Fluorescent zinc(II) complex exhibiting "on-off-on" switching toward Cu2+ and Ag+ ions

Binuclear zinc(II) and copper(II) complexes based on a new Schiff base ligand N,N'-bis(2-hydroxybenzilidene)-2,4,6-trimethylbenzene-1,3-diamine (H(2)L) have been synthesized. The ligand H(2)L and complexes under investigation have been characterized by elemental analyses, spectral (FT-IR, (1)H, (13)C NMR, ESI-MS, electronic absorption, emission), and electrochemical studies. The structures of H(2)L and complexes [{Zn(C(23)H(18)N(2)O(2))}(2)] (1) and [{Cu(C(23)H(18)N(2)O(2))}(2)]·H(2)O (2) have been determined crystallographically. Selective "On-Off-On" switching behavior of the fluorescent complex 1 has been studied. The fluorescence intensity of 1 quenches (turns-off) upon addition of Cu(2+), while enhances (turns-on) in the presence of Ag(+) ions. The mechanisms of "On-Off-On" signaling have been supported by (1)H NMR, ESI-MS, electronic absorption, and emission spectral studies. Job's plot analysis supported 1:1 and 1:2 stoichiometries for Cu(2+) and Ag(+) ions, respectively. Association and quenching constants have been estimated by the Benesi-Hildebrand method and Stern-Volmer plot. Moreover, 1 mimics a molecular keypad lock that follows correct chemical input order to give maximum output signal.     

Synthesis of fused bicyclic systems with nitrogen atom at the bridgehead, including indolizidines and quinolizidines

Monocyclic as well as fused bicyclic systems with a nitrogen 10 atom at the bridgehead, including indolizidines and quinolizidines, can be prepared in four steps from N-Boc β-lactams. These easily prepared, highly robust, and flexible building blocks allow the incorporation of chirality and structural diversity, rendering the method feasible for diversity- as well as target-oriented synthesis.     

Dietary Flavonoids: Cardioprotective Potential with Antioxidant Effects and Their Pharmacokinetic,Toxicological and Therapeutic Concerns

Flavonoids comprise a large group of structurally diverse polyphenolic compounds of plant origin and are abundantly found in human diet such as fruits, vegetables, grains, tea, dairy products, red wine, etc. Major classes of flavonoids include flavonols, flavones, flavanones, flavanols, anthocyanidins, isoflavones, and chalcones. Owing to their potential health benefits and medicinal significance, flavonoids are now considered as an indispensable component in a variety of medicinal, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmetic preparations. Moreover, flavonoids play a significant role in preventing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which could be mainly due to their antioxidant, antiatherogenic, and antithrombotic effects. Epidemiological and in vitro/in vivo evidence of antioxidant effects supports the cardioprotective function of dietary flavonoids. Further, the inhibition of LDL oxidation and platelet aggregation following regular consumption of food containing flavonoids and moderate consumption of red wine might protect against atherosclerosis and thrombosis. One study suggests that daily intake of 100 mg of flavonoids through the diet may reduce the risk of developing morbidity and mortality due to coronary heart disease (CHD) by approximately 10%. This review summarizes dietary flavonoids with their sources and potential health implications in CVDs including various redox-active cardioprotective (molecular) mechanisms with antioxidant effects. Pharmacokinetic (oral bioavailability, drug metabolism), toxicological, and therapeutic aspects of dietary flavonoids are also addressed herein with future directions for the discovery and development of useful drug candidates/therapeutic molecules.     

Spherically symmetric, self-similar spacetimes

In this paper, we show that self-similarity with respect to the existence of a (purely radial) homothetic Killing vector field for spherically symmetric spacetimes implies the separability of the spacetime metric in terms of the co-moving coordinates (and vice versa) and that the metric is, uniquely, the one recently reported in (Class. Quantam Grav. 18: 2147–2162; 2001). This spacetime, in general, has non-vanishing energy flux and shear. An interesting feature of this spacetime, in contrast to other self-similar spherically symmetric spacetimes (not reducible to our form) is that it has an arbitrary radial distribution of matter.     

Rat pups and random robots generate similar self‐organized and intentional behavior

Biorobotic research continually demonstrates that behavior and cognition can be the emergent products of (1) embodied agents that are (2) dynamically embedded within an environment and (3) equipped with simple sensorimotor rules. Thigmotaxis is an orientation response to contact manifested in infant rats by wall following, corner burrowing, and group aggregation. Orientation responses have been long thought to be mediated only by sensory or central processes. Here we show that a random control architecture in a morphologically similar robot embedded in a scaled environment can reproduce thigmotaxic behaviors seen in infant rats. We conclude that (1) and (2) may play a larger role than previously thought in the generation of complex behaviors. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 12: 53–66, 2006     

Example of indeterminacy in classical dynamics

The case of a particle moving along a nonsmooth constraint under the action of uniform gravity is presented as an example of indeterminancy in a classical situation. The indeterminacy arises from certain initial conditions having nonunique solutions and is due to the failure of the Lipschitz condition at the corresponding points in the phase space of the equation of motion.     

Surface reactions and kinetically-driven patterning scheme for selective deposition of Si and Ge nanoparticle arrays on HfO2

We demonstrate a kinetically-driven patterning scheme to selectively position arrays of Ge or Si nanoparticles within lithographically defined HfO₂ windows. The surface reactions enabling patterning are revealed through temperature programmed desorption experiments and selectivity of the deposition is verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Patterning is possible by exploiting the different reactivity of Ge and Si on HfO₂ and SiO₂ surfaces and employing a sacrificial SiO₂ mask on which adatoms etch the SiO₂ surface and do not accumulate to form nanocrystals.     

Finding an interior point in the optimal face of linear programs

We study the problem of finding a point in the relative interior of the optimal face of a linear program. We prove that in the worst case such a point can be obtained in O(n ³ L) arithmetic operations. This complexity is the same as the complexity for solving a linear program. We also show how to find such a point in practice. We report and discuss computational results obtained for the linear programming problems in the NETLIB test set.Research supported in part by NSF Grant CCR-8810107, CCR-9019469 and a grant from GTE Laboratories.Research supported in part by NSF Grant DDM-8922636 and NSF Coop. Agr. No. CCR-8809615 through Rice University.     

A relaxed version of Karmarkar's method

A relaxed version of Karmarkar's method is developed. This method is proved to have the same polynomial time complexity as Karmarkar's method and its efficient implementation using inexact projections is discussed. Computational results obtained using a preliminary implementation of the method are presented which indicate that the method is practicable.This research was supported in part by NSF Grants CDR 84-21402 and DMS-85-12277 and ONR Contract N00014-87-K-0214.