Iron Oxychloride/Bovine Serum Albumin Nanosheets as Chemodynamic Therapy Agents

Iron oxychloride (FeOCl) is known for reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation through Fenton chemistry. The activity of FeOCl is preserved in the slightly acidic pH value of the tumor microenvironment (pH 6.5−6.9). Such property can be advantageous in biobased systems, where ROS generation can be modulated in slightly acidic conditions, which is characteristic of the solid tumor microenvironment. In the present study, BSA-stabilized FeOCl nanosheets (NSs) are synthesized and characterized by transmission electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, zeta potential analysis, dynamic light scattering, and UV–vis spectroscopy. The morphology of the nanoparticles is flake-like, and their hydrodynamic diameter is around 200 nm. MTT, apoptosis assay, and trypan blue staining evaluate the toxicity of FeOCl NSs toward the 4T1 cell line. It is found that the toxicity of the NSs is higher in physiological conditions of solid tumors (pH 6.5, H₂O₂ 100 × 10⁻⁶ m ) than in the conditions of healthy organs (pH 7.4). Specifically, cancer cells are in their late apoptotic stage by more than eight times higher at pH 6.5 than pH 7.4. The toxicity results are in agreement with the in vitro catalytic assay of the NSs. Therefore, the FeOCl NSs can be the building blocks for constructing chemodynamic therapy agents.     

Grindstone chemistry: one-pot synthesis of spiro[diindenopyridine-indoline]triones and spiro[acenaphthylene-diindenopyridine]triones

A one-pot, pseudo four-component, and simple synthesis of spiro[diindenopyridine-indoline]triones and spiro[acenaphthylene-diindenopyridine]triones via the reaction of 1,3-indandione, aromatic amines and isatins or acenaphthylene-1,2-dione using a ‘Grindstone Chemistry’ method is reported.     

Relativistic New Yukawa-Like Potential and Tensor Coupling

We approximately solve the Dirac equation for a new suggested generalized inversely quadratic Yukawa potential including a Coulomb-like tensor interaction with arbitrary spin-orbit coupling quantum number ${\kappa}$ . In the framework of the spin and pseudospin (p-spin) symmetry, we obtain the energy eigenvalue equation and the corresponding eigenfunctions, in closed form, by using the parametric Nikiforov–Uvarov method. The numerical results show that the Coulomb-like tensor interaction, ?T/r, removes degeneracies between spin and p-spin state doublets. The Dirac solutions in the presence of exact spin symmetry are reduced to Schr?dinger solutions for Yukawa and inversely quadratic Yukawa potentials.     

One-pot synthesis of aliphatic and aromatic 2H-indazolo[2,1-b]phthalazine-triones catalyzed by N-halosulfonamides under solvent-free conditions

N, N, N′, N′-Tetrabromobenzene-1,3-disulfonamide and poly(N-bromo-N-ethylbenzene-1,3-disulfonamide) were used as efficient catalysts for the one-pot synthesis of aliphatic and aromatic 2H-indazolo[2,1-b]phthalazine-triones in excellent yields from aldehydes, phthalhydrazide, and dimedone at 80-100 °C under solvent-free conditions.     

Experimental and numerical investigation of concrete properties effects on fracture toughness under complex loading

Abstract

This article is presenting the common experimental specimen for determining the fracture toughness of the first pure mode and second pure mode. The Notched beam is chosen from a presented common specimen in the form of three-point flexure beam and four-point flexure beam that were built in the concrete laboratory. For prevention of cracks growth, a critical load of first pure mode and the second pure mode of each specimen computed. Obtained results are used for computing the fracture toughness. For the purpose of investigating the effective fracture parameters in the suggested specimen, finite element analysis on the mentioned geometry is performed. Obtained results show that different parameters are effective on the fracture toughness including crack length, cement percentage, water and the thickness of biggest used aggregate in the sand. Also with changing each of these parameters, the fracture mechanic properties are changed. Each of these effects is examined separately in this article and the conclusions presented in tables and figures.

Communicated by Dumitru Caruntu.     

Swirl effects on variable-density jet mixing in confined flows

An experimental investigation on swirl effects on inhomogeneous confined jet mixing in a combustor configuration is reported. The confined swirling flow was simulated by a swirler with a central jet mounted in a cyclindrical tube. Helium and air jets set at different velocities were injected into the confined swirling air flow. The resulting flow fields due to two vane swirlers with constant vane angles of 35° and 66° were compared. Results show that the 35° vane swirler produces a solid-body rotation core with a slope about twice that created by the 66° vane swirler. It is the behavior of this solid-body rotation core that determines jet mixing rather than the swirler vane angle. Consequently, the coaxial jet decays much faster, the mixing is more intense, and the turbulence intensities are higher for the 35° vane swirler. In view of these results, combustor designers should be more concerned with behavior of the solid-body rotation core produced by the swirler, instead of the swirler vane angle.     

Numerical simulation of an innovated building cooling system with combination of solar chimney and water spraying system

In this study, passive cooling of a room using a solar chimney and water spraying system in the room inlet vents is simulated numerically in Yazd, Iran (a hot and arid city with very high solar radiation). The performance of this system has been investigated for the warmest day of the year (5 August) which depends on the variation of some parameters such as water flow rate, solar heat flux, and inlet air temperature. In order to get the best performance of the system for maximum air change and also absorb the highest solar heat flux by the absorber in the warmest time of the day, different directions (West, East, North and South) have been studied and the West direction has been selected as the best direction. The minimum amount of water used in spraying system to set the inside air averaged relative humidity <65 % is obtained using trial and error method. The simulation results show that this proposed system decreases the averaged air temperature in the middle of the room by 9–14 °C and increases the room relative humidity about 28–45 %.