Covariant formulation of BPS black holes and the scalar weak gravity conjecture

We find through a systematic analysis that all but 29,223 of the 473.8 million 4D reflexive polytopes found by Kreuzer and Skarke have a 2D reflexive subpolytope. Such a subpolytope is generally associated with the presence of an elliptic or genus one fibration in the corresponding birational equivalence class of Calabi-Yau threefolds. This extends the growing body of evidence that most Calabi-Yau threefolds have an elliptically fibered phase.     

Chiroptical Properties – Structure Relationship in Bicyclic Isoxazolidin‐5‐one Derivatives

The relationship between chiroptical properties of substituted bicyclic isoxazolidin‐5‐one derivatives and their molecular structures was investigated. The chromophoric system in isoxazolidinones was found to be nonplanar with a shallow pyramidal configuration at the N‐atom. The deviation from planarity can be attributed to the strain imposed by the bicyclic skeleton. Due to the nonplanarity, the isoxazolidinone system becomes inherently dissymmetric, which is supported by the high magnitude of the CD band occurring around 210 nm. In addition, the helicity of lactone moiety in investigated bicyclic isoxazolidinones is controlled by the absolute configuration at C(6). On this basis, a helicity rule correlating a positive (negative) helicity expressed by the OC(8) O(9) N(1) torsional angle with a positive (negative) sign of the CD band around 210 nm was formulated.     

Antimicrobial Activity of Gemini Surfactants with Ether Group in the Spacer Part

Due to their large possibility of the structure modification, alkylammonium gemini surfactants are a rapidly growing class of compounds. They exhibit significant surface, aggregation and antimicrobial properties. Due to the fact that, in order to achieve the desired utility effect, the minimal concentration of compounds are used, they are in line with the principle of greenolution (green evolution) in chemistry. In this study, we present innovative synthesis of the homologous series of gemini surfactants modified at the spacer by the ether group, i.e., 3-oxa-1,5-pentane-bis(N-alkyl-N,N-dimethylammonium bromides). The critical micelle concentrations were determined. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of the synthesized compounds were determined against bacteria Escherichia coli ATCC 10536 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538; yeast Candida albicans ATCC 10231; and molds Aspergillus niger ATCC 16401 and Penicillium chrysogenum ATCC 60739. We also investigated the relationship between antimicrobial activity and alkyl chain length or the nature of the spacer. The obtained results indicate that the synthesized compounds are effective microbicides with a broad spectrum of biocidal activity.     

Effect of Vitamin C Source on Its Stability during Storage and the Properties of Milk Fermented by Lactobacillus rhamnosus

The enrichment of commonly consumed foods with bioactive components might be helpful in promoting health and reducing the risk of disease, so the enrichment of probiotic fermented milk with vitamin C can be considered appropriate. The effect of vitamin C addition depends on the source of origin (rosehip, acerola and ascorbic acid in powder form) on the growth and survival of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and the quality of fermented milk on the 1st and 21st day of storage was analyzed. The pH, total acidity, vitamin C, syneresis, color, texture profile and numbers of bacterial cells in fermented milk were determined. The organoleptic evaluation was also performed. The degradation of vitamin C in milk was shown to depend on its source. The lowest reduction of vitamin C was determined in milk with rosehip. The least stable was vitamin C naturally found in control milk. The addition of rosehip and acerola decreased syneresis and lightness of milk color, increasing the yellow and red color proportion. In contrast, milk with ascorbic acid was the lightest during the whole experimental period and was characterized by a very soft gel. The growth of Lactobacillus rhamnosus during fermentation was most positively affected by the addition of rosehip. However, the best survival of Lactobacillus rhamnosus was demonstrated in milk with acerola. On the 21st day of storage, the number of L. rhamnosus cells in the control milk and the milk with vitamin C was >8 log cfu g⁻¹, so these milks met the criterion of therapeutic minimum. According to the assessors, the taste and odor contributed by the addition of rosehip was the most intense of all the vitamin C sources used in the study.     

Discrimination of Adulterated Ginkgo Biloba Products Based on 2T2D Correlation Spectroscopy in UV-Vis Range

Ginkgo biloba is a popular medicinal plant widely used in numerous herbal products, including food supplements. Due to its popularity and growing economic value, G. biloba leaf extract has become the target of economically motivated adulterations. There are many reports about the poor quality of ginkgo products and their adulteration, mainly by adding flavonols, flavonol glycosides, or extracts from other plants. In this work, we developed an approach using two-trace two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2T2D COS) in UV-Vis range combined with multilinear principal component analysis (MPCA) to detect potential adulteration of twenty G. biloba food supplements. UV-Vis spectral data are obtained for 80% methanol and aqueous extracts in the range of 245–410 nm. Three series of two-dimensional correlation spectra were interpreted by visual inspection and using MPCA. The proposed relatively quick and straightforward approach successfully differentiated supplements adulterated with rutin or those lacking ginkgo leaf extract. Supporting information about adulteration was obtained from the difference between the DPPH radical scavenging capacity of both extracts and from chromatographic (HPLC-DAD) fingerprints of methanolic samples.     

