Anticancer activity and evaluation of apoptotic genes expression of 2-azetidinones containing anthraquinone moiety

Molecular Diversity - Nowadays, one of the principal causes of death in the world is cancer. A series of 2-azetidinones containing anthraquinone moiety with various substituents were synthesized...     

“Quad-band flexible magnesium zinc ferrite (MgZnFe2O4)-based double negative metamaterial for microwave applications”

This article presents vertically coupled, rectangular complementary split-ring resonator-shaped quad-band double-negative (DNG) metamaterial unit cells, that is, having both negative permittivity and permeability, which redirect negative refractive and also are not found in nature. The metamaterial is fabricated on magnesium zinc ferrite-based flexible microwave substrates, and the flexible substrates are chosen with two different concentrations of magnesium (Mg) denoted by Mg₃₀ and Mg₅₀ for 30% and 50% of Mg, which possess dielectric constants of 4.32 and 3.15 and loss tangents of 0.003 and 0.005, respectively. The proposed metamaterials are demonstrated by utilizing the CST microwave simulator, and their effective parameters are extracted according to the Nicolson-Ross-Wire method. With Mg_30, the prepared, flexible metamaterial shows measured resonances at 3.70 GHz, 7 GHz, 8.60 GHz, and 9.78 GHz, whereas with Mg₅₀ it shows the measured resonances at 4.10 GHz, 7.70 GHz, 9.33 GHz, and 10.62 GHz. Very good effective medium ratios (EMR) along with DNG properties are obtained, namely 6.5 and 5.85 for Mg₃₀ and Mg_50, respectively, with a physical dimension of 12.5 × 9.5 mm² for both of the unit cells_. Also, the electric field, magnetic field, and surface current distribution at different resonances and the polarization insensitivity at different polarization angles were observed. Thus, the designed new flexible substrate microwave materials based on DNG metamaterials are potential candidates for S-, C- and X-band applications, as well as for flexible microwave technologies.     

Ruthenium-catalyzed methoxycarbonylation of styrene

Methoxycarbonylation of styrene in the presence of homogeneous Ru catalysts is reported for the first time. Available Ru₃(CO)₁₂ together with halide source such as [bmim]Br, NaBr or LiCl represents active and easy to handle methoxycarbonylation catalyst. The key advantage of the new catalytic systems over traditional Pd catalysts is their high activity at CO pressure as low as 5 bar.     

Semistar ascending chain conditions over polynomial rings

Ricerche di Matematica - Let D be an integral domain. G. Picozza associated to a stable semistar operation $$\star $$ on D,  a semistar operation $$\star _1$$ on the polynomial ring D[X]....     

Design consideration and modelling studies of ultrasound and ultraviolet combined approach for shelf-life enhancement of pine apple juice

Although both ultraviolet (UV) radiation and ultrasound (US) treatment have their capabilities in microbial inactivation, applying any one method alone may require a high dose for complete inactivation, which may affect the sensory and nutritional properties of pineapple juice. Hence, this study was intended to analyse and optimise the effect of combined US and UV treatments on microbial inactivation without affecting the selected quality parameters of pineapple juice. US treatment (33 kHz) was done at three different time intervals, viz. 10 min, 20 min and 30 min., after which, juice samples were subjected to UV treatment for 10 min at three UV dosage levels, viz. 1 J/cm², 1.3 J/cm², and 1.6 J/cm². The samples were evaluated for total colour difference, pH, total soluble solids (TSS), titrable acidity (TA), and ascorbic acid content; total bacterial count and total yeast count; and the standardization of process parameters was done using Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Network. The results showed that the individual, as well as combined treatments, did not significantly impact the physicochemical properties while retaining the quality characteristics. It was observed that combined treatment resulted in 5 log cycle reduction in bacterial and yeast populations while the individual treatment failed. From the optimization studies, it was found that combined US and UV treatments with 22.95 min and1.577 J/cm² ensured a microbiologically safe product while retaining organoleptic quality close to that of fresh juice.     

Application of microcrystalline cellulose as an efficient and cheap sorbent for the extraction of metoprolol from plasma and wastewater before HPLC–MS/MS determination

A dispersive solid-phase extraction method based on a new sorbent has been performed on plasma and wastewater samples to determine metoprolol by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. In this study, the analyte was adsorbed from the samples onto microcrystalline cellulose as a green and efficient sorbent and then eluted for use in the determination step. In the mass spectrometer, the analyte was detected in the positive mode and selectivity of the analysis was increased by sequential mass analysis through multiple reaction monitoring. All of the effective parameters in the extraction of metoprolol from plasma and wastewater were optimized. Under optimal conditions the method was linear in the ranges of 1–1,000 and 0.1–1,000 ng/ml in plasma and wastewater samples, respectively. The detection limits of the method were 0.30 and 0.03 ng/ml in plasma and wastewater samples, respectively. The data showed that the method provides low detection limit, wide linear range, good precision and high extraction recovery. Finally several plasma and wastewater samples were successfully analyzed using the method. The use of a small amount of a green and inexpensive sorbent and a low volume of plasma without the need for further pretreatment steps are the main advantages of the method.     

Crystal Structure of Synthetic High-Chromium Analogue of Yimengite

Crystallography Reports - The structure of a potassium compound with the chemical formula K0.90Ti5.16Cr2.94Fe2.54Mg0.87Al0.22Mn0.30O19 has been investigated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction...