Thermodynamics of the dissipative cosmic fluid and stability criteria

The work deals with the thermodynamical aspects of the cosmic substratum which is dissipative in nature. For homogeneous and isotropic model of the Universe this dissipative phenomenon is effective bulk viscous pressure in nature and is related to the particle creation mechanism. Finally, the stability criteria for the thermal equilibrium has been analyzed and are presented in tabular form restricting the particle creation parameter or the variation of the equation of state parameter with the volume.Comment: 9 page

Unified first law and some general prescription: a redefinition of surface gravity

The paper contains an extensive study of the unified first law (UFL) in the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime model. By projecting the UFL along the Kodama vector the second Friedmann equation can be obtained. Also studying the UFL on the event horizon it is found that Clausius relation cannot be obtained from the UFL by projecting it along the tangent to the event horizon as it can be for the trapping horizon. However, it is shown in the present work that Clausius relation can be obtained by projecting the UFL along the Kodama vector on the horizon and the result is found to be true for any horizon. Finally motivated by the Unruh temperature for the Rindler observer, surface gravity is redefined and a Clausius relation is obtained from the UFL by projecting it along a vector analogous to the Kodama vector.Comment: 7 page

Tunnelling mechanism in non-commutative space with generalized uncertainty principle and Bohr-like black hole

The paper deals with non-thermal radiation spectrum by tunnelling mechanism with correction due to the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) in the background of non-commutative geometry. Considering the reformulation of the tunnelling mechanism by Banerjee and Majhi, the Hawking radiation spectrum is evaluated through the density matrix for the outgoing modes. The GUP corrected effective temperature and the corresponding GUP corrected effective metric in non-commutative geometry are determined using Hawking's periodicity arguments. Thus, we obtain further corrections to the non-strictly thermal black hole (BH) radiation spectrum which give new final distributions. Then, we show that the GUP and the non-commutative geometry modify the Bohr-like BH recently discussed in a series of papers in the literature. In particular, we find the intriguing result that the famous law of Bekenstein on the area quantization is affected neither by non-commutative geometry nor by the GUP. This is a clear indication of the universality of Bekenstein's result. In addition, we find that both the Bekentsein-Hawking entropy and the total BH entropy to third order approximation are still functions of the BH quantum level.Comment: 17 pages, accepted for publication in the Advances in High Energy Physics Special Issue "Theoretical and Observational Aspects of Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, and Space-Time Singularities", Editors: Ozay Gurtug, Deborah Konkowski and M. Shari

Green fluorescent protein: a molecular lantern that illuminates the cellular interior

This article does not have an abstract

Organization and dynamics in micellar structural transition monitored by pyrene fluorescence

Structural transitions involving shape changes play an important role in cellular physiology. Such transition can be induced in charged micelles at a given temperature by increasing ionic strength of the medium. We have monitored the change in organization and dynamics associated with sphere-to-rod transition of SDS micelles utilizing pyrene fluorescence. We report here, utilizing changes in the ratio of pyrene vibronic peak intensities (I1/I3), the apparent dielectric constant experienced by pyrene in spherical SDS micelles (in absence of salt) to be ˜32. Interestingly, the apparent micellar dielectric constant exhibits a reduction with increasing NaCl concentration. The dielectric constant in rod-shaped micelles of SDS (in presence of 0.5 M NaCl) turns out to be ˜22. To the best of our knowledge, these results constitute one of the early reports on polarity estimates in rod-shaped micelles. In addition, pyrene excimer/monomer ratio shows increase in SDS micelles with increasing NaCl concentration. We interpret this increase due to an increase in average number of pyrene molecules per micelle associated with the sphere-to-rod structural transition. These results could be significant in micellar drug solubilization and delivery, and in membrane morphology changes

Organization and dynamics of tryptophans in the molten globule state of bovine α -lactalbumin utilizing wavelength-selective fluorescence approach: comparisons with native and denatured states

Bovine a-lactalbumin (BLA) is known to be present in molten globule form in its apo-state (i.e., Ca2+ depleted state). We explored the organization and dynamics of the functionally important tryptophan residues of BLA in native, molten globule and denatured states utilizing the wavelength-selective fluorescence approach. We observed red edge excitation shift (REES) of 7 nm for the tryptophans in native BLA. Interestingly, we show here that BLA tryptophans exhibit considerable REES (8 nm) in its molten globule state. Taken together, these results indicate that tryptophan residues in BLA in native as well as molten globule states experience motionally restricted environment. We further show that even the denatured form of BLA exhibits a modest REES of 3 nm, indicating that the tryptophans are shielded from bulk solvent, even when denatured, due to the presence of residual structure around tryptophan(s). This is further supported by wavelength-dependent changes in fluorescence anisotropy and lifetime for BLA tryptophans. These novel results constitute one of the first reports of REES in the molten globule state of proteins, and could provide vital insight into the role of tryptophans in the function of BLA in its molten globule state in particular, and other partially ordered proteins in general

Monitoring membrane protein conformational heterogeneity by fluorescence lifetime distribution analysis using the maximum entropy method

Due to the inherent difficulty in crystallizing membrane proteins, approaches based on fluorescence spectroscopy have proved useful in elucidating their conformational characteristics. The ion channel peptide gramicidin serves as an excellent prototype for monitoring membrane protein conformation and dynamics due to a number of reasons. We have analyzed conformational heterogeneity in membrane-bound gramicidin using fluorescence lifetime distribution analysis of tryptophan residues by the maximum entropy method (MEM). MEM represents a model-free and robust approach for analyzing fluorescence lifetime distribution. In this paper, we show for the first time, that fluorescence lifetime distribution analysis using MEM could be a convenient approach to monitor conformational heterogeneity in membrane-bound gramicidin in particular and membrane proteins in general. Lifetime distribution analysis by MEM therefore provides a novel window to monitor conformational transitions in membrane proteins

Differential Effect of Cholesterol and Its Biosynthetic Precursors on Membrane Dipole Potential

AbstractDipole potential is the potential difference within the membrane bilayer, which originates due to the nonrandom arrangement of lipid dipoles and water molecules at the membrane interface. Cholesterol, a representative sterol in higher eukaryotic membranes, is known to increase membrane dipole potential. In this work, we explored the effects of immediate (7-DHC and desmosterol) and evolutionary (ergosterol) precursors of cholesterol on membrane dipole potential, monitored by the dual wavelength ratiometric approach utilizing the probe di-8-ANEPPS. Our results show that the effect of these precursors on membrane dipole potential is very different from that observed with cholesterol, although the structural differences among them are subtle. These results assume relevance, since accumulation of cholesterol precursors due to defective cholesterol biosynthesis has been reported to result in several inherited metabolic disorders such as the Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome. Interestingly, cholesterol (and its precursors) has a negligible effect on dipole potential in polyunsaturated membranes. We interpret these results in terms of noncanonical orientation of cholesterol in these membranes. Our results constitute the first report on the effect of biosynthetic and evolutionary precursors of cholesterol on dipole potential, and imply that a subtle change in sterol structure can significantly alter the dipolar field at the membrane interface