Stress-strain Curves and Corresponding Structural Parameters in Mulberry and Non-mulberry Silk Fibers

Mulberry fiber (Bivoltine) and non-mulberry fiber (Tassar) were subjected to stress-strain studies and the corresponding samples were examined using wide angle X-ray scattering studies. Here we have two different characteristic stress-strain curves and this has been correlated with changes in crystallite shape ellipsoids in all the fibers. Exclusive crystal structure studies of Tassar fibers show interesting feature of transformation from antiparallel chains to parallel chains.

Autonomous and non-autonomous traits mediate social cooperation in Dictyostelium discoideum

In the trishanku (triA(-)) mutant of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, aggregates are smaller than usual and the spore mass is located mid-way up the stalk, not at the apex. We have monitored aggregate territory size, spore allocation and fruiting body morphology in chimaeric groups of (quasi-wild-type) Ax2 and triA(-) cells. Developmental canalisation breaks down in chimaeras and leads to an increase in phenotypic variation. A minority of triA(-) cells causes largely Ax2 aggregation streams to break up; the effect is not due to the counting factor. Most chimaeric fruiting bodies resemble those of Ax2 or triA(-). Others are double-deckers with a single stalk and two spore masses, one each at the terminus and midway along the stalk. The relative number of spores belonging to the two genotypes depends both on the mixing ratio and on the fruiting body morphology. In double-deckers formed from 1:1 chimaeras, the upper spore mass has more Ax2 spores, and the lower spore mass more triA(-) spores, than expected. Thus, the traits under study depend partly on the cells' own genotype and partly on the phenotypes, and so genotypes, of other cells: they are both autonomous and non-autonomous. These findings strengthen the parallels between multicellular development and behaviour in social groups. Besides that, they reinforce the point that a trait can be associated with a genotype only in a specified context.

Effect of density variation and non-covalent functionalization on the compressive behavior of carbon nanotube arrays

Arrays of aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been proposed for different applications, including electrochemical energy storage and shock-absorbing materials. Understanding their mechanical response, in relation to their structural characteristics, is important for tailoring the synthesis method to the different operational conditions of the material. In this paper, we grow vertically aligned CNT arrays using a thermal chemical vapor deposition system, and we study the effects of precursor flow on the structural and mechanical properties of the CNT arrays. We show that the CNT growth process is inhomogeneous along the direction of the precursor flow, resulting in varying bulk density at different points on the growth substrate. We also study the effects of non-covalent functionalization of the CNTs after growth, using surfactant and nanoparticles, to vary the effective bulk density and structural arrangement of the arrays. We find that the stiffness and peak stress of the materials increase approximately linearly with increasing bulk density.

Dimethyl sulfoxide induced structural transformations and non-monotonic concentration dependence of conformational fluctuation around active site of lysozyme

Experimental studies have observed significant changes in both structure and function of lysozyme (and other proteins) on addition of a small amount of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in aqueous solution. Our atomistic molecular dynamic simulations of lysozyme in water-DMSO reveal the following sequence of changes on increasing DMSO concentration. (i) At the initial stage (around 5% DMSO concentration) protein's conformational flexibility gets markedly suppressed. From study of radial distribution functions, we attribute this to the preferential solvation of exposed protein hydrophobic residues by the methyl groups of DMSO. (ii) In the next stage (10-15% DMSO concentration range), lysozome partially unfolds accompanied by an increase both in fluctuation and in exposed protein surface area. (iii) Between 15-20% concentration ranges, both conformational fluctuation and solvent accessible protein surface area suddenly decrease again indicating the formation of an intermediate collapse state. These results are in good agreement with near-UV circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence studies. We explain this apparently surprising behavior in terms of a structural transformation which involves clustering among the methyl groups of DMSO. (iv) Beyond 20% concentration of DMSO, the protein starts its final sojourn towards the unfolding state with further increase in conformational fluctuation and loss in native contacts. Most importantly, analysis of contact map and fluctuation near the active site reveal that both partial unfolding and conformational fluctuations are centered mostly on the hydrophobic core of active site of lysozyme. Our results could offer a general explanation and universal picture of the anomalous behavior of protein structure-function observed in the presence of cosolvents (DMSO, ethanol, tertiary butyl alcohol, dioxane) at their low concentrations. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3694268]

Study of Low Temperature Magnetic Properties of a Single Chain Magnet with Alternate Isotropic and Non-collinear Anisotropic Units

Here we study thermodynamic properties of an important class of single-chain magnets (SCMs), where alternate units are isotropic and anisotropic with anisotropy axes being non-collinear. This class of SCMs shows slow relaxation at low temperatures which results from the interplay of two different relaxation mechanisms, namely dynamical and thermal. Here anisotropy is assumed to be large and negative, as a result, anisotropic units behave like canted spins at low temperatures; but even then simple Ising-type model does not capture the essential physics of the system due to quantum mechanical nature of the isotropic units. We here show how statistical behavior of this class of SCMs can be studied using a transfer matrix (TM) method. We also, for the first time, discuss in detail how weak inter-chain interactions can be treated by a TM method. The finite size effect is also discussed which becomes important for low temperature dynamics. At the end of this paper, we apply this technique to study a real helical chain magnet.

