Determination of Lambda-Cyhalothrin and Malathion Residues in Locust by Gas Chromatography with Electron Capture Detection

Journal of Analytical Chemistry - A reliable, easy, and reproducible method was developed for the quantification of λ-cyhalothrin and malathion residues in desert locust. For the extraction, a...     

Virtual Screening,Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Streptococcus mutans Mediated Biofilm Inhibitors

Dental caries, a global oral health concern, is a biofilm-mediated disease. Streptococcus mutans, the most prevalent oral microbiota, produces extracellular enzymes, including glycosyltransferases responsible for sucrose polymerization. In bacterial communities, the biofilm matrix confers resistance to host immune responses and antibiotics. Thus, in cases of chronic dental caries, inhibiting bacterial biofilm assembly should prevent demineralization of tooth enamel, thereby preventing tooth decay. A high throughput screening was performed in the present study to identify small molecule inhibitors of S. mutans glycosyltransferases. Multiple pharmacophore models were developed, validated with multiple datasets, and used for virtual screening against large chemical databases. Over 3000 drug-like hits were obtained that were analyzed to explore their binding mode. Finally, six compounds that showed good binding affinities were further analyzed for ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) properties. The obtained in silico hits were evaluated for in vitro biofilm formation. The compounds displayed excellent antibiofilm activities with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 15.26–250 µg/mL.     

Role of A-site deficiency in the magneto-transport properties of Pr<Subscript>0.7</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>0.3</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> relaxed films

The magneto-transport properties of thick relaxed A-site deficient films having the composition Pr Sr_0.3MnO₃ (P_□SMO with the □ symbol for the Pr vacancy) and Pr_0.7Sr MnO₃ (PS_□MO) are studied. A direct comparison with a Pr_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (PSMO)completely relaxed film, deposited under the same growth conditions, shows a reduction of the in-plane parameter a₁₀₀ associated to an enhancement of the out-plane parameter. The strains (bulk strain ε_B and biaxial Jahn-Teller strain ε_J-T) do vary with the nature of the cationic vacancy. For example, an enhancement of ε_B of 9% in the PS_□MO film (Sr deficient) produces a decrease of T_C of 30 K, whereas the Pr deficient P_□SMO film exhibits a large reduction of both ε_B (-16%) and ε_J-T (divided by a factor of 5), which enhances T_C of 12 K, similarly to previous observations on bulk ceramics. With a reduced resistivity (ρ<0.02 Ω cm), the obtained Pr-deficient film, P_□SMO, exhibits the best magneto-transport properties with a decreasing magnetoresistance sensitivity at low field.     

Synthesis,characterization and biological properties of novel ON donor bidentate Schiff bases and their copper(II) complexes

Four novel ON donor Schiff bases (E)-3-((4-phenoxyphenylimino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol (HL₁),(E)-3-((4-(4-biphenyloxy)phenyliminomethyl)benzene-1,2-diol (HL₂), (E)-3-((4-naphthoxyphenylimino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol (HL₃), (E)-3-((4-(2-naphthoxy)phenylimino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol (HL₄) and their copper(II) complexes bis((E)-3-((4-phenoxyphenylimino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol) copper(II) (Cu(L₁)₂) bis((E)-3-((4-(4-biphenyloxy)phenylimino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol) copper(II) (Cu(L₂)₂), bis((E)-3-((4-naphthoxyphenylimino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol) copper(II) (Cu(L₃)₂), bis((E)-3-((4-(2-naphthoxy)phenylimino)methyl)benzene-1,2-diol) copper(II) (Cu(L₄)₂) have been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic (FTIR, NMR, UV–visible) and elemental analysis. The crystal structures of HL₁, HL₂, HL_3, and HL₄ have been determined, which reveal intramolecular N-H?O (HL₁, HL₂, HL_3, and HL₄) hydrogen bonds in the solid state. Keto-amine and enol-imine tautomerism is exhibited by the Schiff bases in solid and solution states. The Schiff bases and their copper(II) complexes have been screened for their biological activities. In antimicrobial assays (antibacterial and antifungal), HL₄ showed promising results against all strains through dual inhibition property while the rest of the compounds showed activity against selective strains. On the other hand, in cytotoxic, DPPH, and inhibition of hydroxyl (OH) free radical-induced DNA damage assays, the results were found significantly correlated with each other, i.e. the ligands HL₁ and HL₂ showed moderate activity while their complexes Cu(L₁)₂ and Cu(L₂)₂ exhibited prominent increase in activity. As the results of these assays are supporting each other, it represents the strong positive correlation and antioxidant nature of investigated compounds.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of some novel 2-(substituted fluorobenzoylimino)-3-(substituted fluorophenyl)-4-methyl-1,3-thiazolines

