Conformation Analysis of GalNAc‐Appended Sugar Amino Acid Foldamers as Glycopeptide Mimics

Sugar amino acid (SAA)‐based foldamers with well‐defined secondary structures were appended with N‐acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) sugars to access sequence‐defined, multidentate glycoconjugates with full control over number, spacing and position. Conformation analysis of these glycopeptides by extensive NMR spectroscopic studies revealed that the appended GalNAc units had a profound influence on the native conformational behaviour of the SAA foldamers. Whereas the 2,5‐cis glycoconjugate showed a helical structure in water, comprising of two consecutive 16‐membered hydrogen bonds, its 2,5‐trans congener displayed an unprecedented 16/10‐mixed turn structure not seen before in any glycopeptide foldamer.     

Riboflavin and health: A review of recent human research

There has lately been a renewed interest in Riboflavin owing to insight into its recognition as an essential component of cellular biochemistry. The knowledge of the mechanisms and regulation of intestinal absorption of riboflavin and its health implications has significantly been expanded in recent years. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the importance of riboflavin, its absorption and metabolism in health and diseased conditions, its deficiency and its association with various health diseases, and metabolic disorders. Efforts have been made to review the available information in literature on the relationship between riboflavin and various clinical abnormalities. The role of riboflavin has also been dealt in the prevention of a wide array of health diseases like migraine, anemia, cancer, hyperglycemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and oxidative stress directly or indirectly. The riboflavin deficiency has profound effect on iron absorption, metabolism of tryptophan, mitochondrial dysfunction, gastrointestinal tract, brain dysfunction, and metabolism of other vitamins as well as is associated with skin disorders. Toxicological and photosensitizing properties of riboflavin make it suitable for biological use, such as virus inactivation, excellent photosensitizer, and promising adjuvant in chemo radiotherapy in cancer treatment. A number of recent studies have indicated and highlighted the cellular processes and biological effects associated with riboflavin supplementation in metabolic diseases. Overall, a deeper understanding of these emerging roles of riboflavin intake is essential to design better therapies for future.     

Evaluation and Predictive Model Development of Oxidative Stability of Biodiesel on Storage

Biodiesel comprises mono-alkyl esters of long-chain fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) derived from a renewable lipid feedstock. A major technical issue with the use of biodiesel is that it is more prone to oxidation during storage, when compared to petroleum fuel, due to the high content of polyunsaturated methyl esters that are easily oxidizable to compounds such as acids, aldehydes, and alcohols. Biodiesel (Jatropha and Pongamia) and antioxidants (Turmeric and butylated hydroxytoulene) were used for this study. We found that the acid value and viscosity for pongamia biodiesel increased significantly by 41.17% and 44.0% and that for jatropha biodiesel increased by 31.5% and 37.0%, respectively, after being stored for 3 months. The impact of antioxidants on the storage stability of biodiesel was examined according to the ASTM D4625 12-week procedure, and best results were found at a concentration level of 2500 ppm. The specific objective of this investigation is to develop models to determine the viscosity of biodiesel at any time “t” during long-term storage based on these experimental trials for upto 12 weeks. In addition, the models were used to predict the level of antioxidants that are to be added to biodiesel in order to minimize the effects of oxidative degradation during storage. The developed model recorded an adjusted R² of 0.86 and a modeling efficiency of 0.88.     

Photopolymerizable liquid encapsulants for microelectronic devices: Thermal and mechanical properties of systems with reduced in‐mold cure times

