Boron-Containing Lipids and Liposomes: New Conjugates of Cholesterol with Polyhedral Boron Hydrides

A series of boron-containing lipids were prepared by reactions of cyclic oxonium derivatives of polyhedron boranes and metallacarboranes (closo-dodecaborate anion, cobalt and iron bis(dicarbollides)) with amine and carboxylic acids which are derived from cholesterol. Stable liposomal formulations, on the basis of synthesized boron-containing lipids, hydrogenated soybean l -α-phosphatidylcholine and (HSPC) 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000] (DSPE-PEG) as excipients, were prepared and then characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) that revealed the formation of particles to be smaller than 200 nm in diameter. The resulting liposomal formulations showed moderate to excellent loading and entrapment efficiency, thus justifying the design of the compounds to fit in the lipid bilayer and ensuring ease of in vivo use for future application. The liposomal formulations based on cobalt and iron bis(dicarbollide)-based lipids were found to be nontoxic against both human breast normal epithelial cells MCF-10A and human breast cancer cells MCF-7.     

Alcohols as Fluoroalkyl Synthons: Ni-catalyzed Dehydrogenative Approach to Access Polyfluoroalkyl Bis-indoles

An acceptorless dehydrogenative strategy for the synthesis of polyfluoroalkylated bis-indoles is described by employing an earth-abundant nickel-based catalytic system under air. The notable feature of the present transformation is the use of bench stable and easily affordable polyfluorinated alcohols without any pre-functionalization for the introduction of precious polyfluoroalkyl groups. The developed straightforward protocol accomplished biologically relevant fluoroalkyl bis-indoles in a sustainable fashion. Extensive DFT study predicts the unique role of indole molecules which stabilizes the transition states during the dehydrogenation process of polyfluorinated alcohols, presumably through non-covalent π⋅⋅⋅π and H-bonding interactions.     

Reflection of plane waves in generalized thermoelasticity of type III with nonlocal effect

The generalized thermoelasticity theory based upon the Green and Naghdi model III of thermoelasticity as well as the Eringen's nonlocal elasticity model is used to study the propagation of harmonic plane waves in a nonlocal thermoelastic medium. We found two sets of coupled longitudinal waves, which are dispersive in nature and experience attenuation. In addition to the coupled waves, there also exists one independent vertically shear-type wave, which is dispersive but experiences no attenuation. All these waves are found to be influenced by the elastic nonlocality parameter. Furthermore, the shear-type wave is found to face a critical frequency, while the coupled longitudinal waves may face critical frequencies conditionally. The problem of reflection of the thermoelastic waves at the stress-free insulated and isothermal boundary of a homogeneous, isotropic nonlocal thermoelastic half-space has also been investigated. The formulae for various reflection coefficients and their respective energy ratios are determined in various cases. For a particular material, the effects of the angular frequency and the elastic nonlocal parameter have been shown on phase speeds and the attenuation coefficients of the propagating waves. The effect of the elastic nonlocality on the reflection coefficients and the energy ratios has been observed and depicted graphically. Finally, analysis of the various results has been interpreted.     

In Situ Electropolymerization Enables Ultrafast Long Cycle Life and High-Voltage Organic Cathodes for Lithium Batteries

Organic cathode materials have attracted extensive attention because of their diverse structures, facile synthesis, and environmental friendliness. However, they often suffer from insufficient cycling stability caused by the dissolution problem, poor rate performance, and low voltages. An in situ electropolymerization method was developed to stabilize and enhance organic cathodes for lithium batteries. 4,4′,4′′-Tris(carbazol-9-yl)-triphenylamine (TCTA) was employed because carbazole groups can be polymerized under an electric field and they may serve as high-voltage redox-active centers. The electropolymerized TCTA electrodes demonstrated excellent electrochemical performance with a high discharge voltage of 3.95 V, ultrafast rate capability of 20 A g⁻¹, and a long cycle life of 5000 cycles. Our findings provide a new strategy to address the dissolution issue and they explore the molecular design of organic electrode materials for use in rechargeable batteries.     

Solutions of SPDE’s Associated with a Stochastic Flow

Potential Analysis - We consider the following stochastic partial differential equation, $$begin{array}{@{}rcl@{}} &&dY_{t} = L^{ast} Y_{t} dt + A^{ast} Y_{t} cdot dB_{t}...     

