Assessment of Bhatiari Lake water quality: Pollution indices,hydrochemical signatures and hydro-statistical analysis

This study aimed at evaluating the water quality of Bhatiari Lake (BL) for the first time based on water quality parameters, pollution indices, hydrochemical signatures and hydro-statistical analysis. Lake water samples were collected from the lake during April–May 2019 and wide ranges of parameters were considered for the investigation. Except for COD and Fe, all the parameters were within the permissible limit. COD crossed Bangladesh standards and testing institution (BSTI) and United States environmental protection agency (USEPA) standards. In contrast, Fe crossed World health organization (WHO), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and USEPA standards. Hydrochemical analysis indicated the water as soft-fresh where near neutral low-metal was noticed from the Ficklin-Caboi diagram. Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-HCO₃^- type water was confirmed from Piper and Chadha diagram, whereas Durov and Schoeller's diagram were indicated the influence of Mg²⁺-HCO₃^-. The trend of cations and anions were Ca²⁺> Mg²⁺> Na⁺>K⁺ and HCO₃^? > Cl^? > NO₃^? > SO₄^2? > PO₄^3? as stated by pie chart. Most precipitation dominant water was confirmed from the Gibbs diagram. Principal component analysis (PCA), Cluster analysis (CA) and Correlation matrix (CM) indicated the co-existence of geogenic and anthropogenic sources for pollution. Good water quality was observed via an integrated approach namely degree of contamination (C_d), Single-Factor Pollution Index (SPI), Comprehensive pollution index (CPI), Heavy metal evaluation index (HEI), Heavy metal pollution index (HPI), Nemerow's pollution index (NPI) and Ecological risk index (ERI). In addition, water quality index (WQI) remarked the water is excellent. Taken collectively, the present study indicates the BL water can be considered pollution-free.     

Application of Carrageenan extract from red seaweed (Rhodophyta) in cosmetic products: A review

Cosmetic industries have expanded globally and will continue to increase as there are consumers. Nowadays, the interest starts to incline towards cosmetics formulated using plant-based ingredients. Marine plants such as seaweed possess numerous natural polysaccharides. Carrageenan is one of the compounds that can be extracted from red seaweed (Rhodophyta). This natural polysaccharide is widely known to act as a thickener, stabilizer, and water-binding agent as well as have diverse biological activities that make it a suitable active ingredient in cosmetic products. The review paper is organized by starting with discussing the significant aspects related to carrageenan which are the source, structure, as well as general and biological properties of carrageenan that make it appropriate to be applied in cosmetics. This paper also highlighted the applications of carrageenan in cosmetics, followed by the extraction method and instrument used.     

A study on chemical behaviors of some 4‐pyrones synthesized by one‐step reactions towards various amines

Cycloaddition of acetylbenzoyl ketene generated in situ as an intermediate during one‐step reaction between excess benzoylacetone and oxalylchloride to C=C double bond of cyclic enol form of benzoylacetone gave 3‐acetyl‐5‐benzoyl‐6‐methyl‐2‐phenyl‐4(4H)‐pyrone 1a . Condensation reactions of 1a together with 3,5‐dibenzoyl‐2,6‐diphenyl‐4(4H)‐pyrone 1b and 3‐benzoyl‐5‐ethoxycarbonyl‐2,6‐diphenyl‐4(4H)‐pyrone 1c with two‐fold excess primary amines provided a series of 3‐benzoyl‐1‐alkyl‐5‐(1‐alkylimino‐ethyl)‐6‐phenyl‐2‐methyl‐4(1H)‐pyridinone 2 , 3,5‐dibenzoyl‐1‐alkyl‐2,6‐diphenyl‐4(1H)‐pyridinone 3a‐c and 3‐benzoyl‐1‐alkyl‐5‐ethoxycarbonyl‐2,6‐diphenyl‐4(1H)‐pyridinone 3d,e derivatives, respectively. In addition, while prolonged reaction of n‐pentylamine with unsymmetrical pyrone derivative 1a gives a symmetrical pyridinone derivative namely 3,5‐dibenzoyl‐2,6‐dimethyl‐1‐pentyl‐4(1H)‐pyridinone 5 , much prolonged action n‐pentylamine and then aqueous n‐pentylamine on 1b resulted in degradation of the 4‐pyrone ring to give dibenzoylmethane.     

Synthesis and some reactions of 4‐(ethoxycarbonyl)‐1,5‐diphenyl‐1H‐pyrazole‐3‐carboxylic acid

1,5‐Diphenyl‐1H‐pyrazole‐3,4‐dicarboxylic acid‐4‐ethyl ester 2 , obtained from the 4‐ethoxycarbonyl‐5‐phenyl‐2,3‐furandione 1 and N‐benzylidene‐N′‐phenyl hydrazine, was converted via reactions of its acid chloride 3 with various alcohols or N‐nucleophiles into the corresponding ester 5 or amide derivatives 6 , respectively. In addition, 2 was decarboxylated to give ethyl 1,5‐diphenylpyrazole‐4‐carboxylate 4 . Nitrile 7 derivative of 2 was also obtained by dehydration of 6a in a mixture of SOCl₂ and DMF. While cyclocondensation reaction of 2 with hydrazine hydrate leads to the formation of pyrazolo[3,4‐d]pyridazine‐4,7‐dione 8 , the reaction of 3 with anhydrous hydrazine provided a new bis pyrazole derivative 9 .     

