Investigation of the spontaneous emission rate of perylene dye molecules encapsulated into three-dimensional nanofibers via FLIM method

The decay dynamics of perylene dye molecules encapsulated in polymer nanofibers produced by electrospinning of polymethyl methacrylate are investigated using a confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy technique. Time-resolved experiments show that the fluorescence lifetime of perylene dye molecules is enhanced when the dye molecules are encapsulated in a three-dimensional photonic environment. It is hard to produce a sustainable host with exactly the same dimensions all the time during fabrication to accommodate dye molecules for enhancement of spontaneous emission rate. The electrospinning method allows us to have a control over fiber diameter. It is observed that the wavelength of monomer excitation of perylene dye molecules is too short to cause enhancement within nanofiber photonic environment of 330 nm diameters. However, when these nanofibers are doped with more concentrated perylene, in addition to monomer excitation, an excimer excitation is generated. This causes observation of the Purcell effect in the three-dimensional nanocylindrical photonic fiber geometry.     

Determination of the top quark mass through the measurement of the\frac{{\Gamma ({\rm Z} \to b\bar b)}}{{\Gamma _{hadr} - \Gamma (Z \to b\bar b)}} ratio at high luminosity LEP

We investigate a possible role of invariant (the integral of motion) in nonstationary field theory by employing an explicit example of a scalar field interacting with a time-dependent external electromagnetic field. We show how in a unique manner the invariant operator leads to the particle concept in the Schrödinger picture. This approach gives an intermediate connection between the operator and functional-Schrödinger-equation formalisms. An application to the problem of particle creation is also discussed briefly.     

Phenothiazine-based chalcones as potential dual-target inhibitors toward cholinesterases (AChE,BuChE) and monoamine oxidases (MAO-A,MAO-B)

Chalcones targeting neurodegenerative diseases have been known as attractive structures in drug design and discovery. In this study, phenothiazine-based chalcones as ChEs and MAOs inhibitors were designed and synthesized via base-catalyzed Claisen-Schmidt condensation, and chemical structures of the compounds were elucidated by NMRs and HRMS. Compounds 3 and 9 showed promising inhibition potency against AChE enzyme with IC₅₀ values of 0.221 μM and 0.053 μM while compound 9 displayed remarkable inhibition potency toward MAO-B enzyme with IC₅₀ value of 0.048 μM. Compound 9 , as a dual-target inhibitor, selectively inhibited AChE and MAO-B enzymes. This promising behavior is an advantage for the compound since MAO-B and AChE inhibition have a role in Alzheimer's disease. Fused tricyclic ring systems such as phenothiazine incorporated with chalcone moiety being multitargeting ligands may help scientists for the rational design of novel lead compounds targeting neurodegenerative illnesses.     

Design,synthesis and evaluation of spermine-based pH-sensitive amphiphilic gene delivery systems: Multifunctional non-viral gene carriers

Design and development of efficient non-viral gene delivery systems is critical to overcome various barriers for effective intracellular gene delivery.Eight new spermine-based protonatable surfactants were designed,synthesized and evaluated as non-viral pH-sensitive gene carriers.These carriers formed stable complexes with plasmid DNA at an N/P ratio as low as 2.The sizes of the carrier/pDNA nanoparticles (N/P = 12) were in the range of 90–130 nm,smaller than that of Lipofectamine2000/pDNA nanoparticles.The...     

Synthesis and antifungal evaluation of 1-aryl-2-dimethyl- aminomethyl-2-propen-1-one hydrochlorides

The development of resistance to current antifungal therapeutics drives the search for new effective agents. The fact that several acetophenone-derived Mannich bases had shown remarkable antifungal activities in our previous studies led us to design and synthesize some acetophenone-derived Mannich bases, 1-8 and 2-acetylthiophene-derived Mannich base 9, 1-aryl-2-dimethylaminomethyl-2-propen-1-one hydrochloride, to evaluate their antifungal activities. The designed chemical structures have α,β-unsaturated ketone moieties, which are responsible for the bioactivities of the Mannich bases. The aryl part was C?H?(1); 4-CH?C?H? (2); 4-CH?OC?H? (3); 4-ClC?H? (4); 4-FC?H? (5); 4-BrC?H? (6); 4-HOC?H? (7); 4-NO?C?H? (8); and C?H?S(2-yl) (9). In this study the designed compounds were synthesized by the conventional heating method and also by the microwave irradiation method to compare these methods in terms of reaction times and yields to find an optimum synthetic method, which can be applied for the synthesis of Mannich bases in further studies. Since there are limited number of studies reporting the synthesis of Mannich bases by microwave irradiation, this study may also contribute to the general literature on Mannich bases. Compound 7 was reported for the first time. Antifungal activities of all compounds and synthesis of the compounds by microwave irradiation were also reported for the first time by this study. Fungi (15 species) were used for antifungal activity test. Amphotericin B was tested as an antifungal reference compound. In conclusion, compounds 1-6, and 9, which had more potent (2-16 times) antifungal activity than the reference compound amphotericin B against some fungi, can be model compounds for further studies to develop new antifungal agents. In addition, microwave irradiation can be considered to reduce reaction period, while the conventional method can still be considered to obtain compounds with higher reaction yields in the synthesis of new Mannich bases.     

