Novel,Efficient, and Green Procedure for the Knoevenagel Condensation Catalyzed by Diammonium Hydrogen Phosphate in Water

Knoevenagel condensation of various aromatic and heteroaromatic aldehydes with active methylene compounds like methyl and ethyl cyanoacetate, malononitrile, and cyanoacetamide proceeds smoothly with stirring in water in the presence of 4 mol% of diammonium hydrogen phosphate. The reactions were carried out at room temperature in short periods with very simple workup procedure and good to high yields.     

MicroRNA‐2861 and nanofibrous scaffold synergistically promote human induced pluripotent stem cells osteogenic differentiation

Tissue engineering using new strategies has become a growing and promising method for treating large tissue lesions in the body. On the other hand, microRNAs (miRNAs), which are small non‐coding regulatory RNAs, are a new class of genetic materials that can have effective pharmacological roles. The combination of these two themes has created promising prospects for the treatment of diseases. Herein, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were transduced with miRNA‐2861 and then the osteogenic differentiation potential of transduced iPSCs and non‐transduced iPSCs was investigated while cultured on the electrospun poly lactic‐co‐glycolic acid (PLGA) nanofibrous scaffold and culture plate. MiR‐2861‐transduced iPSCs showed a significantly higher viability, mineralization, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, calcium content, and bone‐related gene expression in comparison with those iPSCs that non‐transduced. The results also indicated that this increase is improved when miR‐2861 transduced iPSCs are cultured on the PLGA nanofibrous scaffold synergistically. This synergy was also confirmed by the results obtained from of Western blot analysis. It can be concluded that, miR‐2861, by negative regulation of those proteins that decrease/inhibit osteogenic differentiation and PLGA nanofibrous scaffold by preparation of a suitable artificial extracellular matrix, have a great positive impact in improving iPSCs osteogenic differentiation potential and this blend can be proposed to use in bone tissue engineering application.     

The study of dehumidifying of carbon monoxide and ammonia adsorption by Iranian natural clinoptilolite zeolite

The natural zeolite (clinoptilolite type) was obtained from the Neibagh region of Mianeh, the city in the west of Iran. The raw zeolite was tested for quality and quantity measurements including surface area and volumetric characteristics as well as thermogravimetry analysis. The acid activation process was used to increase the adsorption rate of zeolite and in order to obtain the optimum conditions: the effect of acid concentration, reaction time and the temperature were studied. A surface area measurement test was performed in each stage to get the best results. Thus, efficient condition was selected according to the produced highest surface area. The reaction was first obtained with hydrochloric acid, and then a comparison was made using the sulfuric acid. The hydrochloric reaction proved to be better. The result of activation was 2.5 times the increase in the surface area in relation to the raw sample. The result of elemental analysis conducted once again on the activated sample showed an increase in the ratio of Si/Al (approximately 0.6). Then, using CO, NH₃ and steam, the gas adsorption capacity of both the raw and activated samples was measured and compared. Since CO was not adsorbed at ambient temperature, but steam was adsorbed relatively well, the natural clinoptilolite zeolite of Iran was suggested as a suitable material for adsorbing humidity form carbon monoxide as well as synthesis gas (H₂ and CO mixture).     

Vitamin B1 as a metal-ion-free natural catalyst for sustainable quinoxaline ring condensation under sonochemical conditions

Abstract  

The role of vitamin B₁ as a catalyst is investigated for the quinoxaline ring condensation under various mild reaction conditions. The results revealed that the combination of vitamin B₁ and ultrasonic irradiation promotes the reaction more efficiently. The salient features of this environmentally benign method are fast conversions, excellent yields for a wide range of substrates, and the use of a low-cost, readily available, nontoxic, and metal-ion-free natural catalyst. The wide range of turnover frequency values (6–400 h⁻¹) shows that the reaction rate is highly dependent on the nature of the functional groups on the aromatic ring of substrates. Moreover, a plausible mechanism for the catalytic action of vitamin B₁ has been introduced.     

Interaction of aspirin and vitamin C with bovine serum albumin

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) has a major biological role as a natural antioxidant. Aspirin belongs to the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and functions as an antioxidant via its ability to scavenge-OH radicals. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is the major soluble protein constituent of the circulatory system and has many physiological functions including transport of a variety of compounds. In this report, the competitive binding of vitamin C and aspirin to bovine serum albumin has been studied using constant protein concentration and various drug concentrations at pH 7.2. FTIR and UV-Vis spectroscopic methods were used to analyze vitamin C and aspirin binding modes, the binding constants and the effects of drug complexation on BSA stability and conformation. Spectroscopic evidence showed that vitamin C and aspirin bind BSA via hydrophilic interactions (polypeptide and amine polar groups) with overall binding constants of K(vitamin C-BSA)=1.57×10(4)M(-1) and K(aspirin-BSA)=1.15×10(4)M(-1); assuming that there is one drug molecule per protein. The BSA secondary structure was altered with major decrease of α-helix from 64% (free protein) to 57% (BSA-vitamin C) and 54% (BSA-aspirin) and β-sheet from 15% (free protein) to 6-7% upon drug complexation, inducing a partial protein destabilization.     

