Critical scaling of a two-orbital topological model with extended neighboring couplings.

Extended-range models are the interesting systems, which has been widely used to understand the non-local properties of the fermions at quantum scale. We aim to study the interplay between criticality and extended range couplings under various symmetry constraints. Here, we consider a two orbital Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model in one dimension with longer (finite neighbor) and long-range (infinite neighbor) couplings. We study the behavior of model using scaling laws and universality class for models with Hermitian, parity-time ([Formula: see text]) symmetric and broken time-reversal symmetries. We observe the interesting results on multi-criticalities, where the universality class of critical exponent is different than the normal criticalities. Also, the results can be generalized by considering the interplay between criticalities and different symmetry classes of Hamiltonian. Also, with the introduction of extended-range of coupling, there occurs different criticalities, and we provide the analogy to characterize their universality classes. We also show the violation of Lorentz invariance at multi-criticalities and evaluation of short-range limit in long-range models as the highlights of this work.

Density Functional Theory-Guided Photo-Triggered Anticancer Activity of Curcumin-Based Zinc(II) Complexes.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has evolved as a new therapeutic modality for cancer treatment with fewer side effects and drug resistance. Curcumin exhibits PDT activity, but its low bioavailability restricts its clinical application. Here, the bioavailability of curcumin was increased by its complex formation with the Zn(II) center. For a structure-activity relationship study, Zn(II)-based complexes (1-3) comprising N^N-based ligands (2,2'-bipyridine in 1 and 2 or 1,10-phenanthroline in 3) and O^O-based ligands (acetylacetone in 1, monoanionic curcumin in 2 and 3) were synthesized and thoroughly characterized. The X-ray structure of the control complex, 1, indicated a square pyramidal shape of the molecules. Photophysical and TD-DFT studies indicated the potential of 2 and 3 as good visible light type-II photosensitizers for PDT. Guided by the TD-DFT studies, the low-energy visible light-triggered singlet oxygen (1O2) generation efficacy of 2 and 3 was explored in solution and in cancer cells. As predicted by the TD-DFT calculations, these complexes produced 1O2 efficiently in the cytosol of MCF-7 cancer cells and ultimately displayed excellent apoptotic anticancer activity in the presence of light. Moreover, the molecular docking investigation showed that complexes 2 and 3 have very good binding affinities with caspase-9 and p-53 proteins and could activate them for cellular apoptosis. Further molecular dynamics simulations confirmed the stability of 3 in the caspase-9 protein binding site.

Unconventional quantum criticality in a non-Hermitian extended Kitaev chain.

We investigate the nature of quantum criticality and topological phase transitions near the critical lines obtained for the extended Kitaev chain with next nearest neighbor hopping parameters and non-Hermitian chemical potential. We surprisingly find multiple gap-less points, the locations of which in the momentum space can change along the critical line unlike the Hermitian counterpart. The interesting simultaneous occurrences of vanishing and sign flipping behavior by real and imaginary components, respectively of the lowest excitation is observed near the topological phase transition. Introduction of non-Hermitian factor leads to an isolated critical point instead of a critical line and hence, reduced number of multi-critical points as compared to the Hermitian case. The critical exponents obtained for the multi-critical and critical points show a very distinct behavior from the Hermitian case.

Mixed state behavior of Hermitian and non-Hermitian topological models with extended couplings.

Geometric phase is an important tool to define the topology of the Hermitian and non-Hermitian systems. Besides, the range of coupling plays an important role in realizing higher topological indices and transition among them. With a motivation to understand the geometric phases for mixed states, we discuss finite temperature analysis of Hermitian and non-Hermitian topological models with extended range of couplings. To understand the geometric phases for the mixed states, we use Uhlmann phase and discuss the merit-limitation with respect extended range couplings. We extend the finite temperature analysis to non-Hermitian models and define topological invariant for different ranges of coupling. We include the non-Hermitian skin effect, and provide the derivation of topological invariant in the generalized Brillouin zone and their mixed state behavior also. We also adopt mixed geometric phases through interferometric approach, and discuss the geometric phases of extended-range (Hermitian and non-Hermitian) models at finite temperature.

Physics of emergence beyond Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition for interacting topological quantum matter.

