Application based Studies of HPTLC-bioautography in Evaluation of Botanicals: a Review

Journal of Analytical Chemistry - HPTLC is a widely used tool in standardization of herbs because of its ability to estimate the presence of active components in samples. HPTLC-bioautography is a...     

Working group report: Collider Physics

This is summary of the activities of the working group on collider physics in the IXth Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP-9) held at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India in January 2006. Some of the work subsequently done on these problems by the subgroups formed during the workshop is included in this report.     

An improved algorithm for decomposing arc flows into multipath flows

We consider a multipath maximum flow problem introduced by Kishimoto (Networks 27(4)(1996)279-291). The focus is on efficient transformation from arc flows into multipath flows, where a multipath flow is a nonnegative combination of multipaths. A new algorithm that is more efficient than existing ones is proposed for the transformation.     

Isosteres of peptides: boron analogs as dipolar forms of α‐amino acids – a theoretical study

Modification of peptides to produce peptidomimetics is of great interest, with the aim of designing potent, selective, and metabolically stable analogs having certain conformational properties. Organoboranes have been reported in the literature with a wide range of therapeutic applications. One of the therapeutically important class of molecules is amine‐carboxyboranes derived from amino acids by replacement of the Cα atom of an amino acid/peptide by boron. The conformational preferences of these peptides, with respect to backbone ω, ?, and ψ torsion angles, have been investigated by theoretical calculations. The amide bond in these molecules has the same geometry in the ground and transition states as the natural peptides. However, the boron isosteres of glycine and alanine peptides are less structured than their natural derivatives, but are distinguished by structures with a positive value for the ? angle, which is normally disfavored for natural peptides. This property could be used to build peptides with a geometry not usually seen in natural peptides. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Catalysis by Ir(III), Rh(III) and Pd(II) metal ions in the oxidation of organic compounds with H2O2

Catalytic activities of three transition metals, as iridium (III) chloride, rhodium (III) chloride and palladium (II) chloride, were compared in the oxidation of six aromatic aldehydes (benzaldehyde, p‐chloro benzaldehyde, p‐nitro benzaldehyde, m‐nitro benzaldehyde, p‐methoxy benzaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde), two hydrocarbons (viz. (anthracene and phenanthrene)) and one aromatic and one cyclic alcohol (cyclohexanol and benzyl alcohol) by 50% H₂O₂. The presence of traces (substrate: catalyst ratio equal to 1:62500 to 1:1961) of the chlorides of iridium(III), rhodium(III) and palladium(II) catalyze these oxidations, resulting in good to excellent yields. It was observed that in most of the cases palladium(II) chloride is the most efficient catalyst. Conditions for the highest and most economical yields were obtained. Deviation from the optimum conditions decreases the yields. Oxidation in aromatic aldehydes is selective at the aldehydeic group only and other groups remain unaffected. This new, simple and economical method, which is environmentally safe, also requires less time. Reactive species of catalysts, existing in the reaction mixture are also discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A DC excited waveguide multibeam CO2 laser using high frequency pre-ionization technique

High power industrial multibeam CO₂ lasers consist of a large number of closely packed parallel glass discharge tubes sharing a common plane parallel resonator. Every discharge tube forms an independent resonator. When discharge tubes of smaller diameter are used and the Fresnel numberN ≪ 1 for all resonators, they operate in waveguide mode. Waveguide modes have excellent discrimination of higher order modes. A DC excited waveguide multibeam CO₂ laser is reported having six glass discharge tubes. Simultaneous excitation of DC discharge in all sections is achieved by producing pre-ionization using an auxiliary high frequency pulsed discharge along with its other advantages. Maximum 170 W output power is obtained with all beams operating in EH₁₁ waveguide mode. The specific power of 28 W/m is much higher as compared to similar AC excited waveguide multibeam CO₂ lasers. Theoretical analysis shows that all resonators of this laser will support only EH₁₁ mode. This laser is successfully used for woodcutting     

Study of solar features causing GMSs with 250γ<<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis><400γ

The effect of solar features on geospheric conditions leading to geomagnetic storms (GMSs) with planetary index,A ^P ≥ 20 and the range of horizontal component of the Earth’s magnetic fieldH such that 250γ <H < 400γ has been investigated using interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), solar wind plasma (SWP) and solar geophysical data (SGD) during the period 1978–99. Statistically, it is observed that maximum number of GMSs have occurred during the maximum solar activity years of 21st and 22nd solar cycles. A peculiar result has been observed during the years 1982, 1994 when sunspot numbers (SSNs) decrease very rapidly while numbers of GMSs increase. No distinct association between yearly occurrence of disturbed days and SSNs is observed. Maximum number of disturbed days have occurred during spring and rainy seasons showing a seasonal variation of disturbed days. No significant correlation between magnitude (intensity) of GMSs and importance ofH _α , X-ray solar flares has been observed. Maximum number of GMSs is associated with solar flares of lower importance, i.e., SF during the period 1978-93.H _α , X-ray solar flares occurred within lower helio-latitudes, i.e., (0–30)°N to (0–30)°S are associated with GMSs. NoH _α , X-ray solar flares have occurred beyond 40°N or 40°S in association with GMSs. In helio-latitude range (10–40)°N to (10–40)°S, the 89.5% concentration of active prominences and disappearing filaments (APDFs) are associated with GMSs. Maximum number of GMSs are associated with solar flares. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are related with eruptive prominences, solar flares, type IV radio burst and they occur at low helio-latitude. It is observed that CMEs related GMS events are not always associated with high speed solar wind streams (HSSWSs). In many individual events, the travel time between the explosion on the Sun and maximum activity lies between 58 and 118 h causing GMSs at the Earth.