Trace element concentration in head hair of the inhabitans of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad area

Instrumental neutron activation analysis technique has been used to determine the concentration levels of 12 trace elements in human head hair samples collected from 105 individuals living in various areas of Rawalpindi-Islamabad. The data show that the average concentrations of Mn, Co, Ag and Au are higher in the female group as compared to the male group. Four individuals were found to have elevated levels of Se due to the use of anti-dandruff shampoos, whereas two individials had elevated levels of Hg.     

New catalytic effect of thiourea on the oxidative cyanation of N-aryltetrahydroisoquinolines

Thiourea itself has been introduced as a mild and efficient organocatalyst for the oxidative α -cyanation of N-aryltetrahydroisoquinolines (THIQs) with trimethylsilyl cyanide (TMSCN), giving the corresponding products in good to excellent yields. Experimental investigations demonstrated that thiourea acts as a radical initiator by abstracting hydroxyl radical (OH) from tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) directly instead of non-covalent hydrogen bondings (H-bondings) activation. The use of thiourea as a radical initiator offers a new avenue for innovative chemical transformations in organocatalyzed radical chemistry.     

INAA of toxic elements in coal and their transfer into environments

An instrumental neutron activation analytical (INAA) technique is described for the determination of 26 toxic and other trace elements in Eastern Coal (NBS SRM-1632a), local coal and its ash. The coal ash was produced by heating coal at 750°C in a muffled furnace. The transfer of these elements to the environment on the complete compustion of coal is estimated from the difference between the elemental concentration of coal and its ash.     

Identification of extracellular nanoparticle subsets by nuclear magnetic resonance

Exosomes are a subset of secreted lipid envelope-encapsulated extracellular vesicles (EVs) of 50–150 nm diameter that can transfer cargo from donor to acceptor cells. In the current purification protocols of exosomes, many smaller and larger nanoparticles such as lipoproteins, exomers and microvesicles are typically co-isolated as well. Particle size distribution is one important characteristics of EV samples, as it reflects the cellular origin of EVs and the purity of the isolation. However, most of the physicochemical analytical methods today cannot illustrate the smallest exosomes and other small particles like the exomers. Here, we demonstrate that diffusion ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method enables the determination of a very broad distribution of extracellular nanoparticles, ranging from 1 to 500 nm. The range covers sizes of all particles included in EV samples after isolation. The method is non-invasive, as it does not require any labelling or other chemical modification. We investigated EVs secreted from milk as well as embryonic kidney and renal carcinoma cells. Western blot analysis and immuno-electron microscopy confirmed expression of exosomal markers such as ALIX, TSG101, CD81, CD9, and CD63 in the EV samples. In addition to the larger particles observed by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) in the range of 70–500 nm, the DOSY distributions include a significant number of smaller particles in the range of 10–70 nm, which are visible also in transmission electron microscopy images but invisible in NTA. Furthermore, we demonstrate that hyperpolarized chemical exchange saturation transfer (Hyper-CEST) with ¹²⁹Xe NMR indicates also the existence of smaller and larger nanoparticles in the EV samples, providing also additional support for DOSY results. The method implies also that the Xe exchange is significantly faster in the EV pool than in the lipoprotein/exomer pool.

Diffusion and xenon NMR based methods to determine a very broad range of sizes and sub-sets of extracellular vesicles.     

Addressing the metabolic activation potential of new leads in drug discovery: a case study using ion trap mass spectrometry and tritium labeling techniques

Metabolic activation of drug candidates to electrophilic reactive metabolites that can covalently modify cellular macromolecules may result in acute and/or idiosyncratic immune system-mediated toxicities in humans. This presents a significant potential liability for the future development of these compounds as safe therapeutic agents. We present here an example of an approach where sites of metabolic activation within a new drug candidate series were rapidly identified using online liquid chromatography/multi-stage mass spectrometry on an ion trap mass spectrometer. This was accomplished by trapping the reactive intermediates formed upon incubation of compounds with rat and human liver microsomes as their corresponding glutathione conjugates and mass spectral characterization of these thiol adducts. Based on the structures of the GSH adducts identified, potential sites and mechanisms of bioactivation within the chemical structure were proposed. These metabolism studies were interfaced with iterative structural modifications of the chemical series in order to block these bioactivation sites within the molecule. This strategy led to a significant reduction in the propensity of the compounds to undergo metabolic activation as evidenced by reductions in the irreversible binding of radioactivity to liver microsomal material upon incubation of tritium-labeled compounds with this in vitro system. With the efficiency and throughput achievable with such an approach, it appears feasible to identify and address the metabolic activation potential of new drug leads during routine metabolite identification studies in an early drug discovery setting.     