Imidazolium ionic liquids as solvents for cerium(IV)-mediated oxidation reactions

Use of imidazolium ionic liquids as solvents for organic transformations with tetravalent cerium salts as oxidizing agents was evaluated. Good solubility was found for ammonium hexanitratocerate(IV) (ceric ammonium nitrate, CAN) and cerium(IV) triflate in 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium triflate ionic liquids. Oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium triflate was studied by in-situ FTIR spectroscopy and 13C NMR spectroscopy on carbon-13-labeled benzyl alcohol. Careful control of the reaction conditions is necessary because ammonium hexanitratocerate(IV) dissolved in an ionic liquid can transform benzyl alcohol not only into benzaldehyde but also into benzyl nitrate or benzoic acid. The selectivity of the reaction of cerium(IV) triflate with benzyl alcohol in dry ionic liquids depends on the degree of hydration of cerium(IV) triflate: anhydrous cerium(IV) triflate transforms benzyl alcohol into dibenzyl ether, whereas hydrated cerium(IV) triflate affords benzaldehyde as the main reaction product. Reactions of ammonium hexanitratocerate(IV) with organic substrates other than benzyl alcohol have been explored. 1,4-Hydroquinone is quantitatively transformed into 1,4-quinone. Anisole and naphthalene are nitrated. For the cerium-mediated oxidation reactions in ionic liquids, high reaction temperatures are an advantage because under these conditions smaller amounts of byproducts are formed.     

Fam-Ti catalyzed enantioselective alkynylation of aldehydes

Ferrocenyl-substituted aziridinylmethanol (Fam-1) has been used as a chiral catalyst with titanium for enantioselective alkynylation of aromatic, heteroaromatic, aliphatic, and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes to give the corresponding propargylic alcohols in up to 96% yield and 96% ee. The ligand can be prepared easily and recycled.     

The interaction of cationic polymers and their bisphosphonate derivatives with hydroxyapatite

Conjugating proteins with bisphosphonates (BPs), a class of molecules with exceptional affinity to hydroxyapatite (HA), is a feasible means to impart bone affinity to protein-based therapeutic agents. To increase the targeting effectiveness while minimizing protein modification, a polymeric linker containing multiple copies of BPs could be constructed for protein conjugation and targeting to bone. Towards this goal, poly(L-lysine) (PLL) and poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) were utilized as the polymeric backbones to incorporate a BP, namely 2-(3-mercaptopropylsulfanyl)-ethyl-1,1-bisphosphonic acid (thiolBP), by using N-hydroxysuccinimidyl polyethylene glycol maleimide and succinimidyl-4-(N-maleimidomethyl)-cyclohexane-1-carboxylate, respectively. In vitro and in vivo mineral affinity of the polymer-BP conjugates were determined in comparison with the unmodified polymers. The in vitro results indicated strong binding of the cationic polymers to HA in their unmodified form. BP conjugation did not enhance the inherent mineral affinity of the polymers; in contrast, certain modifications negatively affected the polymers' binding to the HA. In vivo results from a subcutaneous implant model in rats also showed no significant difference in mineral affinity of the BP modified and unmodified PEI. We conclude that thiolBP conjugation to the cationic polymers PLL and PEI was not beneficial for increasing the mineral affinity of the polymeric molecules. The strong interaction between the cationic polymers and HA may make the polymers suitable for imparting mineral affinity to bone-acting therapeutics.     

Terahertz current oscillations in single-walled zigzag carbon nanotubes

We report time-dependent terahertz current oscillations on an n=10 single-walled zigzag carbon nanotube (CNT) that is 100 nm long. To obtain transport characteristics in this CNT, we developed an ensemble Monte Carlo (MC) simulator, which self-consistently calculates the electron transport and electrical potential. The ensemble MC simulations indicate that, under certain dc bias and doping conditions, the average electron velocity and concentration oscillate. This leads to current oscillations in space and time, on the tube, and at the contacts. We attribute this to accumulation and depletion of the CNT electrons at different locations on the tube, giving rise to low and high density electron regions. These local dipoles are a result of intra- and intersubband scatterings and different subband dispersion relations. This in turn forms propagating dipoles and current oscillations.     

Emergence of Fermi pockets in a new excitonic charge-density-wave melted superconductor

A superconducting state (T(c) approximately 4.2 K) has very recently been observed upon successful doping of the charge-density-wave (CDW) ordered triangular lattice TiSe(2), with copper. Using state-of-the-art photoemission spectroscopy we identify, for the first time, momentum-space locations of doped electrons that form the Fermi sea of the superconductor. With doping, we find that kinematic nesting volume increases, whereas coherence of the CDW collective order sharply drops. In superconducting doping, as chemical potential rises, we observe the emergence of a large density of states in the form of a narrow electron pocket near the L point of the Brillouin zone with d-like character. The k-space spectral evolution directly demonstrates, for the first time, that the CDW order parameter microscopically competes with superconductivity in the same band.     

Excess molar volumes,viscosity, refractive index,and Gibbs energy of activation of binary biodiesel + benzene,and biodiesel + toluene mixtures at 298.15 and 303.15 K

Excess molar volumes (V ^E), viscosities, refractive index, and Gibbs energies were evaluated for binary biodiesel + benzene and toluene mixtures at 298.15 and 303.15 K. The excess molar volumes V ^E were determined from density, while the excess Gibbs free energy of activation G*^E was calculated from viscosity deviation Δη. The excess molar volume (V ^E), viscosity deviation (Δη), and excess Gibbs energy of activation (G*^E) were fitted to the Redlich-Kister polynomial equation to derive binary coefficients and estimate the standard deviations between the experimental data and calculation results. All mixtures showed positive V ^E values obviously caused by increased physical interactions between biodiesel and the organic solvents.