Enhanced magnetic anisotropy of nickel nanosheet prepared in Na-4 mica

Nanosheets of nickel with thickness equal to 0.6 nm have been grown within the interlayer spaces of Na-4 mica. The sheets are made up of percolative clusters of nanodisks. Magnetization characteristics indicate a superparamagnetic behavior with a blocking temperature of 428 K. The magnetic anisotropy constant as extracted from the coercivity data has been found to be higher than that of bulk nickel by two orders of magnitude. This is ascribed to a large aspect ratio of the nickel nanophase. The Bloch exponent is also found to be considerably different from that of bulk nickel because of a size effect. The Bloch equation is still found to be valid for the two dimensional structures.     

Thionyl Chloride-pyridine Mediated Rearrangement. Synthesis of Potential Intermediates for (+) and (±)-Occidol

Thionyl chloride-pyridine mediated rearrangement of cylohexadienyl alcohols (2) and (8) has provided hyposantonin (3) and tetrahydronaphthalene (9), respectively, which in turn have served as potential intermediates for the synthesis of optically active and racemic occidol (6), respectively.     

Peptide‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) biohybrids by grafting‐from ring‐opening polymerization: Synthesis,aggregation, and crystalline properties

Well‐defined peptide‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) (Pep‐PCL) biohybrids were successfully synthesized by grafting‐from ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of ε‐caprolactone (CL) using designed amine‐terminated sequence‐defined peptides as macroinitiators. MALDI‐TOF‐MS and ¹H NMR analyses confirmed the successful attachment of peptide to the PCL chain. The gel permeation chromatography (GPC) measurement showed that the Pep‐PCL biohybrids with controllable molecular weights and low polydispersities (PDI <1.5) were obtained by this approach. The aggregation of Pep‐PCL hybrid molecules in THF solution resulted in the formation of micro/nanospheres as confirmed through FESEM, TEM, and DLS analyses. The circular dichroism study revealed that the secondary structure of peptide moiety was changed in the peptide‐PCL biohybrids. The crystallization and melting behavior of Pep‐PCL hybrids were somewhat changed compared with that of neat PCL of comparable molecular weight as revealed by DSC and XRD measurements. In Pep‐PCL biohybrids, extinction rings were observed in the PCL spherulites, in contrast with the normal spherulite morphology of the neat PCL. There was a substantial decrease (4–5 folds) in the spherulitic growth rate after the incorporation of peptide moiety at the end of PCL chain as measured by polarizing optical microscopy. Pseudomonas lipase catalyzed enzymatic degradation was studied for Pep‐PCL hybrids and neat PCL. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

An evaluation of the CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 inhibition potential of metoprolol metabolites and their contribution to drug–drug and drug–herb interaction by LC‐ESI/MS/MS

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the contribution of metabolites to drug–drug interaction and drug–herb interaction using the inhibition of CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 by metoprolol (MET) and its metabolites. The peak concentrations of unbound plasma concentration of MET, α‐hydroxy metoprolol (HM), O‐desmethyl metoprolol (ODM) and N‐desisopropyl metoprolol (DIM) were 90.37 ± 2.69, 33.32 ± 1.92, 16.93 ± 1.70 and 7.96 ± 0.94 ng/mL, respectively. The metabolites identified, HM and ODM, had a ratio of metabolic area under the concentration–time curve (AUC) to parent AUC of ≥0.25 when either total or unbound concentration of metabolite was considered. In vitro CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 inhibition by MET, HM and ODM study revealed that MET, HM and ODM were not inhibitors of CYP3A4‐catalyzed midazolam metabolism and CYP2D6‐catalyzed dextromethorphan metabolism. However, DIM only met the criteria of >10% of the total drug related material and <25% of the parent using unbound concentrations. If CYP inhibition testing is solely based on metabolite exposure, DIM metabolite would probably not be considered. However, the present study has demonstrated that DIM contributes significantly to in vitro drug–drug interaction. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Noria: A Highly Xe‐Selective Nanoporous Organic Solid

Separation of xenon and krypton is of industrial and environmental concern; the existing technologies use cryogenic distillation. Thus, a cost‐effective, alternative technology for the separation of Xe and Kr and their capture from air is of significant importance. Herein, we report the selective Xe uptake in a crystalline porous organic oligomeric molecule, noria, and its structural analogue, PgC‐noria, under ambient conditions. The selectivity of noria towards Xe arises from its tailored pore size and small cavities, which allows a directed non‐bonding interaction of Xe atoms with a large number of carbon atoms of the noria molecular wheel in a confined space.     

Density perturbation in the models reconstructed from jerk parameter

The present work deals with the late time evolution of the linear density contrast in the dark energy models reconstructed from the jerk parameter. It is found that the non-interacting models are favoured compared to the models where an interaction is allowed in the dark sector.     

Nano-bio interface study between Fe content TiO2 nanoparticles and adenosine triphosphate biomolecules

The advent of nano-biotechnology has inspired the interface interaction study between engineered nanoparticles (NPs) and biomolecules. The interaction between Fe content titanium dioxide (TiO₂) NPs and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) biomolecules has been envisioned. The effect of Fe content in TiO₂ matrix was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The increase in Fe content caused a decrease in particle size with change in morphology from spherical to one-dimensional rod structure. The Fe incorporation in the TiO₂ matrix reduced the transition temperature from anatase to rutile (A-R) phase along with formation of haematite phase of iron oxide at 400°C. The interaction of Fe content TiO₂ NPs with ATP molecule has been studied using spectroscopic method of Raman scattering and infrared vibration spectrum along with TEM. Fe content in TiO₂ has enhanced the interaction efficiency of the NPs with ATP biomolecules. Raman spectroscopy confirms that the NPs interact strongly with nitrogen (N₇) site in the adenine ring of ATP biomolecule. Engineering of Fe content TiO₂ NP could successfully tune the coordination between metal oxide NPs with biomolecules, which could help in designing devices for biomedical applications.