Lignin as a Partial Polyol Replacement in Polyurethane Flexible Foam

This study was focused on evaluating the suitability of a wide range of lignins, a natural polymer isolated from different plant sources and chemical extractions, in replacing 20 wt.% of petroleum-based polyol in the formulation of PU flexible foams. The main goal was to investigate the effect of unmodified lignin incorporation on the foam’s structural, mechanical, and thermal properties. The hydroxyl contents of the commercial lignins were measured using phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance (³¹P NMR) spectroscopy, molar mass distributions with gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and thermal properties with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. The results showed that incorporating 20 wt.% lignin increased tensile, compression, tear propagation strengths, thermal stability, and the support factor of the developed PU flexible foams. Additionally, statistical analysis of the results showed that foam properties such as density and compression force deflection were positively correlated with lignin’s total hydroxyl content. Studying correlations between lignin properties and the performance of the developed lignin-based PU foams showed that lignins with low hydroxyl content, high flexibility (low T_g), and high solubility in the co-polyol are better candidates for partially substituting petroleum-based polyols in the formulation of flexible PU foams intended for the automotive applications.     

On the existence of chaotic circumferential waves in spinning disks

We use a third-order perturbation theory and Melnikov's method to prove the existence of chaos in spinning circular disks subject to a lateral point load. We show that the emergence of transverse homoclinic and heteroclinic points lead, respectively, to a random reversal in the traveling direction of circumferential waves and a random phase shift of magnitude pi for both forward and backward wave components. These long-term phenomena occur in imperfect low-speed disks sufficiently far from fundamental resonances.     

Role of NMDA receptor subtypes in different forms of NMDA-dependent synaptic plasticity

Background  

The involvement of different NMDA receptor (NMDAR) subunits has been implicated in several forms of synaptic plasticity. However, it is still controversial to what extent the involvement is specific, and little is known about the role of NMDAR subunits in certain "non-conventional" forms of plasticity. In this study we used subunit-specific blockers to test the roles of NR2A- and NR2B-containing NMDARs in a type of chemical long-term depression (LTD) induced by brief bath application of the NMDAR agonist NMDA to hippocampal slices from 12–18 days old rats. For comparison, we also examined other forms of plasticity, including a "slow LTD" induced by 0.1 Hz stimulation under low Mg²⁺ conditions as well as long-term potentiation (LTP).     

Synthesis and antiviral screening of 2-(propylthio)-7-substituted-thiazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidines as anti-bovine viral diarrhea virus agents

7-Chloro-2-(propylthio)thiazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidine 4 was prepared and used as a precursor for synthesizing new derivatives of thiazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidine through the nucleophilic displacement of the chlorine atom by different types of amino derivatives. Reaction of compound 4 with primary and secondary amines produced the corresponding substituted amino derivatives. Reaction of 4 with hydrazine hydrate then followed by condensation with aromatic aldehydes afforded hydrazone derivatives. Reaction of 4 with hydrazine hydrate then followed by reaction with isothiocyanates gave the disubstituted thiosemicarbazides. Finally, treatment of 4 with hydrazine derivatives afforded the novel disubstituted hydrazine derivatives. Preliminary antiviral screening on the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) was carried out, which was classified as a member of the same family of Hepatitis C virus. The results indicated that some of the tested compounds exhibited anti-BVDV activity which may be suitable for a new lead molecule to design more potent anti-BVDV agents.     

Benzimidazole tethered thioureas as a new entry to elastase inhibition and free radical scavenging: Synthesis,molecular docking,and enzyme inhibitory kinetics

The porcine pancreatic elastase inhibition and free-radical scavenging play a crucial role in age progression. All the series of 10 newly synthesized benzimidazole thioureas ( 4a-j ) were assessed for elastase inhibition and radical scavenging activity to identify the suitable anti-aging ingredient for cosmetics products. The compounds 4e , 4f , 4g , and 4h showed inhibition better than the standard, while compound 4f showed the most significant elastase inhibition with the IC₅₀ value of 1.318 ± 0.025 μM compared with oleanic acid IC₅₀ 13.451 ± 0.014 used ±1.989 and 41.563 ± 0.824, respectively, as standard. Molecular docking studies were performed and the compound 4f showed binding energy of 7.2 kcal/mol. Kinetics studies revealed inhibition of the pancreatic elastase in a competitive manner. The relative binding energy and structure activity relationship (SAR) identified compound 4f as an effective inhibitor of porcine pancreatic elastase. Compounds 4e and 4i showed remarkable free-radical scavenging activity with SC₅₀ values of 26.421.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial evaluation of new 2-pyridinone and 2-iminochromene derivatives containing morpholine moiety

As trail to overcome on the antimicrobial drug-resistance problems, new functionalized 2-pyridinone and 2-iminochromene derivatives bearing morpholine moiety were designed and synthesized. The 2-pyridinone derivatives were obtained through the cyclization of cyanoacetohydrazone of 4-morpholinylacetophenone with 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, α,β-unsaturated nitriles or 2-(arylidene)malononitriles. The 2-iminochromene derivatives were synthesized through the ring closure of cyanoacetohydrazonewith salicylaldehyde derivatives. The antibacterial and antifungal activities for the synthesized 2-pyridinone and 2-iminochromene derivatives were investigated. Most of the tested compounds showed moderate activity against P. vulgaris. Compounds 4a,b and 5a,b showed moderate activity against G −ve bacteria. All iminochromene derivatives showed moderate activity against C. albicans. Compound 8c was the most active compound.     

CH4 reforming with CO2 for syngas production over La2O3 promoted Ni catalysts supported on mesoporous nanostructured γ-A12O3

Nanostructured -y-A12O3 with high surface area and mesoporous structure was synthesized by sol-gel method and employed as catalyst support for nickel catalysts in methane reforming with carbon dioxide. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, TPR, TPO, TPH, NH3-TPD and SEM techniques. The BET analysis showed a high surface area of 204 m2.g-1 and a narrow pore-size distribution centered at a diameter of 5.5 nm for catalyst support. The BET results revealed that addition of lanthanum oxide to aluminum oxide decreased the specific surface area. In addition, TPR results showed that addition of lanthanum oxide increased the reducibility of nickel catalyst. The catalytic evaluation results showed an increase in methane conversion with increasing lanthanum oxide to 3 mol% and further increase in lanthanum content decreased the catalytic activity. TPO analysis revealed that the coke deposition decreased with increasing lanthanum oxide to 3 mol%. SEM and TPH analyses confirmed the formation of whisker type carbon over the spent catalysts. Addition of steam and Oxide to drv reformin feed increased the methane conversion and led to carbon free ooeration in combined orocesses.