Uniform mixing in paper-based microfluidic systems using surface acoustic waves

Paper-based microfluidics has recently received considerable interest due to their ease and low cost, making them extremely attractive as point-of-care diagnostic devices. The incorporation of basic fluid actuation and manipulation schemes on paper substrates, however, afford the possibility to extend the functionality of this simple technology to a much wider range of typical lab-on-a-chip operations, given its considerable advantages in terms of cost, size and integrability over conventional microfluidic substrates. We present a convective actuation mechanism in a simple paper-based microfluidic device using surface acoustic waves to drive mixing. Employing a Y-channel structure patterned onto paper, the mixing induced by the 30 MHz acoustic waves is shown to be consistent and rapid, overcoming several limitations associated with its capillary-driven passive mixing counterpart wherein irreproducibilities and nonuniformities are often encountered in the mixing along the channel--capillary-driven passive mixing offers only poor control, is strongly dependent on the paper's texture and fibre alignment, and permits backflow, all due to the scale of the fibres being significant in comparison to the length scales of the features in a microfluidic system. Using a novel hue-based colourimetric technique, the mixing speed and efficiency is compared between the two methods, and used to assess the effects of changing the input power, channel tortuousity and fibre/flow alignment for the acoustically-driven mixing. The hue-based technique offers several advantages over grayscale pixel intensity analysis techniques in facilitating quantification without limitations on the colour contrast of the samples, and can be used, for example, for quantification in on-chip immunochromatographic assays.     

Practical SARG04 quantum key distribution

We have presented a method to estimate parameters of the decoy state method based on one decoy state protocol for SARG04. This method has given lower bound of the fraction of single-photon counts (y ₁), the fraction of two-photon counts (y ₂), the upper bound QBER of single-photon pulses (e ₁), the upper bound QBER of two-photon pulses (e ₂), and the lower bound of key generation rate for both BB84 and SARG04. The numerical simulation has shown that the fiber based QKD and free space QKD systems using the proposed method for BB84 are able to achieve both a higher secret key rate and greater secure distance than that of SARG04. Also, it is shown that bidirectional ground to satellite and inter-satellite communications are possible with our protocol.     

Spectroscopic and Solution Studies of Some Transition Metal Complexes of New 4-Hydroxy Coumarin Semi- and Thiosemicarbazone Complexes

Two new ligands, 4-hydroxy coumarin-3-thiosemicarbazone (H₂L¹) and 4-hydroxy coumarin-3-semicarbazone (H₂L²) were synthesized and used for the preparation of a series of transition metal complexes (Cr³⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Fe³⁺), derived from these ligands. These complexes have the forms [ML¹Cl₂]·nX (1–5) and [ML²Cl]·nX (6–9) (X = H₂O or ethanol). The structures of these complexes were elucidated by elemental analyses, IR, UV–Vis, and electrical conductivity, as well as magnetic susceptibility measurements and thermal analyses. IR spectral data indicates that in all complexes, the ligands act as monobasic tridentate, coordinated through keto oxygen or sulfur, azomethine nitrogen and deprotonated phenolic oxygen atom. On the basis of other physicochemical investigations, tetrahedral or square planar geometries are assigned for Cu²⁺ complexes in monomeric structures. In the case of the Co²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Fe³⁺ complexes, octahedral stereochemistries in monomeric structures are suggested. The dissociation constants of the ligands and the stability constants of their Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II), and Fe(III) complexes have been also determined using potentiometric pH-metric titration in mixed solvents of dioxane: H₂O and DMF: H₂O with different ratios and different temperatures.     

Complex Formation Equilibria and Molecular Structure of Divalent Metal Ions–Vitamin B3–Glycine Oligopeptides Systems

Complex formation of divalent transition metal ions (copper(II), cobalt(II) and nickel(II)), vitamin B3 (nicotinic acid) and glycine oligopeptides (glycine, glycylglycine, glycyl-l-phenylalanine, and glycylglycylglycine) were studied at 298 K in aqueous solutions using the pH-potentiometric technique. The copper Cu(II), cobalt Co(II), and nickel Ni(II) complexing capacity of vitamin B3 in the absence and in the presence of glycine peptides and their overall stability constants in aqueous solutions were obtained and explained by the HYPERQUAD 2008 program using the potentiometric data. From the protonation and complex formation constants, representative complex species distribution diagrams were obtained using HYSS 2009 software. The UV–Vis spectroscopic, cyclic voltammeteric and conductometric titration measurements were carried out to give qualitative information about the conformation of the complexes formed in these solutions and their stoichiometric ratios. The Gibbs energies and the molecular structures of the complexes were evaluated and predicted using Gaussian 09 software molecular modeling and density functional theory calculations.     

