A Simple and Convenient Method of Standardization of Piper longum — An Ayurvedic Medicinal Plant

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - The dried fruits of Piper longum are extensively used in Ayurvedic medicinal preparations. A simple and convenient HPTLC method has...     

Aminothiozolyl maleamic acid based multi chelating hydrogels for the separation of uranium (VI) ions from aqueous environment

Multi chelating hydrogels (MCHs) were synthesized using a simple radical polymerization method from acrylamide, hydroxyethyl acrylate, and N‐(2‐aminothiozolyl)maleamic acid (AMA) monomers, methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) a cross‐linker, and azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) an initiator. The resulting MCHs were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy to confirm the formation and morphological properties. The MCHs were highly swellable in aqueous solutions as well as different pH conditions. MCHs were applied to evaluate uptake behavior of Uranium (VI) ion from aqueous solutions. Batch adsorption studies were performed by varying experimental conditions like contact time, pH, and initial metal ion concentration. The kinetics data was best suited with the second‐order equation model. The equilibrium adsorption data was correlated with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. This study suggests that maximum Uranium (VI) ion uptake has been found to be 288 mg.g^?1 and regenerated for 5 cycles without any significant change. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigations of Molecular Interactions in Binary Mixtures of the Ionic Liquid [Emim][BF<Subscript>4</Subscript>] and <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-Methylaniline at Temperatures from 293.15 to 323.15 K

Density (ρ) and speed of sound (u) values were measured for the binary mixture of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([Emim][BF₄]) and N-methylaniline over the entire range of mole fractions at temperatures from 293.15 to 323.15 K under atmospheric pressure. Using the basic experimental data, various acoustic and thermodynamic parameters were calculated and are discussed with regard to the molecular interactions in the binary systems. The partial molar volumes and partial molar isentropic compressibilities at infinite dilution have also been calculated. The excess values were fitted to Redlich–Kister polynomial equation to estimate the binary coefficients and standard deviation between the experimental and calculated values. Further, the molecular interactions in the binary mixture system are analyzed using the experimental FT-IR spectra recorded at room temperature.     

Asymmetric Reduction of Ketones Using In Situ Generated Oxazaborolidines From (1R-Camphor as Catalysts

Benzyl and 1-naphthyl derivatives of 1,2-amino alcohols derived from (1R)-(+)-camphor were made by a simple and efficient procedure and these were used for the generation of oxazaborolidines with borane. The asymmetric reductions of prochiral ketones were carried out using these in situ generated oxazaborolidines as catalysts.     

Defensive Mechanisms in Cucurbits against Melon Fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae) Infestation through Excessive Production of Defensive Enzymes and Antioxidants

Melon fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae) is the most common pest of cucurbits, and it directly causes damage to cucurbit fruits in the early developmental stage. The infection of fruit tissues induces oxidative damage through increased generation of cellular reactive oxygen species. The effects of melon fly infestation on the production of defensive enzymes and antioxidant capabilities in five cucurbit species, namely, bottle gourd, chayote, cucumber, snake gourd, and bitter gourd, were investigated in this study. The total phenolic and flavonoid content was considerably higher in melon fly infestation tissues compared to healthy and apparently healthy tissues. The chayote and bottle gourd tissues expressed almost 1.5- to 2-fold higher phenolic and flavonoid contents compared to the tissues of bitter gourd, snake gourd, and cucumber upon infestation. Defensive enzymes, such as peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and catalase (CAT), were high in healthy and infected tissues of chayote and bottle gourd compared to bitter gourd, snake gourd, and cucumber. The activity of POD (60–80%), SOD (30–35%), PPO (70–75%), and CAT (40–50%) were high in infected chayote and bottle gourd tissue, representing resistance against infestation, while bitter gourd, snake gourd, and cucumber exhibited comparatively lower activity suggesting susceptibility to melon fly infection. The antioxidant properties were also high in the resistant cucurbits compared to the susceptible cucurbits. The current research has enlightened the importance of redox-regulatory pathways involving ROS neutralization through infection-induced antioxidative enzymes in host cucurbit resistance. The melon fly infestation depicts the possible induction of pathways that upregulate the production of defensive enzymes and antioxidants as a defensive strategy against melon fly infestation in resistant cucurbits.     

Analysis of pool boiling heat transfer over porous surfaces

A semi-empirical model for pool boiling over porous surfaces is presented. The pressure drop across the porous surface is estimated using Darcy?'s law. The significance of the latent heat flux contribution for highly porous surfaces is examined. Two nucleation factors are defined and correlated in terms of measurable quantities using literature data. An expression for the total heat flux in terms of the wall superheat, pore geometry and the physical properties of the liquid is presented. The present model matches well with literature data on pool boiling over porous surfaces, both flat surfaces and tubes from four different sources, thus validating the present approach.     

A molecular theory of smectic C liquid crystals made of rod-like molecules

Organic compounds exhibiting the smectic C phase are made of rod-like molecules that have dipolar groups with lateral components. We argue that the off-axis character of the lateral dipolar groups can account for tilt in layered smectics (SmC, SmC*, SmI etc.). We develop a mean-field theory of the smectic C phase based on a single-particle potential of the form U _C ∝ sin(2θ)cosφ, consistent with the biaxial nature of the phase, where θ and φ are the polar and azimuthal angles, respectively. The hard-rod interactions that favour the smectic A phase with zero tilt angle are also included. The theoretical phase diagrams compare favourably with experimental trends. Our theory also leads to the following results: i) a first-order smectic C to smectic A transition above some value of the McMillan parameter α, leading to a tricritical point on the smectic C to smectic A transition line and ii) a first-order smectic C to smectic C transition over a very small range of values of the model parameters. We have also extended the theory to include the next higher-order term in the tilting potential and to include the effect of different tilt angles for the molecular core and the chain in the SmC phase. Received 3 August 2002 RID="a" ID="a"Present address: Department of Physics, Vijaya College, R. V. Road, Bangalore - 560 004, India. RID="b" ID="b"e-mail: nvmadhu@rri.res.in     

Bound state solutions of the two-electron Dirac-Coulomb equation

We show that the Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian hasnormalizable eigenfunctions corresponding to bound states.     

Influence of flexoelectricity on electrohydrodynamic instabilities in nematics

We have incorporated the flexoelectric terms in developing one-dimensional models of E.H.D. instabilities in nematics both under D.C. and A.C. excitations. It is shown that, using this model, we can account for the following experimental observations, which could not be adequately explained by earlier models: (i) The observation of oblique rolls whose wave vector q makes an angle α with the undistorted director n ₀, up to some frequency v ₀ in the conduction regime; (ii) the oblique rolls found in the dielectric regime; and (iii) the ‘longitudinal’ E.H.D. instabilities in some systems with negative conductivity anisotropy. We also present some experimental observations under D.C. excitation.