The scratch behavior of accelerated aged carbon fiber‐reinforced epoxy matrix composite

This paper deals with the effect of accelerated aging on the scratch behavior of carbon/epoxy composites. Carbon/epoxy composite is one the most important type used in aircraft structural parts and exposed to drastic service conditions under various temperatures resulted with scratch damage. Four different type of accelerated aging procedure applied and scratch behavior of carbon/epoxy composites were evaluated using coefficient of friction and penetration depth. Scratch damage morphologies of both original and accelerated aged samples were determined by optical and scanning electron microscope. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:3527–3534, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Photoradical-Mediated Catalyst-Independent Protein Cross-Link with Unusual Fluorescence Properties

Photo-actively modified natural amino acids have served as lucrative probes for precise mapping of the dynamics, interaction networks, and turnover of cytosolic proteins both in vivo and ex vivo. In our attempts to extend the utility of photoreactive reporters to map the molecular characteristics of vital membrane proteins, we carried out site-selective incorporation of 7-fluoro-indole in the human mitochondrial outer membrane protein VDAC2 (voltage-dependent anion channel isoform 2), with the aim of generating Trp−Phe/Tyr cross-links. Prolonged irradiation at 282 nm provided us with a surprisingly unusual fluorophore that displayed sizably red-shifted excitation (λ_ex-max=280 nm→360 nm) and emission (λ_em-max=330 nm→430 nm) spectra that was reversible with organic solvents. By measuring the kinetics of the photo-activated cross-linking with a library of hVDAC2 variants, we demonstrate that formation of this unusual fluorophore is kinetically retarded, independent of tryptophan, and is site-specific. Using other membrane (Tom40 and Sam50) and cytosolic (MscR and DNA Pol I) proteins, we additionally show that formation of this fluorophore is protein-independent. Our findings reveal the photoradical-mediated accumulation of reversible tyrosine cross-links, with unusual fluorescent properties. Our findings have immediate applications in protein biochemistry and UV-mediated protein aggregation and cellular damage, opening avenues for formulating therapeutics that prolong cell viability in humans.     

Waste fly ash–ZnO as a novel sunlight-responsive photocatalyst for dye discoloration

Treating waste with a waste material using freely available solar energy is the most effective way towards sustainable future. In this study, a novel photocatalyst, partly derived from waste material from the coal industry, was developed. Fly ash hybridized with ZnO (FA—Zn) was synthesized as a potential photocatalyst for dye discoloration. The synthesized photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and ultraviolet—visible/near infra-red spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity was examined with the discoloration of methylene blue used as synthetic dye wastewater. All the experiments were performed in direct sunlight. The photocatalytic performance of FA—Zn was found to be better than that of ZnO and the conventionally popular TiO₂. The Langmuire—Hinshelwood model rate constant values of ZnO, TiO₂, and FA—Zn were found to be 0.016 min^-1, 0.017 min^-1, and 0.020 min^-1, respectively. There were two reasons for this: (1) FA—Zn was able to utilize both ultraviolet and visible parts of the solar spectrum, and (2) its Brunauere—Emmette—Teller surface area and porosity were significantly enhanced. This led to increased photon absorption and dye adsorption, thus exhibiting an energy-efficient performance. Therefore, FA—Zn, partly derived from waste, can serve as a suitable material for environmental remediation and practical solar energy applications.     

Dynamic cell sleeping mechanism: An energy-efficient approach for Mobile 5G HetCN

The paper proposes a novel cell sleeping mechanism for enhancing network energy-efficiency and to combat dynamic downlink interferences linked with mobile Small Cells (mSCs) in a 5G Heterogeneous Cellular Network (HetCN). The proposed Dynamic Mobile Cell Sleeping Mechanism (DMCSM) allows deployed vehicle-mounted mSCs to dynamically go into sleep based on the calculated distances of users from its serving mSCs BS. With this mechanism, vehicular mSCs during mobility dynamically calculate their distances with the Macrocell (MC) users. The mSCs go into sleep or get deactivated for a while based on the calculated distance and the cell radius defined for mSCs. The mSCs will get active and starts to provide services to the users that are found within their coverage radius. The setup 5G HetCN is investigated with a MC superimpose with fixed SCs (fSCs) and mobile SCs (mSCs). The proficiency of DMCSM is investigated with the exploitation of existing sub 6 GHz groups at MCs and the millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrums at deployed fSCs and mSCs. The network downlink performance metrics: user throughput, sumrate, energy-efficiency, and outage probability, have been explored. The work also depicts a comparison of the proposed DMCSM mechanism with the author's previously proposed ICI mitigation techniques.     

Contribution of Knoevenagel Condensation Products toward the Development of Anticancer Agents: An Updated Review

Knoevenagel condensation is an entrenched, prevailing, prominent arsenal following greener principles in the generation of α, β-unsaturated ketones/carboxylic acids by involving carbonyl functionalities and active methylenes. This reaction has proved to be a major driving force in many multicomponent reactions indicating the prolific utility toward the development of biologically fascinating molecules. This eminent reaction was acclimatised on different pharmacophoric aldehydes (benzimidazole, β-carboline, phenanthrene, indole, imidazothiadiazole, pyrazole etc.) and active methylenes (oxindole, barbituric acid, Meldrum's acid, thiazolidinedione etc.) to generate the library of chemical compounds. Their potential was also explicit to understand the significance of functionalities involved, which thereby evoke further developments in drug discovery. Furthermore, most of these reaction products exhibited remarkable anticancer activity in nanomolar to micromolar ranges by targeting different cancer targets like DNA, microtubules, Topo-I/II, and kinases (PIM, PARP, NMP, p300/CBP) etc. This review underscores the efficiency of the Knoevenagel condensation explored in the past six-year to generate molecules of pharmacological interest, predominantly toward cancer. The present review also provides the aspects of structure-activity relationships, mode of action and docking study with possible interaction with the target protein.