Fluorescence Dynamics of Three UV-B Sunscreens

Polarity of the surrounding medium affects the excited states of UV-B sunscreens. Therefore understanding excited state processes in a mixed polarity model system similar to skin is essential. We report the excited state lifetimes, quantum yields, radiative and non-radiative rates of three sunscreens. Among the three UV-B sunscreens studied, octyl salicylate emits from a single excited state, while padimate O and octyl methoxy cinnamate show multiple states. The radiative rates of salicylate and cinnamate are approximately constant, while that of padimate O depends strongly on solvent. The non-radiative rates of all sunscreens vary with solvent polarity. Compared to salicylate and cinnamate, padimate O is complex to analyze because of its two emission peaks and one peak’s strong dependence on the dielectric constant. High absorbance, broad absorption peak with small fluorescence quantum yield, and low radiative rate make octyl methoxy cinnamate a superior UV-B sunscreen ingredient. The complexity in excited-state analysis shows that the lifetimes of the sunscreens are critical parameters, in addition to absorbance and quantum yield. Fluorescence lifetime substantiates the use of polystyrene nanospheres as a model host to study the photo-physical properties of sunscreen in a heterogeneous environment.     

Studies on Squalene Biosynthesis and the Standardization of Its Extraction Methodology from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - In this study, a homogenization-based extraction method was developed and was compared to five conventional methods of squalene extraction. Squalene...     

Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity of Ni‐CNT Nanocomposites for Simultaneous Determination of Epinephrine and Dopamine

A promising electrochemical sensor based nickel‐carbon nanotube (Ni‐CNT) modified on glassy carbon (GC) electrode had been developed and the properties of the modified electrode were characterized by multispectroscopic analysis. The fabricated sensor (GC/Ni‐CNT) electrode was utilized to determine the catecholamines such as epinephrine and dopamine simultaneously. Differential pulse voltammetry and amperometry were used to verify the electrochemical behavior of the studied compounds. The GC/Ni‐CNT based amperometric sensor showed a wide linear range and low detection limit with high analytical sensitivity of 8.31 and 6.61 μA μM^?1 for EP and DA, respectively which demonstrates better characteristics compared to other electrodes reported in the literature. Further, no significant change in amperometric current response was observed in presence of biological interference species such as glucose, cysteine, citric acid, uric acid and ascorbic acid in the detection of EP and DA. The utility of this GC/Ni‐CNT electrode was well established for the determination of EP and DA in human urine samples.     

Observation of chimera patterns in a network of symmetric chaotic finance systems

The economic and financial systems consist of many nonlinear factors that make them behave as the complex systems. Recently many chaotic finance systems have been proposed to study the complex dynamics of finance as a noticeable problem in economics. In fact, the intricate structure between financial institutions can be obtained by using a network of financial systems. Therefore, in this paper, we consider a ring network of coupled symmetric chaotic finance systems, and investigate its behavior by varying the coupling parameters. The results show that the coupling strength and range have significant effects on the behavior of the coupled systems, and various patterns such as the chimera and multi-chimera states are observed. Furthermore, changing the parameters' values, remarkably influences on the oscillators attractors. When several synchronous clusters are formed, the attractors of the synchronized oscillators are symmetric, but different from the single oscillator attractor.     

Dynamical behavior and network analysis of an extended Hindmarsh–Rose neuron model

Nonlinear Dynamics - In this paper, the extended Hindmarsh–Rose neuron model, which considers the slow intracellular exchange of calcium ions between its store and the cytoplasm, is studied....     

Route to hyperchaos and chimera states in a network of modified Hindmarsh-Rose neuron model with electromagnetic flux and external excitation

Analyzing the chaos and bursting phenomenon of neurons has been of interest in the past decade. In this paper, we discuss an extended Hindmarsh-Rose neuron model by taking into consideration the slowly interacting cell phenomenon due to the calcium ions. In the extended model, we consider the effect of an external forcing current, and the electromagnetic coupling between the magnetic flux and the membrane potential of the neuron. We analyze the modified neuron model in the presence of periodic and quasi-periodic excitations. A more complex chaotic behavior (hyperchaos) is identified in the neuron model. The results also demonstrate the multistable nature, which was not explored earlier. To discuss the dynamical behavior of the modified neuron in a network, we construct a ring network of neurons and capture the spatiotemporal patterns of the neuron in the network, in the presence of different excitations.

