Experimental study of a ring dye laser with an external retroreflecting mirror

We have experimentally studied the forward-to-backward intracavity intensity ratios for a rhodamine 6G ring dye laser with an external retroreflecting mirror. The experiments were conducted at several wavelengths, degrees of excitation, and cavity configurations. The results indicate the large forward-to-backward ratios are only achievable near threshold and that this method is not suitable for the elimination of susceptibility gratings in the medium.     

Second-order effects in self-similar laminar compressible boundary-layer flows

Second-order effects associated with longitudinal curvature, transverse curvature, entropy gradients, stagnation enthalpy gradient, velocity slip, temperature jump and displacement speed in self-similar two-dimensional and axisymmetric flows of a compressible fluid are studied. The self-similar governing equations for second-order effects show that the four parameters, due to longitudinal curvature, transverse curvature, displacement and body shape are needed to describe the flow. Numerical solutions and several closed form solutions are obtained. The present study is found to contain all the previous studies in the self-similar domain as special cases.     

Bistable direction switching in an off-axis pumped continuous waveruby laser

A report is presented of the observation of hysteretic bistable direction switching in a single-mode CW ruby laser system. This effect is only observed when the pump beam which is focused into the ruby rod is misaligned with respect to the rod end faces. At low pump powers, the ruby lases in a mode nearly collinear with the pump axis. At a higher pump power the ruby switches to a mode that is collinear with the rod end faces and preserves the original polarization. The effect is large enough to switch the beam by an angle equal to twice the diffraction angle. The observations show that under steady-state pumping, a CW ruby laser can exhibit bistable operation in its output direction and power. A calculation using the heat equation with two concentric cylinders with one as a heat source (pump laser) and the outer wall of the other held at 77K, gives an increase in core temperature of about 0.01 K. Therefore, the increase in temperature is not large enough to change the index of refraction to account for such large macroscopic effects     

Isomeric cross-sections of In and Rh at neutron energies of a few MeV

Neutron capture cross-sections are measured at five different neutron energies (1.07 ± 0.20, 1.48 ± 0.18, 1.89 ± 0.17, 2.30 ± 0.16 and 2.85 ± 0.15 MeV) for the isomeric states of In and Rh. The comparative γ-activation technique has been used. The present results are compared with previous data wherever available.     

Characteristics of phenol biodegradation in saline solutions by monocultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas pseudomallei

Phenol is a highly toxic and carcinogenic compound and its biodegradation is very important to meet the environmental regulations. Two bacterial strains capable of utilizing phenol as a sole source of carbon were isolated from the wastewater of a pharmaceutical industry. On the basis of morphological and biochemical characteristics these strains were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas pseudomallei. Both of these strains were very efficient for phenol degradation. P. pseudomallei degraded phenol at a maximum concentration of 1500 mg L(-1) within seven days with a specific growth rate of 0.013 h(-1) and phenol degradation rate of 13.85 mg L(-1)h(-1). Maximum initial concentration of phenol utilized by P. aeruginosa was 2600 mg L(-1) with 0.016 h(-1) specific growth rate and 26.16 mg L(-1)h(-1) phenol degradation rate. Moreover, the effect of various salts i.e., NaCl, KCl, Na(2)SO(4) and K(2)SO(4) on the growth of these strains and phenol degradation rate (at 1000 mg L(-1)) was studied. In the presence of these salts, P. aeruginosa showed up to 1.53 and 1.34 times faster phenol degradation rate and specific growth rate, respectively as compared to P. pseudomallei. In addition, P. aeruginosa exhibited higher chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) reduction rates as compared to the strain P. pseudomallei.     

Ureidosulfocoumarin Derivatives As Selective and Potent Carbonic Anhydrase IX and XII Inhibitors

Owing to severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) and resistance exhibited by sulfonamide-based carbonic anhydrase (CA) inhibitors, non-classical or non-sulfonamide CA inhibitors are gaining increased attention by medicinal chemists. In this context, we report the design and synthesis of 30 new non-sulfonamide sulfocoumarin derivatives as CA inhibitors. They were investigated against hCA I and II (cytosolic isozymes) as well as hCA IX and XII (transmembrane, tumor-associated enzymes). All compounds showed prominent selectivity for the tumor-associated isoenzymes hCA IX and XII over the cytosolic isoenzymes hCA I and II. Among all synthesized compounds, 1-(2,2-dioxidobenzo[e][1,2]oxathiin-6-yl)-3-(o-tolyl)urea( 5 j )and1-(3-fluorophenyl)-3-(8-methoxy-2,2-dioxidobenzo[e][1,2]oxathiin-6-yl)urea( 5 q )were found to be more potent and to have better inhibition constant values against hCA IX than the standard acetazolamide (AAZ), with K_i values of 23.6 and 23.3 nM, respectively. All other compounds were found to be active under K_i=920 nM against hCA IX and XII.This study provides a new perspective for the future development of non-sulfonamide derivatives as selective CA inhibitors.     

Vibration damping characteristics of carbon fiber-reinforced composites containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Vibration damping characteristic of nanocomposites and carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRPs) containing multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been studied using the free and forced vibration tests. Several vibration parameters are varied to characterize the damping behavior in different amplitudes, natural frequencies and vibration modes. The damping ratio of the hybrid composites is enhanced with the addition of CNTs, which is attributed to sliding at the CNT-matrix interfaces. The damping ratio is dependent on the amplitude as a result of the random orientation of CNTs in the epoxy matrix. The natural frequency shows negligible influence on the damping properties. The forced vibration test indicates that the damping ratios of the CFRP composites increase with increasing CNT content in both the 1st and 2nd vibration modes. The CNT-epoxy nanocomposites also show similar increasing trends of damping ratio with CNT content, indicating the enhanced damping property of CFRPs arising mainly from the improved damping property of the modified matrix. The dynamic mechanical analysis further confirms that the CNTs have a strong influence on the composites damping properties. Both the dynamic loss modulus and loss factor of the nanocomposites and the corresponding CFRPs show consistent increases with the addition of CNTs, an indication of enhanced damping performance.     

Solubilities of small hydrocarbons,viscosities of diluted tetraalkylphosphonium bis(2,4,4‐trimethylpentyl) phosphinates

Tetraalkylphosphonium bis(2,4,4‐trimethylpentyl)phosphinates show large solubilities for methane, ethane, ethylene, and propane. In these ionic liquids, solubilities of ethane are larger than those of ethylene. Therefore, these ionic liquids may be useful solvents for separation of ethane and ethylene; because the vapor pressure of ethylene is higher than that of ethane, the relative volatility ethylene/ethane is enhanced. However, the viscosities of these ionic liquids are too high for an industrial process. Low‐viscosity 1‐butyl‐3‐H‐imidazolium acetate([BHMIM][AC]) is a suitable diluent for reducing the large viscosities of trihexyl tetradecylphosphonium bis(2,4,4‐trimethylpentyl) phosphinate ([P(14)666][TMPP]) and tetrabutylphosphonium bis(2,4,4‐trimethylpentyl) phosphinate ([P4444][TMPP]). Addition of 20 wt % [BHMIM][AC] gives a dramatic drop in the viscosities of these ionic liquids. Mixtures of [P(14)666][TMPP] or [P4444][TMPP] with 20 or 50 wt % [BHMIM][AC] show high solubilities for the four solutes when compared with those in other ionic liquids. In these mixtures, the solubility for ethane is higher than that for ethylene. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 2607–2612, 2014