A dendrimer-based immunosensor for improved capture and detection of tumor necrosis factor-α cytokine

A dendrimer-based sandwich type enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the improved detection of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) for early diagnosis of perinatal diseases. Hydroxyl-terminated generation four poly(amidoamine) dendrimer (G4-OH) was used for the development of a solid phase bio-sensing platform. The surface of the ELISA plate was modified with polyethylene-glycol (PEG) and thiol-functionalized G4-OH was immobilized on the PEG-functionalized plate. A capture antibody was oxidized and covalently immobilized onto the dendrimer-modified ELISA plate, which provides favorable orientation for the antigen binding sites toward the analyte. The dendrimer-modified plate showed enhanced sensitivity, and the detection limit for TNF-α was found to be 0.48 pg mL⁻¹, which is significantly better than the commercially available ELISA kit. The selectivity of the dendrimer-modified ELISA plate was further evaluated with a mixture of cytokines, which showed results for similar to that of TNF-α alone. The modified plate provides a greater opportunity for the detection of a wide range of cytokines and biomarkers.     

Microstructure, magnetic and magnetoimpedance properties in electrodeposited NiFe/Cu and CoNiFe/Cu wire with thiourea additive in plating bath

Magnetic thin films of NiFe and CoNiFe alloys were electrodeposited from three different deposition baths onto copper wires of 100-μm diameter. The magnetic and magnetoimpedance (MI) properties of the samples along with their microstructure were investigated as a function of thiourea additive concentrations (C_T) in the plating bath. For all intermediate frequencies, the MI ratio increased with thiourea concentration in plating bath up to a critical concentration of 80 mg/l and then decreased considerably. The change in MI with thiourea concentration in electrodeposition bath was attributed to the grain size reducing action of thiourea, which in turn enhances the soft magnetic properties of the films. At higher concentration of thiourea, the sulfur inclusion increased the magnetic softness and MI value enhanced considerably. The origin of MI lies in the combined effect of domain wall motion and spin rotation, which contributes to permeability. Inductance spectroscopy (IS) was used to evaluate the magnetic characteristic of the samples by modeling coated wires in terms of equivalent electrical circuit; namely parallel LR (inductance and resistance) circuit in series with series LR circuit. The domain wall motion was found to be greatly affected by thiourea addition in the bath, which was revealed through the study of variation of these circuit parameters. The domain wall motion thereby affects the magnetic softness of samples, which is reflected in the MI enhancement.     

Support-Free Pd3Co NCs as an Efficient Heterogeneous Nanocatalyst for New Organic Transformations of C−C Coupling Reactions

A support-free heterogeneous Pd₃Co nanostructured composite (NC), synthesized through a hydrothermal route, acted as an effective catalytic system in multivariate Heck-, Sonogashira-, and Suzuki-type coupling reactions of iodonium ylides. The XPS analysis of the bimetallic Pd₃Co NCs confirmed the elemental composition as 75 % palladium and 25 % cobalt. Furthermore, high-resolution (HR) TEM analysis confirmed the spherical morphology of the Pd₃Co bimetallic nanoparticles. The average diameter of the NCs is 14.8 nm. The coupling reaction proceeded through the generation of α-iodoenones with simultaneous migration of the phenyl group, thereby giving a scaffold with higher atom economy. The heterogeneous Pd₃Co NCs were recycled and reused without any significant change in catalytic ability for up to five reaction cycles. The high concentration of Pd and association of cobalt into the lattice of palladium appears to enhance its catalytic ability for the diverse coupling reactions in comparison with its monometallic counterparts as well as with bimetallic NCs with a comparatively lesser amount of Pd.     

Synthesis and characterization of oxygen depleted tert-amine calix[4]arene ligands and study the effect on sigma non-opioid intracellular protein receptor

Structural Chemistry - This study focuses on the biological prospects of oxygen-depleted calix[4]arene ligands on a protein target. Because of their extensive medical relevance, the oxygen-depleted...     

Prediction of turbulence energy dissipation in flexible apron of barrages using numerical method

Barrages form an important component of hydraulic structures constructed to intercept and divert part of the available flow of a river and use it for purposes like irrigation, hydropower and domestic or industrial water supply. A flexible apron is a protection system provided in the barrage to prevent the possibility of the scour hole traveling close to the stilling basin. The turbulence kinetic energy is predicted using a 3D VOF (volume of fluid) realizable k ?? model for both horizontal and depressed flexible aprons placed downstream of the stilling basin of the barrage. The turbulence kinetic energy at the downstream end of the inclined flexible apron is comparably less compared with the horizontal flexible apron for all the cases. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Heuristic algorithm for reducing wavelength number of optical WDM networks

This paper proposes a Heuristic algorithm in order to reduce the total number of wavelengths required to accommodate light-paths in a WDM networks with static traffic loading. Proposed algorithm is compared with Dijkstra's algorithm for average light-path length and wavelength number of network. To see the efficiency of this 01algorithm new parameter, reduced wavelength cost (RC_X) has been defined.     

New diorganotin(IV) complexes of Schiff base derived from 4‐amino‐3‐hydrazino‐5‐mercapto‐4H‐1,2,4‐triazole: Synthesis,structural characterization,density functional theory studies,atoms‐in‐molecules analysis and antifungal activity

New diorganotin(IV) complexes of a Schiff base (HL) having general formula R₂Sn(L)Cl (where L is the monoanion of HL and R = n‐Bu or Ph) have been synthesized and characterized using elemental analysis, infrared, NMR (¹H, ¹³C, ¹¹⁹Sn) and UV–visible spectroscopies and mass spectrometry. These investigations suggest that in these 1:1 monomeric derivatives the Schiff base ligand acts in a monoanionic bidentate manner coordinating through the O_phenolic and N_azomethine, with proposed distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry around tin with O_phenolic and two organic groups in the equatorial plane and the N_azomethine and the third organic group in axial positions. The proposed structures have been validated by density functional theory (DFT)‐based quantum chemical calculations at the B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p)/Def2‐SVP (Sn) level of theory. The simulated UV–visible spectrum was obtained with the time‐dependent DFT method in the gas phase and in the solvent field with the integral equation formalism–polarizable continuum model. A comparative analysis of the experimental vibrational frequencies and simulated harmonic frequencies indicates a good correlation between them. An insight into the intramolecular bonding and interactions among bonds in organotin(IV) complexes of HL was obtained by means of natural bond orbital analysis. The topological and energetic properties of the electron density distribution for the tin–ligand interaction in R₂Sn(L)Cl have been theoretically calculated at the bonds around the central tin atom in terms of atoms‐in‐molecules theory. The R₂Sn(L)Cl complexes were screened for their in vitro antifungal activity against chosen fungal strains.     

Gap Function for Set-Valued Vector Variational-Like Inequalities

Variational-like inequalities with set-valued mappings are very useful in economics and nonsmooth optimization problems. In this paper, we study the existence of solutions and the formulation of solution methods for vector variational-like inequalities (VVLI) with set-valued mappings. We introduce gap functions and establish necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a solution of the VVLI. We investigate the existence of a solution for the generalized VVLI with a set-valued mapping by exploiting the existence of a solution of the VVLI with a single-valued function and a continuous selection theorem. The research of first author was partially supported by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India Grant 25(0132)/ER-II/2004.