Aromatic and Antiaromatic Pathways in Triphyrin(2.1.1) Annelated with Benzo[b]heterocycles

Understanding of the aromatic properties and magnetically induced current densities of highly conjugated chromophores is important when designing molecules with strongly delocalized electronic structure. Linear extension of the triphyrin(2.1.1) skeleton with an annelated benzo[b]heterocycle fragment modifies the aromatic character by extending the electron delocalization pathway. Two-electron reduction leads to an antiaromatic triphyrin(2.1.1) ring and an aromatic benzo[b]heterocycle subunit. Current-density calculations provide detailed information about the observed pathways and their strengths.     

Sturmian Ground States in Classical Lattice–Gas Models

Journal of Statistical Physics - We construct for the first time examples of non-frustrated, two-body, infinite-range, one-dimensional classical lattice–gas models without periodic...     

A New Method of Testing and Evaluating the Quality of Refined Montan Wax: Digital Color and GC Fingerprint

To establish a new method of testing and evaluating the quality of refined montan wax (RMW), digital color and GC fingerprint technology were introduced and applied. CIE Lab color mode was used to digitize the exterior colors of RMW, and the score obtained through a fitting function was also used to reflect its quality. It is shown that they were in complete accord with the human visual perception trend. The GC fingerprint was used to characterize the internal chemical information of RMW, and the composition of its internal features was reflected through the relative retention time (RRT) and relative peak area (RPA) values. It is shown that there was a high degree of similarity between the fingerprints, while certain differences also existed. This can be used to implement effective application of RMW to aspects such as quality control, adulteration identification, and origin attributions.

     

Vitamin K1 distribution following intravenous vitamin K1–fat emulsion administration in rats

This study investigated vitamin K₁ (VK₁) distribution following intravenous vitamin K₁–fat emulsion (VK₁–FE) administration and compared it with that after VK₁ injection. Rats were intravenously injected with VK₁–FE or VK₁. The organ and tissue VK₁ concentrations were determined using high‐performance liquid chromatography method at 0.5, 2 and 4 h to determine distribution, equilibrium and elimination phases, respectively. In the VK₁–FE group, the plasma, heart and spleen VK₁ concentrations decreased over time. However, other organs like liver, lung, kidney, muscle and testis, reached peak VK₁ concentrations at 2 h. In the VK₁ injection group, the liver VK₁ concentrations were significantly higher than those in other organs at the three time points. However, VK₁ concentrations in the other organs peaked at 2 h. In addition, in VK₁–FE group, the heart, spleen and lung VK₁ concentrations were significantly higher than those in the VK₁ injection group at the three time points, and the liver VK₁ concentration was significantly higher than that in the VK₁ injection group at 4 h. The VK₁ amount was greatest in the liver compared with the other organs. Thus, the liver is the primary organ for VK₁ distribution. The distribution of VK₁ is more rapid when injected as VK₁–FE than as VK₁. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Kinetic Study for the Noncatalytic Esterification of Palm Fatty Acid Distillate

In this work, the reaction scheme for the esterification of palm fatty acid distillate performed under the noncatalytic and high‐temperature condition (230–290°C) was investigated with a rigorous mathematical modeling. The esterification reaction was assumed to be the pseudo–homogeneous second‐order reversible reaction, and the mass transfer effectiveness factor (η) was introduced in the modeling framework to systematically and collectively consider both evaporation and reaction, which are simultaneously and competitively occurred in the liquid phase. The nonlinear programming problem was constructed with the objective function consisting of the errors between experimental data and the estimated values from the reaction model. The problem was solved by using the Nelder–Mead simplex algorithm to identify kinetic parameters, reaction rate constants, and mass transfer coefficients. The values of mass transfer coefficients were found to follow the Hertz–Knudsen relation and expressed as a function of reaction temperature. From the reaction rate constants obtained from the proposed kinetic models, the apparent activation energy was estimated to be 43.98 kJ/mol, which is lower than the value obtained from the reaction using heterogeneous catalysts. This low value indicates that reactants and products behave as an acid catalyst at relatively high operating temperature and constant pressure.     

Subdominant H60 antigen-specific CD8 T-cell response precedes dominant H4 antigen-specific response during the initial phase of allogenic skin graft rejection

In allogeneic transplantation, including the B6 anti-BALB.B settings, H60 and H4 are two representative dominant minor histocompatibility antigens that induce strong CD8 T-cell responses. With different distribution patterns, H60 expression is restricted to hematopoietic cells, whereas H4 is ubiquitously expressed. H60-specific CD8 T-cell response has been known to be dominant in most cases of B6 anti-BALB.B allo-responses, except in the case of skin transplantation. To understand the mechanism underlying the subdominance of H60 during allogeneic skin transplantation, we investigated the dynamics of the H60-specific CD8 T cells in B6 mice transplanted with allogeneic BALB.B tail skin. Unexpectedly, longitudinal bioluminescence imaging and flow cytometric analyses revealed that H60-specific CD8 T cells were not always subdominant to H4-specific cells but instead showed a brief dominance before the H4 response became predominant. H60-specific CD8 T cells could expand in the draining lymph node and migrate to the BALB.B allografts, indicating their active participation in the anti-BALB.B allo-response. Enhancing the frequencies of H60-reactive CD8 T cells prior to skin transplantation reversed the immune hierarchy between H60 and H4. Additionally, H60 became predominant when antigen presentation was limited to the direct pathway. However, when antigen presentation was restricted to the indirect pathway, the expansion of H60-specific CD8 T cells was limited, whereas H4-specific CD8 T cells expanded significantly, suggesting that the temporary immunodominance and eventual subdominance of H60 could be due to their reliance on the direct antigen presentation pathway. These results enhance our understanding of the immunodominance phenomenon following allogeneic tissue transplantation.     

Synthesis of the Antimicrobial S‐Linked Glycopeptide,Glycocin F

The first total synthesis of glycocin F, a uniquely diglycosylated antimicrobial peptide bearing a rare S‐linked N‐acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) moiety in addition to an O‐linked GlcNAc, has been accomplished using a native chemical ligation strategy. The synthetic and naturally occurring peptides were compared by HPLC, mass spectrometry, NMR and CD spectroscopy, and their stability towards chymotrypsin digestion and antimicrobial activity were measured. This is the first comprehensive structural and functional comparison of a naturally occurring glycocin with an active synthetic analogue.