Size and Shape Effects of Near-Infrared Light-Activatable Cu2(OH)PO4 Nanostructures on Phototherapeutic Destruction of Drug-Resistant Hypoxia Tumors

Development of simple, robust, and noninvasive therapeutic approaches to treat cancers and improve survival rates is a grand challenge in clinical biomedicine. In particular, the sizes and shape of the nanomaterials play a vital role in dictating their biodistribution and clearance pathways. It remains elusive how the size and shape of a nanomaterial affect its therapeutic efficacy in cancer diagnosis and treatments. To tackle the above problem, the effects of size and shape of Cu₂(OH)PO₄ nanostructures (nanosheets and quantum dots) on the photodynamic therapy (PDT) in destroying malignant drug-resistant lung tumors and on combating the tumor hypoxia problem are investigated and compared. The photocatalytic mechanism of Cu₂(OH)PO₄ nanostructures mainly involves the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as hydroxyl radical (^·OH) and singlet oxygen (¹O₂). Under an oxygen deprivation condition, Cu₂(OH)PO₄ nanosheets still can generate OH radicals to kill cancer cells upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. Overall, in vitro and in vivo experiments show that Cu₂(OH)PO₄ nanosheets can overcome tumor hypoxia problems and effectively mediate dual modal PDT and photothermal therapeutic (PTT) effects on destruction of NCI-H23 lung tumors in mice using ultralow doses (350 mW cm⁻²) of NIR (915 nm) light.     

Synthesis of Dithiocarbamates Containing Disulfide Linkage Using Cyclic Trithiocarbonate and Amines under Solvent–Catalyst Free Condition

A green and facile synthesis of dithiocarbamate derivatives containing disulfide linkage by the ring opening reaction of trithiocarbonate with amines under solvent and catalyst‐free condition with excellent yields is being reported. Environmental benignity, easy work up, smaller reaction time, and lack of column chromatography are the significant features of this protocol. The cyclic trithiocarbonate ( 1 ) has been used as a starting material for the first time to synthesize compounds of biological interest ( 3a , 3b , 3c , 3d , 3e , 3f , 3g , 3h , 3i , 3j , 3k , 3l , 3m , 3n , 3o , 3p , 3q ).     

Highly regio- and diastereoselective three-component reaction of acyclic/cyclic donor–acceptor carbenoids for the synthesis of angularly fused furocoumarins and spirooxindolylfurocoumarins

A highly regio- and stereoselective method has been developed for the synthesis of spiro[furo[3,4-c]chromene-1,3′-indoline]-2′,4(9bH)-dione derivatives via a three component reaction of cyclic diazoamide and aldehyde with methyl 2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carboxylate, 3-acetyl-2H-chromen-2-one and 3-benzoyl-2H-chromen-2-one using 3 mol % of Rh₂(OAc)₄. Similarly, acyclic diazoesters also undergo smooth coupling with carbonyl compounds and 3-substituted coumarin in the presence of 1 mol % of Rh₂(OAc)₄ to afford a novel series of tetrahydro-1H-furo[3,4-c]chromene-1-carboxylates in 78–88% yield with high regio- and stereo-selectivity for the first time.     

Potentiostatic Electrochemical Preparation of Bismuth Nanoribbons and its Application in Biologically Poisoning Lead and Cadmium Heavy Metal Ions Detection

A simple and elegant electrochemical potentiostatic method has been described for the preparation of highly stable and electrocatalytically active bismuth nanoribbons (BiNRs). The average length and width of the BiNRs were of 100±50 nm and 10±5 µm, respectively. Here, disodium ethylene diamine tetraacetate was employed as a scaffold for the growth of BiNRs. The formation of BiNRs was confirmed by surface morphological, elemental and cyclic voltammetric analyses. The BiNRs exhibited excellent electrocatalytic ability in detecting biologically poisoning heavy metal ions such as lead and cadmium. The described BiNRs based sensor presents good linear dependence on lead and cadmium ions in the concentration range of 1–50 µg/L for both metal ions with a detection limit of 0.104 µg/L for lead and 0.145 µg/L for cadmium.     

Relationship between electrophilicity index, Hammett constant and nucleus-independent chemical shift

Inter-relationships between the electrophilicity index (Ω), Hammett constant (ó_p @#@) and nucleusindependent chemical shift (NICS (1) — NICS value one ?ngstrom above the ring centre) have been investigated for a series of meta- and para-substituted benzoic acids. Good linear relationships between Hammett constant vs electrophilicity and Hammett constant vs NICS (1) values have been observed. However, the variation of NICS (1) against CO shows only a low correlation coefficient.     

Phase Equilibria in the Ag–In–Pd System at 700°C

Phase equilibria in the Ag–In–Pd system were determined at 700°C based on experimental results for 21 alloys. A ternary compound T₁ (with the approximate composition AgInPd₂) was identified by XRD analysis. These data were compared with the results of a CALPHAD-type prediction, based on binary thermodynamic data only and a symmetrical Redlich–Kister–Muggianu model. The experimental results will serve as a basis for refined thermodynamic modeling of the different phases in this ternary system.     

Studies on pyrolytically sprayed SnO2 and Sb-SnO2 thin films for LPG sensor applications

Undoped and antimony doped tin oxide thin films of different thicknesses were prepared on mineral glass substrate by spray pyrolysis method via sol-gel route. Both the films show good transmittance in the visible region. Band gap energy of both films lies between 3 to 3.5 eV. X-ray diffraction studies of undoped and antimony doped tin oxide thin films for various annealing temperature show polycrystalline tetragonal structure of SnO₂ with preferred orientation of (110) and (101), respectively and from the XRD data, grain size were also evaluated. AFM images of Undoped and antimony doped tin oxide thin films annealed at 375 °C depict the film thickness and indicate uniform surface pattern without dark pits and with strains of some ups exceeding the specified limit. The prepared films were tested in a specially developed test rig for Liquefied Petroleum Gas detection at different operating temperatures. The response characteristics of the films for LPG detection show maximum sensitivity and minimum response time at the operating temperature 400 °C. Studies indicate that antimony doped tin oxide thin film are one among the suitable candidates for LPG detection with a detection sensitivity and response time (t90) of 11 and 140 seconds, respectively. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Ionic Devices, Anna University, Chennai, India, Nov. 28–30, 2003.     

Self-Assembled Amino Acid Microstructures as Biocompatible Physically Unclonable Functions (BPUFs) for Authentication of Therapeutically Relevant Hydrogels

Counterfeited biomedical products result in significant economic losses and pose a public health hazard for over a million people yearly. Hydrogels, a class of biomedical products, are being investigated as alternatives to conventional biomedical products and are equally susceptible to counterfeiting. Here, a biocompatible, physically unclonable function (BPUF) to verify the authenticity of therapeutically relevant hydrogels are developed. The principle of BPUF relies on the self-assembly of tyrosine into fibril-like structures which are incorporated into therapeutically relevant hydrogels resulting in their random dispersion. This unclonable arrangement leads to distinctive optical micrographs captured using an optical microscope. These optical micrographs are transformed into a unique security code through cryptographic techniques which are then used to authenticate the hydrogel. The temporal stability of the BPUFs are demonstrated and additionally, exploit the dissolution propensity of the structures upon exposure to an adulterant to identify the tampering of the hydrogel. Finally, a platform to demonstrate the translational potential of this technology in validating and detecting tampering of therapeutically relevant hydrogels is developed. The potential of BPUFs to combat hydrogel counterfeiting is exemplified by its simplicity in production, ease of use, biocompatibility, and cost-effectiveness.