An attempt is made to find different emergent quantum phases for interacting topological state of quantum matter. Our study is based on the quantum field theoretical renormalization group (RG) calculations. The behaviour of the RG flow lines give the emergence of different quantum phases for non-interacting and interacting topological state of quantum matter. We show explicitly electron-electron interaction can turn a topologically trivial phase into a topologically nontrivial one and also topologically nontrivial phase to topologically trivial phase. We show that physics of emergence goes beyond the quantum Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. We also present the analysis of fixed point and show the behaviour of fixed point changes in presence and absence of interaction. This work provides a new perspective not only from the topological state of interacting quantum matter and but also for the correlated quantum many -body physics.

Topological quantum criticality in non-Hermitian extended Kitaev chain.

An attempt is made to study the quantum criticality in non-Hermitian system with topological characterization. We use the zero mode solutions to characterize the topological phases and, criticality and also to construct the phase diagram. The Hermitian counterpart of the model Hamiltonian possess quite a few interesting features such as Majorana zero modes (MZMs) at criticality, unique topological phase transition on the critical line and hence these unique features are of an interest to study in the non-Hermitian case also. We observe a unique behavior of critical lines in presence of non-Hermiticity. We study the topological phase transitions in the non-Hermitian case using parametric curves which also reveal the gap closing point through exceptional points. We study bulk and edge properties of the system where at the edge, the stability dependence behavior of MZMs at criticality is studied and at the bulk we study the effect of non-Hermiticity on the topological phases by investigating the behavior of the critical lines. The study of non-Hermiticity on the critical lines revels the rate of receding of the topological phases with respect to the increase in the value of non-Hermiticity. This work gives a new perspective on topological quantum criticality in non-Hermitian quantum system.

A study of quantum Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition for parity-time symmetric quantum criticality.

The Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) mechanism governs the critical behavior of a wide range of many-body systems. We show here that this phenomenon is not restricted to conventional many body system but also for the strongly correlated parity-time (PT) symmetry quantum criticality. We show explicitly behaviour of topological excitation for the real and imaginary part of the potential are different through the analysis of second order and third order renormalization group (RG). One of the most interesting feature that we observe from our study the presence of hidden QBKT and also conventional QBKT for the real part of the potential whereas there is no such evidence for the imaginary part of the potential. We also present the exact solution for the RG flow lines. We show explicitly how the physics of single field double frequencies sine-Gordon Hamiltonian effectively transform to the dual field double frequencies sine-Gordon Hamiltonian for a certain regime of parameter space. This is the first example in any quantum many body systems. We present the results of second order and third order RG flow results explicitly for the real and imaginary part of the potential. This PT symmetric system can be experimentally tested in ultra-cold atoms. This work provides a new perspective for the PT symmetric quantum criticality.

Multi-critical topological transition at quantum criticality.

The investigation and characterization of topological quantum phase transition between gapless phases is one of the recent interest of research in topological states of matter. We consider transverse field Ising model with three spin interaction in one dimension and observe a topological transition between gapless phases on one of the critical lines of this model. We study the distinct nature of these gapless phases and show that they belong to different universality classes. The topological invariant number (winding number) characterize different topological phases for the different regime of parameter space. We observe the evidence of two multi-critical points, one is topologically trivial and the other one is topologically active. Topological quantum phase transition between the gapless phases on the critical line occurs through the non-trivial multi-critical point in the Lifshitz universality class. We calculate and analyze the behavior of Wannier state correlation function close to the multi-critical point and confirm the topological transition between gapless phases. We show the breakdown of Lorentz invariance at this multi-critical point through the energy dispersion analysis. We also show that the scaling theories and curvature function renormalization group can also be effectively used to understand the topological quantum phase transitions between gapless phases. The model Hamiltonian which we study is more applicable for the system with gapless excitations, where the conventional concept of topological quantum phase transition fails.

A Study of Interaction Effects and Quantum Berezinskii- Kosterlitz-Thouless Transition in the Kitaev Chain.

The physics of the topological state of matter is the second revolution in quantum mechanics. We study the effect of interactions on the topological quantum phase transition and the quantum Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (QBKT) transition in topological state of a quantum many-body condensed matter system. We predict a topological quantum phase transition from topological superconducting phase to an insulating phase for the interacting Kitaev chain. We observe interesting behaviour from the results of renormalization group study on the topological superconducting phase. We derive the renormalization group (RG) equation for QBKT through different routes with a few exact solutions along with the physical explanations, wherein we find the existence of two new important emergent phases apart from the two conventional phases of this model Hamiltonian. We also present results of a length-scale dependent study to predict asymptotic freedom like behaviour of the system. We do rigorous quantum field theoretical renormalization group calculations to solve this problem.

A safe and efficacious Pt(ii) anticancer prodrug: design, synthesis, in vitro efficacy, the role of carrier ligands and in vivo tumour growth inhibition.

