.     

Dye-dependent studies on droplet pattern and electro-optic behaviour of polymer dispersed liquid crystal

In order to study the droplet pattern and electro-optic (EO) behaviour of polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) with the addition of dye, dichroic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (DPDLC) films were prepared using a nematic liquid crystal (NLC), photo-curable polymer (NOA 65) and anthraquinone blue dichroic dye (B2), in equal ratio (1:1) of polymer and liquid crystal (LC) by polymerisation induced phase separation (PIPS) technique. Dichroic dye was taken in different concentration (wt./wt. ratio) as 0.0625%, 0.125%, 0.25%, 0.5% and 1% of the LC mixture in DPDLC films. Initially, in an open circuit when there is no proviso for external electric field (0 V), LC droplets in polymer matrix exhibited bipolar pattern, though on closing the circuit with the increase of electric field pattern of droplets starts changing, LC molecules align along the direction of applied electric field and aligned completely relatively at higher field (30 V), which illustrate vertical radial pattern. Further, results show that the DPDLC film containing 0.0625% dye concentration with consistent average droplet size ~4.30 μm, exhibits the best transmission at lower operating voltage.     

Failure in anisotropic nonwoven materials at finite deformation

The current work proposes a finite deformation strong discontinuity approach based modeling of failure in anisotropic materials with reorientation based micromechanical network model for the bulk response. These materials consist of randomly cross-linked one dimensional filaments at their microstructure which undergo non-affine deformation as well as reorientation upon loading before undergoing complete failure. The computationally efficient strong discontinuity approach allows to capture the failure kinematics by introducing a local problem where a strong discontinuity exists, thereby leading to an enhanced deformation gradient. A precise evaluation of the bulk response is done by homogenizing the physical microscopic response of constituent filaments where reorientation is introduced with an initial straightening effect of fiber undulations. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Chiral fermions on a compact Riemann surface: A sheaf cohomology analysis

We prove that the correlation functions of a system of chiral fermions on a compact Riemann surface are determined by postulating their behaviour at coincident points and a principle of maximal analyticity. The proof proceeds by a reformulation as a problem of sheaf cohomology. Wick's theorem and the Fay identities are rigorous consequences of our analysis.     

Erdélyi-type integrals for generalized hypergeometric functions with integral parameter differences

In this paper, we extend one of Erdélyi's classical integrals for the Gauss hypergeometric functions to a special class of generalized hypergeometric functions in which certain pairs of numerator and denomiator parameters differ by positive integers. Our main results are achieved by applying the fractional integration by parts and series manipulation technique. Some special cases are also pointed out which includes a new extension of a Thomae-type transformation.