Thermal stability and degradation of the post-use reclaim milk pouches during multiple extrusion cycles

In the present study, the recyclability of the post-use milk pouches (50/50 LDPE–LLDPE blend) was evaluated with or without adding stabilizer. Thoroughly washed and dried post-use milk pouch films were extruded five times at high temperature (483–513 K) in the open atmosphere. The mode of degradation during extrusion operation was studied by melt flow index (MFI), rheological properties, gel content and FT-IR analysis. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis was carried out to evaluate the thermal stability of the stabilized and un-stabilized recycled mass from post-use milk pouch under this investigation. Mechanical properties (tensile strength, % elongation at break, tensile modulus and hardness) of the un-stabilized extruded material were significantly affected as a result of thermooxidative degradation during extrusion in presence of air. After all, stabilization with 0.4% anti-oxidant satisfactorily retains all the initial properties of the recycled material.     

Redox reactions of disulfiram: a pulse-radiolysis study

Redox reactions of disulfiram (DSF) were studied in aqueous solutions using the pulse-radiolysis technique. Reactions of DSF with one-electron oxidants Br₂ ^- and N₃, generated pulse radiolytically in aqueous solution at pH 7, yielded a transient (_max = 480 nm) which exhibited the characteristics of a disulphide cation radical and decayed by second-order kinetics. Reactions of DSF with halogenated peroxyl radicals CCl₃O₂, CHCl₂O₂, CH₂ClO₂ and CBr₃O₂ led to the formation of an adduct absorbing at 580 nm. The reduction potential was estimated to be 1.24 ± 0.06 V vs. NHE.     

Anti- and pro-oxidant properties of sodium 2-mercaptoethane sulphonate (Mesna)

The ^•OH and the NO₂ ^• radicals generated pulse radiolytically in N₂O-saturated aqueous solution at pH 8–8.5 oxidize Mesna to form the corresponding thiyl radicals which on reaction with thiolate ions form an RSSR^{• −} type of transient with λ_max = 420 nm. The rate constants for the formation of these transients were determined. In the absence of O₂ at pH=6, the RS^• radicals formed show an absorption maximum at 360 nm and an ε=200±50 dm³ mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹. The rate constant k (^•OH+RSH) was 6×10⁹ dm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹ as determined from competition kinetics. In the presence of O₂ the Mesna thiyl radical was seen to rapidly add oxygen to form an RSOO^• type of species with λ_max = 535 nm, ε=700±50 dm³ mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ and k (RS^•+O₂)=1.3×10⁸ dm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹. Both the RS^• and the RSOO^• radicals formed by the oxidation of Mesna were able to abstract H-atoms from ascorbate ions and k(RS^• +AH⁻)=~k(RSOO^•+AH⁻)=~6−7×10⁸ dm³ mol⁻¹ s^−1-. Moderately strong oxidants like CCl₃OO^• and the (CH₃)₃CO^• radicals, having a reduction potential of +1.4−1.6 V vs NHE were unable to oxidize Mesna. The results thus reflect on the pro- and anti-oxidant properties of Mesna.     

Metal complexes of pyrimidine-derived ligands — Part 6. Bischelates of cobalt(II), nickel(II) and monochelates of copper(II) with 3, 5-dimethyl-1-(4′, 6′-dimethyl-2′-pyrimidyl)pyrazole,a potential antitumour agent

Summary Cobalt(II), nickel(II) and copper(II) complexes of 3, 5-dimethyl-1-(4, 6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidyl)pyrazole (DPymPz) have been synthesized and characterized. Magnetic and electronic spectral features show that both [M(DPymPz)₂X₂]·nH₂O [M=cobalt(II) or nickel(II), X=Cl, Br, I, SCN, NO₃, ClO₄ or BF₄ andn=0 or 2] and [Cu(DPymPz)X₂(H₂O)₂] (X=Cl, Br or SCN) are essentially octahedral species. The i.r. spectra indicate that DPymPz is a neutral bidentate ligand being the pyrazolyl and one pyrimidyl ring nitrogen. The X is bonded to the central metal ion in a majority of the complexes.Part 5: N. Saha and D. Mukherjee,Polyhedron,5, 1317 (1986).     

