Quinolines and Related Compounds as Potential Antimalarials

Various 4-and 8-aminoquinoline derivatives having different substituents in the side chain and in the nucleus have been discussed in respect of their antimalarial activity and tolerance dosages. The effect of the incorporation of different moieties e.g. piperazine, piperidine and quinoline itself has also been highlighted. Certain quinoline quinones and benzoquinones as effective antimalarial agents have also been described

Kemijska svojstva i primjena premaznih materijala na bazi vode i organskih otapala na drvu

Wood finishes are used extensively to improve the aesthetic value and protect wood products from moisture. These organic coatings generally contain volatile organic compounds (VOC) as solvents that evaporate when the coatings cure over the surface. Due to strict legislations against these hazardous VOCs, the buyers across the globe are shifting towards products finished with water borne coats. Two of the most commonly used wood coatings in India are polyurethane and nitrocellulose (NC) lacquer. This paper aims at comparing these two wood coatings with their water borne counterparts. The study was conducted on the wood substrate of Melia dubia. Chemical characterization of the cured coats was attempted through FTIR spectroscopy. Physical appearances in terms of gloss and film thickness were also studied. Bands of urethane, urea and nitric groups were identified, which helped in understanding the changes in chemical structure of the finishes after curing. The thickness of the organic coatings was significantly higher than that of their water-borne counterparts. Gloss of water based coatings was observed to be lesser than that of their organic solvent based counterparts in either coating material. In case of lacquer, the reduction was up-to 33 %. whereas in case of PU, gloss dropped down by about 54 %.Premazni se materijali primjenjuju na drvu kako bi se očuvao njegov estetski izgled i drvni proizvodi zaštitili od vlage. Organski premazni materijali u osnovi sadržavaju hlapljive organske spojeve (HOS) kao otapala koja isparavaju dok premazni materijal otvrdnjava na površini drva. Zbog strogih propisa o tim opasnim hlapljivim organskim spojevima kupci diljem svijeta prelaze na vodene premazne materijale. Dva najčešće upotrebljavana premazna materijala za drvo u Indiji jesu poliuretanski i nitrocelulozni (NC) lak. Cilj rada bio je usporediti ta dva premazna materijala s istim premaznim materijalima na bazi vode. Istraživanje je provedeno na drvu Melia dubia. Kemijska karakterizacija otvrdnutih premaza provedena je primjenom FTIR spektroskopije. Također su proučavani sjaj i debljina filma. Identificirane su skupine uretana, ureje i nitratne skupine koje su pridonijele razumijevanju promjena u kemijskoj strukturi premaza nakon otvrdnjavanja. Debljina premaza na bazi organskih otapala bila je znatno veća od debljine premaza na bazi vode. Uočeno je da je sjaj premaza na bazi vode manji od sjaja premaza na bazi organskih otapala. Za NC lak to je smanjenje bilo do 33 %, a sjaj PU laka smanjio se za oko 54 %

Evidence of Direct Interaction Between Cisplatin and the Caspase-Cleaved Prostate Apoptosis Response-4 Tumor Suppressor

Prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) tumor suppressor protein has gained attention as a potential therapeutic target owing to its unique ability to selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells, sensitize them to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and mitigate drug resistance. It has recently been reported that Par-4 interacts synergistically with cisplatin, a widely used anticancer drug. However, the mechanistic details underlying this relationship remain elusive. In this investigation, we employed an array of biophysical techniques, including circular dichroism spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, to characterize the interaction between the active caspase-cleaved Par-4 (cl-Par-4) fragment and cisplatin. Additionally, elemental analysis was conducted to quantitatively assess the binding of cisplatin to the protein, utilizing inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Our findings provide evidence of direct interaction between cl-Par-4 and cisplatin, and reveal a binding stoichiometry of 1:1. This result provides insights that could be useful in enhancing the efficacy of cisplatin-based and tumor suppressor-based cancer therapies