The synthesis of several 2-(substituted fluorobenzoylimino)-3-(substituted fluorophenyl)-4-methyl-1,3-thiazolines (2a-t) was carried out by base-catalyzed cyclization of corresponding 1-(fluorobenzoyl)-3-(fluorophenyl)thioureas (1a-t) with 2-bromoacetone in aqueous medium. The structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by spectral and elemental analysis. All synthesized compounds were evaluated for in vitro antibacterial activity using Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for the most active compounds. In vitro antifungal activity was also determined against the five fungal species (Rhizopus oryzae, Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus terreus, A. niger and A. fumigatus).     

Development and validation of stability-indicating HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol, tizanidine, and diclofenac in pharmaceuticals and human serum

A method is described for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol, tizanidine, and diclofenac in mixtures. The method was based on HPLC separation of the three drugs followed by UV detection at 254 nm. The separation was carried out on a Hypersil ODS, C18 (250 x 4.6 mm id, 10 microm particle size) column using the mobile phase aqueous 0.2% ammonium carbonate-methanol (60 + 40, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The linear regression analysis data were used for the regression curve in the range of 170-10 000 ng/mL for paracetamol, 120-10 000 ng/mL for tizanidine, and 20-10 000 ng/mL for diclofenac. No chromatographic interference from tablet excipients was found. In order to check the selectivity of the proposed method, degradation studies were carried out using hydrolysis (acid, basic, and neutral), thermolysis, and oxidation. The developed method, after being validated in terms of precision, robustness, recovery, LOD, and LOQ, was successively applied to the analysis of pharmaceutical formulations and human serum.     

Synthesis of Azabicyclic Building Blocks for Daphniphyllum Alkaloid Intermediates Featuring N‐Trichloroacetyl Enamide 5‐endo‐trig Radical Cyclizations

A general procedure is reported for the synthesis of cis ring fused azapolycyclic compounds bearing an all‐carbon quaternary stereocenter at the ring fusion and an adequate functionalization for the assembly of new rings leading to advanced synthetic intermediates for Daphniphyllum alkaloid synthesis. The key carbon?carbon bond‐forming step in this approach is a radical cyclization of an N‐cycloalkenyl trichloroacetamide derivative involving a tetrasubstituted enamide to achieve polyfunctionalized lactams.     

Mass cultivation of various algal species and their evaluation as a potential candidate for lipid production

Microalgae have been proposed as a promising source for biodiesel production. Focusing on algal strains for biodiesel production, efforts should be made to search new strains. Experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of growth parameters (nutrients, pH, light, aeration and temperature) and the oil percentage of eight algal strains (Chlorella sp., Cladophora sp., Hydrodictylium sp., Oedogonium sp., Oscillatoria sp., Spirogyra sp., Stigeocolonium sp., Ulothrix sp.). Results show that 6.5–7.5 is the optimum pH for the growth of all algal species. Temperature showed a greater variation (25°40°C). Ulothrix sp. gave more biomass productivity and is the most suitable strain for biodiesel production due to higher oil percentage (62%). Least biomass production was observed for Stigeocolonium sp. and least oil content was obtained from Hydrodictylium sp. It was observed that among these eight algal strains for biodiesel production, Ulothrix and Chlorella are the most promising algae species.     

SER and throughput analysis of space–time analog network coded relaying system over shadowed Rician fading channels

Wireless Networks - This research article presents an innovative approach based on analog network coding (ANC) in conjunction with space time block coding (STBC) which is termed as space time...     

A novel carbon/chitosan paste electrode for electrochemical detection of normetanephrine in the urine

Normetanephrine is a marker for pheochromocytoma, a rare catecholamine-secreting and neuroendocrine tumor, that arises from sympathetic and parasympathetic paraganglia. In this work, a novel carbon/chitosan electrode paste was used for sensitive voltammetric determination of normetanephrine and dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid and uric acid. The modified electrode has shown an increase in the effective area of up to 68%, well-separated oxidation peaks, and an excellent electrocatalytic activity. The electrochemical response characteristics were investigated by cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry. Interestingly, high sensitivity and selectivity in the linear range of normetanephrine, dopamine, ascorbic acid, and uric acid concentrations were observed. The present method was applied in the urine sample and satisfactory results were obtained showing that this electrode is very suitable in pharmaceutical and clinical preparations.