A Triangular Platinum(II) Multinuclear Complex with Cytotoxicity Towards Breast Cancer Stem Cells

The preparation of multinuclear metal complexes offers a route to novel anticancer agents and delivery systems. The potency of a novel triangular multinuclear complex containing three platinum atoms, Pt‐3 , towards breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) is reported. The trinuclear platinum(II) complex, Pt‐3 exhibits selective toxicity towards breast CSCs over bulk breast cancer cells and non‐tumorigenic breast cells. Remarkably, Pt‐3 inhibits the formation, size, and viability of mammospheres to a better extent than salinomycin, an established CSC‐potent agent, and cisplatin and carboplatin, clinically used platinum drugs. Mechanism of action studies show that Pt‐3 effectively enters breast CSCs, penetrates the nucleus, induces genomic DNA damage, and prompts caspase‐dependent apoptosis. To the best of our knowledge, Pt‐3 is the first multinuclear platinum complex to selectively kill breast CSCs over other breast cell types.     

Fine-structure quenching and multiplet distortion in a screened Coulomb atom

Theoretical results presented in this paper reflect that the relativistic fine-structure due to the mass-velocity, spin-orbit and Darwin terms is sensitive to the screening strength parameter in an exponential screened Coulomb hydrogen atom, that is sometimes used to model a plasma-embedded atom. With stronger screening the fine-structure correction undergoes a gradual suppression in magnitude, but contributes to the total binding energy in an increasing proportion, indicating that the relativistic contribution to binding may become quite significant in the ultra-low binding regime under large screening strength. In the presence of screening the l-independence of the fine-structure correction as predicted by the Dirac theory progressively disappears, and a departure from the Z⁴-scaling law of the correction occurs along the H-isoelectronic sequence of ions - both the effects become accentuated with growing screening strength. In conjunction with screening-induced removal of the Coulomb degeneracy of non-relativistic levels, these result in a deformed multiplet structure for the screened Coulomb atom. Received 31 May 1999 and Received in final form 20 September 1999     

Elastic wave propagation in sinusoidally corrugated waveguides

The ultrasonic wave propagation in sinusoidally corrugated waveguides is studied in this paper. Periodically corrugated waveguides are gaining popularity in the field of vibration control and for designing structures with desired acoustic band gaps. Currently only numerical method (Boundary Element Method or Finite Element Method) based packages (e.g., PZFlex) are in principle capable of modeling ultrasonic fields in complex structures with rapid change of curvatures at the interfaces and boundaries but no analyses have been reported. However, the packages are very CPU intensive; it requires a huge amount of computation memory and time for its execution. In this paper a new semi-analytical technique called Distributed Point Source Method (DPSM) is used to model the ultrasonic field in sinusoidally corrugated waveguides immersed in water where the interface curvature changes rapidly. DPSM results are compared with analytical solutions. It is found that when a narrow ultrasonic beam hits the corrugation peaks at an angle, the wave propagates in the backward direction in waveguides with high corrugation depth. However, in waveguides with small corrugation the wave propagates in the forward direction. The forward and backward propagation phenomenon is found to be independent of the signal frequency and depends on the degree of corrugation.     

Shape-influenced magnetic properties of CoO nanoparticles

Despite uncertainty about the potential human health and environmental risks of nanotechnology, major stakeholders such as regulatory agencies and the nanotechnology industry are already negotiating the emerging regulatory framework for nanotechnology. Because of a relative lack of nano-specific regulations, the future of nanotechnology development will depend greatly on the views held by the nanotechnology industry. This study fills the research gap in understanding how the nanotechnology industry perceives the risks of nanotechnology. This is the first interview-based study of the nanotechnology industry in the United States. Semi-structured, open-ended phone interviews were conducted with 17 individuals involved in the commercialization of nanotechnology in the United States. Results indicate that while the industry acknowledges uncertainty about the potential risks of nanotechnology and takes significant precaution in ensuring the safety of their products, they do not see nanotechnology as novel or risky. They do not believe that uncertainty over risk ought to delay the further development of nanotechnology. The industry sees itself as the primary agent in ensuring consumer safety and believes that consumers are adequately protected. They are also largely benefit-centric and view product labeling as inefficacious.     

