Molecular tweezers with freely rotating linker and porphyrin moieties

Molecular tweezers were synthesised by using a microwave accelerated alkene plus cyclobutane epoxide reaction between norbornyl appended porphyrin moieties and a diepoxide functionalised phenyl diimide spacer. The tweezers contain several rotational degrees of freedom; about the porphyrin with respect to the norbornyl linker, and between the two norbornyl backbone sections. The ability of Zn(super)II metallated tweezer 1 to complex 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) was studied by UV/Vis and ¹H NMR spectroscopy and multivariate global spectral analysis. The system was found to form a strong 1:1 intramolecular complex (1:DABCO) with an association constant of K₁₁ = 8.1 × 10⁷ M⁻¹, transforming to a 1:2 open complex [1:(DABCO)₂] with K₁₂ = 2.7 × 10⁹ M⁻² at high concentrations of DABCO.Rhys B. Murphy, Duc-Truc Pham, Stephen F. Lincoln, and Martin R. Johnsto

A Technical Solution to Insider Threat Prevention

Malacious Insiders are a serious security challenge to every organization due to their intimate knowledge of organization\u27s valuable informationa assets, resources and priviliged access to those resources. Every organization needs to implement a defensive security policy to safeguard themselves from the security risks. To address insider threat problems, we implemented a framework which establishes trustworthiness among the employees based on Multi-User approval strategy. The framework uses a hierarchial structure of the employees in the organization such that if any user requires access to certain classified information, the framework selects a set of approvers randomly and sends the request to thoseapprovers who are authorized to grant permissions. We implemented an application based on this framework to accomplish the goal and a thorough performance analysis is conducted to arrive at the result

Effect of Biofertilizers and Zinc on Growth and Yield of Maize (Zea mays L.)

A field experiment was conducted during Kharif 2022 at Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology And Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. The soil of the experimental field was sandy loam in texture, slightly alkaline in soil reaction (pH 8), low level of organic carbon (0.28%), available N (219 kg/ha), P (11.6 kg/ha) and K (217.2 kg/ha). The experiment was conducted in randomized block design consisting of 10 treatments with 3 different levels of biofertilizers and different levels of zinc 0.2%, 0.4% and 0.6% (foliar application) with three replications and the treatments were allocated randomly in each replication. On the topic “Effect of Biofertilizers and Zinc on Growth and Yield of Maize (Zea mays L.)”,.The results showed that treatment 9 with the application of  PSB (10 g) + VAM (10 g) + Zinc 0.6% recorded significantly higher plant height (213.08 cm), higher plant dry weight (106.76 g) ,maximum number of cobs/plant (2.20), higher cob length (17.63 cm), maximum number of seed/cob (294.56), higher seed index (39.56 g), higher seed yield (2.30t/ha), higher stover yield (8.53 t/ha), higher harvest index (21.26%) compared to other treatments. The maximum gross returns (1,08772.00 INR/ha), maximum net returns (72,573.00 INR/ha) and benefit cost ratio (2.00) was recorded in treatment 9 with the application of PSB (10 g) + VAM (10 g) + Zinc 0.6% as compared to other treatments. Minimum parameters were recorded in treatment 10 control plot with RDF 120:60:40 kg/ha NPK

A Comparative Study on the Hydrolysis of Acetic Anhydride and N,N-Dimethylformamide: Kinetic Isotope Effect, Transition-State Structure, Polarity, and Solvent Effect

Recent studies have shown that general-base assisted catalysis is a viable mechanistic pathway for hydrolysis of smaller anhydrides. Therefore, it is the central purpose of the present work to compare and contrast the number of hydrogen atoms in-flight and stationary in the transition state structure of the base-catalyzed mechanisms of 2 hydrolytic reactions as well as determine if any solvent effects occur on the mechanisms. The present research focuses on the hydrolytic mechanisms of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and acetic anhydride in alkali media of varying deuterium oxide mole fractions. Acetic anhydride has been included in this study to enable comparisons with DMF hydrolysis. Comparative studies may give synergistic insight into the detailed structural features of the activated complexes for both systems. Hydrolysis reactions in varying deuterium oxide mole fractions were conducted in concentrations of 2.0M, 2.5M, and 3.0M for DMF and 0.10M for acetic anhydride at 25°C. Studies in varying deuterium mole fractions allow for proton inventory analysis, which sheds light on the number and types of hydrogen atoms involved in the activated complex. For these systems, this type of study can distinguish between direct nucleophilic attack of the hydroxide ion on the carbonyl center and general-base catalysis by the hydroxide ion to facilitate a water molecule attacking the carbonyl center. The numerical data are used to discuss 3 possible mechanisms in the hydrolysis of DMF

Paraquat poisoning: A case report and review of literature

Paraquat (1, r-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridium dichloride), a brown syrupy liquid is an effective herbicide that has low chronic toxicity because of its rapid deactivation on contact with soil. A high dose of paraquat or severe poisoning has a poor prognosis. At present there is no specific antidote to paraquat poisoning, hence the need to focus on prevention and in case of exposure or ingestion, aggressive decontamination to prevent further absorption. Although uncommon, paraquat ingestion can lead to severe and often fatal toxicity. However, despite its widespread availability, reports of this herbicide poisoning in India are uncommon

Detection and characterization of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ associated with littleleaf disease of bitter gourd from India by 16S rRNA phylogenetic and RFLP (in vitro and virtual) analysis

Bitter gourd plants showing symptoms of little leaf disease are prevalent in farmers’ fields in the Bangalore rural district, Karnataka state, India. Twenty leaf samples from different locations were collected to determine the etiology of the disease. Using PCR and phytoplasma 16S rRNA gene-specific universal primers, we observed positive amplification for the phytoplasma specific primers in five out of twenty samples. The amplified products were cloned, sequenced and nucleotide (NT) sequence comparisons were made with the available phytoplasmas’ 16S rRNA gene NT sequences in the NCBI database. The 16S rRNA gene NT sequence of bitter gourd phytoplasma shared highest identity of 81.7-96.0% with ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ (Ca. P. asteris) 16Sr I group isolates from different parts of the world. This was supported by close clustering of phytoplasma of the current study with the Ca. P. asteris 16Sr I subgroup by phylogenetic analysis. The virtual restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) pattern generated for the Phytoplasma from bitter gourd was in congruence with the in vitro RFLP pattern for the six enzymes. This was typical to Ca. P. asteris from the 16Sr I group. Further, virtual RFLP analysis with 11 more enzymes used for RFLP pattern prediction revealed differences only in the Mse I RFLP pattern, with a similarity coefficient of 0.91, which is less than the threshold similarity coefficient for a new subgroup. We propose that the phytoplasma detected in the present study that infects bitter gourd and causes littleleaf disease should be considered as a new subgroup of group 16Sr I (Ca. P. asteris). This is the first report of phytoplasma associated with littleleaf disease of bitter gourd from India