Two (E)‐2‐arylidene‐1,4‐di‐p‐tosyl‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinoxaline compounds: supramolecular frameworks built with C—H...O and C—H...π(arene) hydrogen bonds and π–π stacking interactions

The pyrazine ring in two N‐substituted quinoxaline derivatives, namely (E)‐2‐(2‐methoxybenzylidene)‐1,4‐di‐p‐tosyl‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinoxaline, C₃₀H₂₈N₂S₂O₅, (II), and (E)‐methyl 2‐[(1,4‐di‐p‐tosyl‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinoxalin‐2‐ylidene)methyl]benzoate, C₃₁H₂₈N₂S₂O₆, (III), assumes a half‐chair conformation and is shielded by the terminal tosyl groups. In the molecular packing of the compounds, intermolecular C—H...O hydrogen bonds between centrosymmetrically related molecules generate dimeric rings, viz. R₂²(22) in (II) and R₂²(26) in (III), which are further connected through C—H...π(arene) hydrogen bonds and π–π stacking interactions into novel supramolecular frameworks.     

Development and validation of LC‐MS/MS method for the estimation of β‐hydroxy‐β‐methylbutyrate in rat plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic studies

A simple, sensitive and specific high‐performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the quantification of β‐hydroxy‐β‐methyl butyrate (HMB) in small volumes of rat plasma using warfarin as an internal standard (IS). The API‐4000 LC‐MS/MS was operated under the multiple reaction‐monitoring mode using the electrospray ionization technique. A simple liquid–liquid extraction process was used to extract HMB and IS from rat plasma. The total run time was 3 min and the elution of HMB and IS occurred at 1.48 and 1.75 min respectively; this was achieved with a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid in a water–acetonitrile mixture (15:85, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min on a Agilent Eclipse XDB C₈ (150 × 4.6, 5 µm) column. The developed method was validated in rat plasma with a lower limit of quantitation of 30.0 ng/mL for HMB. A linear response function was established for the range of concentrations 30–4600 ng/mL (r > 0.998) for HMB. The intra‐ and inter‐day precision values for HMB were acceptable as per Food and Drug Administration guidelines. HMB was stable in the battery of stability studies, viz. bench‐top, autosampler freeze–thaw cycles and long‐term stability for 30 days in plasma. The developed assay method was applied to a bioavailability study in rats. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A simple and effective technique to locate quasi-degeneracy in a symmetric double well potential

Perturbation theory based model can be used to locate the quasi-degeneracy in an arbitrary double well potential. This method, extensively explain the effect of the coupling term on pair of states called quasi-degenerate. This model helps us to calculate the energy of the pair of quasi-degenerate states using appreciably small basis. Dispersion equation corresponding to the split energy levels are presented in a very explicit form. Numerical calculation shows that the proposed method can give extremely accurate results for symmetric double-well potentials.     

MYMIV-AC2, a Geminiviral RNAi Suppressor Protein, Has Potential to Increase the Transgene Expression

Gene silencing is one of the limiting factors for transgene expression in plants. But the plant viruses have learnt to suppress gene silencing by encoding the protein(s), called RNA silencing suppressor(s) (RSS). Hence, these proteins could be used to overcome the limitation for transgene expression. The RNAi suppressors, namely HC-Pro and P19, have been shown to enhance the transgene expression but other RSS proteins have not been screened for similar role. Moreover, none of RSSs from the DNA viruses are known for enhancing the expression of transgenes. The Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus (MYMIV) belonging to the genus Begomovirus within the family of Geminiviridae encodes an RSS called the AC2 protein. Here, we used AC2 to elevate the expression of the transgenes. Upon introduction of MYMIV-AC2 in the silenced GFP transgenic tobacco lines, by either genetic hybridisation or transgenesis, the GFP expression was enhanced several fold in F1 and T0 lines. The GFP-siRNA levels were much reduced in F1 and T0 lines compared with those of the initial parental silenced lines. The enhanced GFP expression was also observed at the cellular level. This approach was also successful in enhancing the expression of another transgene, namely topoisomeraseII.