Imaging of Hypochlorous Acid by Fluorescence and Applications in Biological Systems

In recent decades, HOCl research has attracted a lot of scientists from around the world. This chemical species is well known as an important player in the biological systems of eukaryotic organisms including humans. In the human body, HOCl is produced by the myeloperoxidase enzyme from superoxide in very low concentrations (20 to 400 μm ); this species is secreted by neutrophils and monocytes to help fight pathogens. However, in the condition called “oxidative stress”, HOCl has the capability to attack many important biomolecules such as amino acids, proteins, nucleotides, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids; these reactions could ultimately contribute to a number of diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases (AD, PD, and ALS), cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. In this review, we discuss recent efforts by scientists to synthesize various fluorophores which are attached to receptors to detect HOCl such as: chalcogen‐based oxidation, oxidation of 4‐methoxyphenol, oxime/imine, lactone ring opening, and hydrazine. These synthetic molecules, involving rational synthetic pathways, allow us to chemoselectively target HOCl and to study the level of HOCl selectivity through emission responses. Virtually all the reports here deal with well‐defined and small synthetic molecular systems. A large number of published compounds have been reported over the past years; this growing field has given scientists new insights regarding the design of the chemosensors. Reversibility, for example is considered important from the stand point of chemosensor reuse within the biological system; facile regenerability using secondary analytes to obtain the initial probe is a very promising avenue. Another aspect which is also important is the energy of the emission wavelength of the sensor; near‐infrared (NIR) emission is favorable to prevent autofluorescence and harmful irradiation of tissue; thus, extended applicability of such sensors can be made to the mouse model or animal model to help image internal organs. In this review, we describe several well‐known types of receptors that are covalently attached to the fluorophore to detect HOCl. We also discuss the common fluorophores which are used by chemist to detect HOCl, Apart from the chemical aspects, we also discuss the capabilities of the compounds to detect HOCl in living cells as measured through confocal imaging. The growing insight from HOCl probing suggests that there is still much room for improvement regarding the available molecular designs, knowledge of interplay between analytes, biological applicability, biological targeting, and chemical switching, which can also serve to further sensor and theurapeutic agent development alike.     

基于时序NDVI与光谱微分变换的森林优势树种识别

基于遥感光谱特征准确识别优势树种类型对于区域林业资源的监测和经营具有重要意义,也是当前亟待解决的重要科学问题。伴随遥感技术的发展,利用时间序列高分影像能够有效获取林分树种不同物候期生长特性及其冠层光谱动态信息,有利于克服区域森林类型精细识别中普遍存在的异物同谱难题。以中国东北地区赤峰市旺业甸国有林场为试验区,采用覆盖完整自然年的共36景高分一号（GF-1）WFV时间序列数据（16 m）,提取包含不同优势树种生长阶段特征的林分冠层光谱归一化植被指数（NDVI）,结合支持向量机（SVM）模型对研究区内5种典型优势树种：油松、落叶松、山杨、白桦和蒙古栎,进行不同时间尺度下（单季相、全季相、逐月和逐旬）的光谱识别研究。同时,分别基于原始时序光谱及其一阶、二阶和三阶微分变换结果,探讨了不同分辨率时序NDVI光谱及其3种微分变换结果对区域森林优势树种的识别效果。结果显示,基于不同尺度的时间序列数据能够获得比不同季节单时相数据更好的树种识别结果（p＜0.05）,其中采用全季相数据的树种总分类精度相比于春、夏和秋不同季节的单季相数据结果,分别提高了7.67%,6.64%和3.6%,表明时间序列影像中所包含的植被物候信息对于区分不同森林树种类型十分重要,同时秋季是采用单时相数据的最佳识别季节（p＜0.05）;在不同时间序列数据中,基于逐旬的NDVI数据显著优于基于逐月和全季相数据的光谱识别结果（p＜0.05）,而基于全季相数据的光谱识别结果最低（p＜0.05）,表明更密集的时序光谱信息有利于区域树种类型识别精度的提升。此外,结合光谱微分变换后的树种识别结果比仅采用原始NDVI时间序列的识别结果精度更高（p＜0.05）,其中基于逐旬和逐月时间分辨率数据的最高识别精度能够达到82.1%和78.74%,分别提升了3.38%和2.95%。研究表明采用基于全年逐旬或逐月尺度的时序光谱数据,并结合相应的微分变换方法,可以有效提高区域尺度优势树种的识别精度,为相关多光谱森林植被精细识别研究提供参考。     

