Bonding Nature in MgB2

The accurate charge density of MgB2 was observed at room temperature(R.T.) and 15K by the MEM(Maximum Entropy Method)/Rietveld analysis using synchrotron radiation powder data. The obtained charge density clearly revealed the covalent bonding feature of boron forming the 2D honeycomb network in the basal plane, on the other hand, Mg is found to be in divalent state. A subtle but clear charge concentration was found on boron 2D sheets at 15K, which should be relating to superconductivity.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Mechanisms of toxic action and structure-activity relationships for organochlorine and synthetic pyrethroid insecticides.

The mechanisms and sites of action of organochlorine (DDT-types and chlorinated alicyclics) and synthetic pyrethroid insecticides are presented with discussion of symptoms, physiological effects, and selectivity. The structural requirements for toxicity are assessed, and structure-activity relationships are considered for each subclass. Lipophilicity is important for all the groups because it facilitates delivery of these neurotoxicants to the site of action in the nerve. Steric factors including molecular volume, shape, and isomeric configuration greatly influence toxicity. Electronic parameters also have been demonstrated to affect biological activity in some of the groups of insecticides, e.g., Hammett's sigma and Taft's sigma * as indicators of electronegativity. New synthetic pyrethroids continue to be developed, with varied structures and different physicochemical and biological properties

Thermoelectric Signal Enhancement by Reconciling the Spin Seebeck and Anomalous Nernst Effects in Ferromagnet/Non-magnet Multilayers

The utilization of ferromagnetic (FM) materials in thermoelectric devices allows one to have a simpler structure and/or independent control of electric and thermal conductivities, which may further remove obstacles for this technology to be realized. The thermoelectricity in FM/non-magnet (NM) heterostructures using an optical heating source is studied as a function of NM materials and a number of multilayers. It is observed that the overall thermoelectric signal in those structures which is contributed by spin Seebeck effect and anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) is enhanced by a proper selection of NM materials with a spin Hall angle that matches to the sign of the ANE. Moreover, by an increase of the number of multilayer, the thermoelectric voltage is enlarged further and the device resistance is reduced, simultaneously. The experimental observation of the improvement of thermoelectric properties may pave the way for the realization of magnetic-(or spin-) based thermoelectric devicesopen4

Oxidation of benzoin catalyzed by oxovanadium (IV) schiff base complexes

BACKGROUND: The oxidative transformation of benzoin to benzil has been accomplished by the use of a wide variety of reagents or catalysts and different reaction procedures. The conventional oxidizing agents yielded mainly benzaldehyde or/and benzoic acid and only a trace amount of benzil. The limits of practical utilization of these reagents involves the use of stoichiometric amounts of corrosive acids or toxic metallic reagents, which in turn produce undesirable waste materials and required high reaction temperatures. In recent years, vanadium complexes have attracted much attention for their potential utility as catalysts for various types of reactions. RESULTS: Active and selective catalytic systems of new unsymmetrical oxovanadium(IV) Schiff base complexes for the oxidation of benzoin is reported. The Schiff base ligands are derived between 2-aminoethanol and 2-hydroxy-1- naphthaldehyde (H2L1) or 3-ethoxy salicylaldehyde (H2L3); and 2-aminophenol and 3-ethoxysalicylaldehyde (H2L2) or 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde (H2L4). The unsymmetrical Schiff bases behave as tridentate dibasic ONO donor ligands. Reaction of these Schiff base ligands with oxovanadyl sulphate afforded the mononuclear oxovanadium(IV) complexes (VIVOLx.H2O), which are characterized by various physico-chemical techniques. The catalytic oxidation activities of these complexes for benzoin were evaluated using H2O2 as an oxidant. The best reaction conditions are obtained by considering the effect of solvent, reaction time and temperature. Under the optimized reaction conditions, VOL4 catalyst showed high conversion (>99%) with excellent selectivity to benzil (~100%) in a shorter reaction time compared to the other catalysts considered. CONCLUSION: Four tridentate ONO type Schiff base ligands were synthesized. Complexation of these ligands with vanadyl(IV) sulphate leads to the formation of new oxovanadium(IV) complexes of type VIVOL.H2O. Elemental analyses and spectral data of the free ligands and their oxovanadium(IV) complexes were found to be in good agreement with their structures, indicating high purity of all the compounds. Oxovanadium complexes were screened for the oxidation of benzoin to benzil using H2O2 as oxidant. The effect of time, solvent and temperature were optimized to obtain maximum yield. The catalytic activity results demonstrate that these catalytic systems are both highly active and selective for the oxidation of benzoin under mild reaction conditions.Web of Scienc

Expression of paclitaxel-inactivating CYP3A activity in human colorectal cancer: implications for drug therapy

