Treatment of Pea Seeds with Plasma Activated Water to Enhance Germination,Plant Growth,and Plant Composition

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing - The present study has been carried to investigate the interaction and effect of plasma activated water (PAW) on pea seeds. PAW is produced with the...     

A Catalyst and Solvent Free Route for the Synthesis of N-Substituted Pyrrolidones from Levulinic Acid

An efficient, metal-free, catalyst-free and solvent-free methodology for the reductive amination of levulinic acid with different anilines has been developed using HBpin as the reducing reagent. This protocol offers an excellent method to avoid solvents and added catalysts on the synthesis of different kinds of N-substituted pyrrolidones under metal free conditions. It is also the first report for the synthesis of different pyrrolidones by solvent-free as well as catalyst-free methods. The proposed mechanism for the formation of pyrrolidone has been supported by DFT calculations and control experiments.     

Heteroatom‐Guided,Palladium‐Catalyzed,Site‐Selective CH Arylation of 4H‐Chromenes: Diastereoselective Assembly of the Core Structure of Myristinin B through Dual CH Functionalization

A highly site‐selective, heteroatom‐guided, palladium‐catalyzed direct arylation of 4H‐chromenes is reported. The C?H functionalization is driven not only by the substituents and structure of the substrate but also by the coupling partner being used. The diastereoselective assembly of the core structure of Myristinin B has been achieved by using a dual C?H functionalization strategy for regioselective direct arylation.     

Cu (II) and Co (II/III) complexes of N,O‐chelated Schiff base ligands: DNA interaction,protein binding,cytotoxicity, cell death mechanism and reactive oxygen species generation studies

A series of copper (II) ( 1 and 3 ) and cobalt (II/III) ( 2 , 4 and 5 ) complexes comprising different imino‐phenolate ligands DCH , DTH and DBH ₂ (where DCH = 2,4‐dichloro‐6‐((mesitylimino)methyl)phenol, DTH = 2,4‐di‐tert‐butyl‐6‐((mesitylimino)methyl) phenol and DBH ₂ = 2,4‐dibromo‐6‐((mesitylimino)methyl)phenol) have been prepared with excellent yield and high purity. By utilizing different spectroscopic tools such as UV–visible, electrospray ionization (ESI)‐mass, Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry and elemental analysis, the prepared complexes ( 1 – 5 ) were thoroughly characterized. The molecular structure of the synthesized complexes was ascertained by using single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction studies (SCXRDs). The experiment reveals that Complexes 1 – 5 bind to calf thymus DNA (CT‐DNA) through non‐intercalative way with good interacting abilities. However, 1 – 5 are excellent quenchers of the fluorescence intensity of bovine serum albumin (BSA) following the static pathway. Additionally, they had shown remarkable cytotoxic potential against MCF‐7 (mammary gland adenocarcinoma) and A549 (lung adenocarcinoma) cell lines. The IC₅₀ values associated with these complexes were much lower than the conventional drug cisplatin. Apoptosis‐induced cell death was confirmed from the DNA fragmentation studies and Hoechst 33342 staining. The 2′,7′‐dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFDA) assay indicates that the complex mediated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation is accountable for governing the apoptosis mechanism via oxidative cell distress. Apart from these studies, by carrying out density functional theory (DFT) method, highest occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO–LUMO) energy gap calculations and optimized structures of the synthesized complexes were accomplished.     

Reversible Ultra-Slow Crystal Growth of Mixed Lead Bismuth Perovskite Nanocrystals: The Presence of Dynamic Capping

An ultra-slow crystal growth over a period of 24 h of a newly synthesized CH₃NH₃Pb_1/2Bi_1/3I₃ perovskite (MPBI) nanocrystal in non-polar toluene medium is reported here. From several spectroscopic techniques as well as from TEM analysis we found that the size of nanocrystals changes continuously with time, in spite of being capped by the ligands. Using a single molecular spectroscopic technique, we also found that this size change is not due to the stacking of nanocrystals but due to crystal growth. The notable temperature dependence and reversible nature of the nanocrystals growth is explained by the dynamic nature of the capping. The observed temperature-dependent ultra-slow growth is believed to be a pragmatic step towards controlling the size of perovskite NC in a systematic manner.     

Thin and surface adhesive ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) films with β phase‐inducing amino modified porous silica nanofillers

We report an efficient route for ferroelectric polar β phase generation in poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) through incorporation of amine functionalized, porous silica (MCM‐41 and fumed silica) based nanofillers. These porous highly functionalized surfaces exhibit the efficient secondary interaction with polymer chain via hydrogen bonding. Structural analysis through FTIR, XRD, and TEM confirm high degree of ferroelectric polar β phase generation of PVDF through incorporation of amino modified porous silica nanofillers. Optimized loading (5 wt %) of amine functionalized, porous silica in PVDF matrix enhances relative intensity of β phase up to 75%. Disappearance of spherulite structure of PVDF with amino modified porous silica nanofillers, as confirmed through POM, TEM, SEM and AFM studies also supports the above conclusion. The P‐E hysteresis loop at sweep voltage of ±50 V of a thin PVDF‐amino modified porous nanofiller film shows excellent ferroelectric property with nearly saturated high remnant polarization 2.8 µC.cm^?2 owing to its large proportion of β PVDF, whereas, a nonpolar pure PVDF thin film shows unsaturated hysteresis loop with 0.6 µC.cm^?2 remnant polarization. PVDF films with the nanofillers exhibit strong adhesive strength over different metallic substrates making them have edge over PVDF in various thin film applications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 2401–2411     

Modeling the depletion of dissolved oxygen in a water body located near a city

Water bodies located nearby cities are much prone to pollution, especially in the developing countries, where effluents treatment facilities are generally lacking. The main reason for this phenomenon is the increasing population in the cities, and the large number of industries located near them. This leads to generation of huge amounts of domestic and industrial sewage that is discharged into the water bodies, increasing their organic pollutant load and resulting in the depletion of dissolved oxygen. In this paper, we propose a mathematical model for this situation, focusing especially on the resulting quality of the water, determined by the level of dissolved oxygen. The model also accounts for resources needed for the population survival and for the industrial operations. In addition, we describe also the decomposition of organic pollutants by bacteria in the aquatic medium. Feasibility conditions and stability criteria of the system's equilibria are determined analytically. The results show that human population and industries are relevant influential factors responsible for the increase in organic pollutants and the decrease in dissolved oxygen in the water body, in the sense that they may exert a destabilizing effect on the system. The numerical simulations confirm the analytical results. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.