Reaction of 2‐[(2‐aminoethyl)amino]ethanol with pyridine‐2‐carbaldehyde and complexation of the products with CuII and CdII along with docking studies

The reaction between 2‐[2‐(aminoethyl)amino]ethanol and pyridine‐2‐carbaldehyde in a 1:2 molar ratio affords a mixture containing 2‐({2‐[(pyridin‐2‐ylmethylidene)amino]ethyl}amino)ethanol (PMAE) and 2‐[2‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)oxazolidin‐3‐yl]‐N‐(pyridin‐2‐ylmethylidene)ethanamine (POPME). Treatment of this mixture with copper(II) chloride or cadmium(II) chloride gave trichlorido[(2‐hydroxyethyl)({2‐[(pyridin‐2‐ylmethylidene)amino]ethyl})azanium]copper(II) monohydrate, [Cu(C₁₀H₁₆N₃O)Cl₃]·H₂O or [Cu(HPMAE)Cl₃]·H₂O, 1 , and dichlorido{2‐[2‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)oxazolidin‐3‐yl]‐N‐(pyridin‐2‐ylmethylidene)ethanamine}cadmium(II), [CdCl₂(C₁₆H₁₈N₄O)] or [CdCl₂(POPME)], 2 , which were characterized by elemental analysis, FT–IR, Raman and ¹H NMR spectroscopy and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. PMAE is potentially a tetradentate N₃O‐donor ligand but coordinates to copper here as an N₂ donor. In the structure of 1 , the geometry around the Cu atom is distorted square pyramidal. In 2 , the Cd atom has a distorted octahedral geometry. In addition to the hydrogen bonds, there are π–π stacking interactions between the pyridine rings in the crystal packing of 1 and 2 . The ability of PMAE, POPME and 1 to interact with ten selected biomolecules (BRAF kinase, CatB, DNA gyrase, HDAC7, rHA, RNR, TrxR, TS, Top II and B‐DNA) was investigated by docking studies and compared with doxorubicin.     

Access network evolution beyond third generation mobile communications

Second-generation mobile radio systems have been deployed successfully worldwide. These systems have evolved to higher data rates and packet transmission. Third-generation mobile radio systems are currently being standardized worldwide to be initially deployed in 2001 and 2002 in different regions of the world. New advanced multimedia services are under development, and first services are already being offered in second-generation systems, which will provide new business opportunities. Already today discussion is starting on the development of systems beyond third-generation mobile radio systems due to the long timeframe for system specification and international standardization. However, today there is no clear vision available on such systems. This discussion takes into account the new deregulated and liberalized communication environment. This article presents a concept for a system beyond third-generation mobile radio systems, which comprises a combination of several optimized access systems in a common IP-based medium access and core network platform. These different access systems will interwork through horizontal and vertical handover, service negotiation, and global roaming. The different access systems are allocated to different mutually complementing cell layers in the sense of hierarchical cells with respect to cell size, coverage, and mobility to provide globally optimized seamless services to users. This vision requires extensive international research and standardization activities to solve many technical challenges. Key issues are the global interworking of different access systems on a common platform, advanced antenna concepts, and the implementation of multimode and multiband terminals and base stations through software-defined radio concepts.     

Pentafluorophenyl Ester‐based Polymersomes as Nanosized Drug‐Delivery Vehicles

In this work, activated ester chemistry is employed to synthesize biocompatible and readily functionalizable polymersomes. Via aminolysis of pentafluorophenyl methacrylate‐based precursor polymers, an N‐(2‐hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA)‐analog hydrophilic block is obtained. The precursor polymers can be versatile functionalized by simple addition of suitable primary amines during aminolysis as demonstrated using a fluorescent dye. Vesicle formation is proven by cryoTEM and light scattering. High encapsulation efficiencies for hydrophilic cargo like siRNA are achieved using dual centrifugation and safe encapsulation is demonstrated by gel electrophoresis. In vitro studies reveal low cytotoxicity and no protein adsorption‐induced aggregation in human blood serum occurs, making the vesicles interesting candidates as nanosized drug carriers.

