Cytotoxicity of Newly Synthesized Quinazoline–Sulfonamide Derivatives in Human Leukemia Cell Lines and Their Effect on Hematopoiesis in Zebrafish Embryos

Many quinazoline derivatives with pharmacological properties, such as anticancer activity, have been synthesized. Fourteen quinazoline derivatives bearing a substituted sulfonamide moiety (4a–n) were previously synthesized and fully characterized. These compounds exerted antiproliferative activity against cell lines derived from solid tumors. Herein, the antileukemic activities of these compounds (4a–n) against two different leukemia cell lines (Jurkat acute T cell and THP-1 acute monocytic) were investigated. Our investigation included examining their activity in vivo in a zebrafish embryo model. Remarkably, compounds 4a and 4d were the most potent in suppressing cell proliferation, with an IC₅₀ value range of 4–6.5 µM. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that both compounds halted cell progression at the G2/M phase and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. RT-PCR and Western blot analyses also showed that both compounds effectively induced apoptosis by upregulating the expression of proapoptotic factors while downregulating that of antiapoptotic factors. In vivo animal toxicity assays performed in zebrafish embryos indicated that compound 4d was more toxic than compound 4a, with compound 4d inducing multiple levels of teratogenic phenotypes in zebrafish embryos at a sublethal concentration. Moreover, both compounds perturbed the hematopoiesis process in developing zebrafish embryos. Collectively, our data suggest that compounds 4a and 4d have the potential to be used as antileukemic agents.     

Dysregulated Metabolic Pathways in Subjects with Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome

Background: Obesity coexists with variable features of metabolic syndrome, which is associated with dysregulated metabolic pathways. We assessed potential associations between serum metabolites and features of metabolic syndrome in Arabic subjects with obesity. Methods: We analyzed a dataset of 39 subjects with obesity only (OBO, n = 18) age-matched to subjects with obesity and metabolic syndrome (OBM, n = 21). We measured 1069 serum metabolites and correlated them to clinical features. Results: A total of 83 metabolites, mostly lipids, were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the two groups. Among lipids, 22 sphingomyelins were decreased in OBM compared to OBO. Among non-lipids, quinolinate, kynurenine, and tryptophan were also decreased in OBM compared to OBO. Sphingomyelin is negatively correlated with glucose, HbA1C, insulin, and triglycerides but positively correlated with HDL, LDL, and cholesterol. Differentially enriched pathways include lysine degradation, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, fructose and mannose metabolism, and galactose metabolism. Conclusions: Metabolites and pathways associated with chronic inflammation are differentially expressed in subjects with obesity and metabolic syndrome compared to subjects with obesity but without the clinical features of metabolic syndrome.     

Nanosecond Laser Induced Surface Structuring of Cadmium after Ablation in Air and Propanol Ambient

In the present study KrF Excimer laser has been employed to irradiate the Cadmium (Cd) targets for various number of laser pulses of 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000, at constant fluence of 3.6 J cm⁻². Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis was utilized to reveal the formation of laser induced nano/micro structures on the irradiated target (Cd) surfaces. SEM results show the generation of cavities, cracks, micro/nano wires/rods, wrinkles along with re-deposited particles during irradiation in air, whereas subsurface boiling, pores, cavities and Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) on the inner walls of cavities are revealed at the central ablated area after irradiation in propanol. The ablated volume and depth of ablated region on irradiated Cd targets are evaluated for various number of pulses and is higher in air as compared to propanol ambient. Fast Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses show the presence of oxides and hydro-oxides of Cd after irradiation in propanol, whereas the existence of oxides is observed after irradiation in air ambient. Nano-hardness tester was used to investigate mechanical modifications of ablated Cd. It reveals an increase in hardness after irradiation which is more pronounced in propanol as compared to air.     

Graphite versus graphene:plasmonic nanopore DNA sequencing

The plasmonic-based graphite-and graphene-nanopores have been investigated by employing the hybrid quantum/classical scheme(HQCS). Transverse, longitudinal, and total absorption spectra obtained from HQCS are analyzed for the graphite and graphene nanopores. Analyses were examined for each structure in the presence of deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA) nucleobases. The simple excitation of the total mode in graphene nanopore shows the best selectivity for DNA sequencing. A novel method based on the tran...     