Elastic wave field computation in multilayered nonplanar solid structures: a mesh-free semianalytical approach

Multilayered solid structures made of isotropic, transversely isotropic, or general anisotropic materials are frequently used in aerospace, mechanical, and civil structures. Ultrasonic fields developed in such structures by finite size transducers simulating actual experiments in laboratories or in the field have not been rigorously studied. Several attempts to compute the ultrasonic field inside solid media have been made based on approximate paraxial methods like the classical ray tracing and multi-Gaussian beam models. These approximate methods have several limitations. A new semianalytical method is adopted in this article to model elastic wave field in multilayered solid structures with planar or nonplanar interfaces generated by finite size transducers. A general formulation good for both isotropic and anisotropic solids is presented in this article. A variety of conditions have been incorporated in the formulation including irregularities at the interfaces. The method presented here requires frequency domain displacement and stress Green's functions. Due to the presence of different materials in the problem geometry various elastodynamic Green's functions for different materials are used in the formulation. Expressions of displacement and stress Green's functions for isotropic and anisotropic solids as well as for the fluid media are presented. Computed results are verified by checking the stress and displacement continuity conditions across the interface of two different solids of a bimetal plate and investigating if the results for a corrugated plate with very small corrugation match with the flat plate results.     

Gaussian-DPSM (G-DPSM) and Element Source Method (ESM) modifications to DPSM for ultrasonic field modeling

In the last few years, Distributed Point Source Method (DPSM) a mesh-free semi-analytical technique has been developed. In spite of its many advantages, one shortcoming of the conventional DPSM method is that the field obtained by conventional DPSM method needs to be scaled to match the theoretical solutions. Two modification techniques called Gaussian-DPSM (G-DPSM) and Element Source Method (ESM) are developed here to avoid the scaling need. G-DPSM technique introduces additional fictitious point sources around every parent point source. Gaussian weight functions determine the strength of these additional fictitious point sources that are denoted as child point sources. ESM replaces discrete point sources used in the conventional DPSM by continuous sources. In the ESM formulation individual point sources are denoted as nodes. Special elements are formed on the boundary by connecting these nodes. The source strength inside the element can vary linearly or non-linearly depending on the order of the interpolation function used inside the element. Results generated by both these methods are compared with the conventional DPSM solution and analytical solution. It is shown that the ultrasonic field in front of the transducer computed by G-DPSM and ESM matches very well with the theory without using any scaling factor.     

Bay Functionalized Perylenediimide with Pyridine Positional Isomers: NIR Absorption and Selective Colorimetric/Fluorescent Sensing of Fe<Superscript>3+</Superscript> and Al<Superscript>3+</Superscript> Ions

Bay functionalized perylene diimide substituted with pyridine isomers, (2-pyridine (2HMP-PDI), 3-pyridine (3-HMP-PDI) and 4-pyridine (4-HMP-PDI)) have been synthesized and explored for selective coloro/fluorimetric sensing of heavy transition metal ions. HMP-PDIs showed strong NIR absorption (760–765 nm) in DMF. The absorption and fluorescence of HMP-PDIs have been tuned by make use of pyridine isomers. Reddish-orange color was observed for 2-HMP-PDI (λ_max = 437, 551, 765 nm) whereas 4-HMP-PDI exhibited light green (λ_max = 432, 522, 765 nm). 3-HMP-PDI showed orange-yellow (λ_max = 431, 524, 762 nm). The fluorescence spectra of 2-, 3- and 4-HMP-PDI showed λ_max at 585, 538, 546 nm, respectively. Interestingly, HMP-PDI dyes showed selective color change (intense pink color) and fluorescence quenching for Fe³⁺ and Al³⁺ metal ions in DMF. Absorbance spectra revealed complete disappearance of NIR absorption and intensification/appearance of new peak at lower wavelength. The concentration dependent studies suggest that 4-HMP-PDI can detect up to 36.52 ppb of Fe³⁺ and 43.12 ppb of Al³⁺ colorimetrically. The interference studies in presence of other metal ions confirmed the good selectivity for Fe³⁺ and Al³⁺. The mechanistic studies indicate that Lewis acidic character of Fe³⁺ and Al³⁺ ions were responsible for selective color change and fluorescence quenching.     

Yang-Baxter algebra and generation of quantum integrable models

We discover an operator-deformed quantum algebra using the quantum Yang-Baxter equation with the trigonometric R-matrix. This novel Hopf algebra together with its q→1 limit seems the most general Yang-Baxter algebra underlying quantum integrable systems. We identify three different directions for applying this algebra in integrable systems depending on different sets of values of the deforming operators. Fixed values on the whole lattice yield subalgebras linked to standard quantum integrable models, and the associated Lax operators generate and classify them in a unified way. Variable values yield a new series of quantum integrable inhomogeneous models. Fixed but different values at different lattice sites can produce a novel class of integrable hybrid models including integrable matter-radiation models and quantum field models with defects, in particular, a new quantum integrable sine-Gordon model with defect. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 151, No. 3, pp. 470–485, June, 2007.