Anthranilamide-pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine conjugates as p53 activators in cervical cancer cells

A library of new anthranilamide-pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine conjugates were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their anticancer activity in cervical cancer cells such as HeLa and SiHa that possess low levels of p53. All 24 conjugates showed antiproliferative activity, while some of them exhibit significant cytotoxicity. In assays related to cell-cycle distribution, these conjugates induced G(2) /M arrest in HeLa cells and G(1) cell-cycle arrest in SiHa cells. Immunocytochemistry assays revealed that these compounds cause nuclear translocation of p53, thereby indicating the activation of p53. In cervical cancer cells, the p53 protein is degraded by E6 oncoprotein. Immunoblot and RT-PCR analyses proved the presence of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis with involvement p53 target genes such as BAX, Bcl2, and p21 (CDKI). Moreover, these compounds increased the phosphorylated forms of p53 and provide signals for apoptosis induction. Interestingly, one of the conjugates, (2-phenyl-7-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-5-yl)(4-(2-(thiophen-2-ylmethylamino)benzoyl)piperazin-1-yl)methanone, is the most promising candidate in this series and has the potential to be taken up for further detailed studies.     

Influence of Temperature and Time of Post-weld Heat Treatment on Stress Relief in an 800-mm-Thick Steel Weldment

Ferritic steel weldments are invariably post-weld heat treated for relieving the residual stresses. However, the long duration of post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) required for very thick weldments can adversely affect the mechanical properties and fracture toughness. Thus, there is a need to establish the relative importance of temperature and time of PWHT with respect to stress relief. Accordingly, in the present work, the phenomenon of stress relief (due to PWHT) in an 800-mm-thick steel weldment was investigated using finite element analysis and the results were validated against experimental measurements. An analytical study was also carried out to determine the relative influence of temperature and time of PWHT on stress relief. It was found that time of PWHT plays a more significant role in case of relatively lower PWHT temperatures. It was also found that, for a given value of Hollomon parameter, different combinations of PWHT temperature and time can be employed to achieve the same level of stress relief. A mathematical relationship has been established between Hollomon parameter and magnitude of residual stress after PWHT. It has been shown that residual stress is a monotonically decreasing function of the Hollomon parameter.     

Bond formation and fiber embedment during ultrasonic consolidation

The quality of ultrasonically consolidated parts critically depends on the bond quality between individual metal foils. This necessitates a detailed understanding of interface microstructures and ultrasonic bond formation mechanisms. In this work, the interface microstructures of a variety of ultrasonically consolidated similar and dissimilar metal samples were investigated. Samples with embedded SiC fibers were also investigated. Based on detailed microstructural studies, the mechanisms of foil bonding and fiber embedment in ultrasonic consolidation have been discussed.     

Water quality prediction capabilities of WASP model for a tropical lake system

Water quality modelling facilitates our better understanding of the processes taking place in a lake system, and conservation plans to address them. The water quality analysis simulation programme (WASP) was used in this study to predict daily variations in water quality parameters, namely dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate and chlorophyll‐a and biochemical oxygen demand concentrations in a tropical lake system. The lake was divided into eight segments with the respective morphological, environmental and flow details being model inputs. The monthly concentration of each water quality parameter also comprised model input. The model output was daily spatiotemporal variation in these parameters over a period of 476 days. This study also indicated that the occurrence of precipitation plays a major role in defining the water quality of a tropical lake. The heavy precipitation after a long gap, especially during the summer season, results in a large quantity of organic matter entering the lake through drains, thereby increasing the organic matter and phosphate in the water body, and subsequently resulting in high chlorophyll‐a concentrations in the lake. A reduced chlorophyll‐a concentration was observed during the heavy rains. The water quality fluctuations are more pronounced with precipitation, especially where polluted drains enter the lake. An improved water quality can be observed downstream, including increased dissolved oxygen and nitrate concentrations. Improved water quality was observed during the postmonsoon period, with increased salinity and dissolved oxygen concentrations, a finding that confirms generalized and specific conclusions can be achieved with the use of the WASP model.     

Parallel Simulated Annealing Algorithms

Simulated annealing (SA) has been considered a good tool for complex nonlinear optimization problems. The technique has been widely applied to a variety of problems. However, a major disadvantage of the technique is that it is extremely slow and hence not suitable for complex optimization problems such as scheduling. There are many attempts to develop parallel versions of the algorithm. Many of these algorithms are problem dependent in nature. We present, in this paper, two general algorithms for SA. The algorithms have been applied to job shop scheduling problem (JSS) and the traveling salesman problem (TSP) and it has been observed that it is possible to achieve superlinear speedups using the algorithm.     

