A green synthetic approach toward the synthesis of structurally diverse spirooxindole derivative libraries under catalyst-free conditions

A catalyst-free green methodology for the synthesis of pharmacologically important spirooxindole derivatives has been developed by a three-component domino reaction between isatin, various amino compounds, and 1,3-dicarbonyl or 3-phenylisoxazolone compounds in ethyl l-lactate medium at room temperature. This new efficient synthetic method facilitated the formation of a wide range of biologically significant spirooxindole derivatives (including 17 new spirooxindoles) under very mild conditions. The cytotoxic activity of one of the isoxazole-fused spirooxindoles was evaluated in MDA-MB 468 breast cancer cell line. It was found that cell survivability decreases with increasing concentration of the selected compound in MDA-MB 468 breast cancer cells.     

Effect of positively charged short peptides on stability of cubic phases of monoolein/dioleoylphosphatidic acid mixtures

To elucidate the stability and phase transition of cubic phases of biomembranes with infinite periodic minimal surface is indispensable from biological and physicochemical aspects. In this report, we investigated the effect of positively charged peptide-3K (LLKKK) and poly(L-lysine) on the phase stability of monoolein (MO) membranes containing negatively charged dioleoylphosphatidic acid (DOPA) (i.e., DOPA/MO membranes) using small-angle X-ray scattering. At first, the effect of peptide-3K on 10% DOPA/90% MO membrane in excess water, which is in the Q229 phase, was investigated. At 3.4 mM peptide-3K, a Q229 to Q230 phase transition occurred, and at >3.4 mM peptide-3K, the membrane was in the Q230 phase. Poly(L-lysine) (M(w) 1K-4K) also induced the Q230 phase, but peptide-2K (LLKK) could not induce it in the same membrane. We also investigated the effect of peptide-3K on the multilamellar vesicle (MLV) of 25% DOPA/75% MO membrane, which is in L(alpha) phase. In the absence of peptide, the spacing of MLV was very large (11.3 nm), but at > or = 8 mM peptide-3K, it greatly decreased to a constant value (5.2 nm), irrespective of the peptide concentration, indicating that peptide-3K and the membranes form an electrostatically stabilized aggregation with low water content. Poly(L-lysine) also decreased greatly the spacing of the 25% DOPA/75% MO MLV, indicating the formation of a similar aggregation. To compare the effects of peptide-3K and poly(L-lysine) with that of osmotic stress on stability of the cubic phase, we investigated the effect of poly(ethylene glycol) with molecular weight 7500 (PEG-6K) on the phase stability of 10% DOPA/90% MO membrane. With an increase in PEG-6K concentration, i.e., with an increase in osmotic stress, the most stable phase changed as follows; Q229 (Schwartz's P surface) --> Q224 (D) --> Q230 (G). On the basis of these results, we discuss the mechanism of the effects of the positively charged short peptides (peptide-3K) and poly(L-lysine) on the structure and phase stability of DOPA/MO membranes.     

Improvement of Seed Germination Rate,Agronomic Traits,Enzymatic Activity and Nutritional Composition of Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Using Low-Frequency Glow Discharge Plasma

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing - Plasma agriculture is an emerging field. In this report, we studied the effect of medium pressure (~?10 torr) low-frequency...     

Relativistic Hydrogen-Like Atom on a Noncommutative Phase Space

The energy levels of hydrogen-like atom on a noncommutative phase space were studied in the framework of relativistic quantum mechanics. The leading order corrections to energy levels 2S _1/2, 2P _1/2 and 2P _3/2 were obtained by using the ?? and the \(\bar \theta \) modified Dirac Hamiltonian of hydrogen-like atom on a noncommutative phase space. The degeneracy of the energy levels 2P _1/2 and 2P _3/2 were removed completely by ??-correction. And the \(\bar \theta \)-correction shifts these energy levels.     

Low-pH-induced transformation of bilayer membrane into bicontinuous cubic phase in dioleoylphosphatidylserine/monoolein membranes

Cubic biomembranes, nonbilayer membranes with connections in three-dimensional space that have a cubic symmetry, have been observed in various cells. Interconversion between the bilayer liquid-crystalline (L(alpha)) phase and cubic phases attracted much attention in terms of both biological and physicochemical aspects. Herein we report the pH effect on the phase and structure of dioleoylphosphatidylserine (DOPS)/monoolein (MO) membranes under a physiological ion concentration condition, which was revealed by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurement. At neutral pH, DOPS/MO membranes containing high concentrations of DOPS were in the L(alpha) phase. First, the pH effect on the phase and structure of the multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) of the DOPS/MO membranes preformed at neutral pH was investigated by adding various low-pH buffers into the MLV suspension. For 20%-DOPS/80%-MO MLVs, at and below pH 2.9, a transition from the L(alpha) to cubic (Q(224)) phase occurred within 1 h. This phase transition was reversible; a subsequent increase in pH to a neutral one in the membrane suspension transformed the cubic phase into the original L(alpha) phase. Second, we found that a decrease in pH transformed large unilamellar vesicles of DOPS/MO membranes into the cubic phase under similar conditions. We have proposed the mechanism of the low-pH-induced phase transition and also made a quantitative analysis on the critical pH of the phase transition. This finding is the first demonstration that a change in pH can induce a reversible phase transition between the L(alpha) and cubic phases of lipid membranes within 1 h.     

The effects of vortex like distributed electron in magnetized multi-ion dusty plasmas

The nonlinear propagation of small but finite amplitude dust-ion-acoustic solitary waves in a magnetized, collisionless dusty plasma is investigated theoretically. It has been assumed that the electrons are trapped following the vortex-like distribution and that the negatively and positively charged ions are mobile with the presence of charge fluctuating stationary dusts, where ions mass provide the inertia and restoring forces are provided by the thermal pressure of hot electrons. A reductive perturbation method was employed to obtain a modified Korteweg-de Vries (mK-dV) equation for the first-order potential and a stationary solution is obtained. The effect of the presence of trapped electrons, negatively and positively charged ions and arbitrary charged dust grains are discussed.     

Plasma activated water: the next generation eco-friendly stimulant for enhancing plant seed germination,vigor and increased enzyme activity,a study on black gram (Vigna mungo L.)

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing - Chemical fertilization in agriculture is threatening to the ecosystem. Therefore, the use of eco-friendly stimulant for crop revolution is highly desirable....     

Multi-dimensional instability of electrostatic solitary waves in ultra-relativistic degenerate electron-positron-ion plasmas

The basic features and multi-dimensional instability of electrostatic (EA) solitary waves propagating in an ultra-relativistic degenerate dense magnetized plasma (containing inertia-less electrons, inertia-less positrons, and inertial ions) have been theoretically investigated by reductive perturbation method and small-k perturbation expansion technique. The Zakharov-Kuznetsov (ZK) equation has been derived, and its numerical solutions for some special cases have been analyzed to identify the basic features (viz. amplitude, width, instability, etc.) of these electrostatic solitary structures. The implications of our results in some compact astrophysical objects, particularly white dwarfs and neutron stars, are briefly discussed.     

Scattering of e± from N2 in the energy range 1 eV–10 keV

The differential, integrated elastic, inelastic, total, momentum transfer, viscosity, and ionisation cross sections for electron and positron scattering from the homonuclear diatomic nitrogen molecule over an incident energy range of 1?eV–10?keV are calculated using the additivity rule. Dirac partial wave analysis is employed to calculate the cross sections of the constituent atoms of molecules, using a complex optical model potential (OPM). Comparison of our results of the additivity rule with the available experimental data and other theoretical predictions is presented. Our findings produce reasonable results in intermediate and high energies.