Low temperature reduction route to synthesise bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) nanoparticles: structural and optical studies

Herein, we report the synthesis of highly yielded bismuth-telluride (Bi₂Te₃) nanoparticles at 50 °C by direct wet chemical route in which the bismuth and tellurium precursors have been dissolved in deionised water, ethylene glycol and hydrazine hydrate. This method is very facile, inexpensive and less hazardous and ensures almost complete yield of the precursors. The powder product was well characterised by powder X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It is investigated that the synthesised powder has a rhombohedral structure of Bi₂Te₃ with average diameters of the particles about 35 nm. Thus, the synthesis process has been modified to design nanostructures of thermoelectric materials with related crystal structures.     

Synthesis of ferrofluid based nanoarchitectured polypyrrole composites and its application for electromagnetic shielding

The monodispersion of magnetic nanoparticles in conducting polymer is the prerequisite to make a high quality composite for tunable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. To meet this challenge, we have designed and synthesized ferrofluid based nanoarchitectured polypyrrole composites containing Fe₃O₄ (8–12 nm) via in situ oxidative polymerization. To tune the microwave signals, polypyrrole composites (PFF) with different monomer/ferrofluid weight ratios have been prepared and characterized in microwave frequency domain. A maximum shielding effectiveness value of SE_A(max) = 20.4 dB (∼99% attenuation) due to the absorption of microwave has been observed in the frequency range of 12.4–18 GHz and attenuation level varied with ferrofluid loading. The electrical conductivity of PFF composite is of the order of 10⁻² S cm⁻¹ order and having superparamagnetic nature with saturation magnetization (M_s) of 5.5 emu g⁻¹. The lightweight PFF composites with high attenuations can provide full control over the atomic structure and are favorable for the practical EMI shielding application for commercial electronic appliances.     

Interaction of SH-waves by a Griffith crack in an infinite transversely isotropic medium

As a follow-on to a previous problem involving imposed P-waves, the diffraction of SH-waves by a finite Griffith crack located on a symmetric surface of an infinite transversely-isotropic medium is considered. A Fredholm integral equation is derived for the determination of diffracted field. From the integral equation length symptotic development of the solution is obtained which is valid for wavelength compared to the crack length. For wavelengths comparable with the size of the crack, the integral equation is solved numerically. The stress-intensity factor and displacement field in the vicinity of the crack are compared for a range of values of frequency. The approximate solution is compared with the exact solution.

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Résumé Comme suite à l'étude d'un problème précédent, dans lequel on imposait un régime d'ondes de type P, on a considéré la diffraction d'ondes SH par une fissure finie de Griffith située sur la surface symétrique d'un milieu transversalement isotrope. On a déduit une équation intégrale de Fredholm pour déterminer le champ de diffraction. On en a tiré une solution en développement asymptotique qui est valable lorsque la longueur d'onde est grande par rapport à la longueur de la fissure. Pour des longueurs d'onde comparables à la longueur de la fissure, on résoud l'équation intégrale par voie numérique. On compare le facteur d'intensité d'entaille et le champ de déplacement dans le voisinage de la fissure pour diverses valeurs de fréquence.La solution approchée est comparée à la solution exacte.

     

Adriamycin induces apoptosis in rat thymocytes

Apoptosis is a controlled form of cell death accompanied by distinct morphological and biochemical changes. In this study the nature of cytotoxicity induced by adriamycin (ADM) in rat thymocytes was evaluated. Morphological and biochemical changes characteristic of apoptosis were found to precede adriamycin-induced cell death. Our findings demonstrate the involvement of c-Myc, c-Jun, antioxidant enzymes CuZn superoxide dismutase and catalase, and perhaps poly ADP ribosylation in ADM-induced cell death.     

Andrographolide protects rat hepatocytes against paracetamol-induced damage

The authors' objective was to determine if, in the absence of known coronary artery disease, ST-T changes suggestive of silent ischemia on the admission electrocardiogram (ECG) identify a group of patients at high risk for cardiac event or death. A prospective cohort study was undertaken at the university hospital of a tertiary care center. All patients admitted to the hospital during the 5-month study period were screened. The authors found 54 patients with risk factors but no symptoms of coronary artery disease whose admission ECGs showed silent ischemia (ischemia group), and 71 patients with similar risk of coronary artery disease but without admission ECGs showing silent ischemia (control group). Three-week and 6-month incidences of angina, myocardial infarction, and death among patients in the silent ischemia and control groups were compared. Seven (13%) patients in the silent ischemia group had cardiac events or noncardiac death in the subsequent 3 weeks versus one (1%) noncardiac death in the control group (p < 0.02). At 6 months, eight (15%) patients in the silent ischemia group versus two (3%) in the control group had cardiac events (p = 0.02). It is concluded that among patients with risk factors but no symptoms of coronary artery disease, silent ischemia on the admission ECG is associated with an increased likelihood of short-term death or cardiac event.     

A new approach to the measurement of resolution and sampling on apositron emission tomograph

Two technical difficulties underlie the accurate determination of spatial resolution in positron emission tomography (PET): (1) measuring the full-width half-maximum (FWHM) and full-width tenth-maximum (FWTM) from undersampled profiles; (2) measuring axial resolution from multiple reconstructed data sets. To address the first problem, a technique that involves a quadratic estimation of the peak of the profile distribution was developed. This method was compared with the standard technique of Gaussian fitting and was found to be as accurate for constant background distributions. For axial resolution, a second method involving a single scan and imaging of line sources oriented 45 degrees to the axis of the scanner was proposed. Axial FWHM estimations were achieved by deconvolving the values obtained with line spread functions from sources placed parallel to the axis of the scanner. This technique was validated by comparing the results with those obtained by others using a multiple-scan technique on a similar machine     

A glimpse of the Indian space programme

This paper, based on the Presidential Address delivered at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences held at Calcutta during 26–29 November 1977, is a brief survey of recent developments in the Indian space programme and of the plans for the near future.