Size Reduction of Bulk Alumina for Mass Production of Fluorescent Nanoalumina by Fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Humicola</Emphasis> sp.

In recent years, nanomaterials have made their way into hundreds of biomedical, life-sciences and technological applications. One such nanomaterial of extreme importance is nanoalumina (Al₂O₃ nanoparticles). This nanomaterial is an epitome of diversity with applications exhibited in the fields of catalysis, cosmetics, theranostics, energy generation, biosensors, drug-delivery, tumor-regression, etc. However, problems persist in terms of biocompatibility, cost-effectiveness, reproducibility and mass-production of nanoalumina by the presently existent physical, chemical and biological methodologies. Herein, we for the first time are presenting a top-down biofabrication method by which size reduction of commercial bulk alumina/aluminum oxide (5 µm) into nanoalumina (5–25 nm) is carried out by a thermophilic fungus Humicola sp. within 96 h of reaction at just 50 °C. The so-formed nanoalumina is highly stable, water dispersible, fluorescent and natural protein capped; characterization engaged standard techniques. These nanoparticles exhibit anti-bacterial properties against Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis strain and may serve as broad spectrum bactericidal agents. We believe that our novel top-down approach may be extensively used in the facile, inexpensive, eco-friendly and reliable fabrication of abundant quantities of nanomaterials of different chemical compositions, sizes and shapes with better control and predictability over the properties as derived from their substrates. The mechanistic aspect of said protocol is underway.     

Synthesis of threo- and erythro-configured trihydroxy open chain lipophilic ketones as possible anti-mycobacterial agents

A series of threo- and erythro-configured open-chain trihydroxy ketones was synthesized starting from l- and d-ascorbic acid respectively as the starting material, through the use of Grignard reactions for the requisite CC bond formations. The lipophilic ketones were screened against Mycobacteriumtuberculosis for anti-proliferative activity. The lipophilic ketones with tetradecyl alkyl side chains were found to be moderately active against cell proliferation.     

Error estimates for integral constraint regularization of state-constrained elliptic control problems

The alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is a benchmark for solving a two-block linearly constrained convex minimization model whose objective function is the sum of two functions without coupled variables. Meanwhile, it is known that the convergence is not guaranteed if the ADMM is directly extended to a multiple-block convex minimization model whose objective function has more than two functions. Recently, some authors have actively studied the strong convexity condition on the objective function to sufficiently ensure the convergence of the direct extension of ADMM or the resulting convergence when the original scheme is appropriately twisted. We focus on the three-block case of such a model whose objective function is the sum of three functions, and discuss the convergence of the direct extension of ADMM. We show that when one function in the objective is strongly convex, the penalty parameter and the operators in the linear equality constraint are appropriately restricted, it is sufficient to guarantee the convergence of the direct extension of ADMM. We further estimate the worst-case convergence rate measured by the iteration complexity in both the ergodic and nonergodic senses, and derive the globally linear convergence in asymptotical sense under some additional conditions.     

Design of donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) type small molecule donor materials with efficient photovoltaic parameters

Four Donor–Acceptor–Donor (D–A–D) type of donor molecules (M1‐M4) with triphenylamine (TPA) as donor moiety, thiophene as bridge, and thiazolothiazole as acceptor unit were designed and its photovoltaic parameters were equated with reference molecule “R.” DFT functional CAM‐B3LYP/6‐31G (d,p) was found best for geometry optimization and TD‐CAM‐B3LYP/6‐31G (d,p) was found suitable for excited state calculations. Among designed donor molecules, M4 manifests suitable lowest band gap of 4.73 eV, frontier molecular orbital energy levels as well as distinctive broad absorption of 455.3 nm due to the stronger electron withdrawing group. The electron‐withdrawing substituents contribute to red shifts of absorption spectra and better stabilities for designed molecules. The theoretically determined reorganization energies of designed donor molecules suggested excellent charge mobility property. The lower λ_e values in comparison with λ_h illustrated that these four donor materials would be ideal for electron transfer and M4 would be best amongst the investigated molecules with lowest λ_e of 0.0177. Furthermore, the calculated Voc of M4 is 2.04 V with respect to PC₆₀BM (phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester). This study revealed that the designed donor materials are suitable and recommended for high performance organic solar cell devices.     

