On the Crustal Matter of Magnetars

We have investigated some of the properties of dense sub-nuclear matter at the crustal region (both the outer crust and the inner crust region) of a magnetar. The relativistic version of Thomas-Fermi (TF) model is used in presence of strong quantizing magnetic field for the outer crust matter. The compressed matter in the outer crust, which is a crystal of metallic iron, is replaced by a regular array of spherically symmetric Wigner-Seitz (WS) cells. In the inner crust region, a mixture of iron and heavier neutron rich nuclei along with electrons and free neutrons has been considered. Conventional Harrison-Wheeler (HW) and Bethe-Baym-Pethick (BBP) equation of states are used for the nuclear mass formula. A lot of significant changes in the characteristic properties of dense crustal matter, both at the outer crust and the inner crust, have been observed.Comment: 29 pages REVTEX manuscript, 15 .eps figures (included

On the Low Surface Magnetic Field Structure of Quark Stars

Following some of the recent articles on hole super-conductivity and related phenomena by Hirsch \cite{H1,H2,H3}, a simple model is proposed to explain the observed low surface magnetic field of the expected quark stars. It is argued that the diamagnetic moments of the electrons circulating in the electro-sphere induce a magnetic field, which forces the existing quark star magnetic flux density to become dilute. We have also analysed the instability of normal-superconducting interface due to excess accumulation of magnetic flux lines, assuming an extremely slow growth of superconducting phase through a first order bubble nucleation type transition.Comment: 24 pages REVTEX, one .eps figure, psfig.sty is include

Mechanistic insights into the oncogenic partnership of hADA3 and HPVE6 - paving ways for improved cervical cancer therapy

651-658High risk Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is considered the primary causative agent of cervical cancer, a deva`stating malady with significant morbidity. In India, cervical cancer is one of the major reasons of cancer mortality among women. Poor treatment outcomes of this disease is a matter of grave concern and hence demands aggressive research efforts towards discovery of more effective therapies. Understanding the intricacies of HPV oncogenesis at the molecular level can facilitate the discovery of promising anti-viral drugs. Our research aims at catering to the need of the time by revealing some of the key molecular mechanisms that contributes to HPV oncogenesis that can be utilized to discover promising anti-cancer molecules. We delineated the oncogenic connections between hADA3 and HPVE6 and illustrated its critical role in cellular transformation. Our work also shows how HPV oncoproteins exploits the cellular SUMO machinery to downregulate hADA3 to induce malignancy. This intrigued us to identify the hot spots of hADA3-E6 interaction and design therapeutic peptides against HPV induced cervical cancer. Present review is an attempt to outline our research on novel mechanisms of HPV pathogenesis and its implication on development of improved cervical cancer therapies