Formulation of Aluminum Chloride Phthalocyanine in Pluronic™ P‐123 and F‐127 Block Copolymer Micelles: Photophysical properties and Photodynamic Inactivation of Microorganisms

Aluminum Chloride Phthalocyanine (AlPcCl) can be used as a photosensitizer (PS) for Photodynamic Inactivation of Microorganisms (PDI). The AlPcCl showed favorable characteristics for PDI due to high quantum yield of singlet oxygen (Φ_Δ) and photostability. Physicochemical properties and photodynamic inactivation of AlPcCl incorporated in polymeric micelles of tri‐block copolymer (P‐123 and F‐127) against microorganisms Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans were investigated in this work. Previously, it was observed that the AlPcCl undergoes self‐aggregation in F‐127, while in P‐123 the PS is in a monomeric form suitable for PDI. Due to the self‐aggregation of AlPcCl in F‐127, this formulation did not show any effect on these microorganisms. On the other hand, AlPcCl formulated in P‐123 was effective against S. aureus and C. albicans and the death of microorganisms was dependent on the PS concentration and illumination time. Additionally, it was found that the values of PS concentration and illumination time to eradicate 90% of the initial population of microorganisms (IC₉₀ and D₉₀, respectively) were small for the AlPcCl in P‐123, showing the effectiveness of this formulation for PDI.     

Global $$L^q$$-Gevrey Functions and Their Applications

The goal of this paper is to introduce a class of \(C^\infty \) functions derivatives of which satisfy quantitative size estimates. The estimates, called global \(L^q\) Gevrey estimates, first arose in the work of Boggess and Raich ( J. Fourier Anal. Appl. 19:180–224, 2013) when they investigated how to capture a particular type of exponential decay through estimates on the Fourier transform. In the present work, we refine the notion of global \(L^q\)-Gevrey functions and include a discussion of the function theory as well as the relationship to Gevrey classes and known function spaces. In addition, we present explicit examples of global \(L^q\)-Gevrey functions and ways to generate new global \(L^q\)-Gevrey functions from old ones. We conclude with three applications: The first is solving a Carleman-type problem for constructing functions derivatives of which are a given sequence of global \(L^q\)-Gevrey functions. The other two applications concern extensions of a given global \(L^q\)-Gevrey function: the first is constructing an almost analytic extension, and the second is building an approximate solution to a first-order complex vector field coefficients of which are global \(L^q\)-Gevrey functions.     

Role of nonlocal exchange in molecular crystals: The case of two proton‐ordered phases of ice

We present a periodic density functional theory investigation of twoproton‐ordered phases of ice. Their equilibrium lattice parameters,relative stabilities, formation energies, and densities of states havebeen evaluated. Nine exchange‐correlation functionals, representativeof the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), global hybrids,range‐separated hybrids, meta‐GGA, and hybrid meta‐GGA families havebeen taken into account, considering two oxygen basis sets. Althoughthe hydrogen‐bond network of ice is well reproduced at the B3LYP,M06‐L, or LC‐ wPBE levels, formation energies are only correctlyevaluated with the two former functionals. Band gaps on the other handare only quantitatively reproduced at the B3LYP level. These resultsindicate that this last functional, a de facto reference formolecular calculations, gives in average the most accurate results forthe considered ice properties. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2011     

Searching for gallium bioactive compounds: Gallium(III) complexes of tridentate salicylaldehyde semicarbazone derivatives

In the search for gallium bioactive compounds five Ga(III) complexes, [Ga^III(L-H)₂](NO₃), with tridentate salicylaldehyde semicarbazone derivatives as ligands (L) have been synthesized and characterized in the solid state and in solution by different techniques. The crystal structure of [Ga^III(L4-H)₂](NO₃)·2H₂O, where L4 is 3-ethoxysalicylaldehyde semicarbazone, was solved by X-ray diffraction methods. The gallium(III) ion is in a distorted octahedral environment, coordinated to two nearly planar and mutually perpendicular 3-ethoxysalicylaldehyde semicarbazonato anions acting as tridentate ligands through their phenol and carbonyl oxygen atoms and their azomethine nitrogen atom. Their biological potential has been explored by evaluating their activity on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, causative agent of tuberculosis, and their cytotoxicity on tumor cell lines. Three different human tumor cell lines were selected that show different degrees of resistance to metallodrugs: ovarian A2780 (low resistance), breast MCF7 (medium resistance) and prostate PC3 (high resistance) cells. Although the complexes have not shown activity on M. tuberculosis, complexation with gallium has led to the enhancement of the cytotoxic potencies of the organic compounds. Those complexes that contain a bromide substituent at the phenolate ring have shown the highest cytotoxicities. In particular, [Ga^III(L2-H)₂](NO₃), where L2 is 5-bromosalicylaldehyde semicarbazone,·has shown a remarkable cytotoxicity on A2780 tumor cell line with an IC₅₀ value of the same order than cisplatin (IC_{50 Ga-L2} = 2.4 ± 0.3 μM; IC_{50 cisplatin} = 2.0 ± 0.1 μM, 72 h incubation at 37 °C). Interestingly, this complex has also shown moderate cytotoxicity against MCF7 and PC3 cells (IC_{50 MCF7} = 30 ± 6; IC_{50 PC3} = 18 ± 3 μM). Therefore, this gallium compound could be considered a promising wide spectrum potential anti-tumor agent.     

Antibacterial activity of anthraquinone derivatives from Heterophyllaea pustulata (Rubiaceae)

Photosensitizing anthraquinones isolated from Heterophyllaea pustulata Hook f. (Rubiaceae), namely soranjidiol, rubiadin, damnacanthal and 5,5'-bisoranjidiol, showed antibacterial activity (bacteriostatic/bactericide) on Staphylococcus aureus. The mechanism of action seems to involve an increase in the levels of superoxide anion (O(2)(·-)) and/or singlet molecular oxygen ((1)O(2)). Moreover, the effect of actinic irradiation as a boosting agent for the production of both reactive species of oxygen as well as its influence on antibacterial activity was assessed. The routine susceptibility assay (minimum inhibitory concentration determination) was carried out by means of the broth macrodilution method. Bactericide activity was determined counting the colony-forming units per milliliter (cfu/mL) in plate. The O(2)(·-) production was determined by means of an indirect photobiological assay (Nitroblue Tetrazolium test), and the production of (1)O(2) was followed using an indirect steady-state method, with methionine as the (1)O(2) chemical quencher.     

A combinatorial proof of Marstrand’s theorem for products of regular Cantor sets

In a paper from 1954 Marstrand proved that if K⊂R² has a Hausdorff dimension greater than 1, then its one-dimensional projection has a positive Lebesgue measure for almost all directions. In this article, we give a combinatorial proof of this theorem when K is the product of regular Cantor sets of class C^1+α, α>0, for which the sum of their Hausdorff dimension is greater than 1.