Sodium bromide catalysed one-pot synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[b]pyrans via a three-component cyclocondensation under microwave irradiation and solvent free conditions

Sodium bromide catalysed three-component cyclocondensation of aryl aldehydes, alkyl nitriles and dimedone proceeds under microwave irradiation in solvent free conditions to give highly functionalised tetrahydrobenzo[b]pyrans in excellent yields.     

An integrated process for purification of lysozyme, ovalbumin, and ovomucoid from hen egg white

This article describes an integrated process for simultaneous purification of lysozyme, ovalbumin, and ovomucoid from hen egg white. The crude egg white extract was passed through a cation exchanger Streamline trade mark SP and the bound lysozyme was eluted with 5% ammonium carbonate, pH 9.0, containing 1 M NaCl after elution of avidin. This partially purified lysozyme was further purified 639-fold on dye-linked cellulose beads. Ovalbumin and ovomucoid did not bind to Streamline SP. Ovalbumin could be precipitated from this unbound fraction by 5% trichloroacetic acid, and ovomucoid was removed from the supernatant by precipitation with ethanol. The yields of lysozyme, ovomucoid, and ovalbumin were 77, 94, and 98%, respectively. All the purified proteins showed single bands on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. All the steps are easily scalable, and the process described here can be used for large-scale simultaneous purification of these proteins in the pure form.     

Purification and characterization of a solvent stable protease from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PseA

A solvent tolerant Pseudomonas aeruginosa PseA strain was isolated from soil. It secreted a novel alkaline protease, which was stable and active in the presence of range of organic solvents, thus potentially useful for catalysis in non-aqueous media. The protease was purified 11.6-fold with 60% recovery by combination of ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography using Q-Sepharose and Phenyl Sepharose 6 Fast Flow matrix, respectively. The apparent molecular mass based on the sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was estimated to be 35,000 Da. The enzyme was stable in the pH range of 6.0-9.0, the optimum being 8.0. The Km and Vmax towards caseinolytic activity were found to be 2.7 mg/ml and 3 micromol/min, respectively. The protease was most active at 60 degrees C and characterized as a metalloprotease because of its sensitivity to EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline. It was tested positive for elastase activity towards elastin-orcein, thus appears to be an elastase, which is known as pseudolysin in other strains of P. aeruginosa. The protease withstands range of detergents, surfactants and solvents. It is stable and active in all the solvents having log P above 3.2, at least up to 72 h. These two properties make it an ideal choice for applications in detergent formulations and enzymatic peptide synthesis.     

Small and large signal analysis using circuit model of InGaAs/InP based uni-travel carrier photodiode

An equivalent circuit model of uni-traveling carrier photodiode (UTC-PD) is developed from integral carrier density rate equation and few important properties of the device such as the electrical and optical characteristics are evaluated by employing advanced device physics. Circuit model incorporates chip and package parasitic of the device quite simply to provide practical behaviour of UTC-PD. We have developed small signal ac circuit model which is useful for the analysis of low power modulation characteristics of the device and dc circuit model which is advantageous to find wavelength dependent responsivity fairly accurately. At high optical input power the device bandwidth is found to be increased through enhancement of self-induced field in the absorption region and high output power can be derived from the device when absorption width is large. Such condition calls for large signal analysis. We have developed large signal circuit model by combining few mathematical transformations with small signal circuit model with different circuit element values. Our large signal model is unique that the same circuit can be used for both small and large signal analysis. With large signal model the optical power induced bandwidth improvement and output photocurrent saturation are explained. Large signal model is validated through linearity and IP3 analysis which found close agreement with the measured results.     

Applications of liquid crystals in biosensing and organic light-emitting devices: future aspects

ABSTRACT

This article summarises recent advances made in our laboratory towards the development of new technological applications, such as biosensors and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on liquid crystals (LCs) other than LC displays. The study of biomolecular interaction using LC material relies on the specific interaction between the LC and the biomolecule of interest at interfaces that permit the biomolecular events to be amplified into easily measured signals for various sensing applications. In the first part, we emphases recent studies in the design and modulation of LC-based interfaces based on robust colloidal LC gels for biological amplification, qualitative and quantitative understanding of important biomolecular interactions at LC–aqueous interfaces for diagnostic and laboratory applications and design of LC droplets that hold promise to act as a marker for cells and cell-based interactions. In the second part, we described design of organic materials for application in OLEDs on various discotic monomers, dimers and oligomers. These molecules have the ability to transport charges, holes and electrons. In addition, because of the high conductivity and π–π stacking, they are considered as the advanced materials for practical applications. The technological advances in our laboratory using discotic LCs will be briefly presented in this article.     

Simultaneous occurrence of energy transfer and photoinduced electron transfer in interactions of hen egg white lysozyme with 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide

The carcinogenic drug 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO) has been found to bind with the protein hen egg white lysozyme as evident from fluorescence quenching experiments. The binding constant and stoichiometry have been determined. The values of the thermodynamic parameters indicate that the interaction is an enthalpy-driven spontaneous phenomenon. The experimental value of change in free energy is similar to that obtained from the docking study. The far UV circular dichroism spectra show some changes in the secondary structure of protein. The high value of bimolecular quenching constant leads to the possibility of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). Along with FRET, the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from tryptophan residue of protein to 4NQO has also been evident from the transient absorption spectra obtained in laser flash photolysis experiments. The simultaneous occurrence of FRET and PET is the key factor for quenching of intrinsic fluorescence of the protein as it binds with the drug.     

Biomimetic growth of gallic acid–ZnO hybrid assemblies and their applications

In this study, we probed the biomimetic formation of gallic acid (GA)–ZnO nanoparticle hybrids. It was found that the morphologies formed were dependent upon pH values, resulting in GA–ZnO hybrids of varying shapes such as micro or nanoplates or fibers. The formed supramolecular GA–ZnO hybrids were found to be luminescent as indicated by confocal microscopy and were utilized for the photocatalytic degradation of the organic dye methylene blue. We also explored the bactericidal effects of the hybrids on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) as well as Escherichia Coli (E. Coli). Thus, we have developed a new class of shape-controlled nanohybrid assemblies via mild, green synthetic methods that may be utilized for photocatalytic degradation for environmental remediation as well as for antibacterial applications.     

A sensitive, rapid and specific technique for the detection of collagenase using zymography

A fast and specific method for the detection of collagenase by electrophoresis is described. The method avoids inclusion of the substrate in the resolving gel and can detect nanogram levels of the enzyme.     

Design of a steering control law for an autonomous underwater vehicle using nonlinear $$\mathscr {H}_{\infty }$$ state feedback technique

This paper proposes a new robust nonlinear \(\mathscr {H}_{\infty }\) state feedback (NHSF) controller for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in steering plane. A three-degree-of-freedom nonlinear model of an AUV has considered for developing a steering control law. In this, the energy dissipative theory is used which leads to form a Hamilton–Jacobi–Isaacs (HJI) inequality. The nonlinear \(\mathscr {H}_{\infty }\) control algorithm has been developed by solving HJI equation such that the AUV tracks the desired yaw angle accurately. Furthermore, a path following control has been implemented using the NHSF control algorithm for various paths in steering plane. Simulation studies have been carried out using MATLAB/Simulink environment to verify the efficacies of the proposed control algorithm for AUV. From the results obtained, it is concluded that the proposed robust control algorithm exhibits a good tracking performance ensuring internal stability and significant disturbance attenuation.