Dynamics of Pulsed Flow in an Elastic Tube

Internal haemorrhage, often leading to cardio-vascular arrest happens to be one of the prime sources of high fatality rates in mammals. We propose a simplistic model of fluid flow to specify the location of the haemorrhagic spots, which, if located accurately, could be operated upon leading to a possible cure. The model we employ for the purpose is inspired by fluid mechanics and consists of a viscous fluid, pumped by a periodic force and flowing through an elastic tube. The analogy is with that of blood, pumped from the heart and flowing through an arte ry or vein. Our results, aided by graphical illustrations, match reasonably well with experimental observations.Comment: 6 pages and 4 figure

Poland syndrome with some rare associations, and brief literature review

Poland syndrome (PS) is a rare congenital condition with predominant unilateral chest wall deformity due to hypoplasia of the pectoralis muscles. However, its clinical features are highly variable as all the features may not be present in one individual or it may present with some rare associations or complications as being reported here. A 6-year-old boy was diagnosed, for the first time, as a case of PS but, detailed examination and work up revealed two rare associations and/or incidental findings of this disorder, namely, Dandy-Walker variant and partial anomalous pulmonary venous return. Hence, a detailed clinical examination and a through workup are mandatory to quantify the disease spectrum of this rare disorder

Active emulsions in living cell membranes driven by contractile stresses and transbilayer coupling

The spatiotemporal organisation of proteins and lipids on the cell surface has direct functional consequences for signaling, sorting and endocytosis. Earlier studies have shown that multiple types of membrane proteins including transmembrane proteins that have cytoplasmic actin binding capacity and lipid-tethered GPI-anchored proteins (GPI-APs) form nanoscale clusters driven by active contractile flows generated by the actin cortex. To gain insight into the role of lipids in organizing membrane domains in living cells, we study the molecular interactions that promote the actively generated nanoclusters of GPI-APs and transmembrane proteins. This motivates a theoretical description, wherein a combination of active contractile stresses and transbilayer coupling drive the creation of active emulsions, mesoscale liquid ordered (lo) domains of the GPI-APs and lipids, at temperatures greater than equilibrium lipid-phase segregation. To test these ideas we use spatial imaging of homo-FRET combined with local membrane order and demonstrate that mesoscopic domains enriched in nanoclusters of GPI-APs are maintained by cortical actin activity and transbilayer interactions, and exhibit significant lipid order, consistent with predictions of the active composite model

Platinum(II) Complexes of Nonsymmetrical NCN-Coordinating Ligands: Unimolecular and Excimeric Luminescence Properties and Comparison with Symmetrical Analogues

A series of seven new platinum(II) complexes PtLnCl have been prepared, where Ln is an NCN-coordinating ligand comprising a benzene ring 1,3-disubstituted with two different azaheterocycles. In PtL1–5Cl, one heterocycle is a simple pyridine ring, while the other is an isoquinoline, a quinoline, a pyrimidine (L1, L2, L3), or a p-CF3- or p-OMe-substituted pyridine (L4 and L5). PtL6Cl incorporates both a p-CF3 and a p-OMe-substituted pyridine. The synthesis of the requisite proligands HLn is achieved using Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling methodology. The molecular structures of six of the Pt(II) complexes have been determined by X-ray diffraction. All the complexes are brightly luminescent in deoxygenated solution at room temperature. The absorption and emission properties are compared with those of the corresponding symmetrical complexes featuring two identical heterocycles, PtLnsymCl, and of the parent Pt(dpyb)Cl containing two unsubstituted pyridines [dpybH = 1,3-di(2-pyridyl)benzene]. While the absorption spectra of the nonsymmetrical complexes show features of both PtLnsymCl and Pt(dpyb)Cl, the emission generally resembles that of whichever of the corresponding symmetrical complexes has the lower-energy emission. PtL1Cl differs in that─at room temperature but not at 77 K─it displays emission bands that can be attributed to excited states involving both the pyridine and the isoquinoline rings, despite the latter being unequivocally lower in energy. This unusual behavior is attributed to thermally activated repopulation of the former excited state from the latter, facilitated by the very long-lived nature of the isoquinoline-based excited state. At elevated concentrations, all the complexes show an additional red-shifted emission band attributable to excimers. For PtL1Cl, the excimer strikingly dominates the emission spectra at all but the lowest concentrations (<10–5 M). Trends in the energies of the excimers and their propensity to form are compared with those of the symmetrical analogues

