Investigating the reinforcing mechanism and optimized dosage of pristine graphene for enhancing mechanical strengths of cementitious composites.

The proposed reinforcing mechanism and optimized dosage of pristine graphene (PRG) for enhancing mechanical, physicochemical and microstructural properties of cementitious mortar composites are presented. Five concentrations of PRG and two particle sizes are explored in this study. The results confirmed that the strength of the mortars depends on the dosage of PRG. The PRG sizes have a significant influence on the enhancement rate of mechanical strengths of the mortars, whereas they do not have a significant influence on the optimized PRG dosage for mechanical strengths. The PRG dosage of 0.07% is identified as the optimized content of PRG for enhancing mechanical strengths. The reinforcing mechanism of PRG for cement-based composites is mostly attributed to adhesion friction forces between PRG sheets and cementitious gels, which highly depends on the surface area of PRG sheets. The larger surface area of PRG sheets has a larger friction area associated with cementitious gels suggested to be one of favorable parameters for enhancing mechanical strengths with graphene additives.

A Schiff's base receptor for red fluorescence live cell imaging of Zn2+ ions in zebrafish embryos and naked eye detection of Ni2+ ions for bio-analytical applications.

An interesting dual chemoreceptor (QAMP) was synthesized to quantify the presence of two environmentally as well as biologically important Zn2+/Ni2+ ions in a highly selective manner using different analytical techniques. The fluorescence profile was enhanced to 663 nm (red region) due to the formation of its 1 : 1 complex with Zn2+ at room temperature even in the presence of other interfering ions such as Cd2+ and Hg2+. Moreover, it exhibits excellent chromo-isomerism with Ni2+ ions. Meanwhile, this assay could be successfully oriented with molecular logic functions of AND, OR, NOR and NOT logic gates. The obtained large Stokes shift (∼274 nm) value and red emission promoted this receptor as a potential tool for biological studies (e.g. live cell imaging in cancer cell line and zebrafish models).

Chemoenzymatic collective synthesis of optically active hydroxyl(methyl)tetrahydronaphthalene-based bioactive terpenoids.

Starting from succinic anhydride and 2-methylanisole, a chemoenzymatic collective formal/total synthesis of several optically active tetrahydronaphthalene based bioactive natural products has been presented via advanced level common precursors; the natural product and antipode (-)/(+)-aristelegone B. Regioselective benzylic oxidations, stereoselective introduction of hydroxyl groups at the α-position of ketone moiety in syn-orientation, efficient enzymatic resolutions with high enantiomeric purity, stereoselective reductions, samarium iodide induced deoxygenations and tandem acylation-Wittig reactions without racemization and/or eliminative aromatization were the key features. An attempted diastereoselective synthesis of (±)-vallapin has also been described.

New free radical scavenging neolignans from fruits of Piper attenuatum.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to study and identify free radicals scavenging and antihyperglycemic principles in fruit of Piper attenuatum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bioassay guided identification of extracts possessing potent free radical scavenging activity, and isolation of compounds was done. Chloroform extract of P. attenuatum possessing potent radical scavenging activity was also evaluated for antihyperglycemic activity following oral glucose tolerance test in rats. RESULTS: Nine neolignans namely, denudatin B (1), iso-4', 5'-dimethoxy-3, 4-methylenedioxy-2'-oxo-Δ(3',5',8')-8.1'-lignan (2), lancifolin D (3), denudatin A (4), wallichinin (5), piperenone (6), lancifolin C (7), 2-oxo-piperol B (8), piperkadsin A (9) and a crotepoxide (10) was identified in Chloroform extract of P. attenuatum. Neolignans (1-9) displayed potent 2, 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) radical and piperkadsin A (9) also displayed 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity. Analysis of structure-activity relationship revealed that presence of furan ring and methoxy groups is an important criterion to influence 2, 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) radical scavenging potentials. Chloroform extract of P. attenuatum fruit could not display antihyperglycemic activity following oral glucose tolerance test in rats. CONCLUSION: Neolignans present in P. attenuatum fruits are potent free radical scavengers and this is the first report identifying these compounds and activities in this fruit.

Improved screw placement for slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) using robotically-assisted drill guidance.

Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SCFE) is a common hip displacement condition in adolescents. In the standard treatment, the surgeon uses intra-operative fluoroscopic imaging to plan the screw placement and the drill trajectory. The accuracy, duration, and efficacy of this procedure are highly dependent on surgeon skill. Longer procedure times result in higher radiation dose, to both patient and surgeon. A robotic system to guide the drill trajectory might help to reduce screw placement errors and procedure time by reducing the number of passes and confirmatory fluoroscopic images needed to verify accurate positioning of the drill guide along a planned trajectory. Therefore, with the long-term goals of improving screw placement accuracy, reducing procedure time and intra-operative radiation dose, our group is developing an image-guided robotic surgical system to assist a surgeon with pre-operative path planning and intra-operative drill guide placement.

Convenient one-pot synthesis, anti-mycobacterial and anticancer activities of novel benzoxepinoisoxazolones and pyrazolones.

Series of new benzoxepinoisoxazolones 4a-d and pyrazolones 6a-t were prepared by the cyclocondensation of substituted (E)-ethyl 3-oxo-2,3-dihydrobenzo[b]oxepine-4-carboxylates 3a-d with hydroxylamine hydrochloride and phenylhydrazine hydrochlorides 5a-k. Synthesized compounds were screened for their in vitro anti-mycobacterial activity and anticancer activity. Ten compounds displayed good anti-mycobacterial activity, among these; compound 4d and 6b found to be potent when compared to standard drug isoniazid. Eleven compounds displayed good anticancer activity and compounds 4b-d displayed equipotent activity on HeLa cell lines when compared to standard drug doxorubicin. Activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9 has been measured for compounds 4b-d on HeLa cell lines (apoptosis). This is the first report assigning in vitro anti-mycobacterial, anticancer and structure-activity relationship for this new class of benzoxepinoisoxazolones and pyrazolones.

Predicted concentrations of biocides from antifouling paints in Visakhapatnam Harbour.

The concentrations of biocides leached from antifouling coatings are monitored in most of the developed countries. However, in India and many other developing countries, there is very little data available on the concentrations of biocides in ports and harbours. The first step was to obtain the order of magnitude levels of concentrations of biocides in the marine environment of the Visakhapatnam Harbour, and the MAM-PEC (Marine Antifoulant Model to Predict Environmental Concentrations) model was used to predict these values. The Visakhapatnam Port lies on the eastern coast of India, roughly halfway between Chennai and Kolkata, and is the largest port in India. This port is a natural harbour; the long and narrow outlet to the open sea makes it a 'poorly flushed' harbour. Predicted concentrations of tributyltin (TBT), copper, dichlofluanid, seanine, irgarol, diuron, tolylfluanid, and zinc pyrithione were computed. The results of the computations indicate that the levels of these biocides are comparable to those in many western countries. This gives credence to the fact that persistence of TBT and some other biocides is a global problem that cannot be ignored.

Occurrence and seasonal variation of bacterial indicators of faecal pollution along Thoothukudi Coast, Tamil Nadu.

Theprevalence and seasonal variation of bacterial indicators of faecal pollution such as total coliform bacteria, faecal coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli and faecal streptococci were investigated in samples of water and beach sand from the four fish landing centres of Thoothukudi. Further the samples were screened for Salmonella to study the reliability of faecal indicator bacteria as an index of human pathogenic bacteria. Total coliform bacteria, faecal coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli were isolated from all four landing centres from undetectable to the maximum detectable level of over Most Probable Number 140 throughout the year with no obvious seasonal variation. Faecal streptococci were also detected in most samples. There was no discernable relationship between faecal indicators and physical parameters. The relationship between faecal indicators and Salmonella was not significant (p > 0.05). The results showed that the coastal waters along Thoothukudi is polluted and presents a potential risk to public for recreational and fishing activities.

Landmark based augmented reality endoscope system for sinus and skull-base surgeries.

Endoscopic video stream during sinus and skull base surgeries can be augmented with the preoperatively chosen landmark to provide effective navigation for the operating surgeon. Currently available systems try to augment with CT or MR image slices. This will be of not much help since there is too much information overlaid. We have developed a simplified landmark based Augmented Reality (AR) system for endoscopic sinus/skull-base surgeries. Results are presented from the experiments with plastic skull and cadaver specimen. Subjective evaluation from a experienced surgeon confirms the effectiveness of the system.

Accurate and robust reconstruction of a surface model of the proximal femur from sparse-point data and a dense-point distribution model for surgical navigation.

