Polymeric Gene Carriers Bearing Pendant β‐Cyclodextrin: The Relevance of Glycoside Permethylation on the “In Vitro” Cell Response

The incorporation of cyclodextrins (CDs) to nonviral cationic polymer vectors is very attractive due to recent studies that report a clear improvement of their cytocompatibility and transfection efficiency. However, a systematic study on the influence of the CD derivatization is still lacking. In this work, the relevance of β‐CD permethylation has been addressed by preparing and evaluating two series of copolymers of the cationic N‐ethyl pyrrolidine methacrylamide (EPA) and styrenic units bearing pendant hydroxylated and permethylated β‐CDs (HCDSt and MeCDSt, respectively). For both cell lines, CDs permethylation shows a strong influence on plasmid DNA complexation, “in vitro” cytocompatibility and transfection efficiency of the resulting copolymers over two murine cell lines. While the incorporation of the hydroxylated CD moiety increased the cytotoxicity of the copolymers in comparison with their homopolycationic counterpart, the permethylated copolymers have shown full cytocompatibility as well as superior transfection efficiency than the controls. This behavior has been related to the different chemical nature of both units and tentatively to a different distribution of units along the polymeric chains. Cellular internalization analysis with fluorescent copo­lymers supports this behavior.

     

Physicochemical studies on bioactive Cr(III) coordination compounds with esters of hydrazine carboxylic acid as hetero donor ligands

Reaction between hydrazine derivative ligands (HrzE) or (HrzB) and chromium salt in 1:2 (metal:ligand) molar ratio yielded monometallic trivalent coordination compounds with general formula [Cr(HrzE)₂X₂]X and [Cr(HrzB)₂X₂]X, where (HrzE) = hydrazine carboxylic acid ethyl ester, (HrzB) = hydrazine carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester, and X = Cl^?, Br^? or F^?. Elemental analysis, conductivity measurements, magnetic moment measurements, and various spectroscopic techniques, viz. infrared, ultraviolet–visible, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, were applied to illustrate the structure and composition of the coordination compounds. Analytic and conductivity results were consistent with 1:1 electrolytic behavior and the proposed formulas of the coordination compounds. Electronic absorption data and magnetic moment parameters indicated octahedral geometry surrounding the metal ion in the coordination compounds. The in vitro antimicrobial behavior of the ligands and coordination compounds was screened using four bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhi) and two fungal strains (Candida parapsilosis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The results indicated improved activity of the coordination compounds compared with the free ligands against the studied bacteria and fungi.     

Probing the 3d spin momentum with X-ray emission spectroscopy: the case of molecular-spin transitions

We report X-ray emission spectra of Fe(III), Fe(II), and Co(II) spin-crossover compounds in their high-spin and low-spin forms. It is shown that all X-ray emission features are sensitive to the spin state. Variations of the Kbeta and the Kalpha emission line shapes, which are in agreement with theory, can be used as quantitative probes of the spin state; it is suggested that with appropriate reference experiments one can extract the spin momentum for a general case. Resonant X-ray emission spectra unveil details of the redistribution of electrons on the 3d levels associated with the spin-state change by revealing features at the X-ray absorption preedge not accessible through standard absorption measurements.     

Ionospheric plasma by VHF waves

The amplitude scintillations of very high frequency electromagnetic wave transmitted from geo-stationary satellite at 244.168 MHz have been recorded at Varanasi (geom. lat. 14′ 55′N) during 1991 to 1999. The data are analyzed to determine the statistical features of overhead ionospheric plasma irregularities which are mostly of small duration <30 minutes and are predominant during pre-midnight period. The increase of solar activity generally increases the depth of scintillation. The auto-correlation functions and power spectra of scintillations predict that the scale length of these irregularities varies from 200–500 m having velocity of movement between 75 m/sec to 200 m/sec. These results agree well with the results obtained by other workers.     

Optical and FTIR properties of Se93−XZn2Te5InX chalcogenide glasses

In this work, we report the optical properties of bulk Se_93−XZn₂Te₅In_X (X=0, 2, 4, 6 and 10) chalcogenide glasses. Refractive index, extinction coefficient, real dielectric constant (ε′), imaginary dielectric constant (ε″), absorption coefficient (α) and energy band gap were obtained from analysis of common range (250-1100 nm) UV/Visible transmittance spectrum. Besides, transmission percentages were obtained from FTIR spectra in wave number range 4000-400 cm⁻¹.The concentration dependence structural phenomena have been explained with help of average coordination 〈z〉.     