     

Molecular structures and spectroscopic characterization of cobalt(III) and nickel(II) complexes of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-(thiophene-2-ylmethylene)-hydrazinecarbothioamide

Two complexes of a thiosemicarbazone ligand, namely N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-(thiophene-2-ylmethylene)-hydrazinecarbothioamide (HL), have been synthesized. The complexes have been characterized by physico-chemical and spectroscopic methods. The crystal and molecular structures of [CoL₃]·2MeOH (1) and [NiL₂] (2) have been determined by X-ray diffraction studies. For both complexes, the metal is coordinated through the sulfur and azomethine nitrogen atoms of the thiosemicarbazone. The ligand exists in its thiolate tautomeric form, and the central Co(III) and Ni(II) atoms have distorted octahedral and square planar geometries, respectively, with five-membered chelate rings formed by the ligand. The lattice of 1 shows infinite oxygen donor/acceptor hydrogen bonds in the ab plane and weak interactions between rings along the c axis, respectively, giving a supramolecular network. The molecular units in 2 are linked together by hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl oxygen and hydrazone N proton, giving rise to an infinite ribbon extended along the c-axis. These chains are connected by N3–H3···O1 interactions that form a sheet within the ac plane.     

The road to IMT-advanced communication systems: state-of-the- art and innovation areas addressed by the WINNER + project - [topics in radio communications]

Phases I and II of the WINNER project contributed to the development, integration, and assessment of new mobile network techniques from 2004 to 2007. Some of these techniques are now in the 3GPP LTE and IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) standards, while others are under consideration for LTE-Advanced and 802.16m. The WINNER+ project continues this forwardlooking work for IMT-advanced technologies and their evolution, with a particular focus on 3GPP LTE-Advanced. This article provides an overview of the WINNER system concept and several of its key innovative components.     

Cationic palladium(II), platinum(II) and ruthenium(II) complexes containing a chelating difluoro-substituted thiourea ligand

The fluorine substituted thiourea 2,6-F₂C₆H₃C(O)NHC(S)NEt₂ was prepared in good yield from the reaction of 2,6-F₂C₆H₃C(O)Cl with KSCN and Et₂NH in acetone. Using this compound several heteroleptic, monocationic Pd(II), Pt(II) and Ru(II) complexes of the type cis-[M{κ²S,O-2,6-F₂C₆H₃C(O)NC(S)NEt₂}(L)]PF₆ [M = Pt, Pd; L = (Ph₃P)₂, ^tBu₂bipy, 1,10-phen] as well as [Ru(η⁶-p-cym){κ²S,O-2,6-F₂C₆H₃C(O)NC(S)NEt₂}(PPh₃)]PF₆ were prepared in high yields. The compounds were characterised by spectroscopic methods and, in one case, by single crystal X-ray diffraction.     

Effects of UV-irradiation on the thermo-mechanical properties of optical grade poly(methyl methacrylate)

We studied the evolution of the thermo-mechanical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) materials exposed to ultra-violet (UV) light. To do so we measured important mechanical parameters including the fracture strength, the stress-strain relation, and Young's modulus as a function of the UV-irradiation dose. We concluded that the mechanical properties of PMMA are affected by UV light. The ductility disappears and the strength and strain at rupture strongly decrease (over 30%). The evolution of the Young's modulus is discussed as a function of the cross-linking degree of the materials. Moreover we observed the occurrence of surface damage, which in its turn enhances the degradation of these mechanical parameters.     

On the Design of Fluorescent Ratiometric Nanosensors

Advances in nanoparticle technology have recently offered new tools to the bioanalytical field of research. In particular, new nanoparticle‐based sensors have appeared able to give quantitative information about different species (ions, metabolites, biomolecules) in biosamples through ratiometric measurements. This article describes the methodologies developed so far in the design of such nanosensors. In particular, the different approaches to immobilize fluorescent chemosensor dyes to nanoparticles are presented. Concept designs of ratiometric nanosensors in terms of composition and architecture are also described and illustrated with examples taken from the literature.