Energy absorption buildup factors of some potential bioactive compounds in the energy region 0.015–15 MeV

Kinetic energy released per unit mass relative to air and energy absorption buildup factors has been calculated for some potential bioactive compounds in the energy region of 0.015–15?MeV. The bioactive compounds of 1-aryl-3-dibenzylamino-propane-1-on hydrochloride type Mannich bases were used in this work. Aryl part was changed as C₆H₅ (1), 4-CH₃C₆H₄ (2), C₄H₃S-2-yl (3), 4-FC₆H₄ (4), 4-BrC₆H₄ (5), 4-ClC₆H₄ (6), and 4-NO₂C₆H₄ (7). The energy absorption buildup factors have been calculated for penetration depth of 40 mean free paths. It is observed that kinetic energy released per unit mass relative to air depends on the photon energy and chemical content of compounds. The compounds with least mean atomic number possess the maximum value of energy absorption buildup factors. Also, the energy absorption buildup factors are found the highest in intermediate energy, whereas the lowest in low as well as high energies.     

Langevin Dynamics Simulation of Transport and Aggregation of Soot Nano-particles in Turbulent Flows

The present paper uses Langevin dynamics (LD) to investigate the aggregation of soot nano-particles in turbulent flows. Interparticle forces are included, and the computation of the individual particles by LD is retained even after aggregate formation such that collision events and locations can be based on center-to-center particle distances without invoking any modelling assumptions of aggregate shape and/or collision frequency. We focus on the interactions between the specific hydrodynamic conditions and the particle properties and their effect on the resulting agglomerates’ morphologies. The morphology is characterized by the fractal dimension, D _f . Computations of particle aggregation in homogeneous isotropic turbulence and in shear flows dominated by counter-rotating vortices with a wide range of turbulence intensities and particle sizes indicate that the evolution of the agglomerates’ shapes can be adequately parameterized by the size of the agglomerates and the Knudsen and Péclet numbers, the latter being based on the smallest turbulence scales. The computations further suggest that the shapes of agglomerates of certain sizes are relatively independent of time and relatively insensitive to larger turbulence structures. The fractal dimensions are modelled as functions of radius of gyration, Kn and Pe. The fitted expressions show good agreement with the LD simulations and represent the entire growth process of the agglomerates. A direct comparison of selected aggregates with experimental data shows very good qualitative agreement. A thorough quantitative validation of the evolution of the computed aggregate characteristics is, however, presently hindered by the challenges for and therefore lack of suitable experiments under appropriately controlled conditions.     

On a Lagrangian Formulation of the Incompressible Euler Equation

In this paper we show that the incompressible Euler equation on the Sobolev space $H^s(\mathbb{R}^n), s › n ⁄ 2+1$, can be expressed in Lagrangian coordinates as a geodesic equation on an infinite dimensional manifold. Moreover the Christoffel map describing the geodesic equation is real analytic. The dynamics in Lagrangian coordinates is described on the group of volume preserving diffeomorphisms, which is an analytic submanifold of the whole diffeomorphism group. Furthermore it is shown that a Sobolev class vector field integrates to a curve on the diffeomorphism group.     

Monoamine Oxidase (MAO) as a Potential Target for Anticancer Drug Design and Development

Monoamine oxidases (MAOs) are oxidative enzymes that catalyze the conversion of biogenic amines into their corresponding aldehydes and ketones through oxidative deamination. Owing to the crucial role of MAOs in maintaining functional levels of neurotransmitters, the implications of its distorted activity have been associated with numerous neurological diseases. Recently, an unanticipated role of MAOs in tumor progression and metastasis has been reported. The chemical inhibition of MAOs might be a valuable therapeutic approach for cancer treatment. In this review, we reported computational approaches exploited in the design and development of selective MAO inhibitors accompanied by their biological activities. Additionally, we generated a pharmacophore model for MAO-A active inhibitors to identify the structural motifs to invoke an activity.