Rigidly linked dinuclear platinum( ii ) complexes showing intense, excimer-like, near-infrared luminescence

Many luminescent platinum(ii) complexes undergo face-to-face interactions between neighbouring molecules, leading to bimolecular excited states that may emit at lower energy (dimers and/or excimers). Detailed photophysical studies are reported on dinuclear complexes, in which two NCN-coordinated Pt(ii) units are covalently linked by a xanthene such that intramolecular formation of such dimeric or excimeric states is possible. These complexes display strong excimer-like photoluminescence at low concentrations where their monometallic analogues do not. However, a striking difference emerges between complexes where the Pt(NCN) units are directly connected to the xanthene through the tridentate ligand (denoted Class a) and a new class of compounds reported here (Class b) in which the attachment is through a monodentate acetylide ligand. The former require a substantial geometrical rearrangement to move the metal centres of the Pt(NCN) units to a distance short enough to form excimer-like states. The latter require only a small deformation. Consequently, Class a compounds display negligible excimer-like emission in solid films, as the rigid environment hinders the requisite geometric rearrangement. Class b complexes, in contrast, display strong excimer-like emission in film, even at very low loadings. The new dinuclear molecular architecture may thus offer new opportunities in the quest for efficient NIR-emitting devices

Exceptionally Fast Radiative Decay of a Dinuclear Platinum Complex Through Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence

A novel dinuclear platinum(II) complex featuring a ditopic, bis-tetradentate ligand has been prepared. The ligand offers each metal ion a planar O^N^C^N coordination environment, with the two metal ions bound to the nitrogen atoms of a bridging pyrimidine unit. The complex is brightly luminescent in the red region of the spectrum with a photoluminescence quantum yield of 83% in deoxygenated methylcyclohexane solution at ambient temperature, and shows a remarkably short excited state lifetime of 2.1 μs. These properties are the result of an unusually high radiative rate constant of around 4 × 105 s–1, a value which is comparable to that of the very best performing Ir(III) complexes. This unusual behaviour is the result of efficient thermally activated reverse intersystem crossing, promoted by a small singlet–triplet energy difference of only 69 ± 3 meV. The complex was incorporated into solution-processed OLEDs achieving EQEmax = 7.4 %. We believe this to be the first fully evidenced report of a Pt(II) complex showing thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) at room temperature, and indeed of a Pt(II)-based delayed fluorescence emitter to be incorporated into an OLED

Mechanical Manipulation of Quantum Interference in Single-Molecule Junctions

Mechanosensitive molecular junctions, where conductance is sensitive to an applied stress such as force or displacement, are a class of nanoelectromechanical systems unique for their ability to exploit quantum mechanical phenomena. Most studies so far relied on reconfiguration of the molecule-electrode interface to impart mechanosensitivity, but this approach is limited and, generally, poorly reproducible. Alternatively, devices that exploit conformational flexibility of molecular wires have been recently proposed. The mechanosensitive properties of molecular wires containing the 1,1'-dinaphthyl moiety are presented here. Rotation along the chemical bond between the two naphthyl units is possible, giving rise to two conformers (transoid and cisoid) that have distinctive transport properties. When assembled as single-molecule junctions, it is possible to mechanically trigger the transoid to cisoid transition, resulting in an exquisitely sensitive mechanical switch with high switching ratio (> 102 ). Theoretical modeling shows that charge reconfiguration upon transoid to cisoid transition is responsible for the observed behavior, with generation and subsequent lifting of quantum interference features. These findings expand the experimental toolbox of molecular electronics with a novel chemical structure with outstanding electromechanical properties, further demonstrating the importance of subtle changes in charge delocalization on the transport properties of single-molecule devices