Cytotoxic Triosmium Carbonyl Clusters: A Structure–Activity Relationship Study

A structure–activity relationship (SAR) study of the triosmium carbonyl cluster Os₃(CO)₁₀(NCCH₃)₂ was carried out with a series of clusters of the general formula Os₃(CO)_12?nL_n, cationic osmium clusters and a hemi‐labile maltolato‐Os cluster. The SAR results showed that good solubility in DMSO and at least one vacant site are required for cytotoxicity. In vitro evaluation of these new compounds showed that some are selectively active against estrogen receptor (ER)‐independent MDA‐MB‐231 breast cancer cell lines relative to ER‐dependent MCF‐7 breast cancer cells, suggesting that the compounds have a different biological target specific to MDA‐MB‐231 cells. In particular, the maltolato cluster exhibits strong antiproliferative activity, with an IC₅₀ value of 3 μM after only 24 h incubation. Additionally, biochemical assays conducted with the cationic cluster show that it induces apoptosis, although a biological target has not yet been identified. Further research to establish the molecular targets of these compounds and to develop improved organometallic clusters as potential breast cancer therapeutics is underway.     

Raman spectroscopy as process analytical tool in downstream processing of biotechnology

Downstream processing or product recovery plays a vital role in the development of bioprocesses. To improve the bioprocess efficiency, some unconventional methods are much required. The continuous manufacturing in downstream processing makes the Process Analytical Technologies (PATs) as an important tool. Monitoring and controlling bioprocess are an essential factor for the principles of PAT and quality by design. Spectroscopic methods can apply to monitor multiple analytes in real-time with less sample processing with significant advancements. Raman spectroscopy is an extensively used technique as an analytical and research tool owing to its modest process form, non-destructive, non-invasive optical molecular spectroscopic imaging with computer-based analysis. Generally, its application is essential for the analysis and characterization of biological samples, and it is easy to operate with minimal sample. The innovation on various types of enhanced Raman spectroscopy was designed to enhance the Raman analytical technique. Raman spectroscopy could couple with chemometrics to provide reliable alternative analysis method of downstream process analysis. Thus, this review aims to provide useful insight on the application of Raman spectroscopy for PAT in downstream processing of biotechnology and Raman data analysis in biological fields.     

The stochastic Galerkin scaled boundary finite element method on random domain

The research work extends the scaled boundary finite element method to non‐deterministic framework defined on random domain wherein random behaviour is exhibited in the presence of the random‐field uncertainties. The aim is to blend the scaled boundary finite element method into the Galerkin spectral stochastic methods, which leads to a proficient procedure for handling the stress singularity problems and crack analysis. The Young's modulus of structures is considered to have random‐field uncertainty resulting in the stochastic behaviour of responses. Mathematical expressions and the solution procedure are derived to evaluate the statistical characteristics of responses (displacement, strain, and stress) and stress intensity factors of cracked structures. The feasibility and effectiveness of the presented method are demonstrated by particularly chosen numerical examples. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and properties of light weight magnesium–cenosphere composite

Significantly light weight magnesium composite foams are synthesised by addition of fly ash cenosphere particles (waste from coal-fired power plants) in biocompatible pure magnesium using solidification-based disintegrated melt deposition technique. The density of the composite foams synthesised in this study approaches that of plastics- and polymer-based composites. Microstructure development of Mg/cenosphere composite foams was favourable as they exhibited better dimensional stability (reduced coefficient of thermal expansion) and remarkable improvements in tensile strengths, compressive strengths, compressive total strain and microhardness. The present study highlights the processing, microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg/cenosphere composite foams which hold great potential as light weight metal-based green materials for diverse weight critical applications spanning from engineering to biomedical sector.     

