The Effect of the Polarity and Design of the Discharge System on the X-ray Spectrum of the Micropinch Discharge Plasma

The spectral composition and X-ray radiation yield of a micropinch discharge plasma obtained at a facility of the low-inductance vacuum spark type are studied as a function of the polarity and design of the electrodes of the discharge system. It is shown that the X-ray radiation of the micropinch discharge plasma depends on the configuration of the electric field in the interval between the discharge electrodes, which determines the amount of erosion products involved in the micropinch process, resulting in the increase in the plasma density and its radiative characteristics.     

Growth morphology of zinc tris(thiourea) sulphate crystals

The growth morphology of crystals of zinc tris(thiourea) sulphate (ZTS) is investigated experimentally, and computed using the Hartman-Perdok approach. Attachment energies of the observed habit faces are calculated for determining their relative morphological importance. A computer code is developed for carrying out these calculations. A special procedure is adopted for computing the cohesive energy of a slice of the structure parallel to any rational crystallographic plane. For estimating the cohesive energies, formal charges on the experimentally determined atomic positions in the molecules of ZTS are calculated by ab initio molecular-orbital computations, with wave functions obtained by the Hartree-Fock procedure. Fairly good agreement with the observed crystal morphology is obtained for a model of growth mechanism in which ZTS is assumed to exist in solution sa szinc tris(thiourea) ions and sulphate ions.     

Relative wavefunctions, vertex functions and coupling constants for the virtual decay of 4He

The d + d, t + p and h + n relative wavefunctions and their asymptotic normalizations are considered in the framework of the generator coordinate method (GCM) and compared with ATMS (amalgamation of two-body correlation into multiple scattering processes) method which used the realistic Reid soft core interaction. The asymptotic normalization of relative wavefunctions provide various coupling constants, the cluster probability amplitude (the so-called Z ^1/2-factor) and matter RMS radii. These wavefunctions are also used to obtain ⁴He − d − d, ⁴He − t − p and ⁴He − h − n vertex functions in the virtual decay of ⁴He. The extrapolation of vertex functions for negative values of q ² upto the corresponding poles provide the vertex constants which are comparable with other estimates. It is noticed that in GCM the coupling constants C ² for ⁴He − d − d vertex is less than 2 as has been obtained in the forward dispersion relation technique.     

NMR spectroscopy of interaction of some organophosphorus insecticides with liposomes

The interaction of the organophosphorus insecticides GA-41, chlorophos [trichlorfon] and OKh-30 with liposomes from lecithin and a mixture of lecithin and cardiolipin has been studied by NMR spectroscopy on¹H and³¹P nuclei. Absence of a specific interaction of chlorophos and OKh-30 with liposomes has been shown. On interacting with model membranes, GA-41 intercalates into the region of the hydrocarbon chains of the phospholipids and at particular concentrations induces the formation of certain defects in the structure of the bilayer, which leads to the penetrability of the liposomes for Pr³⁺ ions.Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 107–111, January–February, 1988.     

Long-Range Plasmons in Asymmetric Four-Layer Structure: the Phase-Polarization Contrast Method

An asymmetric fourlayer structure supporting a longrange surface plasmon mode for sensing purposes was investigated. The excitation of the plasmon modes was achieved by means of a corrugated grating. The anomalous increase in the reflectivity was observed experimentally. The phasepolarization contrast method for a longrange surface plasmon was investigated experimentally.     

Synthesis of chalcones derived from (+)- and (?)-usnic acids

A number of chalcones with the (+)- and (?)-usnic acid moieties were synthesized by the following sequence: the reaction of these acids with phenylhydrazine, reduction of the C(1)=O group with sodium borohydride, O-methylation of the intermediate compounds with diazomethane, and subsequent condensation with substituted benzaldehydes at the acetyl group.     

Synthesis and In Vitro Study of Antiviral Activity of Glycyrrhizin Nicotinate Derivatives against HIV-1 Pseudoviruses and SARS-CoV-2 Viruses

When developing drugs against SARS-CoV-2, it is important to consider the characteristics of patients with different co-morbidities. People infected with HIV-1 are a particularly vulnerable group, as they may be at a higher risk than the general population of contracting COVID-19 with clinical complications. For such patients, drugs with a broad spectrum of antiviral activity are of paramount importance. Glycyrrhizinic acid (Glyc) and its derivatives are promising biologically active compounds for the development of such broad-spectrum antiviral agents. In this work, derivatives of Glyc obtained by acylation with nicotinic acid were investigated. The resulting preparation, Glycyvir, is a multi-component mixture containing mainly mono-, di-, tri- and tetranicotinates. The composition of Glycyvir was characterized by HPLC-MS/MS and its toxicity assessed in cell culture. Antiviral activity against three strains of SARS-CoV-2 was tested in vitro on Vero E6 cells by MTT assay. Glycyvir was shown to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro (IC₅₀2–8 μM) with an antiviral activity comparable to the control drug Remdesivir. In addition, Glycyvir exhibited marked inhibitory activity against HIV pseudoviruses of subtypes B, A6 and the recombinant form CRF63_02A (IC₅₀ range 3.9–27.5 µM). The time-dependence of Glycyvir inhibitory activity on HIV pseudovirus infection of TZM-bl cells suggested that the compound interfered with virus entry into the target cell. Glycyvir is a promising candidate as an agent with low toxicity and a broad spectrum of antiviral action.