     

A Linear Ion Trap with an Expanded Inscribed Diameter to Improve Optical Access for Fluorescence Spectroscopy

We report a custom-geometry linear ion trap designed for fluorescence spectroscopy of gas-phase ions at ambient to cryogenic temperatures. Laser-induced fluorescence from trapped ions is collected from between the trapping rods, orthogonal to the excitation laser that runs along the axis of the linear ion trap. To increase optical access to the ion cloud, the diameter of the round trapping rods is 80% of the inscribed diameter, rather than the roughly 110% used to approximate purely quadrupolar electric fields. To encompass as much of the ion cloud as possible, the first collection optic has a 25.4 mm diameter and a numerical aperture of 0.6. The choice of geometry and collection optics yields 10⁷ detected photons/s from trapped rhodamine 6G ions. The trap is coupled to a closed-cycle helium refrigerator, which in combination with two 50 Ohm heaters enables temperature control to below 25 K on the rod electrodes. The purpose of the instrument is to broaden the applicability of fluorescence spectroscopy of gas-phase ions to cases where photon emission is a minority relaxation pathway. Such studies are important to understand how the microenvironment of a chromophore influences excited state charge transfer processes.

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Validation of an LC–MS/MS Method for Simultaneous Detection of Five Selective KCNQ Channel Openers: ICA-27243, ML-213, PF-05020182, SF-0034 and Flupirtine in Mice Plasma and its Application to a Pharmacokinetic Study in Mice

A sensitive and rapid LC–MS/MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantitation of five selective KCNQ channel openers, namely ICA-27243, ML-213, PF-05020182, SF-0034 and flupirtine in mice plasma as per regulatory guideline. The analytes and the internal standard (IS; flupirtine-d ₄ ) were extracted from 50 µL mice plasma by liquid–liquid extraction, followed by chromatographic separation using an Atlantis C₁₈ column with an isocratic mobile phase comprising 0.2% formic acid: acetonitrile (20:80, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.6 mL min^?1 within 2.5 min. Detection and quantitation was done by multiple reaction monitoring on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer following the transitions: m/z 268.9 → 140.8, 258.1 → 95.1, 367.2 → 269.1, 322.2 → 248.2, 305.7 → 196.4 and 309.1 → 196.1 for ICA-27243, ML-213, PF-05020182, SF-0034, flupirtine and the IS, respectively, in the positive ionization mode. The calibration curves were linear from 1.00 to 2008 ng mL^?1 for all the analytes with r² ≥ 0.99. The intra- and inter-batch accuracy and precision (% CV) across quality controls varied from 90.0 to 113 and 2.64 to 13.0; 93.8 to 114 and 3.15 to 14.9%, respectively, for all the analytes. Analytes were found to be stable under different stability conditions. The method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study in mice.     

Ruthenium(II)/(III) and oxovanadium(IV) complexes of highly conjugated β-diketones and their macrocyclic Schiff base binuclear copper(II) complexes

Ruthenium(II) complexes of the general formula [Ru(PPh3)2(L)(L)]ClO4 [L=2,2-bipyridine or 1,10-phenanthroline;L=2-hydroxy--4-X-phenylcinnamoylacetophenone] have been prepared by reacting L and L with Ru(PPh3)3Cl2 in CH2Cl2. The complexes are diamagnetic and absorb intensely in the visible region, owing to the MLCT transition. Hexacoordinated ruthenium(III) complexes, [RuCl2(PPh3)2(L)], have also been prepared by reacting Ru(PPh3)3Cl3 with -diketones. Solutions of ruthenium(III) complexes show rhombic e.s.r. spectra at 77 K, and distortion from the octahedral symmetry has been identified from the line spacings. The conjugation in diketones favours reversibility in RuII/III and RuIII/IV and stabilize ruthenium in different oxidation states owing to d–* interaction. Oxovanadyl(IV) complexes of the -diketones with a metal-to-ligand ratio of 1:2 and square pyramidal geometry were also prepared. The e.s.r spectra of these complexes show the presence of an unpaired electron in the dxy orbital and the hyperfine splitting constants are sensitive to solvent change. ¶ A new class of highly conjugated Schiff bases obtained from the above diketones and 2-aminothiophenol behave as dibasic, tridentate ligands in their copper(II) complexes. The subnormal magnetic moments and hyperfine splittings of these complexes are ascribed to an antiferromagnetic exchange interaction arising from dimerization. Cyclic voltammograms show that the electron transfer occurs in two steps corresponding to CuII–CuI and CuI–CuI redox states.