B. Borooah College

The non mulberry silkworm Antheraea assamensis is an endemic species which is from North-eastern part of India and exclusively from Assam. The rearing of this silkworm is an age-old practice in this part of India and the silk extruded by this sericigenous insect is the exclusive part of Assamese culture. We attempted to measure the larval and silk gland weight and length along with the correlation of these parameters to elucidate the morphometrics of this silkworm. Morphometric measurements have been considered to compare the silk gland and gradual growth of the larva and the data have been statistically analyzed with regression analysis to find out the significance and correlation levels. It could be observed that the larval and silk gland growth has been positively correlated and can be calculated with the help of specific regression equations. This current investigation evaluated the morphometric measurements of A. assamensis larval stages and silk gland with the help of the regression equation y = mx + c. The study will pave the path of detailed exploration of this endemic silkworm for better understanding of its morphometrics.

In this study, we have investigated the existence and characteristics of solitons in an unmagnetized dusty plasma composed of cold ions, negatively charged dust grains, positively charged dust grains, non-thermal electrons, and non-extensive positrons. The properties of solitons are usually studied through the Reductive Perturbation method and the Sagdeev Potential method. We have derived the energy integral equation using the Sagdeev Potential method. We have also discussed the variation of the Sagdeev potential for different values of the parameters involved in our plasma model. The non-extensive parameter (q), the non-thermal parameter (beta), charge density ratio of positively charged dust (delta(+)), charge density ratio of negatively charged dust (delta_), positron to ion density ratio (delta(p)), electron to ion density ratio (delta e), electron to positron temperature ratio (sigma(p)) and the Mach number (M) found to influence the amplitude of solitons. Our study reveals that non-thermality of electrons and non-extensivity of positrons significantly modify the soliton features. The results from our study can be useful for investigating plasma in space environments such as cometary tails and interstellar clouds.

Density functional theory calculations at the omega B97X-D/SMD level were performed for aziridinium-ion formation for the anticancer drug melphalan, the key activation step of the nitrogen-mustard drug under positive and negative external electric fields (EEF) applied along a Cartesian axis. Local electronic responses were characterized using Wiberg bond indices, NBO donor-acceptor interactions, and electron localization function/localized orbital locator (ELF/LOL) descriptors. Positive fields enhance the nN ->sigma*C-Cl interaction, weaken the C-Cl bond, and shift the electron density toward a more dissociated C-Cl environment, demonstrating promotion of aziridinium formation at the electronic-structure level, while negative fields suppress these effects, slowing reactivity to reduce off-target toxicity. In contrast, the activation free energy displays a non-monotonic dependence on field strength. Analysis of field-dependent dipole moments for the reactant and transition state shows that this behavior originates from global field-induced molecular reorientation: the projections of their dipoles onto the fixed Cartesian field direction vary irregularly, leading to a non-linear relative stabilization of the transition state.

The electrocatalytic water oxidation activity of two mononuclear ternary copper(ii) complexes, 1 [CuII(L1H)(L2)](ClO4)2 [L1H = N 1-(2-aminoethyl)ethane-1,2-diamine and L2 = pyridin-2-ylmethanamine] and 2 [CuII(L1H)(L3)](ClO4)2 [L3 = 2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethan-1-amine], has been explored. In a neutral phosphate buffer, complexes 1 and 2 catalyse water oxidation at overpotentials of 423 and 483 mV with turnover frequencies (TOFs) of 157 and 704 s-1, respectively. Electrochemical studies reveal that ligands capable of forming six-membered chelate rings enhance the catalytic activity of the copper complexes relative to ligands capable of forming five-membered chelate rings. Furthermore, the incorporation of a redox-active tridentate ligand together with a bidentate ligand capable of forming six-membered chelate rings in ternary copper complexes synergistically enhances the rate of water oxidation catalysis. These findings underscore an effective strategy for improving water oxidation catalysis through the incorporation of cooperative structural elements into synthetic ternary metal complexes.

In this study, we investigated the existence and properties of solitons in an unmagnetized plasma composed of positive ions, negative ions, negatively charged dust grains, non-thermal electrons and non-extensive positrons. We have conducted our study on this complex plasma model because it moves away from simplistic and idealized plasma models. Also, a study of solitons has not previously been conducted on this complex plasma model. Through the Sagdeev potential method, we have derived the energy integral and investigated the variation in the Sagdeev potential for different values of the parameters that are involved in our plasma model. We have found that the non-thermal parameter (β) and the non-extensive parameter (q) significantly influence the features of the solitons. The features of the solitons are also found to be influenced by the Mach number (M), the negative-ion-to-positive-ion mass ratio (Ω), the positron-to-positive-ion density ratio (δp), the electron-to-positron temperature ratio (σp), the dust charge density ratio (δd) and the negative-ion-to-positive-ion density ratio (δ_). The results from our study can be useful in investigating plasma in astrophysical environments, such as cometary tails and interstellar clouds.