Response Surface Methodology-Based Optimisation of Agarose Gel Electrophoresis for Screening and Electropherotyping of Rotavirus

Management of rotavirus diarrhoea cases and prevention of nosocomial infection require rapid diagnostic method at the patient care level. Diagnostic tests currently available are not routinely used due to economic or sensitivity/specificity constraints. Agarose-based sieving media and running conditions were modulated by using central composite design and response surface methodology for screening and electropherotyping of rotaviruses. The electrophoretic resolution of rotavirus genome was calculated from input parameters characterising the gel matrix structure and running conditions. Resolution of rotavirus genome was calculated by densitometric analysis of the gel. The parameters at critical values were able to resolve 11 segmented rotavirus genome. Better resolution and electropherotypic variation in 11 segmented double-stranded RNA genome of rotavirus was detected at 1.96% (w/v) agarose concentration, 0.073 mol l⁻¹ ionic strength of Tris base–boric acid–ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid buffer (1.4×) and 4.31 h of electrophoresis at 4.6 V cm⁻¹ electric field strength. Modified agarose gel electrophoresis can replace other methods as a simplified alternative for routine detection of rotavirus where it is not in practice.     

Thin-Layer Chromatographic Determination of Alpha-Amyrin in the Bark of Mallotus philippensis Lamk

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - A simple, precise, and accurate high-performance thin-layer chro-matographic method has been established for determination of...     

Understanding artificial intelligence adoption in operations management: insights from the review of academic literature and social media discussions

In this digital era, data is new oil and artificial intelligence (AI) is new electricity, which is needed in different elements of operations management (OM) such as manufacturing, product development, services and supply chain. This study explores the feasibility of AI utilization within an organization on six factors such as job-fit, complexity, long-term consequences, affect towards use, social factors and facilitating conditions for different elements of OM by mining the collective intelligence of experts on Twitter and through academic literature. The study provides guidelines for managers for AI applications in different components of OM and concludes by presenting the limitations of the study along with future research directions.

     

Kinetic study of copolymerization of linalool and methyl methacrylate initiated by selenonium ylide

Free radical copolymerization of an acyclic monoterpenoid linalool (LIN) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in dioxan was carried out in dilatometer under an inert atmosphere of nitrogen for 90 min at 60 ± 1°C by using diphenyl selenonium 2,3,4,5‐tetraphenylcyclopentadienylide (selenonium ylide) as an initiator. The kinetic expression of the reaction is R_p ∝ [ylide]^0.5[MMA]^1.0[LIN]^1.0. The activation energy of copolymerization was estimated to be 43.7 kJ mol^?1. The formation of a functional copolymer is evidenced by spectral analysis. The copolymer was characterized by FTIR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, DSC, and TGA analysis. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 43: 43–52, 2011     

Reactive sensing of gold (III) by coumarin tethered fluorescent probe through alkyne activation

A novel strategy, involving anchoring and un-anchoring of coumarin based fluorophore, has been established for the selective detection of Au³⁺ species. Selective sensing of Gold (Au³⁺) was triggered due to alkynophilicity of gold ions to create lateral fluorescence of a latent fluorophore. The 4-methyl-2-oxo-2H-chromen-7-yl 2-(2-phenylethynyl) benzoate (CEB) probe was synthesized by reacting 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin with iodo-benzoic acid. CEB probe has an absorption at 300 nm and 335 nm which decreases gradually and new absorption appeared at 406 nm due to Au³⁺ promoted ester hydrolysis selectively over other metal ions with great sensitivity, which accompanies a turn on fluorescence change produced by 7-hydroxy coumarin. The principle behind this sensing strategy is activation of triple bond induced uniquely by Au⁺³ ions leading to cascade and delivers active fluorophore. The sensing mechanism was proposed and supported by ¹H NMR, MS and TD-DFT experiments. The density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) theoretical results of the CEB-probe and Au³⁺ reaction is in good agreement with the experimental results. Additionally, probe could be well incorporated onto the test strips for effective detection of Au^3+.     

Silver-Mediated Mild Oxidation of Nitrogen-Containing Heteroaryl-2-methanols to Esters

Oxidation of nitrogen-containing heteroaryl-2-methanols to esters with Ag₂O and isopropyl iodide is reported. This methodology is very mild and can tolerate many functional groups.     

A mild and novel synthesis of functionalized fused imidazole analogues under environmentally benign reaction media

A mild and novel approach is described for the synthesis of functionalized fused imidazole analogues in solvent-free and catalyst-free condition in ionic liquid. The short reaction time, good isolated yields, generality and environmentally benign reaction media are the significant features of this protocol.     

Vibrational dynamics and heat capacity in poly(L‐lactic acid)

Poly(L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) (? CH(CH₃) ? COO? )_n is a biodegradable polymer, which exhibits many applications in the biomedical field and where thermoplastics are employed. A comprehensive study of the normal modes and their dispersion in PLLA using Wilson′s GF matrix method as modified by Higgs is being reported. Assignments of calculated normal modes have been made and characteristic features of dispersion curves are discussed. Heat capacity has been calculated via density‐of‐states using Debye relation in the temperature range 10–250 K, which is in fairly good agreement with the experimental data. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 175–182, 2010     

Biosynthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles as Efficient Photocatalytic and Antimicrobial Agent

This work reports an innovative, effortless and inexpensive method for the preparation of ZnO nanoparticles by green approach using leaf extract of Piper betleas a reducing-stabilizing negotiator. The prepared ZnO NPs were characterized through XRD, FTIR, UV–Visible spectroscopy, and EDX etc. The band gap energy of the sample was estimated as 3.41 eV which is larger than the bulk ZnO (E_g?=?3.37 eV). The observed blue shift is attributed to the quantum confinement of excitons. FTIR analysis showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, polyphenols, and terpenoid. TEM analysis showed that each nanoparticle comprised of 1 to 2 nano-crystallites. Photocatalytic activity results revealed that ZnO-NPs prepared through green synthesis route were found to be efficient in the degradation of toxic reactive red dye with degradation efficiency of 96.4% having high photodegradation rate-constant of 1.6?×?10^–2 min^?1. As an antimicrobial agent, the ZnO NPs are effective against both gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) and negative bacteria (Escherichia coli), with the zones of clearance as 16.4 and 14.3 mm, respectively. Therefore, present research signifies an effective approach to utilize as-prepared ZnO NPs as efficient photocatalysts as well as antimicrobial agent.