Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

About: Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is a education organization based out in Kharagpur, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Dielectric. The organization has 16887 authors who have published 38658 publications receiving 714526 citations.

CuO nanorods: a potential and efficient adsorbent in water purification

Abstract: The present work deals with a simple in situ soft chemical synthesis of nanoscale copper(II) oxide, together with its characterization and a study of the adsorption and desorption behaviors of Pb(II) on nanoscale CuO. The nanoparticles are characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM and BET surface area analyses. Electron microscopy clearly reveals a rod-like morphology of rhombohedral CuO, with an average diameter of ∼5 nm and a length extending up to 50 nm. BET shows the average surface area of the nanorods to be ∼52.57 m2 g−1. In an adsorption study, the influence of operational conditions, such as the contact time, the initial concentration of Pb(II), the initial pH of the solution and the temperature, on the adsorption of Pb(II) has also been examined. Studies also reveal that the uptake of Pb(II) onto CuO is a fast process; >70% of the uptake occurred within the first 10 min of contact time and uptake reached >92% within 60 min. The maximum sorption capacity of Pb(II) is 3.31 mg g−1 at 298 K. The +ve ΔS° value and the +ve ΔH° value of 37.77 kJ mol−1 indicate the endothermic nature of the adsorption process, whereas a decrease of Gibbs free energy (ΔG°) with increasing temperature indicates the spontaneous nature of the adsorption process. The adsorbent can be up to 84.1% regenerated using dilute acid and shows potential for the removal of lead from contaminated water.

PI3K and Akt as molecular targets for cancer therapy: current clinical outcomes

Abstract: The PI3K-Akt pathway is a vital regulator of cell proliferation and survival. Alterations in the PIK3CA gene that lead to enhanced PI3K kinase activity have been reported in many human cancer types, including cancers of the colon, breast, brain, liver, stomach and lung. Deregulation of PI3K causes aberrant Akt activity. Therefore targeting this pathway could have implications for cancer treatment. The first generation PI3K-Akt inhibitors were proven to be highly effective with a low IC50, but later, they were shown to have toxic side effects and poor pharmacological properties and selectivity. Thus, these inhibitors were only effective in preclinical models. However, derivatives of these first generation inhibitors are much more selective and are quite effective in targeting the PI3K-Akt pathway, either alone or in combination. These second-generation inhibitors are essentially a specific chemical moiety that helps to form a strong hydrogen bond interaction with the PI3K/Akt molecule. The goal of this review is to delineate the current efforts that have been undertaken to inhibit the various components of the PI3K and Akt pathway in different types of cancer both in vitro and in vivo. Our focus here is on these novel therapies and their inhibitory effects that depend upon their chemical nature, as well as their development towards clinical trials.

Silver and gold nanocluster catalyzed reduction of methylene blue by arsine in a micellar medium

Abstract: In anionic micelles, SDS has been found to remove the kinetic barrier for the reaction between methylene blue (MB) and arsine. The color bleaching (reduction) of SDS micelle bound MB by arsine gives a quantitative measureof arsenic concentration in the sub-parts-per-million levels for a test sample. Arsine is generated by reacting NaBH 4 with arsenic-containing samples present along with the other reagents. The extent of the micelle-bound dye reduction is facilitated in the presence of Ag or Au nanoparticles. The micelles, in turn, help to increase the collision probability between the dye and arsine, whereas nanoparticles help the electron relay from AsH 3 to the micelle-bound dye. This method depicts for the first time a simple, reproducible way to demonstrate nanoparticle-catalyzed dye reduction by arsine in an organized medium.