Switching and fluorescence signal amplification with metal ions in allosteric systems based on 1, 3-alternate thiacalix[4]crown

New thiacalix[4]crown derivatives 4 and 5 of 1,3-alternate conformation possessing anthracene and quinoline moieties respectively were synthesised and examined for their cation recognition abilities toward different cations by fluorescence spectroscopy. Selective optical recognition with fluorescence amplification was observed for Fe(3+)/K(+) and Hg(2+)/K(+) in chemosensors 4 and 5 respectively. Further it was observed that the formation of 4·Fe(3+) complex triggers the decomplexation of K(+) ion. Similar allosteric behaviour between Hg(2+) and K(+) was observed in chemosensor 5.     

New approaches to the microscopic imaging of Trypanosoma brucei.

Protozoan parasites are fearsome pathogens responsible for a substantial proportion of human mortality, morbidity, and economic hardship. The principal disease agents are members of the orders Apicomplexa (Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Eimeria) and Kinetoplastida (Trypanosomes, Leishmania). The majority of humans are at risk from infection from one or more of these organisms, with profound effects on the economy, social structure and quality of life in endemic areas; Plasmodium itself accounts for over one million deaths per annum, and an estimated 4 x 10(7) disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), whereas the Kinetoplastida are responsible for over 100,000 deaths per annum and 4 x 10(6) DALYs. Current control strategies are failing due to drug resistance and inadequate implementation of existing public health strategies. Trypanosoma brucei, the African Trypanosome, has emerged as a favored model system for the study of basic cell biology in Kinetoplastida, because of several recent technical advances (transfection, inducible expression systems, and RNA interference), and these advantages, together with genome sequencing efforts are widely anticipated to provide new strategies of therapeutic intervention. Here we describe a suite of methods that have been developed for the microscopic analysis of T. brucei at the light and ultrastructural levels, an essential component of analysis of gene function and hence identification of therapeutic targets.     

Using OR for diagnosis and facilitation in change programmes: a university application

In this paper, a methodology for the ongoing diagnosis and facilitation (when required) of organizational change management programmes in an Australian University is described. The application of this methodology on an annual basis requires the assessment of research attitudes and behaviour, areas that have assumed considerable importance within universities around the world in the last decade. This increasing importance associated with research stems in part (a significant part) from the linkage of research quantum (output) of universities to their funding from government. The methodology developed in this paper embraces a wide range of OR-type techniques as well as a range of change management tools from human resources management. These two sets of techniques and tools work together as tools in their own right as well as providing the infrastructure to achieve the objectives. The developed methodology is an interesting blend of hard techniques and ‘soft’ approaches implemented through a soft heuristic, indeed this application is an example of mixed-mode modelling. The OR techniques (conventional in both their nature and application) are comprised of social judgement theory (for bench-marking research attitudes) and integer linear programming (for setting research targets). The results of the application of the developed methodology are discussed in terms of the effect on research quantum over a 5-year period. A similar methodology could be developed for a change process covering aspects of an organization other than research output in a number of countries.     

Cathodic materials for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells based on praseodymium nickelates-cobaltites

A unique combination of methods (TPD of O₂, thermogravimetry, isotopic heteroexchange of oxygen in different modes) was used to carry out detailed studies of oxygen mobility and reactivity in mixed praseodymium nickelates-cobaltites (PrNi_{1 ? x} Co _x O_{3 + δ}) and their composites with doped cerium dioxide (Ce_0.9Y_0.1O_{2 ? δ}) as promising cathodic materials stable towards the effect of CO₂ in the intermediate-temperature region. It is shown that in the case of composites of PrNi_{1 ? x} Co _x O_3+δ-Ce_0.9Y_0.1O_{2 ? δ} synthesized using the Pechini method and ultrasonic treatment, stabilization of the disordered cubic perovskite phase due to redistribution of cations between the phases provides high oxygen mobility. Preliminary results on tests of cathodic materials of this type supported on planar NiO/YSZ anodes (H.C. Starck) with a thin layer of YSZ electrolyte and a buffer Ce_0.9Y_0.1O_{2 ? δ} layer showed that power density of up to 0.4 W/cm² was reached in the region of medium (600–700°C) temperatures, which was close to typical values for fuel cells of this type with cathodes based on strontium-doped perovskites and their composites with electrolytes.     

Synthesis and characterization of 3,5-lutidinyl chalcogen and -dichalcogen compounds: X-ray crystal structure of bis(3,5-dimethyl-2-pyridyl) diselenide and 2,6-bis(selenomethyl)-3,5-lutidine

The synthesis of 3,5-lutidinyl chalcogen and -dichalcogen compounds has been described by a method involving selective mono- and dilithiation of 3,5-lutidine (1) ring. The selective mono- and dilithiation of 1 has been achieved by reacting BF₃-complexed 3,5-lutidine (2) with 1 and 2 equiv of LTMP/LDA respectively. The subsequent insertion of elemental selenium followed by aerial oxidation or quenching with iodomethane leads to the formation of bis(3,5-dimethyl-2-pyridyl) diselenide (5) and 2,6-bis(selenomethyl)-3,5-lutidine (7) respectively. In addition, sequential incorporation of sulfur and selenium atom in the same lutidine ring has been reported for the first time. Single-crystal X-ray studies of (5), having a rare C-Se-Se-C torsion angle of 180°(4), and (7) have also been reported.     

Effect of varying biogas mass flow rate on performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fuelled with blends of n-butanol and diesel

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Dwindling petroleum products and environment degradation, owing to the gases from the exhaust tailpipe of compression ignition engines, have obligated...     

Boiling in a porous bed

Experimental observations of the heat generation rate at which a porous bed dries out have been made for bed particle sizes ranging from 245 to 4,783 microns in beds up to 40 cm deep with different coolants. The governing mechanisms are identified and used to develop models of the observed phenomena.     

An application of holography to complete stress analysis of photoelastic models

A new procedure is proposed by which holographic principles may be extended to include stress analysis of three-dimensional photoelastic models. A sixth independent equation can be obtained to permit a complete stress solution by using the double-exposure hologram technique in conjunction with an immersion tank. The salient feature of the method is that no stress relieving is necessary between exposures of the hologram. Two experiments were performed to compare the stress-relieving method to the immersion method. In both experiments, a two-dimensional model was used to simplify the demonstration of the general techniques, which are also applicable to slices from frozen-stress models.     

The catenary degrees of elements in numerical monoids generated by arithmetic sequences

We compute the catenary degree of elements contained in numerical monoids generated by arithmetic sequences. We find that this can be done by describing each element in terms of the cardinality of its length set and of its set of factorizations. As a corollary, we find for such monoids that the catenary degree becomes fixed on large elements. This allows us to define and compute the dissonance number- the largest element with a catenary degree different from the fixed value. We determine the dissonance number in terms of the arithmetic sequence’s starting point and its number of generators.     

Bifunctional fluorescent thiacalix[4]arene based chemosensor for Cu and F ions

A new thiacalix[4]arene based fluorescent sensor bearing two dansyl groups has been synthesized in cone conformation. In CH₃CN:CH₂Cl₂ (1:1), the presence of Cu (II) induces the formation of a 1:1 metal:ligand complex, which exhibits increasing emission at 433 nm at the expense of the fluorescent emission of 1 centered at 504 nm. The detection limit of the sensor for Cu²⁺ is 2×10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. For anion sensing, 1 shows a high selectivity for fluoride ions over other anions tested.