RhIII‐Catalyzed C?H Activation: A Versatile Route towards Various Polycyclic Pyridinium Salts

An efficient and convenient method for the synthesis of highly substituted polycyclic pyridinium salts from the reaction of various 2‐aryl‐pyridines and 2‐aryl‐sp²‐nitrogen‐atom‐containing heterocycles with alkynes through rhodium(III)‐catalyzed C? H activation and annulation under an O₂ atmosphere is described. A possible mechanism that involves the chelation‐assisted C? H activation of the 2‐aryl‐pyridine substrate, insertion of the alkyne, and reductive elimination is proposed. This mechanism was supported by the isolation of a five‐membered rhodacycle ( I′ ). In addition, kinetic isotope studies were performed to understand the intimate reaction mechanism.     

Preparation of Silver Nanoparticles Incorporated Electrospun Polyurethane Nano-fibrous Mat for Wound Dressing

Polyurethane foam is currently used as an exudate absorptive wound dressing material. In this study silver (Ag) nanoparticles were incorporated into electrospun polyurethane (PU) nanofiber to enhance the antibacterial as well as wound healing properties. The electrospinning parameters were optimized for PU with and without silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles were synthesized by aqueous and organic methods. The water absorption, antibacterial and cytocompatibility of the PU-Ag nanofibers were studied and compared to that of conventional PU foam. The results indicated that the PU-Ag nanofibers could be used for wound dressing applications.     

Quantification of defects in composites and rubber materials using active thermography

Active (lock-in and pulsed) thermography technique is used to quantify defect features in specimens of glass fiber reinforced polymer, high density rubber, low density rubber and aluminum bonded low density rubber with artificially produced defects. The relationship between phase contrast and thermal contrast with defect features are examined. Using lock-in approach, the optimal frequencies for different specimens are determined experimentally. It is observed that with increasing defect depth, the phase contrast increases while the thermal contrast decreases. Defects with radius to depth ratio greater than 1.0 are found to be discernible. The phase difference between sound and defective region as a function of square root of excitation frequency for glass fiber reinforced polymer specimen is found to be in good agreement with the predictions of Bennet and Patty model [1]. Further, using pulsed thermography, the defects depth could be measured accurately for glass fiber reinforced polymer specimen from the thermal contrast using the analytical approach of Balageas et al. [2].     

Inorganic-organic Ag-rhodamine 6G hybrid nanorods: "turn on" fluorescent sensors for highly selective detection of Pb2+ ions in aqueous solution

Lead metal ions are of great concern and the monitoring of their concentration in the environment has become extremely important. In the present study, a new inorganic-organic hybrid assay of Ag nanorods (AgNR)-Rhodamine 6G (R6G) was developed for the sensitive and selective determination of Pb(2+) ions in aqueous solutions. To the best of our knowledge there is almost no literature on the use of silver nanorod sensors for determination of lead ions in aqueous solutions. The sensor is developed by the coating of R6G on the surface of AgNRs. The sensing is based on the photoluminescence of R6G. The sensor was rapid as the measurements were carried out within 3 min of addition of the test solution to the AgNR-R6G hybrid. Moreover, the system showed excellent stability at tested concentration levels of Pb(2+) ions. The naked eye detection of the colour was possible with 1 mg L(-1) of Pb(2+) ions. The present method has a detection limit of 50 μg L(-1) of Pb(2+) (for a signal/noise (S/N) ratio > 3). The selectivity toward Pb(2+) ions against other metal ions was improved using chelating agents. The proposed method was validated by analysis using different techniques.     

Sonication induced sheet formation at the air-water interface

A hydrophobic pentadecapeptide, AGAAAA-GAVVGGLGG (1), part of the prion sequence PrP (106-127), on fresh aqueous dissolution takes a mixture of random and sheet conformations which forms a stable monolayer with a high beta-sheet content when compressed at the air-water interface. This also develops into a kinetically stabilized beta-sheet structure on sonication.     

Positron annihilation studies in ZnO nanoparticles

We report results on positron annihilation spectroscopic (PAS) studies using lifetime and coincidence Doppler broadening techniques in zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (4 to 40 nm) synthesized by solid state pyrolytic reaction followed by annealing in the temperature range of 200 ^°C to 800 ^°C. Positron lifetime in the nanoparticles are observed to be higher than bulk lifetime in all the cases. Theoretical calculation of lifetime indicates the presence of either Zn or (Zn, O) vacancy clusters which migrate and anneal out at high temperature. Comparison of ratio spectra from coincidence Doppler broadening measurement and calculated electron momentum distribution indicates the presence of either Zn or (Zn, O) vacancies. In addition, photoluminescence (PL) measurements have been carried out to examine the role of defects on the intensity of emission in the visible region.     

Stress analysis, structure and magnetic properties of sputter deposited Ni-Mn-Ga ferromagnetic shape memory thin films

The residual stress instituted in Ni-Mn-Ga thin films during deposition is a key parameter influencing their shape memory applications by affecting its structural and magnetic properties. A series of Ni-Mn-Ga thin films were prepared by dc magnetron sputtering on Si(1 0 0) and glass substrates at four different sputtering powers of 25, 45, 75 and 100 W for systematic investigation of the residual stress and its effect on structure and magnetic properties. The residual stresses in thin films were characterized by a laser scanning technique. The as-deposited films were annealed at 600 °C for 1 h in vacuum for structural and magnetic ordering. The compressive stresses observed in as-deposited films transformed into tensile stresses upon annealing. The annealed films were found to be crystalline and possess mixed phases of both austenite and martensite, exhibiting good soft magnetic properties. It was found that the increase of sputtering power induced coarsening in thin films. Typical saturation magnetization and coercivity values were found to be 330 emu/cm³ and 215 Oe, respectively. The films deposited at 75 and 100 W display both structural and magnetic transitions above room temperature.     

Microstructural characterization of materials by neural network technique

Ultrasonic signals received by pulse echo technique from plane parallel Zircaloy 2 samples of fixed thickness and of three different microstructures, were subjected to signal analysis, as conventional parameters like velocity and attenuation could not reliably discriminate them. The signals, obtained from these samples, were first sampled and digitized. Modified Karhunen Loeve Transform was used to reduce their dimensionality. A multilayered feed forward Artificial Neural Network was trained using a few signals in their reduced domain from the three different microstructures. The rest of the signals from the three samples with different microstructures were classified satisfactorily using this network.     

Newly Isolated Lactic Acid Bacteria with Probiotic Features for Potential Application in Food Industry

Five newly isolated lactic acid bacteria were identified as Weissella cibaria, Enterococcus faecium, and three different strains of Lactobacillus plantarum by 16S rRNA sequencing. Essential probiotic requirements of these isolates such as tolerance to phenol, low pH, high sodium chloride, and bile salt concentration were checked. Efficiency in adherence to mucin and hydrophobicity of the bacterial cell were also evaluated by in vitro studies. Antimicrobial activities against some pathogens were tried, and the sensitivity of these strains against 25 different antibiotics was also checked. Further studies revealed Weissella and Enterococcus as substantial producers of folic acid. Folate is involved as a cofactor in many metabolic reactions, and it has to be an essential component in the human diet. The folate level in the fermented samples was determined by microbiological assay using Lactobacillus casei NCIM 2364 as indicator strain. The three strains of L. plantarum showed significant inhibitory activity against various fungi that commonly contaminate food stuffs indicating their potential as a biopreservative of food material.