Theoretical and Experimental Study of Long-Period Grating Refractive Index Sensor

Abstract

This article presents the theoretical and experimental investigation of the response of long-period gratings as a refractive index sensor. Cladding modes are calculated, and results are compared with Optigrating 4.2.2 (Optiwave Systems Inc., Ottawa, Canada). The response has been checked for refractive indices ranging from 1 to 1.458. Theoretically simulated results are in accordance with the experimental results. It was found that the software package calculated values correctly up to the seventh decimal point. The ambient refractive index response of a long-period grating over a much wider index range has been modeled for values both less and more than the cladding refractive index.     

Two new 14-membered cyclopeptide alkaloids from Zizyphus xylopyra

The phytochemical investigation of the bark of Zizyphus xylopyra resulted in the isolation of two new 14-membered ring cyclopeptide alkaloids, xylopyrine-G and xylopyrine H. Their structures have been established by chemical and spectral evidences.     

Angucyclines: Biosynthesis, mode-of-action, new natural products, and synthesis

Covering: 1997 to 2010. The angucycline group is the largest group of type II PKS-engineered natural products, rich in biological activities and chemical scaffolds. This stimulated synthetic creativity and biosynthetic inquisitiveness. The synthetic studies used five different strategies, involving Diels-Alder reactions, nucleophilic additions, electrophilic additions, transition-metal mediated cross-couplings and intramolecular cyclizations to generate the angucycline frames. Biosynthetic studies were particularly intriguing when unusual framework rearrangements by post-PKS tailoring oxidoreductases occurred, or when unusual glycosylation reactions were involved in decorating the benz[a]anthracene-derived cores. This review follows our previous reviews, which were published in 1992 and 1997, and covers new angucycline group antibiotics published between 1997 and 2010. However, in contrast to the previous reviews, the main focus of this article is on new synthetic approaches and biosynthetic investigations, most of which were published between 1997 and 2010, but go beyond, e.g. for some biosyntheses all the way back to the 1980s, to provide the necessary context of information.     

Simultaneous quantification of centchroman and its 7-demethylated metabolite in rat dried blood spot samples using LC-MS/MS

An approach has been developed for the quantitative determination of concentrations of centchroman ( I), a nonsteroidal once‐a‐week oral contraceptive, and its major metabolite (7‐desmethyl centchroman, II) using dried blood spots (DBS) on paper, rather than conventional plasma samples. The assay employed simple solvent extraction of the DBS sample circle (6 mm) requiring small blood volumes (30 μL) followed by reversed‐phase HPLC separation, combined with multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometric detection. The calibration plot in matrix using d ‐trans‐hydroxy chroman as internal standard (IS) was linear (r² = 0.998) over ranges of 1.5–240 and 4.5–720 ng/mL for I and II, respectively. The recoveries of both I and II were always >60% with quantification limits (signal‐to‐noise ratio = 10) of 1.5 and 4.5 ng/mL for I and II, respectively. The intra‐day and inter‐day precision (%RSD) and accuracy (%bias) variations in blood spots for both I and II were better than 13%. Moreover, both I and II were stable in DBS for at least 3 months when stored at room temperature. The developed method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic interaction study after oral administration of centchroman with and without co‐administration of carbamazepine in female Sprague–Dawley rats using serial sampling and results were comparable with the plasma concentrations reported earlier. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and Antiinflammatoryand Anticancer Activity Evaluation of Some Condensed Pyrimidines

Summary.  Upon condensation with 4-isothiocyanato-4-methyl-2-pentanone, 2,3-diaminonaphthalene and N-aminoethyladenosine gave in good yields substituted pyrimidonaphthoimidazole and imidazopyrimidine thione. Refluxing pyrimidobenzthiazole with methanol H₂SO₄ at pH∼1 resulted in S-methyl pyrimidobenzthiazole in moderate yield. Pyrimidobenzimidazole derivatives could be reacted to S-alkylated and N-acylated derivatives by refluxing with ethyl bromoacetate in the presence of anhydrous potassium carbonate in THF and by heating in an acetic acid/acetic anhydride mixture. Heating of pyrimidobenzimidazole with 75% aqueous H₂SO₄ on a water bath ended up in a rearranged product. All compounds gave correct ¹H NMR, IR, and HR mass spectra. Results of antiinflammatory, analgesic, and anticancer activity screening of the new compounds are described. Received October 29, 1999. Accepted (revised) January 13, 2000     

Synthesis of Porous Polyurea with Room‐Temperature Ionic Liquids via Interfacial Polymerization

Summary: Polyurea with exotic porous structures has been synthesized by the interfacial polymerization between hexane and a series of 1‐alkyl‐3‐methylimidazolium room‐temperature ionic liquids (ILs). Scanning electron microscopy micrographs of the polyurea show a macroporous morphology of aggregated polymer particles with sizes around 200 nm and pore sizes between 100 to 500 nm. The geometry of the polymer particles and the pore size vary with the ILs employed. X‐Ray diffraction shows ionic‐liquid‐induced suppression of 3D crystalline order in the polyurea products. The microstructures of the polymer together with the FT‐IR results suggest that the observed exotic polymer morphology originates from interactions between the ionic liquid and the polymer.

SEM micrograph of the interconnected macroporous structure of the polyurea formed in [C₂mim][BF₄] ionic liquid. The scale bar is 100 nm.     

On Wachspress pentagonal patches

Wachspress quadrilateral patches have been recently studied from the point of view of applications to surface modelling in CAGD [1], [3], [4]. Some more applications for defining barycentric coordinates for arbitrary polygons have also been presented in [5] [9]. The purpose of the present paper is to introduce non-negative Wachspress rational basis functions for surface modelling on pentagonal partitions. Interpolation formula for function values and directional derivatives at the vertices of pentagon has been presented. Conditions for C¹– continuity of the composite surface have also been studied in the paper. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Spectroscopic assessment of biomolecular changes in Helicobacter pylori and Epstein–Barr virus co-infected gastric epithelial cells

Helicobacter pylori and Epstein–Barr Virus (EBV) are Group 1 carcinogens that can enhance gastric cancer progression. Bioactive substances extracted from plants can be effective therapeutic agents in cancer treatment. For example, Withania somnifera extract-WSE reduces the Gankyrin oncoprotein, which is upregulated in the presence of H. pylori and EBV. The various biochemical and metabolic changes upon 24 hrs post-infection followed by W. somnifera extract (WSE) treatment on gastric epithelial cells (AGS) can be studied using spectroscopic techniques. In the biomedical sciences, Raman and NMR spectroscopy have been extensively employed to interpret cellular alterations contributing to the onset of infection and the severity of gastric cancer. More specifically, alterations in cellular biochemical homeostasis are linked to the moieties of cholesterol, collagen, choline, carbohydrate, lipids, tyrosine, and phenylalanine. Further, we have found significantly elevated FWHM for carbohydrates, tumor associated protein, collagen, cholesterol, and cholesterol ester in the co-infection model. We also looked into the potential correlation between these molecules using molecular network analysis and found several related factors that can be modulated through biomolecular levels. These molecules are crucial in several physiological functions, including cell division, cell proliferation, apoptosis, necrosis, cell migration, and lipid transport. Our study paves the pathway to study H. pylori and EBV co-infection in human gastric epithelial cells and the therapeutic interventions of WSE in this scenario and highlights specific biomolecular alterations, which can be focused for further mechanistic investigations.