Synthesis of a new class of uridine phosphorylase inhibitors

A new series of potent uridine phosphorylase inhibitors have been prepared from barbituric acid. Among them, 1-[(2-hydroxyethoxy)methyl]-5-)(m--benzyloxy)benzylbarbituric acid ( 37 , BBBA) is the most promising having a K_i value of 1.1 ± 0.2 nM with uridine phosphorylase from human liver. The new inhibitors are easily synthesized and are better inhibitors of human uridine phosphorylase than their uracil counterparts.     

Fabrication of 3D electrospun structures from poly(lactide‐co‐glycolide acid)–nano‐hydroxyapatite composites

The fabrication of three‐dimensional (3D) electrospun composite scaffolds was presented in this study. Layers of electrospun meshes made from composites of poly(lactide‐co‐glycolide acid) (PLGA) and hydroxyapatite (HA) were stacked and sintered using pressurized gas. Three HA concentrations of 5, 10, and 20 wt % were tested, and the addition of the HA nanoparticles decreased the tensile mechanical properties of the meshes with 20 wt % HA. However, after the gas absorption process, the fibers within the mesh sintered, which improved the mechanical properties more than twofold. The fabrication of 3D, porous, electrospun scaffolds was also demonstrated. The resulting 3D scaffolds had open porosity of up to 70% and modulus of ～20 MPa. This technique improves on the current electrospinning technology by overcoming the challenges of depositing a thick, 3D structure. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Validated ecofriendly chromatographic method for quantitative determination of anti‐migraine quaternary mixture

A novel ecofriendly, cost and time saving high‐performance thin‐layer chromatographic method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of metoclopramide, ergotamine, caffeine, and paracetamol in bulk and pharmaceutical formulation. The separation was carried out on silica gel plates, using ethyl acetate:ethanol:ammonia (9:1:0.1, v/v/v) as a developing system. Ultraviolet detection was carried out at 272 nm. The resulting retention times were 0.15, 0.36, 0.49, and 0.74 min for metoclopramide, ergotamine, caffeine, and paracetamol, respectively. The greenness profile assessment was achieved to the proposed method to evaluate its greenness characters to the environment with acceptable results. Validation parameters were checked according to International Conference of Harmonization guidelines to achieve the international requirements for quality control analysis of the proposed drugs.     

Viscoelastic properties of poly(ε‐caprolactone) – hydroxyapatite micro‐ and nano‐composites

Various composites have been proposed in the literature for the fabrication of bioscaffolds for bone tissue engineering. These materials include poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) with hydroxyapatite (HA). Since the biomaterial acts as the medium that transfers mechanical signals from the body to the cells, the fundamental properties of the biomaterials should be characterized. Furthermore, in order to control the processing of these materials into scaffolds, the characterization of the fundamental properties is also necessary. In this study, the physical, thermal, mechanical, and viscoelastic properties of the PCL‐HA micro‐ and nano‐composites were characterized. Although the addition of filler particles increased the compressive modulus by up to 450%, the thermal and viscoelastic properties were unaffected. Furthermore, although the presence of water plasticized the polymer, the viscoelastic behavior was only minimally affected. Testing the composites under various conditions showed that the addition of HA can strengthen PCL without changing its viscoelastic response. The results found in this study can be used to further understand and approximate the time‐dependent behavior of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Array measurements of the surface pressure beneath a forced axi-symmetric separation bubble

An array of microphones is used to study the space–time characteristics of the wall-pressure field beneath a forced separation bubble downstream of an axi-symmetric backward-facing step. To excite the flow, an externally driven Helmholtz resonator is employed. A unique aspect of the present study is the utilization of an amplitude-modulated forcing scheme in order to avoid contamination of the measured hydrodynamic pressure fluctuations by acoustic radiation from the forcing device. The results lead to the hypothesis that the optimal forcing frequency is achieved when the forced disturbance originates near the center of the unforced separation bubble in the limit of very low levels of forcing. Moreover, a frequency–wavenumber spectrum analysis highlights the possibility for achieving separation control while minimizing potential acoustic radiation due to coupling between the forced disturbance and resonant modes of the underlying surface.     

A Multilevel Shape Fit Analysis of Neutron Transmission Data

A multilevel shape fit analysis of neutron transmission data is presented. A multilevel computer code SHAPE is used to analyse clean transmission data obtained from time-of-flight (TOF) measurements. The shape analysis deduces the parameters of the observed resonances in the energy region considered in the measurements. The shape code is based upon a least square fit of a multilevel Briet-Wigner formula and includes both instrumental resolution and Doppler broadenings. Operating the SHAPE code on a test example of a measured transmission data of ¹⁵¹Eu, ¹⁵³Eu and natural Eu in the energy range 0.025-1 eV accquired a good result for the used technique of analysis.     

Effect of finite cavity width on flow oscillation in a low-Mach-number cavity flow

The current study is focused on examining the effect of the cavity width and side walls on the self-sustained oscillation in a low Mach number cavity flow with a turbulent boundary layer at separation. An axisymmetric cavity geometry is employed in order to provide a reference condition that is free from any side-wall influence, which is not possible to obtain with a rectangular cavity. The cavity could then be partially filled to form finite-width geometry. The unsteady surface pressure is measured using microphone arrays that are deployed on the cavity floor along the streamwise direction and on the downstream wall along the azimuthal direction. In addition, velocity measurements using two-component Laser Doppler Anemometer are performed simultaneously with the array measurements in different azimuthal planes. The compiled data sets are used to investigate the evolution of the coherent structures generating the pressure oscillation in the cavity using linear stochastic estimation of the velocity field based on the wall-pressure signature on the cavity end wall. The results lead to the discovery of pronounced harmonic pressure oscillations near the cavity’s side walls. These oscillations, which are absent in the axisymmetric cavity, are linked to the establishment of a secondary mean streamwise circulating flow pattern near the side walls and the interaction of this secondary flow with the shear layer above the cavity.     

Extraction of turbulent wall-pressure time-series using an optimal filtering scheme

Accurate measurements of pressure beneath turbulent wall-bounded flows are generally difficult to achieve due to signal contamination resulting from facility-induced noise, sensor vibration, etc. This is particularly true at low Reynolds numbers where the noise signature overwhelms the low-level turbulent fluctuations. In the current work a noise-cancellation technique based on an optimal filtering approach is developed. This technique is particularly useful for conditions of low signal-to-noise ratio and therefore it is well suited for low to moderate Reynolds number measurements. Unlike the conventional, subtraction-based, noise-cancellation methods, the utility of the optimal-filter scheme is not limited to the extraction of the turbulent statistics but it can be used to obtain the noise-canceledtime-series. Furthermore, the energy of the low-frequency turbulent motion lost due to the application of the noise-cancellation scheme is an order of magnitude smaller in the case of the optimal filter as compared to the subtraction scheme. Employment of the technique developed here is not confined to two-dimensional flows and therefore it is also useful for measurements in applications involving non-equilibrium flows.The authors sincerely acknowledge the support for the current investigation by the Office of Naval Research (N-00014-93-0639), NASA Space Grant (A069-5-593494) and National Science Foundation (CTS-905818)     

New Converging Collimator for Cold Neutrons Time-Of-Flight Measurements

An idea to design a new converging collimator for cold neutron time-of-flight measurements is presented. Using this new facility in combination with a neutron time-of-flight spectrometer, we may have neutron intensity gain factors about three times that obtained using the conventional straight slit collimators. Expressions for calculating the collimators dimensions as well as the intensity gain and the time resolution broading were presented.