Novel Copolymers of Vinyl Acetate with Alkyl and Alkoxy Ring‐Disubstituted 2‐Phenyl‐1,1‐dicyanoethylenes

Electrophilic trisubstituted ethylene monomers, alkyl and alkoxy ring‐disubstituted 2‐phenyl‐1,1‐dicyanoethylenes, RC₆H₃CH?C(CN)₂ (where R is 2,4‐(CH₃)₂, 2,5‐(CH₃)₂, 2,3‐(CH₃O)₂, 2,4‐(CH₃O)₂, 2,5‐(CH₃O)₂, 3,4‐(CH₃O)₂, 3‐C₂H₅O‐4‐CH₃O, 4‐CH₃O‐3‐CH₃), were synthesized by piperidine catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation of ring‐disubstituted benzaldehydes and malononitrile, and characterized by CHN elemental analysis, IR, ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR. Novel copolymers of the ethylenes and vinyl acetate were prepared at equimolar monomer feed composition by solution copolymerization in the presence of a radical initiator (ABCN) at 70°C. The composition of the copolymers was calculated from nitrogen analysis, and the structures were analyzed by IR, ¹H and ¹³C‐NMR, GPC, DSC, and TGA. High T _g of the copolymers, in comparison with that of polyvinyl acetate, indicates a substantial decrease in chain mobility of the copolymer due to the high dipolar character of the trisubstituted ethylene monomer unit. The gravimetric analysis indicated that the copolymers decompose in the 190–700°C range.     

High-resolution solid-state 2H NMR spectroscopy of polymorphs of glycine

High-resolution solid-state (2)H MAS NMR studies of the α and γ polymorphs of fully deuterated glycine (glycine-d(5)) are reported. Analysis of spinning sideband patterns is used to determine the (2)H quadrupole interaction parameters, and is shown to yield good agreement with the corresponding parameters determined from single-crystal (2)H NMR measurements (the maximum deviation in quadrupole coupling constants determined from these two approaches is only 1%). From analysis of simulated (2)H MAS NMR sideband patterns as a function of reorientational jump frequency (κ) for the -N(+)D(3) group in glycine-d(5), the experimentally observed differences in the (2)H MAS NMR spectrum for the -N(+)D(3) deutrons in the α and γ polymorphs is attributed to differences in the rate of reorientation of the -N(+)D(3) group. These simulations show severe broadening of the (2)H MAS NMR signal in the intermediate motion regime, suggesting that deuterons undergoing reorientational motions at rates in the range κ ≈ 10(4)-10(6) s(-1) are likely to be undetectable in (2)H MAS NMR measurements for materials with natural isotopic abundances. The (1)H NMR chemical shifts for the α and γ polymorphs of glycine have been determined from the (2)H MAS NMR results, taking into account the known second-order shift. Further quantum mechanical calculations of (2)H quadrupole interaction parameters and (1)H chemical shifts reveal the structural dependence of these parameters in the two polymorphs and suggest that the existence of two short intermolecular C-H···O contacts for one of the H atoms of the >CH(2) group in the α polymorph have a significant influence on the (2)H quadrupole coupling and (1)H chemical shift for this site.     

