Inorganic ion-exchangers in radioactive waste management</p> </p>

Summary The uptake of indigenously synthesized amorphous stannic and zirconium phosphate was assessed for, one of the important fission fragment, cesium from aqueous solutions using a radiotracer technique. A virtual increase in sorptive concentration (from 1.0 ^. 10^-8 to 1.0 ^. 10^-2 mol ^. dm^-3) and pH (from 2.4 to 10.2) and temperature (from 303 to 333 K) enhanced the uptake of cesium on stannic phosphate. However, the extremely high degree of uptake of cesium on zirconium phosphate was almost unaffected with the dilution beyond 10^-5 mol ^. dm^-3 and pH (i.e., from 2.4 to 10.2) and temperature (from 303 to 323 K). Irreversible uptake occurring for these solids follow the Freundlich adsorption isotherm and the presence of several complexing agents viz., sulphate, phosphate, glycine and EDTA did not affect appreciably the uptake of cesium on zirconium phosphate but it did affect for stannic phosphate system. Both these solids showed good radiation stability towards a 11.1 GBq Ra-Be neutron source having neutron flux ca. 3.2 ^. 10⁶ n ^. cm^{-2 .} s^-1 and associated with a nominalg-dose of ca. 1.72 Gy/h, at least for the uptake of cesium.</p> </p>     

In vitro and ex vivo antitubercular activity of diarylheptanoids from the rhizomes of Alpinia officinarum Hance

Phytochemical investigation of methanol extract of the rhizomes of Alpinia officinarum Hance afforded four known diarylheptanoids 1,7-diphenylhept-4-en-3-one (1), 5-hydroxy-1,7-diphenyl-3-heptanone (2), 5-hydroxy-7-(4″-hydroxy-3″-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-3-heptanone (3), and 7-(4″-hydroxy-3″-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenyl heptan-3-one (4).The acetate derivative of (4), 7-(4″-actetate-3″-methoxy phenyl)-1-phenyl heptan-3-one (5), was prepared. These diarylheptanoids exhibited promising in vitro and ex vivo antitubercular activity for the first time against dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra with the IC₅₀ values between 0.34–47.69 and 0.13–22.91 μM, respectively. All compounds showed comparable activity against Mycobacterium bovis BCG (dormant phage) and did not show any activity against two gram + ve and two gram –ve bacterial strains. These compounds were also weakly cytotoxic up to 300 μM against three human cancer cell lines THP-1, Panc-1 and A549.     

Selenoether macrocyclic chemistry--syntheses and properties of new potentially tridentate and hexadentate Se/O-donor macrocycles

Treatment of O(CH2CH2SeCN)2 with Na in NH3(l), followed by dropwise addition of a thf solution of o-C6H4(CH2Br)2 at -40 degrees C leads to formation of three mixed Se/O-donor macrocycles which are separable by column chromatography, the [1 + 1] species L1, the [2 + 2] ring L2 and the [3 + 3] ring L3, of which L2 is by far the major species. Using the same starting materials, but in a high dilution cyclisation at room temperature with NaBH4 in thf/EtOH gives exclusively the [1 + 1] ring, L1. The saturated ring Se/O-donor macrocycles, L4 and L5 are obtained by simultaneous dropwise addition of solutions of O(CH2CH2SeCN)2 and Br(CH2)3Br to NaBH4 suspended in thf/EtOH. The small tridentate Se2O-donor ring, L4, is again the dominant product under these conditions (71%), although the more flexible precursors in this reaction also give rise to the larger Se4O2-donor ring, L5, as a by-product in 8% yield. These compounds are readily separated and purified by column chromatography (ethyl acetate:hexane, 1:19). The new macrocycles have been characterised by 1H, (13)C{1H} and (77)Se{1H} NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, together with crystal structures of L1 and L2. Complexes of L1 and L2 with late transition metals (Pd(II), Pt(II), Cu(I) and Ag(I)) are also described.     

On-Demand Cell Sheet Release with Low Density Peptide-Functionalized Non-LCST Polymer Brushes

Cell sheet harvesting offers a great potential for the development of new therapies for regenerative medicine. For cells to adhere onto surfaces, proliferate, and to be released on demand, thermoresponsive polymeric coatings are generally considered to be required. Herein, an alternative approach for the cell sheet harvesting and rapid release on demand is reported, circumventing the use of thermoresponsive materials. This approach is based on the end-group biofunctionalization of non-thermoresponsive and antifouling poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (p(HEMA)) brushes with cell-adhesive peptide motifs. While the nonfunctionalized p(HEMA) surfaces are cell-repellant, ligation of cell-signaling ligand enables extensive attachment and proliferation of NIH 3T3 fibroblasts until the formation of a confluent cell layer. Remarkably, the formed cell sheets can be released from the surfaces by gentle rinsing with cell-culture medium. The release of the cells is found to be facilitated by low surface density of cell-adhesive peptides, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Additionally, the developed system affords possibility for repeated cell seeding, proliferation, and release on previously used substrates without any additional pretreatment steps. This new approach represents an alternative to thermally triggered cell-sheet harvesting platforms, offering possibility of capture and proliferation of various rare cell lines via appropriate selection of the cell-adhesive ligand.     