Constructing a 3-D surface model from sparse-point data is a nontrivial task. Here, we report an accurate and robust approach for reconstructing a surface model of the proximal femur from sparse-point data and a dense-point distribution model (DPDM). The problem is formulated as a three-stage optimal estimation process. The first stage, affine registration, is to iteratively estimate a scale and a rigid transformation between the mean surface model of the DPDM and the sparse input points. The estimation results of the first stage are used to establish point correspondences for the second stage, statistical instantiation, which stably instantiates a surface model from the DPDM using a statistical approach. This surface model is then fed to the third stage, kernel-based deformation, which further refines the surface model. Handling outliers is achieved by consistently employing the least trimmed squares (LTS) approach with a roughly estimated outlier rate in all three stages. If an optimal value of the outlier rate is preferred, we propose a hypothesis testing procedure to automatically estimate it. We present here our validations using four experiments, which include 1) leave-one-out experiment, 2) experiment on evaluating the present approach for handling pathology, 3) experiment on evaluating the present approach for handling outliers, and 4) experiment on reconstructing surface models of seven dry cadaver femurs using clinically relevant data without noise and with noise added. Our validation results demonstrate the robust performance of the present approach in handling outliers, pathology, and noise. An average 95-percentile error of 1.7-2.3 mm was found when the present approach was used to reconstruct surface models of the cadaver femurs from sparse-point data with noise added.

Tracking endoscopic instruments without a localizer: a shape-analysis-based approach.

We present an approach to localizing endoscopic instruments with respect to the camera position, based purely on processing of the endoscope image. No localizers are needed; the only requirement is a colored strip at the distal part of the instrument shaft to facilitate image segmentation. The method exploits perspective image analysis applied to the cylindrical shape of the instrument shaft, allowing measurement of the instrument position and orientation with five degrees of freedom. We describe the method theoretically, and experimentally derive calibration curves for tuning the parameters of the algorithm. Results show that the method can be used for applications where accuracy is not critical, such as workspace measurement, gesture analysis, augmented-reality guidance, telementoring, etc. If this method is used in combination with an endoscope tracker or a robotic camera holder, full localization with respect to the patient reference frame can be achieved.

Endoscope-based hybrid navigation system for minimally invasive ventral spine surgeries.

The availability of high-resolution, magnified, and relatively noise-free endoscopic images in a small workspace, 4-10 cm from the endoscope tip, opens up the possibility of using the endoscope as a tracking tool. We are developing a hybrid navigation system in which image-analysis-based 2D-3D tracking is combined with optoelectronic tracking (Optotrak) for computer-assisted navigation in laparoscopic ventral spine surgeries. Initial results are encouraging and confirm the ability of the endoscope to serve as a tracking tool in surgical navigation where sub-millimetric accuracy is mandatory.

Inhibition of protein kinase C by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor erbstatin.

We examined the tyrosine kinase inhibitor erbstatin and several derivatives for their ability to inhibit serine/threonine protein kinases in vitro. Erbstatin was found to inhibit protein kinase C (PKC) with an IC50 of 19.8 +/- 3.2 microM. A trihydroxy derivative of erbstatin inhibited PKC with similar potency, whereas the corresponding methoxy derivatives were inactive. Inhibition by erbstatin was competitive with ATP (Ki = 11.0 +/- 2.3 microM) and non-competitive with the phosphate acceptor, either histone or the synthetic peptide kemptide. Action of erbstatin at the catalytic site of PKC was further indicated by the findings that it inhibited the catalytic fragment of PKC but did not inhibit the interaction of phorbol ester with the intact enzyme. Erbstatin had a similar potency against three PKC isozymes (alpha, beta, and gamma) examined. In addition, erbstatin was found to inhibit other serine/threonine kinases (assayed at their Km for ATP). The greatest potency was observed versus the cyclic nucleotide-dependent kinases, while lower potency was seen versus myosin light chain kinase. These observations are discussed in terms of the structure and kinetic properties of PKC and the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase.

Footprint of the sigma protein.

Escherichia coli RNA Polymerase is a multi-subunit enzyme that catalyzes RNA synthesis, using DNA as a template. The sigma subunit of this enzyme plays an important role in the recognition of promoter sites on DNA. Using DNase I footprinting, we have found that in the absence of the other subunits, sigma binds specifically to the bacteriophage lambda PR promoter DNA sequence. In the presence of the sigma subunit alone, a protective footprint encompassing the region between residue positions -41 and +17 was observed (where +1 is the transcription start site). The holoenzyme gave a footprint covering the same region. Thus not only does the sigma subunit interact with the DNA promoter site in the absence of the other components of RNA polymerase, but also the footprint of sigma is indistinguishable from that of the holoenzyme.