Evolution of an asymmetric turbulent shear layer in a thermocline

Large eddy simulations are used to examine the evolution of a shear layer in a thermocline with non-uniform density stratification. Unlike previous studies, the density in the present study is continuously stratified and has stratification in the upper half different from the lower half of the shear layer. The stratification in the upper half is fixed at J_u = 0.05, while the stratification in the lower half is increased to J_d = 0.05, 0.15, 0.25 and 0.35, leading to a progressively stronger asymmetry of the Ri_g profile in the four cases. Here, J is the bulk Richardson number and Ri_g is the gradient Richardson number. The type of shear instability and the properties of the ensuing turbulence are found to depend strongly on the degree of asymmetry in stratification. The shear instability changes from a Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) mode at J_d = 0.05 to a Holmboe (H) mode at J_d = 0.35 and exhibits characteristics of both KH and H modes at intermediate values of J_d. Differences in the evolution among the cases are quantified using density visualisations and statistics such as mean shear, mean stratification and turbulent kinetic energy.     

Wiener–Tauberian type theorems for radial sections of homogenous vector bundles on certain rank one Riemannian symmetric spaces of noncompact type

We will show that an uniform treatment yields Wiener–Tauberian type results for various Banach algebras and modules consisting of radial sections of some homogenous vector bundles on rank one Riemannian symmetric spaces G/K of noncompact type. One example of such a vector bundle is the spinor bundle. The algebras and modules we consider are natural generalizations of the commutative Banach algebra of integrable radial functions on G/K. The first set of them are Beurling algebras with analytic weights, while the second set arises due to Kunze–Stein phenomenon for noncompact semisimple Lie groups.     

A Note on the Construction of Orthogonal Latin Hypercube Designs

Latin hypercube designs have been found very useful for designing computer experiments. In recent years, several methods of constructing orthogonal Latin hypercube designs have been proposed in the literature. In this article, we report some more results on the construction of orthogonal Latin hypercubes which result in several new designs.     

A study on anomalous yield drop behaviour in modified beta titanium alloys

ABSTRACT

The yield drop phenomenon observed in the Ti–15V-3Al–3Sn-3Cr (Ti–15–3) beta-titanium alloy and its anomalous behaviour in the boron and carbon added Ti–15–3 alloys have been studied. While the base and the carbon containing alloys exhibit yield drop, the boron containing alloy with smaller grain size than base alloy does not appear to show this phenomenon. Tensile tests were interrupted at different stress levels followed by analyses of slip lines and sub-structural characteristics using scanning and transmission electron microscopes to understand this anomalous yield point phenomenon. Infrared thermal imaging technique was used to map the strain localisation and the spatiotemporal evolution of deformation along the gauge length of the specimens during the tensile tests. Deformation in these alloys initiates only in a few grains. Pile-up of dislocations in these grains subsequently triggers the formation of dislocations in other grains and their rapid multiplications. The spreading of deformation by the generation of dislocations from pile up dislocations in one grain to neighbouring un-deformed grains and their rapid multiplication to new regions influence the yield drop phenomenon and its characteristics. It is shown in this study that microscopic instability in the grain level is a necessary, but not the sufficient condition for the manifestation of macroscopic instability during tensile deformation in polycrystalline materials. The presence of boride particles at grain boundaries restricts the slip transfer across the grains as well as the spreading of deformation to new regions, which causes the suppression of yield drop in the boron containing alloy.     

Probing solute-solvent interaction in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-based room temperature ionic liquids: A time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy study

Rotational diffusion of two organic solutes, coumarin153 (C153) and 4-aminophthalimide (AP) has been investigated in four ionic liquids (ILs), viz. 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoroacetate (EMIMTFA), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate (EMIMESU), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMIMTFB) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate (EMIMTCB), as a function of temperature. Between the two probes, AP can act as hydrogen-bond-donor to the solvents having hydrogen bond acceptor ability. The results indicate that the rotational dynamics of C153 is mainly governed by the viscosity of the medium. On the other hand, the rotational motion of AP is found to be significantly hindered in the ILs depending on the nature of anions of the ILs. Rotational coupling constant values for AP in the ILs follow the order TFA?>?ESU?>?TCB?>?TFB. The slower rotational motion of AP in these ILs has been attributed to the specific hydrogen bonding interaction between AP and anions of ILs.