Synthesis and cytotoxicity of novel chromenone derivatives bearing 4-nitrophenoxy phenyl acryloyl moiety

This work describes synthesis of novel chromenone derivatives bearing 4-nitrophenoxy phenyl acryloyl moiety through the reaction of 4-(4-nitrophenoxy)benzaldehydes and 3-acetyl-2H-chromen-2-ones in refluxing toluene. Cytotoxicity of all compounds was evaluated using a tetrazolium (MTT) colorimetric assay against human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231.     

A novel sol-gel-based amino-functionalized fiber for headspace solid-phase microextraction of phenol and chlorophenols from environmental samples

A novel amino-functionalized polymer was synthesized using 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl amine (TMSPA) as precursor and hydroxy-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (OH-PDMS) by sol–gel technology and coated on fused-silica fiber. The synthesis was designed in a way to impart polar moiety into the coating network. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of this new coating showed the homogeneity and the porous surface structure of the film. The efficiency of new coating was investigated for headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) of some environmentally important chlorophenols from aqueous samples followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis. Effect of different parameters influencing the extraction efficiency such as extraction temperature, extraction time, ionic strength and pH was investigated and optimized. In order to improve the separation efficiency of phenolic compounds on chromatography column all the analytes were derivatized prior to extraction using acetic anhydride at alkaline condition. The detection limits of the method under optimized conditions were in the range of 0.02–0.05 ng mL⁻¹. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) (n = 6) at a concentration level of 0.5 ng mL⁻¹ were obtained between 6.8 and 10%. The calibration curves of chlorophenols showed linearity in the range of 0.5–200 ng mL⁻¹. The proposed method was successfully applied to the extraction from spiked tap water samples and relative recoveries were higher than 90% for all the analytes.     

Killing vector fields of horizontal Liouville type

On a slit tangent bundle endowed with a Riemannian metric of Sasaki–Finsler type, we introduce two vector fields of horizontal Liouville type and prove that these vector fields are Killing if and only if the base Finsler manifold is of positive constant curvature. In the special case of one of them, we show that if it is Killing vector field then the base manifold is Einstein–Finsler manifold.     

Optical interferometry method for the study of density variation in the nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser interaction with aluminum

An interferometer-based technique has been used to determine the change in the refractive index induced by a Q-switched Nd–YAG laser (λ=532 nm and pulse duration 6 ns) on an aluminum target under atmospheric air pressure. The average density changes in front of the target irradiated by two laser pulse energy were observed for different focusing conditions. An Abel inversion technique is also presented for calculating three-dimensional density distributions in cylindrical coordinates.     

Higher Dimensional Spherically Symmetric Expanding Wormholes in Einstein’s Gravity

We present (n+1)-dimensional expanding structures in a cosmological background. Due to the expansion of spacetime the throat of wormholes enlarge with time. These solutions are examined in the Einstein’s framework. A general linear relation between diagonal elements of an anisotropic energy-momentum tensor is assumed and the spherically symmetric structures are obtained. Solutions include naked singularity and expanding wormholes in an open universe. The traversibility of wormhole solutions is explored and we find that they are basically traversable. Finally, we consider the corresponding energy-momentum tensor properties and specially take into account the standard energy conditions.     

Development of a new correlation to calculate permeability for flows with high Knudsen number

Flows with high Knudsen number play a prominent role in many engineering applications. The present study is an effort toward the simulation of flow with high Knudsen number using modified lattice Boltzmann method(LBM) through a porous medium in a channel. The effect of collision between molecules and solid walls, which is required to accurately simulate transition flow regime, is taken into account using a modified relaxation time. Slip velocity on the wall, which is another significant difficulty in simulating transition flow regime, is captured using the slip reflection boundary condition(SRBC). The geometry of porous medium is considered as in-line and staggered. The results are in good agreement with previous works. A new correlation is obtained between permeability, Knudsen number and porosity for flows in transition flow regimes.     

The Impacts of Different Biological Treatments on the Transformation of Explosives Waste Contaminated Sludge

The dinitrotoluene isomers 2,4 and 2,6-dinitrotoluene (DNT) represent highly toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic compounds used in explosive manufacturing and in commercial production of polyurethane foam. Bioremediation, the use of microbes to degrade residual DNT in industry wastewaters, represents a promising, low cost and environmentally friendly alternative technology to landfilling. In the present study, the effect of different bioremediation strategies on the degradation of DNT in a microcosm-based study was evaluated. Biostimulation of the indigenous microbial community with sulphur phosphate (2.3 g/kg sludge) enhanced DNT transformation (82% transformation, from 300 g/L at Day 0 to 55 g/L in week 6) compared to natural attenuation over the same period at 25 °C. The indigenous microbial activity was found to be capable of transforming the contaminant, with around 70% transformation of DNT occurring over the microcosm study. 16S rDNA sequence analysis revealed that while the original bacterial community was dominated by Gammaproteobacteria (30%), the addition of sulphur phosphate significantly increased the abundance of Betaproteobacteria by the end of the biostimulation treatment, with the bacterial community dominated by Burkholderia (46%) followed by Rhodanobacter, Acidovorax and Pseudomonas. In summary, the results suggest biostimulation as a treatment choice for the remediation of dinitrotoluenes and explosives waste.