An Investigation on Decay Modes and Half-Life of Nobelium Isotopes

Physics of Atomic Nuclei - Relativistic Mean Field (RMF) theory with density-dependent forces (DD-ME2 and DD-PC1) was utilized to investigate decay modes and half-life of superheavy...     

Generalized Contour Dynamics: A Review

Contour dynamics is a computational technique to solve for the motion of vortices in incompressible inviscid flow. It is a Lagrangian technique in which the motion of contours is followed, and the velocity field moving the contours can be computed as integrals along the contours. Its best-known examples are in two dimensions, for which the vorticity between contours is taken to be constant and the vortices are vortex patches, and in axisymmetric flow for which the vorticity varies linearly with distance from the axis of symmetry. This review discusses generalizations that incorporate additional physics, in particular, buoyancy effects and magnetic fields, that take specific forms inside the vortices and preserve the contour dynamics structure. The extra physics can lead to time-dependent vortex sheets on the boundaries, whose evolution must be computed as part of the problem. The non-Boussinesq case, in which density differences can be important, leads to a coupled system for the evolution of both mean interfacial velocity and vortex sheet strength. Helical geometry is also discussed, in which two quantities are materially conserved and whose evolution governs the flow.     

In vitro evaluation of potential complexation between bovine insulin and bovine serum albumin

The objective of this study was to examine the possible binding of bovine insulin (BI) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) to form a new potential diabetogenic irreversible complex protein. Several preparations of BSA and BI were prepared. Both capillary electrophoresis and spectrophotometric analysis were undertaken to test the possibility of complexation between BI and BSA. HPLC was used to test whether the potential complex of BI and BSA is reversible or irreversible. The optimum deviation between the real and calculated absorbances was observed at a BI/BSA ratio of 2. Moreover, the migration time of BI decreased substantially with increasing ratio of BI to BSA until it became almost constant at equal molar ratio of BI/BSA. While the majority of the 2:1 BI–BSA sample detached during the HPLC analysis, which confirms the reversible character of BI–BSA binding, the HPLC chromatogram also emphasizes the formation of an irreversible complexation between the two proteins. This study provides evidence of the formation of reversible and irreversible new BI–BSA complexes under physiological conditions. This highlights the importance of examining the possible diabetogenicity of BI–BSA complex in genetically susceptible people. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Calibrating a J2 plasticity material model using a 2D inverse finite element procedure

Material models are the key ingredients to accurately capture the global mechanical response of structural systems. The use of finite element analysis has proven to be effective in simulating nonlinear engineering applications. However, the choice of the appropriate material model plays a big role in the value of the numerical predictions. Such models are not expected to exactly reproduce global experimental response in all cases. Alternatively, the measured global response at specific domain or surface points can be used to guide the nonlinear analysis to successively extract a representative material model. By selecting an initial set of stress–strain data points, the load–displacement response at the monitoring points is computed in a forward incremental analysis without iterations. This analysis retains the stresses at the integration points. The corresponding strains are not accurate since the computed displacements are not anticipated to match the measured displacements at the monitoring points. Therefore, a corrective incremental displacement analysis is performed at the same load steps to adjust for displacements and strains everywhere by matching the measured displacements at the monitoring points. The stress–strain vectors at the most highly stressed integration point are found to establish an improved material model. This model is used within a multi-pass incremental nonlinear finite element analysis until the discrepancy between the measured and the predicted structural response at the monitoring points vanishes. The J2 flow theory of plasticity is used as a constitutive framework to build the tangent elastic–plastic matrices. The applicability of the proposed approach is demonstrated by solving 2D inverse continuum problems. The comparisons presented support the effectiveness of the proposed approach in accurately calibrating the J2 plasticity material model for such problems.     

The mechanism of N-alkylation of weak N-H-acids by phase transfer catalysis

The alkylation of aromatic amines in the presence of inorganic bases is accelerated by a PT catalyst $\text{even}$ if KHCO₃ is the base. ArNR^θ ions seem not to be involved. A novel type of mechanism for a PTC process is proposed.     

Studies on 3,3′-dichloro-, 4,4′-dichloro- and 5,5′-dichloro,2-2′-dimethyldithizone and their reactions with metal ions

Three new derivatives of dithizone are reported, with their electronic and i.r. spectra, acidity constants and partition coefficients between 0.5 M sodium perchlorate and chloroform or carbon tetrachloride. The extraction equilibria with Cd, Co(II), Hg(II), Ni, Pb, Tl(I), Zn and Bi and the spectrophotometric characteristics of the extractable metal chelates are described. Complete extraction of these complexes requires higher pH than that needed with dithizone itself. The 4,4′-dichloroisomer is more efficient than the 3,3′ and 5,5′-isomers, or dithizone itself, for the separation of cadmium from zinc or cobalt from nickel.     

Markoff–Rosenberger triples and generalized Lucas sequences

Periodica Mathematica Hungarica - We consider the Markoff–Rosenberger equation $$\begin{aligned} ax^2+by^2+cz^2=dxyz \end{aligned}$$ with $$(x,y,z)=(U_i,U_j,U_k)$$ , where $$U_i$$ denotes the...     

Bound state of solution of Dirac-Coulomb problem with spatially dependent mass

The bound state solution of Coulomb Potential in the Dirac equation is calculated for a position dependent mass function M(r) within the framework of the asymptotic iteration method (AIM). The eigenfunctions are derived in terms of hypergeometric function and function generator equations of AIM.     

Analysis of Citrus Bioflavonoid Content and Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitory Potential of Commercially Available Supplements

Citrus bioflavonoids are polyphenolic plant-derived pigments found in high levels in oranges, lemons, grapefruits and other citrus fruits. The three most abundant types of citrus bioflavonoids are hesperidin, naringenin and eriocitrin. Citrus bioflavonoids have long been known to possess powerful free radical-scavenging properties and cardioprotective effects. The study involved the analysis of 10 commercially available citrus bioflavonoid supplements from three different countries: Australia, the United States and Canada. The supplements were tested for their citrus bioflavonoid content which varied from 0.8 to 33.3% w/w. The daily bioflavonoid dose varied from 19 mg to 560 mg. Hesperidin was the major citrus bioflavonoid in nine out of ten supplements. One supplement was found to contain less than 10% of the quantity of rutin claimed to have been added. The DPP-4 inhibitory potential, compared through an estimation of rutin equivalence, ranged from 1.9 mg to 400 mg per day. This data highlights the variability between the supplements in their potential to inhibit DPP-4 for subsequent health benefits.