Synthesis and Antimicrobial Evaluation of 1,4-Naphthoquinone Derivatives as Potential Antibacterial Agents

1,4-Naphthoquinones are an important class of compounds present in a number of natural products. In this study, a new series of 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives were synthesized. All the synthesized compounds were tested for in vitro antimicrobial activity. In this present investigation, two Gram-positive and five Gram-negative bacterial strains and one pathogenic yeast strain were used to determine the antibacterial activity. Naphthoquinones tested for its antibacterial potencies, among seven of them displayed better antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus; 30–70 μg/mL). Some of the tested compounds showed moderate to low antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) and Salmonella bongori (S. bongori; 70–150 μg/mL). In addition, most active compounds against S. aureus were evaluated for toxicity to human blood cells using a hemolysis assay. For better understanding, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, time-kill kinetic study, and apoptosis, necrosis responses were investigated for three representative compounds.     

Determination of Cobalt(II)-Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced DNA Oxidative Damage and Preventive Antioxidant Activity by CUPRAC Colorimetry

Abstract

The classical Fenton system composed of Fe(II) and H₂O₂ uses harsh oxidative conditions and cannot realistically simulate physiological oxidations which are less severe. Here, reactive oxygen species (ROS) were generated with a combination of CoSO₄ and H₂O₂ to provide milder conditions. DNA was used as a biologically meaningful probe for monitoring the oxidative conversion. Oxidative hazard on DNA was accomplished in ammonia/ammonium chloride buffer at 37?°C, and the Fenton reaction was stopped with trichloroacetic acid (TCA). A suitable aliquot of this solution was added to cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) reaction mixture, and the absorbance at 450?nm was recorded. The oxidized species derived from DNA were CUPRAC-reactive while intact DNA was not. The protective effects of antioxidants (AOxs), known to have radical scavenging effects, were tested; green tea and a synthetic fetal bovine serum (FBS) were also successfully used as real ROS scavengers. Although the classical iron-based Fenton procedure applied in ethanol medium generated CUPRAC-responsive products, the proposed system was perfectly ethanol-tolerant, enabling the CUPRAC measurement of DNA oxidation products against an unaffected reagent blank. The protective effects of phenolic antioxidants, perfectly solubilized in ethanol, could also be measured.     

Melatonin Induces Autophagy via Reactive Oxygen Species-Mediated Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway in Colorectal Cancer Cells

Even though an increasing number of anticancer treatments have been discovered, the mortality rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) have still been high in the past few years. It has been discovered that melatonin has pro-apoptotic properties and counteracts inflammation, proliferation, angiogenesis, cell invasion, and cell migration. In previous studies, melatonin has been shown to have an anticancer effect in multiple tumors, including CRC, but the underlying mechanisms of melatonin action on CRC have not been fully explored. Thus, in this study, we investigated the role of autophagy pathways in CRC cells treated with melatonin. In vitro CRC cell models, HT-29, SW48, and Caco-2, were treated with melatonin. CRC cell death, oxidative stress, and autophagic vacuoles formation were induced by melatonin in a dose-dependent manner. Several autophagy pathways were examined, including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, 5′–adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), serine/threonine-specific protein kinase (Akt), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathways. Our results showed that melatonin significantly induced autophagy via the ER stress pathway in CRC cells. In conclusion, melatonin demonstrated a potential as an anticancer drug for CRC.     

The Inhibition of Non-albicans Candida Species and Uncommon Yeast Pathogens by Selected Essential Oils and Their Major Compounds

The epidemiology of yeast infections and resistance to available antifungal drugs are rapidly increasing, and non-albicans Candida species and rare yeast species are increasingly emerging as major opportunistic pathogens. In order to identify new strategies to counter the threat of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms, essential oils (EOs) have become an important potential in the treatment of fungal infections. EOs and their bioactive pure compounds have been found to exhibit a wide range of remarkable biological activities. We investigated the in vitro antifungal activity of nine commercial EOs such as Thymus vulgaris (thyme red), Origanum vulgare (oregano), Lavandula vera (lavender), Pinus sylvestris (pine), Foeniculum vulgare (fennel), Melissa officinalis (lemon balm), Salvia officinalis (sage), Eugenia caryophyllata (clove) and Pelargonium asperum (geranium), and some of their main components (α-pinene, carvacrol, citronellal, eugenol, γ-terpinene, linalool, linalylacetate, terpinen-4-ol, thymol) against non-albicans Candida strains and uncommon yeasts. The EOs were analyzed by GC-MS, and their antifungal properties were evaluated by minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum fungicidal concentration parameters, in accordance with CLSI guidelines, with some modifications for EOs. Pine exhibited strong antifungal activity against the selected non-albicans Candida isolates and uncommon yeasts. In addition, lemon balm EOs and α-pinene exhibited strong antifungal activity against the selected non-albicans Candida yeasts. Thymol inhibited the growth of all uncommon yeasts. These data showed a promising potential application of EOs as natural adjuvant for management of infections by emerging non-albicans Candida species and uncommon pathogenic yeasts.     

