A New Method for Analysis of the Fluid Interaction with a Deformable Membrane

The lattice Boltzmann cellular automaton method has been successfully extended for analysis of fluid interactions with a deformable membrane or web. The hydrodynamic forces on the solid web are obtained through computation of the fluid flow stress at the moving boundary using the lattice Boltzmann method. Analysis of solid boundary deformation or vibration due to hydrodynamic force is based on Newtonian dynamics and a molecular dynamic type approach.     

Mammalian alkaloids: Synthesis and O-methylation of (S)- and (R)-3′-hydroxycoclaurine and their N-methylated analogues with S-adenosyl-L-[methyl-14C]methionine in presence of mammalian catechol O-methyltransferase

O-Methylation of the optically active 3′-hydroxycoclaurines 3a and 3b and of the N-methylated analogs 5a,b with S-adenosyl-L -[methyl-¹⁴C]methionine in presence of mammalian COMT was investigated in vitro. The N-unsubstituted (1S)- and (1R )-isomers 3a and 3b , respectively, afforded almost equal amounts of the corresponding N-norreticuline 4 and N-nororientaline 19 , besides two unknown by-products (see Fig. and Table 1). The N-methylated (1S)-isoquinoline 5a , on the other hand, afforded largely (S)-orientaline ((S)- 19 ), while an almost equal mixture of (R)-reticuline ( 6b ) and (R)-orientaline ((R)- 19 ) was obtained from the (1R)-enantiomer 5b . The isoquinolines 3a,b and 5a,b were prepared by a Bischler-Napieralski cyclization yielding O-benzyl-protected isoquinoline 10 (Scheme 1). The optical resolution of 10 was accomplished with 2′-bromotartranilic acid. The N-methylated isoquinolines were prepared by N-formylation of 10a,b and reduction of the formamides 13a,b with diborane (→ 14a,b ). Deblocking of the benzyl-ether moieties of 10a,b and 14a,b was accomplished by catalytic hydrogenation in presence of HCl, affording directly 3a,b ·HCl and 5a,b ·HCl, respectively.     

MHD non-Darcian flow through a non-isothermal vertical surface embedded in a porous medium with radiation

The effect of MHD on steady two-dimensional laminar mixed flow about a vertical porous surface is numerically analyzed. Also the effects of radiation and heat generation and absorption are considered. A power law variation of temperature along the vertical wall is assumed. The nonlinear boundary-layer equations were transformed and the resulting differential equations were solved by an implicit finite difference scheme (Keller box method). Numerical results for the velocity distribution and the temperature distribution are presented for various values of Prandtl number Pr, magnetic parameter, porous medium parameter and internal heat generation or absorption coefficient. Further validation with previous works is carried out.     

A columnar phase of dendritic lipid-based cationic liposome-DNA complexes for gene delivery: hexagonally ordered cylindrical micelles embedded in a DNA honeycomb lattice

Gene therapy holds great promise as a future approach to fighting disease and is explored in worldwide clinical trials. Cationic liposome (CL)-DNA complexes are a prevalent nonviral delivery vector, but their efficiency requires improvement and the understanding of their mechanism of action is incomplete. As part of our effort to investigate the structure-transfection efficiency relationships of self-assembled CL-DNA vectors, we have synthesized a new, highly charged (16+) multivalent cationic lipid, MVLBG2, with a dendritic headgroup. Our synthetic scheme allows facile variation of the headgroup charge and the spacer connecting hydrophobic and headgroup moieties as well as gram-scale synthesis. Complexes of DNA with mixtures of MVLBG2 and neutral 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycerophosphatidylcholine (DOPC) exhibit the well-known lamellar phase at 90 mol % DOPC. Starting at 20 mol % dendritic lipid, however, two novel nonlamellar phases are observed by synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The structure of one of these phases, present in a narrow range of composition around 25 mol % MVLBG2, has been solved. In this novel dual lattice structure, termed H(I)C, hexagonally arranged tubular lipid micelles are surrounded by DNA rods forming a three-dimensionally continuous substructure with honeycomb symmetry. Complexes in the H(I)C phase efficiently transfect mouse and human cells in culture. Their transfection efficiency, as well as that of the lamellar complexes containing only 10 mol% dendritic lipid, reaches and surpasses that of commercially available, optimized DOTAP-based complexes. In particular, complexes containing MVLBG2 are significantly more transfectant over the entire composition range in mouse embryonic fibroblasts, a cell line empirically known to be hard to transfect.     

The Synthesis of Octahydro-7-phenylpyrazino[2,1-b][3]benzazepines

Octahydro-7-phenylpyrazino[2,1-b][3]benzazepine ( 1a ) was prepared from 1-methyl-3-phenylmethylpiperazine 5a by reaction with styrene oxide followed by sulfuric acid cyclization of the resulting alcohol 6a . The diastereomeric mixture 1a was further separated into the diastereomers 1a′ and 1a″ . Similarly 1-methyl-3-(3-chloro-4-methoxyphenyl)piperazine was reacted with styrene oxide to yield 6c which on cyclization with 1.5 equivalents of sulfuric acid in trifluoroacetic acid gave a 3:7 mixture of phenolic, 1d , and methoxy, 1c , octa-hydropyrazino[2,1-b][3]benzazepines. The reaction of the 2,5-piperazinedione 4c with sodium acetoxyborohydride gave a 49% yield of the 2-piperazinone 7 which was similarly carried on to the corresponding 1(2H)-oxohexahydropyrazino[2,1-b][3]benzazepine 9 .     

On the existence of eigenvalues of Toeplitz operators on planar regions

A study is made of the eigenvalues of self-adjoint Toeplitz operators on multiply connected planar regions having holes. The presence of eigenvalues is detected through an analysis of the zeros of translations of theta functions restricted to in .

     

On the decays π0→νν′

Phenomenological aspects of π⁰→νν′ are considered. From the existing experimental information, we deduce an upper limit $\text{Γ(π}{}^0\text{→νν′)}\text{Γ(π}{}^0\text{→}\text{all}\text{)}\text{< 2.4 × 10}{}^{\mathrm{?5}}\text{(90\%}\text{c.l.}\text{)}$. Possible mechanisms which can give rise to this process are discussed. Branching ratios of the order of 10^?6 for decays into the known neutrinos (ν_e, ν_μ) are found possible. Rates comparable to the experimental limit for decays into final states involving additional neutrinos (massive or massless) cannot be ruled out.