Piper betle (L): Recent Review of Antibacterial and Antifungal Properties,Safety Profiles,and Commercial Applications

Piper betle (L) is a popular medicinal plant in Asia. Plant leaves have been used as a traditional medicine to treat various health conditions. It is highly abundant and inexpensive, therefore promoting further research and industrialization development, including in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Articles published from 2010 to 2020 were reviewed in detail to show recent updates on the antibacterial and antifungal properties of betel leaves. This current review showed that betel leaves extract, essential oil, preparations, and isolates could inhibit microbial growth and kill various Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria as well as fungal species, including those that are multidrug-resistant and cause serious infectious diseases. P. betle leaves displayed high efficiency on Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans. The ratio of MBC/MIC indicated bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects of P. betle leaves, while MFC/MIC values showed fungicidal and fungistatic effects. This review also provides a list of phytochemical compounds in betel leaves extracts and essential oils, safety profiles, and value-added products of betel leaves. Some studies also showed that the combination of betel leaves extract and essential oil with antibiotics (streptomycin, chloramphenicol and gentamicin) could provide potentiating antibacterial properties. Moreover, this review delivers a scientific resume for researchers in respected areas and manufacturers who want to develop betel leaves-based products.     

The effect of carbon content on the beginning of slip in single crystals of Fe-3·2 wt%Si alloy

Specimens with 18 ppm and 100 ppm carbon of different orientations were deformed by compression (?～1·1×10^?4 s^?1) at the temperatures 150 °K, 195 °K, 293 °K, 393 °K and 483 °K. The measuredΨ(χ) andτ(χ) curves are presented. The changes of the curves caused by increased carbon content are discussed from the point of view of the low temperature induced cross-slip. Deviations from the Schmid law of critical resolved shear stress are found for both carbon contents. The dependence of the CRSS on temperature for specimens of standard purity has a slightly different course for orientationχ=?30° than for orientationsχ=0° andχ=+30°. These deviations are discussed in terms of the influence of normal stress on the slip. The course ofΔτ (difference between the CRSS in the MRSS plane for specimens with 100 ppm and 18 ppm of carbon) onχ is discussed using different models of lattice hardening due to interstitial impurities. These models can also be applied to the explanation of deviations ofτ(χ) curves from the Schmid law.     

Three variations in the intensity of cosmic radiation in the first half of 1958

The time courses are given of three variations in the intensity of cosmic radiation, which occurred in the first half of 1958. The measuring apparatus is described and the energies of the particles recorded a reestimated. The paper is the partial result of systematic measurements of the intensity of cosmic radiation carried out in Czechoslovakia in the International Geophysical Year.

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1958

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The authors heartily thank the Institute of Geomagnetism in Krasnaja Pachra, near Moscow, and especially its director, Prof. M. B. Pukov, and Dr Ju. M. Kopylov for the neutron counters.The authors wish to thank Prof. V. Petrílka, corresponding member of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, and Prof. L. Jurkiewicz, from the Academy of Mining and Heavy Industry in Cracow for help in the work and Academician J. Novák, who made possible the numerical evaluation of the data in the Mathematical Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Especial thanks go to F. Pilát and B. Slavík for their great help in setting up the apparatus and to all colleagues who took part in the measurements.     

Plastic behaviour of Fe-3% Si alloy single crystals

Fe-3% Si alloy single crystals of single slip and double slip orientation have been tested in tension at temperatures between 113 K and 473 K. The stress-strain curves exhibit a yield drop followed by inhomogeneous yielding (yield propagation stage), a parabolic and an approximately linear parts. The slip line observations carried out in various stages of deformation show that only at the beginning of the parabolic part of stress-strain curve the specimen is completely filled out with slip bands and the deformation becomes relatively homogeneous. With both single slip and double slip orientations deformation takes place predominantly in one slip system only. At higher temperatures ageing occurs during deformation.Na Slovance 2, Praha 8, Czechoslovakia.The authors would like to thank Dr. B. esták for suggestion of the problem and for his interest in discussion of the results. We are also grateful to Mr. J. Poucha for help with some experimental work and to Miss G. Výborná for help with specimen preparation. To Dr. S. Libovický and Dr. F. Kroupa we thank for helpful discussions.     