A microcoded elliptic curve processor using FPGA technology

The implementation of a microcoded elliptic curve processor using field-programmable gate array technology is described. This processor implements optimal normal basis field operations in F(2/sup n/). The design is synthesized by a parameterized module generator, which can accommodate arbitrary n and also produce field multipliers with different speed/area tradeoffs. The control part of the processor is microcoded, enabling curve operations to be incorporated into the processor and hence reducing the chip's I/O requirements. The microcoded approach also facilitates rapid development and algorithmic optimization: for example, projective and affine coordinates were supported using different microcode. The design was successfully tested on a Xilinx Virtex XCV1000-6 device and could perform an elliptic curve multiplication over the field F(2/sup n/) using affine and projective coordinates for n=113,155, and 173.     

Unbounded and scattered field representations of the Dyadic Green'sfunctions for planar stratified bianisotropic media

This paper presents a rigorous formulation of the spectral-domain dyadic Green's functions for planar stratified bianisotropic media. The media may consist of any number of layers bounded by optional impedance/admittance walls. Both electric and magnetic dyadic Green's functions for arbitrary field and source locations are derived simultaneously. Based on the principle of scattering superposition, these dyadics are decomposed into unbounded and scattered parts. The scattered dyadic Green's functions are determined without cumbersome operations using the concepts of effective reflection and transmission of outward-bounded and inward-bounded waves. The scattering coefficient matrices are expressed in compact and convenient forms involving global reflection and transmission matrices. Corresponding to the impedance/admittance boundary walls, the global reflection matrices are related directly to the wall impedance/admittance dyadics. For illustration, the general expressions of dyadic Green's functions are applied to the configuration of a grounded bianisotropic slab embedded in isotropic halfspace     

Synergistic Enhancement of Luminescent and Ferroelectric Properties through Multi-Clipping of Tetraphenylethenes

Synergistically enhancing luminescent and ferroelectric ( SELF ) properties are observed from a tetraphenylethene ( TP ) substituted with clipping groups ( C ), where the C is consisting of a 4-[3,5-bis-(3-decyloxy-styryl)-styryl]-phenyl ( DOS ) unit. The DOS units of TPCn are self-assembled via intermolecular interaction to clip themselves and induce TP aggregation, as evidenced by clip-induced quenching of emission at DOS units ( E _clip ) accompanied by aggregation-induced emission enhancement of TPs ( E _AIE ). TPC4 demonstrates strong photoluminescence in a dilute chloroform solution and large E_AIE in aqueous (>50%) THF solution. TPCn demonstrates SELF properties in film state, with high quantum yields of photoluminescence (>80%) and ferroelectric switching. Due to the introduction of four clips, TPC4 has a higher remnant polarization ( P _r  =  2.27 µC cm⁻²) at room temperature than TPC1. TPC4 is successfully employed in a light-emitting electrochemical cell to achieve over 1290 cd m⁻² under pulsed current conditions. The TPC4 film on a flexible substrate produced a piezoelectric output voltage of up to 0.13 V and a current density of 1.14 nA cm⁻² upon bending. These results indicate that the side chain clipping and TP aggregation resulted in unprecedented flexible SELF properties in a single compound, offering simultaneous enhancement of electroluminescence, mechanical sensitivity, and energy harvesting capacity.     

A robust formulation of SAW Green's functions for arbitrarily thick multilayers at high frequencies

This paper presents a robust formulation of SAW Green's functions for arbitrarily thick multilayers at high frequencies. The formulation is an alternative to that based on the transfer matrix method, which suffers from numerical instabilities when the frequency and/or thickness parameters become large. This numerical difficulty can be attributed to the mixture of exponentially growing and decaying terms during the transfer matrix calculations. To be more instructive, the numerical instability is delineated in terms of upward-bounded and downward-bounded waves within each layer. In accordance with such boundedness association, a recursive scheme not involving any growing terms is developed based on the scattering matrices to eliminate the instability. The resulting reflection matrix method is extremely concise and preserves the simplicity and convenience of the transfer matrix method. Using the reflection matrices, the generalized Green's functions that relate the particle velocity and the rate of electric potential change to the surface stress and charge are formulated succinctly. These Green's functions are useful for having incorporated the electrical properties of the vacuum above the surface. Numerical computations are exemplified to demonstrate the instabilities of the transfer matrix method and to justify the robustness of the reflection matrix formula