Quantitative Analysis of Protein–Protein Interactions by Native Page/Fluorimaging

We have developed a new quantitative native PAGE mobility shift assay, which allows for the measurement of binding affinities for interacting protein pairs, one of which is fluorescently labelled. We have used it to examine recognition of the Simian virus 40 (SV40) large tumour T-antigen (T-ag) nuclear localisation sequence (NLS) by members of the importin (Imp) superfamily of nuclear transport proteins. We demonstrate that the T-ag NLS binds to the Imp α/β heterodimer in NLS-dependent manner, determining that it binds with eight-fold higher affinity (340 nM), when compared to Imp α alone, consistent with autoinhibition of Imp αwhen not complexed with Imp β. The mobility shift assay is able to detect nM binding affinities, making it a sensitive and useful tool to analyse protein–protein interactions in solution.     

A rapid and green method for expedient multicomponent synthesis of N-substituted decahydroacridine-1,8-diones as potential antimicrobial agents

Research on Chemical Intermediates - An efficient, green, high yielding, and quick method for the synthesis of N-substituted decahydroacridine-1,8-diones was achieved by multicomponent reaction...     

Bulk heterojunction solar cells based on self-assembling disc-shaped liquid crystalline material

In this article, effect of addition of disc-shaped liquid crystalline material, namely 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11-hexabutyloxytriphenylene, in poly (3-hexylthiophene): [6, 6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester containing bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells has been investigated. These disc-shaped molecules organise into ordered columnar hexagonal structures through intermolecular π ? π interactions as monitored by polarised light optical microscopy. Current–voltage characteristics of the device prepared with liquid crystal layer exhibited a short-circuit current of 10.5 mA cm^?2 and a fill factor of 35%. The resultant power conversion efficiency (PCE) was 1.54%. The influence of varying the thickness of liquid crystal layer and annealing on these solar cells was also studied. The short circuit current and PCE of 12.9 mA cm^?2 and 2.3% was achieved for these BHJ solar cells containing self-organised discotic liquid crystals in the active layer under one sun condition after annealing.     

β-Cyclodextrin as a supramolecular catalyst for the synthesis of 2Hindazolo[2,1-b]phthalazine-trione derivatives in water and their antimicrobial activities

An efficient and green method has been developed for the synthesis of 2H-indazolo[2,1-b]phthalazinetriones derivatives by employing 15 mol%β-cyclodextrinvia a one-pot multicomponent reaction of aldehyde,dimedone,hydrazine hydrate with succinic anhydride/phthalic anhydride in water at 80 ℃ for first time.The catalyst could be recovered and reused for four consecutive cycles without appreciable loss in catalytic activity and evaluated for in vitro antimicrobial activity against different Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains.The outcome of the screening study showed that compound 6d,6f and7 n exhibited excellent activity against E.coil.Whereas,compound 6f and 6h exhibited excellent activity against P.aeurginosa,and compound 6c,and 6e displayed again excellent activity against Staphylococcus aureus whereas compound 7o shows excellent activity against S.aureus and B.subtilis when compared with Ampicillin(standard control).The results indicated that maximum compounds are moderately effective against bacterial growth and their effectiveness is highest against standard drugs.     

An efficient contemporary multicomponent synthesis for the facile access to coumarin-fused new thiazolyl chromeno[4,3-b]quinolones in aqueous micellar medium

Coumarin-fused polycyclic chromenoquinolone derivatives were synthesized in CTAB/water system with high yields. This protocol is competent, feasible, and sequential one-pot multicomponent path for the building of titled products. In this projected route solvents, catalysts and surfactants are optimized, and the excellent results were achieved by CTAB in water. CTAB/water has efficiently catalyzed the synthesis of new thiazolyl chromenoquinolone heterocycles and avoids the use of hazardous conventional organic solvents. The synthesized compounds were confirmed by IR, mass, ¹H NMR spectral, and elemental analysis. This report represents the first case in which surfactant CTAB has been explored in the synthesis of fused chromenoquinolones in water. A probable reaction mechanism has been established to know the role of CTAB.     

Simultaneous LC Estimation of Glimepiride and Metformin in Glimepiride Immediate Release and Metformin Sustained Release Tablets

In the present study, a simple, rapid and precise liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of glimepiride and metformin in sustained release formulation. The separation was achieved on a Nucleosil 100-5SA column, 250 × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm using a mobile phase composed of 1.7 % ammonium dihydrogen phosphate buffer pH 3.0: acetonitrile (70:30 v/v).The instrumental settings were a flow rate of 1.0 ml min⁻¹ and a detector wavelength of 230 nm. The retention time of glimepiride and metformin were 5.1 and 11.3, respectively. The developed method was validated in terms of specificity, sensitivity, linearity, range, accuracy, precision and ruggedness. The proposed method was successfully applied to the sustained release pharmaceutical dosage form for the simultaneous determination of glimepiride and metformin without any interference by excipients.