Metabolomics techniques applied in the investigation of phenolic acids from the agro-industrial by-product of Carapa guianensis Aubl

Processing of Carapa guianensis seeds to obtain oil on an industrial scale generates a significant amount of by-product, approximately 66% w/w, which is called cake and is a potential source of biomolecules, including simple phenolic structures. For this reason, studies were carried out on the chemical profiles of hydrolyzed extract from this agro-industrial by-product through High Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) and Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS). These techniques were used to detect metabolic classes and/or groups, and to identify, for the first time, thirteen simple phenolic acids in this by-product. The sample antioxidant capacity was determined by methods of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS⁺) radicals direct sequestration. The hydrolyzed fraction showed a total of 63.47% in the relative abundance of the total of compounds, standing out: p-hydroxybenzoic acid (39.19%) and protocatechuic acid (3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid) (5.62%), both from hydroxybenzoic acids and 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)lactic acid, (7.76%) hydroxycinnamic acids derivatives. In these results, the fraction rich in simple phenolic acids was obtained, attributing the prominent behavior of this matrix antioxidant activity, expressed by (IC₅₀: of 16.42 µg/mL and 6.52 µg/mL for DPPH and ABTS⁺ radicals, respectively). The research demonstrated an alternative to applicability that involves sustainability from agro-industrial. These techniques were used to detect metabolic classes and/or groups, and to identify, for the first time, thirteen simple phenolic acids in this by-product, generating a process capable of converting biomass into a bioproduct, consisting of bioactive compounds, in addition to adding value to the industrial chain.     

Recent advances on the use of active anodes in environmental electrochemistry

Active anodes, especially those consisting of metal mixed oxides (MMOs) containing Ru and/or Ir oxides, have been applied in the treatment of wastewater, especially when chloride ions are present. Their characteristics continuously drive the study of applications of these materials, be they in the degradation of different organic molecules, the preparation of new electrode materials and in the association of various processes to increase pollutant removal. Thus, this brief review aims to present some of the recent advances in the application of active anode materials in environmental electrochemistry. Focussing on the 2018–2020 period, it is possible to note many applied studies, using commercially available materials, covering a wide range of target pollutants. Still other studies aim to modify the catalyst surfaces to increase the mineralization capacity, and the use of these anodes in the production of free chlorine species to mediate indirect organic reduction is observed.     

Could chroman-4-one derivative be a better inhibitor of PTR1? – Reason for the identified disparity in its inhibitory potency in Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania major

Most notable Kinetoplastids are of the genus Trypanosoma and Leishmania, affecting several millions of humans in Africa and Latin America. Current therapeutic options are limited by several drawbacks, hence the need to develop more efficacious inhibitors. An investigation to decipher the mechanism behind greater inhibitory potency of a chroman-4-one derivative (compound 1) in Trypanosoma brucei pteridine reductase 1 (TbPTR1) and Leishmania major pteridine reductase 1 (LmPTR1) was performed. Estimation of ΔG_bind revealed that compound 1 had a greater binding affinity in TbPTR1 with a ΔG_bind value of −49.0507 Kcal/mol than −29.2292 Kcal/mol in LmPTR1. The ΔGbind in TbPTR1 were predominantly contributed by “strong” electrostatic energy compared to the “weak” van der Waals in LmPTR1. In addition to this, the NADPH cofactor contributed significantly to the total energy of TbPTR1. A characteristic weak aromatic π interaction common in PTR1 was more prominent in TbPTR1 than LmPTR1. The consistent occurrence of high-affinity conventional hydrogen bond interactions as well as a steady interaction of crucial active site residues like Arg14/Arg17, Ser95/Ser111, Phe97/Phe113 in TbPTR1/LmPTR1 with chroman-4-one moiety equally revealed the important role the moiety played in the activity of compound 1. Overall, the structural and conformational analysis of the active site residues in TbPTR1 revealed them to be more rigid than LmPTR1. This could be the mechanism of interaction TbPTR1 employs in exerting a greater potency than LmPTR1. These findings will further give insight that will be assistive in modifying compound 1 for better potency and the design of novel inhibitors of PTR1.     

Electrochemiluminescence Enhanced by the Synergetic Effect of Porphyrin and Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes for Uric Acid Detection

The design and exploration of efficient, stable and environmentally compatible organic emitters for an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor is a promising topic. Herein, a novel environmentally-friendly luminophore, ZnBCBTP@MWCNTs, were fabricated via self-assembly of porphyrin molecules (ZnBCBTP) onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The resulting luminophore ZnBCBTP@MWCNTs displayed not only the highly ECL property and but also the good accelerated electron mobility. Then, a label-free ECL biosensor based ZnBCBTP@MWCNTs was constructed for the ultrasensitive detection of uric acid. Excitingly, this proposed ECL biosensor performed a good linear relationship in the range of 0–300 μM with a low detection limit of 1.4 μM, thus offering another reliable and feasible sensing platform for clinical bioanalysis with good selectivity, stability, and repeatability.     

