Surface antimicrobial modification of polyamide by poly(hexamethylene guanidine) hydrochloride

Antimicrobial polyamide (PA) received much attention for the demand of packaging and biomedical fields. In this paper, an antimicrobial PA6 membrane was prepared via a surface chemical reaction. A highly effective antibacterial component (PHMG‐E) with terminal epoxy group was firstly synthesized via a reaction between polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride (PHMG) and ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE). Then, PHMG‐E was bonded on the surface of PA6 membrane with secondary amine reduced by borane‐tetrahydrofuran (BH₃‐THF). The antimicrobial rates of surface‐modified PA6 membrane (PA6‐PHMG) against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were both higher than 99.99%, and the PHMG was non‐leaching due to the chemical bonding. The hydrophilicity of antibacterial PA6 membrane was also significantly improved and the mechanical performance became better.     

Chemical Characterization of Silage Effluents and their Influence on Soil Bound Heavy Metals

Abstract

Silage effluents, generated during silaging of various crops, are produced in high amounts in cattle breeding farms. Due to their acidity and high content of dissolved organic matter, they are causing disposal problems. On the other hand, their ability to mobilise soil bound trace elements (i.e. heavy metals) might be useful for the decontamination of polluted soils.

With an aim to perform metal leaching studies, silage effluents from various ensiled crops (maize, rape, grass, clover, sugar-beet leaves) were collected from Bavarian farms and analysed for their main inorganic and organic constituents. Important TOC sources (TOC concentrations from 13.9 to 53.6 gl^?1) are short chain aliphatic acids (concentrations between 235 and 638 mM·D1^?1; predominant compound: lactic acid), amino acids (ranging from 22.8 to 151 mM·D1^?1) and polypeptides (concentrations from 3.8 to 20.0 g·D1^?1).

The release of heavy metals from two adsorbents (bentonite and peat) and from a polluted soil under the influence of silage effluents was studied in batch tests. The leaching efficiencies for the soil bound metals increase following the order: sugar-beet leaves < clover < maize < rape < grass. The extraction rates obtained with grass silage juice are: Cd 74.7%, Zn 55.7%, Cu 53.5%, Ni 38.9%, Cr 12.7% and Pb 8.9%. After neutralisation the leaching rates dropped, with the exception of copper.     

Labelling and Fractionating of Black Mamba Venom using 131I and Gel-Filtration Technique

Separation of Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) venom into three fractions was achieved by the use of Sephadex G-100 filtration method. The first and highest peak of the three separated bands proved to be the lethally toxic. Labelling the venom with nascent¹³¹ I prior to fractionating facilitated the detection and the evaluation of three well resoluted fractions. Comparative separation of non-labelled venom was also carried out side by side with the labelled one to study the advantage of radioactivity on extinction measurements.     

Tin(IV) Schiff base complexes derived from pyridoxal: Synthesis,spectroscopic properties and cytotoxicity

The synthesis of monomeric pentacoordinated diorganotin(IV) complexes derived from pyridoxal hydrochloride and 4‐ or 5‐R ‐substituted ortho ‐aminophenols is described. The complexes were characterized using UV–visible, infrared, mass, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and ¹¹⁹Sn NMR spectral techniques. The molecular structure of three complexes was established using X‐ray diffraction: 3b and 3d show a distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry, in which the basal plane is defined by the butyl groups and the iminic nitrogen atom, whereas the oxygen atoms from the aromatic ring occupy axial positions; in contrast, complex 3e exhibits a square pyramidal geometry. The cytotoxic activity of all complexes against human cell lines U‐251 (glioblastoma), K‐562 (chronic myelogenous leukemia), HCT‐15 (human colorectal cancer), MCF‐7 (human breast cancer) and SKLU‐1 (non‐small‐cell lung cancer) was evaluated, and the inhibitory percentage values indicated higher activity than the reference standard, cisplatin. Acute toxicity studies were performed in vivo for the prepared complexes to determine the lethal medium dose (LD₅₀) after intraperitoneal administration to mice.     

Global Structure-Acute Toxicity Relationships for Mice Using Structural Parameter Ratios: New Approach to Molecular Design and Screening

Abstract

A method for a preliminary survey of the relationship between molecular structure and performance was described using 1506 random data of structure-acute toxicity for mice (intravenously dosed). The structural patterns of the weakest toxic structures (111) were extracted from the data and the patterns discriminated for 64.2% of the other structures (1395). As for the 826 structures of strongest toxicity, 78.3% were discriminated by these structural patterns. These results were obtained by using structural parameter ratios to describe the structural patterns and the exhaustive elimination process to select the best parameter ratio from many candidates. The results were summarized in the form of a chart which can be used for practical screening for the weakest toxic structures.     

Investigation of the manganese stress on wheat plant by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

ABSTRACT

The present paper deals with the investigation of the changes in chemical contents of the leaf of wheat seedling stressed by excess manganese using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technique. The infrared spectra of the leaves of control and manganese-treated wheat plants have been recorded in the spectral region 485–4000?cm^?1 at a resolution of 4?cm^?1. The recorded spectrum has been analyzed with the help of curve-fitting method for the quantitative estimation of chemical contents and conformational changes. The study indicated changes arising in the polysaccharide, lignin, amino acid, secondary structure of protein, and lipid in the leaves of control and manganese-treated wheat plants. Manganese treatment increased the amount of cellulose, lignin, and amide II till 200?μM concentration, while a decrease was observed at 1000?µM concentration. Manganese induced conformational changes in the secondary structure of protein which was indicated by shifting of the bands to the higher wavenumber and change in the β sheet/α helix ratio. In addition, manganese stress decreased lipid content in the leaves of the wheat seedlings. The study demonstrates the potential of attenuated total reflectance FTIR for the non-invasive and rapid monitoring of the plants stressed with heavy metals.     

Observation of dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate–myoglobin binding reaction using laser spray mass spectrometry

Covalent bonds are often created by a reaction between chemicals and protein before causing various adverse effects in a cell. Dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA), which has moderate toxicity, causes skin inflammation and throat irritation. For this study, we investigated a reaction mechanism between myoglobin and (DMAEMA) using a new analytical tool developed at our laboratory: laser spray mass spectrometry technique. It was found that initially DMAEMA was added to the amino group of protein by the Michael addition mechanism; the added DMAEMA was hydrolyzed to methacrylic acid using an autocatalytic system. The results of this study indicate the feasibility of the laser spray technique in analyses of reaction dynamics. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A New Phenolic Diglycoside Produced in Response to Copper Toxicity and a New Flavan Dimer from the Leaves of Viburnum ichangense (Hemsl.) Rehd.

A new phenolic digycoside 1 was produced as stress metabolite in the fresh leaves of Viburnum ichangense (Hemsl.) Rehd ., in response to abiotic stress elicitation by CuCl₂. The stress metabolite was characterized as 1‐O‐[α‐L ‐arabinofuranosyl(1→6)‐β‐D ‐glucopyranosyl]‐erythro‐1,2‐bis(4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxyphenyl)propane‐1,3‐diol ( 1 ). A new flavan dimer, 2,3‐epoxyflavan‐3′,4′,5,7‐tetraol‐(4→8″)‐flavan‐3″,3′′′,4′′′,5′′′,6″‐pentaol ( 2 ), and two known compounds, hovetrichoside A ( 3 ) and asperglaucide ( 4 ), were also isolated. Their structures were established by spectroscopic means.