Dietary Phytase: an ideal approach for a cost effective and low-polluting aquafeed

Global fishmeal production from wild-catch sources cannot continue to increase indefinitely; suitable alternatives have to be found for sustainable aquaculture. Plant-based aquafeed seems to be the ideal alternative to this, but has its own limitations. Plant ingredients are rich in phytic acid, which reduces the bioavailability of nutrients like minerals and protein to the fish, thereby causing aquaculture pollution. Dietary phytase treatment reduces the aquaculture pollution by improving the bioavailability of nutrients, and reduces the feed cost as evident from poultry and piggery. Phytase activity is highly dependent upon the pH of the gut. Unlike mammals, fish are either gastric or agastric, and hence, the action of dietary phytase varies from species to species. In this article, the authors attempt to summarise various effects of phytase on nutrient utilization, growth of fish and aquatic pollution

Flux jumps, Second Magnetization Peak anomaly and the Peak Effect phenomenon in single crystals of YNi2B2CYNi_2B_2C and LuNi2B2CLuNi_2B_2C

We present magnetization measurements in single crystals of the tetragonal $YNi_2B_2C$ compound, which exhibit the phenomenon of peak effect as well as the second magnetization peak anomaly for H $>$ 0.5T (H $||$ c). At the lower field (50mT $<$ H $<$ 200mT), we have observed the presence of flux jumps, which seem to relate to a structural change in the local symmetry of the flux line lattice (a first order re-orientation transition across a local field in some parts of the sample, in the range of 100mT to 150mT). These flux jumps are also observed in a single crystal of $LuNi_2B_2C$ for H $||$ c in the field region from 2 mT to 25 mT, which are compatible with the occurrence of a re-orientation transition at a lower field in a cleaner crystal of this compound, as compared to those of $YNi_2B_2C$. Vortex phase diagrams drawn for H $||$ c in $LuNi_2B_2C$ and $YNi_2B_2C$ show that the ordered elastic glass phase spans a larger part of (H, T) space in the former as compared to latter, thereby, reaffirming the difference in the relative purity of the two samples.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure

Resistivity of non-Galilean-invariant Fermi- and non-Fermi liquids

While it is well-known that the electron-electron (\emph{ee}) interaction cannot affect the resistivity of a Galilean-invariant Fermi liquid (FL), the reverse statement is not necessarily true: the resistivity of a non-Galilean-invariant FL does not necessarily follow a T^2 behavior. The T^2 behavior is guaranteed only if Umklapp processes are allowed; however, if the Fermi surface (FS) is small or the electron-electron interaction is of a very long range, Umklapps are suppressed. In this case, a T^2 term can result only from a combined--but distinct from quantum-interference corrections-- effect of the electron-impurity and \emph{ee} interactions. Whether the T^2 term is present depends on 1) dimensionality (two dimensions (2D) vs three dimensions (3D)), 2) topology (simply- vs multiply-connected), and 3) shape (convex vs concave) of the FS. In particular, the T^2 term is absent for any quadratic (but not necessarily isotropic) spectrum both in 2D and 3D. The T^2 term is also absent for a convex and simply-connected but otherwise arbitrarily anisotropic FS in 2D. The origin of this nullification is approximate integrability of the electron motion on a 2D FS, where the energy and momentum conservation laws do not allow for current relaxation to leading --second--order in T/E_F (E_F is the Fermi energy). If the T^2 term is nullified by the conservation law, the first non-zero term behaves as T^4. The same applies to a quantum-critical metal in the vicinity of a Pomeranchuk instability, with a proviso that the leading (first non-zero) term in the resistivity scales as T^{\frac{D+2}{3}} (T^{\frac{D+8}{3}}). We discuss a number of situations when integrability is weakly broken, e.g., by inter-plane hopping in a quasi-2D metal or by warping of the FS as in the surface states of Bi_2Te_3 family of topological insulators.Comment: Submitted to a special issue of the Lithuanian Journal of Physics dedicated to the memory of Y. B. Levinso

Vortex Phase Diagram of weakly pinned YBa2_2Cu3_3O7−δ_{7-\delta} for H ∥\parallel c