Synthesis of New Reagent 2‐Acetylthiophenethiocynate and its Use in Extraction of Pt(IV) Spectrophotometrically

2‐Acetyl thiophenethiocynate (ATT) was synthesized and its characterization study was carried out using elemental analysis, IR and NMR techniques. The new reagent was proposed as an extractant for the development of the extractive spectrophotometric method for determination of Pt(IV) metal. The reagent complexes with the metal to produce a yellow colored complex which was then extracted into ethyl acetate at pH 11.2–11.6 having an absorption maxima at 400 nm. The thermal study showed that the extraction reactions are exothermic in nature with the reagent, and the stoichiometric ratio of Pt(IV) to 2‐acetyl thiophenethiocynate in the organic phase was 1:2. The method permits separation and determination of platinum from real and binary mixtures. The separation of Pt(IV) from bivalent metal ions has been also studied.     

Domino "[3+3]-cyclization-homo-Michael" reactions of 1,3-bissilyl enol ethers with 1,1-diacylcyclopropanes

The Lewis acid mediated domino "[3+3]-cyclization-homo-Michael" reaction of 1,3-bissilyl enol ethers with 1,1-diacylcyclopropanes allows an efficient one-pot synthesis of functionalized salicylates containing a halogenated side chain. A great variety of substitution patterns could be realized by variation of the starting materials and of the Lewis acid. The mechanism of the domino process was studied.     

Variational spiked oscillator

A variational analysis of the spiked harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian –d ²/dr² +r ² +/r ^5/2,>0, is reported. A trial function automatically satisfying both the Dirichlet boundary condition at the origin and the boundary condition at infinity is introduced. The results are excellent for a very large range of values of the coupling parameter, suggesting that the present variational function is appropriate for the treatment of the spiked oscillator in all its regimes (strong, moderate, and weak interactions).     

Determination of toxic elements in tea,leaves by instrumental neutron activation analysis

The concentration of certain toxic and essential elements in various brands of tea consumed locally were determined using instrumental neutron activation analysis. Transference of these elements into the drinkable portion was studied by brewing and boiling tea leaves for two minutes and the approximate intake was calculated from this data. The toxic effects of Hg, Se, As, Br and Sb are briefly discussed.     

Unsteady incompressible flow of magnetized aluminium oxide and titanium oxide nanoparticles with blood base fluid

In this investigation, a mixed convective nanoparticles fluid flow over an inclined plate is deliberated. The effects of slip boundary wall and magnetic field are also considered. The dimensionless governing system for the considered problem is attained by implementing recent definitions of fractional derivatives (FD). The generalized solution is obtained through the Laplace Transformation Scheme (LTS) for the momentum and thermal expressions. To improve the novelty and to demonstrate some more physical perception of the stated research work, some remarkable special cases of velocity distribution through CF and AB-fractional derivative concept are addressed, whose daily life implication is well known in the existing literature. Moreover, to evaluate the physical interest of the stated problem, the outcomes of the obtained system graphical illustrations are made by utilizing MATHEMATICA. As a result, we concluded that the aluminium oxide $A{l}_2{O}_3$ nanoparticles show more decaying behavior as compared to titanium oxide $Ti{O}_2$ nanoparticles for temperature and velocity profile. Furthermore, both fields i.e., momentum and thermal distributions are increased with the help of rising estimations parameter. Current results report novel applications in enhancement of heat transfer, thermal engineering, chemical processes, engineering and electronics devices, solar systems, extrusion processes, fission reactions etc.