Diaminocyclohexane-Pt(ii)-phenalenyl complexes (1 and 2) showed an appropriate balance between efficacy and toxicity. Compound 2 showed nearly two-fold higher tumour growth inhibition than oxaliplatin in a murine NSCLC tumour model, when a combined drug development approach was used. The fluorescent properties of phenalenone were utilized to understand the mechanistic details of the drug.

Quantization of geometric phase with integer and fractional topological characterization in a quantum Ising chain with long-range interaction.

An attempt is made to study and understand the behavior of quantization of geometric phase of a quantum Ising chain with long range interaction. We show the existence of integer and fractional topological characterization for this model Hamiltonian with different quantization condition and also the different quantized value of geometric phase. The quantum critical lines behave differently from the perspective of topological characterization. The results of duality and its relation to the topological quantization is presented here. The symmetry study for this model Hamiltonian is also presented. Our results indicate that the Zak phase is not the proper physical parameter to describe the topological characterization of system with long range interaction. We also present quite a few exact solutions with physical explanation. Finally we present the relation between duality, symmetry and topological characterization. Our work provides a new perspective on topological quantization.

Topological Quantum Phase Transition and Local Topological Order in a Strongly Interacting Light-Matter System.

An attempt is made to understand the topological quantum phase transition, emergence of relativistic modes and local topological order of light in a strongly interacting light-matter system. We study this system, in a one dimensional array of nonlinear cavities. Topological quantum phase transition occurs with massless excitation only for the finite detuning process. We present a few results based on the exact analytical calculations along with the physical explanations. We observe the emergence of massive Majorana fermion mode at the topological state, massless Majorana-Weyl fermion mode during the topological quantum phase transition and Dirac fermion mode for the non-topological state. Finally, we study the quantized Berry phase (topological order) and its connection to the topological number (winding number).

Drug-Triggered Self-Assembly of Linear Polymer into Nanoparticles for Simultaneous Delivery of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Drugs in Breast Cancer Cells.

Breast cancer is the most devastating disease among females globally. Conventional chemotherapeutic regimen relies on the use of highly cytotoxic drugs as monotherapy and combination therapy leading to severe side effects to the patients as collateral damage. Moreover, combining hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs create erratic biodistribution and suboptimal medicinal outcome. Hence, packaging multiple drugs of diverse mechanisms of action and biodistribution for safe delivery into tumor tissues with optimal dosages is indispensable for next-generation breast cancer therapy. To address these, in this report, we describe a unique cisplatin-triggered self-assembly of linear polymer into 3D-spherical sub 200 nm particles. These nanoparticles comprise a hydrophobic (paclitaxel) and hydrophilic drug (cisplatin) simultaneously in a single particle. Molecular dynamics simulation revealed hydrophilic-hydrophilic interaction and interchain H-bonding as underlying mechanisms of self-assembly. Confocal microscopy studies evidently demonstrated that these novel nanoparticles can home into lysosomes in breast cancer cells, fragment subcellular nuclei, and prevent cell division, leading to improved breast cancer cell death compared to free drug combination. Moreover, 3D-breast tumor spheroids were reduced remarkably by the treatment of these nanoparticles within 24 h. These dual-drug-loaded self-assembled polymeric nanoparticles have prospective to be translated into a clinical strategy for breast cancer patients.

Physics of Majorana modes in interacting helical liquid.

As an attempt to understand and search for the existence of Majorana zero mode, we study the topological quantum phase transition and also the nature of this transition in helical liquid system, which appears in different physical systems. We present Majorana-Ising transition along with the phase boundary in the presence of interaction. We show the appearance of Majorana mode under the renormalization of the parameters of the system and also the topological protection of it. We present the length scale dependent condition for the appearance of Majorana edge state and also the absence of edge state for a certain regime of parameter space.

Transferability of different classical force fields for right and left handed α-helices constructed from enantiomeric amino acids.