Work-hardening of Fe,Fe-0·5 wt% Si and Fe-0·9 wt% Si single crystals

Work-hardening curves of single crystals of iron and its alloys with 0·5 and 0·9 wt.% Si and paths of the tensile axis of specimens during deformation were investigated. Single crystals oriented for single glide were deformed in tension at temperatures 113, 201, 295 and 403 K at a nominal strain rate of 5·5×10^?5 sec^?1. It appears that with increasing silicon content (a) the transition between the high-temperature regime of plastic deformation (characterized by three-stage work-hardening) and the low-temperature regime is shifted to lower temperatures, (b) stage I-hardening is enhanced and (c) the flow stress level increases. These observations are explained by strong solution hardening of iron by silicon atoms which suppresses the differences between mobilities of screw and non-screw dislocations, increases the flow stress level and consequently the density of primary dislocations. As a result of this the latent hardening in the secondary slip system increases and stage I extends to a large strain.     

Recovering Invisible Signals by Two‐Field NMR Spectroscopy

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies have benefited tremendously from the steady increase in the strength of magnetic fields. Spectacular improvements in both sensitivity and resolution have enabled the investigation of molecular systems of rising complexity. At very high fields, this progress may be jeopardized by line broadening, which is due to chemical exchange or relaxation by chemical shift anisotropy. In this work, we introduce a two‐field NMR spectrometer designed for both excitation and observation of nuclear spins in two distinct magnetic fields in a single experiment. NMR spectra of several small molecules as well as a protein were obtained, with two dimensions acquired at vastly different magnetic fields. Resonances of exchanging groups that are broadened beyond recognition at high field can be sharpened to narrow peaks in the low‐field dimension. Two‐field NMR spectroscopy enables the measurement of chemical shifts at optimal fields and the study of molecular systems that suffer from internal dynamics, and opens new avenues for NMR spectroscopy at very high magnetic fields.     

Leaving group effects on the selectivity of the gas-phase fragmentation reactions of side chain fixed-charge-containing peptide ions

The effect of trialkylsulfonium versus quaternaryalkylammonium ions on the multistage gas-phase fragmentation reactions of side chain, fixed-charge, cysteine-containing peptides has been examined in a quadrupole linear ion trap. These tandem mass spectrometry experiments reveal that selective loss of dialkylsulfide from fixed-charge sulfonium ion derivatives is the dominant fragmentation pathway regardless of the degree of proton mobility, indicating that it is the most energetically favored fragmentation pathway. In contrast, the loss of trimethylamine from the side chain of fixed-charge ammonium-ion-containing cysteine derivatives appears to be less energetically favored, and as a result extensive charge-remote fragmentation is observed under low proton mobility conditions, while under conditions of high proton mobility, amide bond fragmentation reactions dominate. These findings are supported by molecular orbital calculations at the B3LYP/6-31 + G(d, p) level of theory, which showed that the neutral loss of dimethylsulfide is both thermodynamically and kinetically preferred over the loss of trimethylamine.     

Mechanisms for the selective gas-phase fragmentation reactions of methionine side chain fixed charge sulfonium ion containing peptides

To enable the development of improved tandem mass spectrometry based methods for selective proteome analysis, the mechanisms, product ion structures, and other factors influencing the gas-phase fragmentation reactions of methionine side-chain derivatized "fixed-charge" phenacylsulfonium ion containing peptide ions have been examined. Dissociation of these peptide ions results in the exclusive characteristic loss of the derivatized side chain, thereby enabling their selective identification. The resultant product ion(s) are then subjected to further dissociation to obtain sequence information for subsequent protein identification. Molecular orbital calculations (at the B3LYP/6-31 + G (d,p) level of theory) performed on a simple peptide model, together with experimental evidence obtained by multistage dissociation of a regioselectively deuterated methionine derivatized sulfonium ion containing tryptic peptide, indicate that fragmentation of the fixed charge containing peptide ions occurs via SN2 reactions involving the N- and C-terminal amide bonds adjacent to the methionine side chain, resulting in the formation of stable cyclic five- and six-membered iminohydrofuran and oxazine product ions, respectively. These studies further indicate that the rings formed via these neighboring group reactions are stable to further dissociation by MS3. As a consequence, the formation of b- or y-type sequence ions are "skipped" at the site of cyclization. Despite this, complete sequence information is still obtained because of the presence of both cyclic products.