Camphor-10-sulfonamide-based prolinamide organocatalyst for the direct intermolecular aldol reaction between ketones and aromatic aldehydes

Prolinamides derived from l-proline and N,N-dialkyl 2-aminocamphor-10-sufonamides have been synthesized and used as organocatalysts in the direct intermolecular aldol reaction. Reactions of several aromatic aldehydes with cyclohexanone, cyclopentanone, 4-oxa and 4-sulfa-cyclohexanones and acetone are investigated employing 1a as an organocatalyst. Very high to excellent selectivities are obtained in these direct aldol reactions.     

Development of a highly sensitive and selective hyphenated technique (molecularly imprinted micro-solid phase extraction fiber-molecularly imprinted polymer fiber sensor) for ultratrace analysis of folic acid

A simple polymerization strategy is reported in this work which allows molecularly imprinted polymeric fiber (monolith) fabrication for direct use in sensing devices. This is advantageous for achieving higher degree of enrichment of target analyte (folic acid) from the complex matrices of real samples, without any surface fouling, cross-reactivity, and non-specific (false-positive) contributions. In order to measure serum folic acid at ultratrace level to detect spina bifida, a neural tube defect in mother, and other acute cases of proteomic diseases, the hyphenation between molecularly imprinted micro-solid phase extraction fiber and a complementary molecularly imprinted polymer-carbon composite fiber sensor has been found quite efficient. The primitive diagnosis of many chronic diseases is feasible by estimating folic acid as biomarker, with the detection limit as low as 0.0036 ng mL⁻¹ (relative standard deviation = 0.13%, signal/noise = 3) in human blood serum.     

Design of Enterprise Storage Architecture for Optimal Business Continuity

This paper presents a solution for optimal business continuity, with storage architecture for enterprise applications, which will ensure zero data loss and quick recovery. The solution makes use of Internet protocol storage area network （IPSAN）, which is used for data management without burdening the application server, as well as mix of synchronous and semi-synchronous replication techniques to replicate data to remote disaster recovery site. We have presented the detailed design of both synchronous and semi-synchronous with case study of using open source database postgres to prove our point for optimal business continuity. The theoretical presentation is also given for the same.     

Efficient Implementations for AES Encryption and Decryption

This paper proposes two efficient architectures for hardware implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm. The composite field arithmetic for implementing SubBytes (S-box) and InvSubBytes (Inverse S-box) transformations investigated by several authors is used as the basis for deriving the proposed architectures. The first architecture for encryption is based on optimized S-box followed by bit-wise implementation of MixColumns and AddRoundKey and optimized Inverse S-box followed by bit-wise implementation of InvMixColumns and AddMixRoundKey for decryption. The proposed S-box and Inverse S-box used in this architecture are designed as a cascade of three blocks. In the second proposed architecture, the block III of the proposed S-box is combined with the MixColumns and AddRoundKey transformations forming an integrated unit for encryption. An integrated unit for decryption combining the block III of the proposed InvSubBytes with InvMixColumns and AddMixRoundKey is formed on similar lines. The delays of the proposed architectures for VLSI implementation are found to be the shortest compared to the state-of-the-art implementations of AES operating in non-feedback mode. Iterative and fully unrolled sub-pipelined designs including key schedule are implemented using FPGA and ASIC. The proposed designs are efficient in terms of Kgates/Giga-bits per second ratio compared with few recent state-of-the-art ASIC (0.18-μm CMOS standard cell) based designs and throughput per area (TPA) for FPGA implementations.     

Novel Chemosensor for the Visual Detection of Copper(II) in Aqueous Solution at the ppm Level

A new water-soluble, multisite-coordinating ligand LH(7) was prepared by the condensation of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane with 2,6-diformyl-p-cresol. LH(7) is a selective chemosensor for Cu(2+), under physiological conditions, with visual detection limits of 20 ppm (ambient light conditions) and 4 ppm (UV light conditions). LH(7) can also be used in biological cell lines for the detection of Cu(2+).     

Synthesis of uniform gold nanoparticles using non-pathogenic bio-control agent: evolution of morphology from nano-spheres to triangular nanoprisms

Green synthesis of gold nanospheres with uniform diameter and triangular nanoprisms with optically flat surface was carried out using a non-pathogenic bio-control agent Trichoderma asperellum for reduction of HAuCl(4). Kinetics of the reaction was monitored by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. No additional capping/complexing agent was used for stabilizing the gold nanoparticles. Evolution of morphology from pseudospherical nanoparticles to triangular nanoprisms was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It revealed that three or more pseudospheres fused to form nanoprisms of different shapes and sizes. Slow rate of reduction of HAuCl(4) by constituents of cell-free fungal extract was instrumental in producing such exotic morphologies. Isolation of gold nanotriangles from the reacting masses was achieved by differential centrifugation.     

Direct transfer of micro-molded electrodes for enhanced mass transport and water management in PEMFC

Soft lithography technique is used to micropattern the electrodes on the electrolyte membrane of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEMFC) in order to alleviate the issues due to poor water management and inadequate reactant distribution in the fuel cell environment. Membrane electrode assembly with the micropatterned electrode has shown an increase in power density at a higher temperature as well as at a higher relative humidity when compared to a flat electrode. Consistency in cell performance is observed in the case of micropatterned electrodes.     

Layer-by-layer assembled molecularly imprinted polymer modified silver electrode for enantioselective detection of D- and L-thyroxine

The present work describes a new, simple, and easy method for the generation of stable molecularly imprinted sites in polymeric film, combining self-assembled monolayer and Layer-by-layer approaches through thermal cross-linking of the layered structures, onto the surface of silver electrode. Modified silver electrodes demonstrate enantiodifferentiation and sensitive (detection limits 0.0060 ng mL(-1) for L- and 0.0062 for D-thyroxine) determination of d- and l-thyroxine with the help of differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetric technique. The binding kinetics of thyroxine was explored using anodic stripping cyclic voltammetry and chronocoulometry. The sensor was also validated for D- and L-thyroxine determinations in biological and pharmaceutical samples.