Calcium Phosphate Particles Coated with Humic Substances: A Potential Plant Biostimulant from Circular Economy

Nowadays, the use of biostimulants to reduce agrochemical input is a major trend in agriculture. In this work, we report on calcium phosphate particles (CaP) recovered from the circular economy, combined with natural humic substances (HSs), to produce a plant biostimulant. CaPs were obtained by the thermal treatment of Salmo salar bones and were subsequently functionalized with HSs by soaking in a HS water solution. The obtained materials were characterized, showing that the functionalization with HS did not sort any effect on the bulk physicochemical properties of CaP, with the exception of the surface charge that was found to get more negative. Finally, the effect of the materials on nutrient uptake and translocation in the early stages of development (up to 20 days) of two model species of interest for horticulture, Valerianella locusta and Diplotaxis tenuifolia, was assessed. Both species exhibited a similar tendency to accumulate Ca and P in hypogeal tissues, but showed different reactions to the treatments in terms of translocation to the leaves. CaP and CaP–HS treatments lead to an increase of P accumulation in the leaves of D. tenuifolia, while the treatment with HS was found to increase only the concentration of Ca in V. locusta leaves. A low biostimulating effect on both plants’ growth was observed, and was mainly scribed to the low concentration of HS in the tested materials. In the end, the obtained material showed promising results in virtue of its potential to elicit phosphorous uptake and foliar translocation by plants.     

Isotope dilution method for the assay of rotenone in olive oil and river waters by liquid chromatography/multiple reaction monitoring tandem mass spectrometry

A new approach for the assay of rotenone (1) by isotope dilution mass spectrometry is presented. The extreme toxicity of rotenone, a natural phytodrug with insecticidal and piscicidal activity, recently banned by national and international environmental protection agencies, calls for the development of sensitive and accurate methods of analyses. Accordingly, the proposed protocol is based on the availability of the labeled internal standard rotenone‐d₃ (3) which can be conveniently prepared by consecutive and specific mono‐O‐demethylation, and remethylation with methyl iodide‐d₃. The sensitivity of the method is confirmed by the very low limit of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) values achieved in the assay of 1 in two distinct fortified matrices, and is further supported by the observed accuracy values. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Novel LC–MS/MS-Based Method for the Diagnosis of ADA2 Deficiency from Dried Plasma Spot

Adenosine Deaminase 2 Deficiency (DADA2) (OMIM: 607575) is a monogenic, autoinflammatory disease caused by the loss of functional homozygous or heterozygous mutations in the ADA 2 gene (previously CECR1, Cat Eye Syndrome Chromosome Region 1). A timely diagnosis is crucial to start Anti-TNF therapies that are efficacious in controlling the disease. The confirmation of DADA2 is based on DNA sequencing and enzymatic assay. It is, thus, very important to have robust and reliable assays that can be rapidly utilized in specialized laboratories that can centralize samples from other centers. In this paper, we show a novel enzymatic assay based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry that allows the accurate determination of the ADA2 enzyme activity starting from very small amounts of plasma spotted on filter paper (dried plasma spot). The method allows significantly distinguishing healthy controls from affected patients and carriers and could be of help in implementing the diagnostic workflow of DADA2.     

Bilevel programming and price setting problems

This paper is devoted to pricing optimization problems which can be modeled as bilevel programs. We present the main concepts, models and solution methods for this class of optimization problems.     

Well-posedness in Sobolev spaces for semi-linear 3-evolution equations

We prove local in time well-posedness of the Cauchy problem in Sobolev spaces for semi-linear 3-evolution equations of the first order. We require real principal part, but complex valued coefficients for the lower order terms. Therefore decay conditions on the imaginary parts are needed, as \(x\rightarrow \infty \) .     

Two Crystal Forms of a Hydrated 2:1 β-Cyclodextrin Fluconazole Complex: Single Crystal X-ray Structures,Dehydration Profiles,and Conditions for Their Individual Isolation

Inclusion complexes between cyclodextrins (CDs) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have potential for pharmaceutical formulation. Since crystallization of a given complex may result in the isolation of multiple crystal forms, it is essential to characterize these forms with respect to their structures and physicochemical properties to optimize pharmaceutical candidate selection. Here, we report the preparation and characterization of two crystallographically distinct hydrated forms of an inclusion complex between β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and the antifungal API fluconazole (FLU) as well as temperature–concentration conditions required for their individual isolation. Determination of crystal water contents was achieved using thermoanalytical methods. X-ray analyses revealed distinct structural differences between the triclinic (TBCDFLU, space group P1) and monoclinic (MBCDFLU, space group C2) crystal forms. Removal of the crystals from their mother liquors led to rapid dehydration of the MBCDFLU crystal, while the TBCDFLU crystal was stable, a result that could be reconciled with the distinct packing arrangements in the respective crystals. This study highlights (a) the importance of identifying possible multiple forms of a cyclodextrin API complex and controlling the crystallization conditions, and (b) the need to characterize such crystal forms to determine the extent to which their physicochemical properties may differ.     

The Renaissance of α‐Methylene‐γ‐butyrolactones: New Synthetic Approaches

The amount of research activity concerning α‐methylene‐γ‐butyrolactones and α‐alkylidene‐γ‐butyrolactones has increased dramatically in recent years. This Review summarizes the structural types, biological activities, and biosynthesis of these compounds, concentrating on publications from the past 10 years. Traditional approaches to α‐methylene‐γ‐butyrolactones and α‐alkylidene‐γ‐butyrolactones are then reviewed together with novel approaches, including those from our own research group, reported more recently.