A simple copper(II) dppy-based receptor for sensing of L-cysteine and L-histidine in aqueous acetonitrile medium

The development of simple yet efficient receptors that rapidly detect and monitor amino acids with high sensitivity and reliability is crucial for the early-stage identification of various diseases. In this work, we report the synthesis and characterisation of a copper(II) complex, CuCl2L, by employing a 2,6-dipyrazinylpyridine (dppy)-based ligand (L = 2,2′-(4-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)pyridine-2,6-diyl)dipyrazine). The in situ prepared CuCl2L receptor exhibits an instantaneous response to the presence of L-cysteine (Cys) and L-histidine (His) in aqueous acetonitrile (4[thin space (1/6-em)]:[thin space (1/6-em)]1 v/v, 10 mM HEPES buffer, pH 7.4). Furthermore, competitive experiments demonstrate the selectivity of CuCl2L towards Cys (1 equiv.) in the vicinity of other L-amino acids in the aforementioned solvent conditions. The detection limits for Cys and His are calculated as 0.33 μM and 1.40 μM, respectively. DFT calculations offer a plausible explanation for the observed selectivity of the CuCl2L receptor towards Cys and His. They reveal that the most stable conformer of Cu[thin space (1/6-em)]:[thin space (1/6-em)]Cys complex (1[thin space (1/6-em)]:[thin space (1/6-em)]1) is a five-membered ring formed through N,S-coordination mode (ΔG = −26.7 kcal mol−1) over various other possible coordination modes, while comparable ΔG values are only obtained for Cu[thin space (1/6-em)]:[thin space (1/6-em)]His complexes featuring two His moieties

Development of a knowledge based expert system on casting defects

Knowledge based expert systems are computer programs which use a collection of facts, rules of thumb to suggest solutions to specific problems. Foundry related practices are rich in thumb rules and knowledge bases which can be implemented in such programs to help the foundrymen. One such very important use of expert systems can be in the diagnosis of casting defects. This paper outlines the proc-edure adopted to design an expert system, to identify the casting defect by appearance and at the same time also suggest the remedial solution for the casting defect ident-ified. The knowledge-base of this expert system (named NCDA, NIFFT Casting Defect Analysis) is rule based. A large number of rules have been built that constitute the decis-ion making sequence for each area of defect, which when consulted by the user gives a probable or certain solution depending upon the parameters supplied by him/her. The system has been built using the expert system shell VP-EXPERT. A friendly environment has been created for the user that tries to sumulate actual human interaction. The knowledge base is open to further additions or modifi-cations

Development of natural gum based glipizide mucoadhesive microsphere

The objective of this study was to develop glipizide microsphere with natural gums. Guar gum and xanthan gum were used separately in different ratios as natural polymers. The microspheres were prepared by orifice ionic gelation method and they were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and particle size analysis. Among six formulations, microspheres of four formulations (F1-F4) were discrete, spherical and free flowing. There was an inverse relationship found between the amount of gum and surface smoothness in case of guar gum-containing microspheres while a forward relationship was found between amount of gum and surface smoothness in case of the microspheres containing xanthan gum. The size of the particles increased with increasing amounts of gum. It can be concluded that guar gum and natural gum at a ratio of 1:0.25 and 1:0.5 can be ideal for formulating natural gum based glipizide mucoadhesive microsphere

Crossover between small polaron hopping and Mott's variable range hopping in Pr2MgTiO6

A combined study of X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and Raman spectrum authenticates the lower symmetric orthorhombic Pnma structure for solid-state synthesized Pr2MgTiO6 (PMT). The Ag mode demonstrates itself as a breathing vibration of the TiO6 octahedra. The ac conductivity, dielectric relaxation, and impedance spectra highlight the joint contributions of the grain-boundaries and grain microstructures to the charge carrier dynamics in PMT. The double power-law formalism is accepted to fit ac conductivity spectra. The relaxation spectra has a non-ideal nature with the circulation of relaxation time as observed from the impedance spectroscopic data. An equivalent circuit model has been employed for fitting impedance data using a constant phase element (CPE) model. The dc conductivity investigation points towards a crossover from small polaron hopping to Mott s variable range hopping due to lowering activation energy. The crossover between two different conduction mechanisms (Mott s variable range and small polaron hopping) is investigated using a conjunction of thermal varying conductivity, dielectric relaxation and impedance spectrum in polycrystalline PMT.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1707.02830, text overlap with arXiv:1904.1196

Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Twelve Cultivars of Pea Based on Morphological and Simple Sequence Repeat Markers

Pea(Pisum sativum L.)is the second most important legume crop worldwide after chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and valuable resources for their genetic improvement. This study aimed to analyze genetic diversity of pea cultivars through morphological and molecular markers. The present investigation was carried out with 12 pea cultivars using 28 simple sequence repeat markers. A total of 60 polymorphic bands with an average of 2.31 bands per primer were obtained. The polymorphic information content, diversity index and resolving power were ranged from 0.50 to 0.33, 0.61 to 0.86 and 0.44 to 1.0 with an average of 0.46, 0.73 and 0.76, respectively. The 12 pea cultivars were grouped into 3 clusters obtained from cluster analysis with a Jaccardd's similarity coefficient range of 0.47-0.78, indicating the sufficient genetic divergence among these cultivars of pea. The principal component analysis showed that first three principal components explained 86.97% of the total variation, suggesting the contribution of quantitative traits in genetic variability. The contribution of 32.59% for number of seeds per plant, stem circumference, number of pods per plant and number of seeds per pod in the PC1 leads to the conclusion that these traits contribute more to the total variation observed in the 12 pea cultivars and would make a good parental stock material. Overall, this SSR analysis complements morphological characters of initial selection of these pea germplasms for future breeding program