Photopolymerizable liquid encapsulants (PLEs) for microelectronic devices may offer important advantages over traditional transfer molding compounds, including reduced in‐mold cure times, lower thermal stresses, and reduced wire sweep. In this contribution, we discuss an encapsulation process based upon a low viscosity resin that cures rapidly upon exposure to UV light. These highly filled PLEs are comprised of an epoxy novolac‐based vinyl ester resin (～25 wt %), fused silica filler (70–74 wt %), photoinitiator, silane coupling agent, and, in some cases, a thermal initiator. We have characterized the material properties (flexural strength and modulus, coefficient of thermal expansion, glass transition temperature, and thermal stress parameter) of PLEs cured with UV illumination times of 60, 90, and 120 s, as well as, the thermal conductivity and adhesive peel strength of PLEs photocured for 90 s. In addition, we investigated the effect of the fused silica loading and the initiation scheme on these properties. The results indicate that the PLEs are very promising for microelectronic encapsulation. These liquid encapsulants cure (to an ejectable hardness) in 1 min for an initiating light intensity of 200 mW/cm², and exhibit appropriate values for the thermal and mechanical properties listed above. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 81: 3449–3461, 2001     

High-performance bottom electrode organic thin-film transistors

Pentacene-based organic field effect transistors (FETs) exhibit enormous potential as active elements in a number of applications. One significant obstacle to commercial application remains: no completely lithographic process exists for forming high-performance devices. Processing constraints prevent electrodes from being lithographically patterned once the semiconductor is deposited, but depositing the electrodes before the semiconductor leads to low-performance transistors. By using self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) to change the surface energy of the metal electrodes and morphology of the pentacene subsequently grown on the electrodes, high-performance transistors may be formed using a process compatible with lithographic definition of the source and drain electrodes     

Sequence-independent recombination triple helices: a molecular dynamics study

The mRNA levels encoding for the two isoforms of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD65 and GAD67) were measured in the adult rat striatum following systemic administration of dopamine receptor agonists. Double-labeling in situ hybridization histochemistry was used to measure GAD65 or GAD67 mRNA levels in neurons labeled or not with a preproenkephalin (PPE) cRNA probe. Chronic treatment with the D1/D2 dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine or with the D1 dopamine receptor agonist SKF-38393 induced an increase in GAD65 but not GAD67 mRNA levels in different sectors of the striatum. These effects were abolished by pre-administration of the D1 dopamine receptor antagonist SCH-23390. On double-labeled sections, GAD65 mRNA labeling was distributed in neurons labeled and unlabeled with the PPE cRNA probe. About half of all neuronal profiles labeled with the GAD65 cRNA probe were also labeled with the PPE cRNA probe. Quantification of labeling at cellular level demonstrated a significant increase of GAD65 mRNA levels in PPE-unlabeled neurons. On the other hand, no significant changes of GAD65 mRNA levels were detected in PPE-labeled neurons. Our results demonstrate a differential effect of dopamine receptor agonists on striatal GAD65 and GAD67 gene expression. In particular, we show that GAD65 mRNA levels are selectively increased in presumed striato-nigral neurons following treatments with dopamine receptor agonists. These data provide evidence that the GAD65 isoform is preferentially involved in the regulation of GABAergic neurotransmission in striato-nigral neurons.     

Review of the process development aspects of electrochemical dyeing: its impact and commercial applications

This review discusses the recent progress made in both direct and indirect electrochemical dyeing processes and the parameters that control the dyeing process.     

Nanomechanical Characterization of Indium Nano/Microwires

Nanomechanical properties of indium nanowires like structures fabricated on quartz substrate by trench template technique, measured using nanoindentation. The hardness and elastic modulus of wires were measured and compared with the values of indium thin film. Displacement burst observed while indenting the nanowire. ‘Wire-only hardness’ obtained using Korsunsky model from composite hardness. Nanowires have exhibited almost same modulus as indium thin film but considerable changes were observed in hardness value.     

Effect of TiO2 Nano-Filler on Electrical Properties of Na+ Ion Conducting PEO/PVDF Based Blended Polymer Electrolyte

Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials - Nanocomposite polymer electrolyte (NCPE) films based on a blend of two polymers poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly (vinylidene...     

QoS-Aware Optical Fog-Assisted Cyber-Physical System in the 5G Ready Heterogeneous Network

Wireless Personal Communications - In recent years, the emergence of Internet of things and cyber-physical system provide a proactive and efficacious solution to enable remote monitoring, machine...