Ag/PEPC/NiPc/ZnO/Ag thin film capacitive and resistive humidity sensors

A thin film of blended poly-N-epoxypropylcarbazole (PEPC) (25 wt.%),nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc) (50 wt.%) and ZnO nano-powder (25 wt.%) in benzene (5 wt.%) was spin-coated on a glass substrate with silver electrodes to produce a surface-type Ag/PEPC/NiPc/ZnO/Ag capacitive and resistive sensor.Sensors with two different PEPC/NiPc/ZnO film thicknesses (330 and 400 nm) were fabricated and compared.The effects of humidity on capacitance and resistance of the Ag/PEPC/NiPc/ZnO/Ag sensors were investigated at two frequencies of the applied voltage:120 Hz and 1 kHz.It was observed that at 120 Hz under humidity of up to 95% RH the capacitance of the sensors increased by 540 times and resistance decreased by 450 times with respect to humidity conditions of 50% RH.It was found that the sensor with a thinner semiconducting film (330 nm) was more sensitive than the sensor with a thicker film (400 nm).The sensitivity was improved when the sensor was used at a lower frequency as compared with a high frequency.It is assumed that the humidity response of the sensors is associated with absorption of water vapors and doping of water molecules in the semiconductor blend layer.This had been proven by simulation of the capacitance-humidity relationship.     

借助结构噪声分析检测纺织机械故障

结构噪声分析或者说振动分析是一种新型的评估纺织机械运行状况的方法。它可及早发现磨损部件,并可在因个别机器部件彻底崩溃而导致机器停车之前及时更换磨损部件。磨损部件的及早检测能给生产带来显著的经济效益。     

An improved model to predict DC characteristics of organic field-effect transistors

Journal of Computational Electronics - Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are becoming popular because of the ease associated with their fabrication and cost-effectiveness. Numerous models...     

Mn0.7Zn0.3Fe2O4 + BaTiO3 composites: structural,morphological, magnetic,M–E effect and dielectric properties

Here in the present investigation, constituent phases of (1 ? x)Mn_0.7Zn_0.3Fe₂O₄(MZFO)?+?(x)BaTiO₃(BTO) (where x?=?0.0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.0) composites have been synthesized by sol–gel auto-ignition route and the composite structure by ceramic route. The XRD analysis ensures that the composite structure consists of both cubic spinel piezomagnetic and perovskite piezoelectric phases. The average crystallite size estimated from Scherrer equation increases from 15.36 to 21.94 nm. The strain induced in individual phases has been investigated by W–H analysis and it is observed that the MZFO phase shows comprehensive type strain while BTO phase shows tensile type strain. Scanning electron micrographs confirm the microstructure of the sample with grain size ranges from 36.006 to 54 nm. Energy dispersive X-ray spectra and elemental color mappings of typical samples (x?=?0.0 and 0.75) clearly indicates the phase purity and stoichiometric proportion of the composites. Fourier transform infrared spectra showed five major absorption bands related to stretching vibrations of different kinds of metal ions and oxygen ions. Increasing percentage of BTO phase in the composite reduces the saturation magnetization, remnant magnetization and coercivity. Real and imaginary parts of permittivity show maximum values at lower frequency region and decrease with increase in applied frequency. For the composition (0.25)MZFO–(0.75)BTO, composite shows maximum value of magnetoelectric coupling coefficient (α_ME?=?20.45 mVcm^?1 Oe^?1). The improved magnetoelectric properties make MZFO–BTO composite applicable for electronic devices.

     

Process Discovery and Refinement of an Enterprise Management System

The need for the analysis of modern businesses is rapidly increasing as the supporting enterprise systems generate more and more data. This data can be extremely valuable for executing organizations because the data allows constant monitoring, analyzing, and improving the underlying processes, which leads to the reduction of cost and the improvement of the quality. Process mining is a useful technique for analyzing enterprise systems by using an event log that contains behaviours. This research focuses on the process discovery and refinement using real-life event log data collected from a large multinational organization that deals with coatings and paints. By investigating and analyzing their order handling processes, this study aims at learning a model that gives insight inspection of the processes and performance analysis. Furthermore, the animation is also performed for the better inspection, diagnostics, and compliance-related questions to specify the system. The configuration of the system and the conformance checking for further enhancement is also addressed in this research. To achieve the objectives, this research uses process mining techniques, i.e. process discovery in the form of formal Petri nets models with the help of process maps, and process refinement through conformance checking and enhancement. Initially, the identified executed process is reconstructed by using the process discovery techniques. Following the reconstruction, we perform a deep analysis for the underlying process to ensure the process improvement and redesigning. Finally, some recommendations are made to improve the enterprise management system processes.