Facile,eco-friendly,one-pot protocol for the synthesis of indole-imidazole derivatives catalyzed by amino acids

An efficient, convenient green approach for the synthesis of indole-based 2,4,5-trisubstituted and 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazoles by multicomponent reaction of substituted 2-arylindole-3-carbaldehydes, benzil, substituted anilines, and ammonium acetate using catalytic amino acid (glycine) in ethanol is described. Several amino acids have also been evaluated as organic catalysts for these reactions. The structures of the compounds have been established on the basis of infrared, mass, and ¹H NMR spectral data. The mild reaction conditions, inexpensive/economical reagents, and good yield show the usefulness of this approach.     

Elemental Analysis of Stone Fruits by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and Direct Mercury Analysis

This study reports the concentrations of eight trace essential (Zn, Mn, Cu, Ni, Cr, Co, V, and Se) and four toxic elements (Pb, As, Cd, and Hg) in commonly consumed stone fruits from South Korea. The samples were digested by microwave-induced combustion and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The concentrations of mercury were analyzed by direct mercury analysis (DMA). The analytical techniques were validated by linearity, limits of detection and quantification, precision, recovery, and for accuracy by analyzing a spinach leave-certified reference material; satisfactory results were obtained in all cases. The concentrations of essential trace elements varied considerably among the stone fruits. Generally stone fruits contained comparatively high concentrations of Zn (0.946 to 7.86?µg/g) and Mn (below the limit of detection to 1.66?µg/g), while lower contents of Cu (0.214 to 1.24?µg/g), Cr (0.032 to 0.114?µg/g), Ni (0.006 to 0.091?µg/g), Co (0.004 to 0.016?µg/g), V (below the limit of detection to 0.023?µg/g), and Se (0.0002 to 0.005?µg/g) were obtained. The concentrations (µg/g) of toxic metals were 0.007 (peach) to 0.016 (cherry) for Pb, 0.001 (plum) to 0.007 (cherry) for As, 0.002 (apricot and cherry) to 0.003 (peach) for Cd, and 0.0003 (peach) to 0.0016 (jujube) for Hg. The values for the estimated dietary intakes, target hazard quotients, and hazard indices were lower than the recommended safety limits by World Health Organization. Therefore, the analyzed stone fruits were deemed to be safe for human consumption.     

Evaluation of the effect of Ramadan fasting on fat-soluble antioxidants and markers of oxidative stress in healthy Pakistani subjects

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of Ramadan fasting on the fat-soluble antioxidants [all-trans-retinol (vitamin A) and α-tocopherol (vitamin E)] in healthy Pakistani subjects. Thirty (30) healthy male volunteers (aged 30–50 years) with Ramadan fasting have participated in the study. Blood sampling from these subjects was conducted 1 day before and on 15th and 28th days of Ramadan. The serum levels of vitamin A and vitamin E were measured using liquid chromatography linked with UV–visible (HPLC–UV). The comparison between the samples taken at different times was made by Minitab software applying two samples and paired t-test at (p?<?0.05) as significant. No significant changes have been found in the levels of all-trans-retinol before and during Ramadan values. The levels of α-tocopherol on 28th Ramadan have been decreased significantly when compared with its values before Ramadan (p?<?0.0001). It is concluded that there is nonsignificant change in the levels of vitamin A during the month of Ramadan while the levels of α-tocopherol have been decreased significantly on the 28th day of Ramadan. It is therefore suggested that the fasting of Ramadan has effect on the levels of α-tocopherol and food-based interventions might be necessary to modify the diet during Ramadan.