Radiative and non-radiative effects of a substrate on localized plasmon resonance of particles

Experiments have shown strong effects of some substrates on the localized plasmons of metallic nano particles but they are inconclusive on the affecting parameters. Here, we have used discrete dipole approximation in conjunction with Sommerfeld integral relations to explain the effect of the substrates as a function of the parameters of incident radiation. The radiative coupling can both quench and enhance the resonance and its dependence on the angle and polarization of incident radiation with respect to the surface is shown. Non-radiative interaction with the substrate enhances the plasmon resonance of the particles and can shift the resonances from their free-space energies significantly. The non-radiative interaction of the substrate is sensitive to the shape of particles and polarization of incident radiation with respect to substrate. Our results show that the plasmon resonances in coupled and single particles can be significantly altered from their free-space resonances and are quenched or enhanced by the choice of substrate and polarization of incident radiation. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4736544]

Rotating beams and non-rotating beams with shared eigenpair for pinned-free boundary condition

In this paper we look for a rotating beam, with pinned-free boundary conditions, whose eigenpair (frequency and mode-shape) is same as that of a uniform non-rotating beam for a particular mode. It is seen that for any given mode, there exists a flexural stiffness function (FSF) for which the ith mode eigenpair of a rotating beam with uniform mass distribution, is identical to that of a corresponding non-rotating beam with same length and mass distribution. Inserting these derived FSF's in a finite element code for a rotating pinned-free beam, the frequencies and mode shapes of a non-rotating pinned-free beam are obtained. For the first mode, a physically realistic equivalent rotating beam is possible, but for higher modes, the FSF has internal singularities. Strategies for addressing these singularities in the FSF for finite element analysis are provided. The proposed functions can be used as test functions for rotating beam codes and also for targeted destiffening of rotating beams.

What Drives Venture Capital Fundraising in India: An Empirical Analysis of Systematic and Non-Systematic Factors

In this paper, we develop a consolidated Supply-Demand framework of the Venture Capital (VC) ecosystem for India. Further, we empirically analyze the supply side of this ecosystem to ascertain the influence of systematic (macro) and non-systematic (micro) factors on VC fundraising. At the macro level, our results indicate that relatively strong fundamentals of the Indian economy in the past decade as compared with the severe recessionary tendencies in the developed economies have been critical in determining the aggregate volume of VC fundraising. Among the micro factors, past performance and reputation of the individual fund managers have been instrumental in determining their fund raising potential.

Direct measurements of growing amorphous order and non-monotonic dynamic correlations in a colloidal glass-former

The transformation of flowing liquids into rigid glasses is thought to involve increasingly cooperative relaxation dynamics as the temperature approaches that of the glass transition. However, the precise nature of this motion is unclear, and a complete understanding of vitrification thus remains elusive. Of the numerous theoretical perspectives(1-4) devised to explain the process, random first-order theory (RFOT; refs 2,5) is a well-developed thermodynamic approach, which predicts a change in the shape of relaxing regions as the temperature is lowered. However, the existence of an underlying `ideal' glass transition predicted by RFOT remains debatable, largely because the key microscopic predictions concerning the growth of amorphous order and the nature of dynamic correlations lack experimental verification. Here, using holographic optical tweezers, we freeze a wall of particles in a two-dimensional colloidal glass-forming liquid and provide direct evidence for growing amorphous order in the form of a static point-to-set length. We uncover the non-monotonic dependence of dynamic correlations on area fraction and show that this non-monotonicity follows directly from the change in morphology and internal structure of cooperatively rearranging regions(6,7). Our findings support RFOT and thereby constitute a crucial step in distinguishing between competing theories of glass formation.

Cold gas in cluster cores: global stability analysis and non-linear simulations of thermal instability

We perform global linear stability analysis and idealized numerical simulations in global thermal balance to understand the condensation of cold gas from hot/virial atmospheres (coronae), in particular the intracluster medium (ICM). We pay particular attention to geometry (e.g. spherical versus plane-parallel) and the nature of the gravitational potential. Global linear analysis gives a similar value for the fastest growing thermal instability modes in spherical and Cartesian geometries. Simulations and observations suggest that cooling in haloes critically depends on the ratio of the cooling time to the free-fall time (t(cool)/t(ff)). Extended cold gas condenses out of the ICM only if this ratio is smaller than a threshold value close to 10. Previous works highlighted the difference between the nature of cold gas condensation in spherical and plane-parallel atmospheres; namely, cold gas condensation appeared easier in spherical atmospheres. This apparent difference due to geometry arises because the previous plane-parallel simulations focused on in situ condensation of multiphase gas but spherical simulations studied condensation anywhere in the box. Unlike previous claims, our non-linear simulations show that there are only minor differences in cold gas condensation, either in situ or anywhere, for different geometries. The amount of cold gas depends on the shape of tcool/tff; gas has more time to condense if gravitational acceleration decreases towards the centre. In our idealized plane-parallel simulations with heating balancing cooling in each layer, there can be significant mass/energy/momentum transfer across layers that can trigger condensation and drive tcool/tff far beyond the critical value close to 10.