Cytochrome P450 3A is a drug-metabolising enzyme activity due to CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 gene products, that is involved in the inactivation of anticancer drugs. This study analyses the potential of cytochrome P450 3A enzyme in human colorectal cancer to impact anticancer therapy with drugs that are cytochrome P450 3A substrates. Enzyme activity, variability and properties, and the ability to inactivate paclitaxel (taxol) were analysed in human colorectal cancer and healthy colorectal epithelium. Cytochrome P450 3A enzyme activity is present in healthy and tumoral samples, with a nearly 10-fold interindividual variability. Nifedipine oxidation activity±s.d. for colorectal cancer microsomes was 67.8±36.6 pmol min−1 mg−1. The Km of the tumoral enzyme (42±8 μM) is similar to that in healthy colorectal epithelium (36±8 μM) and the human liver enzyme. Colorectal cancer microsomes metabolised the anticancer drug paclitaxel with a mean activity was 3.1±1.2 pmol min−1 mg−1. The main metabolic pathway is carried out by cytochrome P450 3A, and it is inhibited by the cytochrome P450 3A-specific inhibitor ketoconazole with a KI value of 31 nM. This study demonstrates the occurrence of cytochrome P450 3A-dependent metabolism in colorectal cancer tissue. The metabolic activity confers to cancer cells the ability to inactivate cytochrome P450 3A substrates and may modulate tumour sensitivity to anticancer drugs

Synthesis and bio-molecular study of (+)-N-Acetyl-α-amino acid dehydroabietylamine derivative for the selective therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The purpose of present work is to synthesize novel (+)-Dehydroabietylamine derivatives (DAAD) using N-acetyl-α-amino acid conjugates and determine its cytotoxic effects on hepatocellular carcinoma cells. METHODS: An analytical study was conducted to explore cytotoxic activity of DAAD on hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. The cytotoxicity effect was recorded using sulforhodamine B technique. Cell cycle analysis was performed using Propidium Iodide (PI) staining. Based on cell morphology, anti growth activity and microarray findings of DAAD2 treatment, Comet assay, Annexin V/PI staining, Immunoperoxidase assay and western blots were performed accoringly. RESULTS: Hep3B cells were found to be the most sensitive with IC(50) of 2.00 ± 0.4 μM against (+)-N-(N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine)-dehydroabietylamine as DAAD2. In compliance to time dependent morphological changes of low cellular confluence, detachment and rounding of DAAD2 treated cells; noticeable changes in G(2)/M phase were recorded may be leading to cell cycle cessation. Up-regulation (5folds) of TUBA1A gene in Hep3B cells was determined in microarray experiments. Apoptotic mode of cell death was evaluated using standardized staining procedures including comet assay and annexin V/PI staining, Immuno-peroxidase assay. Using western blotting technique, caspase dependant apoptotic mode of cell death was recorded against Hep3B cell line. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that a novel DAAD2 with IC(50) values less than 8 μM can induce massive cell attenuation following caspase dependent apoptotic cell death in Hep3B cells. Moreover, the corelation study indicated that DAAD2 may have vital influence on cell prolifration properties. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2942-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Pulse Jet Mixing Tests With Noncohesive Solids

This report summarizes results from pulse jet mixing (PJM) tests with noncohesive solids in Newtonian liquid conducted during FY 2007 and 2008 to support the design of mixing systems for the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). Tests were conducted at three geometric scales using noncohesive simulants. The test data were used to independently develop mixing models that can be used to predict full-scale WTP vessel performance and to rate current WTP mixing system designs against two specific performance requirements. One requirement is to ensure that all solids have been disturbed during the mixing action, which is important to release gas from the solids. The second requirement is to maintain a suspended solids concentration below 20 weight percent at the pump inlet. The models predict the height to which solids will be lifted by the PJM action, and the minimum velocity needed to ensure all solids have been lifted from the floor. From the cloud height estimate we can calculate the concentration of solids at the pump inlet. The velocity needed to lift the solids is slightly more demanding than "disturbing" the solids, and is used as a surrogate for this metric. We applied the models to assess WTP mixing vessel performance with respect to the two perform¬ance requirements. Each mixing vessel was evaluated against these two criteria for two defined waste conditions. One of the wastes was defined by design limits and one was derived from Hanford waste characterization reports. The assessment predicts that three vessel types will satisfy the design criteria for all conditions evaluated. Seven vessel types will not satisfy the performance criteria used for any of the conditions evaluated. The remaining three vessel types provide varying assessments when the different particle characteristics are evaluated. The assessment predicts that three vessel types will satisfy the design criteria for all conditions evaluated. Seven vessel types will not satisfy the performance criteria used for any of the conditions evaluated. The remaining three vessel types provide varying assessments when the different particle characteristics are evaluated. The HLP-022 vessel was also evaluated using 12 m/s pulse jet velocity with 6-in. nozzles, and this design also did not satisfy the criteria for all of the conditions evaluated