Oxido-and dioxido-vanadium(V) complexes supported on carbon materials: Reusable catalysts for the oxidation of cyclohexane

UIDB/00100/2020 UIDB/50006/2020 UIDP/50006/2020 CEECINST/00102/2018 UIDB/50020/2020 IST-ID/102/2018 UID/QUI/00100/2019-BL/CQE-2017-022 FCTOxidovanadium(V) and dioxidovanadium(V) compounds, [VO(OEt)L] (1) and [Et3NH][VO2L] (2), were synthesized using an aroylhydrazone Schiff base (5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzylidene)-2-hydroxybenzohydrazide (H2L). They were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), (1H and51V) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), electrospray ioniza-tion mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. Both complexes were immobilized on functionalized carbon nanotubes and activated carbon. The catalytic performances of 1 and 2, homogenous and anchored on the supports, were evaluated for the first time towards the MW-assisted peroxidative oxidation (with tert-butylhydroperoxide, TBHP) of cyclohexane under heterogeneous conditions. The immobilization of 1 and 2 on functionalized carbon materials improved the efficiency of catalytic oxidation and allowed the catalyst recyclability with a well-preserved catalytic activity.publishersversionpublishe

Pygomelia or supernumerary limbs in a crossbred calf

A crossbred (Sindhi × local indigenous) calf that was 12 days old was admitted to the Teaching Veterinary Hospital, Chittagong Government Veterinary College, Bangladesh, with two accessory hind limbs attached to the pelvic region in between the hind legs. This was clinically identified as a congenital anomaly popularly called pygomelia. The pygomelia was successfully corrected by surgical excisions

Effect of phosphorus, molybdenum and rhizobium inoculation on yield and yield attributes of mungbean

An experiment was conducted during kharif season, 2005 at Soil Science Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute to study the effect of phosphorus (P), molybdenum (Mo) and Rhizobium inoculation on the yield and yield contributing characters of mungbean (Vigna radiata) on a silty clay loam soil. The experiment was laid out in RCBD with four replications. Ten treatments were formulated with the combination of 4 levels of P (0, 20, 40, 60 kg/ha) and 2 levels of Mo (1.0, 1.5 kg/ha) having a common Rhizobium inoculant. P and Mo application at the rate of 40 and 1.0 kg/ha respectively, significantly increased yield and yield contributing characters of mungbean compared to uninoculated and control. Highest stover (26.67 g/plant) and grain yield (14.61 g/plant) were obtained with P (40 kg/ha), Mo (1.0 kg/ha) and Rhizobium inoculation. Above these levels of P and Mo decreased yield and yield contributing characters. Dry weight of plant tops, seed yield/plant and yield-contributing characters were positively correlated with the number of nodules/plant. Combined application of Rhizobium inoculant along with 40 kg P and 1.0 kg Mo/ha was considered to be the suitable combination of fertilizer for mungbean cultivation in silty clay loam soils

Building on existing tools to improve chronic disease prevention and screening in public health : a cluster randomized trial

This study was funded as a grant proposal entitled ‘Advancing Cancer Prevention Among Deprived Neighbourhoods’ by the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute grant #704042 and by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research Institute of Cancer grant OCP #145450. AL is supported by a CIHR New Investigator Award, and as Chair in Implementation Science at the Peter Gilgan Centre for Women’s Cancers at Women’s College Hospital in partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society.Background The BETTER (Building on Existing Tools to Improve Chronic Disease Prevention and Screening in Primary Care) intervention was designed to integrate the approach to chronic disease prevention and screening in primary care and demonstrated effective in a previous randomized trial. Methods We tested the effectiveness of the BETTER HEALTH intervention, a public health adaptation of BETTER, at improving participation in chronic disease prevention and screening actions for residents of low-income neighbourhoods in a cluster randomized trial, with ten low-income neighbourhoods in Durham Region Ontario randomized to immediate intervention vs. wait-list. The unit of analysis was the individual, and eligible participants were adults age 40–64 years residing in the neighbourhoods. Public health nurses trained as “prevention practitioners” held one prevention-focused visit with each participant. They provided participants with a tailored prevention prescription and supported them to set health-related goals. The primary outcome was a composite index: the number of evidence-based actions achieved at six months as a proportion of those for which participants were eligible at baseline. Results Of 126 participants (60 in immediate arm; 66 in wait-list arm), 125 were included in analyses (1 participant withdrew consent). In both arms, participants were eligible for a mean of 8.6 actions at baseline. At follow-up, participants in the immediate intervention arm met 64.5% of actions for which they were eligible versus 42.1% in the wait-list arm (rate ratio 1.53 [95% confidence interval 1.22–1.84]). Conclusion Public health nurses using the BETTER HEALTH intervention led to a higher proportion of identified evidence-based prevention and screening actions achieved at six months for people living with socioeconomic disadvantage.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe