Coumarins: antifungal effectiveness and future therapeutic scope

Molecular Diversity - The antifungals that are in current clinical practice have a high occurrence of a side effect and multidrug resistance (MDR). Researchers across the globe are trying to...     

Effect of secondary electrons from latent tracks created in YBCO by swift heavy ion irradiation

Swift heavy ions (SHI) with electronic energy loss exceeding a value of 14.4 keVnm⁻¹ create amorphized latent tracks in YBCO type superconductors. In the low fluence regime of an ion beam where tracks do not overlap, a decrease of the superconducting transition temperature as probed through resistivity studies, is not expected due to availability of percolating current paths. The present study however shows T_c decrease by about 1–3 K in thin films of YBCO when irradiated by 250 MeVAg ions at 79 K at a fluence of 5×10¹⁰–1×10¹² ionscm⁻². The highest fluence used in the present study is three times less than the fluence where track overlapping becomes significant. The T_c tends to increase towards the preirradiation value on annealing the films at room temperature. To explain this unusual result, we consider the effect of ion irradiation in inducing materials modification not only through creation of amorphized latent tracks along the ion path, but also through creation of atomic disorder in the oxygen sublattice in the Cu–O chains of YBCO by the secondary electrons. These electrons are emitted radially from the tracks during the passage of the SHI. Considering the correlation between the charge state of copper and its oxygen coordination, we show in particular that the latter process is a consequence of the inelastic interaction of the SHI induced low-energy secondary electrons with the YBCO lattice, which result in chain oxygen disorder and T_c decrease.     

Amine‐blocked polyisocyanates. I. Synthesis of novel N‐methylaniline‐blocked polyisocyanates and deblocking studies using hot‐stage fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

A series of substituted N‐methylaniline‐blocked polyisocyanates based on 4,4′‐methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) and poly(tetrahydrofuran) were prepared and characterized thoroughly with FTIR, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy methods. Compared with unsubstituted N‐methylaniline, a blocking agent with an electron‐releasing substituent at the para position took a shorter time, whereas those with an electron‐releasing substituent at the ortho position or an electron‐withdrawing substituent at the ortho and para positions took longer times for the blocking reaction. The thermal dissociation reactions of blocked polyisocyanates were carried out with an FTIR spectrophotometer attached to hot‐stage accessories under dynamic and isothermal conditions. The dynamic method was used to determine the deblocking temperature, and the isothermal method was used to calculate the deblocking kinetics and activation parameters. The cure times of blocked polyisocyanates with hydroxyl‐terminated polybutadiene were also determined. The deblocking temperatures, the results of cure‐time studies, and the kinetic parameters revealed that the thermal dissociation of the N‐methylaniline‐blocked polyisocyanates was retarded by electron‐donating substituents and facilitated by electron‐withdrawing substituents. The action of N‐methylanilines as blocking agents for isocyanate was explained by the formation of a four‐center, intramolecularly hydrogen‐bonded ring structure during the thermal dissociation of the blocked polyisocyanates. The formation of such a hydrogen‐bonded ring structure was confirmed and supported by variable‐temperature ¹H NMR studies and entropy parameters, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1557–1570, 2007     

Phonon structure and dynamics of boron nitride single wall nanotube

We report a detailed study of the phonon properties of hexagonal boron nitride (BN) monolayers as well as nanotubes by using De Launay type of angular force model. The force constants used for calculation of phonon dispersion relations of the nanotube are derived from those for the monolayers of hexagonal by employing force constant method. These force constants have been modified to include the effect of curvature of the tubule. The results are then used to derive the phonon dispersion relations for (10,10) BN nanotubes using ‘zone-folding’ method. Calculated phonon modes are in good agreement with the experimental values obtained so far, for (10,10) armchair BN nanotubes.     

Physics possibilities at India-based Neutrino Observatory

In this talk I review the physics possible at India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO). I discuss the improvement in the precision of currently known quantities and the possibility measuring the presently unknown quantities.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the reactions of hexaaqua rhodium (III) with sulphur (IV) in aqueous medium

An O-bonded sulphito complex, Rh(OH₂)₅(OSO₂H)²⁺, is reversibly formed in the stoppedflow time scale when Rh(OH₂) ₆ ³⁺ and SO₂/HSO ₃ ⁻ buffer (1 <pH< 3) are allowed to react. For Rh(OH₂)₅OH₂₊+ SO₂ □ Rh(OH₂)₅(OSO₂H)²⁺ (k₁/k_-1), k₁ = (2.2 ±0.2) × 10³ dm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹, k₋1 = 0.58 ±0.16 s⁻¹ (25°C,I = 0.5 mol dm⁻³). The protonated O-sulphito complex is a moderate acid (K _d = 3 × 10⁻⁴ mol dm⁻³, 25°C, I= 0.5 mol dm⁻³). This complex undergoes (O, O) chelation by the bound bisulphite withk= 1.4 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹ (31°C) to Rh(OH₂)₄(O₂SO)⁺ and the chelated sulphito complex takes up another HSO ₃ ⁻ in a fast equilibrium step to yield Rh(OH₂)₃(O₂SO)(OSO₂H) which further undergoes intramolecular ligand isomerisation to the S-bonded sulphito complex: Rh(OH₂)₃(O₂SO)(OSO₂)^- → Rh(OH₂)₃(O₂SO)(SO₃)⁻ (k _iso = 3 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹, 31°C). A dinuclear (μ-O, O) sulphite-bridged complex, Na₄[Rh₂(μ-OH)₂(OH)₂(μ-OS(O)O)(O₂SO)(SO₃) (OH₂)]5H₂O with (O, O) chelated and S-bonded sulphites has been isolated and characterized. This complex is sparingly soluble in water and most organic solvents and very stable to acid-catalysed decomposition     

Working group report: Neutrino and astroparticle physics

This is the report of neutrino and astroparticle physics working group at WHEPP-7. Discussions and work on CP violation in long baseline neutrino experiments, ultra high energy neutrinos, supernova neutrinos and water Cerenkov detectors are discussed.     

Novel route to synthesis of allyl starch and biodegradable hydrogel by copolymerizing allyl‐modified starch with methacrylic acid and acrylamide

Maize starch was modified by allyl chloride adopting an interfacial reaction technique with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide as a phase‐transfer catalyst and pyridine as an acid acceptor. The degree of substitution was determined from an increasing carbon content of the modified starch. The percentage of carbon and hydrogen of the allyl‐modified starch was estimated by elemental analysis (C, H, and N), and the product characterization was done through ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR analyses. The allyl‐modified starch was then copolymerized with methacrylic acid and a combination of methacrylic acid and acrylamide at 50 and 70 °C with potassium persulfate as an initiator. The copolymer thus formed swelled in distilled water after neutralization with sodium carbonate. The percentage of absorption capacity of the hydrogels was determined with distilled water and 0.9% NaCl solution. The highest percentage of absorption, 6500%, was achieved for the developed hydrogel containing allyl starch and acrylic monomer in a 1.7:1 w/w ratio and acrylic monomer, namely, methacrylic acid and acrylamide in a 3.2:1 w/w ratio. The study on biodegradability of the developed hydrogel showed that the hydrogel is degradable in the presence of diastase (amylase). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1650–1658, 2003     

Working group report: Flavor physics and model building

This is the report of flavor physics and model building working group at WHEPP-9. While activites in flavor physics have been mainly focused on B-physics, those in model building have been primarily devoted to neutrino physics. We present summary of working group discussions carried out during the workshop in the above fields, and also briefly review the progress made in some projects subsequently.