Curing Kinetics and Thermal Stability of Diglycidyl Ether of Bisphenol‐A Using Mixtures of Heterocyclic Derivatives of Stannanes and 4,4′‐Diaminodiphenylsulfone

Curing kinetics of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) in the presence of varying molar ratios of derivatives of stannanes to 4,4'-diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) was investigated by the dynamic differential scanning calorimetry. The derivatives were synthesized by reacting 1 mole of biguanide (B) with 1 mole of phenylethyltindihydride (PETH) or phenylmethyltindihydride (PMTH) or phenylbutyltindihydride (PBTH) and designated as BPETH or BPMTH or BPBTH respectively. These derivatives were characterized by elemental analysis and spectroscopic techniques such as IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and ¹¹⁹Sn NMR. The mixtures of these derivatives to DDS at ratios of 0∶1, 0.25∶0.75, 0.5∶0.5, 0.75∶0.25 and 1∶0 were used to investigate the curing behaviour of DGEBA. The multiple heating rate method (5, 10, and 15 and 20 ℃•min^－1) was used to study the curing kinetics of epoxy resins. The thermal stability of the isothermally cured resins was also evaluated using dynamic thermogravimetry in a nitrogen atmosphere.     

Optimization of Elicitation Conditions with Methyl Jasmonate and Salicylic Acid to Improve the Productivity of Withanolides in the Adventitious Root Culture of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal

Adventitious root cultures derived from leaf derived callus of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal were treated with methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid independently. Biomass accumulation, culture age, elicitation period, and culture duration were optimized for higher withanolides production in the two best-responding varieties collected from Kolli hills (Eastern Ghats) and Cumbum (Western Ghats) of Tamil Nadu, India. Between the two elicitors, salicylic acid (SA) improved the production of major withanolides (withanolide A, withanolide B, withaferin A, and withanone) as well as minor constituents (12-deoxy withastramonolide, withanoside V, and withanoside IV) in the Kolli hills variety. Treatment of root biomass (11.70?g FW) on 30-day-old adventitious root cultures with 150???M SA for 4?h elicitor exposure period resulted in the production of 64.65?mg?g^?l dry weight (DW) withanolide A (48-fold), 33.74?mg?g^?l DW withanolide B (29-fold), 17.47?mg?g^?l DW withaferin A (20-fold), 42.88?mg?g^?l DW withanone (37-fold), 5.34?mg?g^?l DW 12-deoxy withastramonolide (nine fold), 7.23?mg?g^?l DW withanoside V (seven fold), and 9.45?mg?g^?l DW withanoside IV (nine fold) after 10?days of elicitation (40th day of culture) when compared to untreated cultures. This is the first report on the use of elicitation strategy on the significant improvement in withanolides production in the adventitious root cultures of W. somnifera.     

Coupling of native IEF and extended X-ray absorption fine structure to characterize zinc-binding sites from pI isoforms of SOD1 and A4V pathogenic mutant

Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) has already provided high-resolution structures of metal-binding sites in a wide variety of metalloproteins. Usually, EXAFS is performed on purified metalloproteins either in solution or crystallized form but purification steps are prone to modify the metallation state of the protein. We developed a protocol to couple EXAFS analysis to metalloprotein separation using native gel electrophoresis. This coupling opens a large field of applications as metalloproteins can be characterized in their native state avoiding purification steps. Using native isoelectric focusing, the method enables the EXAFS analysis of metalloprotein pI isoforms. We applied this methodology to SOD1, wild-type, and Ala4Val mutant (A4V), a mutation found in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) because decreased Zn affinity to SOD1 mutants is suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of this neurodegenerative disease. We observed similar coordination structures for Zn in wild-type and mutant proteins, in all measured pI isoforms, demonstrating the feasibility of EXAFS on electrophoresis gels and suggesting that the Zn-binding site is not structurally modified in A4V SOD1 mutant.     

Unexpected formation of hydroxybiphenylmethane derivatives and some new observations on Labat test

An unexpected synthesis of symmetrical hydroxybiphenylmethanes involving the reaction of 2-hydroxyphenyl benzyl ketones with ethoxymethyl chloride has been observed. Some new interesting observations of Labat test on colorimetric detection of bichalconyloxy, bichalconyl and biflavonylmethanes having oxygenated ortho positions are presented.     

Experimental and theoretical investigation of superharmonic resonances in a planar oscillator under angular base excitation

This paper explores the complicated dynamic behavior of a mechanical oscillator under harmonic angular excitation. The motivation behind this work comes from the nature of the actuation produced by high-performance dither motors. A lumped-mass model, which captures the primary and the 1 : 2 superharmonic resonances observed on an analogous experimental test setup, is put forward. The equations of motion governing the dynamics of the model are derived and are found to comprise both parametric and direct forcing terms. The governing equations are solved analytically using the generalized harmonic balance method and numerical integration. The method of multiple scales is utilized to obtain closed-form expressions that relate the system parameters to the oscillation amplitudes in the vicinity of the direct and the 1 : 2 superharmonic resonances. It is found that eccentricity plays a vital role in the occurrence of the resonances. Besides, the relationship between the excitation amplitudes and the resulting oscillations for the direct and the superharmonic resonances are dissimilar. A few salient differences between classical (rectilinear) and angular base excitation mechanisms are pointed out.