Solvent Effect on the Kinetic Study of the Alkaline Hydrolysis of Formamide in Acetone-Water Mixtures

The specific rate constants for the alkaline hydrolysis of formamide were determined in a series of acetone-water mixtures ranging from 0.0% to 70% by weight of the organic solvent and at different temperature, 25°–50°. The rate was found to be larger in water. Addition of acetone appears to cause a change in the solvent structure as concluded from the variation of log k with either 1/D or log[H₂O]. The reactivity of the reactants and the activated state seems to be affected differently by a change in the solvent structure. The magnitude of such effect should be considered separately on both the reactants and the activated state in order to account for the increase of the rate as the dielectric constant of the medium is increased.     

ALLEE EFFECTS: POPULATION GROWTH,CRITICAL DENSITY,AND THE CHANCE OF EXTINCTION

This paper develops mathematical models to describe the growth, critical density, and extinction probability in sparse populations experiencing Allee effects. An Allee effect (or depensation) is a situation at low population densities where the per-individual growth rate is an increasing function of population density. A potentially important mechanism causing Allee effects is a shortage of mating encounters in sparse populations. Stochastic models are proposed for predicting the probability of encounter or the frequency of encounter as a function of population density. A negative exponential function is derived as such an encounter function under very general biological assumptions, including random, regular, or aggregated spatial patterns. A rectangular hyperbola function, heretofore used in ecology as the functional response of predator feeding rate to prey density, arises from the negative exponential function when encounter probabilities are assumed heterogeneous among individuals. These encounter functions produce Allee effects when incorporated into population growth models as birth rates. Three types of population models with encounter-limited birth rates are compared: (1) deterministic differential equations, (2) stochastic discrete birth-death processes, and (3) stochastic continuous diffusion processes. The phenomenon of a critical density, a major consequence of Allee effects, manifests itself differently in the different types of models. The critical density is a lower unstable equilibrium in the deterministic differential equation models. For the stochastic discrete birth-death processes considered here, the critical density is an inflection point in the probability of extinction plotted as a function of initial population density. In the continuous diffusion processes, the critical density becomes a local minimum (antimode) in the stationary probability distribution for population density. For both types of stochastic models, a critical density appears as an inflection point in the probability of attaining a small population density (extinction) before attaining a large one. Multiplicative (“environmental”) stochastic noise amplifies Allee effects. Harvesting also amplifies those effects. Though Allee effects are difficult to detect or measure in natural populations, their presence would seriously impact exploitation, management, and preservation of biological resources.     

Study on a vapor sensor based on the optical properties of porous silicon microcavities

In this paper, we set up a sensing model of PSMs (porous silicon microcavities) by applying the Bruggeman effective medium approximation theory and the transfer matrix method. In addition, we explain in detail the adsorption characteristics of porous silicon. Finally, using an experimental setup to measure the reflectivity spectrum of PSMs when the sensor is exposed to different organic vapors, the experimental results prove that it is a feasible optical sensor for the detection of organic species. Resolution of the PSMs sensor is high, response time and resume time is short and repetition is good.      

用双粒子模型研究微量元素与Ni在Ni3Al晶界共富集现象

双粒子模型的基础是描述原子之间相互作用势为EAM(embedded atom method)势的Monte Carlo模拟. 模型建议：在Ni₃Al晶界弛豫时，微量元素原子既被看作为偏析子又被看作为诱发子. 作为偏析子它在晶界偏析(或富集)，作为诱发子它诱发Ni原子在晶界偏析(或富集). 可见本模型能解析共偏析(或共富集)现象. 根据正(或诱发子)效应与负(或偏析子)效应的联合影响，模型解释了Ni在Ni₃Al晶界最明显富集现象. 关键词： 偏析子与诱发子 基体效应 在晶界共富集 晶界内聚性