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Cutting silicon solar cells from their host wafer into smaller cells reduces the output current per cut cell and therefore allows for reduced ohmic losses in series interconnection at module level. This comes with a trade-off of unpassivated cutting edges, which result in power losses. This performance drop can be seen in fill factor FF and open-circuit voltage VOC losses on cut cell level. Based on experimental realization of different solar cell layouts on the same industrial blue wafers (solar cell precursors), a combined simulation method to predict the performance on module level is demonstrated. This method uses Gridmaster+ for cell simulation and SmartCalc. Module for module simulation. The accuracy of the simulations is demonstrated by comparing with experimental results both from host and cut cell level. In addition, significant influence of the current–voltage (I–V) measurement configuration is demonstrated, mainly affecting FF. Using flexible methods like GridTOUCH® for I–V testing gives fast results but can also lead to overestimation of the host cell performance, resulting in overestimated cell-to-module losses or unreasonable comparisons between hosts and cut cells. It is also demonstrated that application of the passivated edge technology (PET) yields I–V characteristics close to those of cells with ideal edges, i.e., without edge recombination. The implications on the module efficiency are also compared between modules built using cells with and without edge passivation, giving the highest efficiency for a shingled module with PET.

Aminopeptidase N (APN) is regarded as an attractive target for cancer treatment due to its overexpression in various types of malignancies and its close association with cancer angiogenesis, metastasis and invasion. Herein the authors describe the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of some naturally based pyrazoline derivatives. Among these compounds, the diphenylpyrazole carbothioamide 8 showed significant activity and selectivity index (SI = 4.7) on breast (MCF-7) human cancer cell line and was capable of inhibiting APN with pIC 50 value of 4.8, comparable to the reference standard. Further evaluation of derivative 8 against VEGFR2 and MMP9 as biomarkers for angiogenesis and invasion showed that the selected compound had an inhibitory activity on both proteins with pIC 50 values of 6.7 and 6.4, respectively. Additionally, the migration ability of cells following treatment with the diphenylpyrazole derivative decreased to record a percentage wound closure of 57.77 for compound 8 versus 97.03 for the control. The promising derivative arrested cell growth at the G1 phase inducing early and late apoptosis. Finally, docking and ADMET in silico studies were performed., Competing Interests: The authors declared that there are no actual or potential conflicts of interest and have approved the article., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

A series of thiazoline and thiazolidinone-based 4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives were synthesized using both conventional synthesis procedures and microwave-assisted techniques. The new compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic effect against three human cancer cell lines; MCF-7, HCT-116 and HepG2 and one normal human cell line (BJ-1). The promising anti-proliferative compounds 2a, 2b, 6a and 6b were assessed for inhibiting EGFR and PI3K/mTOR. Compound 6a showed the highest inhibition activity towards the signaling pathway. The apoptotic effect and cell cycle arrest potential of derivative 6a were examined. Moreover, the molecular docking, physicochemical properties and pharmacokinetic parameters of the promising compound were investigated, as well., Competing Interests: The authors declared that there are no actual or potential conflicts of interest and have approved the article., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The coumarin ring was used as a central scaffold that was substituted with a variety of bioactive functional groups, for designing and synthesizing novel MDM2 inhibitors targeting breast cancer. The synthesized derivatives, 3c, 3d, 3g, 7b, 7c and 8 with IC 50s ranging from 9.4 to 9.9 µM were evaluated for their safety on MCF10a normal breast cell line. The compounds showed selectivity indices of 2.15, 3.85, 2.75, 1.38, 3.72 and 5.20 respectively. 7c was selected for further investigation, the compound was capable of down-regulating MDM2 and the anti-apoptosis proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, up-regulating the level of p53 and the pro-apoptosis protein BAX, causing cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and activating Caspase-9 to induce apoptosis. Molecular docking study revealed the capability of derivative 7c to interact with the key amino acids in p53 binding pocket of MDM2 protein. Moreover, the physicochemical properties of compound 7c were studied in silico., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Twenty five newly synthesized coumarin scaffold based derivatives were assayed for their in vitro anticancer activity against MCF-7 breast and PC-3 prostate cancer cell lines and were further assessed for their in vitro VEGFR-2 kinase inhibitory activity. The in vitro cytotoxic studies revealed that most of the synthesized compounds possessed very promising cytotoxicity against MCF-7, particularly; compounds 4a (IC 50  = 1.24 µM) and 3d (IC 50  = 1.65 µM) exhibited exceptional activities superior to the positive control staurosporine (IC 50  = 8.81 µM). Similarly, the majority of the compounds exhibited higher antiproliferative activities compared to the reference standard with IC 50 values ranging from 2.07 to 8.68 µM. The two cytotoxic derivatives 4a and 3d were selected to evaluate their inhibitory potencies against VEGFR-2 kinase. Remarkably, compound 4a, exhibited significant IC 50 of 0.36 µM comparable to staurosporine (IC 50 ; 0.33 µM). Moreover, it was capable of inducing preG1 apoptosis, cell growth arrest at G2/M phase and activating caspase-9. On the other hand, insignificant cytotoxic activity was observed for all compounds towards PC-3 cell line. Molecular docking study was carried out for the most active anti-VEGFR-2 derivative 4a, which demonstrated the ability of the tested compound to interact with the key amino acids in the target VEGFR-2 kinase binding site. Additionally, the ADME parameters and physicochemical properties of compound 4a were examined in silico., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Two new series of furochromone and benzofuran derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity against MCF-7 and MDA231 breast cancer cell lines. Compounds 5, 6, 7, 9, 15a, 16, 17a and 18 exhibited the best antiproliferative activities with IC 50 values ranging from 1.19 to 2.78 µM against MCF-7 superior to lapatinib as reference standard (IC 50 ; 4.69 µM). Compounds 15a and 18 revealed significant cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and MDA231, therefore their inhibitory potencies against p38α MAP kinase were evaluated. Remarkably they exhibited significant IC 50 of 0.04 µM comparable to SB203580 (IC 50 ; 0.50 µM) as a reference standard. These promising results of cytotoxic activity and significant inhibition of p38α MAP kinase, were confirmed by exploring the effect of benzofuran derivative (18) on the apoptotic induction and cell cycle progression of MCF-7 cell line. Compound 18 induced preG1 apoptosis and cell growth arrest at G2/M phase preventing the mitotic cycle. Moreover it activated the caspase-7 which executes apoptosis. Molecular docking study was carried out using GOLD program to predict the mode of binding interaction of the synthesized compounds into the target p38α MAPK. Additionally, the physicochemical properties and ADME parameters of compound 18 were examined in silico to investigate its drug-likeness., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

