Modulating a model membrane of sphingomyelin by a tricyclic antidepressant drug.

Tricyclic medicine such as amitriptyline (AMT) hydrochloride, initially developed to treat depression, is also used to treat neuropathic pain, anxiety disorder, and migraines. The mechanism of functioning of this type of drugs is ambiguous. Understanding the mechanism is important for designing new drug molecules with higher pharmacological efficiency.

Temperature-dependent anomalous viscosity of aqueous solutions of imidazolium-based ionic liquids.

Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts with a low melting point compared to inorganic salts. Room temperature ILs are of great importance for their widespread potential industrial applications. The viscosity of aqueous solutions of two imidazolium-based ILs, investigated in the present study, exhibits an anomalous temperature variation.

Shear-induced phase transition in the aqueous solution of an imidazolium-based ionic liquid.

An ionic liquid (IL) is a salt in the liquid state that consists of a cation and an anion, one of which possesses an organic component. Because of their non-volatile property, these solvents have a high recovery rate, and, hence, they are considered as environment-friendly green solvents. It is necessary to study the detailed physicochemical properties of these liquids for designing and processing techniques and find suitable operating conditions for IL-based systems.

Phase Diagram Study of Catanionic Surfactants Using Dissipative Particle Dynamics.

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations has been performed to study the phase transition of a mixture of cationic and anionic surfactants in an aqueous solution as a function of the total concentration in water and the relative ratio of surfactants. The impact of the relative difference between the tail lengths of the cationic and anionic surfactants on the phase diagram has been simulated by tuning the number of DPD beads in the simulation model. This research also discusses the impact of the frequently used values of the parameters associated with the harmonic bonds among the bonded DPD beads on the obtained self-assemblies.

Enhanced optical and structural features of Ni/La hybrid borate glasses.

Glasses with the formula [80BO-4.0LaO-(16-x) PbO-xNiO, (x ranged from 0.0 to 4.

Phase Diagram Study of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Using Dissipative Particle Dynamics.

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations are performed to study the phase transition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in aqueous solution, which is an anionic surfactant commonly known as sodium dodecyl sulfate. In this work, the aim is to find a coarse-grained minimal model suitable to produce the full phase diagram of SDS. We examine the coarse-grained models of SDS, which have been used in earlier computational studies to produce the phases as well as for finding the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of SDS.

Spatial modulation of the composition of a binary liquid near a repulsive wall.

When a binary liquid is confined by a strongly repulsive wall, the local density is depleted near the wall and an interface similar to that between the liquid and its vapor is formed. This analogy suggests that the composition of the binary liquid near this interface should exhibit spatial modulation similar to that near a liquid-vapor interface even if the interactions of the wall with the two components of the liquid are the same. The Guggenheim adsorption relation quantifies the concentrations of two components of a binary mixture near a liquid-vapor interface and qualitatively states that the majority (minority) component enriches the interface for negative (positive) mixing energy if the surface tensions of the two components are not very different.

A coupled map lattice model for rheological chaos in sheared nematic liquid crystals.

A variety of complex fluids under shear exhibit complex spatiotemporal behavior, including what is now termed rheological chaos, at moderate values of the shear rate. Such chaos associated with rheological response occurs in regimes where the Reynolds number is very small. It must thus arise as a consequence of the coupling of the flow to internal structural variables describing the local state of the fluid.

Biaxiality at the isotropic-nematic interface with planar anchoring.

We revisit the classic problem of the structure of the isotropic-nematic interface within Ginzburg-Landau-de Gennes theory, refining previous analytic treatments of biaxiality at the interface. We compare our analysis with numerical results obtained through a highly accurate spectral collocation scheme for the solution of the Landau-Ginzburg-de Gennes equations. In comparison to earlier work, we obtain improved agreement with numerics for both the uniaxial and biaxial profiles, accurate asymptotic results for the decay of biaxial order on both nematic and isotropic sides of the interface, and accurate fits to data from density-functional approaches to this problem.

The isotropic-nematic interface with an oblique anchoring condition.

We present numerical and analytic results for uniaxial and biaxial orders at the isotropic-nematic interface within Ginzburg-Landau-de Gennes theory. We study the case where an oblique anchoring condition is imposed asymptotically on the nematic side of the interface, reproducing results of previous work when this condition reduces to planar or homeotropic anchoring. We construct physically motivated and computationally flexible variational profiles for uniaxial and biaxial orders, comparing our variational results to numerical results obtained from a minimization of the Ginzburg-Landau-de Gennes free energy.

Successful surgical resection of advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor post neoadjuvent therapy.

We report a case of a 48-year-old Indian male who presented with swelling and firmness in his left upper part of the abdomen of one month duration with anorexia and weight loss. Initial examination revealed an intra abdominal mass of around 16.8x11.

Regular and chaotic states in a local map description of sheared nematic liquid crystals.

We propose and study a local map capable of describing the full variety of dynamical states, ranging from regular to chaotic, obtained when a nematic liquid crystal is subjected to a steady shear flow. The map is formulated in terms of a quaternion parametrization of rotations of the local frame described by the axes of the nematic director, subdirector, and the joint normal to these, with two additional scalars describing the strength of ordering. Our model yields kayaking, wagging, tumbling, aligned, and coexistence states, accommodated in a phase diagram which closely resembles phase diagrams obtained using representations of the dynamics which are based on ordinary differential equations.

Dengue haemorrhagic fever with unusual prolonged thrombocytopaenia.

We describe a case of dengue haemorrhagic fever with prolonged thrombocytopaenia. A 22-year-old Malay man with no prior illness presented with a history of fever and generalised macular rash of four days duration. Initial work-up suggested the diagnosis of dengue haemorrhagic fever based on thrombocytopaenia and positive dengue serology.