Investigation of the reaction of N-substituted indolylborates: Palladium catalyzed cross-coupling reactions and intramolecular alkyl migration reactions

The palladium catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of indolylborates with various N-protecting groups was investigated, where N-Methyl, N-methoxy, and N-tert-butoxycarbonyl groups were found to be useful. However, triethyl(1-methoxymethylindol-2-yl)borate could not be used for this reaction. It was also found that the alkyl migration reaction of trialkyl(1-methoxymethylindol-2-yl)borate produced 2-alkyl-1-methyl-indole accompanied by the unexpected reduction of 1-methoxymethyl group to 1-methyl group.     

Supported ruthenium catalysts in hydrodechlorination of CCl2F2 (CFC-12)

Active carbon-and MgF₂-supported ruthenium catalysts characterized by a comparable metal dispersion were investigated in CCl₂F₂ hydrodechlorination. Ruthenium, especially when supported on carbon, exhibits a considerable selectivity to CHClF₂. This propensity and a noticeable activity towards C₂-products differentiate ruthenium from palladium catalysts. Dedicated to Professor Pál Tétényi on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

Self‐assembled monolayers of mercaptosuccinic acid monolayers on silver and gold surfaces designed for protein binding. Part II: vibrational spectroscopy studies on cytochrome c immobilization

An attempt has been made for using MSA‐modified electrodes as linkage monolayers for electrostatic and covalent binding of cytochrome c (Cc). For MSA monolayers grown from an aqueous solution on Ag, attachment of Cc in its native state is proved in the case of covalent bonding. Electrostatic immobilization of Cc at pH 7 results in presence of at least some amount of Fe²⁺ high‐spin configuration and/or Fe³⁺ oxidation state. Native protein Fe²⁺ low‐spin state of Cc is observed after applying a negative potential to the Ag electrode. The influence of the solvent used for the preparation of the MSA monolayer and thiol surface coverage of the Ag surface was studied. It was shown that the key factor to obtain the native structure of Cc is the successful blocking of the metal surface by the MSA linking layer. IRRAS measurements of MSA on monocrystalline gold (111) at neutral pH confirm the successful electrostatic Cc immobilization, which preserves the Fe²⁺ oxidation state of the chromophore on this substrate. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Localization of distinct reflections in rooms using spherical microphone array eigenbeam processing

This paper presents an experimental and comparative study of several spherical microphone array eigenbeam (EB) processing techniques for localization of early reflections in room acoustic environments, which is a relevant research topic in both audio signal processing and room acoustics. This paper focuses on steered beamformer-based and subspace-based localization techniques implemented in the spherical EB domain, including the plane-wave decomposition, eigenbeam delay and sum, eigenbeam minimum variance distortionless response, eigenbeam multiple signal classification (EB-MUSIC), and eigenbeam estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance techniques (EB-ESPRIT) methods. The directions of arrival of the original sound source and the associated reflection signals in acoustic environments are estimated from acoustic maps of the rooms, which are obtained using a spherical microphone array. The EB-domain-based frequency smoothing and white noise gain control techniques are derived and employed to improve the performance and robustness of reflection localization. The applicability of the presented methods in practice is confirmed by experiments carried out in real rooms.     

The effect of temperature on the efficiency parameters in adsorptive liquid chromatography

The effect of temperature on the efficiency of column systems in adsorptive liquid chromatography is reported. The influence of temperature changes on the values of the terms Cm2 and Ck in the HETP equation, which characterizessystems involving silica gel and benzene, ethylene chloride, butyl ether or cyclo- hexanone + heptane, is discussed for 9 substances. The results of the study have led to the following conclusions:

• 1 Temperature increase will always improve the efficiency of typical chromatographic systems.
• 2 As expected, an essential role is played by mass transfer resistance in the mobile phase occupying the pores of the packing material (parameter Cm2).
• 3 Mass transfer resistance resulting from sorption-desorption kinetics (C_k) does not play as essential a role in the systems investigated as does Cm2, but its value is significantly higher than that reported in the literature.