Physical and optical characteristics of atmospheric aerosols during ICARB at Manora Peak, Nainital: a sparsely inhabited, high-altitude location in the Himalayas

Collocated measurements of the optical and physical properties of columnar and near-surface aerosols were carried out from Manora Peak, Nainital (a sparsely inhabited, high altitude location, ~2 km above mean sea level, in the Himalayas), during the Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB) under the Geosphere Biosphere Programme of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO-GBP). Under this, observational data of spectral aerosol optical depths (AOD), mass concentration of aerosol black carbon (MB ), mass concentration (MT ) and number concentration (Nt ) of composite (total) aerosols near the surface and meteorological parameters were collected during the period February 15 to April 30, 2006. Though very low (<0.1 at 500 nm) AODs were observed during clear days, as much as a four-fold increase was seen on hazy days. The Ångström exponent (α), deduced from the spectral AODs, revealed high values during clear days, while on hazy days α was low; with an overall mean value of 0.69 ± 0.06 for the campaign period. BC mass concentration varied between 0.36 and 2.87 μg m-3 and contributed in the range 0.7 to 1.8% to the total aerosol mass. Total aerosol number concentration and BC mass concentration showed diurnal variation with a midnight and early morning minimum and a late afternoon maximum; a pattern quite opposite to that seen in low altitude stations. These are attributed to the dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer

Photostability of acetylated wood coated with nano zinc oxide

Chemical modification with acetic anhydride is an effective method to stabilise wood against dimensional movement and improve decay resistance of wood. It has also been reported to retard UV light induced color darkening on wood surface. Coatings of wood surfaces with certain nano metal oxides have also shown promise as UV screening agent. In this work, we have evaluated synergistic effect of acetylation of wood and application of nano material on wood surfaces to enhance their UV stability. Photo-stability of acetylated Wrightia tinctoria wood coated with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanodispersion was evaluated by irradiating these wood specimens to UV radiation in an accelerated weathering tester. Acetylation of wood with acetic anhydride exhibited photo-bleaching and inhibited light-induced color darkening observed in unmodified wood. Coating of unmodified and modified wood surfaces with ZnO nanodispersion reduced photo-discolouration and degradation of wood polymers. The photo-bleaching observed in chemically modified wood upon light irradiation was further enhanced by application of nano coating on wood surfaces

Multiband optical monitoring of the blazars S5 0716+714 and BL Lacertae

We report results of multiband optical monitoring of two well known blazars, S5 0716+714 and BL Lacertae, carried out in 1996 and 2000-01 with an aim to study optical variations on time scales from minutes to hours and longer.The light curves were derived relative to comparison stars present on the CCD frames. Night to night flux variations of >0.1 mag were observed in S5 0716+714 during a campaign of ~2 weeks in 1996.A good correlation between the lightcurves in different optical bands was found for both inter-night and intra-night observations. Two prominent events of intra-night optical variability were detected in S5 0716+714.Each of these rapidly varying segments of the lightcurves trace an exponential flux profile whose rate of variation is the same in both cases. Our long-term monitoring data of S5 0716+714 showed a distinct flare around JD 2451875 which can be identified in the BVRI bands.This flare coincides with the brightest phase recorded during 1994-2001 in the long-term lightcurves reported by Raiteri et al.(2003). No evidence for the bluer when brighter trend was noticed on inter-night and intra-night time scales. On the other hand, our nearly simultaneous multiband observations of BL Lacertae in October 2001 showed flux variations that were not achromatic. This blazar was found to become bluer when brighter on intra-night time scales and there is a hint of the same trend on inter-night time scales. Based on five nights of observations during a week, BL Lacertae showed a peak night-to-night variability of ~0.6 mag in B. Thus, we found that the present observations of the two blazars, reveal a contrasting behaviour in terms of the dependence of spectral hardening with increasing brightness, at least on intra-night, and possibly also on inter-night, time scales.Comment: 11 pages with 10 figures,uses mn2e.cls, Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Tables 4 and 5 in full will be available in the electronic version of the articl