Vortex phase diagram in a weakly pinned crystal of YBCO for H $\parallel$ c is reviewed in the light of a recent elucidation of the process of `inverse melting' in a Bismuth cuprate system and the imaging of an interface between the ordered and the disordered regions across the peak effect in 2H-NbSe$_2$. In the given YBCO crystal, a clear distinction can be made between the second magnetization peak (SMP) and the peak effect (PE) between 65 K and 75 K. The field region between the peak fields of the SMP (H$^m_{smp}$) and the onset fields of the PE (H$^{on}_{pe}$)is not only continuously connected to the Bragg glass phase at lower fields but it is also sandwiched between the higher temperature vortex liquid phase and the lower temperature vortex glass phase. Thus, an ordered vortex state between H$^m_{smp}$ and H$^{on}_{pe}$ can get transformed to the (disordered) vortex liquid state on heating as well as to the (disordered) vortex glass state on cooling, a situation analogous to the thermal melting and the inverse melting phenomenon seen in a Bismuth cuprate.Comment: Presented in IWCC-200

Amorphization of Vortex Matter and Reentrant Peak Effect in YBa2_2Cu3_3O7−δ_{7-\delta}

The peak effect (PE) has been observed in a twinned crystal of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ for H$\parallel$c in the low field range, close to the zero field superconducting transition temperature (T$_c$(0)) . A sharp depinning transition succeeds the peak temperature T$_p$ of the PE. The PE phenomenon broadens and its internal structure smoothens out as the field is increased or decreased beyond the interval between 250 Oe and 1000 Oe. Moreover, the PE could not be observed above 10 kOe and below 20 Oe. The locus of the T$_p$(H) values shows a reentrant characteristic with a nose like feature located at T$_p$(H)/T$_c$(0)$\approx$0.99 and H$\approx$100 Oe (where the FLL constant a$_0$$\approx$penetration depth $\lambda$). The upper part of the PE curve (0.5 kOe$<$H$<$10 kOe) can be fitted to a melting scenario with the Lindemann number c$_L$$\approx$0.25. The vortex phase diagram near T$_c$(0) determined from the characteristic features of the PE in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$(H$\parallel$c) bears close resemblance to that in the 2H-NbSe$_2$ system, in which a reentrant PE had been observed earlier.Comment: 15 pages and 7 figure

Role of isospin physics in supernova matter and neutron stars

We investigate the liquid-gas phase transition of hot protoneutron stars shortly after their birth following supernova explosion and the composition and structure of hyperon-rich (proto)neutron stars within a relativistic mean-field model where the nuclear symmetry energy has been constrained from the measured neutron skin thickness of finite nuclei. Light clusters are abundantly formed with increasing temperature well inside the neutrino-sphere for an uniform supernova matter. Liquid-gas phase transition is found to suppress the cluster yield within the coexistence phase as well as decrease considerably the neutron-proton asymmetry over a wide density range. We find symmetry energy has a modest effect on the boundaries and the critical temperature for the liquid-gas phase transition, and the composition depends more sensitively on the number of trapped neutrinos and temperature of the protoneutron star. The influence of hyperons in the dense interior of stars makes the overall equation of state soft. However, neutrino trapping distinctly delays the appearance of hyperons due to abundance of electrons. We also find that a softer symmetry energy further makes the onset of hyperon less favorable. The resulting structures of the (proto)neutron stars with hyperons and with liquid-gas phase transition are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, RevTe

EPR and Magnetic Studies on y:bis(N -Methyl Salicylaldimine) Copper(II)

EPR and magnetic studies on single crystals of the dimeric copper (II) compound y: his (N-methyl salicylaldimine) Cu(II) down to 1.5 K reveal that each Cu(II) dimer is ferromagnetically exchange coupled having negligible interdimer exchange interaction. The magnetic properties are best described with C4v ligand field symmetry around each Cu(II) ion. The principal axes of the susceptibility and the g-tensor are not strictly coincident at low temperature. EPR und magnetische Untersuchungen an Einkristallen der dimeren Kupfer (II)-Verbindung y: bis-(N-methylsalizylaldimin)- Cu(II) his herab zu 1,5 K zeigen, daB jedes Cu(II)-Dimer ferromagnetisch austauschgekoppelt ist und eine vernachlassigbare interdimere Austauschwechselwirkung aufweist. Die magnetischen Eigenschaften lassen sich am besten mit C4v-Ligandensymmetrie urn jedes Cu(II)-Ion beschreiben. Die Hauptachsen des Suszeptibilitats- und g-Tensoren sind nicht genau koinzident bei tiefen Temperature

A semi-analytical approach to perturbations in mutated hilltop inflation

We study cosmological perturbations and observational aspects for mutated hilltop model of inflation. Employing mostly analytical treatment, we evaluate observable parameters during inflation as well as post-inflationary perturbations. This further leads to exploring observational aspects related to Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. This semi-analytical treatment reduces complications related to numerical computation to some extent for studying the different phenomena related to CMB angular power spectrum for mutated hilltop inflation.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Improved version to appear in IJMP