Multi-walled carbon nanotubes applied through seed-priming influence early germination, root hair, growth and yield of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Background: Reports of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) incorporated into plants have indicated better yield and productivity, yet the phenomena need in-depth understanding especially when agricultural crops are tested. We primed wheat seeds with MWCNTs to understand the effects on germination, growth, anatomy, physiology and yield.

Result: This study, carried out in field conditions, is a step forward over the previous reports.

The structural and electronic properties of tubular gold clusters with a spinal support.

Scalar relativistic density functional theory (DFT) is used to investigate the structural and electronic properties of an endohedrally doped hollow tube of gold with a hexagonal cross-section, X(M)Au(N) (X = Si, Al and Au, M = 3, 6, 9 and N = 24, 42, 60). Only Si as a dopant can be encapsulated to provide a stable backbone to the parent tubular Au(N) whereas structures containing an Al or Au backbone are distorted into non-cage like structures as the size increases. The dopant atoms increase the electron density around the Fermi level and shift the d-energy levels to deeper energy levels, thus reducing the HOMO–LUMO gap of the AuN tube.

Controlling the density and site of attachment of gold nanoparticles onto the surface of carbon nanotubes.

A facile method for controlling the density and site of attachment of gold nanoparticles onto the surface of carbon nanotubes is demonstrated. Nitric acid based oxidation was carried out to create carboxylic groups exclusively at the ends of carbon nanotubes, whereas oxidation using a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acid with varied reaction time was carried out to control the population of carboxylic groups on the side walls of nanotubes. In turn, 4-aminothiophenol modified gold nanoparticles were covalently interfaced to these carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the presence of a zero length cross-linker, 1-ethylene-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide.

Highly efficient, selective, sensitive and stability indicating RP-HPLC-UV method for the quantitative determination of potential impurities and characterization of four novel impurities in eslicarbazepine acetate active pharmaceutical ingredient by LC/ESI-IT/MS/MS.

A novel, sensitive, selective and stability indicating LC-UV method was developed for the determination of potential impurities of eslicarbazepine acetate. High performance liquid chromatographic investigation of eslicarbazepine acetate laboratory sample revealed the presence of several impurities. Three impurities were characterized rapidly and four impurities were found to be unknown.

Structural evolution and stability of hydrogenated Li(n) (n = 1-30) clusters: a density functional study.

The structure and electronic and optical properties of hydrogenated lithium clusters Li(n)H(m) (n = 1-30, m ≤ n) have been investigated by density functional theory (DFT). The structural optimizations are performed with the Becke 3 Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) exchange-correlation functional with 6-311G++(d, p) basis set. The reliability of the method employed has been established by excellent agreement with computational and experimental data, wherever available.

Transition metal induced magnetism in smaller fullerenes (Cn for n≤36).

The magnetic properties of 3d transition metals (TM) encapsulated inside smaller fullerenes ranging from C20 to C36 have been investigated using spin polarized density functional theory. The TM impurities stabilize asymmetrically at an off-center position for n≥28. The total magnetic moment (MM) of TM@Cn complexes are largely contributed by TMs and a small amount of MM of 0.

Structural, electronic, and vibrational properties of C(60-n)Nn (n = 1-12).

Ab initio investigation of structural, electronic and vibrational properties of nitrogen-doped fullerenes (C(60-n)Nn, for n = 1-12) has been performed using numerical atomic orbital density functional theory. We have obtained the ground-state structures for C(60-n)Nn for n = 1-12, which show higher stability with a single nitrogen in a pentagon and two nonadjacent nitrogen atoms in a hexagon. Nitrogen doping leads to structural deformation, with the diameter showing variation from (7.

Incidence of hearing impairment among rural and urban school going children: a survey.

A total of 1,670 school going children (urban 1030 and rural 640) in the age range of 12-14 years were screened for hearing loss during a survey conducted by the Department of Otolaryngology of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh. 6.31% of cases in the urban group were found to be having hearing loss as compared to 32.