Dielectric, thermal and optical study of an unusually shaped liquid crystal

Dielectric measurements have been carried out for the determination of real and imaginary parts of the permittivity of a newly synthesized, unusually shaped liquid crystal. The sample has been investigated in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 10 MHz within a temperature range 80-130 °C. The dielectric measurements in the smectic A phase indicate a Cole-Cole type of dispersion, and the activation energy was found to be 5.5 meV by using the Arrhenius plot of relaxation time. In addition to this, thermal and optical transmittance studies have also been conducted in the above mentioned temperature range, and the temperature dependence of these parameters has been discussed in detail. The phase transition temperature obtained from a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study matches within 2 °C that was obtained from an optical transmittance study. The dielectric and optical behavior of the unusually shaped liquid crystal has been explained on the basis of a proposed theoretical model in which a sample possesses two different conformers having induced polarizations in opposite directions.     

Sources of electrical conductivity in SnO2

SnO2 is widely used as a transparent conductor and sensor material. Better understanding and control of its conductivity would enhance its performance in existing applications and enable new ones, such as in light emitters. Using density functional theory, we show that the conventional attribution of n-type conductivity to intrinsic point defects is incorrect. Unintentional incorporation of hydrogen provides a consistent explanation of experimental observations. Most importantly, we find that SnO2 offers excellent prospects for p-type doping by incorporation of acceptors on the Sn site. Specific strategies for optimizing acceptor incorporation are presented.     

Application of advanced nuclear analytical techniques for the electrocatalyst's characterization: Paving the path for mechanistic investigations

As the application of electrocatalyst continues to expand, envisaging the hidden mechanisms occurring at various length scale affecting the catalytic efficiency became important. To enhance the stability of electrocatalyst and reduce the cost, it is of paramount importance to reveal the active site's dynamics (using in situ techniques for getting the real-time information) which directly affect the reactions such as oxygen evolution reaction, hydrogen evolution reaction, and so on. Since such reactions are crucial for many engineering and scientific applications, in situ characterization techniques are required, which could capture such reactions happening at a different length and time scale. This article analyzes the recent progress made in the field of electrocatalyst's characterization using in situ neutron techniques. The article also paves the future path and has delineated the future challenges involved in multiscale correlative techniques (e.g., neutron techniques in the combination of synchrotron or microscopic techniques) used for getting the multiscale (atomic to micrometer range) mechanistic information about the electrocatalyst's working and degradation.     

Enantioselective LC–ESI–MS/MS method for quantitation of (−)-lumefantrine and (+)-lumefantrine in mice plasma and application to a pharmacokinetic study

We developed and validated a simple, sensitive, selective, and reliable LC–MS/MS–ESI method for the direct quantitation of lumefantrine (LFN) enantiomers [(−)-LFN and (+)-LFN] in mice plasma as per regulatory guideline. LFN enantiomers and carbamazepine (internal standard) were extracted from mice plasma using Strata X SPE (solid-phase extraction) cartridges. Good resolution between enantiomers was achieved on a Chiralpak IA-3 column using an isocratic mobile phase (0.1% of diethyl amine in methanol), which was delivered at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. Detection and quantitation were performed using multiple reaction monitoring mode following the transitions m/z 530.27 → 512.30 and 237.00 → 194.00 for LFN enantiomers and the internal standard, respectively, in the positive-ionization mode. The proposed method provided accurate and reproducible results over the linearity range of 2.39–895 ng/mL for each enantiomer. The intra- and inter-day precisions were in the range of 1.03–6.14 and 6.36–8.70 and 2.03–4.88 and 5.82–11.5 for (−)-LFN and (+)-LFN, respectively. Both (−)-LFN and (+)-LFN were found to be stable under different stability conditions. The method was successfully used to delineate stereoselective pharmacokinetics of LFN enantiomers in mice after an oral administration of rac-LFN (20 mg/kg). The pharmacokinetic results indicated that the disposition of LFN enantiomers was stereoselective in mice.     

Validated LC–MS/MS method for quantitation of a selective JAK1 inhibitor,filgotinib in rat plasma,and its application to a pharmacokinetic study in rats

Filgotinib is a selective JAK1 (Janus kinase) inhibitor, filed in Japan for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. In this paper, we report a validated liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for the quantification of filgotinib in rat plasma using tofacitinib as an internal standard (IS) as per the Food and Drug Administration regulatory guidelines. Filgotinib and the IS were extracted from rat plasma using ethyl acetate as an extraction solvent and chromatographed using an isocratic mobile phase (0.2% formic acid:acetonitrile; 20:80, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min on a Gemini C₁₈ column. Filgotinib and the IS were eluted at ~1.31 and 0.89 min, respectively. The MS/MS ion transitions monitored were m/z 426.3 → 291.3 and m/z 313.2 → 149.2 for filgotinib and the IS, respectively. The calibration range was 0.78–1924 ng/mL. No matrix effect and carryover were observed. Intra- and inter-day accuracies and precisions were within the acceptance range. Filgotinib was stable for three freeze–thaw cycles: on bench-top up to 6 h, in an autosampler up to 21 h, and at −80 ° C for 1 month. This novel method has been applied to a pharmacokinetic study in rats.     

Some Connections Between the Classical Calogero–Moser Model and the Log-Gas

Journal of Statistical Physics - In this work we discuss connections between a one-dimensional system of N particles interacting with a repulsive inverse square potential and confined in a harmonic...     

Design and synthesis of fluorescent symmetric bis-triazolylated-1,4-dihydropyridines as potent antibreast cancer agents

Herein, we report the synthesis of fluorescent 1,4-dihydropyridine-linked bis-triazoles (2a–2n) through Hantzsch synthesis by the condensation of o/m-chloro-substituted benzaldehyde, ethyl 3-oxo-4(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)butanoate, and ammonium acetate in the presence of Ba(NO₃)₂ as a catalyst followed by the click reaction of resultant Hantzsch product (1) with various aromatic as well as aliphatic azides. All the synthesized compounds were well characterized by ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, FTIR, and HRMS spectral techniques. Antibreast cancer evaluation of all the synthesized derivatives revealed that the compounds 2f (IC₅₀?=?7?±?0.02?µM) and 2g (IC₅₀?=?5?±?0.03?µM) showed better anticancer activity (lower IC₅₀) than the standard drug tamoxifen (IC₅₀?=?11.2?±?0.01?µM) against breast carcinoma (MDA-MB-231) cell line. The synthesized compounds were also screened against normal human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cell line and found to be nontoxic. The fluorescent nature and cytotoxicity assay of these newly synthesized hybrids recommend their utility in tumor cell imaging.     

Investigation and optimization of the recovery of coal fines using oil agglomeration process: Use of waste oils from different sectors

The high cost of the bridging liquid subdues the implementation and commercialization of oil agglomeration process. To overcome this problem, waste oils from different sectors were used in this present study. The performance of the process was assessed based on the responses like ash rejection and organic matter recovery. The aim of the present study was to investigate the usage of waste oils from different sectors and to optimize and analyze the behavioral pattern showcased by different variables (pulp density, oil dosage, agglomeration time and oil type) using response surface methodology (Box-Behnken design). Experimental investigation shows that the optimum pulp density, oil dosage, agglomeration time and oil type condition obtained as 3%, 15%, 15?min and waste engine oil, respectively. At optimum condition, the % ash rejection and % organic matter recovery obtained as 63.94% and 81.8%, respectively.