Birla Institute of Technology and Science

About: Birla Institute of Technology and Science is a education organization based out in Pilāni, Rajasthan, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Population. The organization has 8897 authors who have published 13947 publications receiving 170008 citations.

The GABA Shunt: An Attractive and Potential Therapeutic Target in the Treatment of Epileptic Disorders

Abstract: Epilepsy is the most common primary neurological disorder known. Epileptiform neurons undergo paroxysmal depolarization shifts (PDS), which result in the excessive sustained neuronal firing seen in epilepsy. These shifts are due to either an impairment of GABA mediated inhibition, or an enhancement of aspartate or glutamate mediated excitatory transmission. Recent research has focused on the cellular biology of seizures. 4-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter of mammalian central nervous system. In neural and nonneural tissues, GABA is metabolized by three enzymes-glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), which produces GABA from glutamic acid, and the catabolic enzymes GABA-transaminase (GABA-T) and succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH). Production of succinic acid by SSADH allows entry of the GABA carbon skeleton into the tricarboxylic acid cycle. GABA-T is present in a variety of circulating cells, including platelets and lymphocytes. SSADH, the final enzyme of GABA catabolism, has been detected in some of the tissues in which GAD and GABA-T have been identified. This paper is aimed at elucidating the organization of the GABA shunt and covers a review on the antiepileptic drugs, both established and currently under development targeted to the GABA shunt in order to bring about effective seizure control.

Architecture, electronic structure and stability of TM@Ge(n) (TM = Ti, Zr and Hf; n = 1-20) clusters: a density functional modeling

Abstract: The present study reports the geometry, electronic structure and properties of neutral and anionic transition metal (TM = Ti, Zr and Hf)) doped germanium clusters containing 1 to 20 germanium atoms within the framework of linear combination of atomic orbitals density functional theory under spin polarized generalized gradient approximation. Different parameters, like, binding energy (BE), embedding energy (EE), energy gap between the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO-LUMO), ionization energy (IP), electron affinity (EA), chemical potential etc. of the energetically stable clusters (ground state cluster) in each size are calculated. From the variation of these parameters with the size of the clusters the most stable cluster within the range of calculation is identified. It is found that the clusters having 20 valence electrons turn out to be relatively more stable in both the neutral and the anionic series. The sharp drop in IP as the valence electron count increases from 20 to 21 in neutral cluster is in agreement with predictions of shell models. To study the vibrational nature of the clusters, IR and Raman spectrum of some selected TM@Gen (n = 15,16,17) clusters are also calculated and compared. In the end, relevance of calculated results to the design of Ge-based super-atoms is discussed.

Synthesis of an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active salicylaldehyde based Schiff base: study of mechanoluminescence and sensitive Zn(II) sensing

Abstract: Syntheses of multi-functional Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) active molecules in a simple manner have been drawing great attention in current luminescence materials research. In this report a simple diamine molecule (N1-tritylethane-1,2-diamine(1)) is reacted with salicylaldehyde using a Schiff-base technique which results in a new AIE active organic molecule [2-((2-(tritylamino)ethylideneamino)methyl)phenol (2)]. Computational calculations support that the nature of the transition is intra-molecular charge transfer/twisted intramolecular charge transfer (ICT/TICT). The mechanism of AIE has been attributed to restricted intramolecular rotation (RIR). Packing diagrams support that the nature of the aggregation is J-aggregation. The compound, 2, exhibits an irreversible mechanoluminescence (ML) property with a drastic colour change from blue to green (λmax, 445 nm → 512 nm) upon grinding. However, it undergoes a reversible transition with the same colour change (blue → green) through applying pressure axially (using a hydraulic press). The reversible transition is observed by lowering the temperature of 2 to that of liquid nitrogen. The causes of such transitions showing variations in the emission colour upon different triggers have been investigated. In addition, 2 has been successfully tested for the sensing of Zn(II) and shows a rare turn-on luminescence change, the mechanism behind which has been explored. The detection limit for Zn(II) is determined to be 0.064 ppm.