Scaling Properties of Superfluid 3He in Aerogel

We have investigated the superfluid transition of ³ He in different samples of silica aerogel. Several of these samples have been characterized using x-ray imaging, yielding information about the microstructure of the aerogel. In comparing new measurements on a 99.5% sample with previous observations on the behavior of ³ He in 98% porous aerogel we have found evidence for a scaling of the superfluid transition temperature to the correlation length of the aerogel. Furthermore, the superfluid density exhibits a similar universal behaviour over a range of values of reduced temperature. We discuss these new results in the context of superfluid pairing in the presence of a correlated disorder, specifically focussing on the fractal nature of the aerogel.     

Impermeable atomic membranes from graphene sheets

We demonstrate that a monolayer graphene membrane is impermeable to standard gases including helium. By applying a pressure difference across the membrane, we measure both the elastic constants and the mass of a single layer of graphene. This pressurized graphene membrane is the world's thinnest balloon and provides a unique separation barrier between 2 distinct regions that is only one atom thick.     

Macroscopic tuning of nanomechanics: substrate bending for reversible control of frequency and quality factor of nanostring resonators

We have employed a chip-bending method to exert continuous and reversible control over the tensile stress in doubly clamped nanomechanical beam resonators. Tensile stress is shown to increase the quality factor of both silicon nitride and single-crystal silicon resonators, implying that added tension can be used as a general, material-independent route to increased quality factor. With this direct stretching technique, we demonstrate beam resonators with unprecedented tunability of both frequency and quality factor. Devices can be tuned back and forth between a high and low stress state, with frequency tunability as large as several hundred percent demonstrated. Over this wide range of frequency, quality factor is also tuned by as much as several hundred percent, providing insights into the loss mechanisms in these materials and this class of nanoresonator. Devices with frequencies in the 1-100 MHz range are studied, with quality factor as high as 390,000 achieved at room temperature, for a silicon nitride device with cross-sectional dimensions below 1 microm, operating in a high stress state. This direct stretching technique may prove useful for the identification of loss mechanisms that contribute to the energy balance in nanomechanical resonators, allowing for the development of new designs that would display higher quality factors. Such devices would have the ability to resolve smaller addendum masses and thus allow more sensitive detection and offer the potential for providing access to previously inaccessible dissipation regimes at low temperatures. This technique provides the ability to dramatically tune both frequency and quality factor, enabling future mechanical resonators to be used as variable frequency references as well as variable band-pass filters in signal-processing applications.     

Photothermal self-oscillation and laser cooling of graphene optomechanical systems

By virtue of their low mass and stiffness, atomically thin mechanical resonators are attractive candidates for use in optomechanics. Here, we demonstrate photothermal back-action in a graphene mechanical resonator comprising one end of a Fabry-Perot cavity. As a demonstration of the utility of this effect, we show that a continuous wave laser can be used to cool a graphene vibrational mode or to power a graphene-based tunable frequency oscillator. Owing to graphene's high thermal conductivity and optical absorption, photothermal optomechanics is efficient in graphene and could ultimately enable laser cooling to the quantum ground state or applications such as photonic signal processing.     

Development of Refractory Material from Water Quenched Granulated Ferrochromium Slag

High temperature refractory materials of refractoriness above 1665°C having refractory phases such as forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄), periclase (MgO) and spinel can be developed from the water granulated spongy ferrochromium slag granules (90% particle) of size below 3100 micron by MgO enrichment. MgO enrichment in ferrochrome slag can be achieved by a method comprises of grinding of granulated ferrochrome slag in presence of magnesite raw material followed by compaction and sintering. The ratio of MgO/SiO₂ > 2.2 and MgO/(Al₂O₃ + Cr₂O₃) > 1.71 in the final composition ensures the refractoriness above 1665°C.     

Novel DNA Aptameric Sensors to Detect the Toxic Insecticide Fenitrothion

Fenitrothion is an insecticide belonging to the organophosphate family of pesticides that is widely used around the world in agriculture and living environments. Today, it is one of the most hazardous chemicals that causes severe environmental pollution. However, detection of fenitrothion residues in the environment is considered a significant challenge due to the small molecule nature of the insecticide and lack of molecular recognition elements that can detect it with high specificity. We performed in vitro selection experiments using the SELEX process to isolate the DNA aptamers that can bind to fenitrothion. We found that newly discovered DNA aptamers have a strong ability to distinguish fenitrothion from other organophosphate insecticides (non-specific targets). Furthermore, we identified a fenitrothion-specific aptamer; FenA2, that can interact with Thioflavin T (ThT) to produce a label-free detection mode with a K_d of 33.57 nM (9.30 ppb) and LOD of 14 nM (3.88 ppb). Additionally, the FenA2 aptamer exhibited very low cross-reactivity with non-specific targets. This is the first report showing an aptamer sensor with a G4-quadruplex-like structure to detect fenitrothion. Moreover, these aptamers have the potential to be further developed into analytical tools for real-time detection of fenitrothion from a wide range of samples.     

Design and Synthesis of Aminostilbene–Arylpropenones as Tubulin Polymerization Inhibitors

A series of aminostilbene—arylpropenones were designed and synthesized by Michael addition and were investigated for their cytotoxic activity against various human cancer cell lines. Some of the investigated compounds exhibited significant antiproliferative activity against a panel of 60 human cancer cell lines of the US National Cancer Institute, with 50 % growth inhibition (GI₅₀) values in the range from <0.01 to 19.9 μM . One of the compounds showed a broad spectrum of antiproliferative efficacy on most of the cell lines, with a GI₅₀ value of <0.01 μM . All of the synthesized compounds displayed cytotoxicity against A549 (non‐small‐cell lung cancer), HeLa (cervical carcinoma), MCF‐7 (breast cancer), and HCT116 (colon carcinoma) with 50 % inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values ranging from 0.011 to 8.56 μM . A cell cycle assay revealed that these compounds arrested the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. Two compounds exhibited strong inhibitory effects on tubulin assembly with IC₅₀ values of 0.71 and 0.79 μM . Moreover, dot‐blot analysis of cyclin B1 demonstrated that some of the congeners strongly induced cyclin B1 protein levels. Molecular docking studies indicated that these compounds occupy the colchicine binding site of tubulin.     

Optically driven resonance of nanoscale flexural oscillators in liquid

We demonstrate the operation of radio frequency nanoscale flexural resonators in air and liquid. Doubly clamped string, as well as singly clamped cantilever resonators, with nanoscale cross-sectional dimensions and resonant frequencies as high as 145 MHz are driven in air as well as liquid with an amplitude modulated laser. We show that this laser drive technique can impart sufficient energy to a nanoscale resonator to overcome the strong viscous damping present in these media, resulting in a mechanical resonance that can be measured by optical interference techniques. Resonance in air, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, water, and phosphate-buffered saline is demonstrated for devices having cross-sectional dimensions close to 100 nm. For operation in air, quality factors as high as 400 at 145 MHz are demonstrated. In liquid, quality factors ranging from 3 to 10 and frequencies ranging from 20 to 100 MHz are observed. These devices, and an all-optical actuation and detection system, may provide insight into the physics of the interaction of nanoscale mechanical structures with their environments, greatly extending the viscosity range over which such small flexural resonant devices can be operated.