Potential matching of carbon capture storage and utilization (CCSU) as enhanced oil recovery in perspective to Indian oil refineries.

Carbon capture storage and utilization is not a new technology, but its application to reduce CO2 emissions from the refinery sector is just now emerging as promising mitigation. This study will look closely at opportunities to match CO2 sources with potential sinks by matching carbon-capturing projects at Indian oil refineries with Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) operations at nearby oil fields in India. This study has identified four such pairings of source-sink matching along with the challenges the first of the kind implementation of CCSU technology in specific projects. The study concludes with a discussion on the way forward and policy implications for the commercial use of the CCSU in India. Graphical abstract: CCS Carbon Capture Storage; CCU Carbon Capture Utilization, EOR . Source: Authors' design.

Discovery of inhibitors of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1: structure-activity study of 5-nitro-2-phenoxybenzoic acid derivatives.

Two novel series of 5-nitro-2-phenoxybenzoic acid derivatives are designed as potent PAI-1 inhibitors using hybridization and conformational restriction strategy in the tiplaxtinin and piperazine chemo types. The lead compounds 5a, 6c, and 6e exhibited potent PAI-1 inhibitory activity and favorable oral bioavailability in the rodents.

Modeling of microbubble dissolution in aqueous medium.

A mathematical model for microbubble dissolution in an aqueous medium containing dissolved gases is presented. None of the models available in the literature take into account the influence of shell elasticity (Es), variation in surface tension (σ) at the gas-liquid interface and shell resistance (Ω) on the kinetics of microbubble dissolution. Moreover, values of these shell parameters are not known/available and hence arbitrary values for these variables have been assumed in many of the reports for estimation of dissolution kinetics. Therefore, in this work, a mathematical model is developed to describe microbubble dissolution which takes into account the effect of shell elasticity (Es), shell resistance (Ω), surface tension (σ) and their variation, on the microbubble dissolution. The values of these shell parameters have then been estimated using the proposed model and the experimental data available in literature. The proposed model accurately predicts the experimental microbubble dissolution data using estimated values of shell parameters. Analysis of the results further show that the surface tension and shell resistances change drastically during the microbubble dissolution process and the variation in these parameters during the dissolution process is highly dependent on the shell elasticity which in turn affects the microbubble dissolution times. The methodology developed in this work can be used to estimate shell parameters for any microbubble formulation, to accurately predict in-vitro/in-vivo dissolution of microbubbles, and hence to design a microbubble system with desired characteristics and performance.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationship of potent, selective and orally active anthranilamide-based factor Xa inhibitors: application of weakly basic sulfoximine group as novel S4 binding element.

A novel series of potent and efficacious factor Xa inhibitors which possesses sulfoximine moiety as novel S4 binding element in anthranilamide chemotype has been identified. Lead optimization at this novel P4 group led to many potent factor Xa inhibitors with excellent anticoagulant activity in human plasma. Selected compounds were dosed orally in rats and checked for their ex vivo prothrombin time prolonging activity, which resulted in identification of compound 5-chloro-N-(5-chloropyridin-2-yl)-2-(4-(N-(2-(diethylamino)acetyl)-S-methylsulfonimidoyl)benzamido)benzamide (18f). The detailed pharmacokinetic evaluation and subsequent metabolism study of 18f suggested the presence of an active metabolite. The compound 18f and its active metabolite 18b demonstrated excellent in vivo efficacy in both arterial and venous thrombosis model in rats and were found to be highly selective against related serine proteases. Based on this promising profile, compound 18f was selected for further evaluation.

Decoding continuous and discrete motor behaviors using motor and premotor cortical ensembles.

Decoding motor behavior from neuronal signals has important implications for the development of a brain-machine interface (BMI) but also provides insights into the nature of different movement representations within cortical ensembles. Motor control can be hierarchically characterized as the selection and planning of discrete movement classes and/or postures followed by the execution of continuous limb trajectories. Based on simultaneous recordings in primary motor (MI) and dorsal premotor (PMd) cortices in behaving monkeys, we demonstrate that an MI ensemble can reconstruct hand or joint trajectory more accurately than an equally sized PMd ensemble. In contrast, PMd can more precisely predict the future occurrence of one of several discrete targets to be reached. This double dissociation suggests that a general-purpose BMI could take advantage of multiple cortical areas to control a wider variety of motor actions. These results also support the hierarchical view that MI ensembles are involved in lower-level movement execution, whereas PMd populations represent the early intention to move to visually presented targets.