Vacuum‐driven fluid manipulation by a piezoelectric diaphragm micropump for microfluidic droplet generation with a rapid system response time

Recently, we developed a convenient microfluidic droplet generation device based on vacuum‐driven fluid manipulation with a piezoelectric diaphragm micropump. In the present study built on our previous work, we investigate the influence of settings applied to the piezoelectric pump, such as peak‐to‐peak drive voltage (V_p‐p) and wave frequency, on droplet generation characteristics. Stepwise adjustments to the drive voltage in ±10‐V_p‐p increments over the range of 200?250 V_p‐p during droplet creation revealed that the droplet generation rate could be reproducibly controlled at a specific drive voltage. The droplet generation rate switched within <0.5 s after the input of a new voltage. Although the droplet generation rate depended on the drive voltage, this setting had almost no influence on droplet size. The frequency over the selected range (50?60 Hz) did not markedly influence the droplet generation rate or droplet size. We show that the current fluid manipulation system can be conveniently used for both droplet generation and for rapid droplet reading, which is required in many microfluidic‐based applications.     

Theoretical study of (e,2e) triple differential cross sections of pyrimidine and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol molecules using multi-center distorted-wave method

We report theoretical studies of electron impact triple differential cross sections of two bio-molecules,pyrimidine and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol,in the coplanar asymmetric kinematic conditions with the impact energy of 250 eV and ejected electron energy of 20 eV at three scattering angles of-5°,-10°,and-15°.Present multi-center distorted-wave method well describes the experimental data,which was obtained by performing(e,2e)experiment.The calculations show that the secondary electron produced by the primary impact electron is strongly influenced by the molecular ionic multi-center potential,which must be considered when the low energy electron interacts with DNA analogues.     

紫色球杆菌视紫红质光谱特性的机器学习研究

近年来，机器学习等人工智能技术被应用于蛋白质工程，其在蛋白质结构、功能预测、催化活性等研究中具有独特优势。在未知蛋白质结构的情况下，将蛋白质序列和功能特性与机器学习相结合，基于序列-活性关系（innovative sequence-activity relationship，ISAR）算法，将蛋白质氨基酸序列数字化，用快速傅里叶变换（fast four transform，FFT）进行预处理，再进行偏最小二乘回归建模，可在数据集较少情况下拟合得到最佳模型。通过机器学习对紫色球杆菌视紫红质（gloeobacter violaceus rhodopsin，GR）的突变体蛋白质氨基酸序列与光谱最大吸收波长进行建模，获得了最佳模型。用最佳索引LEVM760106建模得到的确定系数R² 为0.944，均方误差E为11.64。用小波变换进行的预处理，其R² 虽也约为0.944，但E大于11.64，不及FFT进行的预处理。方法较好地解决了蛋白质序列与功能特性之间的数学建模问题，在蛋白质工程中可为预测更优的突变体提供支持。     

Direct Addition of Amides to Glycals Enabled by Solvation‐Insusceptible 2‐Haloazolium Salt Catalysis

The direct 2‐deoxyglycosylation of nucleophiles with glycals leads to biologically and pharmacologically important 2‐deoxysugar compounds. Although the direct addition of hydroxyl and sulfonamide groups have been well developed, the direct 2‐deoxyglycosylation of amide groups has not been reported to date. Herein, we show the first direct 2‐deoxyglycosylation of amide groups using a newly designed Brønsted acid catalyst under mild conditions. Through mechanistic investigations, we discovered that the amide group can inhibit acid catalysts, and the inhibition has made the 2‐deoxyglycosylation reaction difficult. Diffusion‐ordered two‐dimensional NMR spectroscopy analysis implied that the 2‐chloroazolium salt catalyst was less likely to form aggregates with amides in comparison to other acid catalysts. The chlorine atom and the extended π‐scaffold of the catalyst played a crucial role for this phenomenon. This relative insusceptibility to inhibition by amides is more responsible for the catalytic activity than the strength of the acidity.     

A simple,rapid and sensitive method based on modified multiwalled carbon nanotube for preconcentration and determination of lead ions in aqueous media in natural pHs

In this study, multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) was modified by the pyridine group using a silane agent and characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermal analysis (TG/DTA), and elemental analysis (CHN) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The application of this sorbent was investigated in determination of lead ions in aqueous samples, using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Through this study, different parameters such as pH and sample flow rate on adsorption process and eluent concentration, volume and flow rate were optimized. The limit of detection (LOD), the relative standard deviation and the recovery of the method were 2 ng mL^?1, 1.3% and 99.7%, respectively. Two standard reference materials (NIST 1571 and NIST 1572) were used to verify accuracy of this method. Finally, the sorbent was successfully applied for extraction and determination of low levels of Pb(II) ions in aqueous samples.