Structural, Spectroscopic Investigation and Computational Study on Nitrate and Hydrogen Oxalate Salts of 2-Aminopyrimidine

The proton transfer salts of 2-aminopyrimidine with nitric acid (2APNO) and oxalic acid (2APOX) were synthesized and crystallized successfully by solvent evaporation solution growth technique. The crystal packing is stabilized through intricate three dimensional hydrogen bonded network. Both, the molecular structures were optimized with Density Functional Theory (DFT) using B3LYP function and Hartree-Fock method with a 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. Optimized molecular parameters between the methods were compared for the cation showing appreciable agreement. The computed vibrational spectra are compared with experimental result which clearly demonstrates the strong N-H··· O vibrational behaviour. Thermal stability of the crystals were analyzed with TGA/DTA and the melting points of the salts, viz. 2APNO and 2APOX, were identified at 189.5 and 210.9 °C, respectively. The chemical hardness, electronegativity, chemical potential and electrophilicity index of the two crystals were determined by HOMO-LUMO plot. The lower band gap value obtained from the Frontier Molecular Orbital (FMO) analysis favours the possible pharmaceutical/biological activity of the salts.

Studies on Conducting Polymer Blends: Synthesis and Characterizations of PVA/PVP Doped with CaCl₂

Calcium ion conducting polymer blend electrolyte films based on PVA/PVP complexed with CaCl2 have been prepared by solution casting technique. The structural changes of the polymer blends have been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. XRD and FT-IR studies confirmed the complex formation of polymer blends. Electrical conductivity was calculated with impedance analyzer within the frequency range 42 Hz-1 MHz and in the temperature range 303 K-340 K. The higher electrical conductivity value of 1.704 × 10-4 Scm-1 was observed for 50PVA:50PVP:15 wt% CaCl2 concentration at room temperature. The magnitude of electrical conductivity was increased with the increase in the salt concentration as well as temperature. The electrical permittivity of the polymer films have been studied for various temperatures.

Investigation of Electrochemical Studies of Magnesium Ion Conducting Poly(vinyl alcohol)-Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) Based Blend Polymers

Polymer blend electrolytes based on magnesium ion conducting PVA-PVP-MgCl2 polymer were prepared at different compositions by solution casting techniques. The prepared films were characterised by various techniques such as XRD and FTIR. Amorphous nature and structural coordination of polymer electrolyte were confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies. The ionic conductivity of the prepared polymer electrolytes were analysed through ac impedance spectroscopy. The highest conductivity was found to be in the order of ~10-6 Scm-1 at an ambient temperature for the composition of 50PVA:50PVP:5 wt% MgCl2. Conductivity versus temperature plot was found to follow an Arrhenius nature. The dielectric behaviour and ionic transport properties of the polymer electrolytes were also analyzed.

Enhanced Catalytic Activity, Facile Synthesis and Characterization Studies of Spinel Mn-Co Aluminate Nano-Catalysts

Undoped and Mn2+ doped CoAl2O4 (MnxCo1-xAl2O4; x = 0.0 to 1.0) spinel nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by a microwave heating method using glycine as the fuel. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) was confirmed the cubic spinel structure. The average crystallite size of the samples was found to be in the range of 16.46 nm to 20.25 nm calculated by Scherrer's formula. The nano-sized particle-like morphology of the samples was confirmed by high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) analysis. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) results showed the pure form of spinel aluminate structure. The band gap energy (Eg) of pure CoAl2O4 was estimated to be 3.68 eV from UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and the Eg values increased with increase of Mn2+ ions, due to the smaller grain size. The magnetic hysteresis (M-H) loop showed the superparamagnetic nature, and the magnetization and coercivity values increased with increasing Mn2+ ions, which was confirmed by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). All compositions of the nano-catalysts were tested as catalyst successfully for the conversion of benzyl alcohol into benzaldehyde and observed good catalytic activity.

