Hiemenz flow and heat transfer of a third grade fluid

The laminar flow and heat transfer of an incompressible, third grade, electrically conducting fluid impinging normal to a plane in the presence of a uniform magnetic field is investigated. The heat transfer analysis has been carried out for two heating processes, namely, (i) with prescribed surface temperature (PST-case) and (ii) prescribed surface heat flux (PHF-case). By means of the similarity transformation, the governing non-linear partial differential equations are reduced to a system of non-linear ordinary differential equations and are solved by a second-order numerical technique. Effects of various non-Newtonian fluid parameters, magnetic parameter, Prandtl number on the velocity and temperature fields have been investigated in detail and shown graphically. It is found that the velocity gradient at the wall decreases as the third grade fluid parameter increases.     

Efficient electrocatalytic oxidation of NADH at gold nanoparticles self-assembled on three-dimensional sol-gel network

It is demonstrated that gold (Au) nanoparticles self-assembled on a sol-gel derived three-dimensional silicate network efficiently catalyze the oxidation of NADH in the absence of any electron transfer mediators with a decrease in overpotential of 780 mV in neutral solution.     

Unusual formation of β-carboline dimers under Bischler-Napieralski reaction conditions: an old reaction with a new direction

l-N-Formyl tryptophan methyl ester (3) underwent a Bischler-Napieralski reaction with POCl₃ at room temperature or under microwave irradiation, resulting in the unusual formation of β-carboline dimers 5 and 6. Most importantly, acetylation using Ac₂O of each of the dimers 5 and 6 separately afforded 1-[3′-carbomethoxy-β-carbolinyl]-3-carbomethoxy-9-acetyl-β-carboline (7) as the only product, the structure of which was confirmed by X-ray crystallography studies.     

Fluorinated Photodynamic Therapy Device Tips and their Resistance to Fouling for In Vivo Sensitizer Release

We describe progress on a one‐step photodynamic therapy (PDT) technique that is simple: device tip delivery of sensitizer, oxygen and light simultaneously. Control is essential for their delivery to target sites to generate singlet oxygen. One potential problem is the silica device tip may suffer from biomaterial fouling and the pace of sensitizer photorelease is slowed. Here, we have used biomaterial (e.g. proteins, cells, etc.) from SQ20B head and neck tumors and whole blood for an assessment of fouling of the silica tips by adsorption. It was shown that by exchanging the native silica tip for a fluorinated tip, a better nonstick property led to an increased sensitizer output by ~10%. The fluorinated tip gave a sigmoidal photorelease where singlet oxygen is stabilized to physical quenching, whereas the native silica tip with unprotected SiO–H groups gave a slower (pseudolinear) photorelease. A further benefit from fluorinated silica is that 15% less biomaterial adheres to its surface compared to native silica based on a bicinchoninic acid assay (BCA) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. We discuss how the fluorination of the device tip increases biofouling resistance and can contribute to a new pointsource PDT tool.     

Simplifying the complex 1H NMR spectra of fluorine-substituted benzamides by spin system filtering and spin-state selection: multiple-quantum-single-quantum correlation

The proton NMR spectra of fluorine-substituted benzamides are very complex (Figure 1) due to severe overlap of (1)H resonances from the two aromatic rings, in addition to several short and long-range scalar couplings experienced by each proton. With no detectable scalar couplings between the inter-ring spins, the (1)H NMR spectra can be construed as an overlap of spectra from two independent phenyl rings. In the present study we demonstrate that it is possible to separate the individual spectrum for each aromatic ring by spin system filtering employing the multiple-quantum-single-quantum correlation methodology. Furthermore, the two spin states of fluorine are utilized to simplify the spectrum corresponding to each phenyl ring by the spin-state selection. The demonstrated technique reduces spectral complexity by a factor of 4, in addition to permitting the determination of long-range couplings of less than 0.2 Hz and the relative signs of heteronuclear couplings. The technique also aids the judicious choice of the spin-selective double-quantum-single-quantum J-resolved experiment to determine the long-range homonuclear couplings of smaller magnitudes.     

Anisotropic Bianchi-I universe with phantom field and cosmological constant

We study an anisotropic Bianchi-I universe in the presence of a phantom field and a cosmological constant. Cosmological solutions are obtained when the kinetic energy of the phantom field is of the order of anisotropy and dominates over the potential energy of the field. The anisotropy of the universe decreases and the universe transits to an isotropic flat FRW universe accommodating the present acceleration. A class of new cosmological solutions is obtained for an anisotropic universe in case an initial anisotropy exists which is bigger than the value determined by the parameter of the kinetic part of the field. Later, an autonomous system of equations for an axially symmetric Bianchi-I universe with phantom field in an exponential potential is studied. We discuss the stability of the cosmological solutions.      

DNA and RNA binding studies on a novel bromo-bridged dimeric copper(II) complex stabilized from a Schiff base ligand

Abstract

A novel red copper(II) compound, bis(μ-bromo)bis(2-(benzothiazol-2-yl-hydrazono)-1,2-diphenyl-ethanone)-dicopper(II) (1), has been fostered by equimolar reaction of a Schiff-base ligand, 2-(benzothiazol-2-yl-hydrazono)-1,2-diphenyl-ethanone (LH), with copper(II) bromide in satisfactory yield. 1 has thoroughly been characterized by C, H and N elemental analyses, FT-IR and UV-vis (both in solid state and in solution) spectroscopies, and room-temperature magnetic susceptibility and conductivity measurements. Dimeric 1 bears symmetric rare bromo-bridges in its crystal structure. 1 retains its solid-state identity even in a protic solvent like methanol. 1 in methanol displays two-step one-electron redox response. Theoretical calculations based on DFT were executed to probe the electronic structure of 1 and to augment its color. DNA- and RNA-binding aspects of both LH and 1 have been explored. Thermodynamic binding parameters have been determined. LH is a major-groove binder to DNA, while 1 manifests itself as a minor-groove binder. This binding has been corroborated through molecular docking. Nucleic acid binding aspect of such type of rare bromo-bridged red copper(II) dimer is unprecedented.     

Principles of melting in hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite and polymorphic ABX3 structures

Four novel dicyanamide-containing hybrid organic–inorganic ABX₃ structures are reported, and the thermal behaviour of a series of nine perovskite and non-perovskite [AB(N(CN)₂)₃] (A = (C₃H₇)₄N, (C₄H₉)₄N, (C₅H₁₁)₄N; B = Co, Fe, Mn) is analyzed. Structure–property relationships are investigated by varying both A-site organic and B-site transition metal cations. In particular, increasing the size of the A-site cation from (C₃H₇)₄N → (C₄H₉)₄N → (C₅H₁₁)₄N was observed to result in a decrease in T_m through an increase in ΔS_f. Consistent trends in T_m with metal replacement are observed with each A-site cation, with Co < Fe < Mn. The majority of the melts formed were found to recrystallise partially upon cooling, though glasses could be formed through a small degree of organic linker decomposition. Total scattering methods are used to provide a greater understanding of the melting mechanism.

Increasing the size of the A-site cation from (C₃H₇)₄N → (C₄H₉)₄N → (C₅H₁₁)₄N in hybrid organic–inorganic ABX₃ structures was observed to result in a decrease in T_m, through an increase in ΔS_f.