Study on the interaction of tamiflu and oseltamivir carboxylate with human serum albumin

Oseltamivir phosphate (OP; tamiflu) is an antiviral pro-drug, which is hydrolyzed hepatically to the active metabolite oseltamivir carboxylate (OC). It is the first orally neuraminidase inhibitor that was used in the treatment and prophylaxis of influenza virus A and B infection. Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant of the proteins in the blood plasma and is major transporter for delivering several drugs in vivo. This study was designed to examine the interaction of HSA with oseltamivir phosphate (OP) and oseltamivir carboxylate (OC) in aqueous solution at physiological conditions, using a constant protein concentration and various drug contents. FTIR, UV-Vis spectroscopic methods were used to determine the drugs binding mode, the binding constant and the effects of drug complexation on protein secondary structure. Structural analysis showed that OP and OC bind HSA via polypeptide polar groups with overall binding constants of K(OP-HSA)=3.86(± 1.05)× 10(3)M(-1) and K(OC-HSA)=1.5(±0.45) × 10(2)M(-1). The alterations of protein secondary structure are attributed to a partial destabilization of HSA on drug complexation. The protein secondary structure showed no major alterations at low drugs concentrations (50 μM), whereas at higher content (1mM), decrease of α-helix from 58% (free HSA) to 38% (OP-HSA)-48% (OC-HSA), decrease of random coil from 15% (free HSA) to 2% (OP-HSA)-3% (OC-HSA), increase of β-sheet from 6% (free HSA) to 20% (OC-HSA)-29% (OP-HSA) and turn from 8% (free HSA) to 17% (OC-HSA)-19% (OP-HSA) occurred in the drug-HSA complexes. These observations indicated that low drug content induced protein stabilization, whereas at high drug concentration, a partial protein destabilization occurred in these drug-HSA complexes.     

Experimental study of electro-optical Q-switched pulsed Nd:YAG laser

We report the specification of a compact and stable side diode-pumped Q-switched pulsed Nd:YAG laser. We experimentally study and compare the performance of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser in the free-running and Q-switched modes at different pulse repetition rates from 1 Hz to 100 Hz. The laser output energy is stabilized by using a special configuration of the optical resonator. In this laser, an unsymmetrical concave-concave resonator is used and this structure helps the mode volume to be nearly fixed when the pulse repetition rate is increased. According to the experimental results in the Q-switched operation, the laser output energy is nearly constant around 70 mJ with an FWHM pulse width of 7 ns at 100 Hz. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency in the Q-switched regime is 17.5%.     

The hexagonal close-packed nickel nanocrystals prepared by fast scan voltammetry

The nickel (Ni) nanocrystals (average diameter 9.7 ± 2.3 nm) were deposited onto composite graphite electrode from a plating solution of 5.0 mM NiCl₂6H₂O and 1.0 M NH₄Cl using scan rate of 6500 mV s⁻¹. The initial potential −1.5 V and final potential −0.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl with applied time 120 s were used for the whole deposition process. The variations of applied overpotentials and deposition times have affected the characteristics of Ni nanocrystals. It was found that the structural formation of Ni nanocrystals obtained were almost pure hexagonal close-packed (hcp). This study has demonstrated that the tuning of the final size, morphology and structural formation of the Ni nanocrystal were affected by control of nucleation, growth and hydrogen evolution processes in fast scan voltammetry technique used.     

Positive solutions to logistic type equations with harvesting

We use comparison principles, variational arguments and a truncation method to obtain positive solutions to logistic type equations with harvesting both in RN and in a bounded domain Ω⊂RN, with N?3, when the carrying capacity of the environment is not constant. By relaxing the growth assumption on the coefficients of the differential equation we derive a new equation which is easily solved. The solution of this new equation is then used to produce a positive solution of our original problem.     

Perturbation from symmetry for indefinite semilinear elliptic equations

We prove the existence of an unbounded sequence of solutions for an elliptic equation of the form \({-\Delta u=\lambda u + a(x)g(u)+f(x), u\in H^1_0(\Omega)}\), where \({\lambda \in \mathbb{R}, g(\cdot)}\) is subcritical and superlinear at infinity, and a(x) changes sign in Ω; moreover, g( ? s) =  ? g(s) \({\forall s}\). The proof uses Rabinowitz’s perturbation method applied to a suitably truncated problem; subsequent energy and Morse index estimates allow us to recover the original problem. We consider the case of \({\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^N}\) bounded as well as \({\Omega=\mathbb{R}^N, \, N\geqslant 3}\).