A low gradient junction technique of craniospinal irradiation using volumetric-modulated arc therapy and its advantages over the conventional therapy

A technique using volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) fields for craniospinal irradiation with low dose gradients at the field junction was tested for its sensitivity to positional inaccuracy. It was compared against the conventional three-dimensional (3D) conformal radiotherapy in terms of dose uniformity at the junction. Treatment plans generated for ten patients who received craniospinal irradiation (35Gy in 21 fractions) by VMAT technique at our centre were included in this study. For these patients, 3D conformal radiotherapy plans were also generated in addition to the VMAT treatment plans. Intentional shifting of the cranial field in the superior and then in the inferior directions was done, creating a gap or overlap between the fields. Consequent changes in dose distributions in these two plans to positional inaccuracies were studied. The 3D conformal radiotherapy plans showed large dose variations at the junction due to positional shifts as compared to the VMAT plans. With a 5mm superior shift of the cranial field isocentre creating a gap between the cranial and spinal fields, the magnitudes of under-dosing were 13.9±3.6Gy and 4.8±2.0Gy for 3D conformal radiotherapy and VMAT respectively. When the cranial field was moved by 5mm inferiorly creating an overlap between the fields, overdose to the effects of 10.3±4.0Gy and 4.9±1.3Gy were observed for the 3D conformal radiotherapy plans and VMAT plans respectively. The VMAT technique is insensitive to longitudinal setup errors (1-3mm) in patients because of the existence of low dose gradients at the junction between fields. This is unlike the 3D conformal radiotherapy plans which have steep dose gradients at the field edges and thus are highly sensitive to setup errors. Such an advantage for VMAT circumvents the need for dose feathering often practiced with the 3D conformal radiotherapy technique and makes the technique simpler to follow.

Substituted methoxybenzyl-sulfonyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazoles evaluated as effective H+/K+-ATPase inhibitors and anti-ulcer therapeutics

Efforts were made to synthesize a series of substituted methoxybenzyl-sulfonyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazole derivatives (8a-l) and investigate their anti-ulcer therapeutics. Prior to evaluating antiulcer potentials of 8a-l, a preliminary binding assay against H⁺/K⁺-ATPase from goat gastric mucosa was carried out, since it plays an important role in the ulcer development. In order to get more insight into the binding mode of the compounds to H⁺/K⁺-ATPase, a molecular docking study was carried out and the best binding affinities were unveiled. Many of the substituted methoxybenzyl-sulfonyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazole derivatives (8a-l) were active for the proposed activity. The key finding was that, least inhibitory constant (ki) values of 8a-l were found between 0.02 and 1.8 μM in the molecular docking study. Almost the same range was reflected/correlated in the H⁺/K⁺-ATPase inhibition assay (IC₅₀ 0.14-1.29 μM). Remarkably, compounds 8a-l showed a relative activity percentage range of 72-92%. Efficient HRBC membrane stabilization activity of 8a-l ensured the non-harm/safety and the suitability/alternative towards anti-ulcer therapy.

Influence of monte carlo variance with fluence smoothing in VMAT treatment planning with Monaco TPS

INTRODUCTION

The study aimed to investigate the interplay between Monte Carlo Variance (MCV) and fluence smoothing factor (FSF) in volumetric modulated arc therapy treatment planning by using a sample set of complex treatment planning cases and a X-ray Voxel Monte Carlo-based treatment planning system equipped with tools to tune fluence smoothness as well as MCV.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The dosimetric (dose to tumor volume, and organ at risk) and physical characteristic (treatment time, number of segments, and so on) of a set 45 treatment plans for all combinations of 1%, 3%, 5% MCV and 1, 3, 5 FSF were evaluated for five carcinoma esophagus cases under the study.

RESULT

Increase in FSF reduce the treatment time. Variation of MCV and FSF gives a highest planning target volume (PTV), heart and lung dose variation of 3.6%, 12.8% and 4.3%, respectively. The heart dose variation was highest among all organs at risk. Highest variation of spinal cord dose was 0.6 Gy.

CONCLUSION

Variation of MCV and FSF influences the organ at risk (OAR) doses significantly but not PTV coverage and dose homogeneity. Variation in FSF causes difference in dosimetric and physical parameters for the treatment plans but variation of MCV does not. MCV 3% or less do not improve the plan quality significantly (physical and clinical) compared with MCV greater than 3%. The use of MCV between 3% and 5% gives similar results as 1% with lesser calculation time. Minimally detected differences in plan quality suggest that the optimum FSF can be set between 3 and 5.