Effect of Nanoclay on the Morphology and Properties of Nylon 6 and Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) (PMMA) Blends

The effect of organomodified nanoclay on the morphology and properties of a (70/30 w/w) nylon 6/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blend prepared by a melt processing method was investigated. The number average domain diameter (D_n ) of the dispersed PMMA phase was found to decrease with the addition of a small amount [0.5 per hundred resin (phr)] of clay in the blend. A much finer dispersion of the minor phase in the presence of a higher amount (5 phr) of clay indicated better mixing efficiency and improved morphology in the blend. X-ray diffraction indicated the exfoliation of the clays in the nylon 6 matrix, whereas PMMA chains only intercalated into the clay layers. However, the same effect of the clay was not observed in a (30/70 w/w) nylon 6/PMMA blend when nylon 6 became the dispersed domains. In the (30/70 w/w) nylon 6/PMMA blend, the addition of organomodified nanoclay (up to 2 phr) increased the D_n of the nylon 6 domains by preferential location of the clays inside the nylon 6 domains. Addition of styrene-maleic anhydride (SMA) copolymer effectively reduced the D_n of disperse phases in both compositions of the nylon 6/PMMA blends. Thus, in nylon 6/PMMA blends, clay platelets could prevent the coalescence of dispersed domains during melt mixing as long as it was dispersed in the matrix phase of the blend. Mechanical properties and thermal stability of the blends were also improved in the presence of clay.     

LC–QTOF–MS-based metabolite profiling and evaluation of α-glucosidase inhibitory kinetics of Coccinia grandis fruit

Coccinia grandis is an important food crop of the Cucurbitaceae family, widely used for culinary purposes in India. It is reported to possess hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant activities. The current study was aimed to explore the inhibition kinetics as well as major constituents of the active fraction of C. grandis against α-glucosidase. The kinetic study was performed through spectrophotometric assay, with p-nitrophenyl-α-d -glucopyranoside as a substrate with varying concentrations. An in vitro antioxidant study was performed by DPPH assay. In addition, UPLC–QTOF–MS analysis was carried out for metabolite profiling of the bioactive fraction of C. grandis. The results showed that the difference between the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the ethyl acetate fraction of C. grandis (EFCG) (IC₅₀ 2.43 ± 0.27 mg/ml), and standard inhibitor, acarbose (2.08 ± 0.19 mg/ml), was not statistically significant at a P-value of 0.05. The enzyme kinetics confirmed the inhibition mode in a mixed manner. The EFCG also showed the highest antioxidant activity (101.74 ± 1.95 μg/ml) among all of the fractions. A significant correlation between antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of EFCG was observed. The LC–QTOF–MS study of the EFCG putatively identified 35 metabolites, which may be responsible for its antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory properties. Thus, C. grandis fruits can serve as a functional food to address diabetes-related disorders associated with α-glucosidase.     

On a reduction of the generalized Darboux–Halphen system

The equations for the general Darboux–Halphen system obtained as a reduction of the self-dual Yang–Mills can be transformed to a third-order system which resembles the classical Darboux–Halphen system with a common additive terms. It is shown that the transformed system can be further reduced to a constrained non-autonomous, non-homogeneous dynamical system. This dynamical system becomes homogeneous for the classical Darboux–Halphen case, and was studied in the context of self-dual Einstein's equations for Bianchi IX metrics. A Lax pair and Hamiltonian for this reduced system is derived and the solutions for the system are prescribed in terms of hypergeometric functions.     

Single laser exposure fabrication of diamond-like 3-dimensional photonic crystal microstructures using circularly polarized light

Phase tunable multi-level diffractive optical elements define an attractive approach for single laser exposure fabrication of 3-dimensional photonic crystal microstructures. The significant advantage of these multi-level diffractive optical elements over two-level diffractive optical elements is the flexibility of fabricating a wide range of 3-dimensional periodic structures by manipulating the relative phase of different diffracted beams. Here, phase tuning was applied to demonstrate fabrication of a hybrid 3-dimensional structure intermediate between previously reported diamond-like Woodpile-type structure of tetragonal symmetry and structure having body-centered-tetragonal lattice symmetry. Circularly polarized light was applied for the first time to balance the diffraction order efficiencies and improve the structural uniformity. Design guidelines are presented for generating diamond-like photonic crystal template that possesses complete photonic bandgap when inverted with high refractive index materials.     

On the Einstein-Yang-Mills field equations in a plane symmetric universe

Recently Mondaini has discussed the Einstein-Yang-Mills field equations reduced into another form under the consideration of the line-element in Taub's form for the plane symmetric space-time and the Ansatz first proposed by Treat and rediscovered by Oh and Teh and has obtained some particular results. In the present paper the complete set of solutions has been obtained.     

Structures and absolute stereochemistry of (-)-echitoveniline, (-)-11-methoxyechitoveniline and (-)-11-methoxyechitovenedine—new indole alkaloids of

Structures and absolute stereochemistry of (-)-echitoveniline, (-)-11-methoxyechitoveniline and (-)-11-methoxyechitovenedine, three new indole alkaloids of the vincadifformine type, isolated from the fruits and leaves of Alstonia venenata R.Br., have been established as 3b, 3c and 3d, respectively, on the basis of spectral and chemical evidence. A plausible mechanism of the LAH reduction of the δ-lactones8b and8c to the corresponding diols 9b and 9c has been discussed.     

可重复使用CuO纳米粒子催化微波辅助的腈和NaN3环加成反应 合成5-取代1H-四唑类

将可重复使用的CuO纳米粒子成功用于催化微波辅助的腈和NaN3[3+2]环加成反应高效合成5-取代1H-四唑类化合物.该法突出特点为成本低、合成快、稳定性高、可重复使用、反应条件温和、无需任何添加物、官能团兼容性好和产率高.这种环境友好的微波辅助纳米粒子催化合成策略可望替代现有的涉及常规路易斯酸催化剂方法,以及作为一种简易的合成特殊化合物的方法.     

Vanadium–Manganese Redox Flow Battery: Study of MnIII Disproportionation in the Presence of Other Metallic Ions

The Mn^III/Mn^II redox couple with a standard potential of +1.51 V versus the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) has attracted interest for the design of V/Mn redox flow batteries (RFBs). However, Mn^III disproportionation leads to a loss of capacity, an increase in pressure drop, and electrode passivation caused by the formation of MnO₂ particles during battery cycling. In this work, the influence of Ti^IV or/and V^V on Mn^III stability in acidic conditions is studied by formulating four different electrolytes in equimolar ratios (Mn, Mn/Ti, Mn/V, Mn/V/Ti). Voltammetry studies have revealed an EC_i process for Mn^II oxidation responsible for the electrode passivation. SEM and XPS analysis demonstrate that the nature and morphology of the passivating oxides layer depend strongly on the electrolyte composition. Spectroelectrochemistry highlights the stabilization effect of Ti^IV and V^V on Mn^III. At a comparable pH, the amount of Mn^III loss through disproportionation is decreased by a factor of 2.5 in the presence of Ti^IV or/and V^V. Therefore, V^V is an efficient substitute for Ti^IV to stabilize the Mn^III electrolyte for RFB applications.