GMM based language identification system using robust features

In this work, we have proposed new feature vectors for spoken language identification (LID) system. The Mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) and formant frequencies derived using short-time window speech signal. Formant frequencies are extracted from linear prediction (LP) analysis of speech signal. Using these two kind of features of speech signal, new feature vectors are derived using cluster based computation. A GMM based classifier has been designed using these new feature vectors. The language specific apriori knowledge is applied on the recognition output. The experiments are carried out on OGI database and LID recognition performance is improved.     

Physical,mechanical, and water absorption behavior of coir/glass fiber reinforced epoxy based hybrid composites

Fiber reinforced polymer composites has been used in a variety of application because of their many advantages such as relatively low cost of production, easy to fabricate, and superior strength compare to neat polymer resins. Reinforcement in polymer is either synthetic or natural. Synthetic fiber such as glass, carbon, etc. has high specific strength but their fields of application are limited due to higher cost of production. Recently there is an increase interest in natural composites which are made by reinforcement of natural fiber. In this connection, an investigation has been carried out to make better utilization of coconut coir fiber for making value added products. The objective of the present research work is to study the physical, mechanical, and water absorption behavior of coir/glass fiber reinforced epoxy based hybrid composites. The effect of fiber loading and length on mechanical properties like tensile strength, flexural strength, and hardness of composites is studied. The experimental results reveal that the maximum strength properties is observed for the composite with 10 wt% fiber loading at 15 mm length. The maximum flexural strength of 63 MPa is observed for composites with 10 wt% fiber loading at 15 mm fiber length. Similarly, the maximum hardness value of 21.3 Hv is obtained for composites with 10 wt% fiber loading at 20 mm fiber length. Also, the surface morphology of fractured surfaces after tensile testing is examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM). POLYM. COMPOS., 35:925–930, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Friction Buttering: A New Technique for Dissimilar Welding

This work offers a fresh perspective on buttering, a technique often considered for fusion welding of dissimilar metals. For the first time, buttering was attempted in solid state using friction deposition. Using this new “friction buttering” technique, fusion welding of two different dissimilar metal pairs (austenitic stainless steel/borated stainless steel and Al-Cu-Mg/Al-Zn-Mg-Cu) was successfully demonstrated. The results show that friction buttering can simplify a tough dissimilar welding problem into a routine fusion welding task.     

Random preferences towards bioenergy environmental externalities: A case study of woody biomass based electricity in the Southern United States

This paper contrasts alternate methodological approaches of investigating public preferences, the random parameter logit (RPL) where tastes and preferences of respondents are assumed to be heterogeneous and the conditional logit (CL) approach where tastes and preferences remain fixed for individuals. We conducted a choice experiment to assess preferences for woody biomass based electricity in Arkansas, Florida, and Virginia. Reduction of CO₂ emissions and improvement of forest habitat by decreasing risk of wildfires and pest outbreaks were presented to respondents as attributes of using green electricity. The results indicate that heterogeneous preferences might be a better fit for assessing preferences for green electricity. All levels of both attributes were positive contributors to welfare but they were no statistically significant. Respondents expressed a positive mean marginal willingness to pay (WTP) for each attribute level. The total WTP for green electricity per kilowatt hour was $0.049 kWh or $40.5 per capita year^{− 1} when converted into future total annual expenditures.     

Economic feasibility of electricity production from energy plantations present on community-managed forestlands in Madhya Pradesh,India

This paper assesses economic feasibility of utilizing community-managed degraded forest areas for raising energy crops and using the produced biomass for electricity production in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India through gasification technology. Three fast-growing species, three gasifiers of different capacities, three capital costs, and two scenarios of carbon payments were considered for analysis. Sensitivity and risk analyses were undertaken for determining the effects of variations in inputs on selected outputs. Results suggest that 5 million megawatt hour electricity can be generated annually which will prevent 4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. The production cost of a unit of electricity was found inversely related to the scale of production. The average cost of electricity at the consumer level produced using 100 kW gasifier was $0.15/kWh, which was greater than the price of electricity supplied from grid i.e. $0.08/kWh. The unit cost of producing electricity using Acacia nilotica was lowest among all the selected species. Technological advancements suitable government incentives are needed to promote electricity generation from forest biomass through gasification technology. This will help in spurring economic development and reducing overall ecological footprint of the state.