Amino acids can form d and l enantiomers, of which the l enantiomer is abundant in nature. The naturally occurring l enantiomer has a greater preference for a right handed helical conformation, and the d enantiomer for a left handed helical conformation. The other conformations, that is, left handed helical conformations of the l enantiomers and right handed helical conformations of the d enantiomers, are not common. The energetic differences between left and right handed alpha helical peptide chains constructed from enantiomeric amino acids are investigated using quantum chemical calculations (using the M06/6-311g(d,p) level of theory). Further, the performances of commonly used biomolecular force fields (OPLS/AA, CHARMM27/CMAP and AMBER) to represent the different helical conformations (left and right handed) constructed from enantiomeric (D and L) amino acids are evaluated. 5- and 10-mer chains from d and l enantiomers of alanine, leucine, lysine, and glutamic acid, in right and left handed helical conformations, are considered in the study. Thus, in total, 32 α-helical polypeptides (4 amino acids × 4 conformations of 5-mer and 10-mer) are studied. Conclusions, with regards to the performance of the force fields, are derived keeping the quantum optimized geometry as the benchmark, and on the basis of phi and psi angle calculations, hydrogen bond analysis, and different long range helical order parameters.

Propensity of Self-Assembled Leucine-Lysine Diblock Copolymeric α-Helical Peptides To Remain in Parallel and Antiparallel Alignments in Water.

Molecular dynamics simulation study of α-helical diblock copolypeptides preassembled in parallel and antiparallel alignments in water are presented. The assembled peptide lamellar structures were not disrupted even after performing three-step simulation protocols. Primarily hydrogen bonds between peptide are responsible for the stability. The analysis of the trajectory also suggests that water plays a significant role in favoring self-assembly. We have detected continuous hydrogen bonded network structure, which is further responsible for the stability of the lamellar structures. We have performed a detailed analysis of the hydrogen bonded network structure and its length. Further, free energy calculations revealed that the degree of stability for both lamellae are similar. The present study provides structural insight into the stability of self-assembled structures of block copolypeptides.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with cardiac dysfunction.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy remains the standard treatment for cholelithiasis. Ever increasing number of patients with myriad of medical illness is being treated by this technique. However, significant concern prevails among the surgical community regarding its safety in patients with cardiac co-morbidity. Patients with significant cardiac dysfunction and multiple co-morbidities were prospectively evaluated. Patients were assessed by cardiologists and anesthesiologists and laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed. Patient demographics, details of peri-operative management and post-operative complications were studied. Between March 2005 and January 2009, 28 patients (M:F = 21:7) with mean age of 60 years (range 26-78) and having significant cardiac dysfunction had undergone laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Of these, 24 patients were in NYHA class-II, while 4 belonged to class-III. Left ventricular ejection fraction, as recorded by transthoracic echocardiography, was 20-30% in 13 (46%) patients and 30-40% in the rest 15 (54%). In addition, 13 (46%) patients had regional wall motion abnormalities, 11 (39%) patients had cardiomyopathy, 2 (7%) patients had valvular heart disease while 12 (43%) patients had prior cardiac interventions. Following laparoscopic cholecystectomy, hypertension (3), tachyarrhythmia (4) and bradycardia (1) were the commonest events encountered. One patient required laparotomy to deal with peritonitis in the immediate postoperative period and succumbed to myocardial infarction, but all other patients made an uneventful recovery. With appropriate cardiological support, laparoscopic cholecystectomy may be safely performed in patients with significant cardiac dysfunction.

Ion-trap mass spectrometry unveils the presence of isomeric oligosaccharides in an analyte: stage-discriminated correlation of energy-resolved mass spectrometry.

Mass spectrometry, especially tandem mass spectrometry, has been widely used in the field of analytical sciences for handling biological and chemical samples. The technique resolves molecular and fragment ions based on the mass to charge ratio. Energy-resolved mass spectrometry (ERMS) further provides an activation energy-related factor in the dissociation reaction. Therefore, it is a very powerful technique that can discriminate isomeric compounds. Despite the power of ERMS, useful information cannot be obtained when an analyte contains structural isomers. Carbohydrates carry multiple chiral centers, thus oligomers of monosaccharides can form a vast number of structural isomers. We decided to use such species in our endeavors to establish a method of identifying the 'purity' of an analyte solely based on mass spectrometry. In the present paper, we describe a stage-discriminated spectral correlation of ERMS, which not only enables identification of the presence of contaminants in an analyte, but also provides information regarding the 'purity' of fragment ions.

Open port placement through the umbilical cicatrix.

Peritoneal access and creation of pneumoperitoneum are the key initial steps of laparoscopic surgery. This is commonly achieved by either introducing Veress needle or by gradual dissection of all the layers of the abdominal wall and then introducing a port under direct vision. The two techniques are extremely safe, but large outcome studies have found slightly increased complications with the Veress needle. Randomized trials do not support such finding and both techniques continue to have their enthusiasts. We hereby describe an open method of initial port placement, wherein the port is introduced through the umbilical cicatrix under direct vision.