Development of two-step radioimmunoassay (RIA) for the measurement of free triiodothyronine in human serum based on antibody coated tubes

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - We describe a simple, user friendly two-step radioimmunoassay (RIA) based on antibody coated tubes for the measurement of free triiodothyronine in...     

Preparation of chitosan–polyethylene glycol coated cotton membranes for wound dressings: preparation and characterization

Cotton fabric was coated with chitosan (CS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) followed by freeze‐drying. The influence of PEG on the physical characteristics and the surface morphology was investigated. The scanning electron microscopy of the coated fabric revealed a porous structure. The porosity of the material was 54–70% and the pore size was in the range of 75–120µm. The increase in the PEG content in the blend composition led to an enhanced destabilization of pores, leading to an increase in the pore size with elongated morphology. There seems to be phase separation between the two components which is an important factor for the observed behavior of the porous structure. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that the CS and PEG have limited interaction. DSC suggested that addition of PEG to CS does not interfere with the crystallization behavior due to limited interaction with CS. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that the membranes are thermally stable and PEG enhances the thermal stability of the CS coated membranes. The air and water permeability of the membranes tended to decrease with the increase in the PEG content. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Topological estimation of proton-ligand formation constants of potential antitumour agents: Salicylhydroxamic acids

Proton-ligand formation constants of salicylhydroxamic acids (SHA) and their nuclear substituted derivatives have been estimated topologically using the normalized Wiener index, referred to as mean square Wiener index (Wms). Regression analysis of the data indicates that Wms can be used successfully for estimating and monitoring proton-ligand formation constants.     

Low‐temperature sol–gel transformation of methyl silicon precursors to silica‐based hybrid materials

Six new methyl silicon (IV) precursors of the type [MeSi{ON?C(R)Ar}₃] [when R = Me, Ar = 2‐C₅H₄N ( 1 ), 2‐C₄H₃O ( 2 ) or 2‐C₄H₃S ( 3 ); and when R = H, Ar = 2‐C₅H₄N ( 4 ), 2‐C₄H₃O ( 5 ) or 2‐C₄H₃S ( 6 )] were prepared and structurally characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. Molecular weight measurements and FAB (Fast Atomic Bombardment) mass spectral studies indicated their monomeric nature. ¹H and ¹³C{¹H} NMR spectral studies suggested the oximate ligands to be monodentate in solution, which was confirmed by ²⁹Si{¹H} NMR signals in the region expected for tetra‐coordinated methylsilicon (IV) derivatives. Thermogravimetric analysis of 1 revealed the complex to be thermally labile, decomposing to a hybrid material of definite composition. Two representative compounds ( 2 and 4 ) were studied as single source molecular precursor for low‐temperature transformation to silica‐based hybrid materials using sol–gel technique. Formation of homogenous methyl‐bonded silica materials (MeSiO_3/2) at low sintering temperature was observed. The thermogravimetric analysis of the methylsilica material indicated that silicon‐methyl bond is thermally stable up to a temperature of 400 °C. Reaction of 2 and Al(OPrⁱ)₃ in equimolar ratio in anhydrous toluene yielded a brown‐colored viscous liquid of the composition [MeSi{ON?C(CH₃)C₄H₃O}₃.Al(OPrⁱ)₃]. Spectroscopic techniques ¹H, ¹³C{¹H}, ²⁷Al{¹H} and ²⁹Si{¹H} NMR spectra of the viscous product indicated the presence of tetracoordination around both silicon and aluminum atoms. On hydrolysis it yielded methylated aluminosilicate material with high specific surface area (464 m²/g). Scanning electron micrography confirmed a regular porous structure with porosity in the nanometric range. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Constraints on dark energy from the lookback time versus redshift test

We use lookback time versus redshift data from galaxy clusters (Capozziello et al., 2004 [9]) and passively evolving galaxies (Simon et al., 2005 [62]), and apply a Bayesian prior on the total age of the Universe based on WMAP measurements, to constrain dark energy cosmological model parameters. Current lookback time data provide interesting and moderately restrictive constraints on cosmological parameters. When used jointly with current baryon acoustic peak and Type Ia supernovae apparent magnitude versus redshift data, lookback time data tighten the constraints on parameters and favor slightly smaller values of the nonrelativistic matter energy density.     

Towards the catalytic formation of α,β-vinylesters and alkoxy substituted γ-lactones

A facile, one pot, high yield synthesis of α,β-vinylester (1-14) and alkoxy substituted γ-lactones (15-28) has been achieved by the photochemical reaction of terminal acetylene (ferrocenyl phenyl trimethylsillyl, hexyl and cyclohexyl) with alcohol (methanol, ethanol and isopropanol) and carbon monoxide in presence of iron pentacarbonyl as a catalyst. The selectivity of the compounds depends on the time of photolysis of the reaction as well as the solvent used. A stable reaction intermediate ferrole was isolated, and further photolysis with alcohols, resulted in the formation of α,β-vinylester. All the compounds were fully characterised by spectroscopic methods and the molecular structures of compounds 1, 16, 17 and 20 were established crystallographically.     

Sonoassisted Microbial Reduction of Chromium

This study presents sonoassisted microbial reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) using Bacillus sp. isolated from tannery effluent contaminated site. The experiments were carried out with free cells in the presence and absence of ultrasound. The optimum pH and temperature for the reduction of Cr(VI) by Bacillus sp. were found to be 7.0 and 37 °C, respectively. The Cr(VI) reduction was significantly influenced by the electron donors and among the various electron donors studied, glucose offered maximum reduction. The ultrasound-irradiated reduction of Cr(VI) with Bacillus sp. showed efficient Cr(VI) reduction. The percent reduction was found to increase with an increase in biomass concentration and decrease with an increase in initial concentration. The changes in the functional groups of Bacillus sp., before and after chromium reduction were observed with FTIR spectra. Microbial growth was described with Monod and Andrews model and best fit was observed with Andrews model.     

Separation of Palladium by Extraction Chromatographic Technique Using Cyanex 471X (Tri Isobutyl Phosphine Sulfide) on Chromosorb-102

In a preliminary study performed with the waste rocks from the future uranium mine to be explored in Brazil, 106 samples were taken from the eight main lithologies found in the massif and analysed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) for 20 elements. For samples from the same lithology, a high variability in the concentration of most of the elements was found (coefficient of variation larger than 20%), which might be attributed to either insufficient homogenisation of minerals or to local variation within lithology. The hypothesis that the variability within the lithology does not have an influence to the total variability was tested by analysing 5 replicates of the 5 most contrasting samples from the predominant lithology (plagioclase-microcline-gneiss), chosen after applying statistical evaluation (principal components and cluster analyses). Results indicated that homogenisation of samples was adequate due to low variation among replicates. The hypothesis tested was rejected with a confidence level higher than 99% for all the elements, corroborating the large intra-lithology variability.     

Metal carbonyl-promoted reactions of ferrocenylacetylene with sulfur to form thiophene, dithiine, thioketone and vinylthioketone derivatives

Photolysis of a hexane solution of ferrocenylacetylene and sulfur powder in presence of Cr(CO)₆ resulted in the formation of 2,6-diferrocenyldithiine and 2,5-diferrocenylthiophene. Similar reactions with Mo(CO)₆ or W(CO)₆ gave only the thiophene derivative. Formation of ferrocenyl-substituted thioketone complexes was observed in the reaction of ferrocenylacetylene with water and sulfur, in presence of W(CO)₆. Use of D₂O confirmed water as source of protons for the conversion of acetylenic CH to CH₃.