Statistical Optimization of Flavonoid and Antioxidant Recovery from Macerated Chinese and Malaysian Lotus Root (Nelumbo nucifera) Using Response Surface Methodology

In this study, the combination of parameters required for optimal extraction of anti-oxidative components from the Chinese lotus (CLR) and Malaysian lotus (MLR) roots were carefully investigated. Box–Behnken design was employed to optimize the pH (X₁: 2–3), extraction time (X₂: 0.5–1.5 h) and solvent-to-sample ratio (X₃: 20–40 mL/g) to obtain a high flavonoid yield with high % DPPH_sc free radical scavenging and Ferric-reducing power assay (FRAP). The analysis of variance clearly showed the significant contribution of quadratic model for all responses. The optimal conditions for both Chinese lotus (CLR) and Malaysian lotus (MLR) roots were obtained as: CLR: X₁ = 2.5; X₂ = 0.5 h; X₃ = 40 mL/g; MLR: X₁ = 2.4; X₂ = 0.5 h; X₃ = 40 mL/g. These optimum conditions gave (a) Total flavonoid content (TFC) of 0.599 mg PCE/g sample and 0.549 mg PCE/g sample, respectively; (b) % DPPH_sc of 48.36% and 29.11%, respectively; (c) FRAP value of 2.07 mM FeSO₄ and 1.89 mM FeSO₄, respectively. A close agreement between predicted and experimental values was found. The result obtained succinctly revealed that the Chinese lotus exhibited higher antioxidant and total flavonoid content when compared with the Malaysia lotus root at optimum extraction condition.     

Mathematical analysis of the dynamics of COVID-19 in Africa under the influence of asymptomatic cases and re-infection

Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) hit the world in December 2019, and only less than 5% of the 15 million cases were recorded in Africa. A major call for concern was the significant rise from 2% in May 2020 to 4.67% by the end of July 15, 2020. This drastic increase calls for quick intervention in the transmission and control strategy of COVID-19 in Africa. A mathematical model to theoretically investigate the consequence of ignoring asymptomatic cases on COVID-19 spread in Africa is proposed in this study. A qualitative analysis of the model is carried out with and without re-infection, and the reproduction number is obtained under re-infection. The results indicate that increasing case detection to detect asymptomatically infected individuals will be very effective in containing and reducing the burden of COVID-19 in Africa. In addition, the fact that it has not been confirmed whether a recovered individual can be re-infected or not, then enforcing a living condition where recovered individuals are not allowed to mix with the susceptible or exposed individuals will help in containing the spread of COVID-19.     

Design of (2Z)-2-cyano-2-[2-[(E)-2-[5-[(E)-2-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)vinyl]-2-thienyl]vinyl]pyran-4-ylidene]acetic acid derivatives as D-π-A dye sensitizers in molecular photovoltaics: a density functional theory approach

Research on Chemical Intermediates - The use of computational methods such as density functional theory (DFT) in material design has attracted considerable attention aimed at achieving efficient...     

Ikirydinium A: a new indole alkaloid from the seeds of Hunteria umbellata (K. Schum)

Chemical investigations into samples of Hunteria umbellata (K. Schum) collected in Osun State, Nigeria, led to the discovery of a new indole alkaloid, ikirydinium A, featuring an unprecedented 3-alkylpyridinium-indole-2-carboxylate scaffold. Ikirydinium A was found to exhibit antimicrobial activity (IC₅₀ 0.6 μM) against Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6051. The involvement of a common intermediate in the biosynthesis of ikirydinium A and vinblastine is hypothesized.     

A characterization of the logistic distribution by a sample median

Summary A functional form of the characteristic function of the sample median of three variates is shown to characterize the logistic distribution. A consequence of this is a characterization of the logistic in terms of the Laplace distribution. Research sponsored in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Systems Command, USAF under Grant No. AFOSR-77-3360. The United States Govenment is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for governmental purposes notwith-standing any copyright notation hereon.     

Cocos nucifera L. water as green corrosion inhibitor for acid corrosion of aluminium in HCl solution

<正>The ability of Cocos nucifera L.water(CW) as non-toxic corrosion inhibitor for acid corrosion of aluminium in 0.5 mol/L HCl has been studied using chemical technique.CW shows significant inhibition as corrosion inhibitor,with 93%efficiency at the highest concentration of the inhibitor.The inhibitive action is attributed to the adsorption of the inhibitor molecules on metal surface following Langmuir adsorption isotherm.     

Correction to: Investigation on the effect of cottonseed oil blended with different percentages of octanol and suspended MWCNT nanoparticles on diesel engine characteristics

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In the original publication of the article, the affiliations of the third, fourth and fifth authors were incorrectly published.     

Investigation on the effect of cottonseed oil blended with different percentages of octanol and suspended MWCNT nanoparticles on diesel engine characteristics

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In the present work, a series of experiments were designed and conducted to prepare biodiesel from cottonseed oil and to blend it with octanol. The...     

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of a Cytochrome P450 from Tepidiphilus thermophilus (P450-TT) Reveal How Its Substrate-Binding Channel Opens

Cytochrome P450s (P450) are important enzymes in biology with useful biochemical reactions in, for instance, drug and xenobiotics metabolisms, biotechnology, and health. Recently, the crystal structure of a new member of the CYP116B family has been resolved. This enzyme is a cytochrome P450 (CYP116B46) from Tepidiphilus thermophilus (P450-TT) and has potential for the oxy-functionalization of organic molecules such as fatty acids, terpenes, steroids, and statins. However, it was thought that the opening to its hitherto identified substrate channel was too small to allow organic molecules to enter. To investigate this, we performed molecular dynamics simulations on the enzyme. The results suggest that the crystal structure is not relaxed, possibly due to crystal packing effects, and that its tunnel structure is constrained. In addition, the simulations revealed two key amino acid residues at the mouth of the channel; a glutamyl and an arginyl. The glutamyl’s side chain tightens and relaxes the opening to the channel in conjunction with the arginyl’s, though the latter’s side chain is less dramatically changed after the initial relaxation of its conformations. Additionally, it was observed that the effect of increased temperature did not considerably affect the dynamics of the enzyme fold, including the relative solvent accessibility of the amino acid residues that make up the substrate channel wall even as compared to the changes that occurred at room temperature. Interestingly, the substrate channel became distinguishable as a prominent tunnel that is likely to accommodate small- to medium-sized organic molecules for bioconversions. That is, P450-TT has the ability to pass appropriate organic substrates to its active site through its elaborate substrate channel, and notably, is able to control or gate any molecules at the opening to this channel.