Dimethylaminoethyl Methacrylate Functionalized Montmorillonite for the Preparation of Polymer-Montmorillonite Nanocomposites Through Iniferter-based Controlled Radical Polymerization of Methylmethacrylate and Styrene

<div><p>To incorporate polymer in between montmorillonite (MMT) galleries in a controlled fashion, controlled radical polymerization (CRP) was carried out in the presence of dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA)-anchored montmorillonite using tetraphenylethane-based thermal iniferter. The use of DMAEMA-anchored MMT enhanced the interaction between polymer and MMT, due to this, enhanced <i>T</i>_<i>g</i> up to 10°C and enhanced thermal stability up to 50°C were observed. As CRP mechanism is followed during the synthesis of nanocomposites, the amount and molecular weight of polymers incorporated inside the MMT galleries can easily be controlled just by changing polymerization time.</p> </div

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Multiply Twinned AgNi Alloy Nanoparticles as Highly Active Catalyst for Multiple Reduction and Degradation Reactions

Size dependent surface characteristics of nanoparticles lead to use of these nanomaterials in many technologically important fields, including the field of catalysis. Here Ag_1–<i>x</i>Ni_<i>x</i> bimetallic alloy nanoparticles have been developed having a 5-fold twinned morphology, which could be considered as an important alloy because of their excellent and unique catalytic and magnetic properties. Alloying between Ag and Ni atoms on a nanoscale has been confirmed with detailed X-ray diffraction, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and magnetization measurements. Although introduced for the first time as a catalyst due to having high active surface sites, the as-synthesized nanoparticles showed one of the best multiple catalytic activity in the industrially important (electro)-catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and 4-nitroaniline (4-NA) to corresponding amines with noticeable reduced reaction time and increased rate constant without the use of any large area support. Additionally the same catalyst showed enhanced catalytic activity in degradation of environment polluting dye molecules. The highest ever activity parameter we report here for Ag_0.6Ni_0.4 composition is 156 s^–1g^–1 with an apparent rate constant of 31.1 × 10^–3 s^–1 in a 4-NP reduction reaction where the amount of catalyst used was 0.2 mg and the time taken for complete conversion of 4-NP to 4-aminophenol was 60 s. Similarly, an incredible reaction rate constant (115 s^–1) and activity parameter (576.6 s^–1g^–1) were observed for the catalytic degradation of methyl orange dye where 15 s is the maximum time for complete degradation of the dye molecules. The high catalytic performance of present AgNi alloy NPs over the other catalysts has been attributed to size, structural (twinned defect) and electronic effects. This study may lead to use of these bimetallic nanostructures with excellent recyclable catalytic efficiency in many more applications

Hydroplaning risk (HpR), quantified as average annual frequency of high risk events (HREs), for road sections within the continental US (CONUS).

Hydroplaning risk (HpR), quantified as average annual frequency of high risk events (HREs), for road sections within the continental US (CONUS).</p

Details of the four hypothesis tests carried out to assess if the occurrence of hydroplaning and high-risk events increase the risk of fatal accidents.

Details of the four hypothesis tests carried out to assess if the occurrence of hydroplaning and high-risk events increase the risk of fatal accidents.</p

Trends in annual frequency of HREs during 1980–2017.

Over ~34,602 miles of road sections (~5.5% of overall road sections within CONUS) experience statistically significant trend (p < 0.05) in annual frequency of HREs. Out of these, 97% of road sections (~33,669 miles) experience moderate to high (0.25–0.75) rate of increase (inset plot). 63% (~21,292 miles) of road sections with statistically significant moderate to high trend reside within the southern United States. 714 miles of road sections (0.12% of roads experiencing HREs) exhibit a negative trend in HREs.</p

Average AADT over road sections with varied intensity of HpRs and trend in HREs.

The evaluation is performed for mean texture depth (MTD) = 0.04 inch. Road sections experiencing HREs > = 5 per year constitute a total length of 840 miles (as compared to 199,604 miles of road sections experiencing less than 5 HREs/year). Notably, the average AADT for these road sections (~3,662,898) is 2.4 times the average AADT (1,533,962) for the road sections experiencing less than 5 HREs/year. This indicates road sections experiencing higher frequency of HREs also support high traffic volumes. High traffic volume also prevails over the road sections experiencing moderate to high (>0.25–0.75) trends of annual HREs.</p

Estimated annual average traffic volume subjected to HpR during 1980–2017.

Traffic volume is evaluated over ~198,000 miles or ~98 percent of road sections within CONUS experiencing any HRE. 78% of these road sections constituting 169,981 miles have an annual average traffic volume within 0–500 (inset plot). 58% of the road sections with annual average traffic volume > 2,500 are located within the southern CONUS.</p

MOESM2 of Depletion of membrane cholesterol compromised caspase-8 imparts in autophagy induction and inhibition of cell migration in cancer cells

Additional file 2: Figure S2. Cholesterol depletion induced cell death in various cell lines. [a] cholesterol depletion induced cell death. MDA-MB 231, 4T1 and Balbc3T3 Cell lines were treated with different concentration of MβCD for 24 h. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. 2[b] Vero, MDCK, 4T1, Balb/c3T3 and MDA-MB 231 cells were exposed to the 5mM MβCD for 16 h and cell death were measured by MTT assay. Statistical analysis: One way anova, post hock test Tukey. P*<0.05 P**<0.01, P**<0.001, N.S.-Not significant

MOESM1 of Depletion of membrane cholesterol compromised caspase-8 imparts in autophagy induction and inhibition of cell migration in cancer cells

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Cholesterol depletion induced cell death in cancer cells. MDA MB-231 Cells were incubated with 5mM MβCD at different concentration for 24 hours and cell viability was measured by MTT and PI respectively [a &b]. 4T1 Cells were treated with Methyl β Cyclodextrin at different concentration for 24 hour. Cytotoxicity was measured by MTT assay [c] and Acridine orange and ethidium bromide [AO/EB] [d]. Statistical analysis: One way anova, Post hock test Tukey. P*<0.05 P**<0.01, P**<0.001, N.S.-Not significant