In situ synthesis, photometric and spectroscopic studies of chelating system during the 1,4,7,10,13,16-hexaoxacyclooctadecane charge transfer reaction with different acceptors

Electron donor acceptor complexes (EDA) of the 1,4,7,10,13,16-hexaoxacyclooctadecane (18-crown-6) as a rich donor were spectrophotometrically discussed and synthesized in solid form according the interactions with different nine of usual π-acceptors like 2,3,5,6-tetrachlorocyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione (p-chloranil; p-CHL), tetrachloro-1,2-benzoquinone (o-chloranil; o-CHL), 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ), tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ), 2,6-dichloroquinone-4-chloroimide (DCQ), 2,6-dibromoquinone-4-chloroimide (DBQ), 2,5-dichloro-3,6-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone (chloranilic acid; CLA), N-bromosuccinimide (NBS), 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (picric acid; PA). Spectroscopic and physical data such as formation constant (K(CT)), molar extinction coefficient (?(CT)), standard free energy (ΔG°), oscillator strength (f), transition dipole moment (μ), resonance energy (R(N)) and ionization potential (I(p)) were estimated in chloroform or methanol at 25°C. Based on the elemental analysis and photometric titrations the CT-complexes were formed indicated the formation of 1:1 charge-transfer complexes for the o-CHL, TCNQ, DCQ, DBQ and NBS acceptors but 1:3 ratio for p-CHL, DDQ, CLA and PA, respectively. The charge-transfer interactions were interpretative according to the formation of dative ion pairs [18C6(?+), A(?-)], where A is acceptor. All of the resulting charge transfer complexes were isolated in amorphous form and the complexes formations on IR and (1)H NMR spectra were discussed.     

Hall电流对表面热通量均匀的竖直可渗透平板上MHD自然对流的影响

在横向磁场作用下,研究Hall电流对竖直可渗透平板上MHD自然对流的影响,平板具有均匀的热通量.和外部磁场相比,假设感应磁场可以忽略不计.利用自由变量公式化(FVF)和流函数公式化(SFF),将边界层方程简化为适当的形式.对局部蒸发系数ζ的整个取值范围,由FVF得到的抛物型方程,用简明的有限差分法进行数值积分;另一方面,由SFF得到的非相似方程,采用局部非相似法求解.有些区域,如局部蒸发系数ζ值足够大或足够小时,用正规的摄动法求解.对低值Prandtl数Pr,例如Pr=0.005,0.01,0.05时,用图形表示磁场参数M和Hall参数m,对局部表面摩擦因数和局部Nusselt数的影响.最后对不同的局部蒸发系数ζ值,给出流体的速度和温度分布.     

Design,Synthesis, and Anticancer Activity of Novel Benzothiazole Analogues

On the pharmaceutical account of the reported anticancer activity of benzothiazole derivatives, differently substituted benzothiazole derivatives 2a – c to 34a , b , attached at 2‐position to different heterocyclic moieties, were synthesized via different chemical reactions. Thirteen of the newly synthesized compounds were selected by the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and evaluated for their in vitro antitumor activity against 60 human tumor cell lines in a one‐dose screening panel among which two compounds 4 and 17 showed high activity and were selected for further evaluation in the five‐dose full panel assay, in which compound 4 exerted powerful growth inhibitory activity against all cell lines with GI₅₀ ranging from 0.683 to 4.66 μM/L in addition to excellent lethal activity against most of the cell lines.     

Synthesis and antitumor evaluation of some new derivatives and fused heterocyclic compounds derived from thieno[2,3‐b]pyridine

On the basis of the proven activity of thieno[2,3‐b]pyridines as anticancer, we have designed to synthesize a novel several heterocyclic compounds utilizing thieno[2,3‐b]pyridine as a skeleton through various chemical reactions. The synthesized compounds bear rings that are either directly attached to the thieno[2,3‐b]pyridine as in compounds 4 to 6 and 9 or connected through an amide bridge as compounds 2 , 3a ‐ b , 7 , and 8 . As well as, compounds 10 , 12 to 28 , 30 , 31 , and 33 to 36 bear fused rings to the thieno[2,3‐b]pyridine backbone. The newly synthesized compounds were screened for their antiproliferative activity in vitro against hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG‐2) and breast cancer (MCF‐7) compared with the standard drug (doxorubicin). Compounds 3b , 4 , 6 , 22 , and 28 exhibited promising growth inhibitory effect toward both HepG‐2 and MCF‐7 cell lines with IC₅₀ values ranging from 5.88 to 11.70 μg/mL and 9.64 to 15.10 μg/mL, respectively.