A new series of 3-substituted-4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives was designed, synthesized, and evaluated for CDK inhibiting and anticancer activities. All the synthesized target compounds showed remarkably high affinity and selectivity towards CDK1B, compared to flavopiridol, with Ki values in the low nanomolar range (Ki=0.35-0.88nM). Most of them elicited considerable inhibiting effect against CDK9T1 (Ki=3.26-23.45nM). Moreover, all the target compounds were tested in vitro against eighteen types of human tumor cell lines. The hydrazone 3a, N-phenylpyrazoline derivative 6b and 2-aminopyridyl-3-carbonitrile derivative 8c were the most potent anticancer agents against MCF-7 breast cancer cell line (IC50=0.21, 0.21 and 0.23nM, respectively). The target compounds 3a, 6b and 8c were further evaluated in MCF-7 breast cancer mouse xenograft model and showed in vivo efficacy at 10mg/kg dose. The docking study confirmed a unique binding mode in the active site of CDK1B with better score than flavopiridol. Quantitative structure activity relationship study was done and revealed a highly predictive power R(2) of 0.81., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Synthesis of benzofuran-1,3-thiazolidinone derivatives is described herein. These compounds were prepared via a concise and short route by condensation reaction of khellinone with aromatic/aliphatic amines followed by cyclization using thioglycolic acid. The newly synthesized compounds were characterized using the well known spectroscopic tools (IR, 1H NMR, and mass spectroscopy), as well as microanalysis. In frames of biological screening of the compounds, antioxidant activity was assessed in vitro.

The condensation of 4-amino-9-methoxy psoralene (4-aminoxanthotoxin) with some aromatic aldehydes led to the formation of 4-arylimine xanthotoxin derivatives 2a-h, which were cyclized with mercaptoacetic acid to afford the thiazolidinone derivatives 3a-h. On the other hand, the reaction of aminoxanthotoxin 1 with some anhydrides afforded 4-imidione derivatives 3a-d. When 1 reacted with some isothiocyanates, the thiourea derivatives 5a-c were obtained but the thiourea derivative 6 was obtained when 1 reacted with ammonium thiocyanate. The thiourea derivative 6 was cyclized by the reaction with monochloroacetic acid in the presence of sodium acetate to give aminothiazolidinone derivative 7, but when the same reaction is carried out in the presence of pyridine, the thioxoimidazolidinone 8 was formed. The condensation of xanthotoxin sulphonamide with aromatic aldehydes gave the aryliminosulphonyl derivatives 9a-e. Xanthotoxin sulphonyl hydrazine condensed with some anhydride afforded sulphonic acid imide derivatives 10a-c. The antitumor and cytotoxic activities of 9 synthesized derivatives were tested, five compounds were found to be active, they inhibited the growth of HeLa cells.

