Organic Nanoparticles: Preparation,Self‐Assembly,and Properties

The strong tendency of organic nanoparticles to rapidly self‐assemble into highly aligned superlattices at room temperature when solution‐cast from dispersions or spray‐coated directly onto various substrates is described. The nanoparticle dispersions are stable for years. The novel precipitation process used is believed to result in molecular distances and alignments in the nanoparticles that are not normally possible. Functional organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs)—which have the same host–dopant emissive‐material composition—with process‐tunable electroluminescence have been built with these nanoparticles, indicating the presence of novel nanostructures. For example, only changing the conditions of the precipitation process changes the OLED emission from green light to yellow.     

Discrete facility location with nonlinear diseconomies in fixed costs

A discrete facility location problem is formulated where the total fixed cost for establishing the facilities includes a component that is a nonlinear function of the number of facilities being established. Some theoretical properties of the solution are derived when this fixed cost is a convex nondecreasing function of the number of facilities. Based on these properties an efficient bisection heuristic is developed where at each iteration, the classical uncapacitated facility location and/or m-median subproblems are solved using available efficient heuristics.     

On a nonstandard two-parametric quantum algebra and its connections withU p,q (gl(2)) andU p,q(gl(1/1))

A quantum algebraU _{p, q} (,H,X _±) associated with a nonstandardR-matrix with two deformation parameters (p, q) is studied and, in particular, its universal -matrix is derived using Reshetikhin's method. Explicit construction of the (p, q)-dependent nonstandardR-matrix is obtained through a coloured generalized boson realization of the universal -matrix of the standardU _{p, q}(gl(2)) corresponding to a nongeneric case. General finite dimensional coloured representation of the universal -matrix ofU _{p, q}(gl(2)) is also derived. This representation, in nongeneric cases, becomes a source for various (p, q)-dependent nonstandardR-matrices. Superization ofU _{p, q}(,H,X _±) leads to the super-Hopf algebraU _{p, q}(gl(1/1)). A contraction procedure then yields a (p, q)-deformed super-Heisenberg algebraU _{p, q}(sh(1)) and its universal -matrix.     

Finite-dimensional quantum mechanics of a particle

This paper analyzes the possible implications of interpreting the finitedimensional representations of canonically conjugate quantum mechanical position, and momentum operators of a particle consistent with Weyl's form of Heisenberg's commutation relation as the actual position, and momentum operators of the particle when it is confined to move within a finite spatial domain, and regarding the application of current quantum mechanical formalism based on Heisenberg's relation to such a situation as an asymptotic approximation. In the resulting quantum mechanical formalism the discrete and finite position and momentum spectra of a particle depend on its rest mass and the spatial domain of confinement. Such a finite-dimensional quantum mechanics may be very suitable for describing the physics of particles confined to move within very small regions of space.     

In vivo (31)P MRS study of skeletal muscle metabolism in patients with postpolio residual paralysis

The muscle metabolism of at-rest patients with varying degrees of postpolio residual paralysis (PPRP) was studied and compared with that of controls using in vivo phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The phosphocreatine (PCr)/inorganic phosphate (Pi) and PCr/adenosine triphosphate ratios were lower in patients than in controls. Reduction in PCr/Pi suggests abnormalities in oxidative phosphorylation. A significant increase was observed in the phosphomonoester/PCr ratio in patients, indicating the accumulation of intermediary compounds of the glycolytic pathway. Furthermore, the phosphodiester/PCr ratio was also significantly increased in patients. In general, the observed changes in metabolite ratios were found to be related to the degree of residual paralysis, suggesting that metabolic changes are secondary to chronic neurogenic processes. These metabolic alterations appear to be the possible cause of energy deficit and underlying muscle fatigue in PPRP patients. The present results provide an insight into the metabolic impairment and degree of muscle damage in patients with PPRP.     

Effects of gamma irradiation on morphological changes and biological responses in plants

This review discusses the morphological changes and biological responses of plants irradiated with gamma rays. Seedlings exposed to relatively low doses of gamma rays (1-5 Gy) developed normally, while the growth of plants irradiated with a high dose gamma ray (50 Gy) was significantly inhibited. Based on TEM observations, chloroplasts were extremely sensitive to gamma irradiation compared to other cell organelles, particularly thylakoids being heavily swollen. In addition, some portions of the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum were structurally altered, for example, distortion and swelling. The cerium perhydroxide deposition, as a maker for H(2)O(2) deposition, was typically manifest on the plasma membranes and cell walls of the tissues from both the control and irradiated plants. However, the intensities of cerium perhydroxide deposits (CPDs) were remarkably increased in the plasma membranes and cell walls of pumpkin tissues such as petiole, cotyledon, hypocotyl and especially leaf after gamma irradiation. These observations are in good agreement with the results of H(2)O(2) content in all tissues. The immuno-localization analysis for peroxidase (POD) on the tissues from pumpkin plant showed the same pattern between the control and irradiated plants, but the density of gold particles as indication of POD localization was significantly increased on the cell corner middle lamellae of parenchyma cells, especially in the petiole after gamma irradiation. However, accumulation and localization of H(2)O(2) and POD in vessels were not significantly different between both plants. The accumulation and localization of both H(2)O(2) and POD were differentially affected by gamma irradiation depending on the different tissue types. The deposition of both H(2)O(2) and POD in parenchyma cells appeared much higher than in vessels, suggesting that the former is more sensitive than the latter against gamma rays.     

Mössbauer study of a ferromagnetic metallic glass: Fe74Co10B16

Amorphous Fe₇₄Co₁₀B₁₆ (METGLAS 2605CO) has been studied in the temperature range of 77 K – 700 K by Mössbauer spectroscopy. Its crystallization temperature is found to be 665 ± 5 K and Curie temperature is estimated to be 760±10 K. The observed rapid decrease in reduced hyperfine fields can be explained well by Handrich's model for amorphous ferromagnets if one assumes a temperature dependent δ, a measure of fluctuations in the exchange interactions in such solids.     

On the estimation of second moment for organic compounds in wide-line pmr: analysis of group geometry

Neutron diffraction data available in the literature have been analyzed statistically to arrive at the ideal geometry for the commonly occurring groups, NH ₄ ⁺ , NH ₃ ⁺ , CH₃, CH₂, and CH; this has yielded optimum experimental values for the bond length and bond angle parameters. They are: N-H distance of 1.030 Å in both NH ₄ ⁺ and NH ₃ ⁺ groups, H-N-H angle of 109.47° and 108.1° respectively in NH ₄ ⁺ and NH ₃ ⁺ and 110.8° for the corresponding X-N-H angle in –NH ₃ ⁺ . For CH₃, CH₂, and CH groups the bond length C-H is 1.090 Å, while the H-C-H and X-C-H angles are respectively 108.2° and 110.5° in CH₃ and 107.2° and 109.3° in CH₂. The importance of using precise values of both bond lengths and bond angles for the ideal geometry when estimating theoretical second moments is emphasized.Contribution No. 564 from the Department of Crystallography and Biophysics, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Madras-600025, India.