Iodine/persulfate-promoted site-selective direct thiolation of quinolones and uracils

A simple and general method for direct thiolation of 4-quinolones with disulfides or thiols under I₂/K₂S₂O₈ system has been developed. Under the optimal conditions, the C–S bond coupling can take place effectively with good to decent yields and excellent regioselectivity of the S-linked products. The established metal-free site-selective approach was also applicable to transform a range of uracil substrates to the thio-substituted products under mild conditions. Further transformation to the sulfone derivatives can be conveniently performed in one-pot. These easy-to-handle protocols represent a useful and interesting synthetic alternative with good substrate scope and functional group compatibility.     

Flow equivalence and orbit equivalence for shifts of finite type and isomorphism of their groupoids

We give conditions for when continuous orbit equivalence of one-sided shift spaces implies flow equivalence of the associated two-sided shift spaces. Using groupoid techniques, we prove that this is always the case for shifts of finite type. This generalises a result of Matsumoto and Matui from the irreducible to the general case. We also prove that a pair of one-sided shift spaces of finite type are continuously orbit equivalent if and only if their groupoids are isomorphic, and that the corresponding two-sided shifts are flow equivalent if and only if the groupoids are stably isomorphic. As applications we show that two finite directed graphs with no sinks and no sources are move equivalent if and only if the corresponding graph $C^{?}$-algebras are stably isomorphic by a diagonal-preserving isomorphism (if and only if the corresponding Leavitt path algebras are stably isomorphic by a diagonal-preserving isomorphism), and that two topological Markov chains are flow equivalent if and only if there is a diagonal-preserving isomorphism between the stabilisations of the corresponding Cuntz–Krieger algebras (the latter generalises a result of Matsumoto and Matui about irreducible topological Markov chains with no isolated points to a result about general topological Markov chains). We also show that for general shift spaces, strongly continuous orbit equivalence implies two-sided conjugacy.     

A novel synthetic strategy for preparing semi‐aromatic components modified polyamide 6 polymer

In this work, a novel synthetic path for preparing semi‐armotic components modified polyamide 6 was developed by caprolactam as solvent of purified terephthalic acid and 1,6‐hexanediamine. First, the ring opening reaction and poly‐addition of caprolactam were initiated by 1,6‐hexanediamine to generate a prepolymer containing amino groups in both ends, then followed by the poly‐condensation reaction with purified terephthalic acid, a long chain copolymer was produced, which the reaction time was reduced by 4 h compared with conventional hydrolytic ring‐opening polymerization of pure caprolactam. By varying the ratio of terephthalic acid and 1,6‐hexanediamine, a series of copolymers with different number average molecular weight and physical properties were prepared. Analytical results showed that the conversion percentage of caprolactam is significantly increased by the proposed method. Furthermore, this new copolymers exhibited excellent transparence and high decomposition temperature. Besides, the copolymers with average molecular weight ≥15,000 present good mechanical properties, making it a potentially useful application in plastics, textile yarn, and membranes. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 959–967     

Direct Toner Printing: A Versatile Technology for Easy Fabrication of Flexible Miniaturized Electrodes

We reported here three simple, low cost and easy to accomplish strategies for the fabrication of microelectrodes and other conductive patterns using ordinary office laser‐printers. In this work, toner patterns were directly printed onto the flexible substrate, acting as a mask to create the intended conductive design. To highlight the versatility of such technology, toner‐printed patterns were employed in two diverse ways: one in which the patterned toner had the exact design of the electrode and other employing a reverse toner‐printed pattern. The first one was used for the adaptation of the well‐known printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication technique, but using direct toner printing (DTP) in an already conductive flexible substrate. The second was employed for the two remaining strategies: one based on the deposition of conductive film, followed by lift‐off process; and another based on drop‐casting of a conductive ink into the formed toner cavities, followed by thermal cure. As proof‐of‐concept, all three DTP strategies were used for the fabrication of miniaturized gold electrodes in polyimide substrate, and electrochemical performance of each obtained electrode was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry. Insights about DTP technology, alignment issues, advantages, limitations and resolution of each presented approach were provided. Finally, direct toner printing showed to be a simple, affordable and quite promising technology for the fabrication of low cost point‐of‐care electrochemical devices using flexible platforms.     

Optimal control of self-organized dynamics in cellular signal transduction

We demonstrate how model-based optimal control can be exploited in biological and biochemical modelling applications in several ways. In the first part, we apply optimal control to a detailed kinetic model of a glycolysis oscillator, which plays a central role in immune cells, in order to analyse potential regulatory mechanisms in the dynamics of associated signalling pathways. We demonstrate that the formulation of inverse problems with the aim to determine specific time-dependent input stimuli can provide important insight into dynamic regulations of self-organized cellular signal transduction. In the second part, we present an optimal control study aimed at target-oriented manipulation of a biological rhythm, an internal clock mechanism related to the circadian oscillator. This oscillator is responsible for the approximate endogenous 24 h (latin: circa dies) day-night rhythm in many organisms. On the basis of a kinetic model for the fruit fly Drosophila, we compute switching light stimuli via mixed-integer optimal control that annihilate the oscillations for a fixed time interval. Insight gained from such model-based specific manipulation may be promising in biomedical applications.     

Real‐Time Monitoring of Transport of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons from Industrial Areas Using Open‐Path FTIR Spectrometry with COL1SB

Abstract

Open‐path Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry was used to continuously monitor 11 chlorinated hydrocarbon species in the region connecting two different industrial complexes for 24 hr. The single‐beam spectra obtained from open‐path FTIR were analyzed by newly developed software named COL1SB, which generates site‐specific background spectra as well as path‐averaged water vapor concentrations in addition to performing regression analyses. The path‐averaged water vapor concentrations calculated by the COL1SB agreed very well with those measured by a thermo‐hygrometer. In addition, site‐specific background spectra were generated by accounting for chemical absorption of 50 chemical species. The accurate estimation of path‐averaged water vapor concentrations, as well as the usage of site‐specific background spectra, enables chlorinated hydrocarbons to be measured by open‐path FTIR spectrometry at the ppb level. Among 11 chlorinated hydrocarbons considered here, trichlorofluoromethane, carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene were identified as major chlorinated hydrocarbons having concentrations above 1 ppb. Wind affected the temporal variations of these chlorinated hydrocarbons, indicating the importance of local transport. However, the effect of wind differed from one species to another because of different source characteristics.     

Une extension d'une inégalité de burkholder,davis, gundy pour les processus à α-variation bornée et applications

An increasing process associated in a natural sense with each process of bounded x-variation leads us to an extension of an inequality of Burkholder, Davis, Gundy and allows us to determine the regularity of such processes     

Oligonucleotide-Based Approaches to Inhibit Dengue Virus Replication

Dengue fever is one of the most common viral infections affecting humans. It is an expanding public health problem, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. No effective vaccine or antiviral therapies against Dengue virus (DENV) infection are available. Therefore, there is a strong need to develop safe and effective therapeutic strategies that can reduce the burden and duration of hospitalizations due to this life-threatening disease. Oligonucleotide-based strategies are considered as an attractive means of inhibiting viral replication since oligonucleotides can be designed to interact with any viral RNA, provided its sequence is known. The resultant targeted destruction of viral RNA interferes with viral replication without inducing any adverse effects on cellular processes. In this review, we elaborate the ribozymes, RNA interference, CRISPR, aptamer and morpholino strategies for the inhibition of DENV replication and discuss the challenges involved in utilizing such approaches.