Synthesis of quercetin-encapsulated alginate beads with their antioxidant and release kinetic studies

Abstract

In this present study, different forms of quercetin encapsulated beads were synthesized, namely ionic cross-linked gel beads and cryogel beads. Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra of the beads were used to characterize and prove quercetin encapsulation in alginate beads. Swelling and drying profiles were studied. Besides, release kinetics of quercetin molecules from gel beads and cryogels were carefully investigated in two different solvent/media; dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and Roswell Park Memorial Institute Medium (RPMI-1640). Based upon the release kinetic studies, it is found that quercetin release from alginate cryogel beads fits the first-order release model in DMSO and it depends on the concentration of quercetin in the beads. The release of quercetin from alginate gel beads was described by the Higuchi release model, which highlights the release of quercetin molecules through the pores of the matrix. In RPMI-1640, the release of quercetin from both forms of alginate beads fits zero-order release model and it indicates a constant release of quercetin per unit time. Finally, the radical scavenging activity of the quercetin quantities was tested by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) test, and successful results were obtained compared to reference material.     

Synthesis and In-Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Novel Aminophosphinic Acids Containing Cyclobutane and 1,3-Thiazole

Abstract

The compounds {[4-(3-methyl-3-aryl(mesityl-phenyl-tetralino)cyclobutyl)-1,3-thiazol-2-yl]amino}(aryl)methyl-phosphinic acids 2a–l were prepared by condensation of 2-amino-4-(3-aryl(mesityl-phenyl-tetralino)-3-methylcyclobutyl) thiazoles 1a–c with various aromatic aldehydes and hypophosphorous acid through a one-pot reaction. The characterizations of these compounds were obtained by elemental analyses, infrared (IR) spectra, and ¹H, ¹³C, and ³¹P NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) techniques. The synthesized compounds were tested in vitro against one Gram-positive and two Gram-negative bacterial strains, one mycobacterial strain, and a fungus Candida albicans. Compound 2f showed significant activity against Staphylococcus aureus, whereas the others had no remarkable activity on this strain. Compound 2g was found to be more active than the others against Mycobacterium fortuitum at an MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) value of 32 μg/mL. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of 2a–l were also compared with various standard drugs.

[Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon and the Related Elements for the following free supplemental resource: Biological Activities. Table S1. Figures S1–S6.]

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT      

Chromone-based Schiff base metal complexes as catalysts for catechol oxidation: Synthesis,kinetics and electrochemical studies

Two new Schiff base ligands with chromone moiety and their transition metal complexes were synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, magnetic susceptibility, molar conductance and TGA analyses, FT IR, UV-Vis, NMR and mass spectroscopy. All the complexes synthesized have been investigated as functional models for catechol oxidase (catecholase) activity by employing 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol as a model substrate. The two mononuclear copper(II) and two mononuclear iron(II) complexes show catecholase activity with turnover (k_cat) numbers lying in the range 27.2–1328.4 h^?1. According to the kinetic measurement results, the rate of catechol oxidation follows first order kinetics and iron(II) complexes were found to have higher catalytic activity than those of copper(II) complexes. Electron-donating substituent on Schiff base ligand enhanced the catalytic activity of metal complexes while the electron-withdrawing substituent led to a decrease in activity. The electrochemical properties of two Schiff bases and their metal complexes were also investigated by Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) using glassy carbon electrode (GCE) at various scan rates. Electrochemical processes of all the compounds were observed as irreversible.     

A note on Liu–Iwamura’s dependent-chance programming

Sometimes a complex stochastic decision system undertakes multiple tasks called events, and the decision-maker wishes to maximize the chance functions which are defined as the probabilities of satisfying these events. Originally introduced by Liu and Iwamura [B. Liu, K. Iwamura, Modelling stochastic decision systems using dependent-chance programming, European Journal of Operational Research 101 (1997) 193–203], dependent-chance programming is aimed at maximizing some chance functions of events in an uncertain environment. In this work, we show that the original dependent chance-programming framework needs to be extended in order to capture an exact reliability measure for a given plan.     

Nonlinear dynamical modeling in ECG analysis: a heuristic guideline

We highlight some of the pitfalls involved in the analysis of electrocardiogram data (ECG) when the correlation dimension (CD) estimates are used to discriminate between various states of the human heart or to distinguish healthy dynamics from different types of arrhythmia. It is argued that due to the PQRST complex, high autocorrelation and/or short data sets, the CD estimates would be distorted when continuously sampled ECG voltage data are used instead of beat-to-beat (RR) interval series.     

Synthesis and in vitro antioxidant evaluation of new bis(α-aminoalkyl)phosphinic acid derivatives

Diamines were added to arylaldehydes in ethanol, which resulted in corresponding diimines. Novel bis-1-aminophosphinic acid compounds were synthesized through the interaction of diimines and hypophosphorous acid. The new compounds were characterized by elemental analyses, FT-IR and ¹H, ¹³C and ³¹P NMR techniques. The in vitro antioxidant activity of the newly synthesized compounds were measured and found to exhibit significantly higher antioxidant activity than the standard.     

Cryptanalysis of a cryptosystem based on discretized two-dimensional chaotic maps

Recently, an encryption algorithm based on two-dimensional discretized chaotic maps was proposed [Xiang et al., Phys. Lett. A 364 (2007) 252]. In this Letter, we analyze the security weaknesses of the proposal. Using the algebraic dependencies among system parameters, we show that its effective key space can be shrunk. We demonstrate a chosen-ciphertext attack that reveals a portion of the key.