Experimental thermal performance study of natural graphite as sensible heat storage material using different heat transfer fluids

In this paper thermal performance of graphite-based sensible heat storage system with embedded helical coil in rectangular shell was studied. Plain water at four flow rates (0.25 LPM–1.0 LPM) and four inlet temperatures (60°C–90°C) was passed through the graphite bed and charging time was measured. Expanded graphite/water suspension and Al₂O₃/water nanofluid were also used to study charging behavior of graphite. Results showed that charging time of packed bed was reduced with increase in flow rate and inlet temperature of heat transfer fluid. Charging time using expanded graphite/water solution and nanofluid was 14.2% and 21.2% lesser than water.

Abbreviations: h_i: internal heat transfer coefficient (W m^?2 K^?1); HTF: Heat transfer fluid; h_o: External heat transfer coefficient (W m^?2 K^?1); LPM: liter per minute; k: thermal conductivity (W m^?1 K^?1); TSU: Thermal storage unit     

On the ambiguity in the notion of transverse traceless modes of gravitational waves

Somewhat surprisingly, in many of the widely used monographs and review articles the term Transverse-Traceless modes of linearized gravitational waves is used to denote two entirely different notions. These treatments generally begin with a decomposition of the metric perturbation that is local in the momentum space (and hence non-local in physical space), and denote the resulting transverse traceless modes by \(h_{ab}^{\mathrm{TT}}\). However, while discussing gravitational waves emitted by an isolated system—typically in a later section—the relevant modes are extracted using a ‘projection operator’ that is local in physical space. These modes are also called transverse-traceless and again labeled \(h_{ab}^{\mathrm{TT}}\), implying that this is just a reformulation of the previous notion. But the two notions are conceptually distinct and the difference persists even in the asymptotic region. We show that this confusion arises already in Maxwell theory that is often discussed as a prelude to the gravitational case. Finally, we discuss why the distinction has nonetheless remained largely unnoticed, and also point out that there are some important physical effects where only one of the notions gives the correct answer.     

Fabrication of immunosensor microwell arrays from gold compact discs for detection of cancer biomarker proteins

A simple method is reported to fabricate gold arrays featuring microwells surrounding 8-electrodes from gold compact discs (CDs) for less than $0.2 per chip. Integration of these disposable gold CD array chips with microfluidics provided inexpensive immunoarrays that were used to measure a cancer biomarker protein quickly at high sensitivity. The gold CD sensor arrays were fabricated using thermal transfer of laserjet toner from a computer-printed pattern followed by selective chemical etching. Sensor elements had an electrochemically addressable surface area of 0.42 mm(2) with RSD <2%. For a proof-of-concept application, the arrays were integrated into a simple microfluidic device for electrochemical detection of cancer biomarker interleukin-6 (IL-6) in diluted serum. Capture antibodies of IL-6 were chemically linked onto the electrode arrays and a sandwich immunoassay protocol was developed. A biotinylated detection antibody with polymerized horseradish peroxidase labels was used for signal amplification. The detection limit of IL-6 in diluted serum was remarkably low at 10 fg mL(-1) (385 aM) with a linear response with log of IL-6 concentration from 10 to 1300 fg mL(-1). These easily fabricated, ultrasensitive, microfluidic immunosensors should be readily adapted for sensitive detection of multiple biomarkers for cancer diagnostics.     

Spectrophotometric Investigation of the Charge–Transfer Interaction of 2,3-Dicyano-1,4-naphthoquinone with N-Ethylaniline in Chlorinated Solvents

The charge?Ctransfer interaction between 2,3-dicyano-1,4-naphthoquinone (DCNQ) and N-ethylaniline was studied in the halocarbons chloroform and dichloromethane and a 1:1 (v/v) mixture of these two solvents. A rapid interaction between DCNQ and N-ethylaniline results in the formation of the monosubstituted final product. The reaction is found to proceed through an initial charge?Ctransfer (CT) complex intermediate. The equilibrium constants of the ??-complex, in all the three media, were evaluated along with first-order and second-order rate constants for the appearance and disappearance of the ??- and ??-complexes. The final product was isolated and characterized by IR, NMR and elemental analysis. Based on the kinetic results a mechanism was proposed for the reaction.