Direct C-allylation of aryl-alkyl/glycosyl carbinols: facile synthesis of C-linked carbo-beta2-/gamma2-/delta2-amino acids

A facile ZrCl4-catalyzed direct allylation of the p-methoxyphenyl-alkyl/glycosyl carbinols at room temperature, and the conversion of the derived aryl-glycosyl-alkenes into hitherto unknown C-linked carbo-beta2-/gamma2-/delta2-amino acids is reported.     

Use of single-drop microextraction for determination of fentanyl in water samples

Fentanyl is a very potent synthetic narcotic analgesic. Because of its strong sedative properties, it has become an analogue of illicit drugs such as heroin. Its unambiguous detection and identification in environmental samples can be regarded as strong evidence of its illicit preparation. In this paper we report application of single-drop microextraction (SDME) for analysis of water samples spiked with fentanyl. Experimental conditions which affect the performance of SDME, for example the nature of the extracting solvent, sample stirring speed, extraction time, ionic strength, and solution pH, were optimized. The method was found to be linear in the concentration range 0.10–10 ng mL⁻¹. The limits of quantitation and detection of the method were 100 pg mL⁻¹ and <75 pg mL⁻¹, respectively. This technique is superior to other sample-preparation techniques because of the simple experimental set-up, short analysis time, high sensitivity, and minimum use of organic solvent.     

Covering grids and orthogonal polygons with periscope guards

The problem of finding minimum guard covers is NP-hard for simple polygons and open for simple orthogonal polygons. Alternative definitions of visibility have been considered for orthogonal polygons. In this paper we try to determine the complexity of finding guard covers in orthogonal polygons by considering periscope visibility. Under periscope visibility, two points in an orthogonal polygon are visible if there is an orthogonal path with at most one bend that connects them without intersecting the exterior of the polygon. We show that finding minimum periscope guard (as well as k-periscope and s-guard) covers is NP-hard for 3-d grids. We present an O(n³) algorithm for finding minimum periscope guard covers for simple grids and discuss how to extend the algorithm to obtain minimum k-periscope guard covers. We show that this algorithm can be applied to obtain minimum periscope guard covers for a class of simple orthogonal polygon in O(n³).     

Free vibration of nonhomogeneous Timoshenko nanobeams

Free vibration of nonhomogeneous nanobeams based on nonlocal Timoshenko beam theory has been studied using boundary characteristic orthogonal polynomial functions in the Rayleigh–Ritz method. Orthogonal polynomial functions satisfying essential boundary conditions have been generated with the help of Gram–Schmidt Process. Nonhomogeneity of nanobeams is assumed to arise due to linear and quadratic variations in Young’s modulus and density of the nanobeams with space coordinate. The lowest three frequency parameters of nanobeams subjected to different boundary conditions have been computed for various values of nonhomogeneous parameters to demonstrate the effect of each parameters on the frequency parameters. A detailed investigation has been reported for all the possible cases of variations in Young’s modulus and density to analyze the numerical results for different scaling effect parameters and four types of boundary conditions. Present results are compared with the results in special cases and are found to be in good agreement.     

Analysis of the MAP/G a ,b /1/N Queue

The Markovian arrival process (MAP) is used to represent the bursty and correlated traffic arising in modern telecommunication network. In this paper, we consider a single server finite capacity queue with general bulk service rule in which arrivals are governed by MAP and service times are arbitrarily distributed. The distributions of the number of customers in the queue at arbitrary, post-departure and pre-arrival epochs have been obtained using the supplementary variable and the embedded Markov chain techniques. Computational procedure has been given when the service time distribution is of phase type.     

A convenient synthesis of methyl 2-hydroxy-4-oxo-4-(substituted phenyl) butanoates from malic acid

A synthesis of methyl 2-hydroxy-4-oxo-4-(substituted phenyl)butanoates has been accomplished using Friedel-Crafts acylation of substituted benzenes with 2-acetoxybutanoyl chloride.The key feature of this strategy is that various 4-arylbutanoates can be obtained conveniently,which are important intermediates for the synthesis of biologically active compounds including ACE inhibitors.     

PEG-SO_3H as catalyst for the Beckmann rearrangement and dehydration of oximes

Under mild conditions, conversion of a variety of ketoximes and aldoximes to their corresponding amides and nitriles proceeded in the presence of PEG-SO3H with high yields.     

Heterologous Expression of Legumin Gene in <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis> Isolated from cDNA Clones of Immature Seeds of Pigeonpea (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cajanus cajan</Emphasis> L.)

Proteins are one of the targets for improving the nutritional quality, and attempts are being made through manipulation of its native gene(s). Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) is one of the nutritionally important legumes of tropical and subtropical regions of the world, and studies of the structure of seed storage proteins and their interactions have been limited by the difficulty of isolating single-protein subunits in large amounts from a complex mixture of the seed endosperm. One way to overcome this problem is the expression of seed storage protein-encoded gene(s) in heterologous systems that have additional advantages wherein specific gene modifications can be made and the new gene constructs can quickly be expressed. Legumin protein was extracted from pigeonpea seeds of different developmental stages (5th to 25th day after flowering [DAF]) and characterized. The legumin gene (leg) of size 1.482 kb was screened, using the deoxygenin-labeled legumin probe, from the complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) library, constructed from 18-day-old (DAF) immature seeds of pigeonpea and sequenced (accession no. AF3555403). The legumin gene was further characterized by DNA blotting, and its probable secondary structure was predicted using online ExPASy server. Significant Protein Data Bank (PDB) alignment of the deduced legumin protein by BLASTP was observed with proglycinin of soybean. Comparative 3D structural homology was predicted by Cn3D software, and the legumin protein showed the 3D structure alignment and interaction homology with proglycinin chain 1FXZA (PDB no. 1FXZ). The legumin gene was subcloned in vector pET-24a driven by the bacterial promoter, and its expression was detected in Escherichia coli by immunoblotting using polyclonal antibodies, raised against the purified legumin protein.