Condensation of 3beta-hydroxy-16-[(4-chlorophenyl)methylene]androst-5-en-17-one (1) with hydrazine hydrate in acetic acid afforded N-acetyl pyrazoline derivative 2, while condensation of 1 with semicarbazide afforded compound 3. Also, compound 1 was treated with hydrazine hydrate in absolute methanol or ethanol to afford the corresponding alpha-methoxy (4) and alpha-ethoxy (5) derivatives, which were cyclized with etherated boron trifluoride to the pyrazoline derivative 6. The latter could be prepared directly by refluxing 1 with hydrazine hydrate in dioxane. Oxidation of compound 6 with Oppenour or Moffat oxidizing agents yielded 3-oxo-derivatives 7 and 8, respectively. On the other hand, condensation of compound 1 with substituted hydrazines, gave the corresponding 3beta-hydroxyandrostenopyrazolines 9a,b, which were oxidized using the Moffat method to give 3-oxo-androstenopyrazolines 10a,b, which were condensed with ethylene triphenyl-phosphorane in DMSO to yield 3-ethylene androstenopyrazolines 11a,b. Dehydrogenation of 9a,b with Wettestein oxidation afforded Delta4,6-diene-3-one analogues 12a,b, which were treated with chloranil to yield Delta(4,6,8(14))-tri-ene-3-one analogues 13a,b. Oppenour oxidation of 9a,b afforded Delta4-ene-3-one analogues 14a,b, which were treated with dichlorodicyanoquinone (DDQ) in dioxane to give Delta1,4,6-triene-3-one analogues 15a,b. Pharmacological screening showed that many of these compounds inhibit 5alpha-reductase activity.

A series of androstano[17,16-c]pyrazolines and their oxidized derivatives (2-14) were synthesized using 3beta-hydroxyandrostan-17-one as a starting material (1a, b). The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antiandrogenic activity compared to that of Cyproterone as positive control. Some of the compounds exhibited better antiandrogenic activity than the reference drug. The detailed synthesis, spectroscopic data, ED(50), and toxicity (LD(50) and LD(90)) of the synthesized compounds were reported.

Azithromycin (AZ) is the first member of a class of macrolide azalides antibiotics called azolides. A simple and selective square-wave voltammetric (SWV) method has been developed for the determination of azithromycin in pure form, in pharmaceutical preparation and in biological samples. Determination of azithromycin was accomplished with hand-make carbon paste electrode (CPE) in oxidative screen mode. The counter and reference electrodes were a Pt wire and a Ag/AgCl, respectively. Various parameters that can influence the peak signal (effect of buffer, ionic strength, accumulation time, pH and the composition of the paste) have been scrutinized. The best results were obtained in acetonitrile-aqueous 1M sodium acetate-acetic acid buffer (pH 4.6) containing 0.1M KCl (1:9; v/v) using a 15% paraffin oil CPE. The limits of detection and quantification of the pure drug are 0.463 and 1.544ppb (with the correlation coefficient, r=0.9785and the standard deviation, S.D.=0.1 (n=5), for the accumulation time of 60s), respectively. The method was successfully applied to the determination of the drug in urine and two forms of pharmaceutical formulations. Recoveries were 99.2-100.5% with S.D.=0.1-and 0.8% (n=5).

High performance frontal analysis coupled with capillary electrophoresis (HPFA/CE) was applied to the ultramicroanalysis of enantioselective binding of drug to plasma lipoproteins. A small volume (ca. 80 nl) of (R)- or (S)-propranolol (PRO, 25-150 microM) and human high-density lipoprotein (HDL, 2.63 g/l) or human low-density lipoprotein (LDL, 4.37 g/l) mixed solution, which was in the state of binding equilibrium, was introduced hydrodynamically into a non-coated fused silica capillary. Positively charged unbound PRO enantiomers migrated toward cathodic end much faster than negatively charged lipoproteins and the bound form. Once unbound PRO migrated apart from lipoprotein, the bound PRO was quickly released from the lipoprotein to maintain the binding equilibrium. Thus, PRO migrated as a zone in the capillary, giving a peak with a plateau region, where the concentration is the same as the unbound PRO concentration in the original sample solution. The unbound PRO concentration calculated form the plateau height agreed with that determined by a conventional ultrafiltration method used as a reference method. It was found that the bindings of PRO to HDL and PRO to LDL were not enantioselective, while the total binding affinity of PRO to LDL (4.01 x 10(5) per M) was 17 times